Chapter 14: Salt in the Well
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Merde... I feel my skin crawling..." he mutters.
Deryk O'hara smiles and nods. "I can tell. I don't feel it.. but.. maybe that's just one of those things. I don't know where this.. well.. is.. but there's water here, so I thought we could look around."
Qaelemont nods to Deryk O'hara.
Deryk O'hara: "Did she send you any further information, or just the letter she had recieved?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Oui, it was a small homestead deep in the Shroud. The old hermit there nearly chased the Hearer away when the woman was searching for the disturbance she felt."
Deryk O'hara thinks, scratching the back of his head. "Then.. we should look around there, sans angering a hermit."
Qaelemont laughs at Deryk O'hara.
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "One can only hope."
Qaelemont smirks confidently at Deryk O'hara.
Deryk O'hara: "With your personal emotional stability person? Please, I've had a harder time with Cheka and Phemie."
Qaelemont Drauculoix doesn't say a word as Chongus just... phases off as she do. "Maintenant... if *I* were an aether devouring entity of unknown origin with an affinity for water..." He turns slowly, considering his options.
Deryk O'hara: "I don't think Chongus.. oh.. wait.. right." He sighs, wondering where they could even go.
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's head tilts slowly to the right, then to the left, then back to the right. There's a subtle magnetism to him, the vague call of a distant siren's song, the softest allure of forbidden delights. He turns slowly as if on gimbals and raises his right arm in a graceful arc, languidly pointing the way to Urth's Gift. "There," he murmurs.
Deryk O'hara looks toward where Qaelemont is pointing and sighs. "Of course it's over there. Are we walking, or did you bring the car?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Quoi ? Don't want a bit of exercise?" He chuckles and jingles the keys at Deryk.
Deryk O'hara: "I save energy when I must. Or.. in other words." He says as he slides into the front seat. "I'm lazy."
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "You're lucky you're cute," he mutters steering the car into flight and through the forest. He comes to a halt at the entrance to the tunnel, hovering there. "Do you sense anything?"
Deryk O'hara chuckles at him using his own words against him. He then looks out, before closing his eyes..
Deryk O'hara shakes his head. "No.. not yet."
Qaelemont Drauculoix brings the car down on one of the islands dotting the spring-fed swamp. He's tense and alert, every action a careful conservation of movement, studied and precise. Whatever this thing is, he knows it's a predator. A very, very Big predator.
Deryk O'hara feeds a bit off of Qaelemont's anxiety and chews on his lip, looking around. "It would make sense for such a creature to come here.. but.. it looks normal to me. I'm not even sure why I was brought along.. I can't sense aether any more than you can see me in the shadows."
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Because you're my safety net, Deryk."
Deryk O'hara looks up at Qaelemont with a strange emotion in his eyes. He then nods. "Then let's hope I do not fail you."
Qaelemont Drauculoix delicately picks his way through, leaping across the water. Climbing a hill, he smiles upon spotting some large bats. "Trés bien, mes chéris," he murmurs before consentrating.
Deryk O'hara smiles softly. "I have my cats, you have your bats. Do they tell you anything?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Deeper in. At the source."
Deryk O'hara reaches for Qaelemont's hand before he can walk further. He flexes a bit, shoulders bunching with the strain. His chest burns.. the scar no one could see, but he felt every day. He grunts.. the effort clear.. but.. when he's done, a soft glimmering shield of gold coats Qaelemont's body from head to toe. "I don't know.. how much it will block.." He says, rubbing his chest. "But it should prevent something in the time it takes me to block you physically."
[21:49] Qaelemont Drauculoix gives Deryk a warm smile and gently squeezes his hand. "Merci, mon petit," he tells the man softly before cautiously proceeding deeper into the damp gloom.
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Putain... the car again it seems."
Deryk O'hara looks at the waterfall.. then at Qaelemont. "You go ahead. The water doesn't bother me."
Qaelemont nods to Deryk O'hara.
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "I'd rather not transform. I don't want to... tempt... it."
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Crystals."
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "It makes sense now."
Deryk O'hara nods. "The same ones that summon Odin.."
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "It doesn't *feel* like Odin, though. Not the same... darkness."
Deryk O'hara tilts his head and reaches out.. trying to feel.. anything.
Deryk O'hara sighs and growls low. "Other than the pretty asthetics of the place.. I can't feel a damned thing."
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's face scrunches up and he shakes his head. "Merde, I think I'm blinded by the aether here. It's so strong everywhere," he grits out, rubbing his forehead.
Deryk O'hara turns to look at him. "Then don't rely on it. I can't. Think.. what do we know about this beast so far?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Water. Aether. Salt. Abyssal." He spits the words out a machinist firing down range at a target though he might not exactly be able to see it through an uncertain haze.
Deryk O'hara smiles. "That is the literal things that we know, oui. We also know that it's hunting, waiting, and patient. That it must be old.. and I am gathering that it's hiding at the bottom of the sea, from what Devin has dreamed about.. and how pressing it feels when it's presence is experienced."
Deryk O'hara thinks.. "You may need to tempt it."
Qaelemont Drauculoix arches one elegant brow at Deryk. "I'd rather not play worm on a hook."
Deryk O'hara thinks. "If you don't want to tempt it.. then I might have to. It can't touch you right now.. and even if the shield falls.. I will protect you. We need to draw out a response if we want to learn why it's here.. unless you have a better idea."
Qaelemont Drauculoix siiiiighs but nods with a resigned expression. Taking a more balanced stance, a fencer's stance, though he has no blade in his hand at the moment, he summons his aether then releases it in a single pulse. It's an active sonar ping, a wave of aether rippling forth with him as the epicenter. Water sprites tremble and bobble closer to him for a few moments, drawn to his powerful aether that beckons seductively. It's a beguiling call...
Deryk O'hara blinks.. and waits.. he feels prickles on his neck.. but it's from how Qaelemont is feeling.. how the water sprites act. "Master.. what is happening?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's pulse echoes back... but it is distorted. Twisted. The aetheric signature is there, but it’s wrong—like a reflection in a shattered mirror. The water sprites recoil, their delicate forms flickering like candle flames in a sudden gust. Qaelemont’s lips press into a thin line. He doesn’t like this. "Something is *here*," he murmurs, his voice low and deliberate. "But it’s not natural."
Deryk O'hara rolls his shoulders, ready to fight if need be. "That would make three of us, then." He calms his mind, as hard as that is, and listens.
Deryk O'hara sighs. "The water.. it's too loud."
Qaelemont Drauculoix "I think it's trying to learn as much about us as we are trying to learn about it..." he murmurs.
Qaelemont nods to Deryk O'hara.
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Oui, we've given it quite a lot ce soir..."
Deryk O'hara sighs. "I'm sorry.. my eagerness to lure it out and be done with it.. is why."
Qaelemont Drauculoix arches one elegant brow at Deryk. "Quoi ? Vraiment, Deryk, you need to stop apologizing so much," he tells the man gently, running the knuckles of his gloved right hand along the man's scarred cheek with a soft smile. "Some hunts take longer than others," he advises the Hyurzen as he enfolds him in his arms and summons his aether again, giving *whatever* a healthy spoonful as they ride the aetherstream away.