04-19-2015, 07:00 PM
Simon guarded the three once they were seated. He kept them under the strictest of gazes, aim steady. There was nothing about this situation that he found unusual or unexpected. Although alert, his emotions were still as ice. Simon's priority was to his man, only. These three were only alive because the Ascendancy required it; however, Simon was willing to defy such orders at the slightest provocation.
Nikolai was hardly content to allow three assassin Atharim, of whom one, or more likely, all three could wield power, to wait under the guard of a sole agent. Were that man Alric, circumstances would be different. As it were, the Ascendancy maintained a web of ropes around the three like they were his prisoners while the former web of veins delved into the ground once more.
The focus in his eyes glazed abstract as his senses shifted, though he was peripherally aware of the three Atharim nearby. Soon, the sense of rock and dirt, bone and metal returned. Like the fleck of metal on the tip of his tongue, he found two pits that harbored precious metal. Either could be mundane jewelry, a ring or necklace, or it could be the charm he sought. He picked one at random and went to stand over it.
Nik never had need of digging a hole with powers before, but it was easy enough, he found. Very soon, a mound of hard-packed dirt opened before the graves. He peered down into each, but there was little to see beyond bones. Brushes of the same power that found the metal were laid across the remains like a gauzy shroud until a tiny spark of recognition jolted his senses. Essence lifted it from the grave and laid it across his out-stretched palm. He cast the broken chain aside and examined the surface of the charm, rubbing it clean between two fingers as he did.
But the slim twinge of victory was quickly smothered once the hourglass symbol was revealed. The hate that festered for forty years swelled briefly as he studied it in the mountain light, but the emotion seemingly broke when the charm lifted from the surface from his palm. It floated to hover in front of Aria. Nikolai followed a few steps behind. "Mean anything to you?"
He asked, hands clasped behind his back as he looked down upon her. He assumed it would, this symbol. What else could it be if not Atharim? "Momento mori?"
he added, tone morbid, although he carefully studied their reactions for signs of recognition.
Nikolai was hardly content to allow three assassin Atharim, of whom one, or more likely, all three could wield power, to wait under the guard of a sole agent. Were that man Alric, circumstances would be different. As it were, the Ascendancy maintained a web of ropes around the three like they were his prisoners while the former web of veins delved into the ground once more.
The focus in his eyes glazed abstract as his senses shifted, though he was peripherally aware of the three Atharim nearby. Soon, the sense of rock and dirt, bone and metal returned. Like the fleck of metal on the tip of his tongue, he found two pits that harbored precious metal. Either could be mundane jewelry, a ring or necklace, or it could be the charm he sought. He picked one at random and went to stand over it.
Nik never had need of digging a hole with powers before, but it was easy enough, he found. Very soon, a mound of hard-packed dirt opened before the graves. He peered down into each, but there was little to see beyond bones. Brushes of the same power that found the metal were laid across the remains like a gauzy shroud until a tiny spark of recognition jolted his senses. Essence lifted it from the grave and laid it across his out-stretched palm. He cast the broken chain aside and examined the surface of the charm, rubbing it clean between two fingers as he did.
But the slim twinge of victory was quickly smothered once the hourglass symbol was revealed. The hate that festered for forty years swelled briefly as he studied it in the mountain light, but the emotion seemingly broke when the charm lifted from the surface from his palm. It floated to hover in front of Aria. Nikolai followed a few steps behind. "Mean anything to you?"
He asked, hands clasped behind his back as he looked down upon her. He assumed it would, this symbol. What else could it be if not Atharim? "Momento mori?"
he added, tone morbid, although he carefully studied their reactions for signs of recognition.