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Character of the Season
Once known as the Butcher of Whitebrim, he's now The Butcher of Dygra, stepping forward as the first created demigod of the Ancients. There is no question that Astaroth casts an intimidating silhouette. Tall, domineering and dangerous, if looks could kill you'd be dead already, but to get up close and personal with the Grounds' resident cannibal tells a much different story. Dripping with charm and clad in only the finest attire, Asta is a gentleman monster, as polite as they come and committed to his role as security for the Dusklight and those who have earned his loyalty. Be careful of that smile, though - those teeth are sharp.
Congratulations, Asta!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
Only a night had passed since they brough the luxere home. it was only enough for the crew to get rested, and for the soldiers coming in for the night watch to be briefed by Deimos.
Marcus would have liked to say he made it back to the springs at the first light of the day, but the wear and tear the journey of bringing the herd in had put on his body had nearly made the boy sleep for an entire day. In fact, he might have if Margot hadn't pulled him from his bed and pushed him out the door to meet Amhran.
Now, he lingered at the edge of the pool, boots half-sunk into thawing ground, watching the way heat rippled across the surface of the water. Nearby, the luxere herd stood calm and close, their antlers casting a gentle, celestial glow over their enclosure. He adjusted the strap of his pack and rolled his shoulders, still sore from the road and the work that had come before.
Not unlike Marcus, Amhran had slept and slept hard after the trip to bring the herd of luxere through to the Citadel. He'd surfaced in time - just - to get himself dressed and to hurry out to the springs, though the ache in his back and legs makes the journey slow going at best. By the time Marcus comes to join him he's just finishing a hot cup of cocoa purchased from a stall along the way, the Raeling gazing longingly out at the springs as if wishing he could soak in them instead. Saddle-sore doesn't even come close.
"Hallo," he murmurs as the hybrid approaches, setting down his cup and offering a small wave. Around them the luxere shift and move, clearly unbothered by their presence not only because they've been offered shelter, warmth and food, but they also seem to recognise the boys' presence from the previous day. "Are you ready? Maybe purifying the springs will help us to feel better as well."
"You look about as saddle-sore as I feel. Does everything hurt, or is it just my turn to be dramatic?" he said, cracking a kind of smile that came from muscles still aching and sleep that hadn’t quite finished its work. The luxere watched from their enclosure, antlers casting soft light, unbothered and familiar. Their calm settled something in his chest.
Marcus sat and worked his boots free, wincing as stiff fingers fumbled with laces. "If Safrin wants us to do this properly, I think she’d forgive us for not doing it in the cold. Plus, Evie told me once that magic was just energy transfering from one place to another. So maybe we can maximize it by being really in the water." Marcus hesitated before pulling his socks off. "What do you think?" He asked, shrugging his pack frrom his shoulders as he waited for the Raeling's response.
"I don't think there's anything dramatic in saying I ache all over, because it's true," Amhran confirms with a rueful smile, the Raeling about to suggest that they make a start before Marcus is suddenly beginning to sit and unlace his boots. Puzzled at first and thinking he must have missed some part of the conversation, only when he clarifies does Amhran huff a soft laugh and glance out into the steaming water, not needing to hesitate much at all before agreeing.
"There's no rule that says we can't," he says, leaning against a broad, flat boulder to unlace his own boots, quickly removing them and stripping the rest of his clothes off before approaching the hotsprings. Around him a soft breeze is already starting to stir, charged with his magic to begin purifying the water and the area around it. The luxere don't much seem to care either, and as he slips into the springs with a quiet hiss, already his protesting muscles seem to quiet their complaints a bit.
"This is much better," he says immediately, glancing back at Marcus. "Let's just hope we don't fall asleep."
Marcus didn’t need much more encouragement. At Amhran’s easy agreement, the last of his hesitation ebbed away. He finished tugging off his socks and set them neatly beside his boots before getting rthe rest of him ready for the springs and easing himself toward the water’s edge. Steam brushed his knees as he stepped in, heat seeping through skin and bone alike, and he let out a sound that was half a laugh, half a groan.
The spring closed around him as he lowered himself in, water climbing his calves, his thighs, his hips. Every protest his body had been holding onto loosened at once, shoulders dropping as he braced a hand against the stone and let himself breathe.
"Hopefully we won't be here long enough to fall asleep." Settling beside Amhran, Marcus leaned back against the warm rock and slid his hands beneath the surface. His fingers spread slowly, deliberately, as he focused inward. Healing magic was never forced from him. A soft gold glow bloomed along his palms, bleeding gently into the water. It didn’t flare or surge; it threaded itself through the springs like sunlight filtered through deep water, sinking and spreading in quiet waves.
The luxere watched in silence, antlers gleaming through the steam, and Marcus looked to Amhran."Has Rae given you abilities other than healing? When my father was a demigod, he had a lot of diferent abilities." He said, curious.
"Or hopefully we can do what needs doing here and then fall asleep," Amhran suggests with a boyish smile, sweeping his hair back from his face with a damp hand and wading further into the hotsprings to find somewhere suitable to sit and soak. He ends up with his back against one of the stone sides, relishing the way the heat from the rock works its way deep into sore muscles, and it isn't long before his eyes are closed so he can concentrate both on relaxation and magic.
As Marcus's magic seeps into the water with a soft glow, Amhran's follows suit as careful ripples across the surface, coaxing the steam into playful shapes and ruffling against the luxere's fur where they stand to watch. "Hm...?" Blinking his eyes back open, the Raeling glances across to the other man and smiles. "Not yet, I do not think," he says. "I have this, and I can grow Rae's Lilies, but of course those are potent healers as well. I recall your father having many abilities, though."
Beneath the surface, Marcus’ hands glowed softly, veins lit with a quiet gold that spilled from his palms and unraveled through the water in slow, patient threads. The light didn’t fight the spring’s heat but instead it folded into it, warmth layered upon warmth, easing tension in his muscles and bones. As he looked down at his hands, he couldn't help but think that the way his hands became luminscent during the use of his magic was quite similar to the way luxere antlers were a sign of hope on the tundra, for both those looking to expell dark magic and those who wished to eat.
A gentle breeze stirred too, lifting damp strands of hair from his brow as Amhran’s magic moved the air around them. Between the current of healing and the whisper of wind, Marcus felt himself renewed. He could feel his body loosening, and instead of his lids drooping like Amhran's he began to think he could run home.
"Hmm. That makes sense." From what he knew, from books and word of mouth, it made him wonder if Rae would be more conservative in their gifts--if what they gave to Amhran would be for very specific purposes, for what exactly he needed. "Do you have any shifts? He asked.
"Not that I am aware of," Amhran says of shifts, brow furrowing as he sinks deeper into the springs until the warm water laps across his shoulders and soaks into the ends of his unruly hair. "Not yet, anyway. I have heard that some demigods do gain some shifts as their power grows." Quite what that will be for Amhran is still vast and unknown, especially now that the Family is no more. Perhaps he will branch out into unknown directions from here, a possibility both terrifying and wondrous to think about.
"Do you?" he asks Marcus, knowing of Deimos's ability to wield both magic and animal forms and wondering whether the boy across from him has the same talent. His breath comes easier already now, and though his eyes are still heavy, he's more alert as he smiles about at the hotsprings and the luxere nearby, most of them eating or resting, but a few plodding curiously closer. "I think this is working, you know," he says.
The young Halovian nodded once at the mention of shifts coming later, understanding that uncertainty well enough. Some gifts announced themselves early while thers waited, watching, until the bearer was ready. When the question turned back on him, Marcus glanced down at the water again, at the faint gold still threading outward from his hands. “I do,” he said, eyes lifting to the luxere and then to the pale sky beyond the steam. “Just one. White-tailed eagle. I am grateful that Frey gave me wings.”
He leaned back against the stone then, shoulders sinking as the last of the magic thinned and dissolved into the spring. The glow faded from his hands, leaving only warmth behind. Marcus exhaled slowly, feeling it in his chest, in his limbs, in the way the air no longer felt so heavy to breathe. “I think you’re right. This is working." He glanced at Amhran, a tired but genuine smile breaking through. “We’ve probably done enough to please Safrin."
Amhran's eyes light up to hear that Marcus is, indeed, able to shift, the Raeling offering him a smile and a warm nod. "That does sound very freeing," he agrees, peering up at the endless blue of the Halo sky at Longheat. "I don't know what I would pick as a shift - not that they are choices," he says. "I think I may be too grounded to be a bird, at least right now." Only time will really tell, though, and so he lets those thoughts unravel to focus on their work in the springs.
And as the glow fades from Marcus's hands, Amhran also lets the healing breeze fade from around them, stilling the ripples and allowing the steam to flood back in as a haze. "Hopefully so," he says, smiling again at the other boy and reluctantly - very reluctantly - starting to straighten himself up. "As tempting as it is to stay, what do you think about each of us heading home for a nap instead?"
Wings were freeing. Marcus loved everything about his eagle shift. He loves being able to travel quickly and nearly undetectable; being able to survive the cold of the air and tundra and see he chose to see; loved the perspective it gave. He wondered, too, what Amhran might shift into one day and he gave the demigod a bright, quick smile and joked about how he hoped it was something big enough for him to ride on so they could do some adventures together.
Taking in one last deep breath, the young hybrid agreed with his friend and stood in the springs. Vapor curled around his body as his skin met the cool air, and he moved quickly to dry off and dress once he was outside. ”See you around, friend!” Marcus said in departure, making sure to flash the Raeling an eye winking, genuine smile.
