You jump into the Stream and begin to head back towards the world the black-haired man was staying in. The Valkyries follow close behind. The journey doesn't take long.
You appear back in the air above the never-ending cityscape, and take out the note with the address from your pocket. Before you can read it, however, you hear a cry of anger from behind you and turn to see three Seraphim fighting with the Valkyries. You move to their aid, but it's over before you manage to take a single step. The Valkyries pull their spears out of dying Seraphim, letting them fall into the city below.
You finally read the note, and, to your horror, it reveals an ordinary address just written to the paper. No magical compass, no guiding light, not even a map of the city.
The black-haired man could pass for a normal human, but you have no such luck. Still, you have to go down and buy somekind of map or guide if you ever want to find him again.
You gesture for the Valkyries to follow and begin leading them down.
As you approach, your senses are assaulted by a incredible collection of different smells, noises, tastes and a bizarre swarm of creatures of all kinds. You land at the edge of a busy marketplace. Carts pulled by gigantic lizards roll past you, protected by fat, dog-headed men. Strange, transparent balls of a silvery liquid hover in the air past you, filling your head with a buzzing sound. You see some normal-looking humans as well, but they far and few between.
While you've seen - and sometimes Guided - nonhumans before, they don't usually live together with eachother or humans. The Valkyries don't seem to mind, just staring at you, eyebrows raised and waiting for instructions.
You spot two slighty slammer, winged lizards and their obvious riders waiting in a tower on the other side of the marketplace. As you watch, someone goes to speak with the other rider, pays him with something and both get on the lizard. It jumps into the air with an ear-piercing shriek.
' Follow me.' you say to the Valkyries, rather unnecessarily.
You make your way through the marketplace and up the stairs to the tower. The rider stands up the moment he sees you, and his face twists into a smile.
' Need a ride, ladies?' he asks. You realize both his eyes are like a cat's, and his fingers end in razor-sharp claws.
' Can you get us to this address?' you ask the man, showing him the note. He stands still, staring at something you can't see for a moment, then nods. ' You've gotta pay first, though.'
You begin to change your form, materializing a bag of gold coins in your hand. You drop it in the man's hand, who stares at you for a moment, then grins and pockets the gold.
You wonder what he will do when the gold disappears when you change your form back later on.
' You're outsiders. No problem, no problem, this is just enough. Just... enough.' He gestures you to climb to the lizard's back, and you comply. There is enough space for you and all the Valkyries.
The rider begins to guide the flyer up into the air.
The journey doesn't take too long, even though you get the feeling the rider is showing off his skills every now and then, diving just to go under a bridge or between two closely-built houses.
He drops you off near a large, wooden house, grins again, and disappears into the night.
You knock on the door of the building, and after a while, the door is opened by a dark-haired woman trying to force a smile on her face.
' Yes?' she asks behind gritted teeth. You hear shouting from deeper from the house. A familiar face appears from a doorway. The black-haired man gets two steps into the direction of the door before a vase comes flying from around the corner and hits him in the back of the head. He turns around, shouts something in a tongue you don't understand - strange; but that power was linked with the other Guiding powers, so it makes sense it would've disappeared with the pull - and walks over to you.
The woman who opened the door asks him something in the same tongue, gets an answer and leaves.
' You actually did it. Huh. I didn't actually think... oh well. Ladies.' he bows to the Valkyries ' I guess you want me spread the word now?'
You nod.
' Well, come in. I... memories get blurred when you start working for the Bureaucracy. I had... kind of... forgotten my sisters - the witches I spoke about - hate me. Oh well, too late to change anything. Oh, and, my name's Vogarm.'
You wonder briefly who the man was in his old life. Normal humans cannot become guides, so he probably had divine or otherwise supernatural blood in him.
You and the Valkyries get in the house, and you begin thinking about the next stage of your plan. Making the Valkyries find a new realm for your base seems like the best bet, while you will go after the other legendary guides. Who should you go after next?
((Pick either from the ones Hrist mentioned in the last update or visit a specific pantheon again))
I really shouldn't write while inspired. Wall of text much? And you didn't even get much done. >_>
[GUIDES RELATIONS INCREASED BY +30!]
[ALLY GAINED: VOGARM]
Author
Topic: Psychopompos (Read 22215 times)