A walk in Darkness. (Open, continued from A Return to Life)

[Rodry Pol]

Unfortunately, while she might have been interested in liquidation, all the old fellow would likely want to do with her coffers and vaults would be to liquidate them into his own pockets. It was a supreme effort not to accept the invitation. Rodry was old enough to not let his hunger for such things rule him, though it certainly didn't keep such fantastical thoughts from entering his mind. As much as he would just love to take a Scrooge McDuck-esque swim among a pile of riches, it was not the focus of his life any longer.

However, her desire to rid herself of such things, left her in an interesting position. After all what could one do with such gifts and baubles that could have a positive outcome? Despite the fact that instinct was telling him otherwise, Rodry carefully forced free a suggestion. The depths of those blue eyes leveled upon Venis. While it might have pained him, he sounded quite serious.

"I am sure that you could think of plenty of places that could benefit from such gifts. I know that there is an orphanage that could always use donations to help out their little ones. The church of saint ... saint..."

Trying to recall the name, though the particular name of the churches saint refused to come to him. He knew the place though, at least by sight. Though short of crawling through a log he was a bit foggy about how to get there.

That chuckle at least let him know she was still in decent humor, despite her apparent difficulties and anger. The old codger couldn't help but notice though that she was in pain, despite her quick motion to tuck her hand back beneath her leg. Lips parted faintly at her indulgent agreement. Whether she was humoring an old man or not, Venis was right. Rodry was quite special, but not in the way that he may have implied.

The almost knowing tone of voice she had used when she questioned just how sturdy he might have been had his upper lip bristling. Offering her a faint smirk. While Rodry was no telepath by any stretch of the word. He doubted it would be the last time he shared some sort of mental contact with another. It was amazing what one could manage with a bit of magic. Just the thought brought up an ancient memory, one that of course should have been left back in the fog of the old mans recollections.

"A bit sturdier, yes. Just as I might assume that you are a good deal sturdier than you look in those heels of yours."

The sudden spill of a bloody tear had his lips tightening faintly, Rodry was pretty experienced when it came to vampires. So he recognized the mark for what it was. Surprising, that she could apparently be in enough pain to bring tears to her eyes, yet still indulgently spoke with him as if she were fine, at least physically. Her tolerance was admirable.

"I would offer to help, but as well as I am feeling, I believe risking my health to try and open a portal for you would be tempting fate a few too many times this evening."

Already he was wandering around New Haven half dressed, in the middle of the night, escorting strangers and now talking to a murdering vampiric goddess. One would think that Rodry was already thumbing his nose at danger and common sense! The old fellow found it extremely interesting, that her worries were not for herself, but for the idea that those who would try to stop her would fail. It was a curious way of putting it and one that he would expect from someone who was tired of life, not in their prime.

The old man could relate, surprisingly. Rodry knew well what it was like, trying to keep ones self safe around others, or rather others safe around someone who was a natural danger to them.

Perhaps that was why he was offering his hand up to Venis despite the danger she represented. The old man knew what it was like to shoulder impossible burdens alone. Knew that sometimes all someone needed was to know that there was someone who did not openly fear them, for the scents that hung about Rodry certainly didn't speak of fear. Perhaps the he truly was a bigger fool than even he believed!

"Sometimes you have to trust in yourself more than you think you should. As you must trust others more than you or they might believe wise."

The scars were odd, considering that while they had the patchwork discoloration of burn scars, the flesh was not smooth as if it had been melted and healed improperly from flame. There was a very subtle overlapping pattern that seemed to almost begin beneath the skin.

Rodry's hand remained steady, even when she suddenly seemed to crumple into herself from a fresh stab of pain. The only thing that drew a reaction seemed to be the sudden lashing out at the building beside her. His eyes flickered towards the pulverized brick a moment before returning to her. Watching her while she carefully dabbed the blood away from her face. One brow raising significantly above the other, his lips parting in a grin.

"I trust pulverizing that brick made you feel better."

Sarcasm? Perhaps. Though of course she was soon explaining what had caused that raucous laughter. At least he had been able to put a smile on her face, that was something. Considering the fact that she was so very unstable. The old fellow could only offer a nod of understanding about the heels snapping, honestly on the roads of New Haven, he was surprised it wasn't a regular occurrence.

Wise old face remained impassive at her relating her situation. For how could Rodry truly understand what it was to be a God? Even in the old mans prime, he had not believed himself to be on level with a deity. Then again, he had never had cause to truly meet many. Rodry's attentions however perked at the mention of her having cast a spell. Having cast a spell that channeled some deeper darkness into her. Judgement was withheld, though once she seemed ready to take him up on his offer he gave only a faint nod. His hand light and she did find that he was able to support her in assisting her back to the ground.

Waiting until she was settled, he released her hand. Watching her sidelong from the corner of his eyes as she got her bag. He had moved away from the box enough that their direction was clear. Though he clearly wasn't trying to move out of harms way.

"Have you any idea on how to purge yourself of such darkness? If you were channeling, I could possibly assist ..."

Unfortunately Rodry had no idea of the nature of whatever this darkness was, of if it were a mortal force from another plane or simply an evil that was welling and multiplying at the core of the Goddess of protection.

It seemed even Gods needed help at times, the question was whether they could ask for it or accept the fact that they might indeed need such assistance. A small smile crept upon his visage at the mention of him leading, though of course he had something to say to that. One arm held faintly away from his body. Forming a crook that was offered her way. My, wasn't Rodry being the dashing fellow, tempting danger at every opportunity.

"No need to lead. Simply let the feet wander and take their natural path."

With that he was striking off. His poor slippers were going to be worn through, considering how much walking he was doing in them when normally they were accustomed to the rug covered floor of his chamber, more than anything else.

Rodry offered quiet companionship as they walked, headed vaguely in the direction of the Tel, but skirting it widely enough that their path would not take them within sight of of the building. Venis had seemed rather set on avoiding it.

Instead, his path was taking them on a meandering journey through the empty streets of New Haven, headed East. Towards the deeper darkness of the paths into the Eastern Forest, rather than the heavily populated areas. Leading her someplace where she would not be such a danger? Perhaps, then again, he had suggested they let their feet do the guiding, rather than setting for themselves a particular destination.

The rich loamy scent of the forest touched Rodry's nostrils, leaving him taking deep breaths. The scent of the earth unspoiled by mans industrious touch. The sound of woodland creatures scampering about in the trees and upon the forest floor. Plenty of game for her to hunt to feed her darkness, even if the meal beside her would be far more easily accessible.

"This darkness within you, tell me more of it. Perhaps the nature of the spell you worked, regardless of whatever reasons guided you upon choosing something that could so negatively impact you."

The surroundings of the trees upon the hard packed path that they followed hid this talk of darkness from the stars above, from the prying eyes of people at their windows. It would certainly appear that it was only Rodry and Venis out in the woods at this late hour!

[Venis Jordianthan]

If Rodry had wanted to line his pockets with a gross of her treasures, he would be welcomed to do so. Well, certain treasures were too precious to part with of course, but those were kept somewhere away from those she could easily part with. But he was suggesting something that she had thought of long ago. "Saint Emiliano's or Saint Emilio's or something like that. We threw a Christmas party for the children a few years back at the Tel. I gave generously and have continued to do so on a regular basis. I might not seem much of a philanthropist, but when it comes to children, I have a weak spot." Especially since she had managed to defy the odds and have a child of her own.

A smile was given in response to his presumption that she was sturdier than she looked in her heels. Though, her height in the heels being six feet and eight might make him a little uncomfortable. This thought occurred to her and sent her mind reeling back to a memory of a dance shared with the Big Bad Wolf one Halloween. Which of course sent her mind to the memory that his hat still hung upon the wall in her room. Wouldn't he just love to see her now? So full of darkness that she was having trouble controlling it. Such thoughts caused a thumping of her heart causing it to press against those invisible bands that surrounded it.

They could have easily been removed long ago, the day he put them there in fact, but why bother? They were harmless other than they made it so he could find her easier. Well, in theory anyway. After all, she was making a supreme effort to hide her location from all. Getting caught in Rhy'Din here and there was counter productive, but she wasn't in control of her destinations. She had been doing well save for a few incidents. This being one of them. And she was spending more time with Rodry than she intended. But she felt relatively safe that no one had tracked her enough to find her at the moment. But the first whiff of her being caught, and she was out of there.

She glanced to the wall as he asked about her pulverizing it. "I didn't mean to do that." She had consumed enough rat blood that she was able to blush. Though, it was doubtful that even Rodry's keep night vision would have seen as much. She placed her palm against the bricks where she had concaved them. "T'larryo khaliizin morfel a ussta rah, dajakk l' khaliizin dal l' in'loilens d' i'nik." The chunks of stone and grains of sand began to reform into bricks and fill the hole back as if it had never been broken. It only took a minute for the damage to be repaired. Once it was done, she ran her hand over the surface to make sure it was stable. "All better." She gave a slight smile.

Once she had her bag over her shoulder, she instinctively slid her hand into the crook of Rodry's offered arm. She knew she shouldn't do so, and the voices in her head were going wild for it. But he was a gentleman and regardless of the opinion of others, she was a lady. And not just in title. She grit her teeth and tensed slightly, but it wouldn't have been reflected in her touch. The voices wanted her to lean over and drink him. Drink him dry they were yelling. But Venis refused. She was not going to bite Rodry, she would feed in front of him upon an innocent little furry creature before she would bite him. The darkness was not even going to get a taste of him.

As they began their jaunt, she smiled at his comment about letting the feet wonder. "Not always the best idea in my current condition, but for the moment, I think I can manage." At least she hoped she could. Especially when she noticed that they were headed in the general direction of the Inn. But she knew that he would not take her to the Inn. She had already stated that she did not trust herself to go back there at the moment. He wouldn't endanger so many innocent lives in such a way. But on the slim chance that he would, he would find himself a guest in one of her treks through a portal to what she had aptly started referring to as anywhere but here.

Venis thought a moment about how to answer his inquiry about how to purge herself of the darkness. Perhaps if she did tell him more about it than it would be easier to figure out how to get rid of it. "I was in the castle. I had left orders that I wished to be left alone so I could try to get out. Well, I had been trying and was getting more than frustrated with the fact that I was trapped." That was the understatement of a lifetime or two. She was getting way more than more than frustrated. She was getting pissed beyond utter recognition. But that was not a detail needed in the telling of events at the moment.

She cleared her throat before she continued. "I was running out of idea's on how to get out. So, I cast a spell. It roughly translates to I call upon the forces of the night. Come forth so I may set things right. Break me free of this evil spell cast. So I can leave this place at last. I used dark magic to cast the spell. I probably would have been fine, except ..." And now came the even harder part to tell. Because now she had to admit just exactly how foolish she had been.

Her free hand moved to scratch the back of her head. "I had thought the spell hadn't worked, because I was still trapped. But, the darkness had taken hold. I should have been able to expel it easy enough, except that I was getting so mad about everything. Mad at the people who were bothering me. And then there was the fight. I got into this massive fight with Emilia." She shook her head. "The magic that was being thrown around, Emilia, Inion, me, it was feeding the darkness, letting it take a stronger hold. I have no soul, so it had a place to latch onto. And it craves the blood of mortal humanoids. I can't force it out, and the pain is insufferable. So much so in fact, that I have done unthinkable things to appease it." She spoke, of course, of the killing and the attacking of humans.

She sighed. "And, to make matters worse ... I made a deal with another deity. To get back the life of one, I traded the lives of a thousand. One thousand souls in exchange for one of personal value. The darkness loved that. It meant that there were going to be at least a thousand feedings. For the record, that debt is not paid in full as of yet. And I intend to pay it. But the darkness grows stronger with each feeding, and harder to control. Then, I had to be a real genius and suppress it long enough to save a life. It was not happy with me by the time I returned to my normal state of being." He might have noticed that she did not say natural state of being. After all, she had been born a human, mortal, witch. Would that not have been her natural state?

She shook her head as she continued. "In order to save someone, I removed as much darkness as I could by taking the form of a human. I was still a God, but I was no longer a vampire. One of the perks of being a God, I can take any shape or form I choose. But I digress. At that time, I considered staying in human form until the darkness died out. But I quickly discovered that it would not work because even if I play human, I am still without my soul, and I am still a witch born of a witch and a warlock. So there is no way to purge myself of all darkness and become purely good. I did try though. I couldn't function, I ended up in a heap on the ground sicker than I had ever been." Apparently, she couldn't strip herself of what she was born with. And the darkness clung to the darkness that was a natural part of her.

She sighed and shook her head. "So you see, I am in quite the pickle. I can't get rid of all the darkness in order to purge myself of the added darkness. And the added darkness feeds off of my darkness, magic, and mortal blood. It feasted on the power bubble that held my castle together after I managed to bring it down around us. Inion, Emilia, my husband and I were trying to hold it up long enough to get it emptied. And when I couldn't maintain a flow of energy and power between the four of us that was strong enough to sustain us and yet still hold up the castle, Eros helped. His pure energy was an all you can eat buffet for that darkness." And Venis had felt like a damn. Holding all that power and dispersing it to each individual and the castle as needed. She grew quiet then, she thought he had a lot to process now.





((Broken stones made by my hand, fix the stones from the pieces of sand.))

[Rodry Pol]

Well, it seemed that Venis hadn't been completely selfish with her worldly goods. Something that of course he should have considered, after all she had offered to allow him to eyeball them and frolic. At least that was the underlying meaning he had taken from her invitation. The old fellow offered a faint nod of his head, unable but to help and feel a kinship with her admitted weakness. Even if he could only smile at the thought.

"That is very kind of you. I know the little ones appreciated it. They were quite taken with me when I first met them, admittedly I thought I was saving a bunch of kids from rampaging goblins at the time but ..."

A bit of a laugh there, hell, until he had come across Epiphany, he had thought that the door had dumped him in the middle some poor village in the middle of being raided!

"I am surprised that you think of it as a weak spot. Generosity is something that should be encouraged, not restrained. Especially when it comes to children. Especially children who depend on such to get the things that they should be getting from a proper family."

The way Rodry spoke, it made it clear that he had a soft spot for children as well. After raising two of his own, he could sure as hell relate. Knowing how hard it had been to do so and to provide for them in the way he felt appropriate. To struggle with trying to live up to the almost mythical image in his head of a 'good parent'.

Rodry wasn't much shorter than she was in her heels. His stature hovered at six foot four inches when he stood up straight, as he was doing at the moment. Without her heels she would be shorter than he. While Rodry was used to being taller than most, he didn't find it overly disconcerting that she had a few inches on him at the moment.

It almost seemed as if he were treating her more like a troubled child, than some Goddess who was being driven half-insane by pain and the goading of some inner darkness which was tormenting her seemingly without reason. At least not a reason she had revealed just yet.

"Looked pretty deliberate to me. Though it seems to fall under the old 'no harm, no foul' saying, at least now."

Giving a nod at the bricks seemingly reassembling themselves. Ah, how he missed the days when words had been power, when a few verbal cantrips could perform seeming miracles. Such days seemed too far gone to be anything but an old mans nostalgia blurring actual events. Needless to say, Rodry couldn't help but smirk just a tad at her patting the wall.

Once she had taken his arm he was soon letting his feet guide them down the street. Seemingly at random. While she might have thought that allowing ones feet to wander was ill advised, he only gave her an indulgent grin. Rodry did his best to avoid any paths that lead them to much noise. While he trusted that he could direct her elsewhere, temptation wouldn't be wise. Risking himself was one thing, risking another was just not in his nature.

Their walk was shortened by the recanting of the tale of Venis and the darkness that welled within her. Leaving the Old Man offering nods and soft sounds of acknowledgement at appropriate intervals. Listening keenly to her tale, while at the same time not interrupting her. At least for the most part. Only once did speak up and comment. His tone was soft, one of understanding.

"We have all done unspeakable things out of need and desperation. It is a mortal fault."

Speaking as one who knew all too well the feeling of compromising part of yourself in order to do what needed to be done. It was not an unforgivable mistake, it was circumstance. Though of course, Rodry felt that a simple solution might suffice, he would keep his trap buttoned until she had fully recanted her tale. Which, by the time it had been finished, had given them time to sufficiently penetrate the forest as to leave Rodry sure that there weren't any others around. At least not any others that were within earshot of his hearing.

The tale had been one that was curious to him, since he couldn't imagine someone being trapped in their own home, well at least not literally. Rodry had been trapped in a mental sense within his home as he sickened, not wanting to be a part of the outside world, to let anyone see him as he had become. The Tel had helped him accept that this was who he was now, not something to be loathed. He may not have been the man that he once was physically, but that didn't mean he couldn't still live.

"Have you tried becoming a being who was not human? Perhaps even one who was of a fundamentally good nature? While you might not be able to expel the darkness, wouldn't it be possible to balance it with an equal link to light?"

Yes, Rodry was telling a vampire to let the light into their non-soul. Obviously he must not understand how vampirism worked, either that or he was just being intentionally ignorant. Who knew with the odd duck that Rodry was. His hand reached across his chest, lightly patting the one that rested in the crook of his arm. As if consoling her.

"I am sure that as a god, you should be able to find a sufficient source of purity to offer you some measure of inner balance, or even just some assistance in controlling it."

Rodry had a few other thoughts on how she may be able to help with her little ... problem, but they were variations on what might be possible with his first idea. While expelling it might not work, transference might be a possibility ... then of course there was the selection of a vessel and the like. Things that would be difficult to consider even in ones right frame of mind.

[Venis Jordianthan]

Oh, Venis had offered more than a chance to eyeball and frolic. She was willing to let him abscond if he so wished to do so. But it was Rodry's comment that had her laughing out loud. Which was met with a wince and a scowl. For some reason, the darkness was refusing to let her have even a moments amusement. The pain didn't stop her from commenting though. "Let me guess, Epiphany was giving a history lesson, or something, and it was going about as well as one of her drink recipes?" Venis knew from Pip's recipes, she still remembered the night of the St. Valentine's Day ball at Claremount.

A smile graced her lips at Rodry's next remark. "Tis not the generosity that I find to be a weakness. It's those cute little children. I bought them computers and books and clothes and shoes and everything else I thought they could want or need. I tend to spoil children." Venis never got the chance to raise her four oldest children. Not even the son she gave birth to. And her four youngest shunned her when they were little because she was not their biological mother. So she missed out on a lot when it came to child rearing. The orphans reaped the benefits.

Rodry could treat her like a troubled child at the moment if that was what he so wished to do. It was sort of how she felt. Especially when she did things like pulverizing walls. "Yes, well, no harm no foul this time. It used to be that when fixing a mistake with a simple spell or incantation, I went immediately to white magic. The fact that I just went to my fathers dark magic without even thinking says something about my mental state. And it worries me." She was beginning to wonder if her downward spiral into the all consuming darkness was going to start showing physically as well.

A slight lowering of her head and a sigh of frustration followed his next comment. "Unfortunately, as vain and conceded as it sounds, I am supposed to be above such things as mortal faults. After all, I am anything but mortal. Heh, once upon a time, long, long ago, vanity and conceit were sins for a monotheist. And despite being a natural born witch, I was still a believer in the Christian God." She wasn't going to continue her comment by adding her current views on the subject. She found herself wondering why she was even remembering such things aloud.

Rodry's mention of her possibly becoming a being that wasn't human had her wondering. She was silent for a moment of thought. "Like what? I'm not sure that anything that I became would be without darkness given I was born of both evil and good." Every form she had ever taken had been just as bad as it was good. Her father had been a warlock heavy into black magics, her mother was a good wiccan who only practiced the most pure and light of magics. Venis found she had a talent for both. Every spell she cast she had to chose white or black. And normally, it was white, without thought. But since she had invoked that darkness, her instincts were for the black magic. A scary thought that.

The patting of her hand was comforting, if not consoling. She listened to his words and again she was perplexed. "Well, there are Heavenly bodies, Angels and the like. Except, I'm not sure that I would be able to. I thought to take a trip into Heaven itself, see if it killed off the darkness. But I barely pass through the gates under normal circumstances. I shed my physical body to go, and with that goes most of my natural darkness. Which is the only thing that gets me in to deliver souls. With the extra ..." She returned to her silent pondering for a few moments.

A long fingernail came to rest upon her bottom teeth as she pinched it with the top. She was deep in thought for a moment. Her fingernail left her mouth so she could speak. "When I had to operate on Armandeus, I changed from vampire to human to do so. That took away the tilt of darkness that comes from being a vampire. So I was two parts good and one part darkness. White witch, God, and then dark witch. The added darkness made it a balance, well almost. The darkness is far too powerful to achieve actual balance that way. So human wasn't good enough." She was following a train of thought now. The one that Rodry had lead her down.

While she waited to see if he had anything to add, she was running down a list of beings to try to figure out if there was anything short of a Heavenly being that she could become to more than just achieve balance, but to drive the darkness out of herself, or defeat it. She wanted to kill it off or cast it out or something. If she took the form that she used when going into Heaven or Hell to deliver souls, it could cause issues for anyone who could be in the vicinity. God's weren't supposed to be seen in their true form. If the darkness had been a soul, she would easily know how to get rid of it. But, alas, this was a different issue.

[Rodry Pol]

Oh how much the temptation to pilfer and hoard would tempt him, it was the exact reason he had denied himself the opportunity. After all, even with his surprising amount of self-control, there were more than a handful of things that could still shatter it relatively easily! He couldn't deny being a sucker for gifts and treasures! When Venis went on, to actually bring up the exact thing that had happened, he couldn't help but give her an almost suspicious sidelong look. Only offering a small smile at the fact that she seemed to insist on soldiering on through this pain of hers that the darkness caused.

"History lesson. Some goblin invasion, don't remember what she called it ... it went well, I just didn't recognize that I was dealing with some sort of illusion."

Nope, Rodry had gone on to brandish his beloved sword, to help them with their defense, until he had found Epiphany. Needless to say, the old man had been damned confused at that point! Even if like now, Rodry had dealt with the situation with his naturally 'easy going' nature. Letting the oddness roll of his shoulders, rather than ruin the experience.

While Rodry could only imagine how much the kids appreciated Venis' generosity, he had to wonder. It was hardly a weakness to protect the young, it was natural. Probably doubly so for her, since she was apparently a 'goddess of protection'. It only had him considering how one who could seemingly be so kind, could at the same time harbor such sinister hidden portions of themselves.

There was something to be said about a pot and a kettle for that.

"Spoiled children aren't always a bad thing. Heavens know they deserve it."

Everyone seemed to have some bittersweet story, it was the nature of life and living. While she didn't get to raise her children, she at least knew of them, that they were well enough to her knowledge. Rodry would have been just glad for that, if he hadn't gotten to raise his children.

It was in his nature to treat anyone that his mind filed under 'weak' in an almost child-like manner. While he damned well knew that Venis was far from weak, she was a woman and the night was dark. It didn't help that she suffered beneath the weight of her dark burden, leaving her with mood swings that would seemingly rival any two year old.

"Then perhaps you should ease back on the magic use. I know that it is second nature to some of us ..."

His glance moved away, not singling Venis out, as if he were speaking to the street in general, rather than for only her benefit.

"You need not add fuel for the fire of your darkened heart."

While it might not have been her heart, per se, Rodry did think of her as being tainted with darkness at her core. Perhaps just a little bit of that natural animosity seen there, but he was being kind enough, walking her someplace where there at least weren't as many people around. So perhaps a place of better safety for others, but it meant that the old man was alone with the vampiric goddess.

"No one is above fault. You may hold yourself to a higher standard, but no one is perfect. We may strive for such things but perfection is objective and unattainable."

Coming from someone of his age and profession, it wasn't law, but he certainly felt that he had known enough of this world and deities in general, that no one failed to make mistakes. Only in death did anyone stop making mistakes, because there were no mistakes for them to make any longer. The old man didn't comment about her religious beliefs and if he had even heard her, he hadn't shown any reaction.

Rodry knew better than to let himself wander into a theological discussion about religions or various gods. Rodry found it hard to believe in the infallibility of any being with even a modicum of free will. It wasn't in anyone's nature to be totally selfless. To react only on what was shown to them and then without their own needs being weighed. At least in his experience!

"I would think that perhaps an angel would work."

Of course, she was soon expressing her thought that she would be unable to do so. It had him giving a low hum, considering trying to recall what other beings he knew of that were naturally abhorrent to darkness. The only thing that had come to his mind was the Angels themselves. Of course there had to be more, but other than that he couldn't put his thumb upon the possibilities. Perhaps it was the late hour that left his mind not wishing to spit out the other things he swore he knew.

His brief mind wracking had him seemingly paying her no mind. Poor fellow had a habit of letting his mind wander when he was wrestling with a particular thought, it had him focusing upon her again, his gaze leaving the darkness of their path to return to Venis. Those deep sapphire hues studying her face while she seemingly gnawed at a fingernail.

"Perhaps you could take on a form to weaken this Darkness. Then perhaps perform some purification ceremonies? I'm not familiar with any, but I am sure you could find a cleric or priest who could at least try their hand at excising this darkness."

The old fellow was honestly out of his element. Morality wasn't something that he consciously thought of, it was just what he did in reaction to things. Reflected upon later to see how he had behaved. It had never been a question about whether his choices were right or wrong, he had his honor, but ...

"Honestly, I've never really dealt with any sort of darkness in the sense of trying to get rid of it. The closest my experience has brought me would be in removing or sabotaging an unwanted charm or enchantment..."

She could certainly get a holy symbol, while she was a vampire, shouldn't the inherent goodness held drive away the darkness? He didn't know! Rodry was picking his steps a tad more carefully now, since the thick canopy was eating up much of the light. While he had decent enough night vision, he was in slippers and didn't want to step on a dirt covered rock or stub a toe on a leaf coated root. His head dipped nearer his chest. Keeping an eye on their path.

"Could you push it into another perhaps?"

One couldn't fault him for at least giving it a good old fashioned try, but Venis was plagued by something far more pressing than a simply intellectual conundrum!

[Venis Jordianthan]

It wasn't so amazing the Venis hit the nail on the head when she guessed what he had happened across. She was a God, a seer of all, a knower of everything, besides. "When the children were about the Inn for Christmas, many of them regaled me with stories of 'Miss Epiphany's lessons'. It sounded like so much fun to me." Of course, she had thought at least some of them to be tall tales. But with Rodry's accounting, perhaps she had thought wrong.

Venis gave a nod to his saying that the children deserve to be spoiled. "Not everyone agrees with us on that. But I felt sure that the sisters would keep their getting a little spoiled from going to their heads." She had refused to be swayed from her shopping for those kids because she believed such. And, though the adults might not have, the kids were so very appreciative for all that she had done. And it was the kids that counted.

A darkened heart was a good analogy in this case. "Perhaps. I think that when I feel like I am under duress, that I fall back on magic, be it witchcraft or otherwise, so that my physical energy is used for other things. But you're right. I should try to stick to manual ways of doing things for now. Though, the wall would have taken quite some time to fix manually, even with vampire speed." She chuckled and then grabbed her stomach with her free hand while she winced. Her laughter was cut short by the pain.

She reached her free hand over to pat his arm that her other hand was hooked to. "Rodry dear, God's are supposed to be perfect." That was all she added to his comment. To add more would have brought about a deeper conversation of religion and such. And that was too deep of a conversation for the two of them to have at the moment. They were already getting into one deep conversation, no need to make it two.

It wasn't so much that she said she couldn't become an angel, just that she was not too sure she could. And she would be willing to try. But she listened to everything he said on the subject. As she did, she wondered what forms could weaken the darkness? Would a priest perform an exorcism on a vampire, and would it work? And if she could push it into another being, who or what would she push it into? "Who would I ... Or what?" She was pondering everything he said.

It dawned on her that they were in some pretty thick foliage, and far away from town and people. "Rodry, what if I tried now? While I'm safely away from town. I can control myself around you, you're just one person. Tempting, but not overpoweringly so. What if I tried to shift forms?" Her voice sounded so flat and level. But there was an undertone to it. Like she was going a little bit out of her mind. And of course, as soon as she suggested it, she wondered if Rodry had it in him to protect her. Or more importantly, to mortally wound her to protect himself if need be.

[Rodry Pol]

Of course, being a god might have been more than a bit of a cheat, after all when one was said to be omnipotent ... it meant that little went beyond their notice. It was part of why Rodry was never a huge fan of Gods who wandered among mortals and the demi-god like beings that were practically immortal compared to the races that lived lives less lengthened.

"It was quite fun, after I wasn't worried over a Goblin arrow in my back or for the lives of the children I thought needed protecting."

He could still see the respect in their gazes, their eagerness to listen to him tell a story. It had been ... like old times. When he had been in his prime and had enjoyed telling stories and sharing his own history for others to enjoy. It had been something he hadn't gotten to truly savor in such a long time ... though he didn't resent anyone for the lack anymore. In all honesty, it was nice to get to be expected just to listen every once in a while. As he had with Venis.

"Therein lies the difference. One can be spoiled, loved and know that they shall be spoiled, without having to behave as if they are entitled and deserve to be better treated than any other.

Rodry didn't for a moment believe that any of those children would have thought themselves entitled for all that they got. Epiphany and the Sisters and Fathers especially would do their best to make sure that the kids remembered what was important, that they remained with both feet firmly upon the ground and knowing what was right, what they should do in order to always remember where they had come from and to never forget to be true to themselves, rather than to belittle others. As far as Rodry had been concerned, those kids had a bright future ahead of each of them.

Oh there was just the faintest of smirks on his visage at the mention of a mundane refurbishment of the wall. It would take time, but time spent in manual labor would likely calm her mind some. Menial and somewhat repetitive tasks always helped relax Rodry's from any troubles he might be suffering!

"No one is perfect, even gods. Anyone claiming otherwise is a narcissistic egomaniac."

Which was certainly true. Who in this world could truly believe that they were perfect? That they had no faults? Not even one of the deities he had known could claim perfection and in a way it was comforting. Perfection was meant to be beyond their reach. Otherwise, there would be no reason for life, no reason to attempt to improve upon ones self!

Like Venis, the old fellow didn't exactly want to let their talk devolve into a theological discussion. The last thing he wanted to do was to get too caught up in some 'petty details' when there were things that should be dealt with more quickly, like trying to come up with a possible solution to Venis' problem with the darkness that infected her.

"Ideally, I would say to transfer your darkness into something or someone who would be able to destroy it. However, in lieu of the circumstances, perhaps you can try to transfer it to something harmless. You say you have been feeding on small animals. Perhaps try with one of those."

After all, a Rat infused with darkness at it's heart would still just be a rat. No matter how evil it was, right?

Rodry cocked a brow at the sudden earnest nature of her tone. As if she were looking to him for some sort of approval. As if he could truly give her some answer for which she sought. Those sapphire eyes of his glinted as he gauged the risks versus the reward. Rodry was familiar with the difficulties produced with shape-shifting and he had to wonder if Venis' troubled mind would be up to the discipline and dealing with the stress.

"If you think that you can manage. Give me a moment to make an inscription."

It took him a moment, to locate a stick that he felt would work. Though once found, Rodry was returning, using slipper clad foot to smooth back the loam. Clearing it until he had cleared out a circle of dirt around Venis, where he used the stick to slowly trace symbols into the dirt. Working steadily, but it would still take a minute or two before he was satisfied with his work. Assuming of course that she would wait for him to finish, since he had asked.

[Venis Jordianthan]

A faint nod from Venis ended the conversation about the Orphans and their remaining untainted by her spoiling of them. She was glad that someone shared in her opinion that they were deserving of a little spoiling. But as for his opinion of someone who believes themselves to be perfect being a narcissistic egomaniac. "Eh, I've been called worse." Though, truthfully, she had been called both narcissistic and egomaniac both separate of each other and as a combined insult. She didn't mind.

He had a point about the transferring of the evil into another. But ... "Ideally, yes, transferring the darkness into something else would be great. Save for the fact that I would not wish this on another living being. Especially something with a soul." She shuddered at the thought. To inflict another with this darkness was something the Goddess of Protection could never bring herself to do. And though the darkness was trying to keep her from protecting others, it would never go there because it was feasting so well upon her.

In a way she was looking for his approval when she suggested trying to shift. Not so much like asking permission as making sure he was ok with her trying. She was placing a great deal of trust in him. She had to know if he trusted her as well. At least to some degree. So when he suggested making an inscription she smiled. "Sure. Wait." She looked around at their surroundings. "The foliage is too dense here. Is there a clearing nearby?" She knew what could happen if things went wrong.

She would be more than happy to let him make his inscription once they were in a clearing. "But I do have one question. I presume you will be binding me in the circle. But what more?" She was no fool. She knew he would be doing something for either his protection, her protection, or both. And she couldn't blame him one bit for it. In fact, she was rather happy that he had thought about it.

If they were looking for a clearing, she would talk to him while they looked. If not, she would still be talking to him before she began. "Before this starts ... " She reached into her bag of holding. There was a slight glow within the bag before she removed her hand. "I have opened this bag of holding into an underground storage space that no one knows about. If you need something from the room, look into the bag. As you move the bag you'll get to look around the room. It will move closer to anything you reach for. There's a claymore in there, a led box containing a cross blessed by a Catholic Priest. Also, a wooden stake in a glass box, and a gun with two clips. One contains bullets with liquid silver in the tip, one contains bullets with wood slivers in a concentration of UV. And some other stuff you might need." Hence the reason no one knew of this underground room or where it was located.

She reached out to hand him the bag. "The claymore will only injure me enough to slow me down if you drive it through my heart. The cross will slow me down, unless you put it on me, then it will render me unconscious and burn the shape into my flesh. The wooden stake will only kill my physical form. I would have to reform a new one, which isn't as easy as it sounds. If you need the gun, you'll know which clip you'll need. Make sure you aim for my heart. Again, it will only kill my physical form, but that would be enough to keep you safe. The scars from holy relics are a bitch to heal, so try to not go there if you don't have to, please. And there is no holy water in there. That is intentional. What ever you do, please do not use water. You'll understand why you might want to if things get out of hand. But I am begging you, please, do not use water, not even plain water." The last thing she wanted was to end up as a mass of volcanic rock.

She hoped that he would not use anything against her unless it were dire that he do so. She trusted him, though the voices in her head were screaming at her to not. "Please, please, do not use any of these objects against me unless it is the only way to save your life or the life of another. And by another, I do not mean myself. In all honesty, I would rather die than suffer some of the things that could happen to me if some of those things were to be used on me." Which was exactly why there was nothing liquid in that room save for the liquid silver in the bullets. In some forms, water was the worst possible thing in the universe for her.

[Rodry Pol]

"Then why don't you try sharing with something inanimate? I assume since you can draw on it for casting spells, that you can manipulate it to some degree. It might be wise to give it a try if shifting into a different shape isn't a viable solution."

Rodry was confident in the fact that she could at least try both options. Though this of course was assuming that the two of them were able to agree on what might be the wisest course of action. The old fellow had no misgivings about letting her try her transformation, after all he had suggested it. It just meant that he was going to do everything that he could to assure that they were both safe while the attempt took place.

Venis' suggestion, that they find a clearing, was a wise one. A suggestion that Rodry was heeding. Nodding slowly before gesturing to the East. Clearly he had something in mind.

"My memory might not be what it used to be, but I believe that there is one a little deeper into the forest."

It took them a few minutes to reach the clearing he recalled, but once there he was taking his time in creating the circle of protection. No doubt she would recognize the relatively simple binding spell. The draconic characters, the language that a human wizard, mage or sorcerer would use for magic, were carefully inscribed in the dirt. A second circle had been made around the first, with runes that were a little less familiar, it was attached to the inner binding circle by several complex channels with sigils of their own.

"Indeed. The central circle is a simple binding, however the outer is a more complex Lode spell, it stores energies that are are around it in order to fuel other enchantments or in this case the binding."

He took the time to indicate the connections made between the two circles with his stick.

An elegant solution to the fact that I lack the strength to power an enchantment that could bind a deity. The more energy and power you throw against the circle of protection, the more abundantly powered the Lode becomes and in turn, the circle of protection that will bind you in place."

Like a fish in a net, the harder she struggled, the more powerful the protection against her would grow.

Rodry listened keenly to her when she started to explain her bag of holding, which the old man took carefully, glancing over the outside of the bag curiously, before he did as she explained moving the bag around slowly to look around the chamber that was seemingly contained within. Funny how the old fellow could deal with something as 'unusual' as this in stride, yet seemed flustered when someone whipped out a cellphone.

While her instruction about not using water was a curious one, leaving some wicked little demon in the back of his mind wanting to find out why she feared water so much. Of course, he shook his head as if to dislodge the little bastard.

"Sound like one of my kids when I was threatening them with a bath."

Rodry held onto the bag in one hand, completing the circle around her. He could immediately feel it, the way the Goddesses power suddenly stopped flowing around him as the Lode began to channel it into that central circle. He started his own circle, completing it in the reverse of her own. Warding on the outside, Lode on the inside channeling power from outside into the circle itself. Once completed, he could feel the dual barriers between them and gave her a slight nod. dropping the stick he had used to draw the circles carefully within his own, placing both hands on the lip of the bag, glancing down to see what the nearest thing to it's opening was.

"I expect all of these precautions to be for not. I am sure you can handle controlling yourself."

A show of faith that might have been misplaced, though perhaps the old fellow was simply making it because he felt it would give her confidence in herself and assist in making sure that she performed her best.

[Venis Jordianthan]

((Please forgive me this post, but Venis feels that this is the way it would go. LOL Also, don’t mind the backgrounds on the pics. I would have taken me a whole lot of time that I did not have in order to change them to all be the same. LOL))

A look of pondering formed on Venis’ features. She was seriously thinking about what the consequences would be if she used an inanimate object. “That might be an idea, if this doesn’t work.” She continued to think on the subject for a moment. She was going over scenarios in her mind. “But it’s not the added darkness that I draw upon to cast spells. It’s my natural ability. I try to not draw on the extra darkness for anything.” Added as an afterthought, feeling the need to make that clear.

She was happy to hear that there was a clearing a little farther into the wood. It simply would not do for her to set the trees ablaze. Especially given that in her current state, things could get a little out of control and there could be a lot of acreage lost. Venis would have a time trying to repair all of that damage. It was not worth the risk. Thankfully, Rodry thought there was a clearing ahead and she needn’t worry over it.

Once they reached the clearing, Rodry began to make his circles. As he did so, he explained them. Seeing what he was doing made Venis smile. “You speak Draconic? My son, the one I gave birth to, is Dracon. Well, that’s one of his forms at least. His form of choice.” She chose to not elaborate on what Dre’s other forms were or how it was that two vampire’s produced a Dracon. None of that was information that would be pertinent to the present situation.

Speaking of her beautiful son had Venis feeling quite happy. Which was causing the darkness to protest in her head. Her anguish was reflected upon her face with the sour cringe that she couldn’t help. Luckily, she had Rodry’s explanation to take her mind off of Dre and how much she loved and missed him. “The Lode. It is a wonderful idea. I could honestly say that I do not recall anyone ever thinking to use my own power against me. Quite creative.” She smiled even as her brow furrowed.

A hand went to her head once again to rub her temple. The problem being that the darkness knew all that she knew, saw all that she saw, heard all that she heard. It was most definitely not liking what it was hearing now. The voices were screaming at her to step free before he activated the circles. Step free and drain him dry. She remained still. The darkness said that he would be quite the treat, intoxicating even. Venis remained unmoved. The pounding in her head became a sharply piercing stab to her brain. Yet Venis’ feet did not so much as even twitch. Her only reaction was the cascading of a lone tear of blood falling from her right eye. A tear which she promptly wiped away.

Ignoring the pain and the voices, she continued the conversation at hand. “I’m sure that you could find the strength to power the enchantment if you needed to. The mind and the body are wondrous things. Power can come to those in their time of need much like an adrenaline rush.” Flattery perhaps, but still meant just the same. Venis never lost faith in those who sometimes lost faith in themselves. She truly believed in the power of the mind and the body to come through in a time of need. But, when there are ways to get things done without risking the mind and body failing you, it is always best to go that route.

When Rodry took the bag of holding from her, he would note that the outside looked much like a dust colored bag that one would perhaps use to carry fruit from the grocers or something similar. It was made of a cotton polyester blend and was of simple construction. A seem across the bottom and up each side. Two handles that seemed to be seamlessly part of the construction of the bag as a whole. It was almost like someone took a dirt brown T-Shirt and cut off the sleeves, then cut the neckline so that the shoulders of the shirt would me more like handle straps and the opening of the bag would be larger.

A bag of holding, under normal circumstances, can hold anything and everything one inside of it. Venis had even seen one person place a generator and a mini-refrigerator within their bag. She found it quite humorous at the time. Venis had many things within her bag. Changes of clothes, cleaners for her bikini, hair care products, weapons, her precious saltine crackers. It was quite the stash. But Rodry would see none of that as he peered inside. Venis had placed a portal within the bag before it to him. The portal leading directly to a secret underground room that no one knew of, and no one would ever find. The only way into the room was through portals. The ground above it was undisturbed and there was nothing to mark its place. And it wasn’t even on the same continent as were standing.

As Rodry examined the bag, which Venis knew he would do, she began to slip off her shoes and toss them just outside of his circles. It made sense for him to examine the bag, after all, it made sense to get the lay of the land so to speak. It made it easier to find that which you needed if you needed it in a hurry. Venis untied her skirt and lid it from her waist. Bending over, she stepped free of the cloth and tossed it to where her shoes lie. The removal of her blouse followed, pulling it off over her head to toss it over with the skirt and shoes. And people thought she had forgotten how to do things manually.

She heard his comment about his kids and bath time while she was ridding herself of her garments. It made her chuckle, and then cringe. “Oh, I bathe. It’s only that in some forms, water is the most dangerous thing in existence to me. Liquids in general. They are just too dangerous.” She gave a halfhearted shrug as if to dismiss the information as every day conversation about the weather. She was trying to avoid letting him know that there was a chance of her becoming a being of flame. Best to not alarm him needlessly. She hoped that her choice was the right one. After all, without warning, he could be taken aback to the point of trying to find liquids out of fear. Which was why she gave the warning of no liquids. One would find out soon enough, because either her flames would take her over or they wouldn’t. If they did, it would be nothing new.

Under her skirt, she wore a pair of metal bikini bottoms. The from plate of metal, that curiously moved with her form, was the shape of a burst of flame. It was gold in tone, though not made of gold alone. Two chains ran from the golden flame up her lower abdomen to disappear over her hips to the back. The back of the bottoms was the same golden toned metal that moved as if it were silk. It covered her entire bottom, like a pair of panties, yet it was shaped to look as if she wore nothing. Under her blouse was the bikini top to match the bottoms. Two golden toned circles covered a good portion of the ample curves she had been blessed with. They curved with her shape just as the bottoms, moving with her, yet supporting her quite well. The circles were made to look like pentagrams with solid backgrounds. One chain went from the outside of each circle to around behind her. A smaller chain ran between them to keep them together. And yet another chain went from the tops of the circles to up around her neck.

A look to Rodry caused her a moment of blush. “Sorry, I should have warned you that I had planned to disrobe. I love that outfit and wish to not ruin it. No worries though, this bikini is unbreakable and even fire proof. My son fashioned it for me, even adding a touch of his own scales to keep it from melting into my flesh if need be. Best Blacksmith in all of Rhy’Din if I do say so myself. Still, to warn you would have been the polite thing.” She gave a hint of a smile and blushed a little more, hoping he would be understanding. None of her Jewelry was removed, save for the choker necklace that she never removed. Once that was tossed aside, Rodry might see the tiniest of scars upon her neck. Right over her jugular, two tiny dots that had been puncture wounds three hundred and fifteen years ago. The golden charm upon the red velvet choker … A golden pentacle with a hollow background.

When the circle was closed and activated, Venis felt it. It was suddenly as if she were soaking in a thick goo of her own power. She knew she emanated a lot of power naturally, but she had no idea that it was this much. She took a deep breath and worked to dial it down less she drown in the thickness of it. Had Venis known that Rodry fed on power as he did, she would have known how she must have been like an all you can eat buffet to him. Such knowledge would have made her happy. Of course, her being happy would have made the darkness extremely unhappy. So perhaps it was best that she did not know.

Rodry formed a second pair of circles around himself, in reverse of those he had placed around her. This too made Venis smile. The man was precautious; she had to give him that. And he added a little pep talk as well. Another smile, though this one showed signs of pain around her eyes. “Thank you Rodry. I will do my best. Just remember this for me? The eyes are the windows to the soul, but as I have no soul, they are simply a sign that I am still here.” She made sure to look him in the eyes as she spoke so he would see the brilliant blue orbs of which she spoke. She hoped that he understood that she meant that so long as her eyes were of the same shade, she was still in there somewhere and still somewhat in control of the situation.

When Rodry dropped the stick to the ground and gave the signal that he was ready, Venis closed her eyes and lowered her head. She brought her hands together before her face and placed her palms together with her fingers to the sky. Her lips moved wordlessly as her voice echoed in her head. ~Dear God, please watch over me and my companion as I undertake this experiment. Protect us both from myself and the darkness within. Bless us both oh Lord as we try to right what I have wronged. Let us come away from this experience whole and undamaged. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.~ She placed her hands back down at her sides as she raised her head.

A smile and a wink was offered before she raised her arms out to her sides. She lifted her head to look to the Heavens above and she began to float from the ground. She pointed her toes and pressed her feet together. She almost looked as though she had been crucified. Within seconds, a breeze picked up out of nowhere and sent nearly seven feet of crimson spirals floating out around her head and body. A glow of light, though faint, began to form around Venis. A white gown began to slowly drape over her starting at her shoulders and falling down her body and arms until it hung below her feet. Wings started to form behind her, they were sprouting from her back between her shoulder blades. Upward and outward they grew as more and more soft feathers formed. The feathers were a pure white as new fallen snow and as soft as the underbelly of a swan.

It was only a minute or two that Venis was in this form before the darkness could take no more. Her stomach convulsed and her hands came down from her sides to grip her midsection. Another convulsion and her head was thrust forward. Third time was the charm, as her stomach convulsed a third time, her head fell forward and she began to throw up. At first, the vomit consisted of blood. Rat blood to be exact. And Venis began to fall to the ground. She was on all fours upon the ground when her body had emptied itself of blood. But dry heaves were not to follow. Instead, it was a mass of flames.



The flames were extinguishing as they hit the ground in front of her face. The ground wasn’t even getting so much as singed. One hand went to her stomach once again as she fought to stop the convulsions. The feathers started to fall away and get spread in the wind. The same wind that had been blowing her hair back only moments before. The holes that were being caused by the feathers falling were being filled with a thick leathery looking skin. As more feathers fell away, parts of the wings began to become covered with white scales. All of her skin was getting covered in white scales. She began to grow a thick scaly tail and her spine began to twist and bend in ways it had never done before. She was getting bigger and bigger with each passing moment.

Her face sprouted outward and her teeth all became fangs. Her fingers crooked and her nails grew into thick talons. Her long red locks fell out as horns and spikes grew from her head. The pupils of her eyes moved from little black dots to slits splitting her ice blue irises. Her body completely changed its shape. Her head was turned skyward when she released a stream of fire from deep within her throat. Then she looked over at Rodry, those blue eyes setting upon him as another breath of fire shot outward. Rodry’s circles held up well against the attack. The fire hit an invisible shield and spread outward. Then a very high pitched sound was emitted, might have even hurt Rodry’s ears.

Snow white feathers began to form on the wings once more. Venis’ body began to shrink and a layer of thick, course hair started to cover the scales. Horns and spikes melted away into long white hair. Her tail began to shrink and turned from scales to long white hair as well. She dropped to all fours and taloned claws melded into hooven legs of pure white. Gone were the teeth of the carnivore to be replaced with those of an herbivore. Ears appeared atop her head, pointed just slightly and covered with that pure white hair. Rodry’s shields of protection and binding were being very accommodating to these shape changes of hers.

The Pegasus looked at Rodry and lowered her head in a show of respect. Venis spread her wings and flapped them a couple of times before rearing up and emitting a loud neigh. When she again had four hooves upon the ground she began to shake her head. It was more than one or two shakes of the head before another change began. She began to shrink rapidly. Her hair was being replaced by feathers all over her body. Her arms, or front legs in this case, were shriveling up into her body. Her face began to shrink back towards her head, but rather than returning to a human face, a beak formed. Her legs shriveled and balded as ‘toes’ began to separate from the hooves. Little sharp talons formed at the ends of the ‘toes’ as well.

The white vulture looked to Rodry with very contradictory blue eyes. She walked over as she folded her wings in and pecked at the air towards him. It was to no avail as the boundaries were set by the circles. There was no escape for the bird of prey. Another loud squawk and Venis again began to shrink. Not a lot of changes occurred this time as she simply grew smaller everywhere and the layout of her feathers changed. Those blue eyes looking like little dots of color in a sea of white feathers. The eyes blinked and the head tilted as she looked towards Rodry again. Venis was beginning to get very upset about this process. Every time she chose a form that was considered good, the darkness fought her and turned her to a beast of prey of some sort.



The dove that was Venis took flight within the confines of the circle. She looked rather Heavenly in the moonlight. But then her feathers began to fall away again. Once more, her wings took on a leathery feeling skin. The shape of her head changed and she lost all her feathers. She remained small, yet was now covered in a white skin rather than her beautiful white feathers. She continued to fly around a few times before she turned those now blind blue eyes on Rodry. She flew headlong into the barrier powered by the circles. She was knocked backwards, yet charged the invisible wall again. Two, three, four more times before she had knocked herself senseless just enough to change shapes again without a fight from the darkness.

The bat fell to the ground and almost immediately began to grow feathers once more. Venis started to wonder why so many things that were considered ‘good’, or ‘Heavenly’ or ‘pure’ in some way, had feathers. Her legs grew back out and she gained a webbed skin between her ‘toes’. Her neck grew longer and her head again changed shape. She grew a bill and tail feathers. Already Venis was growing tired of this. She sat down upon the ground and turned so she could slide her head under her wing. Rodry would have seen her blue eyes as she turned her head if he was paying attention. While Venis had her head tucked under her wing, she prayed for this to be over soon. It was becoming very taxing on her already.

((T.B.C.))

[Venis Jordianthan]

But the darkness wasn’t done with her. It wasn’t content with letting her bury her head in her wing and stop shifting forms. Swans weren’t generally considered wicked or evil or even dangerous. Of course, that was because people didn’t know any better. But still, not something even the darkness would consider dark enough for its taste. Venis’ tail feathers began to grow outward and fall out. The skin under the feathers was leathery and had a very distinct pattern. The tail grew so long and thick that she couldn’t hold it up from the ground. She pulled her head out from under her wing and her body began to lengthen. Her bill shot forward, getting covered in that same leathery skin. Her wings slid down her body and feet began to take shape. Her webbed ‘toes’ also began to change shape. Short, stubby, fat little legs formed pushing the feet away from her body. What had once been a beautiful bill was now a leathery mouth that made up the majority of her head and was full of very sharp teeth.

The white alligator turned its head towards Rodry and snapped its massive jaw. Then she turned the other direction and swept her tail at him. But the barrier held. Rodry was still safe. And even with a brain the size of a pea, Venis managed to maintain control. Leathery skin started growing hair. Clawed feet melded into hooves. Her legs grew longer and her tail began to shrink. The shape of her head changed and white hair started to cascade down the side of her head and her neck. Her tail hair matched as well. But rather than wings, she sprouted a horn from her forehead. She wasn’t sure Rodry could see the horn, but it was there.



The unicorn put one leg out, touching the tip of her hoove to the ground, and bowed her head to Rodry. Unicorns could be wicked, all creatures could, but they were mostly regal and noble. Which was part of the reason that Venis related to them so well. Her own mated pair of unicorns were still readjusting to life as normal unicorns, but they were doing quite well thanks to Venis. The darkness hated the unicorn. Hated it so much that she almost fell into a sitting position. Not a position that equines usually took. The texture of the hair began to change to become more like a thick fur. Her face shape changed again and her ears rounded off.

Legs shrank and ‘fingers’ emerged from all four hooves. The now smaller mouth and nose protruding from a big, round, furry face. She rose up on her back legs and began to pound her chest as she roared at Rodry. Those blue eyes looked dead at him as the Kermode Black Bear (that, ironically, is white) tried to push against the barrier. It was like an invisible shield that none of the animals had been able to push through. The bears paws heated up and then it slashed at the barrier. Still, it did not get through. Rodry might not have meant the circles to make a physical barrier to touch, but Venis’ own magic pushing against it had caused it to be that strong. And the more magic she put out there, the stronger it got. Not even the bear was getting through.

The bear with the beautiful blue eyes dropped to all four. It was like a reverse of the transformation that brought the bear from the unicorn. Body changed shape, claws became hooves, and legs lengthened and thinned out. Rodry might think that Venis was turning back into a unicorn or a Pegasus once again. But Venis was finding that she was unable to return to already used forms. The darkness was causing some kind of blockage. It was like every form she took, the darkness learned it and blocked it. So rather than a Pegasus or a unicorn standing there looking a Rodry, it was a simple white horse with blue eyes.

Venis was using a lot of energy, and each shape she chose was becoming less and less pure and less and less ‘Heavenly’ for lack of a better term. The darkness wasn’t weakening as fast. But it was still weakening. So when Venis’ body again began to shrink, the hair change texture, the hooves become claws once again, the form that was coming to be was a beast of a smaller scale. The tail of horse hair shed down to a long fur covered tail, the mane of the horse shed away as the head changed shape once again. Teeth turning from those of an herbivore to a carnivore once more. The white lioness roared at Rodry and clawed at the barrier. Venis saw everything the animals were doing through their eyes, because they were her in a different form. And it angered her that every time the darkness picked a shape, it tried to get free to attack Rodry.

Given that the darkness was choosing the fight of the fight or flight reflex, the animals that Venis herself chose were choosing to stay put. With that in mind, she chose an
animal for her next change that was usually rather still, yet capable of flight. The fury tail began to split into several tails. And their shape and textur changed as well, as they became feathers. Front paws again became wings of white. The sleek, muscle toned body of the lioness became slightly rounded and covered with feathers as he neck grew and her head shrunk. Her ears melded together atop her head and shrank into little feathers sprouting skyward. Her back legs shrank into those of a bird once more.



Those blue eyes looked at Rodry as her tail feathers rose from behind her and fanned out. The snow white peahen dipped her head in an almost bow to Rodry as she stretched her wings out to her sides and flapped them slightly. Venis wondered if Rodry was growing as tired of this shape shifting menagerie as she was. But to spend energy asking him was not a risk she was willing to chance yet. She wanted the shifting to stop before she attempted to communicate. Her thoughts on the subject caused her to be distracted too long. The darkness started changing her shape before she even realized it. It started with her tail growing back together.

What had been feathers was again getting covered in fur. For the length of about three to four seconds, those blue eyes were gone, to be replaced by gold hued orbs. But Venis realized the shift was happening and she regained control of the situation once more. Or at least as much control as she had before, and with a slow blink, the golden feline eyes were blue once again. She hoped that she had regained control fast enough that Rodry wasn’t about to run her through or shoot her. Wings again became paws and her body was getting covered in fur as well. She was getting the slightest hint of color to her fur this time, and the fur was longer as well.

The finely chiseled muscles of the tigress flexed and rippled as she began to stalk around the inside of the circle watching Rodry. But as the tigress stalked, it began to shrink. The tail shriveled up and took on a cottony texture. The back legs became more hunched and the feet grew longer. The body shrank and shrank and shrank as the slightest hint of color that made the stripes faded away. The texture of the fur changed again as well. The front legs shrank and the ears became elongated and less pointed. And rather than stalk, there was a hop that soon was halted.

Blue eyes looked over at Rodry as the tiny little nose and whiskers twitched. Venis’ little bunny nose continued to twitch as she hopped around looking for a couple of blades of grass to consume. After all, the Goddess had been using a lot of energy and she was growing hungry. Finding a few blades of grass, she began to munch on them, but it was not blood and it angered the darkness greatly. The next shift in form was the most violent yet. Suddenly the bunny grew in size and the cotton tail spouted outward. The darkness was actually breaking her bones rather than letting them meld into a different form. There was a loud screech from the rabbit as it was mutilated into a different form. There was a tearing of flesh that even produced blood. But all of this was still contained within the confines of the circles.

The bipedal beast with its thick white fur and canine face howled as it turned blue eyes to face Rodry once more. Lips curled back from teeth meant to tear through meat and snarled at Rodry. Venis could have spoken at this moment, but she was too busy trying to control the beast that she had become many a time before, yet had always had better control of previous. Of all the beasts that the darkness had chosen this night, the current form was the most dangerous. The hybrid wolf woman, also known as a werewolf, was all the power and strength of the wolf, and all the intelligence and thought process of the human.

It was for that reason that the werewolf reached with its leg towards the circle. Its intention was to attempt to break the circle and therefore breaking the enchantment that kept it bound within. But two things stopped that from happening. One being the barrier itself, the other being Venis. “Enough!” One word, in a rough voice, emanating from the canine mouth of the snow white werewolf. Though rough, one would know the voice to be that of Venis herself. Fists clenched and claws pierced the flesh allowing for blood to drip to the ground below. As was always the case, the blood gave life to vegetation where it landed, and little sprouts of grass pushed through the ground.

Flames began to cover those fists in an attempt to heal the punctures. But the punctures would not heal with the claws still imbedded in them. The flames traveled up her arms, though there was no scent of singed fur in the air. The flames wouldn’t harm Venis, even in a furry form. Soon, her
entire body was covered in a shield of flames. But the werewolf held fast against the force of Venis’ flames. The flames at her feet began to burn hotter and soon her form started to become the flames. It only took minutes for the form to become humanoid once more. Only this humanoid was made entirely of fire.



Venis’ eyes were no longer blue, but she smiled at Rodry. “See the reason for no water or liquids of any kind?” She had no legs from mid thigh down, and there was no evidence of the bikini she had started this little adventure in. But it would return when her flesh did. “I can’t stay this way, flames require fuel, and these flames use my energy and power as fuel. I have to try to get back to something normal.” She closed her eyes and attempted to shift back to human. But it wasn’t happening. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the flames to extinguish and her flesh to return.

Ok, so returning to her original form was not an option at the moment. But she had other forms that were natural for her. Or at least one that had been natural to her for the last three hundred and fifteen years. White fur once again began to cover her body as she lowered to rest upon four paws. The long furry tail returned as the flames extinguished. Her face reshaped and her ears grew back atop her head. Once all the flames had burned out, Venis collapsed on her side. The snow white wolf lay on its side panting with blue eyes looking distant. Words were thought rather than spoken. ~Rodry, can you hear me?~

[Rodry Pol]

The idea was a sound one. After all, what could The Darkness that inhabited her 'soul' do with something like a Rock? A piece of bone or wood? In Rodry's mind, it was a relatively safe alternative to trying to control it in her body. Even if she took several small objects and imbued each one with a fraction of the darkness that plagued her. Even just lessening the amount that tainted her very being would do her good.

"And if this doesn't, it is always a possibility to try and make another attempt more successful. Each iota of that contamination, removed, will make the process of controlling and dispelling the remainder easier, would it not?"

Venis' identification of the runes and sigils he made left him raising a brow briefly towards her. Apparently finding it amusing that she knew Draconic, even if her furthered explanation as to why she was familiar with it had him offering a low 'harumph' of noise.

"Draconic is one of the many accepted 'languages' of magic and long has been. I am sure that you yourself are well aware of the power of words when imbued with that volatile energy."

Being a witch, she was likely intimately familiar with the different languages of magic and it's general control. The more interesting question was about how familiar Rodry himself was with the stuff. Since his interactions with Venis had never given the woman reason to think that Rodry was anything other than human. Other than perhaps his greater than average ability to be ignorant to natural and healthy human fears. Most did not have the guts to so casually isolate themselves with a murdering deity!

Lips quirked just faintly at her praise of his creativity, though he couldn't honestly take credit for thinking of it with only her in mind. His illness meant he could not cast spells or enchantments on his own without drawing on his very life-force to power them. The Lode enchantment enabled him to draw magic from the air around him or from a particular source, to use what magic it could fuel. It was uniquely suited for helping contain Venis because of her own power, it would reflect her strength, regardless of what she put out.

"It is a necessity, this creation of a reservoir of power, to fuel spells. If I cast spells on my own I must draw on my own power, which is severely lacking. Such strain would not be good for my well being, let alone my already fragile health."

If Rodry did hold the strength to hold Venis in check, using it to power the enchantment to bind her would likely kill the Old Man and make the point of keeping her in check moot. That strength would be better spent in other ways than trying to power that binding enchantment.

He was much more distracted studying the bag of holding, seeing how big the opening was and it's contents, rather than watching Venis. Which of course meant that he wasn't looking up until she spoke up about her own bathing habits, leaving him cocking a brow in surprise at her damn near nudity. He didn't comment, though he also didn't oggle the woman despite the fact that she was wearing little enough metal to even make a halflings breastplate. That bag was held in one hand at his side. While his other hand brushed through the air, to dismiss her apology. While a warning would have been wise, it was hardly anything of note. Rodry was old enough to be her grandfathers grandfather, despite her being several hundred years old, not that he pointed such out.

It just meant that Venis didn't have to worry about the old man getting distracted by the pale flesh on display while she performed her attempted salvation and he supervised. The closing of the circles, left him feeling that flow of power lessen, feeling her power trapped within the Lode before being poured into the enchantment. It was interesting, to see the enchantments power build before she had even done anything against it. The old fellow slowly sank to his rump, crossing his legs in the style of the native barbarians, leaning over faintly, to watch. He expected that this would prove a rather interesting show.

Venis certainly didn't disappoint. Though he found her preceding prayer to be a bit tongue in cheek. At least in his mind. After all, Gods didn't pray to one another...

It wasn't long before the glorious menagerie was being shaken loose of Venis' form. Those smooth transformations earning a grit of his jaw. Jealousy, annoyance. Subtle emotions that came from remembering how easily such things had once come to him in the past and how difficult it was now a days! Blue watched keenly as she shifted, from an angelic vision to that Draconic image. The sudden burst of fire and the subsequent screech left him wincing, but he remained steady. Only looked upon her between the slitted eyelids. Watching as once more feathers sprouted.

It seemed that Venis was encountering opposition, trying to take over her form without even the courtesy of allowing her to fight back in any way other than trying to once more shift to a form that the darkness could not abide. It was an almost nauseating process to watch. As body after body stretched and collapsed. Warped and shifted. Knowing the effects of shape-shifting, it didn't surprise him that Venis had lost her 'lunch'. Watching her throughout this process only had him longing for his own days of rapid shifting. Of leaving behind the human coil and spreading himself in different forms, knowing the world in ways that no human could dream.

The strain on Venis was obvious, in the way that she seemed unable to keep the transitions smooth, to let the transformations remain as peaceful as they could be. Instead to leave the familiar sound of shattering and breaking bone reaching his ears. He knew well how she was feeling now, it was why he chose this human shape, rather than something more natural to him. It was best fit for the world in which he lived, he did not have to alter himself often. The painful process had lost much of the allure it had held for him during his 'golden' years.

Even when the bear was straining against the field, he was confident that it would hold. Well aware that the harder the bear struggled, the more firmly the fields repulsed it, forced it back away and left it giving way to a fresh shape and then another, and another.

Fingers drummed slowly upon his knees, the bag in his lap for now. With each shape he could see the struggle growing harder on her, fighting her more fiercely. While Venis might have been putting up a fight, it seemed that her Darkness was driving even the Goddesses stamina down. Forcing her to capitulate. To try and choose a form that the Darkness could not warp. Though whatever progress she was making was being quickly reversed.

The sudden shift from that harmless rabbit into the werewolf left Rodry's gaze narrowing. He had experience with lycanthropes and knew well that they were not wise to trifle with. Luckily for Venis, Rodry was not just looking for some excuse to fill her full of lead or to break his own safety and do something so crass as to attack her. Rodry would have put more faith into his ability to alter the effects of the spell that held her, than to fight her in his frail human shape. Her shout drew his attention from the alterations he could make to better bind or to ward the wolf from causing further trouble, leaving him once more to study her.

A fire elemental? It had been ages since Rodry had last known any elementals at all, though well aware of the volatility of the fire elementals themselves, he could imagine it was a reckless and poorly chosen shift, compared to the werewolf.

"Then I suggest you take shape. The wilds out here aren't exactly known for the stability of the weather."

He could imagine that being an elemental put her at serious risk, considering how very weak those fiery beings were to the cooling and equally volatile presence of water. The old fellow simply remained seated where he was, picking a leaf from the ground. Thinking deeply. It seemed that the thought of getting her to shift shape was a flop. At least as far as he was concerned. After all, Venis certainly hadn't found a stable shape and remained with it. It took him a moment to even realize that mental brush, to return his attention to the white wolf that was collapsed on the floor of the clearing within the confines of that circle.

The words were answered verbally. Rather than with thoughts of his own. The old fellow wasn't really comfortable with the dangers that such mental communication carried.

"That I can. Though I must say ... it doesn't look like our little experiment has had ... a positive outcome. You've gone through a menagerie of forms and it seemed like there was always an answering shift from your contamination."

Sounding both annoyed and thoughtful, even if he was shifting where he sat, briefly glancing aside. Trying to consider possibilities that might prove viable alternatives! Even if her form seemed as stable now as it was going to get with that darkness within her, mulling and making her suffer for her transgressions against it's will.

[Venis Jordianthan]

"It would." Had been Venis' response to Rodry's speaking of getting rid of the darkness, even if it was just a little bit at a time, into some inanimate objects. She knew that if the shape shifting didn't work, she would need to come up with something else. So she loved having someone else around with an above average intelligence to help her with ideas that she had yet to come up with. After all, the darkness was clouding her mind when it came to such thing.

As to his comments about the Draconic language, she smiled. "I am aware. But I spoke neither Drow nor Dracon before coming to Rhy'Din. I'm an Earthling." She chuckled. It had been a long time since she had said such a thing to anyone. Most either already knew she was from Earth, or they just never cared to ask. Not that Rodry had asked. It had just been added as a slight explanation.

A slight frown had curled at the corners of Venis' lips when Rodry spoke of his own power lacking. She very much wished she could give him a boost, but at the moment, she didn't think that it would be too safe for him. "I'm sorry you're running low, so to speak. Maybe when I am well again, I can give you a hand with that." She smiled and hoped that he would one day take her up on the offer. She was good at channeling power. She had even broken a bond between a master vampire and it's servant before when she shared power with them. The master vampire was quite pissed. But she would save that story for some other time.

Had Venis known that Rodry had found her prayer a little tongue in cheek, she would have been rather disheartened. She honestly meant her prayer and believed in that whom she had prayed to. She had, after all, been a monotheist once upon a time. Her faith hadn't changed, only her knowledge. She prayed quite often, and sometimes, her prayers were even answered with favorable results. She hoped that this would be one of those times. She honestly did not want any harm to befall Rodry. He deserved better than to be injured or worse because he tried to help someone.

The white wolf lifted her head for but a moment, those clear blues looking at Rodry as she yawned and her jaw popped. It was only after the popping of the jaw that she was able to speak. Her voice lacked that soft, melodic allure that it usually carried. It was raspy and not at all human, though the language spoken was common. "I hope I didn't freak you out too much." Words spoken slowly and carefully with a lack of human lips and a tongue too large for her to properly form words. "I wasn't trying to become my flames. I was just trying to bring forth a force field of fire to cause the werewolf to retreat." Her head dropped to the ground once again with a flop and a slight thud upon the soil.

She laid there silently for the length of a few labored breaths. "I think this one was a fail, yes. I honestly tried to maintain a shape. But the darkness fought me every moment. Some of those forms I have never taken before." She wasn't moving other than to speak and to breathe. While Venis the vampire, and Venis the Goddess didn't need to breathe, the wolf was very much a living thing. "I am so very tired. But it isn't safe for me to rest here. My pelt lacks color. I am the purest of white and therefor very valuable on the black market. And without my Alpha." Oh yes, Venis had an alpha male for her wolf form. An Ulfric to her Lupa, even though he wasn't her husband. But he wasn't here.

She was still a little worried about Rodry's perception of what had happened. She knew she hadn't exactly frightened him. He didn't smell of fear at all. So either he was good at masking it, or he just plain wasn't scared. Still, she wanted to explain a couple of things. "The wolf, this wolf ... My sire was a shape shifting vampire, a trait I inherited from him. Though, back then, the wolf was my only other shape. The fire elemental as most call it, that stemmed from becoming a Goddess. I can control fire, consume it, create it, become it. The first time I combusted, and was covered in flames, it scared the hell out of me. The first time I became the fire I nearly fainted. But I think I became the wolf tonight because the darkness wouldn't let my fire become flesh of a human." She let out a sigh as she laid there.

She was a little sad that the experiment hadn't worked. But at least the darkness was as worn out as she was. Maybe even a little more. But she needed to rest and to feed before she would be able to shift again to her chosen humanoid form. This distressed her. She was not usually in this shape, and had never been in this shape in this condition. She felt very uncomfortable not having her Ulfric here to protect her. But Rodry was here. She just hoped that he had an idea of how to protect her as she rested. She was a bit defenseless at the moment. She was definitely too worn out for another fight, even if it was to literally save her own hide. Her eyes were slowly blinking, staying closed longer each blink as she fought to remain conscious.

[Rodry Pol]

While Rodry might not be highly intelligent when it came to things common in the world today, technologies, theories and other less 'useful' sciences, he had a logical and calculating mind. Not to mention a knack for magic and understanding it's flow in a rather personal way. If she could call upon that darkness for power, she could use it. Shape it in a manner and perhaps even direct it. That was the main reason that he believed that she would even be able to imbue something with a portion of that evil lurking within her. It would do wonders in helping her, if it was possible.

"Hm. Very interesting. Most of your people do not have a knack or a care to know of magic, at least in such terms. You on the other hand have seemingly adapted quite well to Rhy'Din."

Which was a compliment, considering the old fellow typically found that most 'Earthlings' were whiny and tended to complain far too much about what parts of Rhy'Din lacked. While his outdated outlook tended to make him remain apart from them in a way beyond simply his apparent age.

Venis' offer for assistance earned a slight shift of his shoulders, barely even a shrug. Unfortunately Rodry was used to his issues by now. Five years of being as he was, one would either have to grow accustomed to it and adapt, or be driven insane. The fact of the matter was that despite Rodry's own attempts at helping himself, it was not something that could simply be fixed.

The woman he had trusted himself too had changed him forever, left him broken on a fundamental level that someone not totally familiar with his true-self and their kind could not understand. Hell, he had met others of his own kind who couldn't wrap their minds around the issue behind what was causing this problem with him. His children included.

"I think your efforts would be better spent upon others. I cannot hold the reservoir of power that I could in my youth. Your duties are more important than wasting power on myself."

Rodry, of course, had not brought up how ironic he found her praying to be. For just that reason. Faith meant different things to different people and he did not think it wise to be getting dragged into a theological discussion that would hardly effect either of their views. That was one thing that the wisdom of age and experience gifted him with, the ability to finally pick his battles, he would not brow-beat someone with his opinions. While he hoped that her prayer would do her good, it seemed that even the god that she sent that prayer to was unable to give her the strength to simply overpower the Darkness.

For the most part Rodry seemed pretty nonplussed about the whole situation. Mainly because he felt safe with his wards as well as with the back-up plan he had put into mind. Eloquent in it's simplicity, it would have proved effective, at least as far as he was concerned.

"You are forgiven. While it has been some time since I have last seen a fire elemental, I was more surprised than disturbed. Considering the limits of a deity, after seeing you losing control of your transformations I had no doubt that I would see something interesting."

"It is only a failure if you did not learn anything. However, considering how drained you have become, I doubt that outlasting the darkness would be easy. Perhaps we can see about attempting this again after a bit more preparation. I am sure if you could draw on stored power, that the darkness itself could not feed upon, that you would be able to perhaps conquer it through transformation. However, that would take time to prepare properly. Especially with you being so tainted."

The old fellow watched her carefully, studying the way that the final transformation of Venis was resting so tiredly upon the ground. No, there was no fear in the old man. Death was not something that left his bowels and spine turning to water any longer. Rodry did not wish to die, but he knew that it would happen some day, it was just a matter of how he would live the remainder of his life.

After a moment the old fellow rose to his feet, one hand carefully brushing the loam away from his long nightshirt, the other still holding that bag of hers. Which after a moment he was tossing her way. The bag passed unharmed through the wards, they were designed to keep her out of his circle and within her own, it had simply been more expedient on the part of the inscribing in order to only leave them functioning one way. The bag crumpled to the ground near her, well within the bounds of the ward.

"I can imagine! It is not every day that ones flesh becomes something so wild, even if you are a deity."

Piercing blue eyes continued to study the wolf, well aware of the fact that she seemed to be losing consciousness. Drained to the point of utter exhaustion. The sight left him wearing a frown. He knew the feeling she dealt with well enough.

"I would suggest taking advantage of your portal placed within the bag. You said that it was a safe place for yourself to rest. If you did manage to break through the wards, I fully intended to do the same. Dropping through the portal and dragging the neck of the bag in with me."

Which would of course collapse the bag of holding, but it would have been a small price to pay if it had to be done. However, he apparently felt that she was little enough of a threat now. Since he was moving out of his own circle and carefully dispelling the barrier left behind as he scuffed the inner circle with his foot. His poor slippers were not dealing with this extended walk outside well at all!

"I will hold onto the bag until I see you again, unless you feel recovering in your sanctuary would be unwise for you."

Not a question, but the way he had cocked his head, made it clear he was questioning her without that shift of his tone. Asking if she thought she could managed to crawl through the portal or if it would even be feasible for her to rest and recover in whatever sanctuary she held upon the other side.

[Venis Jordianthan]

Venis' only response to Rodry's saying that she had adapted to Rhy'Din nicely was a shrug and a soft reminder that she had been born a witch. Magic was natural to her. She had no response to Rodry saying that her efforts would be better spent on someone else. She never even entertained the thought as her mind had already busied itself with a plan of action.

As Venis the wolf lay there listening to Rodry she couldn't help but feel a little safe in the fact that he was still there. At least she knew that there wouldn't be any unexpected poachers along to skin her for her fur. Not that she had ever really given it that much thought in Rhy'Din before this point. Poachers were one of the rarest things in Rhy'Din. Plus, she had always had her Ulfric around in her past times of taking this form.

She didn't linger on the thoughts of her Ulfric. One, because she was listening to Rodry, and two because if she thought of him too much, he might be able to find her. And she wasn't ready to be found. Not by her family. And the stronger the darkness got, the less she wanted to be found by them. She was scared that she would hurt them. She was even beginning to worry for Rodry as she wasn't sure if the darkness would regain strength before she would.

Tainted. What a lovely choice of words given that was exactly how she felt. She couldn't help but wish that she could smile at that moment. Her muscles did move into what could pass for a smile on the face of a canine. But the expression didn't last long as she was extremely tired. She continued to just lay there panting. At least in this form, she could drink water. She sniffed the air a little bit to see if she could smell any near.

Her eyes widened and her head popped up when Rodry spoke of her entering the bag and adding that he had thought to do that exact thing had she escaped. She popped her jaw again before she replied. "Were you to collapse the bag like that, you would be trapped down there until I was able to transport you out. There's no windows or doors or anything. It is an air bubble in the ground and it's not even in Rhy'Din. You would have to dig your way out or wait for me. You could quite easily die in there first." She hated the idea of that happening.

Only after her shock at the thought of his getting trapped in that hole in the ground did she continue her thoughts about what he had said. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to be in there. That room is literally death to me." She thought about it for a moment. "But if I'm in there alone ... No one could use those weapons against me. I surely wouldn't use them on myself." She paused in thought again. She popped her jaw again as she pondered it.

After a moment she continued. "Could you do me the favor of putting my clothes down in there behind me? And maybe when you get a chance, a bowl of water and maybe some bunnies or something? I won't be able to shift again until I rest and feed. But I am quite thirsty and the water would help me now. I have a feeling that my rest will not go smoothly. I'm sure I'll wake more than once before I'm ready to feed and shift." She knew that once she went into that room and hit the floor that she was going to be out like a light. But she would definitely want the water later.

Venis couldn't believe she was going to do this. She had only ever been in there to place those objects within. And it was never a prolonged stay. If Venis were to ever fear anything, it would be an enemy finding a way into, and then out of, that room. The results could prove fatal. But for some crazy reason, Venis was trusting Rodry to keep the bag, and therefor her, safe. There were so few that she would place that much trust in. How Rodry had so quickly made that short list was a mystery. But he was on it none the less.

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