Elemental Gods (free to join!)

Daveth shrugged "You should talk with Jamie first. She's at the old temple" he pointed at the ruins of some temple "Maybe she can tell you what you need to know. She's a junior gargoyle. I think she became a gargoyle three months ago, so she's a great newbie helper"

"Okay, thanks, Daveth.", he grinned at the other wolf, "Sorry about the she-wolf.." He narrowed his ears in embarassedment. He quickly climbed up the ruins.

When Kumo reached the temple, she stopped when he saw a wolf and a dog... Yes, a dog, talking. It was strange to see dogs around since they were cast away from the Foxxa Plains a long time ago. This proves that Gargoyles recruits anyone with skill.

"What is it now?" asked the black wolf. He was using some kind of robes "Haven't Gargoyles asked more then enough of our temples?"
"I simply came to deliver a message from the Revered Mother, sir mage..." mumbled the dog "...she desires your presence"
"What her reverence desires is of no consern of me. I'm busy helping the Gargoyles--by the commander's orders, I might add."
"Should I ask her to write a note?" asked the dog, in a sarcastic way.
"Tell her I will not be harassed in this manner!"
"Yes, I was harassing you by delivering a message"
"Your glibness does you no credit"
"Here I thought we were going along so well. I was even going to name one of my pups after you--the grumpy one"
"Enough. I'll speak with the wolf if I must. Get out of my way fool" the wolf growled and left the temple.

The dog smiled and walked towards Kumo "Y'know... One good thing about a war is how brings people together" she said smilling.

He tilted his head to one side, "Hi...err... what was that about?", he asked the dog.

"Oh, nothing... Just trying to find a bright side in all this." she said and stared at Kumo "Wait... We haven't met, have we? I don't suppose you happen to be another mage?"

"Nope...no... I'm not another mage. I-I'm a worshipper..", he smiled nervously. For some reason he was attracted to the dog. He shuffled his paws, trying not to look into her eyes.

"Well, then that makes my day better" she said smilling "Wait, I do know who you are. You're Caill's new recruit, from the temple of Lightning. I should have recognized you right away, I apologize"

"No, no it's fine... you shouldn't be sorry.", he tryed to stop his tail from wagging, "So err.... what's your name? Mine's Kumo."

"Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Jamie, the new Gargoyle. Though I guess you knew that." she said smilling "As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the Ritual"

"I like your name. You're--I mean it's beautiful..", he blushed. Smooth, he growled to himself. "Well, anyway..... ahem.. what exactly is the Ritual..."

"Why, thank you, smooth-talker" chuckled Jamie "Honestly, nothing. Try not to worry about it too much, it may distract you"
She shrugged "So I'm curious... Have you ever actually encountered another worshipper of the opposite side before?"

"No...well, maybe, when I was young and abandoned... I remember some other wolves pass by that snarled at me... but I don't know if they were on the other side....", he shrugged, "Why do you ask?"

Jamie shrugged "The main purpose of the Gargoyles owned by Nagoku is to defeat the other worshippers, right? At any rate, whenever you're ready, let's get back to Caill. I imagine he's eager to get things started" she said.

"I'm ready now.", He quickly stood up, "Lets go!" He started to run down the ruins. Tripping over a rock, he tumbled the rest of the way down. He laid there for a moment before shaking himself and sitting up. "I'm okay...", he muttered, heat flushing his cheeks.

Jamie smoothly chuckled while walking down the ruins of the temple "You're funny. Did not hurt, did it?" she said.

"No, no... it doesn't hurt..", he whispered under his breath, "Thanks for asking..." He stood up, shaking the debris off of his white fur. "So... to the Ritual! Or whatever it's call!"

"Let's go to Caill" she said smilling and guided Kumo through the camp, where it could be seem some ingured wolves, other preying. Less then two minutes, the duo got into a bonfire with Caill next to it.
"So you found Jamie, did you? Good. I'll assume that you're ready to begin preparations" said Caill, walking towards the duo then he looked at Jamie "Assuming, of course, if you finished riling up mages, Jamie"
The young dog shrugged "What can I say? The revered mother ambushed me. The way she growls, they should stick her in the army"
"She forced you to sass the mage, did she? We can not afford to antagonize anyone, Jamie. We don't need more ammunition against us" said Caill, with a serious tone.
"Of course, Caill. I'll collect who we are missing" said Jamie and she left the bonfire. A few minutes later, she is seem with Daveth and another unfamiliar wolf behind her
"This is sir Frennz, a knight from the cliffs of Brecilian Forest" said Jamie.
"Pleased to meet you" said Frennz looking at Kumo.
"And this of course is the recruit that Caill said he was bringing" she said pointing at Kumo.

"Hi.", he warmly smiled at Frennz, "Nice to meet ya." He then turned to Daveth, "Long time, no see."

"Now then, since we're all here we can begin" said Caill "You four will be heading to the Korkari wilds to peform two tasks. The first is to collect vials of blood of each elemental creature. A fire creature, lightning, ice, water, wind and earth. Since the swamp is rich in life, you may find them easily. Jamie will know what to look for."

Kumo nodded, not taking his eyes off of Jamie.

"And the second?" asked Frennz
"The second task is to retrive some old archives from an old outpost. These archives have come to the attention of the Gargoyles and it is your task to retrive them."
"Going to the wilds... Isn't that dangerous?" asked Daveth.
"You three were not recruited out of charity. You are all skilled and I'm sure that you'll succed. Jamie is the junior member of the order and, as tradition, she'll accompany you to help you, so you don't have to worry in going in the heart of the wilds." Caill replied and looked at Jamie "Go into the forest and help them, Jamie. Return quickly and safely"
"We will" said Jamie, nodding.
"Then you should be on you way and may Nagoku watch over your path"

Kumo received a leather armor that gives more defence and a small backpack able to keep money and potions.

After resting and having dinner, the four went to the forest. It was dark and creepy and you could hear a lot of creatures making noises.
Walking through a would-be street, the group saw a lot of caravans destroyed and some dead wolves on the floor.

"Ugh, disgusting...", Kumo muttered under his breath, "They could at least clean up the bodies of their warriors after a fight...." He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"Well, darling..." mumbled Jamie "You should really get used to it. You'll see much more death in the future"
Daveth investigated the bodies and he said "These bodies are recent. They might have been killed a few hours ago"
"Then let us be careful..." Jamie mumbled and she looked at a ingured wolf that was crawling in pain "H-Help me..." the wolf muttered and the group went to help
"Who ... is.. That?" the ingured wolf mumbled, looking at Kumo "Gargoyles?"
"Well... He's not as half as dead as he looks, is he?" said Jamie, sarcastically.
"My scounting band was attacked by earth creatures..." said the wolf in pain "They came out of the ground... Please, help me... I've got to... Return to camp..."
"I have some bandages and medicine in my pack" Jamie said and healed the wolf.
"T-Thank you... I, urgh... I've got to... Return to camp..." mumbled the wolf as he stood up and walked back to the camp , limping.

"Did you hear? An entire patrol of scout men killed by creatures" said Frennz, nervous.
"Calm down, sir Frennz, we'll be fine if we're careful" said Jamie, calmly.
"Those soldiers were careful, and they were still overwhelmed. How many creatures can the four of us, slay? A dozen? A hundred? There's an entire army in these forest!"
"There are monsters about, but we are in no danger of walking into the bulk of the horde" she answered.
"How do you know? I'm... I'm not a coward, but this is foolish and reckless. We should go back" said Frennz.

Kumo didn't say anything, just looked down at his paws.

"Know this: all Gargoyles can sense elementals. Whatever their cunning, I guarentee they won't take us by surprise" said Jamie, still calm "That's why I'm here"
"You see, sir knight. We might die, but we'll be warned about it first." said Daveth.
"That is... Reassuring?" mumbled Frennz.
"That doesn't mean I'm here to make this easy, however. So let's just get a move on" replied Jamie.

The party continued to walk through the forest, it was ugly and almost dead, but it still had life. When walking in silence, Jamie shouted "Earth worm!!"
A big worm came out of the ground and attacked the party.

Kumo succefully dodged the attack of the worm. Daveth attacked the worm by bitting its neck, making him all dirty of greenish blood and Frennz clawed the worm's face and Jamie threw some knifes at the worm, but it wasn't enough to kill it.