Chapter 34: Dispersion and force
"The goddess be damned!" Elessar blurted in rage. Her cry alerted birds above and many flew off cawing.
"What was that about?" The rogue questioned, frowning and clearly pissed.
"You all…You all"
At a distance, hundreds of meters away, a creature zoomed past bushes rustling their leaves, it was quite fast and its movement told that it was a four-legged beast as well.
"Everyone!" The firemage called out.
"What?!" The rogue and Elessar said in unison.
"Pouka has noticed something." The male fire mage pointed at the Graimpuf which maintained an aggressive stance and fixating its gaze forward.
"Hmm." Elessar looked forward where Pouka faced but she saw nothing, no disturbance, no creature, nothing.
Yet, the creature continued its growling, obviously spotting the advent of something.
"Brace yourselves." Elessar stated raising up both her arms with Na'se perching on her head at alert.
Soon, they saw bushes shake. The creature was coming at them at a high speed.
Elessar furrowed her brow ready to confront the creature.
Then out of the bush immediate to them bursted out a white wolf-like beast with wisps of red littered at its fur ends. It came on Elessar who was hit with surprise as her eyes widened and the creature fell on her.
It pushed her on her back and began licking her face excitedly causing Elessar to laugh.
The party drew back their stances realizing what it was and Pouka wagged her tail excitedly seeing the creature.
"Ohh you. Stop it, stop it you." Elessar giggled rubbing against dirt and smothering her clothes.
"Reya, stop it." A voice ordered from above and all of the team looked above to see a young funari man cloaked in brown hovering over a portal.
[Spatial Mage- lvl 25]
The Graimpuf heard its master's scolding and immediately went off Elessar and onto to Pouka who she licked generously.
"Ran, you're back." Elessar said with a smile.
"What are you all doing here?" He whispered.
"We are in search of a person." The rogue cut in.
"Oh who?" He looked around and saw Elessar's sad face.
"Don't tell me. What happened?'' the portal beneath him disappeared and he landed on the ground.
He hastily walked up to Elessar, grabbed her shoulders and shook her.
"What happened to her?"
Elessar looked away and muttered "I think she got on her feet and left."
"She got up? Melania did? And the spread?"
"I don't think she did so of her own volition. I think that thing, the blackness plaguing her took over her. It's a fear I can't dismiss Ran, I'm afraid."
"You've got me now, I can make this a lot faster for us all."
"What are you doing here?" The rogue asked.
Ran turned his head to the rogue up on the tree.
"I was trailing a thing, a demon perhaps? I'm not sure. It looked like a floating crown and I thought to look. It had the power to open portals but I couldn't get close enough to use identify on it."
"And you came here how?" the rogue continued his harping.
"I held open its portal and leaped through and I appeared here. Surely it can't be a coincidence that I met you all as well."
"Hmmm, that's strange"
"Oh feel free Yupik." Ran said with a light smile and then turned his attention back to Elessar.
"Don't worry, I am here now."
He turned away from the group and looked forward to nothing but bushes and trees. He thrust forward his hand and closed his eyes and then the wind changed and a low vibrating sound began out of nowhere.
The spatial mage suddenly opened his eyes and his once brown eyes dilated all around into a flood of purple riddled with different shades.
In the space in front of them, multiple little orbs shot out of his hands like bullets and stopped in front of the party displaying different corners of the forest.
The members of the group moved forward and so did Elessar. They all peered into the portal looking at the spots it connected to.
There were over two dozen little purple holes in space that connected the different locations, talk about a convenient ability.
Elessar looked into one, she spotted nothing but vegetation then she moved to the next then to the next spotting nothing but greens under the shade. She went to one and peered through it and through the little hole, she spotted a little demon like a child eating on what seemed to be a rabbit.
It noticed the gaze on it and then swiftly turned in a 180 degree that felt absolutely unnatural to Elessar. She staggered back not afraid, just disgusted by the sight of the funari-looking demon spawn. It left a bad taste in her mouth and she immediately went on to the next.
"Ran?" A beautiful light voice called out, it was the healer of the group and the most vulnerable of the team.
"What is it?" Ran replied still with his hands stretched forward and his eyes purple like his portals.
"You spoke of a crown, didn't you?"
"Yes I did!" He hastily replied and moved forward undoing his purple eyes and putting down his hands.
"It's here."
Ran peered into the portal and truly, the creature hovered slowly forward seeming to have a destination in mind.
It was a ring of red flesh about twenty centimeters in diameter and around it were little wings of red and shaped like that of birds except that it bore no feathers.
Elessar moved behind Ran and the healer to see what they were seeing as well. She saw the peculiar creature, beads of sweat dripped off her face and she looked at it cautiously.
'I can't use identify on it.'
She thought why and soon made a guess that it was probably because of the portal.
"What in the hell is that unholy thing?" The rock mage that came behind them said rather brashly and it seemed that the ring of flesh noticed as it turned to them revealing a kite-shaped eye in the center of itself.
Its eyes slightly closed and the red flesh around it squeezed and then it blinked, releasing a green wave that immediately undid the portal and sent all of them flying.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone