Heirot

Cainon made his way through the city gates of Hepian. He had been here a few times before, but always found himself awestruck by the city's history and beauty. Though it was nothing compared to its formal self, the historic city was one of a kind. Despite the cities old ruggedness, people still filled the streets.

Cainon moved through towards the city's center, nodding and greeting some of the locals. He had grew bored on his journey and decided to have a little fun.

He finally reached his destination and sat along side a home well. The deep well trickled with water in its bottom. A young boy approached Cainon, "What ya doin mister?" the child asked.

Cainon smiled, "Just admiring this nice well here," He leaned in closer to its opening. "You hear that?"

The boy leaned close the the water hole. "It's just water," he said, not understanding what Cainon meant by the statement.

"Exactly," Cainon answered softly and the dripping stopped. Droplets slowly started climbing over the circle of bricks. The young boy backed up with a bit of fear. "It's alright," Cainon assured as the droplets formed together.

Cainon waved a hand the the water floated out in front of him at about eye level. "Whoa," the kid exclaimed as others slowly joined in around the enchanted water.

That was the great part about cities: you could see all kinds of people doing all kinds of things, and if you didn't look too hard you might even have some money left when you'd seen your fill. Gwennan, fortunately, had had his pockets picked enough before he'd been accustomed to put anything valuable in them, and knew the signs. Certainly the fact that he dabbled himself had nothing to do with it.

"Hey, ease up there," he said softly, very calmly squeezing the wrist of the young urchin who'd just made a grab for his belt purse. Astonished, the boy tried to jerk free - no, wait! Under all the filth and the jagged nails and the ratty clothes, that was a girl, twelve at the oldest. "Hold up a moment, dove." He didn't let go of her but began rummaging in the pockets of his coat with his other hand and eventually produced a carven bird of pale wood. "I'll give you this free, maybe you can sell it or something - " She knocked it out of his hand and spat on the ground, then writhed out of his grasp and ran down the street.

"Huh." Gwennan picked up the bird and dusted it off, walking down a different street. If memory served, there was a well or a fountain that way, and with any luck, Kilvas would be there; the raven had disappeared earlier that morning and had better damn well have spent some of that time cleaning up. Carrion birds never exactly smelled rosy, but still...

He stopped dead fifty paces short of the well, scarcely noticing when his not-particularly-trusty bird landed on his shoulder with considerable ruckus. A large man was making water levitate in the air... Yeah, cities were great. Gwennan broke into wild applause.

Cainon smiled as he entertained the people. The water weaved in and out of the crowd. He enjoyed showing off his talents. A group of young women stood just in front of him, eyes fluttering.

The water stopped in front of them and a face appeared. It was the sorcerer that was controlling it. "Good day ladies," The sound came through the water with an icy chill. One of the girls fainted but was caught by her friends. Cainon laughed and the water moved back to where he sat. It settled on his lap and took the form of a young pup.

"Would y'all care to see more?" he asked. He petted the liquid canine as if it were a real animal. The crowd screamed for more entertainment.

Gwennan hung back a bit, watching events unfurl. This water-working fellow had serious talent... and a substantial number of fangirls. "I gotta get me one of those... magical abilities, or whatever," he muttered to Kilvas, who clearly couldn't care less. "Aw, forget you. I'm sure that guy's dog is way more supportive." He waved at the liquid dog. Kilvas looked disdainful.

Gwennan began elbowing his way through the crowd to get a closer look and happened to see the girl who'd fainted. "Hey, can I take her off your hands?" he asked one of her friends with his third-most charming smile, but she only laughed and pushed him away. Kilvas took offense at his perch's movement and began loudly berating the woman, mixing standard raven noises with the occasional human obscenity. People began to glare at the shabbily-dressed young man and his noisy bird, not wanting to be distracted from Cainon's performance.

The liquid dog fell to the ground forming a small puddle, as Cainon stood up to check out the commotion. The squealing and squawking of the enraged bird pierced fiercely through the air.

"Is everything alright?" Cainon asked with a smile. The girls blushed and soft smiles filled their faces. The bird continued its high pitched scream. "Is he alright?" he asked again looking at the stranger and gesturing at the bird.

Gwennan made a series of frantic grabs at Kilvas, finally managing to get hold of the raven's legs. He shot a hurried glance and a lopsided grin at Cainon. "Peachy," he said in a voice that might've inspired confidence if Kilvas hadn't immediately screamed a series of very colorful oaths right over top of it. "You stupid bird! You're going to offend these lovely ladies -" Kilvas clamped his beak on the webbing between Gwennan's thumb and forefinger, causing the merchant to yell bloody murder and lose his grip. The bird flew off, still scolding, to land on the roof of a nearby building. "Good riddance, ya filthy buzzard!"

Gwennan sucked ruefully on his injured hand, turning to Cainon. "Damn, I'm really sorry for interrupting your..." he looked around absently, catching sight of the puddle. "Your whatever."

Cainon glanced over to the water and shrugged,"It's quite alright." The young girls hung close by watching him in admiration. The young boy studied the puddle of water, poking it with a stick. "It's just something to do to kill time. The names Cainon." He extended a hand.

The boys clothes were rather curious. Despite his good nature, his clothes seemed to be on the torn and rugged side. No matter. Cainon wasn't the type to judge one by their looks.

((Re: the new post in The Third Queens War))

"Gwennan," said Gwennan, shaking Cainon's hand firmly. "It's a pleas-" He looked up and around at the skyline, not quite sure what he was looking for, but something was wrong. "Do you smell something?" Members of the crowd had become agitated as well, all of them looking around frantically.

Someone yelled "FIRE!" Smoke and orange flames came into view, approaching rapidly. Kilvas took flight. Gwennan turned to Cainon. "You control water and I'm fireproof. I think we need to take charge here," he said quickly, looking around. Full mass hysteria had set in, the crowd running here and there and screaming. "Where do we take them?"

The air quickly thickened with black smoke. Cainon saw the source as did his new comrade. "I agree." Cainon closed his eyes and lifted his hands as if to lift the air around him.

The earth shook beneath their feet as water towered out of the well. He casted it over them, pushing away the stifling air. "Come on," Cainon said as the stepped forward. The watery shield moved with him.

Gwennan gave a low whistle of appreciation. He hadn't known the well was that deep - or that Cainon's power was so apparently limitless. "Have we got everyone?" He asked, looking around under the water shield. "And how long can you hold this up? I'd like to look for more survivors."

"Not too long," Cainon answered. "Just hurry around and as soon as you give me the signal that everyone is safe I'll drop it on the fire." Cainon could feel the drain on his energy as he held the massive barrier around them. He figured he could hold it long enough for everyone to get to safety.

Gwennan nodded briskly and darted out from under the shield. The fires were spreading too quickly to be natural, or else there'd been an unusual drought in the area lately, and the smoke... He swore inwardly, wondering why his mother had proofed him against fire but not smoke, and then regretted it and thought a brief apology to the deceased.

"Everyone stay calm! Just head for the water, Cainon'll take care of you!" he shouted, his voice already going hoarse. When people didn't react quickly enough, he shoved them in Cainon's general direction. But there were three people unconscious in the street, one of them a small girl of no more than six. There wasn't time to think. He didn't think he could breathe this air for much longer, and he wasn't sure he had the strength to carry either of the other two, so he grabbed her and ran back into the water. "That's... everyone," he panted, looking stricken.

Cainon noticed the troubled look across Gwennan's face. He stared at him with slight confusion. He could sense the trouble of his new found friend. "Are you sure that's everyone?" Cainon finally asked. His voice slightly strained by the concentration of energy it took to hold the watery shield.

Gwennan had to wait long enough to cough up something black before he could speak again. "No. It isn't. But I won't risk these people" - he indicated those already gathered around them - "for them, and I can't ask you to stay, so..." He started coughing again, more violently this time, then straightened. "So get them out of here. I'll see if I can get one or two more, then I'll find you."

Cainon's face washed with slight worry. He couldn't let Gwennan stay here and do this himself. Besides he couldn't hold the water much longer. Not this amount anyway. "These people can get themselves out of here from this point." He finally said. "I will try and fight the fire and smoke while you search for others." The water floated around the streets of the burning city dropping off a little of its load at certain points. Cainon stood beside Gwennan with a cylindrical flow of water above them about seven feet in diameter.