dewdrop revival

Sven awoke to the fresh smell of dew on the mossy green banks of the river xell.

He had been traveling with his longtime rescued companion, familiar and pet Tomai, a cute cabbit. Sven was a prestigious Elben studying the fine arts of alchemy and other magic ,coming from a very proud aristocracy, his family was in the top ranks for alchemical practicum back in Rok thoxa. Sven then left his family on a pilgrimage to find materials and study the interesting and weird creatures of xell region to make himself more prepared to take on becoming the heir to the head of Tathetae family.


sven turned over on the soft silky cloth mat he was peacefully laying on next to Tomai inside the tent he had carried along on his pilgrimage while he studied there. "Tomai .... we have lots to look for today ... don't we ..Hmm?" he whispered to her as he cheeked a smile, while he ruffled her fur .
Tomai let out a quiet mew as she nudged his face with her cold nose understanding him.
Sven delicately raised himself to take stroll to the river bank, he dipped his fingers into the ice cold water sending shivers down his spine, removing them immediately as he had placed them in.meanwhile as sven was testing the temperature of the water Tomai was still curled in a ball in the warmth of the blankets inside the tent. He proceeded to undress to his undergarments whilst the reminding thought of back at home when the servants would dress and undress him, then snapped back to reality when he calmly dipped into the cold water to bathe himself before they would set off continuing their pilgrimage.As sven was bathing, Tomai awoke to an odd but interesting,and pungent aroma coming from far in the distance. she wistfully stretched her fuzzy body as she launched herself in the direction of where the scent was coming from.

sven paid no attention to rustling noises from green foliage around him thinking it was only the wind.he could only think of how proud he would make his father when he returns home,and how he missed them.As Tomai was darting around the many campsites that had either been abandoned ,or were currently uninhabited in the area to follow the mysterious smell wafting in the air , she had come to a smaller tent much smaller than the one sven had, she noticed something shiny as well as to find the source of the interesting scent inside .
Sven had been daydreaming whilst relaxing in the water,waiting for Tomai to wake up.

A lonely tent sat just out of view of the riverbank. This was a fairly popular area for rest stops along the way between the Xell cities, but Xyn-lea had chosen a spot a bit out of the way. She wanted the least interruptions possible.

Xyn-lea stretched under the thin blanket, not wanting to get up quite yet. Restful days like these were few and far between lately. She was currently waiting for Ru to catch up with her, and seeing as she had made better time than she had expected, he would be a few days. The sleep was welcome though, and she wasn't about to get up unless she had to. She wore only her underwear and her white shirt; the vest, boots and shorts were sitting in a pile by her feet. The feel of the thin blanket against her skin was nice, too, although not as good as a bed. Beds were a wonderful thing. But she was very comfortable right now, and that was what mattered.

She rolled over, clutching the blanket around her comfily, and didn't quite notice that she had bumped a bag she had in her tent. It contained herbs she had been gathering for various purposes, and a small bag of a sharp smelling herb rolled out. Its scent immediately filled the tent. Although the smell was sharp, it was good. The spice was used for cooking most often, and the smell made her sigh. The day was starting well.

Letting the blanket slip over her, Xyn-lea stretched as far as the tent would allow and shut her eyes again. It was still only just passed dawn, and the place where she was camped didn't let enough daylight through the thick trees for her to want to get started on some exploring of the near by area. As she moved to a comfortable area, the small silver pendant slid across her skin and lie on the ground beside her.

A cold breeze suddenly lifted a flap on the tent and she shivered. The morning was still a bit cold this time of year. Perhaps she should have brought a thicker blanket... oh well. Cold was good for a person. Maybe it was time to get up.

She opened her eyes, and suddenly sat up with a start. A small black and white animal had been nose to nose with her a second before, sitting on her pendant. She let out a breath; it had given her more of a shock than it should have.

"Go eat some plants or something," she said annoyedly to the intruding -albeit cute- animal.

meanwhile sven was still distantly thinking to himself ,still in his under garments in the river.
while Tomai was having a hayday also being scared out her daylights by Xyn-lea as they came nose to nose to each other , as she was intent on investigating this strange woman's scent in her campsite. Before long Tomai had noticed the shiny pendant and tugged on it as hard as she could with her teeth breaking the string .she became entranced by the shiny object and scooped it up into her muzzle ,daunting off outside the tent,and into the thick brush.
Sven was starting become worried when he no longer sensed the magic from crystal in her collar."Tomai where are you? its not like you to wander away from me like this ?..." he sighed out loud.Sven promptly turned around while still in his wet undergarments which were now transparent to skintone saw Tomai come darting out of the bushes full throttle and into the river she plunged, splashing sven as he was not amused as to where she had dissapeared to.

"Tomai ! Where have you been !!!? i was starting to worry!"he belted peering downward to the water ,as he turned once more his face turned bright cherry red seeing a woman come thromping through the brush after Tomai. Not only was she only wearing nothing but a white shirt and underwear but he hadn't seen anyone around the area since he departed from the other travelers. sven smudged his face as he felt a drip from his nose of the blood which apparently flowed out when he laid his eyes on the young woman running out of the bushes like a mad man.
"What on earth are you doing ?... and why did you disturb my bathing.?"he looked away flustered.

Xyn-lea relaxed when she saw it was only a small animal, but immediately tensed up when she saw what was in its mouth. Her hands reached towards her collarbone for where her pendant wasn't sitting. No, it was in the creature's mouth.

"Why you little piece of rags," she said with an angry look and dove for the cabbit. It hopped away quickly however, its little fuzzy bum dissappearing into the trees. Not her pendant, she would never let that thing get away. Fire burning in her eyes, she darted after it, ignoring the safety of her tent and the scantity of her clothing.

Her bare feet snapped twigs and trampled aspiring plants as she barreled after the cabbit. "Get back here you damned dirty sock!"

Xyn-lea chased after it and came out into the river bank, where there was a very settled in looking camp site set up. Her eyes drifted from the cabbit, huddled near a pile of clothes, to the pile of clothes themselves, to the clothes' apparent owner.

A tall teal haired man stood knee deep in the water, wearing only his unmentionables.

"What on earth are you doing? ....and why did you disturb my bathing?"

He looked red in the face to see her when she realized she was wearing only a showy shirt and some panties. Ignoring her state of undress, she scoffed at him. "I'm not here to disturb your bath. Clean away. I'm just trying to catch that stupid little thing!!"

Xyn-lea dove for Tomai but missed; the cabbit was too fast. "Give me back my necklace!!" She landed with an oof, trying to see where the animal had hid now.

sven still in his flustered mindset, hurriedly jumped out of the river grabbing his clothes and running into the tent to change as quick as possible ,stumbling over his neck ruffle on the ground and almost stepping on Tomai when she ran underneath his feet inside the tent cowering from the scary woman. After he settled into his dry attire he scooped up Tomai in his arms to calm her down."what's gotten into you Tomai ...? I i thought you knew better ...." he heckled ruffling her fur to poof out from being wet from plunging into the river.
sven caught something shiny fall out of her mouth as she curled into his arms."where did you find this ...?"he glanced down at Tomai. Sven wandered about his tent searching until he located his glasses to examine the shiny pendant."now this piece is very interesting ... i know i've seen this in a book somewhere back home...but which book .....hmmmm.... I wonder if that woman knows about this?" sven puttered around humming and hawing holding the pendant as light shone through it sparkling .

He rushed out of the tent to see if the woman was still there to see if she knew what this odd stone was and where it came from.he made a motion with his hand to slightly push his glasses upwards as he looked at her with questioning stare.

The bathing man scrambled for his clothes, almost tripping over something or other, and dove into the tent either in fear or embarrasment. Likely he was just trying to get changed so he wouldn't be standing around nearly naked. Of course, nudity didn't bother Xyn-lea at all, but many people weren't as candid as she was.

The small creature followed him into the tent. That, combined with the actions of the creature hiding near his clothes before, lead her to the assumption that the cabbit was his pet. That certainly made things a lot easier; now she wasn't just chasing some wild thing across a forest. The pet would likely stay with its owner and she would get her pendant back.

Xyn-lea stood outside the tent, realizing that she should have patience with the cabbit's owner if she wanted to get her necklace back. She, however, had no intention of leaving the spot until he emerged. She ignored the draft that blew off the river. It was a bit drafty without her shorts on, that was for sure....

She had just been about to ask what was taking him so long when he emerged. She realized what had taken so long; his clothes were fairly fancy and in her opinion a bit pompous, what with the neck ruffle and all. He had her pendant in his hand. The teal haired man straightened his glasses up on his nose and looked at her questioningly.

"Yes, that IS mine. Your whateveritis ran off with it and I'd like it back," she said, holding out her hand expectantly. She shot him an angry look that had scared many a scary scary person before. Her look said what she didn't. Or else.

he adjusted his glasses straightening them out on his face. "so this is why my Tomai had been scampering away from you.... i can undoubtedly see that you struck fear in her slightly ... she was only interested in your pendant for being quite shiny." he calmly ranged his voice towards her. Tomai on the other hand came out of the tent transformed into a much larger creature then what xyn-lea was expecting ,hissing at her for intruding on her masters area of encampment thinking she was going to to attack sven.
"calm yourself Tomai .. "He raised his voice firmly to halt her hissing and growling.her hissing turned to a dim pur to obey his order. she scratched at her collar with her back leg to ease the itchiness from the water.sven held the pendant in his palm"alright ..i will give it back once you tell me where you got this stone , and how you got it ...? " he teased her as he leaned closer putting his hands on his hips curiously interested in her being here.
sven in light of his ways offered her something to eat or drink as he opened the tent flap like a gentleman for her.
Tomai waltzed in first with her small stubby tail sticking up in a displeased view of xyn-lea ,and how sven was more intuitively showing more interest in xyn-lea than he was with Tomai."what's your name .. if you do not mind my asking as the one returning your pendant... it is only fair that i get your name so i can call you by it .... as I am sven van tathetae from the high ranking Elben family in Rok thoxa ...." he gestured himself to a slight bow .

He explained that his pet, named Tomai, had only been interested in the shininess of her pendant. And was now frightened. Although she seemed more like she was ready to try to fight right now; this was definitely the same creature as before, only larger and angrier. The man was able to calm his pet, however, so Xyn-lea didn't need to keep her guard up too much.

"alright ...I will give it back once you tell me where you got this stone, and how you got it....?"

The bespectacled, teal haired fellow motioned for her to follow him into the large tent, but his companion went in quickly, taking up much of the space with her large fluffiness. Her tail pointed in the air with obvious distaste. Xyn-lea didn't much care for her, either. She was a pile of fluffy, necklace stealing attitude and seemed to think very highly of herself for something that looked like a bad toupee.

He took the time to introduce himself, naming himself Sven Van Tathetae. Some sort of Elben noble.... that explains the frilly bullshit hanging from his neck at least.... she thought with some amusement.

She gave the man a look of disapproval as she realized she would have to play along in order to get it back.

"I'm Xyn-lea; no title here. And I'll stay out here, if you don't mind," she said, taking a seat on a large rock by the side of the river. The misty water that came from the breeze wasn't all that pleasant, but she doubted she would be warm enough without going back to her tent and changing. And she wasn't going to leave until she got her pendant back. Which lead her back to this spot. "I don't think there's much room now, anyway...." she added in a low tone.

The sun had risen a bit since she had gotten up, and combined with the thinner trees this close to the river, there was plenty of warm light around. She could wait, if she had to. But she didn't really want to.

She sighed. "If you must know, it was a gift from my mother. It's been in my family for longer than anyone remembers. It's sort of a good luck charm, that sort of thing. It means a lot to me and I'd really like it back."

The last few words sounded less sincere and a lot more annoyed than she probably should have let them, but its hard to be patient when your dearest possession is being held hostage and you're in your panties on a riverbank. At least she had a shirt..... if this had been a warmer climate, there would have been a bit more than just legs for him to be red in the face about.

"very well then... Have it your way....."he smirked childishly at xyn-lea, waltzing over toward her teasing her with the pendant hanging just a few inches out of her reaches. "your lack of sincerity shows me just truthful you really are...."sven added with his taunting. Tomai, still in transformation size , twitched her ears and flicked them back after hearing some weird high pitch screech that only she could hear. she peered out at the river, eyes fixated on the trembling waves colliding with the riverbank.

sven looked up noticing the wind slightly picking up." something's Wrong .....Tomai.. My book Get it for me !" he said in a serious tone.Tomai hissed and then flicked her ears back and forth before retrieving his spell book. Sven twirled his body with his skirt flowing with him as he caught the book from tomai. "we'll have to settle our dispute later ...for now we deal with this problem....." he said with determined eyes as he pushed his glasses up further on his face.
Sven closed his eyes, raised one arm in the air, muttering some unknown language in which a magical inscription appeared beneath him , wind swirling faster with sparks flying around "Now Show Me ...What You Really Are ...Demon!!!"he belted at the monstrous waves. Tomai was now by his side growling at this giant ugly creature that emerged from the water screeching at Tomai as if it was warning her.

he once again spouted something in that wierd language only slightly changing the verses.Just as sven had stopped speaking, it started to snow and had begun to freeze the river solid." it won't be so easy for you to escape now ... will it ...?" he calmly but intently stated towards the beast. The monster screeched louder than ever as it was trying to break free from the ice.Tomai lunged with her fangs barred biting the beast on the neck, with blood spurting everywhere.

Xyn-lea sent him a dirty look; she had been telling the truth, even if it wasn't in the most sincere of voices. And what was he doing, talking down at her. She could kick his ass, she bet. He was being an asshole by holding it hostage; it must have been his noble upbringing that made him thing that he could get away with this sort of thing. She would show him, if-

She felt barely a tremor of the rock, but it was enough to make her turn around and look into the river behind her. Besides this, Tomai was on all fours, her hair standing at attention and her teeth bared at the river with her ears pointed backwards. Something was in there, and about to attack.

Sven stopped short mid sentence, also noticing this, and mentioned that they would have to finish their business of him holding her pendant hostage. Straightening his glasses, his expression read only of attention to the river.

"Tomai," he said. "My book; get it for me!"

He began speaking in some language unknown to her, and the ground beneath his feet started to glow. A strange circular inscription formed itself, although what the runes said exactly was lost on her. He yelled out for the monster to show itself. It obliged.

Exploding from the water like a lightning strike, the beast roared at them. It was by far one of the ugliest creatures she'd come across; a snarling mouth with many rows of teeth. A bellowing roar shook the water, and waves crashed against the beaches. The forest seemed to bend away from the water; even the trees did not like this thing. Sven stood planted in space in the circle of magic; not a speck of fear showed on his face. This impressed Xyn-lea; she would have expected less from someone of a high upbringing.

Xyn-lea jumped back from the riverside; she'd heard about the river monsters, but had never had the chance to see one. Well, it appeared as if this was her lucky day. Immediately she thought to reach for a weapon, then realized she was wearing only a shirt and panties. This would not do. Hoping that Sven didn't think she was abandoning him, she raced back to her tent for her things. It only took her a few seconds to gather them and throw on her clothes. Fighting nearly naked -although people of some cultures would disagree- was not the best option.

She reappeared on the bank on the river; the water was now frozen in place and Tomai was hanging from the beast's throat -or what you might call a throat, at least. The screech cut through the forest like a sword; birds took to the skies, flying away from the commotion.


Xyn-lea first grabbed eight of her needles and laid them across one hand. Closing her other on top of it, she cast them with a simple fire enchantment. It would be enough to be the beast's (hopefully) weakness. The needles began to glow with heat but before the heat could hurt her, she threw four from each hand at the beast's face, hoping to damage any sensory bits and give her and the Elben any advantage.

Xyn-lea then grabbed her bladed whip, thinking it the best weapon against the beast.

"Do you have any sort of plan?" she asked, standing near him in case the beast were to lash out.

sven took a moment to gather his plan of attack, in the meantime cast a spell to freeze over the river to buy some time for Xyn-lea to retrieve here clothes and weapons."this should buy us some time before the river unfreezes!!"he yelled over the swirling winds and high pitched screeching.

Tomai was thrashing about at the beast as she ripped scales and flesh from its body making it scream from the pain as it became angrier.Tomai flipped back on all fours on the icy river she slid a bit with her claws grating the ice as she skidded before coming to a halt.she winced from the cold on her paws,before realizing it She heard sven yelling in her direction.
Sven saw Tomai slide across the ice with her claws grating the ice,as he yelled "Tomai !!! Move ...." but before tomai could react she was hit from the left side by one of the creatures tails that had managed to break free from the ice,thus sending her pummeling back in front of sven collapsing in front of him unconsious.

"Tomai !!!!.....Tomai....!!! " Sven cried out in anger."alright....Now ..ITS PERSONAL !!!!! you foul loathsome Creature"as he left tomai laying on the bank of the river, he now had to think of something else, he had to figure what its weakness was sven jumped onto the ice with his book in hand summoning what looked like dark crystal javelins, as sven waived his hand forward the dark crystals pierced the beasts body all around it . "now Xyn-lea This your chance ...While the river is frozen!" he belted at her as he rushed back to Tomai.

Sven needed xyn-lea to distract it while he took a short while to cast a simple healing rune on Tomai so he could return to the battle." im counting on you for now "he whispered his back from xyn-lea.

She didn't need to get a close look to understand what was going on; his familiar was badly hurt and would need immediate attention Sven appeared to be tending to her, but this only put the pressure on Xyn-lea to do something about the river monster.

Most of it was still encased in ice, but its swinging spiked tails would be a major issue, as would its serrated teeth. One problem at a time, though. She waited for it to strike, avoiding the attack of its spikey face and swinging out her whip at its neck.

The spikes on her whip, like claws, grabbed onto the monsters already bare throat. It whipped its neck back, once again screeching in pain, and she held tight to the handle of her whip as she was pulled towards it. Using the momentum, she swung around it and landed near its head. She immediately held on to one of the horn-like protrusions as the beast whipped its (HAIR BACK AND FURTH) head around, obviously wildly disagreeing with her presence. She was more persistant, however, and had a bit of a plan in the making.

Swinging free of the top of its head, she unravled the whip chain and right at the end, dug a small knife into the creature's side. Now that her whip was freed, she would be able to use it where it would do better; on its tails. The main part of the beast's body was still stuck to the iced river and she was able to throw the whip at its flailing tails. The teeth dug into the beast's flesh, tying the tails together.

"That should help, a bit," she said to herself. Not forgetting her dangerous place, she dug another of her knives into its side and held on tight. Sven better come back to the fight soon, she figured; Tomai couldn't have been that badly injured. And she would need some backup.
Just as she realized this, the ice began to crack and the beast was more free to move. It flailed harder, making it hard for her to hold on to its slimy scales.

Sven was halfly leaning over Tomai with his book in hand whispering a quiet enchantment that brought a warm green light over Tomai's body. As the light dissapated Tomai slowly rose from the ground slightly limping but looked as if there was not a single scratch on her.
"..... alright ....now its time we finish with you ..." Sven spoke to himself with anger in his tone.
Tomai had gotten up and was back on the riverbank with sven ready to fight again. Sven noticed xyn- lea holding on for dear life as she was hanging onto the beast. As she was holding onto it sven had rushed out on the ice as he hadnt noticed the slight cracks in it.
As sven set foot towards the beast breaking free on the frozen river ,with his book in hand he felt a shift in the ice and lost his footing. Tomai was just close enough to catch him from falling as she grabbed the collar of his shirt in her teeth. He gave his familar a faint smile and climbed onto her back to get closer to the flailing serpent.

Just as Tomai and sven had gotten closer to the grimacing serpent he caught a glimpse of Xyn-lea about to be thrown off the beast .Sven tapped Tomai on the ear as he jumped off her back, leaping upwards to catch xyn-lea." my my ... it seems like i feel a knight in shining armor coming your rescue?" he chuckled a bit as he landed on the ground with xyn-lea in his arms, being careful not to slip or drop her. which would be the most ungentlemanly like in his own books of chivalry according to Sven that is.
He turned his attention back to the writhing serpent as it was wriggling free from the icy hold that it was locked in."well it seems i may have missjudged the amount power this loathesome beast really has....." he gave a halfhearted shrug then pulled his magical tome in front of his eyes,raising his left hand above himself and slowly the whispers he muttered became into loud chanting. Bright colourful lights had appeared swirling around his arm, as he lowered his arm sven drove his hand straight into the frozen part of water beneath him.

With his hand striking the ice and reaching into the water he thus pulled forth a giant magical bladewith runes that glowed with the same colors that had appeared on himself from the depths of water which had then shattered the ice he was standing on as he jumped backwards with the sword in hand. There was slight pick up in the wind as it did not phase sven in the slightest, his eyes grew sullen as he walked towards the beast dragging the sword behind as it left burning marks in the ice ."this battle is far from over....."he said without abating his gaze from the ugly beast in his path.

The beast whipped wildly around in defiance of the ice encasing most of its body. Xyn-lea's grip on it was failing, and she had no leverage to either climb off or attack it. And with the shattered claws of ice protruding from the frozen river's surface below her, just letting go was not an option when she knew not where she would land.

That.. that Sven... Leaving me in a position like this. she thought. His dirty sock monster better heal fast or I'll be a kebab on his ice...!

Frosty, slimy scales didn't make for good grip, and one of her hands slipped off of the knife in the river serpent's neck. "Damn-" she cursed, and began to think about finding a safe place to land if she could. That was when she saw Sven head back into the mess of a fight. His eyes were on her and she took it as a sign that he was going to get her out of her (not)sticky situation. She let go of the other knife only to have Sven catch her. He let out a quip about being a knight in shining armor and Xyn-lea made a mental note to get him back for that.

When he put her down on the solid ground, Sven mentioned something about misjudging the beast's power. Xyn-lea would have to agree with that. His spell had only temporarily held the monster and had, in the long run, made it less agreeable. (Not that a river serpent is agreeable under the best circumstances, mind you!)

He was going to ready another spell, it seemed, so Xyn-lea once again found herself in the position to play the distraction. It was not her favourite place to be, by far. She charged in towards it again, whipping at its head with her chain-whip. She was not intending to hurt it so much as to make it follow the shiny stabby thing and not pay attention to Sven.

She didn't see whatever he cast at first until he walked up to the monster, a heavy sword that seemed to be made entirely of magic. It was now time to turn up the heat on their attacks. Xyn-lea, this time prepared for the beast's reaction, once again used her chain to grab onto the beast's neck. With its body not encased in ice this time, she should likely be able to attack at the tails and leave the rest of the monster to Sven.

Her feet left the ground with surprising speed as it once again flailed its head around. Her knives were still in its neck and she used one as a foothold. More firmly planted that on her last attempt, she swung her whip around and used it to grab on to the beast's tails. She then jumped off of its neck, her whip hooking around the other knife she'd left in its scales. The tail swung towards the beast's head, forced by the momentum of her jump, and the beast slipped sideways onto the riverbank with a thunderous thump. It would not hold for long, but with the look of the summoned sword Sven had, she surmised that it would stand as a good enough start.

with ice shattered and protruding everywhere the beast had fallen into place on the side of the riverbank where xyn-lea had been another distraction to it as draw the beasts attention away from sven while he cast his enchantment. Sven dodged around the massive flailing tails the serpent tried to whip around as he was tied down.
Sven's piercing eyes fixated on the ugly serpent to meet its demise soon enough. He was gaining speed as he charged towards it with giant sword intow behind leaving massive scars in the ice chunks .
As Sven was at a point blank range he lifted the heavy sword almost with ease as he glared at the serpent and thrusted the blade towards the beasts face,the magic that eminated around and on the sword felt hot as it was burning Sven's hand with powerful magic, making him grimace a little. With all the power in his arm he stabbed the serpent as the blade had gone straight through the beasts head and striking the ground with it, the strong magical runes that glowed on the sword started to get brighter as lights were swirling all around the serpents body as it were absorbing the flesh of the creature.
The sword itself had then begin to shake the ground as the blade exploded with magic disappearing from the world of its very existance as if it were never real,like a dream. Sven fell to his knees with burn marks all over his hands and arms as he lifted his head to look up to the sky. The magical tome he had been using suddenly appeared falling from the sky landing in the dirt in front of him,as it unexpectedly as snow began to fall silently before them. "its ..so beautiful....ive never seen the snow...like this before "he whispered to himself as Tomai had laid beside him to keep him from falling over.Sven smiled at her as he stroked her forhead messing up the fur in that section.

The book lay burnt and smoking in front of his lap as he picked it up,only to drop it again because of the painfully stinging burns on his hands. Tomai tried to lick them to see if it would help.

Xyn-lea used all her strength to hold the end of the chain whip, and to hold the beast down as well as she could. Sven was marching towards the river serpent with a look on his face that could only mean trouble for the monster. It glowed with an unearthly colour and Xyn-lea could sense with what little magic affinity she had the power in it. And if she could sense it, then it really was powerful - magic in general was not her strong suit.

The beast yanked its head upward, also -she could assume- sensing the power of the blade. Xyn-lea lost her grip on the chainwhip and it roared in defiance. The beast's head shot towards Sven, its teeth looking to take a chunk out of him. The teal haired man had other ideas. With a mighty lunge, he swung the sword around and stabbed through the beast's head, driving it into the ground.

Although its head was impaled by the ethereal sword, the riverserpent continued to flail and writhe. Xyn-lea once again grabbed hold of the chained whip, not wanting it to get away and all their work to go to waste. Sven's magic was really something, however. The blade, upon tasting the creature's blood and suffering, began to glow with a hot sort of light. From the look on Sven's face, the sword must have been at least half as hot as it looked. Swirling tendrils of light wove around the beast as its flailing weakened. The flesh of the beast seemed to be... absorbed somehow by the sword. It was unreal.

The sword began to shake as it absorbed the beast's everything and then suddenly exploded. Snowflakes fell down around them. A singed book nearly glowing with magic fell from the sky as well. Xyn-lea recognized it as Sven's. It landed in front of him and he sat on the ground, his familiar licking his assumedly burned hands.

Xyn-lea gathered her dropped weapons from the beast's lack of corpse as snow fell around them. In some places, untouched by the icy magic of Sven's first attack, it melted. In others, however, it stayed in an eerie juxtaposition to the forest around them. She walked over to Sven, noting that his hands were indeed burnt.

"You should wash out those burns," she said. "I can get something from my camp for them," she added, and then remembered why she had run into him in the first place. "But I would like my necklace back...."

Sven slowly rose from the ground ,slightly stumbling towards his tent or what was left of the encampment when followed beside him to keep him standing while he walked.Sven sifted through all the belongings and and the destroyed items that were mashed together in a heap. Tomai shoveled around the mess with her muzzle when she had located the shiny pendant she stolen from Xyn-lea .
Tomai gave a low whimper as she held it in her mouth, facing Sven as she nudged him with her wet nose. he caressed her muzzle with his burnt hands." you have to give it back now .... you realize what you've done right Tomai..." he whispered to her gently. She whimpered again still in the low tone. Sven stood up walking slowly towards xyn-lea with tomai following behind Still in her very large form .
" I believe this belongs to you .... "sven warmly said " i had completed my study on that stone that it possessed ......it has some magical energy within it ...... Take care of it ...as it is special to you Right ...." he notioned " if you'd like i could extract its magical energy to enhance your sense of magic distinction... "
sven wandered back the destroyed tent as he went to set it back up and tidy it up a bit so he could find his tools for extracting magic .
Tomai had held the pendant in her mouth to give it back as she gave a whimpering howl as to say "im sorry " for stealing the necklace.

Xyn-lea took her pendant back, shooting him a slightly sour look. "I'd rather it be left how it is. It's been in my family longer than anyone can say, and it is best left alone." She put it back around her neck, the familiar weight evening her mood. It had felt just plain wrong not to wear it.
Xyn-lea regarded the whimpering Tomai and her expression softned. "I guess you aren't that bad...," she muttered. Maybe a clean sock... she added in her head.
"Give me one moment and I'll get something for your burns," she said to Sven as she headed to her campsite. She quickly grabbed a small bag and returned to the riverside. Among other things, there was some clean bandage and a strong multi-purpose healing paste.

"Sit down and I can do something about your hands," she said, walking over to Sven. He likely could have magiced himself away from that fight at any time and he didn't, and Xyn-lea felt she could at least repay him that much. Even if his sockmonster originally stole her necklace.

" my thanks to you ...." sven said as he winced as his burnt hands were being treated. " Tomai can be rather troublesome at times you know given her nature .... but she is indeed intriguing to me as she has become a part of my family ... i do appologise for her intrusive manner of your encampment ......"he said with his soft accented voice.
after his hands were bandaged sven sauntered into his disheveled tent as he was shoveling and sifting through all of his ingredients . As he quickly gathered a few pretty jewels and metals and wires he gathered his book and quietly fashioned something what looked like a pocket mirror that would open and close like a pocket watch. He had fashioned more than just one he seemed to have made at least 3 of them all in a small compact form to easily fit in a pocket or pouch of some sort.
Sven finished tinkering with this small contraption making sure there were no errors with his work . he walked towards xyn-lea with the small devices in hand. "i have a little a parting gift for you ... before we both head our seperate ways."
he picked up her soft hand an placed two of three devices into the palm of her hand ." use these whenever you need ... if possible i would like to keep in contact with you . im giving you two them incase you have more than one person you'd like to be in contact with ..... i hope this helps you in your travels..." he said as he made her cup her hands to hold them.
"oh and one other thing.....this pretty little thing can be used as a picture comunicator, a map, as well a tracking beacon for if you need help. mind you it shouldn't be hard to use as i had designed it to have even the simplest functionality for those who dont have a broad magical energy source to read from ......" sven pointed out the details of his newly designed contraption to xyn-lea before turning to retire to the mangled tent to clean up and set out for a new destination for research.