Wara

Zola stared at Wara as they walked with Nak. He wondered why she was walking with a man when he barely saw her around one.

"Nya? Do you trust him?" he asked warily, giving Nak's back a once over. The man seemed odd with his nik'isati that blended in with his skin like scars instead of markings.

Wara scoffed without looking at the child. "I do not dear one. He will only lead us to where we can lay safely. I know the way but let us test him." She gave Nak a sweet smile when he turned back after he had heard the snarl in her tone.

He had no idea what they had said but had felt a thousand chills run down his back after receiving the smile that had come after a snarl.

Nak began to rethink his choices of coming to get her when her appearance had brought ominous events all in the span of Dies Lucis. The only other person who had done something of that sort was crazy enough to drive a dagger through his heart while giving him a grin.

He stole another glance at Wara smiling sweetly at the child and frowned. That was the only genuine smile he had seen her give and she had been smiling a lot. Most of the smiles she gave were sweet but her eyes always held a stare that seemed to want to devour his soul.

He wondered if they were related. They had the same skin tone, the same stare save the other could see your soul, the same odd aura they radiated like they were 'other', and odd eyes.

Now that Nak noticed it, Wara had odd eyes too. He had crossed over the fact that her hair may not be that odd since Yhra normally changed her hair color with a few concoctions made by Sica but the color Wara chose was odd. The main odd thing was her eye color which was the same as her hair. That, he could not explain.

Sica could have sworn her eyes were brown the first time he had met her. Now, they were an odd mix of purple and grey. The colors seemed to be swirling, dancing around each other but never mixing. It was mesmerizing and one could get lost in them.

Wara cleared her throat and Nak realized that he had indeed been staring into her eyes and gotten lost in them.

Wara had an irritated look on her face but Nak caught a glimmer of amusement in her eyes and gulped.

"You might want to hurry; your friends might be in danger." She said and Nak caught the amusement clear as day in her tone.

He narrowed his eyes and she smiled, raising an eyebrow." I sense it. There is something in the air that is chasing away all creatures and your little camp is in the way of those creatures."

As if on cue, the hairs on his skin rose up as she spoke. Judging from how unbothered she looked, she felt safe already and he felt like an idiot. He then wondered why she was following him since he already knew it was not from the goodness of her heart. 

Wara gave a wicked smile this time and as if she read his mind, told him. "I may be safe, but your friends certainly are not."

Nak realized there and then that she wanted something from him and asked her. "What do you want?"

Wara immediately dropped her smile and narrowed her eyes. "Well, I did not consider you being quick of mind. That in itself is an advantage." She paused; pretending to look thoughtful then wore a smile that made Nak's entire hair stand on their ends. "In exchange for your friend's lives, I want you to protect this child with your life."

All color drained from Nak's face. "There is more to this than you're telling me right? It is not as easy as it seems right?"

"Indeed" Wara answered, relishing in the horror stricken expression on Nak's face. "And I will not be disclosing it to you."

Nak began to refuse but Wara shushed him with a glare. "Remember that they are not aware of the danger that awaits them."

With a sullen expression, he made up his mind and Wara gave a satisfied hum. "He does not need much from you save from a circumstance that I be unavailable, then you can ward over him. But keep in mind that if a single bruise should appear on his body while he is you charge, you will pay."

Ignoring the threat, Nak complained. "Can you please stop talking like that? You sound as if you are speaking in a different language and then translating it into what I speak. It is a handful to hear."

Wara frowned at the same time Zola frowned. The boy could not understand what had been said but Wara could. "Do you want your friends to be saved or not because I do not mind standing here and discussing how I converse while they are devoured by the beasts."

Nak did not respond but turned away and began to walk faster.

A slimy feeling overcame his body and he became nauseated. He could not hold in the contents and began to heave. He looked behind him and found the child had copied his actions.

He heard the first cry of the wild beasts and saw his shed when he looked up. His mind reeled as he pondered on how he could be in the forest one second and the open field the next. He chucked it up as one of the strange things Wara could do.

He tried to stand but his knees felt weak and then they gave in. He decided not to stand but sit and watch how she would save them all.

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Wara stared at the putty man in mild disgust. She had created a shortcut to the camp simply because she felt indebted to the woman who had cared after her and Zola.

The stampede of creatures came and she unleashed the vortex, sucking them as they rushed in.

This was the scene Sica witnessed as he rushed out of his tent. He stopped in his tracks and watched as the vortex sucked in all the beasts, both flying and crawling.

Then some began to fly in from behind and hades broke loose. Fjammi tried to set some aflame and they responded with flames of their own.

"GET DOWN!" was the only warning Wara gave before she swung out an arm and two vortexes appeared, one for each hand. She stood in the middle, controlling the forces as it mercilessly sucked in all the beasts.

Nak dove right on top of Zola and could feel the force trying to suck him in. Sica dared to look up from where he laid flat and found that smile on Wara's face as if she enjoyed what she was doing.

For an hour, it seemed like the stampede would never end. Nak fought to make sure Zola was safe as some would slip past Wara and Fjammi would push them back with the flames until they fell into the force of the vortex.

Finally, the horde of beasts had been sucked in and Wara dissolved the vortex with a grey flame.

Yhra came out of her tent looking alarmed with a long sword stained with black blood. "What just happened?" she asked, seeing the whole place in disarray with burnt singe marks on the floor and tousled trees.

Wara turned around to meet a wide eyed Yhra staring at the men standing up from the ground. With a sweet smile that was genuine, Wara stuck out her hand and introduced herself. "Hello, I am Wara"