The Abyss Watcher walked alongside Caelan, the midday sun shining oppressively above them. They had begun their trek back to Duskrock just before noon and were so far making good progress despite their lack of transportation. He glanced to Caelan, furrowing his brows as he once again took note of the state of the small undead. The small undead looked as though he had been working at a forge for seven days straight without rest, his skin which was usually a clammy sort of grey looked even...clammier? Was that it? His condition also only seemed to worsen as the sun rose higher.

The Abyss Watcher frowned again as he considered their destination. According to Xander undead were widely despised among most of the living population and so it was reasonable to believe that Caelan would immediately fall victim to persecution if he was ever found out. Turning to face Skyla behind him he gestured for her to come over, bringing a small blink of surprise before she muttered something to Xander. Xander simply shrugged and made a shooing gesture with his free hand, the other leading their last remaining horse by the reins, all of the party's supplies strapped to it's back.

Skyla quickly approached the Abyss Watcher, sparing a glance at Caelan before reaching the Abyss Watcher's side. "Yes?" She asked, an unreadable expression in her eyes. He eyed her for a minute before reaching for her bright blue cloak, tugging on it twice and nodding towards Caelan.

Skyla seemed confused about this gesture for a few seconds before her face lit up in understanding. She shook her head solemnly, "Even if I did have a spare cloak for him I wouldn't let him wear it. According to the kingdom's laws only mages who have graduated from Rogorth are allowed to wear such cloaks." She explained, "Giving him one would only paint a target on his back. What we need is something that will stand out less like a brown or green one."

The Abyss Watcher nodded in understanding, turning to glance behind him at Aaylia who was humming happily as she took up the rearguard. Skyla followed his gaze and shook her head once again. "Sorry, but I don't think that she has a spare cloak either. We don't usually pack extra clothes, considering that I know [Repair] and all."

The Abyss Watcher let out a sigh of defeat as he nodded again, looking to Caelan. The undead looked as though he would collapse at any moment. A hand on his shoulder brought the Abyss Watcher's attention back to Skyla who had a faint reassuring smile on her face.

"Don't worry, this is a perfectly normal reaction that all undead have to the sun and it isn't deadly or anything. From what we can tell it just exhausts them the longer they under the sun. It's the main reason undead only appear at night." She explained. The Abyss Watcher glanced into the forest, eyes narrowing. "Of course he is a bit of a unique case but so far it looks as though the same rules appl-"

She was cut off as the Abyss Watcher suddenly spun around, tripping both Caelan and Skyla up before crouching down low. Skyla opened her mouth to shout something before being cut off by the whizz of a crossbow bolt flying above them. A figure clad in a black robe appeared from the forest, sprinting for the downed group. He then suddenly turned into a blur, appearing right beside the Abyss Watcher in an instant, a jagged dagger already coming down to aim at the Abyss Watcher's neck.

[Dash]

The Abyss Watcher also turned into a blur, shooting forward, unsheathing and digging his dagger into the ground a few feet away from the assassin. His burst of speed was halted and then immediately continued as he used the leverage of the dagger to pull himself back towards the assassin, whose expression was hidden beneath the shadow of his hood. The assassin quickly recovered from his failed stab and made to jump back. Too late however as the Abyss Watcher's sword pierced his abdomen, skewering the assassin upon it as the Abyss Watcher continued moving forward due to the momentum.

He finally came to a stop, causing the assassin to slide off of the blade and onto the ground, remaining silent the entire time. The Abyss Watcher turned to the forest, two more figures covered in the same black cloak as the first emerging from it, both bearing the same type of dagger as the first. They split apart, moving to either side of the Abyss Watcher in an attempt to flank him.

The one on the left didn't get far before being forced back by a bright blue crescent being slashed in front of it. The one on the right closed in soon after realising this, dagger at the ready as it charged the Abyss Watcher head on. The Abyss Watcher quickly swung his sword horizontally at the assassin, who jumped up high, far higher than that which normal human would be capable of.

While an impressive feat by the assassin, the Abyss Watcher adapted quickly, reaching up with his dagger and stabbing it into the assassin's leg, pulling down and causing the assassin to land onto the ground with a thud and a strange cracking noise. Once again though the assassin remained entirely silent throughout the whole ordeal.

Spinning towards Xander, the Abyss Watcher watched as the remaining assassin slowly backed away with an arrow embedded into it's shoulder, swinging it's dagger between Xander and Alissa, the latter of which had their bow drawn and aimed at the retreating assassin.

The Abyss Watcher began to move towards the assassin, flicking the blue blood off of his swor- wait, blue blood? He brought the sword closer. Sure enough the blood was blue. He turned away from the battle-deeming that Xander and Alyssa had it covered-and moved up to the unmoving body of the assassin he had skewered. He pointed his sword at the head of the assassin, flicking the hood back. He took a step back in shock, eyes widening.

It wasn't a human. Rather, it looked like an insect the size of a human.. It had two large eyes taking up the majority of space on it's face, seeming to glow a bright blue, the texture of the eyes very similar to that of a bee's. It's mouth was shaped similarly to a humans, yet was far larger, also being left ajar to reveal it to be filled with canines, two of them acting as fangs and jutting out from the top, larger then the others. For some reason a dorsal fin also crested the top of it's head, it's purpose unknown to the Abyss Watcher. It was made of a smooth black chitin, further investigation revealing that it covered every inch of this thing.

[Analyse]

Changeling A unique humanoid species that has the ability to morph into other humanoid forms and change it's features at will. This makes them the best possible spies you can get, and they are highly sought after. The more powerful changelings can transform into a variety of different forms, not limited to just humanoid forms. While in their normal forms they appear as insect like humanoids and lack the vocal chords to speak any language other than their own. Their appearance as insects is not just an appearance either as they also have a social structure similar to that of many other insects with a reigning queen giving birth to every changeling. Level 89 Core Stats:

[Health] 360 -360 [Stamina] 800 [Mana] 580 [Species Skills]

[Morph] Surrounds the user in an aura relevant to their magical affinity, changing their form wherever the aura touches. Can be limited to specific body parts. The users [Status] also changes to match that of the form they are taking in order to hide from any and all forms of [Analyse].

He quickly took more steps back, eyeing the two newly made corpses carefully before turning to face the others. He idly noted the still confused Skyla and Caelan beginning to get to their feet, clearly dazed from the Abyss Watcher's impromptu rescue. The changeling continued to back away slowly towards the forest, shifted it's head between the two. They appeared to be locked in a stalemate, with the changeling not able to turn and flee for fear of Alyssa's arrows, and Alyssa not willing to loose and arrow only to miss and let it get away.

The Abyss Watcher decided to try and break this stalemate, making his way over to the changeling, who shifted it's gaze to him upon noticing the approach. Deciding to risk it the changeling turned his back fully to the group, sprinting towards the forest as it's cloak billowed behind. Alyssa immediately loosed her arrow, which sailed through the air towards the back of the changeling's head.

It appeared to be only inches away from the hooded back of it's head when the arrow became surrounded by a blue glow, halting it in it's tracks. The changeling continued to flee, eventually making it into past tree line and disappearing into the shrubbery. The sound of a pair of feet landing upon the ground brought everyone's attention to the right, finding a new figure had shown jumped down from one of the trees near the road, a black cloak identical to that of the changeling's hiding all except for his head.

This one though looked human. If you excused the dark blue hair tied back into a ponytail of course. A large grin was spread across his face as he approached them, "My friends!" He said, holding his hands out to the sides, "My name is Jim. And you are Xander, Skyla, Alyssa, and the oh so mysterious Abyss Watcher." He pointed to each of the respective persons, only making the others tense up even further. Regardless he continued his approach, gaze flicking to Caelan for just a moment before looking back to the party.

"I must say Mr. Abyss Watcher I'm impressed. You are somehow so secretive and mysterious that not even a changeling spy network can find out about you!" Jim's voice filled with respect and awe, Alyssa tensing up even more as she glanced at the Abyss Watcher, "I do hope you forgive this little incident however." He nodded to the two changelings lying dead on the road, "This was entirely a test for both you and them. To see how strong you actually are and to see how these ones would handle their assignment. Now though, I feel as if the scales were far too much in your favour." He admitted.

"As an apology for this impromptu interruption I can arrange for someone to meet you outside the city with a disguise for the little one. I can also arrange for an increase in the pay for your quest. I am afraid however that I am going to have to take these bodies away. [Dimension Space]." Two small blue circles appeared underneath the two bodies which fell through and out of sight. Jim tapped his chin in though, "You know, I've been doing that sort of stuff for a while. Probably got a whole cemetery in there by this point."

Then without another word he turned and walked back into the forest, leaving the party very confused.

The Abyss Watcher looked down to Caelan, who stared at the spot where Jim had disappeared. Well, at least they had secured a disguise for Caelan. Overall, that whole experience had gone pretty well.