The Homecoming 34.

Another Circle...

Mira Reinholt the mage finds himself on his hands and knees, groaning as he retches up what he had for breakfast earlier. The once powerful mage feels miserable, not to mention disoriented, whose vision though a little blurry, is starting to clear. The exiled Vexilian mage has definitely felt better for sure. But at the moment, not so much.
He groans again when he hears the familiar voice of lord Farque from somewhere behind him say in a sour tone of voice "Way to go mage, look where you've fucking got us this time".
The spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster, sits back on his rear end, and blinks a few times as he looks around to see where they are. His vision finally clears, and he finds that he's sitting within the druid's circle they were looking around. Then he blinks in surprise as he sees that it isn't that circle of standing stones, it's a completely different one.
"By the shape of fire" mutters Mira Reinholt the mage after he wipes his mouth with the back of his gloved hand. The once powerful mage briefly stares as he sees that the tip of some of the fingers of his right glove are gone, and that there's drops of blood on his fingertips.
"What the fuck?" murmurs the mage Reinholt, who wipes his bloody fingers on the grass he's sitting on. Which causes him to stare again, as the grass is a lot longer, and a lot damper than the grass that was on the ground in the druid's circle they were in previously.
"Where are we?" asks the Vexilian mage in exile as he looks up at the sky above. He's sees that it's morning, but he frowns as he realises the sun isn't as high in the sky as it was just a short time ago, when they were in the other druid's circle.
"Who the fuck knows" says lord Farque, Mira Reinholt turns his hooded head to look at the undead warlord, who tells him "What i can tell you, is that we're not where we were just a few moments ago".
The spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster looks up at the clear morning sky again, and at the sun. As he does, he feels an uncontrollable stab of fear pierce his body. And hiding that fear, he says "Are we still" he pauses for a moment, then he adds "Still on, you know" not wanting to voice what he fears.
Behind the visor of his full helm, the deathlord of Farque sourly smiles, then he says "Where still in our world" before adding "Not offworld, or on another plane".
The mage Reinholt breathes a sigh of relief, for if there was one thing he wouldn't want to go through again, is to go offworld once more. Something he definitely doesn't what to endure again.
The exiled Vexilian mage gathers himself, and though he's a little unsteady at first, he gets to his feet, and stumbles a bit until lord Farque grabs him, and holds him steady.
The lord and ruler of the lands Farque leads the highly skilled swordmaster to the nearest standing stone and tells him "Here, lean against this until you get your wits about you".
Draugadrottin as he's also known by, to the people of his lands faraway to the south, looks around then says "Well, where ever the fuck we are, we're much further to the west of where we were a short time ago in that other fucking circle".
"We are?" says Mira Reinholt who blinks in surprise as he looks around while leaning back against the face of the standing stone behind him. The lord of the death realm points up at the sun in the east, then says "We are".
The mage Reinholt, who is still getting over the fact, that for the briefest of moments, he felt the full extent of all his vast magical powers once more. Looks eastwards, and seeing that the sun is not yet up in the position in the sky, it was in when they were in the other druid's circle.
Says to the heavily armoured deathlord "Is it still the same" he pauses for a moment, then adds "Day?".
"Yes" is the answer from lord of the death realm "You sure" asks the spellcaster who was once more powerful than any other mage of his generation to be found anywhere in the Southlands.
"Yes" is the answer in a flat tone from the undead warlord "Are you absolutely sure, how can you tell?" asks the swordmaster from the city-state of Vexil, his homeland that he's been exiled from.
"I'm absolutely sure, because the stars are still in the same fucking position you idiot" says lord Farque who wanders over to the otherside of the circle of standing stones.
The mage Reinholt blinks in surprise as he looks up at the clear morning sky, then he says to the deathlord of Farque "Wait" followed by "Can you still see the stars in the sky?".
"Yes" is the reply of the lord and ruler of the lands Farque as he starts examining the standing stones on the east side of the druid's circle.
Well fuck me, i never knew that, the once powerful mage thinks to himself, who after taking a few deep breaths, and a drink from his water bottle. Not to mention a couple of unsteady steps, he makes his way across the druid's circle, to where lord Farque is looking closely at some of the standing stones.
Many of which are worn away, or just broken and have crumbled to the ground on the east side of the circle.
The undead warlord glances at the mage Reinholt and asks him "What exactly did you do back there?".
The Vexilian mage in exile explains what he did. Telling the lord of the death realm that he touched a cleft along the side of one of the standing stones in the other druid's circle. A cleft that a couple of worn out runes carved into it.
The lord and ruler of the lands Farque nods his full helmed head once the mage Reinholt explains what he did. Then after the spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster asks "How did it effect you?" and the heavily armoured deathlord dryly answers with "Because i let it of course". Lord Farque says to the once powerful mage "Look for another one of those clefts in the side of the stones".
"Good idea" murmurs the exiled Vexilian mage who moves away to examine the next standing stone to the right, which is only a few feet tall, as it's broken away over the years.
The two look closely at all the standing stones in the druid's circle, with lord Farque paying particular attention to those on the east side of the circle.
Mira Reinholt makes his way back to the lord of the death realm after looking closely at the other standing stones, and he says "Nothing".
"Same" says Draugadrottin, who gestures to one of the standing stones on the east side of the circle, one that's barely a foot tall, with the broken remains of it in the long grass behind it. That particular stone seems to of been purposely broken, many, many years ago.
"Figure it was that one" says the undead being who has been around for nearly four and half centuries,  he continues with "It's the one completely opposite the one you touched in the other circle somewhere away to the east".
The undead warlord explains "Stands to reason that one right here would send someone back east since it's facing east, while the one you touched sent us west".
"Wherever west we are" murmurs the highly skilled swordmaster, the deathlord of Farque nods in agreement as he looks around at where they are, sensing as he does so, then he tells the mage Reinholt "Come on, let's go" lord Farque waves away to the southeast and adds "There's people a couple of miles away, a village most likely".
The two of them make their way out of the druid's circle, and head down the hill it's located on. The hill is much smaller than the one the other circle of standing stones in the Lé Dic fief they were in previously. And for the most part, this hill is covered in trees. As is a lot of the land they're in at the moment.
As they walk between trees towards the base of the hill, the undead warlord says "Best guess is that we're still in Druvic, as it's more likely you'll find druid's circles here, than anywhere else".
The Vexilian swordmaster who is in exile from his homeland, nods his hooded head as he looks around, then he says "Lot of forestry and small mill towns in the far northwest of the kingdom" Mira Reinholt continues with "It's the area we me the hordesman Zubutai when we were last in Druvic, remember".
"I remember" says Des'tier aka The Destroyer as he's known by to an older generation of elven kind who might know who he is, lord Farque then dryly adds "Just before you got fucking captured and got yourself hauled away across the ocean to Norstran, and we followed after you, and half the bloody group got captured in the process".
The highly skilled swordmaster winces at the memory of that, and he does so again when the undead warlord adds in a loud mutter "Got my head chopped off that time, which was fucking annoying" followed by "Fucking clerics".
Well, at least we brought down what was left of the Norstran empire, Mira Reinholt thinks to himself as he tries to think of something positive of that whole experience. The once powerful mage refrains from bringing anything up about that time just after they set into motion the civil war in the kingdom of Druvic, and a few months later they found themselves across the Great Western Ocean in the Norstran Empire. Since the deathlord of Farque seems to be in one of those moods.
So he remains silent as they walk their way through, what's essentially a forest. Heading towards a settlement, a village for a nearby mill. Which once they reach, they find out that they're in the very northwest of the kingdom of Druvic near the unruled lands beyond. Nearly three weeks travel from the capital Leeabra, and another five or so days back to the Lé Dic fief after that.
The mage Reinholt winces when the undead warlord mutters to him "Fucking hell mage" when they find that out.
Meanwhile, back in the eastern region of the kingdom, in the druid's circle on the hilltop in the Lé Dic fief, that was the otherside of the portal that lord Farque and Mira Reinholt went through. Helbe the elven thief touches the same cleft in the side of the standing stone that the mage Reinholt touched earlier in the morning.
"Are you sure this is it?" asks Helbe the elven thief "I'm sure" says Narladene the ground pixie as she perches upon the right shoulder of the elven princeling she's attached to.
"Shit" mutters the elven magic user, who then adds "I must not be powerful enough to activate it". For Narladene explained to him that the powerful surge of magic she briefly sensed earlier, emanated from Mira Reinholt himself, as if he had regained all of his vast magical powers.
He probably did, the young elven noble thinks to himself, who then silently adds, though only briefly.
The elven masterthief looks around at the druid's circle in disgust, as like all elves, he isn't particularly fond of druids and their ways, especially dark druids, then he glances at Narladene, who asks him "Now what?".
"I guess we'll go and join the others" is the reply from Helbenthril Raendril, who continues with "Not to worry, I'm sure the lord and Mira will turn up and find us eventually" the elven princeling then silently adds, i hope . . . . . .