February 21st:

Rory stuttered inanely for a brief moment, stupefied by the sudden inquiry, until he uttered confusedly, "No...?? I haven't seen him..."

*Z wiggles and squirms till you drop her.  She lands on her feet, but wobbles horribly.*

"He's not here, okay?" he reiterated, turning to the rest of the group. "Has anyone seen Snarg?"

*Z stops, looking around at the members of the group gathered here for the first time.  Fiernaceal unconscious head wrapped in a cloth. Gwydo, clearly exhausted leaning heavily on his hands to keep himself upright.  Sethos attempting to light his pipe, but his hands shaking making it difficult.  Kolson leaning on his sister, one of his arms broken looking like he got hit by a train.  She says almost almost to herself.*

"This one was of fire... the one before of water and the first was of earth..."

*She shakes her head.*

"This one was worse than the last two, what is happening to the world..."

Rory looked at her with open ears. The inkling of a lead in her mind had him hot on the trail. "What other two? Are you talking about the exploding Ley Line?"

"This is the third backlash.  The first one was of Earth, the second of Water, and this one was of fire."

*She shivers.*

"We need to find Snarg.  The wave... the wave tried to devour me..."

*She tries to stand, but her left leg gives out on her.*

Gwydo grabs Z bodily and holds her up in his arms like a baby, easily carrying her weight.  "Rest, little one, rest.  We'll figure out what tore the world open... again... later."

"Goddammit, now this." Again with Snarg. He was upset by the fact that Z, having spent the night awake and in captivity, was incapable of staying conscious long enough to give him information they needed. And then there was Fierneceal, still babbling in the corner. He thought that one word she kept whispering sounded like a name he didn't want to hear at that time. He went near to her side to see how she was doing, hoping she was ready to speak clearer.

As he sat beside her bed, he listened first.

Snarg:
The world hazily, blurrily comes into focus as you hear strange sounds nearby.  Blinking uneasily you realize they are coming from a small Mite rushing around trying to catch a squirrel and failing at it, muttering about dinner.  You feel like you just got run over by a Tusker.

Fierneceal has stopped talking, but that's because she's starting to breathe smoother and try to wet her dry mouth, coughing periodically.

*Z throws a glare at Gwydo, but says nothing realizing that she isn't capable of standing herself.*

"What are you cursing at Rory?

"Ooohhhh, my head..." Snarg stirs and groans, making several slow false starts before finally coming up in to a sitting position. Zipar looks at him worriedly and forgoes the usual biting, instead nudging Snarg's arm, who slowly pats him on the head. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he groggily surveys the surrounding area. "Wha... we got hit by that before, I know I've felt it. But this one was much stronger and more ... targeted. I'm glad it wasn't any stronger, otherwise... Araiguna, what are you... never mind. We've got to-" his eyes widen as he climbs unsteadily to his feet, "we've got to get to the others! If I got hit this hard there's no telling what-wait! Tell the others I'm going to the ruins!" Not waiting for a response, he digs in to the dirt and bounds off towards the ruins.

Spoiler:

"Not you, but obviously you can't be bothered," he murmured firmly. He got out a bottle of water and, while attempting to tilt Fierneceal's head a little to prevent choking or runoff, tried pouring some down her mouth.

*Z shakes her head clearly confused.*

"What can't I be bothered with?"

Rory tendered no response, instead paying more attention to Fierneceal and what it would take to get her moving or talking agian.

"Leave him be, Z, and come talk to me for a bit; I have a question for you."

*Z sighs and leans back against Gwydo.*

"Fine," *she grumbles,* "I guess I can't be bothered."

*She closes her eyes, her whole body feels like it been pulverized.*

*She turns to Kolson.*

"Yes?"

He pitches his voice low so that the other folks in line can't easily hear what is said, "Something's been bothering me about all this and I want to compare notes. When the backlash hit what happened to you as best as you can recall?"

*Matches his volume.*

"It was of my affinity.  From what I've learned, each of the waves have been of a different affinity, Earth, Water, Fire.  When they hit someone of that affinity the reaction is MUCH stronger.  In my case... well I was outside and the force an power of it picked me up and carried me a ways... it ... felt like it was burning through me... dissolving me, not just my body... my very essence was dissapearing."

*She shakes her head, probably attempting to rid herself of the memory.*

Snarg:
The quarry is, unsurprisingly, filled with injured refugees laying and moaning on the hard rock and dirt, some trying to help others.  It is clear some are in worse shape then others.

As you reach the doorway you reach out Scionically, just like Fierneceal taught you, opening it.  You aren't fully aware of what happened next as a horrifying wave of sound and light, echoed in on itself a dozen dozen times, soars straight out of the door directly into you, sending you flying back into the quarry wall with sufficient force to crack rock.  Araiguna, who followed you somewhat, hears both the sound and the crack.

Elsewhere:
Fierneceal and Z are both just beginning to come to when this strange echoing scream reverberates in the distance, like a banshee.  Both clutch their heads in pain, unable to block it out.

Even More Elsewhere:
Zeiss just now opened his eyes, with the strange realization that the screaming had been coming from his own throat, and it was so hoarse he was uncertain how long he'd been screaming.  He'd completely blacked out from the pain that never stopped nor ceased, trapped within the fortress and echoing back in on itself over and over until everything was a white haze.  Only now, with the blessed silence, can you unclench as every muscle in your body had been pulled taught.

"Yeah, I got thrown through...how many walls was it Tia?"

"It was three, Kol."

The Red Mage's face turns pale for a second, but he pushes through, focusing on the problem at hand. "Three. Right. Anyway, I'm not the only one seeing a pattern..."

Z grabs her head in sudden pain, causing Tia to and Kolson to exclaim "Z" with great worry.

*Z goes to respond to Kolson's wall bashing escapades, but stops just shy of getting a syllable out, grabbing her head and wailing in pain.  Gwydo's grip on her tightens as she thrashes in his arms.*

"STOP!!!!"

*Z screams back at the scream in her head.  Flames bursting into life at her fingertips.*

Rory pulled the bottle away before more water could spill. He quickly caps the bottle and holds Fierneceal by her shoulders, just talking softly.

It was only when he saw the light from the fire that he turned his attention to Z. "Fuck me!" he yelled. Ignoring Fierneceal for a moment, he pulled out his knife and inched toward her. "Z, What are you doing? Put that fire out!"