faithbound. [marquis & Earinor]

Azrael kept walking ahead, leading the horse and he was quick about it, there was no reason to take it slow, not when Ignatius was sitting on a horse. He didn't look back when Ignatius started talking again. "You can hold onto it for now." He wasn't going to betray him and he trusted him for now. Azrael wouldn't abandon him and he'd try his best to keep the priest save. He couldn't and wouldn't promise a save passage though, this was nothing anyone could guarantee. He looked up anyway when Ignatius started pointing. Well a direction alone wouldn't help much, they'd need to plan a route, one that was also suitable for the horse. At nights they should find places where it could graze so it would keep its strength for the rest of the journey. "And how far is it?", he asked. He didn't deem it impossible for it to be an impossible task to get there in time, some form of clerical test that was bound to fail so they'd just have more reason to believe that they were right.

Azrael stopped in his tracks when Ignatius suddenly jumped down the horse. The horse stopped too and it looked like Ignatius almost landed on his butt. "Have you ridden a horse before?", he asked with a raised eyebrow. He at least made it to the town gate on his own. Next he was handed a bag with some bread inside. Was that for him? He looked at it a bit puzzled. He listened to Ignatius explanation and looked at the rosary he presented. "How tight will this journey be?", he asked again, but Ignatius seemed in such a good mood today, that he wanted to entertain Azrael with some magic tricks. Not exactly something he was used to from the church. "I doubt we have time for magic tricks.", he answered, but at least reached for one slice of bread. He hadn't eaten since forever ether and he had to admit that he was hungry.

Off a moving horse he went, huh? "I will, don't worry.", he agreed. This was better, he'd not get scammed out of his belongings that way - he could, however, make amends for that, couldn't he? It wasn't too harsh of an environment out here, not yet anyway, and Ignatius was willing to learn, too. "A horse? By the gods, no.", he was quick to answer. It showed, didn't it? There was no way to make this any less awkward, much like there was no point in figuring any of this out at all, either. What was important, though, seemed to be the fact that he was making great strides at the moment and also having fun with it, too. Who would have known someone like him would learn something as outrageous at this point in time? There was no telling, much like there wasn't any way for him to actually make things work better than they already did - after all, inviting even more people into their solemn party of two seemed like it was an idiotic idea. "Jokes aside, our journey should take us around three days, but given the current weather and season, we might have to cross the great river Mataly, which could be tricky." Our their calculations had simply been off.

As Ignatius resumed walking next to both his companion and his horse, he was left to wonder if nature was always this brilliant at such a time of year and why he had never taken a moment to enjoy it before. Had it been that he was simply occupied with his studies? Or was something else the matter? "Pretty tight, but fret not, theres enough room to get a full nights rest at least thrice.", he confessed. Hopefully, the river wasn't their biggest problem - he, for one, could not swim and he'd not do well with making the public any more known than it already would be. Regardless, the priest smiled; he was heading somewhere and this journey did not appear to be stagnant at all. Where was it going to lead him, aside from to his eternal goal? Ignatius could only wonder. "I can perform it while I walk.", he informed Azrael. If a magic trick was fine, then this was going to be over in a jiffy. For better or for worse, he touched the rosary around his wrist and mumbled something to himself, which caused the necklace turned bracelet to emit a faint glow of light, which shot into the direction Ignatius had pointed at earlier. "See? I was right. We don't need a map."

"You didn't?", Azrael asked although he got his answer. "Well this is one smart horse then." He sighed a little. He didn't often ride horses himself, but he knew how to and how to care for one. "I'd teach it to you, but I suppose there is no time for that. Well, maybe we can make time for it on the way." Azrael could only walk so fast, if Ignatius wanted to test out how to control the horse and ride faster than walking tempo, he could. "Why is it you, who has never ridden a horse or walked so far that does this journey?", he wanted to know. This made little sense to him. Well it did, maybe, but he didn't want to pry, because it wasn't his business. Instead he felt bad for the young man that was tossed out here wholy underprepared and with a good chance to be dead before he completed his task. He doubted the church had a good reason for it. This was typical, wasn't it? They never thought about any individuum. Ignatius seemed motivated enough after a good nights sleep, but they wouldn't sleep in an inn anytime soon.

"The river, huh...?", Azrael mumbled. Well there were two bridges crossing it, that shouldn't be much of a problem. "Mh, I#d be able to commemorate that if I knew exactly where we are going, but I guess it's less my problem and more yours." Maybe he wouldn't get paid, but that was about it. Still he wondered why he didn't wait for a whole army, or anyone else to accompany him, instead of putting his trust into Azrael of all people. They continued own, now nobody on a horse and Ignatius mumbled some incantation and then there was a blue light meaning to guide them. "Does your trick also show us where we can cross the river and where we can rest and sleep?", he asked. "You shouldn't exhaust yourself too much either. Ride the horse when you feel tired." Azrael looked up at the sky, the weather was on their side for now, but there were dark clouds up ahead. "If we follow this road we should get to a bridge, we should be able to get there before dawn."

“I just try to make it all look natural, but believe it or not, I sometimes don’t have a clue of what I’m doing.”, he was quick to confess as soon as he was given the chance. There was no way in hell he’d actually manage to pick something like this up in the monastery he’d been raised at, though; all that they learned was how to spend every waking moment occupied in turmoil with themselves and their prayers, and Ignatius was glad he finally came out on top eventually. “I don’t see why not. After we reach the next safe haven, that is. Maybe they’ll be friendlier than the priests here, although I had quite the amusing chat with an older man up the mountain. He told me that this town isn’t used to strangers, especially not the priests. That seems to ring true.” They were almost hostile in their efforts to help and yet had managed to make it work for him; they had found a truce. Wasn’t that good? Now, the world could move forward and thus could this journey. “Why?” It seemed to be only smart to confess his sins, but in the face of a non-believer, his breath was wasted. “We’re chosen, for better or for worse, and we spend our entire childhood being raised and trained for a possibility like that. If you get chosen, you’d want to see it through to the end.”

Maybe that reasoning was silly; everyone knew who the real, so-called chosen one would wind up being the moment they were born, but Ignatius had no reason to unveil a church secret like that to Azrael. After all, was he supposed to trust this man more than he trusted himself? That was silly. There was clearly no need to. “The worst they’ll probably do is be offended by our tardiness, but if we blame it on this magnificent beast here, I think we can get away with a little white lie. If we’re late, that is.” Would he be able to sleep in one of the monastery beds next time? Who knew. His partners propensity to not go near this here convent already showed him how prone he was to actually interacting with his surroundings, especially if the church beckoned him in. “Cross the river? Yes, when we are closer, I presume. As for sleeping accommodations, I highly doubt that a simple spell like that would need a mind of it’s own - it’s no fancy trick, it’s just the path that was engraved in this rosaries beads. It’s like a desire, and the light is the physical embodiment of that.”, he explained further, then looked at Azrael for a bit. Perhaps he could …? “Ah, right. I won’t, do not fret, I shall carry myself for the time being and follow your esteemed lead.” Ignatius did so and he’d probably never grow tired of how nice the weather could be, especially in the months leading up to summer. The slight breeze was a welcome change as well. “I could try that spell on the horse, or you.”

"I believe it.", Azrael was quick to answer. Ignatius didn't seem to know a lot about anything but church affairs and even in that apartment h seemed lacking. He didn't know much about the monasteries or where exactly they were, he just followed his magic trick, not even god, it was just magic. Azrael didn't believe in gods, he only believed in what he saw and he was yet to meet someone like that. If there was any, they couldn't be that almighty, why else would their world look like this? Would a god not banish all the demons back to the hells? "Hm, most towns keep to themselves, besides the occasional merchant traveling in and out. I haven't been to any welcoming town yet." Not that he entered many. He avoided them as best he could, but where else would he find work but around other people? "Trained?", Azrael kept asking tilting his head. "Why didn't they teach you to ride a horse then? Or make you walk a bit more miles in your shoes? Even if you believe in divine protection, everything you can do on your own without it is helpful, right?" For once Azrael didn't even want to be rude, he just simply didn't understand why they wouldn't send someone more prepared.

"It's no beast, the horse is gentle and smart for safely carrying someone who knows nothing about riding." It needed to be corrected. This horse was the best fit for someone like Ignatius and they could only hope no demon would rid them of it. He listened to the explanation about the beads closely and thought about it. "So if the path is blocked, it's useless?", he wondered. Hopefully this rosary wasn't too old then and hopefully the bridge was standing, he at least had an idea to which one they were headed, but the river was strong this time of year and the last time he'd crossed it, the bridge was a mere wooden structure. He looked at Ignatius again. "Good, you should build up some strength. I won't slow down for you, so just tell me if you need a break." Having the horse at least carry their luggage meant they could walk better, longer and faster. He could have bought some more stuff in this case, but this was fine for now. "Huh? What spell?", Azrael asked a bit spooked. He could very well live without a weird priest hexing him.

"Of course, it's pretty obvious." That was something even Ignatius was incapable of denying; no matter how the world turned out to be, he was nothing but a pawn in a grander scheme of many things, eternally caught up in something that he had little to no control over for the most part. Who was it that helped him with keeping his head up? His beliefs, one that weren't shaken by anything and yet, he was so bitter, they probably would eternally damage any king of view he had on the world as a whole. "And here I thought things that don't even make sense to me anymore.", he lamented. Too often had he been told about how the church worked, how it was easy to get people to trust them and to get them to hand their belongings over to the priests they loved so much; it seemed almost as if it had become a distant memory in the back of his head that he never was supposed to act upon, even as they all told him that it would be perfectly fine and that, whoever it was that he fell for, would only gain happiness from that understanding. "I'm a priest, simple as that. Assuming I'd go any place at all, at any point in time would mean I wasn't prioritizing what was important, so I never did." Wasn't that odd? "Besides they never offered that. Divine protection guide us, we don't need more."

Perhaps this divine protection was reserved for the people like him, and nobody else, but Ignatius had already assumed that there were two sides of the same coin - it didn't matter, not to anyone, where a simple farmer went as long as his farm kept running, but everything else wound up being a gigantic hassle if one considered that, why, all of them were actually just waiting for the simple way out and clinging to the wrong priests for that. "A gentle beast, then, no? There#s humans and there's beasts. And demons, but those are really besides the point." Gentle, huh? Maybe it wouldn't be by the time it was fed up with these two, though, perhaps it would never be and just endure them, for their own sake. Weren't animals confusing? Anything they did led to question after question, many of which were often something that didn't make a lot of sense to the few of them. "Not necessarily. It depends, really, but for a stagnant object like this, it might be. If it were alive, things might be different ... even a birds corpse would suffice." As long as they'd seen the place, their bodies would be able to recall that desire. "Alright, alright." They trodded toward their destination, with one another. "The desire spell I just used. Aren't you curious where your heart wants to be? That's what the young kids in the monastery ask the most."

"Not all demons look like them and not all humans are saints. They are scared of people they don't know, not that a demon couldn't take the form of a loved one. That's why they rely on priests to identify them, but anyone can really..." He stopped himself. Fighting with Ignatius over religion was senseless. Azrael was angry the churches kept those spells and the knowledge how to achieve the same without it to themselves. Anyone could go out and find the right ingredients to make something that would reveal a demon just as easily as a divine incantation could. It was more work, but it was possible. Instead of sharing this knowledge, people who knew were hunted down, because they threatened the churches. That's why his mother died and why Azrael kept away from them. "Divine protection? What do you need a whole army for then? Or me?", Azrael asked. This was idiotic and sad. This priest believed in this crap and he'd die if nobody took care of him. Divine protection... that wouldn't help him if he got lost, or if a horde of demons attacked.

Azrael sighed. "It's a horse, a animal." He turned around and for a moment bowed down and turned his head. "It's a girl even. Didn't the priests give her a name?" If not they should give her one. Riding was all about trust, whether or not the horse understood them didn't matter. "You practiced this spell on dead animals?", Azrael wondered and raised an eyebrow. Why make everything so morbid and mystical when they could just use a map? Sure the chances of getting lost were lower, but if the ingrained path was lost or dangerous, that spell was useless. With that Azrael sped up a bit to finally reach the pace he wanted to go at. There was no time to waste after all. "Huh? Er... that's not really any of your business..." Azrael also doubted there was a clear answer. He had no home, nor did he have any family or friends. There was nothing that bound him to a specific place or person, not even a thing. There wasn't anything he lost and wanted to find either. Speaking of... "What if it's an object or a person and it since moved somewhere else? Does this still work?"

"That's their right, I don't blame them, I'm just sad it is that way." Ignatius could be the change he wanted to see and perhaps, that was what he was made to do in the first place - there was no way he'd not been selected for this from a young age on and then he wouldn't serve any significant purpose. There had to be something, and all of it had to make sense as well. To him, at the very least. As Azrael quizzed him, he could only chuckle about it. "That, my dear hunter, is a very good question indeed." One who's answer did not evade him, though he knew that he'd just send more men to their death if anyone else were to figure it out. Why be in pursuit of the unachievable anyway? It made almost little to no sense to him and it was, if only for a moment, something that he would be more than willing to spend his free time on. "Divine protection only works certain ways, not always. To believe in it to a fault is akin to believing one of your parents that a demon will actually come and eat you if you don't eat your vegetables tonight. See, it can happen, that chance is never zero, but it definitely won't happen because you didn't eat vegetables, you know? Divine protection works when you need it, sure, but not always just because you are a good little priest." It was sad to admit, but it was the truth.

Something ethereal like gods grace had to exist, and now they were arguing about semantics - this was a horse, a formidable beast, and if it had a voice, Ignatius wondered who's side it would actually be on. "Fine, it's a horse. And no, she does not have a name that I know of. Frankly, I think they used her for agricultural purposes, if anything.", he summarized the shortlived relationship with the steed they'd both received. Would they want to name her? Ignatius had to think, but perhaps that naming was best left to someone that actually lived outside of a convents walls and knew plenty of them. "No, I practiced on live birds. My studies told me it would work on their forlorn husks if I need it to." Thousands of doves called a monastery their home; they were ample messenger birds and some of them, why, they were even beloved by the people that took care of them. As for the redhead, he never had needed one; he rarely had to write anyone. Ignatius stumbled after Azrael who was fast and willing to move, but he told himself he'd keep up - he'd manage to, somehow. "I'm simply offering, not demanding." If he did, that would have sounded entirely different to begin with - and demanding of another man was forbidden anyhow. "Hm? Oh, you mean if it is what you desire? Well, truth be told, your heart should know the way, so it should work, though, the way to it might just be the fastest possible, not the smartest to take. Why?" It was odd to ask, but it was even odder not to answer something like that.

There was no way out of the demon blight, Azrael was sure of it. There were too many and even if all humans worked together, they wouldn't achieve much. Both of their domains weren't free for the other to enter at will. Demons had certain rules to uphold and humans couldn't travel to their realm. In his mind running, hiding and defending would never stop them, but attacking them wasn't possible. They were doomed, there was nothing they could do, much as they couldn't stop the seasons or the sun. "I'm honestly surprised you trust me.", Azrael admitted eventually. Sure, if he wanted to rob him he'd done so already, but Ignatius also barely saw what he was capable of. He'd been the only one to survive the demons assault, but that could also be attributed to luck or cowardness. The faith this man put into him was not entirely misplaced but naive at the very least. There was no guarantee he could do what an entire army failed to do and yet he thought traveling in a small group would alert less demons. "If you survive this, you will just claim divine protection sent me your way, won't you?", he asked. Of course he would.

"We should give her one. How about Njeri?", he asked looking at her. Agriculture huh? "It just means she's used to carrying heavy loads." Hopefully she had the stamina but at least they didn't give them a lame one. He looked over his shoulder. Ignatius was stubborn and persistent and he didn't want him to urge him on the horses back as long as he could keep up. It was his decision if he needed it. "I'm just wondering. I'm not searching for anyone or anything if that's what you think.", he quickly answered, but he was curious now. Would he admit it? No. Would he ask for this little trick to be played on him? Also no, besides, what was the point? They had no time to figure out where the sparkling light led anyway, so even if he let him cast his little spell, he would be none the wiser. He wondered why he did all this anyway, not helping Ignatius, living. He didn't want to die, not at all, but most people had goals and dreams, Azrael was too disillusioned to have any of it.

Living among everyone else seemed like a fairly easy task; one that he’d not known, though, Ignatius now wondered if he was just raised in ignorance so he wouldn’t crave the mundanity of what a normal human life would entail - or maybe the craziness of an adventure that he’d never known he needed. It was silly in the best ways and he enjoyed himself, too, as he wondered why Azrael was picking an almost impossible pace for him to feasibly keep up with. Trials and tribulations were a thing, no? “Why would I not? Because you are a hunter? If I were to put my misgivings about every living person into feelings like that, I’d honestly not have a lot of allies.”, the redhead was quick to speak up. In reality, he feared it all just a bit, didn’t he? To be alone out here, to be by himself at any given point in time - Azrael was someone he could hold onto, unlike his brothers in arms, it seemed. What useless creatures his fellow priests proved to be. “Don’t be silly.” Ignatius shook his head. “If you were of a divine intervention, I’d already have known. You’re not. I’m just lucky to have found someone like you, that is all. As good as beliefs are, they are useless if they are misguided and only applied in one way.”

There was no credit he could take for this, much less was there any opportunity for him to come and claim that all of this was the absolute truth that he’d have to live through with every step of the way. For him, all of this was but a step into a direction unknown. “I think that’s cute … and I guess so. No problem in hoisting our luggage around, then.” It might also explain the gentle temperament that this creature bore; a noble steed indeed. Perhaps Azrael fancied something else? It had to keep up with them, over a long distance anyway, and with something fragile, that seemed to he quite impossible. Therefore, this was just right. “That’s what all of us say and think. Sometimes we don’t even know that we’re looking for something!”, he clarified. It oddly enough was the truth; lots of people didn’t think about what they wanted and only arrived at a conclusion that they thought they might, perhaps, like or even appreciate. Every coin had its own two sides for reasons. “But I won’t pry, we can try it out if you want, and if not, we needn’t. Honestly, it’s just that simple.” Ignatius moved onward - today would be a long march.

Azrael was thinking Ignatius could have found someone he trusted a bit more than him, but he didn't say it. He never had been of the talkative kind and Ignatius better saved his breath if he didn't want to ride. Maybe he was lucky, maybe not and maybe in turn Azrael was unlucky. Whatever the case, he committed to this now and there was no reason for him to abandon his work just yet. He had nothing better to do, no one to return to and nothing to find, nothing to lose too, except his life maybe. He seemed to be the perfect person for the job if only for that and he trusted in his own abilities as well. If Ignatius had listened less to him, if he hadn't taken the bag he gave him and would have been scared or judging for his methods, maybe he would have left him in the other city, but like this he couldn't even hate him. He simply nodded at him, appreciating his privacy and then focused on their march.

Ignatius made it all the way to their first stop. The horse needed a break and the two of them too. Some water and some food gave them more strength and Ignatius agreed to ride after. All the while the sky darkened and eventually they were met with rain, loads of it too. They didn't stop, but the road was harder to tread with it being all muddy. At least the trees shed them from some of the rain. Eventually following the road for most of the day, they arrived at the bridge and halted. The rain wasn't as strong anymore, but the river held more water than usual and was running faster too. The bridge was as Azrael remembered a mere wooden structure and he left the horse and Ignatius on it behind him to walk closer to the edge and inspect the construction. He didn't like this one bit. He turned around again. "We could try downstream, there should be another bridge there, though... I can't say if it'll look better than this." The water almost swallowed it whole as was and the water almost reached the edges of the riverbank. "That would mean we'd sleep on this side of the river tonight. If demons are still on our trail, the other side might be saver."

They marched on and on without much discussion, but sometimes, he felt as if he had to say something - they had a little bit of banter between the two of them, which was definitely nice to see, but whatever else was he to expect from someone like Azrael? He seemed to be a man of but a few words, hardly interested in keeping up conversations that slowed him down, and yet, he was entertaining this priest that had a few more questions than necessary, at least from time to time. It was a nice gesture for sure and one that he could enjoy, as well as get behind even when his mind went places that it usually should stray from. Wasn’t it hard to understand all of this? Everything that Azrael told him about was so different and even the rain out here seemed almost mystical instead; Ignatius felt weirded out by it, and yet, he was mystified as well. How and why did this work so well on him? None of this made any sense, not for now anyway, not when he could spend all the time in the world asking himself just why he’d shirked the beauty of nature before.

As they came closer to the river, their emotions seemingly grew more tense - the water seemed to he higher than ever, at least the closer they came and Ignatius was already sighing deeply as he was ready to accept that they had no way of getting over the bridge for tonight. Would it help to wait it out? No, they didn’t have that kind of time - no wonder they were supposed to be there in five days time; this had been a test from the very start, even if nobody wanted to admit it. “Downstream will probably look worse.”, he argued. There was only so many ways water could go; down a stream didn’t seem like it would fundamentally change, or even be better than this. None of this was great, he had to admit - all of it was, quite actually, a bit of a mess if he thought about it. “We can get over there from here just fine, if we want to risk it. Why do they build a wooden bridge out here, of all places, anyway?”, he questioned. This thing probably got torn down every other year - perhaps the church should dip into its funds. Ignatius wasn’t sure if a bit of light was going to change anything, either. “I can try a spell, if you want me to.”, he suggested to Azrael. “Or we check the downstream area first. I’d think it is rather unwise to spend the night on this side of the river.” They were wasting time.

Ignatius was right, downstream looked probably worse and they'd just waste their time. They couldn't build a bridge out of thin air either and hoping the rain would stop and the waters calm down was not feasible either. Not only did they have a time limit, but they also possibly had someone on their trail. "You're right.", he let the priest know too as he looked at the bridge again. "They either built this because they don't often use it, or they didn't have the weather conditions to build something else I'd assume." Not that it mattered, they had this problem now and nothing would change that. The river was wide too, not a mere jump or two over, otherwise maybe Azrael could have swung a rope to the other side they could climb, or at least hold on to. Right now Ignatius and Azrael didn't know each other well, they didn't know what kind of skills each of them possessed and thus everyone only worked out ideas that suited themselved personally. It would change with time hopefully and Ignatius was willing to try new things which was good to see.

"What kind of spell?", Azrael asked. At this point he was willing to try. He didn't have anything against magic, it was useful, he just didn't like the fact that he churches kept it for themselves and recruited or sometimes kidnapped magically gifted children to keep it to themselves. Grown ups were even less lucky, often times they were killed. Either way, he didn't know what Ignatius could do and besides a few special heros he never heard of any big spells. He probably couldn't freeze over the river or close the earth over it, if so he definitely didn't need Azrael for this journey. "I also think we should try to cross." Try was a big word when failing meant injury or death. Azrael was a good swimmer, but he didn't want to fall into there. "If we want to try that bridge I suggest we don't go at the same time, I go first with the horse, then come back and get you, unless your magic trick lets us just fly over there or something. I wouldn't be opposed... What can you do?"

This weather was, if anything, a bitter omen - it hadn't panned out the way they hoped it would, which was fine, and yet, it was hard to swallow such aspects and accept them as a fact. What were they going to do if this kept happening? No, that ... was too much. Ignatius needed to shut his own thoughts up, he wasn't prone to overthinking on any other occasion and right now, he didn't need it either. The reins in his hands gave him comfort and there was a horse, too. Njeri needed to get over there, hm? "It's probably the latter.", he butted in and thought for a bit. What could they even do? Tie some rope around themselves, find a fitting stone on this side of the river and then carefully cross that thing, in hopes of not upsetting the delicate balance that was somehow present within this rushing body of water? This was never going to pan out. Why would it, even? The futile attempts they made could only go so far and while Ignatius was wracking his brain over a worthy solution, over any spell that he knew, he was sorely disappointed with himself. None of this was going to make sense to any of them; neither of them were going to cross that river at this pace.

"Depends on how much attention you want and how willing you are to try things.", he told Azrael. Ignatius got off of Njeris back and tilted his head, eyeing the bridge. There were a few aspects that he could try; for one, there was a way to bruteforce this, probably, and on the other hand, he didn't know if that was smart. "No levitation, exactly, I'm afraid." Never had he actually performed a magic feat like this one before, at least not in an actually acute situation that needed it. Ignatius was still looking at their options, even as he started to open and close his fist. "Magic is versatile in itself." An explanation that barely was needed, though, he felt like he needed to inform Azrael of their small ... problem. A few things that might happen were, strictly, going to attract demons to their location and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to help fend them off if he overexhausted himself. "I can reinforce the bridge for sure, or try to conjure an entirely new one. Levitation isn't something included in that, but it's close to it. Or, if you'd rather have it that way, I can also see if my magic can just take us from here to there within the snap of a finger ... that's riskier." All of those tricks were his own, and Ignatius bend down to grabbed one small pebbles; he wanted to show off what he meant, if only that helped for Azrael to understand him and this stuff. The first one, he tossed against the waves of the river, but it hit an almost invisible flooring before it collapsed into the waves as Ignatius waved the barrier away. "Would that work?"

Ignatius asked valid questions and Azrael sighed. He didn't want to attract any demons to their new location, especially if they maybe lost them, but they had to cross. If they were lucky, by tomorrow they'd be far enough that the demons lost them again. He looked up between his wet hair. The rain was annoying too. "Wait a moment.", Azrael mumbled and stepped away, instead going to the treeline the road came out of. "I've read about ways to catch magic energy before it disperses, but I've never done this." He never needed it and there wasn't much know of it. If anything he wasn't even sure what he was doing, should he try. From what he read it would only trap it here, which made it very obvious where the spell was cast, but it kept the remnants from traveling to sniffling demons that could pick it up. "Nevermind, I don't remember the exact way to do this..." If he drew the runes wrong he could sabotage the priest or worse, summon a demon or something, he didn't want to risk it and he didn't have the book with him. "Your magic is our best bet."

He came back and looked at the bridge as well as the demonstration. "Well it has to work.", he admitted, even though he didn't like things he couldn't control. This would be entirely in Ignatius hands. "Can you move during conjuring it? And can you keep it up until we crossed?", he asked just to make sure. He sighed. "Well standing around here won't make it easier, just tell me what you need and I'll help and do whatever you say." He couldn't believe he trusted this priest without even having seen a proper demonstration, but what other option did he have? This was quite literally a leap of faith and not being able to see the bridge he was supposed to walk on was even worse. He was going to look like an idiot trying to be confident and he wasn't sure how the horse would react. Maybe they ought to limit her vision, so she wouldn't panic.

There were ample priests that probably had studied the ways of the waves or how light would bend if they were allowed to; many of them would be able to figure this out before him and there would be plenty of people that were going to figure this out after him as well. If anything, he was making a fool of himself at his current pace and he knew, no matter how daring and enticing all of this seemed to sound, he didn't have to be a hero - he waited for Azrael and his spoiled endeavor, which hardly seemed to have its desired effect. Ignatius wondered if he was going to gain anything from this besides frustration and he found an answer for it; there was nothing else. "Oh, that?", he was quick to ask. For a moment, he figured he'd read about it somewhere, yet, he'd never extensively studied those kinds of things. This was not going to lead him anywhere, was it? In a way, that seemed to be a shame - but frankly, he barely had any other choices than to trust their combined efforts.

His rusted locks clung to his skin; they were drenched and cold at this point, much like him, which also contributed to him wanting to get over the river and search for someplace dry to spend the upcoming night. "It will work.", he assured Azrael, knowing that he might almost sound a tad bit too sure of himself. Confidence was something that he needed to have for a variety of reasons - it looked good, too, which was almost one of them as well. "Yes and yes, just don't try to interfere with me while I am and we should be fine." This would take a lot of concentration and a toll on his body as well; it was something he could live with, perhaps only because he figured he'd find greener pastures beyond this point of no return. Why move backward when they'd come so far and pressed onward further down the world that they both seemed to long to understand? The redhead let loose of a sigh as he stepped near the water and beckoned Azrael to follow - he even gave the reins of their horse to him. Concurrently, this was the best the two of them could do. "Follow my lead.", he demanded of Azrael. Ignatius spoke an incantation - he needed a good minute for it, as it seemed almost endless - and pushed onward, holding his hand in a certain motion. Their bridge seemed to hold up quite well, even if it was entirely made of light. A smooth passage was important after all.

Azrael stood back and waited. He couldn't help, not one bit and he did what he was asked. His only responsibility was to bring the horse with them and see to it that it didn't freak out. Close to the edge he waited, turning to their steed. "Shh, calm...", he mumbled to it as it looked afraid of the waves below. He held the rains high, so it would not look down and he could only hoped she'd trust him. Ignatius spoke his incantation for quite some while and eventually he started moving. Azrael followed suit, backwards though, looking at the horse and trying to keep it steady. At first it didn't want to walk over the edge, but it let itself be pulled over, bit by bit. It took forever to cross only half the river and Azrael would have been much more nervous if he didn't know that he had to be calm if he wanted their horse to stay calm as well. Having nothing but magic he didn't control under his feet was beyond scary, but Ignatius had to keep this up for his own sake too.

As they slowly but steadily crossed with Ignatius apparently fully concentrated on his spell, the actual bridge began to sway and creak next to them. Azrael looked up at the structure, not trusting it at all, but it was to late that he noticed one of the beams falling over right in their direction. "Ignatius!", he yelled to alert him and their horse answered with a yell on her own. She reared and pulled on the reins, wanting to get to the other side already. Azrael was pulled with her, past Ignatius and she jumped. She as well as Azrael were lucky when she simply landed on the other side, having him pulled there too and she calmed down as soon as she felt the earth underneath her hooves. For a moment Azrael thought she'd pull him into the river with her by jumping off the invisible spell, but he was fine, but... "Ignatius?!", he yelled, turning around. He better still got his spell up for himself!

Concentration was key, especially in situations like these. Light was pliable and easy to mold, but it changed a lot over time, too, especially when someone inexperienced wielded it - Ignatius wanted to claim he wasn't, he was above and beyond those kids trying their years worth of mishapen spells on something that only someone like him should do. Why even try when they were outmatched anyway? Well, clearly because Ignatius had yet to learn for himself - someone that actually was adept at this could do things like these in his sleep and not worry or bother with the schematics of how to uphold the barrier that they forged. Was it too much to ask for something like this to be unperturbed, to have some moments of respite and concentrate on what was happening in that head of his? Apparently so. For a moment ago he would have turned around and just done something, perhaps told Azrael off for his rudeness, but right now, he was genuinely feeling as if he was ... trying his best to stay calm as well. The waves moved and so did their little, invisible bridge. What on earth? This shouldn't be happening. None of this could be unstable. Something was off.

"I'm trying to concentrate here-", he grumbled, more to himself than at Azrael, but everything was over in the flash of a moment. Suddenly, his view of the world shifted, something moved, it cracked, it broke, it jumped and moved a bit too much, didn't it? There was something off about all of this, and it wasn't going to ... ugh. Ignatius wasn't having a good time, not when he himself fell through the invisible floorboards and almost crashlanded in the water; a smaller platform caught him, well enough at that. Good. He couldn't swim. "I'm fine!", he yelled at Azrael, crawling out from the river - his little bridge had sunk deeper, he was now quite literally walking through it; he was soaked up to his knees, yet, it could be much worse. The moment he had actual soil beneath his feet, he let go off the bridge and the spell, and the first thing he did after was sneeze, loudly. "Well, bridge be damned.", he groaned - he was supposed to be a priest, a man that loved everyone ever, and yet, he eyed the wooden bridge with a sour expression. Whether it was his hateful thoughts or just a coincidence, the bridge collapsed right then and there, mostly at least. Ugh. Still out of breath, his chest heaving, he looked at Azrael. "We should go."

Azrael turned around and was relieved when he heard Ignatius' voice. Their horse seemed calm and fine for nor, so he let go of it to walk over to the edge of the river and Ignatius who climbed out of it. He grabbed his arm to help him up. He was dirty, but otherwise looked alright. Different than the bridge, because it was now completely gone, swallowed by the raging water. "Are you alright?", he asked. "Nothing broken or anything?" He was wet and cold and probably exhausted from this spell. It was dawn anyway, they needed somewhere to stay. "Come on, get on the horse.", he told his companion and helped him up. For a moment he oriented himself, before he started walking. He knew this area still, even though he hadn't been here for a while, but he knew of a place they could spend the night at and thus he led the horse and with it Ignatius there as fast as he could. If he'd believed in signs, he would have classified this just now as a bad one.

It took about half an hour for them to arrive at a little hut a bit away from the actual road. The roof was broken in parts and the wooden walls were riddled with small holes, but it was the best he could come up with. He offered Ignatius help with getting off their horse, then tied it to a pole outside. There was a little leaking roof there too. At least the water was all filled up... Next he led Ignatius inside. It wasn't pretty, or clean, or recently used. With him he had took the bags the horse carried most of the way and he was now pulling out a blanket he handed the priest. "It's not completely dry either, but it's better than nothing.", he told him and also placed his brand new sleeping bag on the floor. Azrael was wet too, to the bones actually at this point. At least it was kind of dry in here. He looked up through the cracks. Would they get away with a little fire tonight? He rather didn't, but if they got sick it was almost as bad as being found by demons. Then again, he had no way of finding dry fire wood right now.

Child of the light or not, Ignatius was exhausted - his powers weren't used to stints like that and he was even less used to them, actually. They got over the river just fine and Azrael helped him on the horse, but everything after that felt so sluggish, he didn't even know how long or what direction they rode and walked in until a good chunk of time later. Was all of that enough to exhaust him? It seemed that way, and what was worse, it also didn't seem like he'd be sleeping in a dry environment tonight. "I'm fine, I promise." The hut, one of the few things that he could actually see after he had recovered just a bit, stuck out like a sore thumb to him, but that had to be one of the few problems that he himself had. Again, Ignatius sneezed, most likely due to some sort of premonition that was clear to haunt him instead of an actual illness that would befall him if he weren't going to dry up. This was less than ideal for sure and the bigger and closer the hut got, the more he wanted to know what was actually happening around him. Was there a way around this? Was there any chance he would sleep in a warm room tonight? It didn't seem that way - it sucked, perhaps, but it had to be fine.

As he got off their horse, he stumbled inside and looked the place over. Even in here it was damp and dark, with no way of telling who had last spent their time here, or how long it had been. Was nobody caring for these places? Their church had so much money and yet decided to waste it on things nobody really needed, wasn't it so? Ignatius was already frustrated with the realization. "It's better than nothing for sure." His eyes wandered upward, to the ceiling; he waited until he could find out where that leak in the roof was and the moment he spotted it, he took it upon himself to grab a fabric tissue from his chest pocket - unused and the slightest bit wet - and plug the hole with it. This was better than the constant dripping, at least he hoped it to be. "Thanks for the blanket.", he told him, but Ignatius didn't want to waste it on his completely soaked form either. Instead, he used the opportunity to look for a bucket, and once found, he started wrining his hair out, with the blanket draped around his shoulder. "What are you thinking about? We could make a fire if you want to warm up. I'm sure it's healthier than sleeping like this."