Chapter 12
From DALpedia
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday January 24th, 2007
Draven promptly shut and locked the door, leaving him alone in the dimly candle lit room. There were of course noises all around, but this was unavoidable in a dank inn such as this. So long as he was undisturbed, this should work just fine…
He flipped his cloak, the illusion spell cast upon the robes quickly fading away to reveal his standard black armor and cape, the crimson trimmed edges and all. Silently he removed a small pouch from his belt and spilled the contents into one gloved hand. He frowned slightly at the result, as there weren’t many Black Crystals left, however it was enough to get the job done. He took one of the larger ones, most of the others being smaller and less neatly cut, and replaced the others into the bag. This was a long shot, he knew, but a worthwhile risk, considering who he was up against…
He placed the Black Crystal in the center of the wood paneled floor and stepped back. Satisfied that he had enough room, he removed a small piece of chalk and drew two circles around the stone, one slightly larger than the other. For a moment he considered using more than one crystal, which would render this cumbersome part unnecessary, but it would be a waste and he was running low, so he continued. He scribbled on the ground for a long while, making elaborate arcs and runes with the chalk that circled the entirety of the dark glass. When he was finished he stepped back as the lines erupted in a crimson glow.
Quickly the floor within the circle vanished, leaving the stone floating above a fiery pit, tendrils of swirling orange flame occasionally licking upwards through the portal. By now Draven’s smirk had returned. He cracked his knuckles and his neck a few times, then jumped in…
The ten Velkens brought their injured comrade down to the ground, setting his back against a wooden pole that supported the awning of the building across the street from the collapsed inn. It was night by then, although the crimson and black clouds seemed to give off just enough illumination to see. The battered and exhausted Renard was given water from a canteen before he was berated by questions.
“What happened to you?” It was the concerned voice of his friend and fellow mage Helix. He was a bit taller than Renard and the fur at the top of his head stood up in long strands.
“I… was attacked on the airship… That winged human saved my life. His name is Duilin.”
He pointed a claw tipped finger toward the man who saved his life. Duilin had just finished off Brice in a rather shocking manner, and they watched the mercenary’s body lifelessly drop to the ground. Virmir was in the back of the group and began to make his way over to the stranger. Odd, humans don’t have wings…
Before he could make it, the entire group was suddenly surrounded by a small hoard of Kanarinian soldiers, all bearing spear guns. Some held torches in an attempt to bathe the streets with an orange light. Humans can’t see very well in the dark, after all.
“Hold it! Just what is going on here?!”
He motioned to the collapsed mess that was once an inn. His eyes widened as he suddenly realized the figure he was addressing was far from human.
The short silver fox, who was also a High General of the Dark Empire, flicked his tail once indignantly, his eyes narrowing to slits that bore coldly into the human’s soul. He promptly opened the flap of his cloak, on the inside of which was sewn a number of insignias. Of course the Kandarinian officer did not recognize the Velken heraldry, but the red four winged dragon insignia of the Dark Empire was plain as day, even in the dim torchlight.
“Your security is lax,” Virmir spoke in deep smooth tones, “If we must defend ourselves from vagabonds in your cities, then we shall. And if we must continue to do so, then we will request that our Emperor rethink our alliance with a crumbling nation such as yours. Leave us.”
By now all of the other Velkens were staring at the soldiers with the same coldness in their eyes. Except their bodies were largely hidden by the darkness, so that all that was visible to the soldiers were those eyes… flashing in the reflective light of the torches…
The Kandarinians backed off, for they knew not to mess with the agents of the Dark Empire…
“My apologies, ambassador. If you need anything, let us know…”
With that, the Kandarinians left the way they came. There were much bigger issues on their minds, after all.
Virmir turned to Duilin and then offered a low bow, his tail curling upward into the air as he did so and the swords strapped to his back clanking slightly as their weight shifted.
“Our sincerest thanks, Duilin. Whatever you did for Renard we are most thankful for.”
Henri started into the tunnel, the white light glowing from his palm cutting into the darkness before him, though not by much. With a heavy sigh Ven went in after him.
“Come now, Ven. Have you even been in a mysterious underground tunnel that didn’t have something wonderful hidden at the end?” The old man said, chuckling.
Ven brought his gauntlet to his chin.
“Well, I uh…”
“Good!”
Blast it. Ven resolved to following his king, though he didn’t quite trust the surroundings. Ven then noticed that his king’s third eye was now visible and open, a dim green light upon his forehead.
“You sense something, don’t you?”
Henri nodded, smiling lightly. “Yes.”
Well, that was a good thing, at least. Although all of Ven’s previous experiences with things “sensed” turned out to be either gargantuan monsters or bombastic wizards with apocalyptic powers…
Jayce stopped. A darkness was about the camp, casting it into an even greater blackness than even the night sky bore upon it. The few remaining lizards that walked about were already on the ground, heads held low as if they were worshiping the dark smoke that was beginning to form in the center. Melface, who was by Jayce’s side, saw this and immediately bowed as well. With clenched teeth, Jayce ran his black gauntlet through his hair.
“Ah, great.”
Jayce fell to his knees as well, though not bowing quite as low as the others. The blackness swirled and congealed, becoming a horned shadow with two burning crimson eyes…
“Father, my Lord. You’re looking pleasant this evening…”
Jayce held his head up slightly, his eyes penetrating his thick locks of hair with a smirk on his face.
Retan’s eyes narrowed. Jayce’s head bowed back down quickly.
“Your objective has changed. There is an island nation that I desire. You will obtain it.”
“Oh? And what nation is this?”
“Tjed.”
Jayce frowned, looking up once more. “But that is on the other side of…”
“Then you will hurry.”
The shadow vanished without a trace.
Jayce stood up. Blast, that was far away. Although his smirk returned to him when he thought of guaranteed battle.
“Return to the ships. We sail east…”
Posted by: Jenia on Wednesday January 24th, 2007
Elphos sighed. Staring at the night sky, it seemed to him as if only yesterday he left his burning village...
"Hey, boy, what are you doing there? Counting the stars?"
It was none other than his master and Mentor, the enigmatic Indher, though she called herself Lerfina and he called her Fernis. Whichever name of her was true, he didn't know, nor did he care much.
"No, master, just staring and thinking..." Elphos answered softly, as if not really paying attention to her.
It has been 2 days and a night, not counting this one, since they both set sail from the mainland. Although Elphos wasn't sure what to expect, he knew he could trust his master not to screw up.
All of a sudden, Elphos felt a tingling sensation at his side. He jumped away, cousing the boat to rock and his master to laugh mischivously.
"Fernis! I thought I asked you to stop poking me!" he stated angrily, trying to get back to his original position.
"Ooh, but it is so much FUN!" she said happily, sounding like an innocent little girl who doesn't know any better.
"I can't help myself!"
Elphos always thought Fernis' attitude doesn't fit her. Her strange looks, the black armor she wears, her knowledge of runes... Elphos always thought a more fitting personality for her would be the dark, silent type.
"I'm going to...ugh...get some fresh air." Elphos whipped off some of the dust on his simple, deep-blue shirt and got up, stretching his limbs.
"Well all right, just don't catch a cold..."
His master seemed to already be occupied with some old texts, cousing Elphos only to hurry.
Upon leaving the boat's small cabin, the night sky suddenly seemed clearer, as if it became more real than it was through the roof-window in the cabin. He took a deep breathe and took a moment to enjoy the vast ocean breeze.
Turning his head over to the horizon, he smiled to himself.
Although the trip was strating to get on his nerves, he kind of enjoyed it, not having to look for-
Suddenly, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
"Master, you better come out to see this..."
Abandoning her book, Fernis crawled out of the boat's cabin.
"What, did you catch a fi-"
Her eyes then widened as well, but her jaw didn't drop. Instead, she proceeded to smile.
"Land! Well, even if we found the place late, we still found it!"
((I HATE COMPUTER ERRORS. At least half the post was saved... BUT I STILL HAVE TO RETYPE PART 2))
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Wednesday January 24th, 2007
//Wow, I've had so much time between Chapters that I've been able to write up my first two posts. Here's number one, the second one will come tomorrow.\\
Darkness.
Though a full moon had risen, Alex was still unconscious. The headcrab’s toxins were spreading through his veins like a plague. If Midna did not do something soon, he could very well die.
Though Midna did not know a cure.
Unfortunately, neither did the P.C.S. It had expended all other methods of healing white magic, yet all had failed. He did not move. He did not speak. His breathing and heartbeat were extremely faint. It was as if the poison was not destroying his body, but rather put him into a deep sleep, almost comatose state. As Alex’s spirit had not yet emerged, Midna could not resurrect him. All she could do was wait.
She wiped a glistening, moonlit tear from her eye. Despite her best efforts, the rebel had fallen again, and there was nothing she could do about it. He would have to rise on his own. Unfortunately, he seemed to be in no condition to.
Despite her concern, Midna was sure Alex would pull through. She looked up at the bright moon. She loved the darkness, far more than the daylight. Her people, the Twili, lived in a dimension of perpetual twilight, between light and darkness. However, darkness was more prevalent in Twili affairs. Light had its shining moments, but rarely. Midna hoped the darkness would give her the strength she needed to help Alex in any way she could.
Though the rebel still laid motionless.
What more could he do? He could not move. The tough outer shell of the P.C.S. was all that held him from death. His attitude towards Otis would surely be changed.
Midna sighed in frustration. “How can I help him?” she asked herself. “He’s helped me, I need to help him. The question is, how?”
Midna remembered very little about what she had heard about Alex before she met him. Her Twili advisors had mentioned a young man who had seen both sides of the war, someone who was once cold and calculating. He was effectively a Spartan, a soldier from ancient mythology bred and trained solely for war. They were emotionless, hard, and relentless. However, Alex had since lost those traits in his leave of the war. Nevertheless, Midna was convinced he was the one her advisors had told her about. She delved into her mind to try to remember more. She remembered the advisors explaining his origins, who his parents were. Though that was many years ago, and those secrets had since been lost to time.
Alex’s mind once again swam in a limitless void. Not feeling his physical form nor his spirit form, there was little he could do to commune with the living…or the dead. All he could do was emit an extremely weak and raspy moan.
Midna turned back towards Alex, who was trying desperately to move his limbs, to let her know he was still there. Unfortunately, his limbs did not comply.
“Alex?” Midna asked, hopefully. “Can you hear me?”
Somehow, Alex found strength.
“Yeah.”
Midna’s one exposed eye suddenly widened. She watched in total astonishment as the ebony metal man found the power to pick his heavy frame up from the ground.
“Urgh…” he moaned, holding his head. “Care to tell me what happened?”
“That poison headcrab…when you took your helmet off, it just leapt at you and bit you…though the poison is usually debilitating. How did you fight it?”
“I dunno,” Alex said. “Is there anything that would cause an immunity to headcrab poison?”
“Not that I know of,” she replied. “Wait, there is one thing. No, no, I must be losing it.”
“What?” Alex asked, curious. “What is it? Tell me.”
“Well, I remember when I was banished to the Borderworld by Damien. I was attacked by a few poison headcrabs, and I recovered easily. But…”
“But WHAT?”
“I’m not human.”
“Yeah…” Alex replied. “I got that much. So what ARE you?”
“I’m part of an ancient race called the Twili. We originated from an rather unknown part of the Borderworld, the Twilight. In this realm, the Borderworld and Gaian cross with each other, combining light and darkness, forming a perpetual twilight. In this realm our kind lived and thrived, until…”
“Until what?”
“The Kandarinians took interest in our natural adeptness in both light and dark magic, and so tried to take us by force. It was many years ago that the Kandie-Twili War began, and it still rages. Since then, I’ve kept a low profile by ruling Asgarnia. Previously they had no reason to come to Asgarnia, until the unprovoked Seven-Hour War. I guess they found me. There were two key Twili. The princess, and the warrior. The princess brought balance to the light and the dark, and the warrior defended the princess. Alex, this is something I’ve hidden from you up to now, and I apologize.”
Alex waited with bated breath.
“Alex. I am the twilight princess.”
Alex thought hard for a moment. “If you’re the princess, then who’s the warrior?”
“I remember being told who it was, but Damien’s curse has fogged my mind. I can’t remember. Though I do remember what would indicate who it was.”
“And what is it?”
“The twilight warrior will be revealed when such a man is found who cannot be slain. He has but one weakness, and few know what it is. It is a closely-kept secret.”
“Wait a minute. The halting of the portal storms…the exploding cannon…the confrontation with Damien…the headcrab bite…”
“It all makes sense now. Alex, you are the twilight warrior.”
Alex’s breath was sucked from his lungs. “But…I’m not a Twili…am I?”
“This is true, the prophets proclaimed these two beings were at least part Twili. I’m pure Twili, and you’re human. I remember something about your parents…”
Alex’s eyes suddenly widened. “My…parents? Caulus told me…”
“He never got the chance to before he died. I’m trying hard to remember, Alex, please bear with me…”
Alex was surprisingly patient with waiting for her to recollect the lost knowledge.
“I remember now! It’s clear as crystal! Alex! Your father was Twili. Your mother was human. They since died in the war, and the Twili advisors deemed it best to hide you from the Kandies. So they handed you over to Caulus. They thought it would also be best if you grew up not knowing, until you were ready for the position you would serve…”
“So much about my past, so much about my parents…” Alex said quietly, “I never got to know them. I don’t even know what happened to them.”
“They died in the Kandie-Twili War, apparently. I’m sorry, Alex.”
He heaved a sigh. “There’s not much to do about that now, is there?”
Alex noticed the night sky. Ever since the radiation from the shield spire’s explosion those many months ago faded, the starry sky was all the more amazing. The moon was noticeably brighter though. He felt strange.
He shook his head, trying to clear the odd sensation.
“Something wrong, Alex?”
“No…nothing.”
Suddenly, a surge of power coursed through Alex’s veins. Overwhelmed, he stumbled to his knees. As if some invisible catch on the armor had been pulled, the metal plates of the P.C.S. soon shed themselves from his body, revealing the human within. Illuminated in a bluish glow by the moonlight, Alex felt pulsations in his extremities, and he was becoming lightheaded. Within a few seconds, the skin on his arms and legs became dark, his face became pale save around his eyes, which were also dark. Before long green markings began running up and down his limbs and finally ending in a pattern surrounding his left eye. His eyes, which had closed blue, now opened blood red. He now looked very much like Midna, except for his human body. His hair retained its black color, though. When he was finally able to get back up, he saw Midna looking at him in pure awe as a small smile began to form on her lips.
“What?” He said, his voice now having a quick echo behind it.
“Alex! It’s true! You are the twilight warrior.”
“What are you talking about--” He snatched his hands over his mouth, realizing the ethereal nature of his voice, similar to Midna’s. He looked at his arms, dark and covered with the same glowing green marks. His worn leather jacket had since been replaced with a black vest, and his denim pants with dark leggings of some other material. He had been completely transformed, but not of his own will.
“Midna!” he shouted. “What’s happened to me?! I don’t feel human! What the hell is going on?!”
“Alex, it’s your Twili side. It’s finally come to the surface! Why it hasn’t before is a mystery, but now there’s reason for hope!”
“You’ve completely lost me,” he muttered. “Enlighten me.”
“The prophecy proclaims the princess will find the warrior on a night such at this, when the moon is at its absolute brightest. The complete absence of daylight triggers the Twili magic residing within the warrior, superseding his human form, but only during the night. Once day breaks, he reverts to his human nature, to become Twili the next night.”
Alex was still shocked in his inhuman appearance. “So if this is true, so is what you said before, regarding my parents… My God. I had no idea.”
“Alex, I’m afraid I have many things to show you, and those can only be revealed in a travel to the Twilight. First, I must be sure you will want to leave Asgarnia behind for just one night.”
“Sure…but what about the suit?”
“No problem, I can hang onto that for you,” Midna replied, her spirits suddenly lifted. She pointed her finger at the limp metal suit, and gave it a jolt with some unknown magic. The suit promptly disappeared. “I can keep this in a sort of magic storage for you.”
Alex surveyed the terrestrial Asgarnia one last time before turning back to the imp. “Very well then. Seeing as I won’t be seeing humanity for another twelve or so hours, go right ahead.”
“Good choice. Bear with me, dimensional portals take a lot of power.” She closed her eyes and began chanting in some other language that Alex was suddenly able to understand. As she did, a large portal appeared in the sky, a black vortex with blue outlines running from it.
All Alex could do was stand there as the dimensional rift took form. Once it was fully formed, Midna took Alex’s dark hand, and the two were disassembled into black particles which soon raced through the portal.
On the other side, these particles reassembled themselves into Alex and Midna. As he came into form, he looked around. This section of the Borderworld was different from the main region. There were no swirling vortices, no harmful radiation, no low gravity. The entire landscape, which was one enormous island-asteroid, was shrouded in a vermillion glow, as if the land had experienced a perpetual sunset. Ahead was a large city, or what appeared to be one.
“My God,” Alex whispered. “It’s…beautiful.”
“And that’s not even the half of it,” Midna exclaimed, definitely excited to once again be home. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday January 24th, 2007
"General Wilham, are you sure this is a good idea?" Ask a man dressed in white robes.
"Of course I am!" Wilham Wolfe replied. "I'm sure we'll be able to find quite a bit around here."
"But, sir, it's just a moutain. What makes you think there would be any settlement around it?"
"Well look, see how unnaturally placed and shaped it is? I've heard of some strange terra former abilities these imperials have. I have a hunch that this mountain may perhaps be a fortress."
"Uh...very well sir."
--- ---
(This is just a re-post of my last update for Gorus.)
Gorus was surprised by the small being's sudden strength. The sudden burst of strength from the noble half demon pushed the mace right from his hand. The weapon hit the floor and slid across the room, a couple of lizardmen backed away as the weapon neared them, bumping into the wall.
Gorus jumped back, so he was a couple yards away from Zeros'. The weapon was out of his reach, and going to pick it up would leave him open for an attack, luckily he had his grappling blaster. The lizard general took the grappling hook off his belt.
All of the lizard warriors backed up right to the wall or left the room, he was really dangerous with that thing. The head of the hook had four prongs at the end, Gorus held it under the prongs, and lightly pulled the trigger of the blaster, and reeled it out, until there was a good four feet of chain. He let go of the head and then spun the chain around, like a flail.
"Okay, now put up a real fight." Gorus snarled. "I want to start trying now..."
The lizardman then swept the hook over his head and then slid forward towards Zeros' and swung the hook with strong force downwards at his foe...
--- ---
The village had been liberated, and the Minotaur had been able to distract Ace enough for the Aspyes to escape.
The group of rebels had chosen to continue on foot, since Marshall would be unable to summon enough flying creatures to transport everyone, due to his magic energy was a bit low.
"We're almost home guys. Don't worry." Marshall called, leading the group, charring a torch. He then spoke to the fighter next to him. "We should still be really careful. I hear those Dark Dragons are crazy hunters during the night..."
--- ---
Duilin looked at his magic smoking hands, ripe with the tingling after effects of electrocuting the life out of that bounty hunter.
He put too much anger into it and as he finished off his enemy he felt his demonic blood rage rising yet when just when he fell to the ground and stopped, he could feel the balance returning. Before whenever his blood rage rose, his demonic side would become larger then his human. Such as after he fought Valos he nearly started to grow horns and his skin began to turn a bit golden, like Abodahon's, and it wasn't until, well after Abodahon died that it began to clear up. Although he didn't have as much rage and hate put into that as when he battled Valos, or even Draven for that matter. But he's regained balance pretty quickly.
He noticed the group of Velkens had arrived; one of them approached him and spoke. He examined the Velken, he was taller then Renard, but Duilin was still almost a foot taller then the fox-man.
"Oh it was the least I could do." Duilin replied to Virmir. "So, I assume you're part of a group with Renard. May I ask your name?"
//Ophelia will come in later.\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday January 25th, 2007
"Kendo Virmir, High General of the Dark Empire, Skyward Division."
Virmir rose from the bow. He then removed a small silver pendant that was hidden inside his cloak and tossed it to the human. It was round like a small coin with a simple profile image of a fox head and some other lines etched into it.
"Should you ever require a favor of our people, show that pendant, and we will be glad to offer our services."
With that he turned and headed back towards the group. By now Renard was back on his feet, supported on each side by another vulpine mage and a knight, and they were all murmuring softly amongst themselves.
Henri and Ven began descending stairs cut from stone, each step not quite the same size as the previous. Ven was becoming more nervous, his eyes darting around in the pale light his majesty was proving via his spell.
"Uh, we're sort of leaving Allen behind..."
The old king had a spring in his step and was moving faster and faster, waving his hand.
"Oh, he'll catch up."
At the end of the stairs as a wide open room that the king's light failed to illuminate. The stone floor extended forward, yet there appeared to be a drop off on each side, as if it were a bridge.
Three black warships waited silently off the coast, unmoving in the waves... Each gave off a slight crimson glow in contrast to the night, radiating from the torches that lined their decks...
Two were standard war vessels, emblazoned with the four winged dragon insignia of the Dark Empire upon their flags and sides...
The last, though, the last was no mere war vessel indeed. For it was the personal sea faring ship of the Prince of the Dark Empire.
The Jagahn...
It stood there, over twice as large as the others, as if mocking their petty insignificant existence. Its spiky protrusions stabbing towards the stars, challenging all to face it. The twisting skulls and demonic visages, statues and gargoyles, laughing at the weakness of the world. The cannons of all sizes, jutting out and pointed in all directions, waiting impatiently for the chance to kill again...
The ships were already loaded, for their target was no longer the land of Rygar. No, it was Tjed. Small boats went out to sea, returning the lizard men back to their vessels.
Jayce smirked as he watched the sight, standing upon the rock with the waves crashing about, surrounded by his entourage of evil. They did not need to ride the petty boats to reach the ships. No, for they began to levitate, surrounded by auras of hateful blackness. They cackled maniacally as they flew, returning to the Jagahn so they might begin their journey.
Come morning, blood will be spilled...
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday January 25th, 2007
Dark Empire?
Duilin cursed under his breath. Duilin caught the pendent, and clutched it in angry. All this time, he's been helping out a member of the Dark Empire. Now they congratulate him. He felt disgusted. He reminds himself that he used to be part of that empire, but that only makes me feel even more coverer in filth.
How could he have not of figured it out himself. Renard seemed so loyal and bent over for the Dark Empire, only somebody who was a part of it, would be so favourable for them. Duilin bet that even the Kandarin were disgusted by the empire's evil. Retan didn't even try to hide the fact he's evil, he shows it off.
He felt like tackling that animal man, when his back is turned and break the little thing's neck. Why would the Empire want to employ something that small, as a High General? Then again, from Draven he learned not to judge power by age, so likely it wouldn't be to smart to judge by size. He should just lay low.
What also got on his nerves is that they didn't even notice it was him. If it were Zeros' then likely they would have attacked him on sight. Duilin was getting a little tired of living under his shadow. But he'll make his mark.
Duilin gave a sort of half smile to the Velkens. He waved his hand holding the pendent and then walked off. He was sick of this place. There has to be somewhere that wasn't either under the control of the empire, or cooked up on some viking's bullshit...
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Thursday January 25th, 2007
“You think Alex is okay?”
“Why wouldn’t he be? He’s hardcore.”
“I dunno, those headcrabs in the Mining District can be deadly. Especially the poisonous ones.”
Two rebels were conversing in the common area of the Rebel HQ as they waited for their scout to return from the mines.
Ilia was looking over a clipboard as she overheard the conversation. She walked over to the two rebels and joined in.
“What’s this about Alex?” she asked.
“Well,” one rebel started, clearly distracted by the woman, “we, uh, sent a scout out to the mining district to make sure he’s okay…and he hasn’t come back yet.”
“Neither has Alex?” she asked again, this time with a concerned face.
“Well…no.”
“Oh dear, I hope he’s all right…”
“Hey, what’s going on?” Dominic Fenix soon found himself in the middle of the group.
“We’re waiting on Alex to come back,” Ilia said.
“Bah, he’ll be fine in the mining district. If he’s survived as much as you say he has, then what reason is there to worry?”
“Dom,” one rebel piped up, “have you heard of poison headcrabs?”
“Yeah, I have,” Fenix replied. “Doesn’t Alex keep one as a pet?”
“I don’t know about that, but I’ve heard stories about people who’ve been attacked by them,” the rebel replied, “and it’s not pretty.”
“Oh?” Fenix said. “Humor us.”
“The poison is fast-acting and powerful. It basically paralyzes the victim while the headcrab takes control, the victim’s body bloats up into this hunched over, freakish thing, and it basically acts as a carrier for other poison headcrabs, and--”
“Goodness!” Kleiner cried. “That’s quite enough. See here, Alex will be fine. The day he is defeated by something as trivial as a headcrab is the day we surrender.”
“Besides,” Fenix went on, “he’s in that tough old armor, and what headhumper can bite through that?”
The rebel scout returned from the surface, breathless.
“Lieutenant,” Ilia asked, “did you find Alex?”
“I’m afraid not, ma’am,” the scout said somberly. “I had a bead on his magic signature, but then it just vanished. From what I’ve ascertained, Alex is no longer in this city, on this continent, planet, or even in this dimension. Though I did see something else. A portal in the sky. A swirling black-and-blue vortex reminiscent of twilight magic. I also found a recently deceased poison headcrab on the location.”
“You don’t think…” Ilia said, worried.
“Nonsense!” Kleiner replied, trying to reassure the gorgeous young woman. “I’m sure Alex is well out of harm’s way by now, even if he is in another dimension.”
“Lieutenant, do you have any idea where that portal leads?” Fenix asked.
“Sorry, Dominic. I’m not well-versed in twilight magic. Though if I had to take a guess, I would say the Twilight.”
“I’m sorry?” Kleiner said, perplexed.
“The Twilight is a rather unknown region of the Borderworld that slightly overlaps with Gaian. It’s here that an ancient civilization, the Twili, was rumored to live and thrive, and still exist today.”
“So you’re saying a Twili might’ve taken Alex back there?” Ilia asked.
“Strong possibility,” the scout replied. “Though who do we know that’s Twili?”
“Wasn’t the princess of Asgarnia before the war a Twili?” Fenix asked. “Now what was her name…Midnight? Minda?”
“Actually, Midna, Fenix,” the scout corrected him.
“But all intel suggests that she was killed directly after the Seven-Hour War’s conclusion!” Kleiner cried. “How is she still alive?”
“Our current ruler, Damien Roth, had other plans, Izzy.” The scout continued. “Rather than go through the trouble of killing her outright, he simply cursed her with the form of an imp and was then able to take the throne from her. Perhaps that’s why Alex has been behaving so strangely lately.”
“So this Midna character has enlisted our dear Alex’s help in reclaiming her throne?” asked Ilia.
“As far as we know,” the scout replied. “Though I see nothing wrong with it. Though there is reason for concern if she took him to the Twilight.”
“Why?” Ilia said, concerned.
“Alex may know more than he’s letting on, he might have business there.”
“Why is that reason for concern?”
“Because we need him here! How can we fight without a leader?”
“Look at ourselves,” Fenix protested. “We’ve become so overconfident of Alex’s abilities that we’ve become totally reliant on him! If he’s gone, the Kandies could run roughshod over us. We have to learn to fight for ourselves. Just because one man isn’t here doesn’t mean the whole rebellion can be allowed to fall apart.”
“You mean…” Ilia trailed off.
“That’s right,” Fenix said. “We have to continue with or without his help. It’s the only way we can get the city back.”
“And what if he comes back?” Ilia said. “Will he think he abandoned us?”
“Nonsense,” Kleiner finally piped up, who was watching the argument up to now. “Alex has always trusted us! If anything, I’m sure he’s confident we can deal with this ordeal ourselves while he’s off on personal business.”
“If you say so, Isaac…” Ilia said reluctantly.
“Alex? What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing. Still getting used to this form is all. It feels weird.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Midna said reassuringly. “A lot of first-time transformers feel weird being stripped of their humanity. But just look at your new body. Deep-rooted powers are now at your fingertips!”
“Why are we here?” Alex asked. “We should be back at rebel base.”
“Alex, there’s a lot you need to know about the ongoing conflict between the Twili and the Kandies. If we are to ever stand a chance against them, we need your help. Please.”
Alex ran his blackened hand through his hair. “Where do we start?”
“The city up ahead. There the Twili elders can fill you in.”
As the two approached the city, Alex noticed the landscape was mystifying. Unlike the rest of the Borderworld, the Twilight had a terrestrial landmass, due in part to its overlapping with Gaian. However, day and night were nonexistent in this realm, the world was bathed in a permanent dusk. Gravity here compared to the rest of the Borderworld was significantly higher, being about two-thirds of Gaian. A breathable atmosphere was maintained, and the overlapping with Gaian shrouded the realm from the harmful Borderworld energy.
And then Alex saw it.
The Twilight City. The largest city in the Twilight. It was at least twice Asgarnia’s size. Yet just as beautiful as it was before the Seven-Hour War. Here the Twili lived and thrived, fortunate that the Kandarinian Sovereignty had not found their beloved city yet. However, that did not mean the Twili were not afraid.
As Alex and Midna walked the streets of the city, various onlookers noticed the new man. One stout Twili found his way over to Alex.
“So you’re the one the elders have been preaching about. You’re Alex, aren’t you?”
“Um, yeah…” Alex said, a little unsure of himself.
“Oh, happy day!” the portly being cried. “We have no need to fear those despots, the Kandarinians!”
“Hold up, sir. I’m not even sure why I’m here. I’ve come to see the elders.”
“Well, if that’s the case, you want the Temple of Dusk, up ahead.” The Twili turned Alex’s attention to an enormous building up ahead, dwarfing the Kandarinian Citadel. “You better get a move on. The elders have been waiting.”
“Waiting?” Alex asked. “For how long?”
“Twenty-eight years.”
Alex and Midna soon found themselves at the base of the Temple of Dusk. Looking up at it Alex was definitely intimidated.
“Alex, I’ve been noticing you’re rather nervous about this.” Midna said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“Well, if you just found out that you’re supposed to be the savior of an ancient race, declared at birth, wouldn’t you be nervous, too?!”
“Calm down, everything’s going to be okay. I know it. I’ve spoken with the elders before. Trust me, they are welcoming, especially to a man of your status.”
“Great,” Alex mumbled. “I’ve been here for forty-five minutes and already I have a status. I liked it better when I was taking speargun shots.”
“Now, now, Alex. I’m sure with a little bit of adjusting you’ll grow to like the Twilight. It may not look promising, but I’m sure with your help we can destroy those Kandies once and for all. However, our first target is Damien. The elders know far more of your hidden abilities than you do. Once you can unleash them, Damien doesn’t stand a chance.”
“Anything for you, I guess. I just have one more question.”
“And what would that be?”
“What about the rebels? Without me, how will they fare against the Kandies? We’ve got to get back there as soon as possible…”
“I understand your concern for your friends, and that we are all fighting a common enemy, but first things first. We must see the elders. Even if we got back there, you would still remain in your Twili form until dawn.”
Alex heaved an echoing sigh. “Very well then. Lead the way.”
Midna now leading, Alex followed her into the mysterious Temple of Dusk.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday January 26th, 2007
Renard watched Duillin walk off into the night. The Velken could tell from the winged human's posture that something did not quite sit right. He made a brief movement as if to run after the man, but his comrades restrained him, misinterpreting the jerk as a stumble due to his weakness.
"Easy there, Renard. We're gonna head back to the airship now."
There was a knot welling deep down in his stomach, an emotion he couldn't quite place a claw on. He finally managed to yell out,
"Goodbye... Duilin..."
He was then lifted into the air, and he watched the city disappear into the darkness. Yeah, he knew what that emotion was. The next time they met, it may no longer be on friendly terms...
Ven and Henri continued down the stone bridge, or whatever it was. It was too dark to see what lay beyond the drop off on either side. Every so many feet there seemed to be two other smaller bridges that jutted off left and right, though they simply remained on the main one. Henri was totally enraptured, while Ven walked with his teeth clenched, hand upon the blade on his back.
Eventually on the right side, a dark looming outline became visible. Closer and closer they moved, until very faintly a bow, mast, and wings became visible...
"... An... airship...?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday January 26th, 2007
Duilin grimaced as he heard Renard's voice. He didn't even turn around; he said nothing and continued walking. He'll remember him; he'll slaughter him and his group of freaks. Cruelty? More like justice. They don't the innocent people any different...
He supposed it would be best to walk alone. The eastern coast wasn't very far from here. Perhaps he should actually go to Helternia. It was the closest place, and it was usually independent. However, he worried that it'd be most likely that the Empire found it as a good seaport, because, well it was. From what he knew, it was right in between Terian and Kandarin. Besides, it'd be best to check up on Rivertown, see what happened to his old house. He hasn't been at his own house for a good year and a half. Most likely his landlord rented it out to somebody else.
--- ---
The sky was dark, but it didn't bother Ophelia. She was allowed to travel with a scouting squad, the group was her, four lizardmen and Captain Rex Vondran. He was golden skinned demon lord. He wore a full suit of black armour with jutting spikes on his shoulder. His hair was short, spikey and black, and he had a pair of medium sized horns on his forehead. They had been assigned to scout the zone around Asgarnia, as they had been suspection with Kandarin and the Asgarnia Rebels...
--- ---
Duilin had exited Asgarnia and continued his venture. He didn't feel like flying, so he jogged. He still had some elixir left over so he should be good. He wasn't tired yet. 18 months of sleep is more then enough to pull and all-nighter. He had too much on his mind to sleep anyway. He was sure Rink and Zeros' were back, but he had no clue where he'd find them. Besides, Zeros' and Rink could probably find him. Even if he was out of aura range, Rink would guess that Duilin would go back to Helternia. He hopped they would, he'd need more then just himself if he wanted to end this dark age...
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday January 26th, 2007
"Wretched quill, at last I found you! I suppose it is true, then. Much of mankind's problems root from the lack of organization. I suppose I'd better write about what happened in the gap, then.
The group did, in fact, make it back safely with the Necronomicon. After being captured off one by one, they confronted the Black Dragon from inside, effectively ridding the world of half of the sect. Their being captive was a part of an exquisite plan, made by me. Through the Elder and Roland's eyes (by now, I had fully mastered the druidic "eyeless sight" technique), I orchestrated the plot until the Necronomicon was safe in their hands. I waited for them to deliver it to me. As I placed the period after that last sentence, I heard the door creak. It was Victo, carrying a burlap bag.
-"My lord."
-"I suppose you have it, then?"
-"But of course."
-"Give it to me!"
Victo bowed, and brought the bag to me. I reached down, and felt the book's leathery surface, studded with metallic clips. I slowly drew the tome out of the bag....
The Necronomicon. At last, in my hands. The deepest Necromantic secrets written in but one book, secrets so dark that they had to be locked away under the protection of an insane homicidal sect... The tome's cover was decorated by the ancient symbol of Necromancy - two crossed skeletal hands, with a skull in between the palms. The symbol was pressed into the surface, and the resulting groove was drenched with blood. I reached to open the book...
...when a guard ran into the throne room.
-"My lord! My lord! The golems! Something's making them crazy! We can't stop them, and they've been overcharged with power! They're on a killing frenzy, destroying everything in sight!"
-"Guard, you're THIS close to sending ME on a killing frenzy. Where are these golems?"
-"They've broken the Qim perimeters... They made their way into Jovil! Here comes one now!!!"
True enough, I felt the stomping of the golem's giant legs. By the magnitude of the steps, I judged my attacker to be an atronach. I heard the booming footsteps race past the palace, the ceiling crumblets falling on my head.
-"Well then... I suppose we'd best take care of it."
I stepped out of the palace doors, and spied the atronach running down the stone street, its shining white axe annihilating the smaller houses on either side of the street. Perhaps this is fate's way of letting me know of my own powers... I will take this one out without it knowing it.
I quickly formed a lightning bolt in my hand powerful enough to blast a small house to bits, and threw it at the atronach. The massive creature stopped, then exploded in a shower of sparks and stone fragments, raining down on Jovil. I blew the remaining smoke off my hands.
-"It would seem as though these golems are overcharged with volatile energy, which accounts for their frenzies... It also explains that explosion... When the bolt struck the golem, it overloaded with energy, and... what's that?"
Just then, I became aware of more thumping, right behind my back. I slowly turned.
Behind me, there was a huge stone golem, about to smash its enormous fist on me. Obviously, thinking fast was imperative, but somehow, I couldn't move... I just stood there, paralyzed, watching the rock falling on my head...
What happened after that was beyond my comprehension. Somehow, I felt my body become lighter than the air itself, and there was some sort of a blueish glow around me. I felt massive shock through my body, as if I had been struck by a powerful lightning bolt, and, moments later, I found myself staring at the golem's hand, stuck in the stone. Within an eyeblink, I managed to move several meters, and I cannot even recall how it happened. Nevertheless, I used the opportunity to climb onto the golem, who was still struggling free from the earth. I aimed another hastily charged bolt at its neck, where charges kept zapping between the head and the body. The head proceeded to fly off, with me on it. We both landed safely next to the guard.
-"Where's the rest of them?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday January 27th, 2007
//Arg! Where is Zeros'? I could have knocked him out twice by now.\\
"Yep, that's defiantly a fortress." Wilham said with a grin. "So, you cowards ready to see if we can get inside?"
"Sir, are you sure that's wise?" One of the mages asked.
"Hmm...Guess not." Wilhman muttered.
"Thank you sir."
"No, by 'guess not' I was referring to that you're not ready to go inside."
"Well, sir." The other mage spoke. "the Elders said that the forces here are hostile. They could attack us on sight."
"Listen, we were sent here to find out who the force is, why they are here and how much power they have." Wilham snapped back. "Now, if you guys are too damn chicken to come with me and see why there is a mountain fortress here, then go back home."
The two mages looked at each other.
"Oh and by the way." Wilham added. "As Grand General, I'd reject any promotion requests for you too." He then turned around and looked at the two. "So in other words, get off your lazy asses and follow!"
--- ---
A Dark Dragon flew across the sky, over Ophelia and Rex's group and then off into the distance. Only the shape of the flying lizard could be made out in the night sky...
Rex had some great eyesight. His home world Thanatos was also literately really dark, so nighttimes on Gaian seemed just as clear as day. The demon scanned the area, mostly around Asgarnia, he then noticed somebody exited the city. It appeared to be a human with wings. Which was odd, because he knew for a fact that humans didn't have wings, however half humans did. Judgeing by how the wings looked, he could come to the conclusion that it was half demon.
"Ophelia, do you see that?" Rex said, pointing in the direction of the stranger.
"No..." Ophelia said softly back.
"It's a human and demon crossbreed, from the looks of it. Or...maybe it could be one of those mutants that Vandrin guy has."
"Maybe..."
"Well, we're going to check it out."
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday January 27th, 2007
The lulling hum of the airship all around him was comforting, but Renard couldn't sleep.
He was told to stay in bed, but he couldn't do that either, so he just sat at the table provided in his private dorm, watching the lone candle burn up it's wick. At least the furniture here was properly made, as the chair had an opening for him to slip his tail through.
There was a knock at his door.
"Come in."
Helix, his fellow Battle Mage, poked his head in, those long strands of silver fur sticking out of the top of hid head reflecting the candle light.
"... You okay, Renard?"
"... Yeah, just tired..."
"Too tired to sleep?" The taller silver fox shut the door quietly behind him, chuckling slightly. Renard didn't make any effort to smile. "You sure about that? I mean, the mental energies you're throwing out are enough to keep me up next door," Helix said as he slipped into the chair opposite Renard.
Renard's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, sorry..."
"No prob. You need to talk about something...?"
Renard just shrugged, folding his arms and looking away.
"No."
Helix leaned back and waited a moment before talking again. "One of those wraith things delivered a message to Lord Virmir just a little while ago... I think we might have another mission."
Renard looked up as his friend finally. "Any idea what?"
"No, Virmir didn't say."
Another silence. Helix's eyes turned to the sheet of parchment face down on the table.
"Hey, what's this?"
Renard's pointed ears shot up. "Uh, nothing..."
Helix grabbed the paper before Renard could and turned it over. He pursed his lips as he studied the image there. It was a charcoal sketch of some odd buildings, definitely not of Velken design. Renard lowered his eyes again. Helix finally recognized the architecture. It was Asgarnia. But not Asgarnia as it was now. The city in the picture was not run down, its buildings not crumbling, and no litter in the streets. It was a nice piece of work, though a little rough around the edges and only halfway done.
"You're really getting good at this, Renard."
"... Thanks."
Another silence. Helix replaced the parchment back on the table, though face up this time. Renard shifted his weight, running his right claw over the freshly changed bandages upon his left arm.
"Hey, Helix..."
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever get the feeling..."
Helix leaned closer, his ears angling towards his comrade. Renard paused, lowering his eyes again.
"... that... maybe... maybe we're not doing the right thing...?
Henri moved closer to the ship, holding his light as high as possible so that he could see better.
"This insignia..."
It was a four winged dragon painted on the side...
"The Dark Empire?" Ven ventured.
"No, look, this is a solid red. This is the insignia Draven used for his Crimson Empire."
"Hmm, don't you think they would have changed it back?"
Henri looked around.
"We are near where the once mighty fortress of Bandervil stood. As far as I know, it was completely destroyed, though I imagine it could very well have had underground bunkers. Perhaps this is a dock they simply had forgotten about?"
"Or one the Crimson Empire built, so the Dark Empire doesn't know about..." Ven smiled, pleased at his reasoning.
"Indeed."
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday January 27th, 2007
Zeros' grimaced and quickly stepped to the side, watching the weapon slam into the ground beside him. Before Gorus had a chance to retaliate, Zeros' grabbed the chain and started to pull it towards himself, with surprising strength. His hands were cut, blood dripping out from the sharp wounds the mace inflicted.
---
Allen frowned and wiped his forehead. He silenty followed behind the two from Tjed. He was still recovering his energy.
"What do you sense, Henri?" he murmured, low. He wasn't sure what was down this tunnel.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday January 27th, 2007
Duilin spotted the strange group of scouts coming towards him. He could see the hulking mass of the lizard warriors and he could see two human shapes with them. He assumed they were with the Dark Empire. He could make out a few faces from the light of a torch one of the lizard men was holding.
"What do you want?" Duilin asked. He wasn't in the mood to give an appropriate greeting.
"What are you doing traveling around after hours?" Said the deep voice of what appeared to be a demon. He stepped towards Duilin. "You're lucky we found you before the dragons did, now what are you doing outside city limits? Lone travel is not permitted for commoners. I suggest you go back into Asgarnia."
"I'll go wherever I want to. I'm not afraid." Duilin sneered back.
"I don't like your tone. What's your name?"
"Who's asking?"
The demon glared at Duilin but he decided to play along. "Captain Rex Vondran, of the Dark Empire. Now tell me your name."
"Duilin."
"Duilin...Talonscar?" Ask a strange masked woman, in jester-like clothing.
"Uhh yeah. How'd you know?" Duilin replied back to the woman.
"I don't know...But you seem familiar...sort of...My name is Ophelia...just Ophelia."
Rex looked oddly at Ophelia and Duilin. "Have you two met before?"
"No. I'd probably remember somebody like her." Duilin said. "Anyways. Can I just go now? I can take care of myself."
"I cannot allow you go. There have been too many rebels out and about. And I've got a feeling you're one of them."
"Rex...do you have to do this?" Ophelia sighed. "...I'm sure this man is of no harm?"
"Well...he looks human. And he doesn't have anything or anyone that proves that he authorized to go about free."
"Uhh..." Duilin extracted the pendent from his pocket. "I uh...have this..."
"What meaning does this have?" Rex asked, sounding irritated.
"The Skyward High General gave it to me, Virmir."
"That..." Rex looked closer at the pendent. "That means nothing to me. I only take orders from the generals under Jayce's division, and Jayce and Retan themselves!"
Duilin pocketed the pendent. "Well, that's all I have. I'm sure Vimir wouldn't be too happy to see a hero of the nation get attacked by you."
"I don't care about Vimir. All I see is a human rebel who is likely plotting a rebellion on one of our fortresses!"
"Well, what I see is some stupid moron looking just looking for a fight. Can't say I blame you, a good fight is hard to come across these days."
"Well, that sounds like an invitation!" Rex smiled and then drew his sword. The demon growled and swung his blade at the half human, which parried back avoiding the swing.
"Rex! You don't need to do this!" Ophelia yelled. The two lizard men pushed the woman aside and drew their large blades, and stomped towards Duilin to join the fight...
----
//Ah, there you are Zeros'!\\
Gorus snorted. "Don't even!" He snarled. He then clicked the trigger of the blaster again and the chain began to whirl back with great force, either slipping free from Zeros' pull or dragging him closer.
(If the later was successful he'd attempt to grab Zeros' with his free hand, lift him up and throw him...)
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday January 28th, 2007
The right thing? Helix's ears shot straight up.
"What do you mean?"
By contrast, Renard's fell back tightly against his head, his tail curling around his legs as he touched his fingers together nervously.
"Well... I... uh..."
"By preserving our people?" Helix's voice fell to a whisper as he leaned over the table. "You know what will happen to our families if you talk like that..."
Renard nodded slightly. Helix leaned back. He didn't mean to scare his friend like that. After all, he was the one who asked Renard what was wrong.
"I'm sorry..."
Renard could only look at the ground. Helix continued after a moment.
"Without the Dark Emperor we wouldn't exist. The raging flame would have consumed our parents decades ago, and Welkin would have been no more. It is Retan's darkness that saved us... We are eternally indebted to him. We belong to him... We don't need to make such judgments on our own... We're creatures of darkness now..."
Renard only nodded dumbly at the words that have been drilled into his mind since his youth.
Henri turned around to Allen.
"I sensed this airship standing here before us, probably it's magical core. Do you think it still runs?"
"Ven's eyes widened."
"You can't be serious. I mean, how can we even get it out. We're underground!"
"Pah, let's take a look."
Henri lead the way right up to a ramp leading to an open door, holding the light up so that all could see their way, though just barely. It was not a huge warship, but rather a smaller transport vessel. A fast one, judging by the sleek design. The whole thing was probably 70 feet long or so. They would be able to get back to Tjed fairly quickly in this, Henri surmised.
The inside was pitch black, save for Henri's light, which illuminated the halls a bit.
"Any ideas?"
"I would assume we have to activate its core or something."
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday January 28th, 2007
Rex gave a rapid series of swings and slashes towards Duilin, but the half demon was too quick for the slow demon. Duilin then swung his palm forward and blasted a fireball at Rex, pushing him back.
"Hah! Hah!" Rex laughed as Duilin's flame struck him. "You call that pain?"
"No." Duilin replied. "It was more of an insult. Where the heck did you learn to fight? You're terrible with the sword."
Rex growled. He then pointed at Duilin. "Kill him!"
The two lizard warriors dashed towards. One slashed down his sword at Duilin, who jumped backwards. The sword was stuck in the ground; Duilin then jumped up and kicked the lizard under the jaw. The creature dropped its blade and clutched its strained jaw.
The other lizard warrior swung its sword at Duilin. The half demon back flipped away and landed next to wear the first lizard dropped its sword. He picked up the weapon just in time to block a second swing coming at him. Duilin pushed back the sword, surprising the lizard with his demonic strength. Duilin then enflamed the blade with his fire magic and then flurried his sword at lizard, delivering several strikes. The warrior was able to block the first few, but was struck along the upper torso, then across the face, and a final stab in the chest finished him off, the burning corpse then fell to the ground. The jaw strained lizard then recovered and dived at Duilin grabbing him by the shirt, and then tossed him a couple of yards.
Duilin tumbled on the ground, landing back up. He dropped the enchanted sword and the flame extinguished as it hit the ground. The lizard then dashed towards Duilin, and then brought up it's foot right above the half demon's head ready to stomp on it. Duilin then rolled over and grabbed the lizard foot and pushed him back. The lizard lost balance and fell to the ground like a tree. Duilin picked up the sword, and twirled it around just before stabbing it down on the lizard man's chest.
Rex laughed. "Well, I guess you're not just a commoner then, you're probably even comparable to those rebel leaders the emperor got rid of a year ago."
"Oh I'm more comparable then you know." Duilin hissed back.
"Ophelia, Help me with this tough guy! That's an order!"
Ophelia tilted her head. "As you wish, Captain..." Ophelia then lifted off a large maul from her back. The weapon was about six feet, bigger then her. It was interesting that she was able to use it. The mysterious woman then held her maul forward and her and her weapon glowed in a white aura. She then jumped up several feet in the air and flew above the two demons and landed before of Duilin, smashing her maul right in front of him...
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday January 29th, 2007
Renard spoke after looking at the ground for a while.
"It's just that... these humans... they're kinda like us..."
Helix folded his arms.
"Renard, they're just animals..."
"But they have culture... and society..."
"So did the Rrathians. And the Urkans."
"..."
"If this is about that human that saved you, I'm sure Lord Virmir can offer him asylum."
"... But we're still killing his people..."
Helix sighed. "The Dark Emperor decreed that humans are inferior, below the Lizard Men even. His order is absolute. We simply cannot coexist."
"I'll take a look at the core. Ven, see if you can find the bridge or something."
Another orb of light appeared in Henri's hand and he offered it to the knight.
"But, my lord! I don't think that's a good--"
Henri was already down the hall, waving his hand behind him.
"It's fine. Nothing else alive is on this ship. Go on, now."
Ven sighed and turned around. He could be so stubborn some times... Using Henri's light, he wandered the halls for a bit until he came to a larger room with windows on all sides except the back wall. There was a nautical type wooden steering wheel in the front center and odd navigational instruments, levers and such on all sides.
Posted by: Jenia on Monday January 29th, 2007
At last, the two reached the shores of the forest-covered land.
"Fernis, are you sure we have enough supplies?" Elphos asked as he carried a light bag out of the cabin "We DID arrive late..."
In the meantime, Fernis appeared to be running around from side to side, trying to figure out the land.
"Nonsense, Elphos! We can actualy COOK here! We can always hunt or forage if we run out!"
Sighing, Elphos proceeded to leave the boat with the small bag of supplies on his back.
He was wondering what their next course of action would be, when suddenly the large grin of his master appeared before him.
"Eeeeak!" Elphos almost dropped the bag "Fernis, don't sneak up on me like that!"
His master giggled as mischivously as ever.
"Theres a peninsula nearby. We should be able to accomplish everything there..."
She then began walking in a hurry, not hiding her enthusiasm.
Elphos hurried after her.
Walking through the woods, Elphos decided it would be a good time to bring up an old question.
-"Hey, Fernis, will you tell me already why you wanted to come to this...place? What are you planning on?"
-"Oh, you'll see. Let's just say it involves the circle of recall with a built-in spirit sign...And a flesh rebuilding rune, I guess."
-"Wait, won't using a circle of recall with the spirit sign couse you to summon a ghost or something?"
-"Well, yeah, I guess."
-"Why would you want to do that!? And why here, of all places?!"
-"Were you listening? A flesh rebuilding rune is also involved!"
-"Are you trying to create a flesh golem??"
-"No, I'm going to use the flesh rebuilding rune INSIDE the circle, understand?"
-"What!? But won't that couse the ghost to become whatever it believes it should look like??"
-"Exactly!"
-"But isn't that dangerous!? What if we end up not having enough materials around for the flesh rebuild, and an undead dragon missing half it's torso attacks us!?"
-"I doubt that would happen! Rather, think of the possibilities! A person who has undergone a journey to death and has no remains in this world, a person who has experienced eternal rest first hand-"
-"Bbbbut that's necromancy! NECROMANCY!"
-"Will you let me finish? A person like that, suddenly reappears...Given new life and a youthful body. Might he not return with some sort of amazing powers gained in the afterlife??"
-"But Fernis..."
Elphos' expression turned grim. It was obvious to him what Fernis wants-
To be the first to discover an amazing new source of power and be the only one to control it.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday January 29th, 2007
Duilin was shaken a bit by the shockwave from the maul smashing so close towards him. Duilin then arched his left hand forward, pointing his fingers. He shot a bolt of lightning at Ophelia pushing her back and forcing her to let go of the maul. Duilin jumped on the sledge of the giant weapon and then jumped up and jump kicked Ophelia, pinning her to the ground.
Rex then dashed forward with his sword and slashed it forward at Duilin, who grabbed his sword with both hands and arched it to the side blocking the oncoming blade. Duilin then pushed Rex's weapon back and spun around to his opponent’s side and swung the blade and stuck Rex's back.
The demon then tumbled forward, but was able to keep him off the ground. He then turned to face Duilin, just in time to see himself kicked in the chest and hit the ground.
Ophelia got back up and then took out a strange deck of cards. The box opened and she tosses several cards at Duilin, the cards had a strange dark glow.
Duilin blocked a few cards with the blade but was struck across the cheek and leg by two of them. "That hurt a bit..." Duilin mumbled. He then dashed towards Ophelia, jumped in the air, performing a front flip and smashed the blade downwards upon Ophelia. The woman however blurred back a few feet, and then around Duilin, until he was at the man's back and swung a speedy kick at his back, pushing him forward. Duilin assumed she must be using some type of speed spell. She was clearly a user of white and or black magic.
Suddenly, Rex had shot forth a blast demon flame at Duilin, striking him at the side. Duilin yelped in pain as the flame hit him. Ophelia then jumped over to her maul and picked up the giant weapon and swung it at Duilin, who jumped backwards and out of the way. Duilin then flapped his wings to gain some height. He then charged up an orb of lightning energy in his left hand and began crafting the energy into an orb. He then focused on the electric current of the lightning orb and then threw the orb at Ophelia. The stun orb was a direct hit, and the woman was motionless...
Duilin then landed on the ground, and twirled his sword. Rex readied his blade; he was ready for a final strike.
"I'll admit something kid." Rex said. "You fight well for a half human. Perhaps you'd like to end this fight and join us in the Dark Empire?"
"Pah!" Duilin spat. "I've been there, done that. Worst years of my life! You imperials make me sick to my stomach."
"You shouldn't back down, half-breed!" Rex said, pointing at him. "You have any idea, how powerful our emperor is? No matter how hard you try to fight us, you will be killed eventually."
"I'd rather die then go back to empire anyway." Duilin sneered. "Everyone in the Dark Empire deserves to die painfully."
"Well, we will just have to find out your fate now, half-breed!"
The two demons charged their demonic energy into the blade. Rex's was a blood red, wile Duilin's was a golden yellow. The two then dashed closer towards each other. As they were six years away from each other then jumped in the air, Rex made a vertical swing as Duilin came near, but Duilin spun himself, avoiding the blade and delivering a mighty swing of his sword right across Rex's waist.
Just as the two demons landed on the ground. Rex's upper half fell off and plopped to the ground, his lower half followed...
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday January 30th, 2007
Upon reaching a clearing, Fernis stopped.
"Alright, this is a good place." Fernis said seriously and bent down, putting her left hand's palm on the soft dirt. "We have a clearing on a peninsula... Which means easier flows of magical energies... Don't you feel excellent here, Elphos?"
Elphos did not reply. Instead, he put down the bag and began observing the nearby trees.
For a few moments, the only noise was the rustling of leaves.
"Fernis" Elphos spoke suddenly "You want that power for yourself don't you?
That's why you came here, the place where there is nobody to notice or stop you..."
He turned to her, his tone getting darker.
"That is it, isn't it?"
Fernis giggled.
"Oh, silly boy, you really think I'd be satisfied by that?" she said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "No, that's not it at all..."
"Then how do you explain our condition?!" Elphos shot at her angrily.
"Calm yourself, boy. You will see...Trust me, not I'm doing something that will be an amazingly awesome thing, but I'll be doing the world a favor, too!"
Fernis winked at him and grabbed a nearby stick.
She turned to face the dirt, still on her knees, and suddenly frowned and sighed.
"That's is, IF it works..."
Quickly returning to her enthusiastic mood, Fernis began to feverishly work on drawing runes in the dirt. Elphos watched her draw a large circle of recall, estimating it to have a 10 meter radius at least.
Taking a deep breathe as to not get angry of suspicion again, Elphos took a step towards his master.
"Umm, Fernis, why the hell are you making it so big? What are you planning to summon here, a kracken?"
The face of the usualy cheerful Fernis was completly serious now.
"Do not underestimate the dead. The cricle is big so I could channel more power into it...Who knows how much power will one require to summon anything from a distance greater than gaian itself, maybe even a thousand fold greater...?"
That which Fernis and Elphos called "Circle of Recall" was in fact two circles, one inside the other, with various simple runes between them. As Fernis finished it, she added a few other runes around it, apperantly ones that direct the circle's power. However, Fernis was yet to draw the runes inside the inner circle, the ones which will only activate once the circle itself complete's it's function...
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday January 30th, 2007
Renard didn't reply, but rather ran his claws over a crack in the table for a while. The candle was nearly burnt out.
"Hey, Helix..."
"Yeah?"
"You ever wonder... what the sun looked like? On Welkin, I mean..."
Helix was silent, just staring at the flicking flame of the candle thoughtfully. Renard finally spoke.
"It's so nice here... the places we didn't conqueror yet, without the black clouds... The sky is so blue and the sun so warm..."
Helix waited a moment before speaking.
"Yeah, I guess."
There was another silence before Helix stood up, making his way to the door.
"Good night, Renard."
"Good night."
As Ven studied the odd controls of the room, he suddenly felt a rumbling from deep withing the bowels of the ship. Suddenly the deep black cracks along the walls filled with a golden yellow light, and the airship sprung to life. Ven could hear his majesty cry out from far down the halls.
"I got it!"
Ven smiled to himself. Though Henri was old, he was constantly trying to learn new things. Magic had been his focus for the past several years, and it was starting to show. Ven certainly wouldn't have had any idea how to activate the core at least.
Henri triumphantly entered the control room.
"Now we just have to figure out how to get it off the ground."
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday January 30th, 2007
Zeros' quickly let go of the chain, reaching down and wiping his bloodied hands on his coat. He reached inside of his pockets and took out a few bandages, wrapping his hands tight and quick. The bandages were immediately stained red from blood, but, no more blood dripped from the wounds.
He turned and looked at the device Gorus had and tilted his head.
"Hmm... Interesting weapon you got there..." he said, but he could see a weakness. The large, heavy weapon took time to be effective, which meant, if he got inside of Gorus' defenses, he wouldn't have time to swing the massive flail-like weapon around.
He bobbed his feet for a moment before dashing forwards, ghosting. He reappeared behind Gorus in seconds, his palm raise, with a ball of ki in it. He wasted no time, rearing back his hand and slamming it forwards, hoping he could at least hit or damage the massive lizard.
He had a feeling this would be an endurance fight...
---
Allen nodded and stepped forwards, titling his glasses and frowning.
"Yes... The only way we can get this airship turned in is if we activate it's core. If it's a magical core, we could jump start it - us three - with magic and alchemy," he said, gesturing to the sleek ship.
"Do you want to venture a try?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday January 30th, 2007
Gorus was pushed forward as the ki energy was slammed into his back. He nearly fell to the ground but managed to keep his balance. He then saw that Zeros' figured out that he should be close, in order to avoid his chain. Perfect.
The mighty lizard then spun himself around, wile swinging a speedy kick towards Zeros' face. The force of the swing, plus the steel toes would be enough to at least knock him to the ground...
The A-Class lizard had the imp locked up in metal box, with only a few air holes in the lower floor of Lizaberg. He was carrying the box to be locked in a small room used to store random bits of junk, Gorus collects.
"So, who are you, exactly?" Rink asked.
"Sshhut up." The lizard hissed.
"Aw, come on. What's your name?"
"General Sssobra."
"How many S's is that? It's hard to tell with your 'accent'." Rink laughed.
General Ssobra tossed the metal box in the small room and locked the door.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday January 31st, 2007
(Zeros', I was implying that Henri activated the core himself in my last post. Although we can assume your post happened just before and Allen helped out. Heh... We need to move on to more exciting stuff, anyway!)
Ven turned around to see Henri and Allen entering the bridge of the ship.
"We've activated the core. Now all we need to do is figure out how to fly it."
Ven placed a gauntlet on his head.
"Uh, that still doesn't solve the problem of..."
Henri was already at the nautical steering wheel. After a moment of observing he finally pushed a lever forward. The hum from deep within the ship intensified, and the vibration grew slightly.
"Allen, if you would be so kind as to man the navigational instruments."
Ven walked up behind his liege. The two older men seemed to have it together, so he didn't want to get in the way. He didn't have any idea what was going on, after all.
Henri pushed another lever forward slightly and turned the wheel. Ven was suddenly thrown off his feet with a large crash. The ship had slammed into the side of the stone port. With much clanking of his metal armor, Ven struggled to stand up again.
"Ughhhh..."
"Oh, yeah. You might want to hold on to something..."
"..."
Henri finally managed to move the transport vessel back out of the port. The ride was smooth from then on, but they were still flying underground in a tunnel. The yellow light emerging from the cracks around the black airship illuminated the stone walls on either side outside the many windows of the bridge.
"As I was saying, that still doesn't change the fact that we're underground..." Ven said as he rested a gauntlet on his hip, the other firmly holding on to a handle of course.
Posted by: Tosoto on Wednesday January 31st, 2007
((Throwing my guy somewhere so it doesn't look like I'm uninterested in participating. =D ))
Tosoto let out a sigh, things always seemed to take a turn for the worse. Lost in some forest, alone, nothing to build a fire with. Where the hell was he anyway?
He leaned back against a tree, laying his large sword on his lap.
"Guess I have no choice but to keep moving and find a town or city somewhere. " He stated as he relaxed his eyes and shoulders.
"I sure wish something exciting would happen...Get's awfully quiet by myself...." He whispered as he began to doze off.
Posted by: Jenia on Wednesday January 31st, 2007
For quite a while, Elphos silently watched Fernis draw and draw.
"Hey, Fernis" he suddenly bent down "What's that othere circle you are making? You didn't mention that..."
Fernis sighed.
"Hey, boy, get over here." she pulled him by his shirt "Can't you tell what this one does?"
"Yes, but..."
"And this one?"
"Of course! B-but..."
"And those two?"
"Yes yes b...Hey!"
"Now you see?"
"Y-yes, but won't it just delay the the activation time between the outer circle and the rune?"
"Only if the summoned instinctivly rejects the core, thus giving us a chance to exchange a few words and convince him otherwise."
Elphos nodded and Fernis let go of his shirt, putting the finishing touches on the core rune.
"Hey, Elphos...Gimmie the ingridients..."
Elphos pulled out of the small supply bag and even smaller bag, about the size of a fist, and handed it to Fernis.
"Fernis, if you use what's in the dirt here and this bag alone, you can create 20 human bodies." Elphos stated curiously "Why do you need so much?"
Getting up and brushing the remains of dirt of her pants, Fernis turned back to Elphos and gave him her usual devilish smile.
"Do you really think my goal is the discovery of powers gained over time in the real of death?"
She gave him a slight snicker and continued to give further hints.
"You see, that is why we came HERE, of all places. And yet, we only specificly know of two people, one of which is a king. And I don't want to bring back the king. You know I don't like kings...But, do you realise what will happen once the one I bring back tells us of the people he knew, and then those people will tell us of the people they knew...? 20 people is enough to help us gather more ingridients, you know..."
She pasued, and drew closer to him.
"My aim is the complete ressurection of the land, a founding of a base where no one expects it... And with prowess great enough to change the very course of history!"
It seemed as if a flame appeared in her very eyes as she spoke out those words...
Elphos was speechless. He didn't know if what she just said was morally fine or not.
A pause.
"I'm with you." Elphos finaly said.
"I'm glad." Fernis replied and her smile simplified "Now whip off that doomsday expression off your face."
Fernis turned back to the circle and bent down again, placing both of her palms a few inches outside it.
"Elphos, when you are ready, place the ingridients in the circle."
Fernis' words were silent. Right now, her eyes were focused on the runes before her, and her expression was dead serious.
"Fernis," Elphos' voice wasn't too loud, either "Are you sure about this? If you fail, you might harm yourself...And even if you do succeed, it might not go as planned...You might have some sort of necromantic demigod standing before you, or even a rampaging headless wyvern. Messing with the world of death is not something to be taken lightly..."
Fernis did not respond, nor did she move.
Sighing, Elphos took the small ingridient bag and spilled what seemed to be a handful of dust into the circle, backing away from it as soon as he finished.
As soon as Fernis decided Elphos was far enough, the outer circle lit up in a shade of bright violet.
"Come..." Fernis started chanting, as she began reffering to an exact person within her mind, transfering it to the circle...
"Come...Return to your once scroched homeland, Romme! Return, help your nation return to it's rightful place on gaian... Help us save this world from the shadows of old looming overhead... Come, come before me, ye mighty knight...
Iduran!"
The inner circle flashed blood red.
((Alright Xorlak, I'm leaving the outcome to you.))
((Oh, and another thing. I felt like it, so I made a drawing of what the circle she drew looks like))
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/587/circleofmelnicsrq9.gif
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday January 31st, 2007
Wilham and his two mages came up towards the main gate of Lizaberg. The fortress was surrounded by dark black stone walls with pikes all over the top, almost half of them with human heads jabbed onto the top of them. The walls were coated in large long tiles with a design of a large burly bi-pedal semi-humanoid lizard. The gates was a thick grids of rusted black steel, which would prove to be difficult for somebody wearing any foot wear to climb, because of how tight the grid was, and painful for somebody without footwear to climb because of the sharpness of the bars...
"I don't like this place." One of the mages shivered.
"Yeah, maybe we should get out of here." The other one added.
"Oh, lighten up. I've seen scarier places." Wilham groaned.
"I'd be surprised if Thantos would be as scary as this place!"
"Shut up." Wilham ordered. He then walked towards the gates and knocked on the steel grid with his gauntlet. "Hello?"
A massive lizardman standing at nine feet tall stomped towards the gate. He had several piercing on his face. He then glared at Wilham. "I'll give ya ten seconds ta explain why you're here human. But if I were you I'd use that time to run." He said in a deep voice.
"My, my. Looks like you people aren't ones for warm welcomes." Wilham chuckled. "The name's Wilham Wolfe. Might I come in? We've been traveling the land for a good day. I've got a few questions to ask you?"
"Ya tryin' ta be wise with me human?!"
"Wise, yes. With you? Well that'd hardly be a challenge, but I assure you I'm not intending to offend you on purpose. I'd simply like to ask your leading officer some questions. You see--"
"No humans allowed! Not even those under protection of the Dark Empire are permitted to be allowed in Lizaberg. By orders of High General Van'deln. Now leave before we kill sick the dragon-hounds on you!"
"I think we better do what he says General." One of the mages shrieked.
"Your lack of bravery will be the death of you one day. I know it." Wilham stated.
The lizard growled. "One..."
"Sir, with all due respect, I think it would be a HIGHLY wise move if we got the HELL out of here."
"Two..."
Wilham rolled his eyes. "Fine, you two leave. I'll stay. I'll meet you back at the dock.
"Three!"
"Thank you sir." The mages said.
Suddenly a group of four dog-like lizards jumped over the walls. They stood in front of the two mages that were about to leave. The mages yelled in terror, just before they were tackled and ripped to shreds.
Wilham turned around just in time to see his comrades die. He then assumed a fighter's pose. One of the lizards ran up towards him, as soon as he was foot away from him, Wilham arched back his fist and then slammed it down on the dragon dog's nose and then uppercut with his other fist right under the beast's jaw, knocking it out cold...
"Who's next!?" Wilham taunted.
--- ---
Ophelia was then released from her paralysis and then placed her hands on her hips and breathed deeply.
"You okay?" Duilin asked.
"What do you care? Go on, finish me."
Duilin considered it, but chose not too. "No. I can't. You didn't want to fight me. So, Ophelia is it. Why are you with the Dark Empire?"
"Don't even."
"What?"
She then stood up and shook her fist. "This has happened a couple times before. My squad gets killed, yet I'm left to live. Only because of my gender. Then they start talking to me, trying to redeem me. Can't they see that I'm comfertable with my alliance. The Dark Empire is the authority of Gaian, to resist them is asking for death."
"You said this has happened before? How did it turn out?"
"I just get left. Too weak to chase them. One time, I actually did, killed them too. Jayce was proud. He still won't promote me." She then stepped closer to Duilin. "I suppose if I could kill somebody as strong as you, and bring back your dead body I'd get a promotion."
"You'd be kidding yourself. I'm seriously, a really powerful person."
"But you're part...human. That'd weaken your power."
"Imperial propaganda." Duilin spat. "I don't know why the Dark Empire doesn't like humans, we're clearly more intelligent." He sized Ophelia. "You know, who are you to talk. You look human. Unless you're a...draken?"
"I don't know. A few of general have had some arguments against me being a human. Nobody is too sure."
"I think you are. Your aura feels like it. Then again, I've never been to good at this. So, uh, what's with the get up and the mask? Were you like, burned or something."
"No...it's a long story." Ophelia said. "I don't wish to talk to you anymore. But I will remember you, Duilin." Ophelia then stepped back. "You won't chase me will you?"
"No, just leave. But wait, one question before you go."
"What?"
"You said, there was something familiar. Are you sure we've never met before?"
"I...I..I don't know. Now leave me be." Ophelia turned around and began running at rapid speed, she quickly disappeared in the distance.
Duilin didn't know why she spared him. She was with the Dark Empire, and normally he'd kill somebody like that. He could have. Maybe Ophelia is right, people, like Duilin, avoided killing women.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday February 1st, 2007
(Dude! Send me a PM or something before you do crazy stuff like that! Heh...)
A darkness formed about the center of the blinding violet hue, a darkness so great that it was impossible to see through. Slowly the shadow formed, growing in size until it took a humanoid shape as it rose from the ground. The runes' radiance shifted to a crimson glow, burning as the figure took on color. A tall figure with peppered hair, gray armor, and a cloak of cerulean. By now the runes had become a blinding white, the fury of their glow piercing the dark skies above. Then with a sudden snap and a shockwave strong enough to sway distant trees, the light vanished and the figure was thrown upon the ground, the very runes erased from the dirt.
The old knight staggered to his feet slowly, his eyes darting about him in the most confused of manners. Then they spread open wide in horror, and he thrust a gauntleted hand out before him as if to shoo away some impending danger...
"No... NOOOOO!!!!!"
He was not looking at the brown furred cat-like woman nor her assistant, but past them rather, for his gaze was locked upon some invisible horror that lied in the distance.
"NOO!!! GET AWAY!!!!!"
He tried to run, but only succeeded in stumbling upon the ground, crashing upon the dirt with a metallic clang. Even then he tried to crawl, but did not get far before proceeding to clasp his head within both hands and scream violently. He fell completely down again, his body twitching and spasming for a while before he lied still.
Then, after it all seemed to be over... he moved...
But it was not in a natural sort of way...
"Heh heh heh..."
First his knees straightened so that his feet were firmly planted upon the ground. Then his upper legs and waist followed, the rest of his body bent backwards. By the time his was fully standing, he was laughing maniacally, a crimson glow in his eyes and his hair standing up in spikes.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!"
Clenching his fists, an aura of blackness darker than the night engulfed him, blasting away the dust upon his heels with a violent gust of wind...
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Thursday February 1st, 2007
//Yay big long post! =D\\
As the enormous Temple of Dusk loomed ahead, all Alex could do was remain silent in complete awe. Not even the Kandarinian Citadels were this massive. The temple could best be described as a sort of combination between a cathedral and a castle. Enormous steeples reached out from the main building, linked to it by huge arches. Alex noticed that the temple itself was established on another mass of land, almost like an enormous island-asteroid, an infinitely deep void separating it from the mainland. However, a gleaming bridge connected the two. Alex noted that the bridge itself was not solid, but made of light.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Midna asked him as they crossed the light bridge.
“Yeah, it is.” Alex replied back. “It’s terrible your people are at war. Such architecture like this could never be replaced.”
“This building has stood for thousands of years,” Midna went on, “And shall stand for thousands more if we prevail in this war.”
Upon arrival at the enormous wooden doors that allowed entrance into the temple, two guards stood at attention.
“Halt!” one guard barked. “Identify yourselves.”
“At ease,” Midna said. “He’s with me.”
“Princess Midna!” he bowed in her presence. “Please forgive me, head on through.” He motioned the other guard to open the door.
As the enormous wooden barriers parted, Alex laid eyes on the mystifying mezzanine of the Temple.
“My God,” he said. “This is amazing.”
“The architects who designed this temple were geniuses,” Midna explained. “Every feature, every column, arch, and door in this temple is designed to flow with one another.”
“It’s absolutely incredible,” Alex said, having to crane his neck to look to the ceiling.
“We can sightsee later,” Midna said, tugging on Alex’s pale blue arm. “We’re here to see the elders. They’re at the top of the Temple.”
“Damn, how are we going to get up there?” Alex asked. “This temple must have hundreds of floors.”
“Traveling between floors isn’t hard,” Midna said coolly. “Most of us simply teleport ourselves to the floor we want to go to.”
“So if you teleport between floors,” Alex went on, “what are the stairs for?”
“Artistic effect mostly,” Midna replied as she opened a portal. “Though more people use the stairs than you think. Take my hand.”
As Alex did, his vision was filled with a blinding flash, which subsided at the very top of the Temple of Dusk. The Twilight City below gleamed like thousands of twinkling stars.
“Come on,” Midna urged him. “The council chamber is just ahead.”
The council chamber was enclosed behind enormous black doors, on them traced various patterns and designs Alex had seen elsewhere in the Twilight. As these doors were pushed open, three Twili were seen sitting in the center of the chamber, around a glowing fire.
One of the Twili, a dark robed male wearing a sort of hood that covered his ears and the top of his head, leaving his face exposed, stood. “Ah, Princess Midna. Welcome back. I see you have him with you. Please come in.”
Alex felt like a young child being introduced to total strangers. He stepped into the chamber hesitantly at first, but eventually worked up the courage to meet the standing Twili face to face.
“You must be Alex.” He bowed his head. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We are the three Twili elders. I am Equinox. The other man there is Eclipse, and the lovely young lady is Solstice.”
Eclipse and Solstice stood and bowed to Alex. Eclipse was a tall stocky male Twili garbed in the same flowing robes as Equinox, as well as the same hood-like headwear. Alex silently mused that his large girth was how he got his name. Finally, Solstice was a lean female Twili with long flowing purple hair, again clothed in the elder robes, but sans the hood.
“As Midna has already explained to you, Alex,” Equinox continued, “we are in a dire situation. The war with the Kandarinian Sovereignty has reached a deadlock. One side is waiting for the other to make a move. Naturally, we’re waiting them out, no matter what. However, the temporary defeat of Damien Roth will mean their forces in Asgarnia are in disarray. I’ve heard your actions delayed their counter-attack against your rebel uprising you had there, as well as routing Damien for now. Well done.”
“Thank you,” Alex said.
“However, your Twili side has only recently come to you for a reason,” Eclipse spoke up in a deep voice. “It seems fate choose this time to reveal your destiny to you. Alex, you must use your deep-rooted abilities to defeat Damien Roth once and for all. Despite his prior defeat, the Kandarinian Marshal, Kronos, will resurrect him upon death. Damien is a considerable asset for their control over Asgarnia. If you can remove him permanently, the city will be yours once again.”
“Though you can’t do this without those powers of yours,” Solstice spoke up in a soft voice. “You must awaken these abilities, or Damien will prevail in his occupation of your beloved city, and ultimately, the Twilight. We have been aware of your destiny since you were born, and we understand what must be going through your mind right now.”
“It’s almost overwhelming…” Alex replied.
“Rest assured, Alex,” Solstice continued, “You will find that once these abilities are revealed, they will become second nature to you. The challenge is revealing them.”
“And how would I do that?”
“The Twilight is bathed in an ambient field of Twilight magic that gives its inhabitants strength. As you have never lived here, you must spend one night here for your Twili side to strengthen. At this point your hidden powers should be easier to awaken.”
“But I turn back into a human at morning!” Alex protested.
“Now, now,” Equinox reassured him. “No need to panic. We’ve seen your adeptness in fire magic as a human, one could only imagine the power you could wield in your current state. You just need to allow it to surface. Simply put, you must spend the rest of the night here if you hope to awaken your abilities.”
“Seems easy enough,” Alex mused.
“I advise you not to become used to it. Later tasks will not be so easy. That aside, you have been allowed full access to the Twilight City as well as the Temple of Dusk. Seeing as this is your first visit it might convenience you to visit the historical archives of our people.”
“Thanks, I’ll check it out later.”
“In the meantime, please make yourself at home in the Temple of Dusk, as we are arranging for your accommodations here…”
“What do you mean?” Alex said. “It’s only for one night, isn’t it?”
“This is true, but we want you to feel as comfortable as possible. I can understand that being pulled into this role is pressuring, and we want to allay any worries you might have. Simply relax and leave the rest to us.”
“Thank you, Equinox.” Alex bowed his head. “I’ll try not to be a burden.”
Alex had spent hours wandering through the massive Temple, itself seemed like a city within a city. There were living quarters, shops, and a central forum where Twilis could congregate and converse. Alex had inadvertently made his way into the Twili archives that Equinox had mentioned to him.
Contained in the chamber was books upon shelves upon walls of Twili history, spanning thousands of years, up to now. Perhaps within one of these books would lie the secrets that would allow Alex’s deep-rooted powers to surface.
“Doing some research?” Midna appeared next to him.
“Just trying to learn more about what I’m supposed to be doing,” Alex sighed. “This’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.
“Actually, there is one book I kept aside just for this occasion,” Midna replied, reaching high up behind other books, bringing a large antiquated book down, and blowing the dust off of it. “Here, give this a read.”
Alex opened the aged book and ran his red eyes over the lines…
“…The Twilight Warrior is the accomplice to the Twilight Princess in any peacemaking affairs. The Twilight Warrior mysteriously disappeared twenty-eight years ago around the beginning of the Kandarin-Twili War. Legend has it that despite the embodied Twili’s death, its soul was passed on to the next in line, who has not yet been revealed…”
“Not revealed?” Alex muttered.
“Keep reading,” Midna motioned.
“…The Twilight Warrior’s magical abilities are unmatched by any other Twili in the realm, the only other Twili to parallel his power is the princess. Both magics go hand in hand with each other, certain feats can only be performed when the two combine their energies. This text entails the legend-held abilities of both the Twilight Warrior and Princess, and how to perform them, should this tome ever be found by either one…”
“That’s ridiculously coincidental,” Alex said. “Regardless, I think we found what we’re looking for. All I need to do now is read this book and hopefully that’ll give me some ideas.”
“Not to mention the Twili magics your body is exposed to now,” Midna replied.
“Well, if my sense of time hasn’t deteriorated any since we got here, I judge it to be about nine hours until the sun comes back up. Gah, if only I didn’t revert back at sunrise…”
“Who knows?” Midna said. “Maybe the book entails the preservation of your Twili form if you’re under such a spell. Maybe you could lift it. You could transform back and forth at will.”
“I like it,” Alex smiled, the first time he had since he arrived in the Twilight. “All right, Midna, we’d better get cracking.”
“But where do we start?” Midna asked. “There must be hundreds of spells and abilities in here.”
“Let’s just start at the beginning and work from there,” Alex said. “Makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does,” Midna admitted. “There’s a training arena a few floors below that we can use. Grab my hand again.” She created another portal, this time leading to the training room.
As the two Twili materialized in the arena, Alex laid his eyes on an enormous chamber, reaching almost infinitely out in all directions. The room itself was perfectly round, with a central fighting area, and rows upon rows of benches above for any who would be so inclined as to watch. Most of the time this room was empty, but sometimes a few Twili would be sitting up in the upper stands, often talking amongst themselves, just to have a quiet place to have a conversation. Alex noticed a few Twili up in the benches already. They hadn’t noticed the two’s entrance.
“Don’t worry,” Midna assured him. “They often ignore what’s going on down here anyway.”
“That’s a relief,” Alex sighed. “I’d hate to screw up in front of more people than this.”
“Well, we might as well get started,” Midna said, taking the book from him and beginning to flip through the pages until she found one she liked. “Like you said, we only have nine hours, and then we’d have to wait all day.”
Alex cracked his knuckles—and his neck—and prepared for the marathon of practice and training to come.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday February 1st, 2007
The group of peasants and Aspyes were able to make it back to the underground base. Most of the people were quite tired or still scared from all the action and danger that happened at the village, but they had finally made it to safe place.
Marshall took a rest at one of the benches in on the second floor. He was then greeted by Firstman.
"Hey, Marshall. Glad to see you made it back in one place. How'd it go?" Firstman asked.
"Oh, just glorious." Marshall replied, half-jokingly. "There was this strange devil like person, but I was able to fend it off. He somehow knew I was with the Blue Minotaur."
"Odd. You best not think about it. But are you ready for another mission? I really recommend you take a break. But Kropotkin has another job for you and Coriko. Where is he anyway?"
"Oh he wanted me to come down first. Something about 'needing an opening' I don't know. That man confuses me sometimes." //Heh\\
"But yeah. You really shouldn't overwork yourself. I think you should get some sleep."
"You know what I think?" Marshall said. "I think you should get me an elixir. Physically, yes I'm tired, but my mind for adventure isn't ready for sleep yet!"
Firstman sighed and then walked over to an open crate and took out an elixir. "You really shouldn't rely to much on this stuff. It's not a substitute for sleep you know. Remember that one time you nearly passed out, when you were awake for an entire week, because of this stuff. It ain't good for you." He reluctantly handed Marshall the vail. The summoner took it, popped open the cork and started drinking from it.
"I'd say you'd be sounding like my mother but...you know." Marshall said.
"Yeah. But seriously man. Cut down on that stuff, you almost got addicted to it a month ago. Like, I never heard you curse so much during that one time you drank two full vails of it."
"Yeah...I know. I'm still embarrassed about that."
"Ah, don't me. You're honest way to clean mouthed. But you made up for it that one day." Patrick laughed.
Marshall got back up. "Well. I assume you're going to stay behind again?" Marshall asked.
"Yeah. This next one sounds really...well...out of my league. I'm no magic user." Firstman replied. "Well, I'll tell Coriko that you've gone down to see Peter."
"Good, good then." Marshall said. He then headed down the stairs...
//Coriko, if you want. You can make up the next mission. Just keep it around the lines of commi-anrachist type.\\
Posted by: Jenia on Friday February 2nd, 2007
Crud.
Fernis watched, unfazed, while Elphos hid behind a sturdy tree.
She knew something was not right...But she only cared about finding out if it was her fault or otherwise.
That...Strange behaviour...Maybe he was being demonized...?
Fernis took a step closer, and turned back for a quick look at Elphos.
By his expression, she realised they were both thinking the same thing.
She nodded to him, and he ran off without saying a word.
Turning back to the one before her, she streightened her posture and looked him directly in his blazing crimson eyes.
"I am Indher, the last master of the runes." she said, in her most formal tone possible.
Well, there may be plenty others, but I don't know, don't care, and frankly, he doesn't need to know that now
"I have summoned Iduran to this place in hope of assistance in rebuilding Romme and saving this world from the shadow known as the Dark Empire."
Well, I doubt we can ever defeat them, but it sure WILL be fun if we attack one of their main forces from the rear whilst they least expect it...
She stepped closer, and her gaze narrowed...
What should I say next? 'Will you help me?'? No, that won't do, not in this situation...I'm not even sure...Oh, right. I'll ask exactly THAT.
She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Are you him?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday February 2nd, 2007
The figure that was burning black stopped his chuckling for a brief moment, repressing it through clenched teeth. He spoke in high tones.
"Myeh heh heh... So is that what this sap's name is? Iduran? I really must thank you then, for calling such an excellent transport!"
The blackness about him swirled more intensely, and a red glow appeared about his chest, the same color as his burning eyes. It began to pulsate in brightness, at regular intervals...
"It has taken me too long to find my way back to the living... No I am not him. You may call me Mavas!!"
<span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'>DUN!</span> <span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>DUN!</span> <span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>DUUN!!</span>
"And I shall have my REVENGE!!! on those who sent me THERE!!!"
He stretched.
"This body is old and creaky... Mind if I borrow yours?!?!"
As he said the last word, he began a mad dash for Indher, extending his hands like claws...
"What's the matter?"
"Oh... nothing..." Ven replied... He just got a bad feeling, that's all...
"Hmmm, we've appeared to have come to a dead end..."
Through the darkness before them, they could barely make out a collapsed section of the tunnel right in front of the airship. Henri guided the humming ship to a stop, right before the massive boulders.
"What now?" Ven asked as he ran a hand through his hair.
Henri pointed to a crank a few feet away.
"Turn that counter-clockwise, would you?"
"Like this?" Ven did as instructed. Through the window, he could vaguely make out some sort of cylinder mounted on the deck rotating, though he played it no mind.
"Yes. There, that's enough. Now pull that lever to your right."
Ven nodded and did so.
- KA-BLAM!!*
Ven stumbled from the vibration as he just realized he fired the cannon.
"Holy crap!!!"
Ven braced himself as he fully expected the violet-black orb sent forth to cause a total cave-in upon impact...
Indeed, there was a violent explosion before them, but the resulting blast actually absorbed the bulk of the obstructing boulders into nothingness, though there were a few jettisoned their way, clanking off the black metal hull.
"Excellent." Henri smiled as he navigated the transport vessel through the newly created path. Ven needed to sit down...
Further and further the trio of dark ships went, into the night...
The sky was clouded in dark red and black clouds, for they were just south of the Dark Continent, sailing eastward, the fearsome Jagahn at the lead...
Jayce was at the very bow, staring into the blackness before him. Of course, he could see just fine. It was light that blinded him.
"How much longer?" He growled.
Melface was simply there, floating to the dark prince's left so that his head was even with the much taller high general. The child-like demon bowed politely, as if he were standing on solid ground.
"After sunrise, my Lord. A mere half a night away."
Jayce frowned. He wanted to get there before sunrise, since it was a more fitting time to attack, but transporting massive numbers of soldiers required sturdier sea faring vessels such as these.
"Sunrise, and no later. Or I will have the head of the captain."
The nightmare demon spun in the air.
"Of course, my Lord. I shall inform him personally."
By then of course the demon was simply no longer there, as if he never had been.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday February 2nd, 2007
//Uh-oh! Mavas!!\\
Duilin continued on his way. He could see a bit of the shoreline in the distance, not too far away now. He was getting a little impatient and started flying, but only about six feet above the ground.
That Ophelia woman was rather strange; he wanted to figure out more about her. Perhaps Ophelia isn't truly loyal to the empire. Like Duilin knows, from experience, that prisoners and slaves eventually build loyalties to the empire in an attempt to gain more freedom by being a soldier. It's happened often. Like, Valos was slave before he became a soldier and even moved up to the rank of General. He had a feeling that maybe the same thing is going on with Ophelia.
--- ---
The dragon-dogs began to circle around Wilham, who just stood there with one of his gauntlets up, the one with the diamond...
One of the lizards jumped at him, hopping to tackle him, yet the general jumped in the air, above the creature. He then lifted his fist, and his gauntlet began to glow. As he fell towards the ground he swung his fist downwards and large glowing white spectre shot forth from his gauntlet and formed into a dragon wasp, right under him. He then stood on the giant insect and the dragon dogs looked in confusion at the wasp suddenly appearing.
The lizard dog that attempted to tackle Wilham came back for another strike, but as soon as he got close to the dragon wasp, it was impaled with a mighty thrust of its giant stinger on its tail...
Posted by: Zeros' on Friday February 2nd, 2007
((Sorry about not updating. My internet is wonky lately...))
Zeros' winced. He knew the lizardman had much more strength then him, at least while he wasn't 'demonized'. He had just enough time to brace himself before raising his arm.
CRACK!!
He gasped and winced. He felt his arm breaking under the force of the kick, plus the weight of his boot. He managed to redirect the force of the kick, keeping his arm intact. He gritted his teeth, feeling his shoulder sliding out of its socket. He fell to the ground and rolled with it, sweeping a kick under the massive lizardman. His dislocated shoulder pulsed with pain, but he ignored it.
He used his non-occupied leg to launch a high-powered kick at Gorus' lower legs, hoping to make the massive lizardman fall, or at least be knocked off-balance.
((So, he has Zeros' trying to knock out his legs and sweep him off his feet. Heh))
---
Allen blinked, standing over to the side. He had read about technology like that before (the cannon), but he never imagined it would actually exist. He frowned, but continued to man the navigational controls, as instructed by Henri.
"Hmmm... This is a highly advanced ship... I've only read about weapons like that in books and tomes. I've never seen it in action..." he said, observing the effects of the cannon.
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday February 3rd, 2007
Fast! Think fast!
Fernis held up her left arm and her custom barrier rune began to shine.
He'd have to attack me from two directions at once if he hopes to even touch me, heh heh heh...
She rose into the air, but only because the barrier worked in all directions.
It's function was to repel and tranfer force from where the barrier is touched to the other side, and since the barrier touched the ground underneath Fernis, that was repelled as well.
The one drawback of this is that the rune crashes if too much force is applied from opposite directions simultaniously.
Still, I gotta talk him out of it before he pushes me into the sea in attempt to grab me
Relaxing and deciding that while the barrier is on, it's best to ignore what 'Mavas' does and just speaking.
Still, she needed something plausable to say. Something which this 'being' that appeared before her will find pleasing.
He said this body isn't good enough. I can use the same method I used to restore Iduran to create him whichever body he wants, as long as it's not too large...
"Look," she said, ignoring the high probability that her surroundings are changing due to barrier movement "I need my own body, and I need the guy whose body you have. If you really don't have a body of your own, I can make you whatever you like."
However, deep within her heart, she knew she might have to use the back up plan...The one Elphos fled to make preperations for earlier.
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday February 3rd, 2007
Iduran-Mavas was suddenly blasted backwards some five feet by the barrier, kicking up dust he rolled on the ground once before propping himself on one knee with a snarl.
"Make me a body huh?"
He brought a hand to his chin.
"I'll believe it when I see it! Something strong! With wings and claws and stuff!!"
Henri nodded. He knew Allen didn't specialize in weapons when he was with the Crimson Empire, so it was understandable he didn't know about it, although what he did know had proved invaluable so far.
"That sort of weapon is similar to what the Dark Empire employs now actually, I've seen it before with my own eyes..."
He trailed off as if remembering something unpleasant. But then snapped back to it.
"It's powered by shadow magic, so the blast consumes much of what it hits, rather than blasting it apart like a normal fire-based explosion."
Ven was staring out the windows ahead. The tunnel seemed to be widening.
"Hey, is that... light up ahead?"
The dark night was only marginally brighter than the blackness inside the tunnel, but indeed, the dark red and black clouds through the opening ahead were unmistakable.
"We did it! We made it out!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday February 3rd, 2007
Duilin arrived at an old seaport, the buildings were made rotting wood. Mostly covered in moss and the docks were covered in seaweed. He could see a few fishing boats tied up on the docks, which looked as if they hadn't have been used for months.
Duilin walked through the area, looking around at the damaged buildings.
"Well, hello there youngster. What brings you here?" Said the voice of an old man. He emerged from one of the smaller buildings. He was an grey skinned, white haired drow. He was wearing old tattered brown clothing, and had a light brown coat over his shirt. "Haven't been anyone here for a few months."
"Um, hey. I need to get somewhere. Do you have anything that travels overseas?" Duilin asked.
"Actually yeah." The old man said. "Follow." He then began walking over to the docks, Duilin followed. As they arrived there Duilin could see a fair sized ship, it looked strangely familiar.
"We found this ship a year ago. It was over at one of the ports down south." The old man said. "It looks like it was made in Tjed."
"I think this might be my ship." Duilin stated. "I was over at Tjed, and helped them out with a problem and they gave me and my friends a ship." Duilin reached in his pouch and then extracted a peice of folded paper. "I even have the deed for it here."
"Well, I'll be damned." The old man says. "Well, I ain't got much use for it. Nobody wants to buy a ship 'round here anyways." He looked at Duilin. "But...uh, would it be too much to ask for a docking fee? It's only like twenty five gold coins."
"Uh, yeah okay." Duilin took a handful of coins from his pouch, counted them, and put a couple back in and then poured them into the old drow's hands.
"Oh, my. Thank you very much. I needed this."
"Yeah, don't mention it. Hey can you do me a favour?" Duilin asked.
"Sure, what do you need?"
"If anybody asks. I wasn't here. Unless he's some scared up guy with big wings and wears a trench coat, or a small imp dude."
"Uh...okay." The old man replied. "You got it."
--- ---
Gorus leg's were struck and he finally lost his balance and fell to the ground, he landed on the ground infront of Zeros'. He then pressed his hands on the floor and quickly recovered, getting back on his feet. He picked up his grapple blaster and then started growling angrily. Since he saw he was a good enough distance away and his foe was on the ground. He aimed his grapple blaster at the half demon on the ground and fired...
---
Rink noticed something. The anti-magic gas was off and he was starting to feel more restored.
'Time to take action.'
He focused himself and tried to sense a place were he could safely teleport. He then disappeared from his metal box in a puff of smoke and in front of the door, outside of the junk room. He then saw the lizard wizard walking out of the room. He scanned the area and noticed a large stack of wooden crates in the middle of the room.
Rink then snapped his fingers and lit a plume of flame in hands. The lizard wizard turned around and spotted the imp at the other end of the room. He hissed and then dashed towards him. The imp then shot forth the fireball at the bottom of the crate pile, causing it to explode, and the entire series of crates to fall to the ground.
The lizard man looked up and braced himself as he spotted the crates falling down on him. However he was totally piled and knocked out cold...
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday February 3rd, 2007
"That's right..."
Fernis lowered her left arm and the barrier went off, cousing her feet to slowly return to the earth.
Feeling reassured, she stepped closer, a devilish smile covering her face.
This slight 'miscalculation' might be fun after all...
"I can get you any kind of body you like...As long as it's not too large..."
She stopped and look directly into the eyes of Mavas-Iduran.
Indeed, he seems crazed enough for that...
Yes...
Another weapon to unleash upon the world... That will prove quite the distraction... Heh heh heh...
"It's not hard at all... Didn't I say I'm the last master of the runes? I can construct you a body using the same method I used for constructing his..."
I think. With even the best runeset, the circle will not be able to tell Mavas from Iduran. I might end up pulling Iduran out instead and creating him another body... Heheh, wouldn't that be funny..."
"Now, since whatever you did blasted the extra ingridients away, we need to burn a tree or two. After that, I'll draw the runes for seperation,body reconstruction, and finally, spirit binding..."
She held up her right arm and turned to her left, pointing at a tree there. A fireball came out of her finger, blasting the tree and cousing it to fall. Another tree nearby picked up the fire as well, but otherwise the two seemed too far away from the other trees to start a forest fire.
"Of course, if you can seperate and bind willingly like I think you do, I can finish twice as fast. Now why don't you tell me more about yourself, how'd you get here, and your plans, while I...prepare?"
She took out a small leather bag and approached the mostly burnt out parts of the tree. tearing off a branch, she started grinding it into the bag,
Posted by: Coriko on Saturday February 3rd, 2007
Coriko breathed in the crisp mountain air. He really enjoyed the quite period between missions.
"Oh well." Coriko headed inside. "Hey Firstman, whats new? Any new missions up? Hey, where did Marshall go?"
---
Druid was leaning against the rail of the ship. This ship was a new thing to him. On his world people walked or flew themselves. He looked down in time to see a massive rock fly up at him. Druid pushed himself off the rail so he slid backwards. Just after he had moved the rock crashed into the ship rocking it severly. Druid stayed planted so he didn't fall over. He heard someone yell behind him,
"What the hell was that?"
Druid simply responded, "It doesn't matter who it is because no matter what they are going to die." With that Druid ran to the edge and dived off the ship towards the attacker on the ground.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday February 3rd, 2007
"Oh, he went downstairs to see Peter. He has another mission for you guys." Firstman replied. "Go down and see him if you want to."
---
//Actually I've got an idea. If you want Coriko to be in this, assume he's here.\\
Marshall arrived at the planning table, were Kropotkin was waiting. "Ah, it's about time. I assume your last quest went well?"
"As well as it could have." Marshall replied. "So what do you have for us today?"
"The Kandarinian Sovereignty is starting to build another fortress, in the location of a small village called Lawessov. All of the humans living there are being put into slave labour. As the Aspyes, we will NOT stand for this. This task is simple, go to Lawessov, free the slaves and burn all the sovereignty buildings to the ground!"
--- ---
The Dragon Wasp continued to fight off the dragon dogs. Wilham then moved the dragon wasp up into the air. It was clear that here wasn't a good place to be. He then started flying east...
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday February 4th, 2007
"Well make it as big as you can, and hurry it up!"
Iduran-Mavas began pacing around. If he was going to get back at those two winged freaks and Ven, he'd need something strong. And that little red gremlin too. And King Henri... Hmmm, he wondered if his powers worked as before. It would be difficult without the pendant, but its power was essentially bound to his soul, so he should be able to copy forms still. Yes, perfect. He'd copy this new body and keep this old man's as well, since it might be a useful form in the future, especially if the new form didn't look human. He probably should kill the strange cat woman and take her form as well, though he needed to wait for her to finish.
He stopped for a moment... Iduran... Iduran... where had he heard that name before...? Bah, it didn't matter.
He snapped out of it when he realized he was being spoken too.
"I'm looking for a few individuals... payback, you see. First is man, a tad on the short side, with silver hair and wings... He was wearing a black trench coat last I saw him..."
Blast it. If he still had the pendant he would be able to take that form even through that man was still alive. But as he was, he didn't even have his old body as an option. He was starting completely anew.
"Then there was a taller man, about average height, with black hair, also with wings."
He didn't remember too much about him. Ven of course was easy to describe.
"Finally there's a guy with brown hair and a thin beard who wraps himself in a black cloak and carries a silver sword on his back. Under the cloak he wears fine polished silver armor..."
Ven used to be very easy to track. He wondered if without his old body, that would still be the case.
(Coriko, you of course realize the ships have been out at sea for a while now. Heh...)
Jayce looked up as the clouds began to break apart, revealing stars above. This of course meant they were leaving the vicinity of the Dark Continent, for the lands which Retan immediately controlled were always shrouded by the thick clouds. He smirked (again). They were off the continent's south-eastern cost, and their destination of Tjed was not far off. It wouldn't be too long now...
Posted by: Jenia on Sunday February 4th, 2007
Deciding enough ashes were ground inside the bag, she smirked and got up.
"There. Now to start drawing..."
She bent down to the ground and started making yet another circle in the dirt.
"Right, so you a score to settle with 3 guys who probably died by now...Sound fun..."
Cripes, should I warn him?
Oh well, in case anything goes wrong, I have my back-up nearby.
She paused and licked her lips.
"Mmm...It would be interesting to see what you turn yourself into..."
Hmm, he will probably be confused by this. I should explain.
Returning to drawing, she continued.
"You see, inside this large circle, there will be two smaller ones. Once I'm done preparing, you will have to stand in the smallest circle and imagine yourself having the body you want. Yup, all you have to do is picture it, and let the magic do the rest. Oh, and I suggest not trying to morph into anything larger than twice my size, you might end up missing a foot or perhaps even a whole leg. And if you mistakebly think of yourself as a gigantic dragon at that moment..."
She paused again, and looked at him directly, licking her lips again.
Am I hungry? Or do I smell blueberry? Heh, I'll worry about that later.
"Well, let's just say I'd have a pretty cute disembodied dragon head for a trophy."
Again, that's assuming YOU get pulled out.
Returning to drawing she quickly finished making all circular shapes. She was getting truely excited, and it showed. Her eyes were widening wildly, and her sharp teeth were exposed as she smiled broadly. It looked as if she was about to lose control and just finish the job by forcefully ripping apart the earth with her claws.
"Alright, the runes are all that's left. Gimmie five minutes and I'll be finished. Now why are you hunting these freaks again? Whatever the reason may be, it would be very probable that it is within my best interest to help you..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday February 5th, 2007
Mavas sat down on a rock, drumming his fingers impatiently.
"Because they killed me! Blast it."
Hmm, this sounded interesting. What sort of body would he need to fight them? Probably something with wings, to match those two... Claws likely, since he no longer had his sword... Hmmm... He continued thinking anxiously.
Henri found himself navigating the airship over a dark barren rocky landscape. Unfortunately without the stars, it was difficult to tell which direction they were headed.
"I don't have any idea where we are... Will have to move away from the Dark Continent if we're to have any chance of determining our direction. I just hope we're not heading inland..."
"What is that?"
Ven pointed out the forward window, his mouth hanging open slightly. Up ahead was some sort of structure, surrounded by dark clouds and sitting at the peak of the highest mountain.
"A... tower...?"
Indeed, that was what it appeared to be. It was barely visible in the distance, but it was definitely some sort of narrow structure. It started at the very peak of the mountain and soared skyward, piercing into the very black clouds above. The top was not visible, so the height was not discernible. But even if it ended right there in the clouds, it was massive...
Things could be seen flying around it...
"Uh... I don't think we want to go there..." Ven stammered.
"Right."
Henri banked a hard left. That's when the screech of the flying beast pursuing them could be heard.
"Dark Dragon!!"
The dragon was dead on, right behind the ship. It was a big one, almost one third the size of the vessel.
"Blast it! Hang on!" Henri pulled a lever all the way down and the ship shot forward in a burst of speed. Ven hung on for dear life.
Posted by: Jenia on Monday February 5th, 2007
Fernis giggled.
"Killed you? No wonder you are so full of anger. I never thought the dead would dwell on them being killed!"
But perhaps that means my last circile opened too wide of a door, allowing another spirit to get sucked in... That is definetly not good news...
She finished with the outer circle and proceeded to the smaller inner circle.
"The great probability they have died by now aside, what will you do after you've killed them all?"
Maybe I should make my offer...?
Bah, I have nothing to lose by asking.
"Hey, why don't you join me? My goal is to rebuild a kingdom from less than ashes, then letting it's people know the true meaning of 'refusing to stay dead'..."
Her devilish smile widened.
Having finished making the runes for the smaller inner circle, she proceeded to start with the bigger inner circle. She scribbled a few runes, paused, then whipped away the dirt she drew on with her hand.
What...Why am I doing it THAT way? I should use my own mark, this would be much better of an insurance...Heh heh heh...
If he truely wishes to betray me, he would never see that coming...
But I will only reveal that to him after he gets it. Yes. Perfect.
She started scribbling again, this time in an even greater haste.
Soon enough, Fernis finished. Whiping the dirt of her hands andknees, she stood up.
"Alright, ready when you are. Just step into the smallest circle..."
...and become MINE! HAHAHAHAHAHA...!!!
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday February 5th, 2007
"Hmm, you know I'd probably need more people to manage this boat." Duilin said to the old drow. "Do you know anyone who would be willing to travel with a mysterious stranger?"
"Well, no. Not really. But if you're willing to walk back to Asgarnia, then maybe you could find somebody there." The old man laughed back.
"How'd you know I came from Asgarnia?"
"I assumed, since that's the closest city near here. Back when this place was more stable, just about everyone was either coming to or from Asgarnia."
"Okay, makes sense. I guess. So do you know anyone willing? Like a ship requires more than one person, I'm sure you'd know."
"I might be able to help." The old man suggested. "I mean, it ain't like anyone else is gonna come by. And it was only a matter of time before I just took one of these fishing boats and just sailed in to middle of the sea and let myself die." He chuckled.
"Uh sure. But I think we need at least a third person." Duilin stated.
"Maybe we could help." Said a female voice, from the distance.
Duilin turned to see a pair of newcomers. "And you are?" He asked.
"What's wrong Duilin? You don't remember me?" A woman dressed in a brown hooded robe emerged from the darkness and removed her hood.
"Belle!" Duilin said, in surprise.
"Oh, so you remember my name. That's good. It's been about two years since we last saw each other. You just running off to Laus not even saying good-bye. I thought you were dead."
"Hey, you're exaggerating. It's only been 18 months." Duilin replied. "Anyways. I thought YOU were dead. Haraldur attacked the Crimson Palace and I don't know what the hell he did, but it got sucked into a vortex of some sort from what I heard. Sorry, I never tried to look for you."
"Sorry doesn't cut it. For an entire month I couldn't keep you out of my mind. And then me and my buddy Lagart, spotted this winged guy from a distance. So I thought it was you. So yeah. So what the hell have you been doing!?"
"Sleeping."
"For 18 months."
"Yeah, I know. Or maybe I was in a coma. But I apparently got sucked into a vortex by Retan. You know about him right? Yeah, now I'm back."
Belle rolled her eyes. "Well, I did hear about a group of rebels getting sucked into Retan's banishment vortex, and I actually could see it. So I suppose I can believe you. So you really thought I was dead?"
"Yeah. If I didn't I would have gone looking for you." Duilin said sincerely.
"Well..." Belle turned her head. "Okay, then. Well what happened was I got transferred to another fortress, the day after you left. Well, and when the Grey Empire came, I was moved around a lot. I don't know, I think they were running low on servants, because of the Aspyes pointlessly killing them all. So after a day when the Dark Empire came back, I worked at North Point for awhile...as a slave, some crap about me being an unworthy human. So yeah, then I met Lagart."
A large lizard man stepped towards, Duilin. He had two horns, yet one seemed to have the tip broken off and a bandage rapped around it. Rather then the traditional armour, he was wearing brown and beige robes, of similar colour to Belle's.
"He not like the other lizard men. For some reason he likes humans, especially me." She then cupped her hand beside he mouth and whispered. "Sometimes I think a little too much." She then moved her hand down and spoke normally. "But yeah, he helped me escape and wile we were traveling he saw something that looked a bit like you."
"Interesting." Duilin replied, he then motioned to the old drow next to him. "Well, this here is my very good friend umm...Drow Oldmen..."
"My name's Goldolf." The old drown snapped back.
"Whatever." Duilin then looked at Lagart. "So uh, you know how to manage a ship at all?"
"Lagart, doesn't really talk much." Belle said. "But yeah, he knows a little. More then me at least, but I guess that's not saying much since I don't know anything about boats."
"So uh, where do you say we were headed anyway?" The old drown asked.
"I'm thinking Tjed." Duilin answered. "I've got some old friends down there. I've got a feeling I'll be warmly welcomed."
"Sure, sure." Belle said. "I guess I'd be willing to see Duilin Talonscar in action."
"Didn't you already?" Duilin winked back provocatively.
"Shut it, Duilin." She snapped back, looking rather embarrassed.
"Whoa, whoa, did you too like..." The old man said pointing back and forth at Duilin and Belle.
"Enough!" Belle shouted. "Can we just go? I don't like it. Here, besides they might send somebody looking for Lagart."
Duilin chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Sure. Let's get going."
Posted by: Zeros' on Monday February 5th, 2007
Zeros' thought furiously for a moment. He had a huge chain coming directly at him. With his downed position and his dis-socketed arm, he couldn't do much.
Putting his mind into overdrive, he barely rolled away, the mace smashing into the edge of his right wing. He winced, but bore the pain and quickly hoped onto his feet. He reached over with his right arm and slowly, agonizingly, popped his left shoulder back into it's socket. He didn't scream, only wincing once again.
He rolled his shoulder and grinned. He flapped his wings. All limbs were go.
"Well now... It seems I should get serious now, hmm?" he said before he disappeared. He used one of his oldest techniques, but also one of his favorite. He made himself disappear from the spiritual and retanal vision, making him invisible.
"Now, now... Can you find me?" he echoed into the room, setting himself up southeast, in location ot Gorus.
---
Allen gasped and quickly held on. He hadn't been expecting this either, so, it was quite a surprise.
"What can we do?" he said to his companions, keeping his voice calm as possible.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday February 6th, 2007
Iduran-Mavas brought a hand to his chin.
"Hmmm, I might just consider that offer."
He had a necromatic slave before, Degz-whatever, and he was fairly useful at times. Of course, his mind had been ensnared by the pendant, so he was 100% loyal. Blast it, he needed to get that back. If it wasn't destroyed...
He carefully stepped into the circle, careful not to smear any of the drawn lines. Yes! Something draconic, he thought, but relatively human sized. Scales tough enough to withstand a blade. Razor sharp claws, wings...
(You can do whatever you want to him. Heh...)
"Maybe we can outrun it!"
The airship rocketed forward with Henri at the helm. Suddenly a black-violet plume of flame seared past the ship.
"It's... shooting at us?!?!" Ven tried to look behind.
"Blast it, if this were a warship, we'd have plenty of cannons back there to fire back. But this transport vessel only has the one... Wait! That's it!"
Henri thew a lever back, and Ven was tightly pressed against the rail as the flying vessel skidded to a near halt. The dragon rocketed past, right in front.
"Ven! Shoot it!!"
"ME?!?!"
"Yes, YOU!"
Ven fumbled with the controls before him and the cannon sent off a blast, nowhere near the dragon.
"Blast it, Ven! Use the controls to AIM!!"
The dragon seemed to have become annoyed, and returned with another blast emanating from its mouth.
Henri thrust the lever forward and turned the wheel hard. Ven was nearly swept off his feet as he hung on to the rail and the ship banked sideways, veering to the right, the dragon's shot another miss.
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday February 6th, 2007
Swiftly, Fernis clapped her hands together as she stood before the set she drew.
The outer circle activated, and the runes lit up in bright purple.
Shortly after, the smaller inner circle lit up in deep blue, cousing the body of iduran to light up in blue itself.
Suddenly, that which appeared to be dark fog came out of iduran. It although it's shape was not clear, the core was crystal clear-
Shining brightly within the darkness.
The inner larger circle lit up in a bright violet color, and the dark fog was pulled unto it, as if it was pulled there by force of gravity, sucked inside by a voilent wind.
Iduran's body dropped unto the earth., whilst a strange figure was being formed inside the violet light. Sucking in dirt, ashes and air in order to form itself, it soon took a the shape of a robust, winged humanoid.
And then, as if it never existed, the light show just stopped. A lot of dust was still kicked up in the air, and it was hard for Fernis to see anything more than the figure's outline.
"Well, congradulations, you two are now seperate."
She was smiling happily, as if she had just recieved charity and was saying thank-you.
Hmm, I can't tell him the truth about having him bound to me as a precaution...
I guess I'll have to make up some lie, huh!
"Oh, and, uh, just so you know, since my magical energies were a main component in the process, your body will deteriorate if something really bad happens to me!"
Fernis scratched the back of her head.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get Iduran up. Without him, my plan will either turn filthy or impossible."
Hurrying over to Iduran, she realized Elphos was still out in the forest waiting to ambush.
No biggie, I'm sure he would rather just wait than meet ANY form of excitment...
(Was that good enough? <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /> )
Posted by: camishio on Tuesday February 6th, 2007
"aahh i believe the time is write " said canal as he looked upon the small farming city of zexreiphanel he jumped down from the cliff upon which he was perched when he landed he drew his scythe and the crimson metal shone. he walked towards the town he walked through the gates holdin his scythe against the ground a man walked in front of him and asked if he needed some help with anything canal repilied yes and lifted the man by his shirt and said yes i need to find the leader of this town the man pointed to a large domelike building canal smiled at him and the man disengrated
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday February 6th, 2007
Gorus sniffed and darted his eyes around the room. "An invisibility spell eh?" Gorus said loudly. "Cute."
By now all of the lizard warriors had left the room in fear of being accidentally hit by Gorus. He once killed several of his own men, due to his negligence. His motto was: 'If they don't want to get killed, then they should just get the hell out of my way.'.
"Well...I'll be damned before I waste time looking around for you, and if the magic game you want to play...Heheh..." Gorus then flexed his muscles and began to glow in green-cyan aura, which consumed his entire body, and his began to flow across the room, and his shape began to change. His neck became longer, his arms and legs became one, his body became more rounded, and his energy became darker. The room then started to get darker and the walls began to crack...
---
"Holy shit!" Rink exclaimed. "I just felt a massive aura burst..." He felt it coming from the main barracks area of the mountain. The room were Gorus said he'd meet Zeros'. He recognized the aura as a more magically enhanced version of Gorus' also feeling similar to a wyvern's. Rink better find Zeros' and just get out of here!
---
Gorus had taken the form of wyvern, with pitch black scales and glowing green eyes and an aura of darkness surrounding him. He had turned to his strongest and most prized form, the DEATH Wyvern.
The Death Wyvern shrieked loudly and then swung open its wings and bolts of black-violet coloured lightning began to shoot everywhere across the room...
--- ---
Marshall got his gear, and met Coriko outside of the hidden base (we'll assume). "Okay, so you ready to go? We've got a few miles to travel, a village of slaves to free and whole lot of Kandarins to kill!" He said, with a bit of a battle ready grin. Marshall's wyverns were still there, so they wouldn't have to go on foot again.
Posted by: camishio on Wednesday February 7th, 2007
canal walked into the building where the man had directed him he looked around and saw the man who looked like the mayor of this village it as soon to be his village canal raised his hand the man barely had a chance to look up as a ball of dark energy engulfed him the man was no more. "this village is perfect. huh whats that extreme power i must have it this town can wait"
Posted by: Coriko on Wednesday February 7th, 2007
"Sure let's go, I'm itching for a fight." Coriko said to Marshall
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday February 7th, 2007
"Myeh heh HA HA HA HA HA!! The power!! The POWER!!" Mavas bellowed as dramatically as possible.
A green scaled beast stepped forth from the mists, looking something like a cross between a lizard man and a dragon. He stopped suddenly when he realized what Fernis meant.
"Wait... What did you say?"
Before even waiting for an answer, a huge claw lashed out at the cat-like woman's face. But Mavas jerked it away before it could come close, red hot pain shooting deeply into his new arm. He knew exactly what that meant...
"You!! You wretched b-b-b-- f-female dog!! I mean cat! ... I mean … !!! BLAST IT!!!" He was unable to curse her, let alone lay a scratch on the woman.
"How dare you trick me!! Release me at once!" He could do naught but shout at his 'master' irately, though a set a menacing white fangs.
Meanwhile, the old knight lying on the ground stirred slightly.
"Uhhh..."
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday February 8th, 2007
Zeros', seeing this transformation, stood by in his invisiblity. He smirked. He knew something wasn't right with that lizardman. And this, was, apparently why.
He put up a reflective magic shield, making the bolts sail harmlessly away from his body.
"Well, well... This is an interesting development. So, this is why you were stronger then most other lizards," he said, eyeing Gorus up and down.
Posted by: Jenia on Thursday February 8th, 2007
Fernis sighed, stopped and turned back at the draconian being calling himself Mavas.
"Look, it's not like I had a choice..."
OK, so I did. At least I can rest assured it was the right one.
"The bond should wear off on it's own in, say, a year's time..."
No, it won't, but I'm supposed to be comforting, right?
"I believe you can speed up the process if you acquire a powerful magical artifact, if it bothers you THAT much..."
Now either help me or get out of my sight.
"Besides, it's not like I'm one of those stinky bastards who would use the bond to make you into my puppet slave... Go ahead, return to the dark continent if you like, wreak havoc like no tommorow... Why should I get in your way? If you don't want to aid us, I don't want to force you into it."
She turned back to Iduran and bent down, looking into his face.
"Alive? Good..."
She took a closer look at his face.
"You don't look too good. Nauseous? Here, drink this."
She took out a small glass bottle from one of her pockets and handed it to Iduran, who was still lying on the floor.
Drat, I was hoping to save this for later. I can't make those myself... But I can't risk losing my main source after I got this far!
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday February 8th, 2007
"Excellent. Now let us go." Marshall replied. The two got on their wyverns and began to fly towards Lawessov. Marshall had a bit of a feeling that this mission would lead to something.
--- ---
Wilham was rather down about his progress on his mission. He already lost his troops and he hasn't made enough progress. So far all he knows is that the empire on Terian is very violent and hates humans. Or least the division of this Van'deln guy doesn't like humans.
--- ---
So Duilin and his new party boarded the ship and began to make sail towards the Kingdom of Tjed.
"So Duilin?" Belle asked. "What else have you done since I last saw you?"
"Well, why don't I tell you about my fight with Draven." Duilin suggested. Likely not his most prideful moment, but it was a hell of a lot less embarrassing then his encounter with Abodahon and he wanted to save his fight with Brice and Rex for later.
"Ooo, the Crimson Emperor himself eh? Sure, let's hear it."
"Okay, so Retan's preparing to cast me and my friends into a vortex of banishment and then Draven comes towards us and demands that we become his slaves or die. So, obviously I refuse, and as do my friends. So Draven tries to attack them but I step in and force him to a one on one..."
--- ---
The Death Wyvern hovered in the air, facing Zeros' looking him in the eyes. He spoke, but his voice just entered into Zeros' mind like a telepathic message...
<span style='color:red'>"That's correct shorty. And from this form you will learn that not only am I the strongest of the lizard men, but next to the emperor himself, I am the strongest being alive."</span>
Time to warm up. The Death Wyvern arched back it's head and fired a large blast of black-violet energy from it's mouth straight towards Zeros'...
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Thursday February 8th, 2007
“So what’s first?”
Midna flipped through the book, looking for descriptions of the Twilight Warrior’s spells. Thankfully, they were near the front of the book. “Found the first one,” she said. “And what a coincidence! It’s the transformation spell.”
“Really?” Alex asked, with a hint of hope in his voice. If he could perfect this spell, he would not be constrained to the night as the time he could remain a Twili. “What’s it say?”
Midna squinted her exposed eye to read the text. “It says you can perform this spell as you are, but it will require a lot of concentration to do the first time. If you can perform it at least once, subsequent times will become easier…”
“All right then,” Alex said. “Let’s do it.”
“Give me a second here,” Midna replied. “It says and I quote… ‘Should the Twilight Warrior not exist as Twili pure, a spell can be cast that can allow him to return to his former self, and vice versa. While a relatively simple spell, the Twili Transformation can be difficult for someone not previous exposed to the Twilight magics to perform. If he can successfully transform once, later transformations will become progressively easier to the point that he can transform by giving it a fleeting thought. To perform the Twili Transformation, clear the mind, filling it only with thoughts of the form you wish to become. The intensity of these thoughts may vary, though usually the level of undying desire is enough.’”
“Undying desire?” Alex mumbled. “He writes it like it’s something I can do easily. Regardless, here I go.”
He forced all other thoughts from his mind. Thoughts of his home at Glacia, his lust for vengeance against Damien, his concern for the Asgarnian rebels, all gone. He just wanted to be human again. His natural-born form. Before he knew of his Twili self. With some concentration, a glowing black ring circled his midsection, traced over in blue Twili patterns. The ring split into two, one going up his body, the other going down. As the rings traveled over his body, they left his human form in their wake until they ended at his feet and the top of his head. When the ordeal was over, Alex had only the strength to fall to his knees. Midna watched in silent awe.
“Alex…you did it! You’ve returned to your human form!” she floated down to him and embraced him. “This is just the first step! Imagine what more we can unlock!”
Alex opened his now blue eyes, seeing the tan jacket he treasured so much, his blue slacks and leather shoes. His skin had returned to its normal color, no sign of glowing markings.
“My God,” he said. “That was actually sort of easy. I wonder if I could transform back.”
“You might as well,” Midna said. “You can’t practice Twili magic as a human, now can you?”
Alex shunted his thoughts away again. This time, his mind swam through the thoughts of the Twilight. The people he had to save, the people he could not let down. Midna. Before long, the rings emerged again, returning him to his Twili form once more.
“This is amazing!” Midna exclaimed. “Never before has someone mastered the transformation spell so quickly! Alex, now there’s no hurry. We can take all the time we need to ensure that you are at your peak when we strike back.”
“That time it required even less effort,” Alex said. “Though I’m sure there’s far more difficult spells in that book. Let’s move on to the second spell.”
Midna consulted the book again. “Here it is. Spell number two is the Solburst. It’s a light magic spell, one of several included in here. ‘The Solburst is a powerful, but slow moving, sphere of pure light that detonates several seconds after being created. The light is intense enough to burn creatures of the shadows, as well as various flammable materials. Experience in fire magic is recommended for the casting of this spell. To cast the Solburst, begin with forming a sizeable fireball, preferably a meter or so in diameter, and then applying Twilight magic to it. Upon this, the fireball should change color from red to blinding white. Continue charging as needed until desired size is reached. Launch like a normal fireball. Repeat until target is completely combusted, if necessary.’”
“Nice,” Alex replied. “Let’s give it a go.”
Alex proceeded to form a flaming sphere in his hands, pouring the power on until it reached the desired size. Quicker than normal the fireball expanded to full size.
“Okay,” Midna said. “Now it says apply Twilight magic to it.”
“How would I do that?” Alex asked, straining under the power it took to maintain the fireball.
“That’s where your instincts as the Twilight Warrior come in, according to the book. Each Twilight Warrior in the past has had various ways of empowering the fireball. You’ll just have to find your own.”
“Okay…” Alex said. He allocated his thoughts a third time. He thought once again of the Twili. They were counting on him. They needed his help. Without him the Twili race would crumble. But mostly, he thought of Midna. She was always there for him, always helping him. She was the Twilight Princess, after all. With those thoughts, the fireball changed its hue to a bright white, as bright as the sun.
“Now, Alex!” Midna shouted over the roar.
With all his might he hurled the sphere from his hands. It traveled slowly across the arena until it exploded in a blinding flash of light. Even the Twili up in the stands seemed impressed.
“Alex, you’re making excellent progress,” Midna said to him. At this rate, you might be able to face Damien yet. On to the third spell, which is the…what the? This is strange. The page is missing.”
“So? We can just skip over to the next one.”
“No can do,” Midna replied agitatedly. “All of the remaining pages about the Twilight Warrior are missing!”
“Great,” Alex sighed. “Now what do we do? I can’t take on Damien with one spell. We need to find those pages.”
“But where could be?” Midna drifted above Alex and pondered. “We’d have to consult the elders about this.”
“You think they’d know?”
“Of course. They know all there is to know about the Warrior. Surely they know where the missing pages are. If not, hopefully they can point us in the right direction…”
Sure enough, the two soon found themselves before the elders once more.
“So, you say this book is missing pages?” Equinox asked, thumbing through it, coming upon the areas where pages had been torn out. “You’re right.”
“Any idea what happened to them?” Midna asked.
“Before Alex was revealed as the Twilight Warrior we’d be afraid that this book would fall into Kandarinian hands, and they would learn to counter the Warrior’s powerful spells. So we removed the pages and hid them all across the realm.”
“Can you show us where they are?” Alex queried.
“I’m afraid the exact locations have since been lost to time,” Solstice muttered. “However, I think I remember the general spots where we hid them.”
Alex’s eyes widened. “All right. Shoot.”
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday February 9th, 2007
(Apologies for the neglectivity this week.)
The draconian Mavas was settled a bit, but he still grumbled under his breath, flexing his large wings.
The old knight took the bottle and drank a bit. Feeling a warmth throughout his body he sat up and looked around.
"Uh... where am I?"
Suddenly his eyes widened.
"Retan! Where is he?! Did the others escape?!"
He then realized he was no longer in that dark ship, with that fiendish crimson-eyed emperor... He remembered the blow... everything went dark... He was so overwhelming... could he have been saved...? Just how long had he been out?
"Oh no! The sword! Where is it?!"
He was on his feet by now, but he didn't recognize the one who offered him the drink. In fact, she didn't look quite human at all...
"Who... are you...?"
Further exploits with the cannon proved unsuccessful, and the dragon was on the tail of the fast flying ship once more.
"Blast it!" The king was visibly irritated by now. He banked the ship hard to avoid another onslaught of dark fireballs.
Eventually they made it to the sea. Flying over the waves, the dragon only pursued for a short while before turning back. The two men from Tjed breathed a sigh of relief.
"I suppose it is hesitant to stray too far from land." Henri commented.
"We are but a few hours from landfall, my Lord..."
"Excellent..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday February 9th, 2007
"So yeah, as we both were in the air I swiped my sword right across him cutting him in half. Kinda messy, but it was the best shot I could make." Duilin said finishing his story.
"Wow, you're amazing." Belle commented
"You're rather different you know." Duilin stated.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, most women don't like this violence stuff. It's interesting. I've only seen about three female fighters."
"Well, I'm not a fighter mind you…"
"Yeah, but you sure do have the spirit for it." He then looked back into the control deck of the ship. "Well I should get back to manning the ship. I think Lagart or um...the old guy could use a break."
Duilin got to where the captain's well was, Lagart the lizard man was steering the ship. "Hey, Lagart take a break. I'd like to give it a go."
The lizard man shrugged and backed away as Duilin took the controls. "So, Lagart you feel like talking?"
"Okay..." He mumbled back.
"I've actually got a question for you. Like, before I sucked into Retan's vortex I noticed the Dark Empire had some lizard men warriors, like a lot of them. I've heard of you guys before but I didn't know there were so many."
"The Dark Empire has a hatchery." Largart replies. "Most are genetically engineered to be serve the empire, some are natural born."
"I assume you are?"
"Yes. I am called B-Class, we are the most common of natural born."
"B-Class?" Duilin inquired.
"Yes. Lizard men are divided into classes, S-Class strongest, A-Class weaker but smarter, B-Class stronger then A-Class but not more than S-Class. Not much smarter I bet you can tell."
"Uh, yeah." Duilin replied. He then noticed Lagart dip his head. "Oh, sorry I didn't mean to call you stupid or anything. Actually you seem rather smart for a lizard."
"That okay. I take no offence. Me know I'm not that smart."
"So, do any of these lizard men know any magic?"
"Yes. Some do. High General Gorus Ven'deln know most. He very strong, strongest of lizard men most say."
"So, is this Gorus guy, like Jayce strong?"
"Not think so. Jayce is a draken, drakens just better then all of us."
"Pah. They may be stronger and smarter then us, but we all have something they don't." Duilin stated. "We've got the luck of the draw...the uh, eye of the tiger."
The lizard man cocked up one eye brow as if to say 'What the hell are you smoking?'
"Well what I mean, is that like yeah they've got everything, but in the end, we win."
The lizard kept his facial expression.
"Well, you know like if they were so strong then how come I'm still alive, like I fought Jayce once and I met Retan face to face and I spat at him. If they had the luck of the draw I'd be dead. But I'm not!"
The lizardman shrugged and looked back forward into the sea ahead.
"Well, I mean even you should be able to agree with me. Like why else would you have betrayed them?"
"I dunno. Sometimes me act before thinking. Gets me into a lot of trouble. Belle just good with words I guess, convinced me. More than often I think me made a dumb choice to go with her, but I no think the empire should treat human like this. They living things to, they seem smarter then us lizard men."
"So, do you think that humans are better than Drakens then?"
"Better people yes. Humans nicer than drakens. Humans are not as smart or strong however."
"Well, we've got the luck of the draw, Lagart."
"Me no know, that sounds just like wishful thinking to me..."
Duilin glanced at Lagart, as he spoke that recognizable sentence. "Well...that just sounds like a bunch of negative thinking to me."
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday February 10th, 2007
Sighing a sigh of relief, Fernis smiled warmly.
"First of all, calm yourself."
She noticed a figure hiding between the nearby trees. She signaled for Elphos to approach without turning her face away from the knight on the ground.
Saw the tree burn and realized it's safe, huh? Well, good for him.
"I am not sure whatever you are talking about, but whatever that is, it happened many, many, many years ago. Retan and his dark empire now rule most of the known world, and I have no idea what of the sword you are talking about. Romme itself, the earth you stand on, has been destroyed and then brought back to existence after many calamities, but it was forgotten and now remains the only known part of the world unclaimed by the dark empire."
She got up, and whipped the dirt off her pants once again, her expression still friendly yet now somewhat more serious.
"I am Indher, the last Runemaster."
Yeah, that sounds much more awesome!
"You have died, and I have brought you back to life this day. This... gentleman...somhow returned along with you..."
Fernis gave a quick glance in the direction of Mavas.
"Anyway, I brought you back because I need you as a base to return Romme to life with newly found power beyond the imagination of the dark empire. You see, I can only return a person to life if I know who I'm returning specificly, and I only know of you..."
And the king, but let's pretend I can't revive him.
"Erm, due to various reason, I can't bring back the king, so he doesn't count. Sir Iduran, I need your memory of your fellow comrades and various other people of Romme so I could revive them as well, and from their memory revive even others... With your help, we can rebuild Romme from scratch and free the world of the shadow called the Dark Empire!"
Phew, I feel as if I have just gotten better at giving speeches!
Elphos approached from behind Fernis, looking somewhat weary, but his eyes were now full of hope.
However, he remained silent.
Hmm, doesn't seem to be any special powers gained beyond the realm of death...
Perhaps they lie in a bubble deep inside his soul?
I'll have to search later.
"Will you help us?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday February 10th, 2007
//Jenai, I don't think 6 years counts as 'many, many, many years ago'. You make Romme sound like during the dinosaur era.\\
Lawessov was just as Kropotkin said. It was over run by the Kandarin. Soldiers armed with spear guns and zombie ogres roamed the village. Why do they want such a remote place? Why conquer a small village?
The two land their wyverns behind a small hill near by Lawessov. The village was about twice the size of the last place they were, but much lower tech. Rather that actual buildings, Lawessov has small huts all about.
But the villagers were being put into slave labour; they were being forced to construct infantry barracks and guard cannons. It was an awful and upsetting site for any Aspye to see...
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday February 10th, 2007
"I... I..."
Like a tidal wave, Indher's words flooded the old knight with memory of his death, and half remembered images of what lie beyond...
It hit him like a rock. Romme was no more.
But to rebuild? Is that possible? Could this woman actually bring everyone back?
His thoughts were interrupted by the darkness behind him... He turned to look out into the ocean. They were invisible. Far away... But he could feel them... In fact, he saw them during his return... Read their thoughts... their awful horrible thoughts...
Then he knew why he'd been allowed to return.
"I would want nothing more than to rebuild Romme. To return lives stolen long ago. But the truth is there's another nation just like we once were, right across the sea. The Dark Empire is about to wipe them out, just like us... Please! We must warn them! Though they were once our enemies, they do not deserve such a cruel fate! We are closer than the warship headed their way. If we hurry, we may be able to warn them in time!"
The draconic Mavas stepped behind Indher.
"What sort of pansy did you summon back? Who gives a blaze about them?"
Iduran shot the dragon man a steely glance, to which the beast shrunk back. He then turned back to the cat-like woman and continued.
"I fear I have not been allowed much time here. When the sun sets after it rises, I will be no more. If I see another nation destroyed before then I will not be able to rest! Please, we must do something!"
(Do force Mavas to submit and cooperate. It will be most entertaining. Heh...)
Melface was to Jayce's right again, standing in mid air. Though now with the moonlight dully illuminating the seas, the child-like demon was translucent, his off-white robes flowing around him.
"My Lord..."
He bowed lowly.
"Speak."
"May I ask what land lies southeast of our current location?"
"Romme. But there is nothing there anymore."
"Oh, but I smelled some delicious necromancy being preformed there... I oh so wish to see it with my own eyes. Might I be allowed to investigate?"
Jayce waved a gauntlet as if shooing away a fly.
"Go on, go on. Do not miss our landing."
The demon was gone, a child like laughter echoing across the waves.
"Oh, but I won't..."
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday February 10th, 2007
Zeros' tilted his head, but instead of standing still, he sidestepped (a rather big sidestep) the lightning heading for him. He grinned.
"The strongest person alive, hmm?" he pondered something for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I don't think so. Why would you be the strongest being alive? If you are, why do you follow the rule of a Draken, who is much weaker then you? Why don't you gather your lizardmen and overthrow the Dark Empire? Surely your combined might could overthrow those Draken," he said, as if contemplating the situation.
He knew Gorus was bluffing about being the strongest being alive. If he was the strongest, he would have Retan under his command, not being under his command.
He smirked up at the wyvern, as if daring him to reply.
---
Allen gasped and grabbed hold on something quickly, as Henri banked the ship. Thankfully, it only lasted for a few moments. He then breathed a sigh of relief and righted himself, seeing as the dragon wasn't chasing their ship anymore.
"Now what?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday February 11th, 2007
"Home... We're going back to Tjed..." Henri glanced back at Allen.
"Look, the clouds are breaking up."
Henri noted a few stars over the ocean ahead.
"The southern constellation... Good, just a slight left turn and we're headed east."
Henri made the adjustments, and the ship turned much more gracefully than when the dragon was chasing. The airship rocketed over the sky, above the black waves.
"At this rate we'll be home in no time." Ven noted.
"Indeed."
Posted by: Burton_projects on Sunday February 11th, 2007
//I'm back!\\
Nick reached Asgaria only to see that Kronos' soldiers had already taken care of the job. Nick just casualy strolled by and went to search around. He walked into a small town. The homes were shuttered and locked off, everthing but the pub was open. Nick walked into the pub to see that not one person was there.
"Oh My God!!! Wheres the money" A sound came from downstairs.
"Sorry boss i lost it.."
"How?"
"Those Luna people attacked me after i stole it."
"Oh My God. Did they follow you?"
" I don't Know." There was a thud and a man started walking up the stairs with five other feet following.
Nick hid behind the bar as the men walked out.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday February 11th, 2007
<span style='color:red'>"I said OTHER then the emperor you brain dead demon!"</span> Gorus' voice growled in Zeros' head.
He then flapped his wings which began to glow in a dark-green aura.
<span style='color:red'>"Yet you do make a point. But nobody is stronger then Lord Retan. Not even me and especially that stupid Jayce."</span> Gorus' voice growled in Zeros' head.
The Death Wyvern then violently swung its wings forward blasting two blades of dark green energy towards both sides of Zeros'...
--- ---
Goldolf and Lagart then switched shifts. He was nearby Duilin, so he thought he'd get to know him.
"So, kid." He started. "I assume you're a half demon, right?"
"That obvious eh?" Duilin replied, half rhetorically.
"Well, you can't easily hide those wings under your hair now can ya?" Goldolf chuckled. "Well, it's kinda funny. Most of them demons aren't nice folk, I tell ya. Back in when I was a kid, there were a bunch of stories about demons being the warriors of hell and servants of Qor. Now they're friggin' walking on land, breedin' with humans and talking about this Iban guy."
"Oh yeah, apparently Qor, died." Duilin replied.
"Well, anyways. It's just that I see that you're a fairly nice guy. Only reason I trusted ya, was because I could sense your feelings."
"What? You mean, you can do that crazy 'sensing' crap too?" Duilin asked.
"Well, us elves and drows are practically born with it, I tell ya. But yeah, I can usually sense the evil or good in people when I see em."
"No kidding." Duilin laughed, he then looked forward into the sea. He could spot Romme and Tjed up ahead.
Duilin then sensed something coming from Romme, something familiar. However he did have a similar feeling when he saw Jayce there, just not as strong. I guess it's just because he thought of Romme as his starting point of his 'big quest'. It was where he learned a lot about his past and where he made some big steps.
He then looked forward towards Tjed. He then noticed a large group of warships (or just one I don't remember) which seemed to be heading in the same direction. The ships were too far away for them to see Duilin's small ship.
"Holy crap. I just noticed those." Duilin said.
"Ya, did. I was gonna say something about them." Goldof replied.
"Yeah, I guess my mind must be somewhere else."
"What the heck have you been thinking about?"
"Oh, you see that one island in the distance."
"Yeah, Romme. What about it?"
"Oh, that's the place I was at when chose to fight the empire. I met a few good friends there. Zeros', he's a great guy, a half demon like me. Well he's not like me; he's like half angel or something. But yeah, he's been like a mentor to me, I still spend time with him. Another good friend I had there was Seth, he was a drow. I never saw him after I left; I assumed he died...so I never looked."
"You must have been in the big War Of Romme."
"That's right. Anyways, another friend I had there was Iduran. He was an old knight. He was one of the noblest people I've met. He however died, but he died protecting us, everyone. If it wasn’t for him, the Empire would likely have this world under a much stronger clutch then it is now."
"Well, I hate to burst your bubble," Goldolf spoke. "But the Empire has a pretty big influence on Gaian. Heck, even the damn Kandarians are taking stress and sorrow from the empire."
"Yeah, but they lost a good five years. You have any idea how much can be done with today’s advancements in magic. This one guy, Haraldur, built an entire city in like, two minutes."
"Bullshit." Goldolf snapped. "I've heard tons of stories about that Haraldur guy. He's a myth. Nobody can be THAT powerful. Like I heard he made an explosion the size of Helternia just by pointin' his finger!"
Duilin shrugged. "You'd be surprised. So anyways...those warships. It looks like they're heading towards Tjed."
"Yep. Maybe it's an invasion army."
"Sure as hell hope not..." Duilin said. "I'm just one man. I can't fight an entire army alone. I'm not a Haraldur."
//Too tired to update others. Tomorrow.\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday February 12th, 2007
The small airship shook the waves as it rocketed overhead. Henri regretted it being too dark to see anything below, but at least the strange yellow glow emanating from the cracks of the black ship provided a bit of close range illumination.
Finally, Tjed was on the horizon. Flying the ship to the capital city would be too dangerous because of the jagged mountains surrounding it and not to mention the fact that they were in a Crimson Empire ship and the capital city was on high alert. So Henri steered the transport vessel to the lights on the ground he knew were from Kesnar. He landed in a field near the ship docks.
A couple dozen knights in sliver armor barring touches immediately surrounded the vessel. All were surprised to see King Henri emerge from door and walk down the ramp.
"King Henri! Sir Ven! Sir Allen!"
Ven staggered down dizzily after his liege.
"Ugh... that is the last time I ride in an airship..."
A night with a green cloak bowed in front of Henri once the group made it completely off the ship.
"My liege, how went the mission? Are you all right?"
"Quite so, Sir Gander. I'm afraid our mission was only partially successful. We did manage to bring them back, that I'm sure of. But where in Gaian they ended up, I have no idea."
"I see you have commandeered a fine flying vessel! No doubt our Ven has lead you on quite an adventure!"
Ven placed a gauntlet behind his head.
"Uh... well, I-uh..."
Henri waved his hand.
"We will need to move this airship to the capital once day breaks. I take it the evacuations are complete?"
The knight captain, Gander, nodded. "Indeed. Most have moved to the safety of the caves. Though there are a few citizens who insist on staying here in Kesnar. Speaking of, I will have my men escort you back to Tjedon. These lands are unsafe, my lord."
Posted by: Coriko on Monday February 12th, 2007
As the two flew on Wyverins Coriko wondered what was waiting. He wasn't properly briefed on the mission. So he was flying blind, not literally of course. Coriko was also twitching for a fight. He had been doing a lot of target practise lately and he has perfected a new talent. He has made exploding fire arrows. Originally the arrow tip ould just ignite because of his fire bow, but then he discovered he could completley engulf arrows in flames by firing a small firebolt out of his hands as he held the arrow. This new technique was he held a small amount of gun powder in his hand while he enflamed the arrow. Then the arrow would crackle and as soon as it made contact with something it exploded. Coriko looked forward to a masssive brawl this time.
"So, how far to are destination?"
//sorry if there are any spelling mistakes\\
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday February 13th, 2007
"Stale. That was the closest word I have found for my current state of affairs.
It's strange, really. One would think that I have everything I have ever wanted, and more... A huge chunk of land under my control, and advancements such as golems, all ready to destroy cities, given the word. And yet, I can't help but somehow feel worn, old even. When everything is readily available, there's only so much to do with anything else. I can send armies of undeads to rip people to shreds with a mere thought, but then I think: why bother? Ripping people into tiny bitlets is fun, but only if I do it myself, and truly, I just can't be bothered to do so. Thus comes a new thought, something I tried to avoid and hoped would never come: what purpose is there to continuing?"
---
As Kronos was writing his manuscripts, Ein swiftly picked off the Kandarinian guards outside. The soldiers barely even made a sound, as Ein's enchanted crossbow bolts pierced them. Taking the bolts out of the guards' bodies, Ein looked up. Kronos should be just up there, in the top palace tower. A thought struck Ein: if Kronos is as powerful as people claimed, then wouldn't he notice the death of his guards? Unfortunately, Ein's thought came too late. He barely had time to hide, before he saw Kronos poke out of the window, no doubt to see what happened below. Seemingly satisfied, he retreated back into the tower, and resurrected the two guards. Ein hid before then, and the undead guards didn't seem to notice him. He deftly climbed into a nearby window, and continued up the spiral staircase leading to Kronos' private chambers.
The door to the Marshal was just ahead of Ein now. Thinking of all the possible precautions, Ein scribbled a small, but immeasurably powerful sigil on the door, denying the use of magic everywhere in the palace but the room beyond the door. It is unlikely that Kronos keeps corpses in his own room (then again, who knows?), and he can't do much else, other than Necromancy, so Ein's victory is pretty much assured. He busted the door open.
-"Ah... Good Ein... I have been expecting you."
Kronos' words caught Ein off guard. Kronos was sitting facing the window, he had no way of knowing that it was Ein who entered the room. How could this be?
-"Er... you have?"
-"But of course. You really think I wouldn't notice the use of astral magic on my guards? You're the only one to ever use it, after the Aspyes stopped their activity."
-"I don't care! You die anyway! Murderer..."
-"I see you're distraught over someone's death. You'll have to be a little more specific, though, for I have killed quite a lot of people. Oh, and just in case if you were thinking that you somehow have some sort of an advantage over me: I know that there is an anti-magic barrier around this entire palace. You really shouldn't expect to get away with cheap parlour tricks like that, especially with someone like yours truly. Oh, and did I mention? Right now, there are eight golems around the palace, ready to smash anything that comes out or tries to get in. There's nowhere to run, Ein."
-"Oh no? And I think you're bluffing."
Ein quickly kneeled to the ground and sent a diamond-headed bolt right for Kronos' head. It, however, didn't quite reach its target: it froze in mid-air about an inch from Kronos' head, slightly sparking. Finally, Kronos turned around. Ein noticed the blindfold and... smiled?
-"I see you've been busy training, Kronos."
-"Yes, and I suppose you've had lots of luck with the ladies, Ein."
-"Of course. One has caught my eye, even."
-"Really? Does she like animals? Rodents, perhaps?"
-"Well, you know girls. They'll set eyes on anything that's furry."
-"You're funny, Ein, you know that?"
-"I'm hilarious. Takes a moron to see that."
Kronos slowly rose, and reached behind his head, undoing the blindfold.
-"Just for your personal information, Ein - I'm not really blind..."
The blindfold was off, and Ein made the immense mistake of looking Kronos straight in the eyes, or rather, what looked like his eyes. They were still there, but they were all entirely pitch black. Unable to resist, Ein fell to his knees. Everything was becoming blurry, the colours fainted. Somewhere beyond, there was a great thump, and sounds like rock shattering. With whatever was left of his strength, Ein turned to the door to see a great yellow statue-like machine, with some sort of a black rod over its back. The rod produced a black lightning bolt, and everything went black.
---
The rest of Kandarinian Islands instantly vanished in a huge black orb. The orb stayed there for a few minutes, then dissipated into nothingness.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday February 13th, 2007
//Well, I guess with the loss of Kronos, it will probably make the Kandies more of a crumbling nation. I've actually got an idea, but I should talk it over with Ein, next time I see him at school.\\
Marshall and his wyverns landed behind the hills of Lawessov. Marshall already got a good look from when they we closing in. (See couple posts back.)
Marshall took out his magi-pistols. "Okay, so we need a plan. I've got a suggestion, now what I'll do is summon an ogre or two and send them into the village and get them to start smashing things up. The Kandies will get distracted and start attacking the ogres, so then we run in and take out the slave guards and get them to run. Any of the troopers who then chase after the slaves, will shoot down. How's that sound?"
---
Wilham then noticed a village in the distance. "Ahh...finally...somewhere to rest."
--- ---
"Hey Lagart, let's turn up the speed. Those warships aren't going that fast. Maybe we can beat them to Tjed."
"How the heck do you think we'd do that?" Goldolf said. "They're way ahead of us. And this ship hasn't been taken care of for over a year."
"Well, I'd like to hurry. I really don't like the look of those warships. At all." Duilin commented.
--- ---
Rink headed his way up the stairs to reach the main floor. He could feel Gorus' and Zeros' auras in combat. He hopped that they could get out of here and find Duilin. He had a feeling he was walking into a lot of trouble, alone.
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Tuesday February 13th, 2007
//Wonderful, coming up on 5,000 posts.\\
“SHIT!”
A rebel complained as he reloaded his lever-action shotgun; this had been the third time in five minutes he had jammed the damn thing. Finally, he managed to force the shells into place and close the lever. He was taking some potshots at hay bale targets he and some other rebels had set up, as target practice. As they did, the four scientists still argued over what to do in Alex’s absence.
“What CAN we do but wait?” Ilia said. “He’s by far the most capable of us, we should wait for him to come back so he can lead us!”
“And what if he doesn’t come back?” Fenix retorted. “That Midna girl could’ve banished him to some other dimension, we might never see him again!”
While all four scientists were into the argument, the true conflict seemed to roil between Ilia and Dom Fenix. All Kleiner and Vance could do was sit aside and mediate.
“Izzy,” Vance asked, standing up on his prosthesis, “What if Dom’s right? What if Alex doesn’t come back?”
“Nonsense,” Kleiner replied. “I have confidence in him. We all should. He’s gotten us this far, hasn’t he?”
“I still want to know where he was taken,” Vance replied, stroking his snow-white beard. “You think he’s all right?”
“I know Alex better than anyone, I know he’s okay,” Izzy replied, a little nervousness finally beginning to show.
“You can’t hide it any longer,” Vance replied. “Admit it, you’re just as worried about him as the rest of us.”
“Oh, you’re right,” Kleiner cried. “I guess none of us can help it. We’re a little lost as to what to do…”
“Just have faith, Izzy,” Vance said. “He’ll be okay.”
In the background the rebel once again jammed his gun.
“SHIT!”
“The first page should be across town. If I remember correctly,” Equinox continued, “It should contain the scriptures on how to cast the Umbraburst, the exact opposite to the Solburst you just learned.”
“Got it,” Alex said. “Any other advice?”
“Use your senses,” Equinox said. “In your Twili state your hearing and eyesight are many times more powerful than in your human form. Tune your senses and you could be led directly to the first page. Once you’ve found it, you can master the spell and begin looking for the second one. Once you’ve mastered the spells, you’ll be one step closer to being able to face Damien. We have prepared for you the implement of the Kandarinian demise, but you must fully understand yourself as a Twili first. Now go find those pages!”
“What do you think he meant by ‘the implement of the Kandarinian demise’?”
“The Twilight Warrior did not act on magic alone in his servitude of the princess. He wielded a special suit of armor and a blade whose power is unmatched by any other. The armor itself was an amazing spectacle, combining the utmost in Twili magic and engineering. The blade, known as the Shadeblade, balances the armor’s light properties, creating perfect conditions for extremely powerful Twili magic.”
“Amazing,” Alex said as the two strolled down the road to the Twilight City, “and they expect me to use this?”
“And to master it,” Midna replied. “Please forgive me, this whole thing is by their design, not mine. I’m just as worried as you are. I can’t really do you much good until I can regain my true form, I’m sorr--”
“No, no, don’t say that,” Alex reassured her. “You’ve taught me so much about this world so far, and what I’m supposed to do. I’d be totally lost without you.”
“We need to work fast. Just because we’re in another dimension doesn’t mean the sun will come up any slower in the world of light. We need to find those pages. Try right here, do what Equinox said, tune your senses.”
“All right,” Alex closed his eyes and imagined himself as knowing where the pages were. As silly as it felt, Alex soon felt a vague idea as to where to go. “I think I know where the Umbraburst page is.”
“Really?” Midna asked, hopefully. “Where?”
Alex opened his red eyes and looked to the top of the Twilight City skyline. He raised his pale arm and pointed. “Up there, at the top of that spire.” He was of course pointing to a very tall tower in the center of town, at least a few hundred feet up.
“That’s ridiculous,” Midna said, putting her hands on her hips. “How will you get up there?”
“Well, you’re the one who supposedly knows so much about the Twilight Warrior. Isn’t he known for acrobatic ability or something?”
“Of course he is! As the Twilight Warrior, no practice is really necessary for you, it should be second nature.”
“Well, I had a feeling the Asgarnian Industrial District wouldn’t be the last jumping puzzle I had to do,” Alex sighed. “But two hundred feet up? One false move and…”
“Don’t worry about that,” Midna replied, clearly having confidence in her Twili accomplice, “surely you’ll be able to land safely if you do.”
Alex took a deep breath. “All right then,” he said. “Let’s get that page.”
He looked at an awning he could use to spring up onto the rooftops. If he could force enough power into the jump, he would easily be on the roof within moments. He first crouched down, and with all his might, forced his body away from the ground. To his amazement he rocketed up into the air and onto the awning, which he used as a springboard to flip up to the roofs above. After performing a few flips in midair he came down on the roof and landed. He stood back up with little effort.
“That…” Alex said, standing up, cracking his neck, “…was satisfying.”
“Keep going, Alex!” Midna shouted from below. “That page is bound to be up there!”
“What do you MEAN YOU CAN’T FIND HIM?!”
“Sir, I told you six times already! Alex and Midna are no longer in Asgarnia, or even in this dimension as a matter of fact!”
Damien threw the Kandarinian commander aside in a fit of rage. “I don’t care if you have to use every Goddamn man you have at your disposal, Commander, I want those two! As long as they’re still out there, they pose a threat.”
“And how do we do that? They’re not even on this plane of existence anymore!”
“Commander, you’re obviously not understanding, so let me sum it up for you in a way you’ll be able to comprehend. Alex is no ordinary man. No ordinary man could defeat me so easily. There’s something about him. He’s part Twili.”
“I’m sorry, sir?”
“The Twili are the main cause of this conflict with Asgarnia. They’re an ancient race adept in the magical arts, though they isolated themselves to a region of the Borderworld called the Twilight. In those thousands of years since their migration there they’ve lived in peace, and more than once we’ve tried to trounce them, only to fail. And do you know why we failed, Commander?”
“Why, sir?”
“Two Twili stood up and decided to oppose us. They called them the Twilight Warrior and the Twilight Princess. Their magics combined were enough to level our entire legions of men we sent in. It was a disgrace to the Sovereignty.”
“Why haven’t they launched another attack, sir?”
“Legend holds that the Twilight Warrior was killed by another Kandarinian sorcerer twenty-eight years ago. The prophecies proclaimed that the first-born son of the reigning monarchs at the time of the old Warrior’s death would be imbued with his power.”
“And you’re saying that that’s Alex, sir?”
“I KNOW it’s him! His mother and father I know were the king and queen during that time. Of course they didn’t want to jeopardize their only link to survival, so they handed him off to the wise mage Caulus Zalridge. I was always aware that Alex was the Twilight Warrior, though how to do away with him was another story.”
“If you killed their only son,” the commander asked, “couldn’t they just have another child?”
“Clever thinking, Commander,” Damien went on. “That’s why I killed them.”
“You…killed Alex’s parents?”
“Exactly. In their utter disarray they had not selected the next king and queen. As of now the three elders take care of affairs. If Alex dies, you see, the Twili are doomed.”
“And what of the Twilight Princess?”
“Midna was always a thorn in my side,” Damien complained, “but once I learned that she had taken up the role of ruler of Asgarnia, I saw it as an offer that was too good to pass up. And so here we are in this damn city, Commander, and I still don’t have Alex and Midna on their knees before me. Now why do you think that is?”
At this point the commander began to grow very nervous, knowing Damien could snap. “Uh…because we aren’t trying hard enough?”
“I’m glad you see it my way, Commander,” Damien said in mock appreciation. “Hear me out now, Commander,” he continued, his anger escalating. “If you so much as fail me one more time, I shall have the personal pleasure of eviscerating your internal organs through the openings in that empty shell of a head you have, and then feeding the carcass to the zombies in the Mining District! Now, GET OUT THERE AND BRING ME THOSE TWILI!”
Almost losing his composure, he saluted Damien. “Err, yes sir, right away sir.” The commander wasted no time in escaping his confrontation with the choleric sorcerer.
As the door slammed behind him, Damien heaved a sigh. Freshly resurrected as a favor from Kronos, he knew he could not fail again. Those two meddlesome Twili were ever the keys to taking over the continent. But first he had to deal with this nuisance of an insurgency occurring within Asgarnia’s walls.
“Soon,” Damien snarled to himself, “soon I shall show them that good and evil are two sides of the same coin.”
He walked out to the balcony that looked over the city a thousand feet below.
“One cannot exist without the other.”
Posted by: Zeros' on Wednesday February 14th, 2007
Zeros' grinned and rubbed his ears in a mocking fashion. He then bowed, low enough, so he hit the ground, causing the crescent blades to harmlessly pass over his body. He sensed Rink nearby and sent a message.
Ahh. You finally got out, huh? he telepathed before standing up.
"Well, well... That was a pathetic try. Try again," he yawned, purposely trying to aggrivate the drake.
---
Allen didn't say much. He mostly followed behind the two and nodded silently to his name. His mind seemed to be elsewhere.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday February 14th, 2007
"My Lord... he is ready..."
The smallish lizard man bowed lowly, his tail flicking back and forth... Grav held the position for a long while, until the dark horned figure finally took note of him...
"Excellent... just in time..."
A shadow appeared, a third figure, this one a featureless humanoid...
"I exist only to serve the Dark Emperor in all his glory..."
"Very good... Show me your form Zefnario..."
"As you wish, my Lord..."
The shadow stepped towards the dim light of a blue torch. But when the light was cast upon him, he was no longer a black mass, but rather he was wearing flowing beige and red robes that waved as if under water. Upon his short black hair was a band of feathers...
It was Kronos...
Except his eyes were burning with a crimson fury, much like that of the Dark Emperor.
Retan nodded in approval.
Grav rose from his bow, lifting his staff up into the air.
"What a success! He looks exactly like the Marshal! Your prowess knows no bounds, my lord! Eee hee hee!!"
The short lizard man began dancing circles around the dour Dark Emperor, until he strayed too close to Retan's black gauntlet. In which case Grav was promptly smacked in the muzzle and sent flying. Retan spoke.
"You will need this."
In his other hand was a blindfold. Zefnario fell to his knees and accepted the cloth from his master, quickly tying it around his eyes and thus hiding the crimson glow.
The Dark Emperor Retan observed his creation.
"Excellent. I christen ye Kronos Z. Go. Take the lich's place. Prepare my nation for the time when they will accept me as their one and only master."
"Yes my Lord. I shall do as you command..."
Sunrise at Kesnar was normally a beautiful experience.
On a typical morning, crimson hues that painted the sky over the eastern mountains inspired artists, writers, poets, and the like with messages of calm serenity, peace, prosperity, and most importantly, hope.
Yet just as the sky began to brighten in that pre-dawn hour, the soldiers stationed at the once peaceful town could not help but turn their eyes to the dark west... To those three black specks upon the ocean horizon...
"Heh..."
"Something amuses you, my Lord?"
Melface was standing on the ship's railing. Jayce turned to the child like figure, a sinister smile upon his face.
"I just realized I attacked that town before, a year or two ago, but I was interrupted. For that, I cannot let it stand... What did you find on Romme?"
Melface sighed, waving a bored hand.
"Pah, nothing at all. A dead island, as you say."
"Very well, the time has come... Unload the troops and storm. Nothing is to be left alive... no building is to be left standing... This town shall be a sacrifice to my name as I start my campaign upon Tjed..."
Great compartments opened up in the fronts of the sea faring vessels, and many smaller landing boats spilled forth, rushing the waves towards the shores of Tjed, overflowing with scaly lizard men brandishing weapons and armor of all types...
And thus it began...
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday February 15th, 2007
//God damnit! Post #4999. I hate life! *cuts wrists*\\
Gorus' eyes narrowed in rage. He then flapped his wings and moved backwards. He then lifted his head upwards and opened his mouth and began gathering dark energy...
Rink stepped into room, where he saw Zeros' and the Death Wyvern. He assumed that the Death Wyvern must be Gorus. Interesting, he didn't know there were lizard men gepardis.
Rink scanned around the room and spotted Duilin's mace on the floor. If he could get it maybe he could actually help fend Gorus off...
--- ---
Duilin's ship began to pick up the pace and move at a much greater speed. The wind was blowing through Duilin's hair, swinging it back. "Whoo-hoo!" Duilin cheered. "Those Tjeds weren't joking when they said this ship was fast."
"I've been on faster me boy!" Goldolf called back.
Duilin's facial expression lowered when he saw that the warships had already made it.
"It looks like those are Dark Empire ships." Goldolf said. "Only the empire would make a warship like that."
"Yeah, I think you're right." Duilin then cursed under his breath. Images of the gruesome battle in front of the Romme Castle with a field of dead bodies flashed through his mind. He wasn't going to allow another peaceful nation go down like Romme did. "I let Iduran down, but I won't let Henri and Ven down. Not wile I'm alive..." He whispered to himself.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday February 15th, 2007
"Holy... Captain!! Come take a look at this!!"
The smallish solider handed the spyglass to his elder, who regarded the sea with interest... then shock... then horror...
"It... it's... an invasion..."
They all knew this day would come. It was only a matter of time before that black empire set its main forces upon them...
"Invasion!!"
"INVASION!!!"
"INVAAAASION~!!!!!"
The bells of Kesnar rang loudly. The solders, knights and even some young squires ran to the flimsy walls of the city that faced the sea.
The boats... there were several dozen coming... and more on the way, each crammed full with snarling beastly Lizard Men, thirsting for human blood.
And on the horizon the three black warships loomed, as if mocking the petty city. The skulls etched upon the sides of the Jagahn seemed to laugh particularly loud.
The catapults lining the walls were readied... Soon the first of the Dark Empire boats would be in range...
"WHAT?! Now?!"
King Henri tried to lunge back towards the city, to follow the wooded path back to the few knights that were almost certainly doomed.
"My liege! You must return to the capital! You are needed!" Ven said as he held his king back.
Henri hesitated. He knew he could not fight, he had no delusions about that... But he desperately felt he needed to see them... Oh gods, they weren't ready!
Ven continued.
"You must meet with the war concil and prepare! My leige! Please!"
Henri turned to the High Knight Ven, who continued still.
"I will take charge here. We will hold them for as long as possible, then we will retreat. You have my word I will return."
Henri didn't say anything for a moment. Then the two embraced, a brief hug like a father and son would share.
"Don't do anything drastic."
"Says you." Ven waved dismissively at the king and smiled. Henri returned it. Ven was rational in chaotic times, he knew. His finest warrior would make it out of this, he was sure of it.
Then Ven departed alone, running back down the path, back to Kesnar, to the battle ahead...
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Thursday February 15th, 2007
//5,000 posts. Wow. That's neat. Though I wanted to be the 5,000th poster. <_<\\
“Found it yet, Alex?” Midna shouted up from below.
Alex leaned back against the tower wall he was on, inching his way across the narrow lip. “Not yet!” he shouted back.
“It should be up there,” she shouted up again. “Your senses detected it!”
Finally Alex got onto a flat rooftop. “Urgh,” he moaned. “Never again! That’s what I said in the Industrial District.”
From Alex’s view he saw the entire Twilight City below him, roofs and windows glistening in the never-ending dusk that shrouded the land. Two hundred feet below Midna stood on the cobblestones, watching Alex perform his acrobatic act to find a ripped-out book page.
Finally something caught his eye.
Resting draped over a wire connecting two buildings, Alex saw a white sheet of paper. He had done it!
“Here it is!” He shouted back.
“That’s great!” Midna hollered. “But how are you going to get it? It’s all the way out on the middle of that cable!”
How was a good question indeed. The wire itself hung slack two hundred feet above the hard street below, preventing Alex from walking out onto the wire. He could dangle down off the wire, but he would risk jostling the page and it flittering away carelessly into the wind. Though he had no choice.
Alex knelt down near where the cable was secured to the tower, and affixed his hands around it. Taking a deep breath he hurled himself off the edge, allowing his hands to suspend him. To his fortune, the cable did not shake much, and so the page rested happily where it had been for who knows how long. Slowly but surely Alex hand-over-handed towards the page.
“You’re almost there, Alex!” Midna yelled up.
This act reminded Alex of his days back in the Glacia mountains, grabbing onto unstable rock holds in order to cross chasms ten times deeper than this. But now at the end lay a prize. Within inches of it, Alex reached out his arm and grabbed the page in his hand.
“Got it!” He shouted.
Naturally things could not be so easy. As soon as he was center stage, the cable moaned under Alex’s weight. With little give, the wire snapped, sending Alex earthward.
Shit, he thought to himself, seeing the street approaching fast before him. Better do some of that acrobatic stuff she mentioned!
Almost by instinct, Alex, who at this point was falling head-first, began to roll. If he could hit the ground rolling, he could minimize his injury. With the forward momentum given by the cable, he figured this to be easy. Alex landed on the top of his back, rolling down the cobblestones before coming to a stop on his back, the page still clenched firmly in his hand. When Alex opened his eyes, Midna was hovering over him with a beaming smile on her face.
“Alex, you did it! You got the first page!” Midna took no time in hurling her tiny arms around Alex’s body as he got up.
“All right then…” he said, looking at the page as Midna hugged him. “Let’s see here.”
“I grow impatient,” Damien mumbled, still looking over the ruined city below. “Kronos is getting restless with the incompetence of these blasted dogs he calls soldiers. If I do not attain absolute control over this city soon he will have my head. But what can I do? It would be far more sporting to allow those two to come here themselves only to be destroyed, rather than cut their cords short now. The sun will rise soon, and I cannot wait much longer.”
“Ilia, please, it’s the only way.”
“I wish it wasn’t,” she said sorrowfully. “Sending those men out there is suicide without Alex to back them!”
Dom gritted his teeth. “Ilia, face facts! We don’t know where he is! We don’t know if he’s ever coming back, or if he even cares about us anymore!”
“Dominic!” Vance hollered. “That’s quite enough! Don’t try to hide it, you’re as worried as the rest of us. You may not believe this, but sending our soldiers on a suicide attack of the citadel will NOT bring Alex back any faster! All we can do is wait!”
“Sam, we’ve been waiting for almost a day now,” Dom replied. “Alex surely would’ve given us some sign as to where he is. It’s not like him to disappear without a word.”
“What about this Midna character, Dom?” Ilia shot back. “You ever think of that?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Dom said.
“Midna could’ve taken him to the Twilight,” a voice across the room spoke up. It was the scout who had gone looking for Alex those hours ago.
“Sergeant, you have our attention,” Izzy replied.
“I know far more about this affair than any normal man should,” the scout replied. “I suppose you could say that in a previous life, before Asgarnia fell under attack, I was one of Princess Midna’s personal bodyguards. And so as a result I overheard a lot about who she was and what she did.”
“Care to share?” Ilia asked.
“Fine, but you didn’t hear this from me,” the scout cleared his throat. “Princess Midna is a member of an ancient race, called the Twili. She once lived in the Borderworld and ruled over the Twilight, but relocated to Asgarnia once the Kandarin-Twili War began to escalate. She wanted to keep a low profile and avoid detection until the Twilight Warrior revealed himself.”
“Twilight Warrior—what the,” Dom asked, confused. “Are you just making shit up now?”
“Let him talk, Fenix,” Vance bit back.
“That’s right, Twilight Warrior. He one part of a two-Twili group, consisting of him and the Twilight Princess, who in this case is Midna. It’s the Warrior’s job to combine his power with the Princess to slay the greater evil. In this case, it’s our good friend, Damien Roth.”
“If what you’re saying is what I think you’re saying…” Ilia went on.
“Unfortunately, you’re right. It seems Alex was bestowed with the Twilight Warrior’s power after the previous one was killed. The legend says the first born son of the ruling king and queen of the Twilight are granted his power, to be revealed at a key point in his life.”
“Oh, man,” Fenix moaned. “I always knew Alex had some kind of issue with Damien, but never one as deep as this. I guess the fate of Asgarnia is still up to him then. But where is he now?”
“Chances are Midna took him back to the Twilight to better acquaint him with his new abilities that he is expected to master. The sun will rise within hours, so I’m sure we can expect Alex to return then.”
“Dear me,” Kleiner sighed. “I suppose Alex didn’t want us to worry for him. But we did anyway… I can only imagine what’s going through his mind now.”
“Though there’s no reason to fear,” the scout replied. “If the legend is true, Damien, along with the rest of the Kandie occupation in the city, will be routed. But then, Alex must pursue them elsewhere.”
“He’ll leave us?” Ilia said.
“I’m afraid so,” the scout said. “The two cannot stop until the greater evil that caused the ancient war is put to rest, unfortunately, that task has been unaccomplished ever since the first Twilight Warrior thousands of years ago.”
“So there’s a perfectly good chance Alex could die like the rest of them?!” Ilia cried.
“Now, now, Ilia, there’s no need to worry,” the scout replied, trying to allay her fears. “I know Alex will pull through. He has in the past.”
“If you say so…”
Before long the sun would once more find its way to shining on the once-utopian city. Now questions lie in its downtrodden inhabitants’ minds: Will their saviors appear before them? Will they be successful in destroying the greater evil? Will Asgarnia be restored to its former beauty?
Of these many uncertainties, there lies one truth. Light will once again shine on the city of Asgarnia, in more ways than one.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday February 16th, 2007
Duilin's ship closed in towards Kensar. They were only about a five minute walking distance away from the warships.
"Okay, I'm going out there. If you guys just want to sail back, go ahead. I'm not leaving until empire is out of here." Duilin said.
"Duilin? Why are you so determined to fight?" Belle asked in concern.
"I tried to save Romme, but I failed. I can't let that happen again. I'm more then five times stronger then I was after I left Romme, so these Lizards are in for one hell of a fight!"
"Don't underestimate lizard men." Lagart warned. "They very strong race."
"Well...so am I." Duilin said heading towards the edge of the boat. "So, any of you in?"
"I help fight." Lagart said. "You may need it."
"I guess I'll help." Goldolf said. "I've got some basic elemental magic skill, but it's probably nothing compared to you."
"I'm not a fighter." Belle stated. "But I'll try and help in the best way I can. Plus, I don't want you too run off on me again."
Duilin nodded. "Okay, just be careful. I don't want any of you to get killed."
"I won't make any promises." Goldolf chuckled. "I could kick the bucket any minute at my age."
Duilin then jumped off the ship and flapped his wings pushing himself forward and landed in the shallow water of the beach.
Lagart and Goldolf tossed down ropes and slid down them. Lagart had his broadsword out, which seemed like a smaller weapon in his large hands. The three then rushed towards the ports ready to surprise the lizards...
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday February 17th, 2007
"Sir Ven! Glad you could make it!"
"Glad to be here, Gander. What's our situation?"
Ven leaned on the flimsy stone wall that surrounded the town, facing the beach. Blast it, the ports were the weakest point. Fortunately there was a flood gate, which was slowly closing even now as Ven looked to his right. This was a small wall that shut off the water from the sea from flowing into the short canal that lead to the ports. It would stop those boats from coming directly in at least, but the lizards wouldn't have much trouble getting out of their boats and climbing over it. Several men stood on top of the flood gate with long spears, ready to beat back any that tried.
The rest of the wall facing the ocean on either side of the flood gate was stone, about ten to fifteen feet high, depending on the drifting of the beach sand. From the walls, there was a good fifty feet of sandy beach the lizards would have to tromp through after getting out of their boats. Archers lining the walls would take their advantage then, if they are capable of piercing the lizard men's thick hides that is...
http://darkagegames.net/dal/kesnar_battle.gif
"Another minute and they'll be in range of our catapults..." Gander replied.
"Hey! There's a group of people running along the beach! One of them's a lizard!"
Ven strained himself to see.
"Hold your fire! That... that's Duilin!! Lower the ladder!"
"But sir!"
"Do it!!"
Before the rope ladder was even lowered, Ven hopped off the tall wall and landed in the sand.
"Duilin! Am I glad to see you!!"
He trudged through the beach, running towards the winged half human and his crew.
"Are the others all right? How about you?"
"They're in range!" A voice echoed from the walls. With a loud SNAP, all five catapults loosed their rocky projectiles, and they flew high over the group's heads. A moment later huge splashes of water ripped through the otherwise serene water, dislodging some of the oncoming boats.
Ven held his head low. "Listen, we have to get out of here. Come with me up on the walls." He then hurried back to the rope ladder thrown down.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday February 17th, 2007
"Ven!" Duilin called. "I'm glad to see you too." As Ven said they should head inside he called over to Belle. "Belle, come on. You'll be safer behind the walls!"
Belle slid down the rope off the ship and then ran over to catch up with the others climbing up the rope ladder. After the five got over the wall Duilin spoke to Ven.
"So, you haven't seen the others have you? Damn. I was kind of hoping they'd be here. I have a feeling Zeros' is here, and I can bet Rink is around too. But I don't know about Xenai and the others, I fear the worst for them."
He turned his head up towards the sky. "I met this one fox-guy who looked like he was attacked by fire mage. I'm almost certain it's Draven."
He looked back at Ven and motioned to his companions. "Okay, so these guys agreed to join up with me. The old drow is named Goldolf. The woman is Belle and this lizard man, has left the empire because he disagrees with their views on humans. His name's Lagart." He looked at his companions. "This is Ven. He's a High Knight with the Kingdom Of Tjed. I met him a wile ago." He looked back at Ven. "Okay so let's get back to the point. I want to help you fight; the only thing I ask in return is for you to take care of my friends. Lagart and Goldolf want to help fight. So, find safe place for Belle to stay."
He then cracked his knuckles. "Okay, so you got a battle plan? 'Cause I'm ready to bust some skulls."
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday February 17th, 2007
"Fernis, you are officialy bad at navigating."
It has been quite a while since Indher finally agreed to go to Tjed, despite wanting to stay at Romme to try a few more things. She was still bitter at what the old knight told her-
Anyone would be if they knew their masterpiece would break apart by dawn.
Though not doing so bluntly, she ended up forcing Mavas to come as well, saying he would probably find his targets there anyway, et cetra.
"Bah!" Gernis shot at Elphos, too lost in thought to consider anything he has to say "so what if we were supposed to be at Tjed a while ago already? It's a pathetic little boat for crying out loud! Heck, were it to be a little smaller, we'd all sink due to sheer weight of Iduran's armor! We are damn lucky the sea isn't story today!"
Elphos apperantly shot something back at her, but she didn't even bother responding. What bothered her was the reason for the time limit on Iduran's renewed existence...
She assumed Iduran himself wouldn't know, and acknowledged it being her mistake a possibility.
Not being able to think of any possible mistake she made, she went on to trying to find a solution.
She quickly dismissed all ideas thought of at first, except the "bind soul to gem, embedd gem in body" idea, which was too costy and complicated and thus was left for a last resort.
Suddenly, Fernis got up, almost hitting her head against the boat's cabin cieling.
Having realized stress was being build up by all of this, she decided to find something to occupy her for the time being. She could poke Elphos and laugh at him or torture Mavas by tying him to the boat and making him fly them all the way to Tjed, but a better idea came to mind.
"Excuse me, ugh, sir Iduran?" she approached him "May I have your outer armor and weapon for a while?"
She scratched the back of her head.
"It's just that, I thought... Since we might encounter hostile forces when we arrive there, it would be better if I use the free time I have on this boat to upgrade your gear..."
Making Iduran a flaming blade sounded quite fun, though engraving runes on a metal would take more time than it would take to draw them on dirt...
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday February 18th, 2007
Zeros' looked up at Gorus, his stance relaxed, his arms crossed, impatiently tapping his foot.
"Well, hury up, would ya? I have better things to do," he said. He sent a telepathic message to Rink, though.
When he fires, make sure you get out of it's range. I have a feeling something big is going to happen.
---
Allen sat ontop of the wall, near the company that had just came up. He narrowed his eyes and adjusted his glasses. He wasn't a fighter. He was a scientist and alchemist, but, he was also a strategizer. That's why he was on the front lines.
He was leaning over the walls, observing the ships. Lizardmen weren't known for their magically capacity. Plus, it didn't look like they had many magically fighters. He scanned the many ships and narrowed his eyes.
"It looks like this crew is made of mostly lizardmen... Ven, do we have any mages or any sort of magical forces? If so, put them on standby... If the Dark Empire forces are mostly soldiers and melee fighters, we can blockade them at the beach and the floodgate..." he said, pointing towards the beach, where a good distance stood between it and the walls.
"If we could somehow ignite the beach with fire, making it burn, it could temporarily stop the forces coming towards us. Or, if we have mages, they could make the beach erupt with flames... or even ice. I'm not sure about this, though... What do you think, Ven?" He then looked over at Lagart.
"Lagart was it? How are your kinsmen resistances to fire and ice magic?" he said, quickly formulating plans in his head.
He relayed this all quickly, using gesture to imply what he wished.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday February 18th, 2007
Armand Cross hurried across the deserted Asgarnian streets. That Damien makes himself out to be bigger than he actually is, he thought. Larger or not, though, he is right: something has to be done about Alex. This was not the first time Armand got in trouble with Damien about him. Alex keeps proving himself just a little more than a worthy adversary. Every time he's cornered, somehow he saves his sorry hide, and this keeps on happening. Well, it's time someone put a stop to it.
Armand finally made it to a Kandarinain control outpost, where officers met up to discuss further strategies of bringing down the resistance. He sat down next to another commander.
-"Heh, look at that. Armand is back. Did Damien spank you?"
Others laughed. Armand simply scowled, and turned to the commanders across the table.
-"Gentlemen, I think it is time for that annoying fly Alex to finally learn his place. However, no matter what we try, he always seems to survive. Do you have any suggestions?"
A rather thin commander spoke.
-"Sometimes, when an enemy knows he's cornered, no amount of small assaults will bring him down. We need to finish this with one quick, decisive blow. The question is, what do we use for the said blow?"
-"De Sade."
The name was said by a lower-ranking officer standing at the door. It appeared as though he just came in. Everybody looked at him.
-"De who?"
The officer sighed.
-"You, sirs, should study your nation's history. Oftentimes, it can give you valuable insights into an otherwise hard situation. The Lilithian sorcerer known as de Sade was the one who originally brought down the Twilight Warrior. Ratrix the 2nd, the then-Marshal of the Sovereignty, awarded de Sade with retirement for his great service to Kandarin. He now lives a hermit's life, ironically not too far from here. I suppose you could try to talk him into helping you."
The officer proceeded into the further halls of the outpost, most likely filing a report. He left the commanders speechless. Armand quickly hurried after the officer, and asked him of the precise location of the sorcerer.
---
Several hours passed. Armand finally found the sorcerer's hut, hidden deep in the forest next to Asgarnia. He carefully knocked on the door.
-"Who disturbes me? Show yourself, intruder!"
The door burst open, with no one behind it. Armand walked in, and just then he saw the Lilithian.
De Sade was sitting in a large armchair facing a hot fire. He was completely hidden by the chair, save for his hands, which were resting on the chair's armrests. From the look of the hands, de Sade had green leathery skin.
-"Archmage de Sade, the Sovereignty needs one last service. There is another Twilight Warrior, and he is wrecking all sorts of trouble in Asgarnia, a city we recently took over."
The sorcerer sighed heavily.
-"Again I am summoned to show insects the way to perfection."
De Sade finally stood up, and Armand nearly sat down. This guy didn't need magic to kill, his looks did the job perfectly. The Lilithian was dressed in black robes streaked with dark green lines, with a hood covering an inhuman face. His skin was very tight on his head, baring his teeth and giving it an overall appearance of a green skull. Though the eye sockets were there, the eyes were nowhere to be seen. The sorcerer also had a pair of small scaly wings, not large enough to be of any use. However, they seemed to have been cut from their original size.
De Sade seemed to look directly at Armand, and he felt a chilling cold creeping over his insides.
-"The Twilight Warrior is Alex. Barely enough for a decent challenge. Tell me, would a dragon swat a fly just because he could?"
Armand did not find the strength to answer.
-"Think about that. But now, the wind sings a strange melody... Someone is approaching."
The Archmage, nearly hovering over the ground, left the hut. Armand did not come up with anything more original nor useful other than to follow.
De Sade was right. There was a rebel walking through the forest. He did not appear to have sighted either de Sade, Armand, or the hut. Finally, Armand found strength within him to speak.
-"A-a-a-archmage, that there is a - a rebel, from the city we are occupying..."
-"His lesson today will be pain."
De Sade extended a razor-sharp talon towards the rebel, and the Asgarnian cringed, then fell down. There was a visible black pentagram on the ground around him, and it appeared to be drawing the rebel to it. Finally, the movements stilled.
-"But... but you didn't give him a chance! He didn't even see you!"
-"Sometimes, it is best preferable not to hear the serpent's rattle, young one. Now, Alex, was it?"
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Sunday February 18th, 2007
“So is what I hear true?”
“Yes, Lord Roth,” Armand replied. “De Sade has decided to open up his amazing talents to our extinguishing of the Twilight Warrior.”
Damien groaned. “You disappoint me, Commander. You mean to say that you and your men are so horribly incompetent as to call on the retired Archmage to do your dirty work for you?”
Armand didn’t have the stomach to make a rebuttal.
“That’s what I thought. You sicken me.”
“Sir, we see no other alternative--”
“NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE?! DO YOU LACK GRAY MATTER?! Surely Alex is a formidable opponent, make no mistake, but calling on someone such as de Sade is a step too far.”
“Lord, is there a problem? Alex will finally be brought to his knees!”
Damien moaned again. “Commander, I fear I may have made a mistake putting you in charge of controlling that rabble below.”
“Lord, those are merely mortals with weapons! Your vendetta entails a near-immortal being granted the power of the gods!”
“Armand, your excuses are wearing on my last nerve. Unfortunately, de Sade lost his sanity years ago. It pains me to realize what he will do to our dear friend Alex should he find him.”
“Sir, you appear to have personal objections to this action…may I ask why?”
The Lord could only sigh. “If you keep this from those cretins in High Command, yes. If you recall properly, Commander, Archmages lie one rung up on the chain of command from Lords, and de Sade is one Archmage I never want to experience again.”
“Sir--”
“If de Sade found out it was I that had made such a blunder, I may follow the same fate as the first Twilight Warrior. That is why I want to destroy Alex myself.”
“Sir--!”
“Commander, it is not anything personal against you, but I have warned you in the past of your penultimate failure. It seems that by calling in de Sade, you’ve spared yourself a horrible death. Perhaps I should reconsider your assignment.”
“Sir?”
“These rebels I once thought of as sniveling cowards, finally willing to fight for their city, have managed to wipe out a third of our forces in Asgarnia. Why is that, Commander?”
“Sir, I--”
“I will tell you why. It is because you are not down there to command them.”
“…”
“Yes, Commander. You are now re-assigned as commanding those damned soldiers below. At least if you die that way, it will be less tortuous.”
“Sir, I--”
“And still you protest? I have done you a great deed, you thankless whelp. Get out of my sight!”
Defeated, all Armand could utter was a dejected “Yessir” before exiting Damien’s chamber.
“De Sade,” Damien muttered to himself, a grave fear entering the sound of his voice. “If he rears his ugly head I fear we are all in for suffering. I must defeat Alex myself! As the gods as my witnesses, I shall destroy him, regardless of what stands betwixt.”
---
“Alex, the rate you’re mastering these spells is unnatural.”
“What can I say? I was always a quick learner.”
In the course of forty-five minutes Alex had perfected the Umbraburst. A swirling vortex launched from his hands and out into open air, away from anything it could pull in. The portal opened wide, revealing the empty black void within, purple bolts of lighting arcing to and fro the clouds it pulled in. Within a second the deafening roar was once again replaced with silence.
“Alex, you’re actually scaring me a little bit,” Midna admitted, drifting over to him. “No Warrior previous mastered such spells so quickly!”
“I guess I’m just lucky,” Alex said. “Past experiences have taught me that a lot of things boil down to dumb luck.”
“Not this,” Midna said. “What I saw was skill, and it’s exactly what we need.”
Alex cracked his knuckles. “So, should we begin looking for the second page?”
“I guess so,” Midna replied. “If I remember correctly, the fourth spell is The Parasite. It paralyzes your target and drains their vitality, adding to yours.”
“Neat stuff,” Alex said, himself a little perturbed about his increasingly morbid sense of humor. “I just wish I knew the vague direction to begin looking.”
“I think I overheard Equinox mention something about the Glacia mountain range…”
“Glacia?” Alex asked, suddenly reminded of his homeland. “I used to live in Glacia.”
“It seems we might be heading back there pretty soon,” the imp replied.
“I had a lot of friends in Glacia,” Alex recollected. “It would be nice to see them all again.”
“You might get that chance. Come on, we need to go inform the elders that we’re leaving.”
---
“Lamarr? Otis! Please come down from there!”
Kleiner had once again become dominated by creatures lesser than him. In this case the two aliens had clambered onto a shelf and refused to move.
“Dear me,” he sighed. “The poor things are terrified. Otis hasn’t seen Alex in a long while, neither have the rest of us.”
Ilia could only hope Alex would return safely. “The Kandarinian High Command is getting skittish,” she said. “And our scout we sent out to the forest hasn’t come back yet…”
“It could be worse,” Dom muttered. “We could have some immoral sorcerer to deal with.”
“Thankfully such is not the case!” Kleiner said, finally lifting the two headcrabs down. “I have a feeling Alex will be back before we know it.”
“I sure hope so,” Ilia replied. “I’m worried sick about him.”
“No need to worry,” Vance consoled her, putting his hands around her. “Before long Alex will be back, and we’ll win this war once and for all.”
However, Vance had no idea how wrong he was. Alex would have far more on his plate than he ever did in Glacia. In eighteen months the snowy province had been forgotten by the Sovereignty, deemed a waste of time and resources to take over, and so Glacia remained untouched. This slight tactical miscalculation would eventually wind up causing the Sovereignty far more trouble than it would have by merely taking over the commonwealth.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday February 18th, 2007
As Armand left, de Sade resumed walking through the forest. The plants on either sides of him seemed to die as he passed by them. Soon, he heard an odd smell - the stench of weapon oil, a smell near forgotten by him. Seems the rebel he struck down had friends that were expecting him, and were now coming to check up on him. De Sade did not even bother concealing himself. He continued walking.
-"Holy crap, what is that thing?!"
-"Kill it! I found Rufio, he's dead!"
The air was filled with the clicking of spearguns. The projectiles, however, didn't make the full voyage to their destination - they slowed to a crawl as they approached de Sade.
-"The spirit is strong, but the spears are not enough... I beg of you, do continue firing. Your silent terror makes music for my mind."
Soon enough, the rebels were out of ammo. Most of them took out their bladed weapons and rushed for de Sade, who did not move. Even though the Asgarnians were roaring with rage, inside they were shivering with fear. What was this thing?
Just like the spears, the rebels didn't make it to de Sade. The projectiles fired at the sorcerer turned about in mid-air, and soon each rebel had at least three spears sticking out of him. Most were killed instantly; only one was left clinging to his life. De Sade approached him, reaching for his chest.
-"The touch of Death. Cold..."
The talons shred through the flesh, and de Sade felt the rebel's heart in his palm. He swiftly severed it from the body, and tore it out.
-"Your corpse is little more than a nesting place for maggot egglings. I hope you do aspire to greater things in the next life than fighting battles you cannot win."
Of course, the rebel heard none of this. He died before de Sade even touched him.
---
“Lieutenant, I have an assignment for you.”
Lt. Carmine had never been directly addressed by the Lord before. Surely he must’ve had a mighty task to ask of him.
“Yes, O Mighty Lord? What do you require of me?” Carmine was always eager to please.
“Lieutenant, I have someone I want you to keep an eye on. Since I know you are new to these ranks I am sure you will not recognize him. His name is de Sade. He was a former Archmage many years ago. High Command has seen fit to ask one last favor of him. I won’t go into details, but I have personal history with him, and I want you to merely keep an eye on him. Think you can handle such a menial task?”
“Yes sir, of course sir!” The gung-ho lieutenant saluted the mighty Lord and departed.
“Oh, that poor soldier,” Damien sighed. “If I never see him again it will be too soon.”
---
The Lilithian already knew that he was assigned a convoy, and was waiting for him at the northern Asgarnian gate. With a slight feeling of disgust, he saw the Kandarinian sentries throwing careful glances at himself. If the pathetic pests only knew what they were looking at...
Finally, he sighted the convoy. He appeared to be a brisk man in his twenties. With but a hint of surprise, de Sade noted the complete lack of fear for his frightening appearance.
-"You, sir, bear a striking resemblance to Death, if I do say so myself!"
-"Hmmph. That vermin Damien is insecure about himself, so he sends a spy? You are a worthless rat, Roth! No, less than worthless!"
-"I'll be sure to quote you on that, sir! By the way, I am --"
-"Lieutenant Carmine. The question is, do you know who I am?"
-"You, good sir, are Archmage de Sade!"
-"So he has told you."
-"Yes, gentle sir!"
De Sade couldn't help the feeling that he was being patronized.
-"Wasting time is for fools, and I cannot be classified as one. Let us depart."
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday February 18th, 2007
Rink begins sneak across the room towards Duilin's mace. He knew it was just a weapon, but it was Duilin's. He'd want it back, plus if Duilin is gone, then he'd have something to remember him by, yet he probably wouldn't need it to.
The energy in Gorus' mouth tripled in size. He then arched his head forward and then shot the blast, but not at Zeros', rather at the cave wall above him. A large explosion then destroyed the upper half of the wall, and the entire interior began rumbling. From the other sections of the mountain the lizard warrior's could feel it. Rocks began falling from the roof.
Rink then grabbed the mace. "Got it." He then covered his mouth, why'd he have to think out loud?
Gorus turned his head. <span style='color:red'>"You little runt. You shall die now!"</span>
Rink then disappeared in a puff of smoke along with the mace. The imp then appeared right behind the Death wyvern's head. Rink had the mace in his hands and then swung the mace at the back of it's head, knocking him away.
"Let's get outta here!" Rink shouted.
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday February 18th, 2007
"Of course, Duilin. I will ensure her safety."
Ven pointed at two soldiers.
"You two, please escort the lady to the caves."
"Yes, sir!"
Ven brought a hand to his chin. Did he just say fox-man? A chill went down his spine. Could he possibly be talking about those horrible little gray demons? No, he shouldn't use the word 'demon'. Duilin was half demon after all, and there was no bit of malice in him. These things were simply pure evil.
"I think Draven did us a favor, then. He's on our side, as far as I can tell. He was the only one to come out of the portal opening where we expected, though Henri and I certainly didn't expect to see him. I think it's safe to say he's quite angry with the Dark Empire for banishing him like that, and was pretty set on revenge when we parted ways. Where he went I have no idea, though."
He then turned an leaned on edge of the wall, overlooking the sea and the giant boulders being hurled out at the incoming boats while listening to Allen's suggestions.
"That's our problem, Allen. We've never had much in the way of magic. We've recognized this weakness when they first started sending Lizard Men down here, so we have a few training at the capital, but we're lacking down here. I can channel light and some other elements into my sword, and cast a few wind spells, but not much. I think Duilin is our strongest mage here. Other than that... how many mages do we have?"
"Uh... three sir."
"Three? We only have THREE mages?"
"Y-yes, sir! Journeyman rank, so not really finished with their training..."
"Well, blast. Bring them up here."
The three green and teal clad mages came up the ladder from the Kesnar side, all young men with a glint of fear in their eyes. The center one spoke to Allen.
"We're elemental mages, at your service. Though our training is not complete, we do know most basic elemental spells."
Ven turned to Allen.
"They're at your command, since I don't really know how to fight magical battles. Good luck Allen."
He then spoke more generally to the surrounding soldiers.
"Remember, we just need to hold them off for as long as possible. No heroics. When things turn bad, we make for the caves. Got it?"
"Yes sir!!"
(Feel free to control the mages from this point on, Zeros'. Also, Lizard Men are weak against ice.)
"What is THIS? Are they throwing ROCKS at us?"
Jayce grabbed the top of the head of the lizard captain of the Jagahn, peering out the massive windows of the control bridge at the massive onslaught of lizards heading to the island on boat, and the boulders dropping down upon them.
The Lizard Man captain was shorter than Jayce, and had a scar accross his left eye with a complementary eye patch. His other eye bulged under the presure of the dark prince's grip.
"Aarrr!! That be the case, me Lord..."
"Then throw some back..."
He let the captain go with a push, and the lizard stumbled to the side, using his tail as balance.
"YAARR!! Ye heard the man!! Spin the wheel! Turn sideways an' blast 'em with the right side battery, mateys!!"
"Aye, cap'n!"
Jayce covered his face with a black gauntlet. Gods, he hated sea faring Lizard Men...
The Jagahn slowly rotated so that it's right side was facing the island, the fearsome sculls and statues hatefully mocking the town of Kesnar from a distance. The ten cannons mounted on the side aimed and fired. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Deafening black explosions, one after another, ripped through the skies above Kesnar. One hit close to the wall, and a few men were knocked off and killed before even getting the chance to fight...
(Iduran has until sunset, not dawn. Likely the rest of the chapter. Heh...)
"Well of course, I certainly wouldn't mind."
He unhitched the latch of his gray metal chest armor and pulled it off along with his cape, revealing a simple light blue tunic beneath.
"Problem is, I no longer have my sword."
He motioned to his empty sheath.
"The Dark Empire sought it desperately, and I had to give it up so that they would not obtain it. I'm proficient with most any blade, though, if we could find another..."
Mavas was outside, running his new claws along the wooden railing. Blast it! He didn't want to go back to Tjed, of all places. Of course, he was unrecognizable in this form, but still...
Then a devilish thought caused a smile to creep upon his draconic muzzle. Ven would probably be there... He'd be able to get the jump on him easily like this... Of course, that blasted cat woman would forbid it, but as long as she didn't know, she couldn't give the command not to...
His attention was immediately caught by explosions upon the island ahead, much more easily visible in the morning light. Warships were assaulting Kesnar, he could see. He turned and walked back to the cabin, his claws clicking on the wood floor, and he poked his head in.
"If we don't want to get blown away by a war fleet, we might want to make our landing some distance away, my lady..."
Iduran's head shot up. "They're attacking already? Blast it!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday February 18th, 2007
"A favor?" Duilin questioned. "Perhaps. I guess I'd rather have Draven fighting against the empire rather then for it. But..."
He thought about Renard. He wondered if he was just as bad as the rest of those empire guys, same with that strange Ophelia woman. Something was odd about her.
"Lizard men don't like ice." Lagart said. "Use ice attacks. That should hurt them."
Duilin looked at Belle and touched her shoulder before she left.
"Belle." Duilin said.
She turned to look at him.
"In the unlikely event of me not surviving this. I'd just like to say..."
"What?"
"It was great to see you again. I'm really glad your okay."
Belle giggled. "Thanks Duilin. Sorry I was so misunderstanding about you dissapearing on me, earlier." She kissed Duilin on the cheek. "Good luck." She then went with the guards towards the caves.
"Okay. Well, yes I guess I would be the strongest mage here, but there are so issues. I'm really not to big in the ways of ice magic. I never practiced it. Another thing is that I'm more of a front line battle mage, rather then a back line range-mage, or whatever you call 'em." He then looked towards Goldolf. "Hey Oldmen, you said you knew some magic, ever practiced the water element?"
"Yeah, it's my favorite actually. Or was it fire? Ah heck I don't know." Goldolf replied.
"Uh yeah, well since they only have three mages, maybe you could go with Allen. Just hold them off, remember that."
"Yeah, sure thing kid." He replied.
"Ven." Duilin said. "I assume that they have a High General, with them. Likely Jayce or that Gore-ass guy."
"Gorus." Lagart corrected.
"Anyway, maybe we should be ready to combat him. Those mages won't be able to hold him off, so we would likely have to physically fight him." He turned to Lagart. "You think you'd be ready for that?"
"Yeah." Lagart answered. "I help fight."
(Zeros' you can do some stuff with Goldolf just don't fully control him. Like having him make drastic choices or killing him off. I don't want that to happen just yet.)
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday February 18th, 2007
(Aww... I feel so special. Heh.)
Zeros' sighed and shook his head, but nodded at Rink words. He dashed over to the imp and grabbed him. He reached to his side, grabbing his sword. Transforming an in instant, the holy form came to life. He slashed upwards, a crescent blade of energy cutting through where Gorus had blasted the wall. It made the cave to start collapsing faster.
He sheathed his sword, spreading his wings, wincing slightly, but he immediately flew towards where the hole was blasted. He did a quick teleport, making him and his imp companion appear outside. He did waste a moment before quickly flying away from the area with Rink and Duilin's mace.
---
Allen blinked, having not expected to be given this much command, but, he quickly composed himself. It wouldn't do good to get shakey now. His face hardened and he looked down at the ships, now blasting cannons at them.
He pointed at two of the mages. "OK. First, I want you two to use your fire element on the very beginnings of the beach," he said, pointing towards the areas where they would likely land, but not now. Wait until they land," he ordered. Two of the novice mages nodded and waited for the queue.
Allen then turned to the last journeymen mage and Goldolf. "I want you two to stand by with ice spells. The second you see lizardmen coming off the ships and storming the beach, immediately start firing off any sort of ice spells you have," he said. The two he spoke to nodded.
He peered down at the ships and adjusted his glasses. He just hoped this would work.
"Also, when the flames stop working, switch to ice spells and slow them down... Duilin, I also know your proficent with fire and other sort of magic. If yuo can do anything to assist, that'd be great."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday February 19th, 2007
"Blast it." Ven ducked a bit as an explosion hit nearby, shaking the walls. "If there is indeed a High General, then indeed we'll have to rush him... or retreat..."
Ven drew his blade and crouched, just peeking over the edge of the stone wall. He'd need it soon. Real soon...
"Archers ready!!"
The sound of a hundred arrows being knocked...
"FIRE!!!"
Shafts of wood tore through the air as the boats carrying the Lizard Men arrived in the shallow water, almost to the beach. A few shots were lucky and hit a couple in their soft necks, staining the water red, but the majority bounced off their armor or even their thick scaly hides, if they didn't plunge harmlessly into the water...
One boat, filled with seven lizards brandishing huge blades, began its way through the canal as archers on top of the flood gate harmlessly rained them with arrows...
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday February 19th, 2007
The entire room crumbled and Gorus was buried in the rocks. As soon as the dust settled a blast of black-violet flame shot from the north corner of the rubble and the slim robed lizard jumped from the hole it made. "Goruss?" It called, trying to find the High General.
Suddenly the massive green fist smashed through the broken rock and the damaged Gorus stood up. "Damn you rebel scum! DAMN YOU!!!"
--- ---
Duilin crouched down next to the stone wall with Ven. Lagart nearly had to lie down, because of his large size.
"Damnit...wish I had my mace." Duilin muttered.
"I have extra sword." Lagart said. "You want?" He said handing him a simple looking sword, which was a little more then half the size of Lagart's broadsword.
"Sure, it'll do. Half of my techniques need some sort of metal weapon." Duilin replied.
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday February 20th, 2007
Zeros', flying high in the air, holding Rink, sighed in relief and slowed his flying speed, slowing down to a realitively normal flying speed (for him, anyways).
He looked down at the imp and grinned.
"Well, we're out." he said, looking back to where they once were.
---
Allen narrowed his eyes and made a gesture with his hand, towards the lizardmen.
The two mages - the two instructed to use fire - held their hands high, their palms glowing a deep red. Then, they threw their hands forwards, making the fire rush forwards, a huge wall of fire appearing in front of the advancing forces, which made them suddenly stop and blink at the wall of fire that suddenly appeared in front of them.
(I hope that wasn't too bad.)
Then, he waved towards the lizardmen with the huge blades with his other hands.
THe other mage and the drow nodded and raised their hands, the palms glowing a deep blue. Ice suddenly started to rain down from the sky, the two mages combining their magic powers to create a psudeo-blizzard to rain down upon the whole Dark Empire forces, but more focused upon the lizards.
Allen grinned and waited to see the results.
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday February 20th, 2007
Hmpf. What's with the "my lady", Mavas? Were I not such a nice person, I'd accuse you of mockery.
Elphos was instructed to turn the boat. The island could now be seen in the distance, and Elphos was entrusted to choose a safe landing point based on his own judgement.
Fernis took Iduran's armor with a somewhat grim expression.
No sword, you say...
She gave out a sigh and continued to etch down runes unto the plate with her nails.
Though they were of demonic flesh in source, it was still no simple matter to do this right -
The steel wasn't too tough, but runes were delicate, and a simple mistake, like an extra line, could couse a total spell reversal.
"Alright, Iduran. I should be done by the time we reach Tjed."
Although the main runic "patch" would be a recharger/overcharger for strength and stamina, she started off with the shoulders, putting a simple barrier on the left shoulder plate and a simple strengthening rune of the right one.
She was about to start etching the main runes, but then paused.
Maybe I could tatoo a celestial sword generator on his arm...?
She took a glance at his arm, but then shook her head. She knew she was no good in tatooing.
But even with the main runes, there was still a lot of space.
What else could she put in?
Then it hit her, and she began etching eagerly.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday February 20th, 2007
"Could it be?" Wilham said. As he spotted two humans. "Finally some human life. I'm already sick of all the damned lizards lurking about." He then jogged towards the two humans."
--- ---
"So I hear you're a bounty hunter?"
"I was. Not much sure me want to continue."
"Well, the word around the street says you know somebody..."
Posted by: Burton_projects on Tuesday February 20th, 2007
The men walked out of the pub and Nick peered out the shutters of the window. Some men with stars on there shoulders came before the two horrible men. One of the luna opperatives started grabbing his throat as if he was chocking.
"Why are you wasting your powers?" The skinner on of the two asked.
The Luna operatives attacked seeing there fellow friend was in danger. One slowly pulled a MagShot from his jacket pocket and the other a Magnade. The choking opperative fell numb to the ground. A Magnade was thrown and a punch came lightning fast knocking luna opperative number 2 to the ground. The last opperative fleed for fear of being killed.
The men started walking away.
Posted by: Coriko on Tuesday February 20th, 2007
"Hmm, oh sorry Marshall. I was thinking of some old things. Yeah that sounds good. Alright lets get started. "
---
"Let me Jayce."
Druid ran and jumped over the edge. The ground and the attacker were coming up to Druid really fast. When the two parties finally met, a sickening crack was heard by the people in the ships. Druid stood up, however the attacker did not. Druid turned around and looked up at the ships. A loud grinding sound erupted behind Druid. He turned around and was slugged in the face. Druid staggered backwards.
“Son of a bitch!”
Druid sent a beam of shadow energy at the attacker. Again he heard the grinding sound, but this time he saw where the sound was coming from. The man he saw had greyish brown skin which was cracked. He looked like he was made of stone. The beam Druid fired had hit the creatures arm and blew it to smithereens. The grinding sound came after. The creature rammed its hand into the ground and the grinding started. The creature pulled his arm upwards and the earth moved with it. The whole hillside moved up with his arm. The grinding sound got more intense as the earth chiselled away to form a new arm, and once his hand was finished being chiselled the earth fell back down in its new form.
“That’s an um… interesting power you got there.”
For the first time in a long time, the witty and powerful ruler Druid was speechless for a good retort.
“Well this is going to be interesting. Lucky for you I have been perfecting this new ability, and this is the perfect opportunity to try it out.”
Druid raised his hands from his side with his palms up. His hands started to glow a deep red. His eyes turned the same colour and seemed to smoke. He started to lift off the ground as a circle formed around him. The circle was the same colour as his hands. The creature back away and then stopped unsure of what was happening. Slowly wisps from the circle flowed upwards and started to take the form of a creature. Then more of these creatures started to form. Two of the creatures that had formed had massive shoulders and were large in size. A third one was the same type of build as Druid. The shadow warriors had no detail and were the same deep red colour as Druids hands. Their body seemed to pulsate with shadow energy. Druid stopped after three of these creatures. He slowly lowered to the ground. Once his feet hit the ground his hands and eyes stopped smoking and he collapsed down to his knees panting. Summoning once was an effort, let alone three.
“Alright,” Druid took a deep breath in “go tear him up.” Druid breathed out in a much laboured way.
The shadow warriors launched themselves forward. The rock creature raised its arms to protect itself. The warriors tore into the rock man. The people on the ships leaned over to see what these creatures were capable of, but there wasn’t even time to see how the shadow warriors killed the rock man because in seconds the rock monster was totally destroyed. The creatures swooped back to Druid and lifted him up to his feet. They let go but Druid collapsed. So the creatures carried him up to the ship. They then dropped him on the ship. The people on that ship took a step backwards. The creatures flew backwards and dissipated into the air. Druid was resting on his knees with his head down. He slowly raised his head upwards and saw that all the ship’s passengers were starring at him.
“What are you looking at?”
//Xorlak, here was the post i wanted to do before. Thanks for fitting in the rock throwing thing for me. Does this post fit in now?\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday February 20th, 2007
(Coriko, the rocks I was referring to are from Tjed's catapults. I suppose it is entirely possible for a random golem to attack at the same time, though. Heh... Just be mindful that the main ships can't get close to land because they are too big, and that they are in the middle of launching a full scale assault upon the beaches of Tjed.)
Two random knights upon the walls of Kesnar, brandishing long spears, watched as three shadowy creatures utterly destroyed a golem upon the beach.
"Whoa! Did you see that?"
"Yeah, it would, like, totally suck if that guy sent those things after us."
"Indeed it would."
A few of the Lizard Men stopped as they ran into a wall of flame. Though it was long enough to buy the archers upon the walls a few precious seconds to reload, the lizards began to jump through it one by one. The first few were burned and staggered about, but more kept coming, and the effect was diminished too much...
With closer targets, the yeomen launched arrows into the creature's soft necks with increased precision. One by one the fearsome beasts fell, but for every one that dropped lifelessly into the sand, two took it's place, climbing over their fellows as the small boats washed ashore...
Then they were slowed a bit from the ice storm, but the effect was too wide and thus too diluted to strike down any lizard entirely, only serving to elicit serpentine curses from several members in the front ranks...
Iduran nodded. Were she to try that on his sword, he wouldn't be so comfortable, as it was his family heirloom. But he really didn't have any special connection to that suit of armor, other than it was a good set. He watched in fascination as she scratched runes right into the metal with her bare claws. Impressive as it was, he doubted she would be able to do that with his sword. It seemed unbreakable after all. Blast, he missed that blade. Almost as much as he missed living...
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday February 20th, 2007
//See, Coriko? I have no regular access to the computer and yet somehow even I find the time to post once in a while. Don't be intimidated by Xorlak, he doesn't bite...last time I checked, anyway.\\
The strange duo made their way towards Alex, with de Sade in the lead. Carmine didn't quite understand how the Lilithian knew where to go. Then again, Carmine's words could penetrate any armour and stop any sword. Would it not be easier if he just asked?
-"Goodest sir, you continue to absolutely astonish me. May I inquire how is it that you are so indeed truly powerful?"
-"Stars."
-"Astral magic, sir?"
-"Yes."
-"But how did you..."
-"Is this the life you have chosen, Carmine? Slaving your life for Roth? If so, leave me out of it. I will not be spied upon."
-"Yessir."
The important thing about overpowered madmen, Carmine thought, is the golden rule of all word warriors - the art of silence, the science of knowing when to stop talking. This seemed like the perfect time.
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Wednesday February 21st, 2007
“Well, Alex? Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he replied.
“This portal will take us back to Asgarnia, and we can get to Glacia from there.”
“It’s at least a day’s walk to Glacia,” Alex said. “So I’m going to have to load up before we head out. Still have the P.C.S.?”
“Of course,” Midna replied. “I’m still holding on to it. As soon as we return to Gaian, you might want to revert to your human form so as to not draw attention. I’ll give you your suit back on the other side.”
“Sounds good,” he said. “Make it happen.”
With the flick of her wrist Midna formed a portal back to the lands Alex called home. The swirling black-and-blue vortex opened in the ground, beckoning them to step through. She floated over the portal.
“Take my hand,” she said.
The same way they arrived here, the two Twili were disassembled into glowing black particles which were promptly sucked into the vortex. To them it all appeared to be a blinding flash…
The sun was rising on the Asgarnian cityscape. It was an average morning fitting of the summer months, warm and moist, storm clouds roiling off to the west, which would soon find themselves descending upon the city late in the afternoon. But now, the skies were clear and navy, becoming ever bluer as the solar disk rose above the horizon. In the clear skies the dark Twilight portal formed, a few hundred feet off the ground. Doing its job, it deposited Alex and Midna precisely in the same spot where they had left the night before. Even the same poison headcrab corpse remained, slumped in a corner. Alex, fully reassembled, shielded his eyes from the bright light.
He moaned. “Now I see why you hang out in the shadows so much.”
“Quite so,” Midna replied, also shielding her eyes. “You might want to change back to human now.”
Naturally a good idea. Within moments Alex’s Twili garments were replaced with his jacket and slacks, his skin color normal, his red eyes cerulean once more.
With a flick of Midna’s hair-hand, Alex soon found himself shrouded over the P.C.S. Mark-II tactical system again. The ebony metal shell encased him as it did those many hours before, hiding his face and body from those who never saw it.
“Come on,” Alex said, his voice filtering through the helmet, “we should head back to the rebel camp and ensure them we’re all right.”
“Right with you,” Midna said, taking the form of Alex’s shadow as he began his dash to the camp.
“Oh dear, Sam, I’m at the end of my rope!” Kleiner complained. “I don’t know what to do!”
“It’s all right, Izzy,” Vance assured him. “I’d bet my other leg that Alex’ll be back any moment.”
“Sam, you’ve been saying that for the past three hours now,” Dom said. “To be honest, it’s starting to get annoying.”
“Dom, hush,” Ilia scolded. “We’re all hopeful, don’t ruin it.”
A rebel came running in from inside, out of breath, but obviously excited, as evidenced by his cries:
“He’s back! He’s back! Alex has returned! Here he comes!”
All through the compound it felt as if a heavy weight had just been lifted from the rebels’ chests.
“Alex is back?!” Kleiner cried. “Dear me, I knew he wouldn’t forget us!”
“Thank God!” Ilia sighed. “I was worried for him!”
“It’s about time,” Fenix said.
With the greetings fitting of a saint, the armored rebel stepped through the doorway, rifle strapped onto his back, looking like none of it ever happened.
“Alex!” Ilia nearly burst into tears as she threw her arms around him. “We thought you were never coming back!”
“It’s good to see you again, buddy,” Fenix gave him a playful punch on the arm.
“Yes indeed,” Kleiner replied. “We had given up hope of ever seeing you again! Pray tell, Alex, where were you?”
“It’s a bit of a long story,” Alex replied. “Sit down and I’ll tell you. Just give me a sec over here.” He stepped out into the hall, knowing Midna wanted to talk to him.
Midna emerged from his shadow and faced him.
“We might as well tell them the whole story,” she replied. “No sense in keeping them in the dark any longer.”
“Agreed,” Alex replied. “For the meantime, let me do the talking.”
She took Alex’s shadow as he re-entered the room.
“Get comfortable,” Alex said. “I have a lot to tell you.”
“So I heard Lieutenant Carmine was assigned to de Sade during his job?”
“That’s right,” Commander Armand replied. “Though I feel sorry for him. Poor bastard was just transferred from Kandarin a month ago and now he’s going to up and get his head blown off. De Sade never was one for anger management, if you know what I mean.”
Commander Stroud stroked his bearded chin. “You think we did the right thing, calling de Sade back to help?”
“Who gives a shit about doing the right thing,” Armand sneered. “As long as Alex is dead, what difference does it make?”
“But Damien wanted him alive,” Stroud noted. “If de Sade kills him outright, Damien will have all of our heads. Bear in mind, Armand, that de Sade is not technically part of the Sovereignty anymore, and hence, does not possess ranking priveleges.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t rip us apart limb from limb for trying that technical shit on him,” Armand shuddered. “I’ve heard that whoever he touches collapses into a pile of ashes, nothing more.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Stroud replied, shuffling his cap. “That guy has a past I don’t even want to think about. They say it gives you nightmares just to talk to him.”
“I think I’m going to get nightmares from talking to you about talking to him. Stow it.”
“It all started back in the Industrial District,” Alex began, narrating the events leading up to now. “When a misfire with a cannon brought me dangerously close to death. My vitality fading, I had some kind of hallucination where my old mentor, Caulus Zalridge, came to me in a vision.”
“And what did he say?” Ilia asked.
“He told me to seek out Midna. You may know her as Princess Midna, ruler of Asgarnia before the Seven-Hour War. Once I tracked her down, she offered me a deal. She would resurrect me back into my body if I helped her with her task. At the time, I had no idea what I was in for, and blindly accepted.”
“Dear me,” Kleiner said.
“Then she told me to infiltrate the Citadel and take on Damien. Unfortunately, I was less than prepared, as evidenced by what you saw yesterday afternoon. Luckily, it didn’t take long for me to recuperate. As for the rest, I’ll let Midna herself tell.”
The imp emerged from Alex’s shadow on cue, much to the shock of the others.
“Goodness!” Izzy cried. “P-Princess Midna.” He bowed, along with the others.
“As you were, Isaac,” Midna said. “Anyway, I knew Alex couldn’t take on Damien in his current state, so I passed my prowess in the magical arts along to him, which he picked up quickly. With his help, we were able to temporarily cripple the Kandarinians in Asgarnia, and defeat Damien…for the moment.”
“For the moment? What does that mean?” Fenix asked.
“You see, as long as Damien survives, so does the curse he placed on me. That dark magic is what shrouds me in this imp form. As soon as the curse is lifted, I can take my spot alongside Alex as the Twilight Princess.”
“The prophecies proclaimed that the first-born son of the ruling Twili family would be imbued with the power of the legendary Twilight Warrior,” Alex went on, “who, along with the Princess, would eventually destroy the greater evil. Seems that I managed to fit the bill pretty well.”
“You mean…” Ilia gasped.
“That’s right. I’m the Twilight Warrior.”
Suddenly aware that two powerful beings were in their presence, the scientists bowed once more.
“Please,” Alex said.
“Alex, this changes everything…” Izzy replied. “You have our word that we will do whatever we can to help you. Anything in the world, just name it.”
“A generous offer, Izzy,” Alex said. “Right now, the most helpful thing you could do is allow me to leave for Glacia. Torn pages from a Twili spell book have been spread across this continent, and we need to collect them to prepare for the confrontation with Damien to come.”
“I understand,” Izzy said. “We’ll hold Asgarnia while you complete your mission. You have our word.”
“We can do it,” Ilia said happily. “Sam? Dom?”
“You won’t be disappointed,” Vance replied.
“You’ll have a city to come back to,” Fenix assured.
“Much obliged,” Midna said. “Alex, we really need to get going.”
“We’ll be back hopefully within a day or two,” Alex said. “Just keep the city safe.”
“We won’t let you down,” Izzy said, shaking Alex’s hand.
After saying their goodbyes, Alex and Midna soon were bound for the mountainous Glacia Commonwealth. One Twili portal later they found themselves at the snowline. It was a nostalgic feeling for Alex.
“Something wrong, Alex?” Midna asked, noticing he was faltering.
“You know, I walked this path eighteen months ago,” Alex said, “in hopes of finding a way to make a living. Glacia just wasn’t doing it for me. Now I realize all of those I left behind, friends I deserted, loved ones I forgot about, drowned out with obsessions of war.”
“I know it’s not easy,” Midna replied. “But despite it all, it’s important to keep on pressing on, regardless of what happens. I’m sure your friends are all safe and sound. There’s nothing of interest in Glacia to the Sovereignty anyway.”
“Despite the fact they know the great Twilight Warrior originated there,” Alex mused. He looked up the mountain range to the glowing lights of Glacia City. “The city itself remains untouched…”
Alex remembered everything about his past life, his past existence in Glacia. He remembered why he had gone there in the first place. To get away from the war, the violence, the hell. Now he would be returning for the very reason he left. As the two climbed, the never-ending snow once again fell gently on Alex’s metal shell, covering his shoulders and head with a fine white powder that dispersed when he jumped across thousand-foot deep crevasses. There was no denying it. He was heading for home.
Though he would realize a lot more had changed than he thought.
Posted by: Jenia on Wednesday February 21st, 2007
Elphos poked his head inside the cabin briefly.
"We are approaching the shore..."
Fernis waved at him without turning her head.
"All right, all right, I'm almost done..."
With that, Elphos went out of sight. A brief moment afterward, Fernis grinned and raised the plate above herself, as to observe her own work of art.
"Alright, I believe it's finished." she said, handing it back to iduran.
"Most of it will activate automatically, giving you some more strength whenever you feel you need it and keeping you from getting tired, but theres one that needs manual activation... It's one interesting idea I had while working on it."
She scratched her head and kept grinning. She was obviously proud of this new 'trinket'.
"Yup, this now acts as a teleporter! All you have to do is envision yourself in a new location, and you'll be there... Just note that since this is plain steel plate with no stones of power embedded into it, it doesn't have much power. Don't try to teleport too far away or too many times at once. And never, EVER try teleporting yourself into a location you cannot see! This is likely to couse the runes to overload. They won't explode ot anything, but I don't think you like becoming dizzy."
Elphos poked his head in once again.
"Are you getting out or what?"
Fernis sneered angrily and got up.
"Coming!"
//For future refference, the max distance is around 20 meters with a max rate of 1 teleportation every 10 seconds. This might seem like a lot, but try to imagine this in real combat.\\
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday February 21st, 2007
Finally, de Sade and Carmine arrived to the mountain hamlet. Everything around was snow-white, except for de Sade himself - somehow, when the snow landed on his robes (?), the flakes simply vanished.
-"Glacia, was it? This place looks too familiar."
-"I believe that this is where Alex is from, sir."
-"I hadn't asked for your input, mortal."
There was nothing here to suggest that Alex was present. This, however, didn't seem to worry de Sade.
-"Unless you have the fur of a bear, Carmine, I suggest you find yourself a place to keep your blood warm."
-"And you, sir...?"
The Lilithian grunted something incomprehendable. Carmine decided to give him the benefit of doubt, and headed for the closest hut. The hut's chimney was smoking, doubtlessly indicating warmth. The lieutenant took one last glance at de Sade, who looked like some grotesque statue. Strangely, when Carmine looked at him from the distance, for a minute he thought he saw an angel in de Sade's crooked shape... no, it was the same as before.
---
De Sade himself turned around, facing the direction Alex would be arriving from.
-"Run faster, Twili. My wings do droop in anticipation."
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday February 21st, 2007
Wilham arrived and approached the two people. One was a man wearing thick dark blue clothing and had blonde hair and the other was a man dressed in strange red and yellow clothing. "Greetings fellow humans."
Marshall turned around. "Shush. You'll give us away." He hissed.
"I beg your pardon?" Wilham snapped back.
"Who are you?" Marshall asked.
"I am Grand General Wilham Wolfe." He replied. "Who might you two be?"
"Marshall Royle. This is Coriko."
"Marshall eh? I sense summoning magic from you."
"That some talented senses you have. How could you tell?"
"I have those same abilities my young friend." Wilham showed the two his golden gauntlet with a white diamond. "By any chance are you a survivor of the Blue Minotaur?"
"Why?"
"I was the only summoning faction still around to my knowledge. You wiped out the Red Cyclops a decade ago, and they cleaned out the Green Wyvern twenty years before that. The others I think were destroyed by the Dark Empire."
"Others? I didn't know there were more summoning factions. Where are you from?"
"I'm trying to keep it on the down low. Perhaps we'll talk later."
"Sure, actually could you help us out here?"
"Okay. What do you need?"
"Just summon up something big and mean, and then run into this town with us. How strong are those gauntlets?"
"Pretty damned strong actually. I've cracked open a few skulls with this."
"Goodie. Let's get started."
Marshall then held his amulet and then his other hand out and Wilham simple held his gauntlet forwards.
Two spectres emerged from the mages, one white and one blue. The blue one formed into an ogre wile then white one formed into a green dragon about the same size as a dark dragon.
"Whoa. That's great some skill!" Marshall commented.
"Grand General, boy." Wilham smirked.
The two creatures then charged into the town. The ogre began smashing away at buildings and the dragon flew about spewing flame from it's mouth at the military buildings below. The Kandarin warriors then began to organize and attack the two monsters.
"Now's our chance! Let's go." Marshall ran into the town. "Remember; get the slaves out of the town, alive!"
Posted by: Coriko on Wednesday February 21st, 2007
Coriko ran in after Marshall.
"Hey," Coriko yelled to a group of cowering slaves "you want freedom? Me and my friend are here to liberate you."
The cowering crowd of people look at him blankly.
"This is gonna be harder than i thought."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday February 21st, 2007
Ven peered over the wall as he heard several scraping sounds.
"Blast it. Here's where we come in. Ready!!"
Holding his blade skyward, Ven's sword suddenly bust into a blinding white light. At the bottom of the wall, several lizards were using claw like extensions to scale the stone, straight up. The knight waited for the first scaly hand to reach over the top blocks...
"Hya!!"
With a flash of white, Ven severed the limb from the lizard, and the creature fell the full fifteen feet downwards into the sands below, screaming all the way.
"Attack!!"
With a rush, all along the walls the knight took their long spears and swords and jabbed down at the climbing beasts, pushing them off as each nearly made it over.
Yet more and more still came...
Iduran took the armor from Idher, putting it back on with practiced ease.
"Why, thank you very much."
He wasn't quite sure about the teleportation though, as his last encounters with similar spells left him queasy and disorientated, not to mention the time he was teleported away from Romme and stranded. Ugh...
It looked like he was going to have one last battle, though here on his former enemies' lands he would feel very out of place. He got up and followed the rune caster out the cabin door.
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Wednesday February 21st, 2007
Almost by magic. That was the radical change in environment Alex and Midna experienced in their upward trek to Glacia City. From balmy temperatures to near freezing, and still several thousand vertical feet to go. Down below Asgarnia looked disturbingly ruined. Alex had never seen the city from so far since he traveled there eighteen months ago. Now he saw the true extent of the Kandarinian Sovereignty’s damage. All the more motivation to remove them, he thought.
Despite what Alex had been through, he was slightly alarmed at how easy the journey to Glacia was. Sure enough he would find some obstacle to slow him down.
“So you said you once lived here?” Midna inquired.
“"Yeah,”" Alex replied. “For about seven years I did.”
“"So what'’s it like? In all of my Twili affairs I never had the time to come up here.”"
“"Well, it’'s pretty much cold year round, but the sights are amazing. I just wish we were coming up here as the sun was setting. The nights here are absolutely beautiful. It almost never stops snowing, and the Glacia folk are some of the nicest you'’ll ever meet.”"
"“Sounds like paradise,”" Midna said. “"Why did you leave?”"
“"Well, there just wasn'’t anything I could do to hold a stable income,” Alex complained. “So I left for Asgarnia in hopes of finding a job, being fed up with the war and all. Though, as soon as I got there, the portal storms flared up, and one thing led to another."
“"I see,”" Midna replied. "“So is it good to be finally heading back?"”
“"I’'m sure the people I left behind were worried about me, yes,"” Alex noted, "“they probably think I'’m dead. They know me."
“"Alex, this trip up to the top is taking way too long. Maybe I should just teleport us to the top."”
“"So why didn't you before?”"
“"It helps to see an area for myself first before I can start casting portals within it. Now that I can see the top, I could take you there now.”"
“"Fair enough,”" Alex replied. "“Do it."”
And so she did. The black portal once again formed, letting out directly outside Glacia City’s wooden walls.
"“Let me do the talking,"” Alex said, motioning Midna to take his shadow. She obeyed promptly.
Alex made three hard raps on the wrought iron gates. "“Anyone there?”" He called.
A guard brandishing a crossbow stood up in the tower overlooking the gate. “"Identify yourself!"” he shouted.
“"It'’s Alex. I’'m finally back, Seth."”
Seth could hardly believe his ears. "“A-Alex…? You’'re back? After eighteen months… We thought we’'d never see you again! Welcome home, Alex."” He motioned the guards to open the doors.
The huge iron gates swung open, revealing the same little town he had left behind a year and a half ago. Little had changed. Busy folk were milling about, working, having fun, being happy. It was truly a paradise.
Alex stepped through the gates and onto the town’s main thoroughfare. The market was still here, as were Sefl’'s Pub, the general store that Jen ran, and Harik'’s smithy. All was as he left it. It seemed unnatural about how little had changed.
“"Hey, Alex!"” Seth called back. “"I’'m sure you’'ve got business to do here, and I’'m still on my shift. As soon as that’s over I'’ll come find you and we can catch up!”"
“"Sounds good,"” Alex replied, and shook hands. He then continued down the main street.
“"So, where do we go from here?”" Midna asked.
“"Well, my old cabin is a nice place to stay. Let’s get there and work from there.”"
"“Sounds like a good idea,"” Midna replied, and followed him.
“"At last, my prey has arrived,”" de Sade hissed. He looked at the hut Carmine had wandered into to warm up. “"Mere mortals,"” he muttered. “"Always tending to basic necessities.”"
Across the thoroughfare he laid his eyes on the ebony man. He was in a prime state of vulnerability.
Carmine had just returned from inside the hut. “"There he is,” he said. “Why not attack now?”"
“"Silence, fool,"” de Sade commanded him. "“Hunting prey is an acquired skill. You need to toy with your prey first, lull him into a false sense of security.”"
Once again, Carmine knew when to shut his mouth.
“"Very soon,”" he said to Carmine, clenching his fist, “"the prey will slip up, and the trap will be sprung. Up to now you’'ve been dead weight, Carmine. Now you’ll finally be able to serve that Sovereignty you so foolishly conscripted yourself into.”"
That made Carmine’'s blood run cold. “"Uh, sir…"”
“"Carmine, if he doesn'’t do away with you, I will. Now, present yourself as the lure.”"
“"Err, Yessir…"” he sighed as he jogged up the road, speargun in hand.
“"Now, my little Twili wolf,” de Sade said to himself, “you shall die like the dog of war you are.”"
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday February 22nd, 2007
Allen frowned, but waved his hands. The mages ceased their attacks. He then pointed downwards, over the wall. The mages nodded in understanding and once again raised their hands.
Instead of the scattered ice storm, each mage concentrated their powers into a concentrated blast of ice, the balls of ice rocketing down towards the oncoming lizardmen scaling the walls.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday February 23rd, 2007
Soon there was a constant stream of lizards simultaneously crawling up and falling off the outer walls of Kesnar, knocking each other down and using fallen bodies as stepping stones as they thirsted for the human blood just out of their reach...
Spears were jammed into them, as well as rocks and boiling water. Sword points even when they got too close. Singular icicles were effective, impaling the creatures as they fell, but more and more simply came...
Finally there was a scream at one section of wall, a lone Lizard Man turning back the spear of a knight and knocking him down. He was up, on top of the wall at last. Three men rushed to knock him down, but in doing so they had to abandon their own posts, and thus, more smiling fanged faces appeared over the ridge, and the knights began to panic, their forms sloppy...
With a burning white blade Ven ran up and down the walls.
"Hold them back! Hold them BACK!!"
He brought his blade down hard upon the arm of one of the lizards that was teetering over the edge of the wall, then followed with a swift upward slice, casting the creature down upon several more climbing reptiles below...
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday February 24th, 2007
Duilin lifted his sword in the air, and concentrated his demonic and air magical energy into the blade, giving it a golden-orange glow. He then rushed towards the edge of the walls, where two lizard men had gotten up. As soon as the two lizards climbed over the wall, a glowing blade was slashed across both of their chests, and their armour and hide began to burn. Duilin stood in front of the two wounded lizards. He then pointed his left hand forward and shot a barrage of fireballs from his palm, which collided with the lizard men knocking their charred bodies over the wall and towards the ground below.
Lagart was a little bigger than the average lizard man, plus he was a lieutenant before he left so he had a fair bit of and edge of strength and experience over the attacking lizard men. One of the lizards Lagart spotted coming over the walls made eye contact with Lagart.
Lagart flourished his blade around and advanced towards the attack.
"Hsss!! Traitor!" The Imperial Lizard hissed. He swung his blade at Lagart, but it was blocked by his sword. The two lizard men clashed swords a few times before Lagart gave a mightily slash knocking the sword from his foe's grip and then gave a second horizontal slash across the neck slicing the creature's head off...
Posted by: Burton Pro on Saturday February 24th, 2007
Nick walked out of the pub. "Hey!"
The men turned around and stared at the teenager. "You want to die too?"
...
"Try me..."
The man put his hand up trying to choke Nick. His attempt was hopeless. The other man grew spikes from his back and arms. He charged to tackle Nick.
Nick unseathed his blade and with a few flashes of an attack the men fell.
the spiked man tried to speak. " Freak."
"Heh. Your telling me.."
//Heh (c) Xorlak, xavier and other people.
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday February 25th, 2007
(What, Xavier is using "Heh" now too? I swear that guy is such a copycat. Heh...)
"Back! BACK!!!"
Knight Captain Gander plunged his broadsword into the neck of the mighty lizard as it loomed over the edge of the wall, netting a warm spray of crimson upon his face. With the help of two other men, the trio heaved and pushed the thing backwards over the edge as the beast flailed.
He took a few seconds rest. The walls were on the verge of being overrun, but still they were hanging on...
"We can do it men!! For the King! For Tjed!!"
"YEAH!!!"
Gander brought his sword up, ready to strike down another beast that was nearly over the edge of the walls. As he jogged, he noticed everything around him getting dark...
"Why hello hello hello... there...."
"Who... said that?!"
He slashed his sword in the air threateningly. He was still in his place on top of the wall, yet there was suddenly no one else up there. No soldiers, no Lizard Men... and it was dark like night, with the skies churning black and crimson...
"Gander, Gander, Gander... a mighty Captain of Knights... What is it that makes you... afraid...?"
Gander could not tell where the voice was coming from until the last sentence, where he suddenly was able to follow the sound to the edge of the wall to his left. Snapping in that direction, he could see a lone boy, barely 10 or 12, with silver hair and an off-white cloak standing upon a raised stone block.
"Who are you?!"
Melface grinned...
"Is it darkness...? You don't care for darkness much, do you? You don't like invisible dangers, huh?"
Gander's eyes twitched around nervously, as indeed the darkness was swelling.
"Stop it! STOP IT!!!"
With a mighty heave, Gander brought the sword down upon the boy. But he simply wasn't there, as if he had never been. The sword struck the stone with so much force that sparks flew, and a slight gash was left upon the wall.
He then felt something coiled around his left leg.
"You don't like snakes either..."
Gander's eyes shot down in a panic, for there was a cobra wrapped around his leg, smiling.
"GAHH!!"
With a flash of steel, he slashed down at the thing. But it wasn't there. Instead, he put a deep gash in his own leg. He didn't seem to notice it though, but his rather his head shifted around in a panic.
Suddenly he felt a sting upon the back of his right arm.
"Heh heh heh..."
A snake had latched on to him! He tried to grab it and wretch it off, but another one came, biting his other arm. Then more and more... his legs and body and neck... dozens of them...
"NOOOOOO~!!!!!"
Then a giant snake loomed over him, flicking its tail and grinning. It spoke with Melface's voice.
"Oh my, you're a tasty one! I can tell..."
The knights got out of the way as Gander slashed around franticly, seemingly at nothing, screaming all the way.
"Sir! What's wrong?"
"He's gone crazy!"
"Look, he's injured himself!"
Suddenly Gander's stare went blank, and his eyes widened as he looked up. He dropped his bloodied blade and fell to his knees. His flesh began to burn, wrapped in a black flame, and crumbling away as ashes... The corpse then fell over, nothing but an armored skeleton...
As the distracted knights watched this horrifying spectacle, ten lizard men breached the walls and charged the group from the back. Most were killed within seconds...
"Heh heh heh..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday February 26th, 2007
"What the hell was that?" Duilin asked wile looking in the direction of a strange demonic aura. "That aura "¦ it's familiar."
Lagart fended off a lizard man with his broadsword, kicking it back and it was then ganged up by a trio of knights. "Duilin, what wrong?" He asked his half human friend.
"I sense a demonic aura. I felt something like this five years before the Asype Revolution." Duilin stated. "I'm going to check it out. Be careful Lagart."
"You too." Lagart replied.
Duilin jumped into the air and spread out his wings and glided towards the area of this strange aura. He remembered how dangerous that strange entity was before, he was afraid this one might be a threat to him and his friends...
Posted by: Burton Pro on Monday February 26th, 2007
Drew and Company talked for hours about the uprising problems.
---
Nick started walking Back to Asgaria. He thought now that Kronos was back together he might pay a visit to find out what was happening.
//Wow DM he remembered that long.. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt="Razz" title="Razz" />
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday February 26th, 2007
Nedham, a young knight, barely 22 years of age, turned and gasped in horror as he saw the lizards spill over the walls some 200 feet down the line. Soldiers from his company began to force their way in that direction, hoping to put a stop to this leak before it became a flood. He began that way as well, but stopped when he heard a voice to his left.
"Heavens, what a hapless turn of events this is. Wouldn't you agree?"
He spun on his heal, even as knights moved around him. Sitting on the stones of the edge of the wall, on Kesnar's side, was a young boy with silver hair, draped in an off-white cloak.
He kicked his feet childishly as he sat there, since they were not long enough to touch the ground, and spoke in a sing-song voice:
People live
and people die
Lizards come
and humans fry.
"Kid, you shouldn't be here..." Nedham spoke as he took a few steps towards the child.
Very suddenly, the knight felt as if he were hit in the stomach with a ton of bricks. His eyes opened widely and his mouth went agape. The child had quite effortlessly pulled a scythe out of thin air and impaled the man though the middle with the wicked curved blade.
Melface leaned in close.
"Oh, how unfortunately right you are..."
Nedham fell over dead.
"Nedham! What's wrong?"
His comrade turned over the stiff body but jumped back when he saw the gaping hole in the man's stomach, still warm blood spilling through the hole in the metal armor. What possibly could have caused such a wound? Clearly there was nothing around...
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday February 27th, 2007
Fernis was too busy standing on one foot while pouring the sand out of her shoe to notice the battle going on in the distance.
"Where is Mavas!?" She shouted at Elphos, putting her shoe on "I'v sent him to scout ahead, not explore the dark continent! Why isn't he back yet!?"
Elphos sighed, wondering what has he gotten himself into.
"Fernis, do you intend to interfere?"
"Well DUH, of course." Fernis replied, puzzled why would Elphos ask such a question "What fun is sitting here and watching?"
Elphos backed away and begun to mutter under his breathe, but Fernis did not seem to notice. The beach they landed on was quite a distance away from all the excitment. Or, as Elphos would put it, a 'safe distance'.
Fernis was quite annoyed by the smounts of sand constantly getting into her shoes, but she tried to remain calm, telling herself getting angry would do her no good now.
Suddenly, she walked up to Iduran.
"Well, sir knight? What do we do now?"
She was obviously expecting him to somehow know everything, just as he had seen things from the realm of death, she fully expected him to do the same now.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday February 27th, 2007
Duilin approached the dead Nedham and his comrade, who then looked at him. "Sir Duilin, do you know what happened?"
"I might." Duilin looked around. "I sense a demonic aura. I know it's demonic, simply because I can sense auras which belong to demonic beings, better than others." He kept his sword drawn, and focused with golden demonic-lightning magic energy. "Come on. I know you're around somewhere. Quit picking on these soldiers. I'm ready for you."
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Tuesday February 27th, 2007
"So where do you think the page is?"
"Probably in the mines," Alex commented. "Mines honeycomb the mountains, as they're rich in minerals. It was how I made a living before I left."
"Were you any good at it?" Midna asked.
"I nearly put the native smithy in town out of business," Alex chuckled.
Carmine looked around the corner from where Alex was entering the mines. If he could signal to de Sade now, they could be done with this and return home. Carmine didn't like the cold.
Finally, he took his chance.
"Excuse me, sir!" Carmine shouted with all of the authority he could muster.
Alex turned around, clearly paying attention to the holler. Midna took his shadow.
Carmine, speargun in hand, walked up to Alex. "Sir, state your business."
Alex could barely suppress a laugh. From the armor he knew this stranger was a Kandie, but decided to give him an easy time"¦he could always hurl him from the cliff edge a few feet behind them.
"I'm up here to investigate the mines," Alex replied. "I heard a new vein opened up, and I have a lease inside the mines."
"What is that?" Carmine asked him, pointing to the energy rifle slung across his shoulder.
Suddenly Alex realized that this man might know who he was. He tried to devise a ruse to fool the soldier. "It's a little thing I cobbled together in my spare time," Alex lied. "It's kind of a hobby."
"Call me crazy," Carmine replied, "but that looks like Asgarnian tech. Pray tell, how did you acquire such parts?"
"I'm not at liberty to disclose that," Alex said, beginning to back away.
"I insist," Carmine replied, reaching for his speargun. "Otherwise I'll do away with you and find out myself. Now hand it over."
"I'm not giving you a goddamn thing," Alex bit back, now reaching for the rifle.
"Truly a sad decision," Carmine sighed. "For I was not trained to take "˜no' for an answer." With a nearly inaudible click the spear launched itself from the gun and towards Alex. With a swift roll the spear whizzed harmlessly past him.
"Carmine, hold your fire," a commanding voice thundered. A figure in black robes revealed himself behind Carmine, his ghastly green hands the only feature of his body not shrouded in darkness. "I want to extinguish this one myself."
"As you wish, sir," Carmine stepped back, allowing the Lilithian center stage.
Alex stood his ground. "And just who the hell are you?"
Midna revealed herself. "Alex, that's de Sade! He was the former Archmage of the Sovereignty. You can't fight him, he's a hundred times the sorcerer Damien ever was."
"Midna, I thought you had more worthy endeavors to pursue than attempting to hone this pathetic excuse of a warrior's skills. It almost disappoints me as to how easy this will be."
"You haven't seen anything yet," Midna hissed back. "Alex is the best Twilight Warrior of them all, and he can prove it."
Alex remained speechless as the imp seemed to do all the talking for him.
"The only way to better oneself is through learning," de Sade said. He cracked his skeletal neck. "Let the lesson begin."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday February 28th, 2007
"Ready? No, you are obviously not ready..."
Duilin quickly found himself alone on top of the walls, the raging battle that was going on around him just a moment ago nothing but a dull clatter, far in the distance...
The sky suddenly churned with a vile read and black, and a tangible fog filled the air...
"You are not ready at all, my son..."
The towering figure of Abodahon was then upon him, towering over the half-demon, massive gauntlets on either side ready to crush him like an insect...
"... for you have failed in every way conceivable... You are a disgrace and a weakling..."
"Look out, Duilin!!"
A fist slammed into the massive demon's face, sending him tumbling over the wall. Shaking his hand once from delivering the punch, Zeros' turned to Duilin, looking down upon him with half lidded eyes.
"You're too weak, Duilin. I'll handle him. Stay here."
With that, his wings unfurled, and two more sets grew underneath those, yielding a massive wingspan, far larger than Duilin's. A sickly green aura engulfed him as he drew his blade, which in turn magnified in size. Without warning, Abohodon, jumped back over the wall in a single bound, and Zeros' flew skywards to meet him...
Mavas stuck his head out from a bush. From the overhanging cliff, he could get a fair glimpse of the battle raging on below. He watched as those scaly green creatures scampered over the walls of Kenar. Most were being thrown back, but some were getting through. More and more with each passing moment. Soon they would be overrun. He remembered when he fought for Tjed, very long ago... and could not help but feel a tinge of anger at the lizards invading his home of years back. But no! It was his no longer, and he did not care! His body resembled the Lizard Men more now, anyway. Pah!
He tunned around and snaked through the trees to tell that vile sorceress what he'd seen.
Iduran blinked at the question.
"Well, I uh... I'm not sure..."
He paused and stroked his chin. The dragon-like Mavas appeared out of the forest and waded through the thick beach sand, looking like a predator. He bowed mockingly to Indher.
"There is indeed a huge battle going on just up the beach, my lady. Lizard Men are storming Kesnar. Hitting them pretty bad. I saw it from the cliffs just back there. The whole town will be overrun in a few hours, maybe less."
Iduran snapped his fingers.
"That's it!"
The dragon-man looked at him with a scowl.
"Those cliffs back there. Long ago I lead an assault on Kesnar, but the Tjedians repelled it with a rock slide from those cliffs. Maybe we could do the same against the lizards? Surely it would help gain their favor!"
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday February 28th, 2007
//all Alex's actions were discussed in real-time with Dark Spartan while I was writing the post.\\
Alex drew his weapon.
-"What are we waiting for, then?"
De Sade cackled menacingly.
-"You really think you will impress me with a weapon?" He folded his arms on his chest. "Heretic."
Alex scoffed and pointed the rifle at de Sade's head. The latter had not moved a muscle, once again reminiscient of a grim statue. Alex, aiming directly at the unshielded face of the Lilithian, fired the rifle.
The blast split into two separate ones, making a circle around de Sade, and burning down a tree behind him. He looked lazily at the pile of smoking ash, then back at Alex.
-"You ungrateful whelp ought to learn to respect your elders. I told you that I won't be impressed by a mere hunk of conductive metal."
However, Alex was not yet done. Just prior to de Sade turning his head, he unsheathed his scimitar. De Sade turned around to find the blade in his face, though not even scraping his skin. The scimitar made a strange noise, and Alex was blasted away from the Lilithian into a nearby tree, falling limply on the ground.
-"The mewling child dares swing at the father?" A previously hidden energy wrapping around de Sade made itself visible, and, with a weak flash, vanished. "Hmmph. Hmmmmph. This must be what you call "humour".
The sorcerer was now looking at Midna.
-"Midna, you know better than to send... " He paused for a second. "...insects like that my way. Do me a favour, and help the kitten find its claws. I give you six hours to prepare, and after that, there will be no more mercy."
With a quiet "poof", both de Sade and Carmine vanished into thin air.
Posted by: Zeros' on Wednesday February 28th, 2007
Meanwhile, the real Zeros', with Rink in tow, was flying towards where Tjed was, as he had sensed the strange energies coming from that direction. He felt the need to investigate them.
---
Allen frowned. He didn't honestly know what to do. It looked like someone was using a form of magic on his commrades, making them completely vunerable. He glanced over at the man who had gone crazy and looked around at the others, trying to disconcern if any of them would also go crazy.
In th meantime, the mages were still raining concentrated blasts of ice down upon the lizardmen, but the ice was slowly growing weaker, as the mages reserves slowly ran out.
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Wednesday February 28th, 2007
Half-buried in the snow, Alex opened his eyes, to find Midna hovering over him.
"Alex, are you okay?" the imp seemed concerned.
Alex pulled his metal frame up from the powder, feeling various parts of his skeleton crack along the way. Wincing in pain, he nodded.
"I'm sorry, Alex," Midna replied sorrowfully. "I didn't expect de Sade to show up so soon"¦I figured we'd have more time to get you ready."
"Well, you heard his ultimatum," he moaned. "Six hours. That's how long I have to strengthen myself"¦I'm dead."
"If we could find that third page," Midna replied, "surely we could take on de Sade in the way he's used to."
"The Parasite is truly a powerful spell if it leeches an enemy's life force," Alex noted, "but maybe de Sade has no life to leech?"
"We'll find out soon enough," Midna said, helping him up. "Now, into the mines."
Under the majestic Glacia mountains existed the endless cavernous catacombs of the Glacia Mines. Searching for one page would be like trying to find a needle in a mountain-sized haystack.
The clock was ticking. Six hours would flash by in an instant, a blink of an eye in de Sade's lifetime. He had no problem in waiting a quarter day for his quarry to return once more for another fight. Hopefully next time he would pose more of a challenge"¦
Posted by: Jenia on Thursday March 1st, 2007
Fernis sighed.
"And how, sir knight, if I may ask..."
Her tone was almost sarcastic this time
"...will we couse a rockslide? We'd have to damage a pretty large part of the cliff to do anything serious, and the best weapon we have is my thunder-throwing armlet."
She turned to look at Mavas, examining him from feet to head.
"Unless Mavas made himself somehow so overpowered he can couse a rockslide by slamming the cliff, I doubt it can be done."
Elphos interrupted.
"But, can't we usem the runes of distortion on the earth to...?"
"NO!" Fernis quickly silenced him "If we do that, we risk destroying Kensar's construction as well!
Elphos nodded but did not step away, signaling Fernis he still had something to say. She raised an eyebrow, as if wondering if he would ever suggest something useful.
"Erm...Why don't we just create a selective thunderstorm?"
Fernis actualy pondered to consider that one. Attacking Tjed's enemy with thunder that only hits lizardmen would seem like a natural phenomenon, lessening the chances of their detection. However, to create such a large scale spell, time is required...
"I believe it's possible, but it would take me at least half an hour to create the rune set, and even then I can probably keep it active for no longer than an hour. Compared to that, I believe Iduran's rockslide idea is easier to pull off and better."
Both of them turned to the knight, obviously waiting to hear his opinion as the final desicion on the matter.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday March 1st, 2007
//Now this is way better then what I was thinking of.\\
Duilin looked Abodahon in the eyes. "Father...How did you...I thought you were..."
What's going on? Is this truly his father...it feels like it's him. Dear lord, it is. How did he gain the ability to do this? Why is he helping the Dark Empire? He hated the Dark Empire!
"A weakling!?"
Then he saw Zeros' sweep in and start fighting him. "I'm too weak!? Screw you Zeros'! This is my fight! I thought you had more honour then that, bastard!"
Duilin's mind was moving too fast for him to keep up, his thoughts were moving quickly and very clumsily. What is going on? His father has returned and his mentor is stealing the battle from him, it's a nightmare come true.
"I won't let you take this fight from me!!" Duilin clenched his fists and flexed his muscles, causing a golden aura of flame and lightning to surround him. He jumped in the air and flew upwards. "THIS IS MY FIGHT YOU GLORY HOG!!"
What's happening to me? I need to calm down...No...I won't I refuse. It's time to prove myself!
Duilin's right hand was surrounded in lightning began to glow yellow, to green and then to blue. As soon as he caught up to Zeros' he grabbed him by the shoulder, and pushed the stunning electric energy into him, and then threw him back. "I can handle this! I am NOT weak!"
"My son, yes you are." Abodahon stated as if delivering a blunt fact. Duilin glared at his father, just before being punched right in the face by the massive gauntlet fist, and shot down to the ground like a bullet...
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday March 2nd, 2007
There was a massive explosion as Abodahon struck the ground, plumes of brown smoke billowing into the air. Duilin was no longer upon the walls of Kesnar, but now in the midst of a barren wasteland. The earth was dry and cracked, and small brown plants that had lost the fight for life occasionally reached for the crimson and black skies.
The image of Zeros' expanded his wings fully, casting a shadow over the half demon.
"You shouldn't have done that, Duilin," he said calmly with narrowed eyes, "your place is in the back row. You must always be weak, because you cannot handle strength. I will have to destroy you before you turn on us again."
With that, the demonic blade shifted again, growing even larger, a wicked sword over fifteen feet in length. With a mighty heave, he split the very air, aiming to cleave Duilin through the middle...
Iduran through for a moment.
"If we can get a few rocks large rocks moving, it may be enough to start a chain reaction... Indher, can you cast the thunder spell by yourself? The rocks will only hit the southern end of the beach at best. If you can hit the troops attacking the northern end at the same time we cause a rock slide, then surely we can cause some damage!"
He seemed excited, like a kid. Clenching both fists, he shouted to the dragon-man and Elphos. "Mavas! Elphos! Come quickly! I will need your strength!"
He ran off in the direction of the forest, which began a steep incline to the cliff's edge.
Mavas grumbled, but found the stupid dead knight better company that the necromancer cat woman, so he followed.
Posted by: Jenia on Friday March 2nd, 2007
Elphos was at a loss. He was counting on doing what he is best at - helping Fernis.
He then noticed her waving at him.
"Go." She told him "I'll handle by myself. By the time I hear your rocks tumbling, I'll be ready."
Elphos nodded and ran in Iduran's direction, leaving Fernis alone to do a lot in little time.
"Alright. I can do this." she told herself as she bent down and began scribbling on the beach sand.
The circle she was working on, if to strike a large area with heavenly lightning, had to be quite large itself. Not as large as the one used to summon Iduran from beyond, as this one was simpler and required less power.
She hastly scribbled runes, which, if an attempt to translate them into normal language was made, would sound along the lines of "Strike by chain lightning from clouds to scales on base level around the army-containing area trice (per activation) in far apart locations".
Of course, all the non-exact phrases such as "army-containing area" or "far apart" were actualy long chains of runic numbers.
As Fernis scribbled this, she realized she wishes the runes themselves to be sentient and cooporative...
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday March 2nd, 2007
Duilin rolled to his left, barely avoiding the blade. "You can't be the real Zeros', he's not like this!" Duilin got up, quickly recovering. "Mavas!"
"No, Duilin it is me." Zeros' said, arching back his sword. "Ever since you lost that fight with Draven, you went too far to your demonic side, but you still lost. You'll turn on us again."
"Go to hell Zeros'! I guess Abodahon was right about you!" Duilin shouted.
"Be that as it may. You will die, weakling!" Zeros' swung his sword, at Duilin, yet the half demon blocked it with his sword, yet Zeros' demonic blade sliced right through the blade and the the hilt shattered into dust, in Duilin's hand.
"Weak. Weak, weak, weak, WEAK!" Zeros' hissed, swinging his sword again.
Duilin parried backwards avoiding the swing. "I am not week!!" Duilin shouted, clenching his fists. "If I have to kill you in order to prove that, goddamnit, I will!" Duilin hovered in the air and roared. His eyes began to get more yellow and darker and his aura expanded. "DIE!!" He pushed forward his hands and shot forth a stream of demonic orange lightning towards the fake Zeros'...
--- ---
"Zeros'." Rink said to the real one. "We have to hurry. I sense Duilin is in a lot of mental harm." He looked forward towards where they were going. "I think I'm picking up the begining of a bloodrage..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday March 3rd, 2007
The blast of lightning snaked through the air before boring into the image of Zeros' chest. His massive wings curled up around him as the blast threw him backwards, faster and faster. His eyes bulged and he writhed in pain before the explosion overtook him. With a reverbing scream, he burst into a million tiny specks of light, which thrust outward amongst a circular shockwave...
For a brief second, the barren wasteland amongst which Duilin stood flickered, the solid ground waving as if water. But the effect was over quickly, and the abysmal solitude was restored.
"Good, good..."
Another shadow now loomed over Duilin, this one much larger than the one cast by the wings of Zeros'.
"You have become your true self at last..."
It was the Dark Emperor Retan, his burning crimson eyes the only distinguishable feature amongst that horned black form.
Then suddenly, he reached up and pulled the helmet off of his head, slowly... His face was not visible at first as he discarded the black metal upon the ground, but it faded into visibility quickly enough as he grinned a maniacal smirk...
It was Draven.
"Well now, I really must thank you for all you've done," he spoke with a sinister glint in his eyes. "Especially near the beginning. Why, if we hadn't agreed to work together that fist time, none of this glorious war would have happened!"
Still dressed in Retan's attire, he held both arms skyward.
The ground burned. Everywhere. Villages burned. People screamed and fled in terror. But escape was impossible, as they melted in twisted agony...
Duilin now wore armor of a spectacular black, the four winged dragon of the Dark... no Crimson Empire emblazoned prominently upon his chest.
"But now it's all mine... All thanks to you..."
Iduran looked down from the looming rocks upon Kesnar.
"Hmmm, this is bad..."
He watched for a moment as the Lizard Men scaled the walls, like hundreds of tiny ants, overwhelming by sheer numbers. The Tjedians were starting to loose this desperate fight...
With renewed determination, and additional concern, the old knight leapt backtracked off the cliff's edge and down closer to the base of the rocks.
"This way, hurry!"
He followed the path down the cliff's face a bit, for the mountain edge was not quite a vertical drop off. It was quite treacherous, though, and he was forced to climb on all fours at some points.
The draconian Mavas seemed to be having less trouble. Though he was much larger than the knight, his feet were shaped like massive green scaled talons, and he was able to grab onto the jagged rocks without much difficulty.
Finally Iduran made it to the base of a cluster of rocks overlooking the sandy beach below. Warriors from the walls of Kesnar would be able to see them as tiny specs upon the mountain if they looked closely, yet with the raging battle going on, no one of either side would have the time to even consider looking.
"There."
He pointed to the largest one, a monolith some fifteen feet high, though slightly less wide.
"If we could dig into the rocks far enough, the ones above will topple over."
Mavas sneered and clenched his right claw into a fist. With a mighty punch, he slammed his fist deep into the stone, sending chunks spewing outwards in all directions. One nearly hit the knight. The dragon smiled a toothy grin. It seemed the cat woman came through after all.
"No no NO!!" Iduran interrupted Mavas' first pleasant thoughts after his change. "More gently!"
"Gently? You want me to gently cause a massive bone-crushing avalanche?"
He rolled his eyes. Soon. Oh, soon...
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday March 3rd, 2007
((That last thing Mavas said should definetly enter his quote record XD Oh, Xorlak? Feel free to control Elphos. He is an NPC, not a character, in case you didn't notice :p))
"Eep!"
Elphos just barely dodged the flying rocks coused by Mavas' punch.
Having barely climbed down, he had to catch his breath after such a tedious task, and here rocks suddenly started flying at him, scaring him almost out of his wits.
This was rediculous. Why'd he have to come? The words of the knight and the fists of the monster are more than enough to complete the task.
With the circle unfinished, Fernis rose her head in suprise as she heared the blast. It almost felt as if the ground below her was shaking.
It's too early, damnit!
She slapped herself as she realized she stopped working and returned to the feverious task.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday March 3rd, 2007
Duilin looked at his clothing, and ran his hand across the insignia; he then lifted his head and looked around. "What?" Duilin stepped forward and walked past Draven. He scanned the burning chaotic area. "I helped you do this?" He helped Draven, the man he truly hate do this.
But of course, it made sense actually; when he killed Zeros' he knew that only Draven could help him defeat the Dark Empire, his true enemy, the planet would have to go into darkness. But then and only then would he be left alone with Draven, give him his final battle and then he gain the title of the most powerful being on Gaian.
But no, this isn't what he wanted! He can't allow Draven to take control over Gaian, because then this exact thing would happen. Him and Zeros' are supposed to defeat Retan, with the aid of Tjed and the Dark Empire and Draven would be forced to surrender, because the mighty strength of Zeros' and his group proved that nobility and justice would prevail over evil in the end.
Then again, he would still live under the shadow of Zeros'. This must be why he chose this dark path. Duilin turned and faced Draven. "Now that I have helped you get this, I will take it from you." Duilin arched back his hand creating an orange horned skull made of his raw demonic energy. His hair grew a bit longer and started to whiten at the tips his muscles became bigger and his skin became more of a golden colour, visible horns grew on his forehead and a second pair of smaller wings sprouted under his older ones. The insignia on his armour turned to a golden colour and changed to the symbol of the Talonscar. He became the true spawn of his father the new Demon Lord.
He could hear his voice screaming in his head "NO! THIS ISN'T WHAT I WANT! MAKE IT STOP!" but he ignored it.
"And now that I am my true self, I can finally end my biggest problem...you." He tossed the demonic skull which doubled in size and it seeked its way towards the Crimson Emperor...
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday March 4th, 2007
The image of Draven's eyes widened.
"Huh?!"
The massive searing skull slammed into him, and he flew backwards uncontrollably, his arms flailing about wildly.
"What is THIS?!?! THIS IS'T sup--POSED to HapppENNNN!!!!!"
Then the barren wasteland illusion cracked like a shattered pane of glass.
Melface rode the edge of the demonic skull attack, flying backwards until he hit the stone edging of Kesnar's wall. A massive explosion ensued, sending large stone boulders flying in all directions, raining down upon the oncoming stream of lizards from the beach. Both Lizard Men and Tjed Knights alike were thrown into the air like rag dolls as a hole twenty feet wide was punched into Kesnar's wall, replaced by nothing more than a hill of rubble...
The child-like Nightmare Demon was flipped further skyward by this, landing some thirty feet off of the shore, right into the water with a huge splash.
Bubbles ensued from the drink for a moment before he finally surfaced, his silver hair matted over his face and his arms flailing about to stay afloat.
"Gah! A... a... demon lord?! Here? This is not possible...!!"
He went under again, then rose and coughed the water out of his lungs violently. He then weakly swam to the sandy beach and fell to his knees and hands, breathing and coughing heavily as the water lapped around him.
"Well well, Melface is looking scared. That's a twist."
A figure fell from the sky, his boots landing in the water next to Melface and splashing him in the face.
"Silence, drow! Or I shall make you wet the bed at night! Again."
The newcomer's eyes widened a bit. But then they resumed their cold gray professionalism. He ran his right hand trough his bright cerulean hair.
"So... what happened anyway?"
"I tried to eat the soul of a demon lord. Though he was disguised as a commoner."
"And... that's a bad thing...?"
"YES!" the child screamed. Suddenly he felt himself lifted out of the water. "GAH!!"
The hugely rotund Lizard Man studied the flailing child as he dangled above the water, the lizard's grip on the demon's collar.
"Did somebody say EAT?!?!"
"Unhand me!!! You... fat... thing!!!!"
"Bloat just want to help..."
"You are not helping my situation!!!!"
"I'm sorry..."
Melface was released, and he fell down into the water with a splash. The fat lizard resumed eating the large piece of meat that he happened to be holding in his other claw.
Rosario folded his arms, the sea breeze blowing his bright cerulean hair.
"Hey, Bloat. Someone's giving Melface here trouble. Perhaps we show this guy who's boss?"
"Can... I... EAT HIM?!?!?!"
"I... guess..."
The rotund lizard smiled a toothy yellow smile, and began to waddle after the pointy eared warrior and head for the opening in the wall.
Melface crawled out of the water, then shook himself off like a dog before scampering after the two like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Idiots! Wait!"
After recovering from the explosion, all the lizards looked upon the hole in the wall with jagged smiles. Climbing over a few dead bodies, they began charging the critical weak spot...
Iduran heard an explosion behind him, turning around to look at the town below, his eyes widened.
"Blast it! They've knocked down a section of wall! Hurry!"
Melface tossed an offending boulder away. With enough cleared, the huge rock above would fall right over, though they still had a long way to go.
"Heavens! But if we do that, then this might actually work! Are we sure we want our plan to work?" He grinned sarcastically, a frightening expression on his draconian muzzle."
"Blast it! Stop toying with me!"
"Now now, you're not being gentle!"
Elphos sighed. Surely if this battle didn't kill him, one of these crazies would. Why hadn't he just stayed with Fernis? He looked at the huge boulder, and noted the small hole they had dug underneath it.
"If only... we had some sort of... wedge..."
Iduran brought his hand to his chin.
'Hmmm, yes... we could stick it underneath the rock and pry it up, using a smaller stone as leverage... And since we'd be off to the side, we'd be in less danger. But blast it, we don't have time time to cut down and strip a tree..."
Mavas nearly pushed the old knight off the cliff walking past.
"Move it."
As the other two watched, he backtracked up the path they came, stopping at the base of a tree that was growing diagaonally out the mountain side, overhanging the sandy beach below. Wrapping his claws around the trunk, he ripped the thing right out of the ground...
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday March 4th, 2007
Duilin's grabbed his head as a large jolt of pain flowed through him. His Demon Lord form had become, true. Fortunately for him his Talonscar/Crimson Empire uniform was gone, however his grey custom combat suit changed, his orange belt was now red, and the suit was now black, it was reacting to his demonic energy.
"Duilin. Don't won't." Said a calming voice in his head.
"What's...what's happening?" Duilin groaned, his voice was much deeper then before.
"You've been attacked by a nightmare demon, he was feasting on your soul and making you believe your worst nightmares became true. As a result, you have experienced a full blood rage. Tell me, do you remember anything that happened between when you were sucked into the vortex and when you arrived in the Vandrin County?"
"Nothing." Duilin replied. "I have a craving to kill...to feed..."
"Don't be afraid Duilin. During the time you were away, you and your friends went to different dimensions; you went to Asgard, my home, the final resting place of the noble and the dwelling of the angels. I was chosen by the gods to be your guardian and help you be the first demon to go through redemption."
"Aegidius? How can I be redeemed?" Duilin shouted. He jumped forward onto the beach, where several lizard men were. The Demon Lord smashed the ground with his fist causing a shockwave or golden energy to break through the ground and push away the lizards, the energy splashed onto them and their skin burnt away. He continued to smash through the lizards showing no mercy, killing any of them who stood in his way.
"It is true much of your father's evil blood runs through you, so you will have to kill a lot of people in order to regain control, but I can help you."
"How!?" Duilin roared as he continued slaughtering lizards.
"Let's just say, I can make you kill the right people. Although I am against killing all together and against the concept of hate, but it's the only way to protect the innocent. Duilin, channel all of your anger and hate towards this attacking force, keep in mind who is friend and who is foe. When most half demons go through their bloodrage they loose total control and kill everyone in sight. It is a shame that you have to go through this now, but if focus yourself solely on your enemies. Everything will be okay."
"I...I am having trouble keeping myself controlled!!" Duilin yelled. He then raised his hands rapidly creating a giant fireball almost twenty feet in diameter. He then tossed it towards a group of Tjed warriors causing a large explosion burning away the poor fighters. "Zeros' will be angry."
"Duilin do not worry yourself. If you do, it will only cause you to loose more control. Listen to me Duilin, you are lucky. During your visit to Asgard your human blood too gained strength."
"What do you mean!?"
"You are correct of what you said about Humans. Those who are truly noble, have a light inside of them. With your blessed human half, you can regain balance after your blood rage."
"Will I go back to normal?" Duilin asked, looking at his enlarged and golden arms and hands.
"Yes, Duilin. You won't have to worry about your demonic appearance too much. Now Duilin, remember how the Dark Empire destroyed Romme, remember how they enslaved you. They are the ones who must be punished. Tjed, may have been an enemy of Romme, but they are a noble nation and perhaps Gaians only chance to free themselves from the Dark Empire."
"Yes...the Dark Empire must be stopped! I will bring them judgment!" Duilin roared again and raised high into the air. The Demon Lord then spotted a fat lizard man, a drow and a strange child. "That child! That is him!" He then flew towards the group. "Come get a piece, boys!!"
--- ---
"Zeros'..." Rink said sounding somewhat worried. "I sense a bloodrage. Yet something is different about it. Something has happened to Duilin."
Posted by: Jenia on Monday March 5th, 2007
CRACK!
A loud noise of a small tree being uprooted reached Fernis, cousing her to turn her head from the runes befroe her and look in the directions the others have gone.
What the... What are they doing down there?!
She began wondering why they haven't toppled the cliff yet.
Maybe I should have given my armlet to one of them... Elphos could've been of more use that way...
Fernis then realized she let herself get distracted, and returned to work.
She was now close to finishing...
Posted by: Zeros' on Monday March 5th, 2007
Zeros' nodded. He sensed it too, but now, they were only a few moments away from Tjed. He could even see the outline of the city on the horizon.
"I sense it too, Rink.... I hope we're not too late," he murmured and sped himself up once again, propelling himself forwards, fast.
The final burst of speed made his journey go faster, but it would still be a few moments before he reached Tjed.
---
Allen watched all that was happening with a grim, set face. He waved his hands. The mages stopped their assult and collapsed down to the ground, panting and gasping for air.
Allen crossed his arms and looked around before spotting Duilin ripping through the Dark Empire's forces.
"Well, that wasn't quite what I had in mind..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday March 5th, 2007
The dark elf Rosario walked confidently towards the demon headed their way.
"This the guy?"
"Yes! Now hold on a minute."
"Looks... kinda freaky..."
The child-like Melface caught up to his fellow.
"He's a Demon Lord. They generally freak people out."
"More than you?"
Melface merely raised an eyebrow at that.
"He shouldn't be a problem if divided amongst the three of us. Your attacks should be most effective on him."
"Right. 'Cause I'm the coolest..."
"If you do not stop. You are going to get a--"
"All right! All right!"
Rosario quickly removed a long slender sword from his back, cerulean sparks flying from the tip of the light blue blade. He held out his left palm straight forward, and pressed the flat edge of the blade against it. A cold wind immediately emanated from his body, and more so the blade, which began to glow a bright blue.
"Five gold says I kill him in one shot."
Melface rolled his eyes as he folded his arms.
"Deal."
Rosario took the blade in both hands and pointed it skyward as a bright cyan tornado engulfed him, shouting in some strange language:
"還遪都郴遵 蒦蒲蔊璸璃璑 涇扅抡 蒲蔊璸蒲蔊璸 蔊璸璃蔊璸璃!!!!!!!!"
("Super crazy hyper killing slash of intensely frigid cold!!!!!!!!")
With a flash he brought the blade down, cleaving the air and splitting the sands. The ground parted, mammoth icicles surging skyward and raining down upon Duilin along with a bright blue crescent of surging energy...
Chaos was everywhere.
"Blast it... we cannot hold them any longer!!"
Ven gritted his teeth as the captain yelled at him.
"Sir...? Sir!!!"
Ven finally turned his attention to the man.
"Listen, you get everyone out of here! Retreat to the caves! Hold them back there. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes sir. But what about you?"
"I'm going to help Duilin. Now get out of my way!"
Ven nearly toppled the knight as he pushed past.
After stripping off the branches, the draconian Mavas jammed the tree trunk right underneath the rock.
"There. Now what?" he growled.
"Push down on it. We should have enough leverage," the old knight replied.
Muttering, Mavas pushed down on the giant tree lever, but after heaving and even bending the thing slightly, the rock refused to move. Soon, Iduran and Elphos joined in, putting all their strength into it. Finally with a large jolt, the gigantic boulder dislodged. Iduran let out a triumphant cry as he watched it roll down the mountain.
"Yes!!"
He threw both hands into the air. And remained that way for several seconds.
Then he realized that none of the other boulders above were coming loose, despite the gaping hole left by the missing rock...
Iduran stroked his chin in his hand.
"Huh..."
Mavas clenched his claws and slammed his thick tail on the ground.
"You IDIOT!!!"
"Idiot... idiot... idiot... idiot..." The echo bounced off the mountains...
Suddenly there was a deep rumbling, and pebbles began to fall from above...
"... We should probably move."
"... Right."
All three frantically ran back up the path and out to the side, away from the massive avalanche as the entire side of the mountain seemed to fall apart...
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Monday March 5th, 2007
Deep under the Glacia mountain range enormous caverns stretched for hundreds of miles below the peaks, allowing any brave miner access to a plethora of minerals, ores, and in Alex's case, a page to an ancient spellbook.
Finding the page would be a task in itself. Through the thick rock and geology of the mountain Alex was unable to use his senses to locate it directly, only getting a vague idea of where it was. To make matters more difficult, the mines were still actively worked by thousands of dwarves. The three-foot tall bearded men often did not mind the occasional outsider trying to come in and strike it rich, just so long as they did not make a mess. Alex was well-liked amongst the dwarves, hopefully they could help him find what he was looking for.
"Goodness!" Midna cried, gaping at the sheer size of the subterranean caves, "This place is huge! We'll never find that page in six hours."
"Don't be so sure," Alex replied coolly, "I know of some help we can enlist." He pointed to one dwarf in particular, who had just driven his pickaxe into a rock to take a break. He wore red coveralls and a metallic mining helmet with a candle-lit headlamp. He took a swig of his pint of beer and wiped the sweat from his great brows.
"Excuse me, Barnes?" Alex called over to him.
"Yes, what is it?" the annoyed dwarf turned around, to see a large metal man twice his height standing before him. "Hey! I don't know who you are, but I don't like the looks of you! How did you know my name?"
"Barnes, it's me, Alex," he took off his helmet, revealing the familiar face Barnes knew.
"Good God, man! You gave me a scare! How ya been, Alex? Haven't seen ya in a while."
"I've been busy," Alex replied. "Liberating a once-utopian city from enslavement."
"Do tell!" Barnes exclaimed, sitting his rump down on the rock. He looked over to Midna. "And a fine hello to you, ma'am. Say, you're a fine-looking little lady. What say you and I get together later?"
"Perhaps another time," Midna retorted, taking her spot at Alex's side.
"Barnes, we have a favor to ask of you," Alex said.
"After you saved my life all those years ago from that rockslide, I don't think I can do enough to pay you back!" Barnes chuckled. "Shoot."
"Well, you see, we're kind of looking for something."
"Can you be a little more specific?"
"Sure. It's a page out of an old book that I'm trying to put back together. I know it's within these mines, I can feel it. Have you found such a thing in your mining?"
"Well, we did find something strange up that tunnel a few miles," he pointed to a large opening in the cavern leading north. "Though for some reason we can't proceed any further. A rockslide collapsed at the end of the tunnel and none of our equipment can dislodge it. You can try your hand at it if you want but you would really just be wasting your time"¦"
"Can you take me there?" Alex asked.
"I would," Barnes went on, walrus mustache twitching atop his boundless beard, "but the steam carts were put out of commission when the rocks fell. It also trapped some of our miners behind it, and we can't get them out. If you want to head up there, I'm afraid you'll have to walk"¦"
"That suits me just fine," Alex replied. "Though you got anything I could use to try to dislodge those rocks?"
"We've tried everything," Barnes said. "We've tried pickaxes, drills, all manners of explosives. Not even our cannons can move the rocks. In fact, the cannonballs shatter!"
"God," Alex said, astounded. "What the hell are those rocks made of, then?"
"Some unknown material," Barnes noted, "stronger than that runite stuff. We even tried a few runite cannonballs, but they shattered like glass."
Alex winced. Runite was expensive stuff.
"We're not sure what caused the cave-in," Barnes went on, "the area's been geologically stable for the past eighteen months"¦why it's acting up now is anyone's guess."
Though Alex had a pretty good idea of what might be causing it. Bet anything it's de Sade, he thought to himself. He'd do anything to impede my progress. That son of a bitch.
"So are you going to head up there and check it out?" Barnes asked.
"Doesn't seem like I have much of a choice," Alex said. "If I help your miners out up there, I might also find what I'm looking for, so everyone wins."
"Good to know," Barnes said, shaking Alex's hand.
As Alex proceeded to the tunnel, Barnes shouted to him one last time.
"I'd be careful if I were you!" he called. "Ever since that last cave-in the whole mine's been kind of unstable! Don't set off any huge explosions or stuff like that!"
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind!" Alex hollered back as he continued up the tunnel and disappeared from view.
Alex turned back to Midna as they kept walking. "Was he hitting on you back there?"
"Oh hush," Midna snapped back, crossing her arms as she drifted alongside him. "You've got six hours to find a book page, not figure out love triangles."
"Hey, you said it, not me," he replied as the two kept walking in silence, Alex's metallic footsteps echoing throughout the cavern on for miles and miles"¦
"Sir, it seems like your rockslide worked perfectly!"
"Such trivialities," sighed de Sade, "I honestly thought he would be more of a challenge than this. I'm disappointed."
De Sade and Carmine stood over a massive ravine that had once been part of the mountainside, now the collapsed region that impeded the dwarven mining ops.
"So what do we do now?" Carmine asked.
"Why bother asking," de Sade replied, "when you clearly know the answer?"
"Err, we wait out the six hours you designated, sir?"
"Carmine, you disappoint me," de Sade sighed. "All of this military training and you have naught to show for it?"
""¦"
"Of course, Alex will acquire that page, make no mistake about it, but he will not leave these mountains alive."
"So we track him down and destroy him inside the mines."
De Sade sighed once more, annoyed with the lieutentant's naïveté. "Just come with me," he finally hissed to him. Carmine, being the word warrior he was, followed behind the sorcerer without so much as another aggravating word.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday March 5th, 2007
//Oblivion, Jenia?\\
De Sade stopped at a small plateau on top of the mountain.
-"Carmine," he whispered coldly. "I need your blade."
Without any comments, Carmine unsheathed his sword and handed it to the sorcerer. De Sade struck the weapon into the frozen ground beneath. The structure of the weapon slowly turned translucent, and soon, completely see-through. A second later, an image of Alex appeared over the blade, which was now faintly glowing green. The image also appeared to have a green tint to it.
-"I am really disappointed in your superiors, lieutenant. Who was the fool that taught you to rush recklessly into the opponent's lair? Why even bother fighting the enemy yourself, there are others to be persuaded into doing so?"
-"Uh...?"
The projection of Alex vanished, and turned to an image of a black-armoured warrior walking through the mine's passage, balancing a giant single-bladed ax on his shoulder. His armour was dark brownish-green, and had occasional bone spikes sticking out of it. His face was covered by a horned full-face helmet, with a T-shaped crack for breathing and seeing.
-"Behold, the champion of Lilith, my home dimension - Ix. I have encountered him... on many an occasion... we have a history, but that will take a long time to tell."
-"Well, sir, it looks like we have a lot of time to kill."
-"The story alone is enough for two of your miserably short lifetimes, Carmine."
-"Oh..."
They sat for a minute, looking at the warrior.
-"Sir... if I may so inquire... How did you shift a full being from a different dimension into this one without as much as a spell?"
De Sade was ready to snap at the foolish mortal vexing him with dumb questions, but decided not to. Odd... He did not feel the same feeling of absolute superiority over Carmine anymore.
-"I never shifted anything, lieutenant. The whole thing is an elaborate illusion, chanelled from me into the mountain, through your blade. Midna might feel it, but I doubt she really knows what it is."
--- --- ---
Finally, Alex and Midna came up to the wreck. Even from a distance, it seemed clearly unnatural, and up close, it did not look like a collapsed tunnel at all. It was more of a large chunk of runite, still in its crystalline form. A crystal of such purity and in such amounts never occured naturally.
Alex and Midna, however, didn't need much time to figure out how to dispose of the wreck. Just as Alex touched it, the crystal vanished. The duo came into a large room with a stone pedestal in the middle, with the coveted third page lying on it.
-"Too out in the open," Midna mumbled. "I doubt that whoever hid this would hide it like this."
In the end, Midna was right. Alex's hand passed right through the page when he made a grab for it, and, with a deafening explosion, the crystal behind them rematerialized. There was no way back.
-"I can always count on inferior species to do exactly as I design, it seems."
Behind Alex was de Sade himself, but a little more menacing than usual.
-"Do I hear a sharp intake of breath, Alex? Were you not expecting me?"
-"You..."
-"Observant as the previous Twilight Warrior, I see. Pity it did not help him much." De Sade remained still, though his wings were twitching slightly. "But, we are wasting time. Alex, within these corridors, you will find your exalted page. I do warn you, though: there may be... other things that you may encounter, perhaps less pleasant than you'd expect them to. I'd wish you good luck, but not even your diety's intervention will save you now."
With those words, de Sade disappeared (in his usual fashion - into thin air).
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday March 6th, 2007
(("Oblivion"? What are you talking about?))
Fernis just put the finishing touches in her circle as she felt a loud rumbling begin to shake the ground below her.
Ah, that must be my que.
Fernis then moved a little further away, knelt down and put both of her hands within the circle.
Now...To unleash the the heaven's fury, as they say...
Fernis let out a soft laughter as she tried to contain the maniacal one. The runes first lit in yellow light, cousing the clouds to darken, then in green light, cousing the darkened clouds to gather and be condensed above the field of battle.
Then, finally, the runes began to shine blue. That was when the lighting started mercilessly striking the poor lizardmen. Rather than appearing like a natural lightning storm, there were always 3 bolts that kept striking at set intervals. Those intervals were so short, however, that even an idiot would realize the storm is an assault of magical nature.
Oops. Guess I miscalculated a bit. Oh well. At least I'll get a nice lights show!
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday March 6th, 2007
As Duilin saw the glowing blue blade coming towards him, he focused his energy into his hands he then swung his hands forward and summoned a large shield of demonic flame around him. The mammoth icicles were melted by the extreme heat of the flames from hell. After the icicles seized Duilin banished the flame and then stepped forward.
"It's time for you to be punished for your mistakes." The Demon Lord stated pointing forward. "Now you face your damnation!" Duilin roared as he lifted his arms into the air and then smashed his fists into the ground, cracking the earth below. From the fissures several flying demonic skeletons came from the fissures and then swarmed towards the dark elf, reading to rip him to shreds...
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday March 7th, 2007
"Holy crap!!"
The cerulean-haired warrior was taken aghast by the skeletal attack and his feet left the ground. He soared backwards as the things reached for him with bony hands, his blue blade slicing the nearest one in half. But there were two more quickly upon him, and his blade blurred as he struggled to repel the things' slashing motions.
"Blast it, Melface!! What's with this guy?!"
The child-like demon dodged with a back flip.
"I told you! You inept elf!!"
Melface held two small hands towards the oncoming skeleton and the air waved as if water, but whatever spell it was had no effect on the skeleton thing. Blast it!! No mind, no dreams! As the skeleton's claw came down upon the child, Melface simply vanished, his face contorted into a scowl.
Then the fat lizard stepped forward...
"Huuuuungryyyyy..."
A skeleton slashed at his rotund yellow stomach, yet the thing's bony arm merely stuck into it as if the Lizard Man were made of butter...
"He he he he... TASTY!"
With a giant CRUNCH, Bloat's crocodile-like jaws bit right through the skeleton's head, the rest of it crumbling to nothing...
Ven finally made it to Duilin's side, and looked upon him in quite a startled fashion.
"Duillin... is that you?"
Had he really just cast those dark skeletons against the invading force?
And thus, rocks hailed down upon the Lizard Men from the mountains high above...
Those arriving on the beaches near the south-western corner of Kesnar were instantly crushed by the landslide, many of the gargantuan stones flying into the sea and causing great waves.
Many of the lizards fled for the hole in the wall created up north a little ways, despite the enemy Demon Lord near it, but then great bolts of lightning came from the skies and struck them down. Chaos ensued amongst the Dark Empire ranks...
The wounded and retreating Tjed army continued out of Kesnar, now free from attack from their vulnerable rear due to the mass confusion.
"YES!!"
Iduran held his arms high has he and the others rejoined Indher further up the mountain.
"Take that!! Oh yeah!!"
He watched as rolling rocks and lightning bolts claimed still more victims down below.
"I think just that was worth coming back for..."
Mavas rolled his reptilian eyes.
"So, what now?"
"Why we must capitalize, of course! ATTACK!!"
Iduran made as if he were going to run down the now less steep incline.
"With what? Just us four? The army's freakin' retreating, and you don't even have a sword you senile old man!"
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Wednesday March 7th, 2007
De Sade's illusion was complete. From what Alex and Midna saw, they had been dropped into an extensive labyrinth. To make matters worse, de Sade's summoned armored abomination would be actively hunting them.
"What the hell just happened?" Alex said. "One moment we're in the tunnel, and then de Sade comes"¦and now we're here?"
"I don't get it either," Midna replied. "I'm wondering what he did"¦"
"Whatever he did, it's real," Alex said back. "That giant armored thing could be anywhere, and I'm not looking forward to him finding us."
"I'm with you on that," Midna said. "We need to find that page and get out of here."
The page itself rested on a stone pedestal in the very center of the maze. However, high walls obstructed view, so solving the labyrinth would be a matter of trial and error. De Sade's sick game would for sure test Alex's nerve, as well as his blade.
Through the halls and corridors of the maze the duo could hear the thundering shifting and clanking of the warrior's armor. The bloodthirsty fighter would have loved nothing more to have Alex's head and Midna's helm as a trophy. He would soon get his wish of fighting them.
"Do you have any idea where the exit to this place is?" Alex asked.
"Beats me," Midna replied. "Though I can't help but think that something isn't right here."
"Of course something's not right," Alex shot back. "An evil sorcerer teleported us into a maze with a huge armored fighter that can rip us limb from limb. If that's right I don't want to know what's wrong."
"No, no, I mean, something's not right with this maze. There's something wrong here"¦"
"Obviously," Alex said. "You're repeating yourself."
"Let's just keep going," Midna finally sighed, giving up explanation.
"Hey!" a seemingly innocent female voice called. "Over here!" When Alex turned his view towards the sound of the voice, he saw a young girl garbed in all white robes, waving her arm. "You're trapped in this maze, are you?"
"I guess so," Alex replied, not seeing an obvious way out.
"Would you like to get to the maze's end?"
"Err, sure," he replied again.
"I know the way out. Follow me if you want to escape."
Before Alex would follow the girl, Midna stopped him.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked. "Why would someone just conveniently appear to help us out of this?"
"Any help at this point is good," Alex said. "If she can help us out, I'm not complaining. The sooner the better." He turned back to the white-garbed girl. "Please, lead the way."
As the three were exploring, Alex decided to break the silence with some conversation.
"I don't think I've ever seen you before"¦what's your name?"
"Aurata," she said softly. "And it's no surprise you've never seen me before. I don't even live in Glacia."
"Oh, really?" Alex inquired. "So where are you from?"
"A different dimension, from a race called the "˜Prayer People'."
"Interesting," Alex replied. "I can't say I've ever heard of them"¦what do they do?"
"Our entire populace believes in a divine magic that increases in power when its followers have faith in it, hence the name "˜Prayer People.' I myself am a normal Prayer Person, I pray to the magics so that our great elders can shine prosperity back down upon us."
"Curious," Alex said. "That's very--"
His thought was cut short by the shadow of the heavily armed brute around the corner that was hunting them. Alex drew his rifle. "Shit, it's that warrior de Sade put in here with us."
"Oh dear," Aurata replied. "What can we do?"
"There's not much room to maneuver here," Alex said, "so we'll just have to fight him."
Aurata gasped. "You think we can?"
"I know we can," Alex said, raising his rifle and peering down the scope.
Without delay, the giant thundered round the corner, brandishing his terrifyingly large axe in his hands, emitting a war cry and then charging at Alex.
In the short time he had, Alex lined up the money shot and unleashed a bolt of energy from the gun directly towards the assailant's armored head. The bolt sunk into the helmet, seeming to be relatively ineffective, merely enough to stop the knight for a moment for Alex to see an open spot.
"There," Midna pointed. "Chinks in the armor!"
Without pause Alex drew his blade and leapt towards the stunned warrior, in hopes of removing some of his armor. Unfortunately, the dazed knight regained his posture and deflected Alex's attack with a brutal swing of his huge axe, sending him to the ground.
Himself now dazed, Alex barely managed to roll back away from the axe as the warrior swung down in his deathblow. His enormous axe, now buried a good six inches into the rocky floor, would be a chore for him to uproot.
Alex lined up some more shots, only to have them all deflected by the warrior's superior viridian shell. The rifle was useless, the sword was useless, what could he do?
Eventually the knight managed to emancipate his bludgeon from the earth, and delivered a swift and crippling blow to Alex's body, sending him slumping into unconsciousness.
"Alex!" Midna cried as she flew over to him and tried to get him to snap out of it.
Aurata was all left standing. As the dark-shelled warrior approached her, she mumbled some words almost incoherently:
"Let the faith of the many fight the follies of the few!"
Within moments, the dark warrior froze in his advancing stance, bright rays of light emitting from his blackening body. When all was done, the warrior was as stone as a statue, which promptly detonated, hailing the surrounding area in gravel.
"The folly is fought," she closed. She walked over to Alex. "Are you okay?" She asked.
Alex had won the fight in his battle with death. Soon enough he was back on his feet. He moaned and finally found the strength to bring forth the words, "What the hell did you just do?"
Aurata was silent for a moment. "The power of my people," she said, "is not to be trifled with."
"Okay"¦" Alex replied. "You said you were a Prayer Person. I see now that you're more than that"¦"
"Now is not the time to be asking questions," Aurata replied adamantly. "The exit is right around the corner."
Knowing when to stop talking, a judgment analogous to Carmine's, Alex followed this mysterious girl to the end of the infernal labyrinth, and to his reward.
Midna's exposed eye darted around the ever-suspicious scene. "I've got a bad feeling about this," she said to herself"¦
Posted by: Jenia on Thursday March 8th, 2007
Elphos cought his breath and shook off the dust in his hair.
"Drat...Her, Fer-"
He then noticed she was still absorbed with the circle. To interrupt her would not only stop the still continuing lightning, but it would probably end up jolting her as well.
"Right..." Elphos scratched his still dusty head "So, ugh, Iduran, I'll have to go with Mavas on this one. I don't think we can take on an army, even if we get you a sword..."
He paused for a moment, considering the option.
"Well, sure, I can conjure a simple steel longsword right now, or wait for Fernis here to get you something more sophisticated..."
He sighed.
"But we are still just four... Even if we count Mavas as a hundred, which isn't too hard considering he has a custom body, we'd still only be able to barely push through. Heck, the only way the four of us could make some serious difference is if we assault one of their leaders directly rather than engaging in pointless combat with the lizzies."
Turning his head skywards, Elphos closed his eyes, apperantly losing himself in thought.
"Ah, truely, it would be nice if we could just take out the leader of the assault... He doesn't have to even die, retreating is enough... This will leave the lizzies here trapped and abandoned... We might even get them to surrender and avoid more of this nonsense..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday March 8th, 2007
Duilin turned his head and looked down at Ven. "Yes..." He simply replied. He could kill him, Ven wasn't as strong as these three and he could use the energy to fight them.
'I know what you're thinking Duilin. You have to fight it. Ven is a good man, although he has killed. But like you, he has saved many more lives doing this, and for this he can be forgiven. Don't go down the path, fight your hunger.'
Duilin shook his head and turned away from Ven and then stepped forwards toward the three. He examined them. "Ven, would you like to help me? I think you're strong enough to take the dark elf. I'll take the nightmare demon...the possessed child..."
Duilin pressed his hands together and began to focus his energy and an orange glow emanated around him...
Lagart was a little slower than Ven but was able to catch up. His sword was stained in blood and he has a few cuts and scratches over his face and hands. "Duilin...changed..."
Posted by: Zeros' on Friday March 9th, 2007
Zeros' was floating above the battlefield and caught the tail end of the conversation. His eyes scanned Duilin's aura and frowned.
"Hmm..." he thought for a moment before he flew down towards where Ven was standing, reaching him in a matter of moments, Rink in tow.
"Hey," he said lightly, to Ven and Lagart, as he landed.
---
Allen sighed and closed his eyes. The captain beckoned him to come, but he shook his head. The captain let out of a frustrated sigh, but he continued evacuating people. Allen slumped down against a wall and leaned his head back. He might be an old man, but his battle was here, on the battlefield, at least for now.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday March 9th, 2007
Ven brought his sword before him as it began to glow an etheral white.
"Right. But remember, we only hold them back until the rest of the army gets back to the caves. No heroics, and no one's dying today. Got it?"
His voice was stern, his experience as a military commander showing through just then, though he was still fairly young.
Then he saw Zeros', and his expression softened. "Zeros'! Am I glad to see you!"
"I think not!!!"
The dark elf Rosario was dive bombing them diagonally from the sky. Ven held his sword high, then leapt into the air, right in front of Duilin.
"HYAAAAHHH!!!"
The two blades met, white and blue, and each man was violently thrown backwards, their boots digging deeply into the sand as they landed.
"Just who do you think you are?!" Rosario demanded, snarling.
Ven smiled, his attempt to getting the blue haired warrior off of Duilin having succeeded.
"Your end."
"Really?"
Rosario dashed forward, his form disappearing, and small explosions of sand kicking up in each place his feet fell. Ven's eyes widened, but he had no time to be surprised as he brought his sword up to block the slender blue blade.
The child appeared in front of the rotund lizard man and faced Duilin, his fists balled, clearly irate.
"Oh!! You think you're so smart don't you?!?!"
He turned.
"BLOAT!!"
The fat lizard, who was busy licking his claws, turned his head suddenly.
Melface pointed. "EAT HIM!!!!"
The lizard's eyes widened, and his muzzle cracked open in a fang-ful smile.
"I... I can EAT HIM?"
"Yes, you mindless lard heap! EAT HIM!!!"
"He he he he he...."
Bloat then began to excitedly waddle towards, Duilin excitedly...
Iduran stopped completely, his expression turning dour as he ran a gauntlet through his hair.
"No... I don't think we want to attack their leader... not just yet..."
He shuddered as he remembered the burning man who attacked his homeland, and how powerless he and his friends were against him. He could only hope there wasn't someone like that leading this escapade here...
"Though your words ring true..."
He paused for a moment as he studied the army retreating out of Kesnar. A retreat made much more possible through their intervention.
"I think our best course of action, then, is to join with Tjed's army. You are right, there is only so much we can do separate. Come, let us make haste."
Mavas opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly shut it, suddenly realizing the implications of this plan. Ven would likely be down there with that army... Then he could have his revenge... How perfect!
"For once the old man speaks sense. Let's... meet up with this army..."
The draconian grinned, expressing an impressive set of jagged teeth.
The two lizards mulled around the golden cabin door. The gentle sea waves slowly rocked the boat...
"I... I think we should tell him..."
"Yeah... go on ahead..."
"W-wait. Why don't you tell him...?"
"M-me? You mentioned it..."
"Well... I-I... uh..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday March 9th, 2007
Duilin continued to focus his demonic energy; he then noticed that the fat lizard man was waddling towards him. They think this tub of lard could take me down? This is an insult!
Duilin, with his hands still pressed together lowered them till his fingers were pointing towards Bloat. "Eat this fat boy!" He snarled, as he opened his hands. Orange demonic energy began flowing in a stream towards the fat lizard, his target's life energy would be drained from him and transfer towards Duilin...
Posted by: Jenia on Friday March 9th, 2007
Elphos nodded.
"Yes, we should-"
He was suddenly interrupted by Fernis, who seemed to be done with the circle already. It was off, and half the drawings were smeared to prevent reactivation.
"No. Not as long as Mavas is with us."
He voice was concerned and commanding, as if she expected something bad to happen soon.
"This would be a great tactical error, since Mavas has made himself into a reptillian being. Were we to approach Tjed's forces, we would be labelled as enemies as soon as we are spotted with him. We would need to be extremely lucky to actualy come in contact AND avoid casualties at the same time."
She stepped forward and crossed her arms.
"Iduran, if you believe making contact with them is so important, then we will have to leave Mavas behind. If you would still insist, I'd say Mavas should go ahead and infiltrate the enemy army rather than do nothing. Being the reptillian he is, he can simply claim to be a very strong lizardman granted wings by the dark emperor for valor in battle, or something..."
Elphos scratched his head.
"This is all so complicated..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday March 9th, 2007
//your previous avatar with the demon-thing, Jenia, that looked suspiciously like a Dremora from The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.\\
The new room that Alex, Midna and Aurata entered was strikingly reminiscent of the group's previous encounter with the third page: a plain cave-like cavity, with an altar of sorts in the middle, the page floating a few centimeters from the top of the altar. Aurata stopped and pointed at it.
-"It's done, I suppose," she sighed. "I think that that's the key to getting out of here, as well as the object you came here for originally."
Alex carefully felt the page, checking if it is real. The papyrus was there, and Alex could feel its texture between his fingers. He lifted up the page.
-"Let's see what it says, then," he said. "The writing, it looks very old... Midna, mind taking a look?"
Midna took the page from Alex.
-"That's strange," she said. "It only says one word: eternity... Alex, this is not the real page!"
-"It seems as though I have overestimated you, Twili."
This time, the cold voice was everywhere.
-"You inferiors simply fail to realize that there is no way out. You will not find the real page, no matter how long you may look for it. However, I am growing weary of your stupidity. This time, there will be no more knights to impede your... your progress, if you wish to call it thus. Instead, I have conjured up the vilest species of all dimensions known to me. If there are any affairs to be brought in order, I suggest you tend to them now."
In confirmation of de Sade's words, an unnatural scream filled the cave, followed by dozens of whoopings, growls, and all sorts of other strange guttural sounds.
-"No matter what he says," began Aurata, "there is always a way out. We just have to look for-"
She was interrupted by a blow in the back. A large, very muscular batlike creature grasped her - and promptly exploded in an astonishing lightshow. Aurata got up, dusted herself off, and continued.
-"As I was saying, there's always an exit. We just have to look for it. By the way, that creature that attacked me is called a madness devil... don't ask. All that you need to know now is that de Sade wasn't joking when he said he was wretching creatures from other dimensions. If that is true, I fear for us all... I don't have that much strength left, and most of those demons would have to be at least twice as strong as any humanoid. I hope you have some useful tricks up your sleeves."
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday March 10th, 2007
The rotund lizard merely opened his mouth wide, his massive teeth jutting out like so many jagged nails. In an instant the streams of energy were sucked into his mouth, the tendrils of power slurped up like spaghetti noodles. His frame seemed to increase slightly then, his lard bulging.
"Tasty!!"
He then continued his advance upon the demonic Duilin, slowly moving closer and closer...
Mavas' draconic smile disappeared. This blasted cat woman! Argh, at the very least he would be rid of her for a while...
He turned and bowed slightly.
"Very well, my lady... I'll be off, then..."
With that he spread his wings, and the green scaled dragon-man glided off of the mountain, flying lowly.
Iduran nodded.
"All right. Let's go then. We'll simply explain that we want to help, and perhaps mention we caused the avalanche and thunder rage once we're sure they accept us."
He then began the trek down the slope. They would have to go completely around the walled Kesnar, to the east to meet up with the forces that were congregating on the other side.
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday March 10th, 2007
"Pfft... Again with the my lady crap..."
Fernis sighed and waved at Elphos and Iduran, signaling them to start walking...
Walking by the walls of Kensar, Fernis suddenly realized this is a chance to start asking Iduran questions. She decided to start with what bugged her most.
"Hey, Iduran..." she said, turning to the knight "You said you have until next sunset in this world. Do you have any idea if it's possible to postpone your departure, or perhaps even keep you in this realm?"
She paused to think for a moment.
"Oh, and Mavas arrived by sticking himself to your soul... Will he disappear along with you?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday March 10th, 2007
Duilin gave a surprised and an annoyed expression. "Well, well. It appears I underestimated you." Duilin then pressed his hands together and spread them apart making a glowing orange blade of energy. The Demon Lord then dashed forward with the energy blade pointing forward aiming towards the huge stomach of the fat lizard...
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday March 11th, 2007
"He he he he he..."
The fat lizard made no attempt to move. He simply stood there as the blade plunged deeply into his belly and his flesh rippled as if gelatin. Then the blade began to move inwards, as if he were some amorphous blob sucking it in.
Then his fangs flashed in a smile, and with a giant gaping mouth that seemed to suddenly double in size, he attempted to bite the demon lord's head clean off...
"Hyah--! Arg!!"
Ven found himself parrying a dozen shards of glowing ice. Rosario was relentless, and the human was having trouble keeping up. With a flourish, the dark elf stabbed his blue blade into the ground, causing a massive pillar of ice to erupt from under the knight's feet. Ven leapt out of the way, though just barely, the end result being him thrown backwards against the outer wall of Kesnar. He staggered forward as he fought to regain his balance.
"Ah... great..."
Iduran rubbed his chin.
"Hmmm, to be honest, I really can't say. It's almost as if I'm not supposed to be here, yet a great exception has been made. A deal that I cannot dishonor. It's strange. It's like I remember what it's like on the other side, yet I only cannot remember while I'm here... As for Mavas, I really have no idea."
He glanced upward at the sun. It was well past noon.
"Speaking of... we'd better hurry."
He stepped forward more quickly then. After all, there was so much more he wanted to accomplish this day...
They rounded a corner of wall, and the flashing of many suits of armor could be seen far in the distance, up an incline and surrounded by trees.
Posted by: Jenia on Sunday March 11th, 2007
Fernis increased the pace to keep up with Iduran, as did Elphos, who didn't seem to be too happy about it.
"You know, I haven't given up on keeping you in this world for good..."
And now she has come to notice the shiney suits of armor herself. Kind of hard to miss them with the light being reflected off them like that.
Ugh... "Not supposed to be here" he says... "An exception has been made"...
Fernis was soon lost in her thoughts, not really thinking about where she is going.
It must mean that my complex runic structures were not enough...
They definetly opened a gateway, but acceptance from a greater power was needed...
What sort of power could it be?
It's not demonic, otherwise I could have completed his transfer and made it permenant with my own power...
Perhaps it is...
Divine power?
Ah yes, a god of death, that would make sense...
I would then need some sort of divine power to make sure he stays, but...
Fernis' expression suddely went angry.
"Where in all damn am I supposed to find somAAAAAAAH!?!!"
She tripped and only barely managed to avoid hitting her nose against the rocky earth.
Drat! Why...
She suddenly noticed some of those so called "suits of armor" were right before her, staring in confusion.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday March 11th, 2007
"Had a feeling that might happen..." Duilin mumbled. He then parried backed as the fat lizard's giant mouth tried to bite him and the lizard only got a bite of air. He then arched back his fist and then swung it right under the creature's jaw...
Rink's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he saw Duilin. Was this actually him? What happened to him?
"Don't worry my friends. He's in the good hands." The voice of Aegidius said to Zeros' and Rink.
"Aegidius? I thought you were..."
"Only my body was destroyed." The ghost of the angel replied. "But do not worry about Duilin. I've made an attempt on keeping him in control wile he's in his bloodrage. He will be in this state for awhile. When his thirst seizes and he reverts he might pass out, so get him to safety when he does."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday March 12th, 2007
(Chapter 12 ends March 21st. I.e. DAL day.)
The demon lord's fist connected square under the fat lizard's jaw and the creature was sent soaring. Bloat flew some ten feet in the air before he arched downwards, landing on his back with an explosion of sand.
Waddling to his feet in rage, he began a mad dash at Duilin, his jaws open wide...
Iduran turned around quickly and offered his hand to the fallen Indher. The waning sun was behind his head, silhouetting his face and giving him a sort of halo effect.
"Hey, are you all right?"
He paused for a moment.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I mean, without you bringing me back for the day, I never would have been able to help pull off that rock slide, eh? But really, I'm just a normal guy, despite any blown out of proportion stories you may have heard. I don't deserve a second chance any more than the guys who are fighting the war right now..."
"Hey, who are you folks?"
Three soldiers were quickly jogging in their direction. One of them let out a sort of gasp when they saw the strange creature that was Indher, but Iduran quickly spoke.
"We were wondering if we might join your cause. We all have skills that I'm sure you'll find useful."
The knights looked at each other, then the one that was obviously a higher rank spoke.
"That is for our Knight Captain to decide, though you should come with us anyway. It is much safer in the caves, and I'm not sure how much longer they're going to be able to hold them at the beach..."
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Tuesday March 13th, 2007
Alex sighed. "He can never make it easy."
"Though Aurata does have a point," Midna said. "There's always an exit."
"But finding it will be a challenge," Aurata replied. "We currently have no way of finding it. And to make matters worse, we have to find it while avoiding those abominations of nature de Sade summoned."
"I guess we'll just have to take our chances," Alex said, picking a path to follow. "Let's go this way."
After walking through the seemingly-endless maze for who knows how long, they came to another split in the path.
"So which way to we go?" Midna asked.
"I have a good feeling about this way," Alex said, pointing to the right.
"I think we should go left," Aurata said.
Just then, the echoes of their voices in the caves fell dead silent. An ominous quiet hung in the air for a few seconds before they saw further down the corridor what could best be described a sort of cross between a man and an insect, but with far more legs. As it skittered around on the wall, a long ebony shroud larger than the creature itself extended from the upper part of its body beyond. In comparison to a human being, it was slightly smaller, being about four feet in length. Long antennae protruded from its head, purpose unknown.
Alex took cover behind the wall. "What the hell is that thing?" he whispered to Aurata, his fear beginning to show in his quavering words.
"Dream seeker," Aurata said, beginning to lose her level-headed temperament, "a somnambulist's worst nightmare, if you will."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Definitely," Aurata said, visibly shaken by the bug, looking around the corner, and hiding once more, "you see those antennae? It uses those to put its victims to sleep, and then travels into their dreams to kill them from within."
"That doesn't even sound possible," Alex said, slumping down onto the ground.
"Trust me, it is! They don't know for sure how they die! They say the shock of seeing such a thing in your dream makes your heart stop, and they also say that thing feeds off your soul!"
"So how do we kill it?"
"I'm honestly not sure," Aurata admitted, rubbing her palms together.
Alex peeked around the corner to check if it was still there. It had appeared to vacate the premises.
"I think it's gone," Alex said, raising his rifle and dashing around the corner. "Let's go!"
"Alex, wait!" Aurata cried. "The cloak makes it invisible, it could still be here!"
Unfortunately, Aurata's paranoia would soon become reality, as the dream seeker revealed itself before Alex, training its psychic antennae on the Twili in armor, and delivering a prompt wave of sleep-inducing power. To Aurata's horror, the black-armored man fell on his back unconscious, the rifle still in hand. The insect positioned itself over Alex's unmoving body, and touched its antennae to his temples. With an arcing of what seemed to be electricity, Alex's life energy, as precious as the blood in his veins, was leeched. The entire process took but a few moments, as the bug worked frighteningly quick.
Midna, watching only in horrified silence, finally said, "Is"¦he"¦?"
He couldn't be. As the seeker finished the leeching, Alex's cerulean eyes suddenly sprung open. With the speed of the best Kandarin quick-draw, he grabbed his rifle and squeezed the trigger. When all was said and done, the insect had received a smoldering hole through its head, and fell on its back, legs curling up in its death throw.
Aurata sprinted to his side to help him up, promptly losing balance and needing to lean against the maze's rock wall.
"Alex, that was incredible!" Aurata cried, dumbstruck with the man's inherent immortality, "no one has ever survived that before. How did you do it?"
Alex shook his head, his ears were ringing, his brain was aching, his eyes only allowed him blurred vision. "I"¦" he groaned, "don't"¦know"¦"
"Check this out," Midna said, poking around the dead body, paying special attention to the cloak. "I bet we could use this to get through the rest of the maze unseen."
"Great idea," Aurata said, ripping the shroud from the corpse. In her soft hands it felt like fabric, despite it being an obvious part of the creature's anatomy. "We could both fit under here."
"Alex, let me take your shadow. I have a feeling I'll do you some good there."
Alex could only nod as his regained his stamina.
As the imp took his shadow, Aurata draped the cloak over Alex and herself, soon vanishing from world perceived by the naked eye. Under the cloak Alex and Aurata had to stay close, as the cloak itself was rather small.
"Alex," Aurata addressed him as they walked, "I've noticed something about you."
"Yeah?" Alex said, finally regaining his ability to form coherent thoughts, "What is it?"
"De Sade seems to know you from somewhere. Pray tell, where?"
"Well, I can't say he knows me exactly, but he used to know someone a lot like me. In fact, he killed that person."
"Oh dear," Aurata sighed, "whatever for?"
"Because that person was a member of a race being oppressed by the faction de Sade used to be part of, and that person tried to fight back, and lost."
"So would you lose if you fought him?"
"I hope not, as fate of an entire race counts on my victory."
"Is that why you need these pages, to prepare yourself?"
"Yes. You see, I'm--"
"I already know. You're the Twilight Warrior."
"What? How did you know?"
"I could sense it. My people are closely attuned with magic, to the point where by being near someone, such as right now, they can tell who they are."
Alex looked upon the girl. She was a magnificent one to behold, a beautiful young woman with long, flowing black locks, innocent brown eyes, and pale skin, almost the same hue as her white robes.
"Is something wrong, Warrior?"
"No, not at all," fighting back his emotions. "Nothing."
As Midna monitored Alex's thoughts within his shadow, she became less and less satisfied with this mysterious young girl.
Who does she think she is? I don't like this girl at all, I think she has something planned. And Alex? Urgh!
For a brief moment, fortune seemed to replace fate, as the page they had been seeking for so long appeared before them on a stone pedestal.
"Alex, it's the page!" Aurata said.
Alex threw off the shroud and secured the page in his hands. Scanning his eyes over the lines, he found the ancient Twili scriptures he desired so much. He heaved a sigh. "Finally," he sighed, securing the page in a pocket.
"Congratulations, Alex," Aurata said to him, "but I'm afraid your test is not quite finished."
"What? What are you talking about? We have the page, we should be able to leave."
"Alex, there lies one final obstacle that you must overcome. It is right before your eyes."
"You mean"¦"
"That's right. I'm sorry Alex, but the Twili cannot be allowed to prosper."
Suddenly it all clicked together in Alex's mind. Aurata was never here to help him. She was sent by de Sade to ensure his defeat. As much as he wanted to perish the thought, Alex would have to dispose of this girl.
"So be it," Alex said coldly. He raised his rifle. "Necavis."
The two stared each other down, each silently daring the other to make the first move, and possibly, their last.
Aurata chanted some incoherent speech, and was surrounded by a field of magical energy. "You will only pass if you deem yourself worthy. Now come at me!" She formed a ball of light in her hands, and launched it through the shield at her opponent.
The ball itself moved rather slow, but Alex knew it could very well pack a punch. Thinking fast, he drew his blade and swung at the ever-approaching white sphere. To his astonishment the ball deflected off his blade and back towards its origin. Aurata swatted her hand, deflecting the ball once more. Alex would have to continue until one mistimed the swing, and would take the full brunt of the blast.
Perhaps deflecting the ball at her would get rid of that shield, Alex thought to himself, and then leave her vulnerable"¦
Alex deflected the ball once more. Aurata put more power on the ball with each deflection, growing faster and larger each time. Eventually, Alex swung back, and Aurata fatefully mistimed the swing, taking the full power of her own spell. The spherical shield flickered out, revealing the young girl within. From nowhere Aurata spread her hands, launching a blinding circular wave of light that filled the whole chamber.
Alex did his best to prepare for the attack, only to be knocked to his feet by the wide-reaching spell. Aurata walked up to him and charged another energy ball. Alex rolled out from under her and began unleashing slash after slash with his blood-red blade. Strangely enough, the girl did not appear to bleed. Winded, she forced him away and reinstated the shield around herself once more.
"You are stronger than I give you credit for, Alex," Aurata said to him in a coldly alluring voice. "De Sade was right when he said you must be eradicated. So wonderful he bestowed that honor upon me, hmm?" With the wave of her hand, three light balls appeared before her. "You are very capable of focus, but can you multitask?" She launched the spheres of light at him once more.
Alex, winding back, unleashed a gale-force spin on his blade, deflecting the three balls, two exploding harmlessly on the walls around them, which brought rocks from above crashing down. Distracted with the quakes, Aurata once again took the hit from the remaining energy ball. In her stunned state, a hefty boulder crashed down upon her.
Alex stood his ground, staring at the boulder, expecting it to blow.
And that was just what it did.
The explosion's force rocked the whole room as Aurata freed herself from under the rock. Alex, thrown against the wall, had the sword wrenched from his hand by Aurata, who brought it to bear on his neck.
"And so the second epoch of the Twili comes to an end," Aurata said, confident in her seeming victory.
"Every epoch dreams of its successor," Alex retorted.
"De Sade will be disappointed to know your death was swift, but death is death nonetheless. So long, Alexander."
"NO!" Midna shouted, suddenly emerging from Alex's shadow on the wall, ripping the blade from Aurata's ghostly hand with her hair-hand. When that was complete, she brought the glowing orange hand to the girl's neck, placing her in a perfect spot to be strangled.
"You impudent imp!" Aurata hissed. "You know not what power you trifle with!"
"I know enough to realize we should have never trusted you all along!" Midna tightened her grip.
Aurata gasped for air. "Perhaps"¦it's time"¦you saw the LIGHT!"
As soon as Midna's hold reached Aurata's fatality, the chamber exploded in blinding light. All that was heard was the wordless screams of the two.
Alex came back to consciousness to see Midna lying motionless on the cavern floor, and a portal on the other end of the room.
"Hurry"¦Alex"¦" Midna gasped through labored breaths, "Get us"¦out of here"¦"
Saying nothing, Alex picked the imp up in his arms, and escaped de Sade's twisted trap once and for all through the portal. Within moments, he had returned to where he had met Barnes the dwarf.
Aurata had scored a devastating hit on Midna in her death throws. Now Midna was dying in his hands, what could he do?
"The Parasite," he murmured.
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday March 13th, 2007
-"So the whelp has some rudimentary potential... Most interesting... maybe this one will be a challenge."
The glass sword in front of de Sade shattered. The illusion was completely over now.
Kronos... It has been a long while since de Sade spoke to the Necromancer. In fact, the last time de Sade saw Kronos was when the future Marshal was just a small child, showing absolutely no signs of becoming a tyrant he was rumored to be now. Oddly, Kronos almost forgot about the Twili oppression, it seems: otherwise, the whole situation with the Twili warrior and princess would not arise at all, and de Sade would be left alone to his own ponderings. Perhaps it would be best to contact the Marshal, and have a little talk with him. On the other hand, Damien's spy isn't aware of the disaster in Kandarin, and, apparently, neither is Damien himself. The event unfolded too quickly and suddenly for any news to get out. It is possible that not even all of Kandarin knows what happened.
With these factors in mind, de Sade grimly turned to Carmine.
-"Sir?"
Without any further words, de Sade snapped his fingers... and Carmine vanished. In his place there was a floating orb, somewhat similar to the M-Grid terminals in Kandarin. The sorcerer's skeletal hands grasped the object. A heavily distorted image of Kronos appeared in de Sade's head.
-"The fabled Butcher of Kandarin has taken the long road to descention, has he not?"
Kronos visibly flinched at the message, but soon regained his stature.
-"Who is this? How did you reach me?"
-"Don't you know who I am? Don't you remember me? I am de Sade, the--"
-"Oh, yes, you're that freak that Father fired for being incompetent and killing the Twilight Warrior, instead of bringing him alive for interrogation. Because of you, the Kandarin\Twili war is prolonged indefinitely."
-"Were I you, I would not be talking, O High and Mighty Marshal. Right now, you are a forgotten king without a throne, and your empire is being pulled apart by scavengers. You should be thanking me for offering my aid in crushing the Twili. However, the real reason I contacted you is because now there is another Twilight warrior on the loose."
-"So? Why don't you kill this one as well?"
De Sade sighed.
-"My talons once raked through stone. The stone is harder now, I fear. The current Twilight warrior is still nothing compared me, but he is progressing at an alarming rate. He is--"
-"Alex, yes, I know. I knew that a while ago, O High and Mighty Sorcerer. Right now, I recommend you dispatch Alex, and then..." Kronos paused, and, with a sigh, added, "...and then the rest of Kandarinian isles. I would rather have them destroyed than return to find them under the control of some foreign king. When I am back, I will base a new empire! I shall crush all those in the way of my mission! I SHALL TAKE OVER GAIAN!!! Bwahahahahahahaha..."
De Sade let go of the orb, and Kronos' image faded and vanished. The Marshal seems to be doing well, considering that he is stranded in a separate dimension with only two other entities, both hostile. That fool Horus never really realized what his black glass cannon did...
The sorcerer snapped his fingers, and Carmine reappeared once again. He looked quizzically at de Sade.
-"Sir... why did you just snap your fingers like that...?"
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday March 13th, 2007
((Drat. Over in, like, a week? Bah. Where is Mavas, by the way? Xorlak, you didn't mention him in your last post...))
Fernis got up and brushed the dust off herself. Was it just her or was Gaian getting dusty?
She pushed the rediculous thought away and just followed the soldiers before her.
"Don't deserve a second chance"...
Bah! I'm not giving him the chance...
It's just that...
She spoke silently, making sure the soldiers ahead don't hear them, but Iduran does.
"You know, my aim was not to give you a second chance. It was to give ROMME a second chance. Even by theory, I can only revive a person whom I heared of, and you were the only one..."
She placed her right hand on her forehead, thinking back...
"I was hoping I could pull you out for good and get you to tell me about the people of Romme, so that I can bring them back too, and they will tell me of those they knew, and so on and so on, until I bring back EVERYONE... Although I could not bring back the king since royalty always turns troublesome when it comes to magic, the rest of Romme would return to life... Life would suddenly spring up in a place where the Dark Empire would never dream of looking, and with the power of my runes shared among the people, Romme could have struck it down by surprise..."
She took a deep breath and lifted her head to stare into the distant sky ahead.
"That is why I refuse to give up. This is much more than a project of some fan to bring an idol back to life. Although I respect you as the knight I heared you were, I do not care how normal you are. You come from Romme, and that is all that matters."
Suddenly, she had noticed something wrong. Looking down, she saw a rock-solid ground. Looking ahead, she realized they had just arrived at the cave's entrance.
Elphos quickly approched Fernis snickering, then whispered in her ear-
"Nice speech!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday March 13th, 2007
'So that's what hurts this guy, hand-to-hand combat. Lucky for me, I'm now a hell of a lot physically stronger.
The Demon Lord then gave a menacing smirk and dashed towards the obese lizard. When he was just a few feet away from bloat he jumped in the air performing a front flip, landed on the ground behind the slow fat lizard, and swung a powerful kick at the back of his head...
Posted by: Coriko on Tuesday March 13th, 2007
"Wait, so why are we supposed yo follow you again?"
"Oh, for fu..." Coriko put his head in his hands. "Alright, people in this town are invading and want to killl you. you want to follow me so you will continue living."
"So what is or motivation?"
"Thats it, Marshall! Where are you i could use your help over here. Unless you know i could come and help you, and leave here."
---
Druid slowly walked forward towards a small group of knights.
"Hello there, now I am still tired from attacking that rock creature. Yeah that was me, with the shadow warriors. Anyway I am tired and really dont want to have to annihilate you. So you can walk away or die here and now." As druid was talking he was leaning with one hand on his staff and the other hand was behind his back. This hand was forming a ball of shadow energy. "You know what," Druid fired the blast at the group killing them all. He walked forward and looked down at their bodies "you never really had a choice." Druid then walked forward to Jayce.
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
Alex ran his eyes over the ancient Twili scriptures entailing the art of the Parasite, a Twili spell that sapped someone's life and added to the caster. Or perhaps the other way around"¦
Midna lay on the ground, bundled tightly in Alex's jacket, gasping and huddling for warmth in what she thought were her final moments of life. Alex studied the page carefully, ensuring he got all the details on how to cast the spell, backwards no less.
"Alex"¦." She wheezed, "what are"¦.you doing"¦.?"
"If I can learn how to use the Parasite effectively," he explained, "maybe I can give some of my power to you."
"No"¦.you're hurt"¦as well"¦if you die"¦Twili"¦doomed."
"The prophecies say we both need to survive in order to succeed"¦but that's not the only reason I want to do this."
"Alex"¦no! You can't"¦take the risk"¦!"
"I don't have a choice."
Alex held his hands outstretched toward Midna's frail and dying body, and concentrated on transferring his own power to Midna's life. His fingertips, glowing emerald, each transmitted a small stream of energy which converged on his palm, and out toward Midna. Once the connection was made, Alex felt precious life depart him. He was unsure of how much would be necessary, but continued to pour it on.
"It's too great a risk!" Midna continued to protest. "If you don't leave yourself with enough"¦"
Midna began to feel the strength return to her, as she floated up into the air and landed down on her feet, only to find Alex kneeling down on the ground, panting.
"Alex! Are you okay?"
"Midna"¦I"¦can't do this without you"¦"
"I know, but now you're the one in bad shape! What can we do?"
"Rest"¦energy"¦.Twilight"¦"
"I'm afraid I might still be too weak to create another portal"¦I'm sorry, Alex."
Alex managed to crawl over to a cave opening, safe from the icy wind that bit at him, and sat down against the wall to catch his breath.
Midna sat down next to him. "Alex, about before"¦with Aurata"¦ I just want to apologize."
"For what?"
"Under that shroud, you two were close together"¦and I guess I got a little jealous. Now that I realize she was the enemy"¦"
"No problem," Alex coughed. "I had a bad feeling about her anyway."
"Alex, I also want to thank you"¦"
"Think nothing of it"¦" Alex wheezed, "you're more to me than an accomplice."
"So what do we do now? We can't get back to the Twilight until we recover."
"We could investigate the mines anyway, see if we can help them in any way we can."
"Good idea," she replied, "maybe we can get something else out of this whole mess."
"That's it, keep going!" Barnes hollered over the roar of drilling equipment. "Ever since that last quake a half hour ago the rocks seem to be weaker! Get the explosive teams in here, stat! We need to reopen the mines as soon as possible!"
"Barnes!" a nameless dwarf came up to him. "We've had no sign of Alex for the past few hours now. Should we keep looking?"
"Absolutely!" Barnes ordered. "Perhaps it was him that loosened up those rocks!"
He was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.
"What do you want?" Barnes turned around, to see the metal figure of Alex once more. "Alex! How'd you get out of the caves? And what happened in there, you were gone for hours!"
"It's a long story," Alex replied. "Need some help clearing the rocks?"
"I dunno, you look kind of beat-up. You sure you'll be okay?"
"Positive," Alex said, raising his rifle.
"If you say so," Barnes said. "Come with me, I'll let you into the mines.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Carmine, what is it?"
"It seems Alex escaped from your illusion."
Carmine was a professional at pointing out the obvious, but de Sade would not allow him the time of day.
"So he has, Carmine. So he has. This only means we must pursue them in other endeavors. Though he is still no match for me, he is proving himself to be a worthy opponent. It will be all the more satisfying when his downfall finally comes."
"But sir, how will we confront him next time?"
"Very simple. By getting to the fourth page first, and it just so happens I know exactly where it is."
"Where is it, sir?"
"Always with the questions, Lieutenant. It is deep within the old Nightshade fortress deep below Glacia's peaks."
"Nightshade, sir?"
"Imagine a man infinitely more powerful than myself, and then, imagine his appearance on Gaian. Doubtless, such an appearance would attract attention, and that is exactly what Iban, the cult subject of Nightshade, did. He gathered a rather large following, feeding his disciples the darkest secrets of the arcane. Unfortunately, the Nightshade caves collapsed... or fortunately... That we might never find out."
"Sir, what of the last earthquake? Could it have opened the tunnels?"
"Unlikely, the rubble was too minute to be shaken free. Then again, I will not be stopped by mere earth. I would not be so sure about Alex, though."
"And the dwarves, sir? If I recall correctly they have access to high explosives"¦"
De Sade this time ignored Carmine's pestering questions. With a mere flick of his wrist, the mountain rocked with the force of a blast, but not of the dwarves. "Carmine, the path is open. We must go and bait the trap once more." With another flick of his wrist the two vanished deep within the bowels of the mountain.
As Barnes coordinated charge placements, he felt the mountain tremor all around him, causing a small rock to conk his dwarven friend on the helmet.
"Hmm, the other blasting teams must've already started," Barnes said, stroking his walrus mustache. "We're all set here. Alex, whenever you're ready."
Alex gave the short man the thumbs up. "Go for it."
With the push of the plunger, another series of blasts echoed through the caves, filling the air with dust, and replacing what was once a solid wall with a pile of rubble.
"The other teams should be finished by the time you show up," Barnes motioned Alex through the new threshold. "Just one more bit of advice. With so much blasting going on, the last thing we need are rogue explosions, so please be careful. If there's another cave-in, we might not have the equipment to get you out."
"Duly noted," Alex replied as he entered the dark tunnels ahead.
"Déjà vu," Midna replied, appearing at his side once more.
"Tell me about it," Alex said. "As soon as we make sure these tunnels are clear, we can get a move on to find the fourth page."
The two Twili continued on in speculation of what lay beyond in the tunnels ahead. Little did they know that deep, dark secrets rested in the caverns below, begging to be revealed.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
//Coriko...? Sounds vaguely familiar... no, I lost it. Must be a new kid. New kid, go post your character signups on the signups page.\\
The newly formed tunnels had some sort of a crystalline structure supporting them, as the original wooden supports have been crushed. Carmine was looking around wildly. There were strange symbols carved on the walls, as well as ancient bookcases, half-ruined. Around were lying strange red clothes, but... no corpses... strange. Where did all the corpses go?
-"Kronos," whispered de Sade. "Kronos was quick to seize the opportunity after the collapse. He came here and resurrected as many Nightshade followers as he could, to add to his army. I still smell the stench of death all over these walls..."
-"Sir, how come is it that you know of this place?"
Again, no reply.
---
They've walked for quite a while before they reached the sealed room, wherein was the fourth page. The room was protected by two enormous-looking doors, with no clear indication as to how they opened. This didn't seem to worry de Sade, though, as with a snap of his fingers, the doors groaned open. As soon as he walked inside, he was greeted by a large morning star to his head. The mace caught the sorcerer off-guard, but it bumped off of his shield spell harmlessly.
-"I err. This is a new experience."
-"But it dealt you no harm!"
-"Observant as always, Carmine. However, I know these caves well; I know every bump and every stain. What happened now was not my doing, and should not have happened..."
Then came the voices.
They were very quiet at first, but they caused de Sade to stop talking, and Carmine to look up pointlessly at the ceiling. There was nothing to see, but both could hear a choir of female voices. De Sade was the first to speak again.
-"I don't believe it... Impossible. But how? Here?"
-"S-Sir?"
De Sade stood still for a moment. The voices stopped getting louder, but were now singing something, and singing it so well that Carmine almost fell down to his feet.
-"Yes... yes, it is true. Carmine, what you are witnessing right now... Hearing, rather... is an event so impossibly rare that not even I have observed it before. Kronos must've resurrected all of them, but couldn't get all of them out... and now, with their souls still being kept in this world by Lich energy, they've become fused to the cave. Carmine, this is heaven for a magic user! Let me put it this way, so that your mortal brain can comprehend: One powerful attack charged here is enough to wipe out three cities in a rapid succession."
-"But wouldn't that mean that the Master had nearly infinite power all along? Why didn't he just... wish for the continent to be his?"
-"He controls their souls, but he doesn't wield their power... A fitting comparison is a farmer directing a bull... Forget it. Mortal minds are not meant to understand. You are forgiven."
-"Er... as you say, sir..."
De Sade approached one of the walls, and began scribbling something on it, muttering strange incantations at the same time. The end result was a circle with many odd lines inside of it.
-"This is one of those rare times that I actually do astral magic in the fashion it is supposed to be always performed... My knowledge of it basically eradicates the use of sigils, but this is a special case. Such incredible amounts of magic are not to be trifled with."
The circle was now glowing a deep green colour.
-"Let us see that whelp get through this..."
And, with a snap on de Sade's side, both vanished into thin air.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
"Coriko!" Marshall called; he dashed towards Coriko, shooting away at the Kandarin Warriors, while Wilham and his monsters were smashing a few away trying to protect the freed slaves. "Wilham, get the people out of here to safety. Just go north!"
Marshall then fired away at the foes surrounding Coriko. "Okay, we should get out of here, the monsters me and Wilham summoned should be enough to destroy the rest of this place."
Posted by: Zeros' on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
"Hmm..." Zeros' murmured and looked around. Seeing as how everyone was pre-occupied, he decided to go look for someone. He let go of Rink, placing him on the ground and spread his wings. He opened his senses and smiled. He then turned and flew up to the wall, reaching it in moments, standing behind the old Alchemist, Allen.
"Allen," Zeros' acknowledged with a nod. Allen opened his eyes and glanced up at Zeros', giving him a tired smile and a nod.
"Zeros'. Long time no talk. You've been gone for eighteen months," he said, as Zeros' stepped off the wall and stood next to the aging alchemist.
"So I have..." he glanced around at the area. "Care to tell me what happened?" he asked and Allen gave him a very brief description of what happened.
Zeros' nodded.
"So, the true Dark Empire is trying to invade Tjed, eh? And you say you've been helping out Henri for eighteen months now?" Allen nodded.
"Noble choice, yknow. Any idea where Draven is?" he asked, glancing around. He could feel two farmiliar auras nearby, but he shook it off. There was no way those two were back... He knew he shouldn't doubt himself, being as old as he was, but what reason would those two have for coming back from the dead?
He sighed.
"Tired?" Allen asked, glancing at the man beside him. Zeros' only shrugged and streached his wings.
"You try breaking your friend out from a jail that's commanded by a dragon, disgused as a lizard..." he said, as if it was an everyday happening. Allen blinked.
"You met one of the Dark Empire's generals, then?" he asked. Zeros' nodded. "That's... interesting. You haven't even been here a whole day!" he chuckled and Zeros' cracked a smile.
"Do you think Draven will go back to the Dark Empire?" Zeros' asked the aging alchemist. He picked up a broken off piece of the wall and sighed. He hoped not. He rolled the piece of granite and stone over in his hands.
Allen shook his head. "I doubt it... Lord-" "Still calling him lord?" "-yes, Lord, now, as I was saying... I don't think Lord Dravne would return willingly to Retan, when he has his own empire," he said, gesturing in the general direction the Dark Empire was setup in.
"If you say so..." Zeros' shrugged and threw the rock over the wall. "I'll be back," he said before taking off again, back towards the battle. Allen sighed.
He had a feeling things would get even more interesting, now that the 'Romme Defenders' were alive and kicking - not that they were ever dead.
Posted by: Burton Pro on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
By this Time Nick was near the coast of the mainland and was ready to set sail to His new home.
"I hope master kronos has something...Fun for me.." He whispered as he tried to catch his breathe.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
"Hmph... so this is Tjed... Well, let's see if my holy magics can track this... Doriana..." muttered Justin, a young Gepardis monk in a white robe. He closed his eyes and held his two front fingers to his forehead, right between his eyes, and slightly above them.
He saw images rushing through his mind of the lands of Tjed, and finally, he saw a dark shadow on a wall... but nothing to cause it.
'This must be her,' he thought.
She was standing near some sort of grey building, possibly made of stone. He opened his eyes.
"REVEAL YOUR PATH!!!" he shouted, removing the hand that was on his forehead and slamming it to the ground. Rubble crashed around his arm and flew up all around him. Lifting his hand, he exhailed his breath, and out came a white aura. The white aura had marked where his hand had been, and followed an invisible trail, which Justin began to follow.
"None can hide themselves from me," Justin repeatatively murmured under his breath as he followed the white aura, which was slowing down continuously. He constantly watched the white aura as he followed. Suddenly, it stopped, as did Justin. He halted his constant repatition of words. The image he had seen was now staring him in the face.
"Return, Deciple of Holiness," Justin called as he held his hand a few feet away towards the aura. It quickly raced through the air and atracted itself to his palm. Slowly, it faded away, and disappeared.
"Hidden, I am... Yet found me, you have," said a distant voice, one of stunning beautiful pitch, "What do you need, Monk?" the voice continued.
"I have saught you out, Doriana! I seek to join the Holy Republic, so that I may end this fued... and return to my monistary." There was a moment's silence, then Doriana's voice followed.
"Fued? The war, you must mean by this. Very well. If assistance you seek, granted it shall be. Brace yourself." Soon, a white flash shrouded the shadow on the grey wall, and out of the shadow came a young, beautiful, dark blue Drow with glowing red eyes, long, smooth black hair, and a thick purple robe with an assassin's claw attached to her hand.
Taken aback by Doriana's stunning beauty, Justin stared dully at her. "My... I uhh... haven't seen anything like you before, Doriana-"
"Please, call me Dori," she interrupted, "Now then, persue the pressing matters at hand, we must. What type of plan have you, then? Thinking about these matters before you met me, you must have been... Well then, come up with anything, have you?"
"Now that you bring that up, I must tell you of the resistance of darkness I have sensed on my travels to Tjed," Justin went on, "An incredibly strong force of dark energy has been darkening my veiws and misleading me. I'm actually surprised I was able to find you."
"Hmm..." Dori responded, "This energy you speak of... Strong, is it? And misleading...? Very dangerous, this is. Now, we must move. Follow me, and stay close behind, would you?"
Dori began to walk north, in a direction opposite from the grey building. She had a troubled look on her face, and something made Justin feel that this adventure the monks have forced upon him is going to get a lot worse before it gets better...
Posted by: Coriko on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
"Alright, but only because I hate seing innocent people die."
Coriko turned back to the group of people who were not cowering anymore but standing looking dumbfounded.
"Alright get your freakin' asses north. NOW!"
The people stood still. Coriko fired a blast of fire at their feet.
"MOVE NORTH NOW!"
The group started to walk forwards.
"Finally. Marshall I got them moving north, lets go."
Coriko ran after Marshall.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
The plump lizard was sent spinning forward, gaining only a mouthful of sand. He struggled back up but then his eyes rolled back in his head and he clumsily tumbled over, unconscious.
"Argh!!"
Ven flew back another ten feet from the kick delivered by the dark elf.
"Shoddy footwork, human."
Rosario ran full throttle as Ven struggled to stand up in a daze. Ven barely had the time to glance upwards as the blue blade was baring down upon him. With all his might, Ven jerked his body out of the way, and the blade slashed open his right arm instead of his neck, as was intended.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
The knight screamed as the blood sprayed forth. Rosario did not follow up on his attack, instead letting the scream fill his ears. He closed his eyes as he listened to that blissful melody, until the sliver knight collapsed backwards.
"Well, now, what's the matter? Not so heroic now, are we?"
Rosario stepped forward, placing a heel on the felled warrior's foot and leaning over him, waving his glowing blue blade over his opponent's face. This was his favorite part, taunting the wounded. It was so satisfying, and it made him feel so much better. Ven could feel the cold emanating from the vile sword as he scowled back at the elf.
"I'll tell you what," the drow began, "beg for your life and I may spare you. Beg to me with heart felt tears!" He of course intended to do no such thing, and that made the deed all so much more delicious.
"Never!"
Ven spat a bit of blood on the blade before his face, with promptly froze and fell off, pinging on his silver chest plate. Rosario frowned.
"Beg, insect!"
With a swift kick to the side, Ven was sent airborne, landing three feet away in a crumpled heap.
"Don't you know when you've been bested, human? And here I am giving you such an undeserved chance!"
Another kick sent Ven rolling. Still Ven said nothing. The cerulean haired Rosario then turned the knight over and grabbed him by then neck. He would crack this one yet!
With a single hand, the drow lifted Ven in the air, his feet hanging in the air.
"Look! Look at how insignificant you are! AH HA HA HA HA--OOOF!!"
Rosario looked down to see Ven's sword sticking into his stomach, glowing a dazzling white. With another press he felt it piece the other side"¦ Eyes wide in horror, he tired to crush the human's neck, but all his strength and awareness disappeared as he fell backwards.
Ven fell as well, but he was the one able to sit up. Clutching his bleeding arm, he merely sat there for a moment to catch his breath.
(Characters running off and disappearing mean it's time for a break. Heh"¦)
Iduran stroked his chin with a gauntlet.
"Listen, Indher. Your intentions are noble and your heart is true. But resurrecting the dead is not something to be taken lightly. For every good spirit out there, there is at least one evil one to match. Suppose you resurrected the entire nation, yet one evil spirit followed each soul back? Suppose some or all weren't as easy to bargain with as Mavas was?"
He glanced up as the sun as it began to crawl over the ocean to the west. Soon it would be painting the sky red, and his time would be up. He turned back to Indher.
"Forgive me if I'm skeptical, but calling me back was a dangerous thing." He paused for a moment. "That doesn't mean I'm not thankful for it, though. Just"¦ some things aren"˜t meant to be trifled with"¦ There is a whole nation here that could use your other skills right now, though. A great deal, by the looks of it."
They slowed down as the soldiers filed through the smaller entrance way, and the trio found themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with warriors in various degrees of armored states.
Suddenly, panic broke loose.
"HSSSSSSSAAAHHH!!! DIE HUMANSSSS!!!!!"
Five Lizard Men fell from the mountains, hundreds of feet up, landing right in the middle of the mass of warriors, crushing several with their talon-like claws. Though the lizards were vastly out numbered, they were huge... With great sweeps of their scaly tails, dozens of men were thrown backwards, armored bodies clanging against the vast stone walls. With huge maces, swords, and halberds, they struck down handfuls of men at a time...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
"Soooooo......... Uhh... Dori?" Justin said dumbly in midwalk towards northern Tjed.
"Yes, Gepardi?" Responded Dori, "Require something of me, do you? Please make a mental note, Gepardis; make haste we must."
"Yeah, about that... *how can I put this...* oh, right! why are we traveling north? Is something going on there, or are we just getting away from here?" As Justin stopped, Dori turned around, and Justin bumped right into her arm as she was turning. He fumbled backwards and fell on his back. He looked back up at the face of anger staring him in the face.
"Watch your step, Gepardi! If pay attention you will not, then fall, Tjed will! You have been acting ever-so strangely since you've seen me! WHY!?" Dori grabbed Justin's robes by the collar and yanked him back onto his feet.
"Calm down!" Justin demanded, "It's just... hard to focus while you're around, that's all... and stop switching your speech! It's hard enough to pay attention to what you're saying while-oh... nothing. Nevermind." Justin caught himself before he said too much, but to his disfortune, Dori understood what he was going to say before he even spoke. She reached her hand way back and stopped.
Justin continued, "Dori, what are you-" SLAP!!! Soaring through the air with incredible force, Dori's hand came racing back towards Justin's face. She nailed Justin right smack on the side of his face and sent him spinning backwards.
"Next time you look at me wrong... I'll use my claw. NOW GET GOING!!!" She was furious. Justin got back to his feet again and stumbled forwards. Since Dori was mad, she stormed off a few feet forwards, and at a steady pace. He quickly regained his fatigue and raced forwards.
*Must've broke a mental nerve... I should watch what I say when I'm around Dori...* Justin thought, *Wait, why am I calling her Dori? Her name is Doriana uhh... somethin'... somethin'... ahh, who cares, I'll just caller Miss... crap... I'll just have to make due with Dori for now.* He finally caught up with Dori, who stopped running off, and just started to walk.
"Dori..." Justin blurted. His response was a rolling of eyes, a sigh, and a rude "UGH!!! WHAT!?!?!? Can't you see we have something to do!?"
"I just wanted to appologize for saying too much. *crap. please don't slap me...* I feel like an imature fool. *IMATURE FOOL!? Smooth, pal.* In any case, I'm sorry. Please, will you forgive me? *Classic. 'will you forgive me?' Ugh! you could've done better... what's happening to me!? Am I going insane!? I should have never let the monks do this to me...*"
"You know," Dori began, trying not to laugh, "as rude and mean as this may seem... this is all quite entertaining... *pervert*"
"HEY!!! You do realize that I can read another persons mind, don't you?" Justin blindly stated.
"You do realize that I can, too, don't you?" Dori was now slowly striding forward. she couldn't help but let out a slight giggle or two, but she continued forward north... for the fate of Tjed... and possibally the world... depends upon her and Justin...
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday March 14th, 2007
Duilin laughed as the fat lizard was tumbled away from his strike. The Demon Lord then stomped towards him.
"Duilin!" Rink called over towards the demonized Duilin. "Duilin! It's me Rink! You need to help the soldiers! They need your aid!"
Duilin turned around and looked at the small imp.
"Duilin, you've defeated him. You need to focus on defending Tjed. Isn't that why you came here?" Rink said. Although he wasn't fully sure why Duilin was here, he knew that he would want Tjed to be defended. "Come on Duilin, you're doing so well controlling yourself. It's amazing actually."
Duilin continued to breathe deeply and stare at the imp.
"But you still need to keep yourself in focus. Don't loose control. You and I both know that Zeros' is likely upset." He stepped towards Duilin. "Quick, go fend off the lizards. I'll see too Ven."
Duilin nodded. "Good idea." The demon lord then jumped into the air and soared towards where the giant lizard men where and also unbeknownst to him, that where his old friend Iduran is"¦ (Right?)
Rink then fluttered over towards the wounded knight. "Ven! I saw how you handled that guy, great work. Are you alright?"
Lagart then pushed off some rubble that he was buried under. "Why nobody care about me?" He then shook himself off and then stepped over to join Ven and Rink. "Me Lagart. Who be you, imp?"
"I'm Rink." The imp replied, sounding a bit curious of the friendliness of the lizard man.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday March 15th, 2007
A great darkness began to slowly cover the land. The sun faded away, and the sky turned a dark grey. Justin stopped and looked up.
"Black cumulonimbus clouds... a storm approaches. Dori, what should we....... Dori?" But she was gone. All that could be seen around was a glade of a forest straight ahead, and mountain to the right, streaching across the side of the forest.
A white flash covered the horizon. Thunder struck a mile and a half in front of Justin in the forest. Rain began to poor out of the sky, drenching all in water. Justin looked more closely at the mountains, and noticed a black sort of opening.
"A cave, eh? Well, what other choice do I have?" He looked back north to the glade, then again at the cave. "Yeah, let's stick with the cave. I'll come out when it stops raining... AND thundering..." Justin ran over to the cave for a good thirteen minutes-or-so until he finally hit the enterance. Glancing inside, he noticed there wasn't any type of light around anywhere.
Justin held his hand in front of himself. "Holy light of Drannica, purge this darkness with you ever-growing might and holiness!"
FLASH!!! A grand white light purged through the cave and lit it with a strange glow that was soothing to a person's eyes. Justin walked in and made himself comfortable by sitting down on a great boulder that was somewhat strangely shapped like a bed. He grabbed another much smaller boulder and placed it under his head.
"Wow... this is extremely convenient... ahh well. I'm too tired to whine about anything right now. G'night!" Justin relaxed his body and soon fell into a dark slumber, undisturbed by anything or anyone... but to his disfortune, something had already made it's neast in these caverns... Something strangely familiar...
"GGRRRAAAHHHH!!!!!! WHAT A FOOLISH MORTAL, WHO HAS BEFILED MY SACRED SHRINE!!!!!! YOU WILL FACE MY WRATH, YOU MORTAL FOOL!!!!!!" Justin was now wide awake, and standing up with his hands reaching behind his neck for his blade, the demon fang. as he unsheathed the demon fang, he felt a soothing, but sharp, shiversome chill fall down the back of his spine. His right hand, weilding the demon fang, felt much warmer, as if he were wearing three pairs of mittens, and each adding a thick layer of heat.
The cave began to quake as the great beast encroached onward to Justin's area. Justin, however, had already made the decision to leave. He began sprinting with all of his might out of the enterance. The beast followed, and grabbed Justin. As he caught sight of Justin, the beast quickly let go in shock.
Justin landed perfectly on his feet, although he had dropped the demon fang. He raced away from the beast and picked up the demon fang, but before he had a chance to run, the beast called his name.
"Constantine, is that you...?" The great beast walked forward and stood behind Justin, who was dead in his tracks. He slowly turned his head and caught sight of the creature that had left the cave to follow him. It was not even a creature at all. A white aura surrounded the giant beast, and slowly, it shrank and took the form of a human. It was a monk similar to Justin's height, with blonde hair tucked into a ponytail, tan skin, and wearing dirty, torn white robes.
"Tiberius?" Justin gasped, "Is that really you, Tibbs!? Where the hell have you been!?" Tiberius, another Gepardis from the same tribe as Justin, walked forwards. He stopped in front of Justin.
"What in Dran's name are you doing here, Justin? Can't you sense the terrible danger that awaits you!? Can't you feel the dark presence that has been pulsating through these lands!? Return to the Monistary, Justin! You must!"
"I've been exiled, Tibbs," Justin began, "for not paying enough attention to the gods... the monks aren't as they were, Tibbs!" Justin looked down at his feet and sighed. "I wish Thand Yug-dizer was still a monk. He was the best white mage I've ever seen, and yet he was expelled too! Something about not giving a reasonable enough donation to the Monistary."
"Hang on a sec, Justin. I've come to believe the monks up north have allied themselves with the dark lord..." Tiberius stared Justin in the eyes, a more serious look catching hold of him. Justin only looked confused and perplexed.
"Who do you mean?" Justin asked. He then thought for a moment, then he realized who the dark lord really is. "Do you mean Retan?" Tiberius closed his eyes and shook his head. "Well, then who is it?" Justin finally asked, at last giving in to the strange mystery.
"HIM... the darker one..." Tiberius said, pointing a single finger towards the ground. This confused Justin even more. He thought again, a hand placed on his chin, slowly rubbing his fingers back and forth to indicate thought.
"I have it!" Justin shouted, "It's the devil! Oh yeah! I'm totally right, aren't I......... aren't I?" Again, Tiberius shook his head, and put his hand to cover his face, looking annoyed by Justin's false answer.
"It's HIM!!! The DARKER ONE!!! SPEAKING HIS NAME IS FORBIDDEN!!!" This hit Justin like a 'slap-in-the-face' kind of reality. He now knew the answer.
"Umbranthos! oh crap..." Justin had coverd his mouth in shame of what he had just said. This was the dark lord; king of the demons. Umbranthos' fang is the one Justin has. "Anyways, how can Umbran... 'HE' harm us? Didn't Drannica seal him off in the underworld dimention by addamantine gates!?"
"CAN'T YOU FEEL IT!?!?!?" Tiberius shouted, "HE'S ALREADY HERE, IN MORTAL FORM!!! WHY DO YOU THINK RETAN IS STILL ALIVE!?!?!? IT IS BECAUSE 'HE' HAS ALLOWED IT!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS DARK ENERGY IS FROM!?!?!? IT'S HIM!!!!!!" Tiberius was breathing fast after shouting at Justin.
- Gulp.* "H-He's-s h-h-hea-r-r?" Justin shuddered... His world seemed to have come to an end. He could hear his heart smashing against his chest. He fell backwards on the wet ground, the rain splashing on his face. All that was a colorful world in Justin's eyes had slowly faded to black... fading forever away. The dark one... has come...
Posted by: Jenia on Thursday March 15th, 2007
Fernis let out out a slight giggle.
"Now that I know these things can happen, I'll come ever so prepared. But please, Iduran, at least allow me to attempt calling you back again in the future..."
Then, suddenly the lizards came falling down, making Fernis stop and move to her right to dodge a falling soldier.
"Why, you stupid little critter..."
She suddenly turned her head to Elphos, who just stood there, staring in horror.
"ELPHOS! GET OVER HERE AND GIVE ME A LIFT!"
Elphos' face turned from horrified to sour as he ran in front of Fernis and bent down to all fours. Fernis quickly climbed on his back.
Now I can actually AIM with all those friendlies about!
Fernis pointed the palm of her hand at one of the lizards, cousing the runes on the bracelet on her arm to shine in blue.
A powerful lightning bolt was suddenly shot from her hand unto the closest lizardman, cousing it to fall down, dead and fried, without even a chance to cry out in pain.
"I hope Tjed troops like eating THUNDER-FRIED LIZARDS ON-A-STICK!"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday March 15th, 2007
"Justin...?" A strange, muffled voice was calling out to him... pitch darkness was still all Justin could see. "Hey, Justin!" the strange voice called again... No response. "He's still out of it, I guess," the voice concluded. This voice sounded like a man. Justin could still feel his heart beating, but instead of wet, coldness, he felt warmth, a bed, and soon a fat finger placed on the side of his throat.
"Is he still alive?" asked another voice, sounding more like a woman, "Please be okay, Justie..." The girl hung her head down and covered her face with her eyes.
"It seems he is still alive," said the first voice, "but in some sort of trance. His eyes are open, but he sees nothing. He opens his mouth, but not a sound leaves his throat. It seems our enemy had something to do with this..."
"Enemy?" asked the second voice, "Who? Is it a man? Oh, if I find out who did this to my Justie... Pain... Thank you for sending the letter, Doctor. I'll wait in the front." the woman got up and slowly walked out of the warm room. The man, however, continued to examine Justin. He grabbed a needle off of a silver table and took a sample of Justin's blood. He then covered the point where the needle had entered with a bandage and tape to stop the blood. Soon the man left as well.
- Where am I?* Justin began to ponder, *What's happening? How long have I been here? Why can't I see? Why can't I say anything? Am I dead?* Justin laid on the bed for three days wondering the same things over and over, day in and day out. When the fourth day had finally come, Justin regained his sight, but his eyes were heavy with drowziness. He sat up, putting his hand to his hand.
"Ah, my head... What the hell happened?" Justin looked around. Apparently, he'd fell into some sort of poison-enduced coma. Suddenly, he felt a slow pain in his other arm. The head of a ninteen-year-old girl was on his arm, sound asleep.
Justin's head felt heavy and warm. He just sat there with his right hand on his head, and his other slowly and carefully moving out from under the ninteen-year-old-girl's head. finally, he was out, and the girl was still out. He placed his hand gently on her head, and just sat there, staring at her smooth, forest-green hair.
About two hours later, the girl opened her eyes, and quickly closed them again. Justin quickly but gently moved his hand away. The girl sat up in the chair that was next to Justin's bed and started rubbing her eyes. A few moments later, she opened them to find Justin staring back at her with a smile. She screamed and jumped into his arms, crying on his shoulder.
"JUSTIN!!! YOU HAD ME WORRIED SENSLESS!!! I WAS HERE FOR THREE DAYS!!!" She gasped in a great breath of air for a while, and then caught her breath.
"I'm fine, Jannie," Justin retorted. He held her in his arms and stroked her hair. She still held on, crying away on his shoulder. Another ten minutes passed, and she let go of him, rubbing the tears from her eyes.
"What happened to you?" asked Jannis, still sitting on the bed, staring at Justin. Justin simply shook his head and replied, "I haven't the slightest idea. My guess would probably be as good as yours... Ohh man, my head!" He reached his hand up to his head again.
Soon, in walked another familiar face. He stopped and looked at Justin. "Hmm..." He began, "I won't want to bore you with the details, so I'll just tell you right off the bat. You were poisoned with an ancient elven dart. It was well cloaked with an illusion spell, but my medical sensors detected it right away. In any case, it was a minor poison that posed no major threat, but it's very dangerous to a certain list of races, and it could have killed you, had I not removed it immediatly. So, are you feeling a bit heavy?"
"Now that you mention it, my head feel like it's on fire... ugh! You got any medicine, Doctor uhh..."
"Thand," he interrupted, "Thand Yug-dizer, at your service. So what have you been up to all of these years, Justin? Been messing around in that Dran-forsaken Monistary... Hmph... I don't even want to think about that place right now. Here's a small dose of menill neul electicide. It should give you a boost, Justin." Thand threw a large, wrapped box with a few needles inside. He unwrapped the package, opened it, and took one of the needles with the M.N.E. out and injected himself with one.
"I'm so glad you're alright again, Justin!" Jannis blurted, "You still haven't forgotten me after ten years, have you?" She took out a small package from out of her pants pocket and handed it to Justin. he opened it up and looked at what was inside. It was a case with an assortment of labled herbs and ingredients for various cures. He closed it and put it in his pocket.
"Wait a moment..." Justin raced through his mind. He forgot what he was doing *Let's see here... I was walking north, then I saw rain... Headed to the cave and met Tibbs... who was the person that was with me...? Oh no... crap...* "I have to leave, now! I'm sorry to be rude, but I have to head north. It's for the sake of Tjed... uhh, which way's north?"
"Well, Justin, you're in luck," Thand stated, "We're in the northern fringe of Tjed. The only place of real importance 'HERE' would be a bit farther north, to the dock. I can't see why you'd want to go there, but there's a market to the east of the dock if you need to stock up your supplies... or there's the Dark Camp to the south of the market, but uhh, heh... that's not a very nice neighborhood."
"Dark Camp? What's that? And how can I get there from here?" Justin dumbly asked. Thand sighed and looked down.
"The Dark Camp is really not the place to be, son. It's the Crimson reinforcement; they'd kill you and take your stuff clean... but if you really want to get there, I suggest you head to the docks first. There's a friend of mine up there that can take you there through a secret underground waterway. If you take that route, You'll end up under the Dark Camp's dried-out well. If you climb that, you'll end up in the middle of the Dreaded halls, in a locked room."
"Sound's easy enough," said Justin, "So then, how do I get passed the locked room, Thand? Some kind of riddle I bet..."
"Yep. You got it right on the dot," Thand continued, "Once you get out of the well, knock three times on the door. A Lizard-man will ask you the password. You must simpley Reply 'If my enemy's blood is not crimson, my blood be spilled for the empire'. You got all that?"
"Yeah. I got it. So who's the guy I have to meet at the docks who'll take me through the underground waterway?"
"His name is Zenthak. He'll probably be wearing a black robe to cover his skin and face. Don't get too close to that man... He's a vampire, bit by Umbra himself, they say."
"Which Umbra, the darker one, or the bloodier one?"
"Bloodier," Thand replied.
"Okay, I'll see you again some time soon." With that said, Justin got out of his bed and stood on his feet. A few moments later, he fell over on his face. "... crap... Could one of you help me up?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday March 15th, 2007
"Uhh, Dr. Thand?" Jannis began, "Could you accompany Justin to the docks? I don't think he can make it on his own..." Thand sighed and looked at the mass still on the floor that was Justin.
"I'm being serius, guys! Help me up! Now! I feel like I broke something... ugh..." Justin placed both his hands on the ground shoulder-width appart and pushed off with all of his might. He groaned a little, too. Finally, he was able to sit himself up with his back against the bed, still on the floor, though. Jannis raced to his side and grabbed under his arms. She pulled him to his feet and sat him down on the bed.
"Justin, that injection you took may take a while to kick-in," Thand said after a few moments of thinking, "It may be another four hours or so, but you'll be able to walk by yourself again. In the mean-time, what do you intend to do?"
"What do I intend to do!?" Justin retorted, "I INTEND TO SAVE TJED, THAT'S WHAT!!!!!! What the hell do you think I came all the way out here to do!? I need to go, and now! If I don't-"
"Then your master may think twice before letting you in the order." Dori was standing in the doorway, one hand on her hip, "What happened here? Why did you leave?"
"Leave!? LEAVE!?!?!? ARE YOU FRIGGEN MAD!?!?!? YOU LEFT ME!!! Where did YOU go, miss 'I'm so friggen great because I lead a resistance'! What is you PROBLEM!?" Justin was seething with anger. He could have punched Dori, if not for his weak constitution at the current moment.
"I went into the forest and passed through. When I turned around, loan behold, you were gone. Care to tell me what happens next?" Dori's hand came off her hip and stayed at her side, her fists clenched.
- The forest...? Oh for the love of Dran! I could have just saved four and a half days if I just continued north... Way to go, me. I am dumb... 'sigh'* "The forest, you say? what about that great flash of lightening? You must have seen that. What was that all about?"
"That wasn't lightening, you idiot!" Dori yelled, "That was a flare. My illusion magic isn't just for show, it's supposed to help... for the love of the lord, why didn't you-"
"Illusion magic, you say?" Thand interrupted, "You know, I found a poisonous dart on Justin, and it was cloaked in an invisibility spell. Try to explain that, missy!" Thand took the dart and dipped it in a vile of paint, then he threw it on the floor. It was a simple, unfeathered dart with a tripple-bladed tip.
"What are you talking about!?" Dori blurted, "I only use my magic for the good of our people, not-"
"And just what do you mean by 'our people', miss? You probably knew that Justin isn't from Tjed already, so you would have no regrets for using such a thing on him!" Jannis walked towards where Dori stood, picked up the painted dart, and handed it to her. "I believe this belongs to you. Now get out, or I'll make you!"
"Are you trying to tell me that you'll force me out if I don't leave? Is that it? I'm telling you, this dart is not MINE," Dori plainly stated. She threw the dart on the ground and stepped on it, crunching it into tiny pieces. "Okay!? Is that getting to your puny little brain!?"
"Insult her again," Justin butted-in, "And I'll have your head on a PLATTER!!! GET THE HELL OUT!!!" Justin stood in a perfectly composed stance. He unsheathed his demon fang (which was still on his back this whole time) and pointed it at Dori. He then pointed it at the door. "OUT, NOW!!!!!!"
Dori looked at the fang and swallowed hard. She backed up a few steps and reached to her side, grabbing her assassin's claw and placing it on her knuckles. This only angered Justin even more, and he finally snapped. He lunged forwards, slashing at Dori, just missing because of her assassin's claw being in the way. She could barely hold Justin's might as he forced his blade towards her side. Soon it reached Dori's flesh and started to burn her skin. She screamed and turned invisible.
"Where'd you go, assassin?" Justin snarled. His fury was unleashing itself on his physical characteristics. His hair turned jet-black, his eyes darkend to a bloodish-red color. The door slammed shut, and he heard another slam across the hall. He bursted through the first door and belted down the hallway, crashing through the next door.
"REVEAL YOURSELF TO ME!!!!!!" Justin held his hand to his forehead the same way he had last time, and then swirled it around the air. Soon, he brought it back to his forehead, and then, next to his head. Soon, a white aura in the shape of a person appeared near by, crouching down, the head looking back at Justin.
Justin ran around the Aura and then behind it. It looked around itself, and then started to sneak back to the house. Justin ran up to the aura had whispered next to the side of it's head.
"Boo..."He had plunged his blade through the aura, and it made Dori reappear. He had stabbed her right in her kidney. She screamed. Blood poured out of her wound and out of her mouth. She coughed on the blade, leaning her body forwards, trying to push it out. It was no use. All it did was burn her hands.
She readied her assassin's claw and Jabbed it into Justin's forearm. He removed the blade from her kidney which hurt her more than it did when she was stabbed. Afterwards, he dropped his blade and used his other hand to try and pull out the assassin's claw. He succeeded, but crimson red blood gushed out of his punctured forearm.
He fell to his knees, as did Dori. Bloody redness covered their sights, and both fainted into a painful oblivion...
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday March 16th, 2007
"Leaving so soon Marshall." Said a familiar voice from behind him. (NOT Roland)
"Raymond?" Marshall said, turning around. It was his old friend he met in the remains of the Blue Minotaur Temple. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you for over a year."
"Oh, well I was put in charge of this operation." Raymond replied.
"What? But Peter put me and--"
"No, no. You misunderstand me, Marshal. I was put in charge of the operation from the Kandarin."
"You mean you're...?"
"Yes, the all along sadly. How do think those zombies found out where we were hiding? It was me who informed them. I even gave them inside information on Gief, so Roland and his forces could crush the pathetic Aspye city."
"You...you..." Marshall pointed his magic pistols at Raymond, ready to fire.
"Yes, I'm one of the key reasons your barbaric nation is nothing but a pathetic third-world party." Raymond lifted his hands which gave off an eerie beige glow. "Now I will crush what remains of it!"
Before Raymond could pull off any fancy tricks, Marshall blasted a fireball and an ice shard right at his head, blowing it clean off. Yet, that didn't stop the undead summoner! He smashed his fists together and two beams of beige energy shot to the ground to his left and right side, summoning two ogre zombies. Raymond then picked up his head. "Are you ready to die, Marshall!?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday March 16th, 2007
"I'm fine, I'm fine..."
Ven stumbled a bit as he rose to his feet, clutching his bleeding arm as he waved the imp off.
Melface appeared floating over the waves, his tiny fists balled in anger and rage and his eyes wide.
"You-you..!! ARGH!! I will kill you all for this!! Mark my words! YOU WILL ALL DIE!!!"
He flew backwards a bit as some knights advanced towards him menacingly. Then he turned tail and flew back towards the ships in the distance, vanishing into thin air.
Ven smiled at this, his confidence fully restored. Two of the fiends were felled, and the third chased away. It seemed the entire tide of battle had turned with the avalanche and thunder strikes. He would find whoever coordinated that attack and award him a medal. And Duilin's transformation topped it all off.
"Here sir, allow me to dress your wound."
Ven sheathed his blade and allowed the solder to apply some salve and wrap his arm tightly. It would need to be dressed better when he got back, but this would do for now.
The lizards arriving from the ships had died out, and Ven knew wave one was over. Kesnar technically still stood, but it would be a lost cause with the wall mangled as they were. Retreating to the caves would still be their best course of action. The main army should already be there now. Those twisting passages would be easier to defend. Most of the population had retreated into the capital of city, Tjedon, located in the center of the ring of mountains past the maze of tunnels anyway. It was the people that needed to be defended, not the land.
His wound wrapped, Ven stood up and looked at the three menacing ships upon the western horizon... Just sitting there, waiting... Especially that one in the center... with it's jagged protrusions and other things that were too tiny to make out in the distance... He knew right there and then that the next wave would be far more brutal...
Iduran leapt back as he avoided the swing of a mighty sword. Indher had managed to fry one lizard, but there were four more left, and these huge things seemed to have the strength of twenty men...
Just then a knight was ripped in half, his upper body thrown toward Iduran. The Tjedian knight's sword fell right at the former Knight Captain of Romme's feet. Iduran reached down and picked up the dead warrior's weapon.
He looked to the west and saw something flying his way. Though it looked like a demon, he somehow knew it to be no threat, so played it no mind. The sun was beginning to wane, and the western sky grew red. He had but a few moments left. And nothing to loose.
Wielding the broadsword in both hands, his form blurred as he dashed madly at the lizard who cut down the Tjedian. The B-Class Lizard Man had a huge jagged blade, and swung it towards the old knight in a wide arc. Iduran simply leapt over it and slashed his own weapon though the air as it glowed a bright blue. The lizard's feet were instantly frozen with a cerulean flash. Roaring, the thing slashed his sword straight down upon the human. Iduran blocked with his blade, sheer determination in his eyes. The flimsy thing should have snapped right then, but it did not. Instead the old knight's feet were pressed a foot into the rocky ground as a crater formed, the runes etched upon his armor by Indher glowing brightly.
Iduran pushed up on the lizard's mighty sword, and the Lizard Man lost balance, bringing his sword into the air. Iduran brought his broadsword sideways, then with both hands, cut the air with a horizontal slash. The lizard's blade fell apart, in two halves...
The Lizard Man snarled loudly then, baring all of his 135 pointed teeth (he was missing one). He threw the useless stub of a sword away, and slashed the air with his long claws. He did not need a weapon, after all.
Iduran danced around the green scaled monster, dodging slash after slash. The beast's low strokes clipped the rocky ground, sending chunks flying into the air. Finally Iduran found himself cornered with his back to the great mountain wall. The lizard smiled menacingly before charging and slashing with his right claw. There was suddenly a bright flash, and his arm was then a bloody stump, his claw twitching upon the ground...
The Lizard Man threw his head back and wailed loudly. Yet the scream was cut short, for Iduran drove his blade deeply into the lizard's chest, piercing through his black armor. The lizard's eyes rolled back lifelessly, then fell back in a crumpled mess...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Friday March 16th, 2007
Thand rushed outside to Dori's side, and Jannis ran to Justin. They both had a pack of bandages and wrapped their wounds. "How could this have happened!?" Jannis cried. She tried to carry Justin in her arms, but she didn't have a good enough amount of body strength for it, so she left him on the ground and dragged him back inside down the hall and just barely lifted him to the bed. She covered him in the blanket that was on the bed already.
"I had no idea Justin could get this blood-thirsty... but he's always gone out once or twice from the monistary before. Never came back for days at a time. Mabey this is why he was...? No, I'm just breaking down to conclusions. I'm sure they were just jelous, like they were with me." Thand finished wrapping Dori's body in an anti-burning solution and a tight bandage. He picked her up with ease and walked back into the house to another room.
"Uhhnn..." Justin moaned, "Oohhh...... uhhnn...... so close......" Jannis sat down next to Justin and observed his wounds. She then wondered after making a careful observation why Justin was unconcious. He held a minor wound in his forearm, and nothing else. She also remembered he was poisoned earlier, so that might have had something to do with it.
"Hey Jannis! Get in here! I found out who this woman is!" Jannis gave Justin a pat on the head and left down the hall to the door on the right of the entrance, which was smashed open because of Justin. She walked in the room and looked at the lifeless Drow wrapped all around in bandages.
"Well, who is she?" Jannis asked in a sort of I'm-in-a-hurry attitude. She looked at Dori with little initiative as to whether she even cared.
"You shouldn't talk like that when someone is near death," Thand mentioned, "especially a total stranger. She may have attacked Justin, but only because-"
"She deserves to be in prison!" Jannis interrupted, "She had no right to attack my Justie! If you'll sit here and do nothing, then I'll.. I'll... I"LL KILL HER MYSELF!!!" Jannis took a pocket knife from out of her pants pocket and raced at Dori. Thand quickley pulled a sedative needle out of his lab coat and injected Jannis with it directly into the side arterie on her neck. She stopped in mid-rush for a few moments, then rolled her eyes backwards and hung her head back as well.
"This is going to be an eventful reunion, huh... Jane." Thand took the lifeless Jannis into Justin's room and laid her next to Justin. They looked so dead to him, he had a hard time looking at them. He walked back to the room where Dori was lying on the bed.
The sun had lowered almost completely to its final descent down the horizon. The sky was a dark purple haze and stars were visible around to the south. Black was the color of the moon as it rose high into the sky. The new moon was a great sight around the stars, as it held a strange, mischevous glow around it's outer-most layer.
As the night began to reach down on Tjed, Dawn slowly approached the dark continent. It was useless to have dawn in the west anyways, as no rays of light had never shown on the surface of its malevolent landmass. An even still, a Tall Lizard-man in crimson-red platemail stood facing the east to look out as if he could see the bright glory of the sun, his black eyes forever seeing...
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday March 16th, 2007
"Well, it looks like the fighting is dieing down." Rink stated. The imp then closed his eyes and gave an aura scan. "I sense that Jayce guy is near by. The one who attacked Tjed last time..."
He then looked to Lagart. "So, are you a friend of Ven or Duilin?"
"I friend of Duilin. I left empire, didn't like their thinkings." Lagart replied.
"Hey, um. Could you do me a favour then?"
"What?"
Rink hopped over to where he had Duilin's mace laying on the ground. "Could you give him this?" The imp then picked it up and then flew back over to Lagart.
"How somebody so small able to pick up such huge weapon!?" Lagart asked in surprised as the imp handed him the mace.
"Same reason an imp is talking to a lizard-man." Rink replied.
---
Duilin swooped in slamming his feet into one of the large lizard men, knocking it off its feet. Duilin then landed on the ground and roared "Who wants a piece of Duilin!"
The lizard man who was knocked over got back up and picked up its mace. "DIE FILTHY DEMON!!" It hissed as he charged towards Duilin. Just before it could swing its weapon, the demon lord jabbed the lizard in the face with his left hand, then with right, left again and then gave a jabbing upper cut right under the jaw with his right, forcing the creature's head to snap back, and drop its weapon. Duilin snagged the mace, as it was in mid fall and then gave a quick swing across the head of the already concussed lizard man, breaking its neck.
Another lizard man was charging towards him. Just when he was a few feet away from Duilin, the demon lord enchanted the mace with his raw demonic energy and then threw it at his advancing foe, smashing him right in the stomach knocking the wind out of him as he fell to the ground.
"When will they learn to not attack me one at a time?" Duilin commented.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday March 17th, 2007
"Rise may you, sun of the crimson. Fall nought beith for the new moon, but for the only sun's islands... how unfortunate, though it may be..." The poetic lizard-man waddled back to his small base near the edge of the dark continent. As he found his way inside, there sat a piece of parchment.
"And what might this be? On-lookers to my background, looking only for gossip? Never will I let it, I say! Never will I lead my holy bretheren to their demise. Read this parchment I shall..." He waddled inside his tent and picked up the parchment, sitting on a little table next to a bedroll on the floor.
The message read as follows:
Dear Jacobie,
How's the army been treating you? We of the high order of priests of the Arctic tribe of Drannsmire bade you to follow these instructions. Consult with the one who carries the soul and teeth of our lord, and his misstress as well. He will be near Tjed. Do this, and we will accept you into our order as an ambasador of the Reptilian races.
With due concern,
Lord Valimore VIII, founder of the Holy Drannic Republic of Knights.
"Hmm... Valimore requests I go to Tjed and find this... man with the soul of the darker one... and his misstress. Whom might be this haveth I not a single clue. Strange, this all seems to be."
The Lizard-man took the peice of parchment and lifted his bedroll, which had five other letters. He took them all and put them on top of the bedroll and rolled it up. He then stuffed it into a bag on the floor which had an enchantment that could fit inside itself fifty times its normal maximum size, and stay almost weightless as well. He took the table and a few stands that kept the tent from collapsing and threw them into the bag. Then, He folded the tent up and threw that into the bag.
"If Tjed I must go, then so be it that my soul shall not rest easy until I find this man and his maiden!"
"AHH!!!" Justin leapt out of bed and ran back outside, looking around for something, panicing horribly. Akwardly, Dori did exactly the same. When she got outside, she stared into Justin's eyes, shattering them both into nothing with fear.
"You saw him...?" Dori asked finally, after about ten minutes of staring, "Saw that... THING!?!?!?" Justin nodded, not taking his eyes off of Dori, both of them paralizing eachother with their horrified stare.
Jannis bolted out of the house, the pocket knife still in her pocket, although she had already forgotten about her incident with Dori. Thand rushed out as well.
"What in Dran's name is going on out here? What's with the screaming? It's in the middle of the night! Can't you see we're trying... What the hell's gotten into those two? First, they were friends. Then, they fight eachother... and now THIS!?!?!?"
"What's going on!?" Jannis looked from Justin to Dori, then back and forth a few times. She waved her hand in the middle of their eyes, but not one of them blinked of moved.
"Jannis, get back inside!" Thand yelled, "NOW!!!" Jannis belted back into the house and hid under the bed she was in before. She started to shiver in fear.
"D-do y-y-you think-k he's-s r-r-real-l!?!?!?" Justin studdered to Dori. Shivering intensly, she slowly nodded. Fear had somehow seeped its way into their souls.
After another thirty minutes, Dori looked around her self. "What will we do? What CAN we do!?" Dori ran back inside to the bed she was in before and sat on the bed, chattering her teeth. Eventually, she fainted back into sleep.
"Looks like she's got the right idea, Justin," Thand said after Dori had fainted, "you should get yourself some rest. When you're feeling better, I'll take you and miss Dori to the docks. Go back inside and get some rest. I'm headed that way to do the same."Justin and Thand went back to their rooms and laid down on their beds.
"You can come on out now, Jannis." Justin said. She got out from under the bed and stood, looking back at Justin. He motioned for her to lie down next to him. She walked around to the other side of the bed and laid down next to Justin.
"Are you okay?" Justin asked her. She looked back at him with a fearful face. Clearly, she was not as good as can be, but she was feeling better now that Justin had regained thought. After a moment of silence, she broke out wailing on Justin's shoulder with her arm wrapped around him.
"It's fine, okay?" said Justin, putting his hand on her head, stroking her forest-green hair, "I'll be okay. Nothing is going to happed to me or just 'anybody' for that matter. You'll be fine. I'll be here if you need anything." Jannis stoped crying, but she sniffled a bit. Clearing his mind, and still holding on to Jannis, Justin slowly fell back into a deep slumber...
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday March 17th, 2007
As Fernis recharged her bracelet for another shot, she watched how Iduran skillfully dispatched another lizard.
And he calls himself normal? He could open a fencing school, dammit!
"Iduran! Hey, Iduran! Try using the teleport thing!"
She then heared strange noises sounding awefully like constipation below her.
Looking down, she saw Elphos, who seemed to be doing his best holding her up, but he was already sweating.
"F-Fernis," he tried speaking, which sounded awefully hard for him.
"You are hea-"
"SHUT UP!"
Fernis let out another jolt at yet another lizard, who skillfully dodged it, but it didn't matter as it hit it's companion right behind it, frying yet another reptile.
Fernis seemed somewhat angry at Elphos now.
"Keep comments such a these to yourself!"
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday March 17th, 2007
Just as it seemed all five lizards were felled, two more dropped from above, landing in the midst of the knights with bestial roars.
As the western sky was painted crimson with the setting sun, the old knight knew he had only seconds left on Gaian. Taking advantage of his distraction, one of the massive beasts swung a thick mace down upon him. Iduran was snapped back to reality by the word 'teleport'.
"Right!"
In a blur he disappeared, his foggy image hanging in the air just long enough for the massive mace to drive through it. The lizard was thrown off balance by the miss, and stumbled forward. Iduran instantly appeared behind the beast and with a mighty slash raked his blade across the thing's armored back, splitting it open. It was not enough to kill the beast, though, and it spun around, flailing its weapon about. The old knight was quick to react, though, and bore his blade deeply into the monster's scaly stomach...
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday March 17th, 2007
"Iduran! Hey, Iduran! Try using the teleport thing!"
"Iduran?" Duilin then noticed the old knight, his old friend fighting off one of the giant lizards.
The second lizard then took his battle axe and readied to slash it downwards at Iduran.
"NO YOU DON'T!" Duilin roared as he bolted forward and tackled the lizard man to the ground. The lizard dropped his axe as he was taken down to the floor. Duilin got back up and then slid his hands from each other quickly making a blade of demonic energy. He then plunged it down on the lizard, before it could reach its weapon, right through the chest.
Duilin then started to breathe deeply, his power was so much for him, and he could barely handle it. He then turned his head and looked at him. Iduran, the old knight from Romme. The very man he saw dead in Retan's Dark Vessel. His first friend he made, the man who actually trusted him, when he turned from the Empire.
"Hello...Iduran. It's me...Duilin..." He greeted, still in his deeper demonic voice.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday March 17th, 2007
The mysterious Lizard-man began to walk east a dock on the dark continent. Everyone in his camp was most-likely to be sound asleep. He tip-toed over to the docks and grabbed hold of a rope on the dock attached to a cargo frigate. Slowly, he let the frigate drift out. When it was thirty feet-or-so away from the dock, he swung from the rope in his hands an flipped onto the deck.
"Small, though this ship may be, to my likings, it is... Mehhehheh! I will find this soul of your lord, yes indeed. He will not expect hospitality from me, will he now? I shall make this one my friend, and together, we will travel to the arctic tribe of Drannsmire!!! MEHHEHHEH!!!!!!"
The Lizard-man was now well on his way to Tjed. He tightened the rudder a few times to make sure it would stay in place over night. Then, he went down a deck and into a chamber with a nice bed that was in front of another chamber with a load of cargo and a few bedrolls.
"I intend not to amass an army now, but this ship will come in handy once I come around to Tjed! Best get some well deserved rest had I..." He waddled to his bed and laid down on his side, his dorsol fin down his back wriggled and stretched along with his tail. Then, he relaxed, and fell at rest.
Deep in the frozen wastes of the Arctic region in a white-brick monistary, A tall man with a white robe and a blue cape rested in a large throne. "Bring me what news you have of Thommas! I wish to know, for when one finds himself torn from his master, might he seek new apprenticeship?"
Another monk in a white robe greeted his lord and knelt down to bare a blank letter in his hand with a quill and a capped ink well. "Should you wish to write to Lord Jacobie, I have your things, master. I shal get a block of wood for you to write upon!"
"Then fetch me that block, for I wish not to write upon it, but wish to write to my only apprentice," Answered the lord, "Go on Then! Fetch me that block!" The monk left the monistary and found a warehouse out in the severe cold. He entered, found a long, fat block of wood and grabbed it. He left the ware house, reentered the monistary and gave his lord the block and his writing utensils.
"Very good, my minnion!" said the monk's lord, "A bonus I shall request from your superior to bestow upon to you, my faithful minnion. Leave me to my writings, then, my dear minnion! I shall see to it that you be sent to Tjed to send this letter. Leave me then!" The monk left the monistary.
When the lord was sure nobody had been listening to him, he began to murmur to himself. "Finding you be the easiest task for me... but to convince you of my loyalty to the darker one... that may take some swift talking... or forced persuasion! MEHHEHHEH!!!!!!"
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday March 17th, 2007
Well well, who do we have here?
With the (hopefully) last lizard defeated, Fernis jumps off Elphos and approaches the knight and demon, ignoring the many stares of the Tjedi knights.
((ignore the T for a moment. LAWL XD))
"Ah, a friend of Iduran, are you?" she asked, as politely as she could, ignoring the sheer energy being emitted by the demon lord...
"I'm afraid you won't have time to catch up on old times. Iduran's time... Is almost over..."
She then turned to look at Iduran. Her smile was forced, but it's kindness honest.
"I was glad I could meet you, Sir Iduran. Next time we meet, I'll have you stay longer..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday March 17th, 2007
|HOLY DRANNIC CHAPTER PROLOGUE ENDED|
THE REAL LEGEND BEGINS
The sky was a dark and warm color. The sun had began to set itself down to greet the shine of the new moon, which had already drifted into the sky. The smell of dead lizards hung high in the air. This, however, had no effect on Jacobie as he got out of his bed and grounded the boat to shore.
Scailing the mountains to get to the Tjedian capitol would be no easy task for a regular lizard man, but Jacobie was different. He was to simpley walk up the mountains, for he could walk on walls and ceilings. He ran swiftly across the land and leapt into the sky with great force. Going at an incredible force of 20 miles a second, he landed on a mountain wall and ran up its great hights.
"Hmm... The soul is near by!" said Jacobie, "I can feel it! I must make haste!" He ran up the wall on all fours, brutally exhausting his strength, but still he ran. Finally, he jumped off the peak and landed on top of a dead lizard-man. There, he saw another lizard-man, an imp, an army of soldiers, two demons, and a few other people.
"Where is this place?" Jacobie asked himself, "Eh!? The soul! I felt it a few seconds ago! It's gone! NO!!!!!!" Jacobie raced around the area, trying to sense the soul, but failing. The others gave him curious looks. He looked down at his feet and sighed.
"Does anyone know where I can get to the northern fringe from here?" Jacobie asked. The only response he got was shock, and four soldiers raced after him. He held out his arms, his hands turnd out with his plams inwards. The soldiers froze.
"I have no intent to harm any one of you. Please, take me to the north of this island! I am serching for a lost friend... *Sigh* Let me guess... You are all surprized that I can speak in full round-about sentances, am I right?" He walked forwards, unsheathed his two katanas and threw them on the ground, hoping someone would take this as a gesture of kindness. They did nought but stare...
"MY LORD!" yelled a white monk who came bursting into the white-brick monistary, "My lord... *Huff* *Huff* He's been *Huff* sighted sir!" The monk bent downwards to catch his breath.
"WHAT!?!?!? Where hast you'd seen him last!? Uhh... I mean where hast he been sighted, minnion? Please let me know... I wish it to be known that my apprentice is still okay." The monk took out a news-letter from his robe pocket and threw it up to his lord's throne.
"What's this, a news-letter? Hmph, what's it say... Let's see." The news-letter read as follows:
FLYING LIZARD-MAN SIGHTED NEAR WESTERN TJED!!!
A Tjedian farmer reports that a flying lizard-man in crimson armor and two katanas attatched to his belt had flown over his farm and towards the mountains of the Tjadian capitol.
The lord crumpled up the letter and threw it back at the monk's face. "Get out of my sight! I needn't known that he'd been seen by a peasant FARMER!!! LEAVE ME MINNION, OR DIE!!!" The monk ran tremendously fast out of the monistary. He found his way into the warehouse and hid behind a few crates.
Justin rolled over to his side. He couldn't stop thinking about his strange dreams he shared with Dori. *Who was this 'Jacobie' fellow... and what did he want with me...?* He rolled over again and looked at his friend Jannis, who was now sound asleep. She looked at peace again.
- What the hell was all of this about...?* Dori thought to herself, *Who in Dran's name is that Lizard-man in the crimson armor? How could he speak so well...?* Dori could not stand this insanity anymore. She got out of bed and went into the hall. Justin was there as well, which surprised her again, but less than it had before.
"Saw it too then, did you?" she asked Justin in a mellowed-out tone. "Yeah. We should leave now," He answered, "Best not to bring danger to my friends..." They both agreed to leave the north in search of this Lizard-man whose name was Thommas Jacobie. They planned to start by searching the mountain-side, then the Tjedian capitol. So begins their journey...
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday March 18th, 2007
"Hold!"
Ven pushed through his knights as they surrounded the red armored Lizard Man, and they lowered their weapons slightly. His right arm was wrapped in a white bandage and a bit of blood was leaking through, though the flow seemed to have stopped.
"He appears to mean us no harm."
The High Knight Ven was slightly leery, since it was odd to see a Lizard Man not in service of the Dark Empire and wondered if this could be a ruse. But Lagart had proved himself trustworthy, so perhaps this one was as well.
"You intend to go to northern Tjed? It's not that easy of a path from here in the southwest. The entirety of the center of the island is covered in tall unscalable mountains."
In order to get to northern Tjed, the lizard would have to traverse the complex system of tunnels through the mountains which lead to the valley capital city in the center. From there more tunnels bore through the northern mountain faces, eventually making it out to northern Tjed. Ven didn't quite want to give this information away so freely. Perhaps a test would be in order.
"We know a route, though. In fact we are headed in that direction now. However we are in the midst of a great battle and I fear the enemy will be striking back shortly. We must hold the enemy back at the caves just north of here. I see that you are a warrior. If you do not mind helping us though this upcoming battle, we would be glad to help you reach your destination.
Some of the knights looked shocked by this proposal, but Ven nodded. The enemy outclassed them by far. They needed all the help they could get...
Ven then looked back at the ships on the horizon.
"Hurry, we must get to the caves. You can take your time on your decision."
With that, Ven and the small handful of knights jogged through the mighty hole blown in the walls of Kesnar and began their way towards the main army which should be waiting for them in the caves by now.
(Tjedi! Yes!)
Iduran smiled softly as his body began to fade, becoming translucent. He nodded once to Indher and then to Duilin, apparently recognizing him completely though his form had changed. Resting the tip of his sword on the ground, he simply gave the two a "thumbs up".
Then his body disappeared, cast into a million specks of white light. The specks swirled around the sword as it balanced there for a moment, brightly illuminating the rocks around the cave entrance. All the soldiers watched wide-eyed as the particles of white light twirled around that blade.
The tiny stars did not disappear, though. They remained for a while, dancing in the night air, for the sun had set just at that moment. Then one by one, they went into the blade as it rose into the sky, each speck making the steel shine brighter. Each time a speck merged with the sword, the white-blue aura emanating from the blade glowed more intensely. When all the points of light were gone, the sword was a blazing beacon. Its form had changed slightly, the hilt becoming a bright gold with ornate curves. The blade itself was like a dazzling mirror, tiny silvery runes etched upon the edges.
Then at once the glowing stopped, and the sword fell to the ground, piercing through the rocky ground and remaining suspended there.
Thus on that night, a new sword of legend was born.
The Iduran.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday March 18th, 2007
"Capitol!" Jacobie exclaimed, "Then lead the way, knight! I shall follow you all galliantly behind, blade at the ready." Jacobie picked up his two katanas that he had thrown on the ground and returned them to their sheaths at his side. He still held on to one of his katanas with his right hand if need be they enter a combat situation.
"I will indeed assist you, but when we reach who I am looking for, I must take my leave. If you need anything beyond that point, contact me with this." Jacobie handed the wounded knight an orb that glowed blackly as did the night sky.
"The reason for this glow, though I cannot be certain, is probably because of my lord... he has escaped the undercroft of my leader's monistary and has made his way here. I search for him in the form of a man whose name I have not yet discovered. He travels with an assassin as his maiden... her name I know not as well. Anyways, if the orb's glow is green, then I will be speeking through it. If it is blue, you are speeking through it. Let's be off then!"
"Ugh!!!" Valimore retorted, "He gives this knight our sacred locating device!? What treachery is this!? *sigh* I believe I must find a new apprentice... for my old one has fallen with the enemy. Draconis!!! Come forth!" Another monk in a white robe entered the monistary... although he had a dark blue face and dark red hair. He was a drow, unlike the humans at the monistary.
"What is your wish, Lord Valimore? Have you come to your decision on when we must make our attack on Tjed?" The drow knelt down and looked up at his lord.
"No... not just yet, Draconis... but I fear your second has fallen in the enemy's hands... Hence forth, I grant you full apprenticeship! Your training starts tomorrow, and when I feel you have trained enough, you will take down your broth-uhh... second... He will not be an easy kill, mind you. You will need a plan. In any case, get some rest at your mother and father's house... I have eager plans for you in the morning, Mehheh-uhh *cough* ahem *cough*."
Justin and Dori were well on their way to the dock in the north. Amidst the travels and walkings, they came across an old rune lying on the ground. It was black, and had a red flame symbol carved on the side.
"I wonder where this came from... though I don't think we should keep it, Dori... uhh, Dori?" Justin's words were meaningless as Dori glanced within the rune, bedazzled by it's red and black glow.
"I'll keep it. Who knows? It might as well come in handy one day..." *heh heh heh! I wonder what the street value of this thing is! I'll be rich I tell ya! Gold will be over-flowing my house!*
"Dori, have you forgotten already? How can someone forget something that dramatic? Oh, forget it, just keep the thing. We have to keep moving, anyways..." Dori pocketed the rune and they continued along thier route to the Dock.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday March 18th, 2007
Duilin stepped towards the sword. "Iduran..." Once again he was gone...
He stepped closer towards the majestic blade. Duilin started to feel his demonic energy fading, and as he stepped closer towards the sword he began to change back to his normal self, before he even had his wings, he was now a full human. Duilin knelt before the sword, and reached his pocket taking out the shard of metal, with Romme insignia engraved on it.
"I know, I barely got to know you that much Iduran, but you inspired me to step up against the empire and show them that Gaian doesn't belong to them, or anyone. You may have been old and little skilled in magic, but you kept fighting. And until you died you were still going strong. For awhile I felt what I was fighting for was to get stronger and gain more power, mostly to defeat Draven. I don't even know why, I want to defeat him, I should let it go. But you're brief return has reminded me, that I should keep fighting but not for myself but for the liberty of Gaian. The Dark Empire will be defeated, I promise..."
Duilin then wrapped his hands around the hilt of the sword, yet before he could pull it out...he fainted, returning to his half demonic self"¦
//God, was that was cheesy...\\
--- ---
Marshall continued to rapidly fire at the zombie Raymond.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Marshall shouted as he gunned down on him.
The zombie ogres advanced on Marshall, however Marshall's ogre and Wilhem's Dragon came to fight off the zombies to protect the summoner.
The body of Raymond was scorched and signed and blown into to many pieces in order to be useful, Raymond apparently wasn't much of a fighter.
The zombie ogres however continued out their last orders. Marshall's ogre continued to swing his club and smash away at the zombie, but the undead proved to be stronger. With a single mighty swing of its club across the neck, Marshall's ogre fell to the ground lifeless...
Wilhem's dragon on the other hand was more than a match for the undead ogre, with only a single wide blast of flame, the zombie ogre was burnt to a crisp. It flew towards the other zombie ogre, as it was getting ready to strike and blasted a large ball of flame at the ogre, and it met a similar fate as the other one did...
Posted by: Jenia on Monday March 19th, 2007
He... Is fusing... with the sword?
Fernis raised an eyebrow as she saw the particles of light dazzle around a floating sword, and was somewhat startled when it fell down.
Interesting...
I bet this so called "greater power" which allowed me to bring him back had this planned from the very beggining!
Well, at least talking to him again would be much easier than I thought.
Fernis devilishly smiled to herself, but then realized the demon lord next to her turned completly human and was giving a speech as he picks up the sword holding the knight's soul.
Man, you are TOO cheesy...
wait...
Did he just...?
As the man who was a demon lord a moment ago finished giving his speech, he dropped flat on the cave's floor, chaging again, this time to something in between both his previous forms.
Elphos, who was complaining about his sore back rather than paying attention to what is going on the whole time, now approached Fernis.
"Hey, Fernis, wheres Iduran? And who... What the hell is this winged man on the floor?!"
But Fernis ignored him completly. She bent down, looking all over the body of the half-demon.
Upon noticing a bare graze, she carefully removed a single drop of blood with one of her claws without further wounding him, and then took out a tiny salve, into which she dropped the tiny amount on her fingernail.
This will be enough...
I'm not good enough with alchemy, chemistry or anything like that...
But I know someone who is...
Posted by: Zeros' on Monday March 19th, 2007
Zeros' and Allen both watched the scene between the two, Zeros' smiling and Allen shaking his head.
Zeros' turned and started to walk towards the castle in Tjed, glancing back at Allen, seeing him struggle. Zeros' stopped and backtracked, slinging his arm across Allen's shoulders and supporting him, the 'older' man looking up at Zeros' and smiled gratefully.
Together, with Zeros' half-carrying the old man, they walked back towards the center of Tjed.
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday March 19th, 2007
(Chapter 12 ends in two days.)
Ven took the black orb in his gauntlet.
"Hmmm, interesting."
He knew such devices were in use. The Crimson Empire used to use orbs to communicate, though he'd never seen one up close.
"Very well, I understand you have obligations. The name's Ven. Yours...?" he said as he pocketed the orb.
Just then though the group made it to the cave mouth. Ven gasped as he saw fallen knights scattered about, along with some huge dead Lizard Men. The majority of the knights were alive and well though, thankfully, and were spread out in a wide circle, looking at something in the middle.
"What is going on here?"
Ven pushed his way past some knights to see Duilin lying on the ground, reverted to his old self.
"Duilin!"
Kneeling next to him was some strange creature. Immediately, a flashing image immediately stabbed through Ven's mind...
It was some sliver-furred thing with a large bushy tail, flying through the air, an insidiously long slender blade in it's right hand (claw?). Three knights, good honest men with families... ran from the creature in panic... It was if they were moving in slow motion, yet the silver demon did not. The thing tore through their bowels with a single slash, slicing through their heavy armor like paper...
Ven snapped back to reality when he realized he had stopped and gasped. All eyes were on him now, and he shook the image out of his mind. The creature next to Duilin looked nothing like those demons, after all. Her fur was brown, and she didn't even have a tail. And obviously she was taking care of Duilin, bent over him like that. He continued his jog over.
"Is he all right?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday March 19th, 2007
"Hmm..." Jacobie had seen this Dulin Character and sensed his demonic powers, although they were faded away. Jacobie ran up to the three and looked at Dulin.
"This one will be okay. There is much power radiating from this area, though. Is it this...?" Jacobie grabbed hold of the Iduran and pulled it out of the ground. Just then, he was shocked and flopped over sideways. The blade fell out of his hands and Jacobie fell to his side. A few moments later, he got back to his feet.
"What is this thing? Such power it has... a fallen soul within, perhapse?" Jacobie shifted the blade over next to Dulin with his right foot and knelt down to see Dulin's face. For once, it looked normal.
"This one is your friend, is he not? I shall help him." Jacobie lifted Dulin to his feet and put his arm on his left shoulder. He draged him around the cave and sat him down against the wall. Unfortunately for him, five more Lizard-men droped down from the mountains.
"HHIIIIIISSSSSSS!!!!!! DIE, HHUUUMANNSSSS!!!!!!" The Lizard-men had not expected Jacobie to be helping the good guys. He unsheathed his katanas and slashed like crazy. A few minutes later, Jacobie let down his katanas to his side. The Lizard-men fell down backwards into chunks of bodyparts. Blood sprayed everywhere.
"They did not see that coming, I bet!" Jacobie exclaimed. He went back to Dulin's aid. Holding his hands close together, Jacobie made a ball of basic energy (green) and put it next to Dulin. It glowed a green light all around the area and lit the cave as well.
"No more time must we waste!" Jacobie exclaimed, "I must get to the north. I will wait a few moments for your friend to restore his strength, but no more than that. As soon as the moon is down, I go my own way if you will not assist me.
After a few hours of madening walking, Justin and Dori finally made it to the docks by 9:45 pm. The moon shone high above them, along with a strange glowing force field around the mountains. Justin and Dori looked at eachother.
"Good god... could this be... HIM?" Dori asked, "He's really here?" Justin grabbed Dori's arm and pulled her forwards towards the dock. "We have to keep moving. I'm sure he'll find us anyways. Let's go!" They both continued forwards, sure enough, to see a man in a black robe with a hood covering his face.
"Hold," Said the demonic voice, "state your purpose..." Justin stepped forward. "We come from the south. We are here to by passage underground to the dark encampment. Thand Yug-dizer sent us."
"Us?" said the demonic voice, looking behind Justin, "Ahh, a Drow... fine one at that, too. You a slaver? Or is she just passing by with you as well? Fine, then. If Thand has sent you both, I'll take you along. Come to my ship. We won't reach our destination until morn, unfortunately... sunlight... ugh. Anyways, follow me to my ship."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday March 20th, 2007
(Note: you may want to read the topic I posted earlier, about the Holy Drannic Republic of Knights among other things. Otherwise, you'll be confused, but okay.)
- FLASHBACK*
Lark readied the assult on the monistary, cutting down several monks in his path. "Come on, my men! We must show these fools what the Republic really is!"
Charging behind Lark the Drow was Katterina the Warlock, Daniel and David the Gepardi Twins, Gabrina the Angel, Nelldor the Elf, and Doriana, a paid, Drow assassin.
"Let's give 'em hell!" Yelled Katterina. She took out a fire rune and blasted a hole in the monistary, killing quite a few monks as well. The two Gepardi Twins changed into Fire Dragons and scorched the monistary with their fire breath. Monks came racing out, being incinerated by the intense flames. Chard monk dust blew in the wind.
"Come on, then!" screamed Lark. He took out his bow, enchanted with cold ice, and shot many monks that made it out of the flames. Gabrina grabbed Nelldor and Doriana and placed them on an invisible platform in the sky. From there, they armed their crossbows and shot down monks leaving the surrounding buildings.
"I hope blood doesn't stain my robes," Katterina uttered to herself, "Although I suppose some sort of combination of water and healing magic could demolish the stains..." The Gepardi twins lowered from the sky and transformed then into wyverns and flew into the monistary.
"Need a lift?" Gabrina asked the two that were still on the platform. They jumped on her back and she flew in the monistary. Lark and Katterina raced in close behind.
"Give up, Valimore" Lark demanded, "You're out-matched! You cannot hope to defeat us!" Lark took out one of his arrows and shot Valimore in the leg. Katterina flung multi-magic spells at him as well. Standing on the side, Nelldor and Doriana shot a continuous stream of bolts.
"Hmph... how pitiful." A great explosion occured after the devistating attack. Still in his now-broken throne, Valimre sat, laughing at the attack force assembled against him.
"Hold him off," Doriana told Lark and the others, "Nelldor and I will go below to the undercroft! I'll be back in a few minutes." Nelldor and Doriana raced to a trap door next to a wall where they had been standing. They opened it up and jumped down.
The twins swooped in on Valimore, slashing thier claws at his chest. He groaned at the pains it had caused him. Then, Daniel stuck his claw in Valimore's chest, nearly piercing his heart.
"Ugh... No..." Valimore gasped for breath. Soon after, he fell over and crumpled into ash. Gabrina flew forwards and collected his ashy remains into an urn blessed with the power to capture the soul of an undead creature.
"Lark, go check on Dori and Nell, would ya?" David asked as he and his brother transformed back into Humans. They joined up with Gabrina and Katterina as they awaited Lark's return with the others. Lark went down the trap door and found Doriana and Nelldor staring at an inscription of a large, gold chest.
"No, don't open that! Do you know what's in there-" but it was too late. Nelldor had lifted the golden chest's top. Out swirled two translucent spectral beings. They flew past the trap door and out of the monistary, bumping into Gabrina as they passed. She let the urn fall, and it shattered into pieces.
"Not the urn! What will we do!?" The ashes lifted into the air and reassembled into the form of Valimore. Soon, his pigments and features returned.
"You little wretch!" He screamed, "I'll kill you all... You're first."
SWISH!!!
He dissappeared and then reappeared in an instant, striking Gabrina's head with such a force, it flew off, soaring out of the monistary.
SWISH!!!
This time, he appeared behind Nelldor, coming out of the trap door, punting him across the monistary and into the ceiling. His guts decorated the ceiling and then splatered all over the floor.
"Time to DIE!!!" Valimore grabbed the twins' heads and crushed their skulls with a great force. he threw what remained of the bodies at Lark and Katterina. As they fell to the ground, he grabbed their leggs and smashed their bodies on the floor. He took his right hand and raised it well behind his back.
"By the name of the greater lords, I send your souls to the crushing forces of OBLIVION!!!!!!" He brought his hand down, dragging slowly a great ball of purple and black energy, greatly increasing in size as he brought it down upon the two on the floor. All that could be seen from there was a great purple flash that soon transfered to pure white, blinding any on-lookers.
- FLASHBACK ENDED*
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday March 20th, 2007
Fernis was startled by the man who approched her and his sudden question.
She was even more startled when a friendly, katana-wielding lizardman stepped out of seemingly nowhere and begun dragging the half-demon about, making strange-looking light-shows.
Then, when more lizardmen dropped down and slashed into pieces, all she did was stare.
This lizardman, friendly as he was, was moving too quickly...
What a hyperactive little... BIG reptillian...
"Ughm...Hello?"
By the voice behind her, Fernis realized Elphos was about as confused as she was.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday March 20th, 2007
//We'll assume Rink and Lagart were following Justin and Ven.\\
"Duilin back to normal." Lagart stated.
"Yes, but it looks like he's still alive. Thank the gods." Rink added. "Hey buddy, be careful with him!" He warned Justin as Duilin was being carried over towards the cave wall.
"...Iduran..." Duilin groaned.
"Iduran?" Rink whispered. The imp then looked towards Fernis and Elphos. "Hey you two, mind explaining what happened here with my friend?" He questioned the two.
"...Rink?" Duilin groaned again.
"Duilin! Are you okay, can you walk?"
"Yeah...I'm fine..." He said getting up on his feet, and rubbing his forehead. "Just a little dizzy that's all...What the hell happened? Who are all these new people?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday March 20th, 2007
(Note: The Lizard man is Jacobie, not Justin. Just F.Y.I.)
"Awake then, are we? Good! The glow did the trick then I suppose." Jacobie held his hand out infront of the green orb, radiating furiously, then slowly moving back towards his arm. Jacobie placed it back into his hera. Even though the orb was gone, the glow was still present in Jacobie.
"A good thing this effect doesn't wear off for twelve hours, huh?" Jacobie mentioned, "Now, we'll easily move about the cave. Let's move then!" Jacobie headed over near the cave, but stopped a few feet behind the mouth.
"I sense another presence near by... Be cautious. This scent is familiar, but not friendly." Jacobie wiped the blood from his face and walked forward to the opening of the cave.
"Come out, Draconis... I can smell you." Out of the shadows of the cave, appearing in a flash, a Drow with dark yellow eyes and dark red hair walked towards Jacobie. "What do you want, brother?"
"Brother!?" the drow spat, "Though we may have the same parents, no traitor is brother to me. Up with your blades, then! I will fight-ugh" Jacobie stabbed his right blade into the Drow. He suddenly burst into a black smoke and floated away.
"We must move... I had a feeling I was being watched." Jacobie sheathed his katanas and walked forwards to the mouth of the cave. "Oh... I appologize for the rude introduction. Where are my manners? My name is Thommas Reincover Jacobie. Good to meet you all, but we must hurry north... The area is infested with the enemy, and is likely already under attack."
"Another injury I must heal... This world is a wounded one, mark my words. Ah yes, I forgot about you, general... If you are indeed the general of this force. I have something for your wounds as well." Jacobie reached into his armor and grabbed a pack of herbs from it. Inside the pack beheld red herbs, green herbs, and yellow herbs.. He tossed them to Ven.
"It's a growth pack, which will help you regrow your arm. The yellow herbs should do this alone, but the red will stop the bleeding and reduce the pain of re-growth...... *shivers* Ugh... Nasty that, unfortunately. Oh, and the greens are for the taste. I don't much care for them, but they say stronger Humes that can bear pain LOVE them. You will have your arm back in three days."
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday March 20th, 2007
(His arm's just cut. Not cut off. Heh...)
Ven caught the bundle of herbs with his good arm.
"Thanks, but the wound's not THAT serious." He smiled at the Lizard Man, amused by his energy. "But he's right, we should get moving into the cave. Lest we find more adversaries standing around here..."
We that, the knights began to move into the darkness. Ven stooped down to pick up the strange sword that was sticking into the ground, and Jocobie dropped because he couldn't seem to handle it. It pulsated with a intense aura that while invisible, he could clearly feel throbbing in his hand... It almost seemed alive. Ven fell in step with Duilin.
"I'm rather confused as well. Is this your blade? You were passed out in front of it."
He then turned and nodded at the crimson armored Lizard Man now leading the group.
"We met the lizard a short while back. He's agreed to help us fight our next battle in return for an escort up north. As for the others, I'm not sure... Hey Turstin! What in blazes happened here."
The young knight Turstin jogged over to Ven and Duilin, black hair hanging in his eyes.
"Well, sir..." He then described how they found the old knight, the cat-like woman, and the other man and how they offered their services. And then how Indher and Iduran fought back the lizards, along with Duilin. And then how the knight disapeared into the sword...
"I see..."
Ven rubbed his chin as he regarded the blade. This was quite a day indeed...
(Chapter ends tomorrow.)
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday March 20th, 2007
"Hold!" Jacobie stopped and looked behind him. He looked around the cave, all people seeming accounted for. He unsheathed his katanas and started to walk faster.
"There is danger ahead," Jacobie remarked, "ready your weapons!" everyone unsheathed their blades. They began to move at a more swift pace, keeping high aleart around the cave. Soon, Jacobie broke out into a sprint. Strait ahead of them was a cave in.
"NO!!! What is this!? The path is blocked off? INCONCIEVABLE!!!!!!" out of mad rage, Jacobie continuously pounded away at the giant boulder that blocked their path. Soon, he began to leave large cracks.
"What the...?" Jacobie stopped and looked up at the boulder. It furociously began to crack up. He looked back down at his fists. "Did I do this...?"
With more intense power and speed, Jacobie began to smash the boulder away. The cracks soon became more apparent, and almost in an instant, The boulder crushed down into smaller boulders, rolling on top of Jacobie. He could not be seen, but a larger path above him could. Moonlight shined across the path.
Echoing through the cave was a crushing noise, and soon, a shifting of rock. Jacobie managed to move the rock around and poped out his body. He jumped over most of the path and made it out on to the great valley plains, only to find three waves of a full regiment of dark legionaries.
"Stay in the cave!" Jacobie ordered, "And keep out of sight as well! I need to make a few... adjustments to this regiment." Jacobie raced out of the cave into the open field. All of the regiment could see him.
"Hello, fools!" he shouted across the valley, "Tch. what a waste of a fine army. It's really too bad. MEH!!!" Jacobie crouched down into a deep power stance.
BANG!!!!!!
Jacobie zipped through the air into the sky. he held his arms back and charged a great black and purple ball of dark energy. "In the name of the great lords, I send all of your souls to the crushing forces of OBLIVION!!!!!!"
BOOM!!!!!!
He let fly the giant ball of energy, now three yards in diameter, on to the unsuspecting regiment. It crashed down into the earth and sent chunks of gravel flying into the air. Soon followed a blinding white flash that was more extreme than the sun.
Jacobie landed back down on both feet, then fell forwards, flat on his face. One of the knights in the cave signaled that it was clear to come out. They army of knights raced out and gathered around Jacobie.
"That pack wasn't for you... BUGH!!! It was *cough*... for me-ugh." Jacobie was out cold. Both of Jacobie's feet were dismembered from his body after he landed. Blood surged out of them.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday March 21st, 2007
"Oh this sword." Duilin said, as he looked at the Iduran. "Well. I don't know if it is mine, but...I suppose I might be the closest thing this weapon has to an owner."
"Well, I don't know what I saw was true, due to me being drunk on my demonic energy, but I thought I saw my old friend Iduran from Romme. He then disappeared and well, turned into this sword. It might have been a weird mental image, but stranger things have happened during the last decade." Duilin stood above the majestic blade. "I think it might be intended for somebody, or maybe some people." Duilin pondered a bit. "Perhaps Iduran wishes this blade to be in possession of the people who tried to save Romme, like me and the little group of Heros. Which would just be me and Zeros' now..." He cracked his knuckles. "Only one way to find out..."
He then placed his hands around the hilt of the sword and pulled it from the ground...
//I guess Xorlak should choose what will happen...\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday March 21st, 2007
The sword pulsed with a delicate warm energy in Duilin's hand, as if it were a living being...
"It looks good on you."
Ven smiled as he tapped the blade on his back.
"I'd want it, but I already have one."
It was an interesting thing. Ven had never heard of a man merging with a sword before, though it did irritate him a bit that that man was from Romme. Though Tjed and Romme were technically allied when the later nation was wiped out, they still had some bitter memories. Iduran... he'd heard that name before...
Suddenly, the clamor of explosions echoed through the rocky tunnels.
"Sir! The Lizard Man in red armor! He's..."
"Blast it!" Ven began running. "That lizard is too rash. He's going to get himself killed."
Ven exited through the side tunnel that Jacobie had taken, and pushed through the gaggle of knights that had gathered around him.
"Oh confound it! Tie his wounds!" He then fumbled through the pack at his side, and removed the bundle of herbs the lizard had given him.
"Here. He obviously needs these a lot more than me."
Two knights with medical training began working on the lizard. Oh, how Ven wished they had a good white mage or two, but they would have to do...
"The Dark Empire will begin their second wave soon. Get him back into the caves where it's safe. We must prepare for the next assault."
He then turned around and made his way back towards the maze-like caverns. There were multiple entrances that opened to the southern side, as Jacobie had just discovered, but only one real way through to the capital to the north. Only the Tjedians could navigate the tunnels with ease.
"We must hold them back in these caves for as long as possible. It would be a disaster if they found their way to the capital..."
Ven paused for a moment to look at the new moon in the sky before reentering the cave. A disaster indeed...
To be continued...