Chapter 15
From DALpedia
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
Night fall.
Virmir walked down the stone corridor, the soft soles of his boots making not a sound. Tjed castle had been completely cleared out, the remaining government officials locked in the dungeons and the rest sent to their homes to be guarded under martial law. All that roamed the halls, the courtyard, and the inner fortress wall were scaly Lizard Men-- a lot of them.
Sighing, he thought of Helix's poisoning. He wanted to be the one guarding the Battle Mage's soul from corruption while... well while the plan was underway... But alas, his duties were far too great. Not that he didn't trust Ruiki and Anselm to do their part. Ruiki was unnaturally knowledgeable for her age, and Anselm was severely dedicated to any task given to him. He didn't quite like the idea of two of his finest warriors' souls being separated from their bodies, but he knew Gaston knew what he was doing.
Two Lizard Men in clanking armor approached, each easily four times larger than the short sliver furred fox. They froze and saluted. He ignored them entirely.
Shifting his eyes about, he found it. There. Sitting in the open window seal, silhouetted against a dark sky...
A Watcher...
Virmir adverted his gaze, keeping his eyes forward. He didn't want those things to know that he could see them. He was pretty sure he was the only one that could. Well, he suspected Renard could scent them. Renard was picking up on the true ways on his own, which was very impressive. But he would never teach the true ways to his students, not as long as they were all creatures of darkness, and slaves to Retan...
The Watcher resembled a jet black raven with crimson eyes. They were everywhere. Everything they could see, Retan could see. Three of them had followed his squad to Tjed, and a fourth one had come after they claimed it. Now that Tjed was claimed by the Dark Empire, the black clouds that covered the Dark Continent would soon trickle over and cover the skies, and then the island would be filled with them... watching... waiting for any signs of deceit...
The High General of the Skyward Division cringed when that angel had made him that offer to stab Retan in the back. A Watcher was perched up in the rafters, invisible and sneering, waiting for his answer... How that angel had gained that information was a mystery to him. Most likely when Retan was through with Gaian, he would invade Asgard itself...
He stepped through the large doors and into the darkness, shutting them tightly behind. Here in what used to be the king's audience chamber he would make the contact. Indeed, blackness was already swelling in the center of the empty stone-faced room.
"My Lord..." he said as he bowed lowly, his two swords clattering on his back.
The shadow emerged from the ground, becoming a translucent black mass with two horns and burning crimson eyes... "Why is there still life upon this island?"
"The humans surrounded with the utmost haste. Rather than destroy them, I saw them fit to be captured presented them to you. I am confident they will make upstanding citizens of the Dark Empire."
Retan's eyes narrowed. "That is not what I commanded."
"My Lord, they were so willing that--"
"But nothing. When I give a command, it will be followed exactly. You do not think. You do not compromise. You simply do. You have failed."
Virmir's ears laid back, but he otherwise remained emotionless. Until he saw something emerge from the corner of the illusion...
A translucent image of the lizard Prime Minister Grav's head entered the picture from the side, smiling with dozens of shape pointed fangs. He leered at the Velken High General for a moment before pulling something from off screen into view.
It was a little Velken girl...
Her hands were tied behind her back and tape cruelly wrapped around her muzzle, clamping it shut. Her eyes were wide open in sheer terror, the fur lining them soaked with tears. With his other hand Grav held a knife to her throat...
Virmir's calm demeanor cracked. "No..." He threw himself to the floor, begging "Please... I am your slave. I will do anything!"
Grav shook his head. Then cut.
Blood flowed everywhere.
"NOOO!!!"
"What are your orders?" Retan demanded.
"To... to kill all the humans..." Virmir was visibly shaking.
"And?"
"To kill those involved in the prince's assassination..."
The Dark Emperor folded his arms. "Those objectives will be complete by this time tomorrow. Before I decide to kill two more."
The illusion faded...
Virmir simply sat there upon the floor, mouth gaping, staring into empty space for several moments. He drew the Wind Serpent and stared at his reflection in the long thin blade. With a sudden burst of rage, the silver fox struck the hard stone floor with the flat edge. Again and again sparks flew from the ground, but the vile weapon, that hateful bringer of death would not break. Finally, out of breath, he dropped the weapon and silently wept, alone in the darkness...
(No interactions with this story thread for a bit, please.)
Dr. Smizlworf was not a happy man.
He did not work his rear off just for fun. He deserved respect for all his hard work. He spent two consecutive all-nighters on the Sovereign's Hammer design and at last won the attention of Cain, but now, now this young nobody comes out of nowhere and redesigns everything!
And this 'Vincent' was a young cocky punk, to boot! Never had he been so insulted in his life! Who cares if this guy worked for the Crimson Empire in the past? Blast it!
The old man took his seat, staring contempt at the empty head chair-- the one he should be sitting in! He adjusted his perfectly circular oversized glasses as he waited. To his left was Frank, a mechanic and artisan. He was also ten years his junior and treated him with respect-- like he should!
The main doors to the lab burst open and the black trench-coated Vincent entered, carrying a multitude of rolled up blueprints under his arm. "Good evening, gentlemen..." he said as he unfurled the parchments upon the table. "Let us begin..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
"Emporer Grey!" a soldier shouted, carrying a crystal sword and a letter, walked up the great palace steps, "Emporer Grey! It's a message of Tjed!" The soldier had finally reached the top of the palace. There sat Aaron Grey in his throne with his wife and child. It was dark out, and Ariosis was lit by torches, the orange light reflecting off the crystaline walls of the cities, and especially the palace.
"Tjed? I don't think I'm going to like this..." The soldier handed Aaron the letter and waited. It read:
Emporer Aaron,
Our scouts report that Tjed has come under siege from the Dark Empire once again. Unfortunately, they have captured the city. They had sent some of the finest warriors to aid us before, so we thought you might like to send some of your men.
"Damn it all..." Aaron muttered under his breath. The scout then took out the crystal sword and handed it to Aaron.
"We had one made of your crystals, just as you have ordered. It's finished, and the elves said that it was their finest piece of work yet!"
"Good. I'm taking my leave. My army's already at the port, I presume?" Aaron observed the crystal blade. It glowed a faint blue. He made his way down the palace with the soldier.
"What do you suggest we do, sire?"
"I'm going with the soldiers of Dranniville on this one. Retan won't know what hit him!" Aaron reached the bottom of the steps. There, a white horse waited in silver armor plating. He climbed the horse and set off for the docks.
As the ship got closer to land, the sky began to fade. Black clouds surrounded the lands ahead of them. It appeared that Ben was awake, along with Tiberius and Valiko.
"It appears the ship has reached Terian. Let's go." Ben walked up the stairs that lead to the deck of the ship, being followed up by the other two.
"Agh!!!" Valiko fell to the ground, holding his sides.
"What's wrong!?"
"S-so... c-cold... s-so cold... He's here..." Valiko got back to his feet, shaking a bit.
"We have to hurry! I've been spoted..."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
"I"m tired..." Ko'ji got back to her feet; she was leaking a blue light from her side, from the stab wound. She held her hand next to it and another blue light appeared around her hand. This light looked different, and appeared to have a healing force. The light faded soon after.
"I don't know how much of this I can keep up... It doesn't look like there are too many more of them left, though." She took a few more steps forwards, then nearly fell back to the ground, putting her hands in front of her before she fell, breaking her fall.
--- ---
"I wonder how many more things I can kill here... I hope that city up there has a bit more people. Hah! They'll soon know the name Arata Etsuko, and cower in fear as it's spoken..." Arata leaped off the small boat he was on and landed on the ground to the front of the boat. He was in port Kessnar now, ready to kill all in his way. He ran out into the destroyed field with the crater. Two others were walking near him. 'This should be fun,' he thought.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
"Swim faster. Fly higher. Dig deeper."
"Why can't I leave? I was sent here so unfairly."
"Emperor? Can you hear me emperor."
"Gotta watch out for those steamons, they'll get-cha!"
"He thinks he knows me so well? No he doesn't."
"I still hail thee and your crimson glory..."
"Elite-elites? How much more elite can they get?"
"I don't know why he didn't just leave me alone."
"Save me..."
--- ---
Doctor Schabbs and Doctor Giftmacher where both assigned to work on a new project. They were told to meet in Bio Chemical Genetics Laboratory. After about half an hour of waiting Scabbs stomped his foot.
"What the devil is taking so long!?"
Suddenly the door opened and Theodore Vandrin ran in, nearly tripping on his way inside.
"I know, I know, I'm late, I'm late."
"You're damn right you're late." Scabbs yelled. "We've been waiting for half a f--"
"I just had a rough night. Didn't get any sleep, had my house blown up and my soldiers eaten by lizard men. So please excuse me."
"Oh great." Giftmacher rolled his eyes. "The Sovreign gave us Vandrin, to help us work."
Vandrin gave a mock laughing expression without making any sounds and then put his bag he was carrying on one of the tables. "Get over here; we need to double time this thing."
The two scientists went over to Vandrin, as he took several things out of his bag. "We're going to upgrade my mutation chemical. The Sovereign wants it to be twice as good. We need full controls over the outcome, no random crap. And we want this chemical to work on the dead, so our sovereign can have 100% control over them."
"How long do we have?"
"A day." Vandrin replied.
"And how long did it take you develop the old chemical?"
"A year."
The two scientists looked at the count blankly. Who only shrugged in response.
--- ---
Duilin was flushed. He was so confused about what just happened. Was that actually real? Duilin was sitting on the ground, we he noticed the ship arrived at Terian and Valiko fall to the ground.
"Whoa what the hell? How long was I out." Duilin got back up and joined up with the others. "You've been spotted? By who?"
--- ---
"We have to go. Now." McNeil said, heading over to the door on the opposite side labelled Emergency exit.
"Shouldn't we get weapons?" One of the officers asked.
"They're useless against those...things. Let's just get out of here!" McNeil said in a panic as he opened the door. "Let's go."
Wilham (and I assumed Coriko) went along with the officers through the emergency exit, and shut the door behind them.
"Won't they be able to open it up?" One of the officers asked worried.
"It has a dead lock seal. But they'll probably just blow it open, but it'll buy us some time. We should get moving!"
"I think I'll stay here and wait for it." Wilham stated. "I'm going to take it out."
"Are you nuts?!"
"Let's just trust them." McNeil said. "We need to get out of here."
Meanwhile back in the meeting room the door was opened up, and the Dalek drove into the room. The Dalek seeing that nobody was in the room assumed that they went through the emergency exit.
It placed it's plunger onto the panel next to the door.
"I am unable to open the door. Deadlock seal detected. Must result to destroying the door."
The Dalek backed up and shot it's death beam at the door, giving it some hefty damage, not quite ready to ram through just yet. The Dalek gave another shot, and then drove into the damaged door smashing through.
"EX-TER-MI-NATE!!"
//Coriko, feel free to take control of the Dalek.\\
--- ---
The gigantic Nex was hovering over the lava pool, the voice of some strange creature could be heard weeping, and a few deep raspy voices could heared laughing. From withen the lava pool moving skeletons could still be seen trying to swim out, but they burning up and sinking far too quickly. The glow from the lava reflected off the sycthe-like blades on Nex's gauntlets.
Nex actually opened a hell gate, sort of. Not a lot would be able to happen with it, unless he was able to temporally open it more with his magic. Yet only a strong minder reader would be able to tell, Nex was a little worried Iban would find out about this. He however could feel the auras of a few strong souls trying to escape. But they couldn't escape unless he let them...or somebody else tried to...
Nex didn't pay much attention to the trapped souls, what he wanted to do was to shove Draven's corpse down into the hell pit. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with humanoid energy-mass creature the flame boy was with. He could swear he recognized him; perhaps he was a demon of some sort...
"Now where were we gentlemen?" Nex's voice said echoing through Draven and Anti's head.
"Ah yes...I was about to kill you..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
"Retan... He knows I'm here. We might want to be extra careful..." Valiko dusted off his clothes an jumped of the great ship, landing on two feet.
"Ben!" Jannis ran over to him from under the ship's deck. "You weren't thinking about leaving me behind, were you?"
"Grab my hand; I'll fly you down." Jannis did as he asked and ben flew down to the ground where Valiko was standing. Following behind, Tiberius leapt off the ship.
"Let's go! North point should be somewhere around here..."
Aaron reached the port on his steed and climbed off. He stroked the horse's hair a few times and walked off to the port, where his men were already on ships, waiting for their general. He found his new ship and walked up to the wheel.
"RAISE ANCHOR AND SET SAIL!!!" he commanded. His army was off, and bound for Tjed...
"Well, look at this! Another human... perhapse we could use him. Be on your guard, Doriana, This one seemes... violent." Valimore backed up a few steps as Dori flung out her iron claws, ready for battle.
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
"A weapon? This should make things rather more interesting. Take this!" Arata unsheathed his katana and slashed it out, brought it back to his side, and then thrusted forwards.
Posted by: Trent on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
... Deep inside the laboratory ...
... cackling. Intense cacking.
"It's finished." Drake Genais had a wide grin on his face...
// Next time we see him, he'll pop up somewhere. He will be heading there covertly. Just wanted to state that so that I'm not accused of instant transmission.
--- --- ---
Xenai yawned and got up to his feet, waking up. Zion woke up too, after having fallen asleep nearby. Tsu and Aura came out of the cabin. "Have we arrived?" asked Aura.
--- --- ---
"You? Kill me?" Anti cackled. "Don't make me laugh!" Anti started his assault on Nex right away, flying up to him and unleashing a flurry of punches at his face.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
As Anti's punches smashed into Nex's metal covered face it seemed that despite his immense strength it did nothing to harm him. (I'm assuming Zerobi is uber strong.)
"Well, your cute little move there seemed to make me laugh, so why am I not allowed to return the favour?" Nex asked mockingly.
The gems on his gauntlets started to glow a bright red, and the blades began to glow in a similar fashion. He floated backwards, and slashed his 'claws' across shooting several blades like energy projectiles that flew towards Zerobi at almost every angle around him.
--- ---
Duilin glided off the dock of the boat and landed on the ground with the others.
"If Retan knows you're here that's going to be a serious problem." Duilin replied. "In fact, I think we should keep our mouths shut about what we are doing."
Duilin rested his mace on his shoulder, while the Iduran was kept in its sheath, as he walked along with the others at a steady careful pace.
"We can't have the emperor knowing what we are doing. If he finds us out..." Duilin stopped, not even wanting to think about it. To much negative thoughts got him upset. He just had some sort of demonic vision, which if true means that there is the Grim Reaper's scarier looking cousin coming after him.
"Anyways, nobody do anything to drastic. This entire continent is plagued..." Duilin could feel the dark energy lurking throughout the place. It gave him the creeps...
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday September 22nd, 2007
Everything was blurry and hazy. The stench of vomit filled the air, contrasted against the smells of cheap perfume. The little tavern was deafingly loud, or so it seemed.
Hannibal's clothes seemed to have been used as makeshift napkins, judging by the dirty smears over the snowy white armour. Pushing away a coyly laughing prostitute, he tried to get up, only to fall back down onto the floor. Somewhere to the left were the blurry silhouettes of Carmine and Sig, slouching over the tavern's bar. Amazingly, de Sade was there as well.
-"*hic* Alcohol, what a vile substance... Best th-th-*hic*-thing you m-mm-mammals came up with..."
Finally, Hannibal succeeded getting up, leaning against the bar for better balance.
-"Guysh, shouldn't we - *hic* - be - *burp* doing shomething right now? How'd we get here anywaysh? Carmine? C-carmine?"
Carmine appeared to have passed out. Sig was still moving.
-"Ah, what the *cough* hell. Barman! Another ale!"
-"This is your thirtieth, you pig, and you still haven't paid for any of these! Antonio, throw these idiots out of my fine establishment!"
Glass shattered, and doors were slammed - and Hannibal felt himself on cold, hard ground. Soon, the rest of the Scarlet Commission was lying next to him.
Then, as if from a distance, the tavern went up in a roar of flames. Out of it came de Sade, laughing.
-"Oops... Insect mortal set off the life sheath. Hee hee..."
--- --- ---
-"WHAT IS IT, CAIN?! You're interrupting me!"
-"But... Sovereign, you're not doing anything."
-"EXACTLY! You disrupt my activity of doing absolutely nothing. What is it?"
-"Well, my lord, we've decided to let a few other scientists in on the Sovereign's Hammer project from the general populace. The current task assembly isn't performing a fast enough job. We told the newcomers that they're working on the project code-named "The Blunt Tool of the Reigning Monarch of Kandarin."
-"Very creative. On whose authority did you take this action?"
-"Ah... my own, Sovereign."
I sighed.
-"I'm too busy to yell at you, Ryleh. Just... no. Don't do that. Now you have to kill all of them."
-"Yes, Sovereign. I was actually kind of hoping you'd say that. We needed a few corpses for the Necrolyte exercises."
...
-"Get out of my sight."
-"Yes, my lord."
Why must I be surrounded by these idiots?
After the brief encounter with Cain, I looked at the report he dropped off before leaving. On it were statistics of several of the projects we are currently running.
Sovereign's Hammer: Blueprints in revision. Still required: the hive ship schematics from Eldridge, the material to make the crystal prism from. Suggested purified dark glass.
Mutagenic potions: Work is yet to begin.
Army upgrades: All spear gunners' weapons have been upgraded with detachable scopes, tips upgraded to obsidian. All KAF face masks upgraded with gas filters and underwater oxygen collection mechanisms. Mortars: increased range, lighter weight. The Bladesmen section of KAF has been dissolved, and all soldiers were sent for Stalker training. Another batch of about six is expected soon.
Arcane matters: Ice mages trained and ready. Necrolytes now capable of sustaining up to 60 thralls each. They are currently assembling giant beasts in the far northeastern Kandarinian outpost (Kuomintang) 100 km away from Gros Morne.
The city: Population grew to 15,000. Army percentage: 20%. Upcoming plans to bore down deep into the ground to extract minerals for a possible golem building project. Additional uses include dungeons, living quarters, and tea shops.
Tea shops?
Other: Increased sightings of strange blue lights in many burning fires. Occurrences are sporadic, not seeming to concentrate in any particular area. Reports about blue figures moving about the city at night are growing in numbers.
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday September 23rd, 2007
Bryce frowned when he saw the dark clouds rolling in. It was a beautiful night, stars glistening in the sky, visible even through the translucent green dome that covered the city. But all that would be gone in a few hours... this would be Tjed's last clear night ever...
He rested one boot on the short wall at the end of the battlements atop Tjed Castle, flicking his tail back and forth. The dark city below was quiet, hundreds of Lizard Men patrolling the streets below. After the short battle in the castle, it had been a quick and easy takeover. Now he merely waited for orders with the rest of the Velkens who were not given some specific task.
Virmir approached and he snapped to attention, as did the group behind him, each giving a short bow of respect. In the pale green light emitted from the dome above... he seemed different somehow... The fur atop his head was unkempt and haggard, and he looked like he hadn't slept for days... His eyes were always the same though... cold and unfeeling.
"My lord?"
Virmir turned from him, running his claws atop the stone bricks as he looked out over the city. "The humans..." he said quietly after a long pause, "they all must die."
"Hyah!!" Anselm dove in front of the fallen translucent Ko'ji, slashing some centipede thing in half. "I know..." he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "this is somehow more exhausting, even though we're not even fighting with our physical bodies..." How much longer could they keep this up? He knew Virmir had a plan, but what? How long did they have to do this?
The monsters shrunk back for a bit, and he was given time to try and catch his breath.
(Blargh... this is seriously the worst weekend ever for the RP to start on my end... more later on.)
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday September 23rd, 2007
"Okay, so do you have all of these ingredients?" Giftmacher asked Vandrin, reading off of the old scroll.
"Yes, but not nearly enough. And we need better quality of them." Vandrin replied.
"Well, upon reading this, I can already point out a few problems with this." Giftmacher went over to Vandrin and pointed at a few of the ingredients. "You see that right there is actually used for killing this, while this has actually been proven to do nothing."
"Actually that, I figured out it was highly necessary. At first I ignored it, and the chemical just worked as some odd sort of poison, but when I added that it actually started mutating people."
"So, did you make this formula recipe on your own?" Scabbs asked.
"No, I think it's pretty obvious. That scroll is over a thousand years old." Vandrin stated.
"Okay.." Giftmacher interrupted. "Okay, a few of the poisons I think are what's making the low success rate, and some of the others are what's making it only work on humans."
"Well, those poisons are what give them their magic."
"But yeah, if we could perhaps say use some more magic enhancements rather than injecting them with poison, we could have mutants of different elements, and that might also get rid of our death rate entirely."
"Okay, that's one problem down. What about fixing the outcome?"
"Well, I think if we spilt the elements of this right here." He pointed at one of the ingredients. "And make separate chemicals for our types then that might work. But doing that may be tricky."
"Alright."
"But one thing that puzzles me, are those shadow mutants. There isn't a single ingredient here, that would make something have shadow magic."
Scabbs rubbed his chin. "We the ingredients taken from the Dark Continent."
"Some of them." Vandrin replied. "Actually a few of them were from the south west, around Bane's Tower, or whatever they're calling it."
"Well there have been some people who have reported a extremely high amount of shadow radiation in that area. Perhaps that might explain it."
"Hmm..." Vandrin crossed his arms. "It just occurred to me, that some of my old shadow mutants might still be alive. And if they were tainted by Retan's power...maybe they might join him."
"Well, the Sovreign's Necromancy will prevent that from happening. He should have full control over the new batch. Assuming we're able to finish this." Scabbs replied.
"Vandrin." Giftmacher called. "Did you notice this?" He showed him some worn out text on the scroll, only a few letters could be made out.
"No, I didn't." Vandrin replied. "We should find out what it is."
"Indeed, we should." Giftmacher said back.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday September 23rd, 2007
The stench of bear wasn't still quite gone from its skin, but Ein didn't mind. He finally tired of hauling his weapon over his shoulder, and decided to make a sheath for it. It just so happened that a bear was passing by when he got the idea. Now, Ein was full with bear meat, and a decent-sized pouch for his weapon. He didn't like to think of himself as a resource waster, so he made himself a pair of gloves from the remaining skin. They kept his hands nice and warm, which would probably help once he's back in the Arctic Region.
Now, to find Marshall...
Posted by: Trent on Sunday September 23rd, 2007
//Yeah, the Zerobi no Anti is extremely powerful. Acknowledging that fact, but then taking no damage? Ho ho, this fight is interesting. Something's going on with Nex. I like it. >:D
Anti was taken aback by the fact that he didn't seem to be doing any damage at all. "What the hell?!" The attacks that came in on him next struck him quite squarely, and sent him back a few feet. He turned a backflip and skidded to a stop on his feet. My attacks had no effect at all. I'm at around 95% too, so that makes no sense. There's something weird going on here. He created a ball of energy and flung it at Nex, just to see what would happen.
--- --- ---
The four got off the ship. Zion had a frown on his face. "Man, I feel it everywhere. You could probably cut through it with a knife."
Xenai wore a similar frown. "And the Zerobi no Anti is nearby. I can feel that monstrous energy... But it feels like he's fighting. So he shouldn't notice us."
Aura nodded. "Yeah, Anti seems to be pretty focused when he fights. He didn't even notice Tsu coming in to take me away from our own fight."
Tsu looked to Duilin. "So what now?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday September 23rd, 2007
Grav cackled manically as soon as the transmission faded. That was so much fun! He tossed the bloody rag doll onto the ground. The illusion spell cast upon it faded, revealing it to be nothing more than a stuffed animal only vaguely resembling a Velken. Obviously they would not have opened the gates to Welkin just to sacrifice one miserable little girl! When the gates did open it was going to be for something significant-- more troops flowing in, or an actual meaningful sacrifice...
The small cloaked figure dashed down the side of the ship and disapeared amongst a copse of shadowy trees. Blast it... there were just too many of them! No, this wouldn't work at all...
Zipping amongst the dead branches like a wraith, he watched the group from the relative safety of the thick darkness that enveloped everything-- if one could actually call that safe. He recognized Duilin near the lead. There was also that angel-- Ben or something. That one could be problematic, as he was way too rash for his own good. The rest were but shadows in the darkness, as even his night-adjusted eyes couldn't discern their forms. It was mostly in their hands now. At this point, he couldn't do much other than wait for the right moment... He pulled his cowl further over his face. Hopefully it would come...
An intense fireball curled around Anti's form, destroying one of the energy blades with a blinding flash. A rather irritated Draven followed in its wake, ducking in front of Anti and destroying another of Nex's projectiles as he crossed over to the astral demon's left. Cupping his hands to his side, a brilliant ball of crimson materialized within.
"Flattering. Really..."
Thrusting his hands forward, he sent forth a spiral of raging fire much like a drill, surging right for the oversized Nex's chest...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday September 23rd, 2007
The sea was very quiet as the ships made their way to Tjed. There were about five ships, each carrying around one thousand drannivolkan foot soldiers and twenty captains. They were a bit crammed, but the size of the ships helped greatly. They were all quite large, and had giant sails that would quickly catch wind if not anchored.
"LAND!!!" A soldier shouted, "TJED!!!" All of the soldiers were now very eager to get off the ships and fight the lizardmen. They leaned forward as the ships neared land. At last, they reached Tjed, with some sort of green dome above the mountains. The army would have a long ways to walk before they all made it to Tjedon.
"Hah! Too slow!" Doriana pushed Arata's attack back and flipped backwards. "Come on! You'll have to do MUCH better than that if you want to hit me!"
Ben glanced around the area with a sort of cold feeling; like something had been watching them. "Hey guys... do you think we've been followed?"
"What do you mean?" Tiberius asked, "Like somebody followed us from Tjed or-"
"Like someone else grabbed a ride from that ship... and is following us now as we speak... watching..." Valiko had lost the feeling of Retan, though a new one had been erplaced, as if showing which direction he was.
"Yeah," Ben continued, "That. I'm not sure, but I think we're being tailed. I sense a faint presence, though I'm not sure what to make of it... What do you guys think?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday September 23rd, 2007
"A faint presence?" Duilin asked. "I can feel a few auras around...But I've never been to good at that sort of thing." He said as he continued moving.
"We should just keep going. We need to get to north point."
But I have a bad feeling about who we're going to meet there...
--- ---
The oversized Nex seemingly embraced the two attacks which smashed into him. Nex started to laugh, but just like his speech it seemed to enter into their minds, and even start tormenting their souls. The laughing seized.
"I was able to survive my little 'tumble' into the lava pool by merging myself with the two elites. You see, they are further enhanced from the previous ones with the Grey Empire. But let's just say they can't die. And now that they have fused with me, neither can I."
But something within him seemed to be weakening, when the moment the mutated Nex raised up from the lava pool there was a feeling in his aura that was added to his, it was from the elites. But it seemed to be slightly shrinking...
Nex's voice deepened and seemed to change into the voice(s) of the elites.
"Now your souls will burn in Hell!!"
The giant Nex flew towards Nex and Anti, and swung his giant scythe claws down at his two opponents.
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday September 24th, 2007
Blast... could they be talking about him...? The cloaked figure slunk further back as he listened to the angel Ben talk from afar. This would screw up everything... especially out here. But he knew how to hide himself, they couldn't possibly be picking him up. That means...
"Eeeeeeee~!!!"
The trees all around splintered as if it hit with cannonballs. Screaming black wraiths burst from the holes, brandishing large scythes and rushed at Duilin and the other intruders...
Draven wasn't quite tormented by the laugh. He just found it blatantly annoying.
He shot diagonally upwards in avoidance of the scythe, feeling a surge of wind from where it split the air. Blast it all! It was going to take forever to put a dent into this muto-demon-freak's armor. He looked down at the... things that seemed to be trying to escape the lava pool. They didn't seem to be enjoying themselves. Some even seemed to be crying to him for help. Hmmm...
Smirking he extended both hands as a faint glow surrounded them. Cleft to the underworld that it was, it was still lava, and still his element. Turning it into a simple magma geyser should be no problem at all. He didn't quite like the idea of underworld freaks roaming Gaian, but if it would annoy Nex, it'd be worth it.
The sea of fire underneath Nex surged, and with a mighty flash, began to flow upwards-- along with the trapped souls within.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday September 24th, 2007
"Great..." Duilin groaned as he readied himself in a fighter's stance with his mace ready.
"Haven't even been here for a bleeding minute and we've already got freaks with scythes coming at us." Duilin lifted his mace up and it was engulfed with flame, he then pointed his weapon at one of the wraiths coming at him and shot a rocket of fire at it, just to test this guy's magical resistance.
--- ---
"What the devil are you doing!?" Nex shouted as the lava pool began to geyser upwards, crashing into him.
"You're...getting...on...my...irritation!!"
---
In Thanatos the two pale skinned humanoids were watching an inter-dimensional vortex in the sky over their temple.
"He is about to escape."
"We can not let this happen."
"Send our warriors to crush them."
"And to further help our leading warrior."
---
"So much is happening...Fighting, Hiding, Following, Hunting, Cowering, Failing, Dieing, Falling, Running, Screaming, Burning, Crying, Digging, Flying, Swimming, Begging, Pleading and finally it's over but it can all start again. Please no more."
---
"You stupid ape!" Nex's voice shouted into Draven's mind "Do you have any idea what you've just done!?" Nex's gauntlets started to glow red, as he emerged from the lava geyser, with skeleton like beings and the undead pouring out from them.
"You've just allowed a hell gate to open up. More of my enemies are now in Gaian." But then Nex laughed."But more of yours are too..."
Several undeads were tossed and tumbled onto the ground.
"We're free!" Shouted one of them!
Not a second after the freed soul cheered out, several large globs of lava crashed into several places around the lava pool which was now nearly empty, with most of the land around charred and deformed. The globs of lava revealed to have large metal capsules inside of them, as the lava flowed off of them. Their were doors on the capsules, which slowly opened, and steam shot out. One of the capsules that landed closest to Draven, Nex and Anti had a metal hoof step out of it. Emerging from the steam clouding the area around the capsule was a large demon, with iron plated bull horns and a grilled helmet covering the entire top half of it's face, it's entire body had sheets of black metal which appeared to be nailed onto his body. On it's back were pipes, which were shooting steam, four pipes pointing downward and three pointing diagonally upwards. And it's tail appeared to be a pipe of some sort as well resembling a modern day shower hose, but made of the same black coloured metal as his plating. One of his arms seemed to more metal then the rest, it's hand seemed to have every joint broken, as it was just dangling there.
The Steam Demon, was at least seven feet tall, it was almost amazing how a beast that size was able to fit inside the capsule. The steam demon's arm with the broken hand pointed towards the two fighters near by Nex, who by now was floating motionlessly inside the empty pit that was once the lava pool. The steam demon's broken fingers snapped backwards until they were firmly placed against it's metal arm. It's palm burned open until it was a large circular hole. It's arm now resembled a cannon.
"Do you like them?" Nex asked. "I designed them myself."
From every capsule came another one of those steam demons. The tortured souls around them began to back up and began to cry in fear, as they approached them. The steam demons began gunning them down by shooting hunks of flaming metal from their arms, in three round bursts. A few of the tortured souls tried to fight back, but it was no use.
The steam demon in front of Draven and Anti then fired three hunks of flaming metal. One of them was clearly going to miss while the other two were heading towards them...
Meanwhile Nex noticed somebody in the pit next to him, laying motionless on the ground. It was a well built man, with long white hair; most of his flesh was burnt off. He was wearing black pants, yet no shirt. He noticed something on his shoulders; it seemed that perhaps horns were ripped off from his shoulders, by either himself, or somebody else. The giant Nex got up onto his feet.
"Well...well...well."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Monday September 24th, 2007
"What!? Damn you!" Arata was taken aback by the female Drow's abilities. From behind them marched an army. They would have to postpone this battle and continue later.
"I'll get you back!" Arata darted away and began to climb the mountains, looking for some sort of cliff to rest on as he waited for the army to pass.
--- ---
Two more dark figures rose from the mist that covered the ground. Both of them were holding a longsword. They did not appear to be violent, though.
"How much longer do you intend to keep your friend safe from us?" The first dark figure asked, "His soul is strong with magic blood... delicious..." The figures held their swords out a bit further and stepped into what looked like a battle stance.
"You wont be able to protect him much longer from us," the second dark figure added.
"Damn it all..." Ko'ji readied her scimitar, "These guys are stronger than the others... Take THIS!" Ko'ji leapt forwards and thrusted her blade into the shadowy figure. He managed to get his sword up just in time to deflect the attack.
"I could use a hand here!" Ko'ji shouted.
Posted by: Coriko on Monday September 24th, 2007
The Dalek's eye piece shivelled around looking for inferior life forms.
"EX-TER-MI-NATE!!"
It shouted and shot a lab technician who was running away with McNiel. A scream escaped the dead mans lips as he glowed green and his bones black as if he had his insides looked at through an x-ray!! The corpse fell to the ground.
"What the hell?!?!" Coriko yelled causing the Dalek'e eye piece to swivel in his direction.
"You are inferior to the Daaa-lekk. EX-TER-MI-NATE!!"
As the creature's gun pointed at Coriko, he jumped out of the way. The bolt missed and Coriko fired a mortar arrow at the Dalek. Just before it hit the creature an orange glow appeared and the arrow vanished into nothing.
"Oh for the love of god!"
Coriko jumped out of the way as another bolt was fired at him.
"Wilham help me out!"
---
Druid glided accross the air, over the water. He looked at his work of art, his masterpiece, his home. The city was almost as he remembered it and little had changed besides a few new building which were erected. He scanned from the north of the island to the south. And his eyes landed on it. The middle of the island, in the most fortified and secure place. His jet black place. He looked back over his shoulder.
"Thank you for the help gentleman."
The still smouldering bodies of the remaining summoners.
"It was a pleasure."
Druid continued forward focusing his attention on his island. He out stretched his hands and summoned to orbs of shadow energy. The cracked and flashed, causing everyone on the island to look at him.
"I am back." This was said in a loud, booming, and certainly terrifing voice. He said only these words. A respectful silence passed and a equally loud cheer erupted from the island. Druid made the orbs crack again and the cheers ended. "Good, i see you did not lose all your manners under that boorish Silas." A boo echoed from the island as this name was uttered. "Now," the crowd quited down. "I promise you this world will be ours!" A louder cheer exploded from the island. "But," again dead silence fell upon the city. "I have some buisness to take care of." With that Druid moved towards his now reclaimed palace.
Posted by: TK Game Boy on Monday September 24th, 2007
Answers? Answers were the only thing he didn't need. He spent all his life not bothering with questions, but alas, all was different now.
The wreckage proved nothing of the man that once appeared before him and thus left. That was days ago. Now what? Quadricentennial now had to live among 'those who burn with the sun' as he called them since he always lived in darkness. He was used to the cold but the sun was just fine. He yet again tore up his shirt again from the last battle. He needed a new one. He went about, to search for something to cover himself with. Maybe hunt some wild animal for it's fur. He didn't knew what to do exactly, he never ventured outside. He was truly lost. He didn't knew what to do. Where to go. What his life's purpose was. He figured he'd just find a dark cave and forget the whole nonsense about the mysterious old mad that appeared from a plant. Yet he felt something strange whenever he thought of the old man. As if he knew him. That would be impossible since he never knew anyone but his owls and his little nana Sweetness. Whoever this old man was had a hold on him. So he would figure he would just aimlessly walk around and let the purpose come to him.
And so he does.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday September 24th, 2007
"You got it." Wilham said to Coriko. "Hey!" He shouted to the Dalek.
"EX-TER-MI-NATE!!" The Dalek fired a death beam at Wilham, but he was able to brace himself, as the robot shouted exterminate.
"You draw way to much attention to yourself you know that." Wilham quipped.
"The Daleks have no need for stealth!" The Dalek screeched. "EX-TER-MI-NATE!!"
It fired another beam at Wilham but he put his gauntlet covered hands in front of him, and the beam only singed Wilham's gauntlets.
"IM-POSIBLE!" The Dalek screeched.
"Welcome to the big leagues, can head." Wilham's hand then glowed white and he pressed them together summoning a light elemental nymph.
The nymph shot a beam of light at the Dalek, but the beam seemed to have no effect.
"Inferior tactics detected!"
"Did that robot just taunt me!?" Wilham asked.
He began to circle around the Dalek, with his nymph in front of him shooting lasers.
The Dalek fired another beam, but narrowly missed Wilham, the nymph shot a laser at the exact time the Dalek did, and the laser hit right on the grill part underneath the head section.
"Scanners have sustained damage!" The Dalek droned in its raspy voice.
Wilham noticed something. Normally any attack coming at it was blocked by its energy shield, meaning that it needs to turn it off in order to shoot his death beam, that's why his nymph was able to hit it.
"Coriko, shoot at the exact time, it does!" Wilham shouted to his comrade.
Posted by: Coriko on Monday September 24th, 2007
Coriko waited for the robot to fire another shot at Wilham. The shot missed but killed the light nymph. When the Dalek fired Coriko summoned and fired a fire ball. The fire made contact with the robot and its head blew off. The blue light emitted from the eye piece died and the body stood still.
"Wow that was close, sorry about your nymph. You think its dead or just disarmed?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday September 24th, 2007
"Nice shot." Wilham complimented. "But yeah, don't worry about the nymph." The dead creature turned into white light and then flowed back into the gems on Wilham's gauntlets. "The creatures I summon aren't actually alive. They're just replications of life forms."
Wilham noticed that the officers had all ran off, leaving them behind.
"Well, they'll be glad to know we figured out how to kill them." Wilham said walking over to the headless Dalek. He leaned against the empty shell. "Heh, they aren't so tough are they?"
Then suddenly a small green squid like creature jumped out from the Dalek casing and latched onto the back of Wilham's neck. "Arg!!" He tumbled to the ground. "Get it off! Get it off!" The mutant Kaled's tentacles then started to dig into Wilham's ears. He grabbed onto the creature, trying to pull it off. "It's trying to get into my skull! Quickly! Help me get it off!!" He shouted.
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday September 25th, 2007
"Right.
Well.
Looks to me like hiring eccentrics to do scientists' job wasn't a completely dull idea. After sleeping through 4 hours of a lecture by one of these individuals, Ryleh informed me that, in short, the pseudo-scientist found evidence of a near-indestructible metal deep beneath the planet's crust. Unfortunately for us, the metal stays strong only as long as it's heated to ridiculous temperatures - but those eggheads from the subterranean labs told me that they'll think of something. They'd better.
A nice muscle-stretching walk is all I need, I thought to myself, as I left the lecture hall.
It was still pleasantly cold outside, and the city still slept with activity. The mountains encircling us from the inner continent looked particularly distant this morning, an effect to which I could attribute no cause...
...curse Draven! Why must my minions be so weak to fire? After Retan's fall, quite naturally, I'm planning to double-cross the damn vermin. But how? With what? What will be the device of Draven's downfall? Plague upon your house..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday September 25th, 2007
"Blast it! Wraiths!" Ben flung his hand to his side and burst out a blast of white energy, condensing and taking the form of a sword. He grabbed the blade of energy with both hands and thrust it forwards at one of the creatures with the scythes.
"I hope this isn't a sign of what I'm thinking." Valiko unsheathed his demonic sword and threw it into the air. A blast of red energy surrounded it and two more swords came down. Valiko held his right arm out, directed at the dark figures; they started to float in front of him and swung at the wraiths, or so Ben had called them.
Tiberius began to transform into a Wyvern; his body disappeared and was replaced with a bright light that started to take the shape of a small dragon like creature; a wyvern no less.
"Hmph. We'll want to leave, and quickly." Valimore lead Dori out of the field and behind an area near the port. There were still people from ariosis there, trading and such as if nothing was happening around them. As the army marched across the fields and to the caves, the over all expression of the port changed.
"I forgot how long a walk it was through the caves..." Aaron though aloud. He lead his men into the caves and had them light a few torches, telling the mages to cast light around themselves. The caves were lit with a bright glow as the soldiers of Dranniville marched through.
Some of the Drannivolkans that fought in the earlier war were there, ready to pay back the Tjedians for their help. The clearing was nearby, glowing a strange green. "Put out your tourches!" Aaron shouted through the caves. They were shortly covered in darkness.
"Draw blades!" He shouted once again. The caves echoed with the scraping "sching" that probably alearted the lizardmen. They weren't very bright, however, so they might not have noticed. The definately would soon enough, however.
"CHARGE!!!" Aaron rushed out of the caves followed by his men, pouring into the fields just in front of Tjedon. The city was covered in a translucent green dome. The men behind Aaron all shouted as they raced out into the field and soon the city gate.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday September 25th, 2007
Nex stood over the unconscious man.
"He's still alive. He was able to protect his himself and stay alive, even in death. Such a strong spirit in this one..."
The man slowly started to move. "Where...am...I..."
"You're alive..."
"Who are you?"
"You don't recognize me? I haven't changed that much."
"Nex..." the man began coughing and wheezing. "Why won't you leave me alone!?"
"Because I just love annoying people. Yet I don't like being on the receiving end, so much. Heheh..."
"Your voice..."
"I can't speak in this form, so I result into sending telepathic messages. Thanks for asking. Now if you don't mind, I think it's about time you..."
"Emperor!!" The man shouted, but then started coughing and wheezing, and passed out.
"Hmm...it appears I'm running low on energy. I need to keep this form up until at least I kill these two fools."
Nex floated high into the air, and was surrounded by a spherical aura of red energy around him. Several of the Steam Demons then fired at Nex as if they were specifically told to. That slowing weakening energy inside him, started to regenerate as the protectiles were absorbed into Nex...
"Nyahahah!!"
Posted by: Coriko on Tuesday September 25th, 2007
"Oh geez!"
Coriko made his hand searing hot and put it on the squid creature. It wiggled and squirmed and then fell off of Wilham. The creature hit the ground and started to try to move.
"Oh, that is just gross."
Coriko fired a blast of fire at the squid, vapourizing it.
"Are you okay there Wilham? Did it break the skin?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday September 25th, 2007
"Ape? Bite me, metal-face."
Draven's aura exploded in flame as he circled around the chaos that was the battlefield, weaving around projectiles of molten metal. Just as one of the tin-demon-things was about to destroy what appeared to be a writhing soul, he sent a tremendously high speed orb of crimson energy into its metal-grated face.
"Lost souls, behold!" he bellowed as he flew skyward, "for I have come to deliver you from these wretches!" He pointed at Nex, his whole body wrapped in flame. "Fight back, and together we shall rule Gaian!"
Draven heard the word 'Emperor' shouted at the point, seeing a familiar body lying upon the charred, steaming ground. Was that... Valos? A gring crossed his visage. This whole pulling minions out of the underworld wasn't part of his plan... but it might actually work. He zipped down and hovered several feet above the body, to protect it. As he saw the steam demons regenerate Nex, a devilish grin crossed his face.
He threw both hands up into the air...
The wraith took Duilin's fireball head on, and screamed wretchedly as flames engulfed it. Another wraith approached unseen from the half-demon's left, and rose its blade to cleave his head. However, a shadow zipped out of the dark forest and, flying through the air as a blur, circled the spectre once and disappeared back where it came from. A glowing red circle appeared above the wraith as it wailed, and then its body disintegrated into nothing...
When the warriors of Ariosis where halfway out of the caves and running down the incline towards the domed city, they were suddenly very violently hit-- from behind!
A huge onslaught of snarling Lizard Men poured out of the many side-crannies throughout the tunnel, trapping the tail end of the army in the dangerously cramped tunnels. At the same time, a complement of some 800 large lizards began their charge up the hill, brandishing gigantic swords, maces, and mauls-- not to mention razor sharp teeth and claws. In addition to this, another group of lizards was positioned closer to the city walls, but they seemed to be waiting for orders rather than joining in on the fray.
Commander Vlak cackled as he watched those foolish Ariosians walk right into his trap. Perched high above Tjedion upon the highest command tower of his flying ship-- The Death Evan-- he had a positively wonderful view of the battle. And of course, there was no way he could lose. Even if things turned sour, he'd just order The Sinistral, the second of the three airships under his command to break away from its position over the city and freaking carpet bomb them to death. Oh how hilarious that would be!
He wondered what sort of weakling Retan sent to conquer Ariosis in the first place. It did not matter, now they would taste the true might of the Dark Empire-- The Skyward Division! He was certain his performance here would gain him the favor of the Dark Emperor. Recognition, at last!
Of course, that was if those blasted Velkens didn't interfere. Cursed flying mammals... He grinned. No, High General Virmir was taking care of the inner city. Vlak was to watch the outside by his order, and that was where the action was!
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday September 25th, 2007
(Forgot about these two... blast it!)
Before Ko'ji could finish the sentence, Anselm had his sword buried deep within the spectral demon's prone side. It gaped once, then fizzled into nothing.
But somehow the second one made its way around him-- perhaps because he was so tired-- and lifted its sword up... Suddenly it exploded with a violent shock of lightning. The creature faded. Anselm was about to thank Riuki for the save, but then realized she was in no position to cast the spell. But then, who..."
Helix stood there, right claw extended, crackling with electricity. "Anselm...? Riuki...?" His eyes widened as he looked at his hand, which was even more translucent than his squad-mates. With a gasp of terror he looked down at his feet, which were completely gone, as were most of his legs. Half of his tail was missing, and his translucent body seemed to be very slowly fading away... He clutched his stomach as if in pain and leaned foward. "Wha... what's happening to me...?"
Anselm stood by his side, fighting back rising panic... He clutched his squad-mate by the shoulder. "Helix... your soul has been poisoned... We're here to help keep you in one piece until help arrives..." He just wished he knew how long that would take...
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday September 25th, 2007
"Yeah, I'm fine." Wilham said rubbing the back of his head. "I think he was trying to eat my brain or something..."
"Quick let's catch up with the others..." He said, as he started to head through the hallway.
--- ---
"Yes listen to him, you post-mortem-atic fiends! Nex's voice cheered. "My Steam Demons love it when you put in a fight."
The lost souls were far too weak in comparison to the mighty steam demons. The ones fighting back, even the ones who could even use magic, couldn't do enough to take them down. Body parts were flying all over the place, but none of them were dieing. It's almost as if they couldn't. Disembodied heads were shouting in pain, and crying for help.
"Pathetic. Even when immortal, humans are nothing but cannon fodder."
The man slowly got up. It was indeed Valos, at least what remained of him. His body was covered in scars and burns, chunks of flesh were missing from him, his eyes were blood shot and every limb in his body seemed out of shape as if they've been broken many times over the past. But he was alive. He held his chest, as he spoke.
"My lord...General Valos...is reporting and ready to serve..."
He lost his balance and fell to the ground exhausted.
"Or...order...orders sir?" He mumbled weakly as he was on the ground with his eyes facing towards the sky. He was so dizzy he couldn't tell where Draven was, but he saw him a second ago, so he knew he was there...
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday September 25th, 2007
"Coming back to my palace, I couldn't be more bitter. What the hell: everyone's busy, and I'm the only one that has nothing to do.
Unless...
Ahh, yes. The ultimate boredom-killer and adrenaline-rusher.
Quickly grabbing a small commorb from a table nearby, I rushed to the top of the citadel. There, an assembled wyvern was already waiting for me..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday September 26th, 2007
"Come on, then!" Aaron shouted as his men slashed through the lizardmen onslaught. The field was evenly matched as the lizards strength appeared to match the army's intelligence. It was just a matter of numbers, and the army's over all morale.
Some of Aaron's men were able to escape the caves, but a few remained trapped by lizards. Without warning, the caves blasted open with a blaze of lightning, throwing lizardmen back as far as fifty feet. In the enterance to the caves stood a Drannivolkan spellsword. He was an elite, along with nine other Drannivolkan attackers. If the army did not survive, they would.
The other nine bolted out of the caves and slashed a group of lizardmen who were about to get up. There speed was amazing, similar to that of a velken, but they could still probably run circles around the Drannivolkan elite. Their build was also quite large for their race. They just about looked like the lizardmen that attacked.
"Hah! What kind of army is this? To not even know magic defense?" The first elite pulled his blade out of a fallen lizardman.
"It appears that the Dark Empire isn't quite ready for the advanced tactical training it once had ages ago," another elite said after slashing through a few more lizards.
"Please, for the love of Dran, don't lecture us as we fight!" a third elite merely stepped over a few corpses of dead lizards and Drannivolkans.
"It appears that general Virmir is here. I can smell his scent... I'm going to enjoy gutting that bastard for what he's done to the humans!" A fourth elite charged further into the field followed by his commrads. He wielded a giant hammer, plowing through the smaller lizardmen.
"I believe the skyward division is going to make this harder for us. The army will fall..." a fifth elite shot energy blasts into the air that landed in the middle of the charging lizard force.
From behind, more lizardmen poured out of the caves and attacked the Drannivolkan army. The armies weren't getting anywhere. If the Drannivolkans tried to enter the gates, more lizardmen would keep them at bay. It the lizards tried to gang up on others, the Drannivolkans kept them off.
"This is fun!" a sixth elite yelled as he swung his sword through planty of lizardmen throats. He looked like a child paying, as if ripping the wings off of an insect. The last of the four elites fought to protect Aaron. This battle would last quite a long time...
"What the hell?" Ben saw as the wraith vanished into nothing, as well as the blur that had appeared to have caused it. He ignored it for the moment and thrust his blade of energy through the wraith. It screamed as the blade of light pierced it's black heart. The light stretched from around the blade on the wraith, and soon, it exploded into a white dust of light.
Valiko began moving his arm in fast motions and began making weird symbols in the air. The two ghost blades went back into the first. He grabbed the blade from the air and cleaved the wraith that was attacking him. It was cut in half.
Tiberius finished transforming into a black wyvern. This would probably help the group blend in. He was still able to talk in this form, so they would know it was him. "We should probably try not to get into battles like this until we get to North Point. Let's move on."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Wednesday September 26th, 2007
"Helix, don't waste your energy!" Ko'ji raced over to Helix's side along with Anselm. She held her hand out towards Helix and a flash of blue light appeared. She'd taken some of her spirit energy and gave it to him. This left her extremely exhausted, however.
--- ---
"Damn this blasted army!" Arata thought to himself as he scaled the mountain. Doing this in daylight was much easier, he thought. The wind didn't seem to be in his favor either, as it was faster this night, and it continually pushed against him.
He made it to the peak of a mountain near Tjedon and saw the green dome covering the entire city. Right outside the city, the army he'd seen earlier was fighting lizardmen. This had excited Arata greatly.
He slid down a steep slope and leapt off, rolling on the ground to break his fall. He unsheathed his katana and slashed apart anything that got in his way. His bloodlust would not be settled until all were dead...
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday September 26th, 2007
"What the hell was that?" Duilin asked. "Somebody up there likes me. Or at least just doesn't want me dead..."
Duilin blocked the scythe blade of one of the wraiths with his mace, knocking it away. With his free hand he shot a fireball knocking it to the ground, burning it up. He looked about and saw the others wraiths were dead.
"That's all of them? Heh, okay then." Duilin made a brief grin and then rested his mace back on his shoulder. He noticed that Tiberius was talking in his wyvern form.
"Wow. I was under the impression gepardi's couldn't talk in their animal forms."
He remembered his old gepardi friend Cheetah, who he traveled with at Romme. He remembers how awkward talking to him when he was in the form of a wyvern or a cheetah.
"But I don't think we can do anything to avoid battles like that. Those guys came out of nowhere for no reason." Duilin replied. "But if anything we should make sure we avoid battles when we are at north point. I think stealth may be the key for when we get there. But who the hell knows?" Duilin continued moving. "I'm just guessin' stuff..."
Posted by: Jenia on Wednesday September 26th, 2007
A sigh.
Several houses were already finished.
For recently resurrected people, these guys sure work fast she thought.
But all was not meant to be well.
That much she has already learned from life. Her birth, her path, her plan...
All went wrong at some point. So far, she had managed to deal with every problem, but how long will she last...?
"Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrniiiiiiiiiiiiiis...!"
Indher was startled by the distant, familiar voice calling out to her.
She recognized the approaching man as her apprentice, Elphos.
Her thoughts began to float...
She remembered the day she met him...
That day, she found an entire village drowned in human blood. Back then, she didn't much care for it, but now that those beings are her responsibility, shouldn't they be under her faithful protection, as well...?
"Fernis! Hey, master, stop daydreaming!"
Being shaken by her apprentice brought her back to reality.
Alas, he was right. This truly was not the time to get lost in old memories.
"What is it, Elphos?"
She was quite curious as to what was the commotion all about.
It has been a while since she saw him in such a hurry, but she couldn't quite pinpoint that last time it happened...
"Err, I... WE have a problem!"
A sigh.
Now she remembers.
Last time it happened, Elphos tried turning a piece of wood into a piece of meat - using the standard rune for dealing with metals. The thing exploded in his face and started a forest fire.
He was lucky he wasn't scarred from the incident...
"So, what happened this time?"
Indher then noticed a couple approaching from behind her panicky apprentice.
One of them was a gray-haired, old and wrinkled man who wore simple farmer's clothing consisting of a striped green shirt, tattered gray cloth pants with many stains of mud and wooden sandals. By his side was a black haired young woman, no older than thirty by appearance, who the very exact same set of clothes the man did.
Occupied by the couple's odd fashion sense, it took her a while to notice that the woman was holding a strange, feathery creature in her hands. It seemed to be sleeping, and quite peacefully, too. Nearly wondering off to her own world again, Indher managed to retain the grasp on reality and proceeded to ask the obvious question -
"What is this...?"
The face of her apprentice went bright red. She never really understood it-
Why do humans try to hide their most obvious emotions?
She noted to herself that she should ask Elphos about it later, and proceeded to await a response from her (apparently) embarrassed apprentice.
"I, erm, they asked me for a chicken..."
The rest was obvious. Indher didn't teach him much about the runic structure of living beings, and only made him memorize the basic structure of a roach and a rat.
Since only the world's biggest idiot would try to make a living avian in the form of an insect, the problem became all too obvious...
"A rat shaped chicken? That's a first. Let this one be, it might actually be productive."
The couple seemed to be delighted at this.
This was another thing Indher found to be puzzling -
If they wanted to keep it, why did they come to her?
If there's no problem to complain about, there's no need to complain. Do humans not understand these simple things...?
A sigh.
After telling Elphos to go back to what he is best at (that is, shaping existing matter) I began walking up the hill knowing the newfound village's material supply won't run out anytime soon.
It is sad how the only being on this island intelligent enough to talk to is the same one who doesn't want to talk...
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday September 26th, 2007
Well blast, that is one dedicated solider. He should probably give him a raise. Or something.
"Just lie there and not die. That'd be it for now," Draven replied to Valos, smirking slightly. With both hands to the sky, he turned and sneered at Nex. "You, on the the other hand..."
As if grasping an invisible force, Draven threw his hands downward. "Meteo!!"
Giant holes burst in the clouds above, gigantic burning boulders hurtling downward from the heavens. With quick flips of his hands and some mad cackling, he directed the monoliths not at Nex, but at the freaky metal demon things, intending to smash them like children's toys...
The dark cloaked figure breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the last wraith that was attacking Duilin's group fade away. Blasted random encounters... time was of the essence, and he hoped they'd be more careful next time.
Southward, the sky was red instead of black, and he knew something bad was happening there... He floated to the treetops and stuck his head out just in time to see fireballs rain from the sky far over there. Looking forward, to the west, his excellent night vision allowed him to make out the pointed black spires of North point. Something seemed to be moving in the sky, away from the fortress... wyverns? They were likely going to join in whatever mayhem was going on down south. Good... the less troops there, the better...
"Careful, Riuki... don't use up all your strength." Anselm said to the girl as she attempted to reinforce Helix's spirit energy.
Helix was still staring at himself, clearly disturbed.
"Where are we?" He said as a groan. He couldn't stand up anymore (his legs seemed more invisible, than missing) so he sat on the misty ground.
"We've left our bodies... Lord Virmir has sent aid for you, and we will protect your spirit until it comes..." Anselm looked around. "Although thankfully I think we've seen the last of the demons for a while..."
After a long pause, Virmir looking at the city below, Bryce finally spoke up. "How will we do it?"
"... As quietly as possible." He turned, the familiar coldness in his eyes. "We will take a handful at a time. The mages will cast a sleep spell on them. Then they will cast a poison gas spell. They won't feel any pain when they die..."
Bryce gulped, his ears folding back against his head.
He had quite a bit of human blood on his hands. But that was all from battle... This was the first time they actually had to kill civilians... But humans were just animals... right?
He shuddered, a knot welling deep in his stomach.
As if seeing the uncertainty in his eyes, Virmir continued. "This order is directly from the Dark Emperor."
Bryce slowly nodded. It was all he could do.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday September 26th, 2007
"Wyvern's aren't so dumb as not to be able to communicate verbally. We were taught how to talk back up in the arctic region. I'm sure there are actuall Wyverns who can speek human languages."
"Enough. North Point is west, and that's where we're headed. Let's hurry up and finish this so we can get the hell out of here!" Valiko seemed very eager to leave Terian as fast as possible. If the Dark Emporer were to find him, it would surely be his end...
"Calm your ass down! We're nearly there. I can see the gates from here." Ben wasn't quite sure how they were going to get in. "So... any ideas on how we bust in there?"
"We are perhapse better off leaving Tjed. I'm returning to my people in the Arctic Region... Perhapse things might not be as violent as I assume they've become. If you really wish to learn more of the past... You will follow me." Doriana followed without a word. The two walked over to the port that was nearby, and decided to board a ship from Ariosis.
"Raise anchor. We're leaving for the north..." Doriana did as Valimore requested. She lifted the anchor of the ship and the sails caught wind. The ship blasted out of the port with great speed. One thing the Ariosians knew how to do was craft fast ships.
"What about that human... from before?"
"What about him? He'll find us if he takes the right path. If not, then I don't suppose why we should really care that much. He was quite a bit violent, though. A good quality in a dark minion. Heh..."
Posted by: Trent on Thursday September 27th, 2007
// >_<!!!! I hope this isn't totally f'ed up. >_<!!!!
Anti jumped out of the way of the scythe and shot into the air, quite a distance away from Nex. He panted up there in the air, trying to think. He put way too much time into thinking, though. He came up with that the only way to do something... is to hit 'im with something really strong. A hi-ougi.
"Eat this, you inferior being!"
"Fragmented End!"
Six red and blue balls of oppositely charged energy appeared in the air in front of Anti, forming a circle with its opening pointed down toward Nex. They seemed to react with each other, and shot a huge beam of energy down at Nex.
35% of his energy is used up instantly...
--- --- ---
Zion shook his head and looked at the commotion that just happened. "What just happened?" From what he could tell, a bunch of wraiths attacked, and for some reason, all four of them were out of it and couldn't help.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday September 27th, 2007
//I think you're moving too fast Drannic.\\
"Okay, uh guys..." Duilin saw something in the distance, it looked like Hell had just opened up and dumped it's hellish remains upon the ground. He couldn't make out every detail, but something big and robed was floating over a pit, and there were things not as big things marching around fighting what looked like people. "What is that?" He asked pointing at the demonic scene.
---
//Uh, Trent have you been skipping my posts?\\
"You're kidding..."
Nex embraced the blast, it was a huge amount of energy, it was sucked into his aura and his energy was nearly just as high as it was before.
"Why thank you."
However he noticed fireballs were raining downwards at his Steam Demons.
"Draven, Draven, Draven..."
Most of the meters smashed into the steam demons knocking them to the ground, but not fully killing them, a bunch of them however were just missing them. There were explosions, but the steam demons just walked right threw them, unaffected by the flames or even the shockwaves...
"One of the people I knew who would be a large obstacle in our plans, was you Draven. Lucky for you, super skilled water mages are of very short supply in Thanatos, so I thought why not fight fire with fire? Or at least something immune to it."
"Plus explosions won't due much either. Nyahaha!"
Only a couple of the steam demons seemed to have suffered any major injuries. And most of them got up and continued to advance towards the pit. A few of them continued moving around hunting down the remaining lost souls...
Nex's gauntlets glowed again and he fired a thunderous red lightning bolt from each hand, one at Draven and one at Anti.
//Might as well keep track of some stuff to help you guys out.\\
Giga Nex's Energy: 85%
Steam Demons: 33 + 2 severly injured and unable to fight much
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday September 27th, 2007
"Aah, nature!
Nothing quite like it. The chunks of the dead wyvern behind me dissipated into the ground, just after hitting the rocky terrain of Terian. The sounds of the raging ocean beating against the monoliths was reverberating between the trees just up ahead. So loud, so annoying... I almost wished to be back in the citadel, but that's no fun.
The device disguised as a commorb was actually a shape-shifting stone. I smashed the orb onto the rocks, revealing a gold pendant with a large jade in the middle. Without further ado, I put it on.
Quite obviously, I didn't see myself changed, as that's not how the amulet worked. Unfortunately, I had no mirror to look at, so I had to resort to water. The damned amulet crafter didn't tell me exactly what the stone turned me into by default, so I had to check it out myself.
The reflection of the water revealed a morbidly obese, opulently dressed merchant. I suppose that's better than nothing, though something a little less flashy would've been a lot better. Ah well, I guess that's life.
Looking about, I noticed a detail that I missed before - there was a small pier some distance away, with a ship docked at it. Perhaps someone there could tell me how to get further into the mainland? Or... maybe, it would be better to commandeer the ship... Bah. I'll figure it out once I get there."
Posted by: Coriko on Thursday September 27th, 2007
"Yeah, we should. I do not want to be here when the rest of tho creatures come and find their ally dead. Here," Coriko pointed to a steal padlock door on the far side of the room. "I think they went through there."
---
Druid slowly descended onto the palace's front step. It was unlike any palace one had ever seen. It had a long open corridor with rooms branching off. These were offices for the high ranking individuals in the society. There was a total of six. Druid did not believe in spreading around the power. At the end of the corridor was a giant room that acted like the senate/throne room. Druid moderated sessions while others would pose questions and opinions. The final room to this building was Druid's ensuite. It was modest for a supreme ruler but extravagent for an aristorcrat.
"Ah, I'm home. I see one thing stayed in tact while i was gone."
"Yes sir." A gruff voice was heard to Druid's left. It was Onan, one of Druid's warlords. "We protected this building with our lives after you left." The figure walked up to Druid and stuck out his hand. Druid shook it. "It's good to have you back sir."
Druid never fraterneized with his underlings but the six who occupied these rooms were an exception. "I'm glad to be back. Where are the other five?"
Onan reclaimed his hand and looked down. "It is just Kane, Yuri, Baird, and myself now sir. Saar was killed by Silas. He got past our defences to steal your treasure and take over the final obstacle that defied him."
"I am sorry to hear that. He was a fine and trusted warlord. What about Nim?"
Onan looked up with hate in his eyes. "He was there when Saar died. He helped silas get in."
"WHAT!?!" roared Druid.
"Yes, he betrayed us because Silas offered him power. We captured him after Silas announced he was leaving to finish you off. He is being held in a guarded cell."
"Where!?!"
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday September 27th, 2007
What in blazes?!?!
He knew flames wouldn't hurt those blasted tin things much, but he dropped freaking giant rocks from space on them!!
"Arrgh!!!"
Draven's aura exploded and he surged downward around Nex's blast of energy, down towards the nearest tin-demon. He blocked a swipe from its huge hand with his fist, a red shock wave disintegrating nearby boulders. He then noticed steam bellowing from the nearest pipe-things on the monster's back. Hmmm...
Jumping over the creature, he turned and grabbed the two of the pipes that were sticking upward. Pumping crimson energy into his hands to increase his strength, he pinched the metal tubes shut and then bent them downwards almost in a knot, preventing the flow of steam...
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday September 27th, 2007
"The ship's captain was a rather pleasant person. Let me stress the key word here: was. Not pleasant enough, unfortunately.
I don't know whether or not he was surprised to be stabbed in the back by a skeleton of the fish he was gutting. I mean, back stabbing isn't exactly my style (hehe, or it just may be), but... baaah, I just didn't feel like giving him a chance. I ask pleasantly, ladies and gentlemen, I ask quite pleasantly of his boat - what do I get in return? Not his boat, that's for sure.
The crew that followed was just a matter of method. Wielding the fish skeleton as a dagger, the captain (now undead) went about methodically slaughtering each one of his crew mates. It's difficult to find a crew so obedient as to the point that will die for you... all the better for me, though, right?
Sadly, I knew that I had to have my minions look and behave human(esque). While my adoration for people with open, bleeding wounds in them is rather great, not many share my idealist view on life. So, I had them repair their clothes, and steer the ship as if they were still alive. As if. Hehehe.
The one setback we experienced, however, was that ever-present, terribly uninterested blank gaze from the zombies. This quickly proved to be a problem with the first pirate ship we encountered. Normally, I suppose, the pirates expected the crew of the other ship to be surprised, scared even, of the merest sight of the black cross-bone flag. All they were met with, though, was a blank stare."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday September 28th, 2007
The steam pipes were hot, extremely hot enough to melt the skin off a persons' hands. But Draven (likely) we more than able to withstand the heat.
The steam demon attempted to reach behind and grab Draven, but his mobility was noticeably slower. Before he could get a hold on Draven the 'engine' on it's back exploded in a huge gust of steam and fire and the demon fell to the ground. But it was still alive, its cannon arm wasn't able to move, nor where his legs, however his other arm was enough for him to tug himself along. Blood was gushing from it's back, and it turned it's head and gave a mighty roar at Draven.
Meanwhile another Steam Demon sneaked behind Draven and gave a three round burst of flaming metal at very close range at the fire mage.
'Oh for the love of all that is impure and unholy! I have to think of EVERYTHING when dealing with this guy.'
Nex's Energy: 83%
Steam Demons: 32 + 3 severely injured and unable to fight much
Posted by: Ted Der on Friday September 28th, 2007
Phew. Man it had been a long trip of hiding and sneaking around. Sneaking around on a ship that you didn't have a clue to where it was going. Akran shifted his bow from his shoulders. He let it slide to the ground along with his quiver of arrows. He lifted his right arm, absentmindedly, and rubbed his scar. The scar was huge. It looked as if his arm had been almost sliced in two. The scar started from his thumb joint, ran down through is palm and went up almost to his elbow.
With a heavy sigh, Akran sat behind a tree. He never liked to be spotted anywhere so, he created his usual protection. Without really concentrating on what he was doing, Akran used his power to recreate the already existing shadow of the tree so that it covered more of the ground than it was already. This power, which he took for granted now, didn't come to him naturally. A long time ago, he acquired it from his brother, but that was always a painful topic.
Suddenly, he heard something. It was the sound of glass breaking. He stood up quickly, drew an arrow from his quiver and held it ready. He wiped his black greasy hair from his eyes and very carefully, he looked around the tree.
A merchant stood there. He was quite big and seemed to be confused. He was touching his face as if he was remembering where his features where. The merchant waddled over to a patch of water and knelt down to admire his reflection. Akran never liked to introduce himself, so he watched this odd man from a distance. The merchant stood up and looked around. Then something caught his eye. Oh no, was it Akran? No, it couldn't be, thought Akran. No one ever sees him unless he wants to be seen. He crouched down as the fat merchant waddled right past him. He turned around and saw that the merchant was heading for the docked ship Akran had left just a little while ago. With absolute and complete silence, Akran followed this strange man.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday September 28th, 2007
"Blast it! There's like, 32 more of these freaking-- GAH!"
Draven fell forward as the blasts of molten metal struck him in the back. Pushing himself up and sneering as the liquid dripped off his cape, he shot into the air with a bang.
Two guyers of molten lava followed his assent, bursting from the ground. The bulk of the lava formed into spheres and rotated around him as if he were the center of an atom.
"I hate things that take forever to kill..."
With a flick of his wrists, a few spheres shot downward, embedding themselves in the steaming pipes of the beast, where they solidified and cooled into solid rock. By this time several more tin-freak-things were aiming and firing at him, so he spun around and flew in a wide arc behind them, dropping the magma bombs in a spray at the monsters' tubes.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday September 29th, 2007
//You might want to say exactly how many you attack Xorlak, just so I can keep track. I'll just assume you attacked four plus the first one you attacked in your post.\\
As its steam tubes turned to rock it's back engine exploded, rendering it immobile.
The group heading towards Draven continued to advance as the lava orbs smashed onto their steam tubes turning them to solid rock, and their backs exploded shortly after. One of them however shot down the lava orb, with its fire-metal cannon as it came towards him. The lava and the molten cannon ball smashed into each other creating a small explosion in the air.
Nex's laugh then echoed through the air, and he shot forth a large black-red bolt of dark energy at Draven.
At nearly the same time, as Nex fired his shot, the Steam Demon fired a three round burst of flaming metal chunks at Nex.
Nex's Energy: 75%
Steam Demons: 28 in fighting condition
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday September 29th, 2007
//Ooops, forgot about Wilham.\\
"I don't blame you." Wilham replied, rubbing his neck. He walked over to the padlocked door.
(I'd assume the padlock would be on the other side, since one of them locked it, from the other side)
Wilham banged on the door with his gauntlet. "Open up. We got him."
From the other side a muffled voice was heard.
"I don't know if I should let you in. What if it's forcing you to do this?"
"Trust me it's dead." Wilham replied, speaking loudy.
"Well...okay." The person on the other side said reluctantly. The sound of a lock opening was heard and the door slowly opened. "Hurry! Hurry!"
The two then quickly got through the door, and he closed it behind them.
"So...you killed it?"
"Well, yes." Wilham said. "Well, apparently shooting fireballs at it's head at the same time it's shooting it's death beam is how it's done."
"Really? That's...that's great! We might actually be able to beat these things now." The officer said.
"So, where's McNeil?" Wilham asked.
"He, went ahead, with the others. I was told to stay here." He explained. "If you want to talk to him, just keep going down this hallway."
---
Meanwhile in as isolated area of the base, which was mostly cut off from the rest of the area was a libratory. With several Daleks, about, there was one Black Dalek, with gold bulbs on its armour and a golden eyestalk. He was next to two pure black daleks with an extra gun piece in place of their plungers.
"Communications have been lost with Dalek Vann!" A Dalek said to the gold trimmed one.
"Impossible the Kaleds must have found a weakness." The gold trimmed Dalek.
"We belive these were not Kaleds, but people of a similar and possibly superior race to the Kaleds."
"They are still inferior to the Dalek race. Set them to a higher priority of extermination!"
"I obey."
Posted by: Coriko on Saturday September 29th, 2007
Coriko started down the hallway after McNiel.
"C'mon I want to find out more about these robots. That was unlike any other MagiPistol I've ever seen!"
---
Druid shot out of the palace entrance and flew across the island.
A stone building stood alone on the far side of the island. It was about three stories high. On the ground floor was a cavernous room with a fireplace by the stairs. On the top two floors were the cells. The guards sat infront of the fireplace. Two of the guards played a game of cards called Dorrika. The other guard sat with his feet up asleep infront of the fire.
A loud crack was heard and the wooden door exploded, splintering into several hundred pieces. The two guards who were playing cards ducked behind the table to protect themselves from the splinters and the sleeping gaurd toppled backwards. The three guards leaped up but then immediatley dropped to their knees after they saw who broke down the door.
"Where is he?" Druid demanded
"Third floor my lord." One of the guards replied. Druid walked past them and glided up the stairs. Druid reached the third floor quickly. It was dark and quiet. Druid stood perfectly still at the entrance to the cell block.
"Nim, I've come for you."
Druid started to walk slowly forward. The floor creaked beneath each step. He didn't look left or right, just walked forward very slowly. After he reached the third cell he stopped. Druid slowly turned his head to the left. He had a soul destorying look on his face. Huddled in the farthest corner from Druid was Nim. No words passed between the two but a lot was said by Druid's face. Their eyes met for the briefest moment before he killed Nim. Druid turned and walked back down the stairs. He passed the guards who were still kneeling.
"Now, I can set about completing my goal."
Druid started off towards the palace.
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday September 29th, 2007
"Arrgh!!"
Draven was hit by the blast while his attention was diverted upon the annoying metal things. He tumbled through the air and crashed into a pile of half-molten boulders, ash spewing up into the air.
Blast it! Were he at full power, he'd be able to crush these tin cans with his little finger. Curse that miserable demon and drawing out his death for ten hours!
He pushed a few large rocks off his dented armor and stood, glancing up into the sky...
His mouth dropped.
He was facing southward, with the giant-freak-Nex in view, the steam things coming at him. But his eyes were to the sky... For the dark clouds parted and revealed a black airship...
It looked like three ships combined, two smaller bodies connected on either side of a third. Gigantic fins protruded from the rears, two mammoth cannons on top, and a score of smaller ones protruding from the sides... Slowly the black airship descended...
"You... stupid MORON!" Draven screamed, pointing at Nex. "Look at what you've done!!"
The airship stopped several hundred feet over the battle field. A hatch opened on the underside, and slowly floated downward...
"Did you actually think you could open a gods-forsaken hole to the netherworld here without getting HIS attention?!" the Crimson Emperor screamed.
Blast it! He was no where near ready for this! Though he was several hundred miles away, Retan was still way too close to the Tower of Heaven's Bane to be vulnerable... And to top that off, Draven was exhausted from fighting metal-face and his freaks all night. Argh!!
Crimson eyes burned brightly through the darkness...
"Ah, Draven..."
The platform the Dark Emperor floated downward upon seemed to have no means of propulsion at all.
"... how delightful for you to join us once more. Although, it seems as though you have caused mischief since we last met..."
They're watching something else...
He's watching something else...
Now is your chance...
Your only chance!
...
Indeed, it was... and he knew it...
"Pst... Duilin! ... Duilin!" The cloaked figure whispered, just loud enough for the half demon to hear. "Over here!" He didn't quite want to atract the attention of the others... not yet, anyway.
Peaking out from behind a tree, the black cloaked figure waved at Duilin and motioned him towards the dark forest. He needed to speak with Duilin in private, away from the others...
Commander Vlak snarled.
What were those? Giant cats? Ugh. There were a bunch of small ones too.
The battle raged on in Tjedon Valley, Lizards and Drannivolka and humans slashing each other to bits. The lizard fleet commander watched from the safety of his airship, high above the captured city, and behind the protective shield, no less.
"Pah! I tire of this! Captain!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Order The Sinistral to break formation and blast the entire enemy army straight to Thanatos."
"But sir," the lizard captain hesitated, "can they do that without hitting our own lizards?"
Vlak thrapped him on the head. "You idiot! Those are C-class. We'll just grow more!"
A rumbling emerged over the city...
One of the three black airships floating above, The Sinistral broke formation and started moving away, through the green shield like it was water and over the city walls. The massive cannons upon one side turned downward, and it began humming, a blackness engulfing the barrels as it slowly moved towards the battle raging hundreds of feet below...
Virmir turned an ear upward. On of the airships was flying away...
"What is Vlak doing?" He asked, flicking his tail in agitation.
"... No idea..." Bryce scratched the fur on the back of his head.
Virmir turned to the Blade Knight. "Send a messenger to find out."
Bryce bowed quickly and flew off. "Yes, my Lord."
Virmir sighed, his duty of setting up the human extermination program delayed for just a moment. Good. He needed every last minute he could buy...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday September 29th, 2007
"What the hell is that?" One of the three airships parted from the other two, lowering its cannons, ready to demolish the entire field. Aaron was well aware the capability of airships.
"Damn it all! Elite! Back to the caves!" The elite warriors, after hearing Aaron, looked up and saw the Airship. All of them made a run for the caves, along with Aaron.
"Ugh... I hate traveling by sea."
"Well, in our favor, this ship is quite large, and it should be able to withstand a storm out in the open water. I don't think we have to worry about that, though. The air around us is getting colder, if you catch my meaning... hehhehheh..."
"At least we're 'almost' there. Ugh, I'm starting to feel woozy..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday September 29th, 2007
Nex absorbed the flaming metal chunks the Steam Demons shot at him, and restored his energy.
"Excellent! Good as new!" Nex laughed.
It was a good thing Draven wasn't clever enough to think of shooting down the Steam Demons' projectiles before he could absorb them, or else he'd start running low on energy, and that would lead to him reverting back to his previous form"¦
His attention slightly drew to the black Vessel above him. He used to be drawn to the Dark Emperors power. That's what made Abodahon infect him with the spirit demon, that's what gave him that sharp pain in his insides whenever he felt any doubt to Abodahon's loyalty. Betraying Retan leads to death, betraying Abodahon leads to things beyond death, beyond pain and fear. He couldn't let that happen again. He could not betray his master who still lives in death"¦
Valos slowly got up. Was Nex insane? He wouldn't be any match for Retan. If Nex was indeed invisible, he was sure Retan would find some way to kill him"¦
"You're a fool Nex!" Valos shouted. "You can't survive against the Crimson Emperor, much less the Dark Emperor! Why do you even try!?"
"Why?" Nex looked below him, down at Valos. "Because this world belongs to the true species of superiority, demons, and it sure as hell doesn't belong to these two freaks!" He said referring to Draven and Retan.
Nex couldn't do anything to harm Retan. He knew of Tower of Heaven's Bane, which gave the dark emperor his power. Might as well go for the easy target"¦
Nex used a big chunk of his energy to send a telepathic mind affection wave at the fire mage, if he was able to break into his mind, then he would start to feel as if all his limbs were broken. Regardless if his mind affection spell was successful he then blasted a series of red lightning bolts down at him.
--- ---
Duilin couldn't believe was he was seeing, but mostly because he wasn't able to get a good enough look at it. He needed to get closer...
But then he heard someone whispering to him. He held out his mace, he wasn't going to be too careful around here. But it was somebody who knew him, and was following him.
All he could make out was a black figure behind a tree. Who was it? Was it Renard? But why would he follow him here? Maybe it was Ophelia, who wanted his help. Or maybe it was some stalker, who overheard his name. Guess he'd just have to find out.
Duilin walked over to the near by dark forest, and then he stepped behind the tree where the person was whispering to him...
--- ---
"I'll say." Wilham replied, walking along with Coriko. "But I think this world we are on is actually ignorant of magic. They don't seem to have a single mage here, and it's a military instalment."
The two continued moving.
"But their technology is clearly was surpass our own. It's quite a grand display of non-magical ability."
Posted by: Coriko on Saturday September 29th, 2007
"I have noticed that as well."
The corridor opened into a room that was quite similar to a bomb shelter. McNiel was sitting at a table talking to some scientist. As soon as he saw Coriko and Wilham he stood up.
"Dear lord you're alive! How did you escape the robot?"
"Wilham figured it out, when they shoot their gun they have to lower their force field. Hiting their eye piece will blind them and their shield will be down so weaker weapons can finish them off. If you have a kill shot the first time aim for the seal between the head and the body. Thats correct, right Wilham?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday September 30th, 2007
Draven wasn't quite paying attention to Nex, who had quite suddenly become the least of his worries. Thus he was smacked by the lightning head-on and sent tumbling down a hill, dust kicking up in his wake as the red electrical discharge wrapped around him. At the bottom of he hill he tried to crawl to his feet, but an odd pain in his legs kept him on the ground. He snarled, his hair beginning to wave in his rage...
"Cur. I did not give you permission to strike him," Retan's deep voice boomed throughout the wasteland.
His eyes flashed crimson and the ground split in two, a huge fissure rumbling across the rocky field. The crack in the ground split right between Draven and Nex, just barely missing Valos' head (and leaving him on Draven's side) and separated the two combatants by a chasm several hundred feet wide. Deep below was nothing but blackness... an endless void...
Seven of the steam demons simply lost their balance and flew right in as it formed. When they fell far enough into the blackness, it seemed a hand grabbed each greedily took them under, and they existed no more... Even the steam they emitted as they fell was sucked into the void.
"Demon slave, you will bow to me and beg for mercy," he said to the much larger Nex, "I will not tolerate interruption. Should you comply, as an example of my unbounded generosity I will allow you to continue existing-- as my slave."
The cloaked figure lead Duilin a short ways into the forest. Here the dead tree limbs eerily snarled around, and the dim red light from the black clouded sky made only the faintest of outlines visible.
"We don't have much time," the much smaller figure whispered, a vulpine muzzle protruding from his cowl. Renard drew the cloth back just enough for Duilin to see his face. "And this is our only chance..."
He turned and pointed to the spires of North Point in the distance, away from the chaotic battle to the south... Something bad was happening there... "His attention is diverted... All of theirs are... We have to do this right now..." He looked at the ground. "But your party is way too big to travel through the portal. We dare not open it wide enough to let more than one or two through... Maybe the others can set up a distraction."
He looked up at Duilin, a sense of urgency in his eyes. "My best friend's life depends on this... All of our lives do now... But if you can free us, then I promise you...
"... you will have an entire army of pissed-off Velkens on your side."
The Lizard Men knew what those cannons meant...
As Aaron's army ran towards the caves, the lizards fled back toward the city. After only a moment's more humming, the ship turned its flank completely towards the cave entrance and let loose upon the fleeing army...
By then Aaron's men were almost completely withdrawn, soon only a few were killed in the gargantuan black explosions that ripped through the battlefield. The blasts were loud and vibrant, shaking the very cores of the mountains that surrounded the city, yet little rubble was expelled from the terrible bursts of blackness-- rather they simply left gaping holes upon the landscape. Within seconds the stress was too much for the mountain the cavern bore through, and the cave exit collapsed in the ensuing avalanche just as the last of Aaron's men skittered safely through.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday September 30th, 2007
"Well, shit..." Aaron put his crystaline sword back into its sheath on his belt. A few of his men lit tourches in the blocked passage. They were forced to withdraw from Tjed. At least for the moment, they began to make their way out of the caves and back to the port city.
"AHH!!! I can feel him! It's only a matter of time before he finds me! Get out of here, all of you!" Valiko held his hands on the sides of his head. Retan's power was crushing the light in side him.
Ben walked forwards. "But Valiko, we can't just leave you-"
"I SAID GO! DO YOU 'WANT' TO DIE!?" Valiko ran away from the party and headed south. He could feel a dark pule in his heart. For some reason, it felt good. It felt like he wasn't holding back anymore, as if all this time he had been. It began to frighten him, but it sunk in deeper and deeper.
"Damn, this isn't good," the light side said to itself.
"Hah! Your power was never as strong as mine, infirior being," the darker side said.
"I've not much time left here! Valiko, snap out of it!"
"No, embrace it." Embrace it... this echoed through his head. He stopped to find Retan in front of him.
"Heh... So, you're the 'Dark Emporer' huh? I just might enjoy serving under you."
Posted by: Ted Der on Sunday September 30th, 2007
Keeping the merchant in sight, Akran went from tree to tree staying in the shadows as much as possible. As he neared the docked ship, the merchant stopped to talk to the captain. Akran leaned against a tree and watched. He was so very experienced at following people.
When Akran was a boy, he and his brother, Kraaz, liked to chase each other around the forest. It wasn't quite like tag though. One of them pretended to be an unaware civilian, and the other practiced to follow them by keeping silent in the shadows. Sometimes, especially when they got older, the "˜hunter' would become so quiet; the other didn't know he was still following him. It was all fun and games, until they were both around seventeen; then it got to the point where they watched each other almost constantly.
That was around the time when Akran saw his brother kill another human being.
Anyway, the merchant was moving again. It seemed as though he had lost some sort of argument with the ship's captain, and was now moving slowly towards a pail of gutted fish. With a surprising swift maneuver, this obese merchant grabbed a skeleton fish and thrust it into the captain's back. With a slight squirm, the captain slid down and hit the deck with a thud.
Ok, thought Akran, I didn't see that coming. But it wasn't over. The body moved. Did an arm twitch? To Akran's astonishment, the captain stiffly rose to his feet, and slowly pulled the fish bone from his back. What the hell? The previously dead captain wielded the fish as a weapon, charged up the pier and onto the ship.
Akran whipped his head back around the tree, his eyes frightfully wide open. Can this obese merchant raise dead? After a few seconds Akran shook his head to organize his thoughts. He had seen something like this before, so long ago"¦ but that was different. This guy could literally bring the dead to life. Amazing. A thought suddenly struck him, Wait. Maybe he can help me find what I'm looking for. It was worth a shot. Akran adjusted his bow on his shoulders and disappeared behind the trees.
Shortly afterwards, Akran had found a different route to the side of the ship. In no time at all, he was hidden safely down in the hold. This ship was surprising easy to board. All of the crew members had these blank, inexperienced looks. Oh well, better for me.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday September 30th, 2007
"Renard! It is you." Duilin smiled.
"I saw what was going on, down there." He said stepping next to Renard. "It also had me fully distracted." He looked down at the ground. "I think these guys..." He shook his head, he shouldn't think about that now.
"But yeah, I'm ready. We can do this." Duilin said, looking at Renard smiling. "So are you going to come with me?" He asked. "I think they'll probably trust me more if you come with."
He sent a telepathic message to the others.
"Make sure nobody gets into North Point, but remember not to draw to much attention."
--- ---
Nex was shocked as we witnessed the steam demons getting sucked into the black nothing ness. Twenty-five left, it was still more than enough, and he could keep this up.
"Your slave?" Nex floated higher so he could get closer towards the black vessel.
"You're insane Nex." Valos sent a telepathic message to Nex. "Just give up."
"Don't you talk to me!!" Nex's voice shot towards Valos. "How dare you even think about talking...human."
"Am I suppost to be offended!?" Valos retorted. "I am a human, who has survived hell. I have survived death."
"Tch. You only survived death because you never died in the first place."
"True, but I still made it out. Those demons couldn't catch me. They failed."
"While you prevail at being a coward."
"Let's see you talk like that to Retan." Valos needed to push Nex, to fight him. Deep down inside he new Nex had become to strong for him and Draven to fight, especially with those steam demons. But now that Retan is here, he can do the job for them...
"I don't fear Retan. I am fear!"
---
Valos smirked as he saw Nex fly up towards the Black Vessel. He then went to the aid of his Emperor.
"Lord Draven, don't worry." Valos said, kneeling down. "It's just in your head, just block it from your mind and it will pass."
He then looked at Nex who was now in the distance.
"Nex's about to get himself killed. Maybe he might be able to distract him so we can get out of here." Valos said, with a smirk.
---
Nex continued to fly towards the Black Vessel, but as he got closer he began to feel doubt...
When the Dark Empire first arrived on Gaian, he was drawn to his power and felt like betraying his master, Abodahon. He remember the punishment he gave him, those giant gauntlets smashing into him, crushing him, and his very soul being tortured by his puppet like minion, Pheonix...
But again, there was the fact at how easily Abodahon agreed to let him join the Empire, as long as he kept the Talonscar with him. He claimed he wanted to take it out from the inside...but maybe he too was afraid. Did Abodahon feel fear? Did Retan? Maybe he should obey?
But the way Retan's kind enslaved his kind. Drakens were worse than demons. They were worse than demons, who were synonymous with the words evil, and cruel. No, he can't let Retan do this.
"Why would I ever serve you Retan? Your life, the things you've seen, the things you've lived through, is but a speck of dust compared to what I've seen. You my friend are a child. So let's play a game. It's called...Go to Hell."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Sunday September 30th, 2007
"What in the... Airship... uh oh." Arata fled from the nearby area and hid behind a large boulder that was sturdy enough to protect him... for now.
"Why does this always happen when I get into battle?"
--- ---
"Ugh... I feel so... weak. How long does Virmir intend to have us trapped in this world?" Ko'ji felt dizzy. She was wobbling back and forth until she fell to the ground again.
"So... light... headed..." She shut her eyes in hopes to regain some of her energy. It was running out, and fast.
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 1st, 2007
// I've been reading what I thought is only enough to keep me updated. I'm going to put a reminder system into Thunderbird to keep me up on this. This is BS. I'm pissed at me now. >:( *Sigh.* Let me know if I mess anything up with this post.
Xenai had his head in the clouds, while the other three seemed to be fully attentive. Yet he seemed to be the only one who noticed Duilin wander off with the dude in black. "Hey, where's he going?" The other three looked. "Let's just wait for him," said Zion.
A shooting sensation through his mind. "What the-?!"
Tsu and Aura caught it too, and Xenai was the last. They all looked toward North Point.
"...Retan..."
--- --- ---
Anti stayed high in the air, re-absorbing his energy, feeling like an idiot after having wasted all that energy with that hi-ougi. And it was a good one, too. He looked down and watched the commotion that unfolded with... Retan. That was the only reason he came on this journey. He wanted to fight the strongest being on Gaian. He slowly descended to the ground, landing gently. He still didn't have all of his energy back, so he figured he'd waste some time DBZ style, with a talking standoff.
He shouted at Nex from far behind him. "Stand aside! I'd like a word with the emperor."
Posted by: Ted Der on Monday October 1st, 2007
Akran had been hiding in the hold of the ship for quite some time now, surrounded by shadow. No one could see him. Sometimes a crew member would fumble down the steps to get something, but they never saw him. Encased in his curtain of darkness, not even an owl; bird of the night could find him. He was invisible. So he thought"¦
Akran had gone without barely any food or water. In the entire time he was below the deck, he had never once heard the sound of food being prepared or eaten. Not once have they stopped to refill their water barrels either. He hadn't even heard the crew talking much. They seem to just do everything mundanely, as if they were all just puppets. How odd.
Something occurred to him. When he snuck on to the ship, no one seemed to notice him. The crew was all silent. When the merchant killed the captain, Akran saw the merchant somehow bring him back. Did the merchant kill the entire crew? What was this man capable of?
Still, he had to feed himself. Akran started to look around for some bread crumbs or something. BANG! Someone was coming down the steps. Akran hurriedly doused the lamp that hung from the ceiling and sucked the light into his cloak where it was safely unnoticeable. Prepared, Akran waited in the darkness.
Suddenly he heard an amused chuckle from behind him. The deep sound made his hair stand on end. Was it that merchant?
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday October 1st, 2007
-"Hur, hur, hur," I heard myself chortle. "If it isn't our little stowaway."
Extending a thick finger decorated with a great big diamond ring, I pointed to the kid.
-"You'd be sadly mistaken if you assumed that I was not aware of your presence on board." A little lie never hurt anyone, did it? "So I will give you a choice, and please, do choose now: you stay with me and serve me, or you join my... friends... over there."
The white-eyed crew took a step towards the man.
-"Please don't be alarmed by their unorthodox appearance. You see, I'm a Necromancer - or, rather, a Lich - and I have the ability to resurrect the dead. Necromancy is often misunderstood, you see, even though all it is is a way of asking someone to stick with you... permanently."
-"So, what will it be?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 1st, 2007
"Yes it is." Wilham replied. "If we are able to attack it with multiple people, and have a combatant with skilled enough aim and sense of timing, you'd be able to take it out. But you'll need some big guns."
"What weapon did you use?" McNeil asked.
Wilham looked at Coriko. "He used a weapon from our world, magic."
"Magic? You mean he just shot a like, a shooting star from his hands?"
"No, a fireball."
McNeil rubbed his forehead. "You didn't even kill the Dalek did you?"
"Well of cource we did. Or else it would have killed us. You said yourself that they won't stop until they kill you."
McNeil sighed. "But it's still hard to believe that you people know magic!"
Wilham smiled. "Hand me that glass." He said pointing to a beaker on the table next to the officer. He took it from the table and handed it to Wilham. He held out the beaker, next to the wall. "Show him, Coriko."
Posted by: Coriko on Monday October 1st, 2007
Coriko put his hand underneath the beaker. He quickly snapped his fingers, he could have just summoned it but this was cooler. Out of the top his index finger a small flame appeared. The members of the room gasped and moved backwards. Coriko moved his finger underneath the beaker. The flame then turned blue and the water started to boil rapidly.
"Now hand me the beaker please Wilham."
Coriko took the beaker from Wilham and set it on the ground. He then fired a fire ball at it. This vapourized the entire thing. All that was left was a black ash stain on the ground.
"Yeah so that is about it. Still doubt us?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday October 1st, 2007
"Back off!" Draven snarled at Valos. He didn't seem quite in the mood to be helped. He stood, dusting himself off. By now his armor was dented and he was looking rather haggard.
Run? No way! He took a step forward... Ugh... Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea... Best live and fight according to their original plan. He wondered if that goofy necromancer found those weapons yet.
He looked up and watched Nex about to get himself killed. If they took off now, Retan would stop them. Best wait for the right moment.
"We'll wait until the time is right..."
"You make unreasonable assumptions and take them for truth. How unfortunate."
Retan's eyes flashed. The closest steam demon flew off the ground as if it were plucked by a gigantic hawk, then simply exploded, tiny shards of metal blasting in all directions in the wake of the thunderous boom. Then a second soured into the air, its body writhing and twisting in pain before it suffered the same fate as the former, a second huge blast echoing across the rocky wasteland.
They continued flying off the ground, one by one, detonating in mid-air with no signs of letting up. In but seconds ten of the creatures had been erased from existence.
"Shhhh..." Renard whispered, lifting a finger to his black nose, "we still need to be quiet." He spun around as he pulled the cowl down over his head better, the tip of his tail just peaking out from under his robe. "Yeah, I'll take care of things once we get in. But I need you to open the portal. It's configured so none of our kind can do it..."
With a blurring leap he dashed through the woods, towards the spires of North Point in the distance, and away from the battle with Retan to the south. He moved animalistically from tree-limb to tree-limb, landing on all fours then pushing off with his hind legs to the next branch hundreds of feet away.
Vlak laughed hysterically as the airship blasted the mountains to ash.
"Congratulations, sir."
"Thank you. I am quite the strategic genius, I know." He sneered, waving his scaly tail around.
The Sinistral ceased its fire when the entire area that used to be the cavern entrance was nothing more than a pile of rubble. The black airship then slowly turned around and made its way back towards the shielded city to join the other two.
Blast... He would need permission to order it to pursue... Curses!
"Captain!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Send a message to the High General requesting permission for one airship to break formation and pursue enemy army."
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 1st, 2007
McNeil looked amazed.
"Glad you're on our side..."
--- ---
Valos stepped backwards, feeling a little offended with Draven's snappiness. He's gone through probably ten times worse then what Draven went through, but he thought he'd keep it to himself. He was probably still worried that Valos had that spirit demon still in him.
"Very well, Lord Draven." Valos said plainly.
He still had a lot of the wounds from that. He could remember everything, that Pheonix when he was controlling his body and even his spirit. It was like a dream, but he knew it actually happened.
He observed his shoulders; there were still those circular wounds. He'd have to get them stitched, and he'd probably have to go through some heavy regeneration spells, as he could still feal the burns on his skin. He looked at his hands, and felt his face. It was disgusting; those demons were going to pay for what they've done to him.
He officially hated demons, he hated them all. He wanted every last one of things and their entire world to be wiped from existence...
---
Nex saw his steam demons getting destroyed. He could feel his energy was running low.
"Don't do that Retan." Nex warns. "You don't want to get me angry."
Nex floated closer. "Trust me. When you least expect it, the Talonscar is will sneak up and claw you in the ass, and it'll be all over. Your ancestors knew better, you should to."
"You can even kill me now, but I'll be back with an army so big even you'll be weeping into your cape. And if by some chance you beat that, we'll just keep coming and coming getting stronger and stronger, until you die. We are everywhere at all times. And we will kill you, that's what happens to everyone who ticks us off."
Nex spread open his arms.
"Think I'm bluffing? Try me, just try me."
---
Valos could hear everything Nex was saying.
"It's amazing how easy it is to hate that guy." He commented.
--- ---
Duilin covered his mouth. "Ooops...sorry." He said softly.
He then spread his wings open and started gently flying, following the Velken's path. But open the portal? He had no idea, how he could do that. He assumed Renard would show him, however.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday October 1st, 2007
"My lord! It appears one of our ships has gone missing from the dock!" Aaron was in no mood for bad news, but fortunately, most of his army had been depleted. He'd only had about five hundred men left, along with his elite.
"Captain Zethose, take the men back to Dranniville. I'm staying here with the elites."
"But my lord... the men need you with them!"
"DO NOT QUESTION ME!!! JUST DO IT!"
"Y-yes, my lord! Immediately! MEN, BOARD THE SHIPS AND MAKE FOR DRANNIVILLE!!!"
"Well, that takes care of the unessentials, my lord," an elite said.
"Yes, that was the plan," Aaron began, "We need to find a way to liberate the city, or perhapse stall them for a time...
"What's the plan, my lord?"
"Ahh... It's been forever since I've been here last..."
"Believe me, you haven't the faintest clue as to what forever means if you say that." The great Ariosian ship docked in a frozen port town. By the looks of it, the subjects were glad to see their leader return.
"Although it does seem like it's been a while, yes. Of that I'm sure. I'm glad to be back, at least..."
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
Anti watched as the steam demons were dispatched without any effort by Retan. "Hmm... impressive." His entire being started to glow a little bit. His anticipation was rising so much... "Even with Omega Fist, I probably won't be able to beat him. And then I'll have to revert to my true form to have any chance of surviving. ...I can't wait." Oh, my! Omega Fist? True form? It seems this whole time, he wasn't putting his all in!
Posted by: Ted Der on Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
//I know that D. Ein told me not to say anything, but I'm sorry for speaking for Kronos (the chuckle). It won't happen again.\\
A single bead of sweat slowly made its way down Akran's nose. It frightened him that he was so easily found. He was better than this. He must be out of practice.
The voice behind him spoke. It sounded strange, not something Akran would expect to hear from a merchant. The voice spoke of something called Necromancy; something to do with the blank look on the crew's faces. The voice also told him that he must choose between - What was it? Serve him or die?
Akran had to act quickly. Serving someone did not sound very appealing, but neither did dying. He had to see who or what he was dealing with. His fingers tightened upon and arrow. In the blink of an eye, Akran spun around, latched an arrow, and pulled the bow string back. The light from the lamp he was storing in his cloak fused with his bow, creating an arc of shining white light that lit up the entire hold of the ship. Greasy black hair was covering one of his eyes, but the other met a pair of glistening, blue eyes.
"Who are you?" demanded Akran.
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
-"There's an ancient saying among my people. Translated, it sounds roughly like this: The answer to your question isn't that hard: I have a weapon, and you are unarmed! In other words, it would be in your best interests to do what I tell you."
I glanced at the arrow drawn at me.
-"So you're going to shoot me for not giving you my name? That's not very guest-like of you, is it? But then again, as a good host, I suppose I should've introduced myself."
Dramatic pause.
-"...which, incidentally, I don't feel like doing at the moment. If, however, you are so bent on piercing my heart with that little stick of yours, then by all means, do. This is not an act of suicide: my intention is nothing more than to show you the futility of physical weapons against me."
With those words, I shifted phases..."
Posted by: Coriko on Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
Druid walked up the steps to te palace, his palace. It felt good to be home. Inside Onan had gathered the other three warlords. They all walked up and shook Druid's hand.
"Sir, it is wonderful you are alive and well!" Baird said as he shook Druid's hand. He was a very strong man. Baird often lead Druid's armies ito battle. He believed in one thing, first man in last man out. He moved onto Yuri. This man was a tactitional genius. Druid had won more battles then he could count based on this man's advice.
"Alright Sir, when will take this world for ourselves?" Kain asked this.
"Soon, but first I have a job for you Kain. You need to go to the artic region of this world and convince the Kandarinian Sovereignty to join our cause. They are lead by a powerful Necromancer called Kronos. You are our most diplomatic warlord and you can take care of yourself. I trust you with this."
"I will not let you down Sir." Kain turned and left the palace.
"Now, lets start thinking of protecting our island."
---
"We are as well. Now where is the main base of these robots? Let me and Wilham lead a team in and we will wipe them out, we are more then capable!" Coriko said to McNeil.
---
Kain looked around once outside of the palace. He was told his destination was north of their island. Kain headed towards the harbour.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
Anselm wasn't feeling that great either.
A shimmering light appeared before the rather drained trio of translucent foxes and Anselm had to shield his eyes for a moment. Fearing yet another of a long string of attacks by unholy netherworld demons (or similar), he drew his blade once more and braced himself for what couldn't possibly end in a good outcome...
Much to his surprise, the familiar triangular ears and large furry tail of his race framed the silhouette that appeared in the bright white tunnel.
"Ah! There you are!"
"... Gaston?"
The Velken Battle Mage pushed his rectangular glasses up his long nose and folded his hands under his sleeves. "Yes, of course! Do you know any other Velkens who can soul-walk?" He chuckled at his own joke, or lack-there-of, as no one else found it funny.
"Listen, Helix," he continued. Helix's fading ears perked slightly, but he seemed to be in too much pain to fully appreciate the newcomer's company, "I have found a way to return you to your own body. It won't stop the deterioration of your soul, but at least you won't have to worry about your spirit getting eaten by netherworld-beasts."
"That means we can return to the real word as well?" Anselm asked, hopefully.
"Well, this world is just as real as the other, but yes, as I can see you are all quite drained. Now follow me, if you will."
Gaston turned and walked back into the light, his tail flicking behind him. Anselm stood, and offered a hand to Riuki and to Helix to help them up.
(Due to massive time constraints, others will be updated tomorrow.)
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
"Thanks..." Ko'ji was pulled back to her feet by Anselm. She was still a bit dizzy, but was able to follow the Velken Gaston out into the light.
--- ---
"Hmm... I wonder what the hell's gonna happen now..." Arata sheathed his katana to his side and snuck behind a few bushes around the city. The dome would keep them from invading from the sky... but perhapse if he were to scale the wall and climb in...
"The hell with it, I'll give it a shot!" he thought aloud. He was able to find many bricks to grab on to, perhapse jutting from a balcony of some sort. Arata climbed up the bricks to find a railing above him. As he assumed, a balcony was protruding from the castle walls. He decided to sneak in the city from here.
"I'll be damned if there's a guard in here..."
Posted by: Ted Der on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007
Akran eyed the merchant suspiciously. Akran needed help to find something. This person seemed to know a lot. Slowly, he lowered his bow; only just so it wasn't pointing between the merchant's eyes. Akran needed a companion, and a merchant might not be of much use, but he was pretty sure that this wasn't an ordinary bloke. Maybe he could trust him.
Slowly, he said, "My name is Akran. I have traveled from a place that was very far away. It was a place where every man had a purpose. It was a place where everyone had their own path. The people there were blessed at birth by Majeuri Spirits. Mine, was The Spirit of Light. My brother was given The Spirit of Shadow. When we got older, we grew restless with the seemingly perfectly safe land where we were told to practice our Majeuri skills. Kraaz and I often snuck out and journeyed to a forgotten island where it was said that the dead never die. Enchanted with these tales, Kraaz and I grew bold. We started to conduct experiments with the peaceful animals that roamed the forest. With our powerful skills we killed a dozen creatures, and from their ashes, red-eyed, demonic monsters rose. It felt wrong to me, but Kraaz was captivated with this power. He began killing and resurrecting more and more creatures. They obeyed him and he created an army. With his head filled with power, Kraaz attacked his own people. I managed to escape, but in the end, the power drove him so crazy that he ended up killing himself.
"My birthplace is in ashes now. I have no home. I am looking for someone who might know about the Majeuri Spinel. It is important, but I have trouble trusting people. I never tell anybody my story. Wait a minute, why the hell am I telling you? Hell, I don't even know who you are. You won't even say your name, you kill random people, and you raise the dead."
Akran tightened his grip on his bow and raised it again. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? WHY WON'T YOU SAY YOUR NAME?"
With a twang and a flash of light, Akran released an arrow. The arrow whizzed by the merchant's ear and sunk with a thud into the skull of a white-eyed crew member. Just as soon as the arrow had left the bow, Akran had drawn another. He held it steady, breathed in and out, and tried again, to find out who this man was.
"Please, tell me who you are."
Posted by: Coriko on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007
"What is the status of our army?" Druid asked Baird.
"We were 50 000 strong. Then the revolt happened and over two thirds of our army joined Silas. You wiped out most of the when they stormed the castle and Silas wiped out a lot more when they reportedly failed. When Silas left to'finish you off' the rest of the army disbanded."
"I see, how many can we re-assemble?"
Baird thought for a moment. "About 10 000, all impecible warriors."
"Alright Baird, you go organize our army. Once you have them take them to the training barracks and come get me."
"Sir." Baird turned and headed out of the palace.
Druid then turned to the reamaining warlords. "Now Onan and Yuri..."
---
Kain had commandered a boat in Druid's name, one of the perks of working directly under the leader. He was stearing the boat towards the north. He could see a large landmass in the distantance but it was still a ways off. The temerature was dropping and Kain gripped his cloak tighter.
---
Baird walked down one of the main streets. People kept walking up to him and asking if Druid was really back. He merley nodded and kept walking. He was looking for the Drachedge Inn. Drachedge was a tavern where all the tough ex-soldiers and militia reside. Baird headed in the direction he remembered it to be.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007
"For some odd, unexplainable reason, the sound of the arrow flying by my ear made me burst into a violent fit of laughter. Perhaps it was the fact that it knocked my minion's head clean off its spine, or the sound itself, I don't know. Wiping a tear from the eye, I regained control of myself.
-"Well, look who's the master ranger here. You can't hit me from a point-blank range? HAH! If my only interest in you was your archery skill, you'd be dead by now."
At right about this point, the meaning of what Akran said finally sunk in. Oh, dear... this would be a great advantage indeed...
-"Wait, wait, wait. Rewind for a second here. Did you say that you can summon demons from ashes? Alright, kid, you now have my attention."
The zombie crew returned to their posts on the ship. I drew up a chair, and sat down.
-"I don't believe I properly introduced myself yet." I took off the amulet of disguise, revealing a semi-transparent me. "I am Kronos, the Sovereign of Kandarinian Sovereignty. You are to address me only as Sovereign. Few have broken this simple request, and none lived to tell about it."
I fiddled with the amulet some more, before putting it down onto a nearby wooden table. The potential advantage here is simply staggering... the one weakness which my minions exhibit is a high vulnerability to fire. Once they are burnt to ashes, resurrecting them is quite difficult indeed, but this here... This ability just might be the safeguard against that pest Draven...
-"I would like to hear more about your gift, Akran. Have you ever studied the ways of magic? Do you know exactly what it is that you do to spawn demons from ashes? Oh, and please, put that bow down. It won't do you any good against me, and it's beginning to irritate my eyes."
Although now he didn't exactly look hostile, I decided not to come out of phase-shift just yet..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007
"Heh... Demons. Pathetic creatures." Valiko grasped the handle of his blade as two steam demons flew towards him. As he unsheathed his dark sword, he slashed the being in half, and then again upwards. He flipped backwards and stabbed the other steam demon that ran towards him.
"Isn't this fun... Meh, I rather like clean-up duty." Valiko threw his blade out in front of him and held out his hand, his palm stretched open. There was a quick flash of red light around the blade and out came two more, looking exactly alkie. The dark swords floated around Vraoumori, circling him. He folded his arms and merely waited.
"Lord Valimore has returned!" a peasant in the snowy field shouted, echoing in the distance. The people all blasted from there doors and raced to their old leader. He looked just as he had so long ago, except he was a bit wiser and a bit less intimidating. They all got to one knee in the snow and bowed their heads as Valimore stepped off the ship with Doriana.
"Heh. At least you know they still love you, Valimore." Doriana laughed slightly at her own joke.
"I guess you could say that, yes. RISE!" The people gathered around Valimore quickly got to their feet. They seemed afraid of what their leader was about to do.
"I appreciate the welcome, my subjects! You may go about your normal lives and continue whatever it was you were doing before. AS YOU WERE!" The people leered in confusion, then ran back to their duties as Valimore shouted those last words.
"Quite a nice and loyal city you've got going on up here. This could do without snow, however; this weather is bloody obnoxious."
"You'll have to get used to that fact, I'm afraid, for you are now my new apprentice."
"Apprentice is such an overused term. Perhapse I could be a mercenary instead, or possibly even an assassin, as was my job before?"
"No, that makes you sound dim-witted. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
"Then how about a student of certain lore?"
"Certain lore...? Interesting choice. It sounds good enough, I guess. So be it."
"You'd have to admit, it's better than being an apprentice of some sort, as your past apprentices either died or switched sides."
"Gee, thanks for reminding me. Let's just get to the blasted citadel and scour the library for any 'lore' I kept alive during those wretched times before..."
"Hmm... We'll have to find another route into Tjed. Start thinking, men; that's what you're good at!" Aaron folded his arms and waited for the group to brainstorm infiltration ideas.
"Hmm," an elite began, "If one of us knows a group cloaking spell, couldn't we sneak up the mountains and enter the city from behind the castle?"
"I'm not so sure that would work, Daniel," another elite protested, "Don't you think the airships have heat sensors?"
"No way in hell, Runde," a third elite stated, "only we have access to that sort of technology. We're the only ones with the most up-to-date airship tech. I highly doubt the Dark Empire has heat sensors. Just take a look at the size of their cannon guns. You can tell they're out of date!"
"Excellent work," Aaron interrupted, "We'll sneak in behind the castle. But we aren't cloaking ourselves; the mage running it all would be flat-out dead if he tried to use that much energy. We're going to scale the mountains. Does one of you know how to create an air bridge?"
"Yes sir!" a battlemage elite soluted, "I've been making them since I was young, sir!"
"You're still quite young, Toddel..." The young battlemage paid no heed to his emporer. He was confident in his own abilities.
"Are you sure you can do it?"
"I'm damn-near possative, sir!"
"It's one hell of a long-shot, but go for it. Let's move out!"
"You hanging in there, Rink?" Justin said as he tore appart the remainder of the netherdemons, "I think I've gethered enough energy from fighting to revive Ven! Please, watch my back!" Justin raced over to the spirit Ven and held his hands up. A great white portal started to open. It slowly grew into a larger circular portal.
"Alright, let's go back. I'll get Ven." Justin put one arm around the soldier and walked him through the portal.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007
The steam demons continued flying up into the air and dying.
"Your emotional state is of no relevance, cur. I tire of the persistence of demons. I will simply wipe out the dimension that your untrustworthy race hails from as soon as I am finished with Gaian."
The last metallic demon flew into the air, the chunks of metal from the explosion embedding themselves deeply within the rocks.
"And I do not intend to simply kill you. Death is far too light a punishment for a insurgent slave.
He extended his hand as three orbs of blackness materialized over the battlefield...
"Oh...BLAST!"
Draven's eyes widened and he turned to Valos.
"We leave... NOW."
He floated up into the air about a hundred feet, a dim aura of flame returning. He saw Anti standing there as if he were waiting his turn. Blast it. Faceless didn't have clue who he was up against. Although he didn't quite care what happened to the astral demon, he knew it'd just be a waste to fight Retan while he was still within close range of the Tower of Heaven's Bane...
"Yo! Anti!" He thumbed behind him. "This way. Right NOW!"
He exploded in a burst of flame and took off eastward.
Renard shuddered, digging his claws into the ground as he crouched behind the dead bush.
Something really bad was happening to the south... It hurt to even breath... as if everything was tainted. A burning pain in his heart. One major disadvantage of being a magic-based creature. Duilin was lucky, as demons could tune this out and humans would only feel a slight discomfort.
He heard Duilin swoop in behind him, so he didn't bother looking around. He peered out over the chasm, and looked at the sea below. North Point was located on a peninsula overlooking the sea, and anyone who traveled the narrow land mass would instantly be seen by the sentinels upon the walls that could see in the blackest of night. But he had a different way in mind...
"This way," he whispered. He leapt over the edge and flew about halfway between the sea and the top of the cliff, following it as it snaked around towards the fortress. His speed increased dramatically has he followed the peninsula's curves, and he zipped right under the overhanging rock that North Point rested upon.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007
"Hmm... I wonder if we should provide a distraction for Duilin... Ahh! What the hell is happening down there?" Ben felt like his magic was ripping at him. He could feel it start to peel off to the south, as if ripping the skin off a live human. Ben was fully in tune with his magic, as he did not have any other means of fighting.
"OW! Damn it, we have to move away where it doesn't affect us that much!" Tiberius ran over next to Ben. Jannis followed slowly.
"Oi! You guys gonna come or what?"
Valiko looked above his head as three black orbs of darkness materialized above his head. The evil aura drifting off the orbs was strong and dark. "Uh oh... that can't be good..." The three blades around Valiko stabbed into the ground around him, an even distance appart. He raised his hands in the air and a dark red cylindrical shield formed around him. It was very dense, and seemed to be empowered by the darkness all around.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007
McNeil let out a sigh. "The thing is, we don't know exactly where their base is. But what we did is seal off one of our main doorways, to the old part of the base they took over, so they couldn't freely come in and kill us. But apparently they found a way into our base, as you just saw. If you're going to in, you'll have to find a way in to the old base yourself."
"Where their any other ways into the old part of the base, you didn't seal off?" Wilham asked.
"Not that any of us knew of. But maybe there is a way through it, from the outside. But I must warn you, it's highly radiated."
"Radiated?" Wilham asked.
"Yeah, like it's poisonous outside. Not to mention there are mutants that pretty much kill anyone that moves. But oddly, enough they don't seem to kill each other..."
"Think we should try getting into the old base from the outside, Coriko?"
--- ---
Nex laughed, was he serious? Passing on killing him? Nex was confident that this was going to be a huge mistake for Retan. "Then whatever you have planed, do it, draken. Make. My. Day."
If he could just hold his energy for a little longer...
---
Valos' jaw dropped. "Good idea." He said to Draven. He then surrounded himself in black-violet flame like aura and floated into the air along with Draven and then flew off following not too far behind him.
--- ---
Duilin continued to follow Renard. He was both excited and worried. He believed he could actually save the Velkens and finally take out the Dark Empire, once and for all. But we were worried to death that if he failed, then he'd be unable to defeat Retan. These Velkens were good fighters, very good. He'll need their help. And of course he felt sorry for them, and they needed his help so badly, he couldn't just leave them to continue on like this.
He wondered how Rink, Belle, Ven and the others were doing back at Tjed. He hoped he would see them all again soon. It's only been an hour or so since he left Tjed, but it felt like so much longer...
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007
The door came apart, revealing an angered Cain Ryleh.
-"Eldridge!", he barked. "Where the hell are those schematics? Same goes for the rest of you! Hurry it up on the project, will you? The Armed Forces will not wait for much longer!"
One of the scientists, distracted from his papers, looked up at Cain.
-"But, sir...!"
-"NO! No excuses! I want to see at least the basic sketches! You have ONE HOUR! Don't mess this up!"
Posted by: Jenia on Thursday October 4th, 2007
ZBANG!
With great annoyance, Indher shot bird which dared do it's thing at the wrong time over the wrong place.
The pidgeon didn't stand much of a chance against a magical ball of lightning, leading to it's eventual impact against the brand new paved stone floor.
"Serves you right!" The normally cheerful woman pointed furiously at the bird "I have to take a shower because of you!"
Elphos, who seemed to have come from nowhere and yet was fully prepared, handed his master a wet towel.
"Theres a lake down south, and..."
He was interrupted by the grabbing of the towel.
"That won't do! Now turn what's left of this pitiful avian into something useful, like food!"
Elphos shook his head and realized most people around them stopped all work to watch him get yelled at. He sighed, lifted the feathery corpse and walked away.
The population was increasing steadily, and with it, the rate of progress and development.
Already the village had several complete houses (one of which was a two-story house) and a paved road between them. There were foundations for a fountain at what was meant to be the town square, but it was far from complete.
All of a sudden, Elphos felt something pulling him down.
He turned around to see two kids, neither of them was any older than 8.
"Mister Elphos!" Said the one on the right, pulling his brown hair from his eyes and revealing a blue jewel stuck in his forehead "Me an' Phillip need to ask you a QUESTION!"
Elphos bent down curiously, trying to smile. He wasn't sure how to act around kids, but he tried his best to be nice to them.
"Mmm? What is it?"
"Well..." the kid on the left scratched the back of his head impatiently, his black hair and crimson stone gleaming in the sunlight "We were wondering which name you think is best for the town."
Elphos stood up. He certainly didn't expect a question like this, nor did he have an answer ready. Fortunately for him, the blue-jeweled kid stepped in.
"Tell him! Novik is a much better name thank Hadash!"
The red-jeweled kid's face grew red.
"No it isn't! Hadash is much better!"
"Wowowo, stop right there!" Elphos silenced the two "We won't name this town Hadash OR Novik! In fact, Fernis already had a name in mind."
The kids turned to stare at him in amazment.
"Really?!"
"Um..." Elphos backed off in embarassment "Yeah! But I can't tell you, it is a secret!"
The kids turned to stare into his hand. Only then he realized he was still holding a crispy pidgeon.
"That? Oh, uh... Wanna see something cool?"
He bent down and took out a piece of chalk, with both kids watching intensely.
Carefully, he drew various shapes on the floor tile. When he was done, he placed the crispy pidgeon into the runeset.
"And now, I will turn this bird into ICECREAM!"
The eyes of the kids widened.
"Shoudn't... " the red-jeweled one seemed hasitant "Shoudln't we do this on a plate, then?"
Elphos waved his hand at him in response.
"Don't worry, the plate is part of it."
He placed his hands on the floor tile and the runeset began emitting a faint light which soon enveloped the crispy bird.
Soon enough, before their very eyes, the said bird was replaced with a cold, colorful rat-shaped lump safely resting in a ceramic bowl.
"A... Rat...?"
"Bear with me, the only other shape I can make is the roach!"
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday October 4th, 2007
The Dark Emperor's eyes flashed crimson as the trio of orbs ignited in a black flame. Darkness extended upwards and downwards from them as they spun a perfect circle around Nex. A loud crack shook the foundations of the mountains as the sky and earth were torn open. A black pillar of nothingness appeared where the orbs spun...
The pillar was infinitely high, the clouds split in twain , and seemed to bury infinitely deep, a circular hole cut through the rocks. Whatever matter was located in the area it appeared was instantly eradicated. As soon as it appeared, a violent gale rushed towards it from all directions, to fill in the gaping void left behind...
(Blargh... others updated tomorrow...)
Posted by: Trent on Friday October 5th, 2007
He looked at Draven and smirked. "What, leave? This is the moment I've been waiting for." He watched Draven blast off like a bat out of hell. He looked toward Retan. Draven is a respectable fighter. For him to fly off like that... This attack. He studied it. It reminds me quite a bit of Fragmented End... As he dissected the specifics in his mind... Shit! I see why he ran off! He then took off in the same direction that Draven went, but stopped when he was a good several hundred yards away. A safe distance for him. He then watched what occurred. ...He did that with relatively little effort...
...Wonderful.
He had a little bit of trouble holding his position against the black hole's force, but not too much. He decided that he would stick around until Nex got owned, of course if it's not already over, then he'd take a crack at him.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday October 5th, 2007
Can't fail...
Nex was noticeably not enjoying what was going on. His arms were spread apart and the gauntlets were ripped off. Nex floated in the air as bits and pieces were ripped off. He then braced himself, until he looked like a large mass of robes, which rapidly shrank to a third of its size, and the remains of it started to implode until a bright red flash of light blinded all that were around, for brief second. And Nex was gone...
Posted by: Ted Der on Friday October 5th, 2007
Akran tried to hide his surprise as the merchant turned into this cloaked being. The merchant (or Kronos now that Akran had found out his name) looked as if he was underwater, with his clothes moving slightly and his subtle transparency. Akran decided to do as Kronos suggested and lowered his bow. He let the light dance away back to the lamp.
"You must have misunderstood me, Sovereign." Akran stated not bothering to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. Who does this guy think he is? A god? Yeah sure"¦
"I only manipulate light and darkness. The island of the Majeuri spawned demons from ashes, but like I said, the island was destroyed." Akran walked over to the head of the zombie, which was groaning and rolling around, and picked it up by the arrow which was stuck in his skull. He slammed it against the wall to free the arrow and wiped it on his robes.
Sliding the arrow back into his quiver, Akran continued. "If you really want this"¦ gift, then you must find the Majeuri Spinel. It is a small stone that is embedded into a -"
Akran stopped. Maybe he shouldn't tell Kronos anymore. But... He'll need my help if he wants to get to the Spinel.
"Okay, I'm not sure where this Spinel is exactly, but if you want to know more, we must travel together. The Majeuri Spinel was stolen by my brother and he hid it. You see, if I ever got to it, he felt that I could possess the power of all the Majeuri spirits combined and defeat him."
Akran looked at Kronos and thought for a second. Maybe traveling with Kronos is a bad idea. I don't really want to fight him over the Spinel because we both want it for different reasons. But then again, Kraaz kept telling me that the only way that I could ever get the stone was to possess the power of both light and shadow, and possibly necromancy since he probably hid the stone by using the demon minions he created. Maybe it's a good idea after all.
"So, how does traveling together sound to you?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Friday October 5th, 2007
"This isn't good, not one bit!" Valiko tried to hold his possition as much as he could as he saw Nex, the astral demon, being torn to shreds by Draven's attack. The red shield surrounding the Draken was starting to flicker and pull off into the giant, black void, summoned by Retan
"Damn it, stay together!" Valiko's shield was definately loosing power. Pretty soon, it was almoste completely transparent. He bashed the ground with both his hands, palms extended, getting down on his knees. The shield barely kept power.
"HYAA!!!" He yelled as the shield sustained its possition. Color began to return to it, and it held together, but barely. It was beginning to loosen up, and shards of black energy scrapped Valiko's arms and sides.
And then, it shattered. "NO! I'M SO CLOSE!!!" He then grabbed a sword in the ground and the other two returned swiftly behind, following him in the air. The Draken then bolted away from the scene, exerting much force as he dashed along the ground... just about even with Anti in yards...
"Ah! Home, sweet home! Well, at last, we come upon the citadel. Once we get inside, I'll show you where you'll be staying. Then, you may explore a bit on your own to find the library." Valimore and Doriana both treded up the snow-covered path and into the great castle like citadel that lay perched atop a mountain side. It somewhat resembled North Point, and all of the bricks that the castle was built of were of black color.
"A neat sort of get-away. When did you have this constructed?"
"Well, a lot of it was built while I was still hanging around the monistary, as well as when I took off."
"Good idea. And how, might I ask, will you know your way around this fortress?"
"Let's think about that for a moment, shall we? Maybe... it might have been ME who drew up the damned charter for construction!"
"I see. Show me to my room, then. I'm tired..."
A somewhat transparent bridge appeared around the mountains of Tjed. It was broad and thick, swirling with air magic. Apparently, the young mage's confidence was well-placed. The group of elites traveled across the air bridge and around the mountain side, comming upon the back of the castle. The three airships were still in sight.
"Alright men, this is it! We'll take this two at a time, and I'll head up last."
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday October 5th, 2007
As Nex was torn to shreds, Retan turned a crimson eye to the east.
"Dear Draven, I did not permit you to leave..."
The Dark Emperor began floating, an invisible aura of power disintegrating the boulders around him. He began flying to the east, hot on Draven and Valos' tail.
"You," he said to Valiko, "you will follow, and you will prove your worth..." He blasted right past him and Anti, kicking up a tremendous amount of flying rocks as his aura split the wasteland.
"Vraigus. Come."
Two crimson eyes floated next to the Dark Emperor. "What is thy bidding?"
"Lord Draven is... disobeying..."
The eyes seemed attached to an invisible head that nodded. They disapeared in a blink. A gargantuan roar resonated across the wastelands as the crimson eyed bronze dragon appeared a few hundred feet above and in front of Retan, its cutting shriek stabbing the ears.
"Blast it!!" Draven clenched his fists as he flew at breakneck speed, his aura of flame burning brightly in the black sky. "He's sicking his dragon-cretin on us. Argh!"
He flipped around so that he was flying backwards, splaying the fingers of his right palm. A multitude of balls of red light burst forth, scattering through the sky and exploding into smoke. In but a few seconds he had built a smoke-screen of sorts.
Anselm gasped when he woke up in his own body. Back in Helix's cabin... Back in the airship...
His heart... he could feel his heart thrashing against his chest. When he had walked the other plane, he felt nothing... like he wasn't even alive. Now he breathed a great sigh of relief, taking in the cool air that blew in from the airship's window.
Battling outside of his body had taken its toll. Not physically, he just felt tired. Turning, he rose from the bed and stepped towards Helix. Gaston was hovering over the poisoned Velken, washing his furry forehead with a damp cloth.
"Glad you're back with us," Anselm said.
"Glad... to be..." Helix tried to say through clenched teeth. He was obviously in a lot of pain. "Where... where is Renard...?"
Anselm's ears folded as he looked to Gaston and Riuiki. He certainly had no idea. Renard and Helix were so close. Where was he, anyway?
Gaston pushed his glasses up on his nose leaned closer. "On a very special mission... to find your cure..." he whispered.
Renard waited a bit underneath the rock, waiting for Duilin to catch up. Here the fortress jutted up over the edge of the ocean. Above his head was solid rock, below him several hundred feet down was the black sea...
He floated there for a moment feeling the stone, looking for a crack of some sort. Sticking his claws into just the right spot, a click resonated and a square trap door opened. He floated up the shaft with ease, although the larger Duilin might have a bit of trouble.
He opened another trap door at the top and slid away a floor panel, making sure that his cowl still covered his vulpine features. He poked his nose out and looked down the dark hall... nothing. He turned around to check the other--
"Hey!" A Lizard Man shouted.
Blast it!
The black cloaked Renard zipped straight into the air like a specter. The clumsy Lizard Man slowly drew his bulky blade, but by then Renard charged him, flying through the air as a blur. The lizard gagged and died as the tiny-by-comparison fox drove something into the creature's scaly neck.
The lizard's dead weight clamored upon the floor and Renard pulled the icicle he had summon out of the soldier's neck. He stood there transfixed for a long while, watching the blood drip down and cover his claw.
"I... I just committed treason..." he whispered, barely audible.
"Mr. Ryleh, do enter. I take it you are not a man of science?" Vincent sneered as he looked up. Over his right eye was some odd contraption, something like a magnifying glass with red lens. The device fit over his glasses and right ear. "Surely you understand such delicate procedures cannot be rushed..."
Upon the table stood a model of The Sovereign's Hammer, some three feet tall. Circling the base were three things that looked vaguely like airships, but they were cut in half and pointed upward. Many bars stretched from these points upwards, swirling and interconnecting to a lens in the center.
"Should you have the time to stay for a moment, I will explain exactly why your demands are quite impossible."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Friday October 5th, 2007
"Heh... no problem." Valiko sheathed his sword back to his side and burst into the air, following close behind the Dark Emporer, Retan. Up ahead, he could see some sort of fog... as he got closer, it appeared to be smoke, from a magic fire, no doubt caused by Draven.
"That bastard... What now, my lord?"
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Friday October 5th, 2007
"UHH!!!" Ko'ji gasped in air as she awoke from some sort of sleep. She began breathing quickly, then slowed down as she caught her breath... which was something she'd now had. It felt awkward in that realm, not being able to breath, nor actually needing to breath.
"Helix... hang in there, okay?" Ko'ji put one arm on the poisoned Velken's shoulder and smiled at him. She then took her arm off and wen outside the cabin. "I'll be right back," she said to the others, "I just need some air..." She stepped up to the front of the ship and inhaled. She felt a cold calm across her body. Perhapse it was from walking through dimensions. It was like a type of training; you enter unprepared and leave with a new experience.
"Huh... what's that?" Now, for some strange reason, she could see what wasn't there before. Something that looked like a bird, with black feathers and burning crimson eyes. With out even trying, she saw across the whole entire field, the mountains, the rubble near the cave. This weird sensation was something she'd never felt before... and she didn't like it.
Virmir was there, on the ship. She decided to ask him for a bit of help. "Virmir, sir," she began, blankly, "something strange is... happening to me. I can see things... things that weren't there before. What's happening to me?"
--- ---
"Well, that was quite easier than I'd thought. Time to rough me up some prey... Hah!" Arata unsheathed his katana and held it to his side, pointed to where he was walking. Inside the castle, a group of lizardmen were standing, arguing over someone, over what to do with a prisoner they found in the dungeon.
"Why don't we just fry him and eat him!? My belly aches, and this human looks nice and tender..."
"Quit whine! You shut mouth!"
"Idiot. You could do with a few lessons in human. No one likes to hear a language get slaughtered, especially not by a lizardman."
"Go easy on him! He's just a B-class, you know!"
"What are you going all on about?"
"Shut mouth! Prisoner belong in prison, not in stomach!"
"He's got a point there."
"Here's another idea," Arata interrupted, "how about you, dead? That sounds like a fine idea to me." He slashed off the greater class lizardman's head, pulling his blade back, and stabbing straight through another.
"YOU!!! DIE!!!" The lower class lizardman pulled out his great broadsword, but before he could swing, his head was cut clean off his body. Blood soaked the floor.
"Heh... primative lizards... Come on! Bring me a challenge!"
"Hey, buddy! Let me outta here, will ya?" A man was in a cell near the massacred lizardmen, clutching two bars of the cell door.
"Hmph... I don't see what I get out of it."
"Please! Come on, I'm not that bad a fighter!"
"Why were you locked up anyways?"
"... Murder..."
"Murder, you say? Hah! That's my kind of crime! Alright, I'll let you out." On one of the fallen lizards, there was a ring with a bunch of keys. Arata grabbed the ring and tried the keys until he found one that fit the lock. The door swung open.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 6th, 2007
//I'm really not up to par at all right now, so this is going to be really short.\\
"That won't matter soon enough." Duilin said catching up to Renard. "Trust me." Duilin stepped closer to Renard. "But if something goes wrong, we'll try and make it look like I killed him." He said assuring his friend.
Posted by: Trent on Saturday October 6th, 2007
Anti watched the Dark Emperor shoot past him. "I'll just get his attention really quick... Kienzan!" He created a sharp disc of energy and flung it towards Retan at an incredible speed. Go ahead and get out, Draven. I will distract him for you.
--- --- ---
The flyboys had switched their efforts to finding out where Duilin went. They were flying now towards his energy signature. Zion was noticeably distracted... He was tracking Anti's and Retan's energy, trying to figure out what they were doing. Xenai piped up. "Dude, what's with you?"
"I'm concerned about that brawl that Anti's involved in."
"..."
"Look, if things start getting heavy, I want you three to go after him."
"What about you?"
"I want to find out what's up with Duilin."
"Alright..." Xenai glanced toward the location of the brawl.
"From the feel of things... It won't be long until that happens."
Posted by: Coriko on Saturday October 6th, 2007
"Yeah, I think we can handle it. I assume we can borrow some radiation suits or something to get through it? Or...."
Coriko trailed off looking out of a small circular window in the room.
"Sorry," seemily pulled bac to reality. "How are we going to cross the open vacum of space and trudge through the radiation field?"
---
Kain hit land. He pulled his boat up on shore so it wouldn't float away. Kain then summoned a wall of transparent shadow energy around his boat. It was a patch job but it would do. He didn't tend on spending much time up here.
"Now, to find our soon to be allies."
Kain looked around and then headed off towards the east.
---
"Ah, the Drachedge Inn." Baird had arrived. He knew if he was to assemble an army of 10 000 in as little time as possible, these men were the people to see.
Baird pushed open the door, greeting him was the mixed smell of blood and alcohol. The light from outside cast a light on the floor.
"Hello gents. Whose up for a little scrap?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday October 6th, 2007
The destructo-disc tore through the air and split in half some ten feet from the Dark Emperor, as if striking some sort of invisible shield. He paused, turning livid eyes upon the astral demon below.
"Valiko," he said, knowing his name without even have heard it, "there is your prey..." He pointed at Anti.
Without anything else as a word, he burst through the air once more after Draven.
The gigantic bronze dragon, Beta Vraigus, began spewing orbs of blackness from his mouth.
"Blast it!" Draven began flying backwards once more as the orbs tore through the smoke, picking them off with his own crimson fireballs. He had changed his course slightly, but it seemed as though the dragon hot on his tail was not affected by the smokescreen in the slightest.
"Yeah... thanks..."
Renard seemed very nervous, shaking slightly as he stood there. He continued on, but floated down the hallway rather than walk, appearing skittish at every little noise.
They came to an overpass-- a bridge in the middle of a large room with gargoyle statues on either end. Renard peered over the edge of the railing to look down upon two massive Lizard Men that guarded a set of wide oaken doors on the floor just below. These were not simple soldiers, but rather fully armored elites with spiny armor covering the entirety of their scaly hides.
Obviously those doors were where they needed to go.
He turned to Duilin, just the tip of his nose poking out from under the cowl. "Any ideas?"
Virmir's ears perked at Ko'ji Riuki's voice.
"Really?"
The two were immediately interrupted as Bryce and four other Velkens landed on the deck and bowed.
"My lord, we've found a room in the castle we may be able to... use... It has vents that lead outside, but they can be opened and closed."
The High General frowned, his ears falling slightly. "... Very well, Bryce, I will inspect it myself. Go on ahead."
"Yes, my Lord."
The Blade Knight bowed and then the half-squad of six took off into the skies, arching around and flying back down to the castle.
Virmir looked around, and seemingly seeing something, he turned and walked towards the edge of the ship.
"Let's take a flight, Riuki."
He jumped off and slowly followed the other Velkens, though at a fraction of their normal speed. He waited for the newest member of his squad to catch up to him by his side.
"So you see... things? What sort of things?"
Posted by: Jenia on Saturday October 6th, 2007
The town was finally complete.
Well, the part they had planned out, anyway.
The fountain on the terrace at the town's square didn't have running water yet, but it did have various buildings made of polished stone blocks built around it in a quite spacious manner.
In fact, there was enough space between the buildings that four people could stand in the said space, spread their hands and, without touching each other or the buildings, and still not fill it.
The building material - polished stone - was plentiful.
Carving a runeset to create stoneblocks and polish them was something even Elphos could do, and anybody with a bit of understanding of the arcane could activate it.
But more planning was in order. The people kept pouring in as everyone resurrected wanted all their loved ones resurrected as well. Every person joining resulted in three more later.
Had the resurrection runeset been instantanous, the population would have been quadrupling each time it was activated.
Even the people who did not experience the fall of Romme -
Those who died earlier from sickness, old age or an accident...
Even those were being brought back to life in order to join the effort.
Elphos paced back and forth. He didn't know if their state of affairs is a good thing.
They were removing the boundary between the afterlife and gaian completely rather than repairing damage.
It is as the dragon said - they are now stepping into territorry no human should step into...
But then again, Fernis was far from human.
"Ah, sir Elphos, my good man!"
Elphos turned around. It was a bearded midget wearing a cilinder hat and a pair of glasses who starled him. His attire would have looked formal had it not been tartan.
"My curiousity was piqued when I heard that no beurocratic has been constructed yet!"
Elphos cocked an eyebrow. This really wasn't the time to be complaining about things like lack of beurocracy...
"We don't need it yet anyway. Romme will be fine for now without any-"
The midget spat.
A round aquamarine stuck in his forehead gleamed brightly as the sunlight fell upon it.
"Pfft! Romme he says! My good man, this land is longer Romme! The nation has been destroyed! Caput! Nada!"
Elphos sighed. The idea of being lectured didn't appeal to him.
"So, if this is not Romme...?"
The midget did not hasitate. His fierce, brown eyes gleamed as strongly as the blue jewel in his forehead.
"We were the people of Romme, yes... But, we have risen from it's ashes, not restored with the land. The lands should be given a new name... A name befitting that which was not meant to be, but was!"
The midget was about to say something else, but then a slightly wet Fernis came into view.
"Huh? Baurus? Are you complaining about the lack of beurocracy to my apprentice too, now?"
Elphos blinked. His gaze shifted from the midget to his master, and back to the midget.
"You two... Know each other?"
Fernis shook her head, albeit she did it to throw water around rather than signify a negative response.
"Duh, of course we do. This here's Baurus, former elder of one of the bigger villages in Romme."
Elphos, who was slightly wet now, began to run his face with his sleeve.
"Uh, and did he rant about renaming the land to you to?"
Indher's stare sharpened.
"Rant? It was I who told him that this land can no longer be named 'Romme', for these people have risen from it's ashes... To call it Romme would be the same as to call a man by his father's name!"
Elphos disregarded the fact that people actualy DO name their sons after themselves.
It was all too obvious where this was going.
"So, what is the new name for this land, then?"
Indher chuckled.
"I decided to leave the naming to the people. But now, we have much more pressing matters to discuss."
She placed her hand on Elphos' shoulder.
"No one - especialy not the dark empire - will sit idly by if they discover what we are doing.
I need you to follow the coastline and set up a barrier along it."
Elphos backed away, his mouth wide open.
"WHAT!? That would take weeks... A month or more if I keep coming back for sleep and supplies!"
Indher shook her head, this time without spraying water at everything around her.
"Doesn't matter. It has to be done. You can be slow if you have to, just start as soon as possible."
Elphos stood there for a moment, his mind taking a while to comprehend the workload he has been given. He then turned around and left, muttering something about evil ferrets.
"So, Baurus..."
Indher turned to look at the midget, onlt to realize only his hat was left.
"Huh? Baurus, where did you go?"
A voice came echoing from inside the round cilinder hat.
"You #$%^&*, my hat expands when it contacts water!"
Fernis giggled, muttering a silent "Woopsy!" as she lifts the hat and sets the midget free.
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Saturday October 6th, 2007
Ko'ji followed them off the ship and flew up next to Virmir. "I can see these... black crows... everywhere. The'r eyes are dark red, and glowing... as if they're the emporer's. There's one now." She pointed to one of the watchers on the castle.
"And I don't even need to strain my eyes to see far distances anymore... It's not just that, I can smell everything, too. All of the lizardmen around, all of the Velkens, I can make out every last one of them... I don't want to. What's happening to me?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday October 6th, 2007
"Hmm... Yes, my lord, of course." Valiko lowered himself to the ground, unsheathing his sword without the use of his hands. He pointed the sword at Anti and held his hands forwards.
"Chew on THIS!" A giant red beam of energy blasted out of the tip of the dark blade, aimed directly at Anti. The ground rippled after the beam had been cast out of the blade, the wind seeming to cut in half.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 6th, 2007
Valos had to do something. He stared at Beta Vraigus as he flew towards him and Draven. Valos has battled creatures similar to this before, in Hell. In fact he's endured things twice this things size before. He was never able to kill any of the larger demons, but he needed to do something.
The mage clenched his fist, and pumped his right arm, it seemed that he gained some muscle since before. This was almost a daily routine for him.
Valos' right hand was then coated with an icy gauntlet, with a large, sharp icicle spike at the end. All fear and fatigue was gone from him.
"Die demon!"
He flew towards and barely even slowed down as he reached towards its head and smashed his ice gauntlet into its eye.
--- ---
//Wait, Coriko, how could Coriko know about the dangers of outer space, when he's from a medieval area dimension?\\
"It's not 'open vacuum space'." McNeil said. "But we don't have any radiation protection suits left. They've pretty much been worn out, and pretty much resources have been put into making weapons. But we do have these which will get you through."
He walked over to a locker cabinet and opened it up, taking out two gas masks and pack of hypodermic needles.
"Put these masks on, and inject yourself with these, before and after you go outside." He explained.
"Uh, what are these?" Wilham asked looking at the futuristic pen like items.
"They're needles, you poke these into your arm and press down on this thing at the end untill the pressure dial hits here." He continued explaining.
Wilham rubbed his head. "Alright...I guess we can do that. So why do we inject them before AND after?"
"They're a temporary repellent and a cure for the radiation poisoning. You still get poisoned a bit so you'll need to inject yourself to clean your system. Or else you'll either die or mutate."
"Mutate?"
"Yes. Then we won't allow you to come back. Mutos as we call them are people how have been mutated and exiled. They give off heavy radiation and spread it to other people. If you see any of them, run."
"Why? We have these needles."
"Yeah, but they're still dangerous. They living dead, that's what they are." He said, sounding rather prejudice.
"Have you ever met a muto?"
"Err...no, but trust me, they're bad news. No better than the Daleks. Trust me."
--- ---
"Well, they're covered from head to toe, so you can do another quick kill." Duilin said, to Renard. "And, if we just run in all gung-ho we'll likely draw to much attention, and we don't want that."
"Hmm, I do know a technique that can temporarily stun a target." Duilin suggested. "I haven't been able to get it work all of the time, but these guys don't appear to know any sort of magic, to protect themselves from it. Yet it involves me charging lightning magic, which might draw attention." Duilin rubbed his chin. "You think I should go for it?" He asked.
Posted by: Trent on Sunday October 7th, 2007
Anti's eyes narrowed. "I hate distractions." He held out one hand and caught the beam, letting its energy gather before his palm. Once it had gathered into a good-sized ball, he smacked it back down at Valiko.
"This is my chance, wretch. I'm going to plow through you and head straight for the prize!"
He crossed his arms... "Omega...!!! FIST!!!" ...and flung them out to the side, a huge shockwave of energy spreading out from him in all directions. He started to transform. The particles of energy that composed him started to shake frantically... thus creating more energy and increasing his power... "HAAAAAAAA!!!!" He was creating a feeling that could be felt around the world... a massive, horrifying power that was continually increasing.
--- --- ---
"WHOA!" Xenai came to a dead stop. "He's powering up!"
Zion and the others stopped too. "Well... you guys know what you need to do."
Tsu, Aura, and Xenai nodded.
"Omega..." "...Fist!"Tsu and Aura powered up, their wings shooting out and causing their bodies to glow with that same color; teal for Tsu, and pink for Aura.
"Zero Weapon!" A bright flash of black light, and Xenai had become Omega Zero, going straight into the fused form.
Xenai, Tsu, and Aura shot off towards Anti, wile Zion continued flying toward Duilin's energy signature.
--- --- ---
"GRAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
The transformation continued. Anti was changing color, going from dark purple to a dark crimson red. The powerup was causing all sorts of environmental reaction, the most noticeable being heavy winds shooting out from him, and a huge crater in the ocean underneath him.
And finally, it stopped. The winds ceased, and the water underneath him slowly fell back into place. He was now colored crimson red, pulsing with an eerie blood red light. His humanoid form had become more built, and his features were a little more defined and more visible... and he also had "hair", a mass of energy on the top of his head, spiked upwards and backwards.
He smirked at Valiko. "Prepare to die."
Posted by: Coriko on Sunday October 7th, 2007
//Sorry DM, I wasn't thinking <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="Sad" title="Sad" /> Please forgive me\\
"Alright, let's head out. No better time then the present right? McNeil, do you want to show us how to do it before we go so we know how to afterwards?"
McNeil took the needle and stabbed Coriko in the arm.
'OW, you son of a ...'
"I'm sorry i didnt tell you it was gunna hurt, but you may not have done it. Coriko is done, Wilham shall i show you?"
---
Kain had been walking for only a short time when he saw what could possibly be buildings to the east.
"Well I'm at least I am on the correct path."
Kain continued towards the buildings.
---
"Why whose asking?"
"Yeah, you looking for an early death buddy?"
Five guys emerged from the shadows in the rooms left corner. A total of twenty people were in the inn. The others remained in their seats, but shuffled around to see who had disturbed the dank and dreary hangout. One of the big drunks charged at Baird. The drunk swung a heavy fist at Baird. He easily ducked the blow, and then Baird punched the man right in the gut. The man gasped as Baird's hand passed through his stomach and then spine. The other four stopped dead. Baird stood up lifting the man off the ground and flung his corpse into the wall. Baird looked at the other men in the tavernish inn. He picked up a cloth from a nearby table and casual wiped the blood off his hand. Still looking down and very casually Baird said, "Now, who wants a job?"
---
Druid was sitting on his thrown, with Onan standing guard on his left. He had sent Yuri to think of strategies for war. He was not going into battle unprepared.
"Now Onan, what do you wish to do?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday October 7th, 2007
Valos' punch hit the dragon Vraigus square in the nose. The blast was so intense, the flesh was blown clear off his face, revealing a sneering draconic skull with crimson orbs deep within the pits of its huge eyes...
"Demon? Oh dear... you are very, very mistaken..."
He flapped his wings back one huge stroke, and Dark Thunder began to rain from the clouds, tearing the terrain to shreds.
Retan flew right under Beta Vraigus and Valos, a sonic boom in his wake. Pointing one finger forward, a trio of black orbs appeared before him as he flew, circling slowly. Shadowy bolts of lightning congregated about the orbs and swelled in the center of the three, and a huge blast of snaking shadow magic flew at the fleeing burning man in the distance.
"Blast it!" Draven swore, ducking and weaving as blast after blast was fired at him. He surged ahead, rocketing through the air. Up ahead he could see the cliffs where the Dark Continent ended, and the ocean began. If, perhaps he could lure Retan off the continent, he would be far enough away from The Tower of Heaven's Bane to actually hit the freak...
"If you can do it while I distract them, then yeah, go for it," Renard replied to Duilin. He looked around. "Maybe charge in that corner over there, so the lightning isn't in their line of sight. Then you can drop down behind them..."
Renard grabbed the railing and jumped off the bridge, landing a few hundred feet in front of the guards.
"Hey!" Once hissed. "Who are you?"
Renard brought the cowl closer down over his face. If he revealed himself to be a Velken, they would kill him anyway, as the portal room was off limits to them. So he just stood there.
"Answer!" One of the two huge lizards lumbered over to him.
Blast it! Only one! The other stayed put right at the entrance. Shoot... they were smarter than he thought. He had hoped they would both approach him, so Duilin could jump down behind and take them both out. But now one was leering over him, right under the bridge, and the other stood a hundred feet back at the door.
He braced himself as the lizard rose his gigantic sword...
"Don't point!" Virmir whispered. He immediately grabbed Riuki's hand and pulled it down-- not with his hand, though. He used a form of levitation, an invisible tendril of magic which he could use to move things with his mind.
He leaned in close, beginning to fly faster. They overshot the meeting spot with the other Velkens on the ground and began a wide circle around the castle. "Don't let them know you can see them... You have the Sight... and you can learn to control it with time. But I cannot teach you-- not just yet. I do not wish... certain individuals to know that we have it. For now, simply focus on what is in your immediate vicinity."
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 7th, 2007
Valos was blown back several yards from the gust of Vraigus' wings.
"Mistaken!?" Valos sneered. "I am not mistaken! Demons are freaks, just like you. So back to hell with you, demon!" It was almost a strain for him to say that word 'Hell' the word brought back so many painful memories, and he's been so happy to be out already. But happiness is for the weak, he needed to get angry.
Valos clenched his other fist making another gauntlet of ice. He gave out a loud roar as he flew forward avoiding the oncoming dark lightning. He zoomed over the dragon's skeletal head and slightly slowed down over the dragon's back and smashed both of his fists onto its back.
--- ---
Duilin swiftly floated over to the obscured corner, and began to charge up an orb of lightning energy, which began to make some slight crackling sounds as it grew bigger. He leaned his head around the corner to see if it was time to throw it.
Duilin gave a looked of unpleasant surprise as he saw only one of the lizards walk towards Renard with his sword ready. It didn't look like the Velken was prepared to block it so Duilin dashed towards the lizard man, holding the stun orb in his left hand, he jumped over Renard and landed in between him and the lizard man and blocked the sword with his mace.
"What the?" The lizard man snarled seeing Duilin jump out of nowhere.
As quick as can be he smashed the stun orb right into the lizard man, who was completely motionless for several seconds and blue streaks of electricity shot through him. Duilin pulled his hand away and the lizard man fell onto the ground, motionless.
"Okay, that didn't go totally to plan..." Duilin said softly, noticing the other lizard man was still there...
--- ---
It was quite and calm in Lizaberg, save for the grunts and yelling of lizard men fighting over food and other random things.
Gorus was outside, using his pickaxe to smash away at the outside of the mountain. Since he was young he enjoyed doing commoner work, despite the fact he was always with the upper class. He spent a lot of his life with the lower class lizard men, his other generals and the Prime Minister were the only higher class lizard men he ever spent time with.
A couple of his generals had just returned from a few short battles that had trouble co-operating with the Empire. Gorus had just got back from the Vandrin County, and felt like he needed a short break. There was something bothering him, that human he fought earlier, he wasn't weak. He a human, no magical enhancements, just a human. But he was actually able to harm him. And how the Count was able to get away, likely still alive. He was convinced that he just got lucky, however. He continued picking away at the rock with his axe, trying to get his mind off of it.
"High General Gorus?" A lizard man said from behind him.
Gorus stopped, and looked at him, it was Xarn.
"What?" He asked bluntly.
"May I have permission to speak freely to you about something?" Xarn asked.
"Granted. Speak."
"Earlier, when you were telling me about Vandrin escaping you and that Kandarinian human you fought, are you...well...Is it bothering you?"
Gorus grunted. "No." He then continued smashing away, with his pickaxe.
Xarn could tell he was probably hiding something, he knew Gorus a lot better than the other generals did. He was in fact on a 'best friend' basis with him before he became High General.
"Well, I was thinking. Perhaps if we requested that we attack the Kandarinian Sovereignty, we could prevent anything like that every happening again."
"Prevent what? We won that battle." Gorus replied.
"Listen Gorus, you got wounded." Xarn said stepping closer. "And you had a human get away from you. That's never happened before. It's either you or these Kandarinians."
Gorus snarled and stepped right in front of Xarn, pointing at him. "Are you saying these 'humans' pose a threat to the Empire?"
"No, I'm saying they're a bit more difficult to kill. Listen, I know you Gorus. You've always been used to running into battle and slaughtering your enemies without even taking a breather. These humans weren't even as strong as that army of mole people we fought back in Mizar, except the Kandarinians. Frankly, Gorus I'm worried about you."
Gorus growled. "Xarn, please...Don't get all caring on me. I hate that, and my father hated that. It's a sign of weakness."
"Well, all I'm saying is that we need to attack the Kandarins."
"Well, perhaps. But I'll think about it, before I approach the Emperor about it."
"Good, because I don't want you to get too unhappy."
Gorus roared. "Xarn! Shut up and go to your quarters, or else I'll shove my arm down your throat, grab you by the inside of your tail and turn you inside out!"
"Uh, y-yes sir..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday October 7th, 2007
"Heh. Don't worry, I'm prepared for whatever the hell you've got. Nice hair, by the way," Valiko said, smirking as the dark Anti blocked his attack. He shifted to his side, grabbed his sword, and pointed it at Anti.
"Bring it the hell on, fool..." A small area around Valiko turned pitch black. It was as if he was absorbing the light around him, as if fueling him. A ball of pitch black energy formed around him, holding him within, and as soon as it completely covered him, it exploded with an extremely violent force. Black surges of energy could be seen flying around the Draken as he readied his blade. "Your move," he said, almost insultingly.
//Not much to say about the three whom I haven't updated until now... but it'll get better soon... hopefully.
"Where the hell are you guys going!?" Tiberius asked as the three shot off in Anti's direction.
"Hmm... Something big is happening. Let's follow them and see what's going on." Ben, Tiberius, and Jannis all followed quickly after Xenai, Aura, and Tsu.
"Alright sir! What's the plan?"
"Well, now that we're in... Hmm... you five! Take up defensive formations at that balcony! I want three of you guarding the door! John, Marrik, you're with me." Aaron lead two Drannivolkan elites through a door that lead to some sort of dungeon area. The stench of dead lizardmen begin to creep upon them.
"What do you think happened here, sir?"
"I don't know, John, but who ever did it is long gone."
"Yeah, they've got to be. Look at the bloody footprints on the floor!"
"Something isn't right here... the cell door is unlocked, and one of the lizards is missing a weapon."
"Yeah, and there's also two sets of footprints! Somebody must've armed a prisoner down here. I hope he's with us..."
"Good thinking, Marrik, but don't keep your hopes up. Let's follow these prints and see where it takes us. MOVE!"
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 8th, 2007
Xenai looked back towards the three following them. "Thank god you guys decided to come; We'll need all the help we can get! Can you feel that hellish energy? The Zerobi no Anti has powered up. Who knows what he's going to do in this form? We're going to do all we can to distract him! Hopefully, we'll stall him long enough that Retan gets away and isn't worth chasing after. He should, at that point, power down, say something badass to us, and take off." He'd thought this through, obviously.
--- --- ---
Anti smiled. "Thank you. You yourself look like you're going to be a fun opponent."
Faster than a blink of the eye, he'd appeared directly behind Valiko, and he was swinging a kick up at the back of his head, while meanwhile charging a ball of energy in his opposite hand.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday October 8th, 2007
//@Jenia: Baurus? heheheh. \\
-"Traveling together? Like, you, and me?"
Who does this child think he is?
-"It would appear that you didn't quite grasp what I told you before. I'm a ruler of a nation, Akran; I have no time to be running across Terian with would-be adventurers. In fact, the only reason you see me now is because I was out on a stroll, taking a break from ruling Kandarin."
The advantages, though... the advantages...
-"However, I suppose I could get an extended vacation for now. I'm sure that my Scribe of Unlife is handling things well back home."
--- --- ---
-"Impossible, Mr. Eldridge? They said that bringing back the dead was impossible, and yet, there's our Sovereign and you yourself. However, I think of myself as a man of reason; and this project just may be the key to bringing Gaian to its knees. There can be no mistakes made in its production."
Cain pulled up a chair, and seated himself opposite to Vincent.
-"So what obstacle is so thoroughly daunting to make such a simple request outright impossible, especially for a man of your talents?"
--- --- ---
"I scratched my chin. Funny; even in phase-shift, basic bodily irritations often took place.
-"I suppose I can allow you to stay with me... for now, at least... I do have one question, though. You said that you were born infused with the power of light. Tell me, then: how is it that you control both light and darkness?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday October 8th, 2007
Valiko didn't even move at the sight of the kick. The Zerobi hit the back of his head, but did no damage. "Nice kick. Unfortunately, you're dealing with more than you can handle... TAKE THIS!!!" The Draken thrusted his blade forwards at break-neck speeds at Anti, stabbing thousands of times in the air. The question was... did it hit?
"Wow! You two learn pretty fast for lizardmen. I had to go to an academy for some years before I was able to cast anything! I'm going to head inside. Lagart, see if you can teach them some attack moves or something." Jacobie opened the door to the home and walked in. On the floor, he saw Rink and Justin, lifeless. Just then, Justin gasped, apparently awakening from that trance... as did Rink.
"So... Did you cure Ven yet?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday October 8th, 2007
More of the dragon's flesh blasted away with the punch, but the yellowish skeleton underneath was unharmed.
"The Thanatos plane is merely a collection of weaker souls. Celestial leftovers. A place where inferior, non-draconic entities attempt to convince themselves they have power by torturing things that have already died."
A dark surge of blackness emanated from his body, stabbing in all directions. The mountains below trembled as chains of Dark Thunder raged across the landscape.
The half-skeletal Vraigus wrapped around Valos in an instant, his tail and limbs forming a cage around him. He lowered his huge skull-like visage into his face and sneered... "You have no idea what the true hell is like..."
Retan missed as Draven ducked away. The shadowy blast struck a cliff and the mountainside that was once there was no more, a huge plume of ash rising to the heavens like a volcano had just erupted.
Blast it... almost there... Draven ducked low in his mad dash towards the ocean, the waves splitting in half as soon as he blasted over the water.
"Shoot." Renard's ears perked under the cowl. The bulky lizard charged, screaming as he raised his mammoth battle axe. The Battle Mage zipped straight at his adversary and flew into his chest, stabbing the creature with another quickly forged icicle in the neck. The lizard gagged and keeled over and died quickly as the first one.
"I hope no one heard that..." The cloaked fox said, hopping off the monster's chest. Not wasting any time, he floated over to the doors and pushed them open, revealing a room cast in a blue iridescence.
In the center of the room stood two pillars, rising some twenty feet into the ceiling. On either side of the pillars stood what looked like golden orbs attached to posts rising from the ground. Renard landed before the pillars, casting away his cloak to reveal his silver furred head and tail. It would do him no more good.
"I think..." he scratched behind an ear, "those orbs need a power source... I know the protal's programmed not to react to my aura, though..."
"Calm now, Mr. Ryleh. I was talking about your ridiculous time constraints and deadlines, not the limits of my genius," Vincent took the odd device off his head and set it upon the table. Dr. Smizleworf, seated next to him, buried his face in his hands. Vincent was plainly irritated.
"Look." Vincent pointed at the model upon the table. "It is perfect. It will fly. But these..." He pointed to one of the three smaller structures circling the base that resembled half-airships. "These will be modified airships of my design. They run on a power core-- a flight crystal that gives them lift. However, the crystal works by distancing itself from the planet. The effect is weaker the further it gets from the ground. This thing will not reach 12,000 feet.
"According to my calculations, we will require some sort of downward thrust to break this barrier. Something huge. Explosives maybe, but at a constant rate of fire. Airship technology is not applicable. In fact, I doubt there is any air at all where we intend to send this thing...
"So, Mr. Ryleh, unless you have a ready-made propulsion system in mind, we will have to design our own. And that is going to take a bit longer than an hour, I'm afraid..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday October 8th, 2007
Cain wiped his palm down his face, looking to the heavens.
-"The propulsion system... Gaargh! Couldn't those idiots come up with some magic trinket to fly the damn thing?!", he yelled, shaking a gnarled finger at the other scientists.
-"However," the Scribe said, after pausing to calm down, "the deadline was not the only reason I came here. There are several things I have to make sure are completed."
Ryleh got up and came closer to the table, gliding around it and studying the contrivance residing there.
-"First, you have to make sure that the ship is as stable as a rock. An altitude, latitude or longitude variation in as little as five meters risks the whole craft being obliterated by the Hammer.
"Secondly, the projector prisms themselves must be many, and must be able to rotate. While the weapon itself is powerful, it lasts for a mere ten seconds; twenty if we are blessed with a solar flare. After this, it needs to cool down from the intense heat. However, even though the beam is less powerful after being scattered, the individual rays are still hot enough to vaporize almost anything in moments. If the turrets are fixed, then nine out of the ten seconds of the Hammer's duration will be wasted scorching empty ground. I'm sure you already compensated for the problem, though.
"Thirdly, keeping in mind the short duration and the long cool down of the Hammer, it would make sense to put additional weapons on board. If I insult your judgment by asking this, then do tell which ones you already included in the design.
"Finally, I hope you understand how important your creation will be, Mr. Eldridge. Our Sovereign would definitely not be happy if it was gunned down by a rogue spear thrown by a primitive savage. Coat it with the toughest compound you can concoct, draw wards on the hull, put magical stones inside to shield it from the elements, and so on. In fact, don't worry about the stones - I'll get our mages to work on that."
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 8th, 2007
"I could say the same to you!" Anti grinned maniacally while dodging all the thrusts with little effort. When the last one had past, he pointed the energy ball he'd been charging up at Valiko's face and cut it loose, firing it at point-blank range.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday October 9th, 2007
Valiko's head was thrown bac a bit after taking quite a bit of damage in his face. The hit sent him back with a large force, causing him to stumble backwards a bit before catching balance again. A red mark appeared on Valiko's face as he placed one hand over it and rubbed it slightly. "Meh, not bad at all."
Valiko didn't even show any sign of pain, though it did take him by surprise, which was something he hated. He took his sword and threw it into the distance. "Well, since you have no weapon other than yourself, let's just make this a bit more... honorable."
The Draken folded his arms and rose up into the air, staring at Anti. He then held both his hands above his head and prepared a small orb of dark energy. He knew he could only pull off this move if he was on Terian, for some odd reason. "Soon, you will feel the wrath of my power!"
- Blood Cannon, 11% charged -
"What's going on over there...? I can feel a great deal of evil. Ben, are you sure about this?"
"I'm possative. It's partly the Draken we all thought was on our side. Turns out he was just playing us for saps. He's a clone... of Jayce."
"WHAT!?!?!?"
"Yes, it's true. Down in that crater, some crazy alchemist must have created another Draken. He's considerably weaker, and cannot even go into dragon form... yet."
"That's bloody insane! I can't believe I trusted that guy!"
"Hey, you guys! Could one of you tell me about this Anti-guy?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday October 9th, 2007
Valos glared right into the dragon's eyes "I'll give you true hell!!"
He was going to kill this thing. He knew the odds were against him, but he was determined. He knew a few things about these types of dragons, he believes that most magic projectile attacks couldn't harm its skin, but then there was the bone. He wished he studied more about dragons, and less about demons.
There was no way he could beat this thing without his sword. He hated that sword now, but he needed something. Draven could probably beat this thing, normally Valos was physically stronger than Draven, but he had his strength enhancement spell.
His ice gauntlets then became thicker and covered almost a fourth of his arms. He smashed his fists all around him at the dragon's tail and limbs hopping to nearly fully skin the parts of Vraigus caging him.
--- ---
"Sure, go ahead." Wilham said. McNeil rolled up Wilham's sleeve and injected him. "Doesn't hurt that much."
"You've probably had worse then."
"I have." Wilham replied. "I'm a Grand General, back home. I lead an entire army. It's not very big however, a bit over three hundred I think."
"That's more then we have left." McNeil replied. "Well, enough chat, you two better get going."
McNeil lead them down a short hallway with a large metal door at the end. It had a pannel with a few buttons on the end, he pressed a few of them and the door opened, revealing a small room with another door on the end. Wilham (and probably Coriko), put on their gas masks.
"Okay, wait in there, until the other door opens up."
The two went into the room, and the large door closed behind them. After a few seconds the door on the other side opened up.
The outside of Skaro was grey and rocky and all around was a multi-coloured fog. There were ruins of advanced looking structures that looked like they have aged hundreds of years.
Wilham stepped forward and into the wasteland, he looked behind him and upwards and saw the entire Kaled base was inside a mountain, reminding him of the Dark Empire's mountain fortress back on Gaian.
"Well, let's get going." Wilham said to Coriko.
--- ---
Duilin followed Renard into the building. He remembered he was once here, but it has entirely changed since then.
He looked at pillars and the golden orbs, automatically assuming that was the portal into Welkin. He set his mace head down on the ground and lightly leaned on it, to take a second to look at unopened portal.
"Hmm. Well, I guess I'm going to have to charge them then." Duilin stepped towards one of the golden orbs, and set his mace on the ground. "Well, I'm just gonna go ahead."
He was pretty good at 'charging' magic into objects like his weapons, so he assumed it would be the same thing. He set his hands onto the gold orb and then pushed his magical energy into the orb.
Posted by: Ted Der on Tuesday October 9th, 2007
"Yes, very observant," Akran grimaced. "I do have the power to manipulate both light and darkness. The only way someone who is born with a Majeuri spirit can gain two, is by killing another with a spirit. As you may have guessed, I did kill my brother, but that was because he was turning insane!"
Akran sighed and sat down. He hated to talk about this. The act of killing his brother tormented him. Many nights he could not sleep, for it gave him nightmares. Akran wiped his forehead with his hand and leaned forward on the chair. There were more pressing matters.
Ruler of Kandarin eh? I guess this Kronos character is a big cheese after all. Why are they always so self centered? Akran was annoyed.
"Oh, and I guess traveling with a lowly Majeuri Spirit Bearer like me is unfitting for such an important person?" Akran shook his head. He realized he had had just about enough. "Well listen for once. If you want the Majeuri Spinel so much, then you'll need me. Kraaz obviously hid the stone with the power he had at the time."
Akran stood up again and absentmindedly scratched his scar that ran from his right thumb all the way down to his elbow. Akran cleared his throat and continued, "So let us think for second. What powers did Kraaz have at the time? Oh yeah! He had the power you're so desperately lacking. What was it? Creating demons from ashes? Is that what you're missing out on huh? Well, you will probably need your necromancy skills to get to the Spinel. Also, Kraaz specialized in manipulating darkness. Guess who's got that power now? And it's different than dark magic by the way."
Akran smiled and calmed down a bit. "So, basically you got this choice: treat me as a companion, not as a slave, and we can find this Spinel together, or forget it and try to find it yourself. I'll be gone in a flash. So, what's your choice?"
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday October 9th, 2007
Anti crossed his arms, smirking... and WAITED.
//See the signup thread, Drannic...
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday October 9th, 2007
-"I see. That's how it's going to be, hmm?"
I looked straight at Akran.
-"Fine. I'll do it. However, I would still like at least a general idea of where to go or what to do with my Necromantic powers."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday October 9th, 2007
"Being patient, are we? How nice..." Valiko poured more of his power into the orb above his head as it grew larger and larger. Black zaps of lightning could be seen going around the orb.
"Why don't I just hurry this up then? HYAAA!!!"
- Blood cannon 33% charged -
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday October 9th, 2007
Valos' blows removed the remaining bits of flesh from the dragon and the monster released him, reeling slightly in the air. But still the ice did not harm the moving bones. The gigantic skeleton flapped his wings a few times and roared. It was his turn-- Vraigus opened with a mad flurry of blade-edged swipes from his skeletal claws, each slashing downward with the force of a guillotine. The final strike was eclipsed by a bite from a huge maw of pointed teeth...
Draven kept flying over the ocean until he was a good deal away from the mainland, the blasts of shadow endlessly coming. Suddenly he saw glimmers of light overhead...
Stars?
The clouds... he had flown out far enough that he had escaped the clouds... This area was not Retan's yet... could he still draw energy from that infernal tower, so far away now? Sneering, Draven spun around to meet the Dark Emperor face-to-face.
This is where the final battle would begin...
Retan stopped, and they both stared at each other for a moment, standing on thin air a few hundred feet above the roaring black waves.
"If you believe that making your stand under the starlight will give you the advantage, then you are sorely mistaken," the Dark Emperor spoke in this eloquent deep tones, "by fleeing from me, you have in fact followed me exactly into my snare."
Draven breathed heavily for a moment, his aura dim. Then he smirked. He removed a small bottle from his cape and drunk the liquid. Immediately the elixir refreshed him, and he crushed the glass in his gloved hand as his renewed muscles bulged.
"We'll see who has who."
He threw his arms to his sides, as a thunderous explosion engulfed him. Like the sun, he painted the sea and sky red, a tremendous blast of heat surging from the inferno he wrapped himself in...
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday October 9th, 2007
Valos flew at rapid speed side to side avoiding the oncoming claws. It was a bit of a good thing he didn't have that big sword weighing him down right now, since he didn't have the blackstrap for it anymore. He then flipped backwards barely avoiding the giant maw snapping down at him. He was gaining a bit of confidence in himself almost feeling a bit stupid for having doubt.
"Is that all you have, dragon?" Valos sneered, as he slowly floated backwards.
His ice gauntlets then melted as they were replaced with flames, he then flew forward, roaring and he smashed his fiery fists into the exposed bone on Vragius' skull.
Posted by: Empty Space on Wednesday October 10th, 2007
Xivilai ventured off the path he had been following, and shadow stepped into the shadow of a tree a few feet away.
Walking was too slow. Besides, shadow stepping was fun. Always a slight feeling of disorientation.
I need to find a boat to get off this island
Xivilai picked a random direction and started walking.
Anywhere was better than where he was now.
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday October 10th, 2007
Anti was tapping his feet. He wanted to show off his ridiculous power by taking that hit full on, but at the same time... He was getting impatient. Retan was getting away. He was very tempted to just take off. But he still wanted to show off his strength. A conflict of interest was raging inside him.
--- --- ---
"What the crap is that?" Tsu's eyes widened upon feeling Valiko's energy building.
"I bet that bastard intends to be all cocky and take that attack head on," said Xenai.
"Not surprising," said Aura.
The three increased speed...
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday October 10th, 2007
The area was dark and foggy, completely void of sound and life. The remains of the buildings had decreased after the years. The logs used to make the houses had begun to rot, and there wasn't a blade of grass left.
In the middle square of the dead village there was a dark hair woman, wearing dull coloured clothing, she had black and white armour next to her, as well as a jester hat. She sat on the ground cross legged, not even making a sound.
Duilin's words of advice were helping a bit. But she still felt very sad, but she didn't need to kill anymore.
---
A pack of wolves were running through an open field, they didn't look like they were hunting, but it looked like they were going somewhere...
Posted by: Mikado on Wednesday October 10th, 2007
In all the darkness something in the ground began to shine. It was a warm shine, and just looking at it would make one more happy, and he would wish for it to continue forever. The light was coming closer to the woman who was alone in a death village.
The light shined brighter each second, and when it was close enough, she saw that it was a golden kitty running alone in the night. Once it saw the woman it stopped to shine, looked at her and sat, making a silent "myuu~". That moment the kitty poofed, and in its place 6 more kitties were sitting.
They began to walk around, and play, apparently ignoring the aura of the place they arrived. This continued for a while, when all of them made noise similar to "myuu~" and also they poofed away.
This time in front of the woman a weird symbol appeared. It was black, but it wasn't depressing black. It was special.. but it was hard to describe what it was.
Then out of nowhere, a huge impact. Something fell on the sign. It was a enourmous impact, nothing normal could survive such a thing. When the clouds of sand wear off, a small girl was sitting there in a small hole, where just a few moments ago a sign and 7 kitties were.
"Meeeeh~!" The child yawned, rubbing her head. "That.. hurt.. nee.." She looked really young, she had crimson hair, black cat ears and a tail. She had purple eyes, and was wearing maid-battle clothing.
She stood up, gaining energy from nowhere, and happily yelled in the nothingness; "Prepare yourself what-who-where-ever world! Because Puco has came!"
Laughing hard, she turned enthusiastically and noticed the woman.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!" She screamed, after finding out that someone stood behind her all the time.
She fell on the ground, and hid her face behind her small hands.
"Who are you, neee!?"
Posted by: Ted Der on Wednesday October 10th, 2007
Akran was waiting for this moment; the exact moment when Kronos would ask where to go now. And he while he was conversing with this powerful necromancer, Akran formed a question in his mind, and possibly a destination.
Akran, relieved that Kronos decided to travel with him, said "The Spinel is embedded into a sword. If you want the power of the Majeuri, you must either take the sword, or take out the Spinel. I don't know the whereabouts of this sword, but it's most likely still hidden by Kraaz. The sword is not very long, it is quite light, and it has this funny little red and black symbol - I think there's some gray too actually - on the hilt of the handle."
Akran scratched his ear, thinking back to when he last saw it. "Yeah. I think that's it. The Spinel is embedded on the blade near the guard too. Am I any help? I was thinking about traveling back to the place where I was born," Akran flinched at the idea, but continued. "It might be a good place to start. Or if you know where the sword came from, that might be a good destination as well."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday October 10th, 2007
Renard folded his arms and idly flicked his tail as he watched Duilin charge the orb. Hmmm... it didn't seem to be working... He hadn't actually seen it done before, so he didn't really know how it worked...
After a moment though, a point of light burst forth from between the two pillars. As if invisible doors were opening, the light spread until it engulfed the entirety of the distance between the pillars. It was too bright to see anything beyond the portal.
"You did it!" He suddenly covered his muzzle and embarrassedly looked behind him, hoping that little outburst didn't attract any reptilian guards. Seeing that the coast was still clear, he turned back to the portal. "We must hurry."
He walked up to the edge of the light, fixated by it. Home was right beyond there... And he knew this was the last time he'd ever see it. He had to get his people out before it was too late...
He took one step forward...
--and was nearly knocked on his tail by the gust of wind that blasted from the light.
Eleven sliver and black blurs burst from the portal, zipping though the air and stopping in the exact center of the room, hovering some fifteen feet in the air. Renard gasped when he saw the Velken in the center of the circle...
He looked similar to Lord Virmir in that he wore the same black coat and had two blades strapped to his back. His were of different design, though. The fur around his eyes was darker too, and his ears were nearly black.
"Sir Iaido Rikarl?"
Rikarl pointed to Duilin, a snarl upon his muzzle.
"Demon."
In a flash, Duilin had five swords pointed inches from his face, each of the five black-clad Velkens with a cold impassive stare in their eyes. Above, five more hovered in a circle, multicolored energy crackling upon their extended claws.
"WAIT!" Renard screamed.
Rikarl, floating above the smaller Velken's head, looked down at him. "You! Identify yourself."
"Galry Renard, Battle Mage, training under Lord Virmir!"
Rikarl's ears perked. "... Renard? I... I didn't recognize you. Did you brainwash this demon?"
"No! He saved my life! And he's not a demon!"
The Velken squad leader turned and waved a claw. Immediately the ten Velkens lowered their weapons and flew to the other side of the room. "Apologies, sir. I'm sure you know what it is we're up against..."
"How..." Renard looked at all the other Velkens. Faces he had not seen in over a year... He trained along side some of them. "How did you know the gate was opening?"
Rikarl landed next to Renard, a smile upon his muzzle. "Lord Virmir and Lady Urocy have been exchanging letters. They've been trading information right under the Dark Emperor's nose via the use of a secret code. Virmir said he was sending someone to open the gate and get everyone out."
Renard's mouth dropped. "But... I came here against his orders! I told him I was collecting herbs to save Helix!"
Rikarl ruffled the fur atop Renard's head. "Of course you did! You came to get the priestess, right?"
Renard just stood there blinking for a moment.
"CLEAR!" Rikarl shouted at the gate. Some more figures began to emerge from the light.
Renard's ears perked. "You mean you have everyone ready to evacuate?"
"All 237 of us." He looked up at the silver foxes floating above. "Velmont, Garan, Jeele! Head count!"
An ensemble of "Yes, sir!" rang out over head.
Renard looked down at the floor. 237... Fifteen more had died in the past year and a half...
Rikarl noted Renard's reaction to the number. "The air... it's not very good..." he said in a somber tone, his ear falling.
Renard shook his head. "It's not much better on this side... But at least there's some untainted places left... for now."
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday October 10th, 2007
Duilin took half a step backwards when the Velkens pointed their swords at him; he remained mostly silent, as he was pretty surprised with what he did.
"Wow, so you guys are all ready set to go?" Duilin asked seeing the crowd of Velkens. "This is pretty remarkable. You guys are a lot more...well human then I expected. Well, excuse my use of the word 'human' as it must seem a little odd for me using it." Duilin snickered a bit. "But it's a compliment, trust me."
Duilin looked at Renard.
"But anyways, I don't want to sound to demanding here. But we need to get to Tjed as quick as possible."
"Which is kind of going to be a little irritating seeing how I just got back from here." He added mumbling. "But you think there would be a way to get there really fast? Like I was able to get to North Point via a ship and that took us like several hours. I'm worried that maybe Virmir and the others might have...well." Duilin stopped himself.
"Well anyways. Are we ready to go now?" Duilin asked, he then remembered something. "I can wait a bit if you want to find your sister."
//I'll update others later.\\
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Wednesday October 10th, 2007
"Sorry... I'll... I'll try my best, Lord Virmir!" Ko'ji straightened up a bit and gave a small bow to the High General. She then joined the rest of the Velkens, though she could not help but give the watchers a small glance every now-and-then. It was unnerving to know that there were beings out there that she could not see before... disturbing, to know that they were once watching you from the darkness...
--- ---
"What the hell's that racket!? You! Find out what's behind us, now!" The prisoner didn't like the idea of being ordered around, but he still had quite a debt to pay Arata for freeing him. He walked back a few steps to see down the hallway a bit more easily.
"What the hell...?"
"What? What is is!?"
"Soldiers. Not ordinary ones, either. Big, furry-lookin guys with swords and really good armor."
"Damn! Let's get the hell out of here before they-"
"YOU THERE!!!"
"Shit..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday October 11th, 2007
"While my annoyance for this vapid waste of perfectly good flesh was great, I easily contained it. After all, the first art any monarch learns is acting. Being able to tell someone with a straight face that you accept their proposal (several hours before crushing them) is not only entertaining, but also quite helpful. The sword Akran described is certainly interesting, but the unfortunate thing is that he has next to no idea where to look for it.
-"My friend, I am not being rude - merely inquisitive. Is it really not so painfully obvious that I did not know of the Spinel before you told me of it? How would I, of all people, know where it is? Do you think I would have asked you if I knew where it was? In fact, if I were to possess that knowledge, we would not be having this conversation. I'd probably be watching your corpse dancing like some puppet. Actually, if I had the Spinel, I would not have come here wasting time like I am now in the first place. I'd be busy bending the Continent to my will."
Speaking of bending things to one's will, I should probably check up on the Mists sometime. Meh, I'll do that later.
-"In any case, since it seems that I need to restate everything for your feeble brain to comprehend, no, I certainly do not know of the Spinel's whereabouts. However, your birthplace does, in fact, sound like a good place to start looking."
Posted by: Ted Der on Thursday October 11th, 2007
Akran shook his head"¦ Why doesn't Kronos listen to what I'm saying?
"Okay, calm down. All I'm asking is if you might know where the sword came from."
Then Akran realized his mistake. Oh great. I'm an idiot.
"Okay, sorry. I realize that I forgot to tell you something. The Spinel wasn't always in the sword. It used to be on a golden staff that was planted into the ground on Majeuri Island. When Kraaz stole it, he hid it. The only piece of information that I know is that the sword Kraaz embedded the Spinel into had a symbol on its hilt. Like I said, the symbol was black, red, and grey. I remember seeing that symbol before"¦ maybe on a flag? Anyway, if you don't know what any of that means, then let's go to Majeuri Island. There is bound to be something there that'll help us find the Spinel."
Akran shifted in his seat. His face flushed and he scratched his neck. "Uhhh, yeah. So, do you have any idea where we are? Where is this ship go--"
BANG!
Akran was suddenly thrown from the chair as the ship violently shook. The lamp on the ceiling fell down and smashed on the floor boards.
"What the hell is going on? Is it more pirates?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday October 11th, 2007
"I could ask you the same question, young one." The depressed woman snapped, looking rather annoyed with being disturbed.
She got up and looked at the strange girl who literately came from nowhere.
"Now leave me before I make you."
---
The mysterious pack of wolves continued moving onward. A strong wind blew and several black rags fluttered through the wind...
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday October 11th, 2007
Vincent rolled his eyes as the man prattled off. "Yes, yes, yes. The design is structurally sound, and the shielding triple-ly reinforced. It needs to be in order to suffer the harsh climates above our world. Weapons will consist of standard cannon-fare, though. It is pointless to over-equip something with short-range weaponry that no one will ever be able to reach, especially when the resources and space can be better spent on other things.. I would expect the military to protect it as we launch it and during its ascent. After that, it will be beyond the reach of anything of this world."
He pointed two fingers at the table, which melded together into a sort of knife with a curved edge, elongating slightly. "The projecting mirror has 50 degrees of movement on both axis, and and can turn quite quickly during the ten seconds we have..." He jammed the blade into the wooden table, and drew it towards him, creating a long gash. "Like a surgeon's scalpel, it will cut a deep scar across the planet, several miles long..."
Virmir landed alongside Riuki, in front of the other Velkens. Bryce stepped forward and bowed slightly. "Right this way."
The group made their way into the dark corridors of the castle, passing the much larger Lizard Men that patrolled the halls. Of course, it was the lizards that stepped out of their way. After descending a flight of stairs, they entered an empty dungeon with a large chamber branching off a moldy stone hallway to the side.
"Here." The Blade Knight Bryce said, waving his hand into the dark room, gulping. "We can instruct our mages to cast their poison gas spells, then exit via the vents at the top." He pointed to the holes in the ceiling. His voice cracked slightly, though it was evident he was desperately fighting to remain collected and calm. "And close the vents as they leave..."
Everyone, the two mages in the group especially, was looking rather blanched, despite the fur covering their faces. They nervously stood there shifting their weight, flicking their ears and tails. This was the most heinous thing they had ever been commanded to do... eliminate an entire city of defenseless civilians... But it was an order from the Dark Emperor Retan, and one they could never disobey...
Virmir sighed, looking over the dismal chamber. But still he held that detached coldness in his eyes. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "Then let's begin."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Friday October 12th, 2007
"We must escape encounters with any of these soldiers as much as we can. MOVE!!!" Arata and the prisoner ran quickly down the dark corridors of the castle, the soldier staying behind. Finally, they got to a mysteriously empty area of the castle. There was a door that lead down a flight of stairs, guarded by two lizards, holding weapons similar to the prisoner's.
"I think we've lost him-"
"Shh!!! Up ahead, look! We'll take them out silently, you hear?"
"Right... Silently..." Arata unsheathed his katana with little noise an crept forwards in the darkness of the wall next to the door. He held his blade back, ready to stab, then lunged forwards and hit the side of one of the lizards, twisting it upwards and slashing back, cutting his upper body in half.
"What in the...! Intrud-"
"Shut it!" The prisoner brought his broadsword up and cut the lizard's head off, spilling more blood on the floor.
"Good job... Now then, let's find out what they're guarding, shall we? Oh, and one more thing. What's your name?"
"My... name?"
"Well, yeah. I never got the chance to ask. You do have a name, don't you?"
"Of course I do! It's Jackwell Richend, and I'm damn proud of it!"
"Calm down, now, I was just askin'. Alright, let's go." The two entered the door that lead down a flight of stairs, but unknown to them, at the bottem waited Virmir and his Velkens.
--- ---
"Hey, what's that?" Ko'ji's ears perked up as she heard a racket up the stairs. She walked over to Virmir. "Sir, I think someone else is here. They're on the stairs..."
Posted by: Mikado on Friday October 12th, 2007
"Nyeee~!" The small girl crawled a little back. "Wh-what is this for greeting, muuu.."
She stood up still trembling a bit, and slapped the dust of her clothes. "Don't be such a meany.." She mumbled.
"You are totally alone at such a scary place, and aren't happy to see someone else!?" Her ears moved a little, and she looked a bit upset now, resembling a child changing her emotions this quickly.
Still among the skies, a giant white bird was flying. A blond haired man and a more demon-looking fellow where sitting on it.
On the shoulders of Shui a small cat was sitting.
They weren't talking, they just sat, and waited until they would reach their undefined destination. Then suddenly, the bird began to crumble a little. Shui looked back, and saw the look on Reigrattos face, and immediately without speaking, he bit his thumb, and began to draw on the Statue. Slowly it began to reform, but also it lowered.
"We are going down, just look at him.." Shui said seriously, pointing at the cat on his shoulder. "He's all trembling." Indeed, the cat was trembling, looked around him like he thought something would attack him.
"Maybe too much strain.." Reigratto mentioned.
"Yea that's probably it.." Shui mumbled. "It can't be.. no.. I would feel it then too.. but still.. I cannot risk."
After a few minutes the stone statue landed, and once Shui and Reigratto stopped touching it, it crumbled away into sand, that disappeared in the grass in a few moments.
"Reigratto how do you feel?" Shuichi asked.
"Heh? I feel.. good. Good first time in a few years.." Reigratto responed.
Shuis frowned face disappeared. He looked really happy now.
"Very well... then it's time for you to get sealed."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday October 12th, 2007
She glared at the young girl. "I came here to be alone." She stated.
This was great, she thought, she had spent the entire day trying to redeem herself and some young brat comes around and starts calling her a 'meany'. How old was this girl?
"I don't want to be with anyone else right now. I have enough problems as is, so do not continue to bother me further."
Posted by: Mikado on Friday October 12th, 2007
The little girl began swapping her arms around.
"Why would you want to be alone?! It's just plain boring and sad! I don't understand!"
She pointed at the woman.
"At least tell me your name! You have that don't you?" she asked still a little angry, tilting her head to the right.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday October 12th, 2007
Valos' fiery punch hit the dragon's skull dead on. With an earth-shattering roar the thing's head exploded, bursting into a thousand shimmering pieces. The skeletal dragon spiraled to the ground, crumpling into a lifeless heap.
"Should you have begged for mercy when you returned, rather than insist on stirring trouble, then perhaps I would have shown you leniency and, as an example of my infinite generosity, would have offered you a minor officer's position within my legions." Retan remained floating above the waves.
Draven sneered, holding his hand out and summoning a bright red orb. "Instead I killed that cretin you called a son. Lot more fun."
Retan's crimson eyes narrowed. "He had made too many mistakes. He had what was coming. Much like you."
The orb doubled in size. "Resorting to threats now? Of course you are... I killed one draken... what's one more? Seems you tossed away the prime member of the human race a little too early..."
"You had help, if I recall. A great deal. And I am surprised you still consider yourself that, elemental."
Draven's eyebrow raised. "What?"
"I hand selected you because you are a fire elemental. The fire elemental. But it seems you are trapped in that body, and thus your strength is severely limited. You have reached your peak. A pathetic one. I thought you might free yourself, but you cannot. You are useless to me."
Draven scowled. By now the surging fireball was over five feet in diameter. "Tch! We'll see." With that, he let loose the flaming sphere upon Retan. The Dark Emperor removed a hand from under his cape, and a furious explosion rocked the air between the two...
Velkens flooded in through the gate now and quickly filled up the room. The chamber became so crowded that it was difficult for them all to stand, so many took to simply floating around in the air. Only a few of the short gray fox-like people bore weapons, though. The rest wore simple robes and really didn't look like they had a clue how to defend themselves.
One of the Velkens floated up to Duiln's face. "Human?" He looked smaller and younger than Renard. He sniffed the half-demon a few times. Well you seem... Velken-like I guess. Maybe a little..."
"Right!" Renard turned to Rikarl. "We need to get to Tjed. Helix is in trouble... We need the Priestess'--"
"What is this now?"
A white clad vixen stepped through the crowd, closely guarded by four black clad Velkens baring spears as long as they were tall. Her soft blue eyes fell upon Renard, though they were full of worry. "Galry Renard. It is wonderful to see you again. What has happen to your friend?"
"Lady Urocy..." He bowed on one knee respectfully. Please... my best friend has been struck down by some undead... we don't know what's wrong with him..."
"I see..." She brought one hand to her dainty muzzle.
"Renard," Rikarl placed a claw on his shoulder, "this Tjed... Is this where Lord Virmir is stationed?"
"Yes." Renard's ears perked, and he stood. "Oh, no..." He looked at Duilin and then back to the black-eared squad leader. "Our orders were to kill all the humans... There's a huge city there... I fear if we do not make it back in time..."
"These humans. You think they will ally with us?" Rikarl brought his hand to his chin.
"They don't deserve to die, regardless." The priestess shot Rikarl a stern glance.
"Of course, my Lady."
"Every one is accounted for!' A voice said from up in the rafters. The portal's light faded away.
"Excellent... then we will find refuge in this Tjed. After escaping from here, of course..."
"Mwa hah hah hah hah..."
The doors suddenly shut, locking them all in the room, and it slowly grew very dark...
"You've broken the rules. Those that do not play by the rules... D I E !"
Two burning crimson eyes appeared over the sealed doorway, revealing them to be part of a large draconic head that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. An impossibly long, thick black scaled serpentine body melded out of the walls, surrounding the entirely of the room several times over. The entire room was in fact coiled around by a giant snake...
(Yar. Others tomorrow.)
Posted by: Jenia on Friday October 12th, 2007
Another day, another rune, another cow...
Indher's stretching didn't help her sore muscles much.
When some of the townspeople asked for livestock, she felt obligated to answer their 'plea' by creating a cow-spawning rune.
While creating nonintelligent animals was not a problem as long as one knew what they are made of, scribbling on the ground all day isn't exactly a good thing...
As she pondered the matter, an old man's voice voice had reached her ears.
"Well, lookie here! This one's white! Maybe it's vampiric?"
Indher's eyes went wide and her pupils shrunk.
Expecting the worst, she hurried back to the place where she scribbled to cow-spawning rune only to find a midget dressed in tartan.
"Baurus, you again?"
Her tone was quite inquisitively at first, but then her jaw dropped.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!?"
She grabbed the midget by his jacket and carefully placed him not too far from his original position. The midget appeared furious.
"Am I crazy!? What do YOU think you are doing, picking me up like that!?"
Indher said nothing. She pointed at the runeset, or rather, a single rune which has been smeared off.
"You idiot... You stepped on it! This one gives the cow a pigment!"
Baurus' face went pale. He looked from the rune to the nearby cow, which seemed to do nothing but stand around merrily chewing on the grass.
"Oh! Well... I'm sorry... Does that mean we have an albino cow now?"
Indher sighed at Baurus' pitiful attempt at changing the subject.
"Look, why don't you go do your thing... Like preach or criticize?"
Baurus humpfed and turned around, slowly walking away.
Indher was now left alone with a pure white, red eyed cow.
A while and a rune amending later, Indher was back at the square.
The engineers already had the pump running, so the fountain and all the complete houses had running water.
She thought it strange...
The pipes - most of which were as high as the common houses' roof - did't fit the town's Marble Cubes design.
Well, the houses were obviously not made of marbles - just polished stone. It was pretty much marble in appearance, though.
At first she thought that rounded roofs would do the trick, but she quickly shook off the thought as this was not the time for decorations.
It has been a while... Elphos did not yet return. Then again, she couldn't expect him to, really. He did say it would take several weeks, after all.
A young man carrying a report ran to her.
"Where are you getting this paper, anyway?" she asked him as he handed her the report "Not to mention the pens and ink..."
The man scratched his head.
"Erm, Elphos tought me how to create paper and ink earlier... As for the pen, I found a shark piece of wood..."
Indher slapped her forehead. So they are using pencils now?
Why wasn't she informed? Then again, maybe teacher the civilians the art of runemaking wouldn't be such a bad idea. After all, it would allow them to come this much closer to independance...
She hastly snatched the report from the man's hands and sent him away.
Skimming it, she realized that most of the core town was complete.
A good number of houses, several worshops, a public school, the square and a library building (which was literally empty at the time).
Several farms on what was supposed to be the outskirts were complete as well.
And yet, the people-to-houses ratio didn't look good at all.
The rest of the information on the report was useless.
Indher finished reading it, crumpled the piece of paper and threw it away.
"Now, I believe I earned some rest. I haven't slept in a while..."
She walked outside of the town and climbed up a sturdy looking tree.
"...Will do..."
Having kicked off an angry squirrel, she descended into a deep sleep...
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 13th, 2007
Valos raised his arms in the air and roared in victory. He then looked down at the corpse of the dragon. He gave a crazed grin and then started shooting a series of fireballs down at the dead creature. After a few moments he stopped and then took several deep breaths. He did it, he slew a dragon. Humanity has once again prevailed. Now it's time to catch up with Draven, he might need help...
--- ---
"Heheh." Duilin snickered as the young Velken sniffed him. He then started to look rather worried when the others mentioned that it might be to late to save those at Tjed.
"We need to go as fast as possible, then." Duilin stated. "Like, really. I already have the guilt of failing to save one noble kingdom, I just can't let that happen again."
"But yes, the humans will alley with you. A lot of them might be a little uneasy however..."
Duilin started to cool himself off a bit, trying to relax. However, once the lighting went out, he started to get more uneasy. His eyes widened as the image of a giant black snake appeared in the room.
"Great..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday October 13th, 2007
"My expression went blank for a second, as I scouted the area outside and above the ship through a minion's eyes.
-"No, there's no pirates. We've arrived to some island, by the looks of it. We've bumped into a rock."
The ship was incapacitated - the rudder was completely broken. Looks like I'm stuck here on this island with that... that.
I sent a few minions out to land to scout the island. It was inhabited, but the shelters built on the island were temporary, at best. My minion also made note of many ships at anchor in a small bay on the other side of the island.
-"Well, then, time to explore," I said, grabbing the shape-shifting amulet off the table. "I will play my part as a merchant, and you will be my slave. My minions will stay here and guard whatever is left of the ship. We might be able to salvage it later on."
Of course, all this was hardly necessary, for I could easily construct a wyvern out of any bones that can be lying around this island. But where's the adventure in that?
I climbed out of the ship, and put on my amulet. Nothing changed, in my perspective: I still had gray skin, dark red and beige robes, detachedly wavering in the wind. The feathered crown on my head was still messing up my hair, but no one but me saw any of this. Shapeshifting - truly a work of a genius.
-"Akran, get out of there. We'll be heading over to that settlement over by the shore. Other than getting a place to stay and a way to get out of here, they'll serve as a potential target for my invasion. I best investigate exactly what I will be subjugating. Hurry up!"
--- --- ---
Meanwhile, deep below Kandarin in a secret laboratory...
-"Herr Orff! Ve haff compleeted zee faynal piece of zee Khammer!"
-"Perfekt, Herr Bauer. I was just showing Herr Doktor Von Göth here our full project. Show him the piece you have just completed, danke."
-"Ja, Herr Orff!"
Doctor Bauer pulled a lever somewhere to the left of him. The eastern doors in the massive subterranean labs screeched open, revealing a gigantic crystal ring. The ring, which resembled a human iris, was at least twenty meters in diameter. Von Göth was watching the contraption, visibly unimpressed.
-"Herr Orff, please don't tell me that this is the Hammer itself. A prism of this size will never gather enough power for the Sovereign's requests."
-"But Herr Doktor Von Göth, have you not been listening? This is but one piece of the Hammer. We have nineteen other pieces, some larger than this one!"
Von Göth's eyes widened.
-"Now I'm interested. Show me the blueprints."
Orff gave Von Göth a blue-coloured scroll. It depicted a roughly circular device, somewhat thicker in the middle, with eight spider-like appendages around the center. Indeed, right in its middle was the relatively insignificant piece that was just shown to the Doktor.
-"Well, I'll be... Orff, you've outdone yourself. Do tell, how does the device function?"
-"The device will be in close proximity to our sun. Not too close, because the temperatures might melt the crystal. The lens that you see right up there will adjust the focus of the prism, and aim it at the ship that Herr Eldridge's team is working on. The ship will reflect the beam, and --"
Orff made an explosion gesture with his hand.
-"I see... What are those leg things for?"
Herr Bauer, who returned from the lever, cut in:
-"Ach, ja, zee leg sings. Zee leg sings are used for cooling zee devais, Herr Doktor. However, vhen zee devais is firing, zee leg sings bend a littel tovards zee beem, making it schtronger."
-"An ingenious touch, Bauer," said Von Göth. "So the crystal will not burn after one use?"
-"Nevarr! Me, Herr Orff, und Herr Pfitzner made zee crystal near impossibel to melt!"
-"Very, very good... Herr Scribe will be pleased to hear this..."
--- --- ---
-"Impressive. Now all you have to do is get it to stay in the air. At that point, I will be glad to discuss your reward for this service."
With those words, Cain disappeared in the dark doors...
-"Eurika!", yelled Dr. Smizlworf, seconds after the Scribe left. "I think I have the solution to the flight problem, Mr. Eldridge."
He hurried over to Vincent, with a crude sketch he was clenching in his hand.
-"It is possible to use a Nightshade Gravity Orb as a propulsion device. The vortex that the NGO creates closes after a certain amount of air has been sucked through it. Since there is no air in the Aether, as I'm sure you are aware, we can (in theory) keep it open at all times. Its sucking property will be gone, due to the absence of air, so there is no threat to the ship. However, increased gravity pull is a natural property of the vortex. So here is the plan: we use your airship crystal to push us above the clouds, and at that point, we activate the NGO. The vortex will be enclosed inside of a cage-like apparatus, which in turn will be attached to a series of beams outside of the ship, much like an orrery's rings. These rings will allow us to move the vortex around the ship, changing the direction of flight. The only problem is positioning the rings so that they will not interfere with the firing trajectory of the Hammer. What do you think?"
Posted by: Trent on Saturday October 13th, 2007
Anti had gotten sick of waiting. He could feel many energies coming toward him too. They'd be there soon. The flyboys were among them. That would be troublesome. Dealing with this guy, and then the other people coming? He didn't have time for that. Anti smirked up at Valiko. "Screw you, buddy! I'm going for the prize!" He took off then, towards Retan, flying at an incredible speed.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 13th, 2007
"Who is that?" Valos asked himself seeing the Zerobi no Anti flying towards Retan and Draven's aura signature. He then flew following Anti's direction. When he was peaking through the Nex's hell gate, he saw what he believed was the same being aiding Draven, perhaps he is an alley of him? He didn't like that, his aura felt demonic. Obviously can not be trusted, but for now he'll need him as an ally. Valos then flew faster, trying to catch up.
"You, demon!" He shouted to Anti trying to get his attention.
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday October 13th, 2007
"Hrrrraahhh!!!"
Draven burst through the explosion, body in flames, ans surged a fiery punch straight at Retan's face...
The Dark Emperor blocked the attack with his left pinky finger, and Draven was sent spiraling backwards 50 feet. Scowling, Draven struck again and again, and each time was thrown back, the deafening explosions from the blows illuminating the night skies over the ocean...
"Galry~!"
"Sis...? Sis!!" Renard turned as a little Velken flew out of the crowd and into his arms. He hugged her tightly just as the chaos broke loose...
Explosions and screams ripped through the room... Black tendrils of Dark Thunder pulsed from the snake-like body that surrounded them, striking down Velken after Velken. Rikarl drew a sword and dove straight at the monster's face. "Shadow-fiend, drake, A-Class!! Theta-1B, NOW!"
A huge circle of black-clad Battle Mages surged around the serpentine head. Renard's eyes widened as a circle of magic lines appeared in the thin air between them. A twenty-point star? Holy crap!! "Get down!" he screamed as he pushed his sister to the floor. A translucent shield appeared over the two Velkens and Duilin.
A white flash utterly engulfed everything. Several seconds passed before the blinding glare subsided enough to see. Huge chunks of debris flew up into the air, along with the dragon, into the dark clouds above.
They had blasted a hole 1,000 feet wide in the fortress of North Point...
Like angry wasps, Rikarl and a troupe of Velkens followed the black serpentine dragon as it flew skyward, still reeling from the intense explosion. They swarmed around it, stabbing the scales with their short swords, blasting fireballs and lightning bolts at its head. It writhed in pain, but then recovered and began spewing black masses of energy of its own, swatting at the tiny flying foxes like flies.
Renard flew out of the hole in the fortress in utter shock, his trembling sister in his arms. All around him, reptilian wyvern riders dove around, swinging their huge halberds at they relatively small gray creatures. But the Velkens were much too fast, and spun circles around them before giving their clunky foes a quick stab to the neck or other exposed area. Fireballs, lightning bolts, blasts of wind, icicles... everything flew around in every direction as the aerial battle raged above the towers of North Point. It was utter madness...
"Renard!" Lady Urocy flew next to him, her white dress almost glowing among the dismal surroundings. Her four black clad guards circled around her as she approached. They would never enter the battle unless it meant protecting the vixen priestess. They would die before leaving her side. "Sir Rikarl will take care of things here. We must hurry to Tjed to save Helix, and meet up with Lord Virmir."
Renard nodded. "R-right." He looked around and spotted a sleek airship parked at the top of a tower down below. He then shouted down at his half-demon friend, "Duilin! Will you come with us, or will you stay and fight?"
Virmir's left ear turned toward the stairwell. Wordlessly, he pointed a finger up. All the other Velkens disapeared, flying up to the ceiling and the corners of the wall above the stairs in the blink of an eye, leaving he and Ko'ji standing alone in the center of the room.
He waited for them to reach the bottom of the stairs and enter the room. He did not draw either of his swords or take up any offensive position, but rather kept his arms hanging loosely to his sides as his tail flowed slowly behind him.
"Gentlemen," at that word two Velken Blade Knights fell from the ceiling and crossed their blades over the exit to the stairs. The other fell to the left, right and front of the escapees, surrounding them. "Please drop your weapons upon the floor and place your hands atop your heads."
"Hmmm..." Vincent nodded as he looked over the schematics. "This... may very well work... The rings will get in the way of the triple-flight-crystal propulsion we currently have set up, but we can merely modify the design to drop them after they've maxed out in altitude. The NGO should have enough power to do the trick, as one nearly brought down the Crimson Capital as I recall, and that island uses the largest flight crystal in existence."
He took the sketch and scribbled over it, adjusting some things. The team of scientists began hacking away at refitting the existing diagrams, and then began work on adjusting the model they had build upon the table. After a few hours of work, some arguing, and only two dead ends, an agreement was reached. Vincent leaned back in his chair and sneered.
"Send a message to our dear Scribe and inform him that the design is ready to send to the construction team..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday October 13th, 2007
"NO!!! DAMN YOU, GET BACK HERE!!!" The air around Valiko was swirling around him, picking up chunks of gravel and spinning around the intense orb of power, which was now almost nine feet in diameter.
"DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!" Out of rage, Valiko raised himself up to grab the orb, put a last bit of energy ito it, and pulled it forwards. It was very condense, moving barely an inch, then Valiko put more force into it and it blasted across the sky, aimed at Anti. The recoil threw him back a few feet in the air.
Just then, he could feel another presence approach him. Perhapse he would toy with them for a while, until his rage was satisfied. He dropped to the ground and folded his arms, waiting for the party to get close enough. Now, their energies could be felt a bit more easily, so he decided to charge them.
"Heh. These fool had better not run. Eat this!" He held right arm up and supported it with his left hand, aiming it at those approaching him. He charged his dark energy and channeled it through his body. His aura began to increase, and raged all around him like a black inferno.
"Here's a little gift from me to you. EAT THIS!" Just then, all of his power diverted to his hand, and he shot dark beams of energy at an insane rate, about three per second. They weren't as powerful, but could still be devistating if one was hit with enough blasts. The Draken laughed maniacally as he shot the dark beams of energy at rapid fire, like a machine gun.
"Watch out!" Ben grabbed Jannis and flew out of the way, pulling her from the blasts of energy. The others would see this, and probably have enough time to evade, he thought. He then got a safe enough distance back and set her on the ground. Tiberius, still in death wyvern form, flew out of the way as well. As he landed on the ground, he changed shape again, back to human form.
"This doesn't look to good. He's reopened his connection with darkness! Keep your guard up. He seems to be much more powerful in this form!" Ben threw his hand to the side and blasted out a white beam of energy. He grabbed the beam, put more power into it, and shaped it into a sword.
"How are we supposed to fight a Draken!?" Tiberius grabbed his claymore and took up a defensive stance, near the others.
"With help... We can ask those that are with us to help."
"Gaia knows we need it..."
"Gaia? Heh. The gods have inferior power, and cannot hope to mach mine!" Valiko finished his attack and stood before the three of them. He slowly raised his hand and blasted the ground around them to shreds. He laughed insanely as he tore the ground apart, chunks of earth flying in all ways around him... but they were gone. They fled out of range. Valiko stopped.
"Damn you! YOU WILL NOT RUN FROM ME!!!!!!" He charged up his power again, letting off another menacing aura of black and purple energy.
"Xenai, Tsu, Aura! We need help! Valiko is--"
"Right behind you!" The Draken raced up to Ben and smashed him with a back fist, right in the face. It sent him flipping around in the air, crashing down into the gravel.
"They got away...? Keep following them! They might lead us to the enemy's main force! We'll crush them from the inside!" Aaron lead his men after Arata and that other man who was with him. The group of soldiers raced down hallway after hallway, following the bloody prints on the floor. They stopped at another group of dead lizardmen.
"They must have passed here already!"
"Not quite. That door is open." The group stood near the stairs that would lead them to Virmir. All of them passed through the door and walked quietly down the stairway.
"How's it going?"
"Not so good. I can't find any books at all."
"You looking in the right place?"
"I'm not sure. Your library isn't very orderly when I got here..."
"Did you not check the back shelf where I keep all my books of old lore?"
"No, I'll check there now."
"Please, do tell of your progress. When you find the ancient tome of Gaia, seek me out. It's written in Geocian."
"Will do. Good day, master."
"Master? No, I am but a teacher, don't you remember? And you are my student."
"Very well... Teacher."
"Quite. Now get going. I have matters of my own to attend."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 13th, 2007
Duilin was awestruck. These Velkens were amazing! He was getting more and more grateful that they were on his side now.
He really wanted to join in the battle, but he needed to get back to Tjed, he needed to make sure his friends were okay. Once everything is done there, then he needed to get ready to defeat the Dark Empire.
"I'm going with you." Duilin shouted back. He jumped in the air, flapping his wings several times before he soared off through the battle, avoiding any oncoming enemies and projectiles as well as he could. He then landed on the ground next to Renard. "Wait, hold on one second..." He put his hand of his right temple; the others were further away then before, except Zion was closer, hopefully he'll be able to receive a telepathic message.
'Zion, the Velkens have be rescued and they're on our side. But right now they're in a huge battle at North Point, you might be able to see it. I'm going back to Tjed, via airship. If you want to come with me, hurry because we aren't waiting. But you can help the Velkens fight, however.
"Alright." Duilin said to Renard. "You ready?"
--- ---
At the Tower of Heaven's Bane (or wherever Grav may be), a lizard man messenger approached the Prime Minister holding a formal request note form High General Gorus Van'deln.
Dear, Grav Hen Li'hik, Prime Minister of Mizar
I am aware that Emperor Retan is out at the time (don't ask how, I just do), so I thought I'd send this to you. My generals have asked me if I could request permission to invade the Kandarinian Sovereignty. They have officially declared war on us, during the battle of Vandrin County. It's likely they are planning something against us, so I believe it would be a wise move to take them out with one swipe as they are currently a small crumbling nation.
Sincerely, Gorus Van'deln, High General of the Dark Empire, Subterranean Division.
Posted by: Trent on Saturday October 13th, 2007
Zion recieved the telepathic message. Going back to Tjed? What for? He looked around, and he did indeed see the battle. Yeah, I'll help out. Good luck with whatever you're doing.
"Eternity Weapon!"
Ultima Eternity shot down towards the battlefield...
--- --- ---
"Whoa!" Xenai, Tsu, and Aura swooped out of the way of the blasts and looked toward Valiko. Xenai couldn't help but notice Anti off in the distance, though...
Anti had stopped and turned around. "Finally...! GAH HA HA HA HA!!!" He opened his arms, and took the blast head on.
"Sweet holy shit!!!" Xenai's eyes widened. Tsu and Aura saw it too, and they were in awe as well. When the dust had cleared... Anti was unharmed.
"My god," said Aura.
"The Omega Fist... Is considerably more effective on him," said Tsu.
"That's 'cos he's all energy," said Xenai. "Omega Fist uses energy to raise power."
They could hear Ben yell out to them, and looked off in that direction. Too late. Xenai got pissed, and fired off a Breaker attack right there. "Final Fury!" A greatsword appeared in his hand. He swooped forward and started slashing at Valiko like crazy.
Meanwhile, Tsu and Aura were some distance behind, preparing a Rasengan Chidori. They were currently in the phase where Aura causes the Chidori to swirl... But something was different. Tsu was wielding two Chidoris, and Aura was merely pointing her hands at them rather than striking them. It seems all that time apart had created an improvement!
Anti looked toward the fiasco and cackled. "Have fun with your battle, fools!" He started off toward Retan once more, but found himself being called to. He halted and looked toward Valos. "What do you want?"
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday October 13th, 2007
-"It is ready? Beautiful. Thank you, doctor. Please summon Mr. Eldridge to my chambers."
The scientist nodded, and left. Cain looked at the finished blueprints for a minute, then, seemingly satisfied, grabbed ahold of a nearby M-grid orb.
-"Yes; Foreman Kampard, yes, the final design is complete. I trust you have all the necessary materials ready?"
A highly distorted voice came from the orb, without an image: the recipient must have been really far away from Gros Morne.
-"The raw goods are all prepared, lord Scribe. Awaiting transfer of documents."
-"One minute, Foreman. Prepare to receive."
Ryleh put down the orb, and picked up a nearby chalk. He quickly scribbled a glyph on the wall, which resembled an H with three circles over the middle line, and a "^" over the left vertical line. The two vertical lines glowed, and transformed into a circle, which, in turn, transformed into a hole. The Scribe put the scroll of documents inside, and the hole vanished, along with the glyph. His M-grid orb lit up again.
-"Foreman Kampard here - documents received, lord Scribe. Both dead and live crews are already busy at work. Expect results within several hours."
--- --- ---
Meanwhile, deep below Kandarin in a secret laboratory...
-"Ah, yes, good of you to come, Herr Doktor Von Göth. All stations ready for dispatching the Hammer to the sun."
Von Göth and Orff, as well as Bauer and several other scientists were standing in a shielded room up above the main cavity below. The enormous eastern gates were open, revealing a row of crystalline shapes lined up in a corridor of sorts. Large undead abominations were busy creating some sort of a circular barrier in the middle of the room.
-"So," said Von Göth. "Exactly what are you planning to do?"
-"Well, Herr Doktor, it was really Herr Bauer's idea. You see, the NGOs which our Sovereign found in the Nightshade hideout work by opening a portal to Aether. We found a way to designate the opening coordinates, and that's how we will deliver the Hammer up there."
-"As I see it, the Hammer is in pieces right now. How are you planning to assemble it once it's out there? There isn't nearly enough space to send the whole thing up in one go."
Orff smiled, and another scientist, a short and chubby one, stepped forward.
-"That was one of our tougher problems," answered Orff. "Herr Pfitzner here managed to solve it. Each piece is inscribed with several sigils. Once all of the pieces are in the Aether, we will use a magic apparatus known as the Binding Glyph to make the sigils stick to their opposites. Thus, the Hammer will assemble itself. It will also become very tolerant of any impacts that the weapon may have to endure. Unfortunately, the Binding Glyph must remain active for the Hammer to stay in one piece. One could say that the Glyph is the key to compromise the entire project... Although on the bright side, it is also a fail safe, in case if the Hammer becomes under someone else's control."
-"That's hardly unfortunate," replied Von Göth. "A fail safe must always be in place no matter what. We have to be prepared for any and all emergencies. The key here is simply to hide the item so that only we may have access to it. What does it look like, anyway?"
-"It's right here, Herr Doktor."
Orff came to an opening in the wall, and whispered something into it. In the empty space appeared a small square frame, housing a crystal tablet inside, which appeared to hover right in the middle of the carcass. The tablet indeed had a glyph inscribed on it, but one of bizarre complexity. Many of the lines were so fine that at a distance of a meter they blurred into one dark area. The tablet also had many hair-thin black glass wires coming out of its sides, and disappearing in a near-invisible portal at the top of the construction. The crystal composition was unlike anything Von Göth had seen before - the light filtered through it appeared blue, though no blue was to be found in the tablet itself.
-"It is beyond beautiful," he whispered. "It would certainly be a shame to have to break that if something were to happen to the ship."
//Xorlak, a few questions: Will the ship have a name? Does it have a large enough space in it to accommodate passengers? Maybe a cool idea would be to control the Hammer from inside the ship, rather than from the ground.\\
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday October 14th, 2007
"Fool!" Valiko blocked the attacks with a single finger as each slash came down upon him. He flipped backwards, then unsheathed his sword and met Xenai head on, blocking with the sword instead. As the last slash came down, Valiko evaded and flew back into the air.
"You'll pay for that, Draken!" Tiberius was just as angry as Xenai. He threw his claymore into the ground and jumped on it, leaping up to Valiko with a punch. The Draken grabbed his arm before he could reach him. He swung him around a few times, then launched him into the ground with thunderous speed. A small crater formed in the earth beneath him.
"Who's next?"
"ME!" Ben came from behind, sword at the ready. He cleaved it upwards and met Valiko's blade. They slashed at eachother in the air, Ben going all out. Valiko made short work of him and kicked him back, in the same place he punched him before. Valiko lowered back to the ground.
"DAMN YOU!!! RRRAAAAAAAGGHHHH!!!" Ben was changing form again. His wings darkened, his eyes changing to a dark shade of purple, his aura changing to crimson. He let his energy sword back into his body and held his hands next to his face, clenched in fists. He then flung them downwards, creating a surge of power.
"Heh, did I make someone angry? Good... anger is power. I like a good fight, except this is a bit far from good." Valiko threw his blade into the air and shot it with dark energy. He then raced up and grabbed it, now glowing with dark power.
Jannis took her bow off her back and an arrow from her quiver. She aimed it at the sword in Valiko's hand, pulling back as far as she could. As soon as it was pulled back far enough, she let go of the string, the arrow zipping threw the air. It hit the Draken right in his hand, forcing him to drop his empowered sword.
"Hey Ven! Yo, Ven, wake up! He's not moving..." Jacobie sat in a chair next to Ven. His breathing was harsh as the human struggled to survive.
"Jacobie, don't you have any stamina potions? Anything to stabilize his breathing!"
"Oh right! I do have one, but it's pretty powerful."
"Hand it over." Jacobie pulled out a silver vial of orange liquid and handed it to Justin. He then took the vial up to Ven's mouth and poured a small amount in. It appears Ven was able to swallow it, as his breathing returned to normal.
"How long do you think he's gonna stay like this?"
"I haven't the slightest clue... if only I had some ground onyx and dragonstone... If I took the powder and mixed it into a solvent, it would cure him without a doubt!"
"Dragonstone? I don't know about onyx, but I have a dragonstone in my pocket. I was going to save it, but here, you have it." Jacobie pulled out a red stone from inside his gauntlet. The stone glowed with a faint red aura. He handed the stone to Justin.
"Wow... this is perfect! Where did you manage to find this?"
"Terian, back when I was a soldier."
"Oh, that makes sense then. I just need some quality time with a motar and mix this up. I suppose I can substitute onyx for another herb of some sort."
"Are you going to be able to grind that? Dragonstone is one of Gaian's hardest minerals!"
"Believe me, if I can grind dragon scales, I can grind dragon stone. It's gonna take a while, but I'll be able to get it into powder form within at least a half hour."
"Well that isn't so bad, I guess... I'm gonna go outside and check up on Lagart."
"Right. Won't be long in here!"
"Ah! My hand!" The arrow went straight through Valiko's palm, bleeding it slowly. His sword spun to the ground, piercing into the earth. He grabbed the arrow head and pulled the arrow through. His aura was then focused on his hand, and after a short moment, it healed.
"Direct hit! Uh oh... He's flying this way." Ben finished charging and flew towards Valiko as he flew after Jannis. The two of them met eachother in the air and Ben grabbed Valiko's arm. He kneed him in the gut and punched him in the face, letting go of him and watching as he fell to the ground.
"Guh... Heh... Angel fool. Your heaven is next when I'm done with Gaian." The Draken got back to his feet and picked up his dark sword, still purged in black flames.
Posted by: Coriko on Sunday October 14th, 2007
//Sorry about delay in posting\\
Coriko surveyed the outside. It had a dark poetic grace to it.
"You know this isn't so bad. it is kinda nice, still creepy but nice. And then comes the unpleasantness."
As Coriko was walking he saw over a mound two thingly shaped figures.
"Wilham, we got company."
---
Baird told the patrons of the inn of Druid's return and the need for a new army.
"If you are interested meet at the army barracks, and spread the word."
Baird left the tavern. Baird went off towards another inn. This was going to take a while.
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Sunday October 14th, 2007
"Hey, do you think he's...?"
"Yes, he is." Arata sheathed his katana and walked into the room where Virmir and the other Velkens were. The prisoner followed shortly after.
"Drop your weapon, Jack." The prisoner, Jack, did as he was told and placed his broadsword on the ground.
"Okay, you caught me. Now what? Am I just delaying your plan to wipe out the city? Or... maybe you want me to. You know that deep down, you don't want to do it, am I right?"
"Hey, you might want to-"
"Shut it, Jack. I know you're with the dark empire, that's for damn sure. Otherwise, how would you get past the lizards? What are you doing here, really?"
"This doesn't look good, maybe we should-"
"I SAID SHUT IT!" Arata took his sheathed katana off his belt and threw it on the ground, in front of Virmir. He held out his hand, hoping to shake as a sign of his honorable capture.
"Well then, I won't get very far without a polite introduction. I'm Arata Etsuko, and this is Jackwell Richend. And you, might I ask?"
"My Lord, I don't sense any deception from him. The other one, behind him, looks a bit nervous, however..." Ko'ji stood next to Virmir, observing the two humans in the room. She didn't trust Jack, but Arata looked honest enough.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 14th, 2007
Wilham turned around battle ready as Coriko warned him of the 'company' "What is it?"
--- ---
Lagart had been training the two lizard men some better close ranged combat skills, they were fairly decent learners. It was becoming a bit clear that these lizard men weren't stupid, just uneducated. He did some sword fighting with them, for a little while.
"Good work. I take break now." Lagart said sheathing his sword. "You two practice now. Make sure you not hit each other to hard."
The two lizard men both nodded in responce and then continued practicing. Lagart turned to Jacobie as he came outside.
"They catch on quick. Make them fine fighters we will." Lagart said.
---
Belle and Rink had been rather quiet lately. Rink was pretty tired out, he had never fought so hard before, and so he was taking a nap. Belle was a little worried about Duilin and even more worried about what was going to happen to everyone in the city.
"So, Justin..." Belle said, trying to start conversation. She overheard the conversation about the dragonstone. "Have you been, um, grinding things for a while?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday October 14th, 2007
"I guess. Every monk in the Arctic region had to learn several potion and elixir formulas. They're not that hard, but aquiring the ingredients is most o the work. I'm surprised Jacobie suddenly happened to have this on him... Wow, almost done!" Justin took the powdered dragonstone and poured it into a glass he'd got out earlier.
"I just need some stoneflower pedals... or perhapse Willow Anther." He then took out a small, cloth bag and tossed it on the table he was working on and opened it by pulling the thread. Inside was a bundle of black sun flowers, blue rocks, and black roses. He took some pedals from the sunflowers and choped off a piece of a stem, and did the same with the roses. Then, he took a few of the blue rocks and smashed them into powder. They were softer than rocks, more like hardened dirt.
"I just need some water and a spoon. Miss, could you fill this with water?" The woman inside the house took the glass from Justin and went farther into the house. She returned a few moments later with a spoon and the glass, half-way full with water.
"Thanks." Justin took them from the woman and put them on the table, stiring the ingredients well in the glass with the spoon. It started to get a bit thicker and foamed a bit off the top. Then, the reaction stopped and the foam died down. He walked over to Ven with the glass and poured a bit of the solution into his mouth.
"That should be enough. I'd better save some of this for later." As he finished, Justin took a vial from inside his robe pocket and poured the contents of the glass into the vial. It glowed a dark red.
"So... How did you end up with Duilin and Rink?" Justin asked, trying to further a conversation.
"Hey Lagart, do you see that over there? It looks like a soldier's comming this way. Stay sharp. You two, enough for today! You could use a break. Back in the house." The two young Lizardmen went into the house. Just as Jacobie suspected, a soldier was approaching them.
"You! Why you next to door? You go to castle, now!"
"Excuse me!?" The lizard soldier must not have noticed Jacobie, for his armor showed he was much higher in rank than the soldier.
"I said... Commander Jacobie? That you?"
"Well I'll be damned! Higgens! What in god's name have you been doing?"
"You know. Same old, me going off on mission now and then."
"You haven't changed in the slightest!"
"What you doing out here? We ordered to go to castle long ago! Prison break, me thinks..."
"Really? Well, I was ordered to guard this house from others. High general's orders."
"Right! Me on patrol! Nice catching up!"
"Same here. See you around, higgens."
Valimore sat in his throne once again, as usual. The entire fortress was kept warm with a magic heat system. There was a limited supply of entertainment, with the exception of the pipe organ behind the throne room every now and then Valimore would play, or force one of his servants to.
"Blast, I forgot how boring it was up here. Where's the bloody action!?" As the vampiric king adjested himself in his chair, Doriana came back into the room, holdin two books.
"About time! What bloody took you so long?"
"The disorder of your books, that's what. I didn't find these in the area you said to look."
"Then they are no doubt useless."
"Not quite. I found a book entitled 'The Ancient Mikkatosi.' I haven't the slightest clue what it's about, but it recalls your name in here a lot."
"That would be the name of my race."
"Oh... Well, I found another one about the formation of Gaian. Looks like it's just a ref book, but who knows?"
"Hmm... I think I recall that name... Ah yes! I wrote that myself about five thousand years ago when I was bored and had nothing else to do!"
"Interesting. I'll study these up a bit in my room. Oh, and when's dinner? I'm starving..."
"Go ask one of the servants to get you some food. I think I'm going to play my organ for a while."
"You have an organ?"
"No evil dictator is fit without one."
"Funny... I'll be going, then."
"Right then. Return to me when you have questions."
"Actually, there was one that I've been meaning to ask you since I found the first book. Who is Sierana?"
"Sierana...? Where does it mention that in the book!? Quickly now!"
"In the first few pages... why? Who was she?"
Valimore sighed with great sadness. "That was the name... of my daughter..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday October 14th, 2007
"Yeah!" Renard nodded. Still carrying his little sister in his arms, he shot off towards the airship. It was one of the smaller, sleeker models, which meant it was built for speed. Perfect.
"Galry...?" The little Velken girl asked.
"Yeah?"
"Who was that... monster you were talking to?"
"Monster?" He landed by the side of the black vessel alongside Lady Urocy and her four guards. "You mean Duilin...?" She nodded and clutched his robe as the winged human neared. "Emile... Duilin is no monster. He's a friend, and he's going to help take us to safety. Now say hello to him."
"Uh... hello, Duilin..." She said timidly as Renard set her down.
A lizard emerged from the airship's side door and two of the Velken guards stabbed him in the neck at the same time. Renard grabbed Emile and turned her around just in time, shielding her view from the gore.
Three of the four black clad Velkens flew into the ship, the fourth stayed by the priestess' side, ears twitching at every explosion or fireball that zipped over head. After a moment one of the Velkens stuck his head out the door. "Clear!"
"Right. Let's go..." Renard took little Emile by the hand and lead her up the ramp, Lady Urocy and Guard #4 close behind. Guard #3 bowed as they passed. "Lady Urocy, Sir Duilin, Sir Renard, right this way."
"Sir?" Renard's ears perked. "There's no need for that. I'm just a Battle Mage. Same rank as you."
"Sir Rikarl made you squad leader for this mission, sir." All four of Lady Urocy's guards gave him a quick salute. #1 and #2 then zipped off to fumble with the controls in the tiny airship.
"But... I'm not even old enough! I don't know what to do!"
"Relax," Lady Urocy said in her soothing voice as she placed a claw on his shoulder. The door shut behind them and the engines began to rumble. "You've completed a vital mission already. You've saved us all, and your competence has been proven."
Renard placed a claw behind his ear, not sure what to say.
The priestess turned to Duilin. "Of course, we have you to thank as well... Sir Duilin, was it? I am Lucile Urocy, High Priestess of Welkin." She looked like any other Velken-- silver furred, triangular ears, pointy snout, long fuzzy tail with a black tip. She stood shorter than everyone except Renard and his sister Emile. Her robe made her stand out, though, as the dazzling white was a stark contrast to the dismal dark colors most of the other Velkens wore. Even little Emile was in a dark brown robe.
The ship shook as it levitated and took off, and the seven Velkens and Duilin were off to Tjed...
Virmir didn't seem impressed. He didn't seem to have any reaction at all. The other Velkens followed the escapee as he moved and tallked their blades pointed at his throat.
"If you insist, I am Kendo Virmir, High General of the Dark Empire, Skyward Division." He ignored the hand stretched in a friendly gesture. One of the Velken Blade Knights grabbed it and forced it behind his back, along with the other.
"If you think I intend to do anything but what I was ordered, you are mistaken Mr. Estuko. But since you surrendered civilly, I will ensure your imprisonment is comfortable." He turned to Ko'ji. "Riuki, please escort the prisoners to... a more secure cell. Don't harm them unless they struggle."
The glyphs on the far wall glowed and Vincent entered, looking rather smug. He adjusted his glasses and fixed his trench coat.
"Ah, Mr. Ryleh. You wanted to see me?"
Grav bit into another huge slab of beef, sinking his jagged teeth deep into the rarely done flesh. Delicious!
Mounds of food were stacked high over his head upon the table. Of course he couldn't eat it all, but who cared? He loved it when he was in charge.
He read the letter quickly and with disinterest, his reptilian legs dangling from the tall chair he needed to sit properly at the table.
"Kandarinians? I thought we were already at war with them..." He scratched his scaly head with a long claw trying to remember. Blast it! He took a couple more swigs of wine.
"Bah! Whatever!"
High General Gorus of the Subterain,
Kill those freaks and bring their leader's head to the capital on a pike, so that we might dance around it and sing praises to the glory of the Dark Empire. Also, bowl with it.
Grav, Prime Minister of Mizar and Gaian
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Sunday October 14th, 2007
"Kendo... Uh, I mean Lord Virmir, I will right away!" Ko'ji was still getting used to calling her fellow Velkens by their last names. She took the scimitar off her back and pointed it at the two humans. "Well, I guess I'll have to escort you to another cell..."
"Hmph. How rude of you, even if you are a high general. Still, I do respect your mercy. Not every day is one shown such from one of the dark empire scoundrels." Arata dusted his hand off after the Velken bladeknight pushed it back, as if he had dirtied it by touching it. He clenched his left hand in a fist and covered it with his right, brining it up to his head and bowing to Virmir.
"Let's go then. Jack, that means you too." Suddenly, the door burst open as three orange-furred Velken-like creatures entered the room, almost matching the speed of a normal Velken.
"WAAHH!!! Who are you guys!?" Ko'ji held up her scimitar.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday October 14th, 2007
"Do not point your weapon in the presence of his majesty!" A Drannivolkan unsheathed a sword quickly, but as Aaron entered the room, he placed a hand on his shoulder, and the soldier quickly sheathed his weapon.
"Calm yourself, Marrik. Uh, Lord Virmir, I presume? Right then, my name is Aaron Grey, Emporer of Ariosis. I've come here on behalf of my alliance with Tjed, and I'm afraid I cannot let you do what you're about to do." Aaron drew his crystal sword and held it tightly in both hands.
"If I have to lay down my life in order for Tjed to be free, THEN SO BE IT!!!" Aaron thrusted his blade towards Virmir, and the Drannivolkan elite quickly started a fight with the other Velkens in the room.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 14th, 2007
"Oh well..." Bell began. "I first met them around five years ago. During the time I was servant with the Crimson Empire. Emperor Draven invited Duilin, Rink and several others to a banquet, so they could talk about the situation with the Aspyes Revolution. I talked to Duilin a lot; he was really different from his friends, or pretty much any other man I met. I fell for him, pretty quickly. But a couple days later I was shipped off from the Crimson Capital and I didn't see Duilin around year and half later."
She sighed, and then rested back in her chair.
"But yeah, Rink and Duilin have apparently been best friends for about six years. So I met Rink through Duilin, pretty much. For a demonic being, he's really nice. It's kind of made me question if he really is what he is. Like he himself isn't even sure about his past, because of his amnesia."
She looked back at Justin. "So what's your story?"
---
"Higgens?" Lagart mumbled. It's too bad he didn't recognize any of the other lizard men. Then again he never had any friends, when he served the empire. Jacobie may have been a good friend of his, but he likely was in a different division then he was.
He looked at Jacobie. "Hmm, no know him." He said referring to Higgens. "Were you in lower sub-sections of Mizar division? I served directly under Gorus' section. He trained me himself."
--- ---
Gorus was sitting on a lifting a dumbell made of rocks. One of the C-Class lizard men came in carrying the reply note from Grav. Gorus set the dumbell down and took the note out of the lizard man's hand and he left him. Gorus unfolded the note and read it, smirking as he did.
"I love that guy. He never fails to crack me up. I need to hang out with him more." Gorus said to himself. He then shouted loudly. "Xarn!!"
In a few seconds Xarn came jogging towards him.
"Yes...yes General?" Xarn asked, panting a bit.
"You got here fast. Anyways, gear up solider I'm takin' you, your squad and my squad to go take out the Kandarinians."
"Yes sir!" Xarn replied, with enthusiasm.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday October 14th, 2007
The glyphs merged back into the wall, isolating Ryleh and Vincent in the small room. Without much hurry, the Scribe picked up a globe of Gaian standing on his desk. He caressed it with a look of utmost love.
-"Beautiful, isn't she, Eldridge? So much land, so little time."
He put the globe back onto the desk. Now, Cain's attention was turned to his guest.
-"Luckily, we don't need the time. That's one of the benefits of living under a powerful monarch's wing. Another little perk is the occasional bone the master throws to his obedient dogs, such as, say, a piece of land... Maybe an entire continent...
"So how unfortunate is it that our leader's mind was touched during his time in the dimension hole that he had to survive in? No man's sanity could survive several months' worth of isolation, all alone in that little world. Even now, he is up in his chamber, whispering words of utmost madness to himself. It was I who was pulling the strings behind every single operation you may have heard of, while he remained the purely symbolic leader of Kandarin. If you do not believe me, ask anyone on the street - the Sovereign has not been spotted in a while, even at public executions - one of his favourite pastimes.
"One thing that remained intact appears to be the Sovereign's eternally quenchless blood thirst, though. He is as eager to take over the world as he always has been, driving his armies of undeath before him. I'm sure you know what happens when a man with power has an... an exhaustive desire for something - that man gets what he wants. It is simply a matter of time.
"I can see that you are a man of opportunity, Vincent. I plan to strike the Lich down once the subjugation of the world is complete. If you happen to help me, perhaps we could split the land he has taken in half.
"If, however, you decide to decline... Well, that is your business, really. If you start asking questions, word will spread, but no one will believe you. Moreover, I might take that as an act of hostility, and, say, announce you as the public enemy of mankind...
"Choose now, Vincent. Simply think of the possibilities that my proposal will open up for you. I'm sure you've controlled your share of power as a general in the Crimson Empire, but it is next to nothing when I speak of controlling half of the known world!"
--- --- ---
Meanwhile, deep below Kandarin in a secret laboratory...
-"AACH!!!! SHE'S BLOVING UP, HERREN!!!"
-"Herr Bauer, calm yourself! The portal's simply opening up, nothing has gone wrong!"
-"But look! The NGO vortex, she isn't closing!"
-"Yes, Herr Bauer, YES, that's the point, it's not supposed to close! That's the way we're taking the Hammer out to the Aether!"
The circular barrier in the vast space below was holding against the powerful tides of gravitation coming from the NGO vortex. One by one, the mammoth pieces of the Hammer were lowered inside, helped by the undead creatures immune to vacuum. Several hours later, the Hammer was entirely in space.
-"The work is not finished just yet, gentlemen," said Von Göth. "It almost is, but not quite yet."
All four senior scientists - Orff, Von Göth, Bauer and Pfitzner - approached the Binding Glyph. They proceeded to take off a small stone from their necklaces. The gems appeared to have been sliced off from a whole - and when the scientists united them above the Binding Glyph, they formed into their original self. It was an almost perfectly smooth, round orb the size of a grape. Once its pieces fit snugly together, it gave off a light static shock, just enough for the scientists to draw their hands away from it. The stone, as if propelled by some invisible force, lowered into the tablet. In a flash of blue, it vanished upon touching the sacred glyph.
As soon as that happened, a large panel made of all sorts of coloured tubes, static charge capacitors, and gauges suddenly sprung to life with activity behind the scientists. The tubes channelled some sort of blue liquid, the capacitors buzzed with electricity, and the gauges raced around their scales.
-"It is done," announced Orff. "The weapon is activated."
--- --- ---
A guard approached Kain.
-"You don't look like you belong to the general populace," he said grimly. "Unless you have important business here, I suggest you make yourself scarce."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday October 15th, 2007
"Me? I was exiled from my order, and came here to help people. My family is still up north, I guess. Well, what's left of it. My parents were killed in a bandit raid, and my brother and sister... we all parted ways. I used to live here, actually, when I was three, along with the rest of my family. When my parents died, I headed up north, my sister Lucia headed to Terian... and I never really knew what happened to my brother." Justin recalled the note he'd recieved when he was injured and in a tent somewhere near Tjed Castle after the battle with Jayce.
"I'm not sure, but I think my mother might still be alive. I recieved a note a while back, written in Geocian, a tribal language, from the north. It was adressed to me from my mother, but she still might be dead, as I've no idea when it was written." Justin sat back down and placed a hand on his forehead. He smiled, though it was small, and somewhat sad.
"Another woman lived with me when I was taken up north, and I fell for her. Her name was Sierana, and like me, she wasn't quite human. She had feelings for me too, wheather she would admit it or not. In the end, when I left, she was there, watching me as I boarded the last ship out of the Arctic. I could hear her, crying. She looked like my mother, just then..."
"I can remember her face again, her green eyes... she was killed, right in front of my eyes. The guard didn't quite make it in time. She held me in her arms as she lived out her last breath... and... she died, holding me in her arms. Ever since then, my brother and sister were never the same. My father fought to protect us until the guard could arive, but he was no fighter. He was stabbed, straight through his heart." A small tear slid softly down his cheak as he relived his past in his mind. He quickly wiped it away, though, and stood up.
"I'm sorry... I'm going to bed, I don't quite feel well." Justin got up from his seat and walked into another room, one with a bed. He shut the door behind him and laid down in the bed.
"Your daughter? You have a daughter?"
"I think the correct term would be 'had' a daughter."
"What happened?"
"She fell in love, that's what. And it was with your friend, the Gepardi."
"Who, Tiberius?"
"No, you fool! Constantine! That's why I hate that man..."
"Because your daughter... fell for him?"
"It wasn't just that. I exiled him to keep my daughter safe... and she turned away from me. She left me as a daughter, and never forgave me..."
"If you wouldn't have exiled him... then maybe-"
"I've heard enough. I wish to be alone."
"I'm... sorry, but I still think-"
"LEAVE ME ALONE, DAMN YOU!!!"
"Y-yes! Right away!"
"Me served in skyward division all of life! Well, since I get to be old enough."
"I met him when he was a trainee. I'd just made my way to captain, and he was under my command for a few weeks to get the hang of things."
"Yes! That how I know Thomas!"
"Just Jacobie, Higgens. Just call me Jacobie."
"Me get going again. See you!"
"Alright. Maybe I'll see you again later!" The lizard soldier waddled off beyond sight, into the city, headed for the castle, no doubt.
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 15th, 2007
"Shit! Frickin' Draken!" Xenai cursed at Valiko as he found his attacks to be mostly ineffective. He took off straight up into the sky... //He's readying the attack he used on Anti in the gaiden.//
Meanwhile, Tsu and Aura were ready to launch their new and improved attack. Rather than grabbing Tsu's arm and spinning around, which would provide fanservice since Aura's not wearing pants under her skirt anymore, and possibly injure her anyways due to both of Tsu's hands wielding Chidoris, Tsu kicked up with both feet toward Aura. She caught his feet and and pushed him as hard as she could towards Valiko. He ended up taking off at incredible speed.
Tsu rocketed towards Valiko, both hands full of compacted swirling balls of lightning energy.
"Rasengan Chidori Nirentotsu!!!"
Twin Spiral Sphere One Thousand Birds
As he came into range of Valiko, he thrusted both hands towards him...
--- --- ---
Anti was still waiting for Valos' response...
--- --- ---
Zion commenced his assault on his new enemies with a bang. He focused on the most dense area of enemies. There didn't seem to be any Velkens in the area, so...
"I call upon thee in the land of the dead, show mine enemies what true power is!!! Indignation Judgment!!!"
A large circle appeared on the ground where the enemies were. They looked down, puzzled. Then a huge lightning-charged sword shot down from the sky, striking in the dead center of the circle. Many, many bolts of lightning followed suit, electrocuting the entire area of the circle.
Most of the enemies near the circle shot a glare at Ultima Eternity, who simply smirked. "Come and get it!" And it was on.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 15th, 2007
//Gah, that's the last time I skip a day.\\
Bell felt really sorry for Justin as he was telling his story. He remembered Duilin telling her a similar story, about how his family was killed. Yet Duilin was much older then Justin, so he's been able to get over it for the most part. Yet, Justin was so young; all of those memories must still be fresh in his mind. She didn't really know what to say or do when Justin got up and left, in tears.
---
Lagart watched Higgens as he walked off. He then looked up at the energy shield surrounding the city, and then around at the quiet city. Everyone was locked up in their houses totally silent.
He looked at Jacobie. "What you think the fox-men are up to?" He asked.
--- ---
Valos caught up with Anti. "I'm aware that you've made some sort of alliance with my lord but I want you to know, that I've got my eye on you, both me and Lord Draven do. So don't try anything funny that might harm either of us." Valos sized Anti and his massive aura, but still refrained from being intimidated. "I don't trust demons."
He looked forward and continued his way but then turned his head back at Anti. "Out of curiosity, what's your motive siding with Draven and not Retan?"
--- ---
Duilin smiled and nodded at Emile. "Hello there." He greeted back. He noticed she was very timid.
He didn't blame her for being scared, she likely hasn't even seen a human before, much less a half breed demon with wings carrying around a blade mace the size of her. He was surprised he didn't scare himself sometimes. The dark coloured clothing he always wears usually added to his scariness, he should probably start wearing more cheerful clothing, or something. Maybe dye his hair blonde, red or maybe blue. And then wear a sweat band and trade in his mace for a longbow crafted by Holy Jinn Elves of the Ancient Romme. And then maybe change his name to something like Arthur or Vance or Mark or Brash or some other good-guy name that was already becoming clichéd. He smiled a bit at the thought of that, finding some humour in the entire situation.
Duilin shrugged the thought of when he realized somebody else was talking to him. "Don't mention it. I'm just doing what any decent person with super-powers would do." He replied to Lucile, with a smile.
"But yeah, nice to meet you."
He stood up and rolled his arms, and stretched his wings out and then folded them back in. "Aw man, I need a rest or something." He put his mace down on the floor, along with the Iduran in its sheath and sat back down. He looked at Emile and Luclie.
"Hey can I ask you two a question? You don't need to answer this, if you don't want to. But, do you find me, well, a bit too scary? I won't be offended or anything if you are." Duilin laughed a bit, after asking that.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday October 15th, 2007
"Hah! What's this, a light show?" Valiko did not move as Tsu blasted towards him, hrms extended. He stood there, waiting fot Tsu to get closer enough. As soon as he was, He disappeared and reappeared instantly behind the attack. It missed as Tsu flew off behind him.
"Nice, but not good enough. Let me show you what powerful is..." Valiko grabbed his glowing dark sword with both hands and prepared to strike. He held it back from himself and drew his aura into the sword. As if shredding the sky around him, He let of a fury of slashes and thrusts, bursts of energy flying in all directions around him. The dark energy was mostly focused towards Aura and Xenai, but it was still blasting from everywhere.
"What is that!?" Tiberius picked himself back up after he was thrown on the ground and raced towards his claymore, pulling it out of the ground.
"A lightning blaze! We've got to move out of the way! If one of those hits us, our power will be crushed by it!" Ben flew after Jannis and Tiberius, grabbing them both and throwing them near Aura and Xenai.
"SPIKE SHIELD!!!" He yelled, and bright yellow spears shot up from the ground, forming a tall enough energy sheild to protect them against the attack. The darkness energy slashed at the shield, bashing into it with great force. The shield was almost destroyed, but as luck would have it, Valiko's sword ran out of darkness energy.
"DAMN SWORD!!! WORK!!! ARGH!"
Posted by: Ted Der on Monday October 15th, 2007
Akran lifted himself up and followed Kronos off the ship. Broken rudder? Great, that's just what he needed.
Akran tried to hide his surprise when Kronos transformed back into the merchant using a sort of amulet, but a thought occurred to him. I wonder if I could obtain one of those things. The advantages if I changed my shape"¦ to think, I wouldn't be running away anymore.
There was one rather large detail Akran did not tell Kronos, and it was that he was being hunted. Back on his home island when Kraaz was on his murdering rampage, Akran got in his way. Kraaz hired an assassination group, The Malanos, to hunt down and kill his brother. Ever since the island burned Akran had been followed. He only just managed to give them the slip when he stowed away on this ship. He had to keep a low profile even here. After all, this island might not be quite deserted, and Kronos' idea wasn't quite to his liking.
Akran frowned and said, "I'm not going to be your slave. I'll be following you in the shadows. Don't worry, I won't loose you. And besides, I'll be out of your way."
With that, Akran drew up his hood and spun away into the shadow of the trees.
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 15th, 2007
Aura caught the two guys and held them safely behind the energy shield, watching Tsu carefully. He'd thought he was gonna hit, but he had a feeling he'd miss anyways. He turned a flip, and shot some energy to the ground underneath him from his feet to propel him back towards Valiko. "One more time-!" He thrusted his hands out again...
Xenai, meanwhile, had reached the top of his ascent, and was close to leaving the atmosphere. "This is high enough. Don't wanna lose any air..." He built up as much energy as he could...
--- --- ---
"...I don't care if you trust me or not. I will tell you my intention outright, in fact. I intend to destroy Gaian, as well as the whole universe. And I believe Draven knows that as well. Retan is my biggest obstacle. The reason I sided with Draven and not Retan is simple: Retan is stronger."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday October 15th, 2007
"HRAAAAGH!!!"
A circular bowl a half mile wide vanished from the ocean as the water instantly evaporated. Draven scowled as he thrust the massive blast straight at Retan's helmeted face.
The Dark Emperor reached and grabbed the brilliant red explosion with his left hand as the flames totally engulfed him. He thrust his arm straight down and a bright white pillar of light burst forth from the ocean floor.
A tidal wave formed from off the north-eastern coast of Terian, expanding like a ring in a pond. The mushroom cloud would linger for another hour.
When the blast faded, the ocean under the two flying warriors simply wasn't there anymore. Instead, a crater stood several miles in diameter, with edges so high the ocean waves could not spill back down into the gaping hole.
Draven was looking quite exhausted...
He floated there, several hundred feet above the crater, bent over with his arms hanging limply to his sides. His aura burned a dimmer shade of red than usual.
Retan stood straight, as if he were standing atop an invisible platform. "Unfortunate."
Slowly, the Dark Emperor reached into his cape, removing what resembled a gleaming black sword hilt. Pointing it diagonally downward, a brilliant flash burst forth from the handle, and a vibrant blade of crimson energy materialized, roughly scimitar in shape. Unlike Draven's, it did not burn.
Draven's eyes widened, and he clenched his teeth.
Retan moved as a black blur, the edges lined with the bright crimson blade. Draven barely had enough time to form his own sword of fire, and threw it up barely in time to avoid decapitation. Again and again Retan struck and Draven madly blocked, driven backwards by the Dark Emperor's blows. Each time their blades clashed, a thunderous *boom* resonated through the heavens, and blast of superheated wind burst forth from their location.
Emile huged Renard's waist when Duilin asked the question and Renard laughed.
The interior of the ship had several seats lined up with windows on either end. Clearly a transport vessel. Lucile took a seat opposite Duilin, two of her guards staying close on either side.
"Well, you certainly look a lot different than us," the silver fox said, chuckling. "The wings are very stately though, I think. And you're a heck of a lot better looking than the Lizard Men."
Outside the windows, the barren landscape blurred as the ship thundered towards Tjed.
"Who is that?"
"Upper B-class human, sir, possibly an A-minus. Aura enhanced by an unknown entity."
Rikarl scratched the fur under his muzzle. "Thank the gods. They weren't kidding when they said the humans would ally with us."
The gigantic serpentine dragon screamed, and swatted at the two Velkens. Rikarl and the Blade Knight zipped 300 feet straight up to avoid the claws. The dragon retaliated by shooting black bolts of lightning in all directions.
"Blast it! Maybe we can get him to give us a hand with this thing."
Virmir's eyes narrowed when he saw the Drannivolka. "Felines..." His eyes shifted to Aaron. "If you choose to forfeit your life, then so be it."
A thunderous fight broke out, the mad clanging of blades buzzing through the room. In a fluid motion, Virmir drew the Flameburge and split the air from top to bottom. A blast of flame cleaved the stone floor as it surged straight for the Arionian Emperor...
Vincent placed his arms behind his back.
"Mr. Ryleh, I have never seen the Sovereign in person, and as you say, I am indeed a man of opportunity. As far as I'm concerned, you've been running the show from my point of view anyway. Should you require any assistance in your deed, merely give me a call and I will see what I can do. Your secret is safe with me."
He adjusted his glasses. "But I am no fool. Prove to me you will succeed, and when the time is right, I will aid you. If you cannot... well, let me put it this way. There are two men upon Gaian I would never mess with no matter how high the gains. I haven't seen what the Sovereign can do in person, but from what I hear, he's close to becoming the third."
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 15th, 2007
Zion looked toward the gigantic serpent thing. "That looks problematic... I should get rid of it." He charged up a lot of energy inside himself, slowly floating towards the monster.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday October 15th, 2007
//REALLY sorry to do this this way, as there simply isn't enough time (and enough Kronoses) for me to do anything else.\\
The titanic waves finally calmed, leaving nothing but smooth sands behind. Several skeleton trees still stood in the distance, naked without their leaves and branches. Some poor fisherman's hut was completely blown away before the water even touched it - by the terrible shockwave the tsunamis chased before them.
After the mist settled, a small gust of wind appeared to bring about a cloud of dust. The dust spun in a twirling vortex, solidifying into a man. Finally, the gloomy silhouette of Damien Roth showed through.
Carelessly, apathetically almost, he rose up into the air, carried by the wind to the monstrous battle between Retan and Draven. From his belt shone two blades - an axe, and a halberd...
--- --- ---
-"You're not going to be my slave? Trust me, my friend: it is better to surrender your will now rather than have it be torn from you by me later. Besides, this was supposed to be nothing but a pretend show. I simply do not want to scare off the inhabitants, as, I'm sure you've noticed, my true appearance is not exactly easy on the eyes...
"But as I said, this is only a pretend show. Fine, follow me in the shadows, if you're going to be so picky."
A short walk later, we finally entered the settlement. At first, I suspected that I was looking at a fishing village - however, a closer study told me that this was not so. For one, a normal fishing village might be centred around fishing, but not... to this extent...
I was surrounded by buildings made entirely from parts of ships, or at least what resembled parts of ships. I beheld tall edifices that seemed to be sawed off ship bows; lank towers resembling masts; small tent-like structures made from pieces of broken dinghies.
Another detail that caught my eye was the appearance of the inhabitants. Their clothes seemed to be more suiting to caravan guards than sailors. Many didn't wear shirts, preferring instead to show off their elaborate tattoos on their chests. The rest of their clothes was quite baggy, and quite colourful: I felt as if this was some sort of a human zoo.
The other, and possibly most disturbing thing I noticed was a strange symbol seen all over the place: a shield-like mask, of sorts, with six eyes on it. It was on people's tattoos, it was on their flags, it was on their standards hanging over their homes. A few of them were scratched directly into wood with great craftsmanship. Obviously, whatever this symbol may have meant, it was of great importance to them.
One of the natives finally noticed me, and emitted a short, shrill two-note whistle. At once, I was surrounded by several heavy-built men with their heads veiled in bright scarves, wielding great marble hammers. The hammers had the same symbol engraved on them (they want to beat their enemies with the face of their deity? Rather odd, if you ask me).
-"You! Fat one! Who are you? How did you get here?"
-"FAT one? I'll have you know that--"
I quickly caught a hold of myself.
-"Excuse me. I am... uhm... Dronos, a travelling merchant. My ship has crashed, and my slave was killed. I have nothing to eat. If you get me back to my lands, my reward for you will be great."
The guards lowered their weapons, probably discouraged by my somewhat non-intimidating appearance. I took a sigh of relief; if one of them decided to swing that hammer at me, I'd have to drop my disguise and kill them all. I really prefer to draw my fun out instead of having it done all at once.
-"Really? I think you're lying," said a taller one, the one who whistled at me. "But no matter. You don't look very strong, anyway. Maybe we should cut that fat gut of yours to pieces and roast it."
-"Nah," another one interjected. "The fat ones' meat is all greasy. Runs down your mouth like slime."
A roar of laughter nearly knocked me backwards. Whoever they were, they certainly laughed loud...
-"Please," I squeezed through my teeth. This was the first time I've said that word in months. "Let me stay. I promise, I'll reward you with gold, wine, women, or whatever else you may desire."
Men, maybe? Heheheh.
-"Fine, fine... I guess we could find you a place in a pig sty or something. You'd fit right in."
Another burst of deafening laughter. How annoying.
-"Thank you, kind sir... May I know who you are, though?"
The native pulled his chest up, with a smug expression on his face.
-"We are the Margonites, after our leader, Elder Margo. I myself am called Mikhalos, and this is our town of Boreas. We're only staying here for two or three months, before the chilling winter winds begin to blow."
What the hell ever, I don't care. I pushed myself through the guards, who made no attempt to stop me. Now everyone was back to work, looking at me casually, at best. I hid behind one of the buildings.
-"Akran! Akran, you worthless pile of albatrash refuse! Show yourself!"
--- --- ---
Cain clearly looked agitated.
-"It really would be for the best if you accepted now, Mr. Eldridge, but I cannot force your hand. Know, however, that--"
The M-grid orb lit up.
-"Yes? Foreman Kampard? The weapon is completed?"
-"Yes, Scribe. We're sending it off to you right now. It might take a while to arrive, it is rather slow."
-"Excellent... Mr. Eldridge, you are dismissed."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday October 15th, 2007
//This one's a biggie...
"Ugh!" Aaron was knocked back off his feet as the surge of flame blasted him to the ground. He quickly regained his stance as he held his blade close, guarding himself from any further attacks that might be made.
"Elite, keep at it! These ones are faster..." Aaron made another swipe for Virmir, clearly knowing that he would miss. He'd hoped he would miss, for he had a ball of energy in his other hand. He threw it at the ground where he suspected the Velken to move towards.
Justin pulled the letter from his pocket. He'd remembered that he'd just shoved it aside, never opened it to read. He unfolded the piece of parchment, and what he saw had shocked him. It wasn't from his mother...
Dearest Justin,
Please, don't just throw this away. Ive made my way to Tjed a few years back, but never remembered to send you a message. I've managed to escape my father's dark grip, and I sensed your presence in Tjed. Alas, it is the only free kingdom on Gaian, besides the Arctic, but that vile place is out of the question. I wish to be with you again soon. Please, come find me. I'll most likely be in Tjedon. Oh, and your sister will be with me as well. She came here to find you, or so she says. I'll be waiting!
Stay safe,
Princess Sierana Valimore
He was crushed. How could he have made such a mistake? The message was written in a code that only his mother and himself knew. How did she know how to write in it? Whatever the reason, he knew he had to find her. Justin got up from his bed and left the room.
"Something's come up. I need to leave for a moment. Stay here with the others, I'll be back shortly." Justin left the house and told Jacobie and Lagart the same.
"How will you pass up the other Lizardmen?"
"Easily, that's how. Remember your blood?"
"Oh, right. I nearly forgot why I was wearing this bandage! Hah, well good luck. Be sure to come back ASAP, alright?"
"I will..." Justin's body lit up for a brief moment as his shape changed into a larger creature, his lizardman form. He then raced off into the city a bit further.
"Where would she be? She never told me where she was... wait a moment, I might be able to sense here, just like I did when I first got here! Alright then... REVEAL YOUR PATH!!!" He slammed his hand into 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, followed by a trail that hadn't been there before, which Justin began to follow.
"Heh... reminds me of those moments not too long ago." He continued along the trail, curving every now and then around buildings and foliage. The trail eventually lead to a small house, near the castle. He knocked on the door, waiting for a response... nothing.
"Hello? Hey, anyone there?" The Gepardi looked around the house to see if someone was possibly outside, but saw not a single person. All but a few lizardmen here and there, patroling the streets. He decided to knock once more, three times against the oak door. This time, he heard voices, sounding like two women.
"Lucia, could you get the door?"
"Why me? The lizardmen!"
"Ugh, fine. Stay there, I'll get it!" Several clicks could be heard as locks were undone and pushed to the side. As the noises stopped, a woman's voice could be heard again.
"Who is it?" Justin had just remembered he was in lizard form still.
"Jacobie," he said, trying to think of something. The door slowly opened, and there stood a beautiful-looking woman, and a little girl waiting near by.
"Oh, a lizardman... whatever you want, get on with it. I've got things to do."
"Heh. Thought you might say something like that... princess." The woman at the door was taken aback. Could this lizardman know her, she thought.
"What in hell's name is going on here? Who are you really?" A bright, white light surrounded Justin once again, and he changed back to his human form.
"I was looking for-"
"JUSTIN!?!?!?" The woman was awestruck at what she'd seen. "No... it can't be, my mind must be fooling me... it really is you, isn't it?"
"Justie? Brother...? Say something!"
"So, where did you find Lucy?"
"Terian... oh, Justin!" The woman threw herself into Justin's arms. He'd just enough time to hold her before she forced him to fall down.
"I knew I'd see you again! I can't believe it's only been a short time! It's seemed like an eternity as we were apart."
"Don't worry, I'll be around just yet. I got the letter, by the way."
"Justie!" The little girl in the room ran up to the both of them and hugged around the two of them.
"Haha! How've you been, Lucy?" The girl did not respond. They were both very excited to see Justin standing before them.
"Oh, sorry. Please, come in!" Sierana let him into the small home and shut the door behind them. There were two chairs at a table.
"Lucy, it's long past your bed time."
"But Justie! Brother... please? Please?"
"No, Lucy! You'll wake up sick tomorrow!"
"No fair! Brother here!"
"There will be plenty of time tomorrow, now hurry off to bed!" The little girl walked away, deeper into the house.
"Sorry about that... well, have a seat."
"What happened to Lucy? Why does she tak like that?"
"Do you really need to be reminded of what happened to you?"
"Heh, back for more? I'm getting bored with this." Valiko lowered himself back to the ground to avoid Tsu's second attack, but he was too late. The attack hit him in his chest, sending him flying a few feet back into the air. He was a bit shaken after the attack, but regained his power quickly and went back to his spot in the skies.
"You ACTUALLY hurt me... I'm impressed. But you should know this won't happen often." Valiko held both his hands back next to his side and began charging residual dark energy from the area. It flowed into his cupped hands as an orb started to form, his aura increasing in size and power. The orb began to gain more and more size until it was about a whole foot in diameter. He then pressed his hands together and formed a dark energy disk from the orb. The disk was much larger, reaching three feet in diameter. He held the disk above his head and blasted it after Tsu.
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 15th, 2007
Tsu whipped out Kuon Yaiba and deflected it upwards, over his head. He turned around and looked at it, knowing that it would probably just come back towards him. But knowing what Xenai was going to do, he chased after it... And flew past it! Aura looked up and got the message. She flew a safe distance away from Valiko as well.
Meanwhile... Xenai finished charging.
"Okay, take this! One of my best moves!"
<Insert awesome cut-in of Xenai here>
"Super Omega Striker!!!"
Xenai shot down to the earth then, at lightspeed, perhaps faster, closing in on Valiko's energy signal. If something didn't mess him up, he would slash through him as he passed by, and slam right into the ground, causing a glorious, catastrophic explosion of earth and water. The force and speed of his descent would cause incredible gusts in every direction, down the entire length of his descent.
--- --- ---
Zion had arrived in front of the serpent, gazing upon it. At that moment, he finished charging up, and was now glowing with a bright golden light. A longsword appeared in his hand.
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Tuesday October 16th, 2007
"Waah! What's going on!?" Ko'ji, along with Arata and Jack, stood aside as the battle raged on. She needed to get the humans out of the castle and to safety, or so she had thought.
"You two, we've got to get out of this mess! Follow me!"
"Best damn idea I've heard all day. Jack, follow!" The three of them left the battle via the stairway the strangers had used before. Up the stairs, one could smell the stench of dead lizardmen. It nearly made Ko'ji puke, but she held her nose atop her muzzle and clamped it shut with air magic.
"Alright... um, this way!" Suspecting that the other two would follow, Ko'ji hurried down the halls in 'human speed' to have the others keep up. They did indeed follow, but one might ask, why couldn't they just escape?
"Here's a window, now get out of here before you get hurt..."
"We can't do that."
"What!? Why not!?"
"Because, we are prisoners." Arata got down to one knee and grabbed Ko'ji's hand.
"We are also in your debt. You saved us, where no other would have." He kissed her hand and looked back up. She blushed slightly.
"I will make sure you stay safe!" He got back up from the ground and put a hand on her shoulder. He was a fair bit taller than her. "Where to now, my lady?" My lady? Ko'ji was beginning to like this, for some odd reason.
"Okay. I guess you're with 'US' then, huh?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, we're with the dark empire. I managed to grab your weapons before we left the room." In her hands was a long, thin blade, Arata's katana. In the other, a broadsword, meant for Jack. They both took their weapons respectively.
"Hmm... That's twice, do we owe you... Could I get your name?"
"It's Ko'ji Riuki. Just call me Ko'ji, as I'm more used to that."
"Yes ma'am!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday October 16th, 2007
Duilin smiled. "Well, thanks I guess." He said to Lucile, he looked at Emile as she hugged her brother's waist, in fear.
"But I see, you likely don't share the same opinion as Renard's sister." He looked back at Lucile.
"But that's alright, really I'm not surprised. Hel..." He stopped himself to watch his language around the kid. "Heck, when I was a kid, I'd be scared sh"¦senseless if I saw myself today. I actually wasn't born with these wings."
--- ---
"Xarn." Gorus said stepping towards him. Xarn was rallying up his troops, making sure the attendance was all set up.
"Yes, High General?"
"We're going to be traveling in airships, so get your troops into the docking bay." He stated.
"Yes, High General."
"Eh, cut the 'High General' buff for now." Gorus said with a grin. "Let's have the battle to be an ode to the good ole' days."
"You got it!"
Posted by: Coriko on Tuesday October 16th, 2007
"I'm here on behalf of the shadow empire. I wish to speak to who ever is in charge."
Kain took a step forward to show the guard he meant buisness.
"This is a diplomatic visit sir. Now, show me to whoever is in charge."
---
Yuri was in his office, scribbling down mad notes. To anyone else this would be incoherent scribbles but to Yuri and the only other genius on the island, Druid. These were amazing plans of attack and strategy for their army. Yuri took a step back from his work and examined his latest plans.
"This battle is already won."
He then dove back into adjusting and modifying his plans.
---
Baird had now visited a good number of slums and taverns, inns and bars. The word was being spread and burly men were rushing around the streets passing on the word. The men were gathering weapons and such and he could see his army. Baird walked through the hustle of soldiers. He was making his way towards the army barracks. He was gunna have a well trained army, that would make this world crumble under the Shadow Empire.
---
"North-east, two of them. Skinny figures, no apparent weapon. You take left, I'll ta..."
Coriko stopped talking. He pointed to the North, West, South. These creatures, things, monsters were coming from almost all sides. There were a lot of them now.
"Okay Wilham, there is a lot of them now. Any battle strategies? 'Cause there is more then two of those things now. C'mon they are getting closer."
The things were only a few meters from them now. Coriko summoned his bow and pulled a bunch of arrows from his quiver. He was ready to shoot, but was waiting for Wilham. They were still unsure these things were harmful, but then again the way they were advancing proved to be pretty malicious.
"Wilham?"
Posted by: Ted Der on Tuesday October 16th, 2007
Akran crouched in the bushes just at the edge of the village. He peered through the trees and watched the colourful tribal men welcome Kronos with their loud laughter.
Crack.
Akran whipped around. No one there. He thought for sure he heard something. Meh, probably a rat or something. He continued to watch the village. It looked like everybody went back to whatever they were doing before. Where did Kronos go?
The he heard Kronos call out to him. Where was he? Akran slowly moved through the trees towards the Sovereign's voice.
Crack.
There it was again. Akran turned around and scanned the bushes again. Nothing. What the hell? He took out his bow and drew an arrow just in case. Akran turned back and carefully stepped through the trees. Finally he saw Kronos. He looked like he was hiding behind a building on the edge of the village.
Akran was about to call out when suddenly a black furry creature sprang out of the bushes in front of him. Akran had barely enough time to react. He threw up his arm to protect his face as the creature lunged. Its sharp teeth sunk into Akran's arm. He let out a cry of pain and shook his arm to free himself from this"¦ thing.
Akran stood up and kicked the creature off of him. In one fluid, lightning quick movement, Akran pulled back his bow string and let loose and arrow. It caught his target in the shoulder. The creature fell down and writhed on the ground in agony, but then did something he did not expect it to do. The thing rose to its knees and ripped off his head. Or at least it looked like it at first; actually it seemed to be wearing a sort of mask, and when Akran had a chance to see what was underneath, he gasped. It was one of the tribal men.
"Ayi, ayi!" the man cried, calling for help.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday October 16th, 2007
"What's this? Holy crap!" Valiko flew out of range from the thunderous Xenai, raging down at him with his attack, though he didn't quite make it out. The attack hit his foot, smashing into it with such power, the foot was punched off his intire body. Valiko screamed in pain.
"AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!" His aura focused around his foot, and slowly, his body began to regenerate the broken limb. Another foot soon materialized where the old one was, blood still dripping from where the attack had hit.
"You little son of a bitch. TAKE THIS!!!" Valiko grabbed his still-empowered darkness blade and raced forwards at Xenai, sending one shockwave after another at him. His rage was giving him more and more power, almost causing him to overflow. He was using his energy at an intense rate, though it just recharged itself because of the darkness that surrounded Terian.
"I thought she'd be over that by now..."
"Are you kidding? You still aren't, are you."
"Well... I've mostly forgotten about it... but no, not completely."
"You never will. It's a life-changing experience, and it effects us all to have to see others suffer."
"So, just one question... how 'did' you manage to escape Valimore?"
"Damion, you mean?"
"Well, yeah I suppose."
"I'd rather you call him by his first name than his last. That's my name as well, you know."
"Oh, right... well?"
"Okay, okay. I had to smuggle myself out. A freighter was headed here, so I snuck on board. I found your sister on there, shortly after. It appears the ship had come from Terian."
"You what!? But... you're a princess! How could you do that to yourself?"
"Nothing mattered to me at that time, except... finding you."
"I'm sorry I had to leave you like that. I know that was the first time you'd ever cried about something."
"You... saw me...?"
"Well, yeah. You were standing in the middle of the harbor, a bit in front of your father."
"Oh my... I didn't know that." Her face turned bright red.
"Don't worry about it. It happened all the time to me whenever I thought of mt parents... hang on a sec, what was I just doing before I got here?"
"Hmm?"
"Oh blast! My companions... I have to leave-"
"Not without us, you're not!"
"It's too dangerous where I'm going, and-"
"Don't give me that load of crap! I've saved your skin plenty of times over in the Arctic Region!"
"Fine... you can come, I guess..."
"I wasn't asking."
"What about Lucy?"
"She's probably asleep by now. If she's awake, then I suppose we can take her with us... otherwise, one of us is going to have to carry her. I'll go get her." Sierana left the room for a brief moment, and returned with Lucy. She was indeed awake.
"Alright then, let's go."
"Where we going?"
"Nowhere special. Just follow me." Justin opened the door to the house and waited for the others to follow, closing it behind them. He then walked down the road silently as he could, the others doing just the same. At last he came upon a house with two lizardmen sitting out in front; Lagart and Jacobie."
"Oi, who are they?"
"I'll tell you later. It's getting cold out here, you might want to pack it in soon..." Justin walked into the house.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday October 16th, 2007
Blow-for-blow, the battle raged on between the emperors of Darkness and Fire, though Draven was doing a lot more blocking. Despite Retan's bulky black armor and apparent age, he slashed his crimson blade with amazing fluidity and quickness, and each block from Draven's fiery sword only served to push him back and back as the two fought hundreds of feet above the crater.
Thier focus was only on each other, and they ignored the warriors that seemed to approach from all around...
"Whomever you are, kind sir, you have our gratitude." Rikarl said as he flew a half-circle around Zion. The human certainly had an interesting head-fur color. Could they all grow wings like that?
The Velken Squad Leader dove straight towards the black serpent's face. The monster snapped at him, but he flew straight up at the last second and nicked the monster's nose with his blade. It screamed in fury.
Meanwhile, five Velken Battle Mages, clad in black robes, circled Zion. A pentagram appeared in the air underneath him, the the golden glow that the warrior gave off suddenly doubled in magnitude. His next blow would be amplified in power 300%.
Rikarl spun a figure-8 around the monster's snake-like body and rushed back towards the human with the charged attack ready. At the last moment, the silver fox dropped straight down, and the pursing dragon flew smack-dab in Zion's line of sight...
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday October 16th, 2007
Anti could see the two fighting now. "Finally... My true power shall be known!" He accelerated forward...
--- --- ---
"No problem guys. Thanks for the buff." Zion smiled at them. The Eternity Weapon he wore glowed an intense amount more. He pulled the sword back... "Take this!!!"
<Awesome cut-in of Zion.>
"Super Ultima Striker!!!"
This one operated upon the same fundamental element of speed that Xenai's did, however, it was different in its execution: Rather than relying upon one colossal blow, he delivers an incredible amount of smaller ones. He swooped past his target, slashing it as many times as he could in one second... which, as Ultima Eternity, turned out to be around 72 or so (would probably be closer to 45-ish with Zion alone). He ended in the same spot in which he started, his back turned to the monster...
--- --- ---
Shit! Well, at least I got his foot! Xenai frowned as he swooped past, managing only to lop off a foot. He slammed into the ground as planned, creating the aforementioned catastrophic explosion of earth and water. Wind raged out in all directions. Tsu braced himself and covered his eyes, slowly being pushed back by the sheer force of the attack. He was the closest to where it hit the ground. Aura shut her eyes and gripped Ben's two companions tightly, holding her position as best as she could.
The cataclysm eventually ended, and Xenai looked up at Valiko to find... His foot was back. "Son of a monkey smacker!" He started to block the incoming shockwaves the best that he could, but he was having difficulty. Tsu was about to charge in towards Valiko, but Aura phased in before him. "Let me do this one." She handed the two guys off to him, pulled her scimitar out of hammer-space, and charged in, swinging at his head upon coming in range.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
"OUT OF MY WAY!!!" Valiko blasted an over-powered beam of darkness energy at Aura and continued his assault on Xenai. He wasn't going to stop until he had vengence. Sending more waves after him, he'd finally realized his disk had missed Tsu, its target. The Draken ascended into the air and held his hands up, preparing some sort of dark spell no doubt.
"Now, you will taste my real POWER!!!" A tremendous thunder could be heard from the skies above. He was conjuring a storm, creating a super cell with his dark energy. Hot winds gusted around him in an upwards direction, creating a tornado. Valiko was centered inside the massive gust, and he was nearly finished with his spell.
"YOU WILL SEE!!!" He shouted again. Valiko threw his hands down next to his sides, and as he did so, the sky above began to blast dark lightning all around the area within a half-mile radius. The blasts came down and as they hit the ground, they created miniature earthquakes. Some of the blasts sank deeper into the gravel, bursting into a raging inferno when they'd hit the ground. It was hailing large chunks of ice as well. He'd fused nearly all elements; earth, water, fire, air, and darkness. The destruction was insane, and Valiko began loosing his strength. The only thing that could destroy him now was the final element... light.
"Protection of divinity!" Ben brought his hands into the air, creating small shields around everyone but himself. He'd only had enough power left in him to do this. Alas, he could do nothing to protect himself against the destructive rage of Valiko, and he was torn apart by the destructive force of the super cell.
"This is my final wish," he told the others, "Kill that maniac." Several bolts of dark lightning hit Ben where he stood, electricuting him and forcing him to the ground. As they erupted into flames, so did he. Great heaps of ice fell down upon him like spears and swords, stabbing into his flesh. He had his last breath drawn, and one final spear of ice struck deep into his heart. Blood poured from his mouth and body, his flesh searing from the inferno. The angelic warrior was dead.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
"Hey! Don't move so fast!" Valos shouted at Anti as he zoomed ahead. He flew faster trying to keep up...
--- ---
"I got an idea." He held out both of his hands and shot two white fogs at the same time from the diamonds on his gauntlets. The white fogs took the shape of green nymphs, which then flew towards the mutos.
"They might not be hostile, so they'll find out for us." Wilham said. "If they get attacked they'll likely attack us."
Posted by: Coriko on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
"Good idea Wilham!!" Coriko said. He was wishing that these 'mutos' were friendly.
---
Baird walked the streets. Almost at his destination, he stopped. The army barracks was on one of the island's coasts. This would allow soldiers to swim in the water building strength and stamina. Baird looked out over this new, and strange water. It wasn't as blue or clear as the water on his world. But those days were gone. This was his world now. Baird moved on towards the army barracks.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
"When the savage jumped out at Akran, he attracted the attention of several Margonites, who drew close. With their hammers at the ready, they eyed Akran and the man.
-"Who are you? Nagi, lay off him. I repeat, stranger: Who are you?"
--- --- ---
The guard threw a sour look at Kain.
-"Yeah, they all come on diplomatic visits... Our leader? Do you have an appointment with him? If you do, I'll gladly show you in."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
For a few hours, the airship silently hummed over the ocean as it sped toward the island of Tjed. One of Lady Urocy's guards took the helm and guided the black vessel though the night sky with Renard hovering over his shoulder, giving suggestions on how to fly the thing. Renard never actually piloted a Dark Empire vessel before, but he'd ridden in several, and seen the lizards as they moved the various levers in the cockpits. The concepts were similar to various flotation devices back on Welkin.
He wondered if he would ever see home again. Or had Retan already destroyed it? It didn't really matter, as long as his people were safe...
For how long was another story. Retan still lived on Gaian...
After a while, the dark shape of an island loomed ahead, and beyond the mountains a faint green glow.
"Shoot... I forgot about that..." Renard clenched his teeth. "The dome. I'm not sure how we'll be able to get in. We've got three destroyer class battle ships hovering over the city..."
"It will work. Our rank trumps the lizards." The impromptu pilot said.
"Yeah, but I'm bringing six Velkens they've never seen before with me and Duilin. They're probably gonna get suspicious."
"We only need the ruse to last long enough for Lord Virmir to get the message that we're free. He'll take care of the rest. Trust me..."
Virmir dodged the strike with a wild spin and a slash of the blade. He started to fly in the direction of the blast Aaron threw, but instead shot straight up into the air at a right angle, defying all sense of gravity. He flipped completely upside down and pressed his feet against the ceiling, bending his knees as he waited for a brief moment to spring. Taking the Flamberge in both hands, he kicked off from the ceiling right at Aaron and jammed the blade a good foot into the solid stone floor, which cracked apart as pulses of flames surged outwards from the fire-enchanted sword.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
"I'm sure they'll get the idea." Duilin assured. "I just hope Virmir is outside and is able to see." He rubbed his lower lip in thought.
"Well, maybe if I could send a telepathic message to Rink he'd be able to get Virmir's attention." He suggested. "But I don't know if that shield blocks telepathic messages or something. I've heard some can. Plus I'm not perfect in doing that."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
"Blast..." Aaron leaped away from the surge of fire erupting from the enchanted swoer and rolled forwards. He turned to face the Velken that managed to shove his blade into the stone floor and swiftly reacted by slashing horizontally.
"Hah!!! You cannot possibly hope to defeat me!" The super cell subsided and the thunderous rage had come to a hault. There was so much ice on the ground, it looked like it was snow, crushed into smaller perticles by the earthquakes and the infernos, which had ceased as well.
"I've got a gift for you, Draken... before I go." It appeares Ben was still alive, but brutally in pain. It's a wonder why he didn't just give in when the pain made him suffer so much. The severly injured angel extended his arm slightly off the ground and pointed it towards Valiko.
"From me... to you... choke on it." With his last power, Ben shot a beam of light at Valiko. It shot a hole straight through his right arm. For some reason, his aura did not respond. In fact, it had died down right after the shot. This must have meant he was vulnerable.
"Alas, my father calls me to his realm. Ado, until we meet again, my friends." The soul of Ben had left its body and said a last farewell. It then blasted skyward, ready to return to his realm.
//Bjendell Mjord is now Inactive
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
Aura was blasted back by the beam of darkness, caught totally off-guard. She turned a backflip and halted herself, while Xenai continued deflecting shockwaves... until the super cell started. The three cried out in unison upon seeing their companion struck...
"Ben!!!"
The three watched, stuck inside their energy shields, as Ben gave up his last amount of life force. All three were overtaken with feelings of sadness and rage... One warrior, though, due to not having any experience with death... Was completely and totally enraged...
"You... BASTARD!!!"
"Aura!" Tsu and Xenai switched their attention to the raging femme. The energy barrier around her shattered, and energy was building up inside her like crazy. Huge gusts shot out in every direction from her. "What power!" Xenai was almost scared of it.
You could tell that traces of the Zerobi no Anti that had been left behind had activated in her upon such a heavy emotional response... amplifying her power like crazy, and even modifying her personality, making her much more brusque and aggressive. "Ben gave us this chance... I'm not gonna ****ing waste it!!!"
She held her arms out to the side, gathering energy in each hand.
"That's way too much energy!" exclaimed Tsu. "How can she handle that much?!"
She then connected her wrists, aiming up at Valiko.
"Go to hell!" <Awesome cut-in.> "Final...! FLASH!!!" A gargantuan wave of energy blasted forth towards Valiko...
--- --- ---
Anti slowed down a tad, feeling his own energy activate. He soon came to a halt, and turned around, looking in the direction of the battle he'd left behind. "... I suppose that since I've powered up... the scraps that they forgot to clean out when they exorcised me... They've powered up too." He sighed, and turned around. "No more wasting time." He took off toward the battle he was headed towards. He was almost there.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday October 17th, 2007
"What's wrong...? Why won't you regenerate! Damn it all, that angel fool!!!" The Draken then saw the intense energy coming from Aura. She blasted a mamoth beam of energy that would surely destroy anything that got it its way, and there stood Valiko, completely vulnerable to the power. His aura gone, he was now doomed. The blast consumed him and tore his body to shreds, leaving absolutely nothing behind... except his sword. A black escence swirled around and entered the dark blade, and it resonated with an evil force.
"BEN, NO!!!" Jannis cried as she saw her love die and ascend into another realm of being. She was torn, but unlike Aura, she'd turned her energy into sorrow rather than rage. Grief would soon consume her, should she sit still and let it.
"Let it be, Jannis. He'll be back, but it will take time. Us monks know how the angels work. They're always back, and just at the right time. He'll come back. I know he will..." Tiberius put his unruly manner behind after seeing the angelic warrior obliterated. He walked forward and stared at the evil sword.
"What do we do with you now, Vraoumori...?"
"Use me..." The sword seemed to call out as a faint whisper. Was it only Tiberius? No, the others could hear it as well. The voice echoed through their minds.
"No... NO! Get out of my head!"
"Use me... and 'gods' will envy your power."
"NO!!! Damn you, Draken..."
"You can make the world crumble at your feet... make the dark emporer bow to you, beg you for mercy."
"RRRAAAAGGHHH!!!" The sword was corrupting his mind. Tiberius, knowing that it needed to be destroyed, could not bring himself up to the task. The sword lifted itself into the air, floating in front of him.
"Use me, and I can end your nightmares. Don't you want to have revenge on that vampire?"
"What...? How do you...?" This time, only Tiberius could hear the voices. It chose him to be its pawn.
"He killed your family, did he not? Sucked their blood dry, did he not? BANISHED YOU FROM YOUR RIGHTFUL HOME, DID HE NOT!?!?!?"
"What... what are you saying...? What should I do?"
"You know what must be done, child. Take up the sword, and slaughter them all. Every single tribesman from the northern Arctic Region... Must. Die." Tiberius, now attracted to the power of the sword, reached for it as it floated in the air.
"Yes..." He could hear in his mind, "Good... Good..."
"I won't use you, but I won't let anyone else either!" He pulled out what looked like a blue stone, glowing with an enchanted, magical aura. He grabbed the sword and tapped it against the stone. The dark blade dematerialized and was absorbed into the stone. It changed from blue to dark red and a few stretches of black and purple. The aura was the same color as Valiko's; purple and black.
"It matters not, child. You and I both know you can still use my power..."
"He's finished. Now what do we do?"
//Valiko Vraoumori is now Inactive
Posted by: Trent on Thursday October 18th, 2007
"Well..." Omega Zero reverted. Now only Xenai remained in his normal form. "Let me think on that one."
Aura fell to her knees, floating in the air. "My god..." Tsu floated over to her, embracing her. "What did I do?!" By now, her rage had worn off. "It seems that when we exorcised the Zerobi," said Tsu, "some traces were left behind, and they empowered you."
"That demon... is still inside me?!"
"Just little parts of it. I think maybe we should take advantage of it. We can use his own power against him. We should start trying to learn how to control that power as soon as possible."
"I guess... it makes sense."
"Are you sure you wanna do that?" asked Xenai.
"Yeah... why?" asked Tsu.
"You noticed how she changed, didn't you?"
"Yeah..."
"Just make sure you don't lose yourself in the power."
Xenai stroked his chin. "Now, as for what to do... I seriously don't think we should chase after Anti now. I think that by now... He's made it to Retan."
--- --- ---
"How are you, gentlemen?!?!"
The Zerobi no Anti had finally arrived at the battle. He grinned evilly toward Retan and Draven, though he was obviously focused on Retan.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday October 18th, 2007
"Blast it!" Valos increased his speed. "He better not try anything." He continued moving, faster and faster but he wasn't there yet.
--- ---
The woman hesitated. "I want to be alone." She thought for a moment and sat down. "But...well, maybe talking to somebody wouldn't hurt." She took a deep breath. "My name is Ophelia...No it's, Sienna. Sorry, um..." She cleared he throat and was silent. Her mind went blank.
Posted by: Mikado on Thursday October 18th, 2007
"Of course it won't!" The girl looked all happy now, it could make even the darkest soul smile.
"My name is Puco! I came from a place faa-aar faa-aar away!" She looked pretty fond of herself.
"I'm really strong you know? I even got some meanies chasing me! But I'm waaaay stronger than them!"
Puco was hopping happily around.
"I jump from world to world, and have fun everywhere.. I make everyone smile, and I fight those who make people cry!"
The true innocence of a child, and fragile but unbreakable thing at the same time. Not knowing the pain of loss, just the joy of having, this child, looked really happy..
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday October 18th, 2007
Ophelia smiled a bit, this was a pretty cute kid. She suspected she's probably just making up stories, but she nodded a long. "Thanks, I feel a little better."
---
The wolves that have been running were getting close to their location. One of them started sniffing the ground and started following a trail of scent.
Another spontaneous breeze blew by, carrying a tattered black rag, which flew through the pack of wolves...
--- ---
Xarn met up with Gorus in the hanger, inside the mountain fortress. A large amount of lizard men were marching in, following Xarn.
"How many men did you bring?" Gorus asked.
"One thousand four hundred." Xarn replied. "You?"
"Just one hundred, but they're good. A few of them are B-Class and magic trained."
"Awesome." Xarn smiled.
"Alright, load 'em up into the ships!" Gorus commanded.
Posted by: Ted Der on Thursday October 18th, 2007
Akran did not answer right away. Instead, his attacker spoke wincing with the arrow in his shoulder.
"S-sorry Sir-y," he said in a high voice addressing the guy with the hammer, "He looky sus-i-spicious-y. Uhh, yea." He winced again and stumbled away into the town.
Okay"¦ thought Akran. He put up his bow and raised his hands half way to show he meant no harm.
The man with the hammer spoke, "That was Nagi, the village idiot. Sorry about him, he is retarded. I am second in command here. We are the Margonites and may name is Mikhalos. Another stranger entered the village just moments before we found you and Nagi. Would you of any chance be with him?"
Akran shook his head. He also pointed to his mouth and grunted.
"You can't speak. Well, fancy that. I guess you will have to come with us."
Two guards grabbed Akran's arms and followed Mikhalos who was leading him into the town. He followed willingly enough, but kept on looking around to see if he could spot Kronos. Probably hiding"¦ oh yeah, that's right, he looks like a merchant to them. He scowled. Coward.
"Looking for someone?" The guard to his right sneered. "How'd you loose your speech? Did your husband cut your tongue out?" The guards burst out laughing.
Akran rolled his eyes. Oh my god these guys are a joke.
The Margonite guards took him to a strange building that stood out from the others. It was an entire half of a ship standing on its end. Windows and doors were crudely cut out of the wood and it had a giant mural painted on the side (actually the bottom of the ship). It was a painting of a mask with six eyes. Kinda Creepy.
The front door swung open and a fat, tiny man, only about 3 feet tall, came out. Akran would have laughed if he didn't see what the man was holding. Instead, Akran had to stop himself from gagging, for the man was carrying a severed human arm.
"So what do we have here?" the midget asked with the tone of someone important.
"Elder Margo," Mikhalos said bowing, "This kid was found on the edge of our village in the bushes. He got into a fight with Nagi and claims he cannot speak."
"Is that so," said Margo chuckling, "Take him to Madame Gwenivere. She'll know what to do."
Akran eyed the human arm. What on Earth is he doing with that? As Margo turned away back into his house, Akran heard him call to someone inside. "Is dinner ready yet, Elly? I'm starving."
After the very disturbing incident with the Elder, Akran was lead to a decorative tent. Inside held strange fragrances that made him feel woozy. At a table in the centre was a young woman dressed in silks and she gazed deeply into a crystal ball. "I saw you coming Mikhalos," she said without looking up.
"Madame Gwenivere," said Mikhalos stepping forward, "A man is here who thinks himself a mute. Find out if he's lying."
The woman eyed Akran and gave him a little smile. "As you wish." Gwen looked into the crystal ball while moving her hands in over it.
"This man is from far away. He has no home and no family. He is searching for a lost stone that he can never reach without the help of another"¦" At this point Gwen looked up to Akran and winked. "He is indeed a mute and is traveling alone. Do not bother with this young man, he is no danger to us. Let him go."
Mikhalos shrugged and nodded to his men. "You heard her, let him go. He's wasting our time."
Akran was released and Mikhalos and his men ducked out of the tent. Akran stood there and rubbed the bite marks on his arm. He stared at the woman. Something about her"¦
"So," she said sitting back in her chair, "Where is Kronos? I'd very much like to speak with him."
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday October 18th, 2007
//Wow, Ted, nice job on that last post. Loved it.\\
"I stood there, waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting and waiting. Waiting.
But noooo, he decided to run off without me.
Idiot.
Well, then, looks like I'm going to have to find him, doesn't it? Why, why can't I have any servants here, even if they were depressingly incompetent? Sometime I'll need my eggheads in Kandarin to invent me some device to carry servants with me anywhere I go. Hmph.
In any case, I looked around a little, following the trail of the guards leading Akran into that other building. I sneaked a peek at the dwarf, fighting back an urge to make that hand of his slap him in the face.
There were several guards outside the tent, but there was no way I could sneak past them. Well, like this, at least... Ah, I ought to count my Lich blessings sometime.
I carefully took off the amulet, and put it into a fold in my robe. Thence, I jolted my physical being further out of sync with this dimension, throwing me deeper into phase-shift. My transparency increased to the point of being near-invisible. I snuck around the back of the tent, swiftly avoiding the guards. Now, for the actual idea I had in mind... To test my theory, I slowly reached toward the tent.
The theory worked - once I touched the fabric, it didn't stop my hand. I pushed myself through the wall, then, and found myself inside the pavilion. Akran was standing in the middle, next to some wench seated at a circular table.
-"And there he is... I'm glad I didn't have to send my scouts to look for you, Kronos."
I flinched. What the hell? How can she see me with me at her back, making no sound and being almost completely see-through? And how dare she utter my name?!
-"Listen, miss," I said, returning to my normal state. "I don't know who you are or what sort of magic art you're playing at me with, but believe me when I say that is not wise to anger me."
-"You don't know who I am? Have you looked close enough?"
Utilizing a recently learned air magic skill, I zapped from my current position to the chair opposite of her. Mwe he he he...
What? She didn't even flinch? That's not fair!
-"I know every move you pull before you do yourself, Sovereign. Now, look at me. Look into my eyes. Do you not remember me?"
I stared, and squinted, and blinked...
-"Sorry. Memory's completely blank. Your face doesn't ring even the vaguest bell."
-"That's unfortunate. My memory is quite clear. Don't you remember the black chalice?"
I felt my eyes widen, and my jaw drop. How......?
-"That's right," she continued. "The black chalice. That was his favourite wine cup, wasn't it?"
-"Shut up. Who are you."
-"...and the Jangerberry root extract..."
-"Shut up."
-"...the argument over the crown... and finally, the jade dagger..."
-"SILENCE!"
Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. No one knew of these details... No one was around his throne when he and I argued over who was to take the crown... unless...
-"No."
My voice was simple and final, somehow reassuring.
-"No. It's impossible. You are not her."
-"I can see that the transformation into a Lich - the walking corpse that you are now - has changed you much. So much, it seems, that you can't even remember your own sister, Kronos."
My body simply sank. I lost control over my voice, unable to make a sound. In fact, I don't think I could move any part of my body at that point.
-"I was only five years old, but that's old enough to understand when your parents are being poisoned by your brother. Old enough to comprehend that when your dear brother sits you into a little dinghy and pushes you off into a violent storm, he doesn't want to show his sister the brittlefish, like he promised - rather, he commits her to the sea, never wanting to see her again.
"And then, the brother blissfully buries the - bitter, I'm sure - memory, thinking that he got rid of the last witness who may challenge his right to the throne of Kandarin. It was me that the crown was meant for, wasn't it, Kronos?
"As I grew older, I understood the difficult position you were in. Hormones raging, father's hatred... The feathered headband just didn't sit right on your father's head, did it? It was meant for your head. Not your pathetic sister, as charismatically gifted as she was... Kandarin needed a masculine leader, someone with a vision, you told yourself. Well, I'm happy to say that if your vision was to put together a power-hungry, blood-thirsty bully of a nation, you have more than reached your goal."
-"You are not pathetic."
Yes, those were the best words I could come up with in response to that..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday October 18th, 2007
"Hmmm... interesting." Retan stopped entirely, his blade hovering over Draven's head, and his attention turned entirely toward Zerobi no Anti.
Draven was entirely out of breath, having not a single chance to lay a blow upon the Dark Emperor... And now he ignores him! Draven's blade glowed a fiercer shade of red, and he drew a horizontal slash right at Retan's back...
The Dark Emperor turned his helmeted head slightly, one crimson eye larger than the other. He thrust a single palm towards the raging Draven and a pillar of blackness emanated from it, blotting out all light the burning man produced. The pillar surged straight down, pummeling the crater below like a drill, boulders flying into the air. With a thunderous *bang* another crater tore lose from the already deep pit and a violent gale sucked loose rocks into the hole to fill the vacuum created by the displacement.
When the smoke cleared, Draven was gone...
A glowing dagger with a gem upon the hilt rose from the hole and floated upward a few hundred feet to Retan's waiting hand. He took the dagger and looked at it for a moment, before placing it behind his back.
"You... astral demon... You are a different sort. I can tell it is not why you came, but it would be wise for you to bow now. And do it quickly, for I have thinning patience for insurgents..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday October 19th, 2007
Valos finally arrived at the scene, about several meters away from Zerobi. Valos was a little tired out from flying so fast, but he'll be able to gain his energy back quickly enough. He arrived just in time to see Draven get blown away and disappeared.
"No..." Valos panted, he honestly didn't believe that Draven was destroyed. He stood his distance, likely Retan wouldn't worry about Valos. But he still needed to think of something.
--- ---
"Um, Justin." Belle got up from her chair. "You going to introduce me?" She noticed Lucy.
Meanwhile Lagart was still outside; he was completely zoned out looking into empty space. His mind was just wandering about. He was mostly thinking of what was going to happen, and how Tjed would be freed. He looked into the sky, and noticed something. "I think I see a new airship."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Friday October 19th, 2007
"Oh, right. These two are Sierana," he pointed to each as he introduced them awkwardly, "and this is my little sister Lucia. I'm still not sure how this all worked out..."
"And... Justin?"
"Yeah, sorry. This is... Belle, was it?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm princess Sierana Valimore, though I think you might've figured that one out already." She laughed a bit as she said that, and reached out her hand to shake with Belle.
"Hang on a moment... I thought there were only three airships... hey Lagart, you don't think...?" Jacobie caught his fellow lizardman's eye. They both knew something was going to happen, just not when the time was to strike. Jacobie unsheathed both his katanas to prepare himself.
"You might want to get ready, I think the fighting's about to start!"
Posted by: Mikado on Friday October 19th, 2007
Puco was even more happy now she saw the woman was smiling. "Great! I already made someone smile!, Yaaay~~!"
She was performing some awkward happy dance, and stopped suddenly and looked questionably at the woman.
"But why?. are YOU in such a place?"
A child's curiosity knows no limit.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday October 19th, 2007
"It's Bell, actually." Bell said laughing a bit.
//Long story on the spelling change, I did a similar thing with Marshall, which used to spelled with only one L.\\
She shook hands with Sierana. "Nice to meet you Princess Valimore." She thought she recognized that last name before, but didn't pay it much mind. "Oh and this is Miss Egal." She said motioning to the middle aged woman who owned the house.
"Hello there dears. Would you like anything? Water? Tea?" Miss Egal asked.
"And that little red guy sleeping on the chair over there is Rink." She said motioning to the imp.
Rink opened one eye. "Huh? Oh." He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "People are here. What's going on?"
"Justin brought over some company. This is his little sister Lucia." She pointed to Lucy. "And this is Princess Sierana Valimore."
"Sorry, Valimore did you say?" Rink asked, remembering that name.
"Yeah, what about it?" Bell asked.
Rink rubbed the top of his bald head. "Uh, never mind. Probably nothing." He got up and hoped on top of the table and sat down at the edge to be more at eyes level with the rest of the group. "So, any word from Duilin and the others?"
---
Lagart put his hand on the hilt of his broadsword sheathed on his back, but didn't make any sudden movements.
--- ---
"It's a long story." Sienna replied. "But let's just say this used to be my home." She took a deep breath and sighed. "My brother, well half brother is the only other person from this village who is still alive. Right now he is fighting the Dark Empire, which I have just left. Hopefully for good."
Posted by: Mikado on Friday October 19th, 2007
Puco tilted her head.
"Why won't you help him them? Sitting here looking at something that doesn't exist anymore doesn't help at all!"
She pointed at herself.
"Look at me! I'm jumping from world to world, and never look back! See how nice it is!"
Posted by: Trent on Friday October 19th, 2007
"I will bow not to pledge my allegiance to you," Anti said with an earnest smile, "but only to proclaim how honored I am to fight you... the strongest being in Gaian!" And with that, he took his bow, and then assumed a fighting stance.
Posted by: Ted Der on Friday October 19th, 2007
Akran stood there, motionless, and quiet. He was aware that he was staring, but he felt no desire look away from the fortuneteller's face.
All of the information that was spilling out of her lips"¦ abandonment, betrayal"¦ and family? Did she say she was Kronos' sister? And what Kronos said"¦ "You are not pathetic."? Well, Akran would have reacted differently if it were any other time. Kronos sounded totally out of character, even vulnerable at the moment. All of his mightiness looked as if it had sunk down, through the chair and into the floor.
In the silence that followed, Akran felt as though he should leave. They should be left alone. He tore his eyes away from the woman's face and ducked out of the tent. Outside, the town was busy moving about and working; totally oblivious to what was going on behind him right now.
What had he heard? Well, much more than he knew just a few minutes ago. It was strange though. Out of all the shocking news he just witnessed, he couldn't focus on it. The perfumes from inside the tent still clouded his mind. All he could think about was that woman.
Enough, thought Akran. He took a deep breath and let the chilly air fill his lungs. He tried to shove everything out of his mind: the Sovereign, the elder, the town, the woman"¦
"Damn it." He cursed to no one in particular and strode back in the direction of the ship.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday October 19th, 2007
The tiny airship slowly approached the translucent green shield surrounding Tjedon.
"I don't like those guns..." One of the Velken guards said though clenched teeth, warily eyeing the massive cannons of the three airships that hovered over the city.
"Relax... we'll be fine..." Renard said, swallowing hard. He was beginning to feel rather nervous himself.
The small transport vessel stopped just outside the shield and just waited for several tense moments. Renard took his sister Emile by the hand and two of the Guards stood close to the priestess. If those cannons made any sign up powering up, they would have to jump out the window-- and fast.
Finally, the crystal in the center of the control room flickered to life and a reptilian figure translucently floated above it.
"This is The Death Evan. Identify yourselves."
"Galry Renard, Battle Mage of the Skyward Division, returning from classified mission. Ask the High General for clearance."
"The High General is not on board. I will clear you with Commander Vlak."
Blast it... Virmir wasn't on the ship... Could they possibly know? Renard sucked it in, despite how much he was shaking. "Our mission is classified to Vlak. And you're delaying us, lizard."
The lizard flinched, then scowled. "One moment..."
Renard's tail twitched back and forth nervously as he waited. He just starred at the cannons pointed at them outside the window... One hit would vaporize the lot of them...
Finally, a small hole opened in the shield, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief. They all did.
The airship maneuvered in through the hole and the opening closed off behind them. 'There." Renard pointed to the largest of the three airships. "The Death Evan. That's where Helix is." The pilot nodded and steered the ship towards the larger ship's expansive landing dock.
Renard turned to Duilin. "Sorry... my friend Helix was struck down by some undead monster, and the only one who can heal that sort of thing is the High Priestess here." Lucile gave a nod. "I don't want to delay. We'll make contact with Lord Virmir as soon as she sees him."
"Hmmm... unfortunate." Retan's blade flickered away, leaving just the hilt. He folded his arms as he remained floating above the crater, black cape flowing around him, edged by the pale moonlight.
"It is a shame, and a waste." His crimson eyes turned to Valos, and then in the direction of a third warrior, one floating towards him with a sword and axe. "You... human, you... astral, and you... Lilithian... None of you are of the correct alignment to strike me down. You should serve, and yet you struggle. A waste. I tire of insurgents. My army is complete. I have acquired all that I desire. The rest is trash."
A dark mass began to form above his head...
"Up until this point I have been exceedingly generous. It is time I withdraw my offers and wipe clean so that I may build anew."
Virmir balanced on the sword-in-the-floor with one hand on the hilt. When Aaron's horizontal slash came, he floated up in the air so the blade went under him and over the sword.
On the downfall, Virmir drew the much longer and thinner Wind Serpent, a gale bursting from the sheath as he whipped the blade above his had. With a downward slash, he fell next to the still burning sword he stuck into the ground and struck Aaron's weapon with a resounding clang.
"You're not human, are you?"
Zion's attack seemed to have zero effect on the monster. It scowled and lurched at the man who turned his back to it. But then suddenly the creature fell apart, diced into hundreds of tiny black cubes. Each piece flew a few yards away before disintegrating into tiny particles that fizzled into nothing.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Friday October 19th, 2007
"Sorry, but I don't think so... but something feels odd, I can kind of sense his presence. Hey Rink, can you feel that, too? It's demonic, but not entirely... it has to be him."
"Justin, your sister needs to get to bed soon, remember?"
"Yes, of course. Here, I'll get you to bed Lucy." Justin walked further into the house away from the others and found a small bed; perfect for his little sister. As he put her to bed, she gave him one final hug, and he left to join the others.
"So, you say you've heard the name Valimore before, have you?" Sierana was now getting a bit concerned. Not too many people who haven't been in the Arctic region for long enough would know of her father's name.
"It may be possible that you've met my... father... King Damion Valimore. He's not quite... human. Well, nor am I, I suppose, but even still, he's something else. He's a vampire." She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as she said father.
"Yeah, Valimore... uh, I mean 'Damion' was here before. I think he was looking for me... hey, do you guys hear that?" The smaller airship that docked with the Death Evan, though being a smaller model, still made quite a racket.
"It's another Airship... Hey, Duilin's on board!"
"Hey, you guys... thanks." Tiberius said, walking towards the three; Aura, Tsu, and Xenai. "We owe you more than enough thanks, but there is one thing I'd like to ask... do you think we could travel together? There really isn't much for us to do anymore... I understand if you don't want us to."
"No, I'm not quite entirely human!" Aaron said as he held his sword against the windserpent, a wild clang noise as the two enchanted metals slashed together.
"I'm part wolf. In a way, we're both distant cousins from the fox, aren't we?" Aaron then twitched as he heard an airship pull into the air above them.
"This duel has lasted long enough. MEN, HAULT!!!" Aaron slowly let his sword return to its sheath. "I tire of fighting. It seems you have me at every move; older, faster, stronger... And more numbers. I surrender, High General, just please don't mistake me for a coward. I have an empire to lead, and if they loose me... they're bound to share the same fate of this island... imprisonment."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 20th, 2007
"Wait, you had a friend who was struck down by an undead creature?" Duilin asked. "Was it a giant rat by any chance? A friend of mine was struck down by a giant zombie rat, he seemed pretty ill. If it's needed, I'd appreciate it if you could heal him."
---
"Not quite demonic?" Rink asked. "Yeah, that's probably Duilin." He turned to Sierana. "King Damion Valimore. I definitely recognize that name. I heard that name before my amnesia." He rubbed his head.
"Yeah, I don't know exactly how long ago it, fifteen years ago I think, but I apparently hit my head really hard or something, I dunno. But yeah, amnesia. Things come back to me every now and then however."
Rink rapidly shook his head a couple times. "Anyways. If Duilin is here, in an airship then that might mean he just rescued the Velkens." He smirked a bit.
"I bet his being all modest and crap. He's like that." He lays back and rubs his chin and lower lip in a similar fashion Duilin does.
"Hell, it was nothing. I'm just doing, what I do." Rink said imitating Duilin's voice.
Bell gave out a hard laugh, and Rink smirked again. The imp exhaled, and then looked back at Sierana. "But, yeah I think there's like some legend about guy named 'Damion Valimore' who was like born from 'darkness' and 'destruction' and like populated the world, ten thousand years ago. I don't remember where I heard it however. But I used to live in the demon's world, Thanatos, so maybe a demon told me or something. Some of them know quite a bit, but most of them are just dumb brutes."
--- ---
Valos couldn't believe what he was about to do. He was probably kidding himself more then anyone has ever in his life but he wasn't going to back down. And if he's going to get killed, he's going down with a fight.
"Make my day O' mighty Emperor Retan of the Darkness..." Valos lifted up his fists and created another spiked ice gauntlet on one, and held a fireball in the other. "...I just went through hell and back, so I could really use a nice walk in the park."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 20th, 2007
//Forgot Ophelia/Sienna\\
"You don't understand." Sienna replied. "When I lived here, it was the only time I was actually happy. I avoided this place for decades so I could forget about it. If I could forget about it, then maybe I'd be happier with my current state. But that didn't work out, it leads me to do things, anyone that reminded me of my old life, I killed them." She shed a tear from he eye. "I tried to kill my own brother. I am thankful that he was stronger then I and I was unable to kill him. I am also thankful that he was so understanding. He's truly a great person."
She rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have opened up to you like that. You're so young and I don't even know you."
---
"Look at this, so pathetic..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday October 20th, 2007
Jacobie opened the door to the house, still holding his katanas. "There's another airship up there. You might want to keep your guards up. Justin, Rink, get ready to fight."
"Yeah, we noticed, what with the noise and all. I'm pretty sure Duilin's up there, but we should still be prepared, or whatever." Justin pulled out his demon fang and had it at his side, making sure to keep it out of the way.
"Hmm... I don't think whatever's up there is on our bad side. Still, if they are our ally, then we should help them." Sierana sat down in a chair next to the table. "By we, I mean you guys, of course. I'm no fighter."
"Well put. Lagart and I will warn you guys if we see anything unusual going on." With that, Jacobie shut the door behind him and watched the sky again.
Posted by: Trent on Saturday October 20th, 2007
Zion didn't even so much as look at the monster that had tried to attack him. He simply grinned upon hearing the monster's discomboobulation (Yes, I AM using that word). "Now, for the other guys..." And with that, he got started on fighting the other enemies.
--- --- ---
"Hah! You must be kidding me!" Full of overconfidence, he just floated there, willing to take that dark mass head-on (and apply it directly to the forehead).
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday October 20th, 2007
"Giant rat?" Renard scratched his head. "Yeah, that was it exactly, actually..."
"Of course I will help whoever needs it," the priestess smiled, but then it faded. "But we must hurry..."
The transport vessel quietly landed atop the Death Evan and the door opened, Renard leading the group out while holding Emile's hand. Lady Urocy's guards surrounded the priestess with their hands on their weapons, their eyes and ears darting about.
Most of the Lizard Men atop the deck stopped to watch them. Especially Duilin.
"Helix is two levels down..." Renard said through clenched teeth as they made their way towards the lift. "Just... look like you're an officer or something, Duilin."
As they approached the rectangular section of floor that lowered down into the bowels of the ship, a single lizard rose from the opening and walked past the group. "You there!" Renard shouted, trying to sound authoritive, but it wasn't really working. "Send a message to the High General. Tell him Renard has returned and needs to speak with him..." The lizard nodded and went about his business.
When they were traveling down the lift, Renard quietly said to Duilin, "We're going to have to try and fit in for a while... there's way too many of them to fight... Lord Virmir will have a plan. I know it..."
Retan remained floating there with his arms folded, the darkness swelling above.
"Very well. I shall grant your wishes. Let us make this entertaining, at least..."
The blackness exploded into a vortex, with swirling winds pushing outward instead of in. Two shadows leapt from the portal and blazed right at Valos and Anti. The crimson-eyed creatures looked nearly identical to Retan, complete with cape and armor, except they were but detail-less silhouettes.
A burning red sword appeared in each's hand, and the Shadow-Retans lunged through the air at the demon and human...
(The Shadow-Retans are medium-high powered NPCs that you may control. Have fun!)
Virmir held the tip of his blade to Aaron's throat for a long moment. Finally he lowered it and sighed.
"You... probably shouldn't have told me that much... With you in our custody, we will be able to subjugate your nation much more easily..." By now the Velkens had the Drannivolka's arms tied behind their backs and their weapons confiscated. "Although I mean you no disrespect. I merely do as my liege wills... we all do."
He turned and pointed to the door. "Take them to the lower dungeons, along with those other two... Where did they go? Where is Riuki?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday October 20th, 2007
Aaron lowered his head and sighed. As Virmir had mentioned, he probably said too much. He lifted his head and looked the Velken straight in the eye. "I... beg your pardon? My nation, you say? Please, more than enough blood has been spilled, and on my own account as a bad leader! Spare your lord this information! There is no need to know every detail!"
"Enough, my lord. They are of the Dark Empire, and know of no peace. Do you not see the coldness in his eyes?" The three Drannivolkan Elites' hands were bound behind their backs.
"Marrik, you don't know what you're talking about!" Aaron gave him a stearn look, and the Drannivolkan merely looked away, flicking his tail as he did so.
"He has a point, Emporer. We're outmatched by a worthless scumbag from the dark empire. They know nothing of honor, or mercy for that matter."
"If they didn't know honor or mercy, then why are YOU still alive? SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" A window lit the room with the light of a full moon, shining into the room, and increasing Aaron's breathing. His chainmail started to stretch out as he began to slowly grow in size.
"You remember... when I said I was part wolf, right? Part werewolf... to be exact." Fur started to grow all over his body, his head changing shape, growing wolf-like ears. The transformation was complete within a matter of seconds after the moonlight shone upon him. He looked like a wolfman in armor and a cape. A velken came near him, blade drawn.
"No, don't! He's perfectly calm, just don't hurt him! He won't fight you! Lord Aaron, down! See!?" The Emporer heard the words of his commrade and lowered to the floor, like an animal responding to the call of its master. The Velken still kept his blade drawn, and pointed it at the wolven Aaron. After a few moments, he sheathed it.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday October 21st, 2007
Kronos came almost right after Akran.
-"Let's go. We're leaving."
--- --- ---
Cain stood at the summit of the mammoth Citadel, looking at the workers below. Since Eldridge was so kind to introduce the flotation crystals to the Sovereignty, Ryleh took initiative and installed them into the fortress. Now the four bone legs which used to support the structure were no longer needed, so they were salvaged for their unlife. In their places, there were massive chains extending from the top and to the ground. They bound the Citadel to the ground, not allowing it to float away into the sky.
Suddenly, the Scribe felt a deep rumbling. It wasn't even a rumbling, as such - more like a strange feeling of having your insides shaking as if from a very loud sound, but it was deathly silent. He looked around, finding no apparent source of the disturbance.
And then, he saw it.
The grey, starved clouds rushed to the sides, revealing the metal sky overhead. At first, nothing could be seen through that hole - but then, a circular shadow revealed the ship which has finally arrived to Gros Morne. The design changes were immediately visible - the three carcasses which sheltered the crystals were now chained to the hull, pulling the whole contraption into the skies. Instead of being located at the sides of the ship, the carcasses floated a good fifty meters above the ship itself, attached by the long chains. They appeared to form a sort of a three-pointed star, joined in the middle by a suspiciously bulky sphere. The main ship itself consisted of a relatively thick and wide ring, encircling a massive lens in the middle (which was slightly elevated above the rest of the ship). The lens itself had a smaller ring around it, which was almost touching the delicate glass. There were many glass lines attaching the two rings together, squirming over the metal hulls like tentacles, eventually vanishing inside. The lens was not attached to the ship at all, probably for the ease and speed of rotation. Cain also noted with delight that the whole vessel had a barely visible shimmering blue aura around it.
The ship continued descending until it was right over the Citadel. A walkway extended from the ring, revealing a beaming Foreman, who dashed over to Cain.
-"I present to you the Enlightenment, Scribe, a name we thought to be rather fitting. All she needs now is a crew, but I'm sure you already have that planned out."
-"Yes... I do. Thank you, Foreman. Perfectly done. I will inform the Sovereign of your deeds."
The Foreman nodded, and disappeared in the Citadel's trapdoor. Cain followed afterwards. He'll need to contact a few people...
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 21st, 2007
The airships took off, two large transport ones and a smaller one used for carrying Gorus, Xarn and the elite guards.
The smaller one was Xarn's airship, he called it the Lightning Wyvern. It was a dark green and had large wings and could move really fast. And he also decided to add lightning cannons onto it, it was a fairly decent fighter ship.
Along with the airships were Albatrash riders. They were scouts that flew far ahead of the fleet. They all had communication orbs so they could contact their general if anything of interest came up.
Xarn was piloting, one of the elites was co-piloting, and Gorus stood over him with his arms crossed, tapping his left pointer claw on his arm.
"Incoming transmission." The co-pilot stated.
A translucent image of a skinny lizard man's face appeared over a glowing orb in the middle of the pilot seats.
"High General Grouss ssir. It sseemss that the Kandarin Nation is misssing from itss island."
"Impossible." Gorus snarled. "Are you sure of this?"
"Yess, possitive ssir."
Gorus rubbed his lower jaw. "I know they're out there. I can still sense their presence. Xarn can you?"
"A little bit." He replied.
"Keep moving north-ward." Gorus ordered.
--- ---
"Excellent." Duilin replied, in response to Lucia.
Duilin felt a little uncomfortable boarding onto the ship, and even more uncomfortable when the lizard men leered at him as he walked by.
Duilin whispered back to Renard. "I actually think now might be a good time to mention I'm on a few most wanted lists. Remember those bounty hunters that came after me?"
--- ---
The shadow Retan flew towards Valos swinging its fire blade. Valos blocked it with his ice gauntlet, causing the ice to smash apart and melt.
Valos countered by punching the shadow Retan in the stomach with his fireball fist knocking it back a few feet...
Posted by: Trent on Sunday October 21st, 2007
Xenai shrugged, with a smirk. Tsu translated, "That means yes. Or you're welcome. Or maybe both."
Aura added, "Please do join us. The more help we can get, the better."
"Yeah, but we still don't know what the hell we're doing next. You guys have any ideas?" He asked to Tiberius and Jannis.
--- --- ---
//Yay, a dummy to play with!
"Ugh! You're making me play with some dummy?! Fine then! I will expel you of your flaws!" The shadow Retan charged in, as Anti gauged its power. It's about 60%-80% as strong as I am, in this form. At least it won't be boring. The faux Retan swung its fire blade downward at Anti, but he suavely slid out of the way, sending a kick to its helmeted head, sending it flying away upwards.
"Hellzone Grenade!!!" Anti fired a volley of energy blasts out past the clone, who'd halted in the air. The blasts flew past him as he started charging a dark-element spell. "No chance!" The energy blasts that missed were all surrounding the shadow clone. "BOOM!" And they all collapsed in on it. It fell from the sky, and Anti swooped in. The clone flipped around and slammed its foot onto the top of Anti's head, sending him crashing into the ocean....
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday October 21st, 2007
Renard placed a palm over his forehead. "Aww, nuts. I forgot about that..." Then of course there was that time that freaky lady harassed him about Duilin within the capital itself. Shoot, they better make this quick...
Renard lead the group down some dark hallways into the sick bay of the ship. His ears perked as he recognized the Blade Knight Anselm and the Battle Mage Gaston quietly slipping out of Helix's door.
"Anselm!"
"... Renard?"
Renard ran up to his comrade. Anselm seemed generally confused. "Who are..." His eyes widened. "High Priestess Urocy? But... how...?!" He then saw Duilin and his ears flattened as he fought back a snarl, reaching for his weapon. "HIM?! Renard! What is going on?!"
Renard grabbed Anselm's muzzle and clamped it shut. "Shhhh!! Back into the room!" Renard pushed him and a confused Gaston back into Helix's room before motioning the others to follow. Once everyone was inside, one of the Velken guards shut the door.
With nine Velkens, a half-demon, and one Velken-in-bed, the room was utterly packed. Lucile immediately pushed over to Helix, who was under the covers and obviously in a lot of pain. She made some hand gestures over his body and began to whisper an unintelligible chant.
Anslem just stared at Renard dumbfounded. "Renard, what did you do?"
Renard grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Anselm, everyone's free."
"Free?"
"They can't touch us anymore. Sir Rikarl is leading everyone to safety as we speak."
"Safety? Are you telling me you evacuated Welkin?"
"Yes! They can't hurt us. We don't have to live like this anymore!"
"B-but... this is treason!"
"No it's not! We were subjugated against our will! We're slaves, Anselm, slaves!"
"Renard... this is madness..."
Renard gave Anselm a good shaking. "We've been spoon-fed nothing but lies all our life! Rikarl has rallied everyone back home, Anselm. We're moving on..."
"Leave us."
"... My Lord?"
Virmir shot the Velken a cold stare that could kill. The Battle Mage nodded and bowed, and the Drannivolkan Elites were lead out of the room by the remaining Velkens with swords at their backs. The door shut, leaving the silver fox Virmir and the wolf-man Aaron alone in the room.
Virmir's feet left the floor, and he floated up to the window, folding his arms behind his back after he sheathed both the Wind Serpent and the Flameburge.
He just hovered there, staring at the moon for a long moment. Finally he spoke. "It is a shame a world exists in which Canids must kill each other..." His tail flicked behind him. He paused another moment. "Tell me... is there anything in the world you care for? Something you love so dearly you will do anything to protect? Something you will protect no matter how many sins you must commit? No matter how many innocents must suffer?"
Valos' kick knocked the blade out of the Shadow-Retan's hand, and it reeled in the air for a moment. Suddenly it snapped his head up, its two burning crimson eyes glaring at the human, and two additional appendages grew out of its sides, looking like black blades.
Resembling something more like a giant spider made of an inky darkness, it flew above Valos' head and slashed at him with its left blade...
The Shadow-Retan that hit Anti stood in the air a moment, looking quite the bad dude as its adversary crashed into the waves. It placed two fingers upon its forehead and a crackling of energy buzzed around its hand. After a moment's charging, it thrust its fingers down, and fired a spiraling drill-like blast of energy that cut through the water and bore straight for Anti's body...
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Sunday October 21st, 2007
//Sorry I haven't been on in a while... please don't kill me. ^_^
"Oh shoot! Lord Virmir!" Ko'ji's new ability allowed her to hear Virmir call her name. She zoomed back to the room at an insane speed, the two behind her (probably now FAR behind her) ran to catch up. She entered the room.
"Sorry about that... now, what did you-eep!" Her eyes shot from Virmir to the werewolf in the room.
--- ---
"Why don't we just make a break for it?"
"No! I freed you, and you owe me, correct? She freed us, and now we owe HER!"
"I'm just saying, think about what they could do to us. They're dark empire troops, you know?"
"I see your point, but there's something different about them... her in particuliar..."
"What? I don't see anything special about that girl... besides the fact that she's fast as lightning. And she's a bit more nice than the rest... oh, and them weird weapons she's got... Yeah, I see your point, I'll shut up now."
"Good. We'll just wait up here for her to return, though. No sense in getting in her way."
"I don't know, mate, but it does seem you like her a bit."
"WHAT!?!?!? Uh... What makes you say that? Don't be rash, now, Jack."
"Heh... you're in denial. It's pretty funny, seein' you this way, though!"
"You'd better shut he hell up Jack, if you know it's good for you."
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm quiet now."
"And not a word of it to her, got me?"
"Does that mean you DO like her?"
"..."
"Thought so. Not a word, though. I'll keep shut... for now."
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday October 21st, 2007
-"Claus Orff, General Environment Doctor!"
-"Present, Scribe."
-"Hans Bauer, Lens Design Head!"
-"I am here, sir!'
-"Otto Von Göth, Project Leader!"
-"Here, Mr. Ryleh."
-"And everyone else appears to be here," finished Ryleh, referring to miscellaneous men in white lab coats. "Well, gentlemen, you have been elected to be the crew of the Enlightenment. This is a heavy responsibility, and as such, any forfeit notices will be accepted right now."
The Scribe waited for a few seconds, and continued:
-"Good. Now, as I'm sure you are all aware, the ship has already arrived. In fact, it is directly on top of us, ready to be raised into the Aether. We would like this to happen as soon as time allows. There are, however, certain things you need to know before crossing that drawbridge between the Citadel and the ship. First of all, the ship will be captained by our dear Colonel himself, with Herr Orff as second in command. Another issue is the provisions, which will be taken up to the ship through a carrier glyph. However, such operation takes many days to complete, and, as such, a transaction will only be available monthly, and only for several minutes at a time. This means that you will need to be responsible with the supplies.
"Finally, please, keep in mind at all times that you will do as you are told from Gros Morne. Contact will be maintained indefinitely, and you are to follow every direction given to you without question. I urge you not to forget that the Binding Glyph remains here, and therefore, so does the Enlightenment's life. Is this clear?"
There was a murmur of agreement in the crowd.
-"Good. Now, get on board."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday October 21st, 2007
Something in this world... these words ran through the emporer's head. The werewolf got to his feet, his cape fluttering as a small breeze blew through the window. For a small moment, all he could do was sit there. Soon, he remembered his voice, though it was a bit different in his wolven form. "That is," he said in a very deep, somewhat chaotic voice, "what I would protect. My nation... my people." The wolf shifted his gaze from the moonlight, then back to the Velken's face.
"Tell me, high general... how many innocents have you gone through to uphold whatever truths run through your mind? Think of them for a moment. Did you ever think that maybe they love something in this world as much as you do? That they would die, give the ultimate sacrifice, just to keep it safe?" The emporer walked slowly towards a wall, turned around and leaned on it.
"You haven't the slightest clue how valuable a life is... Even a man with nothing left still has something, and that can make the greatest difference. Do you know what it is? It's his life. Taking life is the most evil thing a mortal being can do to another. It is because of our own mortality that we strive to live on." The wolf man simply sighed and dusted his armor off a bit. He then stood up as straight as he could and walked up to the Velken, who was two thirds his size.
"But no... that answer is not quite good enough. I live on because I have to; because if I die, then others will suffer, and it causes them to regret... forever. A real answer to that question would be something like this; I would rather die than kill an innocent, to commit such an atrocity... I have answered my part. What of you, general? Why do 'you' do it?"
"We... really have nothing left to do. Immense demonic enery isn't far away, though. I can hear the ice bolts and lightning waves of a raging battle not far away. It looks like what we came here to do was accomplished. We'll go where ever you go now, I guess."
Posted by: Mikado on Monday October 22nd, 2007
Puco sat down.
"Your story sounds really sad, nee.." She sighted and looked at the dark air.
"I was in a very sad world once too.. They had to kill each other to feed their children.. .."
Then she suddenly began to smile.
"But I made food for them, and I gave them hapiness with my powers!" She laughed, and showed her "Muscle".
"Feeding those people, and killing those who were meanies.. it wasn't really fun.."
She sighted.
"But after those children grew older, they could rebuild the world, and everything would get good!"
She put her finger in her mouth.
"Oh, for some reason I don't get older too.."She looked at Seinna and suddenly frowned.
"You don't believe me do you! Wait! I'll show you!"
She looked around, and saw a dead flower, in the dry earth. Running to it, she clapped her hands a few times, and touched the ground were the flower was growing.
First.. speed the natural rebuilding of the earth..
Slowly but sure, the earth around the flower began to be more wet, and lighter. Some small green plants also appeared.
Now to extract the water, and food from the earth, and the light from the sky.
She raised the right hand, while her left hand still was touching the earth.
And focus it in the leaves of the flower.. and speed up the process of photosynthesis..
She put both her hands near the flower, and slowly it began to grow.. with the nature around it.
Puco stood up, and showed the small area of nature surrounded by dry earth.
"See what I can do?" She said, with a happy voice, expecting a praise.
--- ---
"What!?" Reigratto responded.
He jumped back a little, apparently being very frustrated.
"Where did that come from?!"
"Don't panic, sheesh. It's only for a period of time.. it seems that the prey is here.."
Shuichi answered calmly.
"It's only in case that "she" is here too.."
Shui made a gest with his hand showing Reigratto to calm down.
"You're trying to do it by yourself aren't you? Nope, I will help you, and I don't care what you think!"
Reigratto was pretty angry now.
"And why do you think that Puco actually is here?!"
"Shut up!" Shuichi hissed.
"You never now who's listening.."
Reigratto sighed. "Fine, fine,.. anyway, how are you so sure about it? Maybe the cat has only some -"
Then the cat suddenly began to hiss and cry, rolling around.
"It's okay! Calm down.." Shuichi quicly ran toward the cat, and tried to take him in his arms, but he ended only getting bait and cut.
Shuichi turned his head towards Reigratto, holding his hand, which the cat just bit.
"Is this enough?"
Reigratto gave up. "Well maybe you are right.. but how are we gonna find her?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 22nd, 2007
Duilin thought Renard could use a little help convincing Anselm.
"Listen, Retan and his dark empire are evil. The humans you have been forced to kill are innocent people, with feelings and emotions just like the Velkens. Retan cares for nothing but himself, and he lives only to conquer and destroy everything. He didn't save your world, he held it hostage. He likely would have destroyed it eventually, just out of spite."
Duilin stepped closer.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Retan was the one who made the sun expand and start burning up your city, just so he could save you."
--- ---
//Wait, Valos' kick? I'm sure I typed 'punch'.\\
Valos shifted himself backwards avoiding the blade coming towards his head. He created another pair of ice gauntlets and then smashed them right into the Shadow-spider-Retan's face.
--- ---
Another message was sent to the Lightning Wyvern's communications orb.
"High General. It appears that the Kandarinians have moved towards the artic regions."
"Interesting." Gorus replied. "Alright, continue scouting the area, we're going in."
--- ---
Sienna's jaw dropped.
"That's amazing. You really don't just have an over active imagination." She smiled, and began to observe the reborn land. "This is...wonderful."
She picked a flower from the ground, and looked at it, she started to feel happy.
"Thank you."
Suddenly the flower rotted and turned into a dust and the reborn land started to rot away. Sienna looked around, she didn't understand. She wanted it back.
A pack of wolves then arrived on the scene, and Sienna yelped in shock. The wolves slowly walked towards them. A very warm breeze blew by and a black rag floated through the wind. But then hovered in front of the wolves. The black rag then expanded and grew bigger until it was a large pile on the ground. The wolves' eyes began to glow red and they growled at Sienna and Puco. The pile of rags then moved and then revealed to be a large cloak belonging to a human-shaped being, with a horned metal mask.
"My, my, my." The cloaked being said in a mocking tone. "Has she finally came back, to shed another tear for her past? Why don't you just suck it up. I know you're a woman, but your over grieving is just childish."
"Nex..." Sienna glared. "So you're alive? What do you want?"
"Oh, I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing." Nex stepped forward.
"I was actually doing a lot better until you showed up. Just leave me be. I'm sure the emperor doesn't want you here."
"I no longer bow down to that lizard, anymore."
"Yes, now you're a pet to demon that isn't even smart enough to manage an empire for longer then a day."
"The quick fall of the Grey Empire, was Melkoth's fault. I assure you if Abodahon had more control he would have this world on its knees. In fact that's why I'm here. The Talonscar is taking back this world, and I thought I might offer you the chance to join me."
"Join you? I don't think so. I will no longer kill innocents."
"Well...I don't really need you, so if you don't want to..."
Nex turned around and the glowing eyed wolves stepped forward and continued to growl.
"So, are you sure? Think quick, my puppies here are getting pretty hungry." Nex stated.
Posted by: Ted Der on Monday October 22nd, 2007
Akran turned around and saw that Kronos had exited the tent and was following him. So soon? I thought they were going to talk.
He looked at the Sovereign and asked, "What's going on with you and the woman in the tent? If she can actually see stuff in that crystal ball of hers, then she might be able to help us find the Spinel."
Akran jogged up beside Kronos. "Wait up, what's going on? Why are we leaving?"
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday October 22nd, 2007
-"Silence, fool. You ask too many questions." I paused. A thought that perhaps I'm being too tough on the kid crossed my mind for a split second. "Your questions will all be answered in time. The one calling herself "Gwenivere" will definitely be gracing Kandarin with her presence... soon enough."
I leaped up onto the ship, and quickly summoned the bones of the fallen crew members to help propel the craft, as well as repair the rudder. Wyverns would help, but they're too much of a luxury, I suppose. In any case, the ship sped faster than an enraged shark after I boosted it with a taste of my own power."
--- --- ---
Warm convection flows caressed the body, just like water. The glowing red lava left nothing but an orange blur in the eye. He could almost taste it - a savoury, hearty flavour blessing the mouth with a warmth spreading around the head and spilling down unto the chest. There was no need to move in the tiny space that he was crammed into, nor was there any desire. The lava flows were so good to him, so sweet... His mind was in an ecstatic state almost all the time, a quarter of him dreaming, a quarter of him conscious, and half of him completely dead. There was nothing else there, other than him, his little shell, and the lava streams...
But then, something changed. Did he see something? Did he feel it? Did he hear it? He didn't even know entirely what it was, but it was there, and it was not making him feel good. The atrophic body finally moved uncomfortably, for the first time in many years. The mind slowly began resurfacing from the depths of the soothing delirium, jerked awake by the abnormal feeling. Yes, there was definitely something there. The sweet lava flows seemed colder than ever now, and he was barely moving. There was something else, though... A presence? Could it be? Or is it just another way of the mind keeping itself sane?
Now he was sure: he heard something. Muffled voices were coming from outside his secluded world, his sanctuary.
-"Whhts thaa?"
-"Somm kind o'oaa?"
-"Waa wo'ouuaah..."
The voices were getting clearer... they seemed to close in on him.
-"Don't touch that!"
-"...missed me..."
-"This is a reconnaissance..."
He tried to go deeper, he tried to go back in - but his body was being ripped from his shelter, and he knew it. His time almost came. Why? Why now? Why couldn't he have his shell back in the molten heaven, carefree, careless for his whole life? The thought of coming out scared him, it appalled him, he had to try to go back, he had to - so he pushed his whole body back down into the earth, his mother's womb. They will not take me, he thought, I must return!
The voices outside hissed loudly, and became garbled again. For a moment, it was all quiet, just like he wanted it to be - and then something loudly hit his shell. Somehow, that enraged him beyond all comprehension. His metal fingers pierced the feeble inner layer of the shell in a frenzied fit of madness. He violently raked through the transparent barrier between him and the outer world with his claws. The orange liquid he so placidly floated in several hours ago spilt all around him, as he stood up. His limbs were shaking, fuelled by the rage that consumed his entire being. His eyes fell onto a group of three... creatures, small, and disgusting in every single way. Several layers of dead skin was draped over them, perhaps their body parts. One of them had a hand longer than the other, which ended in a long, two-edged claw.
All his senses exploded, as he let out a blood-curling shriek. Two of the ugly shortlings dashed away from him, and the one closest to him dropped the claw-like appendage on the ground, shaking, but not running. Too late, too late... The dwarf awoke him. The dwarf must pay.
--- ---
"Dear Mrs Lundgren;
We regret to inform you that your husband Simon Lundgren perished while serving Kandarin. He was involved in an accident in the newly dug shaft, but a full-scale investigation and interrogation of his surviving colleagues, Mauritz Hallstrom and Erich Aswaldu is underway. Your husband's contributions to the field of geology will not be forgotten.
Sincerely,
Nils Larsson
P. S. A service will be held this day of the following week."
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 22nd, 2007
"The arctic region, I've never been there before." Gorus stated. "But I know it's the coldest place in Gaian, which might lower our mobility a little bit, us being cold blooded and all. Perhaps one of the reasons the Kandarinians chose this place is because of that."
Xarn shrugged, in response.
"They're scared, Xarn. I can almost smell it from here. Fear is their only defence, but it won't be enough, not at all. I'll hunt down their bloody Marshall, or Sovereign, or whatever the hell he's called now, and kill him myself. I want to smell his fear."
"You sure do like it when they're scared. Don't you?" Xarn asked.
"You just figure that out?" Gorus sneered.
"Sort of. You weren't always like that." Xarn replied softly.
Gorus growled in annoyance. "Xarn! Stop trying to analyse me! You're a freaking soldier. You're not paid to think, you're not paid to care about feelings, and you're not paid to care about what goes on in my mind."
Xarn sighed.
Gorus kneeled down and put his head next to his. "You're paid to kill and to follow orders, such as orders from me. My orders are for you to pilot this ship and to shut up. Got it soldier!?"
"Yes sir."
Gorus stood back up and started pacing across the room. What was Xarn's problem? Was he jealous of him? Or was he simply just angry because he was now his boss and now he acts different? Yes, it's true his attitude changed a bit when he became High General, but that's what's expected, that's what is required when you're leading an entire division of an empire. You need to toughen up, you need to clear your mind and focus on battle. Xarn needed to learn that, or else it would get his army and likely he killed in battle.
"The Kandarinian city is in view, High General." The co-pilot stated.
Gorus turned to view outside the window. "Wow. Such an amazing city, and it was built so quickly...I'm really going to enjoy levelling it to the ground."
The airships were in clear sight at Gros Morne, already wyvern riders started to spew out of the ships. Large crowds like buzzing flies, zooming towards the city...
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday October 22nd, 2007
Anselm folded his ears and looked at the ground, suddenly forced to question everything he had been told in life. Gaston seemed more collected, but remained quiet none-the-less.
Helix suddenly sprung up from the bed as the priestess waved her hands over him mid-chant. "Let's kill the lizards," he growled.
"Helix!" Renard's eyes widened, relived to see his best friend awake at last, "you're in no condition to--"
"Like the blazes I ain't!" He threw the covers off and gave a short bow of respect to Lady Urocy before turning and sputtering at Renard. "We hit them hard and fast, right now." He slammed one fist into his palm to emphasize his point.
"We really need to consult Lord Virmir..." Renard said quietly. He bent over his little sister. "Emile, you wait here with Lady Urocy and these nice men, okay?" She seemed timid once more, but nodded. Lucile took the little girl's hand. "I take it you won't have any trouble watching her?" Renard asked.
"Not at all, Sir Renard." One of the priestess' four guards saluted him. "We will guard her as we will the priestess. Our sincerest apologies. We would love to help, but we can do naught but guard Lady Urocy, and there is no way we would allow her anywhere near a battle of any time."
"I understand. Pay it no mind, you are excellent soldiers." The four Velken guards' chests puffed slightly at the complement. "Take care."
"You too, Renard." Lucile smiled at him and Renard returned it, although a bit more sheepishly.
Renard waved a claw at the door and it opened without a touch. "Let's go," he waved at Duilin.
Anselm, Helix, and Gaston followed, shutting the door behind them.
"Where's Riuki?" Helix asked as the five-some made their way down the dark corridors of the airship.
"She left in a hurry after we brought you back. I think she joined with Lord Virmir down at the castle," Anselm replied.
"Oh..." Helix seemed a little disappointed she wasn't there, looking around the hallways as if he would spot her.
"We're headed there right now, anyway," Renard said, "and we don't do a thing, 'till we talk with Lord Virmir about this, got it Helix?"
"Yeah yeah..." Helix rolled his eyes, his tail thrashing about as he folded his hands under his robe.
"Because, lupine..." still floating before the window, Virmir slowly turned around. "... we are selfish." He paused for a moment, tail flowing behind him as he eerily stood upon the thin air. His cold eyes bore down upon the far larger wolf man. "Perhaps we will not survive much longer. Perhaps we are doomed to extinction. If that is our fate, then so be it. But until our final hour arrives, we will do whatever it takes to survive..."
He reached behind his back and slowly drew the long slender Wind Serpent, its blade cast in a pale lime-green glow within the moonlight. He brought the tip of the blade to the unarmed Aaron's neck.
"We do not run from our sins. We are creatures of darkness. There is no turning back now..."
He stopped as Riuki entered, looking in her direction. He remained motionless for a moment as a lizard guard poked his head in from behind her.
"Message for High General Virmir..."
"Speak."
"Renard has returned and wishes to speak with you."
Both of the silver fox's ears shot up. "Renard...? Was he alone?"
"Uh... no..."
"Who was with him?"
"... More Velkens, my Lord..."
Virmir looked at him for a long moment then looked at the wolf. Finally he waved at the lizard to shoo him off. He landed before Aaron and sheathed his blade, just staring into space. Finally he stepped towards the wolf man, and whispered into his ear:
"If you hear an explosion in the sky, take your men and kill the lizards..."
He grabbed the wolf's much larger claw and placed a key into it. Then spun around, "Come, Riuki. Quickly."
With that, he shot out the window in a single bound.
The Velkens that had put the Drannivolka into their jail cells were waiting outside for their master.
"My Lord?"
"Something has come up. Back to the airship."
With that, they sped off towards the Death Evan above...
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Monday October 22nd, 2007
"Yes sir!" Ko'ji leaped out of the window and followed the high general to the Death Evan above. In a part of the castle above, one could see the two that were supposedly following her. They watched in awe as the two Velkens shot into the sky, defying all sense of gravity.
"What... in the... hell...?"
"Damn! What the hell was that!?"
"Must be some sort of racial trait. None the less, we should wait here, until she returns at least. The lord and I both know I can't bloody fly!"
"No... but I know someone who does!" Jack ran off, Arata following close behind.
"Where are you going?"
"You'll see!" They reached the cells where the Drannivolkas were kept. They were simply waiting there... waiting for something to happen. And so the two of them decided to wait as well.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 22nd, 2007
"See you later Lucile." Duilin said waving. He decided not to bother saying goodbye to Emile, since she always flinched whenever he looked at her. It was blatant racism, really. But she was just a kid, so he doesn't blame her.
"But yeah, glad to see at least one of your friends is willing enough to help." Duilin said in regard to Helix. He followed along with Renard. "My name's Duilin, in case you didn't catch it earlier." He said to the three Velkens.
He then looked back at Renard as they continued walking. "So, uh. What's the deal with you and Lucile?" He said with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood. Although he may have just brought up something he shouldn't have.
---
A couple of lizard men were wandering around in the Tjed castle dungeons.
"You sure we should be here?" One of the lizard men asked another.
"Whatss the worsse that could happen?" The other one replied.
A low growling voice could be heard from the corner.
"Wha? What was that?"
"Letss find out."
The two lizard men walked towards an unlit holding cell in the corner, where a tanned and tattooed elf was sitting. He seemed to be under some sort of spell.
"Whoa, it's an elf."
"Perhapss we sshould wake it up."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday October 22nd, 2007
"So... there is hope after all... thank you. You aren't as cold-hearted as you make others believe." Aaron gave a quick bow as Virmir and Ko'ji both headed out the window. He then decided the true liberation would begin. He walked back towards the door and opened it, leaving the small room to find the holding cells. As he roamed the halls, he spotted a lizardman.
"You there!" He tried to sound demanding, and supposedly did quite a good job at, "By the command of the high general, you are to take me to the holding cells immediately, or you shal suffer under penalty of death!" The lizard, apparently unknowing, did as Aaron willed him to do. He was escorted to the cells, and just as he made it there, he was slashed down, his head falling to the floor, soaking it with crimson blood.
"My lord! You... defeated the abnormal Drannivolkan?"
"No, he is not our enemy."
"THE HELL HE ISN'T!!! He had us thrown in here!"
"If he was, he wouldn't have given me the key to your cells, now would he have?"
"That's because - huh? ... he did what?"
"Let me show you just how merciful they can be, gentlemen." Aaron took the key and unlocked all the cells where the Drannivolkans were being kept. Their weapons were sitting on a table nearby. Just then, he noticed the two standing next to the cells.
"If you can handle a blade, then we would have you with us..." the wolfman boldly stated.
Posted by: Mikado on Tuesday October 23rd, 2007
The wolfs didn't scare Puco, she had confronted all sorts of animals in her life, and she was quite good at communicating with them. But when a skeleton looking creature appeared out of nowhere, she yelped.
Sienna and the skull-man began to talk about stuff that Puco didn't get. But she was smart enough to understand that skull-head was someone who wants to kill innocent!
He must be erased..
Puco jumped next to Sienna, and pointed at the robed man.
"I don't know who you are, and why you are here, skull head! But Sienny doesn't want to join someone who is evil! You and your wolves aren't scary at all! Leave us alone!"
Even if she looked like child, the words that she said came straight from her heart. But that wasn't the most interesting part, some weird powers began to leak from her. The air and ground around her began to deform, and the feeling around her wasn't pleasant, but not evil either. It was something weird.. something that wasn't felt on this world before.
"If you won't stop bothering us, mister skull-face, I'm gonna to kick your ass!"
Her face showed determination, but also a soft feeling of excitement.
This was no normal child.
--- ---
Shuichi raised his head. Even he could feel it now. The cat cried in agony, and Shui quickly drew something in the earth around the cat, and it disappeared in a poof.
Shuichi stood up seriously.
"Did you feel that too?" He asked.
"Yes, I did." Reigratto confirmed.
"Finally, we found her.. now to actually catch her.. "
Reigratto didn't say anything, and Shuichi was thinking deeply.
Then Reigratto interrupted the silence. "Maybe that other rune user can help you finishing your information circle?"
Shuichi slashed his fist in his open palm. "You are brilliant Rei! Let's do it!"
Then he looked at Reigratto in silence. "But ... for this I need utter concentration.. and that other person may not..-"
"Fine fine, I'll let you seal me up, but when "she" will appear, summon me back master!"
Shuichi raised his thumb.
"That's a promise, comrade!"
"..."
After a while, Shuichi drew something around Reigratto, and the man disappeared just like the cat did.
Shuichi looked around him, and took out a piece of perkament out of his bag.
"How else am I going to find that person.. I'm lucky he uses runes too. But if he wouldn't I wouldn't search for him in the first place! But I'm lucky he's using them anyway!"
He was confusing himself now.
"Anyway, let's rumble."
Rolled the perkament out, in huge circle, almost filling the whole open field in the forest.
He ran to the center of it, and took out a small sword, which was covered in crimson. Apparently it worked like a pencil, because he began to draw various things in the center.
"This bird means the move of information, and there should be written "Lost, but not forgotten in the encrypt.." Shuichi mumbled to himself while drawing.
When he finished, he ran towards the side where the perkament ended, and started, and began pushing in his soul energy.
Slowly the drawing in the middle, began to reform, and fill in the huge space which the perkament covered. A whole new rune appeared, and it was way more complicated than the other one.
"This is one of my better runes, hmm.. I guess this will be enough!"
He ran toward a part of the rune, and began to draw something with his sword. This continued for while, until Shui took out a small flask out of his jacket, and dropped a little on the drawing.
"This should do.."
I had that rune under me when I was trying to capture the virus.. the information capturing rune..
Thanks due that I have that runecasters information. This bigger rune is a existence processing rune.. I should be able to find him without any problems..
Shuichi jumped back, out of the drawing and the rune began to shine.. and suddenly it stopped.
"Hmm, so you are there.. hiding in that island aren't you?.."
He took the perkament from the ground, and the same moment he touched it, the rune disappeared with the wind.
He drew something in the air with his finger, and slowly everything around him began to dissort.. then it reformed, into something completely different. He warped into an other place..
Shuichi stood in front a huge tree. "Hmm.. so the woman I search likes ... trees?"
He looked carefully at the tree, and snapped his fingers. A high pitched scream appeared out of nowhere.
"This can wake everything, hmm."
He looked in the tree, and yelled.
"Hello, runecaster, maybe you remember me, maybe you don't, but I came here to visit you!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday October 23rd, 2007
"Ooo, how cute." Nex retorted to Puco's threats. "Well, I think I'm gonna to see how my pets here will handle you then." With that, he snapped his fingers and he rapidly burned away in flames. Sienna knew Nex didn't just kill himself, it's was just some fancy trick.
The wolves then stepped forward and roared. Suddenly humanoid creatures seemed to explode out of them. They had pale rubber like skin, and were covered in slime; the skin on their faces was tight enough to show almost the entire bone line. Their canine like jaws had full sets of sharp teeth. They had short pointy ears, and a very small flat nose. Their fingers and toes had dangerously sharp nails, but their armour was very light, to fit with their slim bodies...
"One of the many demonic minions I've created" Nex's voice said, from nowhere "They steal people's and animal's bodies, usually while they're still alive. I call them Gleepers."
Two of the gleepers jumped in the air and pounced at Puco and Sienna.
Sienna was tackled to the ground, and the demon's slime started dripping on her...
Posted by: Mikado on Tuesday October 23rd, 2007
Puco screamed when she saw these awful things coming at her.
"NOOOOO!" She didn't want them to come closer, and pounded the ground out her reflex. Huge pieces of rock were blasted out of the earth, and they split the Gleeper from Puco. Both being hit by the rocks, they rolled a little backwards, but the Gleeper quickly stood up, and attack again, while puco was still lying on the ground.
She looked above her, and saw a huge, close, slimey, ugly, scary, nasty, glooper. Some of the slime already fell on her face.
"..."
"IEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The girl screamed her lungs out.
Puco quickly rolled back, and kicked the Gleeper in his chest., who was just about to impact in the place she was a second ago.
"DON'T-TOUCH-ME!" Her kick wasn't aimed, but because of the fierce power behind it, she heard some bones breaking when she kicked the chest of the slimey beast.
The Gleeper fell back a little holding it's chest, while Puco looked at what she had done.
"Nee.. don't come nearby.. or I'll do it again.." She said with a scared tone. She touched the earth once again, with her open palms.
Change the position of earth.. make pressure to blast it out..
Some spikes made out of rock flew out of the earth like lave does out of a volcano.
They aren't pointy, but with this speed!
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday October 23rd, 2007
The inky black spider creature, which no longer resembled Retan at all, took Valos' hit head on and spiraled downward into the rocky crater below, kicking up dust with its impact. It reeled as it crawled back to its six feet, which all resembled blades now. The monster itself was entirely black, but each blade-foot was glowing a different color: one a burning red, one a icy blue, one yellow with energy crackling about it, one a phosphorous green, one a bright white, and the last a churning black.
The thing struck the ground with the lightning-appendage, and a blast of electricity surged upwards at Valos...
Meanwhile, Retan simply floated there uninterested, the dark portal still spiraling above his head.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday October 23rd, 2007
"Hmm..." Valos noticed the elemental legs the spider had. Lucky for him he practiced all of the elements himself, except for light, but only wimps used that. He could likely counter every attack with a different element, as well could the spider, but this was just a stupid shadow minion.
Valos summoned a vine of foliage in his hand. He wiped the foliage line at the lightning bolt cancelling it out. He empowered the foliage, giving it a green glow and he flew down towards the ground and slashed the empowered vine at the glowing yellow leg in the ground.
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Wednesday October 24th, 2007
"Can I handle a blade!? Of course I can! I've bloody got a katana!" Atara unsheathed his sword and held it up to show the wolf emporer. He then let it drop to his side, still keeping it somewhat ready.
"Jack, might I ask what was the point of coming down here?" Arata turned to face Jack.
"If I'm not mistaken, I could have sworn I saw them flying in here not to long ago, just like those other, silvery ones. I'm sure they can do it, too!" Arata observed the Drannivolkans closely, noticing that they shared a near-perfect resemblance to the Velkens, except their fur was a different shade, and they were a bit larger in build.
"Fine... I'll fight with you if you can get me to the large airship over Tjed. Please, I need to get up there. There's someone I must keep safe!"
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday October 24th, 2007
"That's probably where Anti is," said Xenai. "We're in no shape to fight him right now. Let's just go find Zion."
"He said he was going after Duilin," said Aura.
"We don't need to connect dots here. After all, we can sense energy signatures." Xenai started searching Gaian for his buddy.
"Y'know," said Tsu, "with how much we all seem to depend on that ability... It would really suck if something took that power away from us."
"Yeah, really bad. But we'd manage somehow." He soon found Zion. "Let's go. He's this way."
The three took off toward Zion.
--- --- ---
"Outburst!!!" A huge amount of energy shot outwards from Anti, revealing his location in the ocean as the water parted around him. "You annoying little fool!"
The Retan clone snickered. It charged up a dark spell, and unleashed it as Anti came in range. "Bloody Lance!" Four dark spears pierced him right there, halting him. The clone swung its sword down at Anti, and slashed right through him. "Got you. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="Very Happy" title="Very Happy" />"
Anti simply came back together. "That hurt, asshole. >:(" Anti connected his wrists, pointing his hands at the clone. "Indignation Wave!" In a few moments, lightning energy gathered in his hands and bursted forwards at the clone. It sent him flying.
Anti then gathered all the energy he could, and fired it up in one fell swoop. "Lightspeed Attack!" He shot up to the clone, kicking it in the face and sending it downward. He then shot down, intercepting him with an uppercut, sending him upwards. He phased in near the clone and kicked it, sending it forward. He continued bounding it back and forth...
Posted by: Coriko on Wednesday October 24th, 2007
Kain looked at the guard. He knew if he lied it would come back to bite him, maybe kill him. But if he said no he may not get in, and in that case Druid would most likely kill him. Kain couldn't lie but decided to word it so he could still get a meeting. So he took a stab in the dark and hoped to hit his mark.
"No, but i assume you already knew that since your leader is indisposed. Is the next ranking official present and able to make decisions?"
Kain awaited the response, pleading to himself it was positive.
---
The mutos watched as the summoned creature flew closer to them. They watched with amazement, almost terror. The creature landed on the ground in front of a muto. It bent down to be eye level. The creature tilted it's head slightly and looked at the muto. Who in return lunged forward and bit off its head.
"Of course," Said Coriko really sarcastically. "When can we ever get a ****ing break?"
Coriko aimed his arrow at the once again advancing onslaught of mutos. He let loose his arrow. It made contact with the mutos who seemed stunned, yet it still advanced almost un-impeded.
"Oh for the love of God!"
Coriko un-summoned his bow and instead summoned fire balls in either hand. He summoned a barrier of fire around himself and Wilham to protect them, at least for the now, from the attacking Mutos.
"Any ideas?"
---
Baird had been at the army barracks for only a short time but he had already done most of the administrative crap he needed to. In this building was a Coloseum for training and tournaments. Then building off of the arena was barracks. He sat in the leaders chair of the stadium and the soldiers all congregated on the arena floor. Like he predicted they were about fifty-thousand strong.
"Alright," Baird announced in a loud booming voice. "Shall we get started?"
---
Druid sat with Onan in his office. They were going over political matters. They were important issues that would help to rally the people for their cause as well as make the country better. Druid thought to himself how he would unite this world for the better under his rule. People would still retain most of their inalienable rights and would celebrate him. The Shadow Empire would be marvelled, not as a victor but as a liberator. He would destroy the tyranny that plagued this world and would create a fair and just one, of course with him at the helm. When thinking about this, Druid couldn't help but smile.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday October 24th, 2007
-"What are you talking about?", replied the guard. "The Sovereign is in his fortress, planning the invasion of Gaian, as I'm sure you knew, and..."
The guard paused.
-"What... on Gaian... is THAT?!"
His outstretched finger was pointing to several enormous airships approaching from the south.
-"Look, mate, I don't really care at this point who you are, and besides, you wouldn't do much harm in either case. Just get the hell in. You've probably noticed the Citadel in the middle of the city - the big floating upside down pyramid with four chains at the side, and a big ring over it. Just go there, say that Rudger sent you, and ask to see either the Scribe of Unlife, or the Sovereign himself, though I doubt you'll be able to catch a glimpse of the latter. Now, go! Get in there!"
The city line appeared to shift a little. All houses containing unlife turned their tough stone sides toward the incoming airships, sticking out several pointy bones in their direction. At about the same time, the city horn sounded - alarm was officially raised.
--- --- ---
//actions by Akran were discussed with Ted Der beforehand.\\
"There she is, Gros Morne in her full beauty... something wasn't right.
Then I noticed the ships, eerily creeping toward the city - my city. Tsk, tsk, tsk... Who's this idiot to try and oppose me? Looks like my minions haven't been doing a good enough job of keeping the locals in my grasp of terror. I smell an execution coming up.
Soon enough, the little ship rammed into the metal port of Gros Morne. I mercifully took the unlife out of it, letting the boat retire to the bottom of the ocean floor. Noticing Akran making it out in time and following me, I continued toward the Citadel. Best if I ask someone who has any idea what those ships are doing up there.
Entering the city, I noticed a wide state of alert. All of the Unlife houses were turned to the attackers - good - and the KAF was scrambling its troops across the city to form a defence line. Not fast enough, I'm afraid... I'll have to work on the troops' discipline.
Some man just passed the front gate guard. Wow, so it is true - people just walk into my city randomly without any obvious need to do so. Who hires those retarded guards? I definitely smell an execution coming up...
Okay, so that's that. I ran past the houses, blah blah blah, boring stuff, yeah yeah. In fact, I don't even remember entirely the panorama outside. Why would I need to? It's just my city, I see it every day, why would I need to describe it further?
What's important, however, is that after I entered the Citadel, I found my dear Scribe snooping around in the throne room. That's not like Ryleh, to be dusting my seat of power instead of lording his position over some miserable slave...
-"RYLEH!!!", I snapped. "What are you doing in here?"
-"Oh, Sovereign, you've returned! I was looking for my quill, which I left here at the last meeting. Perhaps you've seen it?"
-"You know, not many people talk to their monarch like that. No, I haven't seen your goddamn quill, now go get a slave to bring you a new one and get out of here. While you're at that, please summon Mr. Eldridge to the landing pads on the Citadel. Wait there yourself - I will be joining you shortly, with that walking pile of trash."
I threw a negligent look at Akran standing behind me.
-"Now, get lost."
-"Yes, Sovereign."
After the Scribe left, I looked around the throne room. It feels so long since I've been here, though only several hours passed. There's no place like home, they say...
-"Now, Akran, join me at the summit of my fortress, won't you?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday October 24th, 2007
"Yeah, I got one." Wilham's gauntlets glowed white again and he summoned two giant green coloured wasps.
"We'll ride these dragon wasps and continue moving." Wilham said. "Or we can stay around and fight, I'm actually game for either. Heheh."
--- ---
Wyvern riders dropped started dropping firebombs onto the buildings, unlife ones and otherwise. Lizard Men landed in Gorse Morne, with their weapons drawn, greatswords, maces, battleaxes, mauls and all sorts of big weapons. The lizard warriors then began to engage to KAF already rushing in to defend the city.
Back up in the Lightning Wyvern, the co-pilot handed Gorus the orb for the ship's speaker.
"Care to say anything, sir?" The co-piolet asked.
Gorus shook his head. "I'll speak to their intestines with my boot."
"So you're ready to go down?" Xarn asked. "Do you wish to send the elites with you?"
"They can come down, but tell them to stay the hell out of my way." With that Gorus turned around and exited the cockpit...
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday October 24th, 2007
(Velkens are foxes, Drannivolka are cats. Not quite the same. Heh...)
"A pleasure, sir." Anselm returned Duilin's greeting, bowing stiffly, trying to mimic his master's level of formality.
Duilin's jab went right over Renard's head. "Oh? Lady Urocy is the spiritual leader of our people. Without her, I don't know what we'd do..."
Helix caught it though, and flashed a sneer at both him and Duilin. The taller, thinner Velken was obviously the most rambunctious of the group.
The doors flung open and Renard lead the entourage to the outside deck. "We'll have to fly down--"
Black shadows zipped overhead. In an instant, Virmir and the other Velkens landed just a short distance away with a series of soft thumps. The squad leader turned, his black coat flapping in the breeze and the two swords strapped to his back clattering softly. "You've returned."
Renard and the others snapped to attention. "Y-yes sir."
Virmir stepped towards the group, his hands behind his back, giving them a slow lookover. "Helix is healed, I see. How are you feeling?"
"Well, sir." It was always a struggle for Helix to remain at attention, as he was always prone to fidgeting, and his tail lashed about after a moment.
Virmir's eyes fell on Renard. "There is only one person I know who could heal him that quickly... where is she?" His impassive eyes seemed more concerned at the moment.
"She's in Helix's quarters, sir. She's well guarded."
"I see... and everyone is safe?"
"Sir Rikarl organized everything on the other side, sir... I... I had no idea..."
Virmir smiled slightly and placed a hand on Renard's shoulder. "You did well, Renard. You did very well..."
It was of course impossible to tell under the silver fur, but Renard was likely blushing. He looked at the ground and grinned.
Virmir turned to the half-demon, who seemed rather large standing amongst the short foxes. "Duilin, I am glad we have the opportunity to meet once more. I believe I owe you a favor..."
He spun around and flicked his hand, motioning the others to follow.
"My Lord...? What is going on?" Bryce ventured.
"Gamma X five."
The squad members not originally with Renard gasped at the code word.
"Where... are we going?"
"We are going to be civil about this and offer Commander Vlak a choice," Virmir said as he lead the original squad of ten Velkens plus Ko'ji and Duilin towards the large doorway that connected to the command center of the airship...
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday October 25th, 2007
"Nice to see you again to, Virmir." Duilin replied, yet his voice didn't have a lot of enthusiasem. He still wasn't too one hundred percent on Virmir, he'd just have to see how things will go.
"I assume this Commander Vlak isn't one of the Velkens?" Duilin asked.
--- ---
The gleeper was impaled by the spiky rocks and fell to the ground.
Sienna kicked the Gleeper off of her, and took out a deck of cards from her pocket. The gleeper squealed at Sienna and then jumped at her again, yet she took out a card from the deck and threw it at the creature's throat. The card was enchanted with black magic and it stuck right in. The gleeper gargled a bit holding its throat before falling lifeless to the ground.
Nex's laugh echoed through the air and two more Gleepers jumped at Sienna and pinned her on the ground.
"Help!" Sienna cried out.
Posted by: Mikado on Thursday October 25th, 2007
"Oh no! Sienny-chan!"
Wha-what should I do!! Having those bleepers so close.. it must be awful!
She quickly ran toward Sienna, and in her sprint she began to create a long spear from all sorts of dust of the ground. The Gleeper raised his hand, and was about to pierce Siennas breasts, when he got pushed by a giant spear off her, tackling the other Gleeper away too.
She jumped over Sienna, picked up the spear, and made it sharper. She threw it at the Gleeper, who wanted to catch it since it was a easy throw aimed at his head, but before the spear reached him, Puco already head butted him in his belly. Catching his belly the spear directly hit his head.
Puco was already running at the second Gleeper then, however this one, instead of defending began to run at Puco with a beast like speed. Because Puco had no weapon anymore, before she would hit him, she would be already cut up badly by his claws. She made in her run a small spinning jump, and stamped in the ground just before the gleeper, breaking the earth, and she jumped back, and the Gleeper was caught off guard because he couldn't move properly on broken soil. Puco used this quickly at jump kicked in his chest, and spinning she made several more follow up kicks, these were all aimed, and the Gleeper was kicked into two pieces.
Using the power extract.. and inversing time on my muscles, making them fifty times stronger..
She jumped back, and sighted. Then she realized that she did all of this actually to safe Sienna, and she run quickly towards her to help her stand up.
After all of this blood shredding work, no single drop of blood hit Puco.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday October 25th, 2007
Sienna got up, gasping. "T-thank you..." She then noticed two more gleepers coming at Puco from behind.
Sienna took two cards out and threw them like ninja stars at the gleepers. The cards slashed right across their throats, quickly killing them. The gleepers were all dead.
"Weak at the troat. They're always weak there." She stated. She took a deep breath. "That was pretty good fighting Puco."
"Yes I'll admit you both surprised me there." Nex said appearing from nowhere.
Sienna turned and saw Nex walking towards them.
"Now, I could ask you again to join me.." Nex said "...but to be honest I'd much rather have you as meal then as an ally."
Ophelia grimaced. "You sick cannibal."
"I'm not a cannibal! Cannibals eat people of the same species."
With that Nex lifted his hands and his scythe magically appeared in hands.
"YEEHAA!!"
The demon then made a made dash towards the two and then slashed his scythe down at Sienna, who jumped to the side avoiding the scythe.
The blade stuck into the ground, but it quickly disappeared as Nex let go of it. He then shot a fireball from his right hand at Sienna, and knocked her to the ground. His scythe then reappeared in his hands and he slashed it down at Puco...
Posted by: Mikado on Thursday October 25th, 2007
"Ieee---EH!" Puco not knowing what to do, jumped forward, evading the deadly scythe itself, but she got hit by the handle.
"Ouchie.." She rubbed her head, and grabbed the scythe with her left hand, and with her side of her other arm, she pushed with lots of strength at the wood just in front of the blade pushing the blade away with her right leg at the same time.
If I'll break his weapon we'll win! Being pushed from 3 different directions, and weakening the wood were I hold it.. how is a scythe gonna survive that!? Eat that Mister Scythe!
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday October 25th, 2007
//Xorlak, could you get Vincent up to the top of the fortress? Kronos sent for him the other post, so I apologize if that wasn't clear.\\
"I arose to the top of the Citadel. Looks like Gros Morne is taking a beating... I decided to watch the KAF troops fail miserably to defend the city from the Lizard Men. I felt nothing but contempt for my falling warriors, not even bothering to resurrect them. That tag of theirs should be removed and replaced with big shiny badges with the words "I SUCK" on them. Seriously, who aims like that?
In confirmation of my thoughts, I barely phase-shifted in time for an incoming spear from a spear gun. It harmlessly passed through me. Needless to say, I lost what little respect I had remaining for my army.
A slave ran up to the top of the fortress, carrying an M-Grid orb in his hand. He clearly looked agitated, and was headed toward me. Just for the fun of it, I decided to ignore him, and see what he did.
-"Sovereign! SOVEREIGN!!!"
Ugh. There goes my ignorance.
-"Eh?"
-"Sovereign! The Stalker Corps are requesting advice on how to continue!"
-"How many Stalkers do we have in Gros Morne?"
-"Nine out of fifteen, sir."
-"I see."
I took the crystal sphere from the servant, who promptly bowed and ran off. A small hologram of a male Stalker mage sprung up in front of me as soon as the glass touched my palm.
-"Sir!", the hologram declared. "Should we engage the army?"
I was about to snap at the Stalker for not doing so earlier, when I noticed an especially large Lizard Man running about Gros Morne. Squinting my eyes, I noticed some familiar details... Interesting. He must be someone of importance. Even if he isn't, he'd make a fine addition to my zoo.
-"First of all, tell me exactly how many of what kind of Stalkers am I dealing with."
-"Three melees, two rangers and four elementals, Sovereign."
-"I see. I want two melees, one elemental, and one ranger to engage the main force. The third melee, as well as one ranger and the three other elementals are to seek out the pack leader and bring him up here - alive."
-"Yes, sir!"
The image faded and vanished. I neatly put the orb away into my cloak. Who knows when else I'll need it?
I immediately saw the effects of my conversation with the Stalker. Nine figures exited the Citadel from below, splitting into two groups of four and five. The four charged straight for the front line of the invading army, engaging it as they went. I quickly sensed a sharp decline in the Lizard Men's souls. Pop, pop, pop - the souls were being released from their bodies at a very pleasing rate. A definite step up from maybe two or three "pops" from when the KAF were left to their own devices. In fact, my soldiers were out-dying the Lizard Men at a rate of six to one, even though they out-manned the lizard army two to one.
The rest of the Stalker warriors went for that big specimen over there. Damn, should've told them not to injure him too much - wouldn't want his blood splattering all over my snow-white Moa bird I got the other day. Note to self: move his cage away from the more expensive animals. I didn't exactly enjoy the idea of a big ugly hunk of green skin sitting next to the fragile white Moa, marring the view..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday October 25th, 2007
"Fine then. Marrik! Help out this man! The rest of you, follow me. We need to find the others and get out of this castle." One of the elites walked towards Arata and Jack.
"After you," he said, somewhat coldly. The others were already on their way down the castle halls, just about to reach the door to the area where they came in. "I think this one's it, my lord."
"Yes, I'm nearly sure of it." He opened the door, and there stood the seven other Drannivolkan guards. They straightened up when they saw Aaron come in.
"Get in gear, men. We're leaving the castle."
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday October 25th, 2007
(Post was clear. Free time wasn't.)
"Ah, a pleasure to meet you in person at last, my dear Sovereign."
Vincent approached the lich from behind, idly tinkering with his bright golden shotgun. Blast... this guy was at least a big a freak show as Draven. The alchemist eyed the crown-like feathers in his head, and the way his robes flowed around when he became translucent. Vincent needed to meet him in person, though, to decide if he wanted to betray him or that dufus Ryleh. Maybe both. Depended on the potential earnings, and if it was worth the risk.
An explosion rocked the side of the fortress, which he ignored entirely as he snapped some odd cartridge onto the top of the weapon. A frigid arctic wind followed the blast, blowing his ponytail around his shoulder. "At least the weather is pleasant."
He stepped up to the side of the Sovereign and grasped the railing that lined the fortress overlook with one gloved hand, tapping the gun upon his shoulder idly with the other. "Hmmm, troop deployment vessels," he nodded at the airships, "not much in the way of firepower compared to some of the other ships in the Dark Empire's possession, but extremely tough armor and plenty of room on board for ground troops..."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Friday October 26th, 2007
//The Velkens are on the deck of the Death Evan, right? Not inside?
"Right, uh... let's take the window, then." Arata leapt down the window and onto a bridge already created by Marrik. It looked more like a set of stairs than a bridge though.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Jack hadn't seen anything like this before. Arata didn't either, but he wasn't so impressed. They climbed the air-staircase with Marrik at the rear as it stretched from the castle window to the Death Evan. When he finally reached the top, he noticed that the stairway didn't quite go over the railing. He'd have to jump up. This would be no problem for a Drannivolkan, but for a human, there's a bit of a difference.
"Well then, throw me up."
"I'm sorry, what!?"
"THROW ME UP!" Marrik grabbed Arata's back and launched him above the railing. He landed neatly on the deck. Jack was thrown as well, landing next to Arata in a not-so neat fashion. He fell on his back, but quickly regained his stance. At last, the Drannivolkan Leapt up and landed in between the other two, the air-stairway fading as he did.
Arata, ignoring the others, walked up to Virmir and sheathed his katana. He looked down into the eyes of the small Velken. "Well, you've got another blade under your command, High General. Three, actually. That wolven guy has already told us of your good intent. How 'bout it? Will you have us?"
Meanwhile, Ko'ji was standing next to Helix. She was still a bit worried about him, but he seemed fine. She was glad, and smiled knowing that he was okay. "You look like you've seen better days! Still, I'm really glad to see you again! I kept you safe from those other worldly things, but you know that already... so, how do you feel?"
Posted by: Coriko on Friday October 26th, 2007
Kain entered the city, startled by the attack going on.
"Just my luck."
He continued on towards the citidal.
---
"I don't know Wilham, i feel something bad will happen if we fight. But then again these guys dont look so tough."
Coriko tossed a fireball at one of the mutos who screamed and twitched with pain until it collapsed.
"We can fight for a little while, but summon those things now in case we need a quick get away."
Posted by: Ted Der on Friday October 26th, 2007
Okay"¦ Akran was lost. What is going on? Akran gazed out at the strange lizard people fighting Kronos' army. This was too much for him. He didn't even know if he was now officially on Kronos' side. Akran's allegiance stood with the people who he could benefit from the most. So far, he had only seen a little of Kronos and what he could do. Still skeptical"¦ still uncertain"¦
But what mattered at the moment, was what Akran should do. He couldn't fight anyone without knowing who he was killing. I have to get away, he thought.
Akran turned to leave, but something stopped him. A strange sensation ran down his spine and he turned back and looked at Kronos. The way he treated the people he commanded was terrible. Like slaves, he thought. And that led him to ponder why Kronos was treating him differently. Sure, when he met him, Kronos expressed that he wanted Akran as a slave, but he didn't insist. Did his people have any choice? Why is he treating me differently?
"I have to get out of here," Akran suddenly said, "I don't belong in this battle. I'll be making my way back to the Margonites to find the lady who said her name was Gwen. From there I'll hopefully have some lead to where the Majeuri Spinel is."
Akran turned away. Over his shoulder he called out to Kronos as he was walking away, "If you want to find me, ask you sister, she seems to know those kinds of things."
Akran ran down the steps and hurried towards the port to find some sort of vessel. Hopefully, there won't be much trouble to leave and not too many of those freaky lizard things in the way so that I can't sneak by.
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday October 26th, 2007
-"Leaving? So early? That's unfortunate."
I took out the M-Grid orb and quickly found the coordinates of the closest Stalker. It was a Ranger. A cold whisper resounded in my head:
-"Tethys here, Sovereign."
Really, I could care less what his name is.
-"Follow the target leaving the Gros Morne Citadel."
-"Shall I leave my current task, sir?"
-"Yes. As of this point, he is your priority. How are the other Stalkers doing?"
-"They are fending off quite well, sir. One is wounded; they will not last for long."
-"I see. Go now. Find Akran, but do not engage. Follow him... Stalk him, if you will."
-"I understand, Sovereign. I shall keep in contact."
The channel between me and the Stalker vanished. I turned my attention back to Vincent, who was observing the airships.
-"I can't risk him making off with the loot, especially of such great value. So if he happens to find the Majeuri Spinel, I won't have to hire some hot-headed adventurer to recover it for me in exchange for half my kingdom, infinite wealth, and a beautiful princess. Them Stalkers are quite the asset, you know?"
I paused for a second, letting the cold fragrance of death fill me from top to bottom. It wasn't oft that so many died in my immediate vicinity - I had to soak in the pleasure while it lasted.
-"It's all quite strange, if you think about it." I continued my speech, ignoring another foundation-shaking explosion. "My Stalker finds you and you build me a super weapon - just as it is completed, an army attacks me. Fate?
"The damnedest thing, though - of all these people, these soon-to-decrease 15,000 people, you have been in my service for the longest period of time. In fact, I believe I proposed an alliance very long ago - when I was still... human...
"At the same time, you are the one of the few I know next to nothing about. Looks life fate is not without its own curious sense of irony."
I paused again, this time to watch the Enlightenment break its bond with the Citadel, and rise up into the sky."
---
The Stalkers communicated with a series of clicks and whistles, deftly dodging incoming projectiles and incoming Lizard Men. The melee Stalker, Donthel, occasionally dispatched his lead-core hatchet at an unfortunate Lizard Man's skull. Their aim, however, were not the Lizard Men - it was the fat green obscenity that the Sovereign dispatched them to capture.
Making their way through the city, they finally caught sight of the lizard shouting orders and wreaking general havoc in the city square. Almost unseen, the Stalkers swiftly assumed their positions all around the monster. They prepared their weapons - Donthel sharpened his kamas, while the Ranger, Eris, made sure that the obsidian darts were in place. She fastened the mini-crossbow gauntlet on her arm, and adjusted the power to accommodate for the lizard's tough hide.
A shrill whistle from one of the hidden elemental Stalkers meant the beginning of the attack - and Donthel, like a lightning, dashed right at Gorus. Altering his course in mid-air, he landed on the ground in front of the lizard. Just before landing, he launched his hatchet into the air up way over Gorus. In less than a second, the hatchet stuck in a wall in front of the Stalker - and the latter used the advantage to pull himself up while jumping. At the same time, he threw one of his kamas right on top of the General's head...
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday October 26th, 2007
Nex's scythe was broken into several pieces.
"Oh no! My scythe! My ever shall I possibly do!?" Nex said in an over dramatic tone. The pieces of the scythe then disappeared and his scythe reappeared in his hands, good as new.
Nex laughed and then made another downwards slash at Puco, but his scythe was stopped.
Ophelia had grabbed the end under the blade. Her hands were glowing with a dark red.
Nex sighed. "You never learn do you?"
Nex's scythe faded away and back again, free from Ophelia's grip. With the blunt skull behind the blade, he rammed Ophelia in the chest knocking the wind out of her. He twirled his scythe with one hand, feeling almost sorry for the woman. He then turned around to deal with the young girl, who appeared to actually be strong. With his free hand he then shot a powerful red lightning bolt at Puco.
--- ---
"What the..." Gorus looked up and saw a partially invisible human flying towards him slashing a blade at his head.
He ducked down avoiding the blade from gouging him. He looked up at the wall to see what it was. It appeared to be the same type of human that he fought in Vandrin. The human that actually put up a fight.
"More of them?" Gorus asked himself. "Well, more guts, more glory." The lizard general then took out his grappling blaster and shot it at the stalker.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday October 26th, 2007
"Hmmm..." Virmir scratched the underside of his muzzle as he observed the newcomers. "Very well, but you must do exactly as I say. Otherwise the situation could get out of control very quickly."
Standing in front of the door leading inside the ship, he scanned the group of humans, Velkens, and the half-demon. "My squad will come with me, except for Renard, Helix, Anselm, and Riuki. You four will remain here with the humans. If blood must be shed, you will know it in a few minutes..."
Renard nodded. He knew what that meant...
With that, Virmir entered the door and disappeared, followed by seven Velkens.
Helix scratched the back of his head as he talked with Ko'ji. "Yeah... thanks. I... uh... I really appreciate you looking out for me like that..." He seemed a little nervous and he shifted around, balancing on his heals as his tail flicked about. "But, I don't know what I'd do if you would have gotten hurt in there..."
"Commander Vlak! Emergency transmission from North Point!"
"North Point? Why would they contact us directly?"
Vlak shifted over to the magical orb in the center of the control room, tapping his claws together as the translucent image of another Lizard Man formed in the air.
Suddenly the orb exploded in a burst of flame, and the image vanished.
Vlak covered his face and swore. "Who cast that spell?!"
This lizard commander snarled as he looked around the room. The guards reached for their weapons, but suddenly stopped and stood at attention.
Virmir stood opposite the orb, hands behind his back, his eyes a deathly cold stare... Above, Velkens floated in a circle, just inches away from the ceiling...
"Commander Vlak, I hope this day is treating you well."
Vlak snarled, but then forced a level response. "Well enough, High General. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Drop the shields and recall all your men to the airships."
"Wh... what?"
"Are you questioning my orders, commander?"
Vlak took a few steps in reverse, his toeclaws clicking on the metal floor.
"No... of course not..."
"Excellent." Virmir strode to the wide bridge window overlooking the deck. "Prepare for immediate departure."
"My Lord...." Vlack stood next to the much smaller Velken, observing the view of the green-tinted mountains (due to the shield), "forgive me, but does this not contradict our orders?"
"Your orders are simply to obey me without question, commander. If you fail to accomplish that, then I will have you removed. Do you understand?"
Vlak sneered an enraged frown. "... Yes... sir..." He pulled his head back and studied the Velken for a moment, watching the silver fox as his tail swayed to and fro. The lizard commander turned, but suddenly stopped and clutched his head, pain lacing across his face. He shut his eyes tightly.
When Vlak opened them, they burned crimson...
Vlak immediately drew his blade and brought it down at the fox's head while his back was turned...
Virmir flicked his wrist. The Wind Serpent sung through the air, and the commander had a head no more. With a thump and a crash, the body and head clattered to the ground.
In but three seconds, the reptilian guards were but carcasses, and the other Velkens removed their bloodied blades from their sides and necks.
"Alas. He chose the uncivil way..."
Virmir sighed as he scanned the room and the dead bodies. Suddenly his eyes widened in terror...
"My Lord?" Bryce probed his master, not understanding why the extremely calm Virmir would display such emotion...
Virmir was the only one who could see them. Like ghosts, black figures rose from the dead bodies-- all of them. Ravens with crimson eyes... The Watchers flew every which way like specters, escaping through walls, some flying deeper into the ship, some flying away...
Virmir snapped out of it, his lips curling back as he emitted a feral growl. "The lizards... all of them must die..." He bolted for the door. "Immediately!"
Unfortunately for Valos, flora elemental attacks negate water, and not lightning, which would be negated by rock or ground based earth attacks. The tendrils of plantlife disintegrated as they touched the bright yellow leg. The spider monster snickered, seemingly saying "Heh..." and jumped some fifty feet straight up as it let loose a burning blast of flame with the bright red spike upon one of its legs...
After the six or seventh pong-bounce, the Shadow-Retan Anti was wailing on threw its arms up into the air and exploded in a fury of dark power. Its cape and helmet seemed to fly off, revealing a spiky-haired silhouette with crimson eyes that was obviously rather irritated.
It crossed its arms in an X motion and its body blurred, splitting in two, then splitting again to reveal four shadows. They disappeared in a flash and materialized on each side of the astral demon. With insane speed, all four let loose a flurry of punches, their fists but streaks in the air...
(*Smacks forehead* *Re-reads posts from May 2006*)
Vincent brought his hand to his chin. Indeed this was the same man from that long ago. Interesting he put it that way, as it really was just a small alliance or an exchange of favors more like. Kronos looked somewhat different since he rejected his humanity, but upon closer inspection he did recognize his features. He wore the same crown of feathers, after all.
"Indeed, much has changed since our last encounter. And I wouldn't call it fate. It was merely a matter of time before the Dark Empire found this place and struck. They have hit every nation on the planet, by now..."
A snarling lizard suddenly poked his head up and screamed at the two, having somehow scaled the side of the semi-floating fortress. Without missing a beat in the conversation, Vincent stuck the barrel of his shotgun in the thing's mouth and blew his head off, sending the body hurdling backwards to splat on the ground hundreds of feet below.
"And yes, it seems I don't know you very well either. Perhaps we should remedy this?"
Vincent bent over and slammed his free hand into the ground, a crimson circle of light appearing below him. A disk cut from the fortress roof levitated under his feet, forming an odd propeller that propelled the black trench coated alchemist a few feet into the air.
"Those airships have flight crystals which would be very useful, considering they are extremely expensive and time consuming to make. Would you care to join me in sabotaging the ships? Surely watching the battle from up here must bore you..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday October 26th, 2007
"Mother of ass!!" Valos growled in rage. "God damned flora and earth being different ****ing elements. I officially hate magic. ****ing demonic witchcraft, is what it all is!!"
Valos who was deathly pissed off surrounded himself in an aura of dark flame and chased after the spider monster. It seems that one thing he 'kept' after his stay in Thanatos was his short temper. He always flipped out in battles, sometimes over the littlest things. Sometimes this helped him however, when fighting one on one. Despite what Valos just shouted he didn't hate magic. He needed it, and he wouldn't be where he is without it.
The angry warrior summoned a fireball in one hand and coated his fist in ice with his other hand. He then caught up with the spider and then smashed both of his fists into the green leg, ignoring the burning on his hands from the fire shooting out of the red leg.
//I'll update Duilin later.\\
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday October 27th, 2007
"Shall I be caught doing a slave's work, with a slave along? No; this man wasn't a mere slave. No matter how hard I may try to deny it, I know that a person who built me a superweapon is not a slave. Besides, it would be helpful to acquire the crystals, as well as see Vincent in action.
-"I don't see why not."
I opened the gate in front of me, clearing the way for a death-plunge. I stepped off, and right onto a wyvern which I previously built from the unfortunates below and summoned up to the fortress.
-"In that case, let's get moving."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 27th, 2007
//I assume Duilin, Renard and co. are still on that one balcony thing.\\
Duilin leaned with mace the on railing of the balcony and put his hands on the railing and looked down at the city of Tjedon. He needed to contact the others so they would know he's alright, he was sure Bell and Rink might be a little worried.
Suddenly a strange bat-like figure started flying towards Duilin.
"What the..."
Suddenly a red creature landed on the railing startling Duilin, almost causing him to loose balance and fall on the floor.
"BAH!" Duilin yelped, he then lightly shook his head and noticed that it was Rink.
"So, I assume things went well at North Point?" Rink asked.
"As well as they could have." Duilin replied.
"So, you going to introduce me to your new friends?"
"Uh yeah." Duilin looked at Renard, and the others. "Guys, this is Rink. And Rink, this is Renard and that's Renard's friend Helix."
Rink noticed Helix was busy talking, so he nodded to Renard. "Nice to meet you, Renard."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Saturday October 27th, 2007
"Heh... well, I'm pretty capable! I did save you, well... Anselm helped me quite a bit... still, I'm a part of the squad now, and that means I must look after the team. I'm sure you would have done the same... but anyways, you're welcome!" She smiled as she spoke to Helix, but stopped just barely in time to overhear Virmir from within the ship; his clear order, to kill all of the lizards. She then remembered that her hearing was exceptionally better than before. Perhapse she'd ask someone else if they heard. "Hey, Helix... did you hear that...?"
Meanwhile, Arata was simply sitting on the railing of the Death Evan. He observed the quiet city below, the green shield illuminating it in the darkness. Even though the dark empire was here and the shield covered the capital, the natural order of things still somewhat continued. The birds flew through the air, chirping as if nothing was going on. The fauna all around dashed off freely in the space between the city and the mountains. It looked too peaceful to be true. Arata hated it, the sense of peace and quiet.
"Damnit, when can we kill already? All this sittin' 'round is gettin' on my nerves..."
"Calm down, mate! Seriously, it's quite peaceful up here."
"That's the damn point, idiot! It's too peaceful, too quiet... and it's pissing me off. Where are the lizards? What's taking that man so long!?"
"Seriously, calm down. Nobody needs to hear this."
"Oh, shut up, Jack. You know you want to kill something. Hell, you were in prison because of murder. Oh, how lovely it would be just to get bloody again. Shouldn't be too much longer, just have to wait it out, I guess-woah!" As Rink flew in, Arata fell backwards and onto the deck of the airship. He cursed as he got back to his feet.
"What in the hell was that? I just saw some red blur and then... oh, what in the bloody hell... an Imp?"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday October 27th, 2007
"Hmm... what am I to do now?" Marrik wondered, "I wish John was here, then I'd atleast have somebody to talk to." Out of boredom, the Drannivolkan got out his broadsword and twirled it around using his air magic. It spun around himself, doing a series of twirls and flips and figure eights in the air. If a person was holdin it, it would look like a form. As it finished its last twirl, the blade flew back to its master and sheathed itself.
Marrik didn't quite feel comfortable around anybody on the ship. He sat himself down on the deck and placed his hands over his knees, feeling the energy around him. The combination of power aboard the Death Evan was astonishing.
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday October 27th, 2007
"Oh, uh, hello..." Renard bowed slightly to Rink. Imps were from the underworld like demons, weren't they? He knew he shouldn't be nervous around them, but still demons put him on edge. Duilin was half demon, he told himself, and a great guy. He understood why Duilin lied about his demon heritage when they first met, though.
"Hear what?" Helix's ears perked and he angled one towards the control deck. He could of course hear several times better than a human, but still Riuki's level of hearing was beyond him.
He flinched when the window above exploded, a massive fireball surging over the deck.
Virmir shot out of the opening, the other Velkens following as blurs. "Kill all the lizards right now!" he screamed as he flew overhead.
Helix didn't know what was happening, but when Lord Virmir screamed an order, let alone used the words 'right now' he knew it absolutely had to be done this instant. He flashed Riuki a quick glance, his face full of shock and worry, then dove right over the side of the airship after his master.
Renard and Anselm followed suit, diving off the ship and descending faster than free-fall until they caught up with the formation as the others rocketed towards the sleeping town below...
Virmir hoped that explosion was enough to get Aaron's attention. He told the wolf-man an explosion in the sky would be the signal for him to attack the lizards... He had hoped to avoid doing so. He wasn't sure, but he felt the lizards were as much as slaves to Retan as the Velkens were. Their situation was far bleaker, however. Many of the Lizard Men were genetically engineered and grown simply to serve the Dark Emperor. He wondered if they all possessed a Watcher inside, ready to take over their bodies if too much free thought crossed their minds...
Two burly Lizard Men stood guard outside the house, keeping watch to ensure no humans ran the streets at night, as they've been ordered. Suddenly they clutched their heads, writhing in pain as they shut their eyes tightly. When they opened them, they glowed crimson...
The two trampled down the door as if it were cardboard and stormed into the dwelling admist the screams of the human family. They rose their blades, one taking the mother by the collar and the other lifting a small child...
Two figures burst through the windows, zipping through the air as silver blurs. Virmir impaled the first lizard with the Wind Serpent, driving the beast back into the wall and pining him there. The Blade Knight Bryce stabbed the second under the ribs as the creature rose his arm. The humans screamed in horror again at seeing the two foxes carrying bloodied blades, but the Velkens ignored them.
Virmir pointed towards the next building and zipped out the window, Bryce following suit as they raced for the next dwelling.
The propeller-driven-flying-disc-contraption Vincent stood on rose a few feet higher, then sped him in front of the lich sovereign. He reached into his inner coat pocket and withdrew shaded lenses, which he clipped on over his glasses. With a shotgun in his hand and trench coat blowing in the breeze, he looked absolutely insane riding on the flying disc. Yet despite this he kept a calm placid expression on his face.
A squad of reptilian wyvern riders dove at the duo. With the silhouette of the Enlightenment rising to the heavens in the background, the alchemist held his golden shotgun at his waist and let loose and intense stream of rapid-fire shots. The air exploded around the wyverns, tearing them apart as their riders plummeted. Expelling the entire round, he removed the cartridge from the top of the weapon and deftly replaced it with another, sending another volley forth as he tore a hole high above the city, soaring straight for the central airship...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday October 27th, 2007
"What!? An explosion? That must be the signal he mentioned before, ATTACK!!!" Aaron burst into a mad rush, his wereform enhancing his speed and power greatly. He burst into the town from outside the castle gate and began to kill as many lizardmen as far as the eye could see. More and more, his furry fists drenched themselves in the blood ofthe lizards as he punched the unruly, crimson-eyed beasts. As they went into the homes, the Drannivolkan elite saw to it that not a single human family would be harmed.
"JOHN!!! Marrik was falling from the sky and landed next to his fellow elite, seemingly 'John,' as he was called.
"Marrik? Right then, blast 'em to shit!" The two Drannivolkans dashed off farther into the city at lightning speeds, slashing up the lizardmen, green chunks of scaley flesh flying in all which directions. The streets soon filled with blood.
Jacobie dropped his blades in pain. Something inside of him was calling to him, something evil. It was a watcher that made its way into his soul. Kill, it told him. Kill, kill, kill. All humans of Tjed must die, must die now.
"RAGH, NO!!!" The lizardman resisted extremely well. Most would have began the spree. No, Jacobie found the source, a black bird on his right shoulder. He grabbed it and squeezed it until it exploded, black feathers flying around it. He picked up his blades as he saw three lizardmen running towards the house Lagart and himself were guarding. Taking both blades in hand, he slashed down the three c-class lizards in one blow. They all fell, mortally wounded, to the floor, unable to move.
"Lagart, they're attacking! Prepare yourself!"
"Sierana, stay here with Lucy and Bell. I can hear them attacking." Justin left the house to find that Jacobie was already under attack. He decided to hold the position with the other two lizardmen at his side.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 27th, 2007
"Let's go." Duilin said to Rink. The imp grabbed on to Duilin's shoulder as he jumped off the edge of the ship and flew towards the ground, and landed on his feet.
"I hope Lagart and Jacobie won't get mistaken for lizard men still with the empire." Rink stated. "I better go and get them, probably should tell them to stay out of the way or something."
"Well, we might need their help." Duilin replied. "So at least tell them to loose their disguises."
"Alright." Rink flew off back towards the house, while Duilin went off with the Velkens to fight.
---
Lagart stood infront of the door, blocking two lizard men trying to get into the house.
"No one go in house!" Lagart growled.
"Traitor!" The lizard warriors hissed. One of them took his sword out and slashed Lagart across the chest, making a mildly bleeding wound.
Lagart drew his broadsword and slashed down at the lizard man's skull vertically splitting it. He kicked the other lizard man in the chest knocking it to the ground, he then jabbed the blade into its stomach.
"Bell! They attacking!" Lagart shouted inside. "But you no need worry. I guard house! Lagart won't let no one in!"
--- ---
//Ein are you going to update the Stalkers? Or do you want me to?\\
"Commence field bombing." Xarn ordered, speaking into the communications orb.
The two larger airships began raining down cannon balls of shadow energy on to the ground, destroying many of the buildings below...
The Lightning Wyvern began flying at a quicker speed, heading towards the heart of the city.
"General Xarn!" An image of one of the scouts appeared on it's communications orb.
"What is it?" Xarn barked.
"There's something big near the city's main building. It looks like some sort of airship."
"Interesting..."
//Must. Have. Airship battle.\\
Posted by: Ted Der on Saturday October 27th, 2007
//D. Ein, what exactly are the stalkers? Do you think Akran would be able to catch Tethys following him?//
It was a small vessel, but that suited Akran. He didn't want to attract too much attention anyway. It wasn't docked at the port, but was a bit further down the ocean near some Lizard Men who seemed to be guarding it.
They hadn't seen him yet, so Akran crouched down. He couldn't shoot an arrow from this position, and even if he could, the others would surely notice and sound some kind of alarm. There were only three of them and he didn't want any more to show. Hopefully they weren't great fighters.
Akran could only think of one thing to do, and he didn't like it. He'd have to swim. That way he could sneak past the guards and take them out from behind. He reluctantly put down his bow and quiver which was hidden underneath his robes and kicked some dirt over them. He also lightened his clothes by stripping down to his leather vest and shorts. He took his knife too.
Akran waded through the pebbles and seaweed and dove into the water. It was very cold, but it refreshed him. He made his way over the boat and circled around it to avoid detection. Soon he was sneaking up behind the guards making barely any noise. The lizards were facing away from him and he heard two of them talking.
"God this sucks. I wanna kill something. Why can't we just ditch this thing?"
"Shut up fool. You know we have to make sure no one escapes."
Akran noticed three guard helmets on the ground beside the third lizard who was taking a nap on a rock behind the other two. Apparently they didn't expect to be attacked. He slowly snuck up on the sleeping one.
"Where the hell is Serg, anyway," the second lizard continued, "Is he sleeping again?" He turned around and walked over to the sleeping lizard and kicked him. "Wake up you idiot! What the hell do you think you're do-"
Akran leaped out from behind the rock and stabbed the Lizard Man in the throat before he could finish his sentence. He made a gurgling sound and flopped over onto the ground. Akran grabbed the fallen soldier's sword and before the other lizard could react, he threw it at him, separating the reptile's head from the rest of his body. Gross.
Akran stood up and retrieved his knife. He jogged back along edge of the water to where he dropped his quiver and clothes. They were gone. No! Akran searched the ground desperately. Argh! They were right here! Akran slumped down to the ground. Someone must have been following him and saw him place his stuff here.
Bitterly, Akran forced himself up and walked back to the boat. He turned back around and saw that the battle was drawing nearer to where he was. No time to lose. Now that he no longer had a weapon, he picked up one of the lizard weapons. Close hand combat wasn't quite his style, but it was better than nothing. He jumped into the small boat and pushed himself away from the shore in the direction of the island he and Kronos only just came from.
Posted by: Trent on Saturday October 27th, 2007
"This boring charade has gone on long enough!" Anti kicked the Retan clone into the ocean. "I'll show you the difference in our power!"
<Cut-in...>
"Indignation Judgment!!!"
A huge sword of thunder shot down from the sky and into the ocean... right through the clone. As the blade discharged, multiple bolts of lightning struck in the water, electrifying it as well.
The clone was dead.
Posted by: Mikado on Sunday October 28th, 2007
"Ah!"
Puco tried to jump away, but the bolt hit her in the air. She was knocked back, and rolled a few times on the ground.
"Nyoaran~.. " Puco stood up, being a little dizzy. "Electricity isn't that bad if it doesn't FLOW through my body.. And since it had nowhere to go while I was in the air.. " She grinned a little, but she had to hold her head because she was dizzy.
"Still the amount of whirling electric thingies does hurt! Well mister, if you gonna keep doing such attacks, maybe I must take you more seriously!"
She dashed at the skully person, and when she was near him, she jumped spinning. However the jump was way to big to reach Nex, and she floated above him and fell into an old broken house.
The building slowly began to break.. Then the earth beneath Ophelia pushed he away from Nex. The same moment the wood that remained from the house was shot of at Nex. It weren't large pieces, but hundreds of small wood spikes flying with the speed almost of a bullet.
The wood is old.. so it's easy to split it. Putting the little "strong" wood into a crowded place, and breaking the other wood abruptly.. this will give a similar effect as one of those "guns"! However now it's a whole rain of spikes!
Sorry mister house for hurting you..
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 28th, 2007
Nex lifted his free hand and pointed it towards the wooden spikes heading towards him. He made a spinning motion with his hands, and summoned a spinning gust of wind in front of him. The spikes were caught, and began spinning around in front of him.
"Spin it right round, toots." Nex sneered at Puco, as he spun the gust around faster and faster, creating a small tornado, and tore up the ground below it. He then pushed his hand forward and the tornado the spun towards the young girl.
Posted by: Mikado on Sunday October 28th, 2007
Wind.. a strong element if used correctly.. but wind alone is nothing to be afraid of..
She moved her hand in the air, and slowly began to control the wind particles around her. She made an emptiness which pulled the air, and that air pushed the other air away making an another emptiness, and with Puco's control this would go on.
She gave it a small push, and her tornado went straight at the tornado of that the skull person created.
In normal means the tornado's would disappear with a small poof. But both tornado's were manually controlled, so this would be a push battle. In the end Nex's tornado would win because he controls it manually all the time, while Puco just gives it a small push and it goes further on its own. However before that would happen several minutes would pass... that was enough.
Puco moved her leg slightly on the earth, controlling it. Now there were Sienna was a small text appeared in the earth, so that only Sienna could see them.
">XD Attack now his back with full strength! <3<3<3."
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday October 28th, 2007
Something flashed in front of their cells and slashed open the locks, then disappeared.
The few remaining Tjed soldiers peeked out of their cell doors to find all the Lizard Men dead, and their weapons lying on the floor.
"Let's go!"
With that, the warriors of Tjed took to the streets to join in the chaos.
Above the city, the shields flickered and died, leaving Tjedon open once more. Villagers heard the battle cries in the streets and took up arms.
It was time to take back their city.
Valos' attack blew the monster's green leg off and it shrieked in pain. It fell backwards all the way to the crater below, landing with a dull thud.
Floating under the surging blackness, Retan angled his helmeted head towards Anti. "It seems your are worthy of my personal punishment."
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 28th, 2007
Lagart was fighting off several lizard men who were rushing towards him. They were all of the smaller C-Class, but it was still a challenge for him to fight them off. Lagart had several cuts along his body and his armour was getting shredded. But Lagart didn't give up and he continued to smash away at the attackers.
It seemed though, that they were no longer trying to get into the house, they just wanted to take out Lagart. But it was amazing how many enemies he was able to take, already seven C-Class lizard men were killed by Lagart. But he wasn't sure if he could keep it up as he was loosing breath, and his vision was getting a little blurry...
Rink arrived to see Lagart battling his hart out, and he saw Jacobie standing around. "Hey! Go help him!" the imp shouted.
---
Duilin made his way towards the castle. The Talonscar mace had a golden glow with the mixture of fire and lightning enchantments. The lizard men had realized that the Velkens had betrayed the empire and were going to start killing the humans. Duilin would see none of it.
The half demon dashed towards a crowd of lizard men, smashing one of them with his mace in the head, and then swinging it again into another lizard man's chest. He then blocked the sword of one of the lizard men with his mace and then shot a fireball from his weapon hitting it in the face and knocking it to the ground.
Another lizard man came up from beside him with his weapon ready, but he smashed it from the lizard's hand. The giant reptile then kicked Duilin in the chest knocking him to the ground, causing him to loose grip on his weapon and it hit ground and slid several feet away. Duilin quickly made a shield of air energy, to block another lizard man's weapon coming down at him. He then released the shield and then summoned a fireball in each hand and threw them at the two lizard men attacking him. He then shot a couple streams of lightning at them to finish them off.
"That's one group down." Duilin said, as he walked over to his mace and picked it up. "Let's see how the others are doing at the castle..."
--- ---
After a few moments of struggle the two tornados merged together and began to tear apart the land.
Sienna got back up and then took out her deck of cards, and then took all of them out, the cards glowed an eerie red and she threw them at Nex's back.
The cards shredded right through the cloaked demon, who growled in pain. Nex's tornado then faded away as the demon kneeled to the ground. He started laughing again, which made Sienna sick to her stomach.
Nex got back up and turned around to face Sienna.
"Nice. Now it's my turn."
Nex lifted his hand and summoned an orb of demonic flames in his hand. The orb made the shape of a skull and then shot from his hand and flew towards Sienna smashing her in the chest knocking her to the ground. She just laid there motionless...
"Nighty, night."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday October 29th, 2007
Jacobie madly rushed out infront of his fellow lizardman and slashed at the ones attacking Lagart. After enough were dead, Jacobie sheathed one of his blades so he had a free hand. He placed hi hand on Lagart's shoulder and began to cast some healing and fortification spells. A bright blue aura surrounded Lagart as his energy was restored, and his cuts and slash marks quickly sealed themselves up, leaving no trace of blood or injury to be found. the aura then focused on the lizard's hands, giving them a power enchantment.
"You should be able to control the energy now. Right then, I'm with you all the way! CHARGE!!!" Jacobie unsheathed his katana once again and slashed them swiftly from one lizard to the next, making carefully sure that he didn't mistake Lagart for one of them.
Justin was behind them both, casting a few boost spells that would give them both speed and toughness fortifications. The auras of the two lizardmen resinated nad flickered brighter and faster. It appeared as though a translucent sheet of magic armor surrounded them.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 29th, 2007
"Thank." Lagart nodded at Jacobie and then continued fighting.
He blocked the sword of one of the dark lizard warriors, and then smashed him across the face with the handle of his sword and then slashed him across the belly with the blade and then jabbed in into his chest to finish him off.
A lizard man armed with a flail came towards Lagart, smashing it around wildly. He blocked the flail with his sword, forcing the chain to wrap around the blade. He then violent swung his sword upwards breaking the chain, he was about to stab his sword forward, but another lizard man smashed him in the back with a hammer knocking him to the ground but it didn't take him out. He rolled over and slashed his sword at the lizard man with the hammer's legs, taking him to the ground. He then made another slash at the unarmed lizard man's throat killing it, and then brought his sword back and stabbed it down at the lizard man on the ground.
Meanwhile Rink snuck into the house, to talk to Bell.
"Rink!" Bell called, glad to see him. "Is Duilin okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, he's fine?"
"What about Bjendell?"
"No sign of him."
"I hope he's alright. So where is Duilin?"
"He's fighting." Rink then sat down on the table. "Everyone else is too. Lagart and Jacobie are kicking a lot of ass out there, it's pretty impressive. Hopefully none of the B-Class officers will start coming at them."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday October 29th, 2007
A mass of a dozen lizards surged towards Lagart, Jacobie, and the others, but before they could descend upon them, a brilliant blue flash flooded the streets. The cobblestones ruptured in a multitude of long jagged icicles that impaled the enemy Lizard Men, killing them instantly.
The five Velken battle mages hovered above, a blue magic circle fading between them. In a flash they were gone, flying down the streets and blasting a hailstorm of pointed ice lances in all directions.
High above Gros Morne, a fireball rocketed into the propeller of Vincent's flying-disc contraption, and he leapt into the air as it exploded. After flipping several times he landed on the deck of the Lightning Wyvern and squeezed off a round into a jagged-sword brandishing Lizard Man's chest, the resulting explosion blasting him clear off the edge of the airship.
More advanced. He could not bring the shotgun up in time, so he lifted his left arm to block the blow of a mace. Before the blunt metallic weapon struck, his arm morphed into a sliver blade. He parried the blow with a clang and slashed back at the snarling beast.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 29th, 2007
"Whoa..." Lagart's jaw dropped as in the blink of an eye a dozen of lizard men were killed. He looked down the street to see if he could see what did it. But he didn't see them.
--- ---
"General Xarn." The scout said through the commutations orb.
"What now?" Xarn asked.
"There's somebody on the deck of your ship, sir. A human or near-human by the looks of it."
"Blast it." Xarn, spun the communications orb, changing the connection. "Elites head to the deck, we've been breached. Repeat head to the deck we have been breached." He continued piloting the ship, but looked a little irritated. "Nobody's taking my ship."
---
"You heard 'em boys." A short lizard man stepped into the bunk room. "Some punk thinks he can take out the ship. Let's show him that...uhh..."
One the elites got already gearing up with weapon. "...that we'll take him down?" The elite suggested.
"Uh, I guess that'll do." The short lizard man replied. "Okay, let's make a mess outa things."
"But don't we have to make sure the ship doesn't get destroyed?" Asked one the other elites.
"Okay, let's prevent there being made a mess outa things." The short lizard man grumbled. "Let's just go."
All the elites were of the B-Class except for the short one, which was an A-Class. They wore the standard lizard man armour but with different coloured trim and less common weapons. The short one had white trim and was carrying a large firearm of some sort, two of the B-Class ones had brown trim and were armed with dual bladed swords and the other two B-Class ones had grey trim and were armed with metal tridents.
The elites made their way to the deck of the ship to engage the intruder...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday October 29th, 2007
Tiberius put two fingers on his forehead and sent a telepathic message to the four from earlier; Zion, Xenai, Aura, and Tsu. 'Sorry, but something's come up. We gotta go.' Tiberius' form changed slowly into a large, magnificently cerulean wyvern, his robes forming into a white saddle. He straightened his back out to let Jannis climb aboard. As she leapt onto his back, he turned his head to the side, to somewhat be able to speak to her. "If anything comes at us, shoot at them from my back. Also, hang on tight. I'm going to be quite a bit faster5 than most are used to."
The wyvern Tiberius lifted from the ground with a great flap, Jannis holding tightly around his neck. He then blasted forward at a blazing speed, the human upon his back barely able to hold her grip. In a matter of minutes, however, they were flying above Tjedon.
"Hey, look at that! The shield is down!" Tiberius flew slowly towards the ground and landed on his four dragonic feet. He then walked the rest of the distance, as there appeared to be hardly any more lizardmen left to deal with. The human girl got off at the sight of Justin, and tiberius quickly changed back into a human. The stone he'd got from defeating Valiko seemed to boost his magic power.
"Hey Justin, we're back." Tiberius said, somewhat coldly.
"Oh, hey. There doesn't seem to be that much battle going on anymore. Let's go inside then." The three of them went into the house, Jacobie and Lagart assuming guard duty outside, incase there were any more of them left, which there probably were.
"What the...?" As Tiberius entered the house, immediately he got to one knee. "What are you doing here, your highness?"
"Relax, Tiberius. Rise to your feet, Gepardi." Tiberius did such, and behind him came Justin and Jannis. They seated themselves around the table.
"I thought there was someone else with you guys... wait a sec, where's Ben?" Justin folded his arms, still standing, along with Sierana (mostly because of the lack of chairs).
"He's... gone... dead..."
"WHAT!? That can't be right! You guys are just messing with me! Seriously, where is he?"
"GOD DAMN IT, HE'S DEAD!!! Tiberius' eyes glowed slightly crimson. He clenched his fists in rage. A result from the stone, no doubt. He merely sat down and folded his arms.
"No..." Justin left the house and ran off into the street, away from everything. His anger surged through him as he recalled his terrible past. He could remember one of the last things his mother told him before she died. *When you do get strong enough, protect as many people as you can. Too many people have died already because they weren't protected. Someday, you'll grow up to be a defender, I just know it. You won't let anyone under your watch die, will you?*
"I failed you, mother... One of those last few things you wanted, and it's dead to you now..." He fell to his knees, holding the sides of his head with his hands. Pain was jabbing his head as the traumatizing events related themselves once again. He could do nothing to stop the dark images as they tore through his head. Finally, they got the better of him, and he blacked out, unconcious, his frail body falling to the floor. Lagart and Jacobie were near by, however. Perhapse they'd seen him...
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
Anti grinned at Retan. "You, sir, have just made my day." He fully turned his body to face him... and waited.
//Sorry I don't have anything more than this. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_neutral.gif" alt="Neutral" title="Neutral" />
Posted by: Mikado on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
Puco noticed that he was doing something very bad..
She quickly dashed sideways around the demon towards Sienna, catching her. While her tornado was right behind the demon now, since he apparently forgot it when his own disappeared.
The tornado's way stronger now he over won his!
//This happened in a few (3) Seconds. You just forgot my tornado >D
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
Sienna coughed and gasped for air, but was still able to stay awake.
Nex laughed, but then noticed he forgot about the tornado which was now coming towards him.
"Oh... Hehehe." Nex didn't seem to mind so much as he was sucked into the tornado and was spun around. Parts of his robe tore off, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference to their already tattered appearance. After a few seconds Nex was able to thrust his hands down and the tornado died out, yet Nex still floated in the air.
Nex lifted his hands in air, as they glowed with an errie red lightning aura, a loud clash of thunder was heard and the sky flashed red. Then a series of red lightning bolts began raining down upon Puco and Sienna...
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
Indher groand and grabbed the branch with her feet as she let herself slide.
Hanging upside down and with a sleepy expression, she gave the man who disturbed her a pretty distrought look.
"What..." she muttered "Can this wait? I need sleep..."
She obviously didn't like being disturbed and appeared quite uneasy.
Posted by: Mikado on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
Electricity.. it hits the highest thing! Metal is nice too!
She slowed down time, and took a small ball of light metal out of her pocket, reformed it, and made it a long staff. She pierced it horizontally in the earth, and lied down together with Sienna who was still holding it.
Now lets hope that the thunder will act normally, and it will hit the metal..
--- ---
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Shuichi bowed in a sign of excuse. "But I'm in a hurry.. I'm tracking someone down which I don't know nor ever saw. I have a way to find that person, but that needs help from someone who knows runes.. good. Someone like you!"
He smiled brightly.
"If you want, I can erase the feeling of being tired.."
Posted by: Ted Der on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
Brrr! It was cold in the boat. Akran had barely anything on and the inside of the boat was pretty much empty. The wind slapped against the canvas. It was a strong wind so he was going pretty fast. He should be there soon. He had made a mental note of the direction of the island as he and Kronos were travelling away from it. He was sure he was going the right way.
-----
"Did you lossse the trail? Idiots"¦"
A thin, snake-like tongue flicked through two slimy lips in obvious distaste.
"Sssorry sssir," came a reply from the shadows in the corner. "He met thisss Kronosss"¦ he travelled too quickly, sssir."
"FOOLSSSS! Go out there and get him. He knowsss! He knowsss aboutsss the whereaboutsss of our preciousss Majeuri Spinel, I'm sssure of thissss"¦"
"Yesss my lord." hissed a third voice.
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
//Roar. I don't like faulty ISPs.\\
"Phah! Never trust them magic trinkets! They always mess up, one way or the other. That is why I use a nice, old fashioned wyvern. Yes, it was quite old, by the looks of it: a hundred, maybe two hundred years since its decomposition. Now that I think of it, the bones are starting to crack suspiciously... Bah, no matter.
I landed the wyvern on top of the airship, and some imbecilic Lizard Man made a lunge for me. Obviously, his hand went right through me, causing him to lose balance and fall of the ship... yes, right through me. Felt like a cold shower, it did. No wonder they call them "cold-blooded".
Now, however, I was facing other problems. There were several other Lizard Men who were picking on Vincent. Now, I'm all for bullying, but not when it is administered against a person of such value. I also noticed that I no longer needed my wyvern, so...
Putting the two together, I dismantled the wyvern, and sent the individual bones flying at the lizards. The sharp ends of the bones immediately pierced the leathery hide, and the blunter ones struck the lizards in their heads, falling off with a clunking noise. In a few seconds, most of them lay either dead or out cold.
-"You've been cut into pieces, Vincent," I remarked coolly. "Cooked, served extra spicy, and you still manage to come back. The fact that your self-preservation instinct is still working amazes me."
//DM, feel free to take charge of the Gorus\Stalker battle. Just make sure that the outcome is that which I asked\\
Posted by: Jenia on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
Indher blinked at the man.
"What good is coffee when you have no energy left?"
Indher allowed herself to drop down from the tree, gracefully performing a backflip as she does and landing on her feet.
"Well, you've never met said guy, so I'm sure this can wait... In the meantime, why don't you make yourself useful?"
She turned around and started walking towards the settlment.
"Mmhm... I have an idea... Yes..." she strode slowly among the trees, muttering to herself...
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
While Kronos was using the crazy-bone-shard-attack, Vincent bent over backwards to dodge some of the dead-matter spikes. He snapped back up into position as his hand turned back to normal. "'Tis nothing." He waved it off.
Stepping at a quickened pace towards the center of the ship, he snapped another odd cartridge to the top of his gun as fiercer, more elite-looking lizards came spilling through the central door. He moved in front of the Sovereign and pulled the trigger, sending an intense spray of liquid flame surging from the barrel, totally engulfing the two leading lizards in flames. The rest of the troop backed off yelping, and he moved the flamethrower left and right to maximize the area of the flame waves as the elites fell back in either direction. All the while he kept walking towards the now cleared door.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
At the end of the hallway was the squad of five. The A-Class stood in front of the group.
"You're not taking this ship!" He shouted. He took out his gun and began firing shells at a semi-automatic rate at the Sovereign and the Alchemist. As the shells flew through the air they were ignited in a green-blue flame and began to speed up. One of the shells hit the wall and exploded spraying a green-blue liquid on the floor which started to burn, but not damage the interior of the ship itself.
//It's like plasma flame or something.\\
---
"The Kandarinian Airship is in range, General Xarn." The co-pilot announced.
"Group up the other two airships, and concentrate all fire on it. And let's fire our Thunder Cannon. Lets make this quick!"
The two airships then moved towards the giant Kandarinian Airship, not aware of how powerful it was. They began fireing their shadow cannons at the ship, the Lightning Wyvern then blasted a thunderous bolt of Lightning, cracking the air between it and its target.
---
The stalker fighting Gorus jumped off of the wall to avoid the grappling hook. Gorus simply pulled the chain back and ripped the chunk of the wall out and swung it at the fleeing stalker, but missed. Gorus retracted the hook and removed the piece of rock attached to it. Yes, the grappling hook is that strong, that's why Gorus loved it.
Suddenly Gorus was barraged by a volley of fireballs, ice shards and lightning bolts. Gorus took all of the hits, and dust and smoke clouded around the lizard general. Before it even settled Gorus jumped out of the cloud, and began running, trying to find out where the attackers were.
The mage stalkers were moving around after they fired a few times, and were able to remain hidden from Gorus due to their chameleon cloaks.
"Grahh! Fight me face-to-face you cowards!" Gorus roared.
"You got it..." Said the whispering voice of the melee stalker, who jumped up from behind him. And jabbed him kamas into Gorus' shoulders.
Gorus snarled, not even yelling out in pain. Gorus grabbed the stalker and smashed him onto the ground. However after that move he was stricken with a sharp pain. He could barely move his arms, so he stomped his foot down on the stalker, but he rolled out of the way.
The lizard general continued to be barraged by magical attacks. They didn't even hurt him much, but they really pissed him off. Gorus was taking a lot of head shots and it was difficult to keep focus. He needed to transform, but for some reason he couldn't, the cold and the kamas stuck in his back were slowing him down.
The melee stalker came up towards him with his hatchet ready to smash Gorus in the face, yet in the corner of his eye he spotted him.
"Gotcha."
Gorus shot his grappling cannon, and the hook impaled the stalker, and smashed him right into the wall. Gorus retracted the hook and extracted the dead stalker from it.
"No fear. If he was afraid he wouldn't have tried that, and he would have lived." Gorus said to himself, chuckling a bit.
Gorus pulled the kamas out of his back; his shirt was dripping with blood.
"'Tis but scratches."
He then scanned the area, trying to find the mages. He stepped towards where he thought he could sense them, but he wasn't too sure.
"Come on out..."
The mage stalkers were waiting, they had to make the right move at the right time. They already lost one man, they can't loose anymore.
Meanwhile in one of the nearby buildings Eris, the stalker was loading up her crossbow with some special bolts. She then exited the building where he could see Gorus.
"My, my, my. What do we have here?" Gorus licked his teeth. "Don't you look tasty. Let's have bite!" The lizard then dashed towards Eris, but was then shot in the leg by several frost blasts, from the mages, he fell to the ground and tried to get back up, only to see that his boots were frozen to the ground. The lizard general was then shot by a large barrage of bolts.
"Gah, you think that's going to kill me!?" Gorus laughed, he gave a forceful tug with his feet, breaking away the ice from his boots, and then stood up.
Eris shook her head, as if to reply with a 'no'.
Gorus raised one of his eyebrows, and then plucked one of the bolts out of him. He then noticed they were dipped in some sort of liquid. He licked the bolt, he recognized the liquid has a heavy form of tranquilizer.
"Oh, cute. Very, very cute." Gorus then fell to the ground, out cold...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday October 30th, 2007
"Harken to these words, my son, for they are what will carve your destiny into anew. Your death was... aninevitable loss, but fear not. My deploy of physical forms is nearly endless... however, the wars of mankind are exhausting them quite vigorously, especially that of the dark empire. The Draken gods from the other realm are all too powerful for us, but they are peace-loving people... all but one. Drakose, the father of the Drakens."
"What do you expect to do about it, my lord? If the Draken gods are too powerful for the human gods, than what of their mortal subjects, the Drakens?"
"Hmm... you bring up a good point, but enough of that 'my lord' stuff. I'm your father, so adress me as such, please. That, or dad, or something of that nature; I rather like being called father at this point."
"Oh yes, sorry father."
"No need to appologize, Benjamin."
"It's actually Bjendell, father."
"What? I don't recall naming you this, Benjamin... but very well. I will still adress you as my son, however, if you will allow it."
"Right, but what of the Drakens? How much power do you think one has?"
"It's far too powerful for one lone god to destroy, unless they are considerably untrained or duplicated."
"Hmm... that would explain Vraoumori... or should I say Jayce?"
"Yes, that one rests in his own realm's hell, along with his duplication."
"You avoid my question..."
"What? Ah yes, I appologize. What of those Drakens... well, if all of the gods combine their power, then I believe we could defeat him. We cannot directly influence, however, as that would spark off another war... there have already been too many casualties. Speaking of which, your new form is waiting behind you."
"What is that...? Is that a... demon form?"
"Only part demon, and part angel. I'm still working on another form. You are free to use this one for the time being."
"I think I'll just wait."
"That's not an option. They need you down there, and they have called to me again and again. This is somewhat an answer to all of their prayers. Now go, my son."
Ben's vision faded as his physical form materailized up near the mountains of Tjed. His body was both demonic and angelic, and to prove it, he had one demon wing, and one angel wing. He awoke as his spirit entered his physical shell. Strangely, he had the same apperance as he did before, except half of his body was a dark red color. He had a long, black horn jutting out of the left side of his head, where the demonic energy resided. All in all, though, he pretty much looked just like he did before.
"Heh... for better or for worse, I'm back!" The halfbreed took to the skies as he saw Tjedon below, the shield gone. Blood filled the streets like small rivers and streams, along with green chunks of flesh. Ben flew into the cityand landed right in the midst of the crimson river. He could see nothing alive for quite some time, until his eyes came upon a familiar face... Lagart.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday October 31st, 2007
The red lightning shot through the metal staff and began shooting into the ground.
"That's no regular lightning, Puco..." Sienna warned.
The ground underneath Puco and Seinna started to get hotter and red lightning then shot from the ground and through the dead gleepers. The corpses then slowly got back up and started to lurch towards the two.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday October 31st, 2007
The stars in the sky seemed to move, though Retan and Anti were floating in the same place.
The ground rumbled and the sea groaned. The Dark Emperor extended his left hand. The star-field above blasted by quickly and silver mists covered the sea and island-crater below, though it was some sort of illusion giving the appearance that the two were rocketing through space.
Blackness engulfed Retan's palm and surging Dark Thunder raged from the mists below and the stars above. The black bolts connected in a circle around the astral demon, and then flooded the interior of the magically enclosed space, hundreds of jagged streaks stabbing through the air.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday October 31st, 2007
-"Mmm, flames! I can't say I am much fond of the element, but it is effective nevertheless. As I'm sure you can tell, a mere dislike of something will not stop me from using it. They do remind me of Draven, though..." I shook off the unpleasant memory. "Damn showoff..."
I followed Vincent further into the airship.
-"So, do tell: how was it? The afterlife, I mean. From what I've been hearing, it's different for every person. When my human body was deceased, I was sent to the Realm of the Second Insanity. A bloody pleasant place, believe me. Large, green, moss-covered Cyclopaean buildings superimposed against a grim black sky, almost welding to the horizon in the distance. Between the stone towers - pools of glowing, delightfully acidic slime, in which one can relax and listen to the soothing sounds of wild shoggoths feasting upon their terrible prey... I really ought to visit it again sometime."
Another lizard, probably feeling awfully heroic, swung his sword at me. I dismissed him with a half-hearted lightning blast.
-"The realms of the afterlife - subsidiaries of Thanatos - quickly became my hobby after that most excellent experience. There are so many down there that it is quite fascinating. Priests and shamans recorded their otherworldly experiences, and I happened to find their writings. I don't even think that I have all of them..."
---
The lightning blast hit the shimmering blue shield, largely dispersed by the barrier. The fearsome attack was reduced to little more than a static charge once inside of the shield, but it was more than enough to do some damage. The charge disrupted several glass tubes, which were mended by some sort of a magic force. The mending process went awfully slow, though - the tubes were fragile. The Enlightenment began slowly creeping upwards into the sky, firing off its defensive cannons through the shield barrier...
---
Retan and that other thing were completely out of sight now. Did Damien really lose them? He hoped not. The weapons were glowing strangely for a while now, probably due to their close proximity to each other. Most interesting... Very, very interesting...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday November 1st, 2007
Ben flew up to the two lizards standing before the house; Lagart and Jacobie. He landed in front of them both. "Man am I sure glad to see you guys! Oh... if you're wondering about the demon thing, I can explain that later; first off, where are the others?"
There was a great unrest inside Justin's mind, though he remained unconscious. The two forms within himself were fighting over his body. The darkness counterbalanced with the light, therefore all he could see was a severely dull grey. Grey, everywhere. His mind felt empty. Again and again, he could hear the two souls inside his body, fighting like children over a toy. He could hear a faint sound, like a raindrop falling in a pool of water, or a broken sink leaking drops of water, slowly down into a larger tub of water. The sound echoed thgough his mind and tormented him like a raging fire. Death wasn't quite near for him, but neither was life; his body in a state of coma, caused by tragety.
"Wake up, don't be afraid. Wake up, save another for a day. Enjoy the morning fresh air, for warm love is everywhere." It was a song he didn't quite forget through all these years. When he was feeling sad, his mother would sing it to him. These were her very last words as well; the absolute last thing she uttered out of her mouth before she died. The sound was almost like the song, but in one quick drop; sometimes it hurt, sometimes not...
Posted by: Mikado on Thursday November 1st, 2007
Puco gulped.
Bringing back the dead?
"Sienna why didn't you tell me that he was very strong!" Puco said with a crying voice.
She needed to get quickly away from those gleepers. Or they should get away from her.
Puco punched the earth, and a small hole under Sienna and puco began to form. All the earth that was there was pushed aside into many big spikes around Sienna and Puco. Some gleepers were pierced, others were just bashed back, however none did reach the girls. Puco quickly turned and kicked one of the spikes, immediately all of the spikes broke, and those who were pierced were shredded into pieces and the others were killed by the rocks shooting away.
"Quickly Sienna! Let's kick this meany!"
Puco dashed point-blanc at Nex, maybe he did, maybe he didn't know, but infact that was just a clone made of earth. Puco was now above Nex falling at him with high speed with a giant earth spike in her hands.
----
"Err.. sure?"
Shuichi was a little confused, so he just followed the woman.
He saw a nice white settlement build around a single fountain. There were some people walking around, and most of them were working. Childs played in the fountain, to be scolded by their mothers and forgiven because playing in the fountain could give them the flu.
This kinda reminds me of the small towns in Edharm.. It has a nice aura around here, maybe I can stay a little longer.
He turned his head towards Indher.
"Nice village, it's really peaceful in here.. do you live here?"
Posted by: Jenia on Thursday November 1st, 2007
Indher approached the fountain and splashed at her own sleepy expression, only to shake it all off soon after.
"Bah! Live here? I live nowhere yet. Not officialy anyway."
She sighed and blinked, removing her circlet to shake off more water.
The sudden change in her eyecolor caused some of the children to back off...
Except one. A brunette, blue eyed boy with an azure gem in his forehead approached her.
"Miss Indher, what happened to your eyes?"
She turned to look at him, confused at first. Reality soon struck her however, and a blunt strike it was.
"OH! Don't worry kid, these are my REAL eyes. This circlet makes them look normal so people wouldn't think I'm scary."
The children who backed off whispered among themselves, but then began to approach.
Before she knew it, a whole bunch of kids surrounded her.
"Hey, what's the big idea, kiddos?"
Silence.
She raised an eyebrow and returned her circlet to it's rightful place.
The gathering of kids soon scattered, leaving Indher alone again.
A sigh.
"Humans are so odd... And to think that we've built this entire city from scratch in less than a day!"
She turned to the mysterious man, chuckling.
"The former dead sure can be dedicated! Anyway, would you like a tour? I've worked enough for one day, but a walk will be nice."
Posted by: Mikado on Thursday November 1st, 2007
Heh.. former dead? Built in one day? This place is getting more fun with the moments!
Shuichi didn't look surprised, in opposite, he smiled when he heard those words, and looked even more interested.
"Hmm, a tour sure would be nice.. I have been working without break for some time now.. May I ask you what kind of "work" you do? And if I may; what kind of "work" do you do?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 1st, 2007
"It's firing back!" Xarn's co-pilot shouted.
Xarn clenched his teeth as his ship was struck by the cannons, suffering moderate damage.
"The ship has been damaged!" The co-pilot announced.
"Why thank you, Captain Obvious!" Xarn snarled.
The co-pilot's facial expression dropped to one of mild embarrassment.
Xarn then throttled the Lightning Wyvern forward and then made a wide turn to avoid any continuing shots...
---
An army of lizard men began rushing the Gros Morne Citadel, trying to see if they could take out the hart of the city. The lizard men however had a lot of trouble getting to close as Vanguards were positioned inside and were constantly shooting their mortars at the oncoming enemies.
However, a few of the veterans recognized these tactics from the Battle of Vandrin, and were and were able to take cover before the mortars landed near them and exploded.
--- ---
Nex summoned a fireball in his hands and punched 'Puco' who was running towards him. The earth-based clone was thrown back and burnt up from the flames.
Nex looked up at just right time to see Puco with a stalagmite in her hand falling towards him. Nex then rolled out of the way to avoid Puco landing on him. Just as he got up on his feet Sienna shot a series of dark energy rings which wrapped around Nex.
"You think your little 'curse' trick will work on me?" Nex sneered, breaking the rings. He then laughed and his sickles appeared in his hands, and he moved towards Sienna...
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 1st, 2007
The Enlightenment rose further up into the sky. The cannons stopped firing, and retreated back inside the hull, to avoid depressurizing the hull. Suddenly, the clouds cleared for a minute or so, allowing a sun burst strike the prism in the middle of the ringship. The scientists on board of the ship quickly seized the opportunity, firing a somewhat weak solar pulse at the Lightning Wyvern. Meanwhile, the ship continued to rise, and the air continued to thin...
--- --- ---
The Vanguards continued raining death on the Lizard Man army. Soon, however, even the somewhat dim Vanguards realized that many of the Lizard Men were hiding behind the buildings and effectively shielding themselves from the mortar blasts. Jameron, the leader of the Vanguards, used his M-Grid orb to contact the Stalker Corps:
-"This is Vanguard Squad Six. Can you guys spare a ranged Stalker?"
-"Yes," replied the creepy whisper. "Paris is not doing much right now; he can be spared. Expect him in a few minutes."
The Vanguard put away the orb and packed his mortar away. Without hurrying much, he drew up a glyph on the wall of his fox hole in the Citadel, and left...
--- ---
The message hissed through Paris' M-Grid orb. Goddamn, he thought. Those Vanguards can lift 200 lbs with one hand, and they can't take on a bunch of stupid Lizard Men? He had more important tasks than going all the way up that Citadel, hiding out in their little fox holes and shooting Lizard Men from a distance, possibly injuring his perfect vision. Who was he to argue, though? He was just a humble Stalker, after all.
Paris took off from his hidden post in a half-ruined building, putting away his bow. He sprinted over to the Citadel, which was just a short distance away. The guards were missing from their posts, leaving the portal completely unguarded. Well, screw them.
The portal immediately took him to a foxhole, in which a Vanguard was already positioned. The brute noticed Paris, and grunted:
-"You're the help, huh... Certainly don't look like much."
-"..."
-"The quiet type, too?"
-"..."
-"OK..."
That Vanguard was not worth his speech. Paris tacitly took out his weapon - the Iron Wingbow - and his quiver. The Wingbow was a technological miracle, it seemed. In the Stalker Academy, when he was first shown the weapon, Aahzmandius decided to make a point with it. He invited a girl - a little, five-year-old girl - to try the bow. He held it up for her, and she pulled the string, with an arrow nocked in place. The bow was aimed at a dummy made fully of metal. The string itself pulled almost effortlessly, even in the child's hands. Once it got to a certain point, however, something inside the bow clicked - just clicked - and the arrow was released. The bolt pierced the dummy completely, through and through, and even damaged the wall behind it. In the hands of an expert, which Paris was, the weapon was beyond deadly. It could hit a squirrel's eye from a distance of three miles, not even fully notched.
He carefully held the weapon horizontally, in a true master's way, and aimed for a large lizard man crowd.
Click.
Several Lizard Men were impaled by one small, two foot-long arrow, falling to the ground immediately.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 1st, 2007
"Afterlife?" Vincent raised a brow and looked at Kronos as if he were nuts, then quickly realized who he was talking to. "I don't remember much at all besides waking up in someone's meat locker. It wasn't quite dead, anyway..."
Before he could say another word, the ship rocked and shuttered. It was evident the ship was taking some hits from The Enlightenment, which while a good thing, wasn't so good with them in it. "Blast. They'll ruin the core."
He dodged as a series of blasts whirred over his head, and the ground erupted in a green flame. He ducked behind a pillar jutting from the side of the hallway as the lizards shot their explosive weapons, peeking his head out and drawing it back multiple times. He managed to squeeze a few shots back at the Lizard Men, but for the most part the reptiles had him and the Sovereign pinned.
Gritting his teeth, he collapsed his shotgun and returned it to the interior of his coat. He leap out from the safe spot into the middle of the hallway and slammed his hands into the ground. Immediately the metallic floor surged upwards like a wave in a like, and at the crest a multitude of gleaming sliver spikes jutted out, quickly growing for the firing lizards...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Friday November 2nd, 2007
//Forgot to mention, Dori and Valimore are inactive, for the time being. Will get to that on DAL pedia, just give me a sec.
"Hmm... that's odd. I can't feel any residual energy from the battle outside... maybe it's over?" Sierana got up from the table and walked outside. The fighting outside indeed seemed to be quelled, for the moment. She also noticed Justin, unconcious in the street. Ignoring everything else, she ran up to him. Being a lot stronger than she looks, she lifted him up and held him on her shoulder. Lucy left the house and followed her.
"I guess this is it for us here... He's breathing. A magic-induced coma, no doubt. Come on, Lucy, we're leaving Tjed for now. Back to Terian."
//Justinian Constantine is now inactive.
"Heh... they have the general idea. I'm leaving, probably not gonna be back for a while, say a few years or so." Tiberius walked out the door to the house as well. He left for the Arctic Region, as the stone had told him to do. It's dark secrets still lingered in his head, whispering to him the ancient knowledge. It had completed its task, which was to corrupt the one that bore it.
//Jason Tiberius is now inactive.
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Friday November 2nd, 2007
(Sorry I haven't been on in a while.)
Ko'ji followed the others into combat, racing into the houses to save the families from the lizards. Unlike the others, after she defeated the lizards, she gave a quick bow to the family. Hopefully, she thought, that would give them the idea of who the good guys are! She then zipped off form house to house, doing the same thing over and over. The lizards varried in size and strength, but that usually mattered not, for she would give them a quick three or four stabs in the neck and they'd be down.
Arata leapt off the ship with Jack, landing on a nearby roof of a house. He then jumped off that and rolled to break the impact of the fall. Jack did the same, though not as good as did Arata. The house was near the castle, however, and loads of lizards were merely waiting there for them. They all rushed the two, wielding broadswords and maces. "This might be a bit of trouble..."
"Trouble!? More like fun as hell! BRING IT!!!" Arata whipped out his katana and slashed left and right, easily dodging the blows form the larger lizardmen. Jack, on the other hand, was having a bit of trouble dealing with the broadsword against the lizardmen. Seeing as how they all had a broadsword or a mace, the only thing different was size and power, and the lizards won by that measure, twice over. He didn't fight back, just blocking the attacks of the lizards. He'd let Arata do all the fighting, or so he thought.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 2nd, 2007
//I forgot were Valos and Spider Retan were? Who's turn is it to attack?\\
"Oh two can play at that game!" The A-Class elite shouted, as he stopped firing. The spikes moved towards him an he held his gun with one hand. With his free hand he held one of the shells and then slammed his fist on the ground, and the floor stopped moving, but was now totally deformed, and looked like a frozen wavy lake.
"Suel, Gumbo." The A-Class said to two of the other elites. "Rush in there, and bring back their heads."
"With pleasure!" The two lizard men with the doubled bladed swords then rushed through the hallways, the wavy floor didn't seem to bother them that much.
Suel rushed towards Vincent and spun his blade around making a series of showy moves. "Show me what ya got, human!" He then leaped towards Vincent and slashed one side of his sword down at him...
---
The Lightning Wyvern was struck by the solar pulse and almost fell off balance but was still in fighting condition.
"Gah! Charge up another thunder blast!" Xarn commanded.
Posted by: Ted Der on Friday November 2nd, 2007
"¦Damn! Must have missed it. Just great. Well, Akran was making quite a fool out of himself. He thought for sure he was going the right way. Standing up, all he could see in front of him was endless blue water. Akran shivered and sat down again. He rubbed his hands together and tried to think of what to do.
His thoughts were interrupted. What's that noise? It sounded like something flying through the air. Akran turned around.
"What in the world"¦"
A monstrous beast was flying towards him with scaly, ugly wings. The creature's mouth blew a cloud of fire and on top of the dragon was a figure - still to far away to see. It shouted something that sounded a lot like ""¦get himsss!" followed by a crackle of laughter.
The dragon dove towards the boat at an incredible speed. It's going to hit the boat! Akran grabbed for the wheel, but not in time. The dragon flew down and with its claws, ripped the small vessel in two. Akran was flung from the boat and he hit the water.
He wasn't expecting the sudden change in temperature so, he lost his breath. Akran couldn't move. He was sinking"¦ down, down"¦
Was a hand pulling him up? Everything went dark.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 2nd, 2007
The spider monster, now only five-legged, crawled up from the dent its impact made in the bottom of the crater. Angling its blue leg up towards Valos, it blasted a volley of icicles at the man.
(Just kill this thing already, blast it. Heh...)
After the casting the insane Dark Thunder Rage upon Anti, Retan turned his attention elsewhere as the distorted stars seemed to move more slowly, the illusion cast by the cataclysmic spell fading, the night sky and misty ground returning to normal. He paused upon a spec in the distance. Immediately the three weapons he was carrying-- the sword, the spear, and the dagger materialized in the air surrounding him and began to circle slowly.
"I believe you have something of mine..."
With that, his black cape unfurled like the wings of a dragon and he sped through the skies, straight for Daimien Roth...
Virmir landed on the deck of the Death Evan, the rest of the Velkens filing in one after the other.
"How goes it?" he asked.
Anselm saluted. "The main reptilian forces are in shreds. The rest are confused at best. The humans have been released and should be able to take the rest of their city themselves."
"Good..." Virmir placed his hands behind his back and turned to look at the mountains.
The sun was beginning to rise over the jagged peaks, and the sky was painted breathtaking crimsons and violets. He stood there brooding for a moment as his tail slowly waved behind him.
"We've one task left, then..."
"Kendo!"
His ears perked as his thoughts were interrupted. The white-clad Priestess Urocy came flying across the deck, her guards and little Emile chasing after. "Thank the gods you're all right!" she yelled.
Virmir took a timid step back before she fell upon him and gave the vulpine squad leader a tight hug. "Lucile... you shouldn't be out here..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday November 2nd, 2007
"I had a horrible, terrible heartburn on that ship, I'll say. I wasn't exactly in the best of moods.
-"For the love of anything, Eldridge, can we just get a move on? Cast one of them spells and kill everything in radius. Honestly, I have absolutely no desire to be staying on this ship any longer.
"Bah, you know what? I've had it with this little skit."
The recently deceased Lizard Men rose up again. Curious... something was tugging at my control over them. I don't trust them. Of course, at a mere thought, they fell back down. I came over to one of the fallen ones and picked up his blade.
-"This is a sword." I looked dumbly at it. I had absolutely no idea how to swing one of those oversized knives properly. "I shall now commence in killing Lizard Men with it."
I swung it in a rather amateurish way at an incoming lizard. It bounced off, dealing the Lizard Man no harm. Ah, well... I flicked a whooshing electric arc toward the reptile, killing it instantly and several others around him.
-"They yell to me, CONSERVATIVE! CONSERVATIVE! Bah! The old ways are old because they're CRAP, I tell you. Liberalism is the way to go. See, that's why they barely use swords anymore. Swords suck. Magic, on the other hand, is amazing. Then in a decade or so, they'll discover something new, transcending magic. Are they still going to swing their little butterknives? Haven't you heard the quote, "It's just a flesh wound"? I mean, that's proof enough right there. Nothing like a third-degree burn to the brain to finish someone off, rather than cutting them and having them still screaming - still screaming, yes, still screaming, while they should already be dead - for an effective killing method."
A few Lizard Men later, we finally made it to the chamber containing the flotation crystals.
-"...and that is why I think that corpses are more attractive than the living. Their calming sky-blue tone of skin... The glossy eyes... the... stiffness... You ought to take up Necromancy, really. It is so thoroughly insinuating to make pretty corpses dance like puppets!"
Of course, the word "insinuating" comes rather naturally in a casual conversation.
-"So, what shall be done about that door there? I'm sure you can make a limb of yours into one of them thingies to open doors. Get to it, if you will."
//of course, Kronos could be wrong about the designation of the chamber - it may have been the cockpit, or some other place.\\
--- --- ---
The Enlightenment kept rising, increasing its speed. The clouds pulled over the sun again... Unfortunate. They had no more weapons to defend with, and the enemy ship looked like it was charging another shot. Suddenly, one of the damaged glass tubes ruptured.
Air rushed out of the hull, wildly throwing the ringship to the side. The inner ring groaned in its place dangerously, perhaps endangering the precious lens in the middle. Finally, the rupture was sealed - but not before the ringship changed its course, just enough to completely miss the arrival point... They had to steer while they were in the atmosphere, and at a significantly lower altitude. The ship descended, and then re-deployed its cannons, opening a circular volley at the ship below. The cannonballs were fired under a very particular angle, so that once they reached the Lightning Wyvern, they would condense into one tight spiral, definitely crushing some bone...
--- --- ---
Tethys followed Akran at a safe distance, always out of eyesight and earshot, but never out of his own. He was itching to use his new weapon - a shortbow known as the Heartstopper - but orders were orders. Strict ones, at that. A flicker of a bladed whip eviscerated his mind like a thousand razors...
--- --- ---
Damien noticed the black figure coming down for him with somewhat of a start. He expected to find Draven here, but he was nowhere to be found. An unfortunate turn of events... A thought of fighting the Draken off by himself did cross his mind, and he actually thought it might be a good idea. Then again...
Roth rose a little bit into the air, spreading his arms as if in a welcome towards the dark silhouette.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 3rd, 2007
//Ein, Vincient is in the middle of fight with the elite group? Or are you getting sick of it? If so, just kill them all off then.\\
Valos created two fireballs in his hands and then smashed them together and then shot it at the ice spikes heading towards him. The two fireballs split into several smaller ones, and most of the ice spikes melted before they got towards him.
He wasn't sure if the blue leg was mostly ice or water, so he shot both a fireball and a lightning bolt at it, and blew it off.
"Had enough yet!?" Valos taunted.
The shadow spider continued to move towards it, with its four remaining legs.
"Guess not!" Valos then pointed his opened hand at the spider and aimed for its white leg, and shot a shade blast, blowing off. Half of the spider's legs were gone. The fire, air and shadow one. Unfortunately, he didn't know any water, earth or light attacks.
"Screw it, I'll just blow its friggen' head off." Valos pumped his arms, and clenched his hands into fists. His right hand glowed red with fire and his left hand sucked in light with its shadow energy. "Open wide!" Valos growled as he ran towards the limping shadow spider.
He then smashed his fists down onto its head and there was a large explosion of fire and shadow energy. The smoke settled, and Valos stood over the shadow spider which was dissolving away.
"Humanity prevails."
--- ---
Duilin came towards the house, were the group was staying. Bell and Rink came out of the house to greet Duilin. Lagart was panting, as he was pretty tired out from all the fighting.
Bell gave Duilin a hug. "I'm so glad your safe." She said.
"It'll take more than that to take me out." Duilin said, half jokingly.
"So, I see you saved the Velkens." Bell said with a smile.
"Yeah." Duilin replied.
"I bet they're pretty greatful."
"Actually, not as much as I thought they would be. It's fine, they aren't completely free and I haven't finished helping them yet."
"What do you mean?" Rink asked.
"Well...I need to face Retan now." Duilin stated.
"Now? Like, right now?" Rink asked sounding a little worried.
"Well, not right now. But soon."
"But...you're not strong enough."
"I'm not weak. And who else is going to do it?"
"The Velkens or maybe Draven." Rink stated.
"The Kandarinians." Bell added.
"Yeah, but they'll need help. I just...feel like it's my responsibility to try and do something to stop him." Duilin said, not making eye contact with anyone. "If I don't I feel like I haven't done enough. And don't say I need a rest. I'm fine."
"Well, let's just talk about this for a little while. There is still a lot to do. Ven is very sick and needs aid."
"The Velkens have somebody who can cure him."
"Well, let's go talk to them then." Rink said.
"They're on the airship."
"Maybe they come down here." Lagart suggested. "Me no fly."
Posted by: Trent on Saturday November 3rd, 2007
//I seriously don't feel like updating anyone else at the moment, and in all honesty, I didn't even skim through very much. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_neutral.gif" alt="Neutral" title="Neutral" /> I'll only do Anti for now.
Anti grinned as the final boss-esque environment came to be around him. "Oh, you're good! Powerful and flashy! Let's see what you've got!" He watched the black bolts connect around him, and prepared for what might come. He expended a lot of energy right there and then, as the stars shooting past him started to slow down dramatically. The first black needle shot towards him... He pulled his body out of the way. Another one came in, and he dodged it as well. As more and more came, he found himself having to deform his body in order to prevent himself from getting skewered, but when the last several ones came, even that wasn't enough. When the black sphere vanished, a red blob was visible in its place. Anti reformed himself, panting heavily. Incredible. He did that, without even trying! I need to put him on the defensive, like now!
"Flame Lance!" A large sword of fire shot diagonally down from the sky toward Retan....
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday November 3rd, 2007
- Inside the Lightning Wyvern, above Gros Morne -
Vincent simply stood there as the lizard showed off his blade. As the creature leapt at him, the alchemist brought his shotgun to the reptile's muzzle and blew his head off.
The second lizard proved more tricky, and Vincent had to leap back to doge the thing's sword. He pressed his hand against the wall to his right, and a serious of spike jutted out where the creature was standing, impaling him from the left side.
By this point Kronos was getting annoying, so he jammed another cartridge in the top of his gun and lead the sovereign down the hall, blasting the lizards left and right with a constant spray of fiery explosions, the bright flashes reflecting in his sunglasses as he walked forward.
Just as all the lizards had been dispatched, the gun made an empty clicking sound. He ripped the cartridge out of the top and opened his coat.
"Blast... out of Auto Shells..."
He replaced another sort of cartridge on top, this one with a flame emblem, then inspected the door Kronos was yapping about.
"Yeah, yeah..."
He tapped the golden gun on his shoulder and looked the giant reactor door over. It was well over a dozen feet tall and obviously made of a medal at least a foot thick. He pressed his hand on in, then felt the lock hole. His fingers melded into a metallic sort of pick and flowed into the key hole. After a moment the door clicked, and began to swing open, a bright yellow light emanating from within...
(DM, if you rather the airship not be disabled next turn, send a sign. Heh...)
- Death Evan, deck, above Tjedon -
"I know... it's just that... I was so worried about you..." Lucile said, still clutching the silver fox general, who was looking like he was getting squeezed to death. "And there are humans down below who need my help. I'm going now."
"Absolutely not," Virmir said as he pulled away. "You will not be putting yourself in any danger."
"I won't be, I promise." With that, Preistess Urocy took to the skies, closely followed by her four Velken guards.
Virmir looked like he was about to take off after her, until Anselm put a claw on his shoulder. "She'll be fine."
Virmir shot him a glance that made him remove his hand as if it were on fire. He turned and looked up at the sky, then the Velkens around him.
"According to the last intel I received, the Dark Emperor has left the Tower of Heaven's Bane on an errand. Furthermore, the final High General, Gorus, is not stationed anywhere near the tower..."
"You mean..." Renard's ears folded back. Emile had found him and clutched to his side once more. The little fox girl looked very out of place amongst the black clad and somewhat bloodied vulpine warriors.
Virmir nodded. "The tower is his primary power source. It will not be unguarded, though..."
Anselm folded his arms and scratched his chin. "But we do have three destroyer class airships in our possession..."
"True. But we only have the manpower to crew one."
"Couldn't we teach the humans to fly the others?"
"There is no time to teach. We must move immediately. The humans have suffered enough and I'm loathe to involve them in this... There is a fair chance we may not make it back..."
"Where are you going, Galry?" little Emile said, looking up at Renard with big blue eyes.
Renard picked her up off the ground and carried her away from the dismal meeting. "It's going to be all right... You're just gonna have to stay with Lady Urocy for a while longer..."
"What about Sir Rikarl and our families?"
"We will have to trust him to get in contact with us. There is no way we can afford the time to send a messenger all the way to North Point. We have a very narrow window of opportunity. If Retan is not struck down, then there is no point in bringing our families to Gaian..." Virmir said.
They all nodded solemnly.
"My lord?" Bryce had also separated from the group and was leaning over the railing of the airship, pointing to a neighboring war ship that was pulling away from the group. "Uh... The Sinistral is flying away..."
They all turned. "Blast it!" Virmir snarled. "Who cleared the lizards from The Sinistral?"
The Velkens all folded their ears and looked at each other.
"We have to stop them. Right now!" Virmir's deep voice boomed.
They scambled, flying over the deck and into the door which lead to the control room.
The engines rumbled and The Death Evan began to move, pursing The Sinistral as it fled, leaving the third and final airship, The Dhaos empty and waiting high above Tjedon.
- Above the ocean, northeast of the Dark Continent -
Anti's burning sword cut straight though Retan and the Dark Emperor flew backwards and exploded in a flurry of bright flashes...
Or rather that's only what it looked like. It was indeed another shadow, as the true Retan took off after Damien Roth a few posts back. (Heh...)
- Above the ocean, north-northeast of the Dark Continent -
Retan stopped, folding his arms as the three weapons floated around him. By now the sun had risen, and his black armor and cape bore a stark contrast to the glistening sky and sea.
"The weapons that you hold belong to me. If you return them, I shall demonstrate my generosity in kind..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 3rd, 2007
- Above the ocean, north-northeast of the Dark Continent -
-"To you? Haven't you ever heard of the expression "finders, keepers"?"
Damien mocked Retan, and then rose one of his hands.
-"But if you insist. I am, after all, simply a humble servant..."
His palm began sending out sparks, and he curled it in towards himself. Then a few seconds later he uncoiled his arm towards the Draken, sending out a pebble-sized lightning orb. The orb blew up right before reaching Retan's face, doing absolutely no damage, but creating a very bright, blinding flash.
Retan's accuracy sharply fell!
(Heh...)
"...to the Sovereignty! So come and take them from me, snake!"
With those words, Damien sped off somewhere to the west...
--- --- ---
- Above Gros Morne, inside the Lightning Wyvern -
"I eyed the gold light seeping out from the widening fissure.
-"I believe that I am done telling you about the very important things, on which I will, quite naturally, quiz you later to see if you were paying attention or not. I shall move on to more current matters."
Judging by the light, this was indeed the crystal containment room.
-"Keeping mine and the Sovereignty's interests in mind, what do you think such crystals would be useful for, other than building big things that float? Do they exhibit any properties that could somehow be used to create something else? The thing that's been bothering me a lot is the NGO device. They are truly incredible marvels of magic and engineering. We've only got five or six left, from the eleven that I brought back from the Nightshade temple. For what I found out, there were only twelve of them in existence, and one was used by the Nightshade's elite squad, the Iron Wing. I believe you would be familiar with that encounter - it was used against the Crimson Capital fortress.
"In any case, these devices are close to becoming the very centre of our technology. My scientists found a great many uses for them, and are finding more now. I fear that the Sovereignty will not reach its full potential without more NGOs."
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 4th, 2007
- Above Gros Morne, inside the Lightning Wyvern -
The A-Class lizard was shot in the liver and was starting to loose contiousness, and would soon die.
"Human...has gun..." The elite draged himself along and moved to where he saw the two intruder go to. He pulled out a communications orb from his pocket.
---
The main communications orb flickered on a ghostly image of the A-Class elite.
"They're heading towards...engine room...they got me. Man down sir..."
The ghostly image faded and Xarn grinded his teeth.
"They'll pay." Xarn got up, he looked a little upset. "This...isn't good."
The co-pilot looked at Xarn. "General, we need to do something. What are your orders."
"Continue fire. Try not to get hit."
"What about the saboteurs sir? We need to do something about them."
"I'm going to deal with them myself. I do not want this ship to fall. We will win this!"
Xarn then exited the cock pit, and summoned one of the spare pilots to take his place. He then ran towards the engine room to deal with the saboteurs.
--- ---
- Above the ocean, northeast of the Dark Continent -
Valos floated up towards Zerobi No Anti.
"I don't think that was the real Retan, demon." Valos stated. "If you want, go chase him. I'll admit you have a better chance then I do."
Valos turned around and scanned the area.
"I need to find Emperor Draven."
--- ---
- Tjedon, Tjed -
Duilin noticed one of the ships flying away.
"That's odd, I thought the Velkens were in the other ship." He rubbed his chin. "Yeah, something's not right here."
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday November 4th, 2007
- Above Gros Morne, inside the Lightning Wyvern -
Vincent stepped through the door into the reactor room. A bright yellow crystal floated in the center, some four feet high, surrounded by wires and tubes. Under the flight crystal stood a metallic cylinder with glowing runes all around the base, and a translucent shield extended from this to the ceiling, entirely encasing the crystal.
The alchemist just rolled his eyes (the gesture disguised by the sunglasses, of course). Kronos would not shut up.
"Flight crystals merely distance themselves from the planet's core, varying by the magical current passed through them. That is all they do."
He knelt down in front of the glowing runes. His right pointer finger formed into a metallic pick and he began scratching additional scriblings over the glyphs.
"It will take a moment to disable the flight crystal's power so we can remove it safely. Cover me, if you will."
Crystal disablement: 33%
- Above the ocean, north-northeast of the Dark Continent -
Retan's crimson eyes narrowed. A blackness engulfed him, and he sped off through the air, hot on Roth's heels. Two black orbs materialized above him as he flew, and snaking bolts of black lightning streamed out of them towards his prey. He fired the bolts one after another in a relentless stream...
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 5th, 2007
- Above Gros Morne, inside the Lightning Wyvern -
Xarn continued running through the airship. Whoever these people were, they killed Gorus' elites so clearly he'd have to deal with them himself. He reached the reactor room, kicking the door open and drawing his sword. His sword would be fairly large in the hands of a human or one of another race of equal or lesser size, but it was a perfect size for the lizard man. One the bottom of the hilt was a gem, the type which were usually put at the end of mage staffs.
The teal scaled lizard man glared at the two men who dared to board his ship. He twirled his sword around as he stomped towards them. He spotted one of them who appeared to be doing something to the flight crystal.
"Alright, I'm going to give you five seconds to stop whatever you're doing and get off my ship." Xarn snarled and the gem on the hilt of his sword glowed red, and flame shot through the blade. He slowly stepped forward and started counting. "One..."
---
The Lightning Wyvern continued to zoom around the Enlightnment. It's Thunder Cannon was charged to it's limit. It then slowed down and faced the giant airship and then fired a thundering bolt of lightning at it.
--- ---
- Tjedon -
"Ben?" Duilin said finally noticing that it was him that was there. "Is that you? There's something different about you. Are you alright?" He asked with some concern.
"But yeah." Duilin looked back up at the two moving airships. "Are the Velkens leaving us or something?" He narrowed his eyes trying to focus on the airships. "Rink, Ben can either of you sense what's going on? Like any odd aura signatures or something."
Rink shrugged. "I think I sense some lizard men, but I dunno."
Duilin rubbed his chin. "Hmmm..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday November 5th, 2007
-Tjedon, Mountainous Region of Tjed.-
"Right, I was... killed, sort of, back on the Dark Continent. This is a new body, but with the same sort of set up. Actually, my father insisted that I be part demon for a while. I've lost some of my powers and have to regain them while I'm here, or at least get used to my new form. My angelic part seems to remember all that it's learned, but that doesn't appear to be enough." Ben's hand flickered with a white light. It was very small, though still noticable.
"I still don't think anything good will come of those two ships persuing one another... I can't really sense anything 'for sure' anymore, though. I need more power in order to do something like that again... Speeking of which, do you think you could teach me something about demonic magic, Duilin?"
"Put your blades away, men. We're done here. All that is reptilian is dead on this land... that's hostile to us, at least... Well, this is your new home now, as you now serve Tjedon as the Tjedi elite. Get used to it." Aaron's form was changing back to 'normal' or so he called it.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 5th, 2007
- Above Gros Morne, in the Lightning Wyvern -
"Now the damned heartburn was gone, so I felt more or less like myself again.
-"Do tell, o fat ugly green one - how do you figure you're in any position to make demands? I mean, yes, we're on your ship - but you're in my land, so I'm right where I belong." I paused. "Hmm... Say... you look a mighty lot like that hippo that was running down there in Gros Morne, which my dear Stalkers put low, but you are a little bit smaller than him, and wimpier. From what I saw, he wouldn't hesitate to smash my skull open the second he'd seen me.
"OH! You must be female! Why, how good of you to come! Now the hippo won't be alone, and will have a lady friend to entertain him! Now, if you'll be so kind, lie down on the ground there so I can have my undead thralls carry you to my zoo."
--- --- ---
- Above Gros Morne -
The Enlightenment was hit harshly in the side, blowing off a cannon. The ship, however, regained her direction, and continued ascending to the top, raining heavy cannonballs on the Lightning Wyvern below it.
--- --- ---
- North-east of the Dark Continent, over the ocean -
One of the dark blasts hit Damien behind his neck, vapourizing him into a small cloud of dust. The dust quickly rematerialized into Roth again, who turned over on his back, still going forward, but facing the Dark Emperor.
-"Hmm, and I thought that a practitioner of Catastrophic Shadow Elemental Magic would pack a harder punch..."
Damien proceeded to fling a whole fistful of the little flash-orbs, creating a wall of light between him and Retan. Although he wasn't sure of its effects on Drakens, it would definitely confuse a normal person...
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 5th, 2007
-Tjedon, Mountainous Region of Tjed.-
"Ooo..." Duilin tucked his hands in his pockets. As soon as Ben asked him that question he immediately, thought about his father teaching him demonic magic, and how he was going to use it to harm his friends. He came so close to having that take him over, hopefully Ben wouldn't have that happen to him. Yet he is half angel, so he would be able to combat it better.
"Demonic magic is a dangerous art to learn Ben. If you're not strong enough, then you start to crave more of it, and it starts to lower your judgement. It can make you do some stupid or even evil things. Lucky for you you're half angel so you'll probably be able to control yourself better than I can. It took me awhile, and I even had to get light magic enhancements to combat it for me."
Duilin took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms.
"But, I don't want to offend you but I've seen the way you fight, the way you act in combat. It's over aggressive. You lost your temper way too quickly in that fight against the Nightmare demon, and you tried to strangle Virmir with a chain by sneaking up behind him. That's not healthy at all, Ben."
Duilin looked up in the air and took a deep breath and looked back at Bjendell.
"I'll admit I've done some pretty bad things. I've been over violent in the past, yet that is the intended point of demonic magic. Demonic magic isn't even for directly killing, because that's too clean. When you use demonic magic, they don't die cleanly. But at the same time it's a strong type of magic, and those who have the ability to learn it, can learn it and master it easily. I don't like to use it too much anymore, but it's the strongest type of magic I know and there are some enemies that I need to use it on."
"So, yes I can teach you some, but you need to also learn how to control yourself and learn how to use it correctly. So think about it for a little while."
"Nice speech Duilin." Rink commented quietly with a smirk.
--- ---
- Above Gros Morne -
The airship started taking the heavy fire, and began to shake in the air, but continued moving to avoid any further damage. The Lightning Wyvern then fired back at the Enlightenment with a series of smaller lightning bolts compared to it's Thunder Cannon.
---
- Above Gros Morne, in the Lightning Wyvern -
"Pah!" Xarn snarled. "You clearly know nothing of my kind. I am no female. And if you think my FIVE seconds I gave you was a serious offer of pity you're clearly oblivious to my insults."
He stepped closer to Kronos.
"But this isn't your land at all. This entire world belongs to the Dark Emperor Retan."
"But I'm sure Gorus would be able to take your little band of Stalkers. Gorus is a High General, he's the stronger lizard man in the world, making him the second strongest being in the world. Me being close friends with him, I'd know how strong he is. And take my word on this, he looks like he could smash a brick wall with his claws and he's stronger then he looks."
He then arched back his blade.
"And I'll gladly lay on the ground once I stain it with your blood!" The lizard man then slashed his burning sword down at the sovereign's head...
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday November 5th, 2007
- Death Evan Bridge, Skies above Tjed, west of Tjedon -
An explosion rocked the airship and the Velkens scrambled around.
"We're hit!"
"They're shooting at us!"
Virmir clutched the railing, looking out the forward window and growling. "Destroy them."
The Death Evan opened up a full volley of cannon fire upon the fleeing Sinistral, which returned the attack in kind with its rear cannons. The sky lit up as the two flying ships blasted each other to doom. The thunderous roar of two destroyer class airships battling in the skies echoed throughout the entire island.
An explosion rocked the side of the fleeing Sinistral, and the airship began to smoke. Still the chase was on, and the two made way for the ocean to the west...
- Above Gros Morne, in the Lightning Wyvern -
Vincent smirked. At least Kronos was directing his irksome banter at the enemy for a change. He continued working, ignoring the fight behind him. The translucent cylinder containing the crystal dimmed.
Crystal Disablement: 67%
- Above the ocean, north-northeast of the Dark Continent -
Retan seemed to vanish behind the wall of light. All seemed quiet for a short moment, but then the sea underneath Roth exploded. A screeching roar sounded and a giant black serpentine dragon burst from under the waves, surging upwards at the Lilithian with a gaping maw over ten feet wide. The dragon's length was impossible to tell due it is lower body being under water, but over three hundred feet in length were visible as its jaws moved to snap down on the tiny man...
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 5th, 2007
//Xorlak: Damien's human. :P De Sade and Amon are the only Lilithians in DAL \\
- Above the ocean, north-northeast of the Dark Continent -
-"Mother of...!"
Damien just barely escaped the great beast's maw, fleeing somewhat upwards and then to a safe distance a few hundred meters away from the Draken.
-"So, you have some skill after all, do you? Say, I haven't tried what these beauties here do yet, but I'll be saving that for later. Instead..."
The mage drew out his left hand behind him, with a small, swirling vortex inside of it. He continued his flight...
Damien's super-secret mega-ownage attack: 20%
//what exactly would the weapons do anyways?\\
--- --- ---
- Above Gros Morne, in the Lightning Wyvern -
"No sense arguing with an idiot, I thought. The blade, quite naturally, went through my neck without much effect. I shifted back into my normal form, while gathering lightning energy at my palm. As soon as I was entirely materialized, I thrusted my hand at the Lizard Man, aiming for the chest. At the same time, I wretched some Lizard Men's skeletons from our previous encounters, and summoned them to my position."
--- --- ---
- Above Gros Morne, in the Enlightenment -
-"Captain! The lightning strikes have penetrated the aft shielding!"
-"Re-route forward shielding to aft sections!"
-"Rerouting, Cap-AAAH!!!"
Another jolt from the lightning cannon overloaded the shield controls, blasting a scientist backwards on his spine in a shower of sparks.
-"Mr. Laris! Evasive pattern Delta-4! Mr. Bauer, is the NGO engine ready yet?"
-"Yes, Captain! The air is sufficiently thin to open both vortex engines at the same time."
-"Make it so, Lieutenant. Engage the twin vortex engines !!"
---
Something strange started happening to the Enlightenment. The three airship hulls at the top containing the flotation crystals suddenly broke off the ringship, slowly descending back down to Gros Morne. The sphere in the middle which used to join them burst, revealing two smaller, cage-like hemispheres. The cages slid down the metallic beam used to support them, landing on either sides of the ship. They latched in place with a loud grinding noise, and then both slid back up in unison. Then whatever was in those cages opened up - the cages suddenly started emitting sparks, and the Enlightenment shot up at an amazing speed, like something just jolted it higher through the atmosphere...
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Monday November 5th, 2007
"Hey! Where are they going!?" Ko'ji looked up to the skies and noticed the airships took off without her. She took to the skies and blasted for the deck of the Death Evan, and just made it before the ship took off after the sinestral (sorry if I spelled it wrong).
"You weren't about to take off without me, were you-woah!" The second airship atempted to blast at the Death Evan with its rear cannons. Ko'ji jumped up to the front of the ship and readied a great fireball. Her hands swirled around several times as the ball grew in diameter. It was about 1 whole foot, roughly the size of one of the cannons aboard the Death Evan. She blasted it forwards with an intense force that she was thrown backwards with recoil. She blasted up then back and hit the deck in a belly-flop kind of way, only with her back.
"Ow...ch..."
Posted by: Mikado on Tuesday November 6th, 2007
Puco response was quick, when Nex was going towards Sienna, she roll jumped back kicking the rock spear horizontally towards Nex. It looked like Puco jumped back, but she actually was hiding behind the stalagmite and when it reached Nex, in the confusion she quickly jumped on it and double jumped again, and she was above Nex.
"Three sided attack!" She yelled enthusiasmly and punched downwards towards Nex's head.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 6th, 2007
- Above Gros Morne, in the Lightning Wyvern -
Xarn was a little confused when his sword went right through his foe. "A ghost...?" He asked not exactly expecting an answer. Suddenly he was punched right in the chest.
"Oof--"
It wasn't enough to take him down, but it was enough to get on his nerves. Xarn growled, and slashed his fire blade at one of the zombie lizard men's heads, decapitating it and setting it on fire. He then held his sword with one hand and pointed his free hand at the sovereign and shot a lightning bolt from his hand at him.
--- ---
- Tjedon -
"Look, the airships are shooting at each other!" Bell said pointing to them.
"Yeah, okay something is definitely going on. I'm going up there." Duilin jumped in the air and flapped his wings and hovered in the air. "Ben if you want to come, there may be some fighting to be done, if you can prove that you can fight a little more cleanly I'll teach you a demonic spell."
He then flew towards the airships.
Rink noticed that one of them was unpiloted. "Hey maybe later we could take that and go somewhere."
"Where?" Lagart asked.
"Maybe Kandarin." Bell suggested. "They're a very strong nation, they have more military power then Tjed does. So maybe if we could convince their Marshal to help us kill Retan. He might actually be coming up with something on his own actually and may need our help."
"Kronos is not a nice person, but nicer than Retan." Lagart said to Bell.
"I know that Lagart, but I'm sure he'd see at least Duilin as a person of use, besides Duilin can't kill Retan on his own, even with Ben's help he couldn't."
"Maybe Draven make another giant fireball. Worked on Jayce."
"We can't rely on Draven." Rink stated. "He's probably got himself killed by now or something. It might not be such a bad idea to check out Kandarin."
--- ---
- South East of Helternia -
Nex grabbed the stalagmite before it could stab into him. With his immense demonic strength it was barely a problem for him, however Puco's punch hit him square on in the head.
"Off--"
Nex dropped the rock spear on the ground and it broke apart.
"That's it. It's killing time now."
Nex floated high into the air and began glowing with a red aura and the sky around the area began to darken.
Sienna's jaw dropped. "This is too much. He's too strong for us. We need to get out of here!"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday November 6th, 2007
"I'll be right behind!" Ben could barely craft an energy sword, but he did. It was very weak, but strong enough to stop a regular blade. He flew close behind Duilin and had his energy sword at his side.
"Hmm... I think my senses are somewhat growing back! Either that or we're getting closer... one ship is full of Velkens, and another of Lizardmen..."
//almost forgot Jacobie! (Heh...)
"Indeed, Rink is right." Jacobie sheathed his bloody katanas and cuaght his breath, "Draven could betray us in an instant. After Retan, who's to stop him, if he isn't dead already? It would probably take every single worthy fighter across eight whole realms in order to defeat him... something like that anyways..."
Jacobie walked towards the house and leaned agains the outside wall. "We do have yet to see the Draken's Dragon form... Therefore, might I rephrase, we have yet to see the worst that is to come."
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 6th, 2007
(Blast it! I got Roth confused with De Sade somehow... Heh... never mind. The weapons do something fun only Retan can use...)
- Above Gros Morne, in the Lightning Wyvern -
The shield around the flight crystal faded, and the bright yellow light flowing from the stone dimmed.
"Done."
Vincent grabbed the huge crystal and pulled it from its suspended flotation above the metallic rings protruding from the floor. The thing was at least half as tall as him and over six inches thick. "An A-class crystal, and a beauty too. This would take a good couple of years to grow..."
Immediately the ship began to vibrate. In just a few moments it would loose all upward lift and drop out of the sky, likely with explosive results. There was a chance the ship had a backup crystal on board, but it would be smaller and much less powerful. Vincent wasn't going to stick around to find out, anyway.
"We'd best be on our way, Sovereign," he yelled over the din of the skeletal lizards attacking Xarn. Tucking the obsesenely large yellow crystal under his arm, he bolted for the door as the ship groaned...
Posted by: Mikado on Wednesday November 7th, 2007
"Nee..."
Puco moaned.
I didn't expect THIS strong people appear the moment I arrived.. If I had my circle.. but I don't!
"No! We couldn't really damage him, but we can still fight! Don't give up so easily!"
Puco sat on the earth and she looked like she was meditating.
"This earth has allot of spiritual meaning for you, hasn't it? I bet it was something special for more people too. The earth here is old and sad. But it is really friendly, all those feelings makes it strong... I'm going to lend its powers!"
Slowly the earth began to deform. Not as before, when the mass just changed its location, but this time it looked more like a spiral of energy.
Something began do raise from the mud like substance, it had no real form, but it looked like a enormous lizard with some fantasy.
"This.. this is the power that strong feelings can create! Believe in this Sienna!"
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 7th, 2007
- Above the Ocean, north-northwest of the Dark Continent -
Roth continued fleeing from Retan, while holding on to the orb.
Damien's secret attack: 40%
--- --- ---
- In the Lightning Wyvern, above Gros Morne -
"The lightning attack hit me, serving a mild jolt. I shuddered, and summoned a few more skeletons. Of course, the crashing ship wasn't going to wait for me...
-"Vincent, if you don't want one of your toys to fail again, then follow me. I have a Winged Messenger at the ready, outside the ship."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 7th, 2007
(Hmm, you updated Roth twice before I could do Retan. Heh...)
- Above the Ocean, north-northwest of the Dark Continent -
The shimmering black serpentine dragon dove under the waves, disappearing entirely. After a moment it appeared under Roth again, bursting upwards and soaring higher than before, just missing his feet as it snapped at him. It slipped under the ocean once more and continued disappearing and reappearing under the man, snapping at him each time...
Then the clouds above him parted, and a second dragon dropped down upon Damien, snatching at him with scaly talons. This dragon was smaller, but had two massive wings that blasted the human every time they flapped. It was more the classical type, with two gleaming horns a long, thick tail, and the same black scales as the sea dragon below...
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 8th, 2007
- South Eastern part of Helternia -
"Pah!" Nex sneered as he saw the mud creature. "Just more wood for the fire!"
Nex summoned a fireball in each hand and then shot them at the mud lizard...
--- ---
- Above Gros Morne, in the Lightning Wyvern -
"Don't mock me by sending your... bone fiends at me!" Xarn snarled slashing his sword at one of them. Suddenly he was attacked from behind as a skeleton wrapped it's arms around the lizard man's neck.
"Ackk--"
Two more skeletons came at Xarn but he slashed his sword again at one of them.
More of the undead minions started to pile on him, and it was too much for him to handle....
---
"She's goin' down!" The pilot said. "What do we do?"
"Uhh...wanna go out in a really cool way and crash our ship into theirs?"
"Sure, why not."
With the last amount of its energy thrusters it pushed forward towards the Enlightenment.
--- ---
- Above Tjedon -
"Alright, let's board the lizard man's ship and take them out." Duilin said to Bjendell.
He quickened the pace and reached the enemies' ship. Duilin landed on the ship's dock, he was able to keep his balance, despite carrying around his heavy mace. The dock was empty of any lizard men on it so he sprinted towards the door, and smashed it open with his mace. Not even bothering to check if it was locked...
Posted by: Mikado on Thursday November 8th, 2007
Puco smiled.
"What weirdo sends fire at mud?"
She still was sitting, and the earth like hands "catched" the fire. Some of it began to burn, but the deeper earth was wet, and the fire was surrounded by it..
At the same time from the same hand, eight sharp tentacles grew out of the left palm, and were rushing with hight speed at Nex.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday November 8th, 2007
"I'll try to take out their weapons!" Ben flew to the ship Duilin just had and landed behind the cannons. He slashed at the base of the cannons and started to undo the mechanisms with his sword. Part of the aircraft's weaponry was starting to disable, but not fully. It was still firing upon the Velken vessle. He then began punching it and kicking it, but to no avail, as the machinary just hurt his hands and feet,
"Hmm... I suppose I'll just follow you then." Ben flew back to the deck and followed Duilin inside the ship.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 8th, 2007
- South Eastern part of Helternia -
//Mikado, maybe we should hurry things up and finish this fight soon.\\
Nex made a twirling motion in his hands and two cleavers appeared in them.
"Chop, chop!" Nex slashed the cleavers at the tentacles cutting off the tips that were rushing towards him. "I'm sick of toying with you, now it's time to die!"
Nex then cast a tornado spell by shooting a gust of wind at the mud monster that shot right into it, but didn't kill it. He then began to spin his hands and attempting to magically create a tornado right inside it.
--- ---
- Above Tjedon, in that one ship, whatever it's called -
"Alright, I'm sure these things have communications orbs, that we can use. So we can tell the Velkens that we're helping them. Unless they saw us get inside." Duilin replied.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 8th, 2007
(Drannic, Duilin just landed on the totally empty, and thus free to steal, third and final airship, The Dhaos, which is still above Tjedon.)
- Over the ocean, west of Tjed -
The two airships, The Death Evan and The Sinistral continued their assault on each other, leaving a trail of smoke and falling debris behind them as they flew over the ocean, the lizard-manned Sinistral desperately trying to escape the Velkens and their Death Evan.
The battle mages lined up on the ship's deck alongside Riuki and began lending a hand with random fireballs of their own. As the Velkens began to catch up, they moved their hands in intricate circles and a blue star-like pattern formed in the space between the two black flying ships. Much of the enemy cannon fire was abruptly deflected, allowing the Death Evan to come in close...
Then, at point blank range, the right side cannons of the Velken ship tore into the left flank of their enemies. Within moments The Sinistral was in flames, and the mammoth ship slowly fell back and crashed into the sea.
Virmir watched the destruction from the well-windowed bridge, his hands behind his back, his tail swaying slowly as the fireball sunk into the ocean.
"Continue present course. Straight for The Tower of Heaven's Bane... We are going to end this."
Silence overcame the bridge. The Velken squad lowered their ears and looked at the ground at the sharp words of their mentor.
"But sir..." Renard broke the silence. Virmir turned to see him holding the hand of the little fox girl-- Renard's sister. "We... I mean... Emile is on board..."
Virmir's eyes widened in understanding, and he scratched the back of his head for a moment. "Take her back to the humans."
Renard's ears perked. "But sir... I... if I do that, I won't be able to catch up..."
Virmir stepped up to the battle mage and tenderly placed a claw on his shoulder. Emile shrunk back from the former High General, clutching her big brother's waist once more. "Goodbye, then."
Renard's mouth dropped. There... there was no way he could leave his squad behind! He looked down at his timid little sister, who stared back at him with big blue eyes, silver ears twitching, tail tucked between her legs... No, there was no way he could bring her into battle either...
What was he going to do?
"I... I..."
"Take her out of here. That is an order," Virmir stated plainly.
Renard's heart sunk. Helix patted him on the back. "It's okay. We'll catch you later, alright?" his best friend reassured.
Anselm soften his stiff at-attention stance and gave Renard a reassuring nod. Gaston pushed his glasses up his muzzle and smiled. Bryce offered a small salute.
"R-right..." Renard nodded. "I'll see you all again..."
"When the skies are blue. Everywhere." Helix said.
Renard smiled. "Yeah. Everywhere." The two patted each other on the back. "Let's go, Emile," he said somberly. With that, Renard left through the door, crossing the deck to fly his sister back to Tjed under his own power.
Virmir waited a moment after the fox left, staring at the looming dark clouds on the horizon. "Anyone who wishes to join him, or otherwise leave my service, do so now... There is a fair chance we may not return... ever."
(Elder, just so you know, I only plan on updating the main Velken squad sporadically from this point on for a while. If you want to update Riuki more often, she should follow Renard.)
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday November 8th, 2007
//Don't worry, I pm'ed Xorlak before I did this.
- Tjedon, Mountainous Region of Tjed -
"Hmm... Well, the lizardman I was supposed to deliver this to is dead... Ugh, and he's starting to smell, too. Heh, come to think, they're all dead. Wait, there's one!" The mysterious-looking figure walked toward Jacobie from the shadows of the dark city streets, being somewhat filled with a barely visable light from the sun, the tourch posts still lit.
"Here you are Mr. Lizardman. It's a message for you from Lord Marcinious. Good, good, just take it. I'll be off then!" The cloaked figure then disappeared into the shadows. Jacobie, being as confused as ever, simply opened the letter. It wasn't quite adressed to him, but he continued reading.
Dear Elite,
Welcome to the big games. You have been given a contingent of lizardmen to command outside of the Arctic region. They have already set up camp, and await your arival. Before you can command them, however, you must be promoted. I hereby grant you the title of Commander! Make good on your oaths to the empire and show us what your made of. I will be waiting at the camp for you to fill you in on the details. Then I will take my leave, and you will begin the assault into enemy lines. Make us proud!
-Commander Varosi Marcinious, Arctic Division -
The Dark Seal was stamped at the bottem of the message, and had the emblem bearing resemblance to a dragon with four wings. A Draken in full form, no less. The courier was indeed from the Dark Empire. Jacobie had to obey orders, or they would find him, like they did his father. He folded the letter up and stuffed it into his armor.
"Lagart, I'm taking my leave. Tell the others." Jacobie then walked off, or rather leapt off, into the mountains, sustaining his fatigue with magic. From peak to peak, he flew across the sky, just as he had when he came into Tjed. He then took a great leap and crashed down into the port city. It was full of Drannivolkans and elves, and a few human merchants, trading with Tjed.
A sign hung over the entrance to the port, and etched into the fine wood was "The Crystal Port." Indeed, Aaron's men were fine in their craft, for the port was almost as big as the city of Tjedon, without the walls. He could make out a few familiar faces, Aaron and his men. They appeared to have taken residence in one of the homes of the port. There were more than enough Drannivolkan females to keep the elites trying, and they did. Aaron, however was ready to leave Tjed for home, to restore what little order was left in his kingdom most likely. Jacobie walked down the streets of the dock, and surprisingly, he found his ship anchored to one of the harbors. A merchant was sitting next to it.
"Excuse me, sir, but that's my ship."
"No it ain't! I founds it meself, I did! Just off the coast there."
"That's where I left it. I'd like it back."
"Finders keepers, mate, finders keepers."
"Hmph. How do you find this blade!?" Jacobie unsheathed the burnermaul and pointed it at the old merchants throat. "Perhapse you'd like to keep it inside your head, you worthless thief!"
"Ugh... now now... let's not do anything rash..."
"Then let's give me my boat back."
"... Fine... take it. I have no use o'da thing anyhow." Jacobie boarded the small boat and cut the rope anchoring his ship with his katana. He sheathed it and kicked off the harbor. The boat then took off. Once he was a fair enough distance away from the harbor, he took both his hands and placed them into the water. The boat then blasted off with a great speed, as Jacobie's air magic sent it off like a motor. He'd reach his destination within a few hours, perhapse...
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Thursday November 8th, 2007
"I'm going with him!" Ko'ji walked forward to Virmir at a fast pace and gave a quick bow. "None of us are to be alone, sir... Just following orders." She turned around and patted Helix on his shoulder. Once she caught his eye, she gave a smile and a quick wink, then pounced into the air and pushed some magic energy behind herself in order to catch up with Renard. "I'm going with you, to keep you safe! Nobody is to wander off on their own!" Ko'ji flew by Renard's side. She was a bit taller, but still kept up with him.
--- ---
"Well, now that they're all dead... there really is nothing to do."
"Correction: there really is nothing for me to do. You, on the other hand, are a free man. Enjoy the world... while I try to save it."
"Wait, you're one of the good guys!? You're joking, right?"
"Meh, I might be a bit violent, but somebody needs to lead these people! I'm probably gonna join the guard. Before you know it, I'll be a captain."
"In that case, I'll stick with you."
"No, Jack. I have to do this on my own. Please, go fend for yourself. You are now free to forge your own destiny. I hope you do so without making the same mistake that lead you into jail in the first place."
"Good bye, then..."
"Good bye, Jackwell Richend."
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 9th, 2007
(Drannic, you did not mention in your PM that you wished to use a boat that traveled tens of thousands of miles per hour. Please go back and read the rules on travel, especially the one about leaving one place and arriving at another in the same post.)
- Above Gros Morne, in the Lightning Wyvern-
Vincent pulled his lip up on at the remark, but wasn't in the mood to argue. "Right." He tucked the giant crystal under his arm and ran after Kronos, struggling to stay on two legs as the ship began to teeter. He followed the Sovereign down hallway after hallway, through hordes of irate and confused Lizard Men.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 9th, 2007
- Above Tjedon in The Dhaos -
"This ship appears to be empty." Duilin stated.
He walked through the ship, nobody was inside.
"Heheh, I think the other ship, was the one with the lizard men in it." Duilin chuckled.
The two, headed their way towards the cockpit, where there were the pilot seats and the communications orb. Duilin had no idea how to work it, since he wasn't ever trained in how to use airships, back when he was with the empire. He didn't see any sort of manual so he would be unable to do anything.
"Hmm, they're too far. What are we going to do?" Duilin asked. "Hmm..."
Duilin walked back to the deck of the ship.
"Ben, do you know much about airships? I know how to use a boat, and they're somewhat similar in controls. We might want to get the others." Duilin rubbed his temples. "I should have thought this through." He mumbled.
---
- Tjedon, Mountainous Region of Tjed -
"Okay." Lagart said nodding to Jacobie. "Bye."
Lagart walked back into the house were Bell and Rink were, they appeared to be in the middle of a conversation.
"I don't know. But I'm worried that if he goes through with this, he'll get hurt...or killed." Bell said pacing back and forth.
"You'd be surprised at just how much he's lived through."
"But all those stories he's told me. He was with other people doing them. But with Zeros' gone and the others who've seemed to be lost, it's almost like he's on his own."
"He has Bjendell, he seems talented enough."
"Yeah...I guess. But I'm still worried; I can't stop worrying about him. I don't know, what if we both go with him when he tries to face Retan?"
"That'd be too dangerous Bell." Rink said. "You'd just get in the way. Me and Lagart can fight, but let's be honest, you can't."
"No...I can't..." Bell sighed. "It's not like I want too, it's just that...I care a lot for Duilin..."
"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Rink noticed Lagart was standing in the doorway. "Wow, for a big guy you sure are quiet. What's up?"
"Jacobie left."
"Did he say where he was going?" Bell asked.
"No."
"Did you bother to ask?"
"No."
Rink rolled his eyes. "Ack. So any word from Duilin or Bjendell?"
"No."
"Okay...I'll see if I can contact him."
"How?"
"Telepathic mind powers." Rink said in a joking voice, despite the fact he was totally serious.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Friday November 9th, 2007
- Above Tjedon in The Dhaos -
"Hmm... I do recall helping a man named Thand repair a few air-ships, much like this one. I guess I could give it a try. I'll head down to the cockpit." Ben walked into the ship and began to mess around a bit with the control system. A bunch of green and red lights flickered as his hands moved around the control system. (I'm going to assume Duilin will follow)
"Apparently, this ship is named the Dhaos. It shows our current location in relavence to the location of some sort of tower on Terian... I belive this is where Retan normally resides." Ben used the controls again and got the ship to turn around, in order to follow the other ships in the fleet.
"The resinator emmiter on one of the two ships is under water... one of the ships must have crashed into the ocean. There appears to be another ship, the Death Evan, that is in the general area, a few miles to the west. I've turned the ship to follow the Death Evan. It seems that the Velkens may have defeated the Lizardmen or may not have. Point is, I'm not so sure what to do next. If we're heading after them, merely push this button."
- Tel Vos, Arctic Region -
"Uhhh... I'm running out of mana. Gonna have to stop blasting this thing off." Jacobie took his hands out of the water and grabbed the paddles that were inside. He could see the shore of the Arctic Region, lined with giant war galleons and fast fire ships. Snow fell down from the skies around all the ships.
Jacobie paddled slowly, as he was running low on energy. In a few moments, however, he reached the shore. He placed both the padles back into the boat and got out on the snowy land. The earth was very strong in this region, and very cold. It was nothing more than an ice cap. The lizardman walked out into the land a bit more and saw a large colony of pavillions. The biggest one was in the center, and the flap was open.
"Hello? I'm here." To his surprise, Jacobie was confronted by a female lizardman captain, A-Class. He was surprised that there were females of that class.
"Commander! We have long awaited your arrival. Our lordship has already left and told us all that we are now under your command. How may I serve?"
"I need detailed information on the general area... and why I'm here as well."
"Ah yes, of course sir. Our scouts are on patrol as we speek. And why you are here? To quell a rebelion that has started. The king of this area has returned to the lands from being away aftetr a while. Some of his subjects felt rather less... intimidated while he was away, and are trying to get him out again, hence the rebelion. Unfortunately, the rebels outnumber us five to one, but we have much stronger weapons, armor, and soldiers. The royal guard of the fortress nearby has also offered their help, as the king is allied to the Dark Empire."
"Hmm... thank you for the report. Anything else I should know?"
"Though the rebels are quite weak, they do have powerful mages. Also, a few bandits have taken to their side as well. They will have a nice enough stock of bows and arrows, so the men are prepared for a ranged attack."
"Make sure to keep their armor thicker around the joints and the neck."
"Yes my lord. You may use this tent as your personal quarters, and feel free to call upon the slaves for anything you need."
"Slaves...... Uh, yes, I will. Good day, captain..."
"Captain Zabel, sir."
"Right. I'll try to remember." The femal captain left the tent, and Jacobie was alone with five slaves, all chained to eachother. The key to the shackles was on his desk. Jacobie walked over to the desk and picked up the key.
"No slaves on my watch." The lizardman then unlocked all of the chains of the slaves and all left the tent... all but one. A young human woman.
"What's the matter? Leave! Get out of here while you can!" The woman did not budge. Jacobie put a hand on her arm, but she shrugged him off.
"Are you crazy!? You've got to get out of here! You're free!"
"None of us are free," at last she said, "even if we were to leave, we would die on our own. With no food, water, or way to defend ourselves, we would die..."
"*sigh* I suppose so... but you still have a better chance if you're free."
"No... I will die, like the others."
"It can't be helped then. You can stay here for now."
"Thank you."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 10th, 2007
- Above Tjedon in The Dhaos -
"Um, I'm not totally sure if we should go after them just yet. Like maybe we should talk to the others before leaving just like that." Duilin replied. "Maybe you could try and get this thing started up and maybe see if you can use the communications orb thing to contact the Velken's ship."
Duilin put his hand on his head.
"Wait, a second I think Rink is trying to talk to me. Hold on a second." Duilin took a few steps backwards, and then sent a telepathic message to Rink.
"Hey, is everything okay down there?"
"Jacobie took off, he didn't say where he was going.' Rink replied. 'How are things up there?"
"Could be better, but still not that bad. This ship is empty, maybe we could take it."
"Bell suggested we go to Kandarin, and try and form an alliance, at least a tempoary one."
"You mean the Sovereignty? I don't know, aren't they like some death cult worshiping their ruler?"
"I'll admit they're not the best bunch, but if we're going to defeat the empire we need all the help we can get. The Kandarinians apparently have the strongest military in Gaian, next to the Dark Empire."
"Well, I guess it's worth a shot. But I don't think they'll be too thrilled to see a Dark Empire ship coming towards them, they'll likely open fire or something."
"We'll fly some white flags or something. They'll think we're a ship surrendering. They might buy it."
"Okay, but I'm still a little iffy. Me and Ben are gonna try and get this airship figured out and try to move it a little closer so you and Lagart can come aboard."
"Bell actually wants to come along."
"Really? Well, if we're going to Kandarin...then maybe. But I don't know. It's too dangerous. Why?"
"She's worried about you Duilin. She says she'll feel better if she comes along. I told her it'll be too dangerous, but it's your call."
"I'll think about it."
Duilin then turned and looked back at Bjendell. "Hey, can you move this a little closer to the city? Like say, around the yard outside of the castle. I want to pick up the others."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday November 10th, 2007
"I'm on it!" Ben flipped a few switches and grabbed another control mechanism. He pushed it forwards and down, flying the airship lower to the ground. He then flipped around the controls and hovered it on over to the castle courtyard, as it was the only place with enough space for a ship this size. The ship slowly descended to the ground, and the motors stopped running as it hit the surface of the earth.
"Alright, I'll get her up and running again once we get them all aboard. Oh, and Duilin, a word of advice. I know that there's another person that you don't quite want to leave behind. Hell, I wouldn't feel well with myself either. If you really want them to come along, but still keep a distance from battle, give them a bow." The ship'd boarding ramp automatically fell to the ground as the ship docked into the courtyard.
"Go get your friends; I'll wait here"
"I'm not so sure it's a good idea that you remain a slave, though. I suppose I could try to get you to do something else... to make you look like a soldier, or something..."
"..."
"You don't talk much, do you?"
"... No..."
"Hmm... Oh, look at that! There's a suit of armor! Perfect for a human, too. Throw that on and tell me if it fits."
"Um... Could you...?"
"You want help or something?"
"... leave... for a minute?"
"Oh, right, sorry. Yeah..." Jacobie walked outside the pavillion and waited in the cold snow, his back against the pavillion flap. A few moments later, he felt a cold metal tapping on his shoulder.
"Does this look good enough?" The woman looked almost like a perfect knight in silver armor. It was indeed made for decorations, but Jacobie paid no mind. He took a katana sheath off his belt, the chillmaul, and handed it to the woman.
"This is... for me?"
"When we enter combat, which is most likely to be soon, you'll want this weapon. It has a cold enchantment on it. Here, let's get you back inside, I can see you shivering." The woman went back into the pavillion, along with Jacobie. Probably out of habbit, the woman sat on the ground next to the shackles.
"You're not going to get any warmer like that. Here, the bed's got some open room. Rest there for now." The woman got up softly, still in the bulky armor, and laid down on an elegant bed in the back of the giant pavillion.
"... Thank you again..."
"I didn't catch your name."
"Um... Ka-ka... I can't remember..."
"Let me see if I can figure it out." Jacobie walked over to the bed and put a scally hand on the woman's helmet. He took it off and put it next to the ground, then placing his hand on her forehead.
"K-A-R-M-A-N-D-A-L-L-A... Karmandalla?"
"Um, yes... I think..."
"Did you have a nickname your friends used to call you by or something?"
"What's a friend?"
"Nevermind... did you have a nickname? A shorter version of your name, I mean... something the other slaves, or slave masters knew you by?"
"Karma..."
"Hmm... I probably wouldn't want to be called that, seeing as how that was your slave name. What do you want me to call you by?"
"Karmandalla."
"Your full name?"
"Yes, please."
"Okay, if you say so. I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something later though!" The lizardman smiled and removed his hand. This woman appeared to be devoid of life away from the empire, and a bit under-educated. Seeing as how Jacobie was an A class lizardman, nearly an S class just for his intelligence, He might want to take her on as an apprentice. Yet something felt odd about this human, he told himself.
"I... forgive me, but I've always thought lizardmen... were evil creations... made by the dark emporer."
"Not me. I was born a halfbreed. I'm actually half dark elf, or drow in their native tongue. That's why my spells are much greater than the other lizardmen. My father was an S class lizardman, and a former general for the dark empire... but I don't like talking about him much."
"... Why are you...?"
"Why am I what?"
"Being... nice to me?"
"Because I feel sorry for you. I try to stop slavery wherever I can find it. It's just inhumane."
"Spare me your pity, lizard."
"But also because I think you've got potential."
"... what?"
"I'd like to take you on as my apprentice, it that's okay with you."
"Potential... to be what?"
"Exactly. What. Whatever you want."
"Ever since I was young, I've seen mages try to buy me from the Dark Empire. I think now they were just trying to free me... like you were. I think... I think I want to be a mage!"
"Then as of this day foreward, You are a slave to nothing but the knowledge you crave. I hereby grant you the title of mage, and as my apprentice, you shal grow strong in the field."
"What do I call you, master?"
"Jacobie. That's what everyone calls me."
"But what about your full name? I want to know it, please!"
"I see little harm in telling you... very well. My full name is Thomas Reincover Jacobie. They all call me Jacobie for short."
"Can I call you Thomas?"
"You can call me whatever, but right now, you need practice." Outside of the pavillion, an alarm was sounding. The rebels must have been attacking.
"Put your helmet on. This will be a good way for me to view the way you fight. I wont let you die out there, so don't worry." The woman put the helm back on her head. It was open, so she could see. Probably a bad idea as the other lizardmen might mistake her for a rebel or bandit. Just then, Jacobie got an idea.
"Here, eat this." The lizardman took out a green, squishy sort of substance and handed it to the woman. She ate it quickly... must have been hungry. Suddenly, all of her features grew and changed color... they turned a scalley green. She even grew a tail.
"That will make them think you're a lizardman, but it only lasts for a short time. I gave you a lot, so you should last the battle. If you get hurt, call my name right away. Let's go!" Jacobie opened the flap from his pavillion and walked out. Sure enough, the woman followed.
"Alright men, what's up?"
"Sir, the rebels are attacking the barricade!"
"Right. Men, CHARGE!!!" The lizardman unsheathed his katana and motioned for Karmandalla to do the same. She did, and held it like he had, with two hands, close to her side. The lizards raced out of their tents and pavillions with large broadswords, maces, cleavers, greathammers, and greatswords. Each of them held their weapons with ease, and sped up to the barricade across the field of tents. Indeed, there were rebels waiting for them.
"I want all fast weapons to outflank them if they get close. Archers, to the barricade! Mages, blast 'em all to hell!" The lizardmen followed the orders given by Jacobie. All of the men were huddled near the barricade. Every single lizardman in this platoon carried both a bow and a melee weapon. Quite an intelligent stradegy. There were few mages, though. An unfortunate turn.
"I sssee themss!!!"
"Hold your fire until I give the word." Rebels with longswords and maces charged into the front of the barricade.
"Let loose your arrows! Fire at will!" The arrows from the bows of the lizards made sure not a single rebel made it into the camp. However, that did not stop them from comming in. More of them charged the gate.
"Aim! Fire!" The wave was a bit less successful this time, as a few rebels made it in. They were quickly cut down, however.
"We Hasss no more arrowsss!"
"Ready your melee weapon!" The lizards then got out the weapon assigned to them. Just then, an army of rebels, this time more organized, marched along the snowy paths to the barricade.
"Ready... Set... ATTACK!!!"
Posted by: Trent on Saturday November 10th, 2007
//Okay, here I go.
Drake phased in behind Anti.
"...You're late," said the astral demon.
"I do apologize. But... it's time."
Anti turned around to look at him. "You're serious?"
"That's right... We will fuse right here and now, and immediately lay waste to this pathetic planet!!"
"Alright!" Anti seemed fired up now. He powered down, his faux-hair disappearing, facial features fading, and color returning to purple. He shot forward, and slammed into Drake, starting to enter his body. Drake started to laugh maniacally, and a sphere of darkness appeared around him, concealing the transformation that was occurring.
Zion was panting heavily, at the battlefield where the Velkens' battle took place. He had powered down to his normal form due to fatigue. Xenai, Tsu, and Aura had arrived near him. "So," asked Xenai, "How'd you do?"
"Really well, I think."
The energy then hit them like a train.
"Holy shit!!! What the ****?!?!" Xenai was literally freaking out.
Aura could detect energies with more delicacy and finesse, and thus could tell what was going on. "The energies of Zerobi no Anti and Drake Genais are... fusing..."
"Fusing?!" Tsu could barely believe what he was hearing.
"We have to get over there, now!!!" Zion took off, and the other three followed.
"Haa...
Haa...
Haa...
Ultimate power..."
The being that stood there now largely resembled Drake Genais. He had slightly tanner skin, and completely white hair (and facial hair). His clothes had been replaced with a skintight black bodysuit, with full black armor, black gauntlets, and black boots. Zion and the others, who had kicked it into hyper overdrive... arrived just in time to see it. "Welcome, inferior beings! I have become the ultimate power. You may call me Void."
Zion was shuddering. "It's... immense..."
Xenai was sweating like crazy. "My god..."
Aura was hiding behind Tsu, who was visibly scared.
"Look how you fools tremble. You can feel it... I'm superior to you in every way." Suddenly, a being shot in extremely fast from behind Void... slashing through him. It was Mugen Seijin... with his sword, Transcender. "UGH!! You! That cursed sword!"
"There's no way I can just sit back and watch now, especially knowing what's going to happen next! I'm supposed to be the guardian!"
"What's going to happen next?!" Zion looked at him with widened eyes.
Void cackled. "Now to use that weapon I'd spent all that time working on! Come, Doom Weapon!!!"
The ground shook like crazy, and some... thing started to emerge from the ocean. It didn't look very humanoid, but still had the basic shape of arms, legs, and body. It was pure black, all over, and had an opening in the center of its body for Void. Oh, and last but not least - It was ****ing huge.
Void floated over, inserting himself into the weapon. The weapon then started to move around, responding to Void's will. "Excellent... Works perfectly. Now... Time to destroy the world! Omega Fist!!!" The entire weapon started to glow with the same blood red energy that Anti was. And it was a heavy glow. The weapon shot high up into the air, connecting its wrists.
"Shit!" Xenai had snapped out of his terror, as well as the other three. "After him!" They all shot up towards him, along with Seijin. The Doom Weapon was charging up an inconceivably powerful wave of energy in its hands. It would easily destroy Gaian.
Seijin looked around at the four fighters, then back at Transcender. He floated over to Aura. "Take it."
"Seijin... you're giving away Transcender?" Zion was puzzled.
"I would do this myself if I could perform New Forever. But I can't."
"Wait, New Forever?" Tsu was curious. "You want us to use New Forever?"
"Yes. Put all the energy that you can into Transcender. Use it against the energy wave!"
"I see..." Aura grabbed the sword and looked it over. She no longer needed her scimitar if this was hers... She dropped the obsolete sword into the ocean. "Zion, Xenai! Let's go!"
Zion and Xenai appeared next to her, and started to build up energy. "Hey, hey," said Xenai. "Let's not sacrifice our weapons this time. We don't need to, since we're dealing with Transcender. Just put all the energy you can handle in it."
"Got it." Zion nodded at him.
"Say goodbye, Gaian!!!" Void cackled maniacally, and pointed the weapon's hands down at the group of fighters.
"Here it comes! Do it now!" Tsu yelled to the others.
"Alright..." "...Take this!" Zion and Xenai then forced their energy into Aura, who felt its effects immediately. "Holy crap! This is... amazing!"
"What are you waiting for! Do it now!" Seijin yelled at her.
"It's over! Everything is over! DIE!!!"
<Awesome cut-ins>
"Armageddon Wave!!!"
"New Forever!!!"
The gargantuan wave shot forward, just as the tremendous energy shot into the sword. Aura posed like a batter, waiting for the wave to come in range. "Now! Transcender!" The sword glowed heavily, as she swung and made contact with the wave. She started to push... but she was being pushed back!
"No!!! Omega Fist!" Tsu pointed his hand at her, and sent all the powerup energy he could into her. "Divine Fist!" Seijin did the same thing. Zion and Xenai were totally spent, though, and could do nothing. So it was two waves of energy being shot into a girl who was pushing with a glowing sword against an energy wave that could destroy the world. They were now neck and neck.
"Inconceivable..." Void's eyes widened. "How could they do even this well against the Armageddon Wave?"
Suddenly, something happened. Something... went wrong. The energy from the wave began to implode. Transcender's reaction should have been to send it away, far far far far away. But it malfunctioned, due to how powerful the Armageddon Wave was. Seijin noticed it. "No.... This can't happen!"
The energy wave imploded and created a black hole. Before the four fighters could do something about it... they were sucked in. The Doom Weapon fell apart, and was sucked in as well. "No! This can't be happening! No! NOOOO!!!" And Void was last to go before the hole closed off... Leaving a stunned, horrified Seijin.
"...No... I can't believe it... I saved the world... But lost my friends!"
"Seijin..." Gaia had appeared a few feet behind him. Seijin turned to face her. "...I take it you know what happened."
"Yes. You're... so much like a human. It's what makes you an excellent god. But you know well... You are forced to make a decision. These decisions that hurt you, they are what make you stronger. I am sorry for your loss. I truly am. But you had to make that choice. It was not wrong to choose the world over your friends. It may have been the only choice anyways. But you will overcome that pain and become a stronger god... no, a stronger person."
"Gaia... Thanks." Seijin floated over to her and hugged her, while she merely smiled.
"Besides... You gave away Transcender, to a woman with much potential. With that, your friends may be able to come back someday."
"You're right... I never thought of that."
"Come... We'll return to your cloud." Seijin flew back with her to the sword cloud...
And just like that... It was over. The flyboys were gone. Zerobi no Anti was gone. Drake Genais was gone. Would they be back? Who knows. Only time will tell.
//And thus, I make my leave. Thanks for being so awesome, guys! <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="Very Happy" title="Very Happy" />
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday November 10th, 2007
(Awesome outro. Take care, and do return!)
- Above the ocean, west of Tjed -
"Oh... uh, thanks."
Renard nodded at Riuki as they flew back towards Tjed. Behind them the dismal skies of the Dark Continent loomed, and ahead the jagged green peaks of Tjed cut above the horizon.
To be honest, he was hugely relieved to see her. The majority of Renard's spells required multiple casters to be effective. Alone, he was practically worthless... He hated being so dependent on others...
Riuki, however, was talented in many fields. Though she was officially a Blade Knight, she also knew a good deal of spells. And she fought with that strange, exotic sword... She could hold her own in battle by herself, and he envied that. She'd probably make a fine squad leader like Sir Rikarl some day.
If Retan didn't destroy them all and enslave Gaian...
Little Emile was old enough to fly on her own of course, and she held on to her older brother's hand as they soured through the air. He could see her ears shrink back as the blue-vested Velken approached. "It's okay, Emile, this is Riuki, a friend. Say hello to her."
"... Hello, Riuki..." The little fox girl timidly said, waving her free hand.
Renard smiled. "She's a little shy."
He turned his attention forward again. Soon the beaches of the island passed beneath and they made their way over the mountains, back towards the capital city...
- Tjedon, house -
Ven wasn't feeling all that well...
His head swam, and he saw splotches. He vaguely remembered being in a cold, dark place, but he knew the memory was merely the remnants of a mostly forgotten dream.
The shapeless masses before him melded together into somewhat coherent forms. He lay in bed, rather comfortably, as the sounds become clear voices and the splotches became faces...
... of... gray... foxes...?
"GAH!!"
Ven shot up in bed and pulled him self back against the headboard. Demons! Those... silver... blood-thirsty demon things!!
"Shhhhh..." The one hovering over him put a finger to her muzzle. "You must take it easy..." The gray vixen had an unexpectedly soothing voice. She literally floated above him, clad in a bright white robe. Was this a demon... or an angel?
"Lady Urocy, we'd best get going." Ven followed the voice to his right, finding another one of the creatures-- this one black clad like all the others he'd seen and clutching a spear in his inhuman hands.
The female brought a claw-tip to her chin. "Hmmm... humans seem to have a harder time recovering... but you will be just fine. Stay in bed for at least a full day, though."
She floated over to the window, he black tipped tail flowing behind her. "And drink plenty of fluids. Also, chicken soup wouldn't hurt."
"Uh... yes, ma'am..."
With that, all the creatures zipped out of the window, closing it behind them. Ven fell back into the bed. Ugh. He was having a very bad day indeed...
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 10th, 2007
- Tjedon, house -
"Ven, you're awake." Rink said with relief as he jumped over to the bed. Bell and Lagart followed.
"It's a long story, but the fox-men are on our side now. I can explain now if you want." Bell said to the knight.
"You were out for a really long time. We were starting to think we lost you." Rink said. "Duilin and Bjendell, that one angel dude, have just gotten an airship." Rink realised just how much Ven had missed. "Yeah, you want us to tell you what happened?"
---
- Above Tjedon in The Dhaos -
"Wha?" Duilin gave Ben an odd look. "You mean Bell? I can't have her fight, she can't. She's never been in combat ever, if I brought her along to fight Retan she'd be killed. I definitely, definitely cannot let that happen."
"Rink said that she wanted to come along and I don't think it's a good idea, especially bringing her into battle." Duilin rubbed his chin. "Well...maybe she can come along to Kandarin, but I don't know enough about the Kandarinians, so I'm not totally sure if we can make an alliance with them. But, I'm positive that if we do, it won't be permanent."
Duilin then walked off of the boarding ramp, and started to head towards the house. He was wondering if Renard and the other Velkens were going to be okay.
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 10th, 2007
- On the Lightning Wyvern, above Gros Morne -
"I mounted the dragonesque contraption clinging onto the sides of the ship, waiting for Vincent to come up. At last, I heard shuffling coming from the hatch.
-"There you are, Eldridge! Finally, I th- what?"
It wasn't quite Eldridge there... it was a bunch of my minions, dragging the larger lizard man's limp body up to me. Well... Well, well, well...
-"Why hello there, beast. Tsk, because of you, I have to order a new cage. Ah well."
By my command, the skeletons reformed themselves into a bone cage, and attached to the bottom of the Winged Messenger..."
--- --- ---
- North-northeast of the Dark Continent, above the sea -
Damien continued evading the snapping jaws behind him, but only partially successfully. The last bite took off half his hand, thankfully, not the one in which the winds were amassed. Drat... now he'll have to die completely before he can get a new hand. Meanwhile, the orb in his other hand grew larger, consuming most of his forearm...
Damien's secret attack: 60%
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday November 11th, 2007
- Above Gros Morne, Lightning Wyvern-
Vincent scratched his head as he watched the huge lizard become ensnared in the self-moving bone cage. It seemed Kronos wanted that one alive for some reason. He couldn't be dead at least, otherwise the necromantic Lich would have resurrected him.
He didn't really care either way. He hopped on back of the undead monster, keeping the giant yellow crystal tucked tightly under his arm.
- Tjedon, House -
Ven ran a gantlet through his hair, throwing the covers off and revealing himself to be in full battle armor, gleaming its usual bright silver sheen.
"Yeah, you better bring me up to speed..."
Ven listened to Rink's story about the whole Dark Empire occupation of Tjed and the Velkens' betrayal. He nodded the whole way.
"I must join Duilin and the others..."
He stood, a little wobbly and feeling sore all over. That... fox lady, the one who apparently healed him, told him to stay in bed, but this was far too important. He wasn't quite sure he could trust them yet, anyway. He'd have to talk to Duilin about it.
He made his way to the door, despite the dizziness. "The king... where is King Henri?"
- Above the ocean, north of the Dark Continent -
The two black dragons continued their pursuit, the sea dragon snapping from below, the flying one swooping from the sides.
A third shadowy form manifested itself, coming from behind a wisp of clouds directly above Roth.
Retan folded his arms as he watched the two creatures of darkness nearly engulf the human time after time. He seemed content in merely observing the chase from above, his black cape flapping behind him like wings. "I often wonder why it is lower life forms such as yourself struggle so. Then it occurred to me that if you are unfit for servitude, then it is your destiny to make yourself useful as proper entertainment."
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 11th, 2007
- Above Gros Morne, Lightning Wyvern -
Xarn flailed around roaring and snarling, but he was unable to escape. He was starting to get dizzy, they must have drugged him or something as he was starting to loose consciousness.
--- ---
- Tjedon, House -
Rink and Bell looked at each other when Ven asked him.
"Well...I'm sorry to tell you this, Ven, but..." Rink sighed, and then looked at Ven. "...He was killed."
"But he died a hero. His sword was with him. But, unfortunatly, it was the Velkens who did it, but remember they were forced to. It really wasn't their fault."
"Right now he's on his bed. Maybe it would be best to give him a burial or a cremation."
There was a knocking on the door, and Bell walked over opened the door.
"Ven's awake." Bell said. "We just told him, about the king."
Duilin's facial expression lowered. "Oh..." He was sure Ven must feel very upset loosing his king. Duilin and Bell walked back to the bedroom to see the knight.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday November 11th, 2007
- Tjedon, Castle Courtyard -
"Hey, I think my energy is returning... I can sense another person now... awake in a home not far from here. Must be Duilin, getting the others." Ben merely laid back in the cockpit chair and stared at all the buttons and gizmoes. There were plenty of switches, and Ben barely knew enough of them to know how to fly and land, as well as track other airships in the Dark Empire. There are plenty of things he doesn't know how to do.
"Hmm... it might be a good idea to fiddle around with this someday, just to see how everything works."
-Tel Vos, Arctic Region -
The brutality of the lizardmen was shown in force against the bandits and rebels as they attacked the well-defended barricade. Human and Lizard blood alike spilled across the soft, white snow. The rebel force died down more and more, and the lizardmen made sure they killed at least five of them before they died, to even out the scores.
"Blast, the lizards are too strong! RETREAT!!!" The rebels pulled out of the barricade formed by the lizards and ran off into the snowy wastes ahead.
"Captain Zabel! Send your squad in persuit of the rebel force. everyone who isn't doing anything, I want the dead lizardmen burried, and the wounded in tents. MOVE!"
"But sir, what of the humans? The rebel corpses that line the barricade?"
"Have the mages... incineraet them. This will show them who they deal with."
"Yes sir! First flank, you're with me!" The captain took her troops off into the wastes, after the rebels that attacked the lizardman encampment. Karma was still behind Jacobie.
"Can we... leave? I feel weird..."
"Oh, the effects must be wearing off. We'll head back to my pavillion."
"Um... which way is it?"
"Just follow me." Jacobie walked through the snow and next to the pavillion. It was the largest one in the camp, and directly in the center, so it was easy enough to find. He opened the flap and walked into the giant tent. Karma followed him in. Again, out of habbit, she walked over to the shackles and sat down.
"*sigh* We're going to have to break you of that habbit." He walked over to her and held his hand out in front of her. She merely stared at it, confused.'
"Grab my hand. I'll help you up." She reached out her arm, hesitated, then grabbed his hand. Jacobie lifted her to her feet.
"Why didn't you fight?"
"What do you mean?"
"You hid behind me all the time. Why?"
"I'm... scared... I don't like war."
"Believe me, none of us really like war, but it is unavoidable. It has to happen, wheather we want it to or not. As a mage you have to be fearless."
"But I've seen mages before who aren't!"
"Then they cannot truely call themselves a true mage."
"I'll... try harder."
"Don't try. Just do, or do not."
"I understand."
"Good. It's nearly dawn. We should get some sleep."
"Where? There is only one bed."
"It should be more than big enough."
"You're not saying... that we sleep in the same bed, are you?"
"No. I'm sleeping there, because I have to. I invite you to sleep there to stay away from the cold. You can either sleep with me, or with the firece clod outside."
"I'll stay inside... Um, what about my armor?"
"Change out of it. I'll wait outside." Jacobie walked out into the snow again. After another few minutes, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"I'm done. How is this?"
"Are those... my clothes?"
"I found them on the drawers over there."
"*sigh* It can't be helped. Still, they're a bit big on you. They'll work for now." Jacobie unstrung and removed his breast plate and pauldrons and threw them near the armor Karma took off. He was wearing a common, brown shirt under the crimson armor. He left his leather greaves on. He then headed to the back of the tent and laid down in the bed. Karma followed him and laid next to him.
"I feel wierd... ugh, my stomach..." Karma shrunk back to her human form. She held both hands on her stomach. and winced in pain.
"Here." Jacobie put a hand on the painful spot and emited a small, blue glow. In mere seconds, Karma felt much better.
"Um... Thank you... being so nice, I mean..."
"It's nothing, really. Still, you're welcome."
"And uh... just... thank you again. You really aren't a part of the Dark Empire, are you?"
"No, I am. Retan is the evil one; we're just stuck following his orders, as well as prime minister Grav."
"Who's that?"
"He's minister of Gaian and some oter place; Mizar, I think. Supposedly the homeworld of the Lizardmen, but I'm native to the north; here, actually."
"You mean this is your homelands?"
"Yes. One of the reasons I came up here. Not why I stayed, though."
"Why did you stay?"
"For you."
"..."
"There's something special about you, Karmandalla. It's odd; I think it's Karma that we met."
"What do you mean?"
"Karma... Destiny... That's the meaning of your name. I sense great magical energy in you. It's been untapped for far too long, however... how old are you?"
"Seventeen. I was ten before I was taken up north. It's been seven years since then.
"Seventeen years, huh? That's way too long. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time with you in order to bring you in touch with your magical self."
"That sounds like an excuse."
"What if it is? Is it a bad thing that I want to spend more time with my apprentice?"
"Um... no, I guess not..."
"Are you okay? You're shivering?"
"It's this bed... It's just so... comfortable."
"Heh... yeah, it's pretty nice... So, where are you from?"
"I was born on an island... Before I left, it was with war with another island..."
"Hmm... do you remember the name of your island?"
"Romme, I think. It was destroyed; I heard that from a Lizardman officer.
"You were... born on Romme? I'm so sorry... It was destroyed around six years ago."
"Yes, that's what I heard."
"What about your family?"
"They sold me... so they could survive. I didn't mind it, though. Not at first. I really didn't like them anyways."
"Perhapse I should stop. I don't want to hurt your feelings..."
"No, it's not that touchy a subject. It's kind of relaxing, actually."
"What is?"
"For me... to talk about my past."
"We'll talk later, in the morning."
"It's just about morning."
"When we wake up."
"We... I'm still so greatful, even though I might not look it. Thank you very much."
"Seriously, it's no problem at all."
"No, it really is. I'm sorry for getting in the way of your duties."
"You haven't even gotten in the way once! Relax, it's REALLY no trouble at all."
"..."
"Let's just get some rest, okay?"
"Of all the lizardmen I've met... you are by far the kindest..."
"Heh... well, thanks." Without warning, Karma put her arms around Jacobie and her face fell into his chest. She cried.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"Jeese!" Jacobie was taken aback by this sudden outburst. I guess it can't be helped, he told himself. He put an arm around her and she calmed down a bit, still shaking slightly.
"Thank you... I can't tell you how much this means to me."
"It's fine. You don't have to worry anymore. Now get some rest, okay?"
"Okay... Thank you again..."
"You're welcome."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Monday November 12th, 2007
- Mountainous area above Tjed -
"Hello there! Don't worry, I won't bite!" Ko'ji waved at Emile. She noticed that they were getting closer to Tjedon.
"So... what are we gonna do once we get back to the capital?"
--- ---
/// Xorlak, could you control the guard, please?
"Right, excuse me, sir. Yes, you." Arata walked up to one of the guards.
"Could you tell me where I might find the guard captain? I'm looking for a job."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday November 12th, 2007
- Above the Mountains, west of Tjedon -
Renard turned to Ko'ji, shouting a bit so his voice would carry over the winds as they flew. "Well first we'll have to take Emile to Lady Urocy and her guards. They'll take care of her."
He turned to look at the glistening white-stone city of Tjedon as it came to view over a mountainous pass. The first thing he noticed was the final airship was no longer hovering above the city.
"... Then we'll have to find Duilin... He'll know what to do..."
They flew over the flat planes comprising the valley the city rested within, and Renard and Emile landed on the top of Tjedon's outer curtain wall. Signs of battle were everywhere in the streets below, the corpses of lizards and humans being the most evident. He scratched the underside of his muzzle, trying to figure out where the Priestess might be as he scanned the stone buildings.
- Tjedon, House -
Ven grew very quiet. "Oh... I see..."
He strode over to the window and rested his gauntlets on the ledge, gazing out onto the now serene city street with a blank expression on his face. He simply stood there for a long while, watching villagers slowly emerge from their dwellings to inspect the damage done to their city.
"Please leave me... I need to be alone."
- Tjedon, Streets -
The passing Tjed guard, in filthy dented armor, gave Arata a quick look over.
"Job? You're hired. Take this." He pointed at the man and another guard handed Arata a long spear and a helmet. "The military's totally spent. I have no idea how we just survived that. Sorry for the lack of armor... we'll see if we can get you some proper Tjed wear soon."
He ran his head through his hair. "Problem is we can't find Sir Ven anywhere, and rumor has it the King is dead. Things aren't looking good at all..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 12th, 2007
- Tjedon, House -
"Come on." Duilin put his hand on Bell's back. "Let's go..." The couple, along with Rink and Lagart exited the house.
"He looks totally crushed. I hope he'll be okay." Bell said sadly.
"It will definatly take him a while. But I'm sure he'll be feeling well enough to join up with us." Rink stated.
"I just hope he'll be able to fight any hatred he has for the Velkens." Duilin said. "I wouldn't blame him if some dark things start going through his mind. But Ven's a good guy, I'm sure he'll be able to keep his mind straight."
Duilin looked back into the house. "Maybe we should go for a walk for a little while."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Tuesday November 13th, 2007
- Tjedon, Outer Wall -
"Okay. Lady Urocy should be in one of those houses if I recall... wait..." Ko'ji's extra senses started to pick up. She found Lady Urocy, or at least her smell. It was of purity, no doubt her. She leapd off the wall and looked back.
"I think I know where she is. Follow me!" Ko'ji then maved towards the house where Lady Urocy was.
--- ---
- Tjedon, City Streets -
"Righto! I don't really need the spear, but I'll take the helm." Arata grabbed the helmet from the man and put it on. It was a good fit, and his eyes rested just under the top.
"Okay then. I'll head on over to the castle armory. I'll just wait there for the smithy." Arata made his way to the castle. Once he reached the courtyard, though, he found something he didn't expect; the Dhaos.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday November 13th, 2007
- Northern Wastes, northwest of New Kandarin -
"Blast it... where did those bloody rebels go?" Captain Zabel placed a claw on her chin and scratched.
"They run away?"
"No, I still have their scent. They're not too far ahead of us."
"Hmm... Maybe they do run away to secret hideout."
"I don't think so. This blasted snow is blurring my scent, but not completely. If it were a secret hideout, only way to be secret is to be underground, and that would kill my senses."
"Okay. Maybe you sense something else?"
"Maybe... doubt it..." The captain pulled her sword from it's sheath. "The scent is really picking up now!"
"SAVAGES!!!"
"Damn it all! Outflank them!" The captain headed towards her men and started to slash up the hostile natives. They were a quick and easy kill, as they merely wore fur armor, and their weapons weren't small enough to swing faster.
"Damn... lost the scent."
"Should we go back now?"
"That would be best. Besides, we're getting awsfully close to Kandarin, and I hope you all know that Kronos is a force to be reckoned with."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Right. MOVE OUT!" The force headed back the way they came. It wasn't too hard, just follow the footsteps. Besides, it was also nearly morning"
- Tel Vos, Arctic Region -
"I.. can't sleep..."
"I don't know what it is, but me either. Let's get up then."
"Okay." Karma got out of the bed first, followed by Jacobie. Since she shrank from lizardman form, her clothes were practically falling off.
"Here, let me help you with that." Jacobie shot a green ball of energy and Karma's clothes shrunk. Soon, they fit her nicely.
"That ought to be better."
"What do we do now?"
"I don't know." Jacobie walked over to the pile of armor on the floor and picked up his breastplate. He strung it back to his chest over his shirt. He then strung the pauldrons over the plate.
"I suppose we could talk more; there are still a few things I wanted to ask."
"Okay... I guess."
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 13th, 2007
- Tjedon, Streets -
Renard took a long whiff of the human-stenched air. Wow. She was right. Riuki had a phenomenal sense of smell to pick that up. Holding Emile's hand, he followed the Blade Knight deeper into the city . He trusted her nose, as it was clearly better than his. Blast... he couldn't even track worth anything...
He followed her through the twisted streets as they lead into a dark alley...
- Tjedon, House -
Ven waited a moment after everyone left the room, listening to muffled voices as they faded behind the door. He turned, stumbling a bit due to the effects of his recently cured illness, and grabbed his black cloak strung on the bed rail.
He threw the garment over his silver armor, then strapped his sword to his back. Throwing the cowl over his head, he resumed the same cold placid look he had taken years ago when he was forced to roam the countryside in search of his insane brother.
He carefully slid the window latch open and peered outside at the streets below. The sun was still rising, so it had not cleared the taller buildings and much of the city was still cast in shadow. Ensuring no one was looking, he deftly leapt out onto the cobble stone street and looked around. He then made his way to a nearby dark alley...
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 13th, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
"The Messenger swiftly landed onto the pads on top of the Citadel, lowering the caged animal down with a clunk. Several thralls were already waiting for me there, in order to carry the cage about the fortress.
-"You know what? I'm not sure if I like to keep this one. Gentlemen, carry the cage over to that observation post there, please."
Obviously, the zombies didn't need my voice to comply, but it isn't like I had someone better to waste my breath on.
Ah, yes. Let's take a look, now, shall we?
-"Hoy! Eldridge! Come over here. Need a second opinion."
Meanwhile, a rather large trapdoor slowly opened a few metres away, revealing another quartet of undeads carrying a massive cage. This one contained the toad my Stalkers brought in earlier. The corpses dragged the bone cell over to the observation post where the second one was.
-"Come here. Take a look at these two. Which one do you think I should keep for my private zoo? I think that-- wait a minute..."
I took a closer look at the behemoth in the second cage. Well, what a pleasant surprise...
-"Look who's here... If it isn't the infamous High General Gorus... My, forgive my manners. Gentlemen, let our guest out of the cage, please, and sit him right over here."
The skeletons struggled with the gigantic body, finally getting it out from behind the bars and sitting him onto the stone bench carved into the rocky material of the Citadel. He had a dazed look - didn't move a muscle, but twitched his eyes occasionally. Damn, the brew that Vandrin made really does work - called it by some weird foreign name. Can't recall it exactly... Something like... "Grib"?
-"Welcome to my arena of pain, my little amphibian. Welcome to the palace of fate. I kindly reserved the best seats for the three of us here... Ah, before I forget: mind telling me who the other snake is?"
I slowly extended my finger toward the other cage..."
//DM, I don't think Gorus can speak at the moment - you can have him mouth something, if you like, or perhaps thin (or widen) his eyes at the sight of Xarn. Up to you\\
--- --- ---
- Above the ocean, north-northeast of the Dark Continent -
-"What the hell? How many of these things are there?!"
Damien continued flying through the air, raining blood onto the ocean below. Suddenly, he changed direction, and headed straight for Retan, hoping that the dragons around him would keep going due to momentum of their massive bodies at high speed...
Damien's secret attack: 80%
--- --- ---
- In a beautiful blooming spring forest -
-"...for the LAST TIME, Sun, NO, I do NOT want you anywhere NEAR my hair! It is fine the way it is!"
-"What, so you'd rather walk around all ugly like that?"
-"No, I'm just not comfortable with a GUY DOING MY HAIR!!!"
Sun sighed.
-"Well, my beauty can make up for your face, Stormy, so I suppose that's fine."
Stormy (whose actual name is Hallstrom), a rather muscular man with baggy black clothing and a white overcoat, paid no attention to Sun's comments. They couldn't be helped...
-"Whatever. By the way, have you any idea where we are at the moment?"
-"We are in a repulsive forest, surrounded by ugly trees, with all these birds singing so horribly out of tune that it makes my ears bleed. That's all I can tell you."
-"Idiot, where's the map?"
-"Like you're a genius yourself." He paused, completely unphazed by Hallstrom's piercing stare. "I threw it away."
...
-"WHAT?!"
-"What do you mean, what? What else could I do after you stained it with your food! Should've thought bef-"
-"YOU COULD'VE CLEANED IT, IDIOT!"
-"Hmph. Besides, what did we need that stupid map for anyway?"
-"Oh, I don't know, find a city?"
Sun let out another sigh.
-"Look at the road... the tracks on it. A cart passed by recently. Kandarinian, judging by those revolting wheel lines. They're bent. Works of a Kandarinian blacksmith, obviously..."
-"Sun, if someone were to take those brains away from you, you would fail at life."
-"That would be most unacceptable. Taking my brains out would require splitting my skull, which would definitely ruin my face."
-"Ugh..."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Tuesday November 13th, 2007
- Tjedon, Castle Courtyard -
"What in the hell is this airship doing in the courtyard? I don't see any lizards on board... Must have been cleared. I'm just going to sneak around and make my way to the... castle..." Arata did as he said and carefully tip-toed around the back of the airship, then into the castle. All he had to do now was find the smith to forge him a new set of armor. He was probably asleep or dead, so there was little chance of getting him in a good mood, if any mood.
--- ---
- Tjedon, Dark Alley -
"Where is this? Lady Urocy?" Ko'ji sniffed around for a bit; this was definately the place. But why would Lady Urocy be here, of all places?"
"Renard... I'm not so sure about this. Keep on your guard."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 14th, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
"Take this to the lab." Vincent handed the giant crystal over to a zombie, who grunted in response before disappearing through a set of doors. The alchemist removed the shaded coverings from his glasses and replaced them inside his coat as he strode next to the Sovereign, placing his hands behind his back. He stood there silently, looking much the high ranking henchman while Kronos went on his tirade on the giant captive Lizard Man.
- Above the ocean, north-northeast of the Dark Continent -
The two black dragons collided into each other as Roth quickly changed directions, the both of them slamming into the sea.
Retan seemed to not mind at all as Roth sped towards him. He extended a gloved hand, the three weapons still rotating about him. Damien's weapons seemed to pull toward the Dark Emperor as his eyes narrowed...
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 14th, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Gorus was feeling so dizzy, he could barely processes what was going on. But he knew he was loosing and that made him angry.
He looked around the room, to try and recap what just happened. He was fighting and then he got shot by a poisoned bolt and then passed out. Now he's in a cage and has been brought inside, what he assumed to be the Citadel. Was that their Sovereign or whatever who was talking to him? He noticed he was pointed; he bobbed his head to the side to see what he was pointing at.
Gorus' eyes widened as he saw it was Xarn.
They captured Xarn too, but he was supposed to stay in the Lightning Wyvern. He must have left the ship or maybe...no. They couldn't have taken out Xarn's ship? He loved that ship and he was very skilled pilot.
What were they going to do? Gorus looked back at the Sovereign and his eyes narrowed into a glare. He had a tough immune system, he could probably fight off this poison or whatever it was they got him with and rip apart everyone in this room. Xarn however he was a little worried about.
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 15th, 2007
- North-northeast of the Dark Continent -
Damien's secret attack: 100%
Damien continued flying toward Retan, feeling the weapons tug at his belt a little.
-"You want them this much, eh? Come and GET THEM!"
With a struggle, Roth stretched out his arm, which was completely consumed by the vehement winds. He suddenly took a sharp dive right under Retan, and aimed his hand at the sky, finally letting go of the power he accumulated.
A sharp, whistling sound pierced the air, accompanying what appeared to be a black projectile. The oval-shaped missile left a trail behind it, which seemed a lot like some sort of a tunnel right through air.
-"Be seeing you."
Roth dove into the corridor, which collapsed right after he entered it. His figure was barely distinguishable from the atmosphere, as he sped through the air at the speed of sound, right to Gros Morne...
//This was charged for five posts, so this technically isn't instant travelling.\\
--- --- ---
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
//Also, DM, just to make it clear - no one's in a room. They're at the very roof of the Citadel, in the open air.\\
-"Ahh, it opened its eyes! How cute! Has the poison started to wear off? Someone get Vandrin up here. //DM, that's your clue for what we were talking about in school...\\ Anyways, as I was saying..."
I sighed and looked down onto what was left of Gros Morne. Homes were burning, people were getting killed, and everything was in a state of general discord. The streets were littered with rampaging Lizard Men. The Citadel was safe for the time being, as it floated off the ground. The Stalkers faithfully defended the massive rings in the ground, to which were attached the fortress' chains.
-"There are many reasons which may have prompted the Dark Empire to attack my city, but the question must be posed, nevertheless: Why now? There was plenty of time to attack Gros Morne while it was weaker and being rebuilt. Besides, I only had about 15,000 people here. Aren't there bigger fish to fry?"
I turned around to face Gorus, leaning on the short metal fence on the edge of the Citadel.
-"I am not even going to start talking about me and Retan being allies, as it has become quite obvious that he plans to double-cross every single person that comes along. Not that I have a serious problem with his woeful tactics, but wouldn't it make more sense to destroy the enemies first? Unless, of course, he's gotten careless about whom he attacks, and has simply sent task forces to annihilate every city out there... He must be going senile.
"Then again, he did manage to crumble this city's defence, I suppose I have to give him that. Not to say that the situation is hopeless, of course. As dark as times may get, there is always a light of hope, of providence looking down from above at us."
A small point of light far away from the city slowly manifested.
-"Only in this case, it is not a deity saving me... it is me myself."
I approached Gorus, and kneeled down to his level.
-"The time is nigh, High General... Hurry up and recover. You won't want to miss this."
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 15th, 2007
- Tjedon, dark alley -
Renard scratched his headfur. "She must have just gone this way. I think she said she had some humans to heal..."
The sliver furred fox clenched his left fist, then opened it, an orange ball of light appearing in his palm. The orb floated into the air and followed them like a ghost, illuminating the dark alley between the tall buildings. Emile held onto his other hand.
A tall figure dressed in black approached from the other end... who drew a bright silver sword as he stepped closer at a rapid pace.
Renard stopped. "Hey, relax... we're on your side," he said to the human.
"Oh?" The human replied curtly. He showed no sign of slowing his pace. Renard pushed Emile behind him. "Then why did you kill our liege?" he spat with acid...
Ven's blade glowed an ethereal white, and he cleaved the air in twain. A surging crescent blazed through the air, barely missing Renard and his sister as he pulled her straight up into the air.
"Hey! Wait!" Renard growled, clearly upset that the human had taken a swing at little Emile. The blast of energy crumpled several bricks along the walls below. Ven paid him no mind, instead responding with another slash and another wave of bright white energy, this one surging upwards at the vulpine siblings.
Renard was forced back to the ground to dodge, the energy slamming into the side of one of the two buildings bordering the alley and sending a hail of debris upon them...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday November 15th, 2007
- Tjedon, Castle Courtyard -
"What the hell!? That energy that just appeared not too long ago... it's turned into darkness. I must seek it out." Ben left the airship and flew up into the sky, with his one demon wing and one angel wing. He scanned the area and realized a familiar aura as he got closer. It was Ven, and he was out for vengence.
Ben swooped to the ground in the dark alley and drew and energy sword. He then forced it upon Ven's blade and met the blade with full force. He put all of his energy into his sword to make it as strong as it could be. It had the strength of a thick, steel blade, but this would be good enough.
"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!!!"
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Thursday November 15th, 2007
//Haven't posted in a while. At Drannic's house.
- Tjedon, Dark Alley -
"Wahh!!! Emile! Renard, I'll take her out of here!" Ko'ji grabbed Emile's hand and flew out of the alley and on to the roof of the house. She grabbed the little girl's other hand and looked her straight in the eye.
"I'm going to keep you safe, okay? Don't leave my side!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 16th, 2007
//Wow, I thought Ben's senses were dulled in his new form. How the heck could he have sensed Ven getting angry when he couldn't sense lizard men on an airship, earlier?\\
- Tjedon, Dark Alley -
Duilin, Rink, Lagart and Bell who were on their way back to the house from their walk, passed by the dark alley.
"I'm sure Ven's feeling better now." Duilin said, just before he saw what was happening.
"I think so spoke too soon..." Rink stated with despair.
"Oh...crap." Duilin ran down the alley way. They shouldn't have told Ven about what the Velkens did.
"No! Ven! Don't!"
--- ---
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Gorus tried to say something, but only gargled on his own words. He needed to break free but he was feeling so weak.
Vandrin arrived at the roof, with several servants along with the two scientists Scabbs and Giftmacher.
"Ah, so you caught the beast!" Vandrin said with a grin exposing his greenish teeth. He started walking towards Gorus' cage, but stopped as the giant lizard made a quick twitch but then growled a bit as if he strained his muscles and fell back down.
"Hmm...I see the Grib is wearing off on him. No matter, we can just apply some more." Vandrin stated. "But there is actually something I wish to show you Sovereign."
The count snapped his fingers and the servants brought up a table and a wooden crate. They opened the crate and took out several jars, vials and such filled with various chemicals. Vandrin walked over towards the table and sorted out the vials.
"I have been able to greatly improve my mutation chemical in just one night, when it took me a month to make it how it was before." Vandrin began, sounding like he was hosting an infomercial. "You see, the sucess rate is now 100% and we have been able to divide the chemical into three chemicals where you can choose the outcome. All subjects are put into a 'zombie-like' state, and are as fully controllable as undeads. Yet they also have enough independence to have more intelligent tactics yet not enough to question orders, making them the ideal super soldier."
"Now before this could only work on living humans. But now, we have mastered it to work on living or dead. But not just on humans, but tons of other species. Humans, elves, drows, orcs, drannivolka and even lizard men and demons can be mutated! So you could barge into some scum town with a bunch of non-humans kill them all and then make them into zombie-mutants that you could fully control. Much better than your basic zombie, trust me."
Vandrin lined up three vails, one with a red liquid one with yellow and the third with blue. He also had several empty vails.
"Now before, the outcome was pretty much one of the random three, with the occasional odd ball or super-mutant, but now we've divided the three outcomes into three different chemicals. The three chemicals have been coloured like so. Red for a super strong mutant, yellow for a winged/super agile mutant and blue for a mage mutant. But wait, what if you want a mutant with two or all of the powers?"
Vandrin lines up three empty vials and then pours some of the red chemical and the yellow chemical together, making it orange.
"Not a problem. You can make super strong winged mutants, or winged mages etc. However, it's sometimes best just to have them focus on one area, but having combined mutants can always be good too, so have as much fun as you want. Oh yes, also we've calculated the exact amount it takes to mutate, for each race. Humans, elves, drows and drannivolka require about 1 and a half quarts of chemical to fully mutate, while orcs, small lizard men and most human-sized demons require 3 quarts, and the larger demons and lizard men require around a gallon. We have designed containers of the exact sizes so you don't need to fuss over the measurements yourself. Oh yes, and if you don't like mixing we also have orange, green, purple and brown chemicals containers, I'm sure you can guess what mutant types those make."
"So are there any further questions or are we ready to try it out?" Vandrin asked the Sovereign, with a smile.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 16th, 2007
- Above the ocean, North-northeast of the Dark Continent -
"Hmmm... Mildly amusing..."
The Dark Emperor simply folded his arms and watched his prey escape to the north. "If you prefer," he said to the long gone man, "I will simply remove your nation with a single spell, then collect my prizes from the rubble..."
With that, he sped off in the direction Roth went...
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Vincent grabbed one of Vandrin's vials and held it up to the sun, looking at the red contents within. "Hmmm... seems like a lot of work, just to claim a few new, and by your descriptions... odd soldiers..."
He grabbed a yellow one, not being very careful and clinking the vials togther. "Must this be injected? It seems a gas would be more efficient..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 17th, 2007
//Mikado hasn't posted in a long time, I had a plan that involved Puco doing something. Blast it.\\
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Vandrin didn't seem to mind too much that Vincent was just grabbing his vials and might accidentally spill them. He had a lot stored away.
"Odd, yes. But they are far superior to human soldiers, and perhaps even lizard men. An army of these could wipe out...Well the lizard man army that we are currently fighting. In fact if we mutated one of these lizard men here, who appear to both be generals, I bet they could probably do a fine job at cleaning out these pests who have invaded us."
"But yes injected or even ingested or poured on a wound. In fact you might want to avoid spilling it on yourself, especially if you're sweating and your pours are open." Vandrin replied. "But making a gas would have a few drawbacks, there would be a lot of gas leftover making it potentially dangerous to go in that area and also potentially dangerous for the gas being obtained by enemies. Making an antidote would remove the risk of allies getting mutating but that would also put our mutants at risk if enemies could get the antidote. Plus I'm not sure if an antidote is even possible; if you looked at how we made it you'd understand it more. An antidote would only kill the mutant, if did anything at all."
Vandrin then looked back at Kronos.
"So Sovereign, would you like too the effects of the mutation chemical on one of lizard men?" Vandrin asked, shifting his eyes at Gorus and Xarn. "We already do have a few examples made, but actually seeing them mutate is just so...satisfying to watch."
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday November 17th, 2007
- Tjedon, dark alley -
Ven's sword glowed an even brighter white, and he pushed Ben's sword back. "What is this?" the silver knight said as his cowl flew off his head. "Your form has twisted. Has the Dark Empire claimed you as well?"
He brought his blade to the side, the white light surging though it, looking as if he were ready to cut the man's head off. But then he heard Duilin. He turned and clenched his teeth, then calmed slightly as the power left his sword. He hesitated for a moment, then sheathed his sword and ran towards the opposite end of the alley...
- Tjedon, rooftops -
Emile clutched the side of Ko'ji's blue vest. "Humans... are scary..."
Renard appeared from the alley, flying into the air and landing next to the two, looking rather spooked and out of breath. "Thanks, Riuki..."
Something caught his eye, and he turned away from the tiles on the top of the building. There beyond the outer wall of the castle, the black protrusions of what appeared to be the upper portions of The Dhaos were just visible above the wall.
"You should be careful."
Renard's ears swiveled. He recognized the voice of one of Lady Urocy's guards. He turned just as all four guards and the fox priestess herself landed on top of the building.
"There are many humans still mistrustful of our kind..." The Velken guard looked at the ground.
Renard nodded, then bowed at the priestess, who returned with a polite smile.
"You've come back because you're going away and you'd like us to look after Emile, correct?" Lucile asked.
Renard nodded again. "Yeah..." He turned to his sister. "You be a good girl for Lady Urocy, okay?" Emile wasn't afraid of the priestess at all, walking right up to her side. "What will you do here?"
"There are still humans to heal. Perhaps with our help, they will come to trust us. Either way, it is the right thing to do."
Something below caught Renard's attention, and he recognized Duilin's voice. "We should be off then. Farewell."
"Farewell, Renard and Riuki. Lord Virmir is very proud of you two, you know."
Renard's ears folded in a sort of blush and he scratched the back of his neck. Then he turned and leapt off the side of the building. The irate human seemed to be gone, so he deftly landed behind Duilin and Rink with barely a sound.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 18th, 2007
- Tjedon, dark alley -
Duilin watched Ven walk away; he didn't even look at Renard when he landed.
"You have to remember that you kill their king." Duilin said trying not to sound too much like he was scolding him for doing it; he was more so trying to justify Ven's actions.
"He was a great hero to these people, so it's going to take them a long time to forgive you. I thought Ven might have taken it a little easier then how he did. I knew he would take it harshly, but I never knew he would try to kill you. Let me apologise on his behalf. I'm sure you understand how he must feel, or at least respect the fact that he filled with grief." Duilin then looked at Renard.
"Henri isn't the first person close to him he lost. He had a brother too, he turned evil and me and Zeros' had to help Ven kill him. He didn't take it so badly, but I guess the loss of his king just through him over the top."
Duilin sighed. "I was hoping Ven could join us, but he probably just needs to clear his head." Duilin smiled a bit.
"It's a good thing I've gotten this kingdoms respect or else it would have been a lot harder for me to stop Ven." He then looked at Bjendell. "Don't worry about him not respecting you to much Ben. You just look too different and everything."
Duilin's smile faded, he looked at Bell, Rink and Lagart who walked towards them.
Lagart eyed the Velken, feeling a little uneasy. He heard those things were really quick, they'd be a dangerous to big slow lizard man such as himself.
"Duilin, is Ven okay?" Bell asked.
"I don't know. I'm sure he'll be fine soon enough. He probably just needs some time alone." Duilin replied. He then looked back at Renard.
"We're going to go over to Kandarin, and try and see if they'll help us kill Retan. They apparently have a very strong military, comparable to the Dark Empires. They're a weird bunch, but if we can get them on our side at least for a little while then we might be able to defeat the Dark Empire. Would you like to come with us? We've got an airship and we'll need all the help we can get."
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 18th, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
"I looked at the vials indifferently.
-"Feed the thin snake that one on the left," I said, pointing to the vial. "The super-strength one. I want to see how effective these are."
A thunderclap, and then a whoosh behind me heralded the coming of Damien.
-"I have not seen Draven, your deadness. I returned to Gros Morne instead."
-"Being pursued by a certain Draken, no doubt?"
-"Yes."
-"Excellent..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday November 18th, 2007
- Tjedon, dark alley -
Renard folded his ears and his tail slipped between his legs. "Yeah... I know..." he said, looking much like a scolded dog. His ears perked slightly when Duilin mentioned for him to come along. "I'm with you all the way... though I'm not very strong away from my squad, I'm afraid..."
He looked up to see if Ruiki was coming. "This is Riuki, my squadmate. Ruiki, this is Duilin and... uh... I'm sorry. I'm not sure I met the others yet."
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Vincent shrugged and replaced the vials back in the holder. This... oddly dressed man was a little too goofy for his tastes. He obviously was no scientist, as he was just making shots in the dark without fully knowing the results.
It didn't matter much to Vincent anyway. He adjusted his glasses and placed his hands behind his back.
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Sunday November 18th, 2007
Ko'ji was standing beside Renard just after he came down from the roof of the house. When Renard introduced her, she took a quick bow and looked up at Duilin. "Ko'ji Riuki, Bladeknight. As of right now, I'm working with Renard as a sort of mini squad. It's also against regulations if a squad member is on his own, so... heh, you can call that an excuse for tagging along!" She then held her hand in front of the much larger Duilin, waiting to shake.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 19th, 2007
- Tjedon, dark alley -
"Nice to meet you Riuki." Duilin shook her hand. "This is Rink and Bell." He motioned to the imp and the woman. "And this is Lagart and Ben." He motioned to the lizard man and the angel/demon.
"Nice to meet you." Rink said to the two Velkens.
"Alright then." Duilin put his hands together. "Ben, do you have the airship all already to go. We're planning on going to Kandarin. Which I believe is just north of Helternia. It's a bit further away then Terian is, but airships can go pretty fast, right?"
"So...Duilin?" Bell asked.
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to wait here for you. I'd really like to come along. I'll try not to get in the way or anything, I promise."
"Yeah...I guess so." Duilin replied. "Don't worry about getting in the way. Maybe you being there might motivate me or something."
Bell smiled, and Duilin smiled back.
"Alright then." Rink said fluttering up in the air so he was at eyes level with the rest of the group. "So, are we going to leave without Ven?"
"If we have to. I don't want to waste time." Duilin answered. "A lot has been going on that has thrown Retan's attention off. If we're going to try and stop him, we've got to do it soon. So if everyone's ready, we can get going." He looked at Ben. "You can lead the way to the ship."
--- ---
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
"Very well, Soverigen." Vandrin bowed his head. He snapped his fingers at one of the servants and he handed the count a large container of red liquid, with an injector at the end.
He walked towards the cage where Xarn was being held. Several undead minions opened the cage and helped drag him out.
"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." Vandrin said soothingly to the lizard man. He kneeled down to the barely conscious creature and then injected the liquid into its chest. "It will hurt a lot."
He backed away and the lizard man stood up and started yelling in pain, alternating between grabbing his arms and legs. Soon the lizard man fell back over on the floor and started growling and yelling as his muscles began to grow and his skin began to turn yellow and started to crack like dry mud.
The lizard man's eyes went totally blank as he stopped moving, and then exhaled out a plume of green smoke. The mutant lizard's muscles were monstrously huge, his shirt was ripped apart, and his sword holstered on his back fell on the ground. The mutant then stood completely still, staring at nothing.
"There you have it my lord." Vandrin said to Kronos. "A general of the Dark Empire has just turned into a loyal soldier to the Sovereign."
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 19th, 2007
//Xorlak and DM, move your characters to GM quickly please. This is dragging on.\\
- Gros Morne Citadel, top-
"I saw the mutant's spirit ribbon slowly rise out of the ground in front of me. I picked it up, without much haste, and connected it to my knot of the other 7,294 spirit ribbons, which hold my children bound to me. At that point, the ribbon dissipated, and became a power line stretching from me to the mutant - just the way it must be.
I casually kicked the newly created mutant beast. Well, it wasn't falling apart - that's a good sign.
-"Vandrin, please inject the High General with some sort of an antidote for the Grib. I wish to see the effects of this mixture."
At that point, I turned around to face Vincent.
-"Is there something particular in my clothes that you're eyeing me like that?", I remarked. "Of course, these robes were made by the master weaver, Jakarta Tenpin - and are still marvellous, if one disregards the burns and holes. As little as a scarf made by him is worth more than three large palaces."
There was something about that expression of his - I know it - the expression of a man with no mission, one ready to seize any opportunity coming his way. I'm going to keep tabs on that man..."
--- --- ---
- In a blooming spring forest -
-"Say, Stormy, have you seen the blue moon the other day?"
-"No, what of it?"
-"I don't really know... It just seemed odd. The moon is normally reddish, isn't it?"
-"Yes. What are you getting at?"
-"Stormy, what force do you know of which is powerful enough to make the moon itself turn pale?"
-"Well..."
-"Nevermind that! Quiet!"
Sun and Stormy ducked into bushes. There was a large Kandarinian armed force approaching...
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday November 19th, 2007
- Tjedon, dark alley -
(Blargh.)
Renard nodded. "All right. We'll meet you there. Let's go, Riuki."
With that he took off into the sky and zipped across town to the airship.
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Vincent pushed his glasses up on his nose, rolling his eyes. "Indeed, a very fine work." At least he was dressed better than that goofy count wearing fusha and bright green.
(He was referring to Vandrin in the earlier post. Heh...)
- Frozen beach, South of Gros Morne -
Dark clouds began to form to the south of the Arctic Region...
The Dark Emperor Retan landed on a sheet of ice, the walls of Gros Morne visible in the distance. There were of course two ways to go about this. Very quick total annihilation, or very slow total annihilation. He wondered for a moment if in fact the undead knew fear. Particularly liches. Seeing as this knowledge would potentially be useful in the future, he chose the slow way.
He began walking towards the city, his black frame a stark contrast to the white frozen wasteland.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 19th, 2007
//Yeah, fine Ein.\\
- Tjedon, dark alley -
"Actually, screw it. I know where you landed the ship. I'll lead the way." Duilin said laughing a bit. It's not that he was trying to mean to Bjendell or anything it's just as if somebody who was controlling him just wasn't around at the right time, and Duilin just felt like rushing things for some reason.
The group then made their way towards the airship.
"Oh, Rink. I just remember there was something I wanted to show you." Duilin took out a tiny vial of blood red liquid from his pouch. "It was given to me by that strange cat-lady, who made The Iduran's sheath." He handed the vial to the imp, who took it.
"What is it?" Rink asked looking at the liquid inside.
"No idea, but she said it was some sort of enhancement." Duilin replied. "You're a smart guy. Think you can figure it out?"
"Yeah, maybe."
--- ---
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Vandrin's eyes bolted wide open. Inject the antidote for the Grib into the High General? That would wake him up, and then they'd all be in trouble. He wasn't sure if the mutant lizard man would even be enough to defeat him. Then again...
He looked at the mutant lizard man's muscles, they were actually bigger than Gorus', plus that lizard man knew magic before he was mutated so he may still have some magic knowledge buried in there, if Kronos can dig it out that is. Vandrin shrugged, this might actually work.
"Very well, lord Sovereign." He smiled, and then had his servant hand him an injector with the grib antidote in it.
He walked over to Gorus' cage, which was opened by the undead minions. Vandrin hesitated a bit as he looked into Gorus' eyes, which shot thousands of threats at him. He shook it off and then he injected the antidote into the High General's arm. He quickly backed away, before he fully woke up.
Gorus closed his eyes, and didn't move for a few seconds but then slowly got up on his feet. Vandrin and the servants began to back away a bit as he looked around.
Gorus looked at the mutant lizard man in front of him.
"Xarn? What did you do to him!?" Gorus growled. "Xarn! Speak!"
The mutant Xarn stepped towards him.
"Xarn! I order you to help me kill these humans! Turn around and attack their sovereign! Now!"
The mutant Xarn then swung his fist into Gorus' stomach and he fell to the ground.
"...Xarn?" Gorus sounded upset, but then his face grew to one of great anger. "I am going to kill all of you." Fully recovered he stood back up. And then charged at the mutant lizard and started smashing his fists into it, which didn't seem to do as much damage as he'd expect. Xarn was...stronger than him.
The mutant then punched Gorus in chest, forcing him back a few steps.
Gorus looked stunned; he couldn't believe what was going on. Xarn was his best friend, and now he's become a zombie under Kronos' spell. He started to regret treating him different after he became a High General. Any sadness he felt he quickly turned into rage, which he transferred into his fists.
He rushed back at the mutant and the jabbed it in the face with his right fist and then his left. The mutant lizard began to loose balance. Gorus then swung a kick at the mutant, but it caught his foot and then twisted it and the High General fell onto the ground.
Vandrin and the others cheered.
"So far so good, lord Sovereign?" Vandrin asked.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 20th, 2007
(Ein, please post quickly please. This is dragging on.)
(Heh...)
- Tjedon Castle, courtyard -
Renard waited a few moments infront of the airship. The stair-door was down, and the engines were humming. It was all ready to go when he arrived.
Some figures approached him from around the side of the ship. The one in the lead in particular made him nervous, as it was that hooded man who attacked him...
"Crap..." He bit his tongue, thinking of a good spell to use in self defense. The human was going to try and run him through again... At least out in the open, the Velken could escape quickly. He tail darted between his legs as the human stopped some ten feet away and through back his cowl.
"I... apologize for attacking you." What? Renard's ears stood on end. "I still don't trust you, but we're on the same side at the moment. And in order to win, we must fight together." The human held out a hand. He'd seen this gesture before. Humans clasp hands and shake as a gesture of friendship or an alliance.
Renard timidly extended his gray-furred claw and clasped the human's. The human's hand was very smooth, and the fox imagined he could use a wide assortment of meticulous weapons.
"Ven."
"Renard."
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Tuesday November 20th, 2007
//ZUH?! HE'S BACK FROM THE DEAD?! Yep, it's me. I've finally managed to get enough time (I'm on Thanksgiving break right now) to get a short little post in. Tomorrow I'll write a much longer one, but for now, enjoy this little snippet. No Commission update, sorry.\\
"Son of a bitch!"
The Colonel was incensed. As to why he was anybody could say, but it would be unwise to be the bearer of bad news when talking to him.
"Sir?" one of the Majors asked. "What is the problem?"
"What isn't the problem, Mr. Gordon? That's a better question. It's taking too damn long to get this ice block battle-ready. Those damned commissioned officers are too green to know what they're doing. And no word from Carmine about this Alex man. I feel like I'm being left in the dark, Gordon!"
"Sir, I have no doubt that the Commission is doing their utmost to defeat him"¦he IS a powerful man after all."
"But he's ONE MAN," the Colonel bellowed. "One man against five? Do the math."
"Sir, with all due respect, they may not succeed."
"Well then, if they don't, then hopefully Alex will save me the trouble of executing them myself."
"It's only been a day, Sir. Give them time."
"Oh, Gordon. If only you knew the basics of warfare."
Flurries scattered through the cold air as Alex followed the worn stone path to Glacia City.
"Here we are," Alex said, brushing the accumulated snow off of his jacket. "And ahead of schedule, too."
"Great," Midna replied. "I'm freezing out here."
As if sensing their arrival, Glacia's double gates opened, revealing a totally different world beyond the rock walls. The town bustled with activity. Revelers caroused from pub to pub making their nightly runs. Merchants stood at apt attention at their stalls, peddling the goods and services that Glacia used. Horses drew large carts carrying cords upon cords of firewood, ensuring every fireplace in Glacia would burn with warmth. Everyone was busy with one task or another.
Alex had a feeling of nostalgia returning here. This place was his home. So remote and serene from the rest of the world, happily living and working in isolation.
"We can rest here for a while," Alex said. "We can lay low here as well. Kandarinian forces very seldom sweep past here."
"That's good news for us," Midna sighed, taking his shadow.
Alex continued through the town, into the outskirts, and toward what looked like an old smithy. He pulled open the door and passed through.
"Well, this is it. Home sweet home."
Midna left his shadow. "This is where you live?" She looked around. It was a home on one side, and a workshop on the other. "Not much for luxury are you?"
"I live with what I can," Alex said.
"This should be good for a few days," Midna replied. "But then we need to get back on the road."
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 20th, 2007
//I thought I made a post yesterday... Apparently I didn't...\\
"I pulled the spirit ribbon back, as if a leash.
-"Well done, Vandrin, on an entertainment well delivered. Shoo now, and go make me more."
Unravelling the ribbon once again, I urged:
-"Sic, hound! Sic! Kill that fat hippo!"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Wednesday November 21st, 2007
//Sorry I haven't been on in a while
"Alright, we're ready to go. I'll get this bird off the ground." Ben walked up the ramp in front of Duilin and co. and readied the engins once again. The ship's controls were up and ready to blast off the ground.
"Ready when you are."
//DM, in your next post you can do the taking off bit.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 21st, 2007
- Tjedon Castle, courtyard -
Duilin smiled, as he saw Renard and Ven shake hands.
"Alright, there we go." Duilin's mindset was getting much better about this. If Ven can forgive Renard, then probably the Kandarinians would be willing to help them finally defeat the Dark Empire.
Once everyone was aboard and settled in. The airship then took off and flew northward towards Kandarin...
(Gorus will be updated later)
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 21st, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
"Very well, lord Sovereign." Vandrin replied. He then bowed before exited with the two scientists and the servants.
The mutant lizard man then smashed his fists down on Gorus, as he was on the ground.
Gorus growled in pain, but was able to get himself back up. The mutant swung another punch at Gorus' head but he ducked and then swung an uppercut at right on the mutants jaw.
The mutant gave out a monstrous roar and then tackled Gorus and began grabbing him around the neck.
Gorus wasn't going to allow himself to loose. He started kicking away, digging the metal spikes on his boots into the skin on the mutant's leg, but it wasn't enough. He then noticed that Xarn dropped his sword when he mutated, and saw it on the floor not to far away, he reached out, but was loosing breath rapidly and couldn't quite make it.
He then dug his claws right into the mutant's hands and then pulled back, and forced the mutant's hands to open. The High General then weakly climbed over to the sword and picked it up. The mutant the dove at Gorus and readied for another tackle. Gorus stuck the sword up and allowed the mutant to fall on him. The sword dug right through it's chest, and it stopped moving. Gorus was able to push the massive creature off of him, and then weakly got back up, he then plucked the sword from the mutant's dead body and then pointed the blade at Kronos.
"Your turn..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 21st, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Vincent took one step forward, removing his golden shotgun from his cloak and pointing it at the giant Lizard Man in one fluid motion.
He wasn't stupid. He knew a weakened foe and an easy kill when he saw one. Of course he wouldn't attack without permission. But the chance to gain brownie points was too obvious not to try.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday November 22nd, 2007
//happy thanks giving, peoples!
- Northern Wastes, Arctic Region -
The small forces of lizardmen decided to press back to the south. The leader, however, was having difficulties with directions. "Hmm... I forgot which way was south."
Captain Zabel walked to the front of the group and smacked the lizardman beside the head. "You can't be serious! Damn it..."
"Ow! What the hell!" Stumbling from the backhand to the head, the lizardman slipped on the snowy ground and fell on his back.
"Shut it. I'll grab my compass." The captain pulled out a compass from her belt pouch and pointed it in their general direction. The needle on the compass spun slowly to the north, but the compass appeared to be facing the east.
"Damn. Just as I's suspected. We've been walking the wrong way. Everyone face this direction and MOVE!" The captain tunred her men to the south as they started to march.
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 22nd, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
-"My turn? Well, you got that right."
I waved my hand in a dramatic fashion, as if summoning a great beast from somewhere. A cascade of bones rose from below, escaping the bodies of their slain owners. They circled around me in a swirling vortex, and then began to settle down around me. In a few seconds, I was encased in armour made entirely of bone. Two grand spikes protruded from my shoulders, and my head was now protected by a bestial skull, in a helmet-like fashion.
-"Behold, the Soul Cage of the Lich..."
Another burst of bones materialized a large shield over my left hand. The shield had many bones sticking out from the sides, with a lizard man's skull in the middle.
-"...the Aegis of the Lich..."
Finally, the remainder of the bones combined to make a lordly sword, its length twice surpassing my opponent's height. The hilt and guard consisted of a human skull with many rib bones stuck through it, and the blade was made up from a great many of miscellaneous bones, making it quite jagged. At about halfway down the sword, the blade broke into two separate ones - giving the weapon a somewhat fork like appearance.
-"...and finally, the Ripper of Heavens."
The sword was lying in front of me. I knelt down, sampling the texture of the handle - and effortlessly lifted it up, throwing it over my shoulder.
-"Don't be amazed," I said, seeing the surprise in Gorus' eyes. "This weapon, this armour and this shield are all a part of my soul. They weigh nothing to me. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for you..."
I swung the behemoth blade at Gorus. There was no chance of a miss, as Gorus was too close to me for him not to get hit by the swing. Meanwhile, the minute dot of light on the horizon sliced the sky in half, appearing right above Gros Morne. The light cut through the metal clouds like a knife through hot butter, sending bright rays down onto the burning city..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 22nd, 2007
//Thanksgiving was in October for me, eh.\\
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
"Holy...crap..." Gorus was indeed amazed. He never knew mortals could do such things. Then again, he belived that he had to give up his humanity in order to get his powers. Thus proving his theory that humans could be used like a canvas. But the rumours about Kronos are that he did this to himself. So does that mean a human does have this sort of power?
For some reason Gorus started to worry a little bit. He used Xarn's sword to block the giant bone blade smashing down on him. Gorus was very strong and was definitely able to block it much better then any human and most lizard men could. Despite that, he fell to the ground from the weight of the blade, and was barely able to keep it from crushing him and then slicing him apart, as he held Xarn's sword at the handle and at the end of the blade. It was cutting his hand, but better his hand then his entire body.
With all his strength he pushed the sword to the left and rolled to the right and jumped up back onto his feet, and threw the sword like a dart at the bone armoured Lich.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 22nd, 2007
- Gros Morne, Outskirts -
Before the Dark Emperor Retan lay the burning city of Gros Morne, still protected by walls of bone and frozen flesh. It appeared Gorus had already begun his siege upon the lowly Kandarinians, though he did not see the airships they would have attacked with in the skies.
He had to do everything himself.
The sword, the spear, and the dagger floated around him, rotating slowly. Through them, he felt the three other weapons in the heart of the city.
They were hungry.
He extended a gloved hand, and the portion of the bone wall around him turned black. Like a porcelain vase, it shattered to tiny pieces and the black ash floated away upon the breeze, leaving a hole in the defenses.
A soldier stood directly on the opposite side. He yelled in alarm, then pointed his speargun at the black armored figure that slowly advanced toward him.
As he pulled the trigger the weapon turned black, a dark flame engulfing it. He tried to drop it, but the blackness quickly took his body. He screamed in terror as his flesh was rent from his bones, and the black burning skeleton that was left disintegrated into dust upon the icy ground, leaving absolutely nothing left.
Slowly, the Dark Emperor walked towards the breech in the wall, the weapons that rotated around him gaining speed...
- The Tower of Heaven's Bane, Dining Hall -
Gav leaned back and patted his stuffed belly. What a delicious meal!
"My lord!"
"What?" Grav snapped, wiping cranberry sauce off his scaly muzzle.
"We've located the one of the lost airships of the Skyward Division..." The armored lizard said, nervously.
"Oh?"
"They're returning, and will arrive in a moment."
"Have they retreated from battle? What are they doing?"
"They will not respond to our summonings..."
Grav thought for a moment. Then his eyes widened. "You moron! It's those traitorous furry mammals! Kill them! Kill them!!" He grabbed his staff and hopped up and down on his chair, screaming.
- Death Evan, Bridge -
Virmir clasped his hands behind his back as the Tower of Heaven's Bane came into view, a thin spire that stretched so high into the black clouds, its top was impossible to see.
"Here they come..." Anselm said.
The sky before them opened up in a swarm of wyvern riders, all blasting various elemental spells at the black warship. The cannons opened fire in all directions, and explosions rocked all aorund as the warriors were picked out of the skies.
Virmir squirted and made out the forms of two airships hovering near the tower, though which types were difficult to discern through the hazy darkness.
"This is it..."
- The Dhaos, Bridge -
Renard had a bad feeling about this.
Ven kept giving him stares from across the room, but he tried to pay it no mind. He knew the human had every right to be upset. Maybe through battle he would gain his trust.
But what really bothered the fox was where they were going. He remembered the Kandarinian city of Asgarnia, and how run down it was. It didn't seem like they were much better than the Dark Empire at all...
He sighed and stared at the clouds passing by though the window, resting his muzzle upon his arms as his tail curled around his angles. He was worried. Worried about his squad. Worried about Emile. Worried about the Velkens' future. Even in the million to one chance they did have at defeated Retan, where would they go? Surely the humans would not accept them living amongst them... No one would. Not after the hideous crimes they've committed.
He shook his head, trying to focus on the upcoming battle.
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday November 23rd, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
-"Damnit... He's here..."
What a terrible sense of timing, I must say. Further proof of this thought was offered to me as a flying sword thrown by Gorus, which struck my shoulder. A few bones here and there chipped, but otherwise, the armour remained intact.
Mildly surprised at the lizard man's ability to block the Ripper, I withdrew the sword back onto my shoulder.
-"In either case, Gorus, I fear as though I will not be able to teach you the pain of life with my blade, after all. Quite sad, really, but you will be overjoyed to find out that I have an even better lesson for you..."
With another dramatic movement, I smashed my sword into the ground in front of Gorus. The individual bones composing it came apart, as is expected - with the force of an explosion. I specifically targeted Gorus' arm and leg joints, as to incapacitate, but not kill, him.
-"Oh yes, so much better," I remarked venomously. Unfortunately, my planned long line of evil taunts was interrupted by a transmission from my pocket M-Grid orb. I listened to the voice in my head intently, and, with a heavy sigh, walked over to the edge of the Citadel.
At that point, the light shining from beyond the clouds ceased, and the clouds turned back to their old grim metallic self."
--- --- ---
- Gros Morne, city -
It was the trumpet, everyone assumed, that stopped the fighting. Whichever KAF members were still alive came outside bearing the white flag, leaving their weapons behind. The Stalker squads were nowhere to be seen - dead, presumably. Perhaps their deaths had something to do with the surrender act?
Meanwhile, General Roland shambled across the belittered land, scorched by the Dark Emperor's mighty spell. He kneeled before the black figure.
-"Gros Morne is beaten, my lord. Please have mercy on our poor state. We surrender."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 23rd, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
"Don't spew your mockery on me!" Gorus roared to the Lich.
Gorus then jumped back expecting the sword to hit him, despite what Kronos had said. The explosion however threw him completely off guard.
He gave out a roar of pain and he started to feel sharp pains in his joints.
"You're not even going to kill me!? This is an insult. You humans and near-humans make me sick!" He growled. He then forced himself forward with all his strength; he was going to rip him apart like a paper bag. The pain in his joints was too much, and he was paralyzed.
"Oh, go to hell..."
Gorus then fell to the ground, unable to move a muscle...
--- ---
//Now this post is going to involve rapid movement. I'll apologize in advance for this, and I hope this can slide, because of time restraints. I really need to hurry things up a bit here."
- The Dhaos, Bridge -
"So, any luck on finding out what that chemical does?" Duilin asked.
"Well, I tried scanning its aura. And well, I'm getting a feeling very similar to how your aura was when you transformed into that demon lord." Rink replied, holding the vial.
"Really?" Duilin seemed a little confused. "So does that mean it's like my blood or something? Or just demonic?"
"Well, I don't know many demon lords. And the two demon lords I do know are you and Abodahon, and your auras are very similar."
"Yeah...right. So you're saying you don't know?"
"Well, I think it might have some blood in it. Do you remember that cat-lady getting any blood from you?"
"I think, I remember she was there right before I passed out after changing back. Why would she give me a vial of blood?"
"Well, I'm making a few wild guesses here, but maybe it's a potion for perhaps boosting or restoring demonic abilities, maybe even gaining demonic abilities to the consumer. But I'm guesses it's only temporary. Because, when you're in your demon lord form it's only temporary."
"But...you don't know for sure."
"No. But I wouldn't be surprised if I was right."
"Right, okay then, well I'm gonna go see how the route is going. You keep...making guesses and stuff about that." Duilin laughed a bit after saying that and Rink laughed back.
Duilin then went to where Bjendell was piloting the ship.
"This ship sure goes fast." Duilin said.
Eventually the Kandarin Island came into view yet something was wrong. There was nothing there. Duilin looked at Ben. "Did you go the wrong way or something? This island is totally empty. Is it the right place?"
Suddenly the communications orb need the captain's seat started to glow, as if receiving something.
"Hey, uh this thingy is getting something." Duilin wasn't sure if he should answer it. "Wait, I got an idea." He turned around. "Hey Lagart! Get over here!"
The lizard man waddled over to the cockpit area and looked at Duilin. "Yeah?"
"We're getting a message, and it's probably somebody from the Dark Empire, it might be the Velkens, but I think it'll be safer if you talk to them, since you're a lizard man. You understand?"
"Yeah. I'm not that stupid." Lagart replied. He then walked over to the communications orb and touched it. A blurry image of a slim lizard man appeared.
"Are you the reinforcements?" The lizard man asked.
Lagart nodded. "Yeah."
"You're a little late, we've got the Dark Emperor here, but if you want to join in and help us slaughter these runts, feel free. I've been stationed here to guide any reinforcements coming to the new location of the Kandarin Sovereignty at the Arctic Region."
"Okay. Thank you. Signing off." Lagart taped the orb and the image disappeared. He looked at Duilin. "Retan is at Kandarin."
Duilin looked a little worried. "Crap." Duilin started to feel nervous, he was shaking a little bit, but then shook it off.
Duilin then went back to the bridge to announce this to the others and Lagart followed.
"Okay everyone. The Kandarinians have moved to the Arctic Region and Retan is attack them. Probably they're getting ripped a part right now."
He could tell that everyone was looking a little nervous. Moral boosting speech time.
"Okay, you're probably all scared. I'll admit I'm getting scared myself, but fear never held me back before so it's not going to now. I've done a lot, these past few days. I blew up a military building; I saved a Velken's life and then the rest of his species. I also got reunited with Bell and found out my little sister is still alive. And on top of all that I realized I have two other bodies that I can change into. Now I know most of you guys aren't as well able to fight as I am, but I want you to know that I still believe we can do this. I love all you guys and I won't allow anyone here to die. And you know what, if you don't believe me then think of this. Would you rather run now only to be killed later on, and only be remembered as another coward? Or would you rather go down in history as people who stepped up to Retan and said 'No! You are NOT taking this world Retan!'"
Duilin took a deep breath and rolled up his sleeves, much like he did with his previous style of clothing. Regardless if the others were ready or not, he was.
Soon enough The Dhaos came near Gros Morne, the new capital of the Sovereignty and where the final battle would take place.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 23rd, 2007
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Vincent took a few steps back. Blast it... never mind then. Kronos had some serious power... when his guard was up, at least. He lowered his weapon. He was content to watch the Sovereign take out the weakened lizard from the sidelines.
He idly looked up at the flashing lights in the sky.
- Gros Morne, city -
Retan's crimson eyes narrowed. "Cur. How dare you approach me, you rotting death-stenched carcass."
He extended his left hand, a swirling orb of blackness some two feet in diameter immediately forming out of nowhere. Like a cannon, he blasted the undead man at point blank range, the aftershock from the explosion cutting huge cracks into the city street.
"I tire of being generous."
He flipped his cape with his right hand. The white flags the soldiers carried caught ablaze with a black flame, which quickly spread to their bodies. They writhed in agony as all around they withered into nothing.
"I give nothing but opportunities and second chances, paths to fame and glory."
The Dark Emperor walked through the crowd of disintegrating men as they flailed upon the ground. An aura of violet blackness engulfed the three weapons that circled him, and they began to rotate at an insane speed.
"And what is the thanks I get? Thieves who take my property. Incompetents that fail. Traitors abound..."
The radius of the weapons' orbits increased greatly, and at the same time they began spinning like buzzsaws. They spiraled around Retan like the nucleus of an atom, slicing through buildings like nothing, toppling unlife structures, boring into the street and surfacing dozens of feet away, along with a boulder-sized hole, the debris scattering everywhere.
The Dark Emperor continued slowly walking through the chaos, towards the citadel in the distance...
- The Dhaos, Bridge -
Renard had a sinking feeling in his stomach the closer they got to their destination. Duilin's mentioning of Retan confirmed it...
"Yeah... I'm with you..." he said timidly. He was the first to speak, and all eyes seemed to bore into his soul. He felt so small and out of place...
"As am I." He heard a much deeper voice behind him and above. He turned to see Ven towering over him.
The silver knight nodded once at the Velken and drew his blade. "Let's do this..."
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Friday November 23rd, 2007
"I... I wont let any harm come to you, Renard. I'm with you where ever you go!" Ko'ji grabbed her scimitar and her enchanted dagger. They both glowed white, a sign of purity. "Let's do this!!!"
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday November 24th, 2007
- Kandarinian Skies -
"Landing the ship now... It's on auto pilot, so it'll take us to the right area to land. I assume it ought to be bumpy..." Ben stood amongst those gathered on the deck. He then began to laugh at Duilin.
"Hah! Have we ever not been up to par when it comes to war? We'll handle our selves ten-fold!" The angelic man's aura seemed to get bigger and bigger. His power was comming back to him.
"So begins the war of Man versus Draken... the first era of men is comming to an end."
"UGH!!!" Karma fell to the floor, her hands clutching her stomach.
"What's wrong!?" Jacobie immediately bent down to catch her before she fell, and as he caught her, he felt it... It was a wound, in magic itself. One he had not felt since he'd been close to the dark emporer. He was very close. Jacobie would have to get out.
"Sir, I'm back with the men!"
"You're in charge now captain... or should I say commander?"
"What!?"
"I take my leave, with her at my side."
"Sir, that's crazy!"
"I must. There is something I must do to redeem my terrible deeds. Take care of these petty rebels."
"Uhh... yes, sir."
"Let's go, Karma."
"You're taking the slave girl!?"
"Correction. I'm taking my apprentice. Back off."
"Sir, are you barkin' MAD!?
"I SAID BACK OFF!!!" Jacobie pushed the female lizard to the ground.
"Y-yes sir!" The lizardman left the camp with Karma and into the wastes of Vos, then slowly pushed through the winds to Kandarinian territory.
"We'll be there soon, Karma"
"Before we go farther, there is something I must tell you."
"Hmm? Uh, sure. Go ahead."
"I... I love you."
"What!?"
"Master, I... I've never felt compassion my whole life, yet you've shown me so much."
"I said call me Jacobie. Master's a faint title."
"Don't you see? Already, you try to claim me as an equal!"
"Because..."
"Why? It's not bad, but why do you keep being so nice?"
"Because I love you too." Jacobie then stopped walking in the snow and grabbed on to Karma. She grabbed him back and held him tightly.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 24th, 2007
- The Dhaos, landed on Gros Morne -
Duilin smiled and nodded at Ven, Renard, Ko'ji and Bjendell as they agreed to stay in the group.
"I with you." Lagart said to Duilin, proudly.
"You know what? I'm gonna fight too damnit." Rink pounded his fist down. "I know I should be. But I ain't scared."
"That's the spirit!" Duilin said with a smile.
"Well, I guess I'm the only one who probably can't help fight at all." Bell said sounding a little regretful. "I'll be okay alone, don't worry."
"Well...wait." Duilin walked over to a footlocker at the other end of the room "I was routing through a few boxes here and there earlier and I found a couple of these thingies." He then walked back over to Bell and handed her a glass orb. "I found a couple of these communication orbs. If you're in danger just give me a call and I'll see what I can do."
"Well, you're needed to right Retan, and I don't want to hold you back."
Duilin smiled. "Well, I'm sure Lagart would be more than happy to do that for me." He looked at the lizard man who nodded back, in agreement.
Bell and Duilin gave each other a hug and kiss, before they went off.
Duilin had the Iduran in it's sheath, which was around his belt, and he had the Talonscar mace in his right hand and rested on his shoulder. Lagart had found a freshly sharpened steal broadsword on the ship, which he swamped for his old rusted and blood stained one he had before. Rink was sure he could find some use with this vial, and he was thinking he'd test it out; he just needed to decide if it would be safe to drink.
The group made their heroic march through the war torn city, and headed towards Retan's massive aura. They were all ready, Duilin was feeling ready. He didn't care if he was the one to kill Retan, he just wanted to make sure the world was safe from him.
As Duilin walked, his aura glowed a bright gold and his entire clothing began to lighten to a white colour, his belt became a golden yellow and his hair became a dark orange. His wings were gone and his scars healed.
The Dark Emperor was in view. Duilin didn't think it would make a difference on how they approached him, so he just continued forward. Lagart and Rink noticeably began to slow down a bit. Duilin looked scared, but he kept moving just as fast.
Posted by: Mikado on Saturday November 24th, 2007
The giant mud like creature rose again, and flew towards Nex. Nothing was spared, it was like a giant tsunami of mud.
Puco quickly cought Ophelia, and both disappeared in the mud that actually hit Nex too.
"Don't be scared! We will go.. to.. an... other... place, .... neeeEEE!"
Something began to pull and bite Ophelia and Puco.
Something went wrong.. they were pulled away, but Puco hold her firmly.
"Close.. your.. eyes!!!"
With that both lost their feelings, and everything else. It was as if they stopped existing..
The did.
Or did they?
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday November 24th, 2007
- Gros Morne, near the Dhaos -
"We're nearly there, Karmandalla. How's your stomach?"
"It's fine now. But I can still feel it... It's him sin't it?"
"*Sigh* Yeah, it's him alright... Hey, is that... Duilin and the others?" Jacobie, still holding Karma by her waist, walked over to the group. They were on there way to the cataclysmic battle that no doubt lay ahead. The lizard rushed to the group while still giving Karma time to keep up.
"Karmandalla, see that ship over there? Head on inside. This battle is for us alone. You'll be safe there." The girl did as Jacobie said and rushed over to the ship, the Dhaos, and greeted Bell.
"You guys here to finish this? Great, I'll need all the help I can get." The lizardman smiled as his pace slowly adjusted to match the group's.
"Umm... Hello... I'm Jacobie's servant--er... apprentice. He told me it would be safer if I stayed on this ship. I guess you're with those friends of his."
"It appears fate has played a big role in this. We're going to need you on this one. Join in, why don't you?" Ben was flying above the group and kept their morale high with some spells. He flew to the ground where Jacobie was and started to walk next to him.
"You ready to do this?" The lizardman unsheathed his katana burnermaul, as chillmaul was still with Karma.
"I've been witing to do this for a lo---ng time. I'm sure as hell ready, friend." Ben focused his aura around his right hand and poured energy into it to form a magnificant white blade of energy. It far surpassed anything he'd ever done before, and his demonic side started to focus it's energied into it as well, as the blade's edges were all a blood red.
- The blade of the familiar has changed shape... I'll have to think of a new name for it.* Indeed it did. It was massive this time, looking like a greatsword. The blade, being made of energy, was light as a feather. But if it were of metal, it would be a burden for the strongest of knights to carry. He held it to his side with two hands, just like a greatsword. Apparently, his energy was at full power.
- Thank you for this gift, father...*
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Saturday November 24th, 2007
//Blah. So much for the "awxxm post on wednesday." Oh well. This is better than nothing, I suppose.\\
Carmine frowned, and looked at his map again. The route to Vandrin was supposed to be here. Instead, he saw it as five kilometers behind them.
"Damn maps are outdated," Carmine complained, rolling it back up. "Estacado, did you see the sign to Vandrin?"
"Uh, nope." Estacado said. "We should've by now."
This was embarrassing. A group of elite soldiers who couldn't even find their way back home.
"Let's just ask someone for directions," Grylls said, trying to be helpful.
"Probably not a bad idea," Sig said. "What about you, old man?"
De Sade remained silent.
"How talkative," Sig sighed.
"No," Carmine said. "We find our own way home."
"I dunno Cap," Estacado said, worried. "The Colonel's known for getting pissy about bad news. What if word gets out that Alex hasn't been captured yet?"
"Estacado," Carmine replied, "look at it this way. The worst he can do is yell and bitch and moan, and tell us to look harder, making some sort of empty threat. If we don't catch him on the way home, we'll sure as hell get him by the time we get there."
"Whatever you say, boss," Estacado uncertainly said. He heaved his two hundred-kilogram mortar and kept walking.
"So, how long did you live here?"
"About five years," Alex replied. "I just decided I was tired of the merc life for a while, and settled down."
Midna looked at the various items adorning Alex's walls. Medals and honors from both sides cemented his past as one of the most influential mercenaries in Terian's history.
"This place certainly isn't opulent," Midna said. "Didn't they pay you well?"
"They did, but materialism was something I never really had time for. I did my job, they paid me, I moved on. I'm sure there's tons of money in this house that I've never touched. Probably never will, either."
Midna looked out the window, which overlooked a massive canyon. Asgarnia was at the very bottom, where snow met grass. "What made you decide to leave?"
Alex struck a flint, and a few logs inside the fireplace ignited, washing away the cold. "After a while I guess I got bored. I went out in search of an adventure." He looked at the Twili medal around his neck. "Man, did I find one."
The other side of Alex's home was strewn with all sorts of smithing and forging tools, as well as a furnace. "You were a blacksmith?"
"Not quite," Alex said. "The man I bought this house from was a blacksmith, and he didn't like the fact that the native smithy in town was taking his business. I guess he just decided to leave his tools behind. The smithy in town, after promising I wouldn't jeopardize his business, taught me a few things. Since then, all of my weapons, I made myself."
Midna looked to the north. "How long should we stay here?"
"A day at the most," Alex said. "The sooner we get moving, the sooner we get there."
"Well, we still have some time," Midna said, taking his shadow. "How about you show me around the area?"
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday November 24th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Holeee crap...
Renard was scared to death... That was him. The Dark Emperor himself.
He composed himself as best as he was able, trying not to fall behind the rest of the group. They were all so calm and confident... He was nothing but a coward...
Retan continued walking until he was in the center of the city, the three weapons spinning wildly around him creating a total disaster area of the scene. He paused with the citadel behind him, turning to look down at the motley crew of adventurers from atop a pile of rubble. The weapons slowed, still burning black as they revolved close by. He folded his arms.
"Excellent. The you have all come to die at once."
- Death Evan, Bridge -
Gaston tapped the orb again, trying to get it to work. Suddenly a hazy image appeared in the crystal.
"Hmmm... I think I have a visual on The Dhaos, but I have no idea where it's at..."
The Velkens that weren't busy madly firing the cannons at swooping wyverns gathered around the Battle Mage and they crystal ball in the center of the airship control room.
"That's... definitely not Tjed..." Anselm said, running a finger under his chin. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
Gaston shook his head. "It won't work. It's broken on our end. They can't hear us, let alone, see us..."
"What... are they doing...?" Helix said, squinting at the small image. It appeared the group of heroes were walking away from the airship... towards some black figure.
"Oh, no... they're attempting to face Retan..."
At the front of the room, Virmir's ears perked. He turned his head. "If we do not bring this tower down, they will all surely die..."
Helix's mouth went agape... "R... Renard's with them! And Riuki!"
"You mean he can access the tower's energy flow from that far away?" Anselm asked, panic rising in his voice.
Virmir nodded. "He is invincible, as it stands..." He spun around, pointing a claw towards the Tower of Heaven's Bane in the distance. "Full speed ahead. Open all cannons!"
The Death Evan surged forward, pelted on all sides by magical explosions as it ripped through the flying forces of the Dark Empire...
Ahead, two black airships opened fire upon it...
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 25th, 2007
- The Dhaos, landed on Gros Morne -
Bell was pacing back and forth, he looked fairly worried. He then noticed a woman came aboard the ship.
"Oh...hello. Sorry, I'm just a little worried right now. I'm Bell, what's your name?"
---
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Duilin stared at Retan in his burning crimson eyes. His piercing glare struck fear in him, but he continued moving, he just hoped that all the others had the bravery to continue on with him. Bjendell was clearly willing and Rink was extremely courageous for somebody of his size. But he still wasn't too sure about the others.
Duilin then saw Jacobie approach them.
"If you're here to help us fight Retan, do it." Duilin stated bluntly, because there wasn't any time to waste.
Duilin's grip on his weapons tightened as he flowed his energy through them. A white flame burned around both the mace and the sword. Time to do this.
He charged towards the Dark Emperor, he noticed that he had a few of the weapons with him. He never got to see the full power of those things, thanks to Haraldur.
He felt a little more confident, he was in his Super Human form, and he felt like nothing could stop him or hold him back. The super human made a mighty leap towards Retan and then smashed down both of his weapons, with the sacred fire still burning through it.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday November 25th, 2007
- The Dhaos, Deck -
"Uhh... Karmandalla. Nice to meet you." Out of Habbit, the girl sat cross-legged on the floor. It appeared comfortable to her, though this may have confused Bell.
"Do you think... do you think Mas-uh Jacobie and your friends stand a chance against him?"
- Gros Morne, Streets -
"Uhh... this is definately not going to be good..." Jacobie pulsed all of his energy into his hands and charged up his enchanted weapon, burnermaul. He flung a great wave of fire from the blade in a horizontal slash at Retan, the wave surging like a small inferno. This took a lot of his power.
"Taste this!" Ben came around Jacobie and performed a similar tactic, this time creating a vertical wave that combined with Jacobie's horizontal wave. It formed a shinning cross, partly enhanced with light and fire. The cross blazed toward Retan's direction.
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday November 25th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
The Dark Emperor did not move until Duilin was nearly upon him. Then his cape unfurled like the wings of a dragon, sending a tremendous blast of wind in all directions. He extended his black-burning arm up and delivered an uppercut as he flew into the air, letting the surging cross attack from Ben and Jacobie fly under him and meeting Duilin's white glowing weapons head on with the punch. An explosion ensued, disintegrating a nearby building from the shockwave.
He flipped and landed, just as Ven thrust his own glowing blade at Retan's back. The Dark Emperor sidestepped, thrusting his armored knee up into the sword, snapping it clean in half before backhanding the sliver knight in the face. Ven spun around thirteen times as he soared twenty feet in the air before crashing into a burning heap of rubble.
Renard zipped around Retan in a wide circle, conjuring a fireball in his claws. Sheer terror crossed his face as crimson eye-beams nearly shot through his temple, and he paused for a split second too long. A residual explosion sent him spiraling out of the sky and into a heap of snow.
The totally unscathed Retan folded his arms, the smoking wreck of a city all around him.
"Look at how you wither and die. I control the black nexus of three netherworlds, and link that energy directly to me. Gaian is already mine. I need merely clean it."
He extended his right hand skyward, and a tiny point of darkness appeared above his head.
"Let us see what happens to the planet when the polar icecap is instantly vaporized."
A faint tendril of blackness appeared from the southern sky... From the Tower of Heaven's bane it cut through the clouds arcing over the Dark Continent and over the ocean... and into the Dark Emperor's open hand...
The black point of mass exploded. Instantly becoming a swelling sphere fifty feet in diameter...
Mega-Death Annihilation Attack EX!! (MDAA-EX): 50%
- Death Evan, Bridge -
"He's using it..." Virmir said through clenched teeth. A thin veil of shadow engulfed the entirety of the structure, which had just become visible through the thick haze.
Another explosion. The ship shook.
"We're going down!"
"We're on fire!"
All the windows shattered as a plume of red laced through the front of the ship.
Virmir took the steering wheel from the ploting Velken, trying to keep it steady. "Divert all the power from the cannons to the flight crystal. Full speed ahead." He had that cold, calm expression on his face, despite the wailing winds and flying glass.
"My lord, there's nothing more we can do..." Bryce said, shielding his eyes.
"I want all of you to abandon ship." Virmir said, his icy gaze affixed to the tower in the distance.
"But... sir..."
Virmir unstrapped The Flameberge and shoved it into Bryce's arms. "Take this." He did this same with the sheathed Wind Serpent, and handed it to Anselm.
"Now do as I say."
The two Blade Knights stood there with their mouths gaping.
The burning airship rocketed across the dark skies as it was pelted on all sides by fireballs and cannonfire, straight towards the Tower of Heaven's Bane...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Sunday November 25th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
"Cocky bastard." Jacobie put more energy into his sword and charged it so that it was fully enchanted once more. He then directed the tip of the glowing red blade towards the beam of energy going into Retan's MDAA (EX). *Maybe, if I can sever the power, he'll be too weak to fully charge his attack,* Jacobie thought. All of the energy in the flaming katana then rocketed out the tip and towards the river of dark energy above.
"Ven!" Ben zipped across the sky and landed where Ven now was, in the smoldering pile of ruble that was probably once a large house. The half angel dug through the rubble and found Ven. He held his hands towards the knight and a light blue beam of energy left his open palms. "You'll be back up in a jiffy!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 25th, 2007
- The Dhaos, Deck -
"I don't know." Bell looked down at the floor, she looked so worried. She almost looked like she was going to cry. "Sorry...I don't really feel like talking."
---
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Duilin flew back from the explosion and smashed into a small building which fell apart as he hit it, due to the shockwave Retan made. Duilin lost grip of his weapons, and dropped them as he fell down. He slowly got back up from the rubble, he closed his eyes and his cuts and bruises around him began to heal. He still looked a little worried however; he dug around the rubble and found the Iduran. Now where was his mace?
Duilin then looked back at the Dark Emperor, and saw him instantly create an MDAA.
"No..."
But this was different, it was much stronger and if they're in the arctic region, then the entire world would be affected. And if he could barley even block a slowly charged CDAA, how could he stop this MDAA?
"Noo!!!"
He burried his face in his hands. He started to loose hope. What's the point? The world is about to end now, why waste time trying.
"Wait...exactly." He said out loud. The world is about to end. Give it your all! It's worth a shot. "I don't think so Retan!" Duilin stood back up pointing the Iduran at him. He stepped forward. He got his rush of courage back.
"You know what? I'm not giving up. I love this world too damn much to let it go, and I hate you too much to not do anything. So, **** you, this world doesn't belong to you no matter what you think. If I don't stop you, I am going to annoy the hell out of you while you do this, to make it as unpleasant as possible for you."
Duilin lowered his sword, and then pressed his left over his heart, and a shining white spark glowed around his hand (DA2 magic casting style!). Suddenly a series of white fireballs began to rain down on the draken.
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday November 26th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Ven slowly got up and dusted himself off. "Ergh... I'm fine, I'm fine... happens all the time..." He held his sword up and looked at the broken blade, frowning to see that it was snapped in half and less than two feet long. "Crap..."
The brilliant blasts of light exploded all around Retan, boring deep holes into the ground. Jacobie's energy blast merely passed through the stream of darkness in the air, as if there were nothing there...
When the smoke cleared, Retan stood there with a translucent gray shield around him, the surging sphere of shadow still swelling above his head.
"Excellent. Do struggle before you die. It makes the experience so much more satisfying..."
With a pulse of crackling blackness, the sphere above his head swelled enormously...
"Goodnight."
MDAA-EX: 100%
- The Tower of Heaven's Bane -
The burning airship rocketed through the skies, blasting past hundreds of wyverns and other ships that mercilessly pelted it.
An orange glow spread throughout the chamber. Grav looked up from his snack and glanced out the window.
"Oh sh--"
The fireball that was The Death Evan pierced through the translucent shield and slammed right into the side of the tower, a tremendous plume of flame cutting through the thick clouds above. The structure groaned a deep rumble that permeated the mountains. Lightning flashed through the sky, and the ground split open as the structure toppled in a massive column of smoke.
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Just as Retan began to bring his hand down, the obscenely large mass of darkness above him faded, and the stream of energy coming from the south disappeared. In a moment, there was nothing above but sunny skies...
He turned, glaring silent rage in the direction of the Dark Continent before turning his burning eyes upon Duilin and the others.
"If you think that will help you, then you are gravely mistaken... For that, I will make you all suffer..."
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Monday November 26th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets; Dawn -
"The sky... the beautiful sunlight... that's what I'm here to fight for. THE SKY!!!" Ben's demonic half faded down into nothing but light blue illuminating mass. Soon, this took over his whole body. His mass faded into nothing but blue light, though his form is still intact.
(Angelic Lord Form, 20%)
Meanwhile, Jacobie stood under the dark figure, his crimson eyes glaring at Duilin and the others, including himself. Fear very quickly took his body, but he shook it off. He then saw Renard, just as afraid, if not more. He walked over to the small Velken and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He has weakend. We'll beat him, don't you worry. He'll die before we do, I promise you that."
- Gros Morne, the Dhaos; Dawn -
"I can't bear to think what would happen to us both should we fail... well, I'd just go back to my ordinary slave life." Karma got to her feet and still grasped the chillmaul. She could feel its icy powers in her hand. Her magic was comming out, tuning it to herself.
"I... feel strange. Maybe we should rest. Best not to think... about what's going on."
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 27th, 2007
- Gros Morne, the Dhaos -
"I can't sleep." Bell replied. "I don't mean to be rude, but I don't feel like talking and I'd like to be left alone." She had her jacket off and she was holding it close to her chest, and occasionally wiped her tears away with it.
---
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Duilin smiled and laughed. "Do your worst! Oh wait, I forgot. You just failed at doing that."
Duilin lifted the Iduran back up. Lagart stepped next to Duilin with his giant broadsword. Duilin nodded at Lagart, it's good at he was feeling ready, Rink however seemed to just be standing behind, unsure what to do.
Despite that he felt this was actually going somewhere, the little imp still felt useless. He looked at the vial of blood red liquid in his hand. "What the hell..." He popped off the cork and then took a gulp of it. He swallowed it and put the cork back on, for a second he felt no different but then his entire body began to ache.
"Uhhh..."
He then fell to his knees and grabbed his head and yelled out in a massive adrenaline rush. His muscles and his entire body began to grow, his eyes began to burn and spikes grew on his shoulders, elbows and knees. As he continued to scream his voice deepened. Finally he stopped and buried his face into the ground. The imp grew to over six feet tall; he was actually a little bigger than Duilin now. He finally stood up and looked at Duilin and Lagart.
Duilin and Lagart's jaw dropped.
"...Rink?"
Rink stepped towards them but stopped not too far from the rubble of the house Duilin crashed into. He picked up the Talonscar mace which was burried under a few planks and then continued his way forward. And stopped next to Duilin, on the opposite side of Lagart amd he looked at Retan, with a facial expression of total seriousness.
"Let's rock."
The three then charged towards the dark emperor. Rink and Lagart ran straight forward, Lagart then took a swing of his sword at Retan's right and Rink swung the mace at the draken's left. Meanwhile Duilin jumped in the air and glided diagonally upwards and then flew down slashing his sword down, right on top of Retan.
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 27th, 2007
//I highly recommend against charging long attacks here.\\
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
"I could really care less if someone was fighting in my city, quamdiu se bene gesserit. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the people down there weren't doing. As little as this shows, I do, as a matter of fact, care about my people to a certain extent. As such, when a lizard army attacks and destroys my city, I can't help but feel responsible to bring down the hand of punishment. I believe it's about time..."
---
Suddenly, the skies above Gros Morne became incredibly clear - every single cloud was chased away by the sun. The rays of the star seemed not only brighter, but also a lot hotter. The snow and ice covering Gros Morne began to melt away rapidly, sending puffs of water vapour upwards. Soon, the whole city was covered by a large cloud of evaporating ice...
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 27th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
The Dark Emperor threw his arms to the side and a black aura engulfed him, as well as the three weapons rotating around his body. The weapons-- sword, spear, and dagger-- rushed to meet the attackers' as if they were wielded by invisible men. A furious high-speed battle broke out.
"Haaaaaa!!!!" Ven dashed madly in, his half-sword glowing a bright white. With a slash he managed to nick the black cape of his adversary before dodging the floating sword that nearly took off his head.
Renard nodded at Jacobie. "Right." The Velken zipped skyward, then spread his claws before him, a circle of crimson lines appearing in the air. After a moment, crackling fireballs began to rain down on Retan. He knew they were weak, but blast it, every little bit helped...
During the chaos, Retan turned his head to the side to launch an enormous swirling mass of darkness at Rink. When he turned his head back, he got a face full of the Iduran.
Duilin's blade slashed him diagonally across the face with a reverbing clang. It was if time stopped. He staggered back a few steps, his eyes shut...
The black helmet obviously absorbed the impact. But the weapon still scarred the metal-- a huge gouge carved from the upper right to lower left... When he opened his crimson eyes, they screamed murder...
"How dare you..."
His aura exploded, a violent blast of blackness forceful enough to send all flying back. Ven tumbled on the ground, rolling a few times and covering his head.
Only Renard continued his attack... a relentless barrage of fireballs that dissipated into nothing against the Dark Emperor's power...
Retan's burning eyes shifted, falling upon the Velken. He floated some five feet above the ground, the fox's eyes filled with a familiar cold determination...
Suddenly Renard froze and his tail-fur frazzled... he couldn't move at all! His determination melted as he looked into the crimson eyes, feeling the effects of the paralysis spell all too late to do anything about it...
The Dark Emperor extended a gauntleted hand, a swelling mass of shadow crackling upon his fingertips... "One by one, you all fall..."
With that, Renard stared death in the face...
"Nooooo!!"
In a mad rush, Ven leapt and plucked the Velken out of the air, the Shade spell slamming into his back. He screamed as he fell to the ground, shielding the fox from the attack.
Renard couldn't believe it... the very man who tried to kill him. The man whose king he helped kill...
Ven merely smiled weakly before passing out. Renard, lying on his back, had no time for words as he noticed something else... Something very bright in the sky...
- Gros Morne Citadel, top -
Vincent began to sweat.
He was seriously going to use it?
Right here?
So close?!?!
Well, he was absolutely sure he calibrated it correctly... Mostly sure, at least...
He let the air out of he collar and blinked a few times...
Fairly sure...
Kronos had his back to him, looking out of the the ruins of the city. Vincent slowly took a few steps in reverse, then carefully opened the door leading back into the citadel interior. Once he was through, he quietly shut it, then ran like mad down the stairs.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 27th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
"Whoa---" Duilin flew back several yards in the air, but was able regain his balance, blasting his light golden aura around himself, and lowered himself onto the ground.
Rink and Lagart also flew back several yards and fell on their backs and slid on the ground but were both able to get back up on their feet, with only a few bumps and scratches.
Duilin then witnessed Ven get hit, protecting Renard. He watched the knight fall to the ground and pass out. "Ven!!" He started to run to his aid, but Rink stopped him.
"He'll be fine Duilin, focus on the task at hand..." Rink said in his deepened voice. The High Imp then looked back at Retan. "...Which is destroying Retan!"
"Alright." Duilin said in agreement. Yet he still had still had some worry for his friend and he seemed a little surprised at how battle hungry Rink was, it was more than likely that demon juice talking however.
The super human, the lizard man and the high imp spread themselves apart.
"I got an idea..." Rink snickered and then disappeared in a small explosion of smoke.
Duilin got the idea and then flew towards Retan at the front and then stabbed his sword straight forward.
Rink then reappeared behind the draken, laughing mischievously as he smashed his mace at his back.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday November 27th, 2007
- Gros Morne, streets -
"What's happening to me...? I can feel a weird sensation... I... I can't see anything! Where is everyone!?" Ben's own power began to thicken around him to such an extent that his magic began to solidify and materialize.
(Angelic Lord Form 45%)
"YOU BASTARD!!!" Jacobie flew into a raging fury at seeing Ven pass out after Retan's shadow attack. The Lizardman leapt towards Retan with great speed and intensity. He thrust his blade forward in mid jump, sending his momentum forwards even faster.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 28th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
With a flick of the wrist, the Dark Emperor produced a black sword handle from within his cape. A bright red beam burst from the blade-less hilt, forming a burning scimitar-like weapon.
He sliced the air, smacking Duilin's weapon away with a crack and an explosion. At the same time the flying spear rushed to protect his back from the giant imp, while the floating sword blocked Jacobie's blow.
He twisted his crimson blade and stabbed it into the ground, tearing it apart as the resulting earthquake dislodged whatever few structures were remaining in the vicinity.
Renard struggled to get up. The unconscious knight's arm was over him, and the armored human was very heavy... He finally squirmed free, though he immediately fell over due to the tremors from the earthquake.
Chaos lay before him. Everyone was attacking Retan, and that frightening monster was holding his own with floating weapons and terrifying streams of black magic... This was insane... He wondered if he should run away.
No... he was no coward. He looked down at Ven, who just saved his life. A stray bolt of Dark Thunder whizzed by, knocking him over again as it tore a crater into the ground just a few feet away... Ven was in trouble lying this close to the battle...
He grabbed the knight's arm. "Come on..." He said through clenched teeth, trying to be careful not to dig his claws into the human's skin. He folded his ears and pulled with all his might. Blast, this man was heavy...
He put his levitation ability to it and tried again, lifting up off the ground a few inches as he struggled. At last Ven began to move, his armor scrapping across the cobblestone street as the Velken slowly but surely pulled him to safety.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 28th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Duilin quickly pushed his left hand towards the explosion and fought it back by shooting a glowing sheet of light energy with shielded him from the flames.
Rink stepped backwards when his attack was stopped by the floating spear. "These weapons are going to start pissing me off." The imp sneered. "Where's Haraldur when you need him!?"
The imp then shot flame through the Talonscar Mace, much like Duilin does, and gave a full forced smash at the spear.
Duilin and Rink then started to loose there balance as Retan created an earthquake with his crimson blade. Duilin started to fall backwards and was getting further away from the foe. He regained his balance and then pointed his right hand at Retan and shot a trio of smooth glowing orange-yellow comets of plasma energy.
Meanwhile, Lagart made a mad rush forward with his sword above his head. The large reptile dove himself forward putting his massive weight into a mighty slash down at the Dark Emperor...
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Thursday November 29th, 2007
//Need to post more. Bleh...
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Ko'ji raced to help Renard carry the human out of the battlefield. With the two of them working on it, they were able to pull him out of danger. When at last the human was at a safe enough distance away from Retan, or so they thought, Ko'ji helped Renard place him on the ground. Without warning, the Velken girl threw herself into Renard's arms and began to cry.
"I'm so afraid! I can't do anything to help! I'm too weak; I don't know what to do! Please, you have to help me, Renard! I'm so afraid..." The area around Ko'ji's eyes became damp and wet as she cried.
"Please... I don't know what to do..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 29th, 2007
- Gros Morne, Streets -
Holy crap... Renard nervously held Riuki up after she collapsed in his arms. He thought he was afraid... but she was totally freaked out!
"Riuki! ... Riuki!" He shook her gently. He couldn't believe it. She was so much stronger than him, but the madness of battle had finally gotten to her. "Snap out of it! We need to help the others, okay?"
He looked her in the eye. "I'm going to cast an enhancement spell on your sword, and I need you to go straight in without looking back. Can you do this? Don't worry, I'll be right there with you... I promise."
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday November 30th, 2007
- Gros Morne -
The skies were really turbulent now - hot vapour was everywhere, decreasing one's vision to no more than a few metres in front of oneself.
Through this mist, a dark figure approached Retan...
-"Generous as you may be, Emperor, the Sovereign does not approve of your being here. Ten minutes ago, a mutual cease-fire would have sufficed... Unfortunately, too much damage has been dealt now. We will have no choice but to retaliate."
The figure's features cleared up some as it got closer to the Emperor, revealing itself to be Roland - in one piece and good health....
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Friday November 30th, 2007
- Gros Morne -
"Oh Renard... you promise to be with me...? Okay. I can do this." Ko'ji Heald her blade out for Renard to enchant it. Once he was done, the vixen blazed past the others, only keeping her eye on Retan. She flung her scimitar forwards and pointed it at Retan.
- If not for all of Welkin...* she told herself, *for Renard...*
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 30th, 2007
- Gros Morne -
Retan crossed his arms before him as Duilin's blast struck them with full force. Largart's blade slammed into his gauntlets at the same time, chipping off some of the onyx black metal along with a series of sparks. He thrust his hand into the lizard's face, but his head-explosion spell was interrupted by Riuki's presence to his right.
He angled his head just enough to see the circles of light forming around her blade as she pointed it at him. A bright blue flash burst from her sword and spiraled towards his prone chest. Renard appeared by Riuki's side, claws extended and guiding the spell.
With a brilliant cerulean explosion, the Dark Emperor staggered backwards a few steps. But did not go down...
Renard floated between Riuki and Duilin, his mouth gaping. "He won't die... he just won't die..."
His tongue lolled out of his mouth and he started panting... And why was it so hot...? He squinted to see through the mist. Who was casting this spell?
The Dark Emperor righted himself, standing up straight with his arms to his sides, the crimson blade still burning brightly.
"I tire of this."
He clenched his free fist, and a deep rumbling permeated the skeletal remains of the city. The bright light faded slowly as a darkness emanated from his body and spread outward... The effects of his aura negated the heat and produced a bone-chilling cold that spread further from his being with each passing moment. His eye's burned hatred, and his body burst in a deep black flame that distorted and destroyed all light around it.
Obviously he was too busy to pay the lone undead any mind, and likely didn't even hear him due to the intense fighting. The sword with the red gem in the hilt, which was flying around like a buzzsaw, changed course and went for Roland's head...
- Dark Continent -
The land was literally flying apart.
Anselm clutched the sheathed Wind Serpent tightly as he shut his eyes and folded his ears. The sand blowing around stung even through his fur.
"What is going on?!" he screamed through the wailing winds.
"That tower was the focal point of an energy nexus!" Gaston yelled back. All the Velkens were huddled together in a sandstorm of flying rocks and debris.
Anselm opened his eyes to give the Battle Mage a blank stare, obviously not having a clue what that meant.
"Big boom, Anselm," Helix yelled into his ear. "It means big boom."
"Shut up, Helix."
"Where is Lord Virmir? He didn't just--"
"No time! Let's MOVE!"
All holding onto each other, they attempted to fly a few hundred feet, narrowly avoiding a falling rock the size of a whale. Crimson lightning crackled all around, and it seemed a massive vortex of dark clouds swirled above where the Tower of Heaven's Bane stood a moment ago. They were forced to land by another burst of intense winds.
A shadow suddenly flew overhead, and a dark shape fell in front of them.
"Get in!"
It was a small airship. The voice was vaguely familiar, so he dashed forward, gritting his teeth as a small flying rock just missed his head and dented the side of the ship with a resounding clang.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Saturday December 1st, 2007
- Gros Morne -
"This guy really knows how to piss me off!" Jacobie placed his katana over his shoulder and slashed down then up in a curve like motion. The resulting attack was a shockwave of fire energy headed straight for Retan.
"I'm starting to regain control... I feel more intunre with my powers..." The light blue glow solidified more densly and created a more human-looking shape, with two feathery wings on the back. Ben's face was also taking shape again in the blue mist that was his essence.
(Angelic Lord Form 70%)
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday December 1st, 2007
- Dark Continent -
Anselm didn't open his eyes until he made it inside the cramped airship. He smiled when he did so, for several Velkens from Welkin were inside.
"Are you all right?" One said, extending his hand to help him up the stairs. It was the black-eared Sir Rikarl, a respected squad leader and former student of Lord Virmir.
"Quite all right... thank you."
Anselm stepped aside to let the rest of the squad in, and had to hold on the railing on the walls, the vibration was so bad when they took off. At least inside here they were protected from the stinging sand that storm the vortex or whatever was blowing around.
He looked at the jeweled pommel of the Wind Serpent in his hands and sighed. "Lord Virmir... I don't think he--"
"Don't think what?"
His ears perked. On the other side of the crowded ship, Virmir stood with his arms folded, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. The cold stare in his eyes was gone, replaced with a smirk across him muzzle.
"You did well," he said, as he walked towards Anslem. The smiled disappeared suddenly and he extended his hand. "Now give me back my sword."
Anslem's ears fell back. "Y-yes sir."
A series of chuckles rang out through the crowd.
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday December 2nd, 2007
- Gros Morne -
Jacobie's blast of flame fizzled away in the Dark Emperor's aura, as if the very light were stolen from it. Retan's form grew, the black plates of his armor fusing to dark scales, the horns upon his helmet extending outward. Four sprawling wings, razor-sharp claws, and a thick tail... His eyes burned a crimson brighter than the sun. The black-burning dragon opened his maw, billowing smoke through his jagged, yet perfect teeth. His voice was a rumble that stirred the bones.
"The end is nigh."
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday December 3rd, 2007
- Gros Morne -
Duilin, Rink and Lagart stood back in awe with their jaws dropped as the witnessed the transformation of Retan...
"He...changed." Lagart stated.
Duilin sighed. "Great..."
"Rink." Lagart said to the imp.
"What?" The imp said back.
"Give me demon potion." He requested.
"You...sure?" Rink asked.
Lagart nodded.
The high imp then picked up the vial which was still on the ground, he handed it to the lizard man.
"Lagart." Duilin said, putting his hand on the lizard man's arm. "You need to be careful with this. Rink can handle the mind effects, but he's already a demon. You're not so it will be harmful to you."
"Retan is in dragon form!" Lagart stated. "I need to do this if we are going to defeat him!"
"But this could be REALLY dangerous. You don't have any way too combat the demonic effects and you'll loose control, and you might even attack us. And look at you, you're a friggn' beast as it is."
"Rink said it only temporary!" Lagart replied. "I can't stand here and let Retan kill everyone."
"We'll be okay, you don't need to anything." Duilin tried to grab the demon potion from Lagart, but the lizard man tugged his arm away, out of his reach.
"Lagart!"
"Guys! We don't have time for this!" Rink snapped. "Just let the lizard drink the potion!"
Duilin took a deep breath. "Just think about it, Lagart."
He then held the Iduran in a battle ready stance, and white flame plumed around the blade and was then surrounded in a golden aura and flew off towards the black-burning dragon.
Rink followed, and enchanted the Talonscar Mace with fire magic.
"Hey Retan!!" Rink shouted, trying to get his attention. "Catch!" He then pointed the mace forward and shot a large fire-rocket at the dragon.
Meanwhile Duilin hovered over the opposite side of Retan and then slashed his sword several times in the air, shooting blades of sacred fire...
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday December 3rd, 2007
"Trying to think of the ultimate one-liner to throw down at the light-absorbing Retan and the army below, I instead took out my M-Grid orb and dialled The Enlightenment, specifically, the Hammer's control centre.
-"Sovereign! The Hammer is fully armed and powered! If we wait any longer, it will melt!!"
Somebody else interjected over the M-Grid orb:
-"Also, our brilliant scientific minds slightly underestimated Sol's power, Sovereign. The beam is expected to last as long as thirty seconds, and the surface temperature will soar seven times above what our calculations. You'd best get inside the Citadel to avoid accidental burns."
-"I see," I muttered, heading toward the sealed door. "The final word, I suppose... Fire."
---
Whatever was left of the clouds simply vanished as the pillar of light came down. Those who didn't die of the initial heat shock slowly melted into an unrecognizable puddle, the latter evaporating momentarily. The ice below Gros Morne quickly ceased to exist as the divine beam drilled through the frozen mass. The city had a huge, gaping hole smack in the middle of it in a matter of five seconds.
However, that wasn't enough, it seems. The shining tower was still only gaining energy as it began to slowly creep down the middle of the city, literally splitting the land in half. The vast amounts of vapour rising into the atmosphere gave birth to atmospheric super cells, creating two massive hurricanes on either side of Gros Morne. The Hammer's beam continued to advance, accelerating as it went - right onto the diminutive silhouette of the Dark Emperor...
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday December 3rd, 2007
- Gros Morne -
Velkens tended to express their animalistic instincts better than humans. Renard was a prime example of his race. When everything went bright white, he only knew one thought. One primal emotion.
Run!!
Tail between his legs, he turned and grabbed Riuki by her collar, then zipped out of there with ungainly Velken speed. On his way past, he nabbed Ven's hand and dragged him through the sky with strength he did not know he had. (Or perhaps Riuki was merely helping him.)
Everything around him burned as he succumbed to the raw primal fear that made him flee. He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth and just went straight the fiery air. He didn't know how long or how far he ran. He just ran.
Eventually rational thought returned to him and he opened his eyes. The fire was gone, and a cool ocean mist blew in his face. The knight was far too heavy, and he slipped out of his claws, falling onto some flotsam in the ocean. A piece of a building, perhaps? He fell down by the human's side, utterly exhausted.
He tried to comprehend the image of the mushroom cloud far in the distance through blurry eyes. In the distance he could hear the cry of seagulls as the floated atop the wreckage in the middle of nowhere.
What had happened...?
"Duilin..."
Tears began to streak down his face, and panic rose in his voice. "Duilin~!"
"Insects."
The Dark Emperor snarled, extending his claws at the lowly forms trying to engage him. Blackness crackled around his body, and orbs of shadow swirled around. He opened his mouth to obliterate them all...
And then the heavens opened and light engulfed all.
Direct hit.
He had no reaction to the blast. He was simply gone, amongst the massive incinerating fireball. The three weapons he held flew skyward as the city exploded, taking an aura of bright white and scattering to the far ends of the globe.
Meanwhile the beam cut deep into the planet like a surgeon's knife, the resulting storms and tidal waves heading for the continents to the south...
Gaian groaned.
(Chapter ends in 5 days.)
Posted by: Dark Spartan on Monday December 3rd, 2007
//Here we go. I think I'm finally able to get back into the swing now.\\
The wind howled outside, sending temperatures well below freezing.
"So much for going anywhere now," Alex said. "We're snowed in. To leave now isn't smart. Once the blizzard lets up then we can move out."
"Very well," Midna said, reclining on thin air. "You know, we've always been so busy to really talk, with all the conflicts between the Kandarinians and the Twili. Why not tell me a little about yourself?"
"Probably because there's so much to say," Alex said. "Lemme start from the beginning. I don't remember much about my childhood, but I do know I never met my parents. Caulus was the closest thing I had to a father."
"He was a mage," Midna responded. "I'm sure he wanted you to apprentice under him."
"That's pretty much the gist of it, but I never took too much of an interest in magic. I always wanted to fight for myself. I wanted to be a soldier."
"And what did he think?"
"Despite respecting my decision, he insisted I learned at least a little about the magic arts. As the years passed, his physical condition worsened. He was edging close on being a hundred years old. He died when I was about seventeen."
"That must've been hard," Midna said.
"It was, for a while. Since Caulus had passed on, I didn't know what to do with my life. I wandered around for a few years, trying out various things to get by, until one day, I was sitting in a bar, minding my own business. A big tough guy comes up to me and tells me he doesn't like me. I told him I was sorry, and that there was nothing I could do about it."
"So what did he say?"
"Nothing. He drew a pistol and told me I had three seconds to leave before he blew my brains out."
"What did you do?"
"I did what I had to do. I drew my sword and cut his hand off. Then I took the pistol and shot him square between the eyes."
"You killed him?"
"He was threatening me, I couldn't do anything else."
"What next?"
"Some of the other guys in the bar noticed what happened, and told me he was one of the most notorious bounty hunters on the continent. It took balls to do what I did. It was then and there that I knew what I wanted to do with life. I obviously wasn't afraid of death, so I became a mercenary."
"Judging from what I see around your house, it looks like you were good at your job."
"You could say that. Full frontal assaults, recon and sabotage, assassinations, you name it, I've done it."
"So you just hired yourself out? You didn't support any faction?"
"Not really. At that point all I cared about was getting paid. Often times, as soon as I finished work for one group, I was hired by their enemy, and I destroyed what I had done for the other side. To keep from being found out by either side, I changed my identity a lot."
"You've had an extensive run. Any jobs that stand out in particular?"
"There was one job, where I had been hired to protect a diplomat. What an ass."
"You didn't like him?"
"I tried to avoid him as much as I could while still doing my job, which wasn't too often. He was paranoid as hell that someone was out to get him, probably someone I knew, and he would never leave his house without me escorting him."
"What happened to him?"
"Some of the other mercs who were out of a job at the time saw this as an opportunity. Fortunately for me, this guy paid in advance for my protection, and I decided to turn a blind eye to his untimely demise. As soon as questions of his death came up, I disappeared."
"You deliberately let him die?"
"If you had seen this guy, you would too. He wouldn't get out of bed without knowing I was there to protect him."
"Whatever works, I suppose."
"Hey, I didn't say it was the job I was most proud of."
"So what made you decide to quit?"
"After a few years the war conflicts died down, and a lot of the other mercs were out of a job. I decided to settle down here in Glacia, safe from anyone who might have questions for me. This place is so remote, that nobody knew I lived here."
"Truly a fascinating life story," Midna said. She looked out the window. The snowstorm had died down from whiteout to flurries now. "We should get going. The capital's not going to destroy itself."
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday December 3rd, 2007
- Gros Morne -
Duilin saw the dragon open his mouth, completely oblivious to the giant beam of light coming down, he pointed the Iduran at the inside of it's mouth, ready to shove his blade into the inside of the beast...
Rink looked up, noticing what was going on and then disappeared in a plume of smoke...
And then everything stopped, and there was a dead silence.
---
Lagart ran away as fast as he could from the blasting beam of light, he jumped and dived for cover. He dropped the vial of liquid and it rolled off out of his sight.
The lizard man shielded himself, dust and heat brushed against him. He could feel the burn on his clothing and his skin. He hopped it would heal, he doesn't like skin burns.
He looked up and saw the Velkens and Ven were safe. But what about Duilin and Rink? He was still too afraid to get up.
---
That light, the blinding light. What just happened? It looked like the gods just stomped down, and crushed Retan. I could have done it myself, why couldn't I?
Did I just get killed? Did I just allow myself to be killed, for nothing? After all that determination, after everything I put in. Some huge beam of light just rips him apart, and I was too close to get away.
What about Rink? He was pretty close too. Is Rink okay? I don't even know if I'm okay and here I am worring about Rink.
I love that guy, I really do. He's done so much for me. I don't know what I'd do without him.
I hope I'm going to be okay. Bell, loves me so much, I barely even know why, but I can't die happy knowing she'll be stricken with such greif. And not just Bell, but everyone. Rink, Ven, Renard I'll bet even Ben will be pretty upset. I haven't known a lot of them for very long, but I love them all so much...
---
Bell was running from the ship, into the destroyed Gros Morne streets. Her face was drenched in tears. She hear Renard cry out Duilin's name, and she assumed the worse.
"Duilin!!"
Lagart got up on his feet and limped towards Renard and Bell, but nearly fell on his face after a few steps.
"Where is he?"
Lagart looked back, at the huge burning crater, which looked like it had completely nothing left alive in it. He looked really worried as he turned back at Bell. "I..uh...don't think he..."
Bell then held the giant lizard man in a huge and started crying. "No..."
Lagart gently patted her on the head. "It be okay." He held out his other arm, inviting the Velken for some comfort, who looked grief stricken.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday December 4th, 2007
- Gros Morne Ruins -
"Duilin!"
Renard raced through the air, back towards the city, or rather where he thought it once was. There was nothing left. Even the thick layers of ice the capital was built upon was blasted away, leaving a smooth sheen that grew steeper and steeper towards the impact point. He recognized the human woman Bell and the Lizard Man Lagart consoling each other, and he absolutely knew the worst had happened.
Or had it? Had Duilin just sacrificed himself to destroy Retan? Or was that light something else? Was there any other way he could possibly had been defeated? He floated there for a moment, a myriad of questions racing through his mind. One thing he was sure of, and that was the sick feeling in his stomach.
Victory shouldn't have felt this awful.
He landed next to the two and turned at the rumbling sound behind him. Perking his ears towards the distance, he spotted a small black airship headed their way. Panic filled his heart for a moment, as he tried to discern who was aboard the ship by feeling their auras. But he could not. It was as if the very polarity of Gaian had been disturbed by the blast so greatly that the normally readable stream of energies had turned into a violent confusing waterfall...
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Tuesday December 4th, 2007
/Sorry I'm having trouble keeping up. Work is hell right now.
- Gros Morne, rubble -
"Damn it all. I was able to deflect the blast from myself, but now I'm powerless." Ben fell to his feet. His color returned to normal, except that the demon side of him was gone, along with his wings. He heard the other's grieve for Duilin, then looked back at the battlefield... or where it once stood.
"Rest easy, Duilin. My the gods find you worthy of a better place than Gaian." A few small tears trickled down Ben's face. He limped over to the others. His head was severely messed up with all of the energy that surrounded the destroyed Gros Morne. It was as if it blocked his senses; and apparently all the others' senses as well.
"He's in a better place, Bell." Jacobie appeared under a pile of rubble near by. The entire city was utterly lost to the power of the divines. But was Retan really defeated?
"I'm going to return to my love and get outta here. Good luck, guys." Jacobie headed for the airship. In some of his time working with the empire, he'd been around a few people who worked in the skyward division. Hopefully, he'd be able to pilot the ship back to where ever they wanted.
// Jacobie is now inactive.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday December 5th, 2007
- Gros Morne -
"Don't say that Ben!" Bell cried. "He's not gone! He can't be gone!"
Lagart patted her on the head, as Bell still hugged him, not saying a word.
Bell opened her eyes, and noticed something; it looked like a cyclone of smoke swirling together. She let go of Lagart and stepped towards it. The lizard man turned to see what it was.
The smoke then started to take a familiar shape. Swirling together, faster and faster. Then finally there stood Rink, still in his high imp form, holding Duilin's motionless body, in his 'half-way' form.
"Duilin~!!"
Rink then put Duilin on the ground and then nearly passed out, falling to his knees and then rested his head on the ground next to Duilin's body. He then shrunk back to his normal form, and opened his eyes, and started breathing deeply.
"Rink..." Bell said to the imp, almost smiling.
"I used my teleportation spell..." Rink said gasping after speaking the words. "But...it was distorted by that beam."
Bell went down to Duilin's body and held it. His skin was mostly burnt on his right side; his right wing seemed to be fine, likely because he got harmed in his human form. "Duilin...please don't die..."
"It might not be too late to save him..." Rink assured. "...He was able to regenerate most of the damage he got in that millisecond before I grabbed him when teleporting..." Rink coughed a few times.
"Will you be okay?" Bell asked, not wanting to sound like he was ignoring him.
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." Rink closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then opened his eyes again and looked at the others. "But you need to do something quickly. I'm not sure any basic healing spells or potions will work. But he still has some life left in him. We've just got to spark it back up before we loose him..."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday December 5th, 2007
- Gros Morne Ruins -
"Spark it back up?" Renard looked perplexed. He scratched the back of his head. "How do you suppose we do that?"
"By giving him some of our own energy." Ven snapped from behind. Somehow he had stumbled all the way back to the ruins, looking like he was going to fall over any minute. Hunched over, he tripped and the Velken rushed to catch him.
Posted by: ElderScrollinIt on Wednesday December 5th, 2007
- Gros Morne -
"I feel so weary... Ugh, my head." Ko'ji stumbled around a couple of times like a drunkard. She then regained some of her balance and focus, and was able to steadily hold herself still.
"I can give him some energy," she then mentioned after Rink spoke, "I've not much left to give, but whatever I have, I shall." Ko'ji then knelt down by Bell and placed a hand on Duilin's chest. Energy could be seen in all colors as it left her body and entered his.
"I might pass out... but I'll be ok... I just need a place to rest." It was as she'd said. Ko'ji became a lifeless mass and fell on her back. Her breathing was steady though. She was merely knocked out.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday December 5th, 2007
- Gros Morne Ruins -
"Like I'd kill myself... Honestly. I've faced tough times in life, but I've never even thought of... Bah, who am I kidding. Life has not yet offered a challenge difficult enough for me to even become seriously worried.
I bet the whole lot of them, whoever is still down there, think they've gotten rid of me. Well, they should just keep at it, then."
---
It was unusually bright in the Arctic Region. Even the charred rift in the middle, created by the Sovereign's Hammer, was shining with droplets of water. The clouds retreated far away from the impact site, creating an enormous circle of azure blue sky above where Gros Morne used to be.
Just as it seemed that the tortured land found peace at last, the earth shook again. A terrible sound, similar to that of groaning metal, spilt outwards from the chasm. The triangular shadow engulfed the land, as the Citadel rose above the ground, its earth-binding chains severed from its sides. Once elevated to a certain level, the structure began floating away - somewhere to the North-North-West - while filling the air with the humming of massive flotation crystals and the dull scraping of stone bricks.
//End chapter for me.\\
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday December 6th, 2007
- Gros Morne Ruins -
"Heh, it appears he's alive after all..." Ben walked towards Duilin and held a hand out above him. His hand glowed a faint white and an orb shot out from his body. The orb floated down to Duilin and gently entered his body.
"That's all the energy I have left... all that I can spare, in any case."
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday December 6th, 2007
Okay, what's up with all this light? First I was blinded by this huge bright white light and then everything went dark.
Then there was nothing. I think I actually saw nothing. I can't remember it.
But yeah, now there are these colours all over the place? A bunch of colours, all sorts of colours and then some more white.
God, I really hope everyone is okay...
--- ---
- Gros Morne -
Duilin's fingers started to twitch and there was some slow breathing, but he was still unconscious and needed just a bit more energy.
"It's working!" Bell cried.
"We're almost done..." Rink said. "Just a little more..."
Rink placed his hand on Duilin's chest.
"Ven...Renard..." He said weakly to the two standing above him.
Posted by: Drannic_Lord01 on Thursday December 6th, 2007
"Sir, shouldn't we take a ship back to Ariosis? I'm getting rather bored with Tjed. I miss my family."
"Quit whining. You don't think I miss my family, too?"
"I know you do sir, that's why we need to go back! King Henri is dead now, what kind of negotiations could you possibly make with Tjed?"
"I want Tjed to become a part of the empire. We will not have full control over them, but we will be able to command their army in a time of need, as well as force trade. Not quite force trade prices, but trade none-the-less."
"Ah. You plan to destroy the Dark Empire?"
"Indeed I do. With all of our senses ****ed up like this, I don't see how conquering a few kingdoms or soverignties without harm could do us any real damage. I need as many people to join the Ario Empire as I possibly can!"
"But sir, wouldn't it be a better idea to use force?"
"The one means that wins the easiest victory over reason may very well be terror and force, but that is not our way. I though I told you this already!"
"Yes, sir, but what of the elves in the forrest? If you cannot even control your own forrest, how can you control islands separated by sea?"
"I do control Nurngar. Let's just say the elf king was... put out of comission."
"You... killed him?"
"Oh heavens, no. I merely persuaded him to let go of his post as king and join the empire. For some reason, he eagerly obliged. Perhapse his rule was wearing him out. You do know that he is five hundred years old, correct?"
"Yes, sir. The elves are immortal, but may still be killed."
"Actually, no. No elf has lived longer than the king. They are not immortal, they just live more than six times longer than humans. He's at the end of his rope, actually."
"You mean... he's going to die anyways?"
"Yes. He has lived quite a very long life, you know. It will be an even longer one should he accept the offer made to him by the Gaian Republic."
"Wait a second, what's the Gaian Republic?"
"It is the name of the Union I've started. While Dranniville may be a part of the empire, the forrests of Nurngar aren't a full part of the empire. The king's son is a minister in the Gaian Republic. If I can get the Tjedian King's heir to become a minister, then Tjed will not be a part of the empire, but a part of the Republic."
"Hmm... sounds crazy enough to work. What about any other places? I know there has to be another area besides Tjed with free people!"
"Yes, in the Arctic region. There are three more kingdoms set up there, actually. One is ruled by a mad liche, another is ruled by an immortal vampire, and the third is ruled by my brother. The names of the kingdoms are Vos, Tel Vos, and Kandarin. Vos should be easy enough, I merely need go there and ask my brother to be a minister. Tel Vos may be a bit harder, but hopefully, I'll be able to pull through. Kandarin will be the most difficult yet."
"How are we going to pull this off without a ship!?"
"You are wrong, my friend. I've had the citizens of this port start building already. I've also got the crystals of lordship. I merely need give a minister one of these and he will be able to control a part of the crystal cave. If they just so happen to need more crystals, they just cast a spell on the crystal and it will duplicate. However, the crystals will respond to me over them. They must ask me first. When I allow it, they will seem more rich than ever."
"All this time you were using enchantments? So these crystals are fake? That sure explains a lot, but what of the duplicate crystals? Do they respond to magic?"
"No, only the original pieces from the crystal caves will respond. That is why I shal give the ministers a piece of the true crystal."
"How will we get Tjed to join the Republic?"
"I haven't the slightest clue, but don't worry. Ven will be back soon. I'll just ask him. The ministers don't all have to be leaders. I'm going to ask a few other fellows as well. Virmir is among them, along with Valimore, Kronos, Seymore, Duilin, Lagart, Jacobie, Galery, and the list continues."
"Who are all those people?"
"Valimore leads Tel Vos, whilst my brother, Seymore, leads Vos. They have an alliance, so it will be an easy cross if I just go into Vos first, then cross over to Tel Vos. Kronos is the Soverign of Kandarin, and the rest are all extremely skilled. We may as well get started. The ship is completed. Gather the Elite."
"Yes sir!"
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday December 6th, 2007
- Gros Morne Ruins -
Renard put his hand on Duilin's chest and Ven followed suit, putting his hand over the fox's.
They were interrupted by a rumbling sound, and the looming shadow of a black airship hovered over them. Ten blurring figures dove down from the open hatch and surrounded the group.
"Renard, if you would lead us in casting an energy transfer circle."
Renard's eyes widened at Virmir's voice, but there was too little time to be surprised. He hovered a few inches above the ground as Helix and the other Battle mages formed a circle around Duilin's body. A bright white star formed in the air, their claws connected by glowing lines. Virmir, Anslem, and the other Blade Knights put their hands into the ethereal shape floating above the half demon. Bryce took Ven's arm and showed him how to donate some of his own power through the circle.
After a moment of bright flashes and sparkly lights, the spell faded and Renard anxiously hovered over Duilin's body.
"He will be fine. Give him a moment," Virmir said, placing a claw upon Renard's shoulder. The former High General of the Dark Empire turned and placed his hands behind his back, staring to the south.
"Our work here is done."
Renard's ears drooped. "Welkin... Our home... it's gone, isn't it?"
Virmir nodded.
Helix and Anselm gently lifted the unconscious Riuki off the ground.
Renard sighed. "Where will we go now?"
"No way the humans will ever accept us..." Helix interjected.
"Or most other races, for that matter." Anselm said solemnly. "Our will or not, we've destroyed a great many lives in this world...."
Virmir folded his arms, his tail slowly snaking behind him. "We will live out of the humans' way. Our paths need not cross ever again." He pointed to the south. "The fire mage Draven had a floating island. Similar to the ones back home. It is uninhabited as far as we know. We will build our new home there."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday December 7th, 2007
- Gros Morne Ruins -
Duilin's eyes started to slowly twitch, until they finally opened.
"Wha...what happened?" Duilin asked.
"Duilin!" Bell cried in joy and hugged him.
"Whoa." Duilin laughed. "What happened? Did we beat him?"
"Sort of." Rink replied getting up and looking in the sky. "Something, I don't know what it was. But something killed Retan."
"So, we risked ourselves for nothing?" Duilin asked, sounding a little upset.
"Well, I wouldn't say so." Rink assured, looking at the group. "Retan would have likely detected that beam and flew off, if we weren't there to divert his attention."
"Yeah...I guess so." Duilin grinned and then sat up. "Ooo..." He then rubbed his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Bell asked in concern.
"Nothing, I just need to lay down." Duilin did so, and took a deep breath. "Well...I'm glad everyone's okay. So what happened? Like, to me?"
"You were almost burnt up by that beam." Rink explained. "But I was able to teleport us both out, before it did too much damage. Yet, there was part of a split second where you were exposed to the beam. We almost lost you." Rink then motioned to everyone. "But all of us gave you an energy transfer."
"Well, thank you. All of you." Duilin smiled. "So, what are you guys going to do now?" He asked the Velkens.
Virmir then explained they would make their home in Draven's old castle. Apparently Draven must have been killed by Retan earlier.
Good riddance, Duilin supposed.
Duilin then got Bell and Lagart to help him up. He had his arms around both of them.
"Renard." He said his Velken friend. "I want you to know that I'm not angry at you for what you did. I understand why you and your friends wish to isolate yourselves because it's true that the others won't accept you. But I will, so if you ever need me to do anything in the future, I'll do my best to help."
---
Vandrin slowly and carefully walked through the ruins. It was amazing he just had to see the damage. Many other Kandarins who survived started to crowd around and pick up things.
"By the gods. This is...kinda cool." Vandrin smirked. Then something caught his eye, it was partially burried underneath some rubble. It appeared to be a vial of some sort.
He walked over towards it, and picked it up. It was a glass vial, surprisingly it wasn't fully broken, but it had some chips and cracks on it. It would likely need a new container. He looked at the contents inside. It was an eerie blood red liquid, he looked into it, there was definitely some sort of power inside this.
"Hmm." He looked at the vial a little longer, but then he spotted a crowd of people, he thought he recognized one or two of them. He felt a little uncomfortable. He pocketed the vial and then walked off.
--- ---
- Somewhere in the Dark Continent -
Valos had a shovel and was digging a hole in the ground.
"Lousy demons. Lousy drakens. Lousy everything." He rambled as he dug. "I hate them all. They're all after me. They'll never get me. None of them."
There was a rapid rustling sound, which quickly stopped as Valos looked up where he thought he heard the voice.
"What was that?" Valos asked himself.
"It was nothing, you're just being paranoid." He replied, to himself.
"**** off. I'm not paranoid. I've seen those demons. They actually ARE after me damnit."
"They don't care about you. Besides, you are half demon aren't you?"
"No, I'm not! My father was no demon. I have no father."
"Yes you do. Don't deny it."
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!! I HATE YOU!!!"
Valos then chucked his shovel several yards and then grabbed his head and then curled up in the ground. "They can't find me. They won't get me!"
"Well...if they really are coming for you. Why don't you just hunt them down? Kill them before they kill you?"
Valos stood up. "Yes...Yes!" He then climbed out of his hole and then clenched his fists and raised them high over his head. "YEEEAAEES!" He then broke into an insane laugher that echoed throughout the field...
--- ---
- Arctic Region -
A large black scaled wyvern was standing on a hunk of ice drinking the freezing cold water. It didn't seem to even notice the cold. The black scaled beast then lifted its head and then looked up in the air with it's piercing green glowing eyes. The wyvern then took off and flew into the sky...
A tall black robed man was watching the black wyvern and stared at it, as it flew off into the distance.
"Alright, break time's over." The robed man said. "Now let's find this boy the big daddy was talking about..." He then floated off towards the northwest...
--- ---
//A few minutes later...\\
- Gros Morne Ruins -
"Well, that sure was educational." Duilin said, still laying on the ground. "I may have almost died and have very little muscle movement left, but I honestly never felt so alive."
"Really?" Bell asked, laying down next to him.
"I just faced Retan. I made that guy know that no matter how big he thinks he is, that people will always step up to him. I think he had a very unpleasant time before he died, and I'm glad to say it's all my fault." Duilin said half jokingly.
Rink, Lagart and Bell laughed.
"Yeah, but as I was laying there. When I thought I was dieing, I felt worried. Not because I was going to die, but well. Because I knew you guys would miss me. Especially you Bell. I couldn't die happy knowing that you'd be upset."
"That's sweet." Bell smiled. "I...I love you Duilin.
"I love you too." Duilin and Bell then kissed.
"Blah. Get a room!" Rink snapped.
The couple laughed. And then looked back up in the sky.
"I don't want to be a downer. But I still feel like we're not just done yet." Duilin said. "I'm not going to retire just yet. I think I'll at least be able to slow things down. Maybe get a nice place to live. Perhaps there might be a place for me as a General or something."
"You going to join Tjed?" Lagart asked.
"Maybe. I'm thinking we might need to start something new. Like maybe some sort of alliance. Like I'm sure there are some other good nations out there. If we can organize everything then maybe that'd prevent more wars breaking out, and massive takeovers."
"We definitely will have a lot of work to do then." Rink replied. "But hey, that's not such a bad idea." Rink looked up in the sky.
"Not such a bad idea at all..."
//teh end 4 me.\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday December 8th, 2007
- Gros Morne Ruins -
And thus the Velkens bowed to the group and left for bluer skies, but not before Renard promised he would see Duilin and the others again. The sun was bright and birds sang in the distance. All seemed well.
For now...
- Some random beach -
Hubert wiped the sweat from his brow. A storm seemed to be brewing to the north, so their trip would likely be cut short. He reckoned they had a bit of time left, though, so he cast his line out once more and watched the baited hook plop into the water.
"Hubert!" Karl cried from behind him. "Come look at 'dis!"
Sighing, he placed the rod down and waddled over to his fishing partner. "What is it, Karl?"
"I found a little kid! Was floatin' in the water down there! Poor lil' guy's half drowned..."
Hubert looked to where he was pointing, but there was nothing there.
"Funny..." Karl said, scratching his head. "He was 'ere a minute ago..."
A chill laced Hubert's bones, and he shuddered as the sunlight seemed to fade.
What.
Do.
You.
Fear?!?!
Hubert screamed like a little girl at the giant fanged fish that leapt out of the water and flew through the air, chasing him. For Karl, it was a long sea snake, with spindly barbs on its sides.
"Mmmm.... delicious..."
To be continued...