Kirnardaz wearily reached Daerian's castle, landing in the courtyard, greeted by slightly mutated shadow demons.
"Ah. I see my queen made some progress towards perfecting you all. Good." Kirnardaz dismounted the winged monster, looking at Ardeadai.
"Come along Ardeadai, we must get inside, see if Daerian is still home. You can finally meet your new stepmother." Kirnardaz took a few steps forward, before turning, and leaning in close to Ardeadai.
"And if I dare hear you be disrespectful to her, I swear by Gula's stomach that you will be locked into the fiery void left in the destruction of my realm, for the next 300,000 years!" Kirnardaz's warning was stern, true, and more of a threat than anything.
Then he led Ardeadai into the castle, going for the dining hall.
"Honey, I'm home!"
Ardeadai neared a fort, so he assumed this was the fort, and this was proven by his father's words. Hearing his threat, he replied. "I'm sure she's wonderfully cruel.". It was a compliment, and was supposed to be interpreted as such. As they neared the gates, Ardeadai positioned himself gate-facing, behind his father yet still to his left.
Ardeadai did not know the lady from the library was Daerian. He scanned the inners. "I only sense these creatures. There is no-one inside. They are yet to come."
On the road leading to the fortress, a black, misty streak raced by almost impossibly fast. If one were capable of slowing down time, they would be able to see it was a magnificient and opulent necromantic carriage pulled by two undead horses and a monstrosity that slightly resembled a zombified horse, draped in a black smoke that seemed to choke the air around it. Driving it was an imposing armored figure, a knight bearing the livery of an ancient and no longer existing Adelan noble house. Inside, the two passengers complimented the sinister nature of the carriage perfectly. As it sped down the road, it carried an unnatural wind with it, visibly darkening the area around it as it went.
Soon enough, it pulled up in front of the castle's entry, phasing through the outer gate wall and coming to an eerily silent and smooth stop. After a few moments, the knight on top jumped from the driver's seat, and opened the carriage door, and Stygia was the first to step out. She had magically changed her dress on the way to the fortress, and seemed like an almost completely different dragoness. Her hair was neatly done up in a bun, which seemed to rest between her horns perfectly. Her dress was an elegant and long ebony garment that fit her form impeccably and seemed to shimmer purple as she moved.
"Oh, it's simply amazing, dear!" She said excitedly to Daerian, and she held her hand out to help the demoness out of the carriage. As she did, she turned her eyes towards Seussal, the knight who drove the carriage. "Seussal, dear, could you return to my lair? Leave Lady Daerian's horse here, though. See if you could get one of those lovely looking shadow beasts to help you move it into the stable." She giggled, unable to contain her excitement. She was excited to see her love, and to meet his father.
Daerian stepped out of the carriage, slowly and gracefully stepping towards her fortress. Its dark walls were casting shadows at the land, the cold stone appearing as indomitable as ever. Her long hair waved in the wind, blowing through the rolling hills, and crashed against the fortress.
Kirnardaz, I'm coming... And I have a surprise for you! she thought, and a smile spread through her face, her long fangs giving it a dark, sinister tone. She was impatient to meet him again, and his son, too...
The beast let out a loud neigh, and shook its head when Seussal touched it. "It will find its way alone. You can let it go, it will go straight to the stable." she explained, and as if demonstrating it, the dead horse galloped into one of the gates. Daerian led Stygia into one of the halls, a huge chamber with many tall, narrow windows, and a great wooden table. Opposite them was a big fireplace, adorned by many stone statues - and Daerian immediately noticed Kirnardaz.
"Welcome home!" she cried out, rushing towards him, and in the moment when she got to him, her slender arms entwined around his chest. She pressed herself onto his body, embracing him, and smiled. "I have a beautiful surprise for you, my love. I'm sure you will like it..."
((OOC: Right, just quickly, here is how the ordering will work. From now on, posting will be split into "rounds". In each round, we may only post once, but in any order. As soon as all four have posted, a new "round" begins.))
Kirnardaz turned round and smiled, receiving the hug with open arms.
"It is good to see you my queen." Kirnardaz broke from the hug, as he suddenly felt a bout of instability, his body flickering between a gaseous and solid state.
He suppressed it, and leaned in.
"I need to talk to you about fixing a small issue of mine... Later, though." Kirnardaz's form flickered again, and he was forced to suppress his form yet again.
"And who is this guest you have brought with you?" Kirnardaz would have extended a hand to shake, but he began to flicker rapidly, and he struggled to control the instabilities.
((Unless it breaks logic. If this was real, Ardeadai would do the following before Stygia even had a change to talk. Realism.))
"Ardeadai looked to Daerian and then to Stygia and then to Kirnadaz. "Lady Daerian. What a coincidence. Father, this is Stygia Veno. I met her a few days ago. She is an acid Weredragon. This is what I was talking about at the library. Darkaroth was with them, too. That's why he vanished. You could say Stygia and I could be compared to you and Daerian. I take it we met on the same day."
"For formalities... Stygia. Kirnadaz."
Stygia stopped walking when Ardeadai introduced her to his father. She stopped, and gave him a small curtsy, a smile on her face. "I must say, my love. In the looks department, your father is certainly a solid competitor." She said with a giggle at the end. She resumed walking, and laid her clawed hands on Ardeadai's shoulder plates, leaning in to deposit a kiss on his lips. "I've told my servant Seussal to gather the materials needed for my end of the ritual. Soon, we can be one and the same." She whispered into his ear, and leaned back. Her tail swung idly from side to side, occasionally brushing against one of Ardeadai's legs. "So, what is it we will do here? As much as I...enjoy lady Daerian's presence, I desire something more engaging..." She continued, and wrapped an arm around Ardeadai's waist, looking over to Kirnadaz and Daerian.
Daerian raised her head in concern. "I'll do what I can to fix this..." she muttered, and while he was in solid state, laid her head down onto his shoulder. She still watched Ardeadai and Stygia, and it was a pleasant surprise to find out that this younger demon was actually Kirnardaz's son.
Eventually, she turned away, and while still holding the demon prince with both of her arms, entwined around him, she aimed her attention at the other pair. "It's a pleasure to find out that it was you two all along, if you know what I mean." she said. "However, there might be something I would like to show to you all."
A shadow servant entered the hall through a small side door, bringing a silver tray with four goblets, full of a thick red liquid. Daerian dipped her fingers into one of them - off course, it was nothing else than blood - and continued talking. "I have been working on our army, and managed to cross the shadows with... A dead nightspinner. I used its skeleton, and bred the perfect mounts. They are kept in the underground for now, but they are big and strong, with crushing powers, and they are completely obedient to the rider's will. I call them winged beasts..."
"You called them Winged Beasts? I think a more suitable name is in order. Skarvak... It means shadow-wing in Voraxian." Kirnardaz decided some improvements would need to be made. Kirnardaz tried to vent the constant instabilities, and black tendrils of smoke began to weave around him, shrouding him in the cloud.
"RAGH!" He suppressed the orb of weaving tendrils quickly, losing a lot of energy. He sighed, and decided to excuse himself.
"Excuse me. Daerian, might you accompany me?" Kirnardaz grunted as he moved towards the door, his form flickering rapidly now.
Ardeadai took the goblet of blood, and took a large sip. "Sorry about him, dear."
His armor changed to his more comfortable clothes, fit for a king and dyed with black and red, not too dissimilar from what he wore over at Stygia's fortress. "Welcome to the family."
"I really do think you'll enjoy it. You gathered your ingredients, and so have I. Your power will increase by vast amounts, but it is but a grain in comparison to your beauty." said Ardeadai, stepping forward and kissing her. "But before the two-way transformation we shall become more acquainted with each other, as Daerian as a new member of the family too."
Daerian, with her hand still on Kirnardaz's shoulder, and looked up at him in worries. "I believe this is not caused by the ritual... I can sense another power in you. Different from yours... Unnatural. You have to get it out... I can help you." she spoke softly, while she guided him out of the hall, back into the dungeons.
Before they entered the main room, she stopped him, quickly turning her dress into a similar suit of small armour as she wore the last time. "Tell me... Who, or what, with magical abilities have you met over the past month or two, Kirnardaz? Have you ventured to Fell?" she questioned him. The damage on one's powers that the spirit of Fell could make was familiar to her, and she feared that might have been the case of this sudden instability.
Stygia took a goblet of blood, sniffing at at a bit as she remained in Ardeadai's arms. She wasn't the biggest fan of drinking goblets full of blood, but she'd eaten enough people alive in her dragon form to have acquired a taste for it. She took a light sip, savoring it for a bit before swallowing. "Sounds like a darling idea, love." She said, and took another sip from her goblet. "Now, Seussal is going to need a few hours to gather one troublesome ingredient, but it shouldn't take him too long. There are plenty of dragons in the Thunderblacks, after all." She added, and she slowly twirled the goblet in her hand, her eyes apparently locked onto the swirling contents. Her eyes looked up at Ardeadai's, and she smiled, slowly running a clawed hand down his chest. "I bet you'd be even more handsome as a dragon. I'm going to have a hell of a time teaching you how to fly..." She commented, the hand wrapping around his waist.
"I ventured to Fell, yes, but it has never affected me before. I met Senka there last time however. Do you know of her?" Kirnardaz had every ounce of hatred for Senka, no doubt fuelling every action of Ardeadai's. He hated Senka more than he hated Guinevere and humanity combined, which truly said something.
"She injected a crystal into me. Apparently into my..." Kirnardaz dropped to one knee, and a strange sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri5IcPW1li8) filled the air.
"Please vacate the room for a few minutes. Take any breakables that you do not care about replacing."
Daerian covered her mouth with her hands. "Kirnardaz! What's happening?" she screamed, backing up into the corridor. Even though she changed into her fierce form, she could feel something dangerous in the air, and didn't have a good feeling about this...
"I will find this Senka... And I'll feed on her blood. I have heard of her..." she muttered with her fingers still pressed on her mouth.
"You need not do that, dear."
Almost immediately, demon wings sprouted from his back. "Demons have wings, too. Optional extra" said the demon as the wings returned into his back as they disappeared. He felt some weird energies coming from his father. Surely by now Stygia had heard the sounds eminating from the room. Cruel magics. He tried to not worry her with "Do not worry about that sound. I will see what it is."
He walked to his father and stepmother. "By that signal output I don't think whatever is happening is safe. What is it?"
(Sorry for post delay, guys. It's been a busy weekend)
"Dear, take it from someone with experience. Flying in a humanoid form is very different from flying as a dragon. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll pick it up within a week. It took me a month, but the circumstances of my transformation were a bit... " She trailed off, looking in the direction of the noise. It would appear that Kirnadaz was not as all-powerful as Ardaedai claimed, but it didn't really matter. As Ardeadai left her to check on his father, Stygia sighed, and sat down on one of the chairs at the dining table. She put the goblet of blood down on top of it, and just kind of waited with a bored expression on her face. She passed the time by threading her claws through her silky hair, and resting them on the table. She laid her head down on the table like a bored child, drawing imaginary circles on the wood of the table as she waited for her lover to come back to her
Kirnardaz's form turned into a huge red vortex (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2072/2460507520_5d680fd789_o.jpg), a hole in the fabric of reality itself, sucking things that had no grip into the inky blackness of the void between realms. Magic itself was drained from the area, feeding the vortex, keeping it from collapsing.
A booming voice filled the room, clearly not Kirnardaz's.
"I see this realm... It intrigues me... I shall stay, in this puny demon's mind... Oh how your kind amuse me. Flesh and bone, constructs of our entertainment. I am a void essence. And this being you call Kirnardaz, shall be my mortal host..." The voice was regal, deep, and well spoken, but held neither an evil nor angelic tone, instead, being filled with the cold emotion of a being that had only ever known darkness.
Daerian's jaw dropped, and she begun backing up towards the door, when she returned to her senses. She can't flee now... That would be a cowardly disgrace.
She didn't need anything, just begun reciting a similar series of verses as before. Without her knowledge, she pushed Ardeadai aside, and her body changed into its fierce version. The wide wings were beating into the air in the rhythm of her words, and her eyes were glinting with crimson.
Wind arose in the chamber, and Daerian's body was brought up to her tiptoes, eventually raising her into the air. In that moment, she was almost in a trance, and her hair, usually as white as snow, has turned crimson. Strings of a dark matter were reaching out of her body in the air, pulled towards the vortex.
Daerian raised her hands into the air. The reciting grew louder, then suddenly stopped. "LEAVE!!!" she screamed. It was like a shrieking siren, wall-shattering loud, and it has shaken the whole room.
At first when he had saw the portal thingy, Ardeadai got into a defensive position. Stage Two was realization that this 'Void Essence' was too too powerful to stand up to. Stage Three was disgust with himself that he gave up on his father so easily. He got Shadeburn out.
He sent a psychic message to Daerian. Don't use magic. The portal feeds on magic.
He stepped forward, looking brave as usual. "Who are you? What is your name? What interest do you have here?"
Stygia was still in the dining hall when there seemed to be a terrible racket coming from where Ardeadai went off to. She looked up from her now empty goblet of blood, a startled expression on her face. She quickly got up, and ran over to where everybody else was. When she arrived, she let out a surprised gasp as soon as she laid eyes on the swirling red vortex. She wasted no time in beginning to salivate acid, as the brightly glowing green liquid dripped onto the floor from her mouth. She bared her claws, and adopted an aggressive stance. "Just once, I'd like a social gathering to pass without event..." She muttered in an annoyed tone.
The vortex span faster and it became even louder at Daerian's use of magic.
Then suddenly, a being stepped through the vortex, revealing itself. It was a humanoid being, made of pure crimson, it's aura creating a field of pure emptiness. It was a purely voided being, absorbing every hint of power around it, an amplified version of Kirnardaz's own aura, but magnified to stretch across the whole castle. In principle, it would have done exactly as a mordecai field, but to holy and unholy beings.
"Feel me drain you... Your power is nothing in my presence. I am above you by many levels, and as such, you cannot sense my power, as you can only sense the worthlessness of your own under my field." The vortex glowed red, and Kirnardaz stepped out, his void like aura having disappeared.
"What are you?"
Daerian dropped down, still terrifyingly wild, and the strands of dark crimson hair fell onto her shoulders. The sharp claws scratched the ground, and her wings beat into the air.
Her eyes were glued to the shape, resembling a human, but far from anything mortal. Her powers seemed to fade in its presence, and the magic in the air was drained. Even Kirnardaz seemed to be surprised. The demoness grabbed one of the weapons, hanging on the wall - a large battle hammer, and stepped towards the shape.
"What are you? Speak, else I'll smite you!" she shouted, shielding Kirnardaz with her body.
Ardeadai got out Shadeburn, restricting all of his magic. "A Void Essence. Now that is interesting. Let him go without harm."
He neared the vortex, and it felt like magic wasn't the only thing being drained... He wondered about the portal. It is a well known fact that magic cannot be destroyed or created (except by gods, the creators of magic) but only used. A good example is Fell.
Stygia didn't know what to do at the moment. The vortex appeared to have released Kirnadaz, but she didn't even know if it actually meant harm to anyone else. She couldn't turn into her dragon form, seeing as how there wasn't enough space, so she was content to nimbly sidestep over to Ardeadai, her claws still held at the ready. So much for the king of demons... she thought, keeping a defensive stance.
Kirnardaz snarled at the being of the void, gently pushing Daerian aside, and walking over to it.
"Not a chance..." He put his hand on the being, which recoiled, before becoming smoke under the power of Senka's crystal, still merged to his soul. "I will thank Senka for only your demise. Do you feel it crushing you? There is no amount of power it cannot absorb. And you are no exception." The being began to flicker and shift, being drawn into Kirnardaz, clearly confused.
"Damn you demon... I would have made you strong..."
((OOC: I forgot that small fact about Senka's crystal.))
Daerian pressed herself onto Kirnardaz. The crimson in her hair was slowly fading, but it was still very striking and bright. Her sharp claws entwined around his arm.
"What was this? I don't like it being in my fortress..." she muttered. "I hope it will not appear again."
She raised herself to her tiptoes to press her lips onto Kirnardaz's cheek, one hand still on the pommel of the hammer.
"How did it even get here?" asked Ardeadai to Kirnadaz.
"Don't worry love. It was only a void essence." joked Ardeadai to Stygia.
"Jokes aside, what actually happened?" questioned Ardeadai to everyone.
He sheathed Shadeburn and looked around, feeling the magic return to normal. "This family truly is unbeatable. He walked around, smirking at Stygia.
(Sorry, short post)
"It would appear so, my prince. But if this family is unbeatable, then tell me how I have conquered your heart?" She jokingly replied, harmlessly and gracefully passing a clawed hand over Ardeadai's face as he walked by her. She sighed, and looked over to Kirnadaz and Daerian, flicking her eyes back towards Ardeadai. "Let me ask you something, love..." She started, moving in front of him in a manner that suggested he should pat attention to her, but kept her looking civil. "What was it exactly that brought you to my lair, prince of demons? Looking for a fortress of your own?"
((No-one posted in a while, so I'll go.))
"Conquer my heart?" Echoed Ardeadai carefully as he thought of what to say. "You didn't conquer it, you just own it... and you have done so the second we met."
He had all of his attention on her, like any normal person would. "What brought me to your lair? Well, some would say fate, some would say coincidence. But when I found the fortress, what brought me in was curiosity." said the demon. "And that reminds me, we need to upgrade that fortress too. Those gold Golems aren't invincible."
Kirnardaz was expecting the energy to come flying out of him, but he was surprised. Then he realised that the energy wasn't there. The void energy was trapped in an endless cycle of attraction, crushing the energy absorbed by the crystal, while still being absorbed by the crystal itself. He felt this paradoxical void sever, and knew that the crystal had gone. He had succeeded. He was powerful again.
His true power shone through, and he became a blazing, armoured being.
"Oh I feel much better... Haha!" Kirnardaz's eyes glowed like torches, and his flesh was a full crimson.
"That. Was a void spirit. Something composed of nothing. A being of pure emptiness."
At the sight that was before her, Daerian's hair shifted into a deeper, fuller shade of crimson, trailing long behind her back and down her shoulders. The sharp tip of her tongue flashed across her lips, and she grinned.
"I think I like you even better like this, Kirnardaz." she whispered seductively, her hands climbing up to his neck. Her armour, till then silver and clear, appeared corroded and black, sharply contrasting with her snow-white skin.
"A void, you say? Do you think more will appear? And more importantly, can we use them?" she questioned him again, showing deep interest in the matter of voids. If they could be manipulated, they could become deadly weapons...
(bleh post is bleh)
Stygia gave Ardeadai a sly look, and she smiled. "I really won't be needing the castle. I just need my hoard, so if we can find a way to move it, I'll gladly leave that derelict fortress of mine to rot." She said, and turned away from him to approach Daerian. "I don't mean to interrupt, but have you have any spacious, empty rooms where a dragoness could put her massive piles of gold?" She asked Daerian with a playful smile. It was an inviting smile. She had promised her love to Ardeadai, sure, but that didn't mean that she couldn't "love" Her other family members as well.
For a moment, Kirnardaz thought he heard a woman's scream, far in the distance, as if it were miles away, yet somehow right beside him. He stared in the direction for a second, before returning to what he felt was the bulk of the conversation.
"No, they're useless for all things but being an empty hole to throw things in. Just abysmal excuses for sentient life." Kirnardaz smiled, eager to have dinner now that he had fixed himself up.
"Daerian, my queen, what's for dinner?"
Daerian licked her lips with the sharp tip of her tongue once again. "Dinner today is special. I got to catch some Mordecai - we both don't like those, well, do we? And even a fae." she described their 'dinner' dreamily. "I've heard that those can be hundreds of years old and are very tasty."
She took a while to answer Stygia's question. "Off course, I do have some chambers, and more than few. What would you prefer, my dear? Dungeons, or towers? This fortress is full of unused rooms." she said calmly, with a wide gesture emphasizing the space her fort offered.
"But, before we start our dinner, may I present you an unique and impressive creation of mine? I have worked on them for many days... And I must say, they are wonderful." she laughed softly.
Ardeadai listened to what Stygia had to say and simply nodded with a smile.
Ardeadai listened to what Kirnadaz had to say and simply nodded with a smile.
Ardeadai listened to what Daerian had to say and simply nodded with a smile.
He did not say a word, simply nodding, thinking about how delicious dinner will be.
((I need more post time... sorry guys.))
"Oh..? but I'm so hungry..." Stygia muttered when Daerian mentioned something she was working on. She smiled with the prospect of what it could be, and filled her thoughts with expectations for the upcoming dinner. She purred almost bestially as a forked tongue came out from between her lips and wet her lips. She continued smiling, and walked back over to Ardeadai, leaning on his side and wrapping an arm around his waist. "Perhaps later I'll look at Daerian's surprise, but this dragoness is starving. I'll be waiting in the dining room" She announced. She parted from him, and walked through the hall's doors and back out into the dining room, letting loose a small flap of her wings to close the doors behind her.
As soon as the doors shut, Stygia's form exploded into a massive cloud of swirling black tendrils and smoke, which immediately shaped itself into her dragon form. She moaned pleasurably as she stretched, a moan that shook the foundations of the castle itself. She wasn't the biggest of dragons, but she was still pretty large at around 50 feet high and 60 feet long. Somehow, she retained her allure, even when in a dragon's body. Her features were smooth, yet precise, and her overall build was sleek. Her scales were obsidian, with shined violet under the right angle of light. "Gods, it feels good to be like this." She openly said as she walked over to one end of the table, and promptly set herself down on her side. Her long tail snaked most of the way around the table, and she set her head down, taking care not to knock anything over with her magnificent horns.
"Very well, let us see this creation of yours Daerian." Kirnardaz waited for her to lead the way, wondering what this creation could look like.
((OOC: Much creative, such short, very lost muse. Wow. Great))