[MOVED THREAD! Authors: Lady Dread as Mina, Small Wonder as Nakaris, Jester as Xurlaq, and Gold as Siyavash]
Lady Dread
Someone new!
Posts: 2
(10/24/04 3:30 pm)
205.188.116.135
Reply | Edit | Del All .dreaded.ressurection.
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No one understood what happened.
There had been rumors of Serendipity's upcoming downfall, yet- the day before the proposed attack Mina had just.....disapeared with her daughter. No one had been left in charge of the army, no messages had been left about Mina's wherabouts. Everything just..crumbled.
It had been hot then. Summer.
Now it was cold. Autumn.
No one feared the Dread Army anymore. It was gone; extinct. Everyone thought Mina dead.
Fools.
A well-dressed woman walked through the village, what looked like a little four year old girl clinging to her skirts. The woman had red and black hair.
Gold eyes.
She paused outside of the abandoned Dread Army headquarters and looked up at the looming facade. She raised a too-pale arm and pressed her palm against the door. "Home sweet home," she murmered coolly, fingers curling as she dug her nails into the wood and drew them briskly through the wood- drawing rivlets of blood from the surface itself.
Wait. Wood didn't bleed. Or, did it?
The woman opened the door and walked in, gesturing for her daughter to go sit at the abandoned bar.
The little girl went to do as she was told, but squealed when she saw the dead dwarf chained there; loyal to Mina's command even after her departure. He'd starved to death, unable to get to food or water from his shackled position at the bar.
The beautiful woman meerly smirked at the girl before she went to the table and looked down at the dusty scroll there:
"I hereby call the Dread Army," she spoke in a firm voice, laying her palm on the parchment, "Come, my warriors, it's a new day. A new time. Come to me, your Commander. Come to me, your Mina." The scroll began to glow..the names there becoming illuminated.
Mina's back. Different, yes. But, she's back.
The Dread Army has been ressurected, who dares return to it? And yet, who dares not to?
Small Wonder
Gackt is God. XD
Posts: 1008
(10/26/04 3:53 pm)
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Been so long...
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"...Mina...?" The voice came from the doorway, a few minutes after the woman and child had arrived.
Holding the door partly open and glancing inside with wide, almost eerily blue eyes, a young man with red-gold hair stood motionless. Along his left cheek, standing out light against his golden skin, a scar ran from nearly chin to temple, and an assortment of many earrings and necklaces decorated his body. Even more clicked together unseen, bracelets hidden beneath the sleeves of his dark overcoat.
He'd always had a slight fascination with shiny things, what could he say?
Staring, silent for a moment, he slowly left the doorway to move further inside...and it was also then that his eyes fell upon the child...
Damn...that wasn't...couldn't be...
Yeah, he was floored, to say the least, and for the life of him couldn't think of what to say. All he knew was, something had told him to come here...and now...damn.
It had been just too long...and yet, it seemed like only yesterday that they had both vanished...
Lady Dread
SotE RPGer ^_^
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(10/28/04 2:42 pm)
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The little girl's eyes widened as she looked upon the man who she knew right away was her father. Her mother had told her such wonderful stories of this man, stories of their love, and how they both loved her so very very much. Her surruel eyes focused on the ankh necklace at his throat and she let out a squeal, leaping from her stool and racing toward him with arms outstretched. That was her daddy, no doubt, her marvelous brave daddy! "Da!"
Mina whirled in a billow of skirts, amber eyes widening very slightly at the man who had appeared first. Oh, and she'd known he would be the first! This is how she wanted it, so that she could allow herself a few moments to just...hold him. "Nakaris," she murmered his name, the word almost quivering. Oh, she knew he would hate her for leaving him, knew it deep in the bitter recesses of her cold heart! And, what if-? Oh Gods, what if he'd found another woman to be his? The Archmage suddenly found her legs couldn't quite support her, so she sunk down into the nearest dusty chair.
Small Wonder
Gackt is God. XD
Posts: 1015
(10/28/04 4:24 pm)
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For a moment, Nakaris could only stare, as though expecting the two figures before him to vanish if he looked away, just as they had so abruptly vanished months ago. This might just be a cruel trick of his eyes, or yet another dream. But it was so real, and yet...who knew? After all, if there was one thing he was certain of, it was that anything was possible.
It was Vai that snapped him back to himself as she squealed suddenly and rushed toward him, and without even thinking, he met her halfway and swept her up into his arms. Gods, it was real! It had to be... "Vai..." If being separated from Mina had been painful, a pain such as he had never experienced before, being separated from his only child, his little daughter...he couldn't even begin to fathom putting it into words, nor did he think he'd want to try, actually. Besides, he was having a hard enough time organizing his thoughts at the moment, as it was!
But now that he was finally able to hold her again...all that was gone.
"My...ya've certainly grown, kiddo. Quite th' li'l lady, eh?" he told her affectionately, smiling softly at her. "But no boyfriends yet, alright?"
It was then that he heard Mina's voice, and he glanced up from Vai just in time to see her sink down into a chair...
Crossing the room quickly, Vai still in his arms, he went to her...and, though he wanted nothing more than to talk to her, to hold her after so longâ€"anything else could wait...where she had been, why...it just didn't matter right now, he didn't careâ€"he didn't want to let go of Vai yet, either.
But, he did, gently lowering her to the ground as soon as he was near Mina. "Gotta give yer mum some attention, too," he explained, before turning toward Mina. Relief and light-heartedness soon turned to concern, doubt...what if she had left because...ah...he didn't know. It didn't matter. Did it? Unless she'd left because...because...well...there were many possibilities...
But he chose right then and there to stop thinking about it.
Slowly taking a seat beside her, he turned and reached out a hand to take one of hers in both of his. "I...I missed ya, Mina..." he confided quietly, not knowing what else to say. But it was a start.
Lady Dread
SotE RPGer ^_^
Posts: 8
(10/29/04 3:25 pm)
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Vai giggled at her father's words, the sound driving over the room like bell-chimes. She hugged him tight, mumbling in his ear, "I missed you too, Daddy..I didn't like it at all! I wanted to come home. It was scary there." After he set her down, the little girl pranced about the room to peer out the dirt-streaked windows, sensing with some odd un-childlike intuition that her mother and father needed some time alone.
Mina's lower lip trembled as she looked at him, hands in his trembling to almost the same rhythm. She looked stiff and unnatural in the tightly laced dress- perhaps because it was fit more for a Duchess then the leader of a rogue band of misfits. Her amber eyes gleamed unnaturally in the dim light, the only emotion shown being that quivering lip. For a moment she just sat there and looked at him. Afraid, almost. Afraid he would refuse her. She didn't say a word, and after another moment of hesitation she moved. Vacating her chair, the commander slipped into her sub-commander's lap, pressing a powerful kiss against his lips...
Small Wonder
Gackt is God. XD
Posts: 1020
(10/29/04 5:08 pm)
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Reply | Edit | Del *sneaks in, taking break from evil essayness* >.>
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Nakaris blinked at Vai's words. Scary there? Where had they gone? Well...no matter. Answers could wait, for now.
Watching Mina, that thread of uncertainty and doubt that he had been avidly repressing started working it's way through him, Mina's silence encouraging it, egging it on. She had left without a word to him, taking Vai with her...and he had been so afraid she wouldn't come back. But...why had she left to begin with? If she had told him, given him a reason, at least, he would have been reassured, but he'd been given nothing. He had...ugh...maybe he'd been a bit too overbearing and demanding. He hadn't meant to be, nor would he even dream of being soâ€"she was her own, strong person, and Nakaris always loved that about her. He'd just been concerned for her...especially so soon after her pregnancy...
But after she'd left, he'd been half-afraid that she'd perhaps taken his concern the wrong way. An irrational fear, but...it was really the only explanation he could offer for himself.
Whatever the case, there was yet another, perhaps irrational fear facing him, spurred on by her own look of...fear, maybe? He didn't know what it was, exactly, or why the thought came to him, but...well, he just couldn't help but fear that, perhaps, she had only returned to say goodbye. For whatever reason...
That all faded when she suddenly slipped into his lap, his arms automatically banding around her gently to hold her close as she pressed her lips to his, and as he gratefully, willingly, reciprocated. And if he had had any doubts, well...this effectively cleared those away. Just as he hoped the manner of his own kiss would address any doubts she herself had been suffering.
Thank Gods Vai was looking away. Wasn't exactly a family friendly kiss.
Jester
Master of Laughter
Posts: 334
(10/29/04 11:42 pm)
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"Love... What is love? It is a pathetic emotion that disgusts me so. I would rather walk ten thousand miles through the flames of Hell, than allow such an emotion to linger around me. I will only put up with your feeble feelings towards one another as long as I get to spread death throughout this cursed Earth." Came a monsterously deep voice. The voice came from a black beast of demonic proportions. Xurlaq currently stands at a towering eight feet, not including the added height of his twenty or so horns. His massively muscular form leans against the frame of the door with his arms crossed, dark violet stripes barely visible. His enormously long tail waves around behind him with the wickedly bladed end of the tail barely missing everything behind him. He glares at the lovers with a constant glow of pupiless, blood red eyes. He seems to be ignoring the child.
"In the meantime, I will be outside. You people sicken me with your emotions." With his words, the hybrid demon stomps out of the room and outside of the building all together. Each of his steps cause the building to shake a bit. It's odd how he could enter the room, much less the building, without making any noice whatsoever, but leave with quite a racket. There's something peculiar about the demon's movements. If Mina would remember, she first recruited him when he was standing at twelve feet. Did he shrink?
Lady Dread
SotE RPGer ^_^
Posts: 9
(10/30/04 3:37 pm)
64.12.116.203
Reply | Edit | Del OOC: I know of the essays..blargh..
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Mina heard Xurlaq. Heard- true- but didn't give care. She meerly waved a hand behind her back at him, indicating she heard him. Rather then lessen her kiss she deepened it even further, almost biting off Nakaris' lower lip with her ferocity. Definetly not a family-friendly kiss..
Vai's eyes turned toward Xurlaq- recognizing him just as she recognized everyone. She trotted out the door after him, grabbing hold of his tail and giving it a little tug, giving him a mischevious look.
Small Wonder
Gackt is God. XD
Posts: 1034
(11/2/04 4:19 pm)
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Muah!
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The only hint Nakaris gave that he had heard the demon's spiel was a soft, amused chuckle. A second later, and that brief interruption was forgotten as the kiss was deepened.
Damn, he'd missed her.
Drawing a hand up her back, he brought a hand to the side of her face, his other arm still around her, holding her against him as his mouth explored hers. And he didn't at all mind her ferocity...not when his own was no soft, gentle thing. Eyes closed, he kissed her deeply, as though he had been starving. And, well, he had.
Jester
Master of Laughter
Posts: 346
(11/3/04 10:44 pm)
65.41.125.129
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Xurlaq noticed the little tug he recieved. He didn't care though. He continued to travel outside, even if it meant dragging the little girl with him. He found a spot by a tree and sat down, curling his tail around in front of him to see if the girl was still attatched or perhaps slipped off, being injured by the bladed part. He hoped for the second one, but it would be considered an accident. It wouldn't matter. Blood is blood.
Lady Dread
SotE RPGer ^_^
Posts: 10
(11/5/04 1:55 pm)
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Reply | Edit | Del [queen of despair]
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Vai was still holding onto his tail, her hands positioned so as to not be harmed by the blade. Colorless eyes gleamed as she looked at him. This was no ordinary child, obviouslly. The little minx continued holding onto his tail firmly, her eyes meeting his and not dropping, "Xurlaq.." she muttered his name slowly, the strange little girl pronouncing it as if she was reading it from a book and had never seen it before.
Mina pulled away from the kiss after a moment, her lips slightly swollen. "Oh Nakaris.." She touched his face, fingers trailing down the path of the old scar and down the length of his neck to rest on his shoulder, "My dear Nakaris.."
Small Wonder
Gackt is God. XD
Posts: 1070
(11/8/04 5:13 pm)
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Ladeedaaa!
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A small grin formed on his lips as he looked at her, simply taking her all in. The woman he had missed so much. Despite the differences that were apparent on her now, she was still, at her core, the same Mina he had shamelessly fallen for.
Brushing hair back from her face and trailing his hand back down to rest lightly but firmly against her back as he held her close to him, kissing her brow gently. After she'd been gone, he just didn't want to let her go just yet, not for awhile. He'd missed the feel of her. Missed her.
"Gods...so glad yer back..." he murmured, his voice not at all angry. Just relieved. He wasn't angry that she left...he was just happy she and Vai were back. And curious as to where they'd gone. But, he didn't bring that up yet. That wasn't really important at the moment.
Jester
Master of Laughter
Posts: 365
(11/12/04 2:23 am)
65.41.213.120
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Xurlaq would have found Vai cute and adorable if he wasn't such a heartless demon. She was cute, to say the least, just not to him. He continued to glare down at the child. In his mind, he regretted letting the little girl tag along. He wanted to cause his tail blade to spin and get the little abomination stuck in the lethal thing, but decided to break his gaze on her instead. He laid back on the ground to glare up at the sky. He hated this world so much.
Lady Dread
SotE RPGer ^_^
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(11/14/04 3:34 pm)
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Vai kept her little hands firmly on Xurlaq's tail, giving it a little tug, Xurlaq," she said again, "Xurlaq. Xurlaq."
Mina smiled at him, "I'm glad to be back. I never meant to be gone so long. I never meant to be gone at all." Her face darkened, nestling closer to her love. She let out a sigh, and began to tell her story- slowly, all emotion drained from the words:
"Foxfire came to me one night and begged to speak with me. He wasen't drunk for once, so I oblidged. He told me bring Vai with me, which made no sense at the time but I did anyway. He led me outside and here he attacked me. Now, I could easily have taken him on my own, but Vai was in my arms and I was forced to protect her instead of using much offensive magic. Somehow, I'm not sure how, he knocked me out. The bastard knocked me out.
I woke up sometime later with a nasty headache and the realization wasen't in the village anymore. Foxfire had brought me somewhere on Sirena Island where my people are from. I was...naked, and tied to a tree. Oh, he hadn't touched me. No, he hadn't laid a hand on me. Anywhere.
Vai was missing. I started to scream for her, but then Foxfire appeared in his human form. He lit a fire..and he started to chant. Oh god, the bloody nag was doing magick. Then, my brother Palin appeared. The two did some sort of spell on me, and.."
Without another word, Mina undid the first two clasps on her gown's bodice to reveal the ruby implanted into the flesh between her breasts.
"They took the stone I had once treasured and forced it to bond with me. They took its magick, you will remember it as the magick that made me ill, and fused it with my own. I went through thirty nights and days of torment as my blood ran through the ruby. I spent those hellish days screaming and writhing in my binds. And, those wretches made Vai watch me scream..they brought her in around day three and made the poor girl watch her mother suffer.
By the last day I mastered the art of feeling beyond the pain. I managed to lay still without writhing, I managed to keep the screams behind closed lips. Foxfire let me free of the binds then...
He told me that he owned me now. He told me that he and Palin had done something with the ruby so I would be his slave. So that I would be his forever. Oh gods, Nakaris..he was so jealous of you.
He made me his slave. I could not help doing everything he said. If I did not he would make me scream and scream and scream. I became too tired by it to not bow my head and oblidge whatever he wished of me. He wished things I will never speak of aloud."
Mina's eyes were blank, but her fingertips dug into Nakaris' arm.
"Of course, I eventually freed myself from him. I found a way to harness the power he had over me, and use it against him. I was more adept then a miserable kelpie could ever hope to be. I made him slit his own throat. Then i found Vai and I left...
I stayed in Connoloath for a few weeks so as to try to forget everything. There I did not think of magick. I was just a normal barmaid with a normal menial job with a monotonous life.
Then..I came back. I'm ready to start my conquest again."
Small Wonder
Gackt is God. XD
Posts: 1121
(11/26/04 3:13 pm)
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*TWITCH!*
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Nakaris listened to her story as she told it, a growing feeling of illness increasing within him as, with every word, the story grew grimmer and grimmer. From the way she had first started to tell it, he had felt right then and there that it wasn't going to be pretty. The way all emotion drained from her spoke volumes, giving him fair warning. But nothing could have prepared him for what she was now telling him.
God damn...he soon began to fervently wish her disappearance had been of her own accord, for whatever reason. That would have been infinitely better than this...than being taken somewhere against her will...he couldn't stand that thought...
His body was tense as he listened, and, in addition to shock, a sense of guilt began to build. Why hadn't he heard? She'd been attacked right outside...he should have heard it, shouldn't he have?
But he hadn't.
That should have been bad enough. But, indeed, it got worse as Mina explained the stone that was now embedded in her chest. And spoke of her days and days of torment. As she spoke, he drew closer to her, stroking her hair softly and soothingly as he listened.
Foxfire. Foxfire had done all this? Foxfire!? What. The. Hell!? And all in front of Vai.
And he was...jealous of him? Foxfire...was jealous of him!? That's why he did this!? He wanted Mina?
Nakaris had never seen that coming.
His body tensed more with every word Mina spoke, though he managed to keep his expression and touch soft. God damnit, he wanted to KILL the bastard! He and that fuckin' brother of her's! No...not kill. Killing was too quick. He wanted to make them scream and scream and scream like they'd made Mina, make them suffer for hurting Mina and hurting Vai. Vai...she'd said the place was scary. Gods, he would have never thought up this kind of scenario based off her words! She had been so calm...it was bad enough what they'd done to Mina, but to include Vai...
He held his anger at bay and focused on listening to Mina and comforting her as best as he could. When she had finished, it was a few moments before he could find his voice, for his mouth had turned dry. Finally, though, he swallowed and spoke.
"...Where's yer brother?" he asked, voice deathly soft, but then winced. That wasn't the first thing he had intended to say; he had meant to say something comforting. But it had been the first thing that had formed on his tongue once he regained the ability to speak. Foxfire had been killed...but Mina had said nothing of her brother. And as far as Nakaris was concerned, he was equally responsible. If not more for putting the spell on the jewel to begin with.
Jester
Master of Laughter
Posts: 387
(11/26/04 4:51 pm)
204.62.96.79
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"Release my tail if you know what's good for you. Otherwise, I'd be forced to fillet you with it." Xurlaq notes, still glaring up at the sky. He hasn't moved an inch since he laid down. He wasn't planning to for the moment either.
Lady Dread
SotE RPGer ^_^
Posts: 13
(11/28/04 9:50 am)
152.163.100.204
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Vai held onto his tail- didn't let go. "Fillet! Fillet!" It sounded oddly like she was taunting...
Mina watched Nakaris' reaction throughout her whole story, eyes gliding along the strain in his muscles. She rested a slender hand against his shoulder, lightly massaging his tense muscles with her fingertips. "Palin..i don't know. i haven't seen him since.."
Small Wonder
Gackt is God. XD
Posts: 1137
(11/30/04 1:23 pm)
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Le grrr!
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Nakaris hadn't been aware that he had tensed up until Mina's fingers found and began massaging his shoulder and, reflexively, he forced himself to untense a little. Though that proved a bit difficult. And understandably so! He was pissed. Not at Mina, by any means; none of this was her fault, and even if it had been her doing, he was just too relieved to have her back to be angry. No, he was angry at Foxfire for doing this to her and including Vai, at Palin for helping, at himself for being able to do nothing about it. Why hadn't he gone and looked for her? He probably wouldn't have been able to find her, anyway...but he had been convinced she had gone of her own will for her own reasons...
"Yeah...figures..." he muttered. The coward. Of course he wouldn't show his face now. "He best stay away, too. I'll kill 'im." He said it simply, as though stating a well-known fact.
He hadn't even known Mina had had a brother until just now, either. She'd never mentioned it to him, and the idea had never crossed his mind. But that didn't matter. He hated the bastard already. He didn't have to know about him in advance to know that he hated him now.
But...something told him that now probably wasn't the time. He should be being more supportive, as he wanted to be. Unfortunately, that never was his strong point. He never knew the right words or appropriate actions.
Taking a deep breath, he shook his head slowly. "Mina, I'm...I'm sorry. I had no idea..." he said quietly, regretfully.
Jester
Master of Laughter
Posts: 393
(12/2/04 11:13 pm)
208.13.133.94
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Xurlaq shot up from where he laid with the urge to backhand the child. Instead, he grabed her by the back of her shirt and plucked her away from his tail. His pupiless, red glow of a gaze glares at the girl.
"You are lucky you are the child of my current commander. Otherwise, I'd take pleasure in gutting you." The monsterous beast growls at the little girl before placing her back on the ground. He lays back on the ground to glare at the sky.
Gold
Miss Oblivious
Posts: 441
(12/4/04 7:13 pm)
69.137.159.91
Reply | Edit | Del Siyavash...I forgot about him...woops XD
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Siyavash appeared back in town within a matter of minutes, taking the Shadow Roads immediately after the call from Mina had awoken in him. So...she was finally back and ready to get things back on track.
Actually, he was quite annoyed with her sudden disappearance and almost ignored the call. What type of commander would leave her plans half finished? Simply disappearing without a word along with her daughter and any trace that she had been here. But something had urged him to come back and he was willing to give this army thing one more chance. After all, he had no luck in finding Sahirah in the time he had been away...it was almost as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth with his amulet....and oh how he would love to have it if the siege were to take place soon. To have an entire army of shadows would be to their greatest benefit.
With a small puff of shadows he appeared beside the building where the commander now sat. With a sigh he stepped out of the shadows and entered into the house, his ebony staff clicking pointedly on the wooden floorboards.
Lady Dread
SotE RPGer ^_^
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(12/12/04 4:19 pm)
152.163.100.204
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Mina didn't reply to Nakaris, for that was when Siyavash appeared. She got up from Nakaris' lap calmly, running her hands down the bodice of her intricate dress so as to smooth out the wrinkles. "Siyavash- welcome back." The Archmagus inclined her chin slightly, offering the other a sinister smile. "All will be explained in due time." She seemed to be able to read his facial expression; she would tell the story to them all. They would all know of the transgressions that befell her.
Vai giggled, "Silly silly.." Her bright eyes gleamed, and she sat down, looking at him with her devilish eyes. She grinned wildly and touched his tail again. Oh yes, she was taunting him..
Oh yes, Vai's last action will indeed be her last. Xurlaq shot up from where he laid and was about to do something very harsh when he caught the sight of a winged being approaching from the sky. If there's one thing he hated most, it would have to be angels. This one is confusing though. He had not only a pair of angelic wings, but also a pair of batlike wings. Xurlaq could only conclude one thing while he stood up from where he laid.
"Abomination..." The word escapes his lips with his monsterous voice. It sickens him to hear of angels and demons making young, but it happens. His own daughter even had hers with an Archangel. Such horrible creatures they are.
Tesri landed on the grassy area just in front of the Dread Army's headquarters and folds his batlike wings like a tattered cape and his angelic wings under the cape. He's greeted by the sight of an eight foot demon with a ten foot tail that hold a tail blade of wicked proportions. He couldn't help but stare back at the massive demon as he glared back at him. A demon that he could easily identify as his own blood.
"Xurlaq..." He speaks to himself, knowing that not even Xurlaq knows that he is indeed a grandson. Perhaps it would be best for him to tell the demon later. Now, he has led a fallen angel to his future. That is, if the fool didn't get lost on the trip. He places his gloved hands on the handles of his scimitars and continues to stare at Xurlaq as he waits for Ramiel's arrival.
Nakaris was disappointed about their recent interruption, especially so soon, but...meh. Knowing their luck, it was bound to happen, and with the seige still at hand, expected. Still, he would have liked a little more alone time with her, but...he supposed there would be plenty of time later once the issue of the seige was addressed and taken care of.
Rising himself, he listened as Mina spoke to Siyavash...and it was also then that another thought clicked into place. Vai. She'd left the building, understanding with that uncanny wisdom of hers that he and Mina needed some time together.
Hopefully she hadn't gone too far. Wisdom or not, she was still a child. And not just any child, but his little girl. And this was a village of demons and the like...not exactly the best place for a child to wander, though hopefully most knew who's kid she was and would think twice before touching her...unless they had a serious deathwish.
He glanced over at Mina. "I'm...gonna see what Vai's up to..." he told her, and with that said, slipped outside, allowing Mina to stay where she was to fill in Siyavash if she needed to.
(crappy post...argh!)
Brightness. It was the first thing Venorik noticed when he exited the darkness of the caves. It had been long journey, to say the least. Suddenly he jumped back into the cave, swords appearing in his hands. Something had just tried to attack him, he was sure of it. He looked around for a dagger or an arrow, squinting his eyes, caught in the decision of switching out of the light spectrum or not. Poking his head out around the corner, he smirks, visualizing himself already getting a kill in the first seconds of his surface life. He felt it again. Pushed up against the wall, his face contorts in a state of confusion. His cloak was moving. " what vile faerie sorcery is this!!??" he yells, throwing his cloak across the cavern. He felt it once more. A movement around him, around his entire body. Teachings of the hated surface realm came to mind at the same moment that Qee'lakstreea confirms his suspicions. " wind." his swords tell him laughingly, almost jesting about his utter paranoia regarding the lighted home of his light skinned cousins.The enemy.
"vith." he says to himself as he slowly walks across the cavern to retrieve his cloak.He slides it back into place around his body easily, laughing at himself as his blades had. He walks back to the cave exit, taking another step out. He was fortunate to have Qee'lakstreea, the demon sheilding his eyes from the painful burning that would be passed on to any of his kin upon seeing the bright light emenating from the gigantic ball of fire that floated in the sky in this cursed place.He was finally here. He still held no doubts in leaving Lith My'athar and his position as weapons master of the first house.
The sound of grating flesh would be heard if any beings were around as his blades slide back into the place they had came from. He had a purpose for being here. His race as a whole decided to stay out of such surface ordeals all together. But he had a different point of view, as did Kerath, the only person he trusted in the world that he knew. Kerath would also arrive here...but he would be a bit late. For now, he had his purpose. He was to locate the one named Mina, for the two of them. The dread army would be very fitting for a killer such as himself, and equally so for Kerath. He squints once more as he looks upon his destination. He wonders how hard it will be to find her once inside the village, and figures it will most likely take some time and effort. He was willing. He had seen centuries pass by, a few days max of searching meant nothing to the drow, and even less to Qee'lakstreea. He walks into the forest, collesting some wood and carrying it back into the cave. He would wait for now, waiting for the right time. Lighting the fire, he looks back out into the stars that now covered the dark dome above the mountain, and unrolls his sleeping cloth. He indulges in thoughts of plunging a blade into the heart of a surface elf as he blunders into the realms of slumber.
Koudelka stood in the darkness of an alley, her green eyes surveying the scene before her, a smirk playing on her lips.
Ever since she had heard the call from Mina she had been riding towards the dark mage village. She longed for battle. She longed for the rise of the Dread Army. She longed for the day when they would rule Serendipity, a victory which had almost been theirs.
Koudelka smiled softly to herself as she began walking towards the building.
Victory would be their's this time, she could feel it.
Koudelka nodded to Nakaris as he left, before entering the building.
"It's good to have you back Commander"
Koudelka smiled, pushing back the hood on her black cloak, her brown hair tumbling down to well past her shoulders. Her eyes danced evily at the thought of the havoc they would reek (sp?).
"Who's the fool? The fool who tried to lose the fool? Or the fool who kept up with the fool? Or how about the fool who agreed to follow the fool who tried to lose the fool?" Ramiel's voice hissed into Tesri's ear from behind, despite the thought of either of them being a fool wasn't stated verbally. It was a small confusing puzzle indeed, even he thought that he had confussed himself for a second. It just turned out to be the fact he'd never been here. Or to any place that had some kind of a semblance to it. It was dark in the same nature that described his black heart and soul at the time. Yet despite the relavation between the place and his soul, he was not accustomed to being in a place of absolute darkness. This place was very nerve wreaking, but at the same time it soothed his soul a great deal.
Crossing his arms over his chest as he stepped up to his aquaintance's side, his gaze wandered from his "new-found-friend" to the demon before them. An eyebrow raised up as his head tipped back slightly to scale up the difference between this Fallen and the demon before himself. Little more than a two foot difference. Either way, it still kind of caught him off his guard. He had seen some decent sized demons before, but not one that was that much taller than himself. Then the questions began to fly through his mind. Was that demon going to strike the second he realized Ramiel was in a place he didn't belong? Did he had to place his guard up extremely high in this place to keep his head on his shoulders the entire time? How the hell did that demon deal with a tail of that size?
He didn't have the slightest clue.
The sense of those that were gathering here only increased the anticipated caliber of the entire deal with the army he had only heard of not all that long ago. This wasn't a place for him, even with the intentions that he held; he was certain that it was easily sensed as well. All he did was try to cover it up, act like nothing was wrong before turning his entire form to face Tesri. His face was a little pale, almost back to its normal color after all he'd talked of in Serendipity Village. While he was spilling out, there was no regret for saying what he had. Now he was having second thoughts. Yet it was a little too late for it at this point. He was already here, there was no chance to turn back.
His feet shifted within their black boots, his hands finally falling to his sides without a word before he turned back to that massive demon. Was he the leader? Ramiel didn't think so, but the idea of it still lasted in his mind. He didn't know who to expect to be the leader of this "army," he really didn't know anything about it other than it wanted to take seige of Serendipity. And anyone attacking that kingdom was greatly welcomed as a friend to Ramiel. Looking out the corner of his eye at Tesri once again, his lips hardly moved as he whispered in the man beside him. "Don't mean to be disrepectful at the moment, but do we just stand here all day, or is there someone I need to speak with?"
Ramiel was impatient, and again it was showing.
It was night apparently as Kerath walked around the last bend in the tunnel that he and Venorik had found to take them to the surface. When he stepped into the cave, he noticed the smoldering embers of a fire, and next to it, the prone form of House Vharzyym's first weapons master. He walked over and sat opposite the drow. Venorik, warrior senses better than any with that tanar'ri inside him, wasn't often caught unaware by anyone while he was sleeping, but Kerath, trained to be as silent as death itself, would not be noticed by him. Qee'lakstreea maybie, but the demon knew Kerath well enough to know that he was no threat, and would let Venorik rest.
Kerath was a fighter, through and through, and anyone with enough brain matter to outsmart a cockroach could see that from simply looking at the drow. He wore a thin shirt and pants of black silk under his more elaborate clothing. This clothing consisted of many pieces and strips of black boiled leather, rivited together in just a way so as to provide both maximum protection and maximum mobility. His boots, which came to just below the knee, were the same boiled leather, soft after long treks upon hard stone of the underdark. Over his light armor, he wore a black hooded cloak (though Kerath rarely used the hood. Prefering instead to let his enemies see him in the eye. If you are trying to remain anonymous and you need to hide your face with a cloth than you have already failed.) that came down to his shins. The cloak was attached to his shouders with two golden pins in the likeness of dragons with ruby eyes. His belt contained several puches containing many things of both general use and dangerous alchomy. coming down from his waist were lames of the same black leather on the rest of his person, again, rivited togeter carefully. Hidden under the lames were Kerath's hidden throwing daggers and ceramic balls that gave off light that could blind dark elves, although would do little to surface dwealers. Most impressive were his weapons however. Kerath had two enchanted mythral swords that could lenghten and become whips at his whim. When not in use, like their in the cave, they wrapped around Kerath's arms. The hilts resting along his shoulder blades and the tips spiraling down to the middle of his forearms, ready to come out to his hads at a moments notice.
Kerath, sitting there, let his mind wander back through time; to Lith'Myathar, where he had first come back to the material world from his years of torture...
Kerath had been the premier warrior of his city. His skill with a blade surpassed only by his ego. It was his ego, his unwillingness to be just another male drone to the drow priestesses of Lloth, that had started this whole journey he was on. After slitting the throat of his matron after refusing to be the bitch's toy, Kerath was sacrificed to the Spider Queen. For over 500 years he was tortured in the abyss by Lloth and her Tanar'ri fiends. But, unlike almost all who are tortured within the abyss, Kerath didn't break. Unlike all the others, he grew stronger with the captivity, instead of weaker. He possesed some kind of strength, some will for vengeance, for freedom, that he was able to learn from the pain. He embraced it, and knew, deep down, that his time would come.
His time did indeed come. In the form of a tanar'ri who had wronged Lloth and fled to the material plain. She needed him. After swearing that he would be tortured for an eternity, she let him out after some few hundred years. He had beaten the queen of chaos. Lloth freed him in turn that he banish the traitorous demon back to her. That his how he came to house Vharzyym.
A drow named Venorik Vharzyym had provided new flesh for Kerath and took him into his house after the Tanar'ri had been banished to the abyss. They had fast grown to trust each other and now, had decided to come to the surface to join this dread army they had heard rumours of. Lyth'Myathar, their city, had gone to hell anyway.
Kerath came out of his memories as the sun crested over a nearby mountain. He had never seen the sun and the pain it brought to his eyes could only be described as excrutiating. Kerath barely even knew the pain existed. Afterall, it was only pain.
"The fool who believes that the other fool tried to lose the fool, when he simply knows of the other fool's potential to keep up with the fool." Tesri replies to Ramiel's confusing trivia without diverting his gaze away from the monsterous demon. It was indeed a stare down, but for a different reason with Tesri. Being an agent for his entire life, Tesri learned many things. One was the neverending war between the Godsend and Hellsend.
"Ex-Hellsend Master, Xurlaq. One who abandoned his position to search the Earth for his daughter." Tesri speaks out loud, knowing just about everything about the demon before him. Xurlaq's eyes narrow into a glare directed towards Tesri.
"Who are you?" Xurlaq demands in his monsterous voice. Tesri doesn't reply too soon. He simply turns away and begins towards the building.
"The one you search for is my mother." Tesri adds his final say as he continues towards the lone building. Xurlaq's pupiless eyes shoot wide open is shock. He can't find it in him to retort or attack Tesri. His shock is currently too much for him to even move. While still walking away from Xurlaq, Tesri turns his head in Remial's direction to reply to his question that seemed like was ignored.
"We find the commander."
Ramiel raised an eyebrow as he listened to Tesri's response, a little taken aback by it but he hadn't expected any less of his guide here. There was nothing he could really do at the moment except look back and forth between the massive demon and Tesri, trying to figure out just what was going on until he noticed the shock on the gigantic demon's face. Almost left behind, his feet quickly moved him to catch his "new friend." There was nothing much more to call Tesri, at this point Ramiel didn't have much of anything else to call him.
The commander . . . Ramiel couldn't help but wonder what kind of commander this army had. Ideas on the guy began to pass through his mind, but he quickly shook them away before stuffing his hands deep into the pockets of his breeches. This person had to mean something for these beings to start coming back to him. It all kind of sent Ramiel into a long and endless train of thought, one that if he wasn't careful he was going to get himself separated from Tesri. Then he'd be in a bit of trouble here.
"Is there anything I might want to know about this commander before hand? I'd really like to keep my head on my shoulders if I say something wrong . . . " Normally, pissing someone off would've brought a impish grin to his lips, but this time things were on a more serious level. He'd have to force himself to keep himself in line, something that was going to be a rough task by itself.
Qee'lakstreea felt Kerath's presence, but thought nothing of it. It was expected, yet not so early. Venorik had thought that he had a few days on his friend, but it ended up he was only behind a few hours. The same dream flowed through his head. The slaughter of his family. By his hands, or more so, his blades, Qee'lakstreea, the demon who's being was intertwined with his own. Flashbacks of the same wicked smile given to him by his sister, before the smile remained forever upon the severed head which rolled across the floor.His brothers, whom he had never seen, in a fruitless attempt to stop him from his ultimate goal. His mother, Zeer Delgo. He came upon her chambers in silence, using a portal generated by his blades to enter silently. He stood above her, face blank, before his blades sent a wave of anguish through her, attacking her very mind with his own. She screamed. She called for gaurds. He offered nothing but the simple words that put an expression of horror across her old and withered face. "there is nobody to answer your calls, dear mother." he quietly says almost in a state of monotone. Her mind rushed with thoughts, trying to decipher the meaning. Then drean overtook her. The realization that Lolth herself was against her, for how else would a soul sacrificed to her come and secure the death of one of her devoted followers? She was sadly mistaken. She heard but four words before she could speak none for herself."do not cry, child."
The sun was rising, casting heat upon the cold body of venorik. His fire was diminished, small glowing embers stirring from a small amount of wind left in place of the blazing fire he had set up the past night. He saw Kerath standing in the entrance of the cave, and his confusion was calmed by Qee'lakstreea in explaining that he had arrived not that long ago. " you are early." he says, just loud enough for his friend to hear." i thought it would have taken you a bit longer...." A smirk winds across his lips, thinking of the business that had kept Kerath from leaving at the same time he had. " our destination is right over there." here tells Kerath, pointing towards the barely visable buildings they could see from their elevation. " i am not sure how long it will take to find this Mina, but with both of us it should not take long. We should survey the area a little more, maybe only for today, but it is not wise to go without the most knowledge that is possible of attaining. then we move into the city. We should look for ourselves first, i would like to keep away from questioning people as much as we can..." He walks back, rolling up his sleeping cloth. " how do you wish to go about it.?"
Dammar's scythes beat against the loonshit. Harks prick in curiosity of what's going on inside. He decides to wander in a find out. In protection, he transforms his equine bodice into a wolf. Then he goes in. Slowly, his framework slips undetected into the building. Rondures glance around the room. Strange group... he ponders. <I>Then again, I'm no plainer.
He sits in a corner, watching others drift by. Eventually someone will notice him no doubt. Golden rondures examine the beasts. Starless beast rests his frontmost pads upon the flooring and he lays down.
Hmm... I wonder when they'll notice. He begins panting as others brush by him.
From a shadowed alley across from the Dread Army headquarters a slender form watched. It was leaning against a building with smoke trailing from it's head, watching with bloodshot eyes so blue they were almost black. A spark of orange lit up within the cloud of smoke and more wisps of smoke raced from the larger shadow. The dimming orange light was flicked away and the shadow shifted, pressing a hand against the wall and looking closer at the building.
The last five nights of sleeplessness played merry hell with Hyacinthe's eyesight, blurring and fuzzing everything and making his eyes burn. He closed his eyes, tapping his fingers against the wall five times and opened them again. They still burned, still blurry - damn them. He'd have to get closer to the building if he wanted to see anything.
The Weeping Maiden told him to come to this place six days ago, in the evening after he woke up in that wrecked carriage. The place where an army was growing, one that was planning a strike against one of villages and it's sandcastle. He heard a few snippets about the army the day before the Maiden ordered him there. It interested him then, and when the Maiden gave her go ahead he wasted no time traveling to the village. He might have gotten there sooner if he knew the way beforehand.
That was the past though, he was here now. The building was in sight.
He stepped out of the alley, the sun sending a few faint glimmers across his matted hair, which was dark slate at the tips and a metallic silver-blue at the roots. His left hand, the good hand, rested on the bullwhip hanging from his worn leather belt. He wore a thin, grey turtleneck sweater without sleeves; baggy tan pants tied at the ankles with twine and dark shoes that were falling apart at the seams and flapped a bit as he walked. His skin had a very slight tan to it. Both arms were laced with old scars from whip lashes and a very fine scar was scratched onto the left side of his face, which didn't have the typical look one might imagine a street urchin to have. Though, nature doesn't hoarde beauty for the priveledged alone...
Hyacinthe slowed some when a creature - a horse - paced by him towards the building. Horses unsettled him, They kept horses. He closed his eyes another moment, still walking. When he opened them again there was some... big thing standing in front of him. He couldn't tell how close it was, but he could see the thing's tail. Was it a statue? It wasn't moving... He took a step back, still watching the big-tailed-thing.
*OOC* ok um..lol...the last post by Kerath might look slightly odd. It was mine. i was at his house and forgot to log into my name. So yeah..its mine.
The dawn had just began as Kerath heard a faint noise behind him. He instinctively began to turn around, his blades spiraling down half an inch before he heard Venorik's voice and remembered the drow lying next to the remnants of a fire.
"You are early," he heard Venorik remark as he turned the rest of the way around, his blades now back to their proper places on his arms. "My business went better than expected," Kerath replied at Venorik's next statement. "And do not worry. The remnants of the corpses have been properly desposed of. Even if their families suspect it was me who caused them to go missing, they will have no proof to warrent a search for us."
Kerath had expected it to take several days to assasinate all the seven Drow inconspiculously enough not to get caught with a number of collateral bodies to deal with. Surprisingly though, he had been able to do it in just a matter of about six hours. The purpose for these assasinations was to end once and for all Kerath's powerful enemies within Lith'Myathar. All but one of those "taken care of" were noble sons and daughters of various houses. The last being a common housless thief who had crossed Kerath's path one too many times.
He looked down to the barely visible city far below as Venorik told him of his plans for finding the leader of the Dread Army."It should not be to difficult to locate this Mina. Leaders of such private armies usually make it easy for themselves to be found. Convincing her that we wish to be allies before we have to fight our way out of execution is what will be the hard part. I think we should be careful as you say though. We will want to know just how well defended the leader will be, and if we will be able to get an audience at all." Kerath didn't fear that he would be killed. He doubted any of these surface dwellers could best him, especially with Venorik at his side. He only hoped that he would not be forced to kill anyone in a potentially lucrative and fulfilling organization.
The glint of the sun lit up the dragon into all sorts of colourful, fiery hues. From a bird's point of view (provided it wasn't colour-blind and was flying rather close-by), it would pick out burnished gold, lustrous red, cold grey, and more. She was flying quite high, no more than a rather large bird to the, what looked like specks to her, below, but not too high, as she wasn't sure if Feyda could manage the art of breathing at certain altitudes. She tilted, draconic head sliding to look down at the village, before she came to a decision. Not worrying one bit about Feyda, hell, the demon'd probably enjoy the plunge, she trimmed her wings to a half-furled position, and imediately sank into the rushing embrace of the air. Tail whipped out behind, as it was inclined to do, as she descended, almost like a hawk after prey, only she wasn't a hawk.
When she was about halfway down (she had been a ways up, after all), she slowly tightened the membrane, inching her wings up to slow her descend a titch, before back-flapping a bit to slow the dive, and then unfolded her forearms (which, incidentally, doubled as the wings which kept her aloft), causing her to shoot off, as she was still going at a rather fast-paced speed. Circling around, so as to not lose site of her objective, she dove again, only kept more control of her pace this time. Eventually, she hit a good height to look for a place around the Dread Army headquarters with enough space to land, luckily for her, there seemed to be one right outside. How handy. Lining up with the street now, she went down a little more, before catching her hind legs beneath her, flaring her wings a little, and making what simply must have been the most graceful landing in the whole wide world (no, that isn't biased, not at all). Her wings folded to her forearm as she stood properly now, with all four sturdily planted on the ground, the framework of the wing surpassing what might have been her elbow, if she was human, and shooting up tp pass what would have been her withers, had she been a horse, but what we all should call something along the lines of highest-point in the shoulder/base of the neck or, very plainly 'that thing.
After a brief survey of the area, glancing over what was to be seen, she crouched low to allow her friend, Feyda, to properly jump off.
"Well, we're here."
It's amazing how Latira went through the whole diving and landing process without really noticing Feyda's little escapade. When the dragon began her rapid decent, Feyda simply let go. She fell idle for a brief moment before the base of Latira's tail whizzed by her face. That's about the time she decided to reopen her eyes and reach out to grab ahold of the end of the tail. Feyda definately crossed the line of thrillseeker. When the decent was slowed a bit, Feyda took her time to crawl back toward's her dragon companion's head. Finally on ground and Feyda is just barely halfway back up her back. Latira crouched down and Feyda responed by leaping up into a graceful frontflip to land on the dragon's head. She stuck out her arms as if she were an acrobat in a three ring circus and took in a deep breath.
"WOO!! What a rush!!" She hollared out after the deep breath. Oh yes, she was having fun already.
Once again venorik realizes how glad he is that he had brought Krath back into this plane, out of the clutches of Lolth. Their first battle together plays through his mind once again, the slaying of a renegade balor, the reason lolth had allowed the conjuring. He chuckles to himself as he remembers Kerath's face when Qee'laakstreea's wings sprouted from him. How he has brutally sliced a dp cut into the demon's throat, a wide enough gap for Kerath to fit hit blades-turned-whips,allowing the fighter to saw the tanar'ri's head from it's shoulders. He comes back to his own time, looking out into the expanse laid out in front of him that was the surface. Suddenly Qee'lakstreea's voice sounds in his head. " i feel others, a growing power in the village, almost spiritual. I doubt we have the luxury of the extra time needed to survey the surrounding area and still make a proper entrance into the army. The sooner we get there, the higher ranks we shall have and more respect shall be given to us without a diplay of our prowess." After thinking for a second, venorik decides that the tanar'ri is correct, as always. " relay the same exact message to Kerath." he tells his swords through their telepathic link.
The ex-weapons master removes his cloak, setting it beside his open pack. " best to be as prepared as possible." he repeats aloud, pulling his case of daggers from the roth hide bag and pulling them out one by one, inspecting, as he always did, the fine craftsmanship of the head smith of house Vharzyym. After coming to his usual conclusion, that they wer no less than perfect, he starts sliding them into their places on the leather wrist and ankle bands strapped onto his body. After all four were filled up to their maximum capacity of seven each, he ties the top of his pack back together and slides his cloak back over his head to fit around his body once more. He feels hunger in himself as h starts to stand, and kneels back down and moves his powerful haands through the pack again, pulling out two wrapped objects. He unwraps one of them, revealing some kind skinned animal leg, most likely that of a baby roth.Putting it up to one of his blades, he smiles as it speadily cooks under the flames erupting from his blads, the deadly extent of Qee'lakstreea's being." Kerath." he says as he tosses it to his friend, knowing well he will catch it. He does the same to the other, then slides the swords back into where they came.He delights in the taste, spices added onto the meat by the great cooks of his house's kitchen."Vharzyym special, just stole it from our house last night." he says jokingly as he re-ties his pack and walk toward the cave's exit.
" I assure you, we will have an audience." he tells Kerath in his smirk as he walks out towards the village.
Kerath caught the rothe leg that Venorik through him and was glad that the former weapons master had taken the time to steal such fine food from the kitchens before he left. Yes, there already had waybread in his small pack to eat, but Kerath had learned long ago to never eat bread when you could have meat. A warrior's body needed fuel, and there was no fuel finer than the lean, fulfilling meat of one of the underdark's equivalent of livestock.
The assasin thought about what Qee'Lakstreea had told him about them not having time to scout out the area. He had learned to trust the demon's suggestions but could not say that he agreed in this case. To Kerath, ever the pragmatic killer, you never rushed in blindly to a potentially dangerous situation. He could fight his way through a thousand warriors if he was prepared to do so, but even one well placed bolt from a concealed crossbow could kill him, and there would likely be slightly more than one trained on him when they walked into that village. Kerath had been dead once before... he had no desire to do it again any time soon.
He kept these thoughts to himself though as he took another bite of the seasoned rothe leg and followed Venorik down the rocky trail towards the village.
Crossing his arms across his chest he turned and left the building, stepping into the sunlight which made his teeth hurt. Light...bah, how he hated it. Turning slightly, he walked to the shadow the building made across the road and leaned against the wooden side, in the shade of course. Here he was closer to his minions...the Shadow's from the Darkened Realm. Demon shadows, mass of shadows, it did not matter. They were his to control, to shape, and to teach.
iSshmallss yikaccia sssey msssivtach na he called under his breath in the language of the shadows. It was about time that they reported back to him on their findings about his darling sister. She had evaded him for a long time now, but she could not hide forever. If she stayed in her "Safe Haven" of the Spirit World her body would deteriorate until only her spirit was left to wander forever, hoplessly through the world as a ghost...of course he could only hope that she would be that careless. It would make things so much easier if she were to conviniantly die. Then he could retrieve the amulet without a fight.
A dark mass immerged from the walls, two flaming red eyes stared at their master. It was the first time in months that they had been called, and they were eager to portray the information that they knew.
"How is she?" the Master asked casually, like he was talking to an old friend.
Sshe wass lasst sseen in the mountainsssss, Massster the hissing voice replied from a small, akward slit that appeared in its mass to form a crude mouth. Sssshe hid with the Ssssspiritssss...but now ssshe hassss left. We are trackingsss her.
Siyavash nodded and waved his hand, dismissing the Shadow. So, he had just recently left her haven? Well that would make things easy. If only he could go and meet her the moment she is found....but he had his obligation to the army...a blood obligation that he could not break.
"Damned oaths" he muttered.
The Lizard was very patient. It sat there, on the wall of the cave, it's skin blended with the color of the rock, observing the events taking place. Master will be very pleased, he thinks to himself. He is confused about the apparent kindness being given mutually between the two drow. Then he saw them. The blads his master had told him to look for, confirmation. The blades of the destroyer. Excitement ran through his cold blooded body, something he had not felt in a long time. After all this time, they had found him. He skittered sideways, toward the exit of the cave, winding upwards to the roof, then moving up the lip to be right side up again, above the cave. It wasn't that far to go, and the excitement only made him go faster. His tail flew back and forth as he zoomed across the mountain terrain to his cave.
Finally he was there, jumping over a rock and entering a cave very similar to the one he had just left. He jumps again, onto the red robe, climbing up it to rest on his master's shoulder." it is him! the destroyer!" he says through the telepathic communication they shared. He could communicate with no other, only his master." i saw them!"
A large smirk grew across his face." well done, Silinrul."he says to his familiar.He had finally found the destroyer. He had spent a great portion of his life striving to one day see this moment. The one who had destroyed his house, his life, nearly four hundred years ago, was so close. He had no doubt his enemy had become stronger, but so had he. He had come to know power that not even the destroyer could fathom, he always tells himself. He rubs the plain hilts of his hooked blades, admiring his works of art he had formed in his personal black ceremony. Curved blades, with the ends hooked backwards, a straight hook, like lightning, which would fit perfectly into a skull, or rip open an obdomen to allow the clean harvest of organs.
He had been blessed by lolth, given the abilities to become the conduit of dark energy that he was- a dark weaver, and a high class one at that, able to weild both blade and the arcane with precision. His red robe flowed behind him as he walks to the cave entrance just in time to see the two drow leave, their obvious destination being the village he had seen the past few nights. He stares at the far away form of the leading one, answering his question as to which one was the destroyer.
" I have finally found you, Kaldin."
He was glad that Kerath offered no arguement about not surveying the area. It was a large place that would take days to cover, even with both of them working together. Respect was an important thing to him, and in an organization such as the one they were going to newcomers got the least of it. It was a littl tricky, moving across the surface, but he quickly got the hang of it and moved with the same precision he always did, the movement of a being that had been fighting for the better part of almost eight hundred years. He considers something, then stop and turns to look upon his companion. " pull your hood over your head now. lets see their faces when we pull them back to reveal two dark elves." They were coming close now, and details of the village could be clearly made out. A smirk tugged on his lips.
They were very close to the village now. A minute or two of walking and they would enter. "lets go." he tells Kerath. " stay alert, but keep weapon still, Qee'lakstreea will more than know if any actions are to be taken against us.He takes a second to consider what they will do when they meet this Mina, then starts off again." search." he tells his blades." you are likely to find it before us." As he walks into the village he looks around rapidly as he walks, looking for any clue that would tell him where Mina is. He assumes he is looking for a female, but you never truly know with these surface dwellers before you meet them. He continues picking his way through the village. It shouldn't be long before they stumble upon their destination.....or maybe their destination would stumble upon them.
( damn login >_< lol)
Kerath pulled low the cowl of his rarely used hood as they neared the village. Venorik seemed to have confidence that they would not be ambushed and that somewhat relaxed him, but Kerath had made for himself a shield of paranoia (quite on purpose) and always assumed an ambush, even in the relative safety of his own bedchambers. He would act as the almost overly suspicious eyes and ears of the duo. " Venorik might be at ease with this place," he thought to himself. "But I'm not."
Having your heart cut out by your own sister while you watch it's last dying beats has that kind of effect on a person.
Qee'lakstreea sensed Kerath's uneasiness, something venorik expected. Kerath was always alert, something he had let diminish slightly with his blades' unmatched prowess in detecting any form of danger before it happens. The surface was still very unfamiliar to him, most likely moreso for Kerath, but not enough to give him any disadvantage in combat, though it certainly made the hunt slower. H felt something about, strange, but not pertaining to the village.Something he had not felt since....he pushes the nonsense from his mind. The surface was slightly disrupting his normal senses, he figures,and shouldn't take long to adjust.
After about half an hour of walking, he sees a man that looks...odd to say the least. Many peices of jewelry adorned his form. Qee'lakstreea seconded his decision, and he stopped and turned to Kerath, motioning to him in the drow hand code that he meant to question this one. A smirk tugs his lips as the points of Qee'lakstreea slide from his sleeves, then go back up. He continues walking towards the white one, coming to stand in front of him. " greetings." he says in trained surface tongue from underneath his hood. " i am looking for informtion on the dread army. It would be wise for you to spill all that you contain." His voice carried no traces of threatening tone, just that of person plainly stating something that they believe to be true.
A thought crossed Kerath's mind as the human with the over-abundant jewelry crossed their path slightly ahead of him and Venorik. He allowed himself to smile wickedly, knowing that the low cowl of his hood, added with the poor eyesight of most humans, would keep the man from seeing.
"He has no companions," he signaled back to Venorik in the hand code. "There is no one to see." His smile almost took in his ears. "Let me kill him when we are through with him."
Afterall... Kerath Vharzyym had not shed blood in over a day.
[*finally gets to posting* XD Sorry it took me so bloody long! I was actually lost here for a while on what to do...but Ivv-poo gave me a good idea to compensate for Mina's sudden vanishing and stuff...]
Outside, it unnerved Nakaris that he couldn't hear Vai's voice and that, when he had looked toward the one other personâ€"or rather, demonâ€"that Vai had always seemed so fascinated with, Xurlaq, she was not near him, either. In fact, there were no signs to show she had even been here at all, no small footprints in the dust...nothing.
No signs at all...
But Nakaris was not one to succumb to panic without further reason to, and besides...it did no good. Keeping a clear head was more efficient. And besides, how many people walked this path? And there was a slight breeze today, as well. It would be really easy for tracks to be covered...chances were, this was just another instance of him going into Overprotective Father modeâ€"though, really, who could blame him, given the nature of this village?
Vai liked flowers. Knowing her, she was probably off picking some, which was harmless enough, though at her age he didn't like the idea of her wandering off alone like that, and if anyone so much as touched her...it...just wouldn't be a pretty situation.
But, just as he started off through the village, to that place where the flowers Vai loved grew, two men stopped him, men of a race he'd seen before, but only in passing. Not that it really mattered. All manner of strange beings flocked to this village, so their appearance hardly struck him as odd. Little surprised him anymore, with what he'd seen, and done, in the past three years. Still, his reply was curt, as he was sort of on a "mission", and he didn't mind the man's demand, nor the way his apparent companion signaled to him. Didn't mind it, though it didn't mean he was any less wary or suspicious, even if it didn't show; he was confident in his own abilities, and if these men were planning something against the army, such news would not be dealt with lightly.
"I'm Nakaris, sub-Commander of th' Dread Army," he introduced briefly. "Army headquarters are o'er there. You'll find Mina, our Commander, within. Report t' her if yer interested, sign th' parchment, an' you'll be filled in on our objective."
[grah...I...can't...write...today... *bangs head on desk*]
Venorik turns his head and smirks at Kerath. " i thought it would have been harder to find." he say to Nakaris, slightly sighing. He was almost disappointed that it was so easy, but refrained from saying anything about it. Even power should be wisely hidden when poised to strike, for then the victory shall be complete, and all the sweeter. He sizes up the sub commander just by the fact that he was not nervous, nodding before starting off towards the headquarters. His cloak flowing behind him, he slowly opened the door. So they would finally meet the mina they had heard was feared across the surface realm. Qee'lakstreea was alert, so the drow readily walked inside, observing the surroundings...Mina was nowhere to be found. He shrugs at Kerath, then walks to the middle of the room they were in, searching for the parchment." we should sign up nonetheless." he tells his companion in the drow tongue, scooping the paper into his hand and a quill from his pack. He dips the tip into his open jar of ink, signing his name, Venorik Vharzyym, then drops the pen. It floats back up, moving on top of the parchment once more, then connects with it, clearly signing the name Qee'lakstreea. He picks it up once more, moving out of the way and handing the quill to Kerath.
"I have an idea" he would say to Kerath in drow as his friend signed up. " we could use some kobolds." A smirk would cross his lips slowly, then he would move back outside, signaling for Kerath to follow. He catches Nakaris again and smirks. " i am going for reinforcements." he says, then continues moving down the street, stopping about fifty feet from the headquarters. " i will be back shortly." he tells Kerath, then turns. Qee'lakstreea slides out into his grasp. He clenches his teeth, moving the blades in a circle in front of him. Long distnce portals were much harder to open than short distance ones. The darkest blackness imginable followed the path of the two swords. He moved them slowly, a low growl escaping. Moving a horde through it complicated it tenfold. Finally the two blades meet, completing the black oval. The power it held could be felt just being in it's presence." Make sure nobody comes close to it." he tells Kerath.
Venorik walks forwars, keeping his mind centered on keeping the portal pure. A small chill is felt throughout his body as he steps through, coming out on the inside of giant gates. He switched his sight to the heat spectrum. Lith My'thar loomed before him.
Kerath kept his gaze on the overly-guilded man as he stepped into teh building behind Venorik. Whether by accident or design, the leader of the dread army was not present, though the parchment they would sign their "loyalty" on was set in the center of the room. Venorik took out a quill and ink and signed his name, Qee'Lakstreea doing te same, albit telekineticly.
When Venorik was done, he moved up to the table and, in the written common language, signed his name. When the former weapons master made his portal to Lith'Myathar to herd some kobald fodder, he moved to the open door to watch for his return; And to make sure no one was foolish enough to go near his "doorway."
Xurlaq finally came to and snapped out of his daze. He shook his head a bit and slumped down onto the ground.
"So, Doji had more than one abomination with that bastard Angel. She has corrupted herself as a demon. I am shamed to share the same blood as such filth. Nonetheless, I need to find Doji." The large demon notes to himself with his monsterously deep voice. If there was anything he hated more in this world, it would have to be angels.
Tesri couldn't help but notice the two Drow, speak with the orange haired man who declared himself as the Sub-commander of the Dread Army. Though, when he pointed the two towards the 'Commander', Tesri became a bit confused.
"You say the Commander is in that building just behind you, but I do not sense any other presence within that building, aside from the two Drow that just entered. Is there a reason why you would trick them to enter an empty building, or is there something that you have yet to know?" Tesri explains his confusion to the Sub-Commander. Perhaps he would have the mind enough to help clear his confusion.
Siyavash let out a low chuckle as the angel/demon voiced his open confusion. Who was stupid enough to question the sub-commander of the Dread army? It was amusing how little sense people had now. Sensing abilities or not.
"Perhaps there are some things that your delicate senses cannot trace?" The Shadow Master retored from his position leaning against the side of the building, arms crossed over his chest. "Did it ever occur to you that the Commander of this army might have some certain protections to keep people from sensing her? Or everyone who senses are just as dense as you?"
His lips twisted into a mocking grin. It had been a long time since he had be genuinly amused, that much he gave credit to the creature before him.
It was easy to get past the gaurds. Whether they were ordered to keep him out or not due to him forsaking the place with no mention and taking Kerath along, he could not be sure, but one thing he was sure of was the fact that they feared him, as well they should. He had trained them all personally, every member of the house Vharzyym army and the elite Vharzyym gaurd. They had seen what happened to any who ever opposed Venorik, and would go pale at the thought of ever having to be on the receiving side of Qee'lakstreea. It was the same with the Kobold slaves that were held in the Vharzyym complex, some for actual slave work around the area, but most as fodder for battles. Kobolds are weak creatures, no true prowess in any form of battle, but able to act as a distraction and as a living sheild for drow attacks. House Vharzyym had over four thousand of the creatures, none of his former house members would even notice some missing. The small, lizard-like humanoids saw him and just stared, waiting for an order, for they knew who he was. Everybody in Lith My'athar knew of the deadly weapons master, and had seen his fury on several occasions when lower houses were foolish enough to attack the first house of the prosperous drow city. He counted out what he thought to be an adequate amount, one that would go unnoticed to the matron. He thought for a minute, then ran into the complex. He had something to pick up from his quarters, but he had to hurry...every second he kept the portal open was taking a toll on Qee'lakstreea. Some were shocked to see the weapons master back in the complex, but he didn't stop to regaurd any of his students. Lolth's gift was as of yet unused, and he thought this to be the perfect time to change that. He finally reached his room, going into his secret hall of worship he had carved himself. He walked to the end, picking it off of it's mount. He removed his cloak and started attaching the peices to his body until it was complete. He stood up, admiring the abyssal craftsmanship. He felt power within the armor that now adorned his form. It had been made custom for his....abilities, with two openings in the back.The armor of the destroyer, the hand of Lolth. He put his cloak back on over it,and nobody would be able to tell he was wearing it underneath the think and loose material.
Venorik steps through the portal, back out into the streets of the village, taking deep breath of surface air. He walks further out, smirks at Kerath, then turns back to the portal as the first creatures come through. They file out in ranks of five, marching out, scaled feet feeling the ground of the surface for the first time. The portal closed behind them after all of the hundred and twenty kobolds venorik had herded were onto the street."stay." he commands them in the drow tongue. He strolls back over to Nakris, eyeing the beings that were now around him. " reinforcements, sir." his says in a chuckle, motioning towards the hundred and twenty lizard like humanoids. " weak creatures, but they serve as great fodder. He turns, going back to the kobolds. " make camp right outside of the village." he tells them in drow. " and you all know i will be watching, and any who try to escape will beg for death by the end." he smirks,moving to stand by Kerath once more, then removed his hood, assuming that his friend would do the same. A laugh escapes him again and he turns to the drow." this should be fun."
The light. Only once before had Kerath witnessed such agonizing light as the noonday sun, when, as part of his torture at the hand of the lady Lolth, great beams of light had been shot into his eyes, through eyelids torn off and eaten by demons. The sun stared down at him then, mocking him and his underdark heritage, as only a terrible god could do. "I will have my revenge on you," he thought as he looked up to the burning ball of fire almost directly above him. "Somehow, you, and all of the others who have similarly mocked my greatness, shall feel my wrath... Somehow."
The warrior was aroused from his internal shows of hatred as Venorik walked out of the portal, followed by over one hundred kolbold slaves. "We walk a fine line my friend. Between my genocide and your stealing, it's a wonder the whole city is not hunting after us," he remarked in the drow tounge as the former weapons master came to stand beside him.
"But I have to admit... It will feel good to be ordering fools to their deaths once again," Kerath said with a grin as he pulled back his hood.
The next thing the dragon found, was an extra weight on her head. Knowing it was Feyda, she didn't really mind. She looked towards what she assumed to be the Dread Army headquarters, and paused briefly in wonder that none had actually paid a dragon notice. What, was she invisible or something? This certainly was not she had expected to be greeted by, and decided that, if she was indeed invisible, they wouldn't mind if she moved closer. The street had proved to be wider than she had originally guestimated, and she was at least a few stride away, well, three of her strides, whose length could be guessed at by her larger-than-some-of-these-buildings body.
Her tail twitched slightly, like a cat's when it is mildly irritated or when attention is shafted onto, what she deamed, a clearly inferior lifeform. She took a few steps towards the entrance, and then stopped, deciding to converse with the demon on her head.
"Perhaps we should be flying more often?"
Ramiel's face twisted a bit into its own sort of confusion as he listened to Tesri adress the sub-commander. There was a mixture of confusion in his face, a bit from everything about this place. Possibly why he was really here to begin with. If the beings in this place were to be trusted with such ease. It was all taken back into the darkness of his mind as his eyebrow twitched slightly. There was an emptiness in that room they had been directed to, no sense of any significant life.
A click in his mind shot his senses off, reverting him to look around himself with a rather shocked expression on his face. A familiar being could only send him off on that kind of head-twisting alertness. But it wasn't here. It wasn't even close. Gritting his teeth a bit, he face became placid as that sub-commander made his response.
The Fallen Angel knew that he was more than not welcomed here, it was evident. More than likely, he didn't have the right to even speak his mind. But there was nothing for him to live for. This was all to get back at those within that damned castle of Serendipity. Speaking out and getting punished didn't phase him. It wasn't like they'd be able to keep him here. Even if they gave their best effort to, he'd get out one way or another.
For a moment, he placed a hand on Tesri's shoulder and gazed at the sub-cmmander. His eyes were empty as always, cold and heartless. There was nothing he feared anymore. Well, nothing . . . other than one thing; his opposite. Shaking it from his mind, he spoke in that cold, near silent voice of his.
"My friend here is right . . ." he started out. "There's no significant being in that chamber. Check for yourself if you must." Ramiel motioned his head toward the door. He knew that his suggestion of such was questionable, he wasn't known here. But he wasn't going to lie.
" that it will." Venorik tells his friend jokingly. " and i would't doubt it if the city was looking after us, but they would be reluctant indeed. But it didn't look like any extensive search was happening while i was there, all the gaurd posts seemed normal." He watches as the hoarde of kobolds filed out of the street and to the exit of the village. He was sure that none of them would dessert, for he had given them quite an incentive to stay: they would get to keep their life, for now. The armor he was wearing was more comfortable than any he had yet to encounter, and it was no suprise, for it had been made for him at the same time as the forging of Qee'lakstreea, but he had never been fond of armor, and never thought he would need it until now. Even with the kobolds, himself and Kerath, and the other creatures in the army, he is still convinced they will be hard pressed to defeat serendipity. He always thought that way when facing a large force, and it is how he always left victorious. Yet, when fighting a single, or even aa small group, of opponents, he did not doubt he would show them the true way to weild power.
His face contorts as Qee'lakstreea senses something past the realm of odd. He knew what he sensed, but could not truly believe it. He would not tell of what he thought until he was sure...maybe something about the surface was throwing his abilities off. Venorik felt it, then saw something. He looks to the side in time to see something move around a corner, and Qee'lakstreea's wronged feelings were felt in his mind, though he knew not the purpose. He chased after, compelled by both his blades and his own curiosity. When he turned the corner, nothing was there. He was caught in confusion and stood there for a minute before going back to Kerath. Qee'lakstreea told him of what he felt...and Venorik's eyes went wide. It could't be. He felt, as Qee'lakstreea, that underdark distinctions were different up here, and he pushed it out of his mind. " Lith My'athar may be chasing us after all." he says plainly. " Qee'lakstreea felt another drow."
Balkin was lost in the excitement of it all. He followed about a half an hour behind the two drow, Silinrul on his shoulder. He couldn't believe that he finally found the destroyer. He had finally traced the elusive killer into Lith My'athar, just to find he had recently left. He had thought his journey at an end, then had to travel up to the hated surface. They at last came upon the city, not long after his prey had. He followed the tracks of Kaldin and his friend, coming aat last upon them. And the destroyer was opening a portal. His eyes went wide with shock. He had been informed that Kaldin was a fighter. He knew he was fighter, for he had the position of weapons master at his lst residence. But the portal with he saw before him was of high magic, he was not even trained in that level of interdimensional travel. He sent Silinrul into the building he knew the two had recently entered, the chameleon running in wilingly. It cme out after a few minutes, buzzing with joy, It had found interesting information. " an army, eh?" he asked his familiar with interest. Then Kaldin returned from the portal, and behind him....his eyes went wider than before. A troupe of kobolds! he must be highly crafted in magic to bring something that large though. He almost considered turning back. He moved in closer, trying to decifer the words s the destroyer spoke with his companion. Then he looked towards him. He jumped back, and heard running steps. " VITH!" he sys to himself, then pulls an animal lung from puch on his belt. He utters the small incantation, then his form falls into a group of small spiders, crawling into a crack in the building next to him just before the destroyer rounded the corner.He could not reveal himself, not yet. After the enemy left, he came bck out and into the form of drow. " how could i have been so careless?" he asks himself and he runs further down the streets.
"Another Drow? Are you sure that it wasn't some thief hoping to pick our pockets... or some child running around playing?"
Although Kerath had hoped that they had eluded the inevitable searching of Lith'Myathar's powerful matrons, he already knew that Venorik had been right. In the split second that he had seen whoever was following them before it fled he had noticed the white hair and ebony skin. Kerath didn't miss much, even if he had only glimpsed the drow.
"It must have been a wizard or a priestess. Even the best fighters could not have so thouroughly disappeared so quickly unless with the aid of a wizard or priestess," He said as he searched for any evidence of who (or what for all he knew) had been watching them. "In any case, we must assume that we are facing at least twenty soldiers in addition to one or more priestesses and wizards."
Kerath finished his search without finding anything other than the faint imprint of soft drow boots and looked over to Venorik. "It seems that Vharzyym has found us afterall."
A thought comes to him at the mention of Vharzyym, though it had been tugging at his subconcious thoughts. " it was not of Vharzyym." he says quietly. " Qee'lakstreea would have recognized the aura of any of my students....." He wonders who else would be after him, and howw they would have followed him this far without him knowing. He decided to deal with it if it presented itself as threat, for he did not wish to hinder his participation in the upcoming battle.
"lets not dwell upon it." he tells Kerath. " i feel if it in truth an enemy, it will seek us out, for i doubt it has come this far to merely spy."
"Very well," he said, looking around once more." "But i'd rather them show themselves. I much prefer seperating an enemy's head from it's shoulders than looking over mine."
Hyacinthe's hand dropped to his whip when the tall creature he was staring at crouched down. It didn't make any other moves after doing so, instead muttering something to itself in an inhumanly deep timbre. Hya didn't particularly care to pay attention to it's prattling. He squeezed his eyes shut a few seconds, clearing away a little of the blurriness and heard something that caught his attention: sub-Commander of th' Dread Army.
He whirled toward the sound, seeing two cloaked figures and a red-haired man before his vision fuzzed up again. It was a little better than it had been though, now it was like the world was covered with a misty fog that blended all it's edges together. After the two cloaked figures went into the building, Hyacinthe edged toward the red-haired man, one hand resting on the outermost coil of the whip out of habit.
"Sub-Commanderrr," he greeted, drawling the 'r' at the end of the title. "My name is Hyacinthe, I vish to join you."
Irk, that was me, I got logged out for some strange and eldritch reason ^^''
Hrm. Nakaris wasn't about to put off the beings' claims that Mina was no longer in the room, though it did surprise him a little. He couldn't imagine her going off somewhere with new recruits coming in while she knew he was heading off to round up Vai. When a seige was being planned, she hardly ever left the place; she hardly did much of anything. She spent her time pouring over maps and making plans while he made suggestions, corrections, and edited portions. Even after having Vai, the first thing she had done when she could stand again was head right back for the "planning room".
That memory filled him with a bit of mild amusement, but only very vaguely. There was still the question of where she'd gone, and a quick glance inside proved the assertions true.
Strange. Very strange.
But he wasn't worried.
He glanced over at Tesri. "She was just there. But it don't matter. Th' enlistment scroll's still there; if ya wanna join, sign away yer name. Ev'ryone that plans on joinin' has t'. We welcome all those that would help our cause." Those final few statements weren't directed at Tesri alone, but to all the newcomers. It was just the standard procedure Mina had set up when the army had first been erected, and it worked. After all, you had to know who was on your side...and Mina had done something to that scroll to make it a binding contract. The ink used wasn't any ordinary ink, but rather unicorn's blood...
And now...back to his original mission.
Of course, once again he didn't get very far, for soon enough he was found by another prospective recruit. Excellent. Their numbers were doing quite well, now.
"Great, Hyacinthe. If y' would, go into that buildin' an' sign th' parchment there, then yer in."
And then, later...they would all need to be run through some training exercises. The day of the seige was drawing ever closer, and it was important to find out where everyone stood skill-wise...
"An' tell th' others o'er there t' start gettin' ready for some trainin'. I'll be back shortly."
[Blech. Aaand...I think I'm gonna be making a new thread so that we can get the seige on a roll. Sorry for my craptacular posts! ^^;; Been thrown for a bit of a loop. Heh. The next thread will kinda be a bit of a time jump into the future and we can all assume they had their training and stuff. That is...if that's okay for everyone? I'm sure we all just want to jump into getting the seige goin', eh?]
((S'ok by me.))
After signing the parchment and passing along the sub-Commander's message for those inside to begin their training Hyacinthe slipped away to an out of the way corner and slept for a few hours. It was a fitful sleep, since he was one of the world's lightest sleepers, every little bump and scrape made him open an eye and scan the room a second. But, he couldn't be very productive if he couldn't see straight and those hours were enough to knock the pins and needles out of his eyes.
The rest of the time was pretty much the same, training as much as he could, catching a few hours sleep, training more, listening in while plans were being made, training more, sleeping more. Training, sleeping, training, training, sleeping, training and all the while waiting for the day the Commander would order them against the castle...
He could wait no longer.The excitement boiled hi blood, his every thought pertaining to plunging a blade through the flesh of a castle gaurd. Qee'lakstreea burned with the same inner fire, some true flames licking out from Venorik's red orbs, the eyes which saw everything they needed to. His palms were wet with sweat, thinking of the conequences. He figured in this band of beings so close, well, he thinks, not THAT close, to being as evil as he was, they would only look upon him with more respect. But it would have to be alone, nothing to worry about but his own survival, His, but more prominently, Qee'lakstreea's instinct taking over. "tell Nakaris i go to soften enemy ranks and offer a distraction. Do not follow. come with them." he says to Kerath. His veins bulged. This one would be hard, for he had never truly seen the place. He had seen pictures, making it possible with immense effort from the demon residing in his bades. Flames licked violently from his eyes, a common effect of Qee'laktreea exerting energy. A balor was, after all, a demon of fire. Any around would feel the power emenating from the drow, for it had gone past what he could hide. His teech grinded,his fists clenched. Then the blades came from his wrists, flesh and muscle seperating to allow the exit of the remarkable extentions of the demon, and now, Venorik.
He moves the blades around, slowly, in the shape of an oval, darkness falling in place behind the edges. It started taking a type of solidity, filling itself in. He kept them moving, the shape nothing less than perfect, for the blades were controlling themselves at this pivotal moment in the transportation. He at last was almost done, and the blades snapped together suddenly, quickly, completing the black oval. He smiled before stepping through, the blades finding their place once again within his arms. The portal closed instantly behind him, leaving no traces of the powerful drow.
Kerath nodded, knowing that the strain on Venorik and his blades making such a long distance portal to a place he had never seen would probably be too much to take another soul along even if Venorik wanted him to go. Frankly, he was glad. Kerath much prefered leading a host into glorious battle to slinking through the shadows slitting throats.
"I will lead the kolbold fodder to brake the enemy's lines," he said, shaking his friend's hand. "We will give these surface dwellers a new definition of horror."
He walked away as Venorik started making his portal and went to find Nakaris.
When he finally found the sub-commander, the sun had fallen low in the sky. "My comrad has gone to Serendipity Castle to spread chaos behind the lines," he told the man. "We should leave immediatly. We can not wait for the commander any longer or my comrad will become a vain sacrifice. Gather up your troops to march on the castle."
Kerath, not waiting for a response, knowing that if the man had any doubts, voicing them to him would only worsen his resolve, walked out to the edge of the city to prepare his sacrificial army. As soon as the humanoids were in formation and ready to march out, he walked to the building where he had first signed his name and waited for the rest of the dread army to head out.
The dragon, still seeming to be a little overlooked, overheard at least one thing. Something along the lines of 'sign your name on the parchment.' Oh dear. That would be a bit hard for her, now wouldn't it? Even if she could fit into the Dread Army's headquarters, it would be a miracle if she could manage to hold the writing utensil. However, always the problem solver, she directed her attention to Feyda, and asked:
"Hey, Feyda, you wouldn't mind signing my name on that parchment inside, would you?"
Without waiting for much of an answer, she lowered her head to the ground to allow the demon a more easy passage to the ground. Then, carefully maneuvering herself so as not to damage anything, she decided to lay down, seeing that she could get up pretty darn quick if need be.
[Um... XD forget the new thread then, ahahah...]
Time had passed, and before long, the day that Mina had planned for the seige had come. The days preceeding it had been days devoted to training, and to further tweaking and smoothing out plans, working out the kinks. They would be attacking in the night, of course, and Nakaris was certain this attack would be more successful than the last disaster. They had better numbers and stronger members this time around, along with the addition of some many creatures that one of those menâ€"drow, he had learnedâ€"Venorik brought with them.
Weak things, true, but great for a distraction.
As for Mina and Vai...
Nakaris had tried not to think about them as soon as it had become obvious that, once again, they were gone. It was hard not to, but with Mina gone, that made him the Commander, now. He just couldn't let it affect him, not now with the date of the seige upon them. And besides...they were her plans. He wasn't going to screw them up. She had wanted this, and he was going to carry it out to the best of his ability. Right now, he wasn't a father or lover; right now, he couldn't be. There was too much on the line for him to get distracted.
And...he was sure she'd come back, anyway. She'd come back before. Maybe something had happened...maybe she felt it was best Vai wasn't around this. She knew he could handle this and carry on in her stead.
It just...really would have helped had he known.
Now, as he went out and prepared to ready the others, he was halted by the one he had come to known as Kerath...
And was given quite the surprise as the man alerted him to his companion, Venorik's, missing status.
His companion what?!
"Shit, yer kiddin' me..." But Kerath's voice held no indications that this was a joke. What the hell would possess him to do that?! Fuck, he'd gathered from what interactions he'd had with the drow that that man was intelligent, but this proved the man was completely daft! Spread chaos behind the lines? He could single-handedly ruin the whole fucking thing, give away their plans in advance by alerting the whole kingdom if he was caught! "Why the hell didn't anyone let me know about this in advance?!" he growled before rushing to round up everyone else.
They were going to attack tonight anyway. That wasn't the point. The point was, the last thing they needed was to have someone inadvertantly warn the kingdom ahead of time. He had no doubts that kingdom had made some improvements since the last attack, learning from their mistakes and even expecting another attackâ€"they'd be stupid if they were doing neitherâ€"and that was all the more reason for being cautious, not having some sword-swinger try to single-handedly infiltrate the place and blow everything!
"Listen up, people! I hope yer all ready, because we're movin' out now!"
[blah...]
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" The four screamed as they ran as fast as they could from Adela Village. Rexus began having trouble so he decided it would be best to jump on Alfred and hang on as he ran. Rexus, a short, thigh high old man with a bald head, one WIDE good eye which remained open at all times. Alfred a human male in full knight armor standing about 6'5 with a cup of tea in his hand. Jonesy, an average human height Mole. And, Aisengod...a young adult human male around the age of 25 with shoulder length brown hair, green eyes, stood at a height of 5'10 and had three bows, two attatched to his side and one in his hands with a quiver of arrows that had three different areas for the three different bows.
*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH*
The four of them came to sudden halt as they noticed the commander was already there and speaking the words "We're moving out..." Oh shit....this meant that they had missed ALL the training that had been planned....they were in for major trouble.
"Not a word about the Chest of Agnam or Wishnight Tower....the commander didn't assign us...it's just a present for him for us missing out on training." Alfred spoke as he tried to tip toe and be silent in knight armor.
"I'll just say I was trainning you guys while we were away, he should believe that. After all we could just mingle away and not help him." Rexus added from Alfred's shoulder. "And don't say a word Aisengod, let us handle this."
They all tip toed in, hoping the commander wouldn't see them as they approached...
The black circle opens, right in front of Nakaris. Venorik stumbles out,cradling his left arm in his good hand. " That was aa bitch. " he says, pain evident on his face, for the exposed bone was still knocking against his armor. He slowly slides the armpiece from it's place, revealing the gruesome spectacle, the bone in his forearm sticking out of torn flesh and muscle, a line of blood spurting out as he does so.
" and save your bitching, commander." he tells Nakaris, looking directly to him. " i needed to see it in order to get us all there in a matter of seconds.When we arive amongst what i did we will have no choice but to win!" he says with a chuckle as more blood squirts from the wound, followed by a peice of ripped off skin falling to the ground. He looks at it with a smirk. "didn't expect two shapeshifters waitin for me, though."
" EVERYBODY, COME!" he yells to all the members of the dread army, and he sees the armed kobolds march up by him, harboring spears and short swords, some with cheap mail. THIS one would be hard, though he knew where it was now, he had seen it, making it much easier.
He puts his usable hand out, letting out a low growl, his other hand hanging limply at his side, blood flowing in great amount of veins and muscle that had been opened by brute force. Veins could be seen dangling freely from the arm.
His teeth clench as they had so often lately, something that normally doesn't happen when he opens a portal. The area in front of him dims, then the darkness solidifies into giant version of his usual portals. " big enough for a dragon."
He looks to Nakaris. " All is ready sir, it would be best if we hurry up, before they get too prepared. I will be taking you all inside the battlements, and a few of you smaller ones...yourself included, if it's ok, inside the castle, for i have seen it and can take you there. If everyone says aloud if they wish to go inside the castle, they must be..smaller, and Qee'lakstreea will automatically sort it out. NOW FILE UP AND GET IN!" he says, bloodlust already at work on him again.
Rlytar watched the assembled force, with cold eyes. He had heard of the Dread Army, but not as to how many soldiers dwelled withen it's ranks. Rlytar's eyes fell on a assembliy of drow and other races. One drow male came from the circle wounded and that was a surprise. Slowly Rlytar moved from the shadows, and walked into the moonlight. Rlytar's features were hidden in shadow, by the dark cloak that hung low over his face. His feet made no sound as they hit the ground, typical of drow, for stealth, and his cloak seemed to hold a dark arua about it.
Rlytar thought on his suddenly rash action, but curious as ever, to who these drow were. Crimson eyes looked toward the group, with hands upon the hilts of his two blades. If they were going to attack, Rlytar would be ready.
The night was quiet. All the wilderness was still around the village. It would seem peaceful if not for the almost tangible tension and bloodlust of the army preparing for war. Kerath did see some movement... like a deeper darkness within the shadows, dismissed it as not important. It did take some willpower to calm his sixth warrior sense though. "We will be gone soon," he thought to himself. "Any danger here will either be put far behind us or dealt with in due time if a problem is caused."
He was broken from his current strain of thought as Venorik, cradling an aobviously badly wounded left arm, appeared from the darkness some distance away, in front of Nakaris. "So," he wispered to the night, "it looks s though plans have changed." He walked over to where the kolbolds were resting and, with a flick of his wrist, had one of his weapons, a whip at the moment, in his hand. "Get up you maggots!" he yelled at them a fraction of a second after Venorik's expected call. He cracked the whip at one kolbold slow to get up. CRACK! The creature now had a deep gash down it's left shoulder. "No matter," he thought. For, after seeing the punishment for sloth, the rest of the 120 creatures were quickly back in formation, weapons in hand.
Kerath quickly marched the force the short distance to where Venorik was beginning to make an extremely large portal, all the way cracking his whip ominously. As he got closer he saw the extent of Venorik's wounded arm, forming a red puddle at his feet. Kerath, his brother being an archmage in his former life, before the abyss, took out a healing salve he kept in his belt and poured the magical liquid onto his comrade's arm. He could here the bones snapping as they were put back into place, could see the skin painfully regrowing over the wound. Drow medicine was, afterall usually used to keep prisoners alive for torture, and rarely felt good to the patient. But, after several seconds, other than a large scar, Venorik's arm was healed.
By the time he had put the salve back in his belt pouch, the protal was formed and soldiers were preparing to move through it. His other weapon, his right hand side, spiraled down into his hand. following a mental order from his mind, it and the one in hsi left hand shortened and became rigid, incredibly sharp swords. "I'm ready," he said as he put his swords into a complicated flourish; and he stepped into the blackness.
The dragon, upon seeing the great line to go into the portal, started walking towards it, assuming it was now time to go. Not receiving much orders on what to do, she decided that she would just stand to the side until something happened, or start flying around, since she couldn't quite fit in the doors.
(poof, she's through)
Hup hup hup hup hup. A few hups and shufflings later, the foursome got in a line just like everyone else. Rexus, being the short crap he is decided it would be best if he was back up on alfred's shoulder. Climbing up his knight armor, he grabbed a hold of the mohawk thing and took his seat.
"Rexus, you keep climbing up on him like that, people are gonna think you're bloody gay." Jonesy said while fixing a small explosive device as a present for the Queen. "Hey Alfred, do have some more of that bloody tea, it's fucking yummy."
"You try being this size and this old and have only one good eye mole." Rexus replied with a bit of anger.
"Why, yes, I do young sir." Alfred spoke happily handing the cup of tea to Jonesy. "It is yummy isn't it? It doesn't take long to make at all."
"Guys, shut the hell up and get ready to go into battle." Aisengod interrupted getting his bow prepared.
"Oh, don't worry we are ready, we have our own plan.....isn't that right Rexus." Alread replied looking over a bit to the man on his shoulder.
Rexus let out a small sigh and nodded his head. "Yes, we do."
Siyavash stood from his position by the headquarters of the Dread Army and joined the rest of the ranks, his fingers running up and down his ebony staff with anticipation. It was finally starting...finally...oh how wonderful it would be for him to kill once again. How long had it been? Too long it seemed.
With a smug smile he whispered a few hidding words and the crystal on top of his staff began to expand into a large sweeping blade of pure crystal. The strange markings along his staff glowed with the same blood red of his shadow minions' eyes, the strange words racing to and from, streaking across the blade and the handle with a spell that made the weapon unbreakable as well as nearly undetectable. Now, with just a few well spoken words he could call to every single one of his shadows and see what each was seeing.
He rarely used this spell because it would only last for a short time and it took weeks to set up again, but this time it was worth it. The best thing that could happen to the Dread Army was to have undetectable spies scouring the castle for anyone who might pose a threat. Immediately the battlements flashed in his mind and he saw that a good number of archers stood, wating, calculating.
With swift sweeping steps he walked up to Nakaris and tilted his head in a sign of respect toward the commander. It wouldn't do to get on his bad side. Not that he had done anything before that might provoke it.
"The castle is already armed." he muttered under his breath, "My shadows have shown me that archers line the battlements and are ready with arrows both spelled and not." it was best to be informed that they could be walking into a rain of arrows, not that they wouldn't have the upper hand with surprise that is, "but they are not expecting an attack just yet. The advantage of surprise is still with us."
Rlytar looked confused. Why didn't they attack? Or did they think, me as one of their own? A smile grow upon his features, and boldly walked into camp, although he was still alert, who were these dark elves going to attack? They started go into formation, they were getting ready to attack! Rlytar walked by Siyavash, his eyes looked toward him, but he said nothing, and walked on, who were these kin? On the surface for no other reason than war, but that war was the reason he was here. He wanted in on the spoils, and perhaps to spill as much blood as possible, even if it was his own kin. He looked around once more and found himself looking at Venorik. Rlytar looked at him with a sly grin and said softly." Hard fight eh?" Indicating the now healed arm, interesting as the healing salves were, they were men't for torture. If the Priestess were here, he would suffer greatly, before being healed. Rlytar new of this very well.
Nakaris pointedly ignored Venorik's initial comment, and the rest of what he said did make sense. But Nakaris was still not too happy...Venorik was plainly wounded, which meant he had met resistence. Not a good thing, not good at all for their cause, but all the more reason for them to move fast, now. "I hope y' killed whoever did that t' ya," he muttered, not out of concern for the drow, but because, well, dead men told no tales, as they said. Left alive, whoever had attacked him could be running through the castle grounds by now, spreading the alarm. A body couldn't do that, and it would be a while before a body could be found. "Get that taken care of."
But, irritated or not, Venorik had redeeming qualities in Nakaris' eyes, for he had been the one to supply them with the...kolbold creatures. And his method of transportation was far swifter.
Plans had changed drastically with the addition of both elements. In the first seige, they had had to storm the castle by force and get in on their own, and Mina's plans had been formed around that same principle, even if they would have been going about it in a different way. This worked a lot better...though a lot of last minute plans were being tweaked.
But he wad relieved to hear Siyavash's words. Indeed, his ability was highly useful. The ability to manipulate shadows as spies... "Good t' know. Are yer shadows capable of watchin' th' halls within th' castle? Men are gonna be movin' in there as well, th' spaces are tighterâ€"" he remembered that well from last time. "an' it'd be helpful t' know what's behind a given corner..." Speaking of "corners", he caught the sight of a new group of men that had come to gather with the older recruits. And still another man came onto the scene. A man who looked unmistakingly drowish. Another newcomer. He'd have to deal with the five of them.
So many last minute issues to deal with...
Looking back over to Venorik and his drow companion, he gave a quick nod. The two seemed experienced enough, and he wanted to act now while the element of surprise was still with them. He still had a few loose ends to tie up here quickly, but he didn't want to hold this up any longer. "Venorik an' Kerath, lead th' others through. Kolbolds first, fighters next, mages last. I trust y' know what t' do. Y' menâ€"" he turned to the newcomers. No time for them to sign the parchment, now. "Y' came fer th' Dread Army, correct? We're leavin' now. Ya missed trainin', so I hope y' can fight."
( OOC: Is this forum turn base? If so let me know.)
Rlytar looked to the one that adressed him. A grin grew upon his features." Aye and can you breathe?" The insult was more of sarcasum, but if he wanted to take action aganst, it was his choice. " So where are we off too? I'll do what ever you tell me to do, as long as blood is spilled." Rlytar said with a cold hiss. Another beside him, said in a warning tone." That is Nakaris, a devil of a drow! Do not cross him unless you wish death." Rlytar nodded.
" So If your name is indeed Nakaris, where are we heading too?" Rlytar wouldn't cross him yet. His crimson eyes looked to the weapons, that he could see, perhaps he was dangerous, but, chaos was something Rlytar cherished.
[Heehee, actually, Naka-poo's not a drow, just a human mage-type who is the current Commander. ^_~ Kerath and Venorik are the only other drow in the army that I'm aware of. Aaand...it tends to be turn based, but in larger threads with lots of players (like this one, and it'll only get bigger once we get to Serendipity) if someone does something that directly effects your character, you don't have to wait to reply. ^_^ It's mostly turn based in smaller threads with, say, four people involved.]
Again, Nakaris ignored this man's initial comment. Seemed drow were full of little unnecessary comments like that, as he had learned from Venorik, and he just didn't have the time to acknowledge them or banter back. Though...they didn't even bother him to begin with, as he just wasn't the type to let unimportant things faze him in the face of bigger issues. So, he just skipped to the important part of the new drow's speech, disregarding the rest.
"We're leavin' t' Serendipity t' lay seige on th' castle. I daresay you'll get yer wish, if spillin' blood is what yer in fer," he told the drow simply.
His own weapons, which he always carried on him, were concealed among his body. Well, for the most part. Six sheathed daggers in total he carried on him, a new set since his old one had long since been lost in a past confrontation, and no two were located in the same spot. Two up his sleeves, two along his beltâ€"the only visible ones, at least they would be if it weren't for his overcoatâ€"and two in his boots, all strategic places so that a dagger was always accessable, and so that if someone tried to disarm him in a battle, they couldn't do so in one fell swoop. The daggers near his wrists were always used last, for they were the easiest to reach if he ever was forced into a particularly tight situation. There was a reason behind it all.
"We're leavin' now, so if yer comin', y' better be quick."
Rlytar merely nodded." And what will you have me do?" Rlytar was challenging him openly, but not to much." I'll not stay behind lines, and far as I'm concerned, i'm here for the kill, nothing more." Rlytar looked into the eyes of the Nakaris, his crimson orbs blazing with the thought of ending anothers life.
Rlytar thought on the possiblitys of this situation, although feeling a bit exposed in the light of the moon. They were going to attack, and battle fields, had shadows, plenty of them. Rlytar could do wonders in them, shadow leaping was one of his favorite abilitys, although it took energy to use. Rlytar had a confrontation with a few mages, although they were of lesser skill than this one appeared to be, but nontheless, there paths could cross, and if that did happen, he'd be more than willing, to stab this fool in the back.
Wizards, were wizards, as one would say, but this Human, Nakaris, seemed darker than any typical adversary.
"You heard the guy Rexus, time to get goin' with that bloody plan of turning you into a wanker." Jonesy stated as he pulled the dress out from his jacket. "Put it on."
Aisengod turned around and shook his head as he saw the dress...they couldn't be serious, dress Rexus up like a woman and do what? Oh no...they seriously weren't.
"Alright...." Rexus sighed as he grabbed the dress and put it on. "Hey this isn't that bad actually. It's very soft and silky."
"Oh my god....my best friends are fucking wankers." Aisengod yelled as he turned back around and hurried through the portal. "No time to waste, come on you bloody losers!"
The three of them all filed in behind him, entering the portal.
"That's all y' need, th' drive t' fight an' kill," Nakaris told him, his own cold blue eyes meeting the drow's red ones coolly. He wanted to fight and kill? Well, that was kind of the whole point of this, more or less... "Once we get in there, it's impossible t' stay 'behind lines', as ya put it. We're takin' th' castle. An' we'lll use whatever means necessary t' do so. Th' kolbold's are goin' first, though; they're our distraction. Th' other two drow got that covered."
He was speaking rather hurriedly, covering just the bare bones basics. But, at this point, there was really no need to explain everything to a single drow that was showing up at the very last minute. The will to kill the enemy was enough.
As for the other four men that were blundering among the ranks, one putting on a dress...Nakaris couldn't help but grimace a little. The hell were they doing? Oh well...too late now. More fodder for the enemy, it looked like, but that was okay. Everyone else was well trained, and a couple blundering fools in a dress could serve as a distraction of sorts, like a different kind of kolbold. If they got themselves killed, by an enemy sword or perhaps even another army member, it wasn't his problem. They were late. And they hadn't signed the parchment, either. Not his responsibility, unless they screwed something up, in which case he'd deal with them himself. But for now, it was too late to do anything about them, anyway, as they vanished through the portal.
There was an idiot or two in every walk of life...
Glancing back at the drow, he gave a brief nod before turning and heading off toward the portal himself.
"My shadows can go wherever there are shadows, and a castle is bound to be full to the brim." he informed the commander and then thought for a moment, thinking how much information he should reveal and decided that it would be best to let Nakaris know just how much freedom he had with his shadows.
"I can also travel to wherever the shadows are in the matter of minutes...and I can send certain people who are strong enough to survive the shadow realm through as well. With permission of course."
Good, everything was falling into place and soon, very soon, this seige would take place and the Dread army would fight for a kingdom that should have been theirs the last time they fought. This time they were prepared for anything and would surely come out victorious.
Yissmath yicksss an ymethnassimal he murmured the incantation that brought his minions to the surface and immediately a dozen pairs of eyes appeared from the shadows, unblinking pools of blood that waited for a commanding word from Siyavash. Even they were excited. They could feast upon the souls of the dead once the battles begain, taking the wretched spirits who would try to pass into the spirit realm only to fail and be devoured into complete oblivion.
"Wait inside the castle" he ordered them, "Keep an eye opened for mages and hidden ambushes that might be set. Do not be seen" he hissed at last and watched as the darkened masses bowed slightly before disappearing in as much silence as they came. A dozen unseen spies in the castle...what could possibly go wrong now?
With swift steps he followed the Commander to the portal. The blood was about to be shed.
Rlytar looked at Nakaris, and merely chuckled. Looked in the direction Nakaris was, and fought back laughter. This was a rag tag band, but if they surved their general purpose then the typical objective would be secured. And Victoy would be theirs. But it was not Rlytar's problem if they did not succed. " How I hate Rivvin!" Rlytar muttered bitterly. With out further adue, he walked toward the portal. Although tentaive as to his reason to go in anyway. So he just grinned and walked through. Coming out in a very forign place indeed! Rlytar was in danger now!
" IN YOU WORTHLESS GLOBS OF ROTH SHIT!" he yells to the kobolds, eyes flaring with a fire..not an inner fire of desire..once again, actual flames leapt from his sockets. " indeed...." is all he offers to Nakaris. He loved being in charge. He watched the fodder file though, then was relieved when other fell in behind them." this isn't the easiest thing to keep open!" he yells to the remainding members of the army. It was indeed taking energy from Qee'lkstreea, energy he planned on putting to a more destructive use, not to mention his portals constantly save his ass.
He wasn't paying attention to very much.. he just needed them to go through the portal. The more he concentrated, the less it took from his swords. Soon he would go through..but he had to keep it open while the other went in. "VITH! GET IN THERE!" he yelled again. If they didn't hurry, he would just leave them. He needed blood as well.
Feyda didn't really have much to do to enter the portal, as she was on Latira when she entered. Xurlaq finally stands up from where he sat on the ground and tromped over to the portal. Before even entering, he glares at the dark elf.
"Stay out of my way and your exsistance will continue." With his monsterous words, the enormous demon continues into the portal. Tesri, on the otherhand, has not moved yet and he does not plan to move any closer to the portal.
"And two remain after the departure of the Dread Army. You go on without us. Ramiel and I will fly in as decoys to distract Serendipity." Tesri explains, tightening his gloves. Though Ramiel lacks wings to do so, Tesri trusts the fallen's abilities.
(OOC: This takes care of one inactive character, but the other happens to be someone that will be gone for a few days. Let's just say Nightcandle's character has already entered the portal.)
Finally they were all in. Qee'lakstreea was more relieved than he was, for it was his blades which were using their power in the transportation. He finally came to think about the drow he saw in he castle..the drow who had helped him against the shapeshifters. He was obviously a highly trained wizard by the way he launched the animated web spell, and he noticed it was a male.
His thoughts were cut off by the fact that he needed to feel blood upon his blades. He smirked as he stepped through himself, and it closed behind him.
(ooc) sorry is short i'm gonna go post at the castle right now, bringin you all in lol.