Out of all the locales that he ever preformed a ritual on, Magus had to say the beach would always remain special to him. The only noises being that of his gagged victim and the slow, steady noise of waves. His torch illuminated the poor boys face as 4 others held him in place. 19 I think, thought Magus. The boy looked scared out of his wits. It was a wonderful night, he thought, and it could only get better He turned his attention to the 4 others. They all wore the same black robes and looked very eager to start. "Devoted followers" Magus said "there have been those who have questioned are actions but NEVER one of our own! He must be freed before his doubt spreads like the plague." He grabbed a mace from one of the cultist's. "However to be free is a blessing. THIS must be PUNISHMENT!" He yelled, quite confident his distance from any sort of civilization protected him. "We start with his legs." Magus said, raising the mace.
Kenalt hid behind a rock barely ten feet from the cultists. He has been hunting them down for a good week, after all, Magus was worth nearly thirty silver. As the cultist raised a mace to break the boys legs Kenalt stepped out from behind a rock and threw a bola towards his legs. Then he pulled out another length of chain that was half as long as he was tall, and was tipped with a wickedly curved blade. He swung it around once, twice, and on the third swing he gave it enough slack so that the blade tore out a black robed figures throat.
The cultist holding the boy's left leg went down clutching at his throat. Blood painted the sand red as the other cultists stared in shock. Magus however was tripped by the bola and fell. He looked frantically towards the dying cultist, before grabbing a knife and cutting of the mans finger. "Apologies brother" he muttered, quickly taking a bite of the severed ring finger. He immediately felt the effects surge through his body. He looked upon his would be killer and grinned.
Kenalt swung the chain around one more time before it crunched into another cultists skull and stuck fast. He quickly let go and drew his sword. His greatest weapon was his chain, but he still had to fall back on his sword sometimes. And this one was a thing of beauty. Long, slender, and expertly made. And he didn't even have to pay for it. Sometimes bounties give better rewards than just money. He smiled as the final cultist charged him Kenalt ducked to the side and stabbed the man right under his rib cage. As Kenalt was pulling out his sword out he saw Magus eating a finger of his cultist. Kenalt recoiled in horror.
The look on the killers face was quite amusing. It was the sort of face that he had seen on many of his victims before they were freed of there mortal shackles. The boy was sprinting away, having seen his opportunity. Not to worry, thought Magus, I'll find him later. Magus understood that despite the power boost he was still a sitting duck. He looked towards the torch and threw sand in order to put it out before spitting out the bloody remains of the finger and pulling out his black vial. He quickly drank the substance feeling his body merge with the the small patch of darkness created by the dead cultist. With any luck the killer would be ignorant of Magus's ruse.
Kenalt saw the boy sprinting away and smiled. His primary goal had been accomplished. Then he saw Magus suddenly disappear. He was shocked, but he has been told to expect this. His employer was the boy's father after all. Apparently Magus was hiding in a shadow. How this was possible Kenalt had no idea, but hey. Magic is weird. That's all Kenalt understood and wanted to understand. He cast about for various shadows, but that was hard when the entire goddamn beach is dark. Finally he found the extinguished torch and re-lit it. Once shadows sprang into existence Kenalt knew it was only a matter of time till he found his quarry.
The man wasn't leaving, thought Magus. This was bad, very bad, it meant he knew how his powers worked and that meant either this was the greatest tracker alive or... Someone had talked. Magus was distracted when he saw the killer light the torch. Magus calmed, he knew his time was not up yet, after all there was so much work to be done, so many to set free. He rose quickly firing red pain in the approximate direction of the killer. "Don't worry assassin, soon you shall be free of your bonds!" he screamed.
Kenalt would have been caught full blast by the sudden blast if red lightning had he not been expecting it. Even so it still caught his shoulder and made his vision flash white got for a second.
"Gah!" He stumbled and dropped his sword.
Magus knew this was his best chance. He ran to the killer while getting a white vial out from one of his pockets. He opened it and threw the powder at his assailant's face. After this even the killer would consider death a mercy.
Kenalt ducked the powder but only succeeded in getting some powder in his instead of mouth. Then they came. The people who railed in their cells, or in their graves. The guilt he was never sure if he felt welled up in an instant. He cried out and stumbled over, then proceeded to craw pathetically away until the sand became wet underneath him. But over all of this was a color. The color of something that made him what he was today.
Blue.
He loved these moments. When a victim had reached lows they never thought they could. Magus leisurely strolled to the crawling form. He picked up the mace from earlier, testing its heft.
"Made a real mess of things didn't you? And for what, money?" He smiled.
Well somebody needs to be punished, thought Magus. "I'll start with the legs" he whispered, raising the mace.
Kenalt felt the fear and guilt course through him. It burned and seared like fire in his veins. But over it all was the color blue. Deep and dark, like the ocean. Suddenly a knight stepped through the haze. It was a knight. The knight that had made him who he was, who had hunted his only true family down and killed him. He was a figure who danced around the edges of his nightmares. And right now he was standing over Kenalt with a mace raised. Kenalt sprang up just as the mace came down on his toes. His toes went numb for a second, then felt like they were made of hot coals.
"Ahhh!" He screamed before stumbling back and fumbling for his knife.
"Don't worry, soon we'll all be together" said Magus
Despite the boots he felt the water move and flow as if it were as excited as he was.
"All you need to do is STOP MOVING!"
He brought down the mace even harder this time, aiming for the kneecap.
Kenalt stumbled back as the knight spouted his mad rantings. He finally managed to pull his knife from his belt and stumbled back. The pain in his toe was a candle flame compared to the wildfire of fear that coursed in his heart and seemed to suffocate him. But as the mace came down old instincts kicked in and he stepped to the right, on his injured foot. Suddenly a spike of white hot pain shot through his leg and he floundered, trying to stay on his feet. But every instinct in him cried for action, every impulse drilled into him from a life of combat screamed for an attack. So as he fell back to the sand he threw the knife, but badly, for it hit hilt first into the Knights helmet then fell in the sand.
Magus was surprised the killer wasn't begging yet. Most he had encountered would be at this point. He appeared to be looking for something, perhaps a worthless holy symbol to pray to false gods.
"You don't have anywhere to go, the only god is you and me,now please just stay still and receive my ble-
The knife hit his skull with a dull thud as the hilt bounced off his head."GAH- FUCKER!" He clutched his forehead and swore again. Why wouldn't he want mercy,WHY?
The only thing holding Kenalt together was his revived hatred for the knight, the one who killed his only family and turned him into a machine hungering for revenge. But the knot in his chest was coming untied, the haze becoming clearer, and the Knights armor seemed to be loose and thin, and it was slowly turning darker, almost black. Kenalt furrowed his brow in confusion. Armed only with his fists Kenalt jumped at the knight, hoping to pull off his helmet and break his face in.
The killer jumped at Magus, toppling him to the ground. Why would this man keep on attacking? All the money in the world wasn't worth this! The killer pried at Magus's jaw as if attempting to rip his head off. The affects must be wearing off, thought Magus. He brought his hands up to either side of the killers head and fired off the Lightning.
Kenalt only managed to pull off his visor and punch the Knights face before lightning shot into his brain. Everything went white with agony, he felt like he was being drowned,burned, and whipped everywhere. He screamed like he had never screamed before and fell backwards into black.
Magus quickly shuffled back from the killer to get to his feet, one hand pointed at the still form, the other clutching his broken nose. The killer was out. He looked for his mace before a thought came into his head. Did this man still deserve freedom. He had just made an attempt on Magus's life and had freed 4 followers before there time. Not only that but there was still the boy to worry about. If he made it to civilization who knows what holy secrets might be told. He took a finger from 3 of the cultist's before heading off in the direction of the boy. It would be up to the killer to explain away the corpses on the beach should anyone come looking. It would be up to the killer to make it home on injured legs and if he did see the killer again...well who knows? Perhaps Magus might finally show mercy
Kenalt woke up in pain. His legs were alternating between numbness and the sharpest pain of his entire life. He sat there on the beach, gathering the will to move. He barely croaked out a whistle then sat back, spent. The bushes rustled and his horse came trotting out. After a few tries he managed to crawl into the saddle, grit his teeth, and ride back to the village where his employer was waiting.
The sun had risen barely an hour ago on the small fishing village. The day's there were quiet but one house was particularly silent. It was the house of the Tucker's. It had been difficult for brodeman tucker after his wife died. It was even more difficult for his first and only son Nathaniel. Nathaniel had been seeking a way to rebel against his father, as he blamed him for her death. He had found his solution in the Cult of the Self. There radical message of empowerment struck a cord in the boy and he ran off to join them. After Brodeman had asked around for any information on the cult, he realized his boy was in far more danger then he had suspected. It had been a week since he had hired the bounty hunter. All he wanted was his son back and if that meant emptying his savings then so be it. It was then that he heard a knock at the door. He rushed to it, praying to whatever might listen that his son had returned. He opened the door and saw his boy standing there, he had finally com-. It was then that he noticed the boys throat was cut. The body fell to the side before Brodemans world turned to pain. The last thing he saw was a rictus grin coming through the doorway.
Kenalt rode into the quiet fishing village barely holding on to the saddle, his face a mask of agony. He barely maneaged to dismount, and even to do that he fell in the dirt. He quite literally crawled into the apothecary shop. The knidly old lady behind the counter blinked at him from behind her spectacles, looking quite like a surprised owl.
"Both my legs have been repeatedly smashed and I need to walk in the next hour." He growled from the floor. To make a painful story short his legs were healed in less than five minutes, but it might've hurt more than breaking them. And he'll probably be in debt for the rest of his life. Never before had he been happier to sprint to a client on his own two legs. At least, until he saw the boys body lying outside the door and red lightning emanating from within. He instantly dropped into a crouch and silently padded to the door and hid just outside. He wouldn't get his ass kicked this time. He drew his sword, silently turned and walked up behind the robed figure.
I need to get this over with thought Magus. The kids father was out and all he had to do was slit his throat and get back to his disciples. They would pack up and move on as they always had, perhaps out of the country this time. The man with the chains wasn't the first would be killer to try and take a shot at Magus. He was the first Magus had despised enough to spare. A sudden feeling of dread came over Magus and he looked behind him just in time to see the killer from last night right in front of him. His eyes widened and he muttered
"Aw hell."
Kenalt smiled like a wolf when he saw the surprised look on Magus' face.
"Morning." He said in a voice dripping with deadly venom. Then he lunged, his sword snapping towards Magus' throat.
The sword accelerated towards Magus, who moved fast enough to keep it from hitting his throat. It instead made a deep gash on his face. Magus fell back having dodged too frantically. His suprise turning to rage he landed on his back hand outstretched firing lightning with everything he had.
"WHY WON'T YOU STOP!"
Kenalt was surprised he could move that fast. It bordered on inhuman. When he started screaming Kenalt kept slashing and thrusting without missing a beat.
"Because you broke my fuckin legs, and worse killed my client. This is for my thirty gold you horses ass." Kenalt said in a voice that slipped into a heavy adelan accent. As he swung his sword with one hand he reached imto his belt and took out a chain as long as his handspan made of small, fine links but tipped with a brutal looking iron ball. He was gonna make sure Magus never walked again.
I can't die, thought Magus, not yet at least not yet. He quickly grabbed one of the fingers he still had, and but off the tip. Time stopped for and for a second Magus had a revelation. This is not man but a representation of the chains of inevitability. He understood that this was merely a test, a trial that would be overcome. He could have laughed had he not gotten up, now empowered by the flesh, and kicked the symbolic enemy at increased strength.
Kenalt saw him bite the finger and knew the next strike was gonna hurt, so he swung his chain, aiming the ball to split his head like a goddamn melon right as he got kicked in the stomach. He got pushed back a good five feet and doubled over, unable to breathe. The only thing he was able to do was swing his chain wildly and try to keep Magus away until he regained his posture.
The killer had moved faster than anticipated, and Magus moved his head back. He barely registered the impact as his jaw dislocated. He laughed and forcibly set it back in place as the killer caught his breath.
"You are truly a fine adversary but my victory is written in the stars."
He rapidly pulled a knife from his pocket, throwing it at the man's chest. He saw the blade fly as if in slow motion, and he laughed.
As the knife flew at his chest Kenalt felt like he woke up from a dream. What the fuck was he doing here? Revenge for his legs? That was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. Well now I'm going to die for 30 gold pieces and my pride, is what Kenalt was thinking as the knife hurtled through the air. Might as well take this bastard with me, and then with a flick of his wrist the ball was flying towards the mans face again, this time at a deadlier angle.
As he laughed the metal ball went flying toward his head. He snapped out of his joy and looked up just in time to see the ball coming head on. He felt his face nearly depress as the ball landed in a sickening thud. The blow knocked Magus flat on his back. He felt growing surges of pain and realized he needed another finger quickly. He grabbed for one, vision obscured by blood.
Kenalt saw the knife more than felt it. He saw it enter his body, and that was all he needed to know. Then he turned his attention to Magus, who was reaching for a finger, with his last effort, vision going dark, Kenalt stepped, fell, and slapped at the finger.
Then all was black.
Even dying the would be killer still proved to be a nuisance. The finger in his hand was slapped to the floor before the man fell. The man...funny I never caught his name he thought. He got up feeling the full affects of the blow and staggered to retrieve it. Everything was starting to go black. He tripped and fell, not having the energy to get up. Before he passed out he saw blurry figures coming closer. He felt fear and anger, then blissful peace
Kenalt woke up in a small room made of rough-hewn logs. The scratchy sheets of his small cot were thin and too small, but in the room along with him was the owl-like lady from the apothecary shop. And another bed, identical to his, with Magus in it.
Magus saw only glimpses for the longest time. Trees, wooden houses, an old lady, a bed. He felt half aware as he slowly came to the realization that he was in unfamiliar territory. No matter he thought, he would simply kill his captors. That idea did not seem as ideal when he realized that his robe was gone, leaving his more inconspicuous peasant outfit. He practically did a double take when he saw the killer in the other bed.
"Where am I?"
The old lady turned and said
"Oh my dear you're finally up!" She smiled widely. "You're in my guest bed, in the back of my shop Deary!" Kenalt suddenly bolted upright, looking like he just had a very bad nightmare. Or just realized he pissed himself. Maybe both. He looked around, saw the old lady and Magus, and slowly pulled out a small knife out from under the sheets and stared at Magus warily.
The elderly lady appeared to be harmless enough. Perhaps he could turn the situation to his advantage. Magus put on his kindest face and said,
"Thank you very much your assistance my fair lady. I unfortunately do not have the ability to pay you for your services at the moment, however I am more than willing to send for my associates. They should be able to pay you. After all I would hate for the situation to get messy."
Magus directed that last line at the killer, letting a small grin flash across his face.
Kenalt frowned as Magus offered to bring his other followers here. HE sat up abruptly and said
"You don't want to do that miss. Remember how Nathaniel Tucker ran away about a month ago to join some cult? Yeah, this guy is the leader of that cult." Kenalt gestured at Magus as he said the last. The lady's brow furrowed in confusion and horror. Her voice quavered as she said
"Th-That was you?"
Magus faked suprise at the killer.
"I don't know anything about cults. What I do know is that this man is a killer. You see I am here alongside a small group of scholars and mages to study the effects of cosmological movements on the ocean. I went to that house in order to ask about certain times at which the sea is calm when I saw this man violently attacking two people. I tried to intervene and we had a fight. Its this man who you should be afraid of."
The lie rolled off his tongue like silk. Magus looked at the killer with false worry.
Kenalts heart dropped. He had forgotten that Magus had a silver tongue. One he could never match. The old lady looked at them, unsure who to believe. Kenalt decided simply to leave, after all, his client was dead. As he stood up and gathered his things before hastily getting dressed the old lady fled the house. As Kenalt rushed outside he saw the old lady shouting and waving her arms, with a bunch of armed and uniformed figures rushing out of a building. Great, thought Kenalt, the town guard. When he emerged the lady pointed at him and the figures surged toward him.
Magus had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing. To think he thought that this man was some sort of holy trial. The flesh always did leave him open to such concepts. Having retrieved his robes he walked towards the old lady, who looked quite shaken by the whole affair.
"I'm terribly sorry this had to happen to you ma'am. I'll be sending for my associates so I can repay you after all the trouble that's happened."
Before she could respond, he turned and went in the direction of the beach. Now that all the loose ends were tied up he could move forward with his actual plans for the small town. He would meet his disciples at the abandoned mine at the north end of the beach.
As the figures closed in Kenalt felt something. He felt a heat rise in his chest, and pour through his veins. He felt this molten lava pour into him and knew it was rage. Rage at Mafus for killing his client and robbing him. Rage for hospitalizing him twice, then turning him into an outlaw. He ducked a town guards sword and dprinted away towards the beach.
It would not be long before Magus arrived at the beach. The cultists were worried as they had not heard from Magus since the previous night. When Magus entered the cave one of the cultist through himself on the ground.
"Thank goodness, we feared the worst, are you alright?"
Magus looked at him before saying
"Of course brother, please get up andstand still for a second."
The cultist, a little confused, stood. Magus embraced the man to the shock of the others.
"Master, what are you..."
His comfusion turned to pain as Magus bit into his neck. Blood spurted from his wound as he fell, gurgling something. Magus knelt and started to stab the cultist over and over until he stopped moving. Magus calmly got up, blood on his face, looked at the shocked onlookers and stated rather calmly.
"Brothers, sisters, I understand that there have been doubts about our cause. With so much opposition, how could one be certain of our conviction to our former glory. However I have taught that we are all one in the same, therefore to doubt me is to doubt yourself. That my friends, is something I just cannot allow. Now that such doubt has been removed we can begin."
They began to move about, placing candles and strange trinkets around the cave. As he saw the cage being opened and the child taken to the altar, Magus smiled.
As the ragged and mismatched figures chased down Kenalt he sprinted down the beach, seeming never to tire. He ran fueled by rage and adrenaline. After a few minutes Kenalt was far enough down the beach that he saw a small cave with a figure outside it in a black robe. The fire in Kenalts limbs redoubled and it almost hurt in its intensity. Quick as a snake he ran to the figure, chain swinging by his ankles
Magus looked behind him, to the outside. He could have sworn he heard chains rattling. It was just his mind playing tricks on him. He had just eaten flesh so his head wasn't entirely clear. He walked furthe into the cave as 2 cultists moved the body out of Magus's way. He walked toward the boy. As he looked at the lad he was amazed that all this trouble was started by him. As soon as he told the congregation that they needed to sacrifice a boy of 7 years, he saw the doubt in Nathaniel. His anger built as he remembered when they caught Nathaniel trying to free the boy from his intended purpose. And of course he remembered the man, the killer, the very persistent killer at that. But that was all over now. The bounty hunter had no reason for chasing him down now. He thought the only price on Magus's head was the one given by Nathaniel's father. Now he could be free to do as he pleases. He realized he had stared a little to long and the others were noticing. He crouched down and said to the child,
"Your going to be set free very soon"
The child responded, in slurred words,
"Wheres mommy?"
Magus smiled. He had kept the boy drugged to insure compliance. Its probably why the child could not remember his mother dying.
"You'll be with her soon, I promise"
He stood straight and led the child to the altar at the center of the camp. This was going to be quite the event.
Kenalt stepped over the corpse of the cultist into the cave, and saw a terrifying scene. Cultists were walking around, placing heretical objects around, and in the center was Magus standing over a child. Quick as a snake his chain flicked out and a cultist went down in a gurgling heap. The lethal weapon whipped around felling robed figures.
Magus saw the killer coming as the others ran for weapons. He felt a white hot fire rising in his stomach. Enough was enough. He pulled out a knife and grabbed the boy, holding the blade to his neck.
"Stop right there or the boy dies!"
His mind was already racing with negotiation strategies. The last thing Magus wanted was another fight interupting his work.
Kenalt stopped, and his chain whistled back to him and he grabbed it right under its wicked blade. Kenalts mind scrambled. What could he do? He wanted Magus dead, but at the cost of a child's life.? He looked into the boys wide, chocolate eyes, which were sluggish and unresponsive. No. He would not sink to that level. His chain dropped out of his slack fingers, clinking to the ground in a heap. Just as he was about to surrender a bunch of mismatched, poorly armed men burst into the cave, still breathing heavily from the run. Seizing the moment Kenalt rolled, picked up his chain, and snapped the blade at Magus' face in a motion as fluid as water and fast as a tiger.
Magus watched in glee as the killer hesitated. What a fool, he was going to kill the child regardless of wether he surrendered.
"At last now we can have a civilized discu-"
The town guard ran into the cave, briefly distracting Magus as they engaged the cultists who were now armed. He didn't see the killer's chain coming. It sliced cleanly into his cheek. He dropped the child and brought his hand to his face, stunned at the sudden turn of events.
Kenalt swung the chain around in a quick and lithe motion. It swung around and he grabbed it right under its blade. He sprinted and grabbed the child, throwing him behind him before punching at Magus.
[OOC: Sorry for the delay! I've been busy!]
Magus looked up from his hands only to be Met with a fist. The punch sent him careening to the floor. Confusion quickly turned to rage as he looked around for something to eat. No such luck but then an idea struck. Fueled by raw adrenaline he looked at his arm before taking a bite out of it. He felt pain for a split second before coming to a powerful mix of ecstasy and rage. He saw nothing but ways to kill the bounty hunter. His body was physically shaking from the mix of rage before looking directly into the killers eye's and, in an icily calm voice stating,
"Your going to die SLOWLY"
He then got to his feet before sending a hard punch to the killers face.
[OOC: Trust me, I get it.]
Kenalt was filled with a red mist of rage and fury, and also with a warm golden glow of satisfaction as his fist grated against magus' face.
"Yeah! Eat it asshole!"
He dropped the chain and swung it underhanded, striking blue-green sparks on the rough stone floor just as the militia rushed into the cave, and after a brief and bloody whirl of violence the cultist were executed, and Magus stood alone
Now hopped up on his own flesh Magus quickly took in the lay of the room. All of his disciples had been killed and a militia was advancing. It didn't matter to him anymore, all that mattered was making sure none left alive. He briefly stared at the killer before saying,
"You had every opportunity to walk away. You shall receive cruelty you could not dream to be real."
He then charged the killer grasping for his throat.
Kenalt barely stepped back in time to grab his chain right under the blade to use as a dagger before Magus' fingers closed around his throat in a grip like that of an iron vice. It took all of Kenalts considerable strength to hold up the razor sharp blade as he and Magus fell to the ground, Magus at least hads the blow softened by a blade that pared flesh like a hot knife through butter, while Kenalt fell directly on a rock that filled his vision with bright flashing colors and a sound sharper than broken glass.