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Got a taker >D
requests are now closed!
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The Sea. The Wilds. The Dirt.
It was the lesser islands of Thanatos that greeted her as the ship rocked across the ocean waves, crawling it's way by the guiding winds towards shore. Though the charter vessel was to drop her off at the port city of Jin'ta, Iyla Krue had other plans. With her true identity swathed beneath layers of binding wraps, black leather armor and her cloak, she adjusted the clothe covering her nose and mouth before stepping towards the stern of the ship.
The side of the island where she could feel the pull of darkness was to the south, where rough waves made it nearly impossible to dock. But as she stared off towards the island now cast in shadows from the light of the dying day, she knew that it was here, down south, where she would find the shadow seed she sought.
The shadow seed made her blood burn and a sensation tingle across her skin and even sent her stomach into small loops. Yes- Thanatos, a land so foreign to her she even feared what she might find. But it didn't matter- she was one with her shadow master now, and no harm could come to her. Even still, she was not looking forward to the swim. Those waves cut through the ocean with a vengeance, and she just hoped drowning wasn't something her 'deathless' persona could be not immune to. It seemed other death, for now, she could evade.
Keeping her hand to the clothe over her mouth, her red eyes scouted the side of the ship. No one was around. No one was looking her way. And as she closed her eyes and whispered an internal prayer to the spirits, she threw herself over board and into the cold waters.
As she plunged beneath the salty water's surface, she felt the temperature of such waters jab at her body like blades. But after the initial shock of it all, she pushed her way towards the surface and made her way towards the smaller island- a direction in which her intuition, the driving force of the shadow seeds, always lead her. It was like the steady beat of a drum, she knew she was heading the right away, but as she kicked through the black waters- waters that only appeared this dark because the sun was already set and just it's fading lights remained as an echoe over head, to where the sparking of stars dusted the sky. And seh knew it was dangerous, even before she reached the rough waves, so when one wild one took hold of her and pushed her forward, she went tumbling into darkness before hours later, in the middle of the night- Iyla Krue washed up on shore.
Darjak walked his way along the beach. The evening was cold, and he pulled his cloak tight around his shoulders. He kicked a piece wood on the ground, some chunk of driftwood or another, and picked it up. He broke off a small piece of it and lit it on fire, before smelling the smoke that came off of it. He groaned. He'd smelled the smoke before, the charcoal from this particular wood made a weak explosive. He sighed.
He'd come to the islands of Thanatos in an attempt to experiment with new supplies for his explosives, but so far he hadn't found any improvements over his normal ingredients. He was about to return to the village he was staying at when, in the light of his tiny torch, he noticed a large shape on the sand. Well, he thought, no harm in checking one more piece of driftwood.
However, as he approached the shape it resolved itself into a living creature. At least, Darjak thought it was a living creature. Could have been dead. He approached it carefully, checking for any movement or sign of life. He got up to it and knelt close, looking more thoroughly. The figure looked human and male, though Darjak couldn't be sure of either. It was swathed in soaked black clothing and leather armor. He reached his arm close and felt for a pulse. A weak but present heartbeat met Darjak's hand. So alive then.
He picked up the figure, no sense in leaving them out here, and began walking back to the small village.
The sway of being carried by someone somewhat shorter than herself (by at least a whole foot), forced the woman into a faint state of awakenedness. She groaned softly before sputtering out some water, but other wise she remained wilted within the dwarf's arms. Opening her eyes, her vision was blurry and she could not quite make out the man's face in the darkness.
"What?" her voice came out croaky, she- obviously still delirious from the hazardous swim to shore as she sputtered out more water, which she choked on through the clothed masked that covered her mouth for it was too confining as the second she coughed the water out, it seemed to fall right back int her mouth.
Darjak heard spluttering coming from the man in his arms. He realized that the mask he was wearing was restricting his breathing. He carefully set his charge on the ground and removed the mask, revealing surprisingly fine features. Darjak shook his head. Humans were so strange. They didn't grow hair on their faces even at this age?!
He noticed that the man seemed to be choking on water. Darjak thought back, he'd seen someone fix a drowning before. How did it go again? After a few moments the memory came to him.
As hard as he could, the hefty dwarf smashed a hammerfist down on the victims chest. That done, he puckered his lips moved to blow air into the man's lips, like he'd seen done in the past. Or was it suck the water out?
The fist to the chest stunned her, her eyes widening in the moment as her breath became lost, though it seemed to have dislodged the water- but too bad she was stunted and could not react fast enough to stop the oncomng dwarf lips from suddenly covering hers.
But a 'kiss' was all she needed to react. Coughing out the remaining water into his mouth, she tore her lips away from the dwarf and smashed a fist into his bearded face.
"GET YOUR LIPS OFF OF ME YOU BEARDED PERVERT!"
OOC: lol
I can edit the punching or you can just assume he dodges it if you'd rather not but... loool
The blow glanced off the dwarf's face but it was weak. Still there was more force in the blow than the dwarf would have expected from someone who was probably half dead.
Darjak laughed heartily as he stood up. "So you live laddie! Guess that reviving technique really works. Heck I should be a doctor not a tinkerer." He laughed again. "And you have some spunk in you for such a sissie-lookin' guy." He extended his hand to help the young man up. "I'm Darjak Tilner, wandering Tinkerer. A pleasure to meet'cha!"
The laughter threw her off, and her face twisted in confusion. But at the comment- she then realized her face was exposed and gasping, she hissed and threw up her fabric mouth shield and growled.
"Are you saying you're the one who found me here?" she said, making her voice scratchy and low, to hide her true identity. After all, she could never be too careful, and though the dwarf seemed jovial, her eyes narrowed skeptically. She still wasn't about to trust just anyone- even a rescuer.
The dwarf laughed again, this time at the boy's reactions. Hissing and then covering his face with the soggy mask. He reminded Darjak of a black cat he had fished out of a river once. The wet clothes and armor sticking to the small frame seemed like matted fur, and even the red eyes reminded him of a cat's intense stare.
Darjak realized that the cat-man had asked him a question. "Yep laddie I found you here. Layin' on the beach, still as death himself. Thought you were a goner. Lucky for you I've got secondary talents as a doctor."
The dwarf's chest swelled with pride at the memory of his first successful foray into the field of medicine, paying no mind to the fact that it had happened only moments ago and that his "patient" had already been waking up on their own.
"Anyway, up you go laddie." Darjak still had his hand extended. "You need to get that armor off and get yourself in front of a fire before you catch hypo, hyper, hypis... Oh what's it?" The dwarf scratched his head in confusion with his free hand. He stood in thought for a moment before exclaiming, "That's right! Before you get hypisohermia. You know, that thing where your body is cold and you get all trembly."
Darjak was on a roll today with medical knowledge.
Iyla just stared a the dwarf- and stared and stared.
Was this bearded fool for real?
"You mean hypothermia?" she corrected, hesitantly as she kept her red eyes on the man. Had this fool really just saved her? It seemed so improbable, but she did wake up in his arms.
"I doubt I'll die from it. Besides, the sun is risen, I should be fine."
She just hoped her armor would dry as quickly as it could- at least leathers didn't soak in too much water, but the stuff that HAD gotten inside her armor made her clothe bindings chafe a little against her skin. It was quite the uncomfortable feeling.
"Oh really? You'll be alright? Huh, you humans are more rugged than I thought. If a dwarf were as half-drowned as you in that cold water he'd be trembling something fierce with that there hyposermia thingie." Not to mention dead since dwarves can't swim, but Darjak thought it would be tactful to leave that part out. After all this young boy had almost died of drowning. Darjak smiled at his own delicacy. A Tinkerer, a doctor, and a gentleman, that's what he was!
"Anyway are you gonna get up? My arm's starting to feel like to fall off." The dwarf still had his hand extended to help the black-clad boy to his feet.
Iyla narrowed her gaze at the extended hand, but decided to take it, just to make sure she wouldn't make a fool of herself if she tried and failed. And once she as pulled to her feet, she took a hold of the side of her head, finding herself suddenly dizzy as she closed her eyes to keep herself from spinning.
"Am... am I near a town?" she inquired, her eyes still tightly closed. She wondered if she shouldn't rest a bit before continuing her search- but then something..
something made her senses tingle as her red eyes opened suddenly as they drifted off into the shadows of the trees. It was almost as if 'the young man' heard something, but nothing- except ofr the sudden gust of an ocean breeze and the constant crashing of waves, could be heard.
((OOC: I'm gonna keep using male pronouns in my posts until she's ousted as a woman (if she ever is) to avoid confusion between what Darjak does and does not know ;)))
Darjak nodded in response to the man's question, oblivious to the fact that the black-clad figure had noticed something. "Not really a town," the dwarf gestured vaguely behind him, "but there is a little village not too far away in that direction. The locals don't speak a lot of common, but they're nice folk."
Darjak started walking in the direction he had indicated, again unaware that anything might be amiss and never considering that the other man wouldn't follow. "C'mon, I'll lead you to it." He shouted over his shoulder.
Iyla made a face as Darjak went on to inform her a village was nearby. But even her keen eyes could make out the torch lights from here. Her eyes narrowed and she took a few cautious steps away from the dwarven as her eyes began to study her surroundings. And then her red eyes looked out again- searching into the deeper woods where shadows laced together nad made it impossible to see.
And that's when she felt the familiar pull again. The Seed.
She didn't even say a word, and began to move in that direction- which was the opposing way Darja now walked.
OOC: That's fine XD
Darjak managed to go a fair distance along the beach before he realized that he didn't hear the boy's footsteps around him. He turned around, and saw that the black-clad figure was walking away from him.
Now that was odd. The lad walked with a peculiar gate, as if drawn by something. It was equally strange that the fellow would just wander off after being half-drowned. Those thoughts made Darjak grin like a small boy left alone in a candy shop. He loved odd and strange. In his experience those two meant a couple things: a good chance of finding interesting materials and a good reason to make things go bang.
Darjak ran after the boy as quick as his short legs would carry him. "Wait for me laddie!" The dwarf shouted. The kid seemed like he was up to something and the dwarf wanted to be a part of it.
The darkness called her like no other, and though there was silver light coming from the high-risen moon, Iyla pushed her way through the sandy, wooded path with ease. The sensation coming from the seed that drew her was growing stronger and stronger- so much that she almost didn't realize the dwarf decided to follow. Almost. Pausing, her brow gave an irritable twitch as she heard the shorter man pushing through the foliage. Though she said nothing, paused only in that instant to hear his approach before she stalked off again, pushing her way deeper and deeper through shadows and trees.
She wasn't sure where the seed was this time, as it appeared it was calling her so far away, yet so close; and when she reached the end of a long, forested trail, she paused to swear. It seemed as if she reached a dead end.
Before her stretched a tall cliff side that blocked her path like a craggy wall and a small inlet cutting into it that bled out into the ocean. She swore again. She'd have to scale the cliff- the seed must be on it, or on top of it.
Darjak stumbled his way through the underbrush with all the grace of a beached whale, following after the black-clad man. He almost lost track of the fellow several times, but he was able to track the movement of the figure all the way to a cliff face.
The man was standing there staring up at the cliff in a way that Darjak didn't like. He didn't climb well. "You going up" he asked. "Cause I'm pretty sure you already almost died once tonight and I don't know how to resuscitatate ((OOC:sic)) someone who's taken a fall."
Iyla ignored the dwarf for now, red eyes scanning the craggy rock walls and seeking out what shadows she could. No.. not up. Something was...
She kicked a rocked into the nearby stream and followed it's course. No, not down the river either.
Something was... below them- but still before them.
Her eyes wavered and moved, darting back and forth as if reading the cliff face as her frown deepened. Hastily, she stepped into the shallow stream before the rock wall and began to study it with her eyes, seeking for something, anything as her hands began to grope the walls.
"What are you looking for laddie?" Darjak asked. The dwarf was too thick-skinned to notice or care that the man was ignoring him. "Somethin' on the cliff?"
Darjak jumped into the stream next to the man, ready to help, but instead he felt one of his feet fall through the bed. Darjak barely had time to yell a curse before his whole body went crashing through the weak earth all the way through the newly opened hole in the stream bed.
He landed straight on his rear-end after a pretty good fall, but the dwarf was tough and the distance didn't really do him any damage. He rubbed his sore back end as he stood up in what appeared to be a pretty deep cave.
The disappearing dwarf was unexpected, but after seeing the earth collapse and sensing the power of the shadow pull her down towards the new opening- she realized then where the seed must be. Silently, she followed after the dwarf, not really caring if he was alright or not as she climbed her way int the endless darkness.
But it was even too dark for her to see down here, and after groping through the cave for a few seconds, she found herself cursing. She turned back to where the dwarf had fallen and hoovered near to him where just the faintest light of the silver moon washed in.
"You..." she said, lightly kicking his side. "Do you have a torch?"
Darjak was still trying to work the pain out of his backside when the kid knocked him back over with a kick. The blow was weak but the dwarf hadn't been expecting it and the cave floor was slippery with all the water falling down from the broken stream.
Darjak growled, "I do, I do you impatient kid. Just give me a minute." The dwarf stood back up, patting himself off and grumbling all the while. "Stupid, stream, stupid, cave, stupid ungrateful boy." He reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of wood. He grabbed a vial of pitch too (even in the dark Darjak knew exactly where all the ingredients were in his bag) and poured the sticky black material on the wood. He proceeded to use the flints attached to his glove and bandolier to light it.
The fire blazed to life, illuminating a rather damp a dreary cave, almost ten feet high and twenty wide. The cavern receded far into the distance in front of them, where darkness overcame the light from the torch. The whole cave was made of some kind of bluish rock, and stalagmites and stalactites pierced from the floor and ceiling.
However Darjak payed no mind to any of these features. His entire attention was riveted by the truly massive spiderwebs that crisscrossed the entire cavern starting about ten feet from them. The silk was as thick as a man's arm, and Darjak could only begin to imagine the size of the creature that had spun it. He gulped nervously and pulled out one of his bangsticks.
As the cave came to life within the orange, dancing glow of the torch light, Iyla stared at it in wonder. The cavern looked as if it were some massive, gaping jaw with all of the sharp rocks that jutted out from the top, bottom and sides. And though the thick webs would make most wary, she cared not for them as she reached for the sharp spear strapped to her back and used it to cut through one thick piece of webbing that stretched across their path.
"Be careful. There's probably a nest of spiders," she spoke just barely above a breath. Though she wasn't sure of the size of these spiders, she just hoped they could all be taken care of by a good stomping beneath her boot.
But the desire that flamed through her veins, the need for the shadow seed drew her forward- so forward she went, deeper into the unknown dark.
The dwarf watched with trepidation as the boy wandered deeper into the cave. Darjak wanted no part of this. Whatever was in here was too big for his tastes. If the boy wanted to go right into the thing's lair than that was his decision, but Darjak did not want to die today.
He turned around, intending to climb back up, but what he saw made his heart sink. The hole he had made was several feet from any wall and there was little chance of him being able to climb up there. He seriously considered trying to blow down a part of the wall and make some sort of staircase, but he quickly realized that such an action was both unfeasible and likely to bring this cave down on top of the pair.
He turned again and saw that the black-clad fellow had gone further into the cavern, almost out of range of the torch. The dwarf hurried to catch up with the man whispering as loudly as he could, "Wait for me laddie."
Iyla only paused momentarily in her stride to let the shorter legged companion catch up to her, but her eyes were hardly focused on him as they peered cautiously through the dark. Though once he was closer to her side, she moved much quicker- but not without hesitation as her eyes took in the twisting arches of the hanging spider webs that clung to the wall in great numbers. Though curiously enough, black crystals seemed to shimmer from behind them- and at first, she thought the shimmering black was in fact, some sort of glittering rock, but when the dwarf's torched past near to some of it, she made a face and realized-t ehy were indeed, small clusters of spiders hanging out upon the wall.
The image was enough to make her stumble into one of the thick, hanging patches of web and with a groan she tried to tug her arm loose, but the damn sticky web was tough.
Darjak followed the boy through the cavern, starting nervously at every small sound. He wasn't afraid of spiders, he just didn't like having them close to him...
It got even harder to control himself when he noticed the sheer number of spiders clinging to the cave's walls. That particular horror drew his attention so that he didn't notice when the other man stopped in front of him. He let out a very embarrassing squeal of surprise when he bumped into the black-clad fellow with more than a bit of force. He tried to catch the boy's arm, hoping that he didn't hit him with enough momentum to push him into one of those nasty webs...
((OOC: I can edit this if you think she dodged or something))
Ironically enough, Iyla had just cut herself free of one sticky web to find herself suddenly pushed into another. Growling between her teeth, she gave another yank at the webbing, but this time it was stuck to her good. But she didn't ask for help, and just tried to awkwardly saw herself loose using the sharp end of her spear.
Damn clumsy dwarf.
Darjak cringed at his failure stop the other man's fall. He pulled his belt knife out of his bandolier with his free hand and started hacking at the web along with the boy. The dwarf mumbled an apology,"Sorry bout that but you gotta tell me when ya stop or we'll keep trippin all o'er each other."
The two kept cutting and hacking until the black-clad figure was free from the main part of the web, though large tatters of the stuff still stuck to his leather armor. Both of them were blissfully unaware of what their strenuous activity was alerting. Deep within the cavern, something truly massive began to stir.
((OOC: Or several things that are truly massive, whatever you want))
OOC: ANd hte plot thickens 8D
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Once free, Iyla gave the dwarf a sharp glare and a rough, "Thanks." But she brushed passed him so that her shoulder shoved him aside. She had little patience for this, and brushed away what cobwebs she could as she walked.
The stone was here- she could feel it- somewhere out int he endless dark path before them- and she had to wonder how deep this rabbit hole went. Sticking close to Darjak, she gestured forward to where the path began to grow more shallow.
"After you." He could lead the way- he had the light. Though he was much shorter, Iyla followed behind and had to hunch over- and it was awkward and it sort of hurt to find herself in such a position-
But she'd do anything to retrieve that stone. Anything.
Darjak followed the fussy fellow. Really he was ill-natured. It had just been a little accident!
The pair kept walking for what seemed like quite a while. The dwarf frowned when the tunnel began to narrow. Eventually it also started getting lower and lower. Finally the black-clad figure in front of him crammed himself against the wall and gestured for him to pass. It made sense, Darjak was shorter and carrying the torch. Didn't mean he had to like it. What if there was something bad further in. If they were too cramped than the black-clad fellow wouldn't be able to back-up fast enough for him to escape!
Then Darjak sniffed something that made him throw all caution to the wind. He knew it as Drakinblas, though humans called it by a different name. Sulfur. Smelled strong too. Thanatos might not be a wasted trip after all. The dwarf began accelerating his pace in his excitement, never considering that the taller man behind him might have trouble keeping up.
Seeing the dwarf suddenly take off, Iyla gasped and jerked her head- and ended up smacking her head off the top of the low-ceilinged cave.
"Hey!"s he barked gruffly. "Where are you going?"
Darjak heard the other man's words behind him an realized that the taller fellow would probably have trouble keeping up in the narrow cavern. He looked over his shoulder to give the man a reply. "I smell sulfur up ahead, and it smells like the good stuff. I guess I got a little overexcited. Still, how dangerous could it be?"
So saying, the dwarf started moving down the passage again. He soon came to a corner, nd immediately around it was a small hole that seemed to open into a big cavern. He yelled back around the corner at his companion. "There's a big ol' open cavern up ahead. I'm gonna go check it out."
The small hole was a tight fit or the broad dwarf, but he squeezed through into the open space. The cavern, previously unlit, became illuminated as the dwarf pulled his torch in behind him. The contents of the cavern made him stop cold. A huge cocoon-like web hung suspended in the middle I the cavern by more of the massive spiderwebs. Darjak didn't know a lot about spiders, but he recognized an egg-sac when he saw one.
"Wait!" Hissed Iyla- but it was too late- he was already off and ahead of her- and wiht the light. But the second she was in shadow, she feared the cold and darkness only briefly before remembering-
She wasn't human.
Cursing beneath her breath,s he dind't want to attempt to squeeze into that opening, so instead, she slipped into the darkness and appeared just at his side-
Only to find herself peering around at a massive cavern- haphazardly decorated with spider webs and egg sacks. She made a face, gritting her teeth as she took a few hesitant steps forward.
"A spider's nest..."
But what sized spider could have made that? She didn't want t know, but the pull of the stone was so strong in this room it was making her dizzy. ANd frantically, her eyes began to search the room.
"Come on.. Where is it?" she muttered as she began to pace along as quietly and quickly as she could. But no matter where she looked, it was hard to tell just where the sensation was coming from. She just knew it was close. BUT WHERE!?
Upon seeing the spider's nest, Darjak took an immediate step back. Even the smell of sulfur, so close, could not propel the dwarf past that monstrosity. He was seriously considering going back when he remembered that there was no escape, and the black-clad fellow was probably blocking the way anyhow. Where was that guy anyway?
The dwarf turned around to face the hole, but he wasn't there. He heard muttering and wheeled to spot the boy already pretty far into the cavern. Now how had he pulled that off? The dwarf scratched his head with the back of his bangstick.
The egg-sac had pulled his attention, so now he turned to look at the rest of his surroundings. He walked over to the walls and started looking for other holes or ways out. He hadn't gone far along the stone wall before he came up to what appeared to be a glossy black pillar, thicker around than one of his legs and extending all the way up to the ceiling. He held the torch up higher to see where it ended but the ceiling remained obscured in blackness. But eyeing the distance, the dwarf saw that the shadows up there were closer than the ones in front of him. Which was impossible, the torch projected a sphere of light. That's what it did. And then the dwarf realized that the ceiling was the same glossy black color of the pillar. And then the pillar moved. This time Darjak screamed in earnest.
((OOC: Too big? :P But seriously though, I can change it if it's too ridiculously big for your taste.))
The hiss of Abaratu the Spider was enough of a force to cut into her ears like a knife- and the very sight of her sent a chill to her bones. She had been so focused on what she wanted, what she desired that she did not stop to consider what sort of dangers might be lurking just around the corner...
But why worry about such dangers unless they ever showed face? Well this one was right in front of her and as her eyes followed the long, spindly pillar like legs through the darkness, the massive fangs, glinting with poison, struck out through the shadows and slammed into the ground- mere feet from where Iyla had been but moments ago.
Thankfully, her wit had returned just in time for her to jump out of the way and with an exclamation she turned tail and shouted "RUN!"
Darjak jumped out of the way of one huge limb. The massive spider's legs were suddenly in motion and they looked sharp enough to pierce him. Not to mention that these weren't even the bussiness end. The front seemed to be focusing on the man in black. The way to the hole they came through looked clear but the dwarf get bad about abandoning him.
However the fellow shouted at him to run, and Darjak didn't have to be told twice. He started sprinting towards the hole in the cave wall.
Abaratu struck again, and again and again as it's fangs kept finding dirt while Iyla continued to fumbled and spin miraculously out of the way. Though it was a dangerous game they played, and one strike got too close for comfort as a gush of poison wet her skin.
Gritting her teeth, she rolled away, finding herself nearer towards the exit now where Darjak was running- and it was this movement that caught Abaratu's attention as she shot out a thick line of sticky web- hoping to catch the dwarf in it's near impenetrable stickiness.
Darjak was running when he felt something hit his back. He shouted in surprise and pain at the blow while he tumbled forward under the impact. However he was yanked back before he face-planted. The dwarf was quickly was pulled into an odd posture with his legs out in front of him at an angle, dragging across the ground. It was almost as if someone was pulling him back by the collar of his shirt.
He craned his neck to look behind him. Much to his horror, a massive strand of sticky web now connected him and the huge spider, and the creature was drawing him in closer. Darjak screamed again, though this time rage commingled with the fear. This thing was not going to eat him!
The impact from the web hitting him had caused him to drop the torch, and he grabbed a blast egg with his newly-freed hand. He used his flints to light it, counted to two, and then shouted, "Fire in the hole!" before chucking the explosive behind him at the monstrous spider. Time to see how it liked a face-full of fire and clay shrapnel.
While the spider was distracted with Darjak, Iyla managed to scramble to the side to reassess their situation. They were in a cavern- presumably now stuck since the damn spider seemed to be as quick at moving as they were- and it was huge- consuming a lot of the area inside the cave and there were sacks of eggs and goo everywhere.
But something stood out among the rest, the sensation- that of which pulled her through the darkest of hours and it was then she began to realize what was to happen-
Abaratu possessed the shadow seed- and she had to go through this godzilla spider to get it. Blindly, she moved towards it, barely catching the warning cry from Darjak. But just as the explosive went off, she managed to turn herself away to avoid any damage from the thing- but the spider was not to lucky as it let out a shrill cry and with drew back a few feet from the blast.
Coughing through the smoke, Iyla found herself unable to breath as she yanked the clothe around her mouth away for a brief moment to catch her breath. Then she glared over at the dwarf.
"What are you mad!? Using an explosive in here!?
Did he want to get them all killed!? What if it had struck something loose and the cave collapsed? Heavens knew she didn't want to die here!
The explosive severed the thread on the spider's end, and stunned the creature as well. This caused the force pulling Darjak backwards to cease. He fell hard on his bum for the second time today, and he was not happy about it. The dwarf was even less excited when the boy yelled at him for using the blast egg.
"Well what was I supposed to do, let that blasted spider eat me?"
Speaking of the monster eating him, Darjak didn't know how long the explosive would stun the thing, and he still had a weighty length of thread hanging off his back. He pulled out his belt knife and started sawing at the material. It was slow going because of how hard it was to see in the dark and because the spider silk was incredibly sticky. Even as he worked he pulled out and egg and readied it for use. The spider would act again soon and he needed to be ready.
Seeing the dwarf taking his sweet old time at cutting the webbing, Iyla angrily yanked off her spear from her back side and commanded, "Move your arm aside!" Before she let out a cry and gave an angered swing, and then a few more before the webbing was finally cut in half and the dwarf, free.
Darjak looked up at the boy with thanks in his eyes. He was going to speak his gratitude as well when a piercing cry echoed through the cavern. The spider had returned from its daze and was angrier than ever. Time to go.
Without a second of hesitation the dwarf ran for the exit, yelling "Come on!" as he went. The hole in the wall was close now, and he could clearly picture himself sliding through it to safety with the fellow in black coming in behind him. He was almost there, so close, when and he turned around to make sure that the other man was right behind him. Darjak didn't know why he bothered to check, it's not like the other man wouldn't be following him, right?
And that's when the spider struck. Abaratu was not a spider to be reckoned with, and being pissed now and feeling threatened near her eggs; she let out a shrill cry when she came free and only a few quick steps of her long legs had her crossing the distance to where the pair were running. And at the noise, Iyla's gaze tore from Darjak as she looked over her shoulder in horror as the spider's fangs came down and struck at her-
and the next thing she knew, she was eating dirt.
Darjak's look back was a mistake, he knew it was. Even as he watched the massive arachnid's fearsome mandibles smashed into his ally. The dwarf couldn't see clearly in the darkness, especially because both spider and victim were black, but it looked like the fangs had dug into the fellow's back and forced him to the ground.
If those terrible weapons had gone into the fellow, there was no way he could survive, so he hoped he was wrong about what he saw, because against his better judgement he was already turning back to save the fellow and it would be a mighty waste if he went risked himself for a dead body.
He knew he should have kept running for the exit, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep for at least a week knowing he'd left the poor fellow here. Besides, he tried to reason with himself, it was a great opportunity to test the power of his explosives on this huge monstrosity. He couldn't see any results from his first blast egg, and he decided that it was likely that he hadn't thrown it far enough and the spider had only been stunned by the flash.
He certainly couldn't use one again since he might hit the person he wanted to save, so instead he pulled one of his bangsticks from his bandolier, and aimed that at the huge arachnid. He pushed down on the enchanted nail, and the permanently heated piece of metal lit up the powder stuffed in the weapon. The powder blast in turn sent the lead ball inside the tube out of the business end of the weapon with explosive force.
The metal sphere hit it's target and tore through one of the spider's eyes, and while the damage wasn't serious, the pain from the wound forced the spider to rear back.
And rear back she did. Abaratu let out a shrill cry and crinkled in all of her legs as she retreated against the wall of the cavern, hurt, stunned and not certain she liked it. The hair around her mouths fluttered about flusteredly, all the while black blood began to seep onto the cavern floor from Iyla's wounds. SHe wasn't even sure how to react to what just happened as a warming numbess began to flood her as she groaned.
Darjak saw the spider retreat back into the cavern, out of range of his fallen torch. He couldn't see it, but it must have run a ways to escape the flickering light. Time to press his advantage. The dwarf pulled another bangstick from his bandolier as he ran to his fallen ally. It was too dark to see what kind of condition he was in, but Darjak heard labored breathing and a bit of groaning, so at least he was alive.
He grabbed the man's collar with one hand, and began dragging him back towards the exit. He kept the bangstick armed and ready in his other hand, pointing it in the direction the spider had gone. His eyes scanned the darkness as he laboriously dragged his ally away. The blackness was overwhelming, and his fallen torch appeared to be waning. Despite the spider's massive girth, he couldn't see or hear it at all. This was bad. He could almost feel it out there, preparing to strike.
As Darjak pulled on her Iyla let out a cry. It was enough to gain the spider's attention as it tap danced anxiously about before it suddenly struck forward and smacked the pair once with a pair of it's front legs, then again- forcing the two apart.
Iyla let out a groan as she was kicked aside and clutched onto her wounds, but being as she could see int he dark, she saw the spider turned it's attentions now on Darjak since the pair were separated, and saw it readying itself for another strike.
"LOOK OUT!"
The spider's foreleg strikes were too fast for Darjak to avoid or counter them. He was knocked away from his ally with enough power to send him sprawling, and he lay on his back, trying to recover himself. The force of the blow had stunned him, and he barely registered the shout of "Look Out!"
Groggily, Darjak began trying to stand up, and the movement saved his life. His shifting kept the spider from hitting her target, the dwarf's chest, and instead she sunk one of her fangs into his left arm, forcing him back to the ground. The mandible was massive, and the wound it left was severe.
Darjak howled with pain as the spider ripped it's bloody fang out of his arm, and the creature reared back to strike again. The dwarf, rage overpowering his pain, screamed bloody murder at the spider as he emptied his bangstick, still clutched tightly in his right hand, into the spider's oncoming head.
Darjak had two types of bangstick, generally. One was filled with a large lead ball that flew out of the weapon at high velocity. The other was filled with random shrapnel that launched a huge fireball of burning metal at close range. The dwarf tried to keep two of each on hands at all times. He'd used one of the first kind, and the one he unloaded now was the second.
Hundreds of metal fragments came out of the bangstick accompanied by a huge fireball, all heading towards the spider's face.
It was a direct hit, and the spider cried out in pain as metal and fire singed at it's face. It's long legs constricted, drawing inward as it reared back and scattered to hide itself against the shadow of the far wall. That was all Iyla needed to ready herself for a new attack. With her spear now in hand, she moved forward deftly and charged beneath it's massive legs, dancing through them with ease before moving to zip through the shadows and up towards it's soft under belly, where, with a furious roar, she dug the spear deep into the beast's breast.
Darjak watched his attack land squarely on it's intended target. The sider screamed and retreated rapidly, which he took as a good sign. He was turning to look for his companion, to see how he was doing, when a black clad figure rushed by him, only entering his field of view for a split second. The dwarf turned to look in the direction of the motion, and was amazed to see his ally already up and moving. He must have missed his guess about the fellow being impaled, there was no way he could be up and moving after a wound like that. Right?
The man was lost to Darjak in the darkness, and a sudden pain in his arm reminded him that he had more pressing problems. He rolled up, and tried to lift his left arm, only to find it unresponsive. Luckily the spider's blow had sent him sprawling toward his fallen torch, and he was able to get a good look at the damage.
Actually, maybe it wasn't a good thing to see it clearly. He was horrified to see the amount of blood coming from the wound. There was a massive hole in the muscle of part of his arm that went all the way through. He almost fainted from the sight of it. He must be in some serious trouble because he was expecting way more pain from the wound then he seemed to be experiencing.
That was the point where he realized just how light-headed he was. This wasn't good, he would go into that shawayk thing he'd heard about at this rate. And after that he'd bleed out. He ran through the supplies he had on him, trying to figure out what he could do to stem the bleeding.
He was relieved to remember that he did have a couple things he could try. The fellow in black would have to do without him for a while, because he was going to need to treat himself before he could do anything else. Grimly, the dwarf tore off the remains of his ruined left sleeve, and set about tying it around the upper part of his arm, above his wound. He tried desperately to figure out how to get a tight knot using only his right arm and his teeth. He was on a time limit and he was feeling fainter by the minute.
Even as he finally started to get the fabric tight around his arm, the dwarf was thanking his lucky ores that he'd known that doctor. The knowledge he'd gained from the fellow had saved him, and probably the fellow in black too, from dying today. At least, it had so far. He desperately hoped it stayed that way.
OOC: Lol thanking his lucky ores 8D
---------
Iyla hesitated not to dig the end of her spear deeper and deeper still in the beasts body. The drive, the thrill, the hunger for the shadow seed she could feel thriving inside this creature was enough to make her see red. She had to kill the beast. She had to get her master the seed!
With roar, she yanked the spear out and dropped to the ground, the spider's blood spilling out nad coating half of her body. But the spider was quick, and the moment Iyla afforded him a reprieve, it took off, slinking deeper into the cavern. Iyla let out a frustrated roar and began to make chase, not considering her poor companion might be on the floor, dying behind her.
But he was of no concern to her. She always worked alone-
And because of the sort of life style she worked, she never allowed herself to get close to anybody- because all that mattered to her was collecting the seeds, for the seeds meant freedom- and sated the crazed hunger within her.
((OOC: Well I was thinking that dwarves probably wouldn't have lucky stars XD))
It took a lot of grunting, sweating, swearing, and biting, but Darjak was eventually able to get the ruined sleeve tight around his arm. In the torchlight he could see the flow of blood slowing and he began to feel even less in his left arm than he had before.
Well that was good. At least now he probably wouldn't bleed out on the floor of a hole in the ground. Not from this wound anyway. After all, the culprit was probably still out there somewhere in the darkness of the cavern.
All the dwarf wanted to do right now was sleep, but instead he pulled out another one of his slug-bangsticks with his right hand and then slowly stood up.
Despite how careful he was with his ascent, Darjak still almost fell over once he straightened out. It took an effort of will to continue standing, but he was able to remain upright, and even begin walking. He felt befuddled and exhausted, a victim of severe blood loss, but he wasn't going to stop. Not until the spider stopped moving. Then he could be done. Until then he'd just keep going, he had to.
Grimly, he walked over to his fallen torch and picked it up with his right hand. It was difficult to hold both the torch and his weapon with one hand, but he had need of both and only one limb to carry them with. It would have to do. He'd drop the torch when the spider came into range and he could aim better.
Darjak began walking towards the darker side of the cave, and sounds of battle came to his ear. The dwarf walked on determinedly. Time for him to get re-involved.
Thank the skies the spider was large and she couldn't get far. And she was injured and Iyla- reveling in the shadows. She could feel it call unto her, and the spinny tendrils within her craved so much of it, it was hard to tell when she was here, and then- in an instant, Iyla felt herself splitting through the darkness and was tearing into the beast once again.
The darkness worked as an impenetrable blanket, one she could move through swifter than light. And the spider called out in agony as Iyla's blade cut at it- again and again-
But one thing was miscalculated..
and that was that the Spider herself had in possession of her the seed, and she herself was not without benefits from it (besides the obvious intensity of her size!)
The madness becoming her and the desire to live forced her fangs outwards as she struck, and the first one missed, but the second one struck through-a nd the force was enough to send Iyla hurling across the room.
The body of his young acquaintance flew with alarming speed passed his nose, and Darjak turned to look concernedly in his direction. Then he realized that he was probably looking the wrong way. He turned to face the other direction. Yep, there it was. In all it's ugliness.
The huge spider was leaking filmy liquid from numerous wounds on it's quivering body, but it paid them no mind, and bore down on it's prey with a single-minded intent. It almost missed Darjak standing in front of it, so great was it's rage against the quick black form that had so wounded it. It would have too, if the dwarf hadn't been carrying a torch.
Well, was carrying it, Darjak dropped his flaming brand and aimed his bangstick with precision at his now-clear target. The slug left the weapon at high velocity and slammed straight into the massive arachnids head. The dwarf howled with victory when the projectile pierced another eye. He could see spear wounds had punctured two more It was running out of was to see.
His victory was, however, cut short when the monster recovered from it's pain and began bearing down on him. He knelt swiftly to retrieve his torch, but he had to use the flaming brand to block the leg that the spider tried to strike him with. Unfortunately, the weakened wood couldn't stand the force of the impact, and the attack sent him sprawling.
The impact, coupled from the blood-loss from earlier made it hard for Darjak to even consider standing, and the spider closed in on it's new prone target, the swift, black figure momentarily forgotten.
It was during Abaratu's attack towards the dwarf did Iyla return, and in a glint of movement, barely perceived, she was all over it. The wicked end of her weapon was cutting quick, cutting fast, and the large spider was being forced back away into the deeper shadows again.
The shattered torch went out, leaving only the smallest of embers to illuminate the cavern. And an unexpected light source. A small pool of sunlight that seemed to be coming from ceiling.
Darjak looked up from his prone position, trying to identify the source of the light. It looked like there was a small hole in the ceiling, but Darjak knew how high the cliff they were under went. The pit must have been massive to be so large from so far away.
Darjak realized that the spider must have been blocking his view of the sunlight before, and his torch had prevented him from noticing the faint hint of it since. Now, in darkness except for that source, he could perceive it. Not that it did him any good. The light was so faint that he couldn't see anything in the cavern.
He could hear though. The spider's squealing accompanied by deep cutting and tearing sounds. It looked like his ally was still fighting the good fight. Which was good, because Darjak was out of commission. The wounded dwarf felt blackness creeping up on the edges of his vision. Not the darkness of the cave, but the total shadow of unconsciousness.
Iyla swore inwardly. Why would this beast not yield!? Relentless that she was, Abaratu seemed as agile, if not more so, than when this battle had first begun! And though Iyla was swift and one with the shadows, it seemed the spider was gaining resistance as the duo fought in the dark. Though as they danced, the soft blue light from above fluttered across the spider queen's form as her large legs and fangs continued to strike out strongly and defensively in hopes to keep Iyla away.
Growling, she finally danced backwards, red eyes narrowing. The spider did the same, hissing as she was pressed against a wall and used the open space between them to shot out another gooping blob of thick webbing. But each time she tried to catch Iyla in it, the woman danced away from it, it barely missing her as she bled in and through the darkness. It would be impossible for the Spider Queen to get her now, but she could disarm her, and with a swear between her teeth, Iyla watched as the spear she held was knocked clean from her hands and now embedded into a thick wad all web, glued against the wall.
Hissing through her teeth, Iyla was pissed. Play time was over. If they were to battle in the dark, it was time for her to take full advantage of the dark, and closing her eyes she felt the same prickling chill inside the pit of her belly before each time she called onto the darkness within her. This time, she was calling out for help, as thousands upon thousands of limbs from the darkness reached out, latching onto the Spider Queen and refusing to let her go. The spider squealed out in anger, but she was not the only one pissed to be incased in a tricky 'web' of darkness, for Iyla had had enough of this shit and moved over to the fallen form of Darjak, snatched a blade from his side and moved over towards her spear. She hacked away at her weapon until it fell free, then once she had her weapon in hand she wasted no time launching herself forward to dish the final blows to Abaratu- the once great spider queen of the Thanati coast. And when she was through with it, the spider was nothing more than a husk, and the shadows melted away and her lifeless form fell to the ground, with just a few remaining twitches of life.
Red eyes remained upon the figure until she ceased to move before she crept forward, gave the spider queen a good hard kick before slamming the sharp end of her spear into it's body and moving to climb up and onto it's belly. She, like most animals, died on it's back, arms crippled and tense from death- while she wasted no time, seeking out the power of the seed and then cutting away into the beast before she found the right spot. Then in went her hand, int the still warm body of the spider, before finally, she felt the prize and pulled out the seed.
But she was surprised at what she found- for this seed was much smaller and less potent than the other ones she found....
ANd she began to wonder what had become of it's full power...
HAd the spider somehow drained it? Glancing down the corpse, she knew she'd never get an answer here. Leaping off the body, she began to make her exit, fully intending to leave the 'dead' dwarf behind.
But something made her hang back as she paused over his form. Ah, his dagger..
She wasn't really a thief if she didn't have to be, and so she took this moment to return the dagger to the man. Even if he was dead, who knows, he might wake up alive sometime later and use it. She didn't care to find out, but either way, it was time to leave the cave.
The first thing Darjak felt when he woke up was a raging headache. Soon after that came a burning thirst. He groaned weakly, and tried to sit up. It was difficult, but he managed to prop himself into a sitting position.
He looked about him in the cave, but he was rewarded only with darkness. There was still light coming in through the ceiling, but it was minimal and he couldn't make out any of his surroundings. His arm felt numb, and the dwarf rubbed the afflicted limb gingerly while trying to figure out what had happened. Where had that fellow in black gone? And the spider?
The man in black had abandoned Darjak. Iyla felt no need to stick around, especially when she had already gotten what she had came for. And on her way out, she made her way through the thick forests of the Thanati coast, until she made her way towards a small fishing city to try to get her barrings. The small city was called Lanissmill, and was a hilly city with a prominent large wind mill sitting atop of a hill over looking the rolling city streets beneath it.
And because this city focused on fishing as it's source for food and income, the air was rife with it. Even inside, behind closed doors, Iyla found the stench had followed her as she ordered a drink and began to observe this small tavern in silence. She got little news, for this town could not help her leave the island- she had to go to one of the larger, port cities if she wanted to trek the oceana nd with the sort of storms forecasted, it seemed as if Iyla would remain in land for a good while.
And at the speak of storms, it began to rain, and rain hard, and had done so for most of the day. Iyla had procured a room here- it was as good as any, as she began to contemplate the meaning behind the drained power of the seed. Normally, once it's host was killed, the seeds power was restored full force back into it- but as it were... this seed was different, and much less potent to the seeds she had uncovered before. But why? She was idly tapping the shadow stone against the bar top in thought, all the while the rains continued to pour outside.
Escaping the cave was a real trial. It involved lots of searching and hunting for an exit. Fortunately the large spider was dead, he'd found the massive corpse, so he was able to explore unmolested. He felt better after drinking from the canteen he kept in his pack, and though it took more than a few hours, he finally wandered his way out of the caverns.
He found the exit leading to a small bay by the cove, and it took him a while to orient himself. He'd been on the island for some time, but he still didn't recognize all the landmarks. Still, there was enough familiar terrain for him to make his way back to Lanissmill. He'd stayed there earlier during his time on the island, and he recognized the area surrounding it.
As he walked, the dwarf did his best to memorize the way back to the cave. He hadn't explored it thoroughly yet, and there might still yet be materials in there that he could use. He'd go back as soon as he was able.
But first someone to look at his arm. That was his intention when he walked into the city. It took him a bit of time to find a healer, and a bit longer for him to pay the man to fix him up. An applied poultice and a bandage later, the dwarf was on his way again. The healer had offered to attempt to speed the healing process with flesh sculpting, but Darjak decided not to take his chances.
By the time he reached this point, the dwarf was feeling exhaustion set in, and he decided to find a place to stay for the night. He found his way to a small tavern that also functioned as an inn, and he paid the proprietor as quickly as possible, despite the man's obvious distaste for foreigners, money was money, and he went up to his room. He set down his things and collapsed in the bed, thinking of all the things he had to do. He had to make his way back to that small village to retrieve the rest of his supplies, and search that cave again, and figure out what had happened to the man in black...
It was a lot of things, and Darjak fell asleep going over the list for the third time.
Iyla retired to her own room that evening, her mind pensive. But being as the drinks were getting her no where, she returned to bed and did not awaken until the later hours of the morning. And she was groaning and her head was pounding. Damn hang over.
Rolling out of bed, she poured water into a basin and splashed it onto her face, and peered over at the dirty mirror in her room. She frowned at herself, at her hair, what she looked like now and reflected back to how life had once been. She had once been pampered, once lived the life of a lady.
But now what? Now she was pretending to be a man, and defying all odds for what?
She peered down at the black stone upon her table top with a frown.
For black rocks.
Her life had become an endless search for silly, little black rocks.
Snatching up the rock from the table, she stuffed it into one of her pouches before moving to get herself dressed for the day, which took a considerable amount of time, which irritated her more than usual, no small thanks to the headache, as she went about painstakingly tightening the bindings around her chest and body to ensure she would look like a man, but one pause in the mirror again made her frown at such a feat.
Yes.. how had this ever come to be?
Waking up was a chore, and the only thing that got Darjak to leave his bed was intense hunger. He grabbed his bag, he wasn't coming back to the room, and went out the door. He felt nauseous, but still hungry, and deciding whether or not to risk eating took several minutes of deliberation.
Hunger eventually won out, though, and he asked the innkeeper to bring him a meal. Again, money was money, and Darjak soon had a bowl of fish and vegetables, none of which he recognized. He also received two sticks. He'd seen people eat with them, but he had no idea how to use them himself so he just ate with his hands. He got a few dirty looks from the other patrons but he willfully ignored the stares.
When Igna came down, she found herself strangely hungry. That's when she realized it must've been days since she'd eaten. Glancing around, she found an empty table, ordered herself a bowl of soup and bread, and a mug of beer, and once she was served it all, she began to dip the stale bread into the soup as she began to ponder away the events of the day. However, something caught her attention as she began to listen into the men in the place-
"Yeah, spiders- really large aggressive ones. I ain't never seen so many larger spiders. Took me a while to stop the one beneath my boot- cause it was just as big as it it was, but I swear, twice as strong as any spider I've met."
"Maybe there was a nest nearby. These island house a lot of unique creatures, and even us as natives aren't even aware of them all."
Spiders? Large spiders? She began to wonder, idly- if the spider she had killed last night was in any connection to it. Thinking it over, she went back to her soup- but dropped her piece of bread into the moment she heard-
"Yeah, and I found this strange black rock. Wonder if it's volcanic?"
And that must've been the weird sensation she had felt.
There was another stone nearby- though this sensation, this pull was decidedly different than the rest. So she grew quiet, ignoring the fact her entire piece of bread had gone soggy, and continued to listen in to what the men had to say.
Darjak finished the meal put in front of him quickly, it wasn't a lot of food for a hungry dwarf, but he decided against ordering more, better to conserve his coin.
He stood up from his table, intending to leave the tavern, but he overheard a couple of patrons talking. They were saying something about spiders, but that wasn't what caught Darjak's attention. H focused on the word: volcanic. Was there a volcano on this island? The though actively excited him, volcanoes often meant sulfur, and other interesting materials...
He had to find out more. He walked over to the table where the two men had been talking and tapped one of them on the shoulder. "If you'll be excusin' me, I thought I heard someone over here talking about a volcanic rock? Is there a volcano or somethin' on this island cause I hadn't heard of one?"
The familiar voice of Darjak was not lost on her when he interjected, and she held back, observing in silence from where she sat as they men conversed. Apparently there were volcanoes, volcanoes and spiders, but what concerned the woman the most were the spiders- and the speak of a black rock. To her, that only meant one thing...
A shadow seed.
And she was not about to let the lead on one simply go. So she kept a watchful gaze upon the group, but said nothing, nor did she attempt to interject her own self there. No, it was best to be patience, she realized. Perhaps these men could inadvertently lead her to where the rest of the seed, or seeds, were.
Darjak's excitement was clear, and it just as clearly upset the too Yoreiqi men to have their conversation interrupted by a foreigner. "And what business is it of yours? Dwarf." one of them spoke. He said the last word like an insult, sneering as he did so.
Darjak's face darkened, and his voice got very low. Now, normally, Darjak is very mild-mannered, but several factors were wearing on the Dwarf and stressing him out. So he got a little angry. "I'm making it my business, right here, right now," he spoke softly to the pair, "and let me tell you I have had the worse day and I am not in the mood to be taking crap from a couple of backwards fisherman."
Both men stood up with red faces and raised fists, and Darjak smiled toothily. "So I'll have to beat it out of you, fine then, who's first?"
The men wouldn't get a chance to get into a scuffle, for a sack of coins suddenly fell onto the table. The men's eyes went up to the young man swathed in black, looking pissed, but also confused.
"Money to learn more about this rock."
The men exchanged looks before staring at Iyla.
"And what is it to you? Why pay money to learn about something so-"
"I'll double it if you can show me what you mean."
ANd at that, the men grew quiet.
Darjak watched with surprise as the man in black made another appearance. It was all the Dwarf could do to not shout: you're alive!
He honestly didn't think that he'd see his odd ally again, and he was relieved that the fellow was alright. It didn't even once cross his mind that the man abandoned him in the cave, that just wasn't the way the Dwarf thought of things.
While Darjak was taking stock of the man in black, the two Thanati men were doing the same. One of them turned to his friend and spoke in Thanati so the foreigners couldn't understand. "Skinny looking fellow eh? If he has that much gold to throw away about a rock, I wonder how much more he has?"
It was then Iyla's eyes cut into the pair of them like sharp rubies.
"I'll half the offer if you keep this up," she hissed in Thanati. The talk was evidently accented, and a bit garbled, but she knew the language well enough.
The pair of men stared at her, a bit dumbfoundedly before they grew sheepish.
"Now.." Iyla took a seat near to them. "About that rock..."
The two looked away awkwardly for a few second before one of them spoke up. "There's a valley near here with a river running through it. Fresh-water fishing's good there. Anyway, I was setting up my pole when a big ol' spider popped up from some hole in the ground. I smashed the thing up good with my boot, and when I took my foot away, the spider was gone. There was just this weird black rock."
Iyla gave a snort. These men had obviously been drunk. But then she thought back to the large spider she had killed in the cave and gave a thoughtful frown.
"Can you take me to this valley?" she asked, looking at the two men. The two exchanged glances again before they gave a nod.
"Y-yeah, sure we can, but can we at least finish our drinks first?"
Iyla slammed more coin onto the table.
"No," she said, adjusting the belt on her pants. "Let's do this now."
Darjak frowned. "Hey then, I haven't heard about that volcano you were talking 'bout yet." One of the men, clearly distracted by the coins on the table, answered offhandedly, "Oh it's right near the valley we were talking about." as he stood up and grabbed his things.
"Alright then," the dwarf said to no one in particular. "I guess I'll tag along since we're going to the same place," and so saying Darjak went to collect his things from his table.
To say she was pleased was a grave understatement. But anxious she was, though hid it well on her placid expression as the men, still half drunk, lead the way. She said nothing, of course, the two men in front bantering from time to time as they argued over who'd get what bag of gold, and if it were not for the black rock she craved...
She was half tempted to slit their throats. But those dark thoughts she tried to suppress...
But it was so difficult when she could sense, which each step, that what she craved was so near.
Collecting his materials as he was, Darjak almost didn't notice his guides leaving. When the trio stood up and walked out, the dwarf had to rush to catch up. He followed behind them, uncharacteristically silent. There was a tension over the group that even the tactless dwarf could notice.
As they neared a pathway that lead towards the volcano, Iyla noticed soft puffs of smoke escaping from the top of it. Curious, she stared at it- never having seen a mountain smoke quite like that before. And that's when their 'guides' came to a stop.
"The mountain... it seems she awakens. We should go no further."
At that, Iyla grabbed the man's wrist suddenly with such a force, he let out a sharp cry of pain.
"You WILL take me there. Smoking mountain or not, I paid you good money for this."
The two men eyed each other nervously. The crazy foreigner in black or the volcano, which was more dangerous?
And while they considered whether or not to make a break for it, Darjak finally caught up. "Geez," the dwarf huffed, "you humans and your long legs. Why'd you stop, were you waiting for me?"
One of the men shook his head silently and instead pointed towards the smoking mountain. "Oh," Darjak said with realization. "That there's a pretty good reason to stop ya..."
Iyla cut a glare at the men, ignoring the dwarf as she took a step forward.
"I've already paid you for your services," she pressed, her voice a growl.
And then she saw the one man throw the money at her feet.
"I lost one son to the volcano, I'm not about to let it get me, too. My wife would never forgive me, even in death."
Iyla's glare already hardened, and when the second man went on saying, "Oh Fucking Gods, the lot of you," and threw his money at Iyla's feet as well- that was enough to send her over the edge as she gave the man a good fist to his face.
The first man was shocked and caught the other man as he fell backwards from the blow.
"Hey, lad, take it easy now! We don't want any trouble!"
Iyla was furious now as she growled at the pair.
"TAKE ME TO THE MOUNTAIN AT ONCE!"
The men couldn't believe it, ad both were shaking their heads.
"Just follow the Foot Root Path. If you keep with it, it'll end at Rattler's Mill. Go eastward up the mountain from there and you'll eventually come out to a series of steaming springs. The rocks.. the black rocks were in a cave near there."
And Iyla didn't wait for them to finish their story before she gave an agressive step their way.
"You'd better not be lying."
And she stormed off down the path, allowing the subtle tingling force that drew her towards the stones guide her. After all, what good were mortal men when she was trying to break an immortal affair?
Darjak watched with surprise as the fellow in black blew up like, well, a volcano at the two Thanti men. He'd seen the man angry, dismissive, and irritable, but this was a step beyond any of those. The fellow seemed fully enraged now.
As he stalked off, Darjak had to put serious consideration into following him. Was it really worth wandering into a volcano with some fellow he barely knew?
While he was considering, the two Thanati men made their exit and Darjak suddenly found himself alone on the mountainside. Indeciion plagued him for a moment longer before he decided to follow the quickly retreating figure of the man in black. He'd come this far in his company, might as well keep going. In Darjak's experience, gut decisions were the best ones, and his was telling him to follow along.
Iyla followed their directions to the 't'. ANd lucky for them, when she did, she felt the pull towards the shadow stone growing stronger. And by the time she made it to the steaming pools of water, her body felt just as heated as the pools themselves.
Taking a look around, she began to seek out the cave in question, but it was difficult. It seemed as if the pull for the stone was taking her in two directions, and one felt as if it were to lead her past the cave and up the mountain pass. And though the ground rumbled beneath her feet, she found herself taking that path towards the puffing mountain top.
The fellow in black acted as if something were pulling him, though Darjak had no idea as to what it could be. Soon though, the dwarf felt something pulling him further up the track. Darjak sniffed the air happily before muttering under his breath "Sulfur."
The smell was coming from a cave off the pass. Without even noticing where his companion was going, the dwarf wandered over to the cave. Inside, he found walls lined with yellow crystals. With a gleeful gleam in his eye, Darjak took one of the crystals off the wall with a heft smash from his poker. The chunk fell, the dwarf pulled out his kit so he could start running some tests on the minerals effectiveness in his recipe. As he knelt down, he noticed some odd black stones on the floor. There was only a couple, but something about him struck him as odd in the cavern. The dwarf picked them up absentmindedly, figuring he could check them out later, focusing more on the sulfur and recovering them only as an afterthought.
She felt she couldn't get out of this winding cave fast enough. Though part of her drew comfort and power from the dark, another part of her, the part not yet turned feral, still yearned for the freedom the full power this seed could bring her closer to-
So onward she pressed, when another angry rumble from the mountain made her spill over, and rocks and spikes from above began to fall.