In For The Kill And Out For The Betrayal

[Anadwen]

They were approaching the temple, walking as swiftly as they did, rather fast. Soon, a stone path appeared on the ground beneath, covered by moss and falling leaves, but Apdanith avoided it, instead walking in its direction among the trees.

A shadow moved somewhere afar on the path. Aldanith reacted at the sudden movement lightning-fast - a throwing knife slashed through the air, and a moment later, something dropped onto the ground. He moved forth to take a better look, and saw what must have been one of the cultists - with a slender knife in his throat.

[Lion]

"How anticlimactic," Vandryn said in a low breathy whisper, watching the cultist drop like a fly.  He moved over to the corpse and turned it over, pulling off a bloodied wooden mask and beneath it was a carved face, the scars evident of self mutilation and Vandryn only smiled wider.

"Seems our friend here was rather devout.  Even got scars all over his arms and stuff," he murmured and rummaged through his clothes.   He pulled off his robes and threw them over his own clothes, trousers and all, taking even the mask.

[Anadwen]

"Nobody will recognise you, I guarantee that." Aldanith hissed with a crooked smirk on his thin lips. His form seemed to flicker and fade, as if it was clouded by mist or a shadow, until he became just a dim silhouette. Blending into shadows didn't take much of his energy, and he could therefore sustain it for a long, long time.

"However, I think we should continue walking. I want to get it done before the sun comes out." he reminded Vandryn silently, taking the throwing knife back, and returning it to a sheath by his side.

[Lion]

"Then perhaps the best method of infiltration would be to split up.  I'll go my way, and you can venture straight on if you intended," he said sharply.  Vandryn observed the shadow he had become, his posture, form and the weapons on his belt.  "I will find an alternate route."

[Anadwen]

"Kill whatever gets to your way, I'll go straight through. We meet on the courtyard of the temple... You'll notice when I'll be there." he said shortly, clenching his hands around the hilts of his scimitars, and gave Vandryn one last glance before running off towards the temple, only a flashing shadow in the darkness, indistinguishable for anyone that didn't know what to search for

[Lion]

Vandryn narrowed his eyes at his back and ran off toward the right, flanking his direction as he came toward the temple that was half buried inside the ground.  Vandryn did not unsheathe his blades, as carefully hidden as they were underneath his robes as he found a hidden tunnel beneath a cluster of boulders and slipped into the darkness.

[Anadwen]

Aldanith went straight towards the entrance, fading more and more with every step, until he was practically unnoticeable unless one would look really close. Like this, in his insane speed, he managed to bolt through the entrance and a labyrinth of other halls and tunnels, until finally arriving to the main courtyard. It was a large underground hall, dark and shadowy, and cultists were all around it, but none noticed him...

He slowly walked to the center, searching for Vandryn.

[Lion]

But Vandryn was there, in the midst of that crowd and he blended in like he was nothing more than the rest of them.  He peered up at the shadow above the courtyard and gave him a silent nod as he passed through the crowd as the cultists began to chant loudly.

[Anadwen]

Aldanith noticed the sole cultist that wasn't beginning his worship quickly, and passed through the chanting crowd like the shadow he has become. Only a slightly darker indistinct shape touched Vandryn's shoulder.

"Behind you. Keep acting." he whispered into his ear.

[Lion]

In the rear of the compound resided the most protected and well guarded of the cultists religious artifacts and texts of their obsequious faith.  Vandryn knew nothing of them, but as long as he could get through this mission with little trouble, he didn't care about knowing them.  But he also knew that could readily be their downfall, no matter how much they attempted to get out alive.

Vandryn said nothing to shadow at his back.  They just kept walking until they moved toward the inner sanctum.

[Anadwen]

With steps as silent as the wind itself, even though he wore heavy armour, Aldanith followed Vandryn through the temple, unnoticed by the cultists. One turned towards him and blankly stared at where he stood, but he saw naught but a dim shadow, an indistinct gust of air.

[Lion]

The one who saw them, his eyes had flickered and though it seemed he did not notice, he knew something was amiss.  He turned towards his brothers and whispered something into his ear, and so passed on the word from ear to ear as Vandryn and Aldanith drifted further into the compound.  Moving away from the congregation was suspicious enough, but Vandryn was getting the feeling they had to move even quicker.

When they were out of sight, Vandryn cast off his mask and robes and stashed them in a massive pot, rubbing his scarred face from the wooden mask.  He moved through the shadows towards the more protected section within.

[Anadwen]

Aldanith slowly started to fade out back into his normal, visible self, as the protection of the shadows was no longer needed. The relic was close, he could feel it, all the voices inside his head were chanting and screaming, and he felt the energy, radiating from something so powerful, in the very air around himself. He could hear it, he could see it, he could breathe it...

"It's close. Find it, grab it, I cover your back and kill whatever gets near." he hissed, moving through the shadows near the walls. His black armour still seemed to create dark mist, which, as if oozing from the metal, partly hid him.

[Lion]

But he did not need to cover his back.  Perhaps he should have been paying more attention to his front.  Suddenly out of the shadows surrounding them, came a swarm of cultists, more in number than any of them could have imagined and Vandryn's eyes suddenly went wide at the sudden revelation just as he reached the pedestal of the glowing Orb.

He immediately lunged for it but it took little effort for two of the cultists to put him down on the ground, and he grit his teeth, trying to turn around when he felt a boot smash down on his head and force him to the ground.  Cultist came in front of Aldanith, but another was at his back and slipped blade between the pieces of his armor, lunging it deep into his spine.

[Anadwen]

A horrifying scream escaped his mouth as the blade dove deep among his bones, immediately throwing himself onto the floor to get off the tip of the knife. A cover of shadows hid him for a moment, just to erupt in pitch black flames and burning the cultists around a moment later. It was darker than the night itself, and it succeeded in keeping them all away, but the ranks of the cultists were too great to be burned to ashes just like that.

He needed something more...

The voices in his head were chanting, screaming in a mad mayhem. He knew what they hungered for.

A flaming hand reached after the orb, his fingers gritted around it. The intensity of the screams inside his mind suddenly ascended a hundred times higher, but there was power inside this relic. He could feel it better than anything...

[Lion]

Vandryn watched from his place on the ground, the black fire that seeped out from Aldanith.  What it sought however, seemed only to tremble and quiver at the temperature that intended to erapture it and when it came close enough the orb that had been on the pedestal seemed only to quiver once more before shattering into a million pieces of useless glass.

[Anadwen]

Something powerful was released from the orb. Aldanith could feel it, streaming from the broken glass like smoke. His first instinct would be to coil up and try to avoid it, but the voices inside had a different opinion. It needed to be bound.

He kicked back into the cultist that held him down, shaking him off, and reached out towards one of the shards. The smoke twisted and turned around his hand, and he could feel a great presence entering his mind.

Then, something pierced his conscience and took over. The real Aldanith blacked out, but a different mind still controlled his body.

He arose with unsure, stiff moves like a puppet. His eyes were white, completely white, and his mouth was twisted into a wide grin, revealing all the white teeth inside.

And then he laughed.