The Wind's Voices

[Haze]

Keely was relieved Theon said no more of the matter. She followed behind, saying nothing, but watching his every move, and her step. As the path got steeper, her concentration thickened. She couldn't afford to lose her footing. Not now.

"Theon!" She saw him fall, a small piece of her heart in her throat. Her step quickened, slipping a little and she dropped her her hands and knees, scrambling and sliding the rest of the way to him. At his side, she eyed the deep valley, squinting into the darkness ahead. "Maybe it flew?" she asked, frowning. Together, they had no supplies. The clothes on their backs, and their swords but nothing else.

Flopping onto her stomach with some care, she peered over the edge. "It doesna look like a sheer drop. I think I can see some ledges, here and there." She glanced over her shoulder, and quirked an eyebrow "Ye ever scale a cliff?"

Without waiting for his reply, she swung her legs over the side, and carefully lowered herself down. Her arms shook a little, carrying all her weight and she frowned in concentration. Her feet dangled for a moment, scrabbling against the cliff face. Finding a foothole finally, she grunted, and one, then another hand dissapeared.

[Lion]

"Maybe it walked," he offered, a little annoyed at this obstacle before them.  The skeletons were one thing.  He could deal with another beast or two even that were twice his size.  Perhaps it was his testosterone speaking when he thought of such a thing, but he thought he had enough climbing when he scaled over the mountains of Darken Vei, and here he was stuck in a pit having to face it all again.

"I have—wait, where are you going?  Oi, nevermind," he muttered as he watched her climb down.  It was probably better that she went that way, slower, safer.  He frowned and knew there must be a faster way to get across.  He didn't know how far and how fast the monster was getting away from them.  And he didn't like the thought of taking his time more than he had to.  He glanced back at her again as she made her way down and looked up and around him.

He spotted the vines overhead which hung from the massive roots that broke through the rock ceiling.  In a flash of steel, he swiped Lohengrin's edge at a vine that hung at the mouth of the cliff and pulled it back, tearing it loose.  He sheathed his sword and pulled back on the vine some more to make sure it could support his weight.  After wrapping his wrist around it's thickness as best he could he made a short swift dash out the opening, swinging across the chasm, the vine tearing from the roots that held it and taking him swiftly across.

"See you on the other side, milady," he said with some bravado.  But as he said that, the vine snapped from the cavern ceiling and plummeting down onto the rocks below.  Another drop as the ground came rushing up at him and all the blood was going to his head.  He didn't yell, didn't even utter a sound as the thought of breaking his neck clean through was scorching through his mind.

His hand reached out and grabbed a jutting root from a nearby wall and he held on for dear life, dangling over the fatal sight of jagged rocks below.  "Keely?" he called.  "You down  yet?"

[Haze]

Keely watched wide-eyed as Theon brandished his sword and sliced the vines. "Yer in the company of an idiot." She said to herself, before yelling "I dinna think that's a verra good-" The he was sailing down, with nothing beneath him but blackness "-idea."

She closed her eyes, waiting for the tell-tale thud, but instead there came a scrambling, and the mad-man's voice. Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes. "Nay. I'm no far though..." Her fingers were aching with the effort of holding her up, her calves burning. It was further fown than she thought, and in fact now that she was nearer to the bottom she realised they were going to have to be very, very careful going across the floor. They would have to do a fair bit of climbing too, to get back up.

"Are ye alright?" She called, looking for him. She frowned,not being able to find him. "Where are ye? Are ye below me?" Then she caught sight of him, dangling off of a root. She snorted, seeming to find it comical that in his bravado, he'd managed to get himself stuck. "Oi, I thought ye said ye'd done this before," she called, the barest hint of laughter in her voice. She carefully manouvered her body over to him, down a little, and across. As she was moving, she noticed a shaft of light, shining across the cavern. "Theon ... I think there may be another tunnel down there. Maybe there are stairs or something."

She reached a hand out to steady him, and then nodded downwards. "Slow and steady wins the race, aye?"

[Lion]

The root must have been made of iron for all the strength it had in carrying his weight like that.  Theon just thanked whatever gods there may be that it hadn't yet snapped.  But he was careful to not let the thought betray him lest he jinx his own luck.  His palm was getting slippery however from the sweat underneath it and he was gradually losing his grip.  Looks like his luck was about to run out.

At that moment, he did slip, but grabbed onto jutting rock just in time and steadied himself as she did now.  "I have," he defended himself, growing indignant.  "It's just that mountains are not the same as caves...or maybe you think I'm just trying to make up for a slip in  my manhood when I thought I was drowning back there at the pool."  Theon huffed and turned his head the other way, he saw the light too.  A staircase candlelit.  It looked like it went two ways however, one up and one down.  

"Let's just get down from here if we can," he said and focused on shimmying his way across.  He was lucky he wasn't afraid of heights or the very thought of it would make him go mad with fear.  He moved with patience, far more than he thought he really had.  But there was a peculiar stench in the air as he paused.  As he looked below again he saw a small firelight emerge from beneath him.

"GODS!" he yelled as he moved quickly from his spot over the light.  Soon blasts of fire began to erupt from the bottom of the chasm, though it was still far too dark below to see properly.  The fire spouts were interspersed through the entire length of it and when Theon had moved, the blast of fire spewed up between him and Keely.  "Gods.  This can't be easy, can't it Keely!?"  Theon cursed harshly and looked down again.  At the moment the spout between them shut off and the fire immediately ceased, just a few seconds before it started up again.

"Keely!  We're going to have to time this right if we're gonna make it to the other side.  Start counting the time between the spouts all right?"

[Haze]

"Maybe not slow and steady." Keely grimaced, as the hot burst of flame disappeared. They didn't have far to go till they got to the other side, but this was going to test both of them to their limit. She concentrated as she saw the light flare up again. She stared hard and counted. "One ... Two ... Three... Four..." The Flame burst up again, and her eyes flickered to the next gyser. "One... Two ... Three... Four..."

She looked terrified as she announced the seconds. "Four. We have four seconds between each burst. We're going t' have to move." Even as she said it she was swinging herself over the next patch of wall. Her face was set with determination on a crop of rocks that looked like they led down towards the tunnel opening.

It can't be said that they triumphed without difficulty. She'd slippped twice, losing her footing and listening in horror to the rubbled that fell away below her. There were areas where the walls were wet, and her fingers struggled to grip. The tip of her nose was red, touched by a spark, the ends of her hair were slightly singed, and her fingers were scraped, raw and stinging like mad.

As they reached the rocks, Keely slumped to the ground, drawing her knees up and her head dropping between them. She breathed in deeply a few times stilling her breathing before looking up at Theon.

"What... the hell... do we do now?"

[Lion]

Theon nodded at the count.  She was right.  And he used the short amount of time they had to his advantage.  His heartbeat, it was louder than the burst of flame and as he moved across each spout.   Even as he was sweating bullets from the heat the fire provided, his blood had run cold with trepidation.  One wrong step, one slip and he was dead.  They would both be dead.  And there was no honor in dying from fire, not like that.

He successfully made his way across, near the last spout, and had counted one second too late before the flame came up on his arm, singing it across his forearm.  "GAH!" he seethed, but he kept on, though the pain was great and threw himself upon the rocks, cradling his arm against his chest.  He inspected it and the fire had slashed across his skin.  It was large and long, but nothing too severe.

Theon took a dagger from his boot and cut a cloth from his tunic, long enough to wrap around his forearm.  He was tired too, and he breathed with some exhaustion.  "We go on.  You look like a soldier, if that really is what a....em, 'Mordecai' is.  You look strong enough.  So far you've proven strong enough, and I can respect that more than anything," Theon looked at her with steady eyes.  "When you are ready to continue, we should go further down.  My ...visions, told me he was hiding further down.  Whatever it is, he wants to hide, to protect himself.  The only way he can do that is below, underground."

[Haze]

Keely shook her head a little in disbelief. He really didn't know what Mordecai was, did he? Yes, of course she had the ability, but hunting down magic users had never really been her neiche. She was a warrior, through and through. She excelled in it. It was the one thing she knew how to do, and how to do right. It had been that, and her ability to command men with her signature steely look that had shot her through the ranks. She'd only once had an issue with insubordination, at that matter had been dealt with so effectively none of the men under her had questioned her since.

Still, she raised herself wearily to her feet. Yes, she was strong. Far stronger than most expected from the tiny little woman. She eyed his arm, seeing that he'd already bound it, and at her own hands. There'd been no remedy for them down here. What she needed more than anything was salve, and that was back with Nevyn.

There was no denying that the situation they were walking into was a unique one. For all the time she'd lived in Sirantil Valley as a young girl, the times she'd visited with - the times she'd come here since, she'd never once encountered this thing. Keely hesitated at the entrance, the stairs winding down deep into the earth. The smell was old. Ancient even, reminding her that this thing was older, wiser, and most probably stronger than the both of them. She had a strange sense of foreboding wash over her.

What if this was the last day she ever saw sunlight? Now, would that be so bad? she thought with a bitter smile, considering all she had lost in the few hours since arriving in the Valley? She quickly put the thought behind her, and took a deep breath. For the first time in a long, long time, she murmured "Ansgar, help me."

"We'll carry on now." Her stance was casual, but her eyebrow raised towards the entrance way with a sigh, "I guess there's no point in putting off the enevitable." She walked to where Theon was waiting, and put a hand to his elbow, as if he was one of the men under her command, guiding him, assuring him that she would be fighting right at his side.

[Lion]

"Wait," he said.  Theon reached out her and remembered his sword.  He was hesitant at first, considering what she said about magic.  But he wasn't sure Lohengrin was really a magic sword, or if the thought of what the sword provided allowed the wielder simply to will themselves to be stronger.  Theon knew of people that possessed amazing abilities not because they themselves possessed any kind of magic but because they had accessed parts of themselves that most others would not have known had ever existed.

He didn't know if it would work, but he knew Lohengrin had healing properties that would hopefully make Keely feel better, stronger than how the fire had left them.  He unsheathed Lohengrin and held the sword by its shining hilt.  "Try holding that.  The sword renews you, makes you feel...stronger I suppose.  And will help heal any wounds you may possess that I cannot see before we step further into the fray."

Before he handed it offer to her completely he tore off the bandages he had made and held the sword firmly in both hands as to show her what he said was true.  At that moment, the burn mark began to heal, gradually, and steadily until all that remained was an extremely dulled scar.  "I'm sorry I didn't think of it  before.  But try it.  It works for me, maybe it will work for you."  He angled the hilt back towards Keely and wouldn't take no for an answer.

[Haze]

Keely looked down the length of her nose, amber eyes wary. She didn't necessarily hate magic, like so many of her nation did, but she was certainly unsure of it, and uncomfortable. As Theon explained the powers of the sword, her eyes narrowed in disbelief, but as he showed her what it could do, that disbelief changed to trepidation, before she caught herself, and her face went blank.

"No. No way. I am no touching that thing." Her lips pursed and she shook her head, copper curls flying wildly around her face. She almost stamped her foot, but caught herself just in time. But seeing that Theon wasn't going to let her not, she cautiously took the hilt in her hand.

She didn't feel a flash of lightning, or tingling as she followed Theon's example and held the blade within her hands. It was more of a gentle rushing, like a breeze blowing through her. She felt the ankle she'd first injured in this hell-hole strengthen, watched in wide eyed wonder as the scrapes on her hands faded. She could feel her shoulder too, beginning to close and heal over. As soon as whatever visible effects had slowed down she thrust the sword back into Theon's hand. "Don't ever make me touch that again. I don't like it."

She turned on her heel and stalked away, into the dim-lit staircase.

[Lion]

Theon watched her used the sword, unsure himself if it would work on her.  He felt torn a little with the sword missing from his side and couldn't say he liked it away from him any more than she liked holding it.  He didn't know why the sword possessed the power it did, or where it came from, or why it would work on anyone but him.  He wished he did, wished he could tell her, give her some sense of certainty out of all the uncertainty he could see in her eyes.

She was stubborn, he expected that much but only waited until she tried it for herself.  She wasn't as difficult to read as she thought she was and he smiled at her in amusement when shoved the sword back into his hands.  He laughed lightly and resheathed Lohengrin.  "I didn't make you do anything," he murmured and followed her down the staircase.

He walked quietly in his boots despite himself.  He kept his hand on the hilt of his blade, not yet ready to pull it out yet.  Before them expanded a hall of mists at the end of the staircase, the wall candles made even dimmer by the heavy fog in the room.  At this Theon did unsheathe Lohengrin as silently as possible so as not to disturb the quiet.

At the end of a long hallway, sat a set of chairs that resembled a throne room, heavy and made of stone.  And at the center chair, the largest of the three, sat a man, broad-shouldered, dark, with large claws on his hands.  He was dressed in old  tattered robes, what a noble might have worn thousands of years ago.  The man's hair was long and grey and his features middle-aged and weary.  He wore rings on his fingers, rings that were scraped and scratched from having been in contact with a blade and the hand that wore them, mangled and bleeding.  He leaned with his head buried in one hand and he was breathing heavily, as if he were tired.

"Why...?  Why must you torment me, Lilia?" he whispered.  "Why did you have to come back in the form of another?"  The questions were spoken to no one in particular, but the man sobbed and he put his head up, gazing at Keely.  "Lilia?  Is that really you?  No...you've been dead for a long time.  No, woman you've stolen her body haven't you.  It can't be you..."

[Haze]

Pulling her own sword from it's sheath, Keely walked close to the walls, feet crossing over each other in her effort to be as soundless as possible. This suspense, this, thriller, was almost too much for her, and her heart sat in her chest thumping so loud it was the only sound she could hear. This was not a battle field. This wasn't war. This wasn't arresting some magic-user. This was truely scary, and not since the night her mother left her at the church doorstep when she was a child, had she felt this much trepidation.

As they stalked into the room, her mouth fell open. It was like stories of old, and she couldn't get her around the fact that she was here. She had her arm raised defensively, against some attack she couldn't begin to imagine, but as the creature began to speak, it dropped to leave the sword hanging limply at her side.

Keely felt fear filling her bones as the man sobbed and spoke. Who was this creature?
 turned her head away from the scene, towards Theon, but kept her eyes on the man, creature, thing. "What... ?"  

"I... I'm not who you say I am," She called across to the man at the table, not sure if she should be saying anything at all. "Why ... why did you bring us down here?"

[Lion]

The silence was far too deafening all around.  The man shifted his position in his throne chair and leaned back negligently.  His piercing eyes were daggers and were pointed right at Keely and Theon.  He had an otherworldly air about him and his look almost would have unnerved Theon would it not have been for his hand at Lohengrin's hilt.  The man obviously was not human, but whatever he was, it was easy to see his intent wasn't good or natural.

The man breathed heavily.  "I know you're not, body snatcher," he said flatly yet with a tinge of danger.  "You fools have come to hunt me...  I knew it the moment you stepped out on my land.  You wanted to hunt me...to finish what your men started long ago, just like how they hunted my Lilia!  But now, that you've come to me, I will hunt both of you.  Especially you, woman, stealer of flesh.  I'll find a way to return the body you've taken to my Lilia...."

Theon stepped forward and unsheathed his sword.  "Whatever beast you are, you are not welcome in this land.  Leave.  Leave now while you're still alive.  Who are you to plague this land, anyway?"

The man looked at him and stood up to his full length, he was a good head taller than Theon, unnaturally so and though he was much leaner than he was, he still exuded an imposing presence.  But Theon couldn't be deterred.  "Who am I?....Who AM I?" the man repeated.  "I am Jazrael Jacobe.  And I am the Master of these lands.  If anyone is trespassing, it is you.  I should crush you like a worm for your insolence!"  He snarled and thrust out a hand at Theon, using his mind to reach out across the long hallway to strangle him.

Theon's free hand immediately went to his throat, trying to tear away the invisible force that was choking him, as he rose up off the ground.

[Haze]

Keely flinched at the title he gave her. Body Snatcher... it made her sound... evil, and deviant. "We didna come to hunt ye!" She cried in defence "You lured me here. You took me!" She looked angry, defiant and bewildered at the same time. Theon stepped forward, made his threat, demanded answers, and he got them. This man, thing, was after her. Some retribution to be made for his lost love.

Keely gasped in horror at the unnatural size of him. He was tall, towering over her even at this distance. Then, Theon was in the air, struggling with an unseen power. Keely's eyes flew open in alarm, and she put both arms around Theon's legg, using her whole body weight to try and tug him down. But to no avail. She turned to face Jazrael, pleading with him.

"Stop it! Let him go! Dinna hurt him!" She looked over her shoulder, to Theon's flailing form, and rushed forward. She knew what she had to do. Knowing now that he had some sort psychic ability, but not whether he'd be able to still her thoughts, she forced her mind to still. Stepping slowly, but surely towards the creature, her sword abandoned at her side, made direct eye contact.  "Ye don't want him. Ye ken it's the truth, we didna come t' hurt you, initially. We're only here in self defence now. Let him go, Master Jazrael, and you can have what you want."

She knew it was a huge gamble. She could very well die, and Theon as well. But it was the only thing she could think of.

[Lion]

Theon took a huge gasp of breath when the force around his neck suddenly slackened.  He came crashing to the ground in a clang of steel and cloud of dust.  He breathed heavily and clutched his throat with his free hand, coughing loudly.  He gazed up at Jazrael, his form looking like a massive shadow against the dust and fog.

But he slowly realized what Keely was doing, only a moment too late.  "Keely, no!  Don't do it!"  Theon tried to run after her only to be pushed by another invisible barrier that Jazrael had set up to stop his pursuit.  Jazrael put his arm down and he looked at Keely with a mixture of anger and forlornness.

"You would give yourself up, for this worm?" he asked testily, glaring at her.  "What makes him so worthy of such sacrifice?"

[Haze]

Keely forced herself not to look over her shoulder as Theon dropped, gasping for breath and then calling her name. It would only distract her from what she needed to do, and she needed to keep a clear head. She held no fear now. She was calm. Jazrael

"Because, he saved my life. Twice now. He has accepted me how I am, and not asked questions.  Because he has done me a kindness, and I am beginning to believe that maybe, just maybe there is some good in this world. Because he breathes the same air as I do. He is a good man, Jazrael." She craned her neck look up at him, her face soft, but unreadble. "Please," she sheathed her sword, and held out both hands in supplication.

"Isn't it that what your Lilia would have said too, Jazrael? Show some compassion."

[Lion]

Theon froze, just wondering what Keely was going to do.  He said nothing, knowing that distracting Jazrael would only make the man snap and hurt Keely and that was the last thing he wanted to happen.  Not after all he'd done so far.  And he held his breath when Jazrael asked his question.  A faint smile formed on his lip as she answered, but his eyes were confused for it was clearly unexpected.

Jazrael took a step down from his throne and his eyes softened significantly.  "Lilia," he breathed and reached out his mangled claw hand to caress Keely's face.  "She found the good in me when there was none...  Oh, Lilia, why did you have to die...?  Why didn't they kill me instead...?"

He was far too entranced by Keely's face and the feel of her skin to notice the glint of steel flying through the air.  Suddenly a sword came singing through the air and impaled his body right through his chest, narrowly missing Keely by inches.  Jazrael cried out and took a step backwards in his pain.  Theon had stood and took Lohengrin in hand, and tossed the sword like a javelin, knowing it was a one in a million chance that he would actually hit him.  But he did and he dashed forth, ready to reclaim his sword.

But it seemed that though Jazreal was down for a moment, he was not out.  "Deceiver!" he called out as he clutched the sword with one hand and aimed a backhand to Keely's face, a strike backed by powerful strength.  The sword burned in his chest and he cried again, his face scrunched in seething pain as he tried to pull it out.  He did though his flesh burned underneath the blade.

[Haze]

Keely forced herself not to flinch as the claws caressed her face. The only person she'd ever allowed to touch her like that, was Jaycel. She closed her eyes.

The whistle of metal through the air brought her back, and she stared as Lohengrin wobbled, embedded deep into Jazrael's chest. A relief brushed through her. It was going to be over soon. Her demeanour immediately changed. Her eyes began blazing, stance changing.

"Yes," She snarled at his accusation, drawing her own sword. It was no longer time for trying to calm the thing down. "I am a deceiver. But you - you lured me down here with the shade of my dead husband. And I could never -" The giant claw struck her, and she flew across the room, hitting the wall with a thud. She dropped to the ground, collapsed in a pile of curls and limbs, world black. Her sword lay a few meters from her hand, fingers stretched out for it.

Jazrael glowered against the searing pain, pointing Theon's own sword at him. "No what, you filthy worm?" He took a staggering step towards Theon, brandishing Lohengrin at him. "I'm going to make you squirm!" He roared, a deep, wounded roar, and charged.

[Lion]

Theon watched with brief shock as the creature struck Keely and launched her far across the room.  He might have called out her name, but he felt a sudden anger in him rise that wasn't there before and he readied himself as Jazrael pointed his own sword against him.  But he knew, deep inside, that the sword would not let him wield it for long.  He saw how the steel burned him, rejected him.

Theon used that anger from inside of him and charged Jazrael in turn, ready to take the blade through his own chest if need be.  If destroying this beast meant destroying even himself he would take that chance.  Seconds before the blade pierced through him, Theon threw out his hands and grabbed Lohengrin's edge, even as the steel cut into him and twisted it, wrestling it from his grip.

The pain from the wound in his chest had weakened Jazrael severely and he was breathing heavily, burdened.  But he still coursed with strength and he launched out a hand, grasping Theon around the neck as their other hands fought over the blade.  Theon gagged, but he would not be deterred, even when he felt like his head was going to pop like a grape.

"Keely!  Keely get up!"  Theon managed to choke out.  His free hand did not grab for the claws at his throat, but instead he plunged his hand into the bleeding wound at the center of Jazrael's chest.  As Theon touched him, he began to burn further and Jazrael screamed in agony.

"I'll tear you to pieces!"

[Haze]

"Ungh..." Keely groaned, coming too. She was aware of pain, of noise, of where they were. As she prised her eyes open, head throbbing, she saw Theon in Jazrael's clutches. Defiance bubbled inside her, a feral drive of survival, and she drew her self up, slowly, but surely. Her right arm hung limply at her side, the tell-tale buldge of a dislocated shoulder apparent. Dammit. That was her sword hand.

Eyes glazed with instinct, she stumbled as she scooped up her word with her left hand, weilding it the best she could. Everything went still for her as she charged forward, seeing only the monster, with Theon in its grasp.

With a scream more untamed, more unearthly than she could ever imagine, she swung her sword, hacking at Jazrael's side.

Jazrael dropped Theon, eyes turning to the little warrior woman. Keely hacked again, with pure fury, rather than finesse. Jazrael let out a bloodcurdling roar, arms swiping at her, but Keely ducked, driven by the compulsion to survive, and struck again. The monster dropped to it's knees, eyes wide open in shock, gurgling as he breathed his last.

As he fell forward, the life gone out of him, the woman continued to swing, plunging her sword into his back, over and over again, until finally she fell back, chest heaving, eyes unseeing and wild, face splattered with blood and gore. A snarl twisted her features, and she heard snarling, vicious and savage. It was her own.

[Lion]

Theon pulled his sword a way in time as Jazrael dropped him to the ground.  He scrambled away despite his own palms dripping with his own blood.  He seethed as Keely finished the beast with the unkempt fury at the edge of her blade.  Jazrael did not struggle long before he feel to his knees and the light in his eyes went out.  She continued her assault and Theon went to his knees.

He grabbed Lohengrin with loose hands, hoping the sword would stop the bleeding.  The blade was unmarred, surprisingly and he looked up at Keely as she screamed.  "Keely...Keely, stop!  Keely!" he shouted at her with his own ferocity.  With his hands still raw, but no longer bleeding, he held his sword loosely and stood up, walking over to her.

He put a hand gently on her shoulder.  "Keely, it's okay.  He's dead now...  He's dead.  He can't torment you with your memories anymore."  He was unsure if he should touch her shoulder more firmly but he did and he squeezed her shoulder with a nod and a set firm line of his mouth.