Knowledge and Power

[DragonSong]

@Razor-D-Belphe



Ancient Serenian ruins may not seem like the safest place to stay the night, or at least that's what most people would assume. Which was exactly why Kiara thought it was the perfect place to make camp.

"No one else will want to come near this place," she said blithely to Kit as she slid down the dragon's shoulder to land lightly on the balls of her feet. She glanced around, arching her back and twisting over her hips to stretch out muscles that had been cramped from long hours of flying dragonback.

Her oldest friend huffed and rolled his eyes, but didn't argue with her. He paced a few more steps into the ruins, glancing around briefly before settling himself in the nexus between five crumbling pillars. He shuffled his wings, veins of gold shimmering as they caught the dying light, and laid his head down on his crossed front paws with a heavy sigh.

Kiara smiled as she moved to follow him, settling herself into the curve of his side. She reached up to pat his foreleg. "Sorry, big guy," she murmured. "I know it was a long day." Kit rumbled in agreement and she let her head flop back against his scales. "I'll get a campfire started in a minute," she murmured. "I'm just gonna close my eyes...for a second..."

[Razor-D-Belphe]

A figure materialized out of the darkness, his long robes trailing behind him. His ruined eyes fell on the girl and her pet - even after three years of blindness, he still 'looked' where he sensed presences.

"Now this is a curiousity." he mused, sensing the seemingly sleeping girl.

He wondered limply if she had any idea where she was, or what kinds of dangerous secrets lay beneath. Perhaps he should ignore her and continue on his quest? It was none of his business where she chose to sleep, after all. His obsession with destroying the artifacts often overshadowed the noble intentions that had begun that obsession.

What he ultimately did though was 'watch'. Watch and wait.

[DragonSong]

A dragon is no pet, and Kittsareyn was not so quick to sleep as his rider. The dragon raised his head when he caught the sudden scent of a stranger and curled his lip back in a warning snarl. Jet wings unfurled, the great creature rising into a half-crouch as his eyes searched the darkness.

Startled awake, Kiara rolled to the side and popped quickly up to her feet, looking around. She had a dagger in hand before she was even full conscious, mumbling, "Wassit?"

"Show yourself," Kit growled.

[Razor-D-Belphe]

Orcus threw his scimitar to the ground and raised his hands.
"I mean you no harm. I simply have business at these ruins. I didn't expect to find anyone else here."

[DragonSong]

Kiara and Kit exchanged a glance. The dragon did not relax his stance, but the young woman slowly lowered her blade.

"Well. You did." She squinted at the stranger. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

[Razor-D-Belphe]

"I'm under no obligation to give my name nor state my business to a stranger. Perhaps when asking such questions, the speaker should volunteer their information first?" Orcus replied calmly.
There was no malice in his voice, but nor did his voice betray any indication of fear. He was resolute.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, uhhhg." Kiara let her dagger drop completely, sheathing it at her thigh. "Great. What are you, a priest? A monk? Only cryptic spiritualists talk like that."

Kit huffed in amusement, allowing his wings to fold back against his sides and settling down on his haunches.

His rider leaned back on her heels, folding her arms as she looked the stranger up and down. The cloak was annoying, she couldn't really get a good look at his face-- or any weapons he might be carrying. "Kiara," she said bluntly. "I'm Kiara, and I'm here sleeping. Now who the hells are you?"

[Razor-D-Belphe]

"Kiara. Well met. I am Orcus. I'm just a poor wandering philosopher seeking out certain ancient artifacts. I have reason to believe one such artifact is entombed in the ruin beneath you. If you are agreeable, I seek only to go about my quest unimpeded. May I pass?"

[DragonSong]

Ah, philosopher. Fantastic.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever, mister." Kiara sat down again and leaned back against Kit's side, closing her eyes-- or seeming to. She watched the stranger-- Orcus-- through her lashes. Waving a hand lazily, she sighed, "Do whatever you want. I'm not the guardian of this place."

[Razor-D-Belphe]

"My thanks." Orcus said before retrieving his scimitar and moving about the ruin, feeling for an entrance.
He stretched out his senses, collecting information about the structure and layout of the ruin.

"Your dragon appears to be sitting on the hidden entrance to the ruin." he said. "Could you ask him to move, perhaps?"

[DragonSong]

"Uhg. Ask him yourself," Kiara grumped. "He's sitting right there, y'know."

Kit huffed quietly and dipped his head to nuzzle her. "Fine, fine." With another grumble Kiara got to her feet and climbed up onto the dragon's back. "Alright, move your big scaly butt," she muttered at her companion.

Rumbling low in his chest, the dragon heaved to his feet and shuffled several paces to the left. Kiara didn't see an entrance, but she assumed this traveler knew something she didn't.

[Razor-D-Belphe]

Orcus traced his hand across the stone along a groove, then pressed with his fingers. A circle of stone slid in, and the ground unraveled into a stone staircase.

"No ordinary door. It required an application of magic focused into one point to activate. The artifact surely lies within."

[DragonSong]

"Hmm." Kiara quirked an eyebrow, trying not to look impressed-- even if she was, a tiny bit. "Neat. On your way then, Mister Mysterious Stranger." She waved a hand at him vaguely, leaning out over Kit's neck and yawning.

Gods, she was tired.

[Razor-D-Belphe]

Orcus descended into the ruin and felt the temperature drop. There was wind blowing from somewhere inside. The ruin seemed to be built into a system of caverns - dank, dreary. Orcus stretched out his senses again, mapping the layout of the ruin. Going down a twisting corridor, he stopped - he felt something - something coming closer.

Orcus felt the golem's immense size and power. If he could still see, perhaps he would have been intimidated by the sight of it lumbering toward him, menacing glare carved into its stone features. As it was, Orcus only measured the closing distance, felt the 'pressure' exerted by the rock beast, and waited.

The golem clumsily slammed an arm into the ground as Orcus tumbled out of the way, drawing his scimitar. He ran up the arm and jumped onto the golem's head, then jumped down, slashing its back. He didn't leave a scratch.

*This thing is tough, whatever it is.* he thought.

The golem spun and slammed a backfist into Orcus's side, knocking him into a wall of the tunnel. He gasped in pain. His ribs were broken.

Fighting through the fog, he tried to connect his mind to the girl's. He could not read minds persay, but he could give and receive emotional impressions. What he gave was a warning.

[DragonSong]

Kit heard the stone creature moving beneath them before Kiara winced and gave an instinctive cry, clutching at her head. What in all hells was that?

"He's in trouble." The voice was more of a rumble that vibrated through her body from where she was connected to Kit.

She scowled. "So? He knows what he's doing, let 'im--"

Kit growled and she huffed. It was bluster and they both knew it. "Alright, alright, fine. I'm going in after him." She slid down from Kit's side with a grumble and cautiously approached the entrance to the tunnel. It wasn't quite big enough for Kit to follow, and the dragon crouched anxiously at the entrance as she descended into the darkness.

"Fuck, how does he even see the path down here?" Kiara hissed, snapping her fingers to summon a ball of flame to her hand, lighting the way.

And drawing the attention of the lumbering rock giant that was currently looming over Orcus. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh you have got to be kidding me!"

The golem roared and charged, and Kiara quickly rolled between its legs, drawing her daggers as she jumped to her feet. "Fetch, Rocky!" she shouted, hurling her fireball against a far wall of the cavern and causing a shower of sparks and red-hot pebbles. In the brief moment of distraction that afforded her, she ran toward Orcus and tried to get an arm around his middle, hauling him upright. "Shit, you alright? Can you stand?"

[Razor-D-Belphe]

Orcus reluctantly accepted her help.
"I can stand. But you shouldn't be here. You should have felt my message and gotten as far away from here as possible."

The golem ignored the shower of burning pebbles once it had processed them. It didn't seem to register pain. It roared and descended on them, now swinging an arm at Kiara.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, shut up." Kiara ducked the swing and threw her daggers up in a crossed defense. Ordinary blades would have shattered under the onslaught, but these were gifts from her father. The daggers began to glow with heat as she channeled her magic through them, bracing her feet and shoving back against the golem.

The rock giant staggered back and she panted, skittering back a few steps while still trying to keep herself between the monster and Orcus. "I'm trying to save your life here, asshole. Maybe complain less and help more. How badly hurt are you?"

[Razor-D-Belphe]

Orcus coughed up blood. "About that badly."
He held his blade at the ready. "I can't penetrate its hide. What are we fighting, exactly?"

[DragonSong]

"What are we fighting--?!"

She whirled to glare at him, sure he was screwing around with her-- and in the glow of her blades, she got her first good look at his face. "Oh." She blinked. "Oh. I didn't realize you were..."

She trailed off, and before she could think of something else to say the golem roared and charged again. Kiara dove to the side, shouting at Orcus, "Go left, just get out of its path!"

[Razor-D-Belphe]

Orcus dodged left as the golem tried to ram him. It grazed his shoulder, and he screamed as his shoulder dislocated and sent him tumbling.

The golem crashed into a wall of the corridor. The tunnel shook, and pebbles fell. Orcus's ears twitched. He sat up, clutching his shoulder, his scimitar at his feet.

"That's it..." he said.
He turned to Kiara. "We have to collapse the tunnel on it! There's wind in this place, so there has to be another exit!"