Sword of Flowers (solo)

Out of Character:

This thread takes place at the end of the current Talen's timeline. It deals with a change in characters, where Talen looses what he is and becomes something very different. All threads with Talen in the form of a person take place prior to this.

Petals upon the wind
Flutters of orange and pink
Carries away my thoughts

No form or meaning,
Into the sky above me,
Purer eyes to gaze

Golden rays of light,
Slowly dying upon the horizon
Darkness falling quick

A final bleak thought,
Was it really worth it?
Nothing left to feel.

The world of Althanas was an odd place. There was a time when I thought life was pretty simple. People went about living, or dying, in an ordered and rational manner. Sometimes wars happened, sometimes they didn’t, sometimes disease sprung up, and sometimes it didn’t. The seasons were sequential, summer, autumn, winter and spring. Like hands on a clock everything had a time and place.

Looking back, my life in the small no-name town in backwater Corone was quite peaceful. I lived with my parents for most of my life. When the other young boys and girls started coming of age my friends started to marry and take over farms of their own. A few of the boys were even interested in me. It seems so long ago now, like another life watched through someone else’s eyes.

The day the thugs posing as some semi-official militia came into town things changed. As if overnight the easy going atmosphere of my town was turned to darkness. Many of the boys joined up, the few that didn’t were killed. Then the demands became more and more extreme. A few month later and the town was empty. Everyone had either joined the militia or were killed. Where were the Corone Rangers? Where was our help? Our closest trading partner was Underwood, if they realised our shipments of food had stopped, they either couldn’t help or didn’t care.

In the end something did come, but not what I had expected and certainly not what I had hoped. He came as a child, cloaked in black and shrouded in innocence. His name was Talen. A former knight to one of the largest armies with a loose association with Radasanth, the Capital of Corone. He was a monster. He released destructive magics upon the militia and killed the hardened fighters and my former friends without care. It was obvious he painted them all with the same brush. Those that attacked him, and those who fled, all were enemies.

In the end? In the end he killed the leaders of the militia, the twins Leaf and Rock, and most of the militia itself. He had set traps, used magics and when that failed, brute force. Two days it took him, in two days my life changed again. I was freed from my servitude, and instantly taken up into another. I had nothing when I was released, so I followed him. How, oh how I wished I had walked in another direction. Just to turn and let him leave, then I’d be have been free; lost, but free.

That had been nearly a year ago now. My servitude had grown into an inescapable bond. I found out that Talen, my little Lord was a servant of the cursed Thayne N’Jal. The spider queen’s energies followed out of him constantly, corrupting anything that stayed with him for too long. The longer I stayed, the less human I felt, the more I started to resemble my Lord. I knew I could never leave him.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

The words felt hollow in my mouth, like so much cotton wool. Talen didn’t slow down, or even make the subtle motions most people would make to acknowledge my words. I was walking behind him, looking down on his small frame with weary eyes. There wasn’t much that I could do to influence him. It was unlikely that I’d even get so much as a grunt in acknowledgement. The only sound was our footsteps upon the cobblestone alley echoing off the bricks of the buildings around us.

It was dark, close to midnight and very cold. Both Talen and I were dressed in thick dark cloaks as we made our way down the back streets towards our destination. It had been nearly half an hour and we hadn’t seen another person. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that people were watching us.

Talen turned sharply and stopped to face a small wooden door. It looked completely non-descript, like many others we had passed on the way. If anything, there seemed to be more rubbish and muck congealed around the entrance than the others.

tap tap…. tap tap tap

The short, sharp rap of Talen’s knuckles against the door were a signal to whomever was on the other side. At first there was nothing, not even the scraping of feet that would suggest someone on the other side had heard our knock and was going to unlock the door. I wanted to say something, anything to break silence, but I couldn’t.

“Who comes here at such a late hour?” Said a voice from the other side of the door.

“When does the hour dictate the deed?” Replied Talen.

There was a shifting of bolts on the other side of the door and it swung open. A small man shuffled out of the way so Talen and I could enter. Inside was a long staircase leading down towards a flickering light. It was only after I had entered and started down that I glanced back at the door. The man that had let us in had settled down into a seat just behind the door, while two large men were standing on either side. I had walked past them without even realising they were there.

I nearly tripped down the stairs as I quickened my pace to keep up with Talen. At the bottom of the stairs the view became much more normal. There were tables and chairs, with flickering candles and a fireplace providing light. There were all sorts of people sitting at the tables. I spied a few orcs and even some goblins. While the larger green skins were fairly common, goblins were rarely seen in towns. With their large crooked noses and beady eyes, they seemed far more cunning than the wild ones I had heard about. Talen took a table with a human and drow. I sat next him, trying to appear something less than incompetent.

“Madame,” said the human, taking my hand off the table and kissing it, “it is a pleasure to sit with one with such beauty as yo-”

The man’s words were cut off as a dark tentacle slipped around his throat. The general mumble of the tavern grew quiet as eyes turned to watch the confrontation that could quickly escalate.

“Your boy presumes too much,” snarled Talen.

I didn’t move, didn’t breathe and dared not think. The Drow just smiled at the show of force and lent forward.

“He does indeed. But he’s good at getting information, and if you’re wanting to hear it, then you’ll need to release him.”

The man coughed and spluttered as Talen released him. The grin that had been on his face was gone, replaced with a mixture of fear and anger. Talen and the Drow seemed unphased, even the murmur of the basement lifted back to the original level. The Drow placed a finger on the middle of the table to gesture Talen to place his part of the exchange. Talen handed over the bag of gold, of which the Drow fished some out and placed the liberated coins and the rest of the bag in front of himself. It was then I realised the Drow was acting as an intermediate between Talen and the man. Someone who wouldn’t be taken in by intimidation, and would ensure both parties exchanged their parts of the deal. The gold he took was his cut of the exchange.

“There are some monks, order of the Crimson Cloak or some such rubbish,” said the man, a hand still pressed against his throat defensively, “they seem to be making adamantium weapons. No one knows how, but they seem to have a lot of people go in, and only a few come out.”

Talen didn’t respond, instead he kept his piercing blue eyes focused on the man.

“Er… I was able to find this,” said the man.

He handed over a tiny rock, smaller than a fingernail. It was a golden copper colour, and extremely thin. Talen picked it up and tried to bend it. His little arms belied a much stronger capability, and yet even as his face started to turn red, the metal would not budge.

“Very well,” said Talen, “Give me the location.”

The Drow took the map off the man and handed it to Talen, passing the bag of gold to the man and pocketing his cut.

“Very well gentlemen, the transaction is complete.”

With that, it was over. Our information source went straight to the bar with his payment while we headed for the door. Talen reverted to his quiet self, not sharing anything about the fragment of adamantine, nor the map. It was back into silence and making our way through back streets. This was my life now.

It took several days for us to travel to the location marked on the map. Talen would normally step through shadows to reach wherever he wanted to go, but he had mentioned there was some magic stopping him. I tried to question more, but he refused to explain further. This wasn’t the first time that magic had prevented him from shadow stepping, but it was unusual that it would cover such a large area.

We were now only a short distance from the location, but I couldn’t shake this feeling that seemed to whelm me. It wasn’t fear, that emotion had long since died. Perhaps excitement? That was one thing I had thought was also dead, but perhaps I was wrong. We rounded a bend in the road and the plains opened up before us. Wheat fields rippled with ripe gold, and lashed against a large grey building. It looked like a church, a large old building made from stone hune into large chunks. I could make out a few people with red cloaks milling around out the front. It was just as we had been told.

We made our way further down the road, keeping a good distance between us and the building. I wasn’t sure if this was necessary. The rabble that was in front of the church seemed to be paying the surrounds no mind, and there wasn’t so much as a guard or lookout in sight. I didn’t raise the issue, no, I couldn’t raise it. Talen had his set plan and he was going to follow it unless he and only he decided to break it. Any opposition on my behalf would be ignored at best, and punished at worst.

The road took us most of the way around the building. Another turn threatened to lead us away from the building. Talen and I dropped to a kneel so the wheat would hide us.

“Stick low, don’t get caught,” said Talen.

It was as close to words of encouragement that I’d get, so I simply nodded. We half ran, half scampered through the waves of wheat. Our bodies cut dark lines through the gold, but from the vantage point of the church we were as good as mice. Our movements slowed as we came up to the back of the building.

Talen’s hand lifted and I dropped to a crouch. Talen’s brows furled in effort as he summoned a small white ball of light that quickly formed into his pet of sorts, Snacks. The small white cat bound off through the wheat towards the church and we followed just behind. Snacks was a sort of observation magic, allowing Talen to know what was going on in front of him. Normally the magic was easy to cast, but Talen was breathing heavily as we crawled forwards. I hadn’t seen him struggle like that in a long time… it was odd.

“Ok,” murmured Talen, just soft enough for me to hear. Talen was careful not to use the attention grabbing whisper people often use, “here is the entrance.”

We stopped just in front a small wooden hatch. At sometime it would have been used to deposit grain, or perhaps water into the basement of the church. Now it was jammed shut with years of disuse. Snacks wandered around us as Talen edged the door open. Just as he managed to pry it free Snacks puffed out of existence.

“My Lord….” I started, unsure of how to continue.

“I’m fine!” snapped Talen, “just a strong anti-magic field. We need to get inside and disable it.”

I didn’t speak, I couldn’t speak. I pushed through the small opening and started down the tunnel. Behind me my Lord followed, pulling the door shut. He caught up and pushed in front of me to take the lead. If I tried, I could pretend it was to protect me from any dangers ahead.

My footsteps were muffled as I walked down the tunnel. The sides and bottom were covered with moss, fed over the years by of water and dirt that had washed in. I didn’t have much time to think about it, the moss was packed in on a thin layer of dirt over stone and each step threatened to send me head over heels tumbling down the steep incline.

Talen had an annoying number of talents, one of which he was utilising to move easily and silently down the tunnel. He hovered slightly above the ground, hands firmly planted in his pockets and completely ignored my struggles to follow him at the same pace. Despite the show of magic I knew it was weighing him down more than he was letting on. We made our way down the tunnel for some time, far longer than warranted the basement of the church. I wondered how deep the structure beneath us actually went as I I made a slow pace with a hand on each wall and unsure steps. It was probably five or ten minutes into our descent when I first heard the chanting. It was muffled by distance and stone, but given the silence between myself and Talen it stood out.

“My Lord?” I asked.

“This is a temple after all, it makes sense that they’ll be chanting some mumbo jumbo.” He replied, still floating towards our goal.

I didn’t respond, even with the touch of doubt running chilling fingers on the back of my neck. One does not suggest reassessing the plan with my Lord. It was rare enough that there was a plan to begin with. So we continued, the chanting growing louder and louder with each step until I could just make out the words.

“Toricht. Nachkomme. Verzweiflung. Missgunst. Siphon.”

The words repeated over and over. I had no idea what they meant, it was a language that I had never heard of before, if it was a language at all. It could have been a cry to some ancient gods. I had to settle on the fact that this was probably part of whatever mysterious method the cult was using to create adamantine weapons.

N’Jal spare me… my Lord is going to end up getting me killed again. The thoughts were bitter, resurrection for my Lord was painless. I had flesh that needed to be mended, and a day of slowing being put back together by necrotic energies was worse than being flayed alive.

*craackk*

Talen pivoted on the spot, his eyes burned into mine with fury, but the noise had not come from me. It had come from much further up the tunnel from something we had passed.

The sound of water was evident before we could see what it was. A slight shimmer, illuminated by what little light made it’s way down the tunnel, then the rush of gallons and gallons of water.

“Shit,” said Talen simply.

A figured made small by its hunched stance wove through the rippling gold wheat. The figure was a dark cut against the burning yellow, but low enough to be hidden from all but the keenest eyes. It didn’t matter, if perchance an eye would fall upon the figure, it would be taken as a trick of the eye, just some shadows between the flowing gold.

The rabble at the front of the stone grey building disappeared after the child and woman entered. I doubt that was by chance. That means the pair were set up…

The figure’s thoughts held the truth of what he was about to find. Two people, garbed in red, stood above the wooden hatch. A large metal lever had been pressed into a hole in the ground near a hatch. It was most like connected to some mechanism buried there. The sound of water rushing lifted over the rustling wheat. The figure paused, still within the safety of the field, but close enough to hear the men.

“Dat’ll git em,” drawled one of the figures. The accent sounded like the man had been dragged off the streets of lower Radasanth. In lower Radasanth the most eloquent words that could be heard hissed from the asses of rats.

“Don’t let your guard down. We were told to underestimate the child,” replied the second, her voice tinged with the finery of an elf.

The elf moved closer to the hatch and peered inside. The hunched figure shifted and a flash of brown hit the elf’s rear. She tried to catch herself as she toppled into the hatch. Her arms flailed, nails scraping across the stone of the building, she screamed and fell. The man accompanying her lunged towards her, his large hands swiping the air where she had been a moment before. Another flash of brown and the second red cloak followed the first into the hole.

“I guess people really are getting dumber,” muttered the figure as he emerged from the wheat.

The man straightened and moved with a relaxed gait to the hatch. His hands wrapped around the lever and pushed. A grating sound came from within the hatch and water died down. The figure pulled the lever free and jumped into the darkness.

The water completely filled the tunnel. There was nowhere for us to run, nothing to brace ourselves against, all we could do was stand and wait. The force of the water lifted me off my feet, throwing me into Talen. The icy cold water caused my whole body to spasm involuntarily as it wrapped a cold hand around me. I could just feel my Lord’s body being knocked against mine as we were both caught in the torrent.

Moments seem to stretch, wrapped as we were in the icy embrace of the water. I don’t know how long were were in there, trapped in that darkness. I thought my lungs were going to explode. I wanted to breathe, more than anything I had ever wanted before. The darkness of my vision became ringed with red. It pulsed, growing larger and larger as I lost myself to it. It seemed like the end, just before I was sure I would pass out the tunnel opened up into the air. I inhaled deeply as the fire in my lungs burst and cool air entered. It was just a moment of release before I struck hard ground. The pain was nothing compared to the relief that flooded through me. I became dimly aware of the light through fuzzy eyes, I tried to move but my head was groggy. I must have hit the ground harder than I realised, as feeling came back it felt as if i had completely split my head open. I managed, somehow, to turn over and look for my lord.

There were flaming torches on the walls and a large open space of grey stone brick. I could see my Lord standing a metre of so away from me. I became aware, very quickly, of the glowing light that surrounded Talen. I pushed myself to my hands and knees, but collapsed a moment later. Talen was struggling against whatever trap had encased him, and I was powerless to help.

Sparks of energy burst off the white bonds that had wrapped themselves around Talen’s body. The trap seemed to be struggling to contain his power. Small strands of white burst out from the threads lashing him and fell to the ground. The chanting that had been echoing past us down the tunnel grew louder and I became aware of the growing crowd of red cloaks that were entering the chamber. Half a dozen jumped forwards and leapt onto my Lord. His cries of rage grew louder as he was pushed to the ground.

The next few moments passed slowly. I saw Talen’s form twist within the white binds. His sword, his maul and a few other pieces of his equipment burst from his form, even as the white bonds constricted tighter. The red cloaks holding him down seemed to suddenly panic. The astral bonds slithered over them along with my Lord. Their shouts of surprise rose into the air with Talen’s roars as the constricting white magic started to pull them inwards. I tried to push myself to my knees again and help my master. It was too late, there was nothing I could do as a blast of white magic ripped outwards from my Lord and the unlucky cloaks around him. It knocked me, and everyone else in the room backwards. For a few moments everything was dark and everyone was silent.

Quick footfalls echoed around the chamber. I pushed myself up to a sitting position. Everything hurt, and what didn’t was numb. More red cloaks streamed into the room. There were far, far more of them than I had realised. The entered quickly, slowing only to circle around me and something else. For a moment I didn’t understand what I was looking at. Where Talen had been lay a single golden sword. It was ornate, far more than practicality would allow. The blade twisted into two, moving against each other with harsh edges. Where was my master? Why was there a sword?

I couldn’t think. Instead arms grabbed me roughly, lifting me and dragging my limp body out of the hall. I tried to remain conscious, but darkness was creeping in the corner of my eyes. Whatever adrenaline had kept me going this long was quickly fading. I felt heavy and lost. The person pulling my leash was gone, and like the obedient dog I was, I froze on the spot. Without any guidance I gave into the darkness.

* * * *

The figure following Talen and Ana moved easily down the water way. The tunnel had been cleared of all the moss and dirt that had built up. Despite the precariousness of the wet stone the figure was unperturbed. His feel moved one after another, falling softly and making little sound. Half way down the tunnel the figure had climbed over the two bodies of the red cloaks he had dispatched. They had drowned, or perhaps had been slammed against the side of the tunnel by the force of the water. Either way they would not be around to report in. The figure moved quickly with that in mind.

As he approached the sharper incline leading to the end of the tunnel he slow his pace to a creep. The flickering light illuminated the man’s face. His complexion was dark, tanned both by heritage and a life of travel. A small grey goatee adorned his chin, and similar grey hair poked from his hood. Despite this he was fairly young, young enough that he should not be touched by greying hair.

The man’s name was Sephtis, but it had been a long time since anyone had called him that. He went by Seph, a shorter name for a world where the only formality of those he dealt with was if you stab someone in the front or the back. Seph’s green eyes watched Ana be dragged away by her captives. The remaining red cloaks gathered around the gold sword, unknown to Seph to be what was left of Talen and several red cloaks.