The Anita Chamber

[Solar Haven]

Adonis backpedaled as he saw several long tendrils lunge towards him and wrap around his waist, squeezing tightly. He closed his eyes and seethed in pain. When he opened his eyes many black and purple crows were flocking all around him, partially blinding him.

There was a bright flash of metal coming in from each direction, the only thing Adonis could do was use up another Wall, but he was already exhausted enough from using two unwalls and one wall.

Adonis closed his eyes and focused magic beneath his feet. Within seconds there was a blinding light and Adonis lurched skyward on a pillar of earth. Seconds later, Adonis realized that his opponent was still holding on, He leaned back and did a back flip off of the pillar.

Adonis' movements had caused Talen to flip over the pillar and ended up underneath Adonis heading toward the ground. Adonis put his two feet together and lined up his feet with Talen's stomach. They hit the ground with a thud. Talen's tendrils loosened up around Adonis just enough for him to get away.

“Dammit, that is going to give me nightmares,” Adonis muttered to himself as he collapsed down to one knee a good fifteen feet away from his opponent. ”I am not going to last long here. I need to find a weakness and exploit it”

Adonis stood up and stared at Talen intently, his eye color slowly fading away. Adonis shook his head and readied his sword. He quickly lunged towards Talen, hoping to catch him off guard before he had a chance to recover with his Sword ready for an upward slash across the torso.

[Arden]

By virtue of sheer luck, Arden remained unharmed and unopposed at the edge of the arena. The invisible barrier hummed behind him. His cloak fluttered in the soft breeze. His eyes narrowed, picking out every rippling muscle, violent exchange, and display of power. It did not take him long to plot a path through the coming ordeal. It did not take him long on whom to avoid, who to aide, and who to ensure felt the soul-severing edge of Kerria, his bloodied blade, before sunset.

“Not so fast,” he barked.

In a blink of an eye, he had vaulted across the arena, brought his sword down in an arc, and knocked Adonis’s’ sword to the sand. The jolt ran up his arm, and the young boy’s, and sent a shiver through the crowd.

“You’re outnumbered,” he stepped away slowly. He raised Kerria; easing off the pressure to be sure Adonis was not going to overreact. “He is Talen Shadowalker,” he nodded to the shadow bound Ixian Knight.

“Wh-who?” Adonis mumbled. He back-pedalled again, bent at the knee, and raised his sword in defence.

"Arden... the new general certainly seems cocky."

The swordsman smirked. His crimson fringe fell over his eyes. He winked at Adonis, and then turned to Talen.

“I won’t have you pick on people to vent some unsung notion of frustration.” Though the Ixian Knights were mighty in stature and presence, like most heroes, they had a bitter weakness. Arden had long suspected Talen’s was vainglory.

“He came here knowing full we-,” Arden’s sudden forward motion smashed the words out of the shadow mage’s mouth. He barely rebuked the sword thrust, and he rotated clockwise to push the Hound off kilter.

“We all came here for different reasons!” Arden roared. His voice filled the arena with a deep, resounding anger. He span on a heel, slammed down his raised foot, and glared at Talen. “Don’t assume, or judge, and certainly don’t condemn!”

Without further ado, Arden winked at Adonis, and ran at Talen with more finesse and purpose. He would not strike out in anger again. He would fight with subtle, measured motions. He would also fight without petulant interruption. With a click of his fingers, and a hop in his step, he smote the shadow child with silence – he plucked the boy’s ability to speak from him without resistance, and reconnected in battle.

His pauldron barked as swords clashed. It drowned out only by Jensen’s cackle, and Draug’s primeval drawl.

He hoped that wink was sign enough to the young squire from Scara Brae that in Arden, at least, he had a friend. Sometimes, that was all a hero needed to aspire to greater things than an untimely, unsung death.

[Prophet]

Kyle's eyes flared in their smoky flicker, as he walked the hall down, his staff in his hand, his skin covered by a skintight red shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a trenchcoat.

"I wish."

He mused to himself as he looked out over the crowds in front of the door, and the cloudy shimmer in the air, perceived on a level slightly below thinking. He steeled his nerves, grasped his staff tightly, and walked out into the dusty, slightly bloodied, arena where te fights were starting already. Kyle. A prophet by nature, and a fighter by memory.

"And the blood, the pain that will be endured" Kyle thought, as he thought back to that day, not long ago at all, when Sei had freed him from his bondage. He hasn't spoken a word since, it it hurt to even let out a sigh. So, he waited, and came. He would draw blood sometime. He smiled a bright white, insane, smile, which only served to help his bloodlust.

His ears revived by the sound of war, his body pumping adrenaline, he was a machine, a deadly, tan, scarred, killing machine, he waited for someone to strike.



Hell burns here today...

[Hysteria]

Swords clashed, the youth pushed his into Arden's and leapt backwards from the two men, his jaw gaping below the bottom of the mask and his tongue lolling around his mouth like a happy dog. He hadn't recognised the newest general at first, but the description matched too perfectly. The chance to fight both men at the same time urged Talen on, a fire waiting to be sated. He no longer had a reason to hold back. The air around the little warrior darkened slightly. The slight haze was a dark soot, the thin film of magic settled upon anything in the area around Talen, slowly draining away their stamina. The few blades of grass brave enough to grown on the Ixian training ground near Talen wilted and died as the darkness drew out their essence.

The crows from Talen's first attack arched around the trio still, silent watchers of the exchange. The dark visages curled inwards. Their movement slowed, their size grew. The forms jutted forwards as they moved towards the centre of the fight, turning into lines of darkness shifting and melding with the air. The haze of shapes, shifting through geometric absurdity hung around the fighters in a odd display.

Talen lifted his sword towards Arden and tried to make a passing remark to his fellow general, but no sound came from his mouth. The youth realised it must have been the swordsman's doing, but didn't give him the benefit of reacting. Talen lurched forwards, his feet rocketing off the ground towards Arden as the tentacles across his back swayed with the movement. Talen hedged between the two men, his swords slashing in wild swings towards Arden while the tentacles across his back stretched their full length in a wild series of sweeps towards Adonis. Two of the black tendrils had pulled the spikes from Talen's back and swung them with little restrain in a wild flurry. The others simply sword to crush bone.

[Abomination]

The crowd cheered as the fastest man in the IK virtually ran laps around The Abomination. Dust surrounded them for a few moments each time Draug was knocked down, but like a force of nature Jensen dissipated it with his speed. As Jensen moved in, Draug was too slow to avoid the hit and felt the fist collide with his jaw. He heard the snapping of sinew and felt his jaw become dislocated, but he had allowed his malleable form to accept new data. His assimilation of Jensen Ambrose had begun. Draug's head fell back from the blow, but as soon as he brought it back forward he felt a sharp kick to the side of his head. The Cult's Champion felt his footing slip and nearly fell over to the side, unable to close his broken jaw and now with a new pain between his ear and eye. Blood splashed out from the wound, and Draug caught himself before he toppled once more.

Memories flooded into his head, breaking his focus and taking his mind far from the battle. Jensen's last moments with his wife Stephanie came to the forefront of his mind, and Draug felt an influence not unlike that of his mother. It's here somewhere, Stephanie's secrets must be here...

Before he could delve deeper, Jensen completed another backflip and slammed his right heel into Draug's head, this time with enough force to push him over and send him to the ground. More memories surfaced, this time those of his fight with the traitor William Arcus. Death and pain were common in Jensen's life, and it stripped away all coherence from the immortal. The pain of his losses, and yet after each one he came back. The Abomination felt as though he understood the Ixian better, and he quickly got up just in time to nearly receive another blow of Jensen's series of flash kicks. However, he felt his blood rush faster in his veins, and the speed of his movements increased. Maybe he was still not fast enough to counter Jensen's attacks, but...

He dodged the third kick, ducking and jumping forward, his body twisting in a corkscrew to launch an iron dagger from his throat at the still-airborne immortal. Jensen deftly dodged it while in mid-air, the rage in his eyes not faltering for one moment. They both ended up a few meters away from each other, with Jensen not even breaking a sweat while Draug sported a few new bruises on his head. For some reason, the Abomination found this whole situation hilarious. He shoved his jaw back into his head with his left hand and his lips parted, unable to stop a soft chuckle.

With his jaw cracking as he spoke, he said, "You failed to stop mother, failed to stop William Arcus, Seth Dahlios, and now me." Blood dripped down his head and into his mouth as he spoke, the coppery taste filling him with even more excitement. His bear-esque arm mutated back into its original form, and he discarded his cloak, letting it fall gently onto the ground. His bandaged upper body had several spots where it was bleeding through.

"Shut it!" Jensen yelled with a laugh. He kicked the ground and flew forward, ready fluster Draug with another series of attacks that were too fast to counter.

It would have worked on a normal opponent, but Draug was designed specifically for close-range combat. Six arms shaped like bird talons erupted from his back, ready to surround and hit Jensen as soon as he connected his first attack. Jensen saw it coming and stopped his attack, jumping away at the last second while the new arms collided with the ground, kicking up a fresh batch of dust.

"Despite your power, you can't protect the ones you care about. But it's not just about that, is it?" Draug laughed between sentences, caught in a fit he couldn't control. "No, your problem is more fundamental than that. You can't win, because you won't sacrifice anything. You think just because you're immortal, you can throw yourself at your challenges for eternity, but you're wrong. This is why mother is successful, because she risks everything in all her endeavors. All her children are used to advance her goals, even me. If I die, it just means I wasn't good enough for her ambitions." The arms on his back mutated until they were just thin stalks with a blade at the end of them, a mixture of steel and iron that came from his hips, shoulders, and chest. One of them was in the shape of a mace. "An immortal like you would never understand sacrifice. Everyone you care about died in vain!"

This time, Draug was the one on the attack. He charged the immortal with his fists, ready to deliver a series of punches with his body's strength behind them, the arms on his back folding on themselves in order to appear spring-loaded and ready to attack Jensen wherever he dodged.

[Prophet]

Kyle bangs his head on a wall. Excuse the post but i need the 24 hours to wear off at a decent time.

Scratching his arm nonchalantly, Kyle looked up from his cross legged position by the dome. His staff lay in front of him, it's tip shimmering slightly, reflecting the magical blasts, eruptions, and the stormy willpower of the dome. His flickering eyes flared as he inhaled, and he allowed a small breath to escape his mouth, reminding himself of those days in that damned cocoon.

"Like the world spins, i live, make the best of it."

He mused this as a small whirlwind from the inate power of the wind rustled te leaves, starting to fall as Autumn came. Ah, the glory. Yet still he waited, hoped to fill that, void, that gaping hole throughout his mind. He knew nothing than a name he saw carved into a metal lock in the chain. Kyle.

"Come to me, dear friends. Come to me and die."

[Solar Haven]

Adonis looked at Arden, wide eyed. He was already on the edge of exhaustion, he couldn’t take another opponent.

Adonis saw Arden wink at him and then move towards Talen. ”I guess he is here to help? I won't look a gift horse in the mouth,” Adonis stood up straight and stared at Talen and started walking towards him just like Arden was.

Before Adonis could get an attack off, or defend himself, Talen rushed between the new found teammates, slashing relentlessly at Arden. The tentacles on his back lurched and lunged towards Adonis, two with spikes aiming to impale.

Adonis dodged the first few tendrils that were aiming for shoulders and waist. As he spun to avoid the bulk of the tentacles, the shadows that Talen had used earlier distracted him. One of the tentacles had imbedded directly into his abdomen area. Blood spurted everywhere as Adonis slowly backed up a few feet as another tentacle hit him square in the jaw sending him sprawling to the ground. Adonis tried to get up but was coughing uncontrollably, each cough gushing a torrent of blood from the wound in his side.

“Fuck! Was I just lucky to have survived this long?” Adonis cursed as he covered his wound with his left hand and used his right to try and stand up right. ”No, he is the lucky one... he only distracted me. I can do this” Adonis seemed to be more confident with himself. He ripped off his over shirt and tied it around his waist, applying pressure to his wound and stopping the majority of the bleeding.

He sighed and looked down to where his sword rested and reached out to get it. He grabbed a hold of the hilt and noticed just how muscular he had gotten over the years, he was impressed with himself; He stood back up and glared at Talen who was still wildly swinging at Arden. He rushed in and aimed to sever the tentacles from his back. If he could remove his advantage it would be an even playing field.

[Prophet]

Kyle watched lightly before leaping to his feet and running like a bull into the middle of the fight. He lashed out between the meeting of two swords, his staff catching both evenly. The duelists, Arden and Talen, looked at him, he nodded in turn to each of them before rasping out, in a voice that soused like nails in a blender, combined with an explosion. "Why do we not find a common foe? UNITE and fight, then skirmish between the Ixians." After this, he coughed violently, for about a minute, more than enough time for death, before motioning to the other combatant on the battleground.

Kyle lowered his staff from the blades, and smiled that insane grin of his, before running into the thick of battle, staff bridged over one arm, the other pumping as he ran. He took hold of the sturdy oaken branch, lurched to a halt and vaulted with his momentum, through the air, landing nimbly on a slightly raised stone.

Might as well kill one who cannot see, as opposed to some that know the fate and past of another.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen moved swiftly past the first two strikes, but even with all his speed and his agility he found the noose tightening around his neck. It was impossible to fathom, however Draug's words had struck a powerful chord within the immortal. Had he, who could not die, given up nothing for his friends and family when they gave up everything for him? He wasn't sure he liked the truth of the answer. And the unsettling feeling in his gut put him off edge as he began to falter in his defense against the Cult of Blessed Torture's Champion.

Draug's many limbs posed a problem for Jensen in a number of ways, but the most dire was the ensnaring way he could keep Jensen in one spot, like the tangling roots of a tree. The immortal's offense involved maneuverability and the opportunity to hit from unseen angles. Yet Draug's limbs continued to slam hard into the barrier behind Jensen, creating a crystallized scar that fractured, then quickly repaired. Enough force was pushed through to disturb the moss on the walls past the mystic protection, little chunks of olive and green flora tumbling to the floor. The knight tried to feint and weave away, but Draug was determined to let Jensen suffer within his web.

"You grow silent," Draug commented, absorbing a kick to his stomach and nearly back handing Jensen to death. The construct of Cassandra kept his advantage, all six limbs working in tandem as the warriors collided. Jensen's switchblade sword was moved into Scythe mode, but even the reaping weapon had little offense against his attack. "Are you getting tired," Draug mused, a soft chuckle escaping his demented lips. "Or are you accepting the truth of your existence?"

Jensen made to reply when he felt his feet fall from under him. Draug had manged to distract the immortal enough to ensnare him, and Jensen fell to his back. Two limbs launched out quickly from his shoulders, and Jensen felt his arms grasped in a vice. He couldn't move, and his eyes lit up with shock as Draug gave him a coy smile. The knight let out a panicked gasp of giggles, eyes searching for an escape, but it meant little in the time he had.

Draug lifted a long sword from his chest, blood spraying the immortal's face and burning his skin as if some acidic quality ate his flesh away. He could smell the burning stench and nearly wretched, watching the blade come down in an executioner's swing. Jensen's chest exploded with an arterial spray, and his voice rose to a crescendo of howling pain and dark laughter. His bloodied teeth formed a venomous smile, and he went limp in his killer's hands. The monster looked to his prey, seeing Jensen's eyes lose that spark of hate, rolling backwards into his head. His muscles stopped moving; his breath no longer heaving with chuckles.

Jensen Ambrose had died.

"It's done, mother," Draug whispered, all traces of his mounting madness vanishing. He lowered Jensen to the ground with a shove, the immortal's body bouncing into the debris of the chewed up ground and tiny pot holes from Draug's flurry of fists. He turned looking for his next prey licking his lips in anticipation.

When he made his first step forwards his ears shifted. He turned frantically to see Jensen alive and well, a feral, insane grin on his face. His chest still had the line where the blade had killed him, but tiny tendrils of green energy pulsed up and down the wound, closing it and leaving the scar behind. The knight's sword-scythe was replaced with a maul, one Draug knew to be the symbol of the Chaplains order of the Ixian Knights. Crozius illuminated a blue-white light from the tip, the heraldic cross brightly shining as the weapon came out in a horizontal swing. One of Draug's limbs went to block the blow only to have the wrist bone sundered. His flesh looked like a grocery bag filled to the rim and the construct gave an alert shriek of confusion.

"They have not died in vain," Jensen spat, each word a high pitched note of spite and malice. "Their deaths have meaning still." The immortal's next swing broke another arm, and Draug retreated four steps to make room as Jensen pressed his attack. "As long as I draw breath, their deeds will be remembered, their lives never forgotten, and in my immortality they will live forever!"

Draug had to use all four limbs to grasp the maul from the vertical swing, Jensen's jumping attack caught mid air. Draug held him, looking into the eyes of the Enigmatic Immortal, and the two grinned to one another, the abomination tossing Jensen aside. He rolled in the dirt, kicking his feet to drag himself to a crouching position, pulling out two throwing daggers and letting them fly, both warriors screeching a shrill cry of laughter to one another. They had both given each other their complete understanding of the situation. There were no safety nets, there was no holding back. They were about to rip each other apart in the most violent of ways, and it was quite possible the survivor would never be the same for it.

"Who will remember you," Jensen laughed. "When I cut you into a thousand pieces and send you back to your mother?"

((Jensen has used his first of two Undying Immortality.))

[Silence Sei]

Sei watched the battle of the Anita Chamber rage on with a vested interest. Jensen needed no coaching from the mute in order to start going after the abomination known as Draug. Talen and Arden, on the other hand, seemed more intent on fighting one another than focusing on the enemy of the Ixian Knights. “Need I remind the two of you, that a man who killed dozens of your comrades is busy beating the snot out of one of your fellow captains?!”

This plea for a truce between the warriors went unaided, forcing Sei to rub the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Perhaps if I eliminate some of the competition, then they will be more focused on the real threat. Misery.

As soon as Sei had finished the thought, a new entity entered the Cell. The crowd marveled at the tall, plant-like monstrosity. It released what many would consider a roar, though the fearsome declaration was stifled by his sewn up, venus flytrap-like mouth. Sei’s eyes shifted towards the scarred little girl in the corner, the one known as Asha, and instantly, Misery was upon her. The beast grabbed the girl by the arm before she could react, and as she begged the monster to release her, the two of them seemingly vanished out of existence.

The monster returned only seconds later, looking towards the tower Sei resided in like a dog awaiting its masters command. “Xanbata Grim, Misery. We can’t have Draug forging any alliances in here.”

The telepathic creature moved towards one of the walls of the chamber, where the vicious swordsman Xanbata Grim was lurched, awaiting a moment to strike. The man looked up at the eight foot monstrosity before him, and quickly attempted to swipe at him with his blade. Misery caught the weapon, the wind created from the swing briefly bringing its moss-like hair out of his face and revealing his glowing red eyes. There was not even a tinge of fear in the mercenaries eyes as he stared down the beast, before also leaving with him to parts unknown.

The crowd seemed baffled at this, especially when the creature did not return. This was because, at least for the Anita Chamber, the wetland warrior known as Misery was Sei’s enforcer. Crossing the Grandmaster or even showing that one did not wish to die would bring about the presence of the beast into the Anita Chamber, and the creature would instantly take his victim out of the Cell. It was a far less bloody and more humane way to handle things, and while the Imperial loyalist fans didn’t like it; a small rumble of boos could be heard from down below, the Ixian Knights and their families cheered at their leaders benevolence and mercy.

Let us see if that doesn’t motivate Talen and Arden to do the right thing.

((grim137 and BlueGhostOfTheSeaside are eliminated))