Dry Blood[closed]

[redford]

John was impressed with the boy's speed, especially his change of direction change after lighting the giant skeleton on fire. It seemed one combatant was already gone. Talen then rushed John with that same speed. John readied a shield in his left hand, the liquid metal fleeing from his feet and shins up to his forearm. The shield grew and he swung, aiming to bash Talen with it as he approached, but out of the corner of his eye, John saw a second Talen appear, swinging a sword already at the faun, who was still shaking with fear. In his intense focus, John desperately wished he could be there to help the defenseless creature. An odd sensation gripped John's chest for a split second as his vision blurred.

The sound of thunder rang in his ears as he regained his vision, just in time to notice that he was now between the faun and his assailant. He barely had time to raise his shielded left arm before their impact. The ring of metal on metal punctuated the end of the thunder, the force of the blow driving Talen's sword into the shield several inches, sinking into his forearm. The blow would have driven him back had his stance not been so wide, as it was, his foot slid back a few inches. The impact of the blow shook the air around them, kicking up the loose layer of dust in the arena. His eyes were locked with the boy as the blade slid even further into his arm. John grimaced in pain and confusion at the boy's strength, reacting instinctively, sealing the breach in his armor with the sword still inside, finally realizing it was prevaldia. He'd only seen the metal once before, but once was enough to recognize the alloy.

What is this child?

John drew his armor thicker around the sword, the metal growing out of either side of the contact with his forearm as he swung a leg wide at Talen's midsection. With the faun scared to inaction and the giant skeleton swimming in the moat, it appeared he would need to fight the boy alone until courage surfaced in the faun.

Though, John was beginning to wonder if he could.

[Philomel]

Leaf was scared.

It held him in and icey grip, frozen fingers clutching around him like a telekenetic vice. His arms pinned in their awkward position of raising his sickle, yet not quite able to as yet throw himself whole-heartedly into battle, he heard the commotion behind him before he saw it. Slowly, turning to what pace his terrified state could allow he saw the giant in front of him. Standing over seven feet and dwarfing the faun by all three pigs combined he was a tower of shadow that blocked out the sun. The giant was making noises of defiance and strength, and though Leaf could not properly see, nor even lean to the side to peer around he had very many suspicions that the villain involved was the boy of shadow himself.

Something broke within him. Whether brought on by the defence of the giant of a man, or the sight of the ghastly skeleton now-on-fire, the faun found he was able to move. Staggering back steps of unco-ordinated gracelessly he almost tripped over the edge into the shallow ditch of water. Mouth opened, letting out a breathless yell, before he righted his feet and stepped onto the central dias. He watched as the emboldened monolithic man struggled with the demon boy, trying to gather his wits.

Why was he here? To kill the boy.

What was the purpose? To get back his darling pigs.

What was the possibility of survival? The data was insufficient to make a complete assumption, but based on what was occurring just now ... it was close to nil.

Leaf screeched in fear, his hands whipping up his blade and vehemently attacking the empty air in front of him, desperation running havoc around his body. His mind was ablaze with panic and horror, no longer was it sane or of any sort of logical sense. It ravaged an empty land with a senseless mind, destroying what life it came across, be it animal or vegetable. It was blank, distant, unrelateable, and it was for this reason and this reason alone that he never felt the contact of matched idenities returning to his person.

She came like an angel from on high. Leaping from seemingly nowhere the female piglet known as Popsy, splotched like a lepers skin, flew through the air. Though wingless she arched with the air currents, greeting them like old friends. A parabola of hope, she aimed for the shadow-boy's head, mouth wide open, trotters flailing, ready to do what she will. Her father did not see her from his cell of panic, and her brothers were still gaining from their unconciousness, but there was hope nevertheless...

[Hysteria]

The crack of metal on metal is quite distinct. In essence it is little more than a crack that rings out into the air like so much sound. What separated the strike my Lord’s sword against the arm of the metal giant was the force of will. It leaked out into the air, like a heavy fog it hung around me in thick milky layers. The will to kill, the will to live and the will to protect.

It was probably that desire to protect which launched the giant between my Lord and Faun. The metal of his body took the impact of the sword impressively, and it was no dumb luck either. The giant had led into the attack, diverting the blade with his own metal, which cracked and broke, only to reform around my Lord’s dark blade. A lesser being would have lost their sword in that moment, but my Master was not such a being. The sword vanished in a puff of darkness, leaving Talen’s now empty palm pointed towards the giant.

Sparks of energy arched across Talen’s arm to coalesce in his open palm. John was at point blank range and I could nearly taste his blood before Talen spilled it. The tactic was simple, and so very much how my Lord operated. He would take the hit from the giant’s leg, while releasing his own. He was betting his attack would do more damage than that of his opponents.

Talen had often followed a similar tactic in the past and each time he had come out the victor, eventually. I’d have said it would have taken a miracle to make this time different, I’d have also said that pigs don’t fly. The small swine struck Talen in the side of the head with a thick thwack. Talen’s hand went wide, releasing his magic a moment before John’s leg caught him in the side.

The small form of my Lord skipped across the yellow stone of the arena. Behind him the seats of the unoccupied stands were pelted with dozens of small crystalline shards, each one exploding on impact. His magic had gone wide, missing even the impressive form of John and the Faun cowering behind. Had the seats been occupied it would have been a bloody event, vacant as they were there was only small chunks of stone blasted apart.

Talen’s clawed hands gripped the ground as he moved, screeching into the air and leaving eight long grooves across the yellow stone. He stopped, not far from the edge of the arena and the water ring beneath. He stood slowly, eyeing the porcine protagonist warily. Snacks rose up from the edge of the arena and landed on Talen’s shoulder. The two had been separated with Talen’s shadow jump and the creature had failed to warn Talen of the tiny pig’s assault.

Talen lifted his hands out wide and a stream of darkness connected between them. The mass of dark, ink-like substance built and lifted outwards as it took a large humanoid appearance. In only a few seconds the creature was complete. It was a perfect representation of John, only slightly bigger. This was the largest of Talen’s dark creatures, with strength rivaling that of ten men, they was made to rip and tear. The form lumbered into a run with its arms outstretched towards the (albeit it only slightly) smaller John.

One use of Shards and Sonic on the missed attack and one of Ink for the John doppelganger

[redford]

Do we remember what level I was when we started this thread? I'd like to wrap up/trash any of my open citadel threads. Let me know if you want to finish it out. I'm also fine with fighting talen 1v1.

John saw the magic form in his opponent's hand a little too late, and didn't have time or ability to dodge as his leg sailed into the boy, along with what appeared to be a tiny piglet. The magic from the boy's hand jolted to the side, roaring past his ear and prickling his skin with energy. The kick sent him to the side, disengaging the sword formerly embedded in his forearm, puffing into smoke as the boy flew.

In the moment of respite, John reformed his armor to coat all of both his arms, sealing the breach in his forearm. He clenched his left fist, knowing it to be weaker.

At least the bleeding's stopped, he thought as he looked up to the boy, now rising to stand. The stone was etched with deep scratches where he had slowed himself, further unsettling the half-giant. The boy was not normal, that was for sure.

But this was the citadel, and the promise of healing spurred him on to fight, rather than flee.

John began to stride forward, aiming to continue the fight, when an inky blackness spilled from the boy, coalescing into a form that appeared remarkably similar to himself. He hesitated as it grew larger, finally larger than John.

Wordlessly, it charged him. For a moment, there was naught in his ears but the lumbering steps of the shadow, and naught in his mind but instinct. He crouched low as it closed in, catching it by the midsection, lifting with his legs and back, aiming to use the beast's own momentum to throw it into the moat. An impact at his kidney flashed his vision white with pain, but he maintained the strength of his toss. He had lost track of the boy, but he had larger problems at the moment.

[Elite Optic]

(Sorry, I got Hysteria's message a bit late. I'm still here. So just a small post to show I'm not gone. Lunch times for the win!)

The large bones of Elite Optic slowly sank to the lesser depths of the battle arenas water. Silent and as lifeless as a pile of stones, the skeleton displayed no signs of further life. The tepid body of water was empty and void of watery life, no watery weeds or swimming fish filled the ring shaped pond and nothing but the hard stone of the arena itself awaited the arrival of its next victim.

A few moments passed, and the very warriors within the battle had already forgotten the behemoth that once stood beside them. Yet, like the spark to the first signs of life, the bones began to rumble, rolling, sliding and piecing back together within the hidden watery grave. Arms met shoulders and legs met hips as the creature reformed like a shattered jigsaw puzzle being rebuilt. Elite lay there for a moment, the blurred sound of clashing steel and fearful voices lightly echoing through the water particles like a voice through a muffled cloth.

It is time to rise again, my deceptive foe...

Elite crunched his bony fingers into a fist as he felt his strength return to him and prepared to rise once again.

[Philomel]

Judgement Name: Dry Blood
No Judgement

Rewards:

Hysteria:
650 EXP
44 GP

Redford:
470 EXP
44GP

Leaf:
265 EXP
22 GP

Elite Optic:
415 EXP
44GP

I made a mistake when I posted as Philomel - should have posted as Leaf. In this scope, Leaf's rewards are calculated at 3 posts.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

All rewards added!