View Full Version : The First Stand...
((Closed to Workout Wonder and Damon Kaosi. Please ignore Makira's post.))
[Corone, three days ago...]
The day was hot as hell. The summer was relentlessly charging up, announcing that it’s at the peak of its power and empowering its first emissary – the blazing sun – to scorch the ground. The air was like glue, creeping into your lungs and failing to provide the proper nourishment no matter how much you took in. The wind was a wet dream, lost somewhere in time about a month and a half ago. The soil was like finely ground salt ready to burn your eyes if your feet uplifted it.
While the inhabitants of the backwater Four Towns county in Midwest Corone recognized this weather as normal, Myrhia and Letho (especially Letho and his two-hundred-and-forty pounds of imposing bulk) found it terribly taxing. Regardless of what they wanted to do, the sunrays would leech the energy out of them with such vehemence that in a matter of minutes every job turned into a fool’s errand. Stepping out of the shade was like stepping into an oven, and neither Myrhia’s pale complexion nor Letho’s muscled body enjoyed being fried like a peeled potato.
That was why today they were having an afternoon siesta. Before the summer began, the swordsman found it rather ridiculous how the entire town practically died during that crucial handful of hours. The stores flipped over their “OPEN” signs, old man Edonas and his heavy blacksmithing hammer stopped the incessant clink-clink-clang sounds, even the church closed its heavyset doors. But now that the summer crashed through their front doors like an unwelcome guest, he understood what made the folk input this pause into their daily routine.
Myrhia fidgeted a little, readjusting her position on a swinging bench that only fractionally moved from its static position. Her head was resting on Letho’s lap, her lithe body curled just enough so her bare feet hung freely in the air at the side of the bench. She was clad in her short scarlet skirt and a sleeveless shirt of the same color, making it ultimately difficult for Letho to even doze of with such an attractive sight so close to him. And yet he did manage to drift away from the heat of the afternoon. His left hand was resting on her slim waist, his right hanging loosely at his side and his mind somewhere between the dream land and the physical world. His head rested on his chest solemnly. Even though he hasn’t told her yet, this is how he envisioned them in some forty years as well; a pair of old farts having an afternoon siesta on the porch of their home.
“A rider, in a hurry, coming up the hill...” Letho’s mind stated, the voice sounding a little bit like a warning and a whole lot like your own voice in a dream, distant and alien. Savion prince knew better then to disregard it. It was a failsafe, trained unto him by years of adventuring and sleeping in boggy forests. His eyes opened abruptly, then reconsidered and squinted almost to a complete closure due to the sunlight that gave the world a powerful white hue. They got adjusted to the light just in time to notice a man on horseback, emerging over the incline and riding through the shadows of the weeping willows that stood beside the roads like woeful sentries. Myrhia didn’t hear the rider. Myrhia probably wouldn’t hear a cannon firing at their house that the locals called Willow Manor. It wasn’t really much of a manor though. More like a really big two-storey house made out of wood and too big for the kind of folk that lived in this part of the land. It was too big for Myrhia and Letho as well, but the rent was a bargain and quite frankly there weren’t any other houses for rent in Willowtown.
Carefully lifting her head, the husky man squeezed from beneath the sleeping redhead, lowering her head on one of the pillows before he moved to meet the rider. The sun struck him with a fiery whip the moment he stepped out of the shadow of the wraparound porch and into the dusty lane that led down the Willow Hill and proceeded into the picturesque town beyond. The rider raised one hand, slowed down first to a trot, then coming to a full stop and bringing the cloud of bitter dust on top of them both. Despite the tawny mist, Letho recognized the rider. There was only one man in Corone that carried that ridiculous red feather in his hat.
“Leeahn Festian. What brings you out of that cesspool of the wretched and into my town?” the swordsman asked, his face offering a friendly grin and a handshake once the rider dismounted and the dust settled. In his royal blue military uniform (still only slightly creased despite what must’ve been a long ride from Radasanth), the captain of the Corone Armed Forces seemed like a king compared to Letho and his peasant attire consisted of a pair of brown slacks and a sleeveless white linen shirt. He accepted the handshake rather readily though, breaking from his emotionless idiosyncrasy. Friends were like diamonds to the both of them; rare, hard to obtain and always kept close enough.
“A lot of folk up north would resent that.” the soldier spoke, shaking the hand ardently before taking off his hat and wiping his brow. The golden sheathe of his saber nearly murdered Letho’s irises with the powerful reflection. The man was a soldier from head to toe, a nominal representation of military perfection. Except for that devil in his azure eyes. “Not me, though. I agree with you to a certain extent.”
They both smiled a little bit, a courteous smile of agreement. “How is Lena? You keep getting into enough troubles to keep her busy.”
“Radasanth is a busy city.” was the most humorous response that could be expected from the solemn captain. “I’m not here to palaver on inane matters though.”
“I reckoned that much.” the conversation sunk to serious waters like a rock, bringing the strict faces in tow as the pair walked beneath the willows that formed an arch above their heads, letting through sunbeams as thin as a straws.
“Something big is happening in Haidia, a rebellion against the Demon government. A group of rebels took over the Mursath fortress, one of the largest military complexes in Haidia. They are protesting against the young heir to the throne, prince...”
“Aidos.” Letho concluded. “I don’t see how is this our business. Haidia troubles are Haidia troubles. Furthermore, I don’t see how is this my problem.”
“One thing at a time, my friend. Our intelligence suspects that there is a secret organization behind the insurrection, Coronian organization.”
“Radasanth Crime Syndicate?”
“Bigger. Nobody knows for certain. That’s why we need to look into it.”
“You mean, I have to look into it?” Letho spoke after he stopped their steady ambulation and looked Leeahn with a suspicious eye.
“Yes. Whether or not you know it, your name is somewhat well known up north. Letho Ravenheart, the Marshal who brought piece into the Four Towns region. Letho Ravenheart, the man who killed the hydra that ransacked Radasanth. The brass wants somebody with a reputation on this, somebody whose name will guarantee that the Corone Government is doing everything to investigate this alleged organization.” Leeahn’s voice was, as always, deadly serious, seemingly emotionless. But there was a lot going on beyond those eyes, a lot of pondering that sometimes turned out too sentimental for such a stoic man. Letho knew this because the two of them differentiated very little from each other.
“And if I say no?” Letho asked and Leeahn started moving again with a sarcastic smirk, walking back to his horse.
“You could.” he paused as he reached the flank of his horse. “But you won’t.”
Letho smiled, shaking his head minutely. The man read him so easily. Corone maybe wasn’t his kingdom, but it offered him home when he had none and for that he owed.
“The portal to Haidia is about a day’s ride from here...”
“Yes, I know.” Letho interrupted him, folding his hands before him as Leeahn climbed his steed. “I am the Law around here.”
“Right. Haidian forces plan to hit that citadel in about a week. You can wait for them or try to bring an end to the rebellion on your own. I bet I know which option will you take.” again, that cold smileless humor. “Tell your lady I said hello.”
“Likewise, my friend.”
And with that said, the captain of the Radasanth guard spurred his horse and retraced his steps down the Willow Hill and out of sight, leaving nothing but dusty mist in his wake.
“Letho? Letho what was that?” Myrhia asked, her sleepy head and squinted eyes rising over the wooden fence and struggling against the violent sunlight.
“We need to pack, Myri. We’re going to Haidia.”
***
[Haidia, present day...]
Haidia at this time of year was basically Corone with a roof. The heat was about the same, the air was just as stuffy and hard to inhale and the only thing that saved the entire situation was the fact that there was no sun to singe Myrhia’s wan skin and Letho’s bulky body. The pair was sitting on a rather large crate in front of the temporary headquarters of the demon forces that were preparing for an attack on the stronghold. The place wasn’t as much of a beehive as the swordsman expected, most of the soldiers rather reluctant and lacking eagerness. Then again, this shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise. A lot of rebels were merely local folk that got either coerced or lured into joining the futile opposition to the Haidia government.
The general in charge of the gathering force had a short talk with Letho a day earlier, first opposing the outside involvement fervently. “We have this under control, human. We don’t need a Corone Ranger to fight our battles.” the general said. But after Letho presented him with the formal introduction of the Corone Assembly and mentioned that High General Tulfried was a personal friend of his, the general gave in and told him to do whatever the hell he wants.
So Letho did. He sent out a word, asking for volunteers that could help him doing this thing in some manner other then the bullheaded one. He didn’t have an exact plan yet, but he hoped that whoever joined his intention to go for the alternative solution would have some usable information about the fortress. Myrhia sighed at his side, obviously bored, the butt of her spear drawing nondescript figures in the dark dirt below. Letho struck her with his shoulder.
“It seems it’s just you and me.”
She smiled coyly without looking at him. Despite the fact that they would be going into a fortress filled with malicious men, that proposition didn’t seem so bad to her.
Workout Wonder
05-13-06, 09:12 PM
There once was a god. He was revered and respected by people, and so they knew to obey.
Then, there was the Citadel. Where mean would go and congregate, so they were entertained. Thus, they tacitly gave their permission to be conquered.
Now, it seemed like things weren’t nearly as easy. The easy opiates of religion and entertainment were no longer enough to sustain the throngs of unwashed Althanians, and day after day, it seemed they wanted more. More of things that their leaders otherwise wouldn’t let them have.
Few understood what this meant, and it was only an enigmatic order and their mysterious agents that knew the truth. They had seen the end of the old era, that Kings and Lords and even means of repression were becoming obsolete. In an era of magical dispersion that left the commoner’s son the equal of the magistrate’s that meant that merely having power could no longer sustain a leader.
Once again, Althanas had returned to the state of nature. Anyone on Althanas could kill anyone else. That meant that there was one power that meant more than any other. The power to entertain. Entertainment bought complicity, and in complicity a man could buy power. Kedx knew it, but Rainee hadn’t. That was why they were no longer together. Ideas like truth and justice always held sway with a commoner, right up to the point where truth and justice began to work in favor of his enemy. Then, it was back to a pure state of nature, where the only power a warrior held was in his hands.
Kedx’ grinned. He was one of the few to realize the truth and see through the lies. That was why he was headed to Haidia now, on loan from his master to a secret organization in Corone that had yet to reveal its full ties to him. However, Kedx was certain that his master knew more about the people he was working for than had been revealed, but the feline vampire was content not to know. If there was one person he trusted, it was his master who had revealed the truth of the world and only offered Kedx opportunities in exchange.
As such, Kedx now had entered into Haidia quietly, resisting every impulse in his body to sample some of the fine delicacies of Vainta or the more illicit delicacies of Hrenta Nodos. It wouldn’t have been becoming of him, and also, it would have required for Kedx to remove his mask. That wouldn’t do, especially given how difficult it was for anyone of feline traits to slip through Haidia unnoticed. As such, he was practically frothing under the liviol, greedily waiting his next meal. Kedx had never tasted demon blood, and the longer he waited, the more certain he was that it would be delicious.
At the moment though, Kedx had bigger duties. He was to join up a special force that had been organized by Letho Ravenheart and undermine its ability to get things accomplished by any means necessary. It wouldn’t be a difficult task for the vampire. He remembered having met the warrior a long time ago, before Letho was a household name as runner up in the Serenti Invitational. Champion fighter or not, Letho had a weakness and she had red hair. Kedx looked forward to using her against him.
As such, it was good that he was wearing a mask when he first approached Letho Ravenheart. “I have come to serve…” he said, taking a deep bow. The devious vampire had intentionally left out the benefactor of his service.
After all, he felt like he should at least tell one truth on that day. Everything else that came from his mouth would likely all be lies.
Makira had never been one much for Haidia, but she knew that there were things down there that would be invaluable to learn, especially if she was going to help Maera with her ultimate goal in Haidia, Corone, Salvar, and the other regions. Shadows danced over her face as she kept her cloak drawn, keeping her facial features out of the way of others.
Makira was of the Avian race, a people who prided themselves not only on their ability to fly, but also on their priceless acrobatic skills and great abilities at different elemental skills. Unfortunately for Makira, there was a definite limit to how far she would be able to fly up in Haidia, as the roof would hinder her if ever she would be able to hit it. Though she had been here before, fought countless enemies, and even found a vampire she would be willing to give her life for, Makira was less than pleased with Haidia, as it offered smoldering temperatures that would make the most cold-natured of people sweat like a pig.
It took only a little time spent back in Radasanth to figure out what all the hustle and bustle around the place was about at the particular time she decided to return to the city that she had haunted, being trained in the arts of thievery as a child. The lessons with Maera flashed back through her head, Maera’s blue face showing rare flashes of pride when Makira was able to pull of a feat right, or even when her brother, Terrus, made a wise crack concerning Maera’s obsession with perfection when pulling off an ability when thieving.
Makira was one of the most practiced Shadow Mages in the Silent Hand, but she was unable to become a powerful as some of the legendary heroes of Corone, like Letho Ravenheart, the person who she was reportedly going to be working with on this little demon insurrection that was being pulled off here in Haidia. Though usually a supporter in full of insurrectionists, Makira was not particularly fond of the ones who captured a place and stayed there for all eternity. She was a take-no-prisoners kind of insurrectionists, and the so-called rebels who would hole up and wait until the enemy routed them were absolutely worthless to her.
Makira wondered through Haidia with a resolute stature. Due to her exploits with Maera, she had become something of a respected or feared character in Haidia, but she was not without the ability to help herself. It was her Shadow Magic that had saved her in the end, though she had had to pull the last of her strength together to do it, being carried away by the vampires after passing out. It was not in her best interest to use her special Shadow Matrix more than five times a day. It would lead her to dying because of this particular overdoing it. If it hadn’t been for the healing magic that Serien commanded, she would no longer be among the living.
As she headed to the appointed location, she thought she saw the man known as Letho standing somewhere in the horizon, not that there really was a horizon in Haidia. That was when she saw the demon force’s headquarters. It had a small, quickly made, but slowly fixed feel to it, as though a standoff had been going on for awhile now. Haidia must be getting pretty desperate pulling in one of the heroes of Corone, even if he does know Tulfried … Makira thought, her mind going slowly over the checklist she had made of her belongings as she had been preparing her trip to Haidia. The first and foremost was her whip, her daggers, and her cloak, without which she would be unwilling to do any dirty work.
She came upon Letho, with some guy talking to him. He was a man of medium height, and he was big, but Makira paid him no mind. The bashers of the Silent Hand were at least as large as he was, or they would not be called ‘bashers’. It was the woman with Letho that impressed Makira the most. The woman wielded a spear, and that was basically all that Makira really cared to see about the woman. The spear was a specialty weapon, taking a long time of training to even begin working with right. Though the whip was no easy feat, the spear promised a lot more potential as a long-ranged, bladed heavy weapon.
Makira strode up to the three and spoke, her voice soft, with a serious undertone to it, as if she was getting ready to begin working immediately, “Makira Sheara. Never had the pleasure or working with you before, Letho Ravenheart, and I doubt we ever will be working together again…” It was very straightforward to her. He was a Ranger, and she was a thief. Law and the thieves were usually at an odds, rarely working together more than enough to meet a common goal, like the one they had before them at just this moment.
Waiting was not something Letho liked to practice. Even when he was still learning the ropes under the tutelage of his father’s personal guard, Lothirgan, his tendency to engage overpowered the patience. And despite the countless curses and warnings of his instructor, the urge to act and then play it by ear remained a wrong that even the best trainers in Savion failed to right. On occasions this obstinacy saved their bacon, but – as Myrhia often liked to point out in her simplistic coy wisdom – for every time he managed to pull of some crazy half-plan there were two times when they wound up they wound up worse then they would if they just waited. But such was the nature of the Savion prince. Such was the nature of his royal blood that burned for justice and honor.
Mryhia fought her own battle with this blood of his. What his mentors failed to do in some twenty-odd years, she was trying to do in the short time they were together. True, when it came to dealing with her, his forbearance seemed to be endless, but with everything else he dealt with the usual straightforward recipe. His social skills were that of a rusty automaton that had a strictly defined set of answers for each and every situation, his demeanor making him inaccessible and cold to those around him. He explained to her that this was what he was; a war machine, oiled and set to destroy and end lives, but she knew there was more then met the eye. He wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. He was merely afraid to look beyond that which he had in his hands. He was afraid to set aside the life of strife and battle because that was the only environment for which he was trained, in which he knew what to do and how to do it with maximum efficiency. He was afraid of the possibility that there was nothing beyond the corner but a dead end.
Myrhia knew that was not the truth. She felt it every time he touched her, every time he smiled that weak decrepit smile of his at her. And she made it her mission to make him realize that. No matter what.
Just as Letho’s patience was reaching the critical level where it became thin enough for him to become restless, their companion appeared. The swordsman greeted him with a mistrustful eye despite the bow that seemed courteous enough for the Vainta Royal Palace. Myrhia failed to provide the usual warmth in a form of as amicable smile, but rather just stared with a frozen surprised expression on her scarred face. Both reactions came as a direct result of the queer porcelain mask that the tall figure before them was wearing.
“To serve who?” the redhead was the first to break the silence, her voice reluctant and giving in to her endless curiosity.
“Nobody is serving anybody here.” Letho disallowed any attempt at an answer resolutely, rising up and holding his eyes locked at that eccentric mask that, despite his relative indifference, made him wonder what lay beneath. “If you’re here to aid us in stopping this rebellion, your help will be appreciated.”
It was a trained answer, given with a professional coldness that Myrhia hated so much she sometimes wanted to poke him with her spear just to see him express some emotions. He even made a mental note - in a distant way his trained battle-hardy mind always did – not to keep his back exposed to the newcomer in crucial moments. But that, once again, was just the way he operated.
In that frigid introduction Myrhia felt there was enough leaden looks to forge a weapon. That was why her disposition stood out of the current atmosphere like a sore thumb. She managed to procure a genuine smile, approaching the masked stranger and trying to take a peek at the eyes behind the artificial façade.
“Hiya, I’m Myrhia. I don’t have enough reputation to go before me like Letho has.” she added with a wink. Letho allowed a mild grin, the kind that said in its own wordless way that he had nothing against her antics, but that the time was of the essence.
“Now that the introductions are done, I reckon we should discuss the task at hand.” the swordsman begun in his gallant authoritative tone. He took out a scroll from the interior of his coat, unfurled it and placed it on the crate surface, presenting the blueprint of the fortress. “I don’t know how much you know about the situation, but the rebels gained control over the entire Mursath fortress. By current estimation there are about three hundred of them, but some of the local folk from the adjacent villages are joining them. There is also a rumor that there is a criminal organization behind this insurrection. Now, Haidia has more then enough forces to take the fortress down, but given the fortifications of that place, it’s bound to be some major bloodshed on both sides. Stopping that from happening is out priority and if we find out some information about this alleged organization, so much the better. I believe that if we take out the leader of this rebellion, the rest of the forces will scatter or surrender. Getting to the leader, however, might prove to be a problem.”
“Which means we don’t know how to do it right now.” Myrhia added with her irresistible smile, speaking plainly what Letho tended to wrap in eloquence.
“Well, I thought of knocking on the front door, but I doubt they would answer.” Myrhia opened her mouth with an intention to speak again, but he intercepted her. “Haidian forces already tried that anyways. They sent diplomats, but none of them returned. So, you have any ideas?”
“I still don’t see why we should be down here,” Damon said. “None of the people here seem to like you, and they all treat you suspiciously. Why’d you hide your wings anyways?”
Sevviel immediately covered Damon’s mouth. She knew what wings meant in a netherworld like Haidia. Fortunately, the angel’s limited abilities with light magic had allowed her to conceal her normal appearance, so that she looked just like any other woman stranger. Sevviel was hoping she could pass off as someone normal, but then, it wasn’t all that common for a svelte, blonde adventurer who would venture into Haidia. In other words, wings or not, she stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Hush,” she hissed. “You don’t talk about angels in a place like this, you’ll get us both killed. Demons and angels have never seen eye to eye, probably never will. In a place like this, no one should know I’m an angel…”
Damon nodded solemnly, even though he thought that she was exaggerating. He couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt Sevviel. The angel had never been anything but kind to him, and she was also very beautiful. Even the rebor Damon could realize it. He had never asked, but he had begun to wonder if before his reincarnation, whether or not he and Sevviel had been in love. Not that it mattered now, for the angel had become like an older sister to him. Still, he couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to kill her, or even why she would have suggested that they come to Haidia if it was such a dangerous place.
Sevviel’s suddenly solemn face returned to its polite smile. She exhaled. She hated Haidia with a passion, but she felt it was one of the few places in which she could help Damon find more about who he was. The angel had no idea as to what had happened to the boy, all she knew was that none of the other angels had demanded for his return. Thus, Sevviel was left wondering, under the belief that Damon’s return may have had just as much to do with Althanas’ darker forces than it did any forces of light.
However, the angel didn’t know how to explain that to the boy, and now they seemed to be going off on a side track of an adventure. Damon had seen a flier that had declared the king in need of aid, and the boy was well aware that heroes were always supposed to aid people in need, even if they had come to Haidia with some other mission in mind. Thus, Sevviel had grudgingly followed Damon towards a group assembled to serve the king. While Damon seemed particularly eager to introduce himself, Sevviel was considerably more nervous.
“Hey!” Damon said politely, smiling at an attractive red haired lady and a man in a wooden mask. He didn’t say anything else to the mustached warrior, because it seemed that this man (probably the group leader) was soliciting information when he had none to offer. “My name is Damon Kaosi, and I want to help the king. I saw the flier in an inn nearby, and that means I should be here to help.”
The boy gestured back towards Sevviel. “That’s Sevviel,” he continued. “She’s an angel, but she thinks she can’t tell anyone in Haidia. If you two are going to be helping save the king, then you’re good people so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if any of you knew.”
Sevviel shook her head as her face flushed red with embarrassment. “I’m sorry…” she said, forgetting to conceal her wings as she rushed forward and offered her hand out to the group assembled. “We didn’t mean to be late, we only just discovered of this mission. We were told by some members of the demon army you were still looking for aid? Perhaps if you let us know, we might be able to offer some ideas, but as for right now, we know precious little…”
The angel smiled uneasily, her eyes fixed upon the muscular man she believed to be Letho Ravenheart. At least, she hoped that this stranger was Letho, for the angel didn’t particularly care much for the man who hid behind the mask.
Workout Wonder
05-26-06, 03:41 PM
Kedx wasn’t particularly in the mood to do the thinking for a group of people, but he did take notice of the two strangers who had just arrived. Suddenly, the vampire imagined exactly how he wanted the mission to proceed. He grinned wickedly underneath his mask and spoke to preempt Letho, out of fear that their group leader might take a different approach to strangers than he would.
“But of course you’re welcome,” Kedx replied, his voice artificially sweet when he emphasized the of course. “For any strategy we have, we’d certainly need more than three…” He stopped for a second’s pause, and then introduced himself. “I am Kedx Fieldeth, and it is an honor to meet you both… especially the namesake of the departed elven general.”
Now, Kedx began to fine tune the plan that he had just occurred to him. The vampire wanted them to fight, for he needed to gauge the strength of his party, particularly that of Letho and Damon. The vampire had responded to their welcomes with an artificial gratitude, but otherwise he was concerned only in their capabilities. After all, at least Letho was supposed to live. Whatever happened to Myrhia was completely irrelevant, but Kedx had been informed that there were people out there that were very interested in the ranger from Corone, as were there people who wanted to know about this so called Damon Kaosi. As such, the vampire knew he would have to walk a delicate balance, but it would be one worth walking.
With his mask concealing an almost demented smile, Kedx spoke in a tone that was eerily flat, as if to do everything possible to hide the condescending sarcasm that was a natural compliment to his message. “You know sometimes knocking on the door can work better than you expect,” he said calmly, glad for the abilities of manipulation he had been provided by the plume filigree. It would be unlikely that Letho would be able to detect any kind of deception within his voice. He looked at his last companion. “We might have a way of walking over towards the enemy after all…”
The vampire took a quick glance at the other member of the party before continuing, just to size up what kind of skills he could expect to be brought to the table. One member particularly caught his eye. It was the angel, she was quite attractive, but clearly not the kind of person who would normally be around Haidia. She might be mistaken for an angel by demons who would naturally know no better, and Kedx knew that was a power that they might be able to manipulate. Most importantly, her exotic look suggested that Kedx was the most knowledgeable when it came to Haidia. Kedx’ first taste of vampirism had come in Vainta, and so he was well versed in the formalities of demon culture. He knew the important beliefs, and he knew the pathologies. Most importantly, Kedx knew how demons responded to angels.
They tore them to shreds.
“You’re an angel… right?” Kedx asked the woman. “If Letho were to approach them with you in chains… ones that were easily breakable of course, it would look like a famous Althanian warrior had come to join their side bearing gifts. Letho, you would certainly be granted audience, a powerful warrior like you would certainly be seen as an ally on any side…” After finishing his flattery, the vampire continued, turning towards Letho and Myrhia now.
“There may be tunnels elsewhere, but they may be long and arduous, plus we run the risk of meeting trombolis or other creatures that are so prominent in this part of Haidia. Perhaps Myrhia and I can take some tunnels to meet with you, but it would be best if we sent two groups. Letho and the avian through the front door, and we will find another way if you do need our assistance. Though I sincerely doubt you will,” Kedx concluded.
It was mostly a lie. He knew of a secret tunnel that had been dug out especially for him to relay a message to the leader of the uprising. The goal of sending Letho and the avian was to even out the sides and ensure Haidia would be locked in a brutal and bloody civil war. With Letho on the side of the King, it would be hard to motivate the insurgents, and even harder for them to be victorious. Having him as a captive before the war would motivate the rebels and ensure that the battle would last long after the people remembered their reasons for war. Kedx would dispose of Myrhia in the tunnel and then notify the insurgents of his handiwork.
They were already expecting him.
When the two newcomers made their introductions, Letho’s suspicious eye was back with a vengeance. Because Damon Kaosi was a name that stood at the epicenter of some of the greatest stories and, more often then not, myths that spoke of heroic deeds. True, some wound up being overly inflated, the number of defeated foes starting at a dozen and winding up as a legion the more people talked about it, but where there was smoke, there was fire. Letho was certain that the fabled Damon Kaosi took part in numerous exploits, but he never expected for the elf to be so young looking and, more importantly, so incredibly naïve. There was an air of carelessness around him, as if they gathered around before some childish escapade in which a slap on the wrist was the worst they can get.
His angelic companion, Sevviel, remedied that a little bit, taking a relatively more cautious approach that wound up greatly appreciated by the swordsman. He accepted her handshake with a mild bow of his head. “It’s good to have you on board.” he said to the woman, then turned to Damon. “Damon Kaosi, huh? I thought you’d be... older.”
Unlike Letho’s usually conservative reaction, Myrhia seemed enchanted by the two. Not only did she get the chance to meet somebody as famous as Damon Kaosi, but his companion was an angelic creature whose wings simply enthralled the redhead. “Hello. I’m Myrhia.” she offered her pale hand to the black-haired elf first before she approached Sivviel. “Wow, are those... real wings?” she asked, wide-eyed and beautiful and genuinely young in her innocence. Her hand reached out for one of the wings, almost afraid to touch it, afraid to somehow taint their perfection. The woman was so beautiful even without them, but with them she seemed like the embodiment of heavenly beauty. She remembered how, when she was an unworthy slave back in Scara Brae, she used to dream about growing wings and flying away from that dreadful place. As it turned out, Letho was her wings. Not as soft and fluffy as the ones Sevviel had on her back, but he did the trick. Sometimes even more then that.
Kedx broke her moment of enthrallment though, presenting a plan that Myrhia didn’t like a whole lot mainly because it involved the beautiful angel to be shackled. She tried to focus on the plan, but her eyes kept running back to those feathery extensions that seemed too good to be true. And she wished she was as pretty as Sevviel and that she had wings like that, because then maybe she would feel worthy enough to be at Letho’s side.
Letho, on the other hand, kept an attentive ear as the masked man spoke of the plan. His eyes were monitoring the demon soldiers that walked about, most of them not failing to notice the wings on the back of Damon’s companion. They seemed disconcerted by it, but the keen eyes of the swordsman sent out a clear message that looking was as far as they should go. That, however, only supported Kedx’s plan, presenting it as the most plausible solution. There was a lot of risk involved, a lot of variables that could go either way, but in the end it seemed like the thing that could give them the edge. He could get to the leader, press him for info, apprehend him and then if the remaining rebels wanted to make a bloodbath out of it, they could have it. Though, given the way these anarchistic organizations worked, it was most likely that they would put tails between their legs and run. Especially if the boogie man known as Damon Kaosi pops up from one of the tunnels.
“That could work. If we don’t get shot at the gate, that is.” Letho finally spoke in a serious voice, looking down at the blueprints and stroking his beard. He had the usual gut feeling that was the harbinger of things going wrong, but it was a mere shadow of the usual tension he got in his intestines when things actually got wrong. Lothirgan always said that if you feel like you were going to puke, you were ready for whatever stood before you. Letho wasn’t quite there yet, but he reckoned by the time they reach the Mursath fortress, the wrench in his gut will twist it just far enough. “It’s up you Sevviel. If you are willing to do this, I think I can procure some flimsy shackles. But, as Kedx said, we should get two groups in just in case something goes wrong.”
“And something always does.” his mind reminded him, and it was right as usual. Even the best laid out plans go astray sometimes. In fact, the most meticulous plans with thousand and one detail were usually the ones that crumbled before they properly begun. That’s why they needed a contingency plan.
“So while Sevviel and I are trying to dispose of the leader, you three should try to make your way through the tunnels. Keep in mind that the blueprints aren’t exactly accurate, so you might end up hitting a dead end or two. But keep it as stealthy as possible. If you end up causing ruckus before we get rid of the leader, there will be a world of troubles falling on our heads. Once I take care of the leader, I’ll take a shot from my gun. Trust me, you’ll hear it. They’ll probably gather around in the courtyard...” he pointed towards the blank portion of the blueprint in the middle, between the main gates and the headquarters. “...to see what’s going on. You try to get to some of the towers up on the ramparts and give us some support. From there it’s up to them whether they want to make a fight out of it or surrender.”
“Why do I get the feeling that it won’t be the latter?” Myrhia spoke in her mousy voice, directing her words to all and nobody in particular. It made Letho smirk gently.
“Don’t jinx it.” he spoke softly, butting her with his shoulder.
Damon didn’t care much for the plan. Not only was it because he was going to be parted with Sevviel, but because he felt like he was essentially an afterthought thrown in. Kedx had barely mentioned him, and Letho had only addressed him as a vestigial part of a probably unnecessary backup plan. “I didn’t come down here just to walk through tunnels just so they can send Sevviel out into danger,” the boy thought irritably. The fact that he had come down there on another task was completely irrelevant now to the boy. He was going to stand by Sevviel, and he was going to be a hero. It was he who was the supposed reincarnation of Damon Kaosi, not Letho or the masked man. They should have been deferring to him, because he was the one who needed to reestablish himself. Everyone else was likely viewed as just as heroic as they ever deserved to be.
“You know what, I don’t like this plan,” Damon replied. “I want to be with Sevviel, and I want to go with Letho and win fights. That’s just how its going to be with me, because I’m good at fighting, and Sevviel is my friend and takes care of me.” He paused for a moment before delivering his final, and most accusatory sentence. “Also… none of the rest of you have earned the trust to look after Sevviel.”
The angel was mortified at Damon’s comments. Even though the boy had returned to Althanas less than a year ago, he often behaved with the maturity of an adult. Now, Damon was acting like a spoiled brat. “I am sorry,” Sevviel quickly mouthed to Myrhia, feeling that she owed an explanation to the red haired girl more than anyone else. Then, she grabbed Damon by the shoulders and looked at him sternly, her blue eyes flashing with a determination that she had never shown Damon before. “Look,” she said. “You have a part to play, and you are going to play that part properly. You can go with Myrhia like you are supposed to, or just wait here for me to come back. You were the one that wanted to help these people, now you have to do what you are told.”
Damon stammered belligerently. “But… but…” he muttered.
“No buts,” Sevviel replied firmly. “You are to do as I tell you. You might be powerful, and you might have been a hero before, but you have to remember that other people matter as well. This is about helping Haidia… this is not about you.”
Damon looked at Sevviel, and he could tell from her eyes that she wasn’t going to accept anything else other than compliance from the boy. While Sevviel neither cared much for Haidia, nor did she seem particularly enthusiastic about supporting their monarchy, the angel knew that their task was important. Now that they were there, they would have to give their best. It would have been what Damon would have done before his reincarnation, and if Sevviel was to ensure that Damon ended up being the same hero that he was before, then she would have to teach the boy all the wisdom that he had forgotten.
“I guess,” Damon finally replied, albeit sulkingly. He looked at Letho and then at the masked man, to see if either of them would take his side. Finding no support in either of them, he looked back up towards Sevviel and mouthed that he was sorry.
Sevviel smiled. “It will be alright,” she said.
“Take care of her,” Damon told Letho. “I don’t care that you’re older than me, I’ll hurt you if you don’t.”
Trying to suppress a giggle, Sevviel’s face turned stern. She had been flattered by Damon’s comment, but it had been inappropriate none the less. “Damon!” she rebuked. “That is not the way you speak to a colleague.”
Damon frowned. He knew he would have to apologize, but he really didn’t want to. He had only spoke the truth, and if he couldn’t come with Sevviel, Damon wanted to make sure someone else would protect her. “Sorry Letho,” he managed, though it was clear the boy didn’t mean it. “It’s just that she helps me all the time, and I need her…”
Hoping to smooth the situation over quickly without any more gaffes, Sevviel hushed Damon up. “Do not worry, I am sure he understands,” the angel said. “Enough talk now, we have a quest to complete.”
(Bunnies approved)
Workout Wonder
05-29-06, 08:27 PM
Kedx was less than pleased about the idea of bringing Damon along with him, but he thought it better than the other option. With Damon coming with him through the tunnels, that meant that he wouldn’t be nearly as able to eat Myrhia, but it meant that Letho would still be easily overwhelmed. The reincarnation of Damon Kaosi could be formidable ally for Letho, and the vampire was loathe to allow them both an audience to the rebel leader at the same time. Thus, he said nothing to support the child’s tirade, only making a few sarcastic remarks to himself about children around a battle place.
“Would be better off making shoes,” he thought darkly, before turning to address the group. “I’m glad we have that settled,” he said coldly. “It would have been a shame if we couldn’t control our outbursts, now wouldn’t have it.”
However, the vampire truly had nothing to be upset about. Everything was going according to plan. The angel was going to serve as a hostage, get torn to bits or ravaged or whatever it was that the demons decided to do with her. Letho was going to be captured. Perhaps most importantly, Kedx would have Myrhia as a very beautiful snack. As long as he remained careful, the vampire figured he would be able to deal with Damon Kaosi as well. The boy had likely not yet tapped into his full potential, and Kedx had outsmarted the general at his finest in Raiaera shortly before Damon’s death. Thus, the vampire knew he had nothing to fear. He had his revolver with him, and that would take care of any problems being outnumbered two to one.
In fact, Damon’s arrival was an unexpected bonus. His original plan was to deliver Letho to the Haidian rebels, but now he couldn’t help but to feel he could do one better. Not only would he return to his mentor bearing a gift, but he might also be able to ensure the White Scorpion that Damon Kaosi would certainly not be the bother that their fortune tellers predicted that he would be.
“Perhaps I could even bite him, and make him one like me,” the vampire thought gleefully. He imagined Damon as his apprentice, and he liked the thought. The irony of having a one time vampire slayer as his ally was nearly as delicious as the thought of Myrhia’s blood. It could be even better, with Damon Kaosi as a vampire in training, they would rocket up the ranks of the White Scorpion and get more and more of the one thing that Kedx wanted more than anything else: power. However, there was one last thing that the vampire needed to check.
Thus, now that all the niceties had been completed, the vampire was ready to get on with the mission and his snack. “Letho and the angel… Sevviel I believe it was?” he said, readdressing the group. “You two can head out whenever you are ready, I imagine we will have an easier time reaching the main base faster than you two. We’ll need to be in position when you both arrive, just to make sure that we have the backup plan if we need it.”
Kedx smiled underneath his mask as he cleverly attempted to weasel out the last bit of information he was going to need. “That is unless there is telepathy among the members of our two groups?”
Damon and Sevviel both responded in the negative, the boy more dejectedly than the angel.
Kedx licked his lips. If Letho and Myrhia replied the same way, then they could be off quickly. The vampire could practically taste victory now.
(Letho, in your next post, feel free to bunny Kedx and Damon leaving for the tunnel)
Letho sustained Damon’s childish tirade with a seemingly emotionless, slightly frowned face that Myrhia knew all too well. Oftentimes she found herself on the far end of those cryptic eyes that somehow seemed both condescending and utterly emotionless. It made the swordsman look old, like a king that sat on his throne, listening to the plea of some insignificant peon, sympathetic and cold at the same time. And though she went through thick and thin and then some with the Savion prince, she was still unable to designate the exact mood that The Face depicted. Sometimes it was anger. Sometimes it was woe. Sometimes it was just a shield that kept everything at safe distance.
Right now though, it was merely there to keep his patience intact while the situation blew over him. He understood Damon’s concern, but except for beating his chest, the boy offered no alternative to the original plan which made his little harangue nothing but a display of his impulsiveness. Which, in turn, was all too familiar to Letho. That was why he gave no patronizing retorts to the elf, but rather just waited for Sevviel to calm him down. Once the bland apology was done, the swordsman finally spoke.
“Your friend is right, I do understand. Because you’re not the only one here who is placing something dear to him in the hands of the other.” Myrhia smiled shyly at this, her head dropping ever so slightly. She always felt honored when he spoke about his affection for her so openly, because she always had this inferiority complex plaguing her mind and telling her she was unworthy of even being his friend, let alone his lover. “But that’s the way alliances work, even the temporary ones. It’s all about trust.”
Kedx, who at first glance seemed somewhat of a fifth wheel of the group, actually did a good job with Sevviel to keep the heads level and eyes on the prize. And though Letho didn’t trust him – how could one fully trust a man who hid his true visage? – he seemed to be speaking sensibly about the whole situation, keeping his emotions in check. Unlike the remaining four. It was a good thing; every group needed an anchor. Even if it carried a spooky white mask that just didn’t sit right with the swordsman, prodding at him like a pebble in his shoe. He would’ve pried into the matter deeper, but the blonde angel was right; they had a quest to complete.
Letho shook his head minutely to Kedx’s inquiry, seeing it as an inane question and a quite a long shot. Myrhia went a step further. “I wish.” she said quietly, and then, when she attracted Letho’s attention, she added with a mild, teasing smile: “Then I could see what goes on in that thick skull of yours.”
He smiled and kissed her forehead briefly, a cold goodbye caress that she never took lightly because it made her think it could be the last one. But then he gazed into her emerald eyes and touched the marred side of her face and she just knew all would be well. “Some things are better left unsaid.” Letho spoke, his tone genuinely gentle, the tone that was nowadays reserved only for her. With that said he nodded towards Sevviel and they walked away from the three and towards the blacksmith of the temporary demon headquarters.
“I hate when gets all mysterious.” Myrhia grumbled, fixing her hair so that it once again covered the scarred side of her face.
***
“Are you absolutely certain that these will come off without a hitch?” Letho asked the demon blacksmith, his hand yanking on the chains that held the four iron shackles, two for the angel’s wrist and two for her ankles. “It has to detach real smooth.”
“Aye. Look here.” the blacksmith spoke in a raspy voice, his meaty hands taking the shackles away from Letho. Luckily, the pair was spared of the suspicious, hateful looks of the demons since Sevviel managed conceal her wings with some odd magic. Wiping one of his hands against his dark apron, the metalworker took one of the round shackles and lifted it at eye height. “I took out the bolts that keep it in place and replaced them with thin pieces of string. All you have to do is give it a strong pull and they are bound to come off. Though I don’t see what the point. Who needs restraints that can’t really restrain anybody?”
Letho took the shackles back and threw them over his shoulder. “We do. Thank you for your time and efforts, blacksmith.”
Once they acquired the faux shackles, the pair made their way out of the demon camp surrounded with sturdy palisades, receiving sporadic queer looks that humans usually received in Haidia. Some of them probably suspected that the woman was an angel – rumors traveled fast when they were fueled by hate – but none decided to make an issue out of it. Perhaps because Sevviel hid her wings. Perhaps because her companion carried a six-foot gunblade on his back. Either way, Sevviel and Letho left the encampment swiftly and without an incident, making their way towards the Mursath fortress that would welcome one and detest the other.
Workout Wonder
06-10-06, 06:05 PM
(Bunnies have been approved)
Kedx grinned as Letho and Sevviel went off. There had been no mention of telepathy, so the vampire was confident that he would have little to fear. Had there been reason to answer in the positive, it would have been much more likely that someone would have bothered to answer. As it was, the vampire was sure that his words had failed to elicit a response because he was not the kind of person that would be liked. This adventure was going to leave him as the cool headed and rational one, the only one involved whose weakness wasn’t another member of the party. Both Damon Kaosi and Letho would be weakened by the fact that they would be separated from the people they cared for.
For a moment, that made Kedx wonder if he shouldn’t eat Myrhia. As long as she was alive, it would be that much easier for the vampire to manipulate the Coronian ranger. However, he was very hungry at the moment, having not been able to stop for any food along the way because of his hurry. Plus, the very smell of demon blood in the air just made him greedy for any kind of food to eat, and attractive women were often his favorite.
Regardless, the vampire knew he would have to deal with Damon Kaosi first. “Why don’t you go and scout out some tunnels for us?” Kedx asked of the boy. “You should be able to find something nearby. I’ve heard rumors that the demon army was working on something around that clearing there… the brush is likely to hide any progress that they’ve made.”
Damon nodded and went off, leaving Kedx with the red haired girl. He studied her carefully, salivating from his long, sharp teeth greedily. The vampire wanted to eat, but he couldn’t now, not until Damon came back. Then, he would kill the boy and settle everything.
Soon enough Damon returned and began to lead their group towards a hole in the ground. It was of fairly good size, large enough to fit a knight weighed down with an entire suit of armor. However, there was no lighting inside it, save for the faint glow of Haidia’s magic core that permeated through the ground.
“Time to move,” was all Kedx said before he slid down a shallow chute and emerged within the tunnel proper. It was fairly spacious, large enough for two people to walk along side each other. The light was very limited, which worked well enough for the vampire. To the best of his memory, Damon Kaosi’s power was facilitated by the presence of light, while he could see just as ably in the poorly lit tunnel.
“Everything is almost perfect,” Kedx thought, leaning into his cloak to pull out his revolver. It clicked quietly as he cocked it, not loud enough that it would be heard over the sounds of Damon and Myrhia sliding down the chute and into the cave. “All that’s left is getting rid of Damon.”
“After you boy,” the vampire said sweetly. He gestured Damon forwards, and was pleased when the child complied.
Though he had been obedient like Sevviel had asked him to, Damon had quickly come to realize that the only thing he had hated more than the situation was the masked stranger who now considered himself the leader of their party. It hadn’t been enough that this Kedx had practically reveled in the split between himself and Sevviel, now it seemed that he was going to be treated as a scout while Sevviel and Letho went off on the more important mission.
“I ought to hit him right now… but Sevviel wouldn’t let me,” the boy had thought sulkily as he’d moved through the brush to find the tunnel for the group. It had struck him as a bit suspicious, for Damon had never seen anything that had been made with such a combination of haste and care before. The boy expected that if he were to find some kind of man made tunnel, there would have been signs of it. At least a shovel or two somewhere near. However, this tunnel was practically cylindrical, but yet no one had taken the time to put in a ladder to condition the initial downward drop. It was mildly suspicious, but Damon didn’t care. If it got the group to the action, then Damon would tolerate a little bit of information that didn’t add up.
Thus, Damon had led Kedx and Myrhia to the tunnel he’d found and watch as the masked stranger had taken all the credit for the finding by going down first. The action had surprised Damon a little, for he’d wondered if Kedx was a coward. Never before had the boy seen someone so self conscious that they covered their entire face. In addition, Kedx’s unwillingness to search for a tunnel (after vouching for their existence) spoke of nothing more than utter cowardice.
There didn’t seem to be anyone around after Kedx slid down, so Damon went next, to be followed by Myrhia. The boy sighed lightly as Kedx patronizingly suggested that he walk ahead. Damon bit his lip and balled his fist, but largely remained silent, even though it killed him to do so.
Had Damon not been sulking as he’d moved forwards, he might have been a bit more suspicious of the fact that this tunnel had only been dug recently. The ground all around them was soft and unsettled, and in many places it looked like effort had been taken to finish its shape. A shovel had been used to smooth out certain patches, and there were no odd stones poking out from anywhere. This hadn’t been a hastily made tunnel of some convict that was attempting an escape, nor was it the work of some kind of giant sandworm. Someone had made the tunnel, and for a specific purpose.
However, Damon had never had the chance to even consider these suspicions before a much more damning piece of evidence flashed before his eyes. Kedx was about to shoot him in the back, and for absolutely no reason. The boy saw it as a vision, and his eyes opened wide. The only thing more horrifying than witnessing his own body crumble down to the ground was the image that Kedx would soon use long vampire teeth to bite into Myrhia’s neck.
“Noooo!” Damon screamed, unsheathing his machete and turning on a heel. He eyed Kedx angrily, noticing that the vampire had begun fidgeting both with his mask and a weapon under his robe.
“Myrhia,” Damon said solemnly. “Kedx is trying to kill us.”
Small talk, which always seemed like an appropriate time-killer during tedious walks, was never Letho’s strong point. Regardless of how much he tried in this aspect of social skills, he never could just start a conversation about some inane issues and allow the dialogue to take its natural course. To do that, one had to be spontaneous and curious, and that was always Myrhia’s role when they traveled together. The swordsman was certain that by now she would’ve asked Sevviel at least a dozen questions, especially regarding her wings, and somewhere in the midst of all that was spoken she would extract all the information he needed.
For example, one of the questions that the redhead would probably ask was what was an angel such as her doing with a young boy that claimed to be The Damon Kaosi? And were they just traveling companions or did their relationship transcend into something more elaborate? Letho assumed that it probably did given the rash reaction that the separation enticed, which in turn made the two a rather uncanny pair. But then he reconsidered and realized that he was the kettle that called the pot black, because Myrhia and he were no less uncanny then the angel and the legendary elf.
In such thoughts, Letho walked alongside Sivviel in silence, keeping a heedful eye on the scarlet-hued landscape and the first sign of the Mursath fortress. He didn’t want to shackle the angel any sooner then absolutely necessary. During his wanderings, he heard a fair share of tales that spoke of what happened to angels that got cast into chains. Supposedly their wings started to decay, atrophy, and eventually, after an ordeal of excruciating pain, they would simply fall off. It was like taking the wings off a fly, only much more painful, much more horrible, and he didn’t want to be a part of that even to some small extent. Not because of Damon’s threat though. Threats were like a bark of a dog that dares not to bite. No, it was because Myrhia was his angel, wingless and beautiful in a much more mundane way, and he was certain that Damon was doing everything in his power to keep her out of harm’s way. It was only right to return the favor.
The landscape around them offered an unremarkable sight, combining a desert-like environment with stringy grass that seemed almost black under the crimson illumination. The air was hot and stuffy, hampering the breathing with its thickness. It was enough to remind him why he wasn’t too fond of the underground demon realm. Luckily for him, the monotony of the walking through a furnace soon came to an end. Unluckily for Sevviel, it was because Mursath fortress started to emerge from obscurity, proudly presenting the outline of its sturdy insuperable ramparts and guard towers that reached for the stony dome above.
“Time to put these on.” Letho spoke with a touch of remorse in his regal voice once they both stopped their advance and looked towards the citadel in the distance. “Now, if things go wrong and a battle ensues, I want you to break these and get away from that fortress as soon as possible.”
“I can take care of myself, Letho Ravenheart.” Sevviel replied in the same mildly condescending tone that she used while dealing with Damon. Letho didn’t seem thwarted or insulted by it as he clamped the shackles first to her wrists, then proceeded to do the same with her ankles.
“I have no doubt that you can. But if we fail to reach the leader, we might have to flee and there’s no need for the both of us to cut our way through the horde of soldiers. Trust me, if I had wings in situation such as that one, I’d use them.”
The angelic woman looked at him studiously for a couple of seconds once he chained her before her lips curled in a mild smirk. “Would you? Somehow you do not strike me as somebody that quits easily.”
“I don’t.” he replied strictly, before adding in a slightly milder tone: “But sometimes you need to choose your battles wisely.”
***
Instead of a usual warning call, a pair of arrows swished from the walls overseeing the massive iron gate and struck the dirt less then a pace away from Letho’s foot as soon as Sivviel and he came within the range of the mounted archers. Letho, who noticed the bowmen from nearly a mile away, didn’t even flinch at the warning shots. Instead he raised the hand that didn’t hold the chain that restrained Sevviel and spoke to the sentries.
“Hold your fire. I come in peace, bearing a gift and offering an alliance to whoever is in charge of this fortress.”
At first it seemed that his words failed to elicit a reaction, but no arrows followed the initial two and that was a good start. However, in less then a minute, the dead calm on the walls was substituted by muffled mutterings and soon enough the reply descended in a voice of a man that tried and failed to send out an air of sternness.
“Who are you, stranger, and what is your offering?”
“I am Letho Ravenheart and I came here to join your cause. As a token of my loyalty, I bring you this angel wench that I captured during my numerous wanderings.” and with that said, he pushed the blonde rather harshly, making her stumble forwards. Another silence followed, this one thrice as long as the first one. Letho reckoned that whoever spoke to him went to consult or summon the leader which was a good sign. When the voice descended from above again, it was different from before, raspy and imposing.
“Why does one such as yourself, a decorated Corone hero, wants to aid us in our struggle? I thought Corone Government condemns our insurrection.”
“It does... officially.” Letho retorted confidently. “Unofficially, however, they find no qualm with disarray in these demonic lands. In fact, they are in favor if it. But this is not a matter that ought to be discussed in this manner.”
Again there was no reply for a while, only whispers and the creak of tensed wood and bowstrings. Then the voice from above spoke again: “Very well, Letho Ravenheart. We accept your offering.”
The tranquility of Mursath fortress shattered once those words were spoken, unseen hands working on getting the heavyset gate open. Letho merely leaned towards Sevviel and whispered in her ear. “Alright, time to look miserable.”
She sighed audibly before replying: “With these chains on, that will not be a problem.”
Workout Wonder
06-22-06, 07:31 PM
Kedx cringed immediately after Damon spoke. “Damnit…” the vampire thought as he hastily put his gun away. “The kid is a fucking precog.” Had it not been for the mask, then Kedx’s face would have made his complicity all too apparent. Even the façade of the plume filigree wouldn’t have been enough to hide the incredible panic he felt for a few moments. Everything around him suddenly felt tight, as if his entire plan was falling apart like a house of cards.
“No… not again,” he plead to himself, fidgeting with his collar as he looked towards Myrhia for a verdict on the situation. The vampire was desperate now, he hoped that she wouldn’t believe the boy. Reincarnated or not, Kedx knew that he would be no match for an angered and alert Damon Kaosi. If the boy retained Damon’s precognitive abilities, then undoubtedly then some of the slaying skills were part of the package as well.
However, a sudden thought rushed through his mind. Myrhia had not yet recovered from the shock of Damon’s sudden outburst, and that gave Kedx a chance to regain his composure. Suddenly, time started running slow again for the vampire. His composure came back to him and the tunnel seemed a lot less cramped. There was a way out for him in this situation, for certainly Kedx could outcharm a mere child.
Immediately, he went on the defensive. “What… what the hell!” he finally stammered, pulling off his mask and rubbing his eyes incredulously. “You heard your angel friend… we’re supposed to be working together. Are you that bitter about what had happened that you’d think I’d try to kill you?”
Kedx paused strategically, just long enough that Damon would have no chance to respond. “Of course not! I’ve been involved in this from the beginning, trying to come up with plans to make this work, getting everything done right, and you have the gall to question me? Who do you think you are, a spoiled brat with everything handed to you so that means you’re entitled to throw around accusations just because you don’t get your way. This is the real world kid. Things like companionship matter. They matter to me, and you better find out for sure if they matter to you.”
After this, Kedx stopped to heave a disgusted breath and then looked at Myrhia. He had shown his indignation, so now it was time that he make sure the red haired girl know of his softer side. “I’m so sorry that this happened,” the vampire spoke, being careful to conceal his teeth as he spoke. The darkness made it so it was unlikely that the girl would detect anything about him other than his feline features, but Kedx wanted to be certain. Fake sincerity was practically dripping off his words, perhaps only detectible from the real thing by the huge dollops by which it was applied. “I suppose we should have sent Damon with his nursemaid- that would have made the situation better. But now, we’ll have to carry on none the less. Letho would expect nothing less.”
With that, the vampire softened his tone strategically. He’d made an eloquent case for a delusional child who was angry and bitter after having numerous privileges. Kedx figured that would work well with Myrhia. Though the vampire knew little about her history, he remembered hearing a rumor somewhere that she was either born into, or descended from slavery. A person like that was likely going to have little sympathy for a boy that was throwing a temper tantrum in a time of need. “Especially with her beloved Letho risking his neck out there,” the vampire thought smugly.
“Lets continue,” the vampire said, before moving forwards. He intentionally bumped into Damon as he passed him. With a glare at the boy, Kedx shot a glance towards Damon that was equally triumphant as it was snide. “We have a mission to complete.”
Damon had bit his lip furiously as Kedx admonished him. The boy had known exactly what he’d seen, and there was no question about it. Visions into the future did not lie. “He’s a vampire,” the boy thought. “And he knows I know it.” However, by the time that Damon could come up with something to say, it was already too late, Myrhia’s mind had been made up. Before, while Kedx had given a long soliloquy full of nothing more than lies and self aggrandizing pretentiousness, the boy had been too overwhelmed by the audacity of the vampire to say anything in his defense.
“No wonder I used to like to kill them,” the boy thought scathingly as Kedx brushed into and then moved past him. “I’m beginning to think I want to start again.”
He knew he couldn’t do it now, but it made the boy feel better just to think about it.
“Myrhia,” Damon then demanded, grabbing the red haired girl’s arm as she passed him by. “Myrhia please, don’t go with him. He will hurt you.”
Myrhia didn’t look on Damon without kindness as she responded, but her voice was none the less firm. “We have a job to do…” she reminded him.
“But, I saw it in my vision!” Damon insisted. “They’ve never lied before Myrhia. Please they haven’t, Myrhia please…”
“Sometimes the mind plays tricks,” came the red haired girl’s even handed reply. “Especially when you want to be a hero…”
“Fine,” Damon said, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall. “I’m not going forward then.”
Myrhia looked sorrowful, but there was nothing she could do. Kedx had been moving forward the entire time of their conversation. In the few minutes she had spoke to Damon, Kedx so far ahead that she could barely see the man’s lanky figure any more. She couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Letho was depending on them.
“I’m going to have to go,” she said solemnly as she pulled Damon’s fingers off from her arm.
“I know,” Damon replied. He knew he would have to come with her. Just like Letho depended upon Myrhia, Sevviel depended on him. More importantly, Damon now felt like he was going to have to protect Myrhia from Kedx. He would have hoped that Letho would have done the same for Sevviel. “I’m coming with you.”
“You sure?” Myrhia asked. “You have to trust him now-”
“I know,” Damon deadpanned. It was readily apparent from his tone that he was less than pleased. “Just keep Kedx ahead of you. He knows if he tries anything I will kill him.”
Myrhia didn’t say anything more.
Damon exhaled despondently and the group proceeded forwards. Kedx lead them now, with Myrhia following diligently. Damon kept his distance behind them with a sulking gait. However, the boy always made sure to be closer to Myrhia than the vampire was.
-x-
As they moved forwards, the tunnel grew increasingly narrow. Damon still kept his focus on the vampire, but he doubted now that Kedx would be able to act. The tall six foot frame of the vampire would make mobility limited. However, it had also grown darker, Damon had been forced to move closer to the rest of the group just so he could keep an eye on Myrhia. Still, the boy could see a light in the distance, and that meant that this tiresome walk would be over soon enough.
“Sooner its done, the sooner I’ll be able to stake that vampire,” the boy thought to himself bitterly. “Sevviel would have believed me.”
Soon enough they reached a point where they could only crawl, only to find that they were faced with a metal grate. “It’s locked” Kedx said, shaking on it. The vampire blocked the entirety of the gate.
Damon tried to peer past the vampire’s shoulders, but before he could manage to see much of anything, he felt shackles slapped across his wrists. “Wh- what?” he managed, eyes wide before he was shoved down to the ground.
The last thing Damon heard before he fell unconscious was Myrhia screaming in shock. Kedx had betrayed them.
(Letho if you want to bunny seeing Damon and Myrhia tied up somewhere, go ahead.)
When the gate finally opened, they were led through the fort wordlessly, passing by a throng of inquisitive eyes and reaching the dominant headquarters that stood in the middle of the courtyard. And in the few moments it took for the door of the stony building to crack open and swing back all the way, Letho Ravenheart saw everything. His keen eyes did the automatic honed survey – the Battle Eye Lothirgan liked to call this method – picking up details and formatting them like data fragments and arranging them in the big picture. And the big picture told him that their plan failed. Because two of his allies that were supposed to sneak through the backdoor and provide support if necessary were cast in irons, hanging on the walls like convicts in a dungeon. There was no trouble recognizing the pair; one of them was the redhead whose face and figure he would’ve discerned even if he was blind, deaf and dumb. The second was the fabled Damon Kaosi, a boy-wonder that somehow managed to get himself caught despite his legendary power.
Letho wasn’t usurped by this acknowledgment though, and neither was there panic climbing up the walls of his psyche. Those were emotions that he couldn’t afford. He was on enemy territory, in the enemy’s front yard as a matter of fact, and here there could be no slipups. The apprehension of Myrhia and Damon was a hindrance, but not enough of it for him to forfeit the initial plan. However, there was one emotion that he couldn’t keep in check as he strode through the doors and it was disappointment. He was disappointed in the vampire slayer that was pinned to the wall. The dark knight expected more from somebody of which most spoke in such high esteem, one could confuse the stories about his endeavors with the telltales told to children before bedtime.
“See something familiar?” a voice snapped him from his thoughts, the same voice that negotiated while he was on the other side of the wall. Its owner was a rather unremarkable soldier, his hair encompassing his face in a multitude of bronze greasy curls. With a two-day beard and a crooked toothy smile, he looked more like a haggard smuggler then somebody that wanted to pass off as a soldier. His attire – a relatively clean unbuttoned waistcoat and a set of matching tawny pants – didn’t help the first impression. His eyes peered at Letho studiously, as if he expected that the Marshal would disclose the real reason he was here. But Letho reconciled with the failure of the plan and the disappointment, and spoke with adamant confidence.
“Perhaps. That doesn’t happen to be the legendary Damon Kaosi up there?” the swordsman asked with a nod towards the chained pair.
“Aye. You know him?”
“I know of him. Supposed to be some kind of big time hero in Raiaera. Seems like a pitiful boy to me. You didn’t kill him yet?” Letho spoke nonchalantly, as if commenting on something as trivial as rain during autumn.
“Nah, not yet. We caught him and the wench a little while ago. I’m thinking that he’s more worth to me alive. The little lass, however, would be great entertainment for the soldiers. A scrawny little thing, but I don’t think they will mind.” the man spoke and Letho had to suppress his anger the best he could not to answer to the affirming ayes and yeahs that came from the troops that stood nearby with a blade to their gut. But he had to play his role and it was crucial not to blow his cover this early in this game. For this was a game and both sides still held their strongest cards hidden.
“Well, at least now she’ll have some company.” Letho said, pushing Sevviel forwards strong enough that she had to struggle for balance. “However, I would suggest you to postpone this little fun until later today. On my way here I passed fairly close to the demon headquarters over yonder and they look like they are preparing something. You should keep a watchful eye on them and keep your men on their toes.”
The knave looked at him for what seemed the longest time, eyeing his facial expression for any trace of deception, before he allowed another toothy grin on his face. “You’re a cunning man, Letho Ravenheart. And I think you’re right. These two tried to crawl through some tunnels. Perhaps there are others that might follow. But let us not discuss this here. Please, follow me to my... humble abode.” And to the soldier at his right side he added in a strict hiss: “Cage the bitch.”
While Sevviel was being spat at and rammed into a rusty iron cage with a disgusting assortment of curses (most noting her angelic heritage), Letho followed his host towards the barracks building made out of crude stone, adjacent to the headquarters. The leader – for the Marshal supposed that this man that negotiated with him had to be the leader – was escorted by four men at all times, all four looking a lot more like soldiers that the man could ever hope to become. Broad in shoulder, keen-eyed and perceptive, the four sentries were an able guard and Letho knew better then to take them lightly. If he was to kill the leader, he would have to go through them for certain.
“So, I’m guessing you’re the leader of this colorful bunch?” the Marshal spoke as they walked through the Mursath fortress that wasn’t exactly bustling with activity. The walls were manned, the towers had a pair of watchers in them, but mostly the soldiers indulged themselves with some inane card games and the ever-popular ale drinking.
“Aye, you could say that. Jonas, at yer service.” The introduction was followed by a decrepit bow, something that was supposed to look regal but wasn’t, and an outstretched hand pointed towards the entrance to the barracks. “Welcome... friend.”
Workout Wonder
06-27-06, 04:23 PM
As Damon and Myrhia were taken away by the guards, Kedx chuckled with a snide bit of glee. Everything now was going exactly to the vampire’s plan. Letho and Sevviel were to arrive soon, if they hadn’t arrived already. Myrhia and Damon were in chains, placed back against the wall in the leader’s throne room like they were ornaments or famous paintings. It couldn’t have been better for the vampire if he even had got the opportunity to eat Myrhia. Now that the demons had captured her, the red haired girl would be used for a slightly different goal than what he had in mind, but it would be of little importance. Kedx had been given two simple instructions, to fan the war in Haidia and to get Letho brought as a captive to a fairly mysterious organization in Corone. The first was almost guaranteed, and the second would happen soon. Even if Letho found a way through most of the guards, Kedx knew he could incapacitate the ranger simply by pointing his revolver at Myrhia.
Now Kedx looked over towards Damon and Myrhia with a smug look. “You should have listened to him,” the vampire told the red haired girl. “I did plan to eat you.”
He chuckled a bit, as if his words were a particularly funny joke. Myrhia had already offered profuse apologies to Damon, and the vampire couldn’t help but to want to tease them that much more. After having his own true love taken from him by his quest for power, Kedx reveled in tormenting people in love.
“Don’t worry though,” the vampire continued, now including Damon in his tease. “Damon might have saved you from being a new vampire, but you’ll end up a wench for a group of demons instead.”
There was a loud roar of approval from the room as Kedx promised what would happen to Myrhia. A few particularly crass comments were heard from among the rebels, though none were as cruel as their leader himself. “I will particularly enjoy her tears,” the demon said. “Perhaps even offer her a portrait of someone she once loved…”
Kedx chuckled. The leader of the insurgents, a portly demon known as Wilehm, was exactly the kind of person that Kedx enjoyed. Ruthless and cunning, but cruel for no apparent reason. The vampire enjoyed one more sinister laugh before a messenger came in.
“We have greater news!” he declared. “An angel, brought to us by Letho Ravenheart. The Corone Ranger, just like our friend here predicted.
Wilehm pounded the arm rest of his big stone chair triumphantly. “Well done!” he said. “Good work… that’ll take the fight out of the government right there. Have Jonas take care of Letho now.”
Kedx’ eyes opened wide. If it wasn’t for his mask, Wilehm would have most certainly known that his decision had displeased the vampire. “What about strategy?” Kedx asked. “We could negotiate Letho for some hostages. Perhaps even convince him to join our side…”
“He’d never agree,” Wilhem replied. “And it is more fun this way, don’t you think…”
Normally Kedx would have agreed. But this was a rare situation. He had been promised an opportunity to meet with the Corone organization if he could bring Letho back with him. It would be a complete waste if Letho were to be killed while he would have still been useful to the vampire.
“Perhaps,” Kedx said coldly. “I think I’ll go join them.”
With that, he headed out of the room and straight towards the men who were barring Letho from entry. With a cold, deadly eye, the vampire took aim and took a shot at the man in the centre of the wall.
(Letho, feel free to bunny what happens with the bullet)
As Sevviel was being lead towards her cage, she tried hard not to be afraid. Unlike Damon or Letho or probably even Myrhia, she had never really been a fighter. During her days in the Brotherhood, she had dabbled in the arts of stealth primarily because she couldn’t stomach the bloodshed that came with battle. Now, it looked more and more likely that her only hopes of survival were if she defended herself. Her wings had already been covered with spit, and there would be a few bruises on her body the next day from just five minutes of brutality. She knew that if she didn’t do something soon, she might not survive much longer. However, the angel had no idea how she could escape even after she removed her shackles. She was unarmed and there was no window from which she could have flied out conveniently
“It seems Kedx never thought this part of the plan out,” she remarked to herself bitterly, her eyes wide with terror.
It was either then, or never. She would soon be shunted into a cage and lose her last chance of freedom. Desperately hoping that Damon or Letho would come to her rescue, the angel tore her shackles apart, elbowed both of her captors in the gut and began to run towards the main entrance, hoping that she would reach Letho before the demons coalesced around her.
“Please,” she thought desperately. “Just please…"
-x-
As Kedx celebrated in his revelry, Damon was forced to look on sulkingly. He hated what had happened to him and Myrhia, that the girl had been so willing to trust a dastardly vampire who had now caused them to be bound in chains. “I’ll find some way out of here, and when I do, then I’m going to kill that vampire myself,” the boy swore silently.
Meanwhile, Myrhia was doing her best to keep a stiff upper lip as she apologized profusely to Damon. The boy accepted none of her apologies, especially after he had heard the messengers talking about an angel also being captured. “I could have rescued Sevviel if Myrhia had only believed me.”
The boy paid little attention to the way that many of the demons were glancing with prurient looks towards the girl, instead fighting against the shackles that bound him to the wall. They clinked as Damon pulled forward with his arms, but it was a strong metal that had little give. The boy could barely move his arms more than six inches away from the wall, and it was the same with his legs. With a bit more space, Damon might have been able to reach out and grab at his jailor, but for the moment, the boy and Myrhia had no choice but to endure the taunts of a perverse demon who took particular joy in assaulting the weak.
His words had seemed to have little effect on either of the people chained to the wall. Damon had been too busy being caught between sulking and trying to find ways to escape, and Myrhia had been too busy apologizing. However, the jailor finally managed to say something that had caused Myrhia’s face to go white with terror.
“And you know,” he said. “After this is all said and done, you’ll be my personal slave.”
Damon’s eyes popped wide open when he saw the effect the word slave had on Myrhia. Almost immediately, he began to reach out with all his appendages fervently, as if to get his hands on the jailor that would say something that cruel. “You will NOT call her a slave,” Damon demanded. He didn’t know why it was that the words had such an effect on Myrhia, but from the look of the girl, he knew it would be something that Letho would have not tolerated.
The jailor smiled cruelly and waited till Damon had tired himself out. “So, whatcha gonna do about it if I do?” the demon replied. He stepped forward towards the boy. Damon was suspended a foot above the ground and the demon was a good foot taller than the boy, causing them to stare intensely into each others eyes.
“If I don’t kill you, Letho will,” Damon replied tartly.
“Oh yeah,” the demon replied. He hit Damon straight across the cheek with a hard right hand before pressing his face back up against Damon’s. “You won’t have a chance.”
The boy then took it upon himself to bite the vile demon in the nose. As the demon shrieked in pain, Damon followed it up by moving his legs as far as they would go to kick the jailor in the groin. It caused the demon to crumble, and has he fell to the ground, Damon managed to catch the key ring from the jailor’s belt onto his toes.
It was a perfect plan, one that the boy hadn’t actually planned as much as a bunch of events had come together for him immediately at one time. However, he couldn’t afford to let this minute of good luck go. Kedx’ shot had distracted most of demon’s attention for the time being, but Damon knew that soon enough, everyone in the throne room would be turning back to find out why it was that their jailor had been screaming in agony.
“Here Myrhia catch!” the boy demanded, flinging up the key ring so that Myrhia might be able to catch it in her hands. It was their only chance of escape, and even though the boy was loathe to risk the key ring in the scheme, it would be the only chance he had. Not only for himself, but for Sevviel as well.
However, Damon knew they were going to have to work fast. The rebels had noticed.
Letho knew the roleplaying was done as soon as the barracks doors swung open. Jonas’ humble abode was not much of an abode at all, but rather a residence of about two dozen fully armed men, all with their swords brandished and their faces grinning knavishly. The four goons that were Jonas’ personal guard followed the example, surrounding Letho with their unwavering longswords pointed at him. Jonas had a grin on, a careworn slanted thing that turned his face into a grimace that celebrated a premature victory.
“Did you really think that you could just walk in here and trick us?” the man spoke in a patronizing tone filled with mockery as he circled around the dark swordsman. “Did you really think we’re that stupid?”
“Yes.” Letho’s reply was concise, depicting the lack of intimidation by the rebel and his demonic goons. The four closest to him were the largest threat, sharp-eyed and sure-handed. The rest were just cannon fodder, a swarm that hoped to overwhelm the swordsman. Little did they know that it was hard to overwhelm a tidal wave. “You did let me in after all.”
“And now I got you right where I...” and then a sound of a fired gun concluded his statement, stamping his death certificate as the fired bullet splattered his skull, erasing the smile in a flash. The power of the impact sent his body in an uncontrolled limp roll forwards that passed by Letho before crashing into a crate filled with rotten lettuce. The crowd from the barracks flinched, petrified at the horrid image of their captain that now had a bloody stump for a head. One of the four that still kept a watchful eye on Letho got them in line with a strict order.
“Get the shooter. We’ll take care of Letho.” he spoke and though they legs seemed heavy and their fingers itched around the hilts of their weapons, they poured out of the barracks and started approaching... “Kedx?” Letho thought, his eyes acknowledging the shooter. “How the hell did he get there?”
The chance for a reply got erased by a pain so fierce that he felt the need to regurgitate his bowels. The four swordsmen that were dormant up until this point, jabbed their swords at him, all four skewering his torso with a wet, nauseating sound of pierced flesh. Letho’s face was a mask of pain, cringed and pale as his eyes went out of focus. They were bound to grow desperate, the soldiers knew, to peer at them with the disbelieving look of a man that had one foot in the grave and the other on a rather slippery surface. Letho’s eyelids fell, his teeth grinding against each other so hard he thought either they would chip or his jaw would break. But when he reopened his eyes, disbelief wasn’t what the four could read from them.
What they could read was that he had them right where he wanted them.
It was Letho’s time to grin now, and when he did, his sharp vampiric teeth were prominent for all to see. However, by the time the soldiers around him noted this peculiar detail and recognized it as a big warning sign, it was too late for them. Letho rotated his bulk despite the throbbing pain that ripped through his pectoral muscles, - through his lungs, through the marrow of his bones – snatching the swords from their hands with the movement. And before they could start comprehending what was going on, his hand pulled the gunblade from the holster on his back and spun it once. The tawny weapon made a revolution against the wounded swordsman, a deadly arc that decapitated two and mortally wounded the other two, and before the four even made contact with the ground below – that was slowly getting soaked by their blood – Letho was on the move. Swords were still imbedded in his flesh, but they were a minor hindrance. Because Myrhia was chained, Sevviel was bound to be caged by now and he would soon have the entire fortress on his back. In such situations pain was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
“Kedx!” the swordsman – that looked a little bit like a pin cushion – shouted to the masked vampire. The six-foot weapon sliced twice horizontally, each strike followed by a swooshing sound that preceded four more fatalities, two of which got cut in half at the waist. The last thing those bastards saw was their own guts spilling below them. “Go get Sevviel! I’ll break Damon and Myrhia free so we can get the hell out of here!”
There was no time to make this into an argument because Letho’s words were instantly followed by a familiar high-pitched sound of the incoming arrows. The tower guards obviously became aware of the trouble stirring in their own backyard, turning their weapons to the intruders, but their aim was flaky, their shots rushed, so a swift sidestep was enough to evade them. But Letho knew they weren’t going to make the same mistake twice and he refused to be a sitting duck for them. Still believing that Kedx was merely lucky not to get caught like Myrhia and Damon, the wounded swordsman left the vampire to his task while he turned his attention to his own. Between him and the headquarters stood at least forty men, all eager to get another blade to accompany those already in his flesh. They were hurting him, cleaving his every thought in half, but the worst consequence was that the wounds, though not mortal, drained his might like leeches. It wouldn’t be long before they bled him dry. He had to make haste.
A second of serenity was all he got before they charged at him and a second was all he needed. Because his body once again exploded in size, dark red aura that seemed so in sync with the general Haidia illumination engulfed his body, turning his eyes bloody red. He promised Myrhia that he would never tap into his rage again, but this was inadvertent, instinctive. He was like a predator that had to use his prowess or else it would degrade and become useless. So he let himself go to the vehemence of his fury and what came at some forty-odd soldiers was like a freight train. It sliced, it decapitated, it tore of limbs with bare hands, it cracked the skulls open and fed on the sprouting blood. And for every hit they landed, the monster became stronger, angrier, more ruthless.
So when Letho Ravenheart shattered the heavyset doors into splinters with his bare hands and entered the throne room, there was a massacre behind him and his body was sopped with the blood of his victims. Before him stood the fistful of the most loyal to the true leader of the insurrection, but the head honcho was nowhere to be seen. And there was, of course, Myrhia there. She was in the middle of unlocking her shackles, but once she saw the behemoth that entered, her hands quivered so much that she nearly dropped the keys that Damon procured. Luckily, he had the same effect on the rebels whose mind fluctuated between making the final stand and putting the tail between their legs. Those bloody eyes though – devilish eyes – made it rather clear that there would be no chance for the latter. But Myrhia knew it as well.
“Oh no.” she spoke in a mousy, doleful voice. “We have to get out of here, Damon. He’s... He’s changed. He won’t know friend from foe. We have to get out of here.”
Her fingers fiddled with the rusty locks that just wouldn’t give in, but finally she could hear the satisfying click and her hands were free. She made a quick work out of the binds that held her legs before she proceeded to free Damon. “You should go. Go help Sevviel.” she finally said to him in a quaky, broken voice. “I... I have to stop him. I’m the only one that can stop him. Please, go.”
Workout Wonder
06-30-06, 04:01 PM
Immediately after he’d fired his first shot, the attention of every brigand and rebel in the palace turned to him. Chatter began loudly in the throne room, most of them shocked that Kedx would go and betray them.
“Kill him now!” Wilhem shouted. “No one betrays me!”
Kedx merely smirked sardonically. The vampire knew that his chances of success were healthy enough, and he knew that Wilhem knew it as well. The rebels needed every soldier they had, and perhaps more importantly, they needed the supplies from groups that the vampire represented. However, even if rational heads were to fail, the vampire contained the trump card in his hands. It was slender and metallic and still smoking from his previous shot.
“That’s what you get for not going along with the deal,” Kedx thought snidely. All his plans were falling apart now. Letho had escaped, and the vampire noticed Damon and Myrhia escaping from the back of the throne room wall. However, for that one moment, the vampire could have cared less. True, it would have amounted to a failure on his part should the rebel movement die in Haidia, but he hated the idea of being double crossed. Kedx might go down as a failure after the day would be over, but Wilhem would be dead. That would have been an acceptable scenario, especially if the vampire was able to salvage the loss somehow.
The rebels backed off of Kedx, perhaps out of deference, or perhaps because the vampire seemed to be showing no more aggressive tendencies while Letho was seemingly turning into some kind of monster. The calculating feline observed what was happening and he couldn’t help but agree with the intelligence report he had received earlier. Letho Ravenheart’s valor was more noteworthy than even the modern legends would indicate. Normally, it was the other way around.
“Why you certainly are impressive,” the vampire thought. Still, as Kedx watched Letho break down the door, the vampire shuddered. There were few options now for him, all because Wilhem had betrayed him. Spite had been enough to satisfy him initially, but now as rationality once again prevailed, the vampire realized that he was better off with Wilhem alive. Recalculating his preferences, the feline vampire contemplated firing a couple shots forwards, but he doubted they would have come to much good. At the very least, the vampire was going to have to conserve his ammunition should Wilhem change his mind about attacking him.
Everything was chaotic now in the rebel palace, and Kedx could read the writing on the wall well enough to know that none of the rebels were particularly long for this world. The vampire would have to salvage this mission somehow, but the fact remained that he didn’t know how. The only kind of a bounty that he might be able to bring forward that would redeem himself was the dead body of Damon Kaosi.
“Yes,” the vampire thought to himself as he headed towards the terrified screams of Sevviel.
“Leave the angel to me!” he called out, pulling back the hammer on his revolver should he find it necessary. He was going to take the girl and then bite her. That would be the simplest way to get Damon Kaosi’s attention. The vampire knew that the boy was resourceful and that Damon would find a way to come to him. All Kedx would need was to hold Sevviel captive.
Once he made his return to Raiaera, Kedx would tell the employers from Corone that Damon’s unexpected arrival had led to the mission’s failure and offer up the boy as his way of making amends.
It wouldn’t be the result that he had been sent to accomplish, but it would be an acceptable consolation prize, especially if Wilhem found some way to kill Letho.
Damon would have wanted to stay with Myrhia all other things considered. Even though she hadn’t believed him at first, now that they had been freed, the boy felt obligated to remember what he and Letho had discussed earlier. Damon had told Letho to protect Sevviel, and he felt like the promise from Letho would have hold only as much as he protected Myrhia himself. To Damon, leaving the red headed girl in the middle of the throne room would have been tantamount to condoning Letho for abandoning Sevviel. “I can’t leave…” he began, only to hear Sevviel’s cry for help followed by Kedx’s cynical willingness to rescue her.
“He probably wants to eat her just like he tried with Myrhia!” Damon realized, biting his lip fervently as he looked on at the behemoth version of Letho that was charging into the room.
“Are you sure you’ll be safe?” Damon asked.
Myrhia responded in the affirmative.
“Here then,” Damon said, handing her his mythril longsword. “In case you need it.”
The boy didn’t wait any further, he merely sung a few bright notes and then began to run, straight through the throne and straight past Letho. It was a state that Damon found he could obtain if he stopped singing the quickening song half way, it made him completely weightless and able to pass through any object, weapon or person. With the sea of rebels running in panic, Letho’s violent barbarism and Kedx’s opportunistic attempt to get a woman to eat, Damon would have found it impossible to get through the fort any other way.
Even now, he had to move quickly. He could only stay in this form for a minute before he would feel forces trying to pull him back into the worlds of the dead. With the distance he needed to cover, it would be particularly difficult. He was out of the throne room within fifteen seconds, but there was havoc throughout the rest of the entry ways and rooms. He couldn’t find Kedx exactly, and perhaps even more unnerving, Sevviel had stopped her screams.
“Either that or I just can’t hear them,” Damon thought, knowing that he had less than twenty seconds left by the time that he’d identified the right hallway to go down. Everywhere around him, people were running in fear, and in the pandemonium, Damon didn’t know where he’d be able to take back his normal form. The boy needed some kind of space, anything wide enough to return his body to its normal form, lest his arms and legs form independently within the bodies of other people or end up trapped inside a wall.
It was less than ten seconds left when he finally saw Sevviel. She was still twenty feet from him, and the boy would have to move against a tide of fleeing rebels, ones that were not only fearful from Letho, but also as to the intentions of Kedx. The vampire stood, mask off, looking on blithely towards Damon with a calculated hint of madness in his eyes.
“Looks like you’ve got here,” the vampire replied. Kedx made no motion to reach for a weapon or conjure a spell, but merely tightened his grip on Sevviel. Damon could only watch as the terrified angel squirmed and screamed.
“Damnit,” the boy thought as he turned and spun away from the crowd with but five seconds left. He was beginning to rematerialize, and his body that was a bit hazy before was returning to its normal color.
Kedx chuckled. “This will be easier than I thought,” the vampire stated matter of factly as he targeted his gun straight for Damon’s chest. As the boy was rematerializing, he wouldn’t be able to move. A well aimed bullet would end the life of Damon Kaosi.
The boy knew it. He actually had known it thirty seconds before, when a vision had told him about it. However, Damon was so desperate to help Sevviel that he would run to her rescue whatever the cost, even if it would ultimately be an attempt in vain. “I just couldn’t let Sevviel end up dead here,” Damon thought. “Not killed by the vampire without knowing that I did everything to help. She already thought my dying before had betrayed her. I couldn’t betray her again.”
Loyalty would be of little use. The revolver was already cocked and Kedx’s finger was pulling back on the trigger.
Myrhia could have played it safe in this instance. Letho was enraged, lost in his own little world of insanity where blood was the official currency, and the safe thing to do would be to leave these rapscallions to his mercy – or rather, lack thereof – and flee. The bewildered swordsman would cool down as he always did, once his foes were vanquished or he ran out of steam, and he would once again be her Letho, the weary-eyed, silent knight. And his hands would metamorphose from weapons of mass destruction to instruments of affection that would hold her amorously. And all would be back to square one.
But Myrhia didn’t want status quo. She didn’t want for this bloodlust to hang over their heads like a fuse, ready to ignite and awake this horrendous side of him that slew people as if they were rag dolls. When she first met him, she accepted this ability of his, this transformation that made him a murderer, a tormentor, a malicious predator out for the kill. But despite this havoc that he wreaked, she knew that deep down inside, below all that sopping blood, beyond those crimson eyes, there was the chivalrous and gentle man that she met on the bridge in Scara Brae. All she had to do was confront him and find a path that would lead to that dormant part of his psyche that the rage overlapped. All she had to do was make him hear her plea. Success could alleviate this curse. Failure would be a capital punishment. But without a risk there could be no gain, and Myrhia believed in Letho.
She stood fast as the infuriated swordsman made short work out of the troops that managed to steel their wills and suck in their guts. The Lawmaker swooshed through the air as if it wasn’t consisted of six feet of dehlar metal, slicing through metal and bone, muscles and tendons. The shrieks were a terrible demented orchestra that echoed through the stone building, uplifting the hair on Myrhia’s body. The few that had enough battle prowess to come close enough to land a strike were mostly flung at the walls like stray cats. The lofty crimson carpet that went through the center of a room like a river was slowly changing to a much darker hue as the pool of blood around Letho spread with agonizing, oozing slowness. And at the far end of that carpet, standing like a statue of a wingless seraphim, Myrhia was gathering all the guts her lithe body could muster, praying that it would be enough to face the monster.
About a dozen indefinable screams, unhealthy cracklings and soppy slices later the room fell silent and only two figures were standing. The swordsman was an abomination, doused in crimson with a handful of blades imbedded in his vampiric flesh. The clinked, they hurt, then pushed him beyond his threshold as he walked down the red carpet with his demonic eyes locked on Myrhia’s diminutive form. Damon’s sword was in her hand, light as a feather, but she had no intentions to use it. Weapons couldn’t defeat Letho. They could only push him further and further away from his humanity. But she held it nonetheless, making a target out of herself.
“I know you can hear me, Letho.” she begun, her voice fluctuating between her characteristic humbleness and newly summoned courage. The beast failed to react, approaching at a slow gait, bringing the bloody gunblade in tow in such a manner that its tip scraped over the stone-paved floor. “This isn’t you, Letho, and you know it. Deep down inside, wherever this beast pushed you, you are still my Letho, you are still the man I love. Please, forgo this madness. For me... Please?”
Her voice was broken at the end, at the verge of tears as he came within the range of the titanic Lawmaker. She looked at him with the eyes of a beggar, the eyes of a believer, the eyes that sought him somewhere behind the cloak of insanity that he draped around himself. She put the mythril blade between them, merely presenting it to the demented swordsman before her fingers let go of the hilt, making it clang on the ground below. The beast whose face loomed over her like a ghostly visage seemed indifferent to this action.
“I believe in you. And I know you won’t hurt me.” Myrhia said again, this time more boldly, as if his closeness actually gave her some additional shot of bravery. And it seemed to be working. Because seconds later, Letho’s gauntleted hand followed her example, allowing the gunblade to fall on the ground at his side. She looked up at his emotionless face with a timid smile, a quivering smile that depicted the reality of her inner thought, that depicted this mixture of fear and trust that made her take a step forward. She was winning this. In the battle with this monster that dwelled within the man she loved, she was slowly emerging victorious.
The sound of metal on metal made her think again.
The talon on Letho’s right gauntlet popped out even as her precarious step was finished, and without a moment of deliberation the swordsman jabbed it forward with all his might. And in that fraction of a second that it took for the dark knight to take a swing at her, Myrhia recollected a saying that the man before her liked to use sporadically.
“Don’t count your chicken before they are in the coop.”
Workout Wonder
07-03-06, 10:33 AM
Kedx smiled perversely as his finger wrapped around the trigger. The vampire hadn’t realized it would be so easy, that destroying Damon Kaosi would have been an opportunity that had fallen so easily into his lap. The boy seemed unable to move, Kedx knew that for there was little other reason for Damon to have stood still for the past thirty seconds. The vampire took aim at the heart of his target and even took a few steps forward to make sure that he wouldn’t miss.
Sevviel screamed. Her head was caught by Kedx’s other arm and struggle as she might, the angel was unable to liberate herself from the vampire. Her flails uselessly hit against the calloused vampire’s armor and her imperiled screams for mercy did little but to further anger Damon. She looked up at Kedx, wondering how the vampire could be so completely and utterly cruel, especially when the vantage point she’d been provided had revealed so much about the stranger to her.
“This is Corin,” she realized, seeing the side of his face that was now unprotected by the mask. In the middle of all the violence. Kedx’s hood had fallen off from his face, revealing the sides of his face and his ears. From her vantage point of being held to the vampire’s waist, she could see practically all of his face. The angel recognized the vampire, from the feline musician who at one time had been Brock Rundgren. “Corin Rivfader’s here? Why, what would we have done to want him to hurt us this way?”
The injustice practically overwhelmed the angel. She wasn’t thinking rationally to begin with, but the very idea that Damon and her were going to die at the hands of a former friend that they had saved numerous times truly infuriated her. The angel mashed her hands against Kedx’s armor to no avail, and screamed and hollered as Kedx’s finger was ready on the trigger.
“To hell with you Corin!” the angel shouted, furious that she could do nothing to save Damon from his fate.
Kedx immediately buckled. The gun shot off, a thick billow of smoke emerged from the barrel, and the vampire’s hands were trembling. Damon collapsed to the ground, but Kedx paid little attention to that. Instead, the vampire threw the angel to the ground and pulled off his mask. Furiously, the vampire looked on towards the blonde haired angel with only one desire. Kedx wanted to hurt her the way that she had hurt him by mentioning his former name. He was not going to let anyone escape from that kind of impertinence.
“What did you call me!” the vampire boomed. “Who are you to use that name!”
“C-c-c-corin…” Sevviel trembled. “I- I- I knew you when you came to Sanctuary…”
“Don’t call me that name!” Kedx shouted ferociously, eyes brimming with tears from behind the mask. “It is Kedx… Kedx… Kedx!”
“How could you hurt Damon,” Sevviel managed as she braced herself for a beating. “How could yoy? He protected you… you said he saved you in Antioch!”
“Damon tried to keep me from my power!” Kedx said. “He’d grown jealous, he wanted to take what was rightfully mine! Did you even know how power had coursed through my veins after Antioch? I would kill again for half that kind of power.”
Kedx watched as the angel trembled and he pulled off his mask just so that Sevviel could see how furious he was. “I should eat you alive…” he demanded.
“Damon was just trying to help,” Sevviel said weakly between tears.
“Then Damon was a fool,” Kedx replied. He pulled back the hammer of his revolver one last time to do away with this unnecessary tie to the past.
Damon had been helpless as Sevviel had screamed, and helpless as she’d revealed Kedx’s former identity. If he could have moved a muscle, then Damon’s eyes would have opened wide and he would have exclaimed his shock at the revelation. However, the bullet was still on its way towards the boy, and it was unlikely that the shock of his identity would have been enough to have caused the vampire to miss.
The room was now silent, save for Sevviel’s scream and the sound of the gun going off. The pandemonium in the room had now reached a standstill. The rebels, fearful of a giant Letho, had all left the building, leaving just the main characters. It was Letho, Myrhia and Wilhem in the throne room and now Damon, Sevviel and Kedx off in a side room that contained nothing but yellow brick and a steel cage.
The bullet flew through the air, expunging itself from the barrel of the revolver to be followed by a tail of whispy grey smoke. Damon had no choice but to look on as the bullet grew closer, knowing that it was only a matter of seconds before use of his muscles would return. It would be too late for him to dodge the bullet, but it might provide the boy with a few last twitches before he fell down to his death.
“Maybe somehow I’ll help Sev-” he’d been thinking, when the bullet seared right into his left side. The boy staggered, finally regaining control of his limbs before falling limply to the ground. His body, sweat caked and tired collapsed in a pale heap and his black eyes stared up blankly towards the sky. A pool of blood began to form around the exit wound, and the only thing that Damon could hear was the sound of Sevviel’s shrieks in pain and fear.
Her and Kedx were talking, and Damon’s eyelids fluttered. The ground below him seemed much more comfortable, as if the dirt was willingly taking back its long lost child. Sweet hallucinations popped in and out of Damon’s head, as if to give him some way to fight through all the pain.
But, as the boy soon realized, he was not dead. The bullet had torn through his body, penetrating and emerging out from him but not so to kill him. By providence or Sevviel’s intervention, the bullet had completely missed the heart and sailed straight through the boy’s upper shoulder. It was painful, and a great deal of blood continued to seep from the wound. However, none of that mattered. Damon would live.
Now, he was regaining control of his arms and legs, and as Sevviel begged for his life before the merciless vampire, Damon’s spirit returned as well. The boy may have not been who he was in his past life, but that didn’t matter at the moment. Both the Raiaeran general and the injured boy possessed the same indefatigable will that brought victory to them on desire alone. The boy staggered up, struggling not to groan and attract Kedx’s attention. Though the vampire now seemed focused on Sevviel, it would only require a fraction of attention before a second bullet found its mark in the back of Damon’s skull. The boy knew it too, but he had little option if he was to rescue the angel that he loved like an older sister.
Sevviel just wasn’t the boy’s mentor, but she was Damon’s closest friend. The one link that he had to his past, and the only one who seemed to understand that as hard as he tried, he was still nothing more than a boy. She would forgive him for his mistakes, but on this day, Damon had already made too many mistakes. He hadn’t killed Kedx when he’d had the chance, instead he’d listened to Myrhia. He hadn’t insisted that he go with Sevviel, despite Kedx’s insistence to the contrary. It felt that he had been right all along, but suffered from being a child in a grownups world.
It was time to rectify that. His sword gone, Damon unsheathed his machete and lunged forwards, screaming and lunging for Kedx’s elbow just before the vampire was to press the trigger again. The vampire turned at the last moment, just as Damon had leapt into the air to cover the distance between them more quickly. Still, the sound of another bullet shot rang through the chamber as Damon and Kedx felt their eyes connect.
Pain. It seemed all the thoughts and emotions that surged through her were annihilated and there was only pain. It exploded in her stomach like a grenade, sending a myriad of jagged shrapnels through the muscles, through her intestines, up her spine and down the stream of her nervous system, spreading through her body in wave after wave of agony. Above her the malevolent behemoth grinned his diabolic grin, peering down at her pale face with his eyes filled with fiery dementia. She whimpered and the tears descended down her cheeks, but she didn’t look up in disbelief or disappointment. Even though Letho impaled Myrhia on his talon, stomping on the faith she had in him, her emerald eyes looked up at him benevolently.
“I...” her tiny rosy lips shivered at the pain that crept into her every iota of her body, telling her it won’t let go. “I love you, Letho.”
Her miniscule gentle hands reached towards him, but grabbed the hilt of one of the blades that stuck from his overly-muscled flesh. With an afflictive groan she strained her muscles and pulled it out, the sopping sound of metal leaving the flesh lasting only a fraction of a second before the enraged swordsman growled. In retribution he twisted the talon that ripped her gentle stomach even further, spilling more of her sweet crimson blood. Myrhia’s face cringed, tears descended down her face like a river as she closed her eyes and uttered another painful whimper. Above her diminutive lithe form, the tower of muscles smiled a toothy smile.
“I...” she tried to speak again, swallowing hard and summoning enough strength to look up towards him again. And once she managed to overcome the pain and anguish, her eyes looked up at him gently, angelically, the eyes of a loyal servant looking up at her master. “I... love you... Letho.”
And once again she steeled herself and found the might to pull another sword from his flesh, his blood sprouting after the blade and onto her face. Her vampiric senses urged her to feed on that blood, to replenish her own due to the loss the gut wound was causing, but she did no such thing. Never had a chance to either, because once again Letho churned the jagged blade of the talon that was nestled in her gut. She screamed this time, an agonic terrifying shriek as her entire body wanted to fall down and curl into a little ball. But instead of doing what her body longed to do, her hand went to the spot where the talon met her flesh, her fingers soaking in the warmth of her gushing blood. She brought her fingers to her face, smeared the blood over her blanching lips and then propped herself on her toes despite the force of his arm.
“I... love... you... Letho.” and with that pleading whisper she kissed his lips, let him taste her blood and the truth contained within it. He pushed her away, made her slip down from his blade and fall onto the ground with another cry, but the taste of her blood remained. Sweet and warm, it crawled into his system like a thief in the night, overlapping his insanity, his malice, his desire for retribution towards all that evoked his rage. He could feel her benevolence, unblemished and innocent, sweeping over him like a wave, washing away his demented chaotic thoughts. And slowly the crimson aura around him started to fade, gradually losing the malevolent color as his muscles started to shrink to their regular size. Lastly, his demonic eyes were cleansed from the bloody hue, rinsed by her sacrifice and returned to the weary browns she loved more then life itself.
And then finally he could see her. Writhing in pain, lying in the pool of her own blood, Myrhianna Bastillien was looking up at him with a bloody smile, her tiny white teeth now rosy. And her eyes, her moist sparkling emeralds, they looked up at him with what seemed like satisfaction and genuine mirth.
“Myri? Oh my god... What... What have I done to you, Myri?” he uttered in a broken whisper, falling down on his knees next to her and cradling her in his arms. And for the first time since Letho Ravenheart shared the story of his kingdom with Myrhia some time ago, she saw him cry. He held her close, held her as if she was made out of air, and placed one kiss after another in her mahogany hair.
“Shhhh.” she whispered into his ear. “It’s going to be alright, Letho. The wound will heal. The pain will pass. And they could never change what I said to you.”
“How can you?” he replied in disbelief, through his bitter tears, not daring to look into her eyes. “How can you after what I did?”
Her hand left the wound on her belly and touched his chin, lifting his head gingerly to meet her bloodied face. And she smiled, despite everything that happened she smiled one of those smiles only she could do, where her eyes, her cheeks, her nose, her brow, her entire face smiled with her lips. “Because when I was in trouble, you saved me, Letho. When I was caught in the world of chaos, you pulled me out of it. You fought for me. And when you turned into that monster, I knew I had to fight too. I had to fight for you, to bring you back. To make it certain you don’t do it again.”
And once again she kissed him, as gently as if her lips were made out of wind, and he knew that she was right. Bloodlust or rage or whatever the hell he called it up until point were gone, erased from his being once and for all. What was awoken on that fateful day on Savion Hill, when he fought for his kingdom, for his murdered wife, was put to rest by a skinny little slavegirl and her bloody sacrifice.
Workout Wonder
07-05-06, 09:33 AM
To the best of Kedx’s knowledge, Damon had returned from the dead. The vampire had been so fixated on Sevviel, he had paid no attention to his nemesis once the boy had crumpled to the floor. That Sevviel had been so able to recognize him had come as a shock to the vampire, especially when Kedx wanted the links between his current and past life to be few and far between. Now, he and Damon collided, the boy’s machete making contact right at the vampire’s elbow. Hot blood spurted up and filled the air with the conflicting scents of jasmine and rancid meat. The fluid spurted out into Damon’s face and Kedx’s eyes, blinding the vampire for a few moments.
In that time, the gun went off almost out of reflex, and Kedx wasn’t sure of where the bullet had fallen initially. It was only once his eyes were clear and he was over the initial shock that he could realize what had happened, that the bullet had hit the ground benignly between Sevviel’s arm and thigh before ricocheting off the floor and out a window and that his own forearm was now lying severed on the ground.
Then there was the perpetrator of the act. “Get out of here now!” Damon growled at Kedx. The boy’s machete and face were both covered with the vampire’s blood, and it didn’t take Kedx’s empathic abilities to know what the boy was thinking.
However, for a few moments, the vampire merely stood, stepping back with his eyes wide open. Perhaps out of pity, his mind seemed unwilling to comprehend what had just transpired. Kedx had lost his last chance at redeeming the mission, and now his forearm lay severed on the yellow stone floor. His vampirism meant that the wound would heal back, but it would be nothing more than a nub, a full arm was well beyond his powers of regeneration.
Immediately, he thought of everything he’d lost. Not that he ever would have wanted it again, but thanks to Damon, he could never play his guitar upon a stage. His music that he’d forsaken first for love and then for power could never be his again. It was a startling realization, that for once a gate had been shut on him instead of the other way around.
“Damon… Damon,” was all that Kedx could stutter. “You’re supposed to be dead!”
However, the boy seemed to pay him no mind. As Damon went to tend to Sevviel, Kedx’s wherewithal began to return to him. His arm was throbbing in pain, but the vampire quickly wrapped it under his cloack. With his uninjured hand, Kedx reached for his signature sword, the titanium flaming rouge that had been crafted by elven weaponsmiths for considerably more benign purposes.
The vampire thought to use it, to try and regain some shred of dignity, but he opted against it. Even with but a steel machete, recent and past history had told him that Damon was the better fighter. Kedx hated the boy for that, that so much power seemed to come naturally to the reincarnation of the general while he himself had been forced to pay such a heavy price for it. “Perhaps that’s the only difference between us,” Kedx thought, before looking on Damon to judge the boy’s next move.
“He’s still weak,” Kedx realized, finding that Damon’s injury was perhaps even more severe than his own. Still the vampire knew he had to quell his thoughts of revenge for the moment. A wounded Damon would still be a challenge, and time would be on the boy’s side and not his. Should Letho finish in the throne room, then it would be a sharp inevitability that he would be overwhelmed.
“I’ll remember this Damon,” Kedx said before slipping away.
As the boy’s machete sliced straight through flesh and bone, his eyes were fixed on those of Kedx. Damon stared straight at his adversary, as if trying to bore through the eyes of his foe with his determination. Once the limb was cut, Damon staggered forward, suddenly feeling the rush of blood to his head subside and a wave of coldness cover his body. Despite the hot core of the planet that was so closer to him down in Haidia, the boy felt like his entire body was coated in a film of cooling sweat.
It was the bullet wound. Adrenaline and desire were giving way to the forces of nature. Damon still could survive, the wound was not in a vital place and the boy had a particularly solid constitution. However, it was unlikely that he would be able to continue the fight. He fell down to his knees and looked on towards the vampire with grated teeth.
“Leave now or I’ll kill you…” he demanded, though the boy’s voice croaked immediately after the first syllable.
“Oh Damon!” Sevviel shouted, covered with grief. Damon looked at her wearily, and practically collapsed when the angel picked herself up and grabbed him in her grateful arms. “Thank you Damon, it was Corin...”
Tears were beginning to brim in the angel’s eyes, but Damon could tell that she was doing her best not to cry until Kedx left. The vampire, who had seemingly lost his taste for battle along with his right arm, retreated. That left the boy alone with his angel, just like how the adventure had begun.
Before Damon could have said anything more, Sevviel burst into tears. She seemed so disappointed, so heartbroken, especially now as Damon’s blood had spilled onto her blouse and slender white hands. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I couldn’t defend myself here, I needed you to rely on.”
“It’s okay… it’s okay,” Damon managed. He was weak and tired, and he didn’t particularly want to expend much of the energy he had left on talking. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that despite the fact that he was the one that needed healing, that it was Sevviel that needed consolation. “Funny how these things work,” the boy thought to himself as the angel helped him up onto his feet.
They took a couple of tepid steps together, Damon leaning on the taller angel for support as they walked forward. The second step made the boy collapse. He was tired and the blood loss had made him dizzy.
“Oh…” Sevviel exclaimed, her eyes opened wide. Immediately she fell to pick Damon up and then tore off her sleeve to make a makeshift bandage that would at least provide the boy with a bit of comfort in his excruciating pain. She sat Damon up against the back of the wall and then looked on the child kindly. “Sit there,” she said. “I’ll go get Myrhia and Letho.”
Damon bristled at the mention of Letho.
“Don’t act like that,” Sevviel said. “We’re a team, and we’re all safe now. Don’t be angry just because you didn’t get to be the hero in the throne room.”
The injured boy shook his head and took a deep exhale. He gathered his endurance for a moment and then spoke. “Letho turned mean…” the boy tried to explain.
“Enough of that,” Sevviel scolded. “You better hope he has some kind of a spell to heal you. We both know well enough that I have got the short straw when it comes to angelic healing…”
Damon tried to smile, but he looked on quite watery. He took a deep breath and spoke again. “Sevviel… can you tell me if this is what it’s like to die?”
The angel shuddered. “Damon!” she exclaimed. “It’s just a shoulder wound! You’ve lost a lot of blood, but trust me, you’ll be fine.” Her eyes began to shake with grief as she looked on at Damon. Sevviel hadn’t considered the possibility that the wound would be so severe. The boy’s face was always pale, and his eyes lacked the normal features that would have conveyed the severity of the wound.
“I don’t want to die…” Damon said, a pair of tears rolling down from his clear black eyes. “I- I just don’t want to leave you here with nobody…”
Sevviel smiled. Damon couldn’t tell for sure, but the reason was readily apparent. Angel or human, it always felt good to have someone that cared. Sevviel patted Damon on the head gently. “I have to get Letho now, we’ll get a doctor. Don’t worry, I’ll be back. Try not to move too much while I’m gone.”
Damon just smiled weakly as his response.
Myrhia never quite managed to comprehend the uncanny magical benignity of Letho’s healer touch, but the fact of the matter was that once he took his hands out of those blood-soaked gauntlets and touched her skin, her pain was effaced instantly. Supposedly it was a unique perk of his ilk, a healer’s touch that only true Savion kings possessed, and though the swordsman was countless leagues from his kingdom, the King’s Touch was most certainly operational. And Myrhia thanked whatever god imbued his bloodline with this ability because the pain in her stomach was just about to breach that threshold between the tolerable and unbearable.
Letho worked on her wound diligently, more precarious then ever, his every motion carefully measured not to inflict any further agony upon her. His already tattered shirt was torn to shreds, transformed into makeshift bandages that he wrapped around her midriff. Her bleeding was efficiently stopped and her vampiric regeneration already started to do its job, recreating the torn muscles and patching up the torn blood vessels. But despite the rather quick recovery and her reassuring words, the guilt in his system refused to be filtered out that easily. Not only did he break a promise to Myrhia and let go to his rage, but by doing that he almost killed the one person that meant a damn to him. How was he to go over that? How was he to make that the water under the bridge? Sevviel’s entrance into the throne room saved him from fishing for an answer to that question in some dark part of his psyche.
“Letho? Myrhia? Are you two alright?” the angel asked the pair, her slender legs maneuvering her feet through the corpse-paved floor. Letho looked up at Myrhia, his eyes filled with wonder at what should they reply to Sevviel. Were they alright?
“Aye!” the redhead responded to the beauty, offering a smile that started to look less bloody and more mirthful with every passing second. “Unlike Letho, I’m a bit clumsy when it comes to fighting, so I managed to get cut.”
Letho’s eyes welled with tears. Why did this tiny girl love him so much? He hurt her so many times and he did it again today, and yet there she was, smiling benevolently as if they were standing in a flowery savannah instead of a massacre scene. She struggled to her feet, wincing a bit at the stretching of her stomach muscles, but finding firm support at Letho’s flank.
“Well, Damon got shot by Kedx and he could use some tending.”
“Kedx?” Letho asked, his puzzlement managing to break through his temporary fascination with Myrhia’s endless goodness.
“He double-crossed us, Letho.” the redhead explained in a doleful voice. “Damon saw it in a vision and warned me but I... I didn’t believe him. He led us straight into a trap.”
“Bastard. And I... I sent him to protect you.” Letho spoke, turning towards Sevviel. The angelic woman’s attire seemed tainted by blood, but she had no apparent injuries, so Letho reckoned Damon got the worst of it.
“You could not know.” Sevviel said with a touch of indifference in her voice. “He got to me, but luckily Damon got to him before he managed to do anything. He had fled though, as did the rest of the rebels.”
The trio was about to depart from the throne room, but Myrhia paused them for a second, picking up Damon’s sword before they made their way down the hall at a slow gait that the limping redhead set. Still, the adjacent room where Damon was opened up before them less then a minute afterwards and soon enough all three were at the elf’s side. The boy was a mess, his shoulder and most of his side crimson with fresh blood that Letho could smell from the other side of the room. It was a nasty wound, but far from mortal and compared to almost half a dozen of scathes on Letho’s body that slowly started to heal, it seemed rather mild. But there was genuine concern in Sevviel’s eyes, the motherly kind as she looked down towards Damon, and the swordsman respected that.
“So, I’m not the only one who was clumsy.” Myrhia spoke with a mild smile, taking a seat on the cold tiles and allowing Letho to help the elf. “I’m glad I had this though. Thank you.” she added, placing the mythril sword beside Damon. He looked like somebody who wasn’t interested in neither dialogue nor his possessions, but once Letho’s hand landed on the boy’s shoulder, she could almost see instant relief on his face.
“So Kedx shot you, huh?” the swordsman asked, his right examining the wound slowly while his right wiped the blood out of the way. “I should’ve known that there was something wrong with him. Nobody wears a mask unless he has something to hide. He’s a lousy shot though. The bullet went clean through. It will leave a nasty scar, but you’ll live. And ladies like the scars anyways.”
Letho allowed a grin, using the remnants of the shirt he used on Myrhia to make something that resembled a shoulder bandage. It was eons away from a proper military bandaging that the swordsman liked to do, but once he wrapped the cloth around Damon’s shoulder and tied it down tight, it seemed passable. It would hold until they found something more appropriate to patch his injury.
“Now come on. Let’s get out of here and leave this nightmare behind us.”
Damon was grateful for the help from Letho, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about the older swordsman in general. Of course, Sevviel would have scolded him were he to complain, but the boy was just a little bit bitter that Letho had failed to protect Sevviel. However, at the moment, Damon just didn’t want a fight. Plus, Letho didn’t seem like the worst of sorts, and so the boy figured he would just as soon do as had been suggested, and leave the fortress.
“It will be good to get out of this place,” Sevviel said with a light shiver down her back. The angel was trying to put her appearance back in order, even though she knew it was conceited. However, Damon could understand why she would have wanted to do that. Sevviel hated feeling vulnerable, and everything about the recent adventure, including the strands of hair that had fallen into her face, served as reminders.
“It will be good to get out of Haidia,” Damon added sourly. He staggered onto his feet and placed his longsword back into its sheath. “I feel a bit better now and I should leave.”
“Will we need to pay any allegiance to the king?” Sevviel asked.
“Lets not,” Damon said. “I’d rather just get moving.”
Sevviel smiled. “That would be nice,’ she agreed. She gave the room one last final look and noticed that Kedx’s arm still remained. The revolver was still clenched in what were now lifeless fingers.
“You know…” she muttered. “We should really take that…”
Damon agreed. “I want to meet that vampire again,” the boy said. Damon spoke without malice, but there was a latent determination in his voice. “He is going to have to learn the costs of his actions, and a gun is too precious on Althanas for him not to want to get back.”
Sevviel looked at Damon nervously. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Do you really want more trouble? He nearly killed you…”
“I don’t really care,” Damon replied matter of factly. “He almost killed you too, and he’s going to kill someone else. He’s going to kill lots of people unless I stop him…”
Though his actions could have easily been misinterpreted as machismo, Sevviel’s smile turned watery. “Damon, remember why we came down here?”
“To learn about the past?” Damon ventured. He was sure that was why they had come down to Haidia, but he was afraid that Sevviel was asking him some kind of trick question.
“Yes,” Sevviel replied. “And now I know. You’re brave and true, just like you’ve always been. You’re worried about taking care of me and others without any real concern for yourself.”
Damon felt a bit embarrassed to have that much attention placed on him for something he would have done anyways. “If doing this makes you happy, then I’m glad,” Damon said, trying to brush over what felt like an awkward situation, especially with Letho looking on. The boy was certain that Myrhia didn’t often lecture the swordsman in morality.
He went over to Kedx’s severed hand and pried the gun from the dead grip. “I won’t use it,” Damon decided out loud. “I don’t really like these.”
“That’s fine,” Sevviel said.
With that, Damon and Sevviel offered their farewell to Myrhia and Letho. While Damon’s feelings about Letho were considerably mixed, the boy hated to admit that he admired the larger swordsman. The stories of the Ranger from Corone were quite well known, and while Damon didn’t know what he felt about the man, he certainly did like the legend. Naturally, Damon was sympathetic to the idea of the legend being greater than the man.
“If we meet again, Sevviel stays with me,” Damon said. “But it has been a good time.”
“Damon!” Sevviel exclaimed. “I’m sorry Letho, he just is that way every now and then…”
“Don’t apologize for me,” Damon interrupted. “I don’t need to be apologized for. It was a pleasure, Letho is a brave warrior, but he could have done more to protect you… I would have done more to protect you.”
Sevviel just sighed. “He’s stubborn,” she said.
“Myrhia, I forgive you for what happened in the tunnel,” Damon added magnanimously. “But it’s time to go.”
Sevviel then hurried herself and the boy out of the fortress before Damon could say anything else that embarrassed her. Though she attempted to speak under her breath, her harsh whisper carried in the otherwise empty room. “I can’t believe you said that,” she hissed. “And after he healed you…”
Damon remained recalcitrant, but there was no malice. Though he hated to admit it, Letho had taught him something else. Even among legends, there was always room for natural error.
This story was over, everything was fine.
Workout Wonder
07-07-06, 05:00 PM
The situation had almost reached tragic levels for Kedx. It was only after he had skulked away from the fortress that Kedx had realized that he’d left his gun behind. Fearing being spotted, either by Letho or the rebels, the vampire had taken to one of the many tunnels around the fortress. This one, he hoped, would head back to Vainta and out of Haidia.
“This always happens to me,” he grumbled. This mission had ended in resolute failure. Not only was the Haidian civil war crushed before it had ever gotten a start, but he had been badly injured in the process. Had he been successful, then Kedx knew it would have been much easier for him to have requested some kind of prosthetic to make up for the limb he’d lost. As it was, Kedx knew he would be lucky if his superiors believed that the events that had transpired were not his fault.
Taking a deep exhale, the vampire contemplated disappearing, but quickly decided against it. He had sacrificed everything he’d had for power, not the opportunity to become a hermit in Berevar. If it required that he sacrifice more, then so be it. Kedx found his resolve return to him as he moved further through the tunnel. The vampire began to hum a bit to himself, only to be interrupted by the presence of another in the cave.
Immediately, Kedx reached for his revolver, only to realize that he had left the weapon behind. The vampire cringed and pulled out his sword instead, only to let his guard down a minute after. “Wilhem,” Kedx said snidely, recognizing the deposed leader of the rebels. “Wouldn’t fancy seeing you here…”
The demon looked on at Kedx with a wry smile. “You neither… especially after that stunt you pulled.”
Kedx shrugged. “You shouldn’t have double crossed me. Everyone in Corone said you were expendable.”
Wilhem muttered a bit under his breath. “At least I kept my arm,” the demon eventually said.
The words lacked their desired effect. Kedx smirked, though it was hidden underneath his mask. “You know, I could still kill you, one hand or not. Seems like you’re going back to being second rate, unless you get caught by the king and hung for treason. Best of luck to you outside of Haidia too... Alimarter has a few too many Haidian sympathizers and your kind isn’t all that well loved anywhere. I may have lost an arm in this, but I’m considerably less likely to become demon hide.” Kedx smiled smugly.
The situation was clear for Wilhem. Kedx knew that the demon would hate to admit it, but now that his revolution had failed, Wilhem desperately needed allies.
“I can probably help you a little,” Kedx said, his voice dripping with a false sweetness. “Give me some sign you are alive, and I will use it to round up the rest of your army. I will rally them, and we will take over a small island somewhere. Is that acceptable?”
The vampire looked at Wilhem just long enough for his proposition to sink in. Before Wilhem could agree, Kedx turned his back on the demon and spoke. “It is settled then,” he said. “Lay low in Alamarter in the interim… you should be safe there for a while…”
“Thank you, thank you,” Wilhem gushed. “You… you saved me.” The demon grabbed onto Kedx’s waist and hugged the vampire.
“And oh Wilhem?” Kedx added.
“Yes?” the demon replied.
“Don’t double cross me again,” Kedx responded.
Wilhem shook his head no, as if he had been so terrified that he couldn’t have even considered the possibility. “Of course not…” the demon said.
Kedx smirked, then he took a long hard shot at the demon, hitting Wilhem firmly in the crotch. “That’s for ruining this plan,” the vampire said as he walked away from the demon cowed in pain. “Don’t ruin another one.”
The vampire tried not to smile. If he could reestablish the demon rebels, only now with Wilhem under his control, Kedx figured that he could justify the adventure not being a complete and utter loss. The business interests wouldn’t be happy, but that would be acceptable. Kedx worked for power, not money. The Corone merchants would just have to find that their hard earned gold wasn’t nearly as fungible as they had believed.
Everything would be under control eventually. Kedx would regain his arm. First though, the vampire couldn’t help but want to regain his gun.
“All in good time,” he reminded himself.
(Spoils request- I request Kedx’s gun be temporarily transferred over to Damon. Damon will not use the gun, only have it. Kedx will later regain it. Also, Kedx loses one arm. He gains 50 demon soldiers. These can not be used outside of quests, save for Gisela style battles)
Though Damon’s farewell was a bit obstinate, Letho took it in stride. It was partially because the elf was right; he was somewhat careless in all of this, following a plan of a cryptic dissembled stranger that turned out to be a double-crossing bastard. It consequently exposed Sevviel to unnecessary danger, something that the boy certainly found unacceptable. But given the fact that he failed to do a better job with Myrhia – getting them both cast in irons – Marshal reckoned that it was best to let the whole matter rest. The rebellion was broken, the fort was emptied and a pair of wounds was the only price they paid for it. Trying to dissect every detail about the events that transpired was bound to lead only into more arguing that, given the hotheadedness of both the boy and the man, was bound to turn into a pissing contest. And that was something Letho didn’t want to do. Right now Damon and Sevviel were well met acquaintances and possible allies if necessary later on. It was best to leave it at that.
“Hopefully, when we meet again, we won’t have to tackle a fortress, Damon Kaosi.” the dark knight responded to the elf in his usual rigid voice that reverberated through the stone halls. Compared to it, Myrhia’s sounded tiny and insignificant, but she offered her farewells all the same, pulling herself up to her feet and wrapping her arm around Letho’s.
“Yeah! We could just do something nice next time around. Like not fighting.” and she smiled widely, her beaming smile once again sweet and innocent. For some reason though, Letho wasn’t certain that the next meeting would be so benign. They were both warriors, Damon and he, and warriors seldom fraternized and shot the breeze. Still, it was a nice afterthought and it made Myrhia happy to hope for its realization.
***
[Three days later, a tavern in a middle-of-nowhere town in Haidia...]
Compared to what occurred between Myrhia and Letho in the Mursath fortress, the apprehension of the rebel leader was an insignificant matter to the Marshal. What the redhead did in that throne room left an imprint not only in the swordsman’s mind, but in his entire system. His bloodlust was gone, that much was clear, evaporated in front of the purity of her sacrifice, but what Myrhia did meant so much more to him. It was a final confirmation to what they said back in Scara Brae. Together, no matter what. And though they were in many a peril, this was the first time one of them looked the other in the eyes and made one thing crystal clear: “I would die for you.” That was what her eyes were telling him as she lay in the puddle of her own blood, and that was what her eyes would be telling him until the end of the days.
So when Letho Ravenheart entered a shabby looking tavern called Devil’s Furnace, all he could think of was the frail redhead that awaited his arrival back in Willow Manor. He sent her ahead, to recuperate, while he tied up loose ends. And one of the loose ends sat on a barstool, sucking on some murky beverage, keeping a low profile. Not low enough though. Haidia was a heaven for those who wanted to disappear, but if you had the money and knew how to spend it, information leaked just like in any other place. And soon enough you were fingered no matter how good you were hidden.
Wilhem took another lethargic sip of his brew, his head supported by his other hand as his eyes peered into the mirror that stood beyond the bar. He was binding his time, just until all the preparations were done and he could flee out of this hellish place. Unfortunately for him, the preparations took too long. His eyes dropped to the alcoholic brew beneath, then got up again. Only this time the mirror was inches from his face and his reflection was tawny. It took him a second to realize that his face was reflected in a massive blade, the one that carried the Lawmaker inscription and that the tavern around him went dead.
“Finish your drink, scum. It’s time to go.” a rugged voice spoke into his right ear and though he couldn’t see the speaker or recognize the voice, the inscription and the titanic gunblade made it clear who’s its wielder. Wilhem did what he was told not out of obedience, but because he paid for the bloody drink and he was going to finish it. Once her did – and burped rather loudly – he got up with a wiseass smirk.
“You don’t know what you’re up against, ranger. The rebellion might be thwarted, but it’s an insignificant blow for the Coalition.” the man spoke, facing Letho confidently. Letho interrupted his sassy disposition by grasping his shoulder with his steely grip, spinning the man around effortlessly and slapping a pair of cuffs on his wrists.
“Really now? Why don’t you tell me about this Coalition while we take a walk?” the Marshal spoke, ushering the rebel leader through the tavern with a handful of harsh shoves. Despite it all, the smirk on Wilhem’s face not only remained, but turned into a malicious smile.
“I could. But if I did, I’d have to kill you.”
The next shove sent the man at the closed door, his face slamming against the wood. His smile was gone, Letho’s cocky grin was on.
“You tried that. Didn’t work out.”
((SPOILS: Letho loses his “Rage” ability, but the power is not lost. Instead, it was redirected into his “Righteous Might” ability, doubling its effects.))
Dissinger
07-19-06, 02:19 AM
Overall:
God damnit guys, why the hell do you do this to me? Just reading this thread has all sorts of wonderful ideas running through my head, and needless to say, you guys definitely did well here. You went out on a limb and did so much more than I ever through possible. I have to congratulate you guys on the well done job, and the way you went about this thread.
Onto the judging!
Introduction: 6 What really hurt the introduction was more of the length of it. I felt a bit of the back-story was overdone. While I can appreciate the need to develop a reason for being in Haidia, I felt that the entire scene at the manor was a tad overcooked. The other introductions were done very well, what keeps me from going much higher on the judgment is merely that I felt it dragged a little.
Setting: 7 Setting was crucial. From the discovery the tunnel was in fact not hastily made, to the fact that Letho was breaking down doors bare handed, you made the scenery done well, and vividly depicted the scenes. I had a clear picture of what was going on, and I can't complain about the use of setting. The constant talk of heat helped underline the fact it was Haidian, but what kept you from getting a higher score was the fact I didn't get a feeling of the culture.
A few of the passages helped, but it could have easily been done in Fallien, or Antioch, or hell even in Lavinya and I would have seen the same mental imagery. It’s obvious you were in Haidia by description, but Setting is also how the people act and the culture behind it. I might suggest using a few lines dropped here and there; maybe more about the rebellion from the rebels themselves. I would think taking that defiant stand is going to be on the forefront of their mind.
Strategy: 9 Superb use of strategy here folks. From Kedx handing them the plan, which, in and of itself, was a good strategy to Kedx's recovery from Damon using his second's sooner ability, you used Strategy to drive the plot. That is a lesson few people can grasp, and for that I have little to say on improving it.
Writing Style: 7 You guys are good writers. I've had the honor of role-playing alongside both of you. It was clear you guys were working together and seamlessly delivering a story that can be hard to convey any other way. What hurt you were the little errors. Letho repeated the same three words in one case, and Damon even had a few errors that proofreading would catch. Other than proofreading I can't say much else that would help you get higher.
Rising Action: 7 The story flowed, and things seemed to be getting tense. My only complaint here was at times you guys would release a bit of that tension, and a lot of it would escape in the moment. Letho walking into the room full of men seemed less tense when Kedx blew away Jonas and pretty much gave a distraction. Even the part where they stabbed Letho repeatedly seemed a bit less tense, as I knew Letho was a vampire and really didn't care about such pitiful wounds. Perhaps remarking how close it came to piercing the heart or even something more drastic would have helped.
Dialogue: 8 The dialogue was never campy, was never unbelievable. Damon is a reincarnated boy who is trying to find out who he was, Letho is the battle hardened Veteran who would piss anyone off by how careless he sounds. The words fit who said them, and because of that I give the 8 and stick to my guns.
Character: 10 Once again, character shined through. The dialogue that went through was also shown here. Kedx shined in showing me the man who tries to believe in what he’s devoted himself to. He has his doubts, but he always comes back to what he's done, because he can't AFFORD to go back. Myrhia also gave me a bit of character noteworthy, the timid red head has come a long way from being the victim, and has started being more, assertive and not playing so weak.
Climax: 6 The climax here was hard to define. I can't think of any event that defined the climax, as it happened over three to four posts. The extended climax, while satisfying lacked the punch that added finality to it. I scored you above average for the satisfaction of seeing Kedx end up a cripple, but I couldn't score higher since it lacked that definitive oomph that I feel it required. There was really no event that said, this is the peak, lets go home.
Conclusion: 8 It all falls into place doesn't it? You guys wrapped things up, gave me the “I'll be back” shtick and Letho got his man. Good job overall. You wrapped up the loose ends, while giving me something to look forward to in the future.
Wildcard: 10 I can't give it anything less. That’s my opinion on the matter. Good job guys. I mainly am giving this, because of Letho. I never once expected him to nearly gut Myrhia and to see him take that action, and stay true to the character he created for himself stunned me to say the least. I can see that the Serenti fight has brought you into the realm of conflict. Just don't overdo it man.
And the verdict is…..
78!
Spoils:
Workout Wonder transfers the gun to Damon and loses his arm at the elbow. The 50 Demon Soldiers are awarded as well.
INDK gets the gun.
Letho, this is the hard part. I took a look at your righteous might ability, and I can't in good conscious just hand you what you wanted. I am however willing to compromise. I will give you 9 times the strength and three times the speed he normally does. I see this as a bit more fair and still considerably more than previously.
INDK gets 4992 EXP and 100 gold.
Letho gets 4058 EXP and 200 gold.
Workout Wonder gets 3869 EXP and 200 gold.
Any EXP rewards given are based off of the new equation. Any questions regarding what was said can be addressed to me via PM or AIM SethDahlios.
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