Ruins of Regret (Open)

[Iriah Caitrak]

OOC: Open, please PM before posting.

Ira slid open the flap of the large tent and stepped inside. The difference in temperature was like a slap in the face, despite the fact that the sun had been bearing down upon the tent all day it was cool within it’s shadowed recesses. Cool and inviting, even more so knowing that at the centre of the tent the shaman Gereint was waiting for her, waiting to give her a new assignment and she was itching to leave the tribe and go out into the world once again.

It wasn’t the life sucking souls of Purgatory that got her up in the morning, it was the exploring. And once she was strong enough and experienced enough she could leave the tribe and explore places without their consent. But her training was not yet through; she had not even entered the realm of her own soul yet. No worry, Ira was a patient person.

Wiping her boots on the colourful rug placed by the entrance, Ira slowly made her way through the large tent, guided by the light coming through another set of curtains. Pushing it aside, she paused in the doorway.

“No need for any kind of formality, Ira, never in my home.”

She smiled as the wizened voice of the shaman floated over to her. She’d known him for as long as she could remember and she knew he remembered her even longer. And unlike some of the others in the tribe, she didn’t even mind his sightless stare, which at times could bore into your very soul and mind. In her occasion he only did it with permission and only when necessary. Words were sometimes a formality to be cherished.

Walking into the centre of the room, Ira glanced at the colourful tapestries covering the walls, some depicted Purgatory and others showed the Calerian’s version of Sanctuary. Ira sat down opposite her shaman with him beautifully wrinkled face, a fire that gave off no heat between them. His eyes were clouded over, a ritual that occurred long before she was born, but they managed to find her exact spot in the room anyway. Ira didn’t know how he did it, but she didn’t mind, made her feel like he really could see her sometimes.

“I can see you…sometimes and you’re turning into a magnificent women and an even better Calerian.” He said to her with a smile.

She feigned annoyance with him delving into her thoughts, “I’ll take that compliment but you better keep your snooping little sight out of my head, otherwise you might find something in there you didn’t want to know.”

“Ha! There’s nothing in that mind of yours that would disturb me!”

Ira laughed, he was probably right. Gereint wasn’t the kind of man to get embarrassed about anything, after all, he must be used to hearing some of the more intimate thoughts on a person’s mind.

“How’s the Irenian Crystal?”

She looked down at the crystal dangling about her neck, it was a pure light blue a few months ago when she got it, but now at the very centre there was a small redness beginning to form.

“You don’t even need to ask that question, you can sense my alignment and know that very little of it has been affected.”

He smiled and nodded, “Yes, yes…it’s good, your alignment is stronger than most. Some would already have to travel to their souls if they were in your place, however, yours and Revor’s are very strong alignments.”

“Revor’s, huh?”

Ira thoughtlessly rubbed the crystal resting above her breasts. So Revor and her were at a stalemate even when it came to their alignments with the crystal, no matter what either of them did neither of them was ever able to surpass the other. She was going to change that someday, she just wasn’t sure when and how.

“Ahh, yes, I’ve struck a cord, your ‘rival’. You know, if you two worked together as a team you’d be a very powerful match.”

Gereint was right and deep down inside she knew she wouldn’t mind working with him, she had a feeling their partnership was flow like the steady rhythm of water at the Oasis, but she didn’t see it happening anytime soon with their rivalry relationship. It was almost a shame, but she enjoyed it, the constant urge to surpass and become stronger.

“Enough with the chit chat though,” no time for small talk, right down to business, “I’ve a new assignment for you. A felt a tear in the plane at the Ruins of Kesta the other day and I have a feeling the souls have been there or gathering there for some time now, though somehow I could not sense them.”

“The Ruins of Kesta, that’s rather close to Jya’s Keep, what of involvement from outsiders?”

Gereint snorted, “If they’re stupid enough to be in those cursed stones it’s their own fault, however, you know what to do. If there is outside interference continue on with the cleansing and try to protect them.”

Ira nodded her head, “Of course.”

“And be careful,” Gereint added, “Getting there may be more of a danger than the actual cleansing.”

He had a point, to get to the ruins she would have to pass rather closely to the Oasis and it’s wandering tribes. The people there were volatile and didn’t trust strangers, but she’d done it before and got by safely, she didn’t doubt herself this time. The best way to do it was under the cover of darkness since the area around there was flat and by day you’d be a sitting duck.

“When are you going to leave?”

As it was her assignment it was her choice when she wanted to go, though a prompt departure was always best.

“In a few hours. If I plan my travelling correctly I can get to and then passed Suravani’s Oasis on the second night, then the ruins themselves by the fourth.”

“Sounds good, don’t forget to stop off at Lyra’s for any supplies you might need.”

“I know the drill by now, old man.”

“Hey, who are you calling old! I’ve still got plenty of stamina left in these bones.”

“Sure thing, Gereint. I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Make sure you come back.”

Nodding her head, Ira left the tent and then went to Lyra’s place to pick up some supplies she would need. Dried meats and fruits, cheese, breads, canteen for water, blankets and some new flints. Though it was hot during the days sometimes the night could be brutally cold. Once she finished packing all of that up, she headed out with a good six hours of sunlight left.

[Iriah Caitrak]

OOC: I’m impatient and no one’s messaged me so I’m just going to turn this into a solo quest.

Day 5

Hour 08:34

Alignment – Good

Ira had actually reached the ruins the night before, but she had been exhausted from her journeying in the sun for the past four days and decided to rest up overnight before she attempted any kind of cleansing. She’d moved away from the ruins, far enough so that the spirits there could not sense her presence but she could sense theirs.

It was not a comforting feeling to pass the night away with an elusive sleep as she heard the cries and moans of the souls trapped in the area. She could tell that some of them had long since passed lost their humanity, some were newly gathered there and others were beginning their downward spiral into a never-ending abyss. Her blade could end it all though and so with their cries in ears of a special kind, she’d fallen into a restful sleep at last, awakened hours later by the heat of the sun bearing down upon her. It reflected off the barren land, the dried grass and the blowing sand. It could blind a man but she was used to its powerful gaze and had looked upon it her whole life.

Eating some dried meat, cheese and bread; Ira washed it all down with some water from her canteen and then slipped everything back into her rucksack. She was itching to get in there and finish the cleansing, and then perhaps explore the ruins. She’d never been to the Ruins of Kesta before, her kind tended to bypass things like ruins since there were always a few lingering souls around the area. No one liked being a Calerian all the time, sometimes it was just nice to ignore the fact that one could hear and see dead people.

Swinging her rucksack onto her shoulders, Ira traveled the rest of the way to the ruins, a twenty-minute walk. The day was hot and there wasn’t much wind blowing through, the sands were silent on their mounds and perspiration was already forming in the small of her back where her rucksack was pressed. If only there was a slight breeze it wouldn’t be so bad, or even a cloud in the sky but the blue went on forever.

The ruins were like anything you’d imagine, dilapidated, ancient piles of rock slowly succumbing to the elements and crumbling away. There was something beautiful and timeless about them though and she didn’t really what. Perhaps it was the fact that another civilization walked the very path she was walking now, only hundreds of years ago they were exterminated by a wrathful Goddess. Ira didn’t know much about why the race was destroyed, all she knew was that her people had long before migrated north and were untouched by that Goddess.

Among the stone buildings, or what was left of them, Ira could make out shadowy shapes moving to and from. Some of them had taken to hiding in the shadows of the walls since she’d stepped into the ruins, others didn’t even seem to notice her they just kept wandering around screaming and moaning their regrets, waiting for a watchful ear to come and help them. Help was here now. She could sense some of the more hostile ones slowly coming closer to her looking for a human to torment and take away the pain, even for a few moments.

She was not the tormenting type though.

Ira reached down into herself and found that place of magic that allowed her to see and hear the things she did. She released and watched as the world around her slowly melted away. The sky became a dark grey, the stone which were red were now grey as well, the ground was grey, there was leafless trees whose limbs would not move as if frozen and the dark shadowy shapes of the souls that had been around her in the ruins were now grotesque looking monsters that crawled on all fours. Their bodies blackened, a large hole in their chests, their eyes empty, their fingernails sharpened to claws and a webbing like material of skin attached their arms to their bodies giving them the ability to glide.

Those who were newly arrived here still looked like humans except for the large hole in their chest. Others were somewhere in between a hollow shell and human, their appearance even more grotesque as their flesh appeared to be rotting and falling off their very bones.

These were just the pawns though, easy kills, what she was after were the malevolent ones, the ones drawing the weaker spirits towards them and speeding up the process in their loss of humanity.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Day 5

Hour 09:08

Alignment – Good

She can hear us, she can see us!

She’s a live, she’s not a spirit, what’s she doing in Purgatory?

Who cares she can help us, she can hear us, she can help us!

I need help, my village, my family, I need someone to tell them what happened to me and—

Help me, I’m not really dead, I shouldn’t be here!

I left behind—

You’ve got to do someth—

“Wrong, I don’t have to do anything but help you cross over.”

There were at least twenty of them gathering around her in the area and they were all talking and yelling at her at once, screaming at her to help them. Some of them were attacking each other to get closer to her so she could hear their plight but she wasn’t really listening anything. Part of her training was to get her used to this, the screaming for help, cries of agony in a sea of tormented faces. It was grotesque and deep down inside it made her heart twist, but she knew that what she was doing was ultimately the right thing. Only releasing them from Purgatory could help them.

One of them got too close to her and without a second thought she formed her Naginata in her hand and stabbed the blade into the hole in his chest. He looked to be in pain for only a moment before he turned into a black and red butterfly and then was gone in a small flash of light. His destination was Sanctuary. Ira had seen few spirits go to the Abyss and it was not an experience she wanted to reciprocate.

The others around her backed away as they watched the butterfly disappear. The voices of the spirits died down.

What did you do to him!?

“I released his soul from his earthly bonds and sent him to Sanctuary, what many cultures call Heaven. And I plan to do it to the rest of you as well.”

Fearful sounds erupted from some of them, they never believed her when she told them there was more beyond these lands of grey, rotting earth. It didn’t matter; she didn’t mind battling her way through this bunch. Only half of them had lost their humanity, the other half were still changing or newly arrived. They shouldn’t give her too much trouble.

She killed him; she’ll kill us too! She wants to kill all of us!

It usually came down to something like this. Sometimes she just wished they’d listen to her and understand the fact that she was helping them, but then again if spirits understood Calerian’s that easily she doubted their means of sending them to the next plane of existence wouldn’t be weapons.

Let’s get her before she kills more of us!

Ira sighed and changed her Naginata to the double bladed Swallow. It would make tearing through these guys that much easier. She didn’t have to actually stab them in the chest, just as long as a part of her weapon touched the hole in their chest it would free them.

A group of them charged at her, Ira swirled her weapon around in front of her and cut three of them away almost immediately. They were weak, they didn’t know how to defend themselves, but the smarter ones, the ones who had completely lost their humanity were staying back and waiting for them opening. She could see them out of the corner of her eye.

She was in the middle of taking out two souls when one of them swooped down to attack her legs. She quickly broke off half the Swallow and swing around cutting off one of his arms before plunging the blade into his back and through the hole on the other side. She turned back to the other two who turned to flee from her. She formed two throwing knives and throw them into their backs, watching them turn from soul, to butterfly and gone in a flash of light. The knives fell to the ground and then dissolved into nothing like all her discarded weapons did.

She hated it when they tried to run away. She preferred it if they fought to the very end, stabbing someone in the back with a blade was not her idea of a fight.

Turning back her pulled the other half of her Swallow from the dirt and linked it back together with its brother. The rest of the souls had fled into the ruins of the city and she would half to hunt them down one by one and then move in to take out the stronger ones.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Day 5

Hour 10:13

Alignment – Good

Time in purgatory was disorientating. The sky never changed, the grass never blew, the limbs upon the trees and whatever leaves there may be clinging to them never moved. Shadows danced in and out of ones vision and the screams and cries of those damned to this place never stopped. It was maddening, but her training helped her deal with it, helped her push it back, tunnel vision, only one thing to do, cleanse, release…destroy.

She looked down upon the Irenian Crystal embedded in the breastplate covering her, still a strong blue colour. Her alignment was a powerful one, or so Gereint had told her, she just hoped he was right. The small fry shouldn’t do much to change it but the stronger ones, the ones here longer; defeating them was what ultimately defeated any Calerian. Sad that the one power they were given to protect and save souls was also the one power that would undoubtedly destroy them.

Life was full of irony.

But she’d known of the almost inevitable fate when she’d decided to train as a Calerian, and even after that she could have decided to stop and no one could have forsaken her or even turned a blind eye to her. Humanity was a precious thing and it was a sad thing to lose. There were some Calerian’s who lived to an old age and never had to worry about being destroyed by the evil, the regrets that they swallowed up, those with good alignment, but they were few and she was hoping she might be one of them, however losing herself would not be such a bad thing as long as there was someone strong enough to kill her when the time came. She would do the same for them.

Ira stopped in her musings. Her hand tightened upon the leather bindings of her Swallow. The sound of a quickening breath, a shudder, was that…weeping? She turned on her heel and walked into one of the ruined structures, in the shadow of a wall she found the one thing she could never get used to seeing. Children. Two of them, no older then eight. They were huddled together, clasping each other’s arms as tears rolled down the little girls face. The boy pushed her slightly behind him when she entered, he was along the way to becoming hollowed, his hand was rotting away, he was not far into the transformation.

“A-are you going to kill us?”

Caution, no provocation, no sudden movements, she’d been attacked by children before and would never forget thrusting her blade into the tiny hole in their tiny chests.

“No, never to kill you…only to help you, to release you from your regrets.”

Ira knelt down, balancing on her heels.

“But the others said you were here to kill us!”

“They do not understand…I tried to explain to them. You are here because you regret and because you regret you cannot pass over into Heaven. I am here to release your regrets.”

She had the urge to embrace him, but made no move, just tried to make herself seem as no threat and as friendly as possible, even with a piece of cloth covering half of her face. Her eyes would say it all.

“I regret not being able to help me sister,” He turned to the little girl behind him who seemed a little less afraid of her now, “And my family, they were murdered in front of me and I couldn’t do anything.” He didn’t sound angry, just sad about that fact. “What happens to my regrets?”

Ira placed her hand over her chest, “They go into me.”

“Don’t you get trapped here then?”

“No, I am a special kind of person, but I will tell you one thing. If you let me release your regrets I bet you’ll be able to see your family again, they’re probably waiting for you in Heaven.”

A smile graced his face; just a slight one but she saw the sparkle of hope in his eyes. Children, they got to her every time, so innocent; they need not be in such a place as this. Children should not regret anything.

“Really?” The little girl asked.

Ira smiled even though they couldn’t see it, “Of course. Would you like to see them now?”

She nodded her head enthusiastically; the boy contemplated it for a few more seconds, looking over at Ira as if wondering weather or not to trust her. She could strike now while he was unaware but it was always nice to convince someone that there was something better than this out there. He finally nodded his head and Ira formed two harmless looking round crystals in her hands from her Serenna Crystal.

“Wait!”

The little girl reached around her neck and took off a long dangling necklace decorated with many small crystals reaching towards a larger centred one. It was clearly too big for the girl, perhaps her parents.

“I want you to have this, it has been in my family for years. I stole it out of my mom’s room before…before it happened.”

Ira reached out and took the necklace from the little girl. Calerian’s were the only people who could safely take objects out of the Planes beyond Physical.

“Thank you.” She placed it over her head, it rested beside her Irenian Crystal and for a moment she thought they glittered to each other. She shook off the thought and handed the crystals over to the children, “all you have to do is drop them into the darkened holes in your chest.”

They nodded their heads and did as she told them two, seconds later they were butterflies and the crystals dropped to the ground, they were light and gone and the crystals disappeared and then Ira heard a snarl from behind her. She turned around just in time to be knocked onto her back by a fallen soul. It nails dug into the flesh on her right arm and reflect off the armour on her left. She braced her foot on its stomach and rolled backwards, switching their positions so she was on top of it. With one fluid motion she created a small dagger and stabbed it in the chest, her knees hitting dirt as the fallen disappeared forever from the world of Purgatory.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Ira stood up and brushed off her pants. She dropped the small dagger and a second after it hit the ground it disappeared, then she formed her Swallow. The only thing left of the creature that had just attacked her was a small imprint in the dirt from where his body had been. He was in a better place now and he had nothing left to regret. Hopefully he would find some sort of peace in whatever Sanctuary looked like.

There couldn’t be too many more of them left though. Originally she was confronted with a group of about twenty or so but it seems more were hiding in the shadows, not to mention the stronger souls she was sensing, two of them if she wasn’t mistaken and they were somewhere ahead of her. However, she had to take out the smaller ones first, though they may not be a great threat, it was cruel to leave them in a state of misery when a few hours of her time would release them.

Her hand brushed against the crystal the little girl had given her. She didn’t know why the girl had wanted her to have it but she did know she was grateful for the small present. It warmed her knowing that some of the souls here could be persuaded to listen to her without the use of a weapon.

Ira sensed something behind her and quickly turned around. A man about her height dressed in the clothes of a farmer was standing behind her. He was clasping a piece of torn cloth in his hands as if it were his most valuable treasure.

“It is true?” He asked, “Can I really see my wife again?”

There were tears in his eyes and on his cheeks.

Ira nodded her head and the man cried even harder making her very uncomfortable. She didn’t really know what to do in a situation where a grown man’s soul was crying in front of her. Forming the same rounded crystal in her hand, Ira handed it over to the man and told him what to do with it then turned and walked away. She felt the release and subsequent capture of his regrets inside of her seconds later.

If only all of them were this easy.

Walking into another section on the ruins she came upon a group of five Fallen. They noticed her immediately and didn’t waste anytime attacking. The first one jumped at her and Ira quickly spun away from it, using the momentum to swing her Swallow back around and cut off one of it’s legs. Something black and vile dripped out of the wound, landed on the ground and disintegrated into nothing. She’d been aiming for it’s chest but she’d missed.

She broke her Swallow in half and flipped backwards as another creature attacked her, landing on her feet only to have one of them attempt to stab her in the back. The blade deflected off her armour and Ira quickly turned around thrusting the blade into the creature’s chest. She turned back in time to block a kick to her chest, her fingers dropped her weapon and wrapped around the ankle of the creature holding him in place and in fluid motion she slashed him across the chest, her fingers coming to close around an empty fist.

The other three seemed hesitant now, whether they decided to run or stay and fight though, it didn’t matter. She was going to release them. They all came at her at once. She formed the other half of her Swallow again, blocked a kick, a punch, a slash with some object too fast for her eyes to see what it was. Something hit her back and knocked her forward, an attack to her shoulder, she ducked and it went over her head.

Launching herself forward from her crouched position, she backhanded the nearest Fallen with her armour, swung around and kicked the closest one away from her then stabbed the third one through the chest as he charged. Turning to the other two, she quickly dispatched them when they both turned to charge at her. Attaching the two halves of her weapon back together, Ira rolled her injured shoulder and rubbed her fingers along the raised and torn skin. It was bleeding again and she wiped it off with one of the trailing pieces of cloth from her mask before she began journeying deeper into the ruins.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Day 5

Hour 12:13 Time in Purgatory 3hrs 13 minutes

Alignment – Good

Ira stopped as she found herself standing in front of a large, stone structure. There were no damages to its walls and it looked as though in the physical world is may have been a temple or a palace, but it was only still standing because she was in Purgatory. In the physical world it was probably nothing more than a few broken walls like all of the other buildings in this place.

Besides that, it was also where those two stronger souls were residing. She couldn’t tell where, only that they were coming from within. Walking to the entrance, Ira pushed the door aside and found nothing hindering her passage. In the physical world stepping into the shadows of this building would have brought about a relief in the heat, cool air, however Purgatory had no such temperature, one felt neither cold nor hot, an odd experience.

The hallways were narrow, not uncomfortably so but too narrow for her to use her Swallow. She dropped it and let it disappear, she’d summon something when the time came but right now she didn’t feel like carrying it around.

Along the walls were sconces, yet no fire burned within them and as Ira traveled deeper into the temple it grew no darker than it had been the moment she’d entered. An odd fact about Purgatory was there was no such thing as light or dark, Sanctuary was filled with light, supposedly, and Abyss was filled with darkness, Purgatory was in between and had neither of these. Nothing was ever truly light or dark here and almost everything was a shade of grey, except for her. She bore colour, anything living to enter into this place bore colour because it was a sign of life.

Her people did not truly understand all that went on in Purgatory, they were not supposed to, at least not in their minds, they were just there to cleanse it and help along the helpless, Fallen souls.

At the end of the hallway, Ira walked into a single, large room. There was nothing inside of it and she didn’t see an exit out of it either. Backtracking in her mind she had seen no other way to go in the temple, but this didn’t make any sense, she knew the Fallen were in here somewhere but if there was only one large room…where did they do?

”Let’s play a little game…”

Ira stiffened but made no sudden movements. The voice had not come from around her but from within her mind so she closed herself away. She could still here whoever was speaking but they could not read any of her thoughts.

”Closing yourself off? No matter, that’s not what I want, I want to play a little game. The rules are simple, you have to make it through the temple, if you do you get to fight me, if you don’t, well, I guess the only reason you wouldn’t make it was because you were dead, hehehehe. There have been others who tried before you and they all failed, do you think you can make it? It’s not like you really have much of a choice, trap number one.”

The doorway that Ira had just come through closed itself off. The thought of water or sand rushing in here crossed her mind, but she shook it away knowing she’d read The Adventures of Indara Jinse one too many times. Instead panels in the top of the ceiling opened up and four grotesque creatures fell to the floor. Their bodies did not break when they impacted the stone, they only stood up, not straight, only straighter, hunching over on their backs.

Like other Fallen they were a darkened grey almost black but these ones were stronger she could tell just by looking at them. They each carried some type of weapon; one of them even had a sickle for hands. The other three had basic human weapons, sword, axe, two daggers. Their eyes glowed a red colour, their bodies and minds infected greatly with their regrets and probably the regrets of other souls they had destroyed. One had no face, bone showing through, one had long fangs, one was just blackened and the last one was twisted as if beaten too many times.

Normally Fallen like this would not be too much of a problem, but in a closed in room she was a little worried. Of course, she could use her Cast-Off to go back to the physical world at anytime but that would mean she failed her mission and would have to return to the tribe. Or wait a few hours to recover and enter back into Purgatory knowing they were there waiting for her. Neither of those sounded appealing, beating the crap out of these guys and releasing their regrets, now that did.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Ira formed her Swallow without a second thought. This was definitely turning out into something weird, on the few missions she’d been on and even hearing of all the other missions from some of the other Calerian’s she couldn’t recall someone playing ‘games’ with them and trapping them inside temple rooms to watch them fight with Fallen. It was unheard of, sick and twisted, and exactly what a Fallen would do if it had enough power. The scary part was at the end of the temple, if she got through all the traps and whatever else this Fallen had planned for her, she’d be fighting him and then…what about the second one?

No time for thoughts right now, only time for fighting, for quick reactions and split-second decisions.

One wrong move and it could all be over but she wasn’t about to let something like that happen to her.

The Fallen in front of her snarled and one broke away from the others, circling around her. She kept up with the movements, crossing leg over leg, watching it’s every move and also keeping her eyes on the others when she could. Fallen did not play by the rules, while this one distracted her another could attack her from behind and she did not want to get caught unawares.

He took a sudden step forward and her fingers tightened on the leather bindings, but he made no other move. He was taunting her and she didn’t like it. He took another step forward, faked back and then swung at her with his sword. She blocked it with a quick movement of her Swallow, balanced it towards one end, broke her Swallow in half and slashed at him with her free hand. He jumped back in time to avoid it causing any real damage, all she did was graze along his chest and shoulder, missing the hole she had been aiming for.

Once his feet touched the ground he charged, thrusting the business end of his sword at her. She side stepped and turned her body on an angle and he passed right by, sticking her foot out she tripped him, but he did not hit the ground, only stumbled and caught himself. She was getting a little confident of herself when she sensed something behind her, instinctively she moved her weapon diagonally across her back to block anything, like the hard swing of an axe aimed at her spinal cord. Tricky little bastard, but he’d have to do better than that.

The moment the Fallen realized his attacked had been foiled he jumped away from her, then started circling on one side as the Fallen with the sword did the same on the other. Two against one, now things were starting to get interesting.

They both charged her at once. An upwards, diagonal slash from a sword and a downwards diagonal slash from an axe. Ira blocked them both with her weapons, her arm under the axe buckled a little bit though, the thing packed enormous strength. With two hands it wouldn’t be so bad but with one it was a little much. Pushing back against it she had a feeling her strength would lose out before his, so she braced her knees, jumped up, spun around and kicked the axe carrier across the face.

He was sprawling a few feet away whilst the Fallen with the sword came in for another quick attack and was blocked by Ira’s armour covering her left arm. She didn’t know why, but every time they always thought they could penetrate through her armour, most likely because physical armour was of no use in this place but hers wasn’t exactly normal.

With his sword deflecting off it and his body unbalanced, Ira launched into a quick attack and thrust her blade into his chest, he didn’t have enough time to react and it passed right into the dark hole. A look of shock went over his face before he disappeared and she turned back in time to be kicked in the head and sent sprawling to the ground. Her vision blurred then blackened and she had to shake herself repeatedly to stay conscious. The ceiling above her was moving in an odd circling pattern and the ground felt like it was shifting, not to mention the fact that she felt very heavy and she just wanted to go to sleep…

Ira shook herself again as a blurred figure appeared above her and she rolled out of the way just in time to miss her head getting cut off by a powerful swing from the axe wielding freak who was probably the one who kicked her in the head. They never played fair.

Getting up onto her hands and knees, Ira touched the already swollen and tender area above her temple. There was a small cut on it and it was bleeding down the side of her face.

He was going to pay for that.

”What’s wrong little warrior, too strong for you?”

Ira didn’t bother acknowledging the presence with an answer, it was only there to anger her and cloud her judgement. She couldn’t afford that right now, one down, three more to go.

Wiping the blood from her face, Ira motioned for the Fallen with the axe to come get her. He responded immediately, charging her, he made a slash for her head, which Ira crouched down to avoid, she was about to attack his legs when she realized he hadn’t stopped his momentum and was turning his axe back around to cut at her from underneath. She back flipped away from the blade, her foot connecting with the underside of his chin as she did so. Once she was back on her feet, she charged, a quick attack to his arm, which he blocked with his axe, a second attack with the other half of her Swallow, which he surprised her by blocking with his hand.

The black liquid that one could call blood welled up from the wound, then streamed down his arm. She backed up and tried to tug the weapon free but he wouldn’t let go of it. Instead he attempted to slice open her stomach, but she released her weapon and blocked it with her armguard. It left him open and quickly forming a sword in her hand, Ira thrust the end into his chest, releasing him from his regrets and carrying on their burden to her.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Turning the sword back into the other half of her Swallow, Ira dropped down to the ground as the sickle-armed Fallen slashed at her last position. Spinning her body around, she kicked out his legs then attempted to stab him in the chest only to have him roll away from her and her blade hit stone, vibrating up and down her arm and through her muscles. She hated that feeling, it tingled and hurt at the same time like when you smacked your funny bone against something. It wasn’t at all funny.

Standing up, Ira was forced to block another attack from the Fallen, he was quicker then the other two had been. His sickle impacted on her weapon and vibrated down the length of it, she twisted her arm around locking his arm in place and then applied a quick pressure to his elbow and listened as the pop signified she’d ripped it out of place. Still holding the arm, she swung her blade in for a quick finish on the Fallen only to have it blocked by the other Fallen, his small dagger holding back her larger blade and his free hand coming in for a blow to her stomach.

Letting go of the arm, Ira twisted away from the attack, which bounced off her armguard and continued to slice up to her upper arm. The wound wasn’t deep but it was annoying. First her shoulder and now her upper arm, this was going to start hindering her performance in two handed combat.

The Fallen snickered at her, as if they were winning, as if they had the upper hand. It humoured her, she had a lot more fight in her and a lot more endurance, she wasn’t about to just roll over and die. That wouldn’t be much fun and she couldn’t complete her mission either. Ira only shook her head at the Fallen and chuckled. Ignorance was bliss…to the ignorant.

Someone else besides her would have said something cocky and arrogant after watching their enemy so blissfully decide this battle was in the hat, but she wasn’t like that. Talking during a battle was for those who couldn’t say what was on their minds with their sword; in other terms they had not the skill to use it. Besides, anything she said to these two would fall upon deaf ears; they wouldn’t listen to her or believe her no matter what she told them.

Charging at the two of them, Ira faked an attack then jumped up into the air, flipping over their heads and turning her body around so that when she landed she was still facing them. Slashing at both of them at the same time, Ira was not surprised when both of her weapons were blocked. The Fallen with the daggers made for a quick attack on her stomach, she adjusted her position and all he hit was her armour. Letting go of her weapons, Ira crouched down and formed two throwing knives in her hands, which she quickly threw at the Fallen. The one hit its mark, however her aim from her left was slightly off and imbedded itself a few centimetres short of the hole. Forming a sword in her hand, Ira slashed upwards taking the Fallen’s arm off with one swing and coming down for another, slicing straight through his chest.

The time for games was over. She wanted to end this charade and fight her real target, her real enemy. The Fallen that made this sick joke.

Straightening herself, Ira changed the sword into a half Swallow piece then formed the other one again in her hand. The more she did it the easier it was, soon she wouldn’t even notice the thought crossing her mind anymore.

Before she could react, the ground beneath her disappeared as if it had never been there and Ira found herself falling towards a bottom she couldn’t see. Grey walls were passing by her and growing faster until the lines that separated the stone became a blur in her vision. Not wanting to wait to find out what was at the bottom of this long drop, Ira looked around her for something, for anything she could grab onto but all she could see was smooth stone. Thinking fast, Ira stabbed the end of her Swallow in the stone, but it only deflected off, she tried again but it didn’t work either. She needed to put more force into it. The Swallow halves disappeared and Ira formed a crossbow on her arm, easier then trying to fire a regular bow while falling most likely to her death. Ira shot the arrow into the wall, pleased to see it didn’t bounce off but imbedded itself within the stone, after a few feet of falling the rope attached to the end of the arrow and the crossbow pulled tight and snapped her arm up, pulling the muscles throughout her arm and her side into a tight knotted position.

Her right arm crashed against the stone wall too, luckily the armour protected it but she still felt like a sack thrown rather carelessly around, although looking down the less then twenty feet she had to travel, well, feeling like a discarded sack was better than feeling like a person imbedded upon wooden spikes.

”Hahahaha! What fun! Trap number one and trap number two completed. Very entertaining. Would you like to move on to trap number three now?”

Ira didn’t respond.

”You know, the silent act is beginning to get rather annoying, it’s not going to hurt you to say something is it?”

She didn’t bother responding to that either.

At the sound of stone grinding upon stone, Ira looked down expecting to see the spikes being covered up by the floor, instead what she saw was the walls of the room slowly moving in to crush her. Bastard!

”See how you like this trap then!”

This was definitely not good. Falling at an extreme rate to her death, that she could handle, fighting off four Fallen, that she could definitely handle, stopping two walls slowly moving closer together from crushing her…she wasn’t too sure of this one.

Glancing around, Ira saw nothing that would help her and she could think of nothing the Serenna Crystal could form that would help much in this situation either. Panic was rising to the forefront of her mind, but she shook it away and breathed deeply, slowly, knowing that panic was always the downfall. If worse came to worse she could use Cast-Off and be out of this place in a second without being turned into a pancake.

Looking down, Ira saw the one hint given to figure out the trap. Smirking, she released the cord, the crossbow disappeared and her Swallow returned to her. Falling down the rest of the way, Ira passed directly through the wooden spikes without one scratch on her, then landed in a crouched position on more stone floor.

”Excellent, excellent! Didn’t think you’d get that one, that the spikes were an illusion, well done, well done!”

It was obvious they were an illusion when the walls closed in on them and instead of buckling and breaking they just disappeared. Of course, someone panicking might not take notice of that.

”Ready for number four?”

[Iriah Caitrak]

OOC: Side note to the moderate who judges this, I’m skipping through the rest of the traps laid out in the temple, not because I’m lazy but because there is no great point in explaining them in detail. They’re there and she’s obviously going to get through them, going into detail about them is a waste of time.

Day 5

Hour 15:43 Time in Purgatory 5hrs 43 minutes

Alignment – Good

Ira glanced down at the Irenian Crystal, the small red dot in the centre of it had grown slightly in size since her arrival here. Noted and to be expected. She had been here for quite some time and had released a number of Fallen; she was actually surprised the evil hadn’t spread further throughout the crystal, further throughout her body. Then again her ‘alignment was stronger then most’ as Gereint had told her and as she kept telling herself. Though she was spending a lot of time in Purgatory for this one trip she had nothing to fear, the evil was not about to consume her anytime soon.

She also had nothing to fear about any more traps. She’d already escaped out of a ‘airtight room’ filling with water, an ‘airtight room’ filling with sand, spikes that shot out of the wall at her, rolling boulders, poisonous snakes and where someone got those in Purgatory she’d never know. Ira really was beginning to feel like she was trapped in one of those adventuring books she’d come to love so much when she was younger. These traps were just as cheesy as the ones there too, honestly, a boulder? There were far easier ways to kill a person, ones that would definitely exceed. It was as if the guy was just throwing out these random dumb ideas for no reason other than to watch her run around like a chicken with its head cut-off.

Annoyance.

After the boulder, the Fallen had spoken to her again saying that she’d passed all the traps, all she had to do now was find him. That was easier said and done, she’d been wandering around these corridors for over twenty minutes and everything looked the same as the last place. She knew she was getting somewhere she was just starting to get a little impatient after almost being flattened a number of different times. She had a right to be edgy and annoyed, this Fallen was really starting to piss her off.

”Having a hard time finding me? Here, I’ll help you, turn right at the fork up ahead.”

She turned left instead, she didn’t listen to a word he said to her, nor did she trust anything that came out of his mouth…or into her head.

”Hmmm, don’t want any help, well that’s just fine then.”

Yep, fine all right, if only he’d take the hint and stop talking!

At the next junction, Ira turned right, then left and left again. The presence of the two Fallen were starting to get closer and closer, oddly enough the second one hadn’t said a word to her it was just the one talking and playing out this thing.

”You’re getting colder.”

No she wasn’t, she was getting warmer. She almost wanted to shout, ‘I can sense you, you ass wipe!’ but didn’t want to give it up. Neither of them seemed to know that Calerian’s could sense Fallen souls, or pretty much any soul for that matter and that was fine by her. They could stay oblivious until she stabbed them through the chest and ended their misery.

Walking further down the hallway, Ira noticed a doorway up ahead instead of another tunnel and another turning point. The room they were hiding away in? Hopefully, she couldn’t take much more of this blindly wandering around crap.

Ira didn’t bother to pause in the doorway; she just strolled on in as their invited guest. Once inside, the sight before her didn’t do much to shock—after all she’d just spent her afternoon meandering through hidden traps—two grotesque Fallen’s of a kind she’d never seen before wouldn’t bother her. Even if one of them was staring into a mirror of water in which her reflection and every action she took was playing back at him.

”They know magic? Makes sense considering all the traps but for some reason I wasn’t expecting it…”

“Oh, the little lost sheep has finally made it!”

The one Fallen staring into the liquid mirror squealed with delight upon her entrance into the room. His body was mostly like any other Fallen, except, he had a white mask covering his face, large glowing red eyes appearing from behind it, lines running down from what would be the pupils and a large gapping mouth with about four sets of teeth disappearing back. She’d never seen anything like it before, she’d never even heard of Fallen whose faces were covered with masks like these. The other Fallen was the same, only his bore different features, slanted eyes, slanted mouth, his mask would seem sad if it weren’t for the large, scary looking fangs protruding out of his mouth.

“Look, look, she’s here, Metran!”

His mouth didn’t move when he talked, in fact nothing on the mask itself seemed to move.

The Fallen called Metran didn’t respond, he didn’t seem that interested in her, which means that the one looking into the liquid mirror had been the Fallen playing her like his little puppet this whole time.

“Just hurry up and kill her, Artas, and collect her crystal.”

”My crystal? But why and for that matter…which one, I carry two.”

“You definitely know how to take the fun out of something.” Artas said.

“You’ve had enough fun toying with her as it is, especially when you could have easily killed her, just hurry up and get it over with.”

The one called Artas sighed over dramatically, “Fine!”

Ira tensed, her Swallow appeared in her right hand and she braced herself for an attack.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Ira’s boot slid against the stone floor, pebbles and sand grinding against unrelenting stone and the softer underside of her sole. Her fingers tightly coiled around the leather strapping of her Swallow, and her eyes riveted to the two Fallen in front of her. Artas seemed greatly amused with this whole interaction, he grinned and tensed his arms and before her eyes Ira watched two large blades cut back the skin and protrude from his forearms.

”Impossible…

Should she really be that surprised about anything at this point in time? Still, what the hell were these souls, they didn’t act like Fallen, they didn’t look like Fallen…and they had powers no Fallen should.

Without warning Artas charged her, when he slashed down at her position, Ira simply blocked, pushed him back and flipped over his head, landing on her feet with her back to him she spun around preparing to cut off his head, only to have her blade blocked by one of his. She narrowed her eyes and he smiled back before attempting to take her head from her shoulders almost in the same way she had moments before. Ira flipped her Swallow around and blocked it, only to have to quickly block another attack from his other arm. Realizing the folly in her choice of weapons, she split her Swallow in half.

Blocking attack after attack from him, Ira was beginning to tire a little, he was fast and he was relentless. His attacks never slowed and he never stopped. He also left almost no room for her to counterattack, once done blocking one attack he would quickly move in for another to distract her and try again. Eventually she was going to grow too tired and he was going to get the advantage.

Ira blocked another attack only to have herself kicked in the stomach, the blow knocking the wind out of her and sending her sprawling backwards, her back never touched the ground though. She recovered and used the momentum to turn it into a back flip, her hands touching the ground then propelling her backwards and onto her feet again. Once they touched the ground she charged, moving from defensive into offensive, trying to get some kind of advantage over this Fallen.

Her attacks her blocked and he kept launching more at her, trying to drive her back into the defensive, but she kept at it until he found an opening and ducked out of one of her attacks, then tried to cut off one of her legs. Ira jumped up, narrowly missing the attack but turning her blade downwards as she went, stabbing it through his shoulder blade. The Fallen let out a horrendous cry that pierced her ears, it almost sounded like some kind of animal. It vibrated off the walls in the room, bouncing around after he’d already spent the air in his lungs.

Holding the blade in his shoulder Ira went in for a quick finish on him only to have him disappear. The pressure on her weapon forced it to hit the ground and bounce off. Stunned, Ira looked around and saw nothing, then quickly spun behind her to watch Artas thrust one of his blades towards her stomach. No time, no time, she starting turned to the side, but it was too late, the blade cut deeply into the flesh of her side.

Crying out, Ira looked passed the pain and flipped her Swallow half around in her hand, thrusting the blade likewise in Artas’s side before releasing the handle and jumping backwards, pulling his blade from her wound at the same time.

Her hand covered the wound, as Artas cried out again blood seeped through his fingers, sticky, thick and coming out rather quickly. Breathing hurt, moving hurt, everything moved the skin in that area sending fresh waves of pain to an already raw area.

“Foolish Calerian.”

Ira glared at the Fallen.

“Did you really think that you could beat me and send me off to your precious ‘Heaven’.” He spat the word, mocking a place of refuge after a long road of suffering for many, “You’ve never even seen Heaven, have you? You don’t even know if it exists.”

Ira chuckled, “Oh, I know it exists, however I wasn’t going to send you to Heaven, I was going to send you to Hell!”

“Ha! As if you could, you stand before me bleeding, you life flowing through your very fingers. Soon, you will be the one going to ‘Heaven’.”

“Yeah, you and what army?”

Ira mocked him even knowing he was partially right. She was inexperienced and was wounded rather easily by him, but then again, he had disappeared before her eyes. She wasn’t ready for something like that and it had taken her a moment to feel him behind her, foolishness, she should have known he would have appeared behind her. It was the best way to attack your enemy, and the most cowardly.

The Fallen growled, “Hand over your crystal and I might let you live.”

“As if I would trust the words of a Fallen. You can have my crystal, over my dead body!”

He laughed and held out his hand. A light flashed through the room and where nothing had been before a necklace with three Irenian Crystals on it appeared, “You Calerian’s are so predictable. You all say the same thing when the end is near.”

”No! It’s not possible! How could he have killed Calerian’s, three of them, how?”

Ira let out an anguished cry. Her hand released her wound and the other half of her Swallowed appeared in it again. She charged and attacked Artas, he blocked, dodged, and blocked again, then swung back at her and hit her in the arm, cutting through that flesh as well. She ignored the pain, pain was nothing when a Fallen was holding the crystals of three of her brothers or sisters before her and she was going to fight with everything she had in her to get those back.

“It’s useless, you can’t defeat me, Calerian!”

Artas laughed at her again, enjoying the torment. He disappeared again then reappeared behind her, the trick was already old and Ira dropped down to the floor to avoid it. Artas was surprised she dodged but his moves were simple, he didn’t seem to come up with anything new, just sticking to what he thought worked.

She kicked out his legs, then spun around to stab him through the hole in his chest but he disappeared again. Standing up, Ira watched him appear again before her. She charged him and attacked, he blocked, then went in for a counterattack to her stomach, she dodged it and slashed at his arm, hitting her target.

“Not as arrogant as you were a few minutes ago, now are you?”
Artas snarled at her, he was getting angry which was exactly what she wanted. The angrier he was the stupider he was and the easier it would be to defeat him. He slashed at her head and she ducked down, countering with a slap to his face with the flat side of her blade, then she came in with the other hand and stabbed him in the darkness of his chest.

“No…”

[Iriah Caitrak]

Pain shot through Ira’s chest as she fell to her knees, releasing her weapon. Black strings of darkness began to seep out of the corners and crevasses in the room, falling from the ceiling and onto Artas, when they touched him his already darkened skin began to melt away. Ira’s hand shot to her breastplate, covering the Irenian crystal, nails scraping against metal as if to claw out the unrelenting pain. Pink tissue, muscle and tendons began to show on Artas, his cries echoing throughout the room as it all melted away revealing white bones, white jaw, white teeth, empty eye sockets.

The pain began to spread to her skull, throbbing, it felt like it was tearing through every part of her mind and laying it open. Ira’s hand moved from her chest to her head, the fingers pressing against the skin, nails ripping into the scalp, she couldn’t feel it. She could only feel the corruption motion through her mind as her Irenian crystal began glowing bright red. She fell to her back letting out a strangled cry through a locked jaw as images of dead, dying and tortured poured through her mind, they were too fast to be anything but a blur of faces and blood and screams.

Screams mixed with the last cry of Artas in her mind, his skin melted from his body, a black hole began to form beneath him and as he tried to move away the strings of darkness attached themselves to his arms and legs, pulling him down into Abyss. Even after the hole closed itself the images continued to flash through her mind, she couldn’t control them, she tried to push them away and it was like having double vision. She could see the stone ceiling of the temple above her, but she could also see…something else, she didn’t want to go there, she didn’t want to see anymore.

Rolling over onto her stomach took more effort than it should have. Blinding pain shot through her skull, she was aware somewhere in the recesses of her mind that other parts of her body hurt as well, but this corruption was so consuming she could barely focus on anything else.

“Poor little Calerian…”

There was a face floating above her, somewhere, it was talking to her and the sound echoed around in her mind.

His foot pressed down against her breastplate, a slight pressure, she felt it…she knew it was there.

“It seems like someone couldn’t handle all the evil within one little soul, but then again…Artas had been with me for over three hundred years, no wonder you’ve been completely corrupted, but I bet you can still understand me.”

She could and it was maddening not being able to do something. She was sure she was trying to stand up; perhaps the pressure of his foot was keeping her down.

“You don’t even know what the Irenian Crystal is capable of, do you? You just use it for some ‘protection’ in this place between Hell and Heaven, don’t you? But it does so much more, much more than you’ll ever know.”

The pressure on her breastplate eased up, only to have a vicious pain explain from her side and send her rolling across the stone, stopping on her stomach, breathing dust and dirt into her lungs and coughing. Ira had to resist the urge to curl up into a fetal position. Instead, she slowly pushed herself up off the ground and onto her hands and knees.

“Who said you could stand up, Calerian bitch!”

Another kick to her side sent her sliding across the ground, coughing. There was a wound on her side and she could feel fresh flesh ripped open, the wetness spreading. She was getting sick of being kicked around like a little rag doll but she couldn’t find the strength to do much of anything besides lay there wondering when the pain would go away. Was this all corruption was, blinding pain? She heard stories that it drove a person crazy and that they became nothing more than a mindless killer, few ever could be saved from it. Was it the pain that drove the person mad? She could believe, a few more minutes of this and Ira wasn’t sure how sane she could stay.

He sighed, “Still, I can’t believe you were actually able to kill Artas, true he wasn’t as strong as I am but he was still rather powerful and you, I can tell are inexperienced. Yet you were able to kill him, you were able to see right through his moves and predict him…oh well, no use in dwelling on it, I don’t really care either way I just want your crystal.”

He walked over to her and nudged her with his foot, rolling her onto her back. He reached down and as his fingers brushed against her crystal, a protective force of magic shot back at him, electrifying him from his fingertips up his arm. Ira didn’t know how, but in that moment she found strength to kick out his legs then kick him in the side of the head once he hit the ground. Scrambling onto her hands and knee, she raced over and grasped one of the fallen Irenian Crystals in her hand only to be blasted in the back by some kind of magic, her armour shattering upon it’s impact, metal shards disappearing into nothing as the Irenian Crystal stayed with her, forming the silver-linked necklace.

She flew through the air, heading face first for the opposite wall, but before she hit it she used her Cast-Off and watched as everything froze and the Plane of Purgatory melted away, replaced by the Physical World. When she appeared in the Physical World, Ira went tumbling into a pile of sand then lay motionless on her side.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Day 5

Hour 19:33 Total time in Purgatory 8hrs 23 minutes

Alignment – Corrupted


Ira didn’t know how long she’d been lying in the sand for, she didn’t really care either. Using Cast-Off to enter Purgatory had immediately repaired any damage to the dimensional planes, meaning none of the Fallen could break through to the Physical World anytime soon. She could lay there and recover for as long as she wanted, but the pain wasn’t going away. It was easier to look past it now and focus on the real world, perhaps she was just getting used to it, but it wasn’t subsiding and no matter how many times she tried she couldn’t find the strength to enter her soul and purge the corruption within her. She’d have to get back to the tribe; she would need Gereint’s help.

Looking around, Ira wasn’t really sure where she’d been spit out from Purgatory, only that she wasn’t in the Ruins of Kesta any longer, it looked like she’d come out slightly north of them, meaning she was that much closer to the tribe, to her people and to help. It was still most likely a three or four day walk from where she was though and she wasn’t sure if she could make it. Her side was ripped open, a few of her ribs felt bruised or even broken, her right arm was all cut up and breathing was a chore all on it’s own. But, she had to, she didn’t want to die out here in this forsaken landscape, she didn’t really want to die at all.

Stumbling to her feet, Ira’s vision blurred for a moment almost to blackness, but she fought off unconsciousness. She was going to make it, no matter what and no matter how far she had to walk. The sun was beginning to set off into the distance, walking back through the night would be easier than during the day with the heat pressing down upon her.

The night and day blurred together as Ira walked through the desert and wasted lands of Fallien, dried grasses and dried soil, cracks in earth that went on forever. She only stopped when her body collapsed and forced her to. Night came back into day and she kept walking, looking through all the images in her head and towards the horizon as the sun beat down upon her and created illusions off in the distance. Even in her state she wasn’t stupid and she wasn’t going to fall for it, she’d grown up here.

She wasn’t sure how much farther she’d walked, but eventually her legs could carry her no longer and she collapsed into the sand for a final time, closing her eyes and wondering what death really felt like.


--------------------

Ira never got to experience death, instead she found herself in the comforts of her home back in the tribe. She was clean, dressed, her wounds were dressed and there was a light blanket covering her. The next thing she noticed was the lack of pain. She had a slight headache but the blinding pain from before, it wasn’t there anymore. Her side and her ribs were still sore and when she tried to sit up she quickly gave up and flopped back down into the softness of her bed.

How the heck did she get here? She knew she’d been making her way through the desert, but at most she could have only made it halfway to the village before she collapsed.

“Glad to see you with us again.”

Ira looked up to watch Gereint push back the curtain and all the dangling beads that divided her bedroom from her living room. He was smiling at her and behind entered Revor, he generally looked happy to see her awake, which almost blew her away. And what the heck was he doing in her house?

“I know you must be very confused right about now, Ira…”

He was right there, she was. By all right she should be dead right now.

Revor grabbed a chair from her desk and placed it by her bed, which Gereint quickly sat down in.

“The fact was, I started getting a bad feeling a few days into your mission and it didn’t go away, so being the cautious person that I was, I sent out Revor and a few of our younger Calerian’s to go in search of you. They found you a day’s walk out in the desert in a fever of pain and quickly brought you back to the tribe. I-I’m not sure myself what was really wrong with you, by all rights you’d been completely corrupted by the evil you’d absorbed, yet you showed no violent tendencies, instead you seemed to be in a state of immense pain.

“I tried to go into your soul to help you purge the corruption but there was some kind of force keeping me out, so the only thing we could do was nurse your physical wounds and hope you were able to recover on your own. You’ve been unconscious now for four days, just when I came in this morning I noticed that your crystal had returned to normal.”

Ira tried to sit up again and Revor came over to help her, she didn’t like being in such a state in front of someone who classified himself as her rival but he’d already seen her at her worst apparently, especially if he’d been the one who saved her.

“Thank you…” Ira said as she leaned back against the headboard, meaning it for more than just helping her up.

“No problem.” He smirked, the little bastard.

Gereint cleared his throat, “Ira, do you remember anything during your unconscious state?”

Ira closed her eyes and tried to remember, however they only thing that came her to mind was the pain.

She opened her eyes again, “No.”

Gereint nodded, “I didn’t think you would.”

Ira’s hand came up and closed around her Irenian Crystal and with the familiar weight of it in her palm it was then that she remember.

“Oh, the other crystal!”

“You mean this?” Revor ask as he stretched forth his hand and placed the crystal in hers.

“Yeah…”

She looked at the shimmering blue crystal, so much like hers, just a little bit smaller and of a slightly different shape. No two crystals were ever the same.

“How did you get it?” Revor asked.

“I…”

“Don’t speak, Ira, just let me see it.” Gereint said.

So Ira opened up her mind to the shaman and let him see the images of what happened to her from the beginning right to the end.

“I see…”

“Yeah…”

[Iriah Caitrak]

Later that night, Ira sat on one of the large rocks on the outskirts of the town starring up into a starry night. Looking out into the vastness of the night sky reminded Ira that she was just a small spec in a larger grand order of things and that her problems might seem miniscule to someone else in Fallien, or even Althanas who was going through something even worse.

Still, that didn’t make her feel better. The million blinking lights in the night sky didn’t make her feel better either. They used to comfort her on lonely nights but there wasn’t anything there for her now, just what lay beyond this planet.

Grasping the chains of her necklaces, Ira looked at the three crystals in her open palm, two of them were Calerian crystals, one was hers and one was…someone else’s, someone who hadn’t been powerful enough to keep a hold of it. The third was a gift from a little girl, a gift she probably should not have accepted, in fact, Ira was unsure why she had but, well, it was too late to do anything about it now. She shouldn’t have regrets about it or doubts. That little girl and her brother were probably happily reunited with their family in Sanctuary.

A light breeze swept across her, blowing the short strands of her hair around and ruffling her clothes. The nights were cool in the desert and she could feel goose bumps forming on her bare arms and a shiver snaked it way down her back.

“Want some company?”

Ira turned around and looked down to find Revor standing a few feet away from her rock. His eyes were glowing a light blue in the darkness and unlike her; his hair was also a light blue colour. The ability to change ones eye colour came with being a Calerian, and an odd hair colour as well though Ira really had no idea why. Revor was good looking, in a rough kind of way, none of those boyishly cute looks that some of the other women in the tribe fancied. He looked like a warrior and his hands were probably callused like one too.

“If you want.” Ira said.

He climbed up on the rock next to hers and sat down, glancing up at the stars as he did.

“It’s a beautiful night…”

Ira nodded her head.

“How are you feeling?”

She could see him watching her out of the corner of her eyes, but she just leaned back on her forearms and kept her eyes to the stars, “Alright I guess, my side still hurts but I’m up and moving aren’t I?”

“Yeah…you know, when I found you out in the desert it…it kind of scared me. I thought you were dead or something and one of the first thoughts that came to my mind was ‘damn, how am I supposed to beat her now?’”

He laughed and Ira laughed with him.

“Seriously though, it also made me realize how stupid our rivalry is, we have no reason to be going at each other like we do.”

“Other than to prove who’s better.” Ira smirked and Revor laughed.

“So…what’s up with the other Irenian Crystal?”

Ira’s smirk faded and she looked back to the stars again. She wished he hadn’t asked that question, for the first time in hours her mind had been away from the crystals and what she’d gone through. She couldn’t really blame him though; the only reason a Calerian would give up their crystal would be if they were dead.

“Two Fallen had them…” She stopped and figured she should probably start from the beginning, “The cleansing started off rather normal, there were souls in the ruins, they’d already broken through to our plane, so I travelled to Purgatory and brought them back with me. I did the whole thing, you know, trying to convince them that there was more out there than…Purgatory…”

“How’d you get the other crystal, the one that’s not Calerian?”

Ira looked from him to the third crystal resting against the top of her breasts, “A little girl gave it to me before she went to Sanctuary with her brother. Apparently it was some kind of family heirloom and she wanted me to have it, can’t think why though…”

Glancing at him, Ira found Revor looking rather intently at her chest.

“Hey, keep your eyes where they belong!”

He put his hand up rather defensively, “I swear I was just looking at the crystal.”

Ira gave him a mock glare.

“But really,” He started, “Taking something from a soul…”

“I know, we have to be careful of what the dead give us…but I couldn’t see the harm in a necklace from a little girl. Anyway, during the cleansing I came across a Temple in the ruins and I could sense two powerful souls inside, so I went in and soon found myself trapped in a series of bizarre games one of them was playing with me. Honestly, I though I was in one of those horrible novels we used to read as children.

“After nearly being squashed a few times, falling to my death, and drowning, I made it through his game to find the two of them in a room waiting for me. Apparently they wanted my crystal and they had three others with them…all of them they said they’d taken from other Calerian’s and you know what that means…”

“No Calerian gives up their crystal while they’re still breathing…” Revor murmured.

Ira nodded her head and sighed, “I got the crap beat out of me by the one called Artas, but… the second one, he was so strong, I didn’t stand a chance. When I went to get the crystals he hit me with some kind of magic attack, it shattered my armour, but I was able to snatch the one crystal before I got out of there. Oh, yeah, and to make matters worse, slaying Artas was what corrupted me so the entire time Metran was attacking me I couldn’t even muster the strength to fight back. The corruption was unbearable…I never want to go through that again.”

Revor nodded, “I’d like to say I know how you feel, but I really don’t.” He wrapped his fingers around the crystal resting against his chest, which had a small tint of red to it, “And Gereint said your corruption was different than others that he’d seen.”

“I know…”

“I’m sorry, I’m probably not doing anything to help asking all these questions…”

Ira gave him a light smile, “It’s alright, its all floating around in my head anyway.”

“Hey, I’ve got an idea, let’s spar, maybe while you’re injured I’ll be able to kick your ass in!”

Ira looked over at him and laughed, then jumped down from the rock she was sitting on, “You’re on!”

“I’m not going to hold anything back!” Revor said as he formed the two short swords he was so fond of using.

[Iriah Caitrak]

Ira paused in the doorway of the shaman’s tent. Behind her, the flap of cloth covered the portal leading to the outside world and cut off the light, leaving her eyes to adjust to the darkness and once again see the welcome light from the room further up ahead. She dragged her boots along the rug by the entrance, removing any sand and dirt and was struck with the sudden irony that her whole precarious position, everything had started out just this same way.

Somehow…she’d come full circle. Not but a few days longer than a week ago she’d done this very same thing in this very same little hallway. How ironic and how sad, it wasn’t the same moving through here now. Being corrupted could change a person and Ira had yet to see the full effects of what her corruption had truly done to her but she still felt…different.

Breathing deeply, Ira walked into the middle room and sat down across the fire from Gereint, who looked as he always looked and who watched her with eyes that never saw her.

“How are you this morning?” he asked.

“Better, though I little sorer, if that makes sense. Revor and I sparred last night and he gave me quit the beating, though I doubt he’s in any more comfort than I am this morning.”

Gereint laughed and smiled, “I’m glad to hear it, it must have helped clear your mind.”

Ira nodded, “It did.”

Gereint sighed, “I was hoping you would change your mind, but it seems you haven’t.”

“You knew…?”

His laugh was a little bitter, “You forget I’m a shaman and I always know your thoughts. Since last night you’ve been thinking of leaving the tribe and journeying out in Althanas, haven’t you?”

“Crazy old man, I told you to stay out of my head!”

“And I told you I’m not an old man!”

Gereint snorted and they both laughed.

“You’re right though, I do wish to travel outside of Fallien. There’s so much more out there, Gereint and I just feel…”

“You feel isolated from the tribe after what has happened to you.”

Ira nodded her head, glad that someone understood her.

“Yet, you still seem comfortable around Revor or should I say, he still feels comfortable around you. The isolation isn’t one sided, though the people in the tribe will never say anything against you or do you harm you can feel that they look at you differently knowing you’ve been completely corrupted.”

“They know of what Calerian’s go through and the risk involved, yet when one is corrupted they fear it?”

“They fear it because they do not fully comprehend it, yes Calerian’s are part of the tribe and they will continue to respect you but they do not fully understand the corruption, some think you will go mad at any moment no matter how many times I say against this.”

No one had said anything hurtful to her since she had returned but they looked at her differently, not all of them, but enough to make her uncomfortable. How could she stay in her home when it felt like some people did not want her here?

“I understand, Ira, I just wish it weren’t so. I want you to stay here…”

“I need to leave,” Ira said slowly, “I need to see the world, maybe when I get back things will be different.”

Gereint nodded and tossed Ira a leather bag with her pay from her last mission, she grabbed it and stood up to leave.

“We live in the country of Fallien, which we may as well call A Place of the Fallen, with a civilization now Fallen and a race who can hear their Fallen cries.”

Gereint’s head quirked slightly to the side, “How poetic, thinking of changing your job, Ira?”

“No, just speaking my mind…just speaking the truth.”

Gereint nodded but said no more and Ira left the tent, the bright sun blinding her eyes as she took her first step back outside. She made her way through the village of tan coloured tents and people going about their daily routines to her tent near the outskirts. Making her way inside provided relief from the sun. Having decided to leave Fallien was what one could call the easy part, now she had to travel to the city and find someone who was willing to let her on board their ship and just take her wherever, Corone, Alerar…any of the other countries would be fine. She had no specific destination.

“Thought you could slip away without saying goodbye to me?”

Ira spun around to find Revor leaning against the wooden post supporting her doorframe. He was looking as smug and arrogant as usual.

“How did you know?”

He smirked, “Gereint told me on the mind link.”

“That old bastard should learn to mind his own business…”

Ira shoved some clothes into her rucksack, some dried food, flints, she was just grabbing things and throwing them in while Revor quietly watched her.

“You coming back?” He asked.

“Maybe…eventually. Perhaps you should think about journeying into the big wide world.”

“Nah, I like Fallien too much right now, I suppose I will someday.”

Ira stood straight and looked over at him, “and I suppose someday you’ll actually be able to beat me, how are your ribs?”

Revor laughed and rubbed his side where she’d kicked him pretty hard last night, “They don’t hurt one bit, when you get back you’ll have to try harder.”

She chuckled, “No problem, when I get back then…”

She held out her hand and Revor grasped it tightly, holding on for longer then he should before letting go and then leaving her home. Leaving Ira to take one last look around the place, perhaps the final time she’ll ever see it.



OOC: I'll leave the amount that Ira gets paid up to the mod.

[Bohemia]

Ruins of Regret


Introduction - 4: You started off slow, unfortunately, but it got better as it went on. The end of it felt rushed, and while it gave me the details needed, I felt a little disappointed.

Setting - 6: I liked how you described Purgatory, and interacted with the traps past the common "I jump over them".

Strategy - 6: Mostly just standard hack and slash, which is to be expected this early on. I liked the weapons variations though, and how you used one to escape the pit.

Writing Style - 6: Your rustiness is showing! No, I'm screwing with you :p. For the most part, you have a good style that you keep consistent with, though I've caught a few missing commas and misplaced apostrophes, but not enough to severely hurt the flow of it.

Rising Action - 6.5: I'm a little interested now to find out if Artas and Metran really were Fallen, considering how you originally described them. Anyways, the advent of two new enemies worked well, and the duel with Artas was enjoyable. His death sounded pretty sweet, too.

Dialogue - 4: Kind of...just there. Passable. Artas' dialogue was the usual villain stuff. "You cannot defeat me!" is unfortunately old and tired, though I use it too...heh heh. The swarming pleas of the spirits when she first arrived, though, netted you a point.

Climax - 6.5: Once again; I like the detail of Artas death itself, and how Ira was corrupted.

Character - 5: I like the basis of the Calerians, it reminds me of a certain slayer family. Plus, purple hair. Purple!

Conclusion - 5: I liked the fact that Ira isn't just some other young kid wandering Althanas and almost knows Althanas like the back of her hand. Her decision to leave, I enjoyed.

Wild Card - 6: The Adventures of Indara Jinse? I wonder where that came from.

Total Score: 55

Ira Shinkara receives 450 exp, the second Irenian Crystal, the other necklace given to her by the little girl's spirit, 300 gold.

[Thoracis]

Rewards Added!