Of Wolves and Men: Canen v.s Kaiserin

[Falcon Darkflight]

In the mountains, between the deserts of Alerar to the east and the plains to the west, wolves were long extinct. The visitations at the entrance to the wide mountain cavern, known to most wandering nomads as "The Archimes Tunnels", seemed to have the otherworldly quality of an apparition or hallucination. When, on closer examination, Canen realised that these beasts were coyotes their behaviour seemed no less remarkable than when he had mistaken them for the larger creatures of folklore and fairytale. As much as anything, their silence defined their strangeness. In the thrill of a hunt, the coyotes cried with excitement, quite a chilling sound to listen to and more so in the dead of night. Unlike most wolves, coyotes will hunt alone. When they do join in packs, they spread out and do not seem as dependant on one another as wolves would.

Yet here, in the centre of this moisture soaked entrance to what appeared to be a disused mine shaft, Canen had sat for three hours observing a different story. The individualism part of their species' persona seemed to have faded in his presence. They gathered flank-to-flank, shoulder-to-shoulder, no less communal than domesticated hounds in the fact they seemed nervous and sought constant reassurance from one another. Noticing the pale-fleshed Nocturn observing their behaviour, they neither shied away from nor reacted aggressively towards their 'guest', but simply accepted his presence and turned away to line out across the entrance of the cave to catch the shadows of night in a fashion that a trusted household pet would do so.

He smiled. The thin black painted lips turned up at the corners as he imagined what it would be like to live life depending on others for food, for shelter. For survival. Canen had always been taught the basic methods by Ardemis in a fashion that disapproved of outside aid, mostly on the principle that if those beside you were killed, you must always be able to survive alone. It was what had taken him to this point in his life, yet ironically most of that time had been spent in the company of brothers-in-arms of various clans, groups and organisations. Especially in the company of Gideon and his old friend Kaiser.

He ought to have been frightened by the fact that Kaiser Nightwind the Silvet had been gifted with a daughter. Not just because it meant that there was now another Silvet in the world who had perhaps an even greater potential than thought possible of the species, but also because her attitude was much more serious than her father. Kaiser, as Canen had knew him throughout the times, had always been too laid back and calm to really bother with realising a "full potential", and the Nocturn openly admitted that had he put his mind to it the Silvet could have surpassed him like Gideon had done. Kaiserin however, or "Dusk" as she was starting to call herself to his dislike, was focusing every energy she had into surpassing her father, Canen and everybody in Althanas. It was frightening how quick she had learned her profession and it was starting to cause concern.

So it was decided. Canen had called her out to the mountains, to fight her in isolation away from humanity. He had sent Lothrain, his feathery dark familiar, with a message to her, and despite being ignorant of her location at most times the Nocturn knew that Lothrain would find the young Silvet before long. He had to know how much power this girl had, he wanted to see what she had learned from her father and wanted to know for himself if he could accept her into the Grander's Order, if she was ready....

Canen peered behind him, into the dark void leading deep into the mines. The show would be staged in the heart of the complex, but first he needed to meet his counterpart at the entrance. Although it was unusual for him to resist scouting ahead in advance of his match, mainly in an attempt to gain the upper hand early on, he knew that a true test could only be actioned if neither of them had an advantage. Canen had to keep it balanced for both peace of mind and to see if his agile and deadly friend could really match up to him...

[Kaiser]

At first there was silence, but the life had not disappeared from the world around him, instead it only masked it, it masked the soft footsteps gradually getting louder as the owner of these feet approached, there was no rush, and yet there seemed to be no hesitation. The footsteps continually got louder until there owner slowly started to rise from the small descent to the bottom of this so called mountain, her first distinguishing feature was her snow white hair, there was not a curl in sight and it made a striking contrast with her ruby red eyes. Kaiserin approached mindful of the creature perched upon her shoulder, Lothrain, as Canen called it, seemed to have decided to hitch a ride back to its owner with her instead of making the journey by itself, something it would never have done if it had been charged with the mission of giving Kaiser the message.

The sound of her footsteps stopped instantly as she stood routed to the spot, with Canen sat before her waiting patiently, he also sat in front of the mine shaft, from her perspective he gave the impression that he was its guardian, and that he would let no one enter its shadows, or to find its secrets. Lothrain took flight, heading for its master, its owner, it seemed happy to be this close again, but then again that was from Kaiserin’s perspective, and she knew not what the bird was thinking. Her eyes then turned to Canen still waiting there patiently, she frowned, this challenge was not going to be easy, and if she messed up, her future in the granders order will be very, very brief.

“… Canen”

Those were the only words to leave her mouth, she had surprised herself, the words she had meant to say, she found she could not say them, the tension, it was too serious, and Kaiserin just felt like she was a mere mirror, reflecting that serious feeling. Inhaling deep, and exhaling whilst relaxing her shoulders, trying to vent the tension from herself, she also wished for a bucket of water to dunk her head into, anything to remove the butterflies dancing in her stomach, anxiety, fear, determination, excitement? Whatever she was feeling like she felt it and she knew that it would be her downfall if she could not shake it, hopefully when the first move was thrown it would disappear.

“The Granders order … heh … I accept you offer … I guess”

Her words felt meaningless, but she also felt like they had to be spoken, This man, before her, was not like any other, from what he had told her when they first met, he knew her father long before she was born, not only that but they had been almost as close as brethren, maybe not as close as Gideon, but close. This put her at a very new angle with Canen, although her father had told her stories, ones of Canen, he had unknowingly become a childhood hero of hers, of cause she had long ago outgrown that and come to known Canen as an un official ‘uncle’ to her. As strange as it may seem that’s the feeling she got from him, she shook her head of this nonsense, it did not belong in this place, not until the cries of battle had faded, and one of them stood while the other didn’t, she would either prove herself here, or not at all.

“… ok’kay … let’s get started”

She said softly as though she was whispering to a scared spirit, this of cause was for her own mentality more than to announce that she was ready. She stepped forwards with he left leg, and raised her left arm to her side fully outstretched with her fingers posed ready to catch something. The process her sword took to form was always interesting, first a blue light would appear where the sword will take shape, then threads of light would flow from the jewel hidden under her glove, it gave the impression that she was creating the sword from scratch, and when the threads of light started to wrap, it was surprising at how quick the five foot ling sword forged itself, within a second of the threads appearing and weaving together, it was now suddenly there, as was her left hand ready to grip it before gravity did.

Then she swing the sword forwards letting her right hand greet the untouched hilt of her sword, and she then held it in place, the tip of the blade pointing upwards towards the sky, her expression devoid of emotion except determination that was now calmly settled in, her tail seemed frozen in place, the tip curled upwards, this too also reflected her current mood. The only proof she had for people who would believe her a statue was her clothes, she still wore her red jacket, and the scarf tied firmly around her neck, each of her clothes danced with the wind, although the chain around her right wrist put up more resistance. “… I don’t plan on loosing”

And then she swung her sword downwards, or at least she would have if he had let it fall all the way, no, she now stood in a traditional fighting stance, letting the blade point in the direction of her opponent although the tip raised into the air, her legs spread apart, although not too far as she had leaned in a battle against Banda. Her expression still refused to show her, uncle, opponent any sign of weakness, this was too important, and likewise she was too serious. Strangely she made no attempt to give the initial strike, she just stood there waiting for her opponent, there was no way she would make the first attack and seal her chances with a wrong move, she could think in battle but only after it had started, and even then she was unsure if she could take this opponent, to her, he seemed immortal.

[Falcon Darkflight]

Although the coyotes regarded Canen with entreating glances, they reserved the greater part of their quiet attention for Kaiserin. Tails tucked, ears pricked, the wary beasts watched the Silvet with acute interest as she manifested her sword from an entity of light to a physical object in the time it usually takes to utter a short sentence. As their wolfish kind slouched by the sides of the cavern entrance, the Nocturn began a slow and steady approach to his target, walking towards Kaiserin without having unsheathed his weapon at all. He had seen nothing more than he had seen before when previously fighting the daughter of Kaiser Nightwind, his faintly radiant emerald green eyes locked firmly onto the giant sword she wielded with her sometimes misleadingly strong arms.

"I know what you are capable of Kaiserin..." Canen recited, carefully stepping forward ensuring his movements were not provoking a chance to be caught off guard. "I have fought you before. It's the same story each and every time, you wield the giant sword, you fight with the giant sword and typically you then end the fight with your giant sword. I mean, you must sleep with that thing under your pillow".."

The taint of sarcasm was obvious in his words. He remained on course, still advancing in slow and calculating steps on the cavern floor. Behind him was a gaping entrance to the hidden mine shaft, about twenty feet wide. It was widely know that this mountain was primarily used for the extraction and processing of silver for export, and therefore was still abundant with tools, carts, railways and interconnecting tunnels. The entrance itself in which the coyotes had become resident was about fourteen metres in length and only five metres in height, quite a low ceiling that cut away the closer anyone got to that mine shaft entrance. He desperately wanted to fight down in the shaft, he knew it would present an entire range of utilities for the battle.

"But that's not what I want to see. A warrior has to be resourceful, cunning, able to use the surroundings to an advantage. You won't get far past me if you depend on that thing for too long...even a Nocturn has to release his dependence on a blade..." He continued. He had hidden a pale hand behind his back as he walked, quietly manifesting a drop in temperature to create the basis for his Needle Tempest attack. Although most people saw it as the offensive equivalent of a cloud of toothpicks, the icy shards were razor sharp and could cut skin and slash eyes if an opponent was lapse in his or her defence. It may of lacked real conviction, but its tactical use was more than enough for Canen.

He could feel the ice weave and thread from particles to slender spikes in seconds, the needles now forming in a phosphoric light that shimmered small fragments of reflections into the cavern wall. As soon as his plan became obvious enough to counterattack, Canen backed off a little and thrust his charged hand forward. Propelled by a sudden sharp gust of wind, the needles scattered like the pellets of a shotgun rally and flew through the air with such a velocity they whistled, targeted straight at the Silvet, who stood firm with the seal release.

[Kaiser]

Was he taunting her about how she constantly used the same weapon? Her sword seemed repetitive yes but to sleep with that thing under her pillow, what pillow? Kaiserin did see where he was coming from though, true, she summoned her sword, true she fought with her sword, and it was also true that she usually ended the fight with it. But she had no alternatives, her sword had always been there, there would be no replacement for it. And Magic also came into this equation, she had no magic to throw at her opponent, it was her greatest weakness of cause, she lacked the ability to control magic, it was always to unstable for her, so she poured her heart and soul into this sword. Was that a mistake, had she limited herself to the same routine over and over, wait why the hell was she dwelling on this.

She looked up at her opponent, indeed he was still in front of her, in front of the mine shaft, but something was new, the air around her seemed colder, and her opponent, seemed to be glowing. She instantly recognised what was going on, he was using magic and she bit her bottom lip not knowing what he was about to do, she had never seen this before. The desire to stay in one spot seemed like a very bad idea, and she started to move to her left, abandoning her stance, true she saw Canen launch the small icicle spikes forwards. Staying put would have been the equivalent of holding up a white flag, and worse, those things were spreading out to cover a wider area, that attack would be fatal at close range. Her opponent flowing had been a warning and she had immediately almost started to move out of the way, but she was not as fast as the wind, nor could she hope to defend against this attack, but that rock there would do fine. She dived for the protection of the rock still as the Needle Tempest attack seemed to shoot fourth to quickly dispatch anyone who would be stood at the entrance.

“Dammit” she cursed as she landed awkwardly behind the large rock, she had no grace whatsoever, and she had not come out of that totally clean either, she looked down to her left leg and saw that the bottom of her pants had been shredded, there was little of the fabric left, and her leg was also cut, it was a mirical that none of those needles had found a home within her skin. Her boot had also been damaged but that was tougher that her pants material, and had come out of it with just a few cuts. ‘I am not going to be able to win anything at this rate’ he mind concluded, this was going to be very difficult. After the attack had passed she was immediately out from behind the rock with little of her pride left.

“You fucking jerk! I will give you reliance on the blade crap right now” she yelled out in pure anger swinging her sword sharply over her right shoulder. It was an attack position but even with her swords size, there was no way it would strike him considering the distance between the two of them. Kaiserin then yelled at the top of her lungs tensing her muscles for this, she then swing the blade in a seemingly downwards ark, but her sword never touched the ground, instead she let go of the blade at the right time to send the giant blade hurtling towards Canen spinning rapidly. Kaiserin could tell even from her point of view that her aim was off, it would still hit him if he stayed put, but she wished that her aim had been a little more to the right.

[Falcon Darkflight]

It was not something he had expected Kaiserin to do, but all the same it was another tactic of desperation that he had seen all too many times before. The huge blade spun round like, masquerading a wounded goose in a stall as the Silvet let go of the hilt of her precious sword, still cowering behind her makeshift rock shelter just behind the entrance to the cavern. Still learning the necessary tactics to weather the effects of a potential decapitation, Canen took no chances as the mysterious weapon soared towards him, and threw himself into an untidy barrel roll which carried him into the right hand wall. The force of which he performed his acrobatics caused his right shoulder to knock harshly against the solid and jagged stone and he uttered a small but relevent curse under his breath as the sharp pain shot up his arm like a bolt.

There was a sharp metallic scraping, the sound of something like a chain or a cable having been severed quite forcefully, and the Nocturn's attention was momentarily diverted to the opposite side of the cave where he had last seen Kaiserin's tool of death heading on its deadly course. It was jammed in the wall, the tip of the thin blade penetrating the rock and causing small fissures to radiate from the origin of the impact, and next to it two parts of a rusty, and now severed, bolt chain. The rings seemed to be coated in a form of rust that resembled copper powder and swayed from side to side with the force of the strike, clattering off the rock wall loudly. As his gaze followed the trail of iron up to the source, Canen discovered that suspended above Kaiserin's fortification was the makings of an iron grated platform, held in place by one other chain secured to the right part of the wall. The grating was veiled in the same filthy coating of powdery rust and swayed with the severance of one of its supports, allowing some of the more loose rust to float in the air. Assured that Kaiserin was probably not going to move for a moment without the protection of her sword, Canen decided to reveal a few factoids about the realities of her father, whilst he planned his next assault.

"When me and your father fought out on the field, we learned an important technique..." Canen said, rubbing his pained shoulder in a seated postition against the wall. His eyes frantically traced the remaining support chain to its roots for a sign of weakness. "...we learned to see into the battle and use our resources to our advantage. This allows a warrior more ability than his or her own body could muster, it allows for more than might and magic. The greatest warrior uses what he knows about his surroundings to his or her own ends to defeat those who don't have the hindsight to keep to the pace. Ironically, it what I am teaching you today that will seal your own defeat...I don't think you are ready to be in an army like the Grander's Order."

The absolute black of the mine shaft tugged at Canen's mind like a child wanting attention. In this blind domain rose a rustle seperate from the susurrant chorus of his monologue, a rustle like the unfurling and flexing of feathered wings. He insisted the sound to be of his imagination, and dismissed it entirely as he finally located his desired weakness in the chain. One of the bottom links had twisted out of shape and due to the immense rusting of the metal looked ready to snap. Hoping that Kaiserin hadn't already decided to move, he took the Valiance from its sheath and emulated the Silvet's throwing arm, sending the blade twirling through the air until it hit its destination with a loud clatter. The blade severed the link in the chain completely and clattered to the floor just underneath the Seal Release as the large iron grated platform collapsed with a terrific metallic shudder on top of Kaiserin's small rocky fortress.

[Kaiser]

Did he think she was a fool, that’s the question her mind was running through as she watched him with a keen eye? Apparently her sword had managed to cut through an old rusty chain, now this chain seemed to disappear into the darkness above them, but she quickly traced it to find the iron platform above her. ‘ I swear that was not there a second ago! ’ her mind yelled at her, and she found herself in a little situation. She could either brake away from the rock and be assaulted by magical attacks, or get crushed. It wasn’t much of an issue; her opponent had started to talk again giving her a brief moment to scan her surroundings. She also noticed that this seemed to be one of Canen’s weaknesses, he talks too much.

As she quickly scanned through darkness she spotted a few items that had been left behind, mining tools, although not weapons they could still prove useful. She also spotted a mining cart, although she had ideas for it, her opponent was currently in front of it. The next item was all over the place, small racks to throw at Canen, although small they would prove to irritate the Nocturn she guessed. ‘ More Ironic that I am so going to kick your ass under these conditions more like ’ she retaliated knowing that her taunt would never reach her opponent to drive him to do something she may regret later.

Canen readied his sword, which was Kaiserin’s cue to know that staying put was just not going to be safe. She dove from her cover the moment Canen’s blade took flight from his hand to mimic her own sword, with a less spinning momentum of cause. By the time the Iron grate had hit her hiding place she was long gone from that place and already charging towards Canen with speed she did not know she possessed. She guessed that this speed came from her strength, and that she had not truly been able to use it because her sword wasn’t exactly light. Still that did not change the fact that she was running straight for Canen, her arms outstretched while her fists clenched tightly. To her side, she had noticed before, one of the leftovers, a shovel infact, she had planned for her charged to swing by it but she made no attempt to grab it with her hands, her tail using the momentum of her charge was enough to pull it from the ground and carry it behind her.

Now she was upon Canen, her ruby red eyes would probably be invisible to him because of the only major light source was behind her, that would mean her attack would also be cast in shadow. Kaiserin started to lean over to her left arcing her entire arm back and bringing her fist forwards. Her own actions naturally caused her to automatically yell out amongst the strength she put behind her arm as she also twisted herself to her left and also used her momentum and full strength. Her right fist clenched tight and ready, launched for Canen’s face, maybe doing this would somehow teach the Nocturnian, that he talked too much, that she was not stupid when it came to a fight, and to prove that she would be able to handle herself in this Grander’s army, better than he already expected.

[Falcon Darkflight]

For a single moment in that empty black, everything was vacuumed out of real time and scattered into a slow motion blur. The rocky surroundings turned into a dancing haze, the light source at the entrance to the cavern was blurred and sickening to observe, and the collapsed iron grated platform clattered onto the floor with a muted crash as the sheer momentum of Kaiserin's power punch connected with Canen's left cheekbone with the force of an avalanche and caused his mind to scramble. At first the blow caused more of a shock to the Nocturn's system than physical pain, the nerves and bone in his face quivering like geletin from the recoil of the assault, but it was not long before the event horizon found balance and brought an agonising crunch to his face. A spatter of thick black blood erupted from his lips and trickled in torrents down the corners of his chin, closely followed by a heave of the Nocturn's lungs as they attempted to compensate for the wind that had just been knocked out of him.

Out of the corner of his emerald green eyes he noticed the outline of his Silvet adversary standing over him, shaking her fist from side to side as she withdrew it from Canen's cheekbone. A split seconds worth of satisfaction was evident in those deep ruby eyes, a puff of pale vapour escaping from her lips with an audible wheeze. It was only when she lowered her striking hand he noticed the rusty spade grasped in the end of her silver tail.

"You have so much strength...even for a young Silvet..." Canen gasped to his aggressor, trying to take his mind off of the throbbing pain in his left cheek. He kept a close eye on the frenetic lashing of her tail, grasping that heavy makeshift weapon with such a tightly locked grip. It was impressive how much control she had over her tail, much like her father if not better, but Canen knew that the tail also controlled her movements and balance. If he damaged the tail in any way it could give him the slightest advantage over the Silvet, but he knew the consequences of him doing so were going to be painful. There wasn't a lot people knew about the Silvet race, but Canen's extensive experience around Kai senior was educational enough to know that Silvets hated people touching or damaging their silvery appendages.

"But that strength is untamed, it has no direction. Kaiser, your father, learned to use his for the purpose of good..."

His options were thin. Pinned up against the jagged wall of the cavern interior, with his sword lay metres out of his grasp, he felt truely isolated for the first time. Ironically, minutes after reciting a speech about how even the Nocturn needed to let go of their passion for the sword once in a while, Canen found his own situation was now hypocritical of his ethics. He knew that watching that sword resting at the opposite side of the cavern felt nothing but alien to him. It was like having an arm severed, and he had always professed to those he met that his blade was indeed very much like an extension of his body and mind.

His ever simmering anger, which was the essence of his sometimes darkened personality, was beginning to boil through. He determined to himself that if he could not control the current flow of the battle, he would have to do something quickly to ensure the tide changed to his favour. Canen quickly pulled his left leg from underneath Kaiserin and thrust upwards, aiming the heel of his heavy black boot directly into her nose with all of the force he could muster from his seated position. It was possible she could block it in her current posture but it would serve its short purpose of giving the Nocturn precious time to survey the situation, and think of a way to obtain his sword from the filthy cavern floor.

[Kaiser]

Her fist tingled, the senses had not quite recovered, she had been so surprised that her fist had connected so well, Canen looked like he was down for the count, maybe not. It had felt good, she would not deny that, all of his talk about being able to adapt to the surroundings, it was true, but it would seem she was still doing better than Canen. That was Ironic, she had listened to him and followed it out to the T, but after he had thrown his own sword it seemed that he had thrown away his main method of offence, Unlike Kaiserin she had replaced her weapon for now. Canen was not idle fro long, he shifted himself so that he could kick his foot upwards, possibly to whack her face, it wasn’t impressive as Kaiserin saw it coming from almost a mile away. Without thinking of the moment her right hand moved forward to make sure Canen’s leg was pushed away from her body, and with another split second decision, she gripped tightly onto the fabric of his pants, making sure that foot was not going anywhere.

‘ …W…What the hell is going on? ’ Something about this situation wasn’t right, Canen’s performance right now was laughable, pitiful, there was no way this was for real was it, she felt her child hood dreams being smashed in the current situation. Her eyes looked down on him, holding back all emotion she could do, and right now she felt a little torn, on one hand was her cold, merciless side, knowing that this was a fight and she should not give her opponent a chance. On the other, it was somewhat scare to see Canen there, lying on the ground with blood dropping from his lips, this was supposed to be one of her child hood heroes, it was laughable, so much that she was almost willing to just let go and walk away from this sad sight.

She frowned while watching his antics, looking around there enclosed arena, in the end, it would be herself as a warrior that would take charge now, she felt anger to him. The source of this anger wasn’t known, nor did she know why it was being directed towards Canen alone, “How dare you” she spoke with a voice that would seem to almost make the dead whimper. This seriously has not happening, it could not happen, how could Canen allow himself to fall into this situation, after throwing only one attack, Kaiserin had thrown two attacks and already it seemed that he was within her mercy, Unfortunately for Canen, his opponent was not his old friend who simply would have teased him.

Kaiserin deducted that there were so many things she could have done right now, so many things, but she had to chose one, and even that choice was still effected on the emotions running through her. While in this state of mind, Kaiserin recalled Realyse, or rather the stories she had heard about him, and his almost crippled Right leg, ironic that the other leader of this Grander’s Order will have an opposite leg to match. This would be easy, she still had hold of Canen’s leg, and she quickly bright her free hand to place up against his knee, all it would take now is one firm push and pull with her respective arms, and just in case her tail still held onto that rusty shovel, just keeping it out of range.

Once again her mind battled within itself, knowing that Canen was her opponent, to go through with it, or to let him go. No, to let him go would show weakness in her mind, and that’s where she was strongest, she had already killed mercilessly, and this action will not kill Canen, it will simply break his knee. ‘…Sorry ’ he mind seemed to echo, or had she said that out loud and her soft words were now echoing within the tunnel. Then, with her hand still gripping onto his leg, she harshly pushed forwards, and with her arm now behind his knee, she pulled it back, the quick action of both her hands, should snap Canen’s leg at the knee.

[Falcon Darkflight]

A creeping, silent anger stole through Canen, nerve to nerve. A part of him was anxious not about the situation he had gotten himself into by casting away his primary form of offence, but his inner rage that seemed so primal the reason was blind to it and instinct revealed only the rough contours of what was an almost endless well of hidden aggression. The feeling was hate. Such emotions had never been taught or entertained by the proud people who had educated the young Canen Darkflight, as they were frowned upon as undignified and damaging to one’s honour. Yet the grasp of Kaiserin's hand around his knee as he lay there bleeding and helpless, the feeling of frustration fixed itself in the young warrior’s mind, as he truly understood it for the first time. This was hate. This was real, undeniable abhorrence towards anything and anyone who would provoke him so, and its bitter pain powered the gears of an old, forgotten engine. The engine of pride. The machine of war.

The feeling flowed through him like a river of spite, replacing his blood with a channel of energy that seemed to erupt from almost nowhere. The once anxious eyes of the Nocturn narrowed into a creased grin, his black smothered pale face coated in thin trickles of blood in the biting coolness of the cavern. Sitting up, he lashed out, sweeping his leg from out of Kaiserin's tight grip with a momentous sideways thrust and log rolled to the side. The Valiance, the victim of Canen’s unsteady hand, plunged into the deeper side of the cavern was now in sight, almost within reach. Like a pouncing guard-dog the Nocturn cannoned himself to the opposite shaft wall in a flurry of moisture, throwing himself next to his weapon in a manner befitting a soldier taking an explosive for the platoon, and grasped a hand around the welcoming shaft of the sword. The feeling of that hilt in his right hand felt like a mother nurturing her first born, the undeniable essence that Canen had reunited himself with the only family member he had left: his weapon.

"I should really be thanking you, Kaiserin." Canen recited, casting his voice over the distance they stood apart. "...for freeing me from the grasp of insecurity. The flames of the past still smoulder away, and instead of drawing strength from them and using the pride of our people to fight my battles I have been playing the pacifist. A pacifist in a world already smothered with greed and smitten with the blood of nations. Here, on Althanas, there is no room for pacifism when the corpses of children still burn in the blasted lands, when corrupt politicians and baronies govern land that is not rightfully theirs...and so now I stand before you, truly awakened and strengthened by the realisation of the truth..."

In a single moment, the Nocturn barking his cloudy breath into the heavy cavern air, it dawned on Canen that his opponent was unlike her father. The Silvet’s gritted teeth occasionally emitted a spray of saliva. Her bright ruby eyes seemed to be flaring, as if bursting forth with some sort of hidden ruthlessness, and her whole body shook with every effort she mustered. Every second though, he felt the fuel of his own anger burning away. Now, he was striking seemingly not even just to end the battle, but simply to satisfy his cruel lust for the defeat of Kaiser's daughter. It was obvious that the Nocturn, under any circumstances, would now be unable to stop.

Grasping The Valiance’s empty sheath, the Nocturn threw his sword back into a temporary slumber, locking the hilt back as he did so to secure the weapon by his side. He pulled the Seal Release from its rocky resting place, and with a mighty swing launched the sword down the vertical shaft into the oblivion of darkness, that same creased grin locked on his face as he watched Kaiserin's irritated expression as it followed her weapon into the unknown, away from reach. Then, with fevered, bloodstained eyes the Nocturn ran his sharp gaze over the lengths of severed rusted shackles lying next to him from his previous assault that had resulted in the iron platform crushing the small cluster of rocks. A sudden surge of this new-found energy coursed like some memory-triggered catalyst into Canen’s arms; his hands now white again as they clenched the end of the two metre long piece of chain, dark magic clinging to the shape of the chain until it became a black whip of Black Widow magic. With a roar, the Nocturn unleashed a mighty swing of the deadly chain, the dark magic strengthening and binding the previously weak links as the tip lashed out to strike the Silvet where she stood, smothered in the paralytic energy.

[Kaiser]

… Kaiserin still looked around the room, it was impossible to see anything, not even her Dragons eye ability had the capability, and with the nature of Canen’s magic, well in this void it would not even show up to her. Canen had made one mistake when he launched his attack, or had he; maybe he presumed that Kaiserin was stood atop the mine cart, when in reality she got off it as soon as she landed. Without any kind of warning, and explosion rang out in the small room, like someone had just set off a bomb. The mine cart was shredded with the explosion causing the debris to unfortunately shoot off in somewhat in her direction, and the scary thing was, she never even saw it coming.

That however did not stop some primal instinct to shield her face with her arms; she crossed them in front of her wondering what the hell had just happened. Then the shrapnel arrived, like the needle tempest attack most of the randomly shredded at her skin, however some pieces were lucky for Canen to actually cut into her arms and stay there, but luckily for Kaiserin, the explosion had rendered the cart into so many tiny pieces that it was just like taking a flu jab, in several places at once.

But lets not forget about the Seal Release, Well there was really no point in Canens attack, was he hoping to stab her at the same time as the explosion, not that she saw any of this, her mind was on the fact that it was dark, and all these cuts were extremely irritating. She softly stepped back, even as the sound of the explosion still rang through her ears, had he fired of his Dark matter attack, he was crazy to do that at such close range. Eventually after five seemingly long steps her back pressed against a wall, she transferred the shovel into her hands and calmed herself down just staring into the darkness, wondering if Canen was right in front of her.

‘ I should have stayed top side and left him to cool off down here ’

But as it was she didn’t do that, instead she had descended into the darkness mainly for her sword, but as it was now she was silent, her breathing was so silent that the sound of the air rushing around them was louder. The worst thing was, Kaiserin really didn’t have a plan at the moment, and she didn’t know where her opponent was, if only there was some way to shed light on the area. What did that matter, slowly she removed her jacket, and tossed her scarf to the side, they made great fashion statements but they defeated the point of becoming silent as the grave.

Kaiserin then closed her eyes; know that they were useless at the moment so she went to trust in another of her senses, her hearing. She listened out for anything that would give Canen away, his foot steps, even the sound of his clothes flowing around him should be sufficient, but as it was, he wasn’t moving yet, but neither was she.

She wished that her heart would beat a lot more quietly; it was distraction as it was the only thing that she could hear at the moment; it was, annoying to say the least. She knew Canen was a powerful opponent, but now he was becoming just as devious as her self, she found herself wondering what her ‘uncle’ was thinking. Speaking of which, she questioned the reason why she had started to call him uncle, but as quickly as that question formed she already had an answer. Her father considered Canen to be his best friend, almost a brother infact; it was those childhood stories that moulded him into a hero for her. But now Kaiserin knew better than her younger self, this was a dangerous man, and being locked in combat was frightening, but the excitement outclassed the fear.

‘Come and Get my Unc, I am all alone in the dark and defenceless, and I am still going to kick your ass all the way the Granders order!

[Falcon Darkflight]

Canen's confidence had soared greatly in such a small amount of time. He could no longer feel any fear, nor despair, and not even the sweet melancholy of hatred that he had touted as the ideal retreat from sharper emotions. Instead, in his suddenly feverish eyes and in the points of a Cheshire cat grin, he could feel triumph. This made no sense at all, but was apparent nonetheless and unmistakable. A shadow passed through his eyes, a shadow and a glimmer, like the rutilant scales of something swimming below the surface of murky water. This glimpse, whatever it was, whatever it meant, was not something you would see in the eyes of a human.

As his own attack failed, the chain still secured around his right wrist smothered in his dark magic, Canen watched Kaiserin proceed to root through the toolbox to find some new toys. He was almost taken aback by how predictable she was being. She had recited some half baked Raelyse-esque monologue about him letting his emotions control him, about how he had disappointed her as she rummaged through the toolbox, as if he wouldn't notice she was looking for a new method of offence. Snorting internally, the Nocturn had simply stood and watched, waiting for the inevitable. He knew she wouldn't come near him whilst he had that chain, and therefore predicted that the only way she could get to him was by using projectiles. And what better place to find the aforementioned dangerous projectiles than a mining toolbox.

I expected better of you...He thought to himself as he sidestepped the first pickaxe. It whistled as the long curved 'pick' spun wildly through the air and eventually collided with the back of the cavern wall, clattering to the ground nosily accompanied by small fragments of fractured rock. Upon the sidestep, he span again, this time twirling to the right in a whirling dervish spin. There was a horrible metallic scraping as the sharp metal pickaxe skidded along the floor and came to a standstill upon collision with the base of the wall, a line of dust drawn into the soil from the sheer weight of the object.

"Now, dear Kaiserin, stop thrashing about for meaning in silly childhood obsessions..." The Nocturn stated with a tinge of patronisation. "You can't understand who I am until you see all my sides. My strength derives from my passion, my passion derives from my past. Learn this, and you may realise that your current view of me is a false one...I am very much in control of what I do. It is for this reason I can still bring peace to the world, just like the Castigar campaign you were obviously not told so much about.."

With the welcome return of his temper, a memory flared, and for a moment Canen stood transfixed in consideration of it. Gideon's face flickered in a white noise momentary lapse of concentration, and a split second scene of the Nocturn bringing his Vampire Blade into the bloodied chest of a Castigar initiate sprung into life, and disappeared just as quickly. It was only a momentary experience, but seeing the face of his brethren was awakening, refreshing almost.

"I have a proposal for you. Let's take this into the unexplored..." He motioned towards the mine shaft he had so desperately wanted to explore, and awaited Kaiserin's response. "Let's see how we both fight on unfamiliar ground..."

[Kaiser]

Kaiserin ripped her make shift weapon from the ground, and swung it in front of her preparing for a counter attack, one that didn’t come. She narrowed her eyes at the way her opponent had evaded the blows so skilfully, he must have been truly holding back before, now this wasn’t a fight, it was a survival test. ‘ I … Can’t win … not like this ’ Kaiserin never had any trouble admitting her current situation, but she still didn’t enjoy that little fact, her opponent, while he may not be stronger in the brute force category, had more experience, and skills at fighting than she currently had. Kaiserin held the shovel in one hand turning her body side on, thankful that he face would never allow her emotions to show themselves, it made her seem more calm and collected.

Then Canen surprised her, she had originally thought that Canen had degraded himself to a more primal level, but now, well it was just plain scary. When she had first met Canen, he really was different, but to hear him talk now, she could have almost guessed that he had become possessed by a wicked spirit. He told her that her current view was false, and at the moment she wasn’t sure if she could doubt that, but he was acting too confidant, she wasn’t sure if it was a bluff, more likely he had the ability to back that one up.

‘… I still think he talks too much ’ her personal opinion, he was getting dramatic again, or rather, she thought he was Trying to get dramatic, it was almost cute. He then made an offer, she really could not refuse. A chance to leave this current battlefield in favour of going deeper into the mine, which basically translated ‘… and get my sword back ’ but then again there came a little problem with that. Further into the mines, it was probably even more confined than here, which would make swinging her sword next to impossible.

‘ I wonder if he is thinking the same thing … I seriously need to invest in a smaller weapon of some kind ’ she thought about it for a moment, and still the idea of retrieving her sword seemed to keep pulling on her tail. But the prospect of fighting Canen in complete darkness scared her, more so than the feeling of the tight space around them. ‘… Claustrophobia … when did you develop that? … Face it its Canen that scares you ’.

“Yeah … sure … after you of cause…”

Of cause she was not going to go first, to do so would mean to approach Canen and pass right next to him, even if Canen would not attempt anything, the temptation was there, and Kaiserin was sure that he would take that opportune moment. No she would let him go first, Kaiser had raised no fool with Kaiserin, but that also nagged a question, was this really such a good idea in the first place. Kaiserin then realised something, he mentioned her father yet again, he seemed to like doing that, but why, was he comparing her to the old school silvet he knew long ago, she was sure that the father she knew would not be quite like the silvet he once knew.

[Falcon Darkflight]

Canen stood at the top of the mine shaft, for a moment unconcerned with Kaiserin as she backed off to let him through, and peered down into the black. The thick metal chains of a manually controlled elevator spiralled into the darkness, suspended from a wooden 'hangmans' pole by the beechwood lips of the square hole, and did not appear as rusted as the rest of the equipment that he had seen here. Strange, he thought, for a disused mining facility. This single, narrow tunnel seemed to extend far below the surface where all of the precious metals and ore would be located in the mountain, but without a light source, nobody could see a damned thing.

Perfect.

Nodding his head slowly, with a somewhat childish grin, Canen gripped the core of the chainlink and allowed his body to swing for a moment to test out the strength of the metal. Satisfied that the chain would hold his weight, he flickered his eyes back to his ever-cautious Silvet adversary.

"Going...down?"

The tone of his voice rose at the end while his fingers loosened their grip on the chains, allowing them to smoothly slip through his palm, and Canen disappeared from sight. The darkness hit him at once and all of his senses frantically tried to grip on everything that was going on around him, the walls sliding past him in what would have been a blur, their timber support struts nothing but a brown and black smudge in what remained of the external light.

Then, complete night. The sound of the chains clattering together still rang out as he continued to slide down, but completely enveloped in darkness the Nocturn had no idea when to stop, until his buttocks collided harshly with a cluster of rocks at the very bottom of the shaft. As he got up, he smacked his head clean off the timber support struts, and still clutching his head, felt the metal of what felt like Kaiserin's sword touch the skin on his ankle.

Excellent. I'm right by her sword...there's no way she'll be getting it back today...

[Kaiser]

“…”

Kaiserin was quiet; she had returned the shovel to her tail and watched as Canen descended into the darkness, once again he was being dramatic. Kaiserin walked forwards towards the edge and watched Canen’s dark form blend in with his surroundings, yet only now did her face set in stone smile wickedly. The fool had actually gone down, Kaiserin really could not believe her luck, had her been hanging around her father too long, was he truly expecting her to descend into the darkness with nothing but a shovel to call a weapon. Her initial thought would be to simply break the chain from the ceiling and let him cool off down there for a few hours before tossing down a rope. But that would mean hanging around this place while listening to the curses and swearing of Canen from below.

‘ that would be too kind. He has got to learn for himself that I am totally different from my father, he would no doubt have charged down there first ’

Kaiserin’s eyes looked up ascending to look at the mine cart sitting there currently doing nothing, her grin widened, she was going to, of cause she was, she was only going to be disappointed by the fact that she would not be able to watch it. Innocently she placed her hands behind her back, enjoying the peace and quiet, for the time being. She walked over to the mine cart without ever looking at it; her smile had faded as she also added a whistle to that innocent parody. She then rolled her eyes all around the room before glancing back at the mine cart and grinning again, this was so going to be sweet.

She started to push it along its rails towards the hole, it was surprisingly resilient, it too was full of rust, still her strength was more than enough as she pushed it towards the edge of the hole asking herself if she could, or could not be this evil. She decided she could, this would most certainly win it for her, and she would be able to descend down, retrieve her sword and then ascend to go down to the local bar.

“Yo Unc’ Here I come”

She then silently snickered before giving that mine cart the last push needed to send it hurtling into the pit after Canen; with a little luck he would be still descending and would be swatted. Yet before it had even crashed at the bottom she leapt for the chain still dancing with the Mine cart falling around it as it fell. She then descended after it with more speed than Canen, Kaiserin had the advantage of a tail holding a shovel, and as soon as that hit something below her she would know when to stop. She eventually did, landing on top of the wrecked mine cart unsure if Canen was flat out under it.

It was dark, almost pitch black, no wait, it was pitch black, so any description on the scenery was impossible, yet Kaiserin also had enough sense to hop backwards out of the light, she landed on something oddly shaped and it threw her balance off a little, but she recovered to look around in total silence.

‘ I want to check around for a body, but why do I get the impression I am not going to find it ’

[Falcon Darkflight]

The timing was spot on. If it hadn't of been, the Nocturn would have almost certaintly been killed under the sheer weight of the cart. Canen, with a quicker head for figures and calculations than anything else, could hear the noisy metallic clatter as the large mine cart had tumbled down the small workmans shaft with less stealth than a nude bellringer, and timed his roll into an adjacent tunnel perfectly as the iron body crumpled inches in front of his face. Unseen splinters of sharp metal flung from the sides of the cart as it impacted the stony base of the shaft, one of them slashing against the Nocturn's cheekbone as it shot past his crouching form. He could feel the burning sensation, more irritable than painful, and the feeling of blood flowing freely from the gash down his face, forking out near his clean shaven chin.

Canen did his best to stay silent, despite the rising urge to let out a curse at the pain of his shrapnel wound. In his left hand he had dragged the mysterious Seal Release into the tunnel with him, with barely enough room to stand up fully as he had discovered from almost cracking his skull against the timber support struts of the tunnel complex, and had it locked firmly in his grip with the tip of the blade facing the direction of the wreckage. In his right hand, the slowly swirling foundations of a Dark Matter orb intertwined and twisted together to form a sphere of black antimatter energy, crackling as it built up momentum in his palm and span itself into a fully fledged projectile. The noise of the crashing cart had been enough to mask the sounds of electrical activity from the orb, its one true givaway, and so had given the Nocturn the element of suprise in the darkness. At least for a short time.

I know you're there, standing on top of that cart dead proud of yourself...you are turning out to be quite the little bitch.. He stabbed in his thoughts. He was somewhat unused to the level of offensive the Silvet was using on him, and with every passing moment, every attack that was thrown at him, he believed this fight was going much deeper than just an initiation into the Grander's Order. There was a feeling of rivalry, perhaps even jealously. But one thing that troubled him more than anything was that he almost felt outclassed. He could not allow this. It would weigh on his pride forever.

So, there and then, he determined that only his death would lead to his defeat. The worries of him keeping Kaiserin alive for the initiation were gone, the only feeling central to him was to win, to salvage some honour. It was all he felt now.

I don't want to kill you...you are too important. But if I have to...

He thrust both arms forward quickly, one slamming the Dark Matter orb forward into the smashed cart, the other thrusting the five foot Seal Release blade into the darkness just above the cart. It was literally a stab in the dark, but it was a decisive pat of his offense. He needed this to work...

[Kaiser]

… Kaiserin still looked around the room, it was impossible to see anything, not even her Dragons eye ability had the capability, and with the nature of Canen’s magic, well in this void it would not even show up to her. Canen had made one mistake when he launched his attack, or had he; maybe he presumed that Kaiserin was stood atop the mine cart, when in reality she got off it as soon as she landed. Without any kind of warning, and explosion rang out in the small room, like someone had just set off a bomb. The mine cart was shredded with the explosion causing the debris to unfortunately shoot off in somewhat in her direction, and the scary thing was, she never even saw it coming.

That however did not stop some primal instinct to shield her face with her arms; she crossed them in front of her wondering what the hell had just happened. Then the shrapnel arrived, like the needle tempest attack most of the randomly shredded at her skin, however some pieces were lucky for Canen to actually cut into her arms and stay there, but luckily for Kaiserin, the explosion had rendered the cart into so many tiny pieces that it was just like taking a flu jab, in several places at once.

But lets not forget about the Seal Release, Well there was really no point in Canens attack, was he hoping to stab her at the same time as the explosion, not that she saw any of this, her mind was on the fact that it was dark, and all these cuts were extremely irritating. She softly stepped back, even as the sound of the explosion still rang through her ears, had he fired of his Dark matter attack, he was crazy to do that at such close range. Eventually after five seemingly long steps her back pressed against a wall, she transferred the shovel into her hands and calmed herself down just staring into the darkness, wondering if Canen was right in front of her.

‘ I should have stayed top side and left him to cool off down here ’

But as it was she didn’t do that, instead she had descended into the darkness mainly for her sword, but as it was now she was silent, her breathing was so silent that the sound of the air rushing around them was louder. The worst thing was, Kaiserin really didn’t have a plan at the moment, and she didn’t know where her opponent was, if only there was some way to shed light on the area. What did that matter, slowly she removed her jacket, and tossed her scarf to the side, they made great fashion statements but they defeated the point of becoming silent as the grave.

Kaiserin then closed her eyes; know that they were useless at the moment so she went to trust in another of her senses, her hearing. She listened out for anything that would give Canen away, his foot steps, even the sound of his clothes flowing around him should be sufficient, but as it was, he wasn’t moving yet, but neither was she.

She wished that her heart would beat a lot more quietly; it was distraction as it was the only thing that she could hear at the moment; it was, annoying to say the least. She knew Canen was a powerful opponent, but now he was becoming just as devious as her self, she found herself wondering what her ‘uncle’ was thinking. Speaking of which, she questioned the reason why she had started to call him uncle, but as quickly as that question formed she already had an answer. Her father considered Canen to be his best friend, almost a brother infact; it was those childhood stories that moulded him into a hero for her. But now Kaiserin knew better than her younger self, this was a dangerous man, and being locked in combat was frightening, but the excitement outclassed the fear.

‘Come and Get my Unc, I am all alone in the dark and defenceless, and I am still going to kick your ass all the way the Granders order!

[Letho]

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