The Belly of the Beast

[Hysteria]

Check out the recruitment thread here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=176038#post176038)

The sky was turning black. A dark skyline of clouds swarmed across the picturesque scene and darkened the shore. The gentle waves started to rise higher and higher as the few people enjoying the beach stared in wonder. A crack of thunder singled the start of the storm as seconds later rain shot across the water and inland. Large drops of rain buffeted the shore amid howling wind. People ran for covered as the unholy storm continued to rise in intensity. Far out from shore the lighting flashed the images of the large island that seemed to just appear from nowhere a few hundred metres from shore.


* * * *

“A mysterious Island?” I repeated the words as if to test them through me own mouth.

“Yeah, off the coast of Akashima.” My informant added. The man was a local buyer of goods. Merchants who came into the city often carried only one or two types of product, so Harold bought the goods and sold them over the year to avoid flooding the market and lowering their price. The merchants got paid more, and he got a nice cut off the top. Dealing with so many merchants made him a wealth of information; one I begrudgingly paid for. I'd met him as I often did in one of the local taverns.

“Thanks.” I handed the man a small pouch of coins and he took it. With a small bow of his head he gulped down the rest of his beer and walked from the table.

Akashima bothered me, the mysterious place was the home of many spirits and the last time I went there I fought against a massive bug demon and although I escaped mostly intact, it was not something I intended to do again sometime soon. But, regardless of my personal desires, I had a duty to my Order.

My name is Talen, and for the last few months I have been Captain in charge of Information in the Ixian Knights. The position offered me before unknown security. As a street youth I had grown up without a family, doing what I could to survive and relying on my talents manipulating shadows to get by. Then I started using my talents for the Knights after Sei Orlouge identified me as one of the people name in the prophecy to save Radasanath.

It wasn't too hard for me to do my job. I was an average thirteen year-old boy, and your average boy got kicked out of places he shouldn't have been, while others got killed. My age also caused many to underestimate my abilities, giving me the edge in a lot of conflicts.

I decided that I needed to explore this mysterious island that had turned up, and the odd events around it. I know that I would need help, specificly someone I could use as a human shield. The resident human shield was one Jensen Ambrose and despite his abrasive attitude I had fought with him several times and he was more than dependable, he was immortal. If I left him to die I could just come back the next day and he would be completely regenerated; the perfect guilt-free scapegoat. If he could be pointed in the right direction, the immortal could also be endless fun.

I got up from the seat and talked out of the tavern to find Jensen. He had recently left the Ixian Knights over a fight with some of the other knights, the details of which eluded me. To get his participation I knew I'd need to sweeten the deal somehow, or at least play to his weaknesses. I briefly considered the idea of telling him that the island was populated with nude women.

The streets were cold as night time slowly set upon the large city. I walked quickly and reached the place I knew Jensen was staying until he could make more permanent arrangements for himself and his family. I pulled out a piece of parchment from inside my cloak and scribbled a note. In my profession it always pays to keep something to make notes on. I slid the paper under the door and walked off.


Jensen Ambergris,
Have news of a mistryous iland. Will pay for traval and food cost, come to The Golden Duck at 10pm. Garunteed adventur.

Talen

PS. iland may have nekid gurls.

[Lord Anglekos]

It was cold, and the swordsman was wet. Wrapping himself tighter in his black cloak, hoping for either the storm to subside or his cloak to somehow gain the magical property to warm him up, Eric scowled at the mysterious shape in the gathered dark out there upon the broiling seas. The wind howled and screamed, and despite the fact that it was daytime the sky was almost as black as night with the thunderous clouds above. Eric's cloak flapped wildly about him as he stood silent amongst the raging storm, staring thoughtfully at the mysterious island that had appeared, he had heard, from nowhere. All about him, fighters and mages and all sorts of other warriors were gathering, boats being set up as they all sought to quell the din that had come with the island's appearance. He had no doubt that they also sought fame and fortune as well, and a thin, grim smile appeared on the youth's visage beneath the cowl of his cloak. Reaching into the folds of his outfit, he pulled out the single piece of paper that had brought him out to this shoreline, recalling with some bitterness the events that had come before.

Lorenor. That had been the creature's name, with his menacing smile and elegant tongue. Eric had made a deal with the devil not two fortnights ago, sacrificing his morals and perhaps his soul for the hope that the necromantic ghoul could revive his beloved Amalia. He had gained power from the monster; power that, even now, he could feel brimming at the skin, filling in the empty spaces of his body, and as he touched it in reminder it rose up with serpentine eagerness that frightened the warrior. He'd always wanted to become strong, yes, but never like this. However, he thought to himself as he stared down at the scrap of parchment that had greeted him when he had awoken two nights before, it was far too late. The deal had been struck, and now Eric was on a search for even more power; pieces of a demonic helm that had been split into four, not hundreds of years ago.

The Ixian Knight sighed, even as he held the parchment with two naked hands to prevent it from blowing away with the rage of the storm, letting his skin get peppered with large pellets of rain before he pulled them in closer to his body. The parchment read;


Good morning, Eric Anglekos. I trust you slept well?
As I promised, I have the information for the first piece right here, presumably in your hands. I shall not delay; for I'm sure you would like to see your precious Amalia revived as soon as possible, correct?
In Akashima, there is a legend of sorts; more like a bed-time story to frighten little children with. It tells of a dark island, filled to the brim with menacing monsters and carnivorous demons, that appears every so often. It is said that once it appears, it grows closer and closer to Akashima until the island is almost touching the mainland, and when it does the demons rampage forth, slaughtering all they can see. Most, as you can quite well imagine, take this as a mere fairytale.
However, I can quite assure you, that this is not. The island is very, very real, and my sources have told me that it will reappear very soon, in fact; within a couple of days, to be exact. The first piece of the helmet I request lies on the island itself, guarded undoubtedly by spies of the Ai'Bron order. Your mission is to retrieve this piece and survive long enough to bring it back to Radasanth for me, if you can. Please don't get killed; it would make such a hassle for me, now wouldn't it?
Good luck, Knight of the Ixian Order.

~Lorenor V'halkulus

Gritting his teeth, he crumpled the already-wrinkled note in his fist, stuffing it back within the folds of his clothing. Eric didn't like being mocked, but as it was so far he had little choice but to follow the orders of his puppeteer, like a good little puppet. Slowly, he strode out amongst the gathering crowd of people, hood raised, one hand on the hilt of his mythril blade Pardolaes, letting the hard rain pepper his exposed face. The slight pelts of pain felt good, and cooled his gathering anger at being manipulated; he couldn't afford rage right now. He had to have a level head, and clear mind, if he was going to survive what was out there. Briefly, he thought about warning the people about him what they were heading into, but his caution overruled this chivalry; they would ask questions, questions he was sure he would be unable to answer honestly, so it was better if he just not make himself known at all.

And so, shrouded within his anonymity, the Knight stepped forward as the boats began to be filled, ready to look death in the eyes for the sake of one already dead.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“What’s an Ambergris?” A frail hand deftly lifted the note up and scrunched their face to read the children’s handwriting, taking in the note with not much fanfare. Across the room sitting at the oval shaped wooden table with his legs up on the top was Jensen Ambrose, enigmatic immortal and ex Ixian Knight. His lips pursed into a smile as amber liquid made its way down his throat, stifling the soft chuckle of the title he knew all to well. After a moment’s reflection the immortal turned to his companion in the room, a green haired elf that gracefully closed the gap in the room and sat at the table, taking the bottle from Jensen and chugging a round.

With a smooth pat on his chest he let the fire in his heart cool as the alcohol went to work, and Jensen then favored the only elf he liked in existence with an easy going smile.

“That’s bed wetter’s way of saying hello to me,” Jensen mused. “When we fought the Thayne Hmroferget of whatever the hell his name is, the boy and I did battle. He also joined up with us to fight Ramah Quenzecotl in the citadel. Appears however his grammar is a tad bit off,” Jensen peered to the note. “Ha, Island of naked girls. Probably wants me there to teach him the birds and the bees.”

Tobias tilted her head back in mirth, letting out a soft chuckle as she downed the last of the bottle. “Sounds like to me your off to the island of nudey girls and parties,” Tobias teased kicking him softly with her big toe in his knee. “Should I go grab my swim trunks?” Jensen looked down at the note and sighed.

“Bed Wetter wouldn’t bother me unless he had a reason to,” Jensen said softly grabbing hold of Tobias’ ankle and holding it awkwardly up so she had to adjust quickly. “I need a favor…” Jensen said softly, and at those words Tobias ripped her foot free and sighed loudly.

“Just apologize already! The entire castle misses you!” Tobias nearly shouted in hurt. “Not to mention that beautiful little girl is starting to wonder if she should call me daddy cause I’m over so many times a week! Kyla misses you like crazy that I think you literally drove her nuts!” To those words the immortal felt something burn in his jacket pocket, a love note and a hate rant all in the same letter addressed to him. “Zerith looks like a taught wire ready to snap, and Aislinn is getting grouchy with all her students!”

“Shouldn’t our fearless leader be the one to remedy these things?” Jensen said sourly. Tobias sighed in frustration as she gripped her hair.

“Your mental, you know that? Can you honestly hold a grudge for this long?”

“I think the real question is can Sei? Is the mighty faggot fairy king capable of holding a grudge over things I said to Anita that are, as we all know, factually true?” Tobias bit her lip to that and rose again, crossing the short distance to sit in Jensen’s lap making his knees scream in pain at the uncomfortable feeling. “Packing the weight to your ass, bush fucker?” Jensen wheezed in pain.

“Possibly, but then again, I don’t have the weight of the world on my shoulders. Hug time!” Tobias shouted jovially as she gripped Jensen and squeezed as hard as she could. Jensen had to roll her off him as the two tumbled to the floor below, Tobias laughing as she easily got to her feet and Jensen groaning as he rubbed his tender knees. She grabbed her winter jacket and placed it around her shoulders, turning to Jensen and smiling with a bit more warmth than before.

“I’ll let Steph and the kiddo know you love them,” Tobias whispered to him. “Though you really need to start thinking about your priorities, Jensen Ambrose,” She placed her hands on her hips and gave him a lecturing tone. “Sei may not run an army the way your used to it, but that doesn’t mean he’s doing a bad job. And a little support from one of his closest friends was what he needed that night, not a swift kick in the ass.”

“People died, Tobias,” Jensen replied standing up. “I can’t forgive a man who blames others that people died.”

“And did you ever stop to think he can’t show the army that he’s an incompetent idiot? As hurtful for moral as this whole thing was, you also didn‘t think how much more damaging it would be if he admitted he had no clue what to do.” Jensen sighed in his own frustration as he stood up. Tobias looked to him and sighed as well. “But then again, kicking you out was a bit much, wasn’t it?”

“Make sure they know I miss them,” Jensen told the elf crossing over to her and giving her a genuine hug. “That’s for Azza,” Jensen said squeezing a bit tighter at the end. He then kissed the elf on the cheek. “And that’s for Stephanie, but when you do it, do it in front of Adolph and make sure it’s on the lips. I wanna hear how he freaks out!” Jensen teased as Tobias pushed the immortal away, laughing. When the door creaked shut Jensen looked outside to the awaiting world.

“Alright then, boy wonder,” Jensen muttered. “You wanted my attention, you got it.” Jensen turned to the table, grabbed his weaponry, and left the room in search for the youth.

[Silence Sei]

Sei had heard the rumors of the mysterious island years ago. The legends atated that demons would pour out from the thing and invade Akashima once the land mass got close enough. Sei had thought of such things as silly rumors to scare children. He had never seen such a thing, never hard of anybody being killed by the invading monsters in question, so why should he have believed the tale?

It so happened that two nights ago, in the middle of his slumber, the Mystic was awakened by a gentle knock on his door. Before he could grant permission to enter, a small four year-old girl came into his quarters. She was wearing a pink nightdress that dragged on the floor. She clung to the stuffed kangaroo with all of her might as she approached Sei's bed.

"Daddy," Ella Orlouge, youngest daughter of Sei and recent addition to the Ixian Knights said, "I had a bad dream."

Sei motioned for the little one to climb in bed with him. There was plenty of room upon his soft mattress. The girl smiled and snuggled under the sheets, proceeding to tell her father of her nightmare. Apparently, she had been told of the Akashima island as well, as he tale was one of the thing approaching her slowly until finally the monsters got her. Sei stayed up the rest of the night watching Ella sleep, making sure that if she woke up in a panic, he'd instantly be there to care for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So we're going to Akashima... why again?" Ella's biological sister, and Sei's other daughter, Emma, spoke.

"Because from what you've told me, Ella has constantly had these bad dreams about that island. It's causing her nightmares that may soon evolve into night terrors. I don't want that for her, and so I'm going to disprove that the island exist." It was a good plan in theory. Ella clung to her father's leg as he shethed his Gemini Blades, looking behind him to his more down-to-Althanas daughter.

"Are you coming?"

"Well of course I am sir," Emma said, causing Sei to sigh at the formality of the teen, "If something does happen, I need to be there to protct Ella. My stuffs already packed. Was just waiting on a decent explanation." Emma turned around and went over to her room to go get her stuff. Sei looked down to his youngest girl with a smile, ruffling his hand through her soft brown hair.

"Well then, it looks like my newest girls and I are going on a small family vacation." Sei said, sure that there wasn't going to be anything to worry about.

[Hysteria]

The minutes ticked by and then finally hours. My body didn’t move, I just sat with a slightly content look across my face. In reality though, I was concentrating, and hard. IT had been months ago that I had first learned how to transform my body into shadows and travel upon a sort of path I created to another destination. The skill was invaluable, but took a very long time to perform. The complexity was increased as this time I attempted something that I had only theorised about before, doing it with someone else. That’s where Jensen came in. I knew that if I inadvertently killed him, well then I’d just have to wait a day before we could continue exploring the island. Jensen entered the tavern earlier than I had asked and strolled over to me with his patented grin.

“Yo bed wetter!” Jensen signalled for a drink from the serving girl, taking a second longer than needed to watch her walk away, “What’s this about a island, oh and its spelt with a silent S after the I.”

I felt an involuntary twitch across my face, but quickly regained my composure.

“If you can tare your eyes from that woman’s arse I shall explain. Actually I don’t think I will. Do you want in or not?”

The preparation for my spell was complete and I didn’t need anymore time. I watched as Jensen’s drink was placed in front of him and he picked it up.

“Touchy. I’m not one to shy away from adventure.”

I smiled and reached over and grabbed him on the forearm. His quizzical look increased but he didn’t speak. I thought a second about warning him of what was about to happen, but then didn’t. It was funnier that way.

It all happened in seconds. Colour drained from around us as light was filtered from our eyes. The scene dimmed and twisted into elongated shapes and then darkness. We travelled through something like a tunnel, but what we perceived as vision was just a projection of our own limited ability to use another sense to perceive energy on the other side of the thin veil that separated the two worlds.

Then it was over and we were standing on a road in Akashima in the rain. The trail headed down to the beach where men and boats were moored. The small fishing village located up the shore line had been temporally turned into a boat taxi service for those men and women wishing to travel to the island. Jensen looked around wildly and then down at the drink in his hand.

“Free I suppose.” I said without looking at him.

The island. It between flashes of lightning it could be seen looming out in the sea, now only a few hundred metres from the shore. A mountain of sorts rose from the island, which seemed to be covered with twisted plants of some sort. I pulled my cloak tight around me to ward off the chill and water and looked down at the explorers trying to organise themselves.

“The sea is too rough for these boats!” cried one.

“It’s a stone’s throw away for got sakes! If you fall in just swim back!” replied another.

The feeling of foreboding travelled through my body. I had tried to travel directly to the island, but something had knocked me back. What exactly it was I had no idea.

[Lord Anglekos]

Eric had to squeeze to get in on one of the boats; they were filling up quickly, faster than he had expected. In the background, he briefly heard someone say something about the sea being too rough for the dinky wooden boats, but didn't give it much attention; like himself, everyone else was determined to get to that "mysterious" island, one way or another. If indeed he had to swim, then swim it would be.

He glanced up at the darkened sky, and flinched as a heavy pellet of rain nearly pierced his eyeball. His hood fell as he shook his head, shaking the water from his face as he brought his arm up to help wipe it away with the side of his forearm. Quickly, he took a seat upon the shaky wooden bench that the boat provided, wrapping his ebony cloak tighter about him as he fought not to shiver in the cold, quickly adjusting his twin swords at his side to prevent them from stabbing their hilts into his side with the slightest shift of his body. As he did this, however, he bumped into a larger man beside him, sparking a growl of indignation.

"Oi!" The man snarled in a thick accent that was almost akin to a dwarf's, save for the stranger's larger size. Eric turned, and found himself staring into a pair of violent green eyes surrounded by thick locks of light brown hair, with a thin beard around a mouth baring gritted teeth. Draped around the man's shoulders was a thick, green coat to match the color of his eyes, and underneath that was a simple garb that was, like Eric's, covered with a thin iron breastplate. "Watch where ya goin', louse!"

Briefly, the youthful swordsman thought about echoing a sharp retort of his own, for his mood was as cold as his steel this day. Then, he saw the blade that the stranger was carrying over his shoulder, and swallowed back those words. It was a thick cleaver, without a guard to it's hilt, and looked to be made of some heavy metal like titanium of dehlar; he couldn't tell which it was. Pushing himself slightly away from the man, he really didn't want any more trouble than he could garner this day, and merely mumbled something in reply. "Sorry--"

However, a second voice saved him from further humiliation; a feminine one as sharp as a sword, and carrying the slight accent he had detected in the man's voice. "Gwendal, that's enough." Eric glanced the way across from him to look at the owner of the voice, and saw it belonged to a woman with blond hair tied up above her head in a pony tail and clear blue eyes. Like her green-eyed companion, she too wore a coat of leather, however it was dyed crimson instead of emerald, and upon it's shoulders were a pair of metal pauldrons with short white tassels coming from them. He didn't see any sort of weapon upon her, but in the limited light and the situation that didn't mean anything. Paying no attention to Eric's observation of her, she continued her sharp tongue. "We're 'ere to slay monsters, not be petty."

In response, her companion merely grunted irritably and sat against the small wall of wood at his back, returning to silence. The woman's blue-eyed glare turned to Eric, who merely pulled the hood of his cloak back up, obscuring his face from vision once again. However, returning to anonymity didn't save him from being addressed, as her mouth opened once more and spewed forth words that sounded harsher than they actually were, due to her accent. "And you are?"

They were strangers. They didn't know him. Still, he couldn't really take the chance of the Knights inadvertently finding his location by word of mouth, if these two or the men around him managed to live after this venture, so quickly he spoke the first name that came to mind; his father's. "Sebastian."

The blond nodded briefly in acknowledgment, not considering why he hadn't given a last name. Eric thought to himself that she was no stranger to war either, for last names were for those who survived. She pointed one long finger at her green-eyed companion across from her. "This is Gwendal, whom you've already met." He grunted in reply again, shifting the huge cleaver upon his shoulder. "And I'm Phiona."

"Pleasure." Eric replied in courtesy, not truly wishing to carry on a conversation with these duo. Thankfully, neither did they it seemed, as she returned to staring off towards the island with a passion burning in her eyes, and Gwendal returned to being sullenly silent. That suited him fine. Off to the sides, he saw the other boats being filled as well, and some already being pushed off from shore. Taking a deep breath, the tips of his cold fingers found the wet strands of hair at his side, digits sliding through as he gathered his confidence and his courage.

The time had come.

[Silence Sei]

"Okay, you're taking your two daughters, neither who are in any way combat-ready, to an island supposedly filled with monsters and demons and the like," Emma assessed the situation as if she were a casual observer to it. She walked with Sei and her sister as she continued, "Furthermore, the island is said to disappear within a few days of the supposed 'invasion'. It takes that long just to get to Akashima. So how, oh wise Father, do you plan on getting us there on time?"

Sei smiled. He found it funny that Anita had picked such an inquisitive girl to be her sister. The mute was not prepared for such bluntness and attitude coming out of Emma's mouth. Anita had always been so loyal, eager to please her Papa. Kyla, on the other hand, went to the other extreme, often doing things just for the sake of annoying her 'dad'. Emma, it seemed, was a medium between the two, finding just enough information to slightly irk the mute while still holding her true loyalty to 'Father' Sei.

"I've been experimenting with something recently..." Sei trailed off, causing Emma to roll her eyes, and Ella to back off a bit.

"When someone said that at the orphanage, stuff blew up..." Ella spoke, her voice quivering as she did so, "please don't blow up, Daddy."

"I'm not going to blow up, Ella. I've tried this a few times, and it seems safe enough."

"So out with it!" Emma the impatient finally blurted, "How the heck are we getting to Akashima!?"

"By traveling on the speed of light." Sei spoke plainly, as if such a thing was nothing. Emma quickly began laughing at her father, now adding the word 'lunatic' to Sei's repertoire should someone ask what she thought of him. Ella looked up at her sister, who was still in hysterics, shrugged, and laughed as if she knew what Emma found so funny.

"Traveling at the speed of light is impossible," Emma managed to say, wiping a tear from her face and moving her brown bangs to the side.

"I said 'on', not 'at'."

"What's the diff-WHOA!" Emma was cut off as Sei grabbed the hands of the sisters. Suddenly, the three felt a warm feeling from the pit of their gut, like going on a carnival ride after having some coffee. Ella was screaming in glee, Emma screaming in panic. Yet through the entire event, Sei was constantly telling them 'Remain calm.'

The journey was all but ten seconds. Emma was now on all fours, vomiting her guts out, while the more iron stomach (as well as the less full) Ella bounced up and down in excitement, asking if they could do it again.

Emma looked up and widened her eyes, seeing the dark island in the distance. Looking around between belches of bile and nothingness, the girl saw that the trio was at the docks in Akashima. Looking towards Sei, and speaking with a weakened voice, Emma expressed her opinion on the matter. "Why didn't... you just... take us to the island...?"

"That's the thing. I tried. It's what took so long. I tried to go around the whole island, manipulating the light caused by the lightning bolts in order to find a good location to land. The island seemed to reject me though. I don't know what's causing it either, but this is as close as I can 'land'."

"So...you travel on light waves..." Emma was interrupted by another session of throwing up, "and manipulate light when it's available to essentially make you super fast. Isn't that tiring? And wouldn't you have to overcompensate your stop in order to make sure you didn't go through a ship or something?"

Sei closed his eyes and sighed. Taking Ella's hand, he walked towards the nearest ship. "I can answer your questions once you get on. For now, gain your bearings and follow us." The mute said, already getting annoyed with Emma's constant questions.

[Hysteria]

My eyes narrowed as I looked at the boats. I could feel the water slowly seeping into my ‘waterproof’ cloak, and the small trip to the island would mostly like be very wet. There was nothing I could do to stay the watery hand upon me and I let a small sight escape my lips as I strolled down towards the boats. I left Jensen to sort himself out, I was sure the immortal needed time to collect himself. Around the boats there were many more people than I had expected, but then if word had travelled so far as to reach me in a few short days, then there were bound to be many more on their way.

My small size was invaluable during these circumstances; I quickly made my way to one of the boats and sloshed through the shallow water. The fishing boats were being loaded by the locals, charging each passenger a gold coin. The price was a bit rich, but I paid regardless. I knew that arguing would only cause another would-be adventurer to push me out of the way. Within minutes the first of the boats pushed off, and somehow I managed to miss Sei in the throng, shielded by the bubbling testosterone of dozens of warriors.

The sea was rough, and I found my boat filled with a few ratty looking men, all sinew and muscle and little brain. I pulled my cloak tighter around me, partly for the added warmth, mostly so no one would talk to me. I found myself unsuccessful.

“HO!”

A giant hand slapped me on the back and I nearly fell off the seat I was perched on. I didn’t bother to respond as I re-settled myself on my seat.

“What’s a pipsqueak like you doing on this trip?”

The voice was deep, powerful and reeked of warrior. I twisted my eyes to the man and found myself correct. It was a big man, with a broad grin and the look of someone who could wrestle a bull to the ground. I picked my words carefully.

“Well Gov, I’m ‘ere to do some s’ploring ain’t I? A ittle bit of this, a ittle bit of tat. Bob’s yer uncle, Fred’s yer mum ‘n’ yer ‘alf way to a kipper with old Nick ‘imself.”

The man looked at me, then at the deck beneath his feet, then back at me.

“Huh?”

I smiled at him.

“Same as yous I reckon.” I suggested.

“Oh. Well then little man, best keep a watch out.”

I nodded. I figured the man’s heart was in the right place, but a small piece of me wondered if he would be so kind if I were a grown man. I would never find out however as the boat suddenly jolted to a halt. There was a nonsensical murmur from the few others on the small boat as the fisherman jumped over the side into the shallows and pulled the boat up a bit.

I looked up through the rain at the giant mountain-like island. Between flashes of lightning and sheets of rain I could see the surrounds, thin twisted trees covered the immediate area and as far as I could see, stretching even out into the shallows. I followed the others and jumped over the side and splashed up onto the shore.

Maybe this was a bad idea…

I remember clearly the thought sliding through my mind as I scanned the giant island. Around me milled the warriors and adventurers that were slowly disembarking from the ships. There were at least fifty men, women and assorted humanoids gathered on the shore. The story had been so simple for them, come to the mysterious island, find the treasure, return a hero. Now actually there, standing on the shore, the bleak island didn’t offer the slightest bit in the way of direction.

I wandered out of the water and looked around. The first thing I noticed at the ground. It was rough and rocky, not a shred of sand or smoothed stones like a normal shoreline. Then there were the trees, I released what had put me off about them. They didn’t have any leaves, or indeed any sign of life. I pulled out my smaller sword and tapped one of the branches. A click sound told me that the tree was actually stone, I touched it with my free hand gingerly.

Coral?

My musing was cut short as a yell echoed through the large group. Men had wandered inland and called out in alarm. A few ran in as a scream sounded from behind the ground. I turned and saw a few pieces of wood floating where my boat had been. A crack of thunder and a boat still carrying a group of men exploded in a shower of wood. The fisherman and passengers were catapulted into the air and splashed into ocean. Most burst from the water a second later and started towards the shore in a feverish swim. A few men waded out and gestured them to swim faster.

AAAaaaahh!!!

The fisherman disappeared under the water; it took only a second for the rest to be pulled under. Chaos erupted through the shore group. I knew that it was only time till the ground collapsed in on itself, but I had figured that it would have been infighting rather than panic. Most of the men ran inwards away from the shore as one by one the remaining fishing boats were destroyed in a shower of wood and blood. We were stranded.

I backed away from the shore and tried to look at what was going on, despite the growing pit of fear in my stomach. Through the flashes of lightning I though I saw mouths grabbing those caught in the ocean. A flash of silver and blood was all I could be certain off.

Through the chaos I caught a glimpse of red and turned to see Sei among some of the few people keeping their cool. The odds were astronomical that the mute was here on the island with me, but then I didn’t stop to focus on the statistics of the situation. I made my way to the mute with my sword still drawn, pushing through the men till I reached him.

“Sei, I th-”

Screams cut me off. The men that had ventured further inland had apparently come to their demise. I turned back to the mute with my mouth slightly ajar.

[Lord Anglekos]

Death came swiftly for those who had been too slow to come inland and for those who had been too reckless to shed blood, and the screams of both filled the air like a great, terrible chorus. Alongside those screams of the dead came the screams of their slayers; rattling, bone-chilling ones that rang out across the expanse of the warriors left upon the shore, overwhelming the clap of thunder that rang out some distance away with ease. They were screams of challenge, as if to say to the human (and not so human) invaders who had dared come ashore, Here we are, little men; come, come to our awaiting jaws.

Eric had wasted no time in drawing forth Pardolaes, his mythril blade, from it's oaken sheath, letting the silvery weapon gleam in the dim light as the storm continued to unrelentingly pelt the invaders with rain. In his other, left hand, Eric unhooked the shield from his back and slid the cross-borne mythril armor unto his left arm, the cross-borne design upon it glowing slightly with it's enchantment at the ready. Several others had also brought out their weapons in time as they had stepped across the sand expanse of the beach, and Eric saw with little surprise that the two he'd met earlier, Phiona and Gwendal, also bore arms at the ready; Gwendal, the great cleaver he'd held earlier, still casually set upon his shoulders, and Phiona a long, thing rapier-like weapon that he'd not seen on her person on the short trip to the island. Just went to show you the things a woman could hide.

The screams cut off any attempts at conversation that were still being made, and as Eric looked around with furiously blue eyes, slightly glowing in the dark, he saw that some indeed had been trying to speak. Their weapons still sheathed no less. Fools! The soldier snarled within the depths of his mind. This is war, not a playground! What do you think you're doing!? And yet, he could understand; they were new to the experiences of bloodshed, with a hope in their bright, young eyes that belied the blades at their hips. They sought glory from this venture, but Eric knew if they did not stay on their toes they would only find what the reckless ones and the ones at their backs had found so easily:

Death.

"Sei, I th--" A young voice caught Eric's attention, and from beneath his hood spun upon the sandy knoll to see with shock a familiar face heading backwards. Talen; A captain of the Ixian Knights no less, and the swordsman had once fought alongside the shadowalker in their struggle against a dark creature made entirely of blood on the steps of the Citadel. Subconsciously pulling the hood of his cloak further downwards, as to try and further obscure his identity, he then saw with frightened shock that Talen had indeed been talking to Sei, the absolute leader of the entire organization; and that the mute was standing right there, after just getting off one of the boats, with a couple of women standing by his side both wet and frightened. The man held a dangerous, stoic expression that the swordsman had never seen upon that face before, and when those blue eyes turned upwards to Eric's location the swordsman turned away, breathing heavily in shock.

Did the mute know of his betrayal? Did he know that he'd struck a deal with one of the Knight's enemies, and thus was here to tie up that loose end - including Eric himself? Frantically, the swordsman cleared his mind, setting up a mental partition just as he'd been taught. It was a fragile technique; one that he'd little to know experience in, but it was supposed to prevent a telepath from being able to read one's mind. He only prayed his was strong enough to work.

His enchanted greaves silenced his movements as the young warrior stepped forth, losing himself amongst the crowd of both bodies and minds, and found to his surprise two warriors arguing; Gwendal, the blonde-haired warrior with the dwarvish accent, and a thick, bull-necked man with a great halberd in his hand. The two were spitting at one another as their opinions flied like acid, their words carrying easily above the crackling of the storm all around them.

"--need to keep 'em back, wait for reinforcements--" The man that Eric had never seen before started, waving his one hand in the air for effect, but the louder, more brash voice of Gwendal cut him off. All about the two, the group of warriors had split on two sides, Eric saw; those who backed the cleaver-wielding warrior, and those who backed the halberd-wielding one. Phiona stood off the sword, arms folded across her breasts as she just stared nonchalantly at the ensuing argument.

"Ya pussy! The damned creatures already know we be 'ere, laddies!" Gwendal's voice rolled out along the group with obvious effect, as several of the newer recruits' faces blanched at that prospect. They were used to having the upper hand. "And if we just stand 'ere any longer, we're just wee bits of dead meat as well! Let's run up and skewer the bastards while they're enjoying their meals!"

It was a morally horrible point, but Eric saw the logic behind it. Depending on how intelligent these 'demons' of legend were, they could be feasting on the kills they'd already taken from the group; which would, in essence, leave them vulnerable. Then again, if they were more intelligent than Gwendal thought, they would be waiting for just that, and the warriors would be but flies in a spider's web.

The polearm-using stranger said something in a frustrated tone as he pointed one exposed arm out to the dark, strange forest beyond, but his words didn't go anywhere. After all, no one was paying attention to them, as suddenly a long, red claw-looking appendage whipped out from between the trees, clamping itself with tentacle-like ease around the warrior's arm. The stranger blinked in surprise at the appendage, and briefly stared with his mouth agape with the words he'd been speaking, before abruptly, just like a child pulling the leg off of a fly, the arm ripped out of it's socket with a sickening, thick sound. The flesh tore apart and sinew went flying everywhere as the severed arm landed to the ground with a thunk, blood pouring from both exposed ends unto the sandy ground before them. It gushed without stopping, and the stranger let out a scream that was very un-manly as he fell backwards, dropping his weapon as he clutched at what was left of his arm's socket, blood flowing between his fingers and dousing them crimson.

Many screamed as well, backing away in shock and horror. Others merely stared as their fears were justified, and a couple others took the initiative to try and bandage up the remaining stump. Eric merely watched as Gwendal grunted and, for the first time, lifted up his great titanium cleaver from his shoulder, the zweihander crashing to the ground at his feet, and he yelled out with little regard to his injured comrade. "It's been decided, then. Let's go, ya'll striplings!" And with that, he strode forward confidently, dragging his heavy weapon behind him as his female companion, Phiona, fell into a steady stride behind him. Several others exchanged glances at both themselves and the injured warrior laying on the ground, before hurriedly following the strange duo before them.

Wrapped still in both anonymity and silence, Eric followed too for the time being, his armor, weapon, and magic held at the ready. When the time came, though, he would go on his own; he had to find that piece of helm at all costs. Even, he thought grimly to himself, at the cost of his allies' lives.

Including Sei Orlouge's.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

The warp jump, or the portal hoping, or the shadow run, or whatever the hell Talen called his mode of transportation had made the Immortal violently ill, and all he could manage to do when the boy eagerly tapped his foot waiting for him to get moving was puke. Puke long, and hard. Talen had sniggered, patted the knight on the back, and said he was moving on to the island of naked girls, but Jensen just let the boy go. He had no idea what even was going on for Thayne’s sake.

It had taken almost an hour to feel comfortable to stand again, and when he did so he noticed he was on the port of Akashima, probably Yonbo by the salty taste on his tongue from the sea. He assessed his surroundings, finding several groups of warriors all walking around and boasting some great claims. His eyes flashed and he swore he saw some pale eyed warrior he noticed from the Ixian Knights. He was a friend of Tobias’, he was sure.

Still, his priority was to find the bed wetter, not to talk to strangers. With his legs no longer quaking from the trip he moved towards the boats, deft fingers softly collecting the metal coins he needed to gain passage. It took him about five minutes to earn him passage aboard a small dingy, sharing it with an elf and two dwarves, and some brutish humans. They all talked as if they knew one another, and Jensen merely kept his silence as he growled each time the filthy leaf lickers made a sound.

Other than his intense discomfort of his mode of transportation, Jensen had made it on the island, a bit of straggler but not the most behind. He began to inquire about the boy wonder, Talen, and several warrior’s were more impressed with the unique feel and shape the trees. Jensen ran one hand along the craggy, rough surface of the so called trees, feeling the coral like texture as his pinky was sliced just a hair by a jagged piece. He placed the digit into his mouth, sucking the coppery taste as the immortal shook his hand, waiting to find Talen.

“No fucking NAKED WOMEN, TALEN!” Jensen screamed angrily. Though his screams were easily drowned out with another scream he was all to comfortable with. Violent, agonizing cries of death and mass murder filled the air, and the boats behind him still getting to the island had began to capsize. Jensen quickly took out his punch knife, looking towards the central island. Several warriors began running amuck, some scared, some whooping to the heavens their glee for battle. Yet Jensen noticed his blood wasn’t singing on this round. Instead, it felt like the call to fight or flight had been pushed towards flight, and Jensen went with his gut. Running towards a neutral area he observed to the west he made his way.

“Sei…” The immortal slid to a stop, eyes casting every which way when he heard a name he was so intimate with. He turned to the source of sound, but it was distorted with all the chaos going on. At last he found the Mystic talking to the youth and with the oddest site Jensen had ever seen. Two girls, one a teen, the other young enough to be in bed at this hour, standing next to Sei, eyes alight with terror. Now the immortal felt his blood going, but he didn’t know why. He supposed it was still the hurt he felt at Sei placing all the blame on his shoulders.

The ever nagging voice of Tobias filled his voice, and he shook the thoughts away. Instead he took a deep breath, ran forwards and met with Sei and Talen. When he approached them, Jensen shoved his hand over Talen’s mouth so he couldn’t speak, the immortal looking to Sei with a feral grin of savagery.

“Well, well, well, bed wetter, no naked women! No exotic adventures, just death, death, death….something you and Sei have in common apparently! You both love to send people to their death!”

“Who’s this guy?” The teenage girl sassed, but with the reek of fear edging her tone.

“He look’s like a doggy,” The little one said. Jensen, who had never been referred to as a doggy in his entire life, had no idea how to respond to that. The immortal removed his hand from Talen’s mouth when the child warrior elbowed him hard in the stomach. He leaned over Talen to catch his breath, looking up at Sei.

“Jensen, meet Emma and Ella, these are my daughter’s,” Sei spoke to Jensen’s mind in a neutral fashion. The immortal knelt down, ruffled Ella’s head making her giggle as he produced a small candy that he normally had on hand for his own little girl, Azza. But then again, Azza was older than these two girls, and he was merely babying his little girl. Looking at them and Jensen felt a rush of guilt come over him to have left his daughter and Stephanie behind. Standing up he looked to Sei.

“Ya know, most people buy ice cream when they are depressed, not two daughter’s,” Jensen curled his lips into a smile. The island shook, making everyone pause to gather their bearings as Jensen let out an obnoxious giggle. To all but Ella it unnerved them as he twirled his hand into his jacket, pulled out another sweet candy, and let Ella have another go with the peppermint roll. “But they are cute,” Jensen said softer. “And also in grave danger on this island. Since you once again proved to me, Fairy King, that you’re not fit to take care of even yourself, I’ll give you the honor of letting me be your bodyguard once again. For you and your family. However, you need to pay me in five gold coins an hour, all of which go to Azza’s piggy bank! Do we have a deal?”

The island shook again, and several more cries of death filled the air. The immortal merely chuckled as he felt right at home. He also felt more at home than he intended to be standing next to Sei again, but he left those silent words alone in the recess of his mind.

[Silence Sei]

Luckily, being accompanied by two young girls allowed Sei to leave his boat rather quickly. It seemed as though the hero's own notoriety meant nothing on an island created to make legends out of men. Manners however were still in abundance, even among the most battle hardened warrior. Women and children left first, a kind cliché gesture that would be the undoing of several men aboard the telepath's ship.

When the boats began to disperse their remains all about, Sei shielded his two girls. He had expected to be able to handle anything that came at them. After all, he was a hero, and a veteran to adventure, and these girls were his responsibility, two of his four most precious treasures. It wasn't long before he had heard a familiar voice calling to him, and the Dragon of Drantrak turned to find Talen Shadowalker speaking to him.

He was cut short rather quickly, as the group was soon joined by Jensen Ambrose. The immortal's words fell on deaf ears as far as his slurs against the name of the strategist. However, when he offered his assistance for protection of the mute and his children, Sei nodded. After all, two people looking out for Emma and Ella would be much better than just Sei himself.

All around them, screams were echoing throughout the island. Anyone who dared approached the dark forest ahead seemed to meet a swift end. Finally, a man wielding a rather intimidating blade seemed to be leading a decently sized scouting party forward. Unless the alleged demons of this island were gathered en masse, as well as intelligent enough to continue the guerilla tactics as a team, the advancing party would be the most probable group to manage an escape from this cursed land mass.

"Emma, grab Jomil's Touch. Ella, take Emma's hand. Talen, stay in the shadows. Jensen, taken Ella's other hand. We're going to follow that group into the forest. If anything seems to come at us, Talen, touch one of us as fast as you can." Sei was already going into leader mode. While Jensen did not have much faith in the youngest Orlouge brother as a strategist, the immortal had experienced Sei's hands-on approach a few times. The telepath had the utmost faith that Jensen would follow the Mystic's orders if Sei himself were leading the group.

"Mystic Protection?" Emma asked plainly as she grabbed the large white cloth draped to Sei's shoulder and took her sister's hand. Sei nodded, causing the girl to form a slight grin. Ella at this point, began to shiver a little. In part, the coldness of the island was starting to affect the girl, but she also knew that Mystic Protection meant that her daddy expected bad things to happen soon.

"Daddy's going to keep us safe, right Jensen?" Ella asked, sniffling a bit while trying to tuck her hand into the cloth hooded jacket Emma had insisted she wear.

[Hysteria]

Thunder cracked the sky as the youth moved forwards and into the twisted forest. The stone hard trees created twisted shadows on the ground amid the occasional lightning. I pulled my cloak even tighter around myself but knew it was doing little to keep me dry. Most of the beach party had moved with us, venturing into the island with the pack rather than risking being on the beach alone.

Five minutes past and nothing happened as people walked over the rocky ground. Littered amid the strong trees were bones, fish mostly. The path, or rather, the place where there were less trees, that the group followed broke into a wider clearing. In the middle stretched out on the rocks were bodies, the men that had charged inland lay in bits and pieces in a wide circle. As soon as they moved into the clearing a clicking sound emanated from the darkness of the forest. Lightning flashed and a large red spidery figure moved above the trees towards the party. The creature was massive, easily as tall as a house. Its small body was propelled forwards by eight thing armoured legs while two massive arms carried relatively small claws. I simply gasp and poked Sei in the arm and pointed towards the giant spider crab.

“I see something.”

More clicking sounds emanated from the darkness as shouts of warning echoed across the group. More of the giant red crabs were approaching from all around us as the group instinctively moved into the middle of the clearing and circled up. Before the creatures were able to get to the clearing the ground outside the circle started to quake. Rocks fell and cracked as the trees seemed to uproot and start to move.

I learnt much later two types of animals I didn't at the time. The first was the Spider Crab and the second was the Decorator Crab. Both existed in many places, but never any larger than the palm of your hand, at least everywhere but here. The trees lifted from the rocky ground and revealed their true nature, large elephant sized crabs that decorated their shells with coral and other plants to better hide.

I felt my heart drop in my chest as I looked at the forest of creatures that had surrounded us. We were completely surrounded by armoured adversaries and seemingly stranded on some forsaken moving island.

“CAVE!”

I turned in confusion as a man pointed deeper into the island. The man did indeed point to a pair of caved behind the forest of bristling crabs. The two caves looked large, set next to each other near a more vertical part of incline. I couldn't fault the man, they would offer protection, just as long as you could reach them. There was a visible shiver through the dozens of men and women in the clearing as they seemed to work out the odds of getting there alive. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Shielded it from the weather and lit it as the crabs approached.

“FUCK IT!” I yelled, “I'm going to make it to that cave and have me some crab dinner!”

The magic of the cigarette quickly pushed my body into overdrive and I felt the familiar rush of energy. I gripped my blade tightly and lifted it towards the cave.

“Last one's a rotten egg.”

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“Fucking kid,” Jensen said as he watched Talen run off ahead. Ella gripped his hand tightly as he turned to her, smiling brightly. “Alrighty Sei, I’m going to need you to take charge of the little one while I do my thing.” He gently shoved Ella into Emma’s arms as the girl looked to him, pleading not to let her go. Jensen gave her a wink as he turned his back to her, shrugging lifting his jacket off and tossing it behind him so it landed square on the girl’s face. “Be better if you didn’t see what I’m about to do.”

“I can’t see!” Ella freaked.

“It’s like a game,” Jensen insisted. “You hide behind the jacket, and don’t come out until I say Oli-Oli-Oxen-free! But if you peak, you lose!” The girl nodded, which looked silly with the jacket over her head. Jensen looked back to Emma.

“You’re insane,” She said arrogantly. “To fight these creatures is suicide! This whole trip is suicide!” Jensen rolled his eyes with a leering smile turning back to her with a Cheshire grin.

“I know, isn’t it grand?” With a loud obnoxious laugh he turned back to the crabs. “Hey Sei,” He said a bit more seriously. “Can you tickle your nose and put that magic fairy dust on me like Aislinn can?”

“You mean Mystic protection?” The mute asked, not showing much emotion to the immortal.

“Yeah, Fairy Protection,” Jensen corrected him. “Hit me with that stuff. I need just one.”

“I only have so many, and I’d rather save it for the kids. Your delusions of suicidal grandeur will have to wait,” Jensen turned to Sei and gave him a dark chuckle lifting one hand and pointing to his belt.

“So use your Gemeni blade and make him do it,” Jensen offered. Sei looked to him, at first ready to protest, but the more rational thought process of his calculating mind took over as he nodded pulling them out quickly and creating his doppleganger. The carbon copied Sei looked to the immortal and with a blink Jensen felt the blood in his system stir softly with something he had a hard time describing. It felt like liquid crystal ran through his veins now, and with everything settled he took a few steps forwards reaching to his belt pulling out a long throwing knife.

“Emma,” Jensen said darkly. “One hair on her head gets injured and I’ll make sure Sei grounds you for a week,”

“You don’t have to tell me that!” She shot back. Jensen took a moment to snicker, then like a gunshot he ran forwards laughing hysterically. One of the larger crabs ran forwards, smashing into the coral like trees as several warriors lifted up their weapons to repel it. The thick hide of the creatures shell easily absorbed and deflected the blows as it rotated to bring its claws forwards.

Jensen felt his feet digging softly into the dirt as he treaded the ground. It felt like running in wet sand as the clumps of mud dripped off his boots in large chunks. He watched the claw come forwards and wipe out several warriors in one snip of its pincers, and the warriors fell back screaming in massed confusion. Jensen pushed through them, grinning wildly as he fought the flow of traffic, the panicked warriors getting his way as he darted side to side. The crab’s other claw came forwards, its size easily twice that of Jensen’s body. He jumped upwards and avoided it, turning in the air to land with his back to the beast as he watched it scoop up several more fleeing fighters and killing them easily. Like a strike of lightening Jensen ran forwards again, lifting himself to the crab’s claw and digging his blade deep into the soft flesh of where the pincer was formed. He road up the rollercoaster like ascent and when the claw reached a level area he ran up the segmented joints.

The crab’s black little antennae followed him as its pincers patiently snapped back and forth, the creature darting to the side as the immortal ran up onto its carapace. With everything set he ran forwards right for its head looking into its own beady eyes. They were unnatural, just black little dots attached to that white antenna. They were about the size of his head and with impunity he released a throwing dagger into its eyeball. The beast took the blow and screeched, thrashing about as Jensen jumped forwards, pulling out his other knife and tossing it at the beast’s other eye. It connected and it slammed itself downwards into the muddy ground, burrowing furiously.

“Go now!” Jensen called as the warrior’s turned and began to flee for the cave. He watched Sei grab hold of his daughter’s as his doppleganger covered him towards the cave. Jensen turned back to the burrowing crab, finding it digging deeper as another four started marching forwards.

“I WANT MY NAKED WOMAN NOW, TALEN!” Jensen shouted angrily as he rushed them, four warriors matching his war cry with their own. He looked to see a squat dwarf, an eleven male, a woman with a large bastard sword, and another woman with spiked knuckles.

[Silence Sei]

Sei Prime, Emma, Ella, and the mute's doppelganger all stood in the darkness of the cave, weary from the events that had just taken place. During the escape, Ella had lost her makeshift cover. The little one was shivering, and Emma had placed the jacket over Ella's small frame, warming her up considerably. The older sister then stood and looked to Sei, talking with clenched teeth.

"You're doing a mighty fine job disproving the boogeyman here, Dad." Sei could sense the hostility in Emma's words, even without the hissing tone she took when referring to him as her father. As if it was some sort of insult to be related to him!

Before Sei could retort, a strange gust arrived from behind the troupe, knocking the smallest member on her backside. Ella started to whimper at the temporary pain that was in her butt, before Emma kissed her forehead. Suddenly, the hurt that seemed like it could be the end of the world was no longer there, and the child stood up happy with the day’s odd turn.

Sei turned to where the breeze had come from, drowning out more of Emma's lecture about endangering the two of them. A few moments later, another gust greeted the cave's guests. With the strange wind came a unique smell, something Sei could not relate to anything he had ever smelled before. It did not reek, yet it did not have the scent of daisies either. It was just...there.

Sei took a step forward into the cave, catching himself as his foot slipped a little. It seemed as though some algae was still on the ground. "Watch your step," Sei had warned his family, and his 'twin', as they began to take a few more steps into the potential abyss...

[Hysteria]

My blade bit into the face of a crab, sending a spray of what I can only assume was crab juice into the air. I pulled my blade out in a sickening squelch as the giant crab sent out a high pitched clicking squeal. In the heat of battle I didn't even pause as I twisted and slashed down through the join between the claw and the arm. The giant appendage flopped loosely and fell to the ground and I took a step and leaped over it and landed on the hard rock of the island and continued forwards.

My feet pounded across the ground as I tried to weave through the crabs. To my disgust I was heading to the left of the cave and I could only watch as Jensen and the others made it through an opening to leave me behind. I twisted and headed towards the cave directly, ignoring that my path was blocked.

I reached a crab, the giant crustacean throwing a giant claw at me. I ducked and ran along side the creature. My blade flashed through the dark air and sliced into one of the creature's legs. I might as well have thrown water on the thing as it didn't even falter. The other seven legs easy took the added weight as the beast turned around to follow me. My saviour was one of the giant spider crabs as it stepped on its smaller cousin and pinned it as it snatched a person behind off the ground. A splash of warm liquid struck my head and I turned to see the poor man screaming as his bottom half was torn off and quickly brought around to the crabs mouth. I suppressed a shiver and urged myself forwards.

I dodged and weaved around more crabs, not even bothering to attack them and finally stumbled from the fray to the safety of the cave. I dragged my feat to the cave and collapsed on the ground. I gingerly brought my hand up and touched my face, I was drenched in blood, both human and crab. If I had my time again I would have asked why the crabs were keeping their distance from the cave. The closest ones scuttled around looking at us but refused to come any closer. Three more people broke through the line of crabs but then no one. The sounds of screams died shortly after and only the chattering of the crabs remained.

“Oh Jensen,” I cleared my throat, “About that naked chick you wanted.”

I held out my hand and darkness spewed from the ground and lifted up into a female form. The shadow illusion twisted and turned as its details became clearer. The illusion of a naked Tobias Greenleaf. The Elf blew Jensen a kiss and then started to turn around and lean forwards. My concentration was broken by a swift clip on the ear by Emma and the illusion disappeared.

“There are kids!” She exclaimed, her face horrified, “and our situation dictates this is not the time.”

“You mean cause we are fu- ow!” Emma's hand silenced my next word.

“Alright! I'll be good.” I held up my hands defensively.

Emma wiped the blood of her hand with a look of disgust and I pushed myself back to my feet. My humour was more hide the feeling of impending doom I felt, but would never let on. I turned to the remains of the group, just over a dozen from more than a hundred. It was possible some had escaped on another route, but I doubted it.

“Looks like we are safe in here for a while.” I said.

I had just uttered the words when the ground started to shake. I struggled to hold on as I heard Jensen tell me to shut up. The ground lurched up at a forty-five degree angle and a sudden gale force win whipped in through the cave. My hands could find no holds as I started to slip down the cave and into the darkness. The cave entrance was suddenly extremely far away and I could just make out the forms of some of the giant crabs falling in after us.

The slippery darkness gave way and I found myself falling through nothing. A crack of light appeared in the distance and I could see the outline of Jensen near me. The light illuminated what seemed to be a gaint cavern, but as quickly as it was there, it was gone. The feeling of darkness and falling was terrifying, even with my affinity for the shadows. I had been falling for what seemed like forever when a giant blast of wind shot past and I felt myself supported by the air. Then I fell again.

“Yo Sei! You there?!” I yelled to the darkness but before an answer could come I struck water. I nearly panicked as I swam furiously to the surface. I exploded from the water and felt around in the darkness. I could feel my skin ich and eyes burn as I fought to stay afloat. My hand touched something wooden and a wave of relief flooded through me as I realised it was a boat. I tossed my sword in and pulled myself in after. Soaking wet I reached into my pocket and pulled a small wand. The item instantly glowed, sending a wide circle of light around me. More people splashed to the surface and I could see more boats and bits of flotsam around. The giants crabs that had come after us were sinking quickly into the murky water and thrashing wildly.

“Jensen! Sei! Emma! Ella! Can you hear me?!” I screamed across the underground lake.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen felt the world around him wash itself into total darkness as they continued to flap and flail their arms in a feeble attempt to stop their descent. The odor in the air began to make his nostrils flare in protest as he inhaled the nauseating fumes. When the wind lifted them a bit, he started to ponder just exactly what the hell kind of cave this place was, but before he could put his final thoughts into motion he fell again and landed in water.

Floating a bit in the sticky liquid Jensen tread the water, feeling his skin start to burn with a rash. He scanned the area, fueled by his own adrenaline as the wisps of the Storm Herald’s eldritch power began to pulse within him, creating a small green glow to the immortal’s frame. Back when he was fighting with William Arcus, the two managed to awaken a terrible evil into the world, but as thanks for their efforts the Storm Herald granted them gifts beyond imagination. The Revenant received a scythe that could cut through any barrier, and Jensen’s immortality was augmented to keep him alive until the most severe death would put him at bay.

Tiny fingers splashing the water caused the immortal to lurch forwards, swimming towards the smallest Orlouge girl and grabbing her lifting her head above water. He searched for others, Talen illuminating a light upon a wooden dingy that floated in these waters. He swam with the girl fearfully crying into his shirt, both soaked to the bone as the rash on her body covered her entire flesh. It even started to create tiny holes in her pants and shirts. When he reached the boat he tossed the girl in first, Talen lifting her by the armpits to bring her in. The immortal turned to the waters, finding Sei’s Doppelganger pushing the other daughter of Sei’s towards the boat. Jensen grabbed her arm, and lifted her up as Talen dragged his fingers onto her and pulled her out.

The immortal took a deep breath and went under the acidic like water, his eyes burning as he searched for anyone else who may have been lost to the voyage. Seeing nothing and feeling as if his eyes would melt away if he didn’t surface soon the immortal resurfaced, feeling Sei and Talen grab at his arms and pull him into the boat. There was a momentary silence as they all took the moment to collect themselves, Sei’s daughter’s consoling each other as the mute Mystic dismissed his Doppelganger. Jensen fought with the itching feeling of his rash, doing his best to dry himself off as he noticed the several holes on his pants and shirt. Even his favorite jacket was getting eaten away it seemed.

Lifting himself up he bent his face over the water and sniffed again. He pulled back, looking for something, before he had an idea grabbing the bucket. Lifting it to himself he checked to see if it was wet, happy to see it wasn’t. Winking to the smallest Orlouge, Jensen lifted up a finger.

“When you two grow fat, this is a quick way to lose weight,” he giggled as he stuck the finger into his mouth, and forced himself to vomit. It took a bit of time, Ella holding Emma so she couldn’t see the disgusting act as Sei and Talen both looked to Jensen like he was insane. When the immortal was finished purging he lifted his head into the pale and sniffed it, pulling back.

“It’s bile,” Jensen observed hacking and spitting up a bit more of his purged stomach contents. “That’s what that smell reminded me off. Puke.” Sei looked to Jensen before nodding as he thought about it. “A while back, Sei and I went to Salvar to help Willie Arcus find a way to balance his demon and human forms, or some gay bondage thing with Jomil, I don’t know. Anyway, I was turned into a frog and tossed into this Berevar Bear’s mouth. This thing was colossal too! Well, when I was inside the creature I smelled the same shit we smell here.”

“So you are proposing that we are inside the belly of some creature?” Sei and Jensen looked to each other and the immortal shrugged.

“Seems that way, but then again…” Jensen turned to Talen, his tone deepening as his eyes narrowed. Quickly he reached out, grabbing the boy by the collar and lifting him so they were nose to nose. “I have a feeling some little shade crawler isn’t being one hundred percent honest with us!” He held the boy so his feet wiggled, grinning as he pushed his nose up to the boy so only his eyes could see the Knight’s. “I’d suggest you start talking, bed wetter, and you better give me an answer I like or I’ll see how long you can hold your breath underwater before you drown…”

[Silence Sei]

Sei Orlouge had been a lot of things in his life; a hero, a protector, a vampire; he had even been a child twice in his lifespan. He had never once, however, been the dinner of some monstrosity. The revelation that Jensen had laid out before them shocked the mute to say the least, and his gaze quickly shifted to the older of his two girls.

"Wait to go 'pops', “Emma growled, the tone of an angst filled teen in her voice, "You came here to prove that this nightmare island didn't exist, and now you got me and Ella eaten by a....by a something!" Sei looked down to Ella, who was now busy watching Jensen Ambrose manhandle Talen. The mute thought about this for a moment, also reflecting on the immortal's tenure as a tree frog and his escapade within the belly of a Berevar Bear.

They -could-, theoretically, attempt the same escape that the enraged knight had done, ripping the creature out from within its stomach. However, a beast this large would require a massive amount of force, one that would probably need all nine Ixian Knight Generals, not three and two children. Going out the way that they had came would have exposed them to the giant crabs once more, as well as alert the much larger and more dangerous threat of their presence.

There was one person that seemed to have any answers, and that was Talen Shadowalker.

"Talen," Sei spoke calmly, trying to play good warrior to Jensen's bad warrior, "If you have any information that would be helpful, I may be able to help us escape. If you had ulterior motives here, I need you to lay it all on the table for me right now, because if I do not have all the known resources available, we may be nothing more than part of this acidic pool around us." Sei wrapped one arm around Emma's shoulders, and place Ella atop his own shoulders in preparation for what was to come. If the Mystic was right, the acid was going to eat through this boat in no time at all, and he was not going to allow his new daughters to become some...animals next meal.

[Hysteria]

Betrayed, stripped down and examined bare. I felt two things at once. First, that my fellow knights thought me a liar, and second that they figured me for some mastermind. I will say this, I was a little proud of myself.

“Ok, I do have something to say.” I patted Sei gently on the arm, “What the fuck Jensen? Could you just say what you thought rather throw up in front of us? I mean come on!”

I played up a shudder of disgust to punctuate my words. Slightly pleased with myself, I fell still as a smile crept across my face. I lifted my head and shot a conspiratorial look at Sei and Jensen.

“All I know is that once in a while a giant island comes to the shore, destroys everything in its path and rips up the earth before leaving. The demon thing is probably a reference to the crabs on the surface. It wouldn't be hard to see how some Akashima fisherman confused the claw of a giant crab to a demon. I suppose then, that we have stubbled upon some ancient biological rather than magical event. As to how we get out of here? I don't know.”

I ran a hand through my wet hair, then looked at it and realised that it was covered with slime from the stomach juices.

“I never figured the truth was this giant creature.” I wiped the gunk off onto the boat, “I mean, lets ignore that we are in a creature for a minute, this whole place is like a self sustaining ecosystem, what does that mean?”

“There are creatures everywhere, there is no reason to assume that just because we are in a stomach there aren’t creatures that can survive. There are places with caustic water and creatures still live there.” Sei's mind worked just as quickly as people said it did, “But I think Jensen stumbled upon the answer. We should try and make the creature vomit us up.”

“Easily done!” I interjected, “Jensen, jump into the water, you're enough to make anything sick.”

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen kept his gaze upon the shade crawler as he explained, but with a sneer he lowered his hostility and turned to look out over the inside of the beast. What little light they had, which wasn’t much, only illuminated the bile filled waters of acidic stomach fluids. He thought about what he did to the beat to make it throw him back up, but even the colossal Berivian Bear would be a mere snack to this creature island thing.

“I’ve been known to do that once or twice,” Jensen mused to Talen’s satire, sighing as he rubbed one hand through slime thick hair and letting out a raspberry of indignant thoughts. “But even my infamous talents at making people sick aren’t enough.” Jensen turned as he looked to the tiniest Orlouge, her eyes watery and face trembling. With ease that was born from practice Jensen removed his jacket and tossed it over both girl’s heads much like he did to his little daughter Azza when she was frightened.

“Hold that for me, it’s special,” Jensen said lightly.

“Smells disgusting,” Emma said holding her nose haughtily away. Her sister however wrapped tiny fingers around the fabric and placed her arms through the cut sleeves and let it drape her like a blanket. Jensen smiled to her, bending over and ruffling a hand through her hair as he looked over to Emma.

“You smell like a Lavinian hooker on two buck Tuesday, so as far as I can tell it’s all the same.” he smiled to her as she gave him a shocked look, and her eyes turned to Sei, mouth gaping open and closed as she tried to form speech. “You started it,” Jensen said cutting her off as he giggled, making Ella giggle as well as she wiped the tears from her eyes. With mission accomplished he turned to Sei and Talen.

“Like I said, I don’t have many answers to make it vomit.” Jensen shrugged his shoulders. “A thing this huge isn’t going to get a tummy ache that easily.” Talen looked to Sei, before his face lightened up with an impish grin.

“Not unless we help it lose weight…” He let the words linger in the air, and Jensen lifted his hand clapping the bed wetter on the back as he let out a wild laugh. Sei thought about it and with a grumble he nodded his head.

“I think that is the only way to get it to regurgitate us,” He spoke thoughtfully. Jensen turned to the side of the boat and lifted his hand to the bucket dumping the bile he tossed up. He knelt next to the side of the dinghy and used the bucket like an oar as he began to paddle the boat towards the throat of the creature. Sei looked around and found a piece of wood floating nearby and reached out to grab it as he began to help paddle.

Jensen felt his grin widen as he thought about how they would reach a giant finger down the creatures throat.

[Quentin Boone]

Hysteria receives:

960 EXP
72 GP


Lord Angelkos receives:

288 EXP
36 GP


Enigmatic Immortal receives:

965 EXP
60 GP


Silence Sei receives:

1166 EXP
60 GP


Congratulations!

[Philomel]

Hysteria:

Strengths:
-A particularly strong opening, with a good introduction to both the thread and the character. Though first person introductions of "my name is" can sometimes be clumsy you managed to combine it well with the rest of your post, stitching together a prequel and a future as well as the present.
-Particularly in post 8 you have a strong sense of paragraphing, to both a grammatically correct degree and also to one that makes it easy to read, for the reader. Big blocks of text can often be sore to the eyes but you have a hidden talent, and that is making your posts pleasing to look at, as well as to read.
-Again with post 8 you make use of unusual forms. Your use of a sudden bold and slightly enlargened word - "Aargghh!" - was both dramatic and eye-catching but also not too big or bold that it was too distracting. In fact it was a perfect use of creative formating and allowed for the feeling of the scream to really hit home.

Weaknesses:
-Your descriptions at times are short, and good do with development. There is a slight lack of description in general, or a suggestion of particular setting. Instead you rely more on the action and the person that is Talen.
-It would be interesting to see something of the depth of Talen, as he is not only a child but also an adult. Despite the fact that he uses this form throughout the thread, an allusion to his complex nature would make more of a mysterious impact than his infantile nature.
-One tactic to bring your writing up a little could be to use extended metaphors, or personification in your writing. For such a long thread with so many writers, to make your own personal story stand out, such features can be used.

Lord Angelkos:

Strengths:
-You very strongly and successfully describe and absorb your character into the demonic style. Use of language as well as atmosphere creating you artfully portray your character very well.
-You had a really strong opening and a really strong ending, wrapping up your character's actions and participation in this thread well and in a tightly pressed and potentially tasty sandwich.
-Overall very excellent and thorough description, with a good choice of adjectives and a good clear knowledge of how sentences structure works, and also how it can be manipulated to suit your needs, well done!


Weaknesses:
-There is a tendency not to use much dialogue. Though your character himself might not speak much, or even though there may not be much speaking around your character, it would have been interesting to see you make more use of the times when there was speech, using them as a juxaposition to the times when there is none at all.
-One interesting thing is to play with the various senses. Although you use sight and, at times, sound, it would have added an extra layer to see how Eric would react with a particular smell or taste. This adds not only quality to writing, but also a deeper sense of setting.
-Mechanically speaking you could experiment a little more with paragraph size and structure, allowing yourself more tools to use for building up tension, breaking down walls, enticing the reader to truly believe what you want them to.

Enigmatic Immortal:

Strengths:
-You clearly know your character well and have a distinct style at presenting him. Through language and through actions you show Jensen as you would wish to, with a specificness to his turn of phrase and voice.
-Despite the amount of characters and so on in this thread you manage to keep all your positions and actions clear and defined, making this a good and perfect reading.
-Perfectly good use of paragraphing and sentence structure. Enough to earn a good 10 and out of 10 in this case!

Weaknesses:
-There is a slight heavy reliance on dialogue throughout your posts. Try varying it a little with more prose, though at times dialogue is very useful.
-In some cases you have a tendency to rush the action, and do not take time to describe what the island looks like or what other people, and there are many, look like with him. There is a heavier reliance of getting to the people who are dying and interraction with Sei, which although written well, is somewhat dominating.
-Coming from this, also, it might be good to be slightly more ambitious in your writing, by adding more linguistic techniques, other than vague adjectives. This can help not only develop your writing but show that you are capable of many different styles of writing.

Silence Sei:

Strengths:
-You portray well the relationship Sei has with his daughters, and the desire to protect them. By adding Emma primarily, and others, into the story and intertwining them thus you use their father-daughter relationship to deepen the character of Sei and make him more likeable.
-Sei is a complex and deep character and you give us a clear image of what he is like and how he deals with problems and difficult situations, making him relateable and almost "human".
-Your form of paragraphing and structure is enjoyable, when you use various paragraph lengths and different sentences correctly to add tension or slowly break it down.

Weaknesses:
-Sometimes your description was a little weak, relying on action rather than adjectives themselves to show a particular scene. This became more apparent, and thus a weaker point in your writing as the thread went on.
-Similarly there was very little, or no use of linguistic techniques. These can really add another dimension to your writing and add a new depth. Things such as metaphors and similies count as these.
-Try breaking up some of your longer periods of dialgoue with bits of setting information or smells, using all of the senses together to create a depth to the scene. This will not only make the writing more interesting, but more exciting, encouraging the reader to keep on going.

[Philomel]

Hysteria:

Strengths:
-A particularly strong opening, with a good introduction to both the thread and the character. Though first person introductions of "my name is" can sometimes be clumsy you managed to combine it well with the rest of your post, stitching together a prequel and a future as well as the present.
-Particularly in post 8 you have a strong sense of paragraphing, to both a grammatically correct degree and also to one that makes it easy to read, for the reader. Big blocks of text can often be sore to the eyes but you have a hidden talent, and that is making your posts pleasing to look at, as well as to read.
-Again with post 8 you make use of unusual forms. Your use of a sudden bold and slightly enlargened word - "Aargghh!" - was both dramatic and eye-catching but also not too big or bold that it was too distracting. In fact it was a perfect use of creative formating and allowed for the feeling of the scream to really hit home.

Weaknesses:
-Your descriptions at times are short, and good do with development. There is a slight lack of description in general, or a suggestion of particular setting. Instead you rely more on the action and the person that is Talen.
-It would be interesting to see something of the depth of Talen, as he is not only a child but also an adult. Despite the fact that he uses this form throughout the thread, an allusion to his complex nature would make more of a mysterious impact than his infantile nature.
-One tactic to bring your writing up a little could be to use extended metaphors, or personification in your writing. For such a long thread with so many writers, to make your own personal story stand out, such features can be used.

Lord Angelkos:

Strengths:
-You very strongly and successfully describe and absorb your character into the demonic style. Use of language as well as atmosphere creating you artfully portray your character very well.
-You had a really strong opening and a really strong ending, wrapping up your character's actions and participation in this thread well and in a tightly pressed and potentially tasty sandwich.
-Overall very excellent and thorough description, with a good choice of adjectives and a good clear knowledge of how sentences structure works, and also how it can be manipulated to suit your needs, well done!


Weaknesses:
-There is a tendency not to use much dialogue. Though your character himself might not speak much, or even though there may not be much speaking around your character, it would have been interesting to see you make more use of the times when there was speech, using them as a juxaposition to the times when there is none at all.
-One interesting thing is to play with the various senses. Although you use sight and, at times, sound, it would have added an extra layer to see how Eric would react with a particular smell or taste. This adds not only quality to writing, but also a deeper sense of setting.
-Mechanically speaking you could experiment a little more with paragraph size and structure, allowing yourself more tools to use for building up tension, breaking down walls, enticing the reader to truly believe what you want them to.

Enigmatic Immortal:

Strengths:
-You clearly know your character well and have a distinct style at presenting him. Through language and through actions you show Jensen as you would wish to, with a specificness to his turn of phrase and voice.
-Despite the amount of characters and so on in this thread you manage to keep all your positions and actions clear and defined, making this a good and perfect reading.
-Perfectly good use of paragraphing and sentence structure. Enough to earn a good 10 and out of 10 in this case!

Weaknesses:
-There is a slight heavy reliance on dialogue throughout your posts. Try varying it a little with more prose, though at times dialogue is very useful.
-In some cases you have a tendency to rush the action, and do not take time to describe what the island looks like or what other people, and there are many, look like with him. There is a heavier reliance of getting to the people who are dying and interraction with Sei, which although written well, is somewhat dominating.
-Coming from this, also, it might be good to be slightly more ambitious in your writing, by adding more linguistic techniques, other than vague adjectives. This can help not only develop your writing but show that you are capable of many different styles of writing.

Silence Sei:

Strengths:
-You portray well the relationship Sei has with his daughters, and the desire to protect them. By adding Emma primarily, and others, into the story and intertwining them thus you use their father-daughter relationship to deepen the character of Sei and make him more likeable.
-Sei is a complex and deep character and you give us a clear image of what he is like and how he deals with problems and difficult situations, making him relateable and almost "human".
-Your form of paragraphing and structure is enjoyable, when you use various paragraph lengths and different sentences correctly to add tension or slowly break it down.

Weaknesses:
-Sometimes your description was a little weak, relying on action rather than adjectives themselves to show a particular scene. This became more apparent, and thus a weaker point in your writing as the thread went on.
-Similarly there was very little, or no use of linguistic techniques. These can really add another dimension to your writing and add a new depth. Things such as metaphors and similies count as these.
-Try breaking up some of your longer periods of dialgoue with bits of setting information or smells, using all of the senses together to create a depth to the scene. This will not only make the writing more interesting, but more exciting, encouraging the reader to keep on going.

[Alyssa Snow]

EXP & GP Added!