Of Devils and Swords ((Open to one))

[Seth_Rahl]

"Your kinda young to be fighting in the Citadel, aren't ya boy?" the man next to Ifrit spoke up abruptly. He was an older man with a few grays in his hair, but from his lean body and youthful expression the demon could tell he had many more years of fighting in that body left. Ifrit and seven others were riding through Radasanth on a horse-drawn cairrage, personally provided by the rich noble in Scara Brae. He had posted a bulliten about a contest in a popular tavern that Ifrit was staying at and of course the half demon had been intrigued by the prospects. It had said:


CALLING ALL FIGHTERS
Are you short on cash? Do you love to do battle? If so, then come to the Flying Carpet tommorow for a one-in-a-kind chance to win 5000 gold pieces!
Don't think you heard me right? Thats right, I said 5000 gold pieces! I am looking for a few fighters to entertain me as I am a bored noble with nothing to do. However, since killing and such grotesque acts are not allowed in the city of Scara Brae, I will personally pay for a trip to the famous arena, the Citadel! Remember, all you have to do is show up at the Flying Carpet tavern tommorow, and you'll recieve this wonderful chance!

Yours truly,
Aclon Lotus


Ifrit couldn't resist a chance to test his skills in the famous Citadel arena, so even though if the money was a hoax he didn't care (although 5000 gold could fatten his purse up a bit.). He showed up late afternoon to find three others there, not including the man who had "hired" them. One was the man who had just spoken to Ifrit, and his apparent weapons of choice were the bow and a short sword with glowing runes on it. The other two were twins who both wore long grey robes that reminded Ifrit of the classic Bladewraith robes, except for the color. The robes had hoods that hid the twin's faces, but both carried identical weapons and artifacts of clothing and accessories, so Ifrit could only label them as "twins".

The man who "hired" them turned out to be not much older than a boy, but he did have a mature, devious glint in his eyes that suggested years of gambling stakes and bets, so the half demon did not take him lightly when examining him. However, the boy said nothing more than the basic details that were on bulliten until late that night when four others showed up. Then the boy had explained how they were to get to the island of Corone: by dragon.

At first Ifrit could not believe his ears when he heard this. They were going to ride a dragon to get to Corone? Preposterous. Only dragoons could control dragons he had heard. But sure enough, when Ifrit and the seven others arrived the next morning at the designated meeting place, the boy was standing next to a giant adult green dragon, who glowered and snorted at anyone taking too long to get on its back.

"Fine, fine. But you owe me, Aclon." the dragon spoke to the boy in surprisingly good tradespeak. Not that Ifrit had expected the dragon to be unintelligent, but still its grasp of languages was surprisingly good.

"Nope. Not this time. I'll consider it as you paying me back for that one time, remember?" Aclon whispered mischeaveously in the dragon's "ear". While the others might not have heard the whisper, Ifrit was sitting closest to the dragon's head and his enhanced hearing allowed him to hear what the others could not.

The dragon flew for what seemed like hours but Ifrit really knew it was only an hour or so. The young noble sat at the head of the dragon, right behind the horns, and the demon could only wonder what the boy really was.

They landed a little distance outside of the city Radasanth, and the group quickly got off the dragon, lest they test its patience. Without saying anything to the noble, it flew off with one great beat of its wings, leaving the small group behind. At the same moment, the gates of Radasanth opened, and a horse-drawn cairrage pulled up beside them. The youth smiled as a large man wielding twin broadswords upon his back stepped out of the cairrage, hands crossed behind him with his feet spread apart. "The preparations are ready, young master." He spoke with an air that came from a life of servitude for authority, one that Ifrit knew he himself would never be able to have.

"Ah yes." the youth stepped up to the seat of the cairrage, next to a thin looking man who held the reigns of the horses expertly in his thin hands. He turned to the group and said calmly, as if they had taken a short walk,..."Care to step inside?"

And the big bodyguard silently opened the door to the giant cairrage and the rest of the group stepped inside.

Now they rode in silence to the Citadel, all apprehensive of one another, until the man with the rune blade had spoken to the half demon.

Ifrit turned to the man with his red eyes burning. "I'm not too young to cut your head off. Remember that."

[MaxBlade]

SRY for delay I hope this is up to par for you.

The amber colored dirt under Fareron’s feet elevated quickly into the air and fell with each hasty step. The creamy golden sun was just past its peak, and the town square bell was ringing its strong resonant ring. One…two…three…four…five…six! it was six o’clock, some one was bound to be there. Fareron was in the center of the town, where the hustle and bustle went on. This was where most of the shops were set also. Where the different languages of different cultures rambled on, and the smells that flew around went sliding into your nose, it was all so enticing, but Fareron wasn’t going to pay attention to that stuff today. It was a frigid day, though it was getting a bit warmer as the day passed on. The leaves on the minimum amount of trees that were growing in the inner city had varying shades of green. There was a pale mint-green to the depths of Lincoln green. The leaves that had already fallen had lost its color, and were a dry brown. The leaves were blowing around now, circling around the inhabitants of Corone’s feet and Fareron’s.

“Get your Heather, Winter Jasmine, Firethorn,”
“How about some Hot Cider, some strong Cider men,” Fareron didn’t even pay attention to these feeble sale pitches. He was concentrating. You could tell he was, right down from his scrunched eyebrows, partly hidden by his milky colored (Robin Hood type) hat. His cinnamon colored eyes darted all around him, letting people know he was thinking. His bleached robe partly hiked up around his ankles. He was hiking it up himself; and it looked so prissy. He did it just so his robes would not drag along the dusty ground. You could tell he was an egotistic bastard. Of course he wouldn’t admit that. He thought everything he did was right. He thought he was great, and in a way he was. Fareron was fighter by nature, a tactical fighter at that, he always seemed to know which way a fight would turn right after the first few blows the opponent would send. He was going to be in a battle today after a piece of paper he had seen, on a bar wall.
He had seen the offer, and he had thought about the offer, and he had dreamed about the offer, and so he liked the offer. The person hosting the battle he had spoken to, just to let him know some different things about himself. He didn’t like the person who was hosting the battle he had thought to himself, therefore he didn’t trust him. (Remember his ways were the right ways). When he had found out they would be riding a dragon, he definitely didn’t trust him. “You can go to hell with that!” He had said to the boy, “You can send everyone else on a dragon but not me. I’ll fly!” With that he had swept out of the building which was pretty fancy, and got ready to fly out to Corone and its Citadel.

This was the reason he was thinking. He was thinking that they might be at the citadel before him! If so he would look like a fool. “Damn this sun, it can go to hell along with that boy.” Fareron muttered to himself. Then he jumped at the next thing that had happened, because he had not seen the kid along side of him until the kid went running down the street blaring in a piping soprano voice “THE SUN CAN GO TO HELL! THE SUN CAN GO TO HELL! ALONG WITH ME!” Fareron didn’t even break a smile. It wasn’t funny plus he didn’t feel like laughing. He stopped walking, took a breath to look around and see how far he was from the Citadel. Shading his hand over his eyes, he squinted. The sun was glaring against the polished spire at the top of the citadel. “Only a little ways to go, I hope they are not there yet.” With that he started off again. The amber colored dirt under Fareron’s feet elevated quickly into the air and fell with each hasty step.

[Seth_Rahl]

The rest of the trip had been mild; apparently the half demon had shown the other fighter that he was no ordinary 'boy'. Ifrit almost grinned at the stupidity some people had, but then felt sorry for them. After all, not everyone was a Bladewraith.

They arrived sometime afterwards, and the big man who Aclon had introduced as Long escorted the group out of the cairrage. Out of the corner of his eye Ifrit saw the last member of the group, who had a nasty attitude and preferred to fly alone (at least he said), stride out from another street into the courtyard that was the entrance to the mighty Citadel.

The boy laughed at the newcomer's approach. "Ah yes, our final member joins us. How was your...flight, may I ask?" It sounded like the boy was masking many chuckles.

"Get on with it. I'm tired and cranky from that crazy dragon of your, Lotus." One of the other members spoke up suddenly. A bear of a man, he had muscles the size of Ifrit's head and carried twin axes upon his back. His fierce eyes stared defiantly at his employer as he crossed his mighty arms upon his giant chest.

"In due time, my good fellow. For now, I shall explain the match-ups." The boy let this sentance hang in the air.

Ifrit and the other members of the group looked around at each other in confusion. The half demon, however, was the first to lift his blade from his back, half-unsheathing it as he stepped forward with his bloody eyes narrowed. "What match ups? We were told this was a all out melee."

"Oh, but were you?" again the micheveous glint in the boy's eyes appeared, and the demon began to not only fear for his life but his purse as well. "Well well, it seems you have a nasty attitude as well." He pointedly looked at the strange newcomer.

"Well, in any case, follow me if you still want that 5000 gold pieces. Otherwise, have a nice trip back to Scara Brae!" And with that the boy strode off with his bodyguard Long silently accompanying him. Ifrit and the others just looked at each other and shrugged, then followed after.

However, Ifrit stayed by the newcomer near the rear, and whispered softly to both himself and the man, "I don't trust him."

((Note: I would like to make a note that this takes place after Ifrit gains his Right Devil Gauntlet.))

[MaxBlade]

As Fareron rounded the last corner, he looked into the air at the large statue of…well, he didn’t know who it was really, he hadn’t been in Corone that long, and didn’t know to much of its history. It did look like an elf though, a strong elf! As he heard someone call is name…actually he was called the newcomer, (he didn’t really care) he was asked about his flight in a joking manner. Fareron raised his lips in disgust at the feeble human. I could easily smash his head in. Fareron thought. It seemed though Fareron didn’t have to say anything as a giant man spoke up in his place. Fareron’s face then turned into a look of confusion as the boy spoke of a match up.

Once again Fareron had nothing to say for another stepped into his place. Fareron grimaced, as the voice of the man came out complaining though about the match ups. It would have been better if he had just stayed quite. This is going to be fun. As the boy responded to the whiner, Fareron listened to what he was saying. What the boy said and his look made hell break lose inside of Fareron…almost. Fareron murmured “Nasty attitude, I’ll show him nasty…” He silently took the wind in his grasp, and blew it through the boy's hair slightly to ruffle it, just to give Fareron the reassuarance that he still had control over the wind in this area. It was a habit more then anything, for his worst fear is losing his control over the wind. The large man behind the boy quickly glanced up as the wind went past him also to look at Fareron. Fareron met his gaze defiantly, he wasn’t scared of some bitch and he wasn’t scared of this man. The man seemed to be thinking the same thing, but wasn’t worried about some gentle wind so looked back down.

Fareron heard in his ear “I don’t trust him.” He looked up, he hadn’t been paying attention and the meeting was over. Fareron looked the man up and down. Red eyes, black hair, pale white skin. These were his basic features, and Fareron felt there was something deep about him that Fareron would not be able to comprehend at that moment. “I don’t trust you, so get away.” Fareron said as dirtily as he could. To put fear into his opponent was his tactic. He hoped he gave him a slight fear, for Fareron always wanted to have the advantage. He kept the man's eyes locked on to his, and then looked away, spinning on his right heel following behind the group. Smiling to the priest at the door as he passed by, he had a sweet spot for priest in his heart, now if only he had a sweet spot for blonds!

[Seth_Rahl]

Ifrit looked in surprise at the man. Nasty attitude indeed, he thought quietly to himself. He hadn't even been really talking to the man in the first place, and yet this man had snapped at him like a wild dog with a juicy steak. He must think that he'll scare me. Ifrit laughed silently at this and shook his head, and resheathed his giant blade upon his back, following after the group as he was the last one.

As they reached the doors the boy named Aclon went straight up to one of the priests and handed him a large sack of gold while whispering in his ear. At first the man's eyes widened, but then he frowned in concentration while nodding to the boy's words. Ifrit would have given his left arm to know what they were saying, but before he could attune his enhanced hearing so that the wind would blow the words his way, the priest stood up with the bag of gold in hand and walked away.

The boy turned back to the group with a large smile on his face. "Alright, the preliminaries have begun. This will be a four vs. four battle. The rules are if the entire team is eliminated they lose." He then turned to his giant bodyguard Long, who seemed to have gathered a bunch of two-different colored ribbons in his hands. One set was red, the other blue.

"Alright, on the red team..." the boy chuckled as he looked around at the eight apprehensive warriors. "....I'll have you, Ifrit Obsidian, as group leader..." he said, pointing at the half demon. The rest of the group turned to Ifrit with different sets of eyes, some showing fear, some apprehension, and some with plain anger. "....you, the one with the nasty attitude..." he chuckled as he pointed at the man Ifrit had tried to speak with. "...you, the blondie...." he pointed at an elf armed with a bow and several arrows. "...and you, the old man." he pointed to the man Ifrit had threatened in the cairrage, and for a moment plain fear went across the man's face before he walked over to Ifrit's side.

Ifrit stole a glance at 'the newcomer', and saw that he wasn't too happy about this either.

"Alright, for the rest of you, you are gonna be the blue team. Oric, your leader." Aclon cackled. The group consisted of the twins, 'Oric', the brutish man with twin axes, and a small man wrapped in bandages but carrying several swords upon his body. The ones Ifrit was really worried about was the twins. They had not spoken at all ever since he met them, and their silent way of communication reminded him oh too well of a pair of hunting wolves.

"Alright! We'll now get started! The winning team moves on to the semifinals, where teammate will fight against teammate, but for now you gotta fight as a team. :)" The boy said jovially, and gestured toward two priests who stood by twin doors. "Red team enters the left, and blue enters the right. Don't worry, i'll be watching!" The boy winked, and suddenly, as soon as he was finished, both he and the bodyguard who had been handing out the ribbons dissapeared.

The rest of the group, however, didn't pay attention to this and went right on ahead to the doors, where the priests opened them and let the warriors in. However, even though Ifrit and the newcomer followed suit Ifrit purposely went slow, so that when they reached the door the only ones around were him, the newcomer, and the two bored looking priests. The other man was about to walk in when Ifrit suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back so that he was near breathing in the man's ear. "Listen to me...' he said quietly. "...I dunno whats going on but there is something more to this than this battle. Now we both want to survive, so for a while you and I are going to have to work as a team." Ifrit almost let him go before pulling him back one more time, this time so that they were looking each other in the eyes. Ifrit's were burning now and his pupils had become slits, vertical and filled with a deep darkness. "But I warn you---you try to double cross me out there, and I will kill you." As if it was an example the air around the two of them heated up and the ground began cracking a little from the demon's own demonic pressure, which was rising rapidly as his temper increased. Before anything could happen though, he shoved the other man away from the dark portal and stepped through it himself.

If the man had wanted Ifrit to be afraid of him, he was gonna have to try alot harder than that.

Ifrit stepped out of the darkness and onto a grassy field, where the wind blew hard and he found the other two members waiting expectantly for him.

[MaxBlade]

The boy Aclon was definitely not what he seemed. He had the weird smile and laugh, and he didn’t act like an adolescence teen. He had more of the evil genius child prodigy thing going on with his life it seemed. His large brutish friend “tiny”, who was standing behind Aclon, looked like he would rather be someone else’s bodyguard other then the little freaky boy who seemed capable of killing the big guy himself. “All right the preliminaries have begun…” As he started to talk Fareron once again tuned out the high pitched happy toned voice of Aclon "the little bastard." He tuned in once again though when he heard his name mentioned…well not exactly his name, just like last time he changed it, but instead it was the one with the nasty attitude this time. He looked up and sarcastically smiled at the boy. The boy smiled back and turned his head to finish speaking, Fareron secretly flicked him off.

He looked at the man who he had scared earlier, it seemed he was on his team. He twisted his mouth to the left of his face A human on my team, dammit he thought. Then that was it, the boy rapped up his speech and disappeared. Ordering the teams to go into opposite doors. Fareron shrugged, and started to walk towards the doors, but he was roughly pulled back by his robes and confronted blazing red eyes. They belonged to the team leader who seemed to be human. Not a human, dammit! He thought as he was roughly pushed backwards and the other man stepped through the portal.

Fareron brushed the grimy fingerprints from his once bleached robes. “Damn demons, always pushing people around.” He shook his head, and raised his finger in the air as if he was a scholar. “When I was younger. The brawls we would get in were some of the best ever. I would always win. He’s lucky I’m not kicking his ass right now.”

Fareron stopped talking to himself, and put his hand down. Shaking his head, he turned towards the horizon where the sun was setting. He was actually scared; he didn’t want to admit it though. He was very stuck up. His figure was outlined in the bright evening sun; his shadow on the side of him portrayed him with his hands on his hips. (He did have his hands on his hips) In the distance he saw the ground raise into the air, and in a waveform went rolling toward a hidden object. Fareron shook his head “I feel sorry for the guy that met whoever he is.” He rolled his shoulder back, and turned around to step into the portal. Grumbling about the mean demon that was on the other side of the portal. “The bitch didn’t scare me.”

The darkness engulfed him, and made him feel claustrophobic, until the light came out of nowhere. He looked around the field now filled with his teammates. “What’s next Captain?” He said with a certain contempt.

[Seth_Rahl]

Ifrit sighed with reluctance, and ignored the strange man for a moment. It seemed that little act of power hadn't shaken him, and while Ifrit held respect for that, the two had no time to be arguing at a time like this.

Ifrit turned to the other two. "Alright, it seems that i've been thrust of role of Captain once again." He said, trying to sound as if he was struggling for patience. "At the very least can I know the names of my men --and woman--?"

There was an uncomfortable silence, until the rune-blade man stood up. "My name is Chalack' A Forn, but i'm known as Forn to most people." Although he was still a little scared by what he saw in the devil's red eyes, the man spoke with years of training behind him and Ifrit also had to admit to himself that he admired the man's strength behind his words. "I'm a Ranger of Corone, and have been for a few years now."

Ifrit nodded but said nothing. The wind blew fiercer, ruffling the fair-haired elf's loose clothing as she stood as well, a pair of optimistic eyes staring back at the devil's apathetic ones. "I am known as Vara La' Teinah amongst my people, although humans have called me the Golden Shot for my skills as an archer." To demonstrate her point, she calmly drew an arrow and, barely even looking at her target, shot it dead-center into the trunk of a tree with her great ash bow.

Ifrit was impressed. So far his team had experience and skill behind them, which was a start. Ifrit could provide the raw physical strength, so that left the newcomer to fill up the position of pure magical strength.

Ifrit looked at the the man piercingly. "And you? Who are you, and what can you provide?"

[MaxBlade]

By my second rough draft of this post it was a lot shorter. I cut out all the excess garbage and tried to get straight to the point. This thread isn’t a novel! Then I asked myself, am I having fun? The answer was no. I was so caught up in trying to get a nice sized chunk of “Gold” and experience points that I was no longer focused on the reason I started off RPing! To have fun, and to get to know people. From now on my post should be a lot better because I’m going to start trying to have some fun.

As Fareron mentally and egotistically stared down on the different people he felt at a loss for words. This would be the first time he would cooperate with a group of people. Most of the time people kicked him out, or they just didn't like him and were really mean about everything. He was finally becoming a "people person." He was never a very sociable person, but he thought he could become sociable for these guys. “I’m Fareron Silverstone one of the last in the line of Silverstones. I’m an Aeromancer, adept at controlling the elements of Air and Lightning. I have to say it will be a pleasure for me to work with you today. I will not demonstrate any of my powers, but you will have to wait for the battle.” Then punching his fist into the air Fareron shouted “Let’s beat these guys to a pulp.”

Fareron was going to let that Aclon youngster know who he was. He wasn’t going to let some young boy best him at mind games. Fareron was older then him he was sure (though he knew looks could always be deceiving), so therefore probably smarter (remember what I said about looks could be deceiving?) Cautiously Fareron spoke to the demon, still not knowing his name. “What about you? What do you do? How can you contribute to the team?” Fareron didn’t know if he was being to bold in saying this, but he didn’t really care, he wanted to know everybody. Even if that somebody could kill him with out meaning to.

After Ifrit was finished speaking, Fareron nodded his head. “Interesting, listen about earlier today, I’m very sorry, but in these days you don’t usually know who is your friend or foe anymore.

[Seth_Rahl]

Ifrit smirked slightly, then moved that to a friendly smile. Finally, we're getting somewhere. He thought to himself. He was surprised by the man's change of heart, but found this as a step towards a better future.

Ifrit almost laughed at the man's boldness. It had been a long time since he had met someone who was not intimidated by the demon's aggressiveness and blood red eyes. This could be fun.

"An Aeromancer, eh?" Back in Ifrit's childhood one of the children he knew had been a budding Aeromancer, so the demon had a good idea of what this man was capable of. Still, this was only the second one he had met in his entire life. This also explained the man's 'nasty attitude'. Aeromancers in general were a snobbish race, from what Ifrit had seen and heard of them, but that largely came from the fact that they thought themselves better than their land-dwelling cousins. Which made it all the more impressive that this one, Fareon as he had told the demon, was willing to step down from that position for the sake of bringing a team together. "Not bad at all. And don't worry about earlier, that kid made us all antagonistic to one another."

"Indeed." Said the man named Forn. He felt more at ease through the continued conversation around the demon, and now spoke up as he moved closer to the Aeromancer and Ifrit. "The boy just sets something off. There's something about him..."

"Decietful?" The elf interjected quietly. She was fingering her bow as she stared out over the grassy plains.

Ifrit nodded. "I got that same feeling. There is more to this than just a battle." He turned back to the Aeromancer. "As for your other question, my name is Ifrit Obsidian. I am the Captain of the Seventh Company of a cult called the Bladewraiths." He took out the tear-drop shaped ruby out from his under his coat and showed it to the other three. "Our motto is one thing: Cut. Cut without mercy." He placed the ruby back underneath.

"What I can bring to the team..." He started, eyeing the other members. "...is pure, raw physical strength." To demonstrate his point, he lifted the giant blade upon his back with one hand and twirled it around and above his head, the great blade making a whirring sound as it spun through the air. It slammed to the ground and cut a gash in it and in the same sweeping motion resheathed it upon his back.

"And I am not without other skills as well, but as Faeron here entailed using them right now would simply be a waste." He let the sentance fall as he turned to the plains.

"Right now our opponenents must be doing the same thing." He murmured, and his red eyes glared at the woods that seemed to sprout out like hair from the end of the plains.

Just to let you know i'm editing out the part where Aclon says this is ten minutes because the entire battle will take longer than ten minutes.

[MaxBlade]

You should have just did a double post, no need to really post right now.

Fareron nodded his head. “I understand, well Ifrit, you’re the leader.” He nodded his head towards him. His hat fell off of his head, dirty blond hair spilling out from beneath. He smiled, “So go ahead and lead!” Fareron looked out towards the other side of the plain where the other team was, then gently pulled at the surrounding air making a small gust of wind. He had control over the wind here also. He stopped and looked around, his posture of someone about to embark on a grand adventure. He dusted off his white cloak habitually, and then wrapped a collection of breezes around his person. The winds came dutifully to his call, having become so much apart of him in his wandering travels that they no longer rebelled. He called on them because they were his comfort.

The breezes swept over his wide eyes that seemed to be as wide as muskadine grapes, short golden lashes framed themselves part way around them. The wind playfully twined themselves over and along his now uncovered head. They followed the path of his dirty blond hair all the way to the bottom. He was so ready to get to fighting.

[Seth_Rahl]

Oh, is that why you haven't posted then? Alright. Mods, please don't penalize him then on his short post, my bad. :)

Ifrit chuckled at the Aeromancer's eagerness. Inside, he felt the same drive to fight, as he was still a hot blooded demon, no matter how he may look on the outside. However, simply charging in with no plan of attack was simply foolish, so Ifrit turned back to Faeron and the others with a smile. "Right. In anycase, though, we need a plan."

Ifrit thought back to when Aclon seperated the eight into two teams and thought about the enemy. "I can take Oric. He's too big for anyone else, so I don't think wind or arrows will do much." He looked to Vara the elf girl. "You should try to take down one of the twins at least. Don't let them get close to you, for I have a bad feeling about them." Indeed he did, and didn't want to risk any of his team going that close against them. "Faeron, you help her and try to take down the other twin. The two of you should work together, as I'm sure they attack as a team as well."

He turned now to the rugged warrior Forn. "Bandage boy is yours. I know he has alot of swords, but I have a gut feeling he doesn't have much skill in them." He gave the warrior a friendly red-eyed wink. "Once you take him down, though, try and help the other two with those twins." He frowned again. "I dunno why, but they give me chills. Use your bow, I don't want you getting close unless necessary."

"And don't worry about me, Oric will be a pushover once I show him real strength." Ifrit smiled widely at this. He couldn't wait until he could fight the other huge warrior.

"So, why are we all standing around?" Lets get going!" the demon warrior said, still smiling, as he marched off into the plains, unsheathing his humongous blade with one hand as he went. It was time to show them the steel of his will and sword.

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

Elsewheres...

"Gah--" Oric, twin axes in his hands, managed to choke out before one of the twins withdrew the thin blade from his neck and sliced it off with one swift motion. He toppled over with a heavy thump onto the body of the bandaged warrior, who's stomach had been ripped into two pieces and had several of his own blades stabbing his appendages to the ground.

Across his face was three cuts, made by claws of some sort.

The twin was covered in his black cloak with the hood up, covering his face and arms from sight. The other twin was exactly the same, except that one was leaning against a tree with its arms crossed. "You finished yet, brother?" He hissed in a reptialian voice.

"Not yet." The other replied in the same scaly voice. The two were devoid of all differences, two identical figures in the same place.

The other one grumbled. "You take too long. I want to get going, the others will be here soon."

The twin that had sliced Oric's head off wiped the thin blade on the clothes of the giant warrior, then tossed it aside. "Well you take too short of a time. If we're gonna kill, why not make it slow and painful?" There was a grin in the twin's voice that would make a listener shiver.

The other one shook its hooded head and stepped away from the tree, silent footsteps as if they didn't exist. "Because then you make mistakes and get killed. Off them quickly, and they can't off you, that's my motto."

The first laughed, a dry hissing sound. "And you say that you don't understand me. I can't understand why you simply can't let yourself go. Have some fun, for Lurios's sake!" Suddenly the first twin leapt itself at the other with amazing speed and agility, spinning thorugh the air like a black arrow.

However, even at that speed it seemed that the other was faster, grabbing onto the cloak of the first and throwing him to the ground. "Fool, conserve your energy. We still don't know what they are--" Suddenly he was hit in "face" by one robed fist and was sent stumbling backwards as he let go of the first twin.

The first stood up from his kneeling position and chuckled evilly. "Like I said, you need to let go and relax. Normally I never would have been able to do that to you."

"Who said you did?" Suddenly the other was behind the first, and in his robed hand three long swords extended out like claws, shining in the sunlight. The first turned as swift as the night and blocked the incoming strike with three long swords of his own, then suddenly he was gone, swifter than the first, a bare blur in the trees high above the other.

The other dissapeared as well, in the same flash-stepping manner as the first. They collided in the air with their blades clashing and sending out bright sparks. Again and again they moved as fast as the wind, flashing away then clashing, flashing away then clashing, neither gaining any advantage.

Until suddenly they stopped in mid air, and both of them simitaneously went "What?" as pale, slim arms grabbed both of their weapon carrying arms with inhuman strength. They turned and looked at the small figure who had stopped them.

It was Aclon.

"Both of you, stop it." Aclon spoke, but this time there was none of the jovial attitude he had displayed before, and his eyes shone with a bright, bloody red. "Your not supposed to be fighting each other, remember?" At those words he squeezed their arms tighter, and both cried out in unison.

"Damn you!" The first twin hissed in rage, and suddenly three blades extended from his other robed hand as well. He swung them with great speed at Aclon, but only hit empty space.

"Now now..." Suddenly, faster than the two twins had been, the boy was behind the first and was smiling sadisticly. "...you should know better than to try and strike your betters." Then he swung one pale fist at the twin and sent him crashing to the ground below, an inhuman blow.

"You little..." The other twin began, but Aclon held up one hand. "Please, don't even try. I don't want to kill my minions, but if I have to, I will." Suddenly that hand glowed with a red aura that sent shivers down the other twins spine, and he knelt his hooded head in complacence. "Good." The aura dissapeared as Aclon and the twin began floating down to where the first was picking himself up.

"Now, take off your disguises. I don't believe there is any need for them anymore." Rather than letting them do it, however, he simply held up one hand and pointed two fingers at each of them.

The cloaks blew backwards and the hoods fell off, revealing lean, reptilian bodies and lizard like heads. However, they stood like men, and their eyes glowed with intelligence. Across their green bodies were red markings, like tattoos.

They were mriswith.

Both hissed, red tongues flicking out at the sound. "Fool!" one spoke, revealing lines of sharp fangs. "What if we're discovered!"

Aclon simply smiled. "I already took care of that." And he snapped his fingers. Suddenly the bodyguard Long was there, and in his great arms he held a struggling monk, the same that Aclon had given a sack of money earlier. "Help! Help!" the terrified monk immediately called out, but that was all he could make out before Long snapped his neck with one smooth motion. The monk fell to the ground in a heap, blood leaking out of his mouth as he stared on, glazing eyes wide open. Aclon sighed. "What a good spy he could have been. If only he could've kept his mouth shut." Then, he turned back to Long with bright red eyes. "Go back and make sure no one else enters and sees."

The great man nodded once, and the next moment he was gone.

Smiling now, the boy turned back to the mriswith, who had watched the entire incident without interest. "Alright. Kill them swiftly, but capture the demon and the one with the nasty attitude. They'll be good...experiments." At this Aclon smiled wider, and his red eyes turned to slits. Then he was gone, just like that.

In unison the mriswith sighed. "That one always frightens me..." the first lizard man murmured, before the other smacked it upside the head with a clawed hand. The three blades that they had both been using were attached to their forearms using strange braces attached to the fingers. "Shut up. No true Meiron warrior admits his fear!" He diciplined the first, but then shivered itself. "Although I do see what you mean."

The two mriswith then leapt into the trees at blinding speed, leaving the bloody massacre behind.

http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs17/300W/f/2007/155/b/f/Mriswith_by_devthedud.jpg

[MaxBlade]

Finally, and I still don't like the post lol.

Fareron let the next sentence he heard run through his mind a few times. Instructions before battle were always a good thing to remember. I help the elf lady, I help the elf lady. Fareron nodded in understanding, he usually never worked with others. He knew that he was likely to jump on another enemy because he was so independent. He looked at the elf. Not directly, but out of the corner of his left eye. She was already staring at him, so he turned completely to look at her. She seemed to not be able to help herself and let loose a big smile. The perfect white teeth seemed fake they were so perfect. Fareron didn’t give in to the temptation to blush because, when was the last time anyone smiled at him? It was usually a dirty look. Maybe he could learn to like people a bit better.

He walked the rest of the few steps till he was a bit closer to her. Instinctively she put her hand to the bow and arrow, then she blushed “Sorry, it’s just natural.” She said this partly in elven and part trade speak, he luckily knew elven though. “It’s no problem; if I used weapons, I’d probably do the same thing.” He said all of this in elven to the woman. She got so happy that she jumped up and hugged him, then furiously rattled off some words in the elf language. He slightly pushed her away and tried to understand what she was saying. He shook his head “No I’m not an Elf and I don’t know how to shoot a bow properly. I do have Elf friends though. I say it is a pleasure to be working with you though.”

The elf (who said her name was Vara) was still blushing. She nodded her head embarrassed, and then turned to see what Ifrit was saying. But it seemed they had missed the rest of the plan since Ifrit was already urging the team to get going. He was ready, Ifrit was ready, and the elf and the old man were ready. It seemed they had this thing licked.

Fareron’s eyes lit up as he went inside himself for his magic. There was a difference between controlling a little bit of wind, and then controlling magic. His magic was the thing that let him make the wind a weapon. Now as he pulled at the magic inside of him, so he could use to his advantage and take full control over the wind, he felt a stirring inside of him, a shiver that went up the nerves on his back. He was now in control of the wind within a ten foot radius.

As all his magic filled his body, he seemed to glow a little bit more, and you would only notice it if you looked at him closely. “Time to stop standing around,” His voice seemed a little deeper; he was now floating on the air. A thing he called air walking. When Fareron was in his regular state (without his magic) he had discarded his haughtiness, it was now back. This was what made him Fareron. With that he started to glide across the rural land, not worrying about the others knowing they would catch up.

[Seth_Rahl]

Ifrit watched the Aeromancer glide on above them with a smirk. He could feel the same exhilirating rush in his own bones as he saw the man fly up above them, using the air itself to propel him through it. It was a handy talent certainly, one that Ifrit wondered if he could ever possess, but right now he needed to focus on the task at hand. He and Forn ran side-by-side through the plains as the elf girl ran ahead, bow ever at the ready. He had noticed Faeron and her getting closer, and he nodded his approval at the two of them. That was good. The closer they were, the more effectively they could work together as a team.

Ifrit held his blade Eternium Beowulf in one hand as he pushed his black coat backwards with his gauntleted hand. "Forn, I have a question." He said quietly to the older man running next to him.

"Hmm?" the man mumbled. In his right hand, most likely his dominant, he held his runed blade, and the runes, Ifrit had noticed, had grown brighter the closer they were getting to the outbreak of forest.

"What's up with that blade of yours?" Ifrit said. "I've noticed somethings up with those runes..."

"Oh." Forn looked down at his blade. "Its name is Galandier. The runes were placed there by a wizard, specifically for one purpose." He explained, holding the blade up in front of him. "Its been my companion for years now."

"What do the runes do?" Ifrit asked quietly. He had a growing gut sense of something wicked coming.

"Oh, they sense danger." Forn explained. "For example, the closer it is, the brighter they g--"

Suddenly the runes burst out in a bright, blinding light, and there was a rumbling behind the two swordsman. Ifrit stole a glance behind him just in time to see something snake lilke dissapearing beneath the ground, humongous and earthen.

"Oh shit..." Ifrit swore, snarling. He skid to a halt as he twirled his blade before him, stopping several flying pieces of earth from flying and smacking him in the face. "Faeron! Vara! Fall back, we've got company!" He yelled to the two who had gone on ahead. Forn's face was no longer white; he had put on his battle face, and held his rune blade in front of him while in his other hand he began muttering something. Huh, can he do magic too? Ifrit thought to himself before the first attack came.

The monster was a giant snake that seemed to be made of earth itelf, and its eyes glowed green as they stared at the duo in front of them. There was a split second before it rushed them, gaping maw wide open to swallout both Ifrit and Forn whole.

However, Forn was not unprepared for this assault. Just before the beast reached them, he said something in a language that Ifrit did not comprehend and suddenly three trees appeared from the ground like pillars, blocking the creature's attack and causing it to become outraged. Ifrit stared at Forn in amazement, and when the older warrior caught sight of the demon's look he shrugged. "Being a Ranger means you have to have Druidic skills too." he explained, and ran off after Faeron and Vara.

Ifrit watched as the stupid beast pounded itself again and again into the trees and could only shake his head in amazement. He had dangerous companions indeed, it seemed. Taking one last look, he sprinted after the three others with his black coat flowing out behind him.

[MaxBlade]

His cloak silently flew behind him, the soft patter of footsteps slapping the ground below him. Fareron’s acrasial attitude towards the world reflected in his eyes. The airgonaut was focusing on one point and one point only. Maybe the faster we kill the others, the faster I’ll get to that little… His thoughts were cut off quickly. Fareron’s head snapped right to look over his shoulder. His eyes glaring, a shadow cast over them by the hat on his head. His mouth tightly pursed, “I hate company” were his gruesome thoughts. He just managed to catch a glimpse of the creature, to make his neck hairs stand on end. “Huh!?” His eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped open, he turned his body all the way around so he was flying backwards. He lost his concentration over the monstrosity and went falling to the ground. A look of horror was still upon Fareron’s face, he didn’t even notice he was falling. His legs were still straight down, not bent. It could damage his knees if he didn’t bend them. Vara saw this and quickly sped up. She was almost a blur, “Fareron!” She jumped and grabbed him by his waist tackling him to the ground. He came out of shock as the pain went through his butt. The grass was ripped up and dirt flew as they slid back about seven feet, Fareron’s arms wrapped around the elf.

“I’m sorry, I was in such a state of shock that…” Vara shushed him with a quick glance and jumped off of his body. He too stood up quickly, and then he felt it. He didn’t think Ifrit noticed as he went sprinting past. It was a rumbling in the ground, a deep rumbling. It seemed to be getting closer to the surface, and it was because the dirt from the ground was being pushed up. “Run!” Vara shouted, it was too late for Fareron though. The ‘thing’ was upon him. The monster popped out of the ground flailing its arms in the air, blades shining and flashing in the sunlight. An evil grin was upon its already hideous face the brown cloak went flying off of its body. Fareron wasn’t ready for this attack, so he jumped in the air also, the monster falling and Fareron going up into the air. The monster lashed out still the metal claws scraping against Fareron’s chest. It didn’t cut the cloth but it did cut Fareron’s skin, blood staining the inside of his robe.

At the peak of his jump Fareron switched gears and started to fly. Thinking he left the monster behind. It was not so. He was right beside Fareron. huh? It was smiling also, and then it started to fall. Fareron smirked, [I] not a flyer just a good jumper. “What!” Fareron shouted. The lizard like man was right in front of him. “Ifrit! Help!” The blades went swinging towards Fareron’s face!

[Seth_Rahl]

Ifrit reflected back on the earth serpent as he ran, and the older swordsman running next to him could tell he was troubled. "What is it?" Forn asked quietly.

"The beast..." Ifrit responded. He looked back, where it was still slamming into the trees that Forn had conjured using his Druidic abilities. "Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you?"

"Odd?" Forn looked back, and narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, odd." Ifrit looked back as well. "Just look at its eyes. It seems as if...well, maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"No, go on." Forn urged the demon to speak, Whatever theory the swordsman had might come in handy.

"Well..." Ifrit looked back to the front where Faeron had fallen to the ground. "It seems as if that beast is being controlled."

Suddenly Vara leapt away from Faeron and Ifrit narrowed his eyes. What was going on? Did the Aeromancer do something? Before his question could be answered, though, he saw something brown fly out of the ground and metal glint in the sunlight, and Faeron leapt up into the air once more. However, Ifrit saw the being dissapear and reappear beside the Aeromancer, and Ifrit gasped. "That thing...its demon dashing!"

Forn looked at the devil as if he had just spoken jibberish. "Demon...dashing?" Forn almost laughed at how stupid the words sounded, but at the sight of Ifrit's worried expression his laughter caught in his throat.

Ifrit stared up as the figure struck at the Aeromancer with three, long blades that came out from its robes, and his knees trembled in fear as he caught sight of the beast's face.

It was a mriswith. There was no mistake about it. And that would explain the earthen serpent that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to attack Ifrit and the older swordsman.

Vara shouted something before knocking an arrow and launching it at the beast in the air. However, Ifrit knew that this time she wouldn't land her mark, and he was right. The mriswith dissapeared and reappeared on the ground right next to her, so fast that her eyes were still on the floating Faeron.

"Vara!" Ifrit shouted, and she turned towards his voice just as the beast turned and slashed upwards at her face. Luckily she jumped back just in time, and the blades only grazed her cheek before the mriswith dissapeared once more.

"Ifrit, what the blazes is going on?!" Forn shouted next to him, drawing his rune blade as it shone with a brilliant light, exposing the danger of the situation.

"Not now, just run!" Ifrit shouted in response before pushing the older swordsman ahead of him. "To the woods!" He shouted to the floating Aeromancer and the elf woman as he ran past them both, his giant blade now drawn as he looked around himself.

[MaxBlade]

I didn’t know what to do

What the BLAZES is going on indeed, Fareron thought! He didn’t know exactly but it probably had something to do with that damned boy. “To the woods!” Ifrit shouted to everyone. Fareron nodded his head in quick response, and dropped to the ground, knowing that staying in the air was not the greatest choice. A dash to the woods, reminded him of his training back when he was becoming an Aeromancer.

The town’s people were becoming scared of witches and voodooist, and anything that had to do with magic. They were starting to plot against every one of the magical beings in town. The magical beings decided to have a meeting in the middle of the night to solve the problem, but unfortunately some one knew they having a meeting, and the magical beings were caught unaware.

The people lit fire to the building and as the magic people ran out the back the people attacked them. They fought back, and that night, out thirty-five magic people only twenty-nine were left, out of fifty-five townsfolk only thirteen were left. “Flee to the woods.” One of the Head magic-beings (It might have been a demon) said. They fled to the woods all right. They lived there for the next three years until some agreements were made between the city and the magical beings. That was where Fareron trained the most; it was his time in the woods.

Fareron watched his back while he ran to the woods, only a few steps behind Ifrit the whole time, the old man running on one side of him, and Vara on the other. His face was grim, “I won’t lose to these losers!” He thought to himself. I won’t back down because of their superior power!