Reign of Metal - Rebirth Saga - Part 1

[Typheus]

Delete this post, please.

[Gideon]

Gideon lay in his coffin for the longest time, unable to move, breath, dream, feel, or more or less exist. His body had been shut down by the forces that be and he may never awaken. He did not know of this of course, because he was severely shut down. His body stopped and now he no longer felt anything. He wasn’t dead, but he was as close as one could come without stepping over the line.

The first thing to break the silence was a scratching noise. It started very faint and Gideon managed to hear it through his damnation. The noise steadily grew, and with it, a very faint glow started to form above Gideon, it was the first thing he had seen since…a time he did not know of. It was as if these were his first glimpses of the world, but he knew that they couldn’t have been. Logical thoughts persisted in his mind, and he knew that he was born long ago.

The scratching grew louder and the glow turned into a ray of light, fluxuating as the cause of the scratching passed over the hole it had made, clearing away more of whatever was above Gideon. The scratching reached its peak and abruptly stopped. Something stuck its head into the opening, but Gideon could not see it. His vision was blurry, and he did not know why.

The scratching continued, pouring more and more light into the place where Gideon slept, or better yet, barely existed. The source poked its head in a few more times to examine its find, and Gideon was worried it was some kind of animal coming to feast on him.

When all of the dirt was uncovered, Gideon’s vision came back even more and he finally saw the source of the scratching and digging. It was sort of like a wolf, but it was a bit awkward. Gideon couldn’t put his finger on it, because of his still blurred vision, but he knew it wasn’t like other wolves.

Finally, when everything was said and done, the wolf did something weird. Various parts of it started glowing and soon, feeling flowed into all of Gideon’s limbs, releasing him from his moment of quaint existence, and Gideon slowly but surely stood up and found that the hole he was in wasn’t deep at all. It came up to his knees, and he easily stepped out of it and onto solid ground.

Everything seemed new to him as his eyes finally returned to their usual gleam. The world around him was full of trees, grass, sky, sounds, wind, heat, and feeling. He felt as if he had been dead for a very long time, and he may very well have been until the wolf freed him. Suddenly remembering the wolf, he turned around and saw it sitting on its hind legs look up at him.

The main difference between this wolf and any other is the fact that it was not flesh and blood. It was metal and circuits and sensors and gears. Its blue and silver exterior was made of many joined parts, most of which were joined by bolts and screws and hinges. It looked up at Gideon with its blue glowing eyes and had its mouth open, revealing metal teeth and fake metallic tongue.

It looked up at Gideon and when he made to examine it, it started wagging its tail.

“Hey, what’s your name?” Gideon said, petting it on the head.

“My name is Liol. It’s nice to finally see you again!” The wolf responded, ending his sentence with a bark and wagging its tail even more. Its speech startled Gideon, but for some reason, it didn’t actually scare him.

“Do I know you?” Gideon asked, hoping to find out just what was going on.

“I am Liol, first model Eternity Project. You built me, Sir Gideon the Magnificent.”

“Sir Gideon the Magnificent? What the hell…” Gideon said as he scratched his head and tried to figure out if he remembered anything of the sort.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

((Moderator note this quest takes place after The Dead and Undying (FQ Mission) (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=92275#post92275) thank you.))

My spirits were down-trodden. I'd come to this land of the High Elves to fight some wars and potentially have enough credits to my name to join the Tel Algrim. The Bladesingers' organization caught my eye. I was left weakened at the heart, badly bruised and injured, and worst of all, humiliated. Separated from my friend Typheus, the battle got chaotic to the point where I lost track of it all. Out of desperation I ate one of the zombies and found that it adversely affected my body. I was changing. Into what, I don't know. But I was no longer the proud warrior, Lexxum Vordic. A man of my people. I saw that the Red Forest had truly become crimsoned stained. Blood from the march of Xem'Zund's forces seemed like it was splattered across every tree.

Ravaged corpses of various beasts in the wild littered the landscape. Vultures fed from the corpses of the dead. The whole Red Forest smelled like death as scavengers fed upon the dead like carrions. My heart was heavy. As heavy as the cold breeze that kissed my scaly skin. I wanted to go back to Eluriand in order to report a victory for freedom. Instead, I was coming back to report failure. My enemy at the battle of Valinatal had proven to be too strong for me to handle. I'd bitten off more than I could chew, metaphorically and literally. My injuries were taking their sweet time to heal, it seemed that Lord Mitra had forsaken me.

All around me I could sense the eyes of greedy predators ready to lunge at me at a moments notice. They would take me from my misery and send me to the there after. I followed Lord Mitra to the very end but I had lead my people down. Tears flowed down my eye until they stung with a certain dryness to them. Already, I was developing quite the collection of battle scars from the various conflict I've been in. I trudged forward until my nostrils caught the scent of something else in the wind. Slowly, this took me out of my melancholy state and back to the mission at hand. I was always about the mission. Even with the betrayal of fellow warriors, I had fought to the very end for Valinatal, but alas, it had fallen. We'd all fought bravely against unbelievable odds.

It was a glorious battle indeed! Though we lost it, there would be a chance to confront Netha'Tu in the future. I need more power to take him. I'm still too weak even by the standards of my people. If only I were stronger, I could take him. The lost had shattered me to my very core. I had a sense of might and invincibility about myself ever since I defeated an armed Atra in glorious battle. That had been a fine skirmish indeed. The scent became stronger, it was a distinct scent of death, old death. I walked over off the main road I walked upon and made my way to a structure that resembled an old Mausoleum more than anything else. The scent I detected was coming from there. I hesitated when it came to entering that structure. Instead, I bent my legs down and leaped powerfully through the air, jumping atop the structure landing on its low-built roof top. I landed with a small thud and crawled until I was on top of the building, crouched low to its roof. I clung to the structure and waited for the scent I detected to emerge.

It might be food.

[Gideon]

"Sir Gideon the Magnificent, huh?" Gideon said, trying to understand the wolf.

"Yes. Don't you remember? You built us!" the wolf, Liol, stated, almost a little too happily.

"'Us?'" Gideon repeated, perplexed. "How the hell many of you are there?"

"Well...there's the workers, the military, the landscapers, the fliers, the bureaucrats, and the government in general. The city was built by the workers, which were built by you, so I guess it's safe to say you built the city. The castle was built by your elite workers, which were also built by you, so you built the castle. The Dexorium was built by your elite workers as well, which means it was built by you. The XS-RAZOR was built by-"

"I GET IT! I GET IT, GODAMNIT!" Gideon said, frustrated that the wolf wouldn't give him a complete picture. "I BUILT STUFF! IS THAT ALL!?"

"But...master...you don't remember? You're the greatest techno mage of all time. You fought in the Grand Endeavor, or the War of the Tap as these lesser beings are calling it these days. You had an army that could conquer Raiaera ten times faster than Xem'Zund!"

"Liol...these names don't mean a thing to me. I think you have the wrong guy. I'm not this Sir Gideon the Magnificent."

"Preparing to transmit history file: Foundation of Azure City!" the wolf cried out in a monotone before he pointed himself at a flat wall and projected a vivid image onto its side. The image was first a blur of colors, but it soon expanded into an image of a large city, simply beautiful, with towers that reached towards the clouds. The towers where mostly silver and there were light blue windows and domes on top of each one. Gideon stared at the city, unable to take his eyes off of it.

A voice came from the wolf, a recording it seemed, and spoke of the image on the wall as it sprung to life and started moving.

"Built in order to harness the productivity of-" the voice began to say, but Gideon had lost interest in it. He was only interested in the moving picture on the wall.

The point of view swept past building after building, revealing more and more of Azure City. The streets were alive with what seemed to be humans similar to the robotic wolf. The skies were blurred by devices that could fly, and the streets were blurred by devices that could roll along without a single horse attached.

A large shadow started looming over the city and the camera panned up to find a very large airship looming over it.

"The Dexorium is the single most powerful attack and command vehicle-"

"My God," Gideon said, stunned at this. He built all of this? There had to be some kind of mistake, but weirder things have happened. For instance, there was a little robotic pet wolf at his side, capable of speech, telling him that he built a city.

The image started zooming out from the city and the sheer size of it shocked Gideon to his core. It was easily about ten miles in diameter and had a self-moving wall around it so that it could expand unhindered by construction of a new wall. The image started to fade out, showing an image of a lightning bolt crossing a gear.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

I felt powerful energies at work. A strange scent came at me as I waited on the roof of the single mausoleum. I looked all around me and saw that a simple graveyard rested upon this neck of the Red Forest. Still getting used to the way this land functioned, I knew I was perhaps the only Saurian present in this area of Raiaera. I'd heard rumors of dragons living somewhere on the continent but I couldn't verify if these rumors were true or not. My main interest these days lay in joining the Tel Algrim and becoming a skilled Blade Singer. But for that to happen, I knew that I had to prove myself worthy. The loss of Valinatal was not the right way to go.

We fought hard in that battle but in the end, the Magus, Netha'Tu proved himself a formidable enemy. I vowed to one day destroy the Magus and see an end to Xem'Zund's forces. I only lacked the on-hand power necessary to defeat him. With my body badly scarred and my soul injured, I was separated from my friend Typheus. I looked up at the sky and saw a clear afternoon sun from my perch atop the mausoleum's roof. I continued to wait until someone came out. I needed some directions to Eluriand or at least Anebrilith. A place where I could get the training I needed to grow more powerful. These days, I only thought of getting revenge against Netha'Tu for the crushing loss at the battle of Valinatal. One day, I would have my revenge...

If there was an Althanas left to defend.

[Gideon]

The wolf sprang back to life after the message was over and took two steps towards Gideon before it looked behind it, a low robotic growl swelling in its chest. It sat quiet for awhile, as if listening for something. The quiet persisted and Gideon was getting a bit nervous. Compared to the recent vivid colorful images of before, this silence was as dead as the coffin he had been in earlier. He was about to ask Liol what was wrong, but the moment he opened his mouth to make a noise, Liol shot him a nervous look, and that shut Gideon right up.

Liol suddenly got a surprised look on his face, at least as far as Gideon could tell. Liol's metallic face had a hard time conveying emotion. If Gideon really did build him, then he either did a bad job, or just didn't give a damn. Liol turned and took a quick look at Gideon. Gideon opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Liol started glowing and shouting.

"Enemy detected! He has the high ground! Long-range weapon required! Gideon, use the emergency crossbow!"

"What!? What crossbow!?" Gideon shouted back. He was starting to panic. Was he supposed to have a crossbow on him? If he did, he couldn't feel it. He checked in his pockets, what little ones he had, and couldn't find anything.

"This one!" Liol shouted, and a small device on his back expanded out like a small mechanical arm without a hand and held a crossbow up towards Gideon. It was wooden with metal patches helping hold it together. Gideon took it and held it in his hands. Something felt natural about it, but he couldn't remember if he had used one or not.

"You'll need these," Liol stated as another compartment opened up and a small metal box, attached to a belt, with crossbow bolts in it came out on another small mechanical arm. Gideon took these and quickly strapped the belt around his waist. The metal box hung limply and it was just wide enough for the bolts to sit directly on top of each other.

When Gideon pulled one bolt out, a spring shot another one up to the top to make it easier for him. "Yep, I guess I thought of everything..." he said to himself as he twirled it in his hands. It wasn't until he went to place it into the crossbow did he realize he forgot to pull back on the bow string in the crossbow. He dropped the bolt, Liol happily catching it in his mouth before it hit the ground, and readied the crossbow.

“God,” Gideon stated, trying to lock the bow into place. “If this were a real battle, I’d be shot a hundred times by now.” Gideon grabbed the bolt and shoved it into place and whirled around looking in every direction.

An eerie silence swept over them and Gideon was left jumping at shadows with the wolf getting more and more frustrated.

“He’s above us, Gideon!” Liol shouted and with this, Gideon looked up and saw something very awkward indeed. A lizard man was perched on one of the walls.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

"It's an Arta! An armed Arta!"

I immediately thought that Gideon was some sort of undead creature. After all what other creatures were known to emerge from mausoleums in the middle of the day after they were long rumored to be dead? The sky lurked overhead as clouds started to gather mysteriously. I shot a glance up at the sky noticing that the crystal clear blue afternoon was now turning dark indeed. A storm was coming. I stood up on the roof of the building, revealing my full height, and stared down upon the technomage. The Arta had a strange blue companion that oddly resembled a dog. A dog made of clockwork like my hand. I looked at my clockwork hand for a moment and then shot a deadly stare back at the Arta. My battle with Lorenor made me a careful warrior and I wasn't taking anymore chances. My battle with Netha'Tu refined my combat ethics.

The Arta before me was armed with some sort of crossbow type of weapon that I'd never seen before. I continued to look in the technomage's general direction as I prepared myself to attack. I took my massive form and jumped off the building, sailing through the air gracefully, and stomped downward with my feet when I was generally above Gideon's head. I continued my forward dive landing hard against the tightly packed earth. I flipped in a roll forward ending up several paces behind the man. Standing up, I was ready for combat. My body instinctively moved into combat position. My powerful muscles were knotted. Though I was unarmed, I had size and weight advantage and the skills of a veteran warrior. My clockwork hand would serve me as a powerful weapon for the time being. Made of steel, it added to my general strength. I hissed as I waited to see if I got a piece of the Arta with the talons on my feet at all...

I whispered a prayer to Lord Mitra.

[Gideon]

Gideon watched as the big lizard jumped from its perch and became a silhouette against the darkening sky before it quickly came crashing down straight towards him, intending to crush him underfoot before Gideon had a chance to counter-attack.

As the monster was about to crush him, Gideon rolled out of the way and managed to avoid getting crushed just to drop his crossbow before being able to fire off his bolt. It went skidding across the dirt and came to rest easily out of his reach. When he tried to get up to get the crossbow, he felt a stabbing pain in his ankle and and felt that he had sprained it. His mind panicked as he saw the monstrosity standing over him.

"Liol! For God's sake, do something!" Gideon shouted as he was unable to do much of anything else. His insides squirmed as inevitable doom seemed to approach him. The wolf's eyes grew very narrow and he seemed to be in a moment of anger as Gideon silently begged for his help.

Liol jumped in between the lizard and Gideon and started growling. "I didn't bring my master out of stasis so that you could come and take him away again!" Liol looked ready to give his life for Gideon, his creator. Was he really looked upon as a great leader and savior for his creations? Something about it felt so wrong. Gideon would have to remember what things were like before his stasis so that he could understand why he was hailed as something he felt he was not.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

"You're the servant of an Arta! You're just as fell a beast as he is! By Lord Mitra's decree I shall destroy you both with my bare hands!"

Hearing the words of my Lord, I looked upon the beast that stood before me. It was some sort of clockwork abomination and not fit for this world. Seeking my cause of self imposed righteousness, I readied myself for combat against the creature. I would have no qualms about destroying it piece by piece and taking care of its master. I looked upon the man crawling on the floor and then back towards the dog. Moving down on all fours I prepared myself for combat against the clockwork beast. I was certain that these two were somehow connected to Xem'Zund's works of Necromancy and thusly were unfit for life. They were enemies of all of Althanas.

Netha'Tu defeated me in battle but I would gain my revenge upon him and Xem'Zund's forces. Narrowing my eyes to thin slits, I looked upon the clockwork mechanid before me. Preparing myself for assault, I suddenly bounded quickly forward at the highest speed I could muster. Spinning on the ground, I released a powerful kick with my left leg using my tail to balance me out. I kept my eyes locked upon my opponent in case it tried to pull something out of its metallic body. I would have to summon all of my strength in order land a deft blow against the monster. I waited to see if my skilled kick would connect against the creature before me. My hands grabbed the earth beneath me with my powerful claws. I felt my talons digging into the fresh earth as I attacked.

[Gideon]

Everything seemed to happen all at once as Gideon could simply lay there and watch. In his condition, he was unfit to fight or run or even walk. As Liol and the lizard went after each other, Gideon almost turned his head to avoid watching the possibility of his little wolf getting pummeled.

The lizard hit the wolf with a mighty kick and sent it flying over Gideon. He reached up and tried, foolishly, to catch the wolf in midair, but its weight was too great and Gideon was merely pulled along for the ride as he and the wolf tumbled down towards where his crossbow lay. This thing was far too strong. To fight Liol like that and have such an effect.

Liol lay next to Gideon with excess heat coming off of his body. He was twitching a bit and sparks were coming out of his left foreleg. A dull whirring noise could be heard from within him and Gideon tried to put his hand on Liol's head only to draw it back from a burst of heat radiating from somewhere within.

Gideon's eyes suddenly darted to the crossbow that was barely within his reach and he looked back at the monster that had assaulted him and Liol. It was too fast...there was no way Gideon could get the crossbow before it came and most likely smashed his hand flat.

A little whir signaled that Liol was raising his head to face Gideon. He seemed to be shaking as he tried to raise his head to speak.

"Sir Gideon, please, save yourself. I don't care how you do it, but do not let him get you too." Liol lowered his head, which was accompanied by another whirring noise and Gideon was leaning over him and holding his head. Liol looked away from Gideon and spoke again. "Sir Gideon, please. There's nothing more you can do for me. Repairs are not instantaneous and he would tear you to shreds by the time you got started. Just run!"

"I can't run..." Gideon said truthfully. "My ankle is sprained. Besides, I'm not going to leave you to him!"

"Then all is lost, Gideon." Liol replied. "I wanted you to come back with me. To restart Azure City and bring life back to it. You're the only one who has access to it." Liol ended flatly.

A strange image dawned in front of Gideon's eyes. A city that he built, that he must take care of. This damned lizard would not stop him from doing what he must.

Gideon used his good leg to quickly spin himself around, pointing him towards the crossbow. He pulled out a spare bolt just in case the lizard attacked before he could reach it. He could always try to stab the lizard with the bolt.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

Praise be to Lord Mitra. My kick sent the blue wolf cascading across the ground in a tumbling state. I was thankful that my plan worked. Moving slightly forward and adjusting my center of gravity, I fell down upon all fours as I studied the erratic behaviors of my opponents. The wolf seemed to be the creature's protector. The creature, I still wasn't sure about. But in my state of insanity at the time, I didn't care. I just wanted to take my frustrations out on something. The recent loss at Valinatal was too great an emotional blow for me. So I worked to take it out on whatever was the most convenient thing for me.

The man before me just happened to fit the bill. I heard a name called out by either individual. The wolf was talking! Another sign that these creatures were enemies not to be trusted. They would lie, cheat, and attempt to steal their way into my heart. I was wary of such matters. So far, the one called Gideon hadn't attempted to negotiate for his life in anyway. All the better for me. The one called Liol was ready to forfeit its life to protect its master. I respected that. Looking at the two, I started feeling a strange sort of regret filling my gut. A feeling of worry that I was doing something wrong. That just maybe, these weren't servants of Xem'Zund. I questioned myself in my current state. It didn't hurt to ask before I started to make more undue assumptions.

As battle wary as I was from the war at Valinatal, I hesitated. I could clearly destroy these two if I was so inclined to do so, but that stranger part of me, the wild side, hesitated. I trusted the wild side. It let me know that I was a skilled predator and mighty warrior. Hesitating before my enemy I narrowed my fierce eyes, like staring into twin infernos, and stood up to my full height. Clenching my fists tightly I tried to calm myself down. With the impure vessel still flowing in my veins, this was a most difficult task to perform indeed. The impure vessel made my eyes see the world in a twisted haze of red. Clouding my judgment, it sent me into an extra violent state where I wanted nothing more than to kill. And here I saw a creature before me that simply deserved death. Yet, I found myself hesitating as the wild side called me to. The wild side offered me comfort, lulling me into a state of relaxation as I listened to it. Considering what the wild side was saying I called out to the chosen enemy.

"Wait. I do not wish to destroy you. Forgive me for my actions earlier." Came my first attempts at a pathetic sort of diplomacy. I gritted my teeth as I spoke. I was a warrior not a diplomat, I belonged on the battlefield. Yet I hesitated. "I am under what you two legs call stress. I am sorry for that attack but your pet declared me an enemy first. I know first hand from experience you do not let an enemy get the upper hand before you strike. But I digress. I sense something strange about you. You are not like the Arta. I am willing to set aside my differences with you and let you go if you can prove to me you are no Arta.." I was tired, weak, hurt. I took a couple of steps backwards just in case Liol attempted anything funny. My muscles were knotted and I was ready to strike like a serpent.

[Gideon]

Gideon stopped and looked at the lizard as it spoke. It was very awkward indeed to see this thing trying to make peace after it had just tried to kill both Gideon and Liol on the spot. It asked him to prove that he was not an Atra and in return, the lizard would let him leave alive.

"How's this for proof!? WHAT THE HELL IS AN ATRA!?" Gideon shouted out, being in every bit serious. The name seemed familiar, yet of no importance at all. It was as if a very very distant relative was mentioned that you had not known about.

"Gideon," Liol spoke, trying to pull himself up, only to fall back down in a new position.. "An Atra is one of the undead race of beings. They are dead and then brought back to life. They can look just like normal humans or like this lizard. In fact, he technically could be one of them. Honestly, I COULD take a sample and determine that you're not an Atra, but it's not like he would easily believe it."

"Listen, lizard guy, whatever the hell you are, I'm not one of those undead things. Where the hell would you even get that idea? It's not like I'm rising out of my to-" Gideon suddenly stopped, realizing just why someone might think he's recently been brought back to life. "Well I guess that IS what this looks like."

"It is not a tomb," Liol stated, now addressing the lizard. "It is Sir Gideon's emergency stasis chamber that he called upon when the War of the Tap went bad, or so that's what was reported."

"War of the Tap?" Gideon asked, trying to remember if he was ever in a war. "You mentioned that earlier, what the hell was it?"

"Yes. The Great Endeavor, or War of the Tap as these lesser beings call it, was the greatest war. In it, you were commanding an army of your units that weren't too different from me. I remember you were particularly good against Xem'Zund, since he couldn't control your troops as they weren't technically alive. Almost all of the troops he ever used were Atra."

Gideon tried to soak all of this in and just couldn't. Liol wouldn't slow down and tell him everything from the beginning. It was like a child explaining what they did at a friend's house and they decide to start somewhere in the middle. Liol wasn't alive is the major thing Gideon picked up. He put his hand on Liol's head as an apology for his mistake.

"Lizard, we're not zombies, undead, or Atra as you call them. Xem'Zund never laid his taint on us and we're not here to fight. I think Liol was just anxious when he declared you an enemy. I was confused and followed along by trying to load the crossbow. There is no proof we can give you, however."

[Lexxum_Vordic]

But I heard different. The blue thing claimed he could prove it by obtaining samples of the blood and scanning them. Ever since I ate that Arta warrior I was feeling strange. I didn't think I'd become an Arta myself, but I knew that I was changing into something. My body felt heavy and I was very tired. I didn't want to fight Gideon in this state. I saw a red cloud surrounding everything but it seemed like an affect of the Red Forest. Or so I hoped. I shook my head fiercely for a moment as if in denial of Liol just said. I heard mention of something called The War of the Tap. Fallien history was completely isolated from the rest of Althanas so we had no knowledge of the Demon War or the War of the Tap. Our history consisted of the time before the Vadhya and after the Vadhya. My mind was thinking about strange things and I heard something laughing at me in the distance.

I took a few steps backwards and away from Gideon and Liol. My emotions were clouding my judgment and I knew that to be the case. I didn't want innocent blood on my hands if they were indeed, innocent. Liol could offer me proof in the form of the blood. But I was a proud Saurian. I knew that it could all be a trick to avoid the inevitable. My fists clenched tightly and unclenched as I stared at the bizarre duo. My teeth were gritted and I quickly spat on the ground trying to get my attention focused on one thing. All I thought about was ripping these two apart. It conflicted against what I believed to be true about a warrior's cause. I found myself attempting to justify their murder. They are enemies of Suravani! They are enemies of Lord Mitra! Outlanders! Curse them all! Curse them all!

I suddenly roared angrily against myself. I grabbed my head in pain and fell down upon both knees. Even on a kneeling position my massive bulk and size was still extremely impressive and intimidating. My head hurt against the tainted vessel of Netha'Tu's warriors. I'd consumed a large amount of the zombies and now I was on the verge of becoming an Arta myself. I kept shaking my head at such an impossible thought. My Lord Mitra would guide me through my time of need. Or so I hoped. The laughter in my head continued as I found myself staring at a blur of red trees. Leaving the matter unresolved, I suddenly passed out on the ground. I was simply under too much stress from the strange situation at hand and the recent failure at Valinatal. It was too much for me to handle.

I was now at their mercy, completely.

[Gideon]

"Uh...what do we do now, Liol?" Gideon said, wanting to reach out to poke the lizard, but also being cautious as he didn't want his finger to get ripped off.

"Leave it to me! I'll tear his throat while he's asleep!" Liol shouted, pouncing on the lizard and starting to go after his throat.

"NO!"

"Why not?" Liol asked, his teeth already around the lizard's neck.

"He can't even fight back, why should we kill him?"

"Sir Gideon the Magnificent, forgive me, but he tried to kill us first!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have called him an enemy right off the bat!"

"You said it yourself! Anyone who isn't mechanical, except for you, is an enemy! These lesser beings can't be trusted."

"I-I said that?"

"Yes! You, the great leader, said that. We robots are better than these fleshy beings in every way, and we deserve to rule them!"

"...I can't believe it...I...just...can't..." Gideon looked at his robot wolf, who was waiting for his approval to tear into the lizard. "Please, we have to help me, he spared me, so we should at least return the favor!"

"...very well, Sir Gideon the Magnificent." Liol said darkly as he got off of the lizard and left him to Gideon, who then managed to roll the lizard over onto his back.

"Can you heal?" Gideon asked the wolf, who in response, shook his head and sat down on his haunches. "Then I guess the only thing to do is to sit here and make sure nothing eats him before he wakes up."

"Wait, I want to try something!" Liol said loudly as he walked over to the lizard and nipped him on his arm. The blood settled on Liol's teeth and then he went blank for a moment. He acted as if he was in a trance, but he soon came back to life and told Gideon the bad news. "He's infected with Arta blood. If we don't dispatch him...there's a chance that he may become a full Arta."

"Is there anything we can do?" Gideon asked, not wanting to have to kill this lizard man after he had just spared his life. "Tell you what. I'll sit here and point my crossbow at his head and if wakes up in a foul mood, I'll shoot him and put him out of his misery."

"I'll begin scanning my data banks for a cure, then." If he wakes up and attacks you, either he or I will be destroyed. Remember that.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

I feel down a dark place. My body felt extremely far away as I tumbled through the void that surrounded me. Images of warfare and battles my ancestors fought flashed before me as I tumbled through infinity. My Saurian form felt heavy against the weight of the darkness as I witnessed my life up until this point. I saw the lives of my Fathers before me. A voice called out to me. Lexxum. It is time for you to awaken to your true power. See the lives of your ancestors before you. Know that they are with you in your time of need. Face off against the darkness to make yourself stronger. I called back to the voice. The halls of my Fathers lurked before me, and I saw every Blood Lizard that came before me. Contacting me through the blood. It was now tainted with the vessels of the Arta. I was infected tainted, probably not the first Blood Lizard to fall for such an act. I saw streaks of blood red swirling through the dark void. Coagulated blood streaking through the emptiness as something can up underneath. At first, I saw a glowing spark in the far off distance. Then, the spark became a solid form.

For a long eternity, the form rose up gradually until it touched my feet. It was a floating island. An Oasis in his tortured atma. I saw the Oasis-Island gather up before me and I walked across the land I was now upon. A large river streamed through a desert filled with trees and crops. I realized suddenly, with a start, that I was back home. I was back at Fallien. I missed the bosom of Suravani dearly. I wondered what I was doing in such a place, the land of the Elves, so far away from home. When suddenly, a maiden came up from underneath the water. I'd heard the legends of water maidens called nymphs from the lips of the older members of my tribe. I looked upon the naked beauty before me and I smiled. Walking over to the water's edge, I sat down and observed the woman carefully. She had blue skin and long, flowing, blue hair. Her eyes matched. She wore not a single shred of clothing to cover her well formed body. I found myself staring at an angel. She looked towards me with a soft smile on her face, ever so inviting. She moved her arms around as if dancing in the middle of the water.

"Look to the Water within. What do you see Son of Vordic?" The water maiden asked me suddenly.

I did as I was commanded to do. Something within me felt like it was the right thing to do. I peered over the water's edge and looked at my reflection. I saw a hideous version of my proud scales. My flesh was torn asunder by the infection of the Arta. Suddenly, the reflection in the water reached up, grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me underneath the surface of the water. I felt myself drowning as I fought against the powerful Arta Lexxum that confronted me. I was dragged underneath until I was drowning. "Follower of Lord Mitra. You shall suffer for your insolence." Came the Water Maiden's voice. I felt a powerful rush of water come across my face and I knew I'd been struck by the Elemental. I became angry and instead of lunging back at the Elemental before me, I lunged back at the Arta version of me. A struggle ensued, and my mind went black once more. A few lifetimes later, my body felt heavy around me once more. I felt my eyes opening up ever so slowly and I sat up, coughing in agony. My entire body ached with pain. I found myself sitting up and looking at the forms of Gideon and Liol. The haze of red was gone for now.

"Were you here the whole time? I'm sorry I caused you such trouble. My name is Lexxum Vordic. Son of Vexxum Vordic."

[Gideon]

The lizard woke up and startled the hell out of Gideon. He pointed his crossbow up at the lizard but then lowered it hearing the thing speak. He soon discovered its name was Lexxum Vordic.

“I guess you all don’t have a big variety of names, eh?” Gideon said, petting Liol to get him to calm down now that Lexxum was awake. The situation had changed a bit now. The lizard seemed to have more than a bit of humanity in it. It had a heritage, and a name and possibly a place to call home.

Liol started growling a bit, but steady strokes from Gideon calmed him down.

“My name is Gideon, or Sir Gideon the Magnificent as this wolf calls me. I just felt that proper introductions were in order. I understand now not to take things at face value. “

“He is the ruler and creator of Azure City, the one who envisioned the Dexorium, and the general of the Lightning Brigade! You will treat him with respect-“

“-SHUT UP LIOL!” Gideon commanded, hoping his previous position of power would get the wolf to shut up.

“Yes, master.” The wolf responded before laying down and putting its metal paws over its likewise head.

“As you can see, I used to be some sort of king. I built a whole city, weapons, a giant flying airship, and who knows what else. I take it this wolf used to be one of my subjects. He acts zealously as such. As far as I can tell, I wasn’t a very good leader. All Liol talks about is my great accomplishments, my great deeds, and a very unsettling thing, my belief that all-“

“-Carbon based life-forms, except for Gideon himself, are inferior to us.” Liol finished proudly.

“Which is you.” Gideon finished, shooting a bad glance over at Liol who resumed his ashamed position. “I’m sorry, where do you come from again?” he asked Lexxum, hoping for something to change the subject.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

Azure City? The Dexorium? Lightning Brigade? These matters were matters that seemed lost to me. Apparently the man named Gideon beheld a great mystery. Gideon asked me where I was from. Fallien. I thought to myself, wasn't it obvious? But then I hesitated. I didn't want to betray the secrets of the world I came from to this outsider. An outsider that was ready to kill Saurian kind. The only words I understood were Liol's words when he stated that all carbon based lifeforms were inferior to them. Instinctively, I understood somehow that the list including my people. These people were potentially enemies of Lord Mitra.

But for now, I would play along. The bastard creature of a wolf kept sucking up to its master and I didn't like that at all. The creature, being a construct, clearly had no semblance of honor. I didn't trust Gideon much either. However, the situation left me no choice but to play along for now. It was quite possible that these two-legs were all completely insane as Lord Mitra decreed to us. Gideon's grandiose speech sounded like boasting to me more than anything else. So I changed the subject as reaction.

"You just woke up right? You look like you could use a guide or something. If you want I can take you over to Eluriand or where ever it is that you're heading to. If you could use a guide and bodyguard that is." It was straight to business for me. I didn't want to converse longer than I had to with these people. They'd already declared me their enemy on two separate occasions. Gideon was apparently a pompous ass.

[Gideon]

“Sure. I’d like someone to keep me from getting lost out here. To be honest-”

“Gideon! Would you really rely on a carb-“ Liol began, obviously wanting to take his master’s mind off of asking this “inferior being” for help.

“LIOL!” Gideon half-yelled, turning suddenly from Lexxum and looking straight at Liol.

“Master, you said it yourself!”

Gideon suddenly got in real close to Liol’s face and Liol started to back off from the glare he was receiving. Gideon had enough of this wolf trying to constantly say that they both were better than everyone else. God knows how the other robots felt if this one acted like this.

“Lexxum, I’m sorry about him. Even though I may have thought long ago that you all were inferior to my robots, I believe you are definitely better than this robotic mutt.”

Liol looked up at Gideon and looked dumbstruck. He then bowed his head and just sat there staring at the ground. Gideon watched him for a bit but then decided he may have gone a little too far. He put his hand on Liol’s head and stood up. Liol continued staring at the ground, even when Gideon tried to get him to stop. He was obviously grabbing for pity.

“Liol?” He asked, but the wolf said nothing.

“Lexxum, I’m REALLY sorry about him. Maybe we should get going. The sooner I find civilization, the better.” It was at this exact same time that the thought of Liol announcing the return of a great, powerful, and evil Technomage in the middle of a town square crossed his mind. “On second thought…nah, screw it, let’s get going.”

[Lexxum_Vordic]

I should tell him about the war. I looked up and saw the sky for a moment, the fires of war were still etched upon it from the distance where Valinatal still burned. I shivered thinking about all those people that died because of us. We couldn't stop Netha'Tu when we had the chance to, we were too weak. I said a solemn prayer to Lord Mitra. Then I returned my gaze back to Gideon while rubbing my bone necklace. Typheus and I fought hard in that battle but we weren't able to win. Fortune just wasn't on our side. But history would remember that the weak rallied against the strong.

I would be remembered as the Son of Vexxum Vordic. I vowed to have my revenge against Netha'Tu. Whilst Typheus pursued his ill fated war against the Thaynes, my war was against Xem'Zund. An enemy I knew that I could eventually defeat. I was thinking about the situation before I spoke to the technomagus once more.

"There isn't many places we can go. I don't know if Eluriand even still stands! I've been out at Valinatal attempting to hold the fortress there against a foul Magus calling himself Netha'Tu. My soldiers and I were unable to prevent him from destroying Valinatal. Hence all my current injuries."

I said too much, but at the same time I'd said enough. My thoughts were black as I became bent on vengeance. At the mere thought of Netha'Tu, my eyes twitched at their corners and emphasized my Saurian nature. I stood up to my full height and looked down upon Gideon for a moment. I felt like there was more I should say but I only wanted to state the facts. Conversations with the two legs wasn't one of my strong suits. I went down upon all fours and started to crawl in a slow pace towards the general direction of Eluriand. Hoping that it still stood strong against Xem'Zund's forces.

[Gideon]

Gideon just stood there, stunned. What the hell had been going on while he was away? His memory was faded, but he had know Raiaera to be a great place. What could have toppled defenses here so easily as to leave something as strong as this lizard retreating into the forest? Arta warriors…big battles…a name came to mind: XemZund.

Xem'Zund was his enemy...right, easily understood. What WASN'T easily understood was the fact that he was getting this uneasy feeling every time he tried to look over the tops of the forest trees towards where the lizard had come. It was as if some kind of menacing evil had sprouted and was making even the air itself saturated with hate, fear, and the deepest of malice. Lexxum had seen his share of crap, and that was beyond a doubt. That still didn't explain why Gideon felt like this.

“Lexxum,” Gideon said as he went to follow the lizard wherever he may be going, “please tell me what happened here. Something in my mind is telling me I should know. I can’t explain it much, but it’s as if I KNOW I have to know if I want good things to happen…it sounds weird, I know, but please explain to me what this huge battle that you’re referring to was about.”

[Lexxum_Vordic]

The man's line of questioning infuriated me. I looked at him with a look of danger across my scaly face. But I quickly calmed down. "Liol" was quiet for a long time already and that made me somewhat nervous. Adjust my stance a little bit I frowned. He wanted me to explain what happened at Valinatal? That failure of a battle? I knew I was being harsh on myself because nobody normal could've taken on Netha'Tu and lived to tell about it. I still required a tremendous amount of power and battle experience in order to obtain the level of skill of my forefathers. I clenched my fists tightly as well as my jaws for a brief moment showing him that I felt uncomfortable talking about such a disaster. I closed my eyes and envisioned all of the dead and dying back at the city of Valinatal. Then I began talking. I owed them that much.

"I came to Raiaera from Fallien for a simple reason. I wanted to test my skill against a powerful enemy. I heard that Xem'Zund was currently attacking the continent once again. I'd heard tales of Xem'Zund even as far as Suravani's bosom. Suravani is a deity worshiped in my homeland, Fallien. But that's besides the point." I paused for a moment and looked back at the field where Valinatal once stood. Fires still licked the site from where Netha'Tu summoned the meteor spell against the city killing millions of people and providing himself with a fresh army. "We were forced to fight against one of Xem'Zund's commanders. He came at us with an army of Arta both armed and unarmed. There were thousands. We stood against his forces attempting to hold the fortress which we called a central base." I was recalling the battle and for a moment it even seemed like my small force could defeat Netha'Tu. I felt a breeze and I could smell the sent of death on the breeze, fresh death. A part of me shivered at the thought of such a carnage. But I knew that Netha'Tu fought without honor.

I continued to tell the story. "I can't believe how many Arta there were. Their numbers tallied into the thousands. They were both armed an unarmed. We held our fortress with a single catapult and a legion of well trained Archers, but that would soon fail. Netha'Tu called forth a giant fell beast upon the battlefield. It spewed green fluids in great clouds that were still there even after we left the field. It might take many years for those clouds to dissipate from the air and make the area safe again to travel. Many were killed. Both Arta and living. At some point Netha'Tu called forth a squadron of well trained Armed Arta and I had to fight an Arta Commander who was quite powerful." I showed him the battle scars where the Commander had struck me across various places with the sword I now wielded as my own. "I was able to defeat him by doing something that was perhaps against my better judgment. I ATE the Arta warrior when we were locked in close range combat. That's why I became infected with the Arta's disease."

"At some point in the battle, Netha'Tu began using his sorcery against us. He called forth powerful bolts of lightning that felled many brave warriors. My friend, a man named Typheus was caught severely by the electricity. But my burns were from something else. The dread Magus called forth the powers of the Eternal Tap in a forbidden display of archaic power. He called forth the legendary powers of the Atma Fire. I took it dead on and nearly died instantly. But my Lord Mitra and the Lady Suravani intervened on my behalf. That's why I'm still standing. Praise be to Lord Mitra! Anyway, sorry about that its a habit of mine. I pray a lot. Probably the reason I'm still standing after all these serious injuries. In any event, after calling upon the Tap, a giant star fell from the sky. The sky came crashing down upon Valinatal. Millions of people died. That's pretty much the whole story. Typheus and I parted ways and fled from the battlefield when we could killing whatever Arta that came our way. I don't know what happened after that, I been running ever since. You can call me whatever you want but Netha'Tu was calling Tap powers with ease. I dread to think what he would've done to us if he wanted to finish the job. In the process of the battle Typheus managed to injure Netha'Tu but only barely so."

I stopped talking after that signaling that the conversation was over. I let him digest what I'd just said. I was still angry with myself for running from the battle but at that point there was nothing we could do against the might of the Magus. All I could do was wait and plan. One day I would exact my revenge against Netha'Tu. Maybe I could have Typheus along with me...maybe. I doubted I would ever see Typheus again.

[Gideon]

"Jesus christ," Gideon said plainly. He now understood what got the lizard's tail in a twist. He just lost one of the most important battles he had probably ever been in and an entire city was wiped from the map because of it. This was a painful thing to hear, even though he knew that the lizard had no reasons to doubt his own power, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"Well, I'll tell you this: maybe he was cheating somehow and was taking his tap abilities from Xem'Zund himself. I mean if it was possible for all men to have powers like that, then there would be nothing left in this world worth defending. Perhaps the next time you fight him, you'll be able to stand a chance...that is...if his abilities to summon the tap have diminished...just a though, ya know?"

"Our forces wouldn't have lost against Xem'Zund," Liol stated, still hanging his head.

"No, our forces would have won, then would have gone on to take over the place they were supposed to be defending like a bunch of rebellious cowards."

[Lexxum_Vordic]

As I walked, I was lost in thought. In a fell moment I found out that I was infected with the vessel of the Arta. I had failed to defend against Netha'Tu miserably, and millions were dead because of me. I wore the weight of Raiaera on my shoulders. I needed some sort of way to redeem myself! I clenched my fists as I walked thinking about what in the lands of Haidia I was going to do next. The Red Forest was covered with the dead. Xem'Zund's forces probably marched through here at some point or another.

I smelled the dead on the wind. Cries of the fallen were still in the breeze as I heard the distant calls of spirits. The whole ordeal made me shiver against the weight of so much death. Death that I was partially responsible for. I would spend an eternity making up for my sins.

I was unable to defend Valinatal which was the primary reason that I joined up the local squadron to begin with. Everybody embraced the idea of having such a powerful creature fighting alongside them, it was supposed to lift the morality of the soldiers! But no, I had barely rallied the soldiers to our cause and raised the fighting spirit of the Raiaerans. Cheat? No. My newfound companion had no idea how powerful Netha'Tu proved himself to be.

It wasn't cheating, I just wasn't powerful enough yet. I could withstand those damned Tap powers if only I had more strength! Someday soon I would be one tenth of what my Father was. Now, he, HE was a powerful Blood Lizard. I tried to be like my Father, and make him proud. So far I only brought shame to our tribe. But now matter, I would work across all eternity if I had to in order to regain my honor. I suddenly stopped walking and turned to look at Gideon.

"Do you want me to take you to Valinatal instead of Eluriand?" It was a simple question, but one with serious implications that would alter both of their lives forever.

[Gideon]

Gideon looked at the lizard in disbelief. He just said that Valinatal had been destroyed by some psychopath mage? Then, outrageous reasons aside, would this guy want to show Gideon such a sight? Did he think Gideon NEEDED to see what Netha'Tu did? Was he trying to prove that he didn't lose because he was weak, but because Netha'Tu was too powerful? Or did he just want to head back and start fighting again, in which case, Gideon would be in a fix.

"Well, here's a question. Why the hell would I have interest in going to Valinatal? I mean, you said yourself that it was leveled by a godamn meteor. I'm not particularly fond of seeing burnt dead bodies lying in the streets, ya know?"

Of course, a part of him DID want to see what happened. He wasn't fond of dead burnt bodies, but he was curious as to how much Lexxum was exaggerating. It was possible that the battle had racked the lizard's brains and now it was thinking thoughts that were outrageous compared to the real world.

"Alright...godamnit, let's take a look at your blown up city, but you better have it so that there's no crazy zombie things jumping at us. For some reason, every time I hear the word I keep getting this shiver in my spine, ya know?"

[Lexxum_Vordic]

"Very well, we shall go to Valinatal. We can always head back to Eluriand later. And yes, the Arta are indeed a dangerous lot. They are not to be underestimated at any cost. Netha'Tu commands an army of Arta just like Xem'Zund does. These Necromancers are a dangers lot."

I talked more for the sakes of talking. Gideon wasn't too thrilled about having to see the destruction Netha'Tu caused. However, there was very little choice in the matter. Sooner or later word would spread about Valinatal's destruction and others would have to suffer the sites there in. I started walking back towards Valinatal's direction. For some reason, my legs guided me as if I had known the site of that city my entire life.

After my pretty words were spoken, I went silent and left Gideon to his thoughts. I didn't know what it was I expected to accomplish by showing Gideon the site, but at least it could prove that I wasn't lying. On the way back to Valinatal, something caught my eye. I turned towards Gideon and then towards the object. It was the corpse of a warrior. The warrior wore a blood red cape. Walking towards the warrior's skeleton, I saw nothing else of value to my person. I only saw the cloak. Leaning down, I took the cloak and realized that it was made of Vlince.

I took the cloak into my own possessions and wrapped the thing firmly about my body. It provided an extra layer of warmth that my scales alone couldn't provide. Satisfied that I'd done a great thing, I said a blessing prayer to Lord Mitra and then continued on my way as if nothing had happened at all. The cloak had a particular sigillium embroidered upon the back side in gold. I knew not the symbol of the bladesingers so there was no way for me to identify it as such.

Little knowing that I started the process of getting myself involved with the bladesingers, I walked on ahead of Gideon and Liol without much comment about the matter. I hated to see things wasted which is why I took the cloak in the first place. I wrapped myself up in the large piece fabric attempting to hide myself from the cold, harsh world. I dreaded to think what Valinatal looked like after the well-sized meteor crash landed into it...

[Gideon]

Well...there wasn't much to do but follow the lizard towards the destination that he selected. There was nothing but silence as they walked. Liol refused to say anything else, probably because he was afraid of angering someone he held so highly. Gideon had nothing to say, because he was too busy trying to remember what it was like back in his day. All he had to go on was what the wolf showed him, and for all he knew, it may not have been true.

He had a feeling that this lizard didn't like him very much. A few facial expressions suggested this. Liol probably helped see to it that Lexxum wasn't very fond of either him or Gideon with all of his superior being talk. Yeah, this was a somewhat awkward situation. All Gideon could do was hope that Liol continued to stay quiet and didn't open his mouth until Lexxum was either gone or was on much better terms with Gideon.

Gideon realized that part of him didn't want Lexxum to go. The thought of being alone with this crazed wolf wasn't a very pleasant one, and who knew how his other creations felt. This wolf could have been a mild version of what Gideon had built in his past life. Gideon suddenly realized that he must have been crazy to be the only living thing to exist in a city full of metal life-forms.

"Hey, Liol...where IS my old city?"

"It is in the middle of the Meridian Rainforest on the continent of Kebiras. We'll be taking an emergency escape vehicle to get there. You shouldn't be wasting your time with this-" Liol began to say, about to use the c word again, but a small cough from Gideon stopped him "-lizard, but you should be going to the coast in the east so that you can take the transport to your city!"

"There will be time for that later. For now, trust our friend here and do what he says."

"Yes, sir."

[Lexxum_Vordic]

Meridian rain forest? The continent of Kebiras? Just what in Lord Mitra's name was the blue clockwork beast talking about now? These concepts were unfamiliar to me but I chose not to question Gideon's familiar about it. They knew more about the situation at hand than I did, as I was still stuck in my Fallien native's ways. I covered the several yards from our previous position towards the site at Valinatal quite quickly. I never bothered to look up once to confirm the direction, my legs guided me without thought. As the smell of death touched my nostrils I cringed my face up. I walked atop a hill and turned my head towards Gideon. I looked at him for a moment.

Then I turned my head back towards the site of former Valinatal. The destruction was recent. New chaos. A new time of darkness. I could still see the energetic residue of flowing from the meteor's impact zone. Smoke still burst from the impact zone spilling debris from the crash site up into the air. I could see the crushed buildings and huge hole in the ground where the meteor had created a streak and landed into the center of Valinatal. Fires were put out by the survivors but a few small fires still lurked. It was a scene of total chaos.

I kept looking at the impact site and sensing something forbidden that lurked within it. A part of me wanted to explore the site and the meteor itself, but I knew that such a feat would be impossible. Instead, I focused on trying to make sure that Gideon got his share of the destruction at hand. I knew that he needed to see the site for himself. I kept my weapon ready because I knew that there were still many zombies walking about in various packs and hordes. Netha'Tu wasn't the only one of Xem'Zund's commanders that were at Raiaera. So I knew that I had to keep my guard up, a battle could break out at any moment.

A wind howled around me as I studied the destruction site. I knew that Valinatal's guard bravely fought against the undead horde. I kept my weapon at the ready at all times. I was prepared for a battle to happen at any moment knowing the odds that were against us. I kept thinking about my failure against Netha'Tu and seeing the site once more made me grit my teeth in anguish. Netha'Tu was out there somewhere. And I would have my revenge.

[Gideon]

Standing atop a hill, just at the edge of the Red Forest with the cluttered trees behind them and the blood stained battlefield, and the ruined city of Valintal in front of them, Gideon and Lexxum took in all there was to see of this nightmarish scene. It was madness.

The scene was scaring the hell out of Gideon. He didn't know why, but an all too familiar feeling was creeping through his mind. The feeling of death and decay. The feeling of the aftermath of a battle. The feeling of hopelessness. Is this the kind of thing he brought forth upon the world?

"Liol, does this remind you of anything?" Gideon asked.

"Great Endeavor, first skirmish. It left the surroundings in ruins and the dead of our enemies littered the landscape as well as the heaps of our own forces." Liol responded, paying no mind to the suffering set before them.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said plainly. "I built machines like you to do things like this so that I could...do what?"

"Rule the lesser beings of course."

"Messed up...hey, Lexxum, I think we should get out of here. I really don't like this place. I think there may be more of those Ar-TAAAAA!" Gideon screamed as a hand closed around his ankle, gripping tightly enough to cut off the circulation. Attached to the hand was the upper torso of a burnt and disemboweled abomination with most of its features missing. It let out a low pitched moan and Gideon toppled over out of fear and struggle.

Gideon fumbled with his crossbow and dropped the bolts he had placed in his pouch. The rolled all over the ground and he struggled to reach them. Meanwhile, Liol was biting at the neck of the Arta, restraining him to buy Gideon more time to retrieve a bolt, which was finally found and placed onto the crossbow.

Gideon let out a loud war-like roar as he fired the bolt straight into the head of the zombie. It twitched a few times as its eyeballs rolled up into its head and then its grip finally loosened enough for Gideon to kick it off and stand up, fumbling towards Lexxum. Liol got up and trodding towards him, leaving the dead Arta behind.

"Was that one of th-those things? The-the Arta?" Gideon asked, his body and voice twitching madly from the adrenaline. "How the-how the HELL could you have mistaken me for-for one of them?"

"He was right for assuming you were one," Liol said, surprisingly. "I'd hate to admit, but this carbon-based life-form assumed something not at all far-fetched. Not all Arta are hideous. Some are like you or him."

"I-I don't care. Let's just leave before anymore of them come to kill us." Gideon couldn't believe that he fought in wars containing so many of these things. How he didn't go mad was astonishing...or perhaps he truly did go mad and just didn't realize it.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

An Arta warrior slipped beneath my senses and attacked Gideon when I was caught off guard. I immediately turned towards Gideon when the battle ensued, my hands preparing my weapon. I looked at the Arta and prepared to take it out, but the thing was dealt with a combination from Liol's efforts and Gideon himself. A bit of luck allowed Gideon to defeat the horribly decrepit Arta warrior. A full fledged Arta would have disemboweled Gideon for his slow reaction time. Seeing that there was one Arta nearby, I assumed that there were many nearby. I prepared myself for imminent attack.

"Liol is right. Those are fresh Arta. Some Arta warriors look completely normal and you couldn't tell they were Arta until they started to attack you. Arta are a mysterious race. And not all of them are mindless, only the freshly made ones are. Old Arta are extremely dangerous. Some of them can use weapons and even magics of a sort."

I walked over to the Arta warrior and saw that it was still twitching in its death throes. I took my sword and quickly severed the head so that there was no chance it could rise up from is wounds. Arta were imbued with powerful forces of Necromancy. Some of them still lingered in the warriors and allowed them to regenerate. Thoughts of the Arta warrior named Lorenor made me shivered. I recalled the vicious ghoul and allowed my real hand to touch my clockwork one. I lost my hand during my battle with the armed Arta warrior. I turned my attention back to Gideon as visions of glowing purple eyes haunted my memory

Once I decapitated the Arta warrior, I rotated my weapon and prepared myself in a basic combat stance. I expected more Arta warriors to come at us at any time. Roaming bands of the creatures were traveling around everywhere. Once I'd secured the death of the Arta I moved towards Gideon and nodded at him.

"Well done but you need to refine your technique."

[Gideon]

"Lexxum, can we just leave...please?" Gideon found himself saying, still shaky from the recent events. His nerves had calmed down a little bit, but he was still far from fine. Liol's dark nature, and the fact that he was closest to Gideon helped slow down his recovery.

Every time Gideon looked at Liol, he felt a strange sense of dispair. At first, Gideon kind of liked his little friend, he even felt sorrow when Lexxum hurt him, but now...it was as if this thing was evil and Gideon was within every right to hate it. It did make a little sense. Liol hated flesh creatures, which was Gideon, regardless of whether or not he actually built him.

"Sir, we really do need to get going to the city," Liol said, a hint of desperation in his voice. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can restore your memory. We have to head east, but who knows what other battles raged in those directions, or may even still be raging.

"Do I have to go?” Gideon asked the wolf, and he received a hurt look in return.

When Liol spoke, he sounded on the verge of tears. “M-master…you have to! If you don’t, my mechanical brethren will never re-awaken. You can’t let them sit and rot for the rest of eternity!” Liol’s eyes were wide open, and he was probably upset with Gideon for not making the restoration of Azure City his top priority.

“Can we at least wait a bit? I think I’d like to look around more before going off to Azure city.” Gideon said, not sure of what to do, but wanting to re-assure the wolf that he would go…but not immediately. Hopefully, this would give himself some time to think, but he knew that Liol would nag him about WHEN he would go back instead of IF.

“Could you do one thing at least?” Liol asked, sitting down and looking straight up into Gideon’s face. Suddenly, Gideon didn’t feel so bad around this creature. Perhaps it was because it was showing an emotion besides spite and hatred. “Please promise me that you’ll at least try to regain your abilities before you go back?”

“My abilities?”

“Your ability to construct things like me. Back when you had all of your knowledge, that crossbow would have been fired the moment the Arta grabbed you. Our friend’s hand here would have already gotten an upgrade if you saw fit. You-“

“Enough! Can we take this slowly? As in, maybe after we get out of this hell-hole we can just go to a city for a bit? Maybe rest? I’m not a robot like you, Liol!”

“…sorry.” Liol said, drooping his head to show his remorse for his disobedience.

Gideon bent down to pat him on the head, and then heard something: a small sound that caused fear to creep up Gideon’s spine. He looked around and he saw a group of Arta approaching from further down the line of trees at the edge of the forest. Some of them were walking upright, while others were limping and some were like the upper torso that attacked Gideon earlier. The worst part is, some of them carried swords and wore very rusty armor.

“Lexxum!” he yelled, backing up towards the lizard, hoping that his friend would be able to do something. Just in case, he loaded up his crossbow and got ready for a fight. Liol jumped in front of him, bared his fangs at the oncoming horde, and got ready to defend his master.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

The scent of the approaching Arta warriors got to me first. I smelled them before I was able to actually see their numbers. A small group of approximately 15 Arta warriors were rapidly approaching us despite their lack of speed. They moved as a group and were probably put together by someone to hunt any survivors of Valinatal. I recognized some of the armors from the soldiers that fell at Valinatal and also there were some of the Arta that escape that battle. I could sense that bastard Netha'Tu's hand somewhere in that work of necromancy and it made me extremely angry to the point where my crimson scales shook with the sensation. I rose up on my hind legs to my full height and prepared to stalk the creatures that were seeking us for a quick meal.

Not today. Not on my watch. I looked at Gideon for a moment and nodded towards his position to ensure to him that he would be safe. I took up the sword that I'd acquired for myself on the way to meeting up with Gideon and knelt down with my powerful legs. Standing upright I had an impressive stature and my sails poked through the back of my armor. I crouched down and prepared for a long leap towards the enemy position. My thigh muscles knotted tightly and I could feel my scales coming together under the force and constriction. I leaped mightily like a jumping lizard, gliding with great agility through the air and covering the distance between my previous position and the position of the enemy at hand. I landed with a thud, rolled forward and quickly stood up to face the incoming squadron.

Several of the Arta warriors immediately noticed my form show up nearby to where they stood. They saw my person and immediately hesitated their approach when they noticed that I was infected like one of them! I hadn't counted on that advantage and looked upon them with a grin on my face. For some reason, standing close to the Arta I could hear their thoughts and communicate with them through a weakened form of telepathy. I noticed this and immediately decided that it was a side effect of the Arta's vessel within my body.

Listening to their thoughts I was able to discern hunger and pain as a prevalent drive and motivation factor for the undead. I got to know them for a moment becoming intimate with the creatures that now stood before me, not attacking me. Instead, they continued onward towards Gideon and Liol's position. This; I could not allow. With my weapon in my hand, I prepared myself for battle. I waited until the group of warriors shuffled past me and started their march up the hill towards Gideon. When the last of the Arta warriors was past me, I suddenly rushed towards them. I tapped into the Arta vessel within my blood stream and felt its power pass through me. I became intoxicated and the world developed a hazy red cloud that passed across my immediate peripheral vision. I saw the Arta warriors before me as a muddy, shadowy presence within The Wild. I rushed at them feeling my scales grow thicker, heavier, and my muscles become tighter and more knotted than before. My transformation was completed and I had many bony protrusions jutting out of my flesh. My scales changed from red to black and I was decidedly more terrifying. I covered the distance between my last position and the first of the Arta I was about to disembowel...

I grinned darkly the whole time.

[Gideon]

Gideon fired his crossbow and watched as the bolt sung through the air, hitting an arta right in the head, ripping it right off. Apparently that arta wasn't very strong, or it had already taken a severe blow to its neck.

Gideon loaded up another bolt as Lexxum helped keep the arta away. Gideon felt a bit upset that he couldn't go directly into battle, but it was either give support from the hill, or risk getting bitten and turned into an arta himself. Liol knew the dangers of the arta as well and positioned himself in between Gideon and the battle that lexxum was in, just in case any of the zombies should break free.

Another bolt shot through the air, hitting another arta, this time in the chest. The arta fell over, backwards, but soon got back up and continued on with its fight. Gideon felt so useless with this crossbow.

"Liol, is there anything you can do?" Gideon asked him, but Liol shook his head. The small wolf was a nice companion, but he wasn't that useful. Even when trying to protect Gideon, he could only do so much. It seems as if the wolf was only designed as a lab rat to last forever, and not something to actually be used.

Gideon started loading up another crossbow, when a saw to his right startled the hell out of him. A rustling of bushes and soon a crazed looking arta came leaping out of them, carrying a rusty knife and heading straight for Gideon. He managed to load the bolt just as the arta got close enough to stab him and shot it right in the head. The zombie continued running past him, but was slowing down and soon fell over and tumbled on the ground until it was dead.

"Gideon, we have to leave. Forget the lizard. We have to get out of here before something happens to you."

"Did I truly design you to be a cowering little fool?" Gideon said, amazed at the sound of his own voice, but Liol stared at him for a long time, unable to say anything. Gideon's remark came out without him even thinking about it, but it felt like that is what he would have said if he was still in his former position of power.

"Just stand your ground. We'll leave when the fighting is over, or when our friend has fallen."

[Lexxum_Vordic]

Several arta warriors fell to the ground as Gideon launched his crossbow attacks from a distance. The bolts were useful to slow down the advance of the enemy; but there were many. I counted at least twenty individual arta warriors all in various states of being armed and unarmed. I had to be on my best form if I was to take them down. In order to get to get to the nearest city and get Gideon to safety. I had a few ideas; Anebrilith was one of them. I could head towards Trengle or Mirdan Timbreth. Either choices were coastal port towns and Gideon could high tale it to Scara Brae or Corone.

Possibilities of a plan heading to the Northeast cross my mind as I cut down several more zombies. I had plenty of experience fighting these beasts. I knew how their infection worked against my blood vessels. I worried about Gideon but I knew I could protect him. I felt the murderous desire flash through my system. I became one with the warrior within. Allowing myself to flow with my sword; I began to hack away at the zombies that were coming towards me. I was quickly surrounded. Moving in smooth, circular movements; I quickly cut down the zombies nearest to me. I didn't want to waist a single moment against them so I made sure that all of my attacks were killing blows.

I decapitated several of the zombies when the group started to move against me in unison. This party clearly had some intellect as they were attempting to overwhelm me with vast numbers. I kept grinning at this thought and knew I was in for a serious battle.

Some of the arta warriors were armed with weapons; and equipped with various pieces of armor. A few of these warriors were from Valinatal; others were from different cities of Raiaera. I wanted to release my brothers from their current state of undeath. My sword clashed against the weapons that they wielded with some martial skills. Then; one of their ranks rose against me with a well formed broadsword. It was made of damascus. I could see a particular green glow from the agent of evil. I cut down several more of the zombies. Their numbers were rapidly falling. Moving towards the arriving zombie warrior; I prepared myself for battle. I raised my sword against his own. He reacted with uncanny skill and grace. I prepared my weapon to attack him. A moment later there was the sound of swords clashing together as I began a conflict to gain the upper momentum against him. I had superior body mass against the arta; but the smaller warrior was fueled by the powers of necromancy. This was clearly a special undead; and I wanted to be sure to kill it. The other zombies began to march towards Gideon and Liol.

[Gideon]

Gideon couldn't stand it. Lexxum was fighting on and on and Gideon didn't have the means to really help him. His supply of bolts was running low, and Liol was all but useless.

The field echoed with the screams of the undead as Lexxum fought on and Gideon tried, in vain, to take them out with the crossbow. Nothing but a shot to the head, or a decapitation, would kill these things, it seemed. There had to be a better way to take them out. The zombies' weakness was in their head, logically, which meant that it had to do with simply shooting off their most basic of functions.

"If only we had a way to fry them," Gideon said out loud, loading up another bolt. He noticed that dark cloud were beginning to gather in the sky, and the unmistakable flash of lightning filled the air. "Perhaps I need to voice my thoughts out loud some more," he said, firing at one of the zombies that was about to lunge towards Lexxum.

When Gideon looked over at Liol, he could see that he was focusing on anything that might make it past Lexxum and start heading for Gideon. Liol was faithful indeed, even if he was completely useless in actual combat.

"When we get back to the city, I'm definitely going to give you some kind of upgrade," he said. "You really need something to let you actually fight." Liol looked only a little grateful at this news, as his senses were still focused in on the battle.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

The trees of the Red Forest surrounded me on every angle. I was also surrounded by the decrepit forms of the zombie warriors I was fighting. There were still far too many of them left for my tastes. I was making progress though as I took down three more of the warriors. They were mostly male warriors and seemed to be soldiers from another city of Raiaera. I wasn't sure which one because I couldn't recognize the symbols on their shields of their order. I was learning some of the more common Elven symbols; symbols of factions, common phrases, basic Elven.

It was enough for me to get around in the towns. I noticed that my enemy contained ranks of humans and elves mixed together. No other races seemed present within the group of monstrosities he was currently fighting against. This battle was rapidly taking its toll on me; but I still had cards he could play. Thoughts of where I should take the duo next raced across my mind as I fought. I kept my eyes locked upon the battle.

A bolt was launched from my companion's crossbow at regular intervals. I knew he couldn't keep that up forever though. I decapitated another one of the nearby zombies. However; they were quickly moving past my position and up the hill towards Gideon. My blade swung around in rapid motions as I attempted to make more sacrificial offerings to Lord Mitra. The prayers were upon my lips as I whispered them which each kill I exorcised in his name.

Each of these beasts represented my hate towards the Arta. My weapon flowed with the black blood of the undead. I lost sight of the well armed zombie as I fought. Feeling something approach me from behind; I moved my weapon in a wide circular motion and caught the super zombie's blade with a timely counter attack of my own. My eyes narrowed as I gazed into the eyes of the arta warrior. There was intelligence in his eyes. He had slightly grayish skin; his hair was wild, long, shoulder length. He had a pointy chin and slender cheekbones. His eyes were a dull blue. He had a slender physique about himself and was equipped with whatever militia's armor he hailed from. Strange symbols lurked upon the breastplate of his armor and his shoulder guard was elaborate. I recognized the material immediately as being of steel masterwork quality. It seemed like I would have a difficult time destroying this warrior. Our weapons locked in battle and I prepared myself for a terrible conflict indeed. His eyes stared at me with a hatred powered by the undead...

The dead that walk.

[Gideon]

Well, Gideon was at a loss. He was down to his last bolt, and he was helpless to do anything but shoot. If only he had some kind of mechanical engine or machine to do something. If only he had designed Liol better.

"Lexxum! I'm out of bullets!" he shouted, hoping to gain the lizards attention. "I've just got one left and I doubt it'll actually hit anything with my luck! We need to pull out!"

The next thing he knew he was trying to think of a battle strategy to fight off the attacking zombies. Lexxum was holding his own, but he knew that they were screwed if there was no escape route. He only hoped that Lexxum could break away from the fight long enough to escape.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

My sword was cutting a swath through the enemy ranks. I heard a call from Gideon as I prepared an attempt to finish off the monster before me. I parried a powerful blow from it's undead musculature and pushed it a few paces back giving me a bit of breathing room. By now, I was surrounded by angry zombies, but they sensed the arta blood within me. Something was strange, they'd stopped moving towards Gideons' position and were all watching me now as if waiting for something. I turned my attention towards Gideon for a brief moment as the super mutant paused his relentless attack. "Gideon! Rob the dead you fool! There are corpses near your position, send your mutt to retrieve those items and arm yourself with them!"

I was too busy preparing my next maneuver to notice something odd about the super mutant. It started to utter a few choice noises that almost sounded like concrete words through corrupt larynxes. The noises touched my ears and made me think that something had gone terribly wrong. It had never spoken up until that point of the battle. His weapon was pointed down to the ground and his face was lined with concentration. For a moment, I pondered decapitating the creature right then.

But there was an interesting reaction within myself. The arta blood that flowed within me prevented me from acting. I felt like I was locked in place and couldn't make my body do what I wanted it to! The zombies moved so that they were a few paces away from the leader of the group. It seemed that they were no longer interested in what Gideon was doing and backed up well out of melee range.

I noticed that I was having a difficult time moving, so I kept myself in combat position just in case. And then in happened. After a few moments of the creature chanting, or at least that's what I thought it was, a burst of mysterious energy was sent ripping through the air. It was a green taint that made me think of the Necromancers Netha'Tu and Rashilan Penna’ak. I'd met both of Xem'Zund's servants in recent months and years prior. I wondered if this creature was somehow connected to Xem'Zund and guessed that it probably was. A great desire to destroy this beast filled my belly.

That desire would not see the light of day. The energy crackled around the worn body of the beast before me. There would be no reward, there would be no trophy. Instead, the creature did something that I would never have thought of. It brought the battle to a sudden and halting close. A spark in the air cascaded rapidly into a larger series of sparks. Energy gathered to one central point. As the energy gathered the air was warped and twisted and I heard an all together different sound. The creature started to laugh at me! I tried to move and found my motor skills returned to their normal capacity. It had temporarily gained some sort of control over my arta blood, disabling me and turning me into a liability for Gideon.

As an act against me, that sheer realization made me completely furious. I wanted to tear the beast apart. There was a burst of energy now, and a crackling explosion through the air. Energy crackled through the night and I saw immediately what had been done. My Chieftains once told me about special doorways created by Magi that took people to far away places. And even, sometimes, to a different time period all together. My eyes went wide as I saw the swirling doorway open up like some giant maw. Matter started to fly into the door. I suddenly felt myself being pulled into the door at a rapid rate. I turned towards Gideon quickly feeling cramps in my muscles from staying still too long. "Gideon! I can't stop it! I don't know what to do! Watch out man!"

But it was too late. I blanked out the moment that my body was ripped through the portal.

[Gideon]

Gideon watched in horror as a large light consumed everything near it like a large black hole. When Lexxum got sucked into it, Gideon ran straight for him, but he didn't get far as Liol bit down on a loose piece of fabric on Gideon's pants, holding him back.

"LET ME GO!" Gideon shouted, trying to tug himself away from Liol, who had suddenly seemed to grow ten fold in strength, and even weight.

"We don't know where that portal leads! It could lead to the bowels of hell for all we can tell from this side!"

"I'm not abandoning Lexxum after what's happened!"

"Lexxum can be replaced, but you can't!"

"So can you! I built you, and I'll tear you apart!" Gideon shouted as he loaded up his final shot and pointed it at the wolf's face, making him let go in astonishment. "I'm going. I refuse to let you command me!"

Gideon rushed into the portal and had to squint his eyes as he jumped into the blinded light and was torn from that part of space and hurled into another. The sensation wasn't really unpleasant, but it was very strange. It was like falling and floating at the same time, with the feeling that someone is tugging at your chest with a rope.

Liol watched Gideon vanish behind the curtain of light and slowly walked up to the portal, digging his claws into the ground to avoid getting sucked in. He opened his mouth to it and let out a series of small sparks that made the portal bulge and shrink and change colors before stabilizing again. The suction on this portal was now gone and gave Liol plenty of time to perform tests.

"That should do it," Liol said in an entirely different voice and attitude. He now sounded much older and dark, as if he had been hiding his true self. "Pathetic flesh creatures attaching to each other so easily. Separating their portal destinations should get Gideon to follow my lead again."

Liol held his right paw in the air, which started to glow and get hotter until it was hot enough to melt steel. He then lashed his tail around, which soon stretched out into little jagged segments connected by a complex wire, and acted like a whip.

"Right, there's two of my systems, now how about my riot cannon?"

Liol opened his mouth and started charging up a large amount of electricity in his maw; however, when it get ready to fire, a large spark shot out the side of his head causing him to recoil in the opposite direction.

"I'll have to get myself repaired once I get him to activate some of the outposts," he said to himself, getting into pouncing position. He leaped into the portal and disappeared from the clear just as it closed.