Snow Angels and Demons

Snow Angels and Demons.

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...5nHMcDpGa7-zkQ

[Closed to MetalDrago.]

The bitter cold bit into her heavy clothes. Clouds of white snow and devastating winds blew around her. She could not remember ever being this cold. The olive skinned girl blinked rapidly, brown eyes still unable to adjust to the blizzard.

"How far!" She shouted to her guide.

The only way she could tell she was traveling with another person was the tug of the rope around her thin waist. The rope hung over her thighs as she blindly followed the guide through this wasteland of snow.

"We'll get there soon!" The guide shouted from the wild flurries before her, "Less than a mile!"

The girl shivered, holding her hood to keep it from flying off. The warmth of her breath could be felt through the mask that covered her mouth and nose, but it did little against this blight. The heavy furs and layered cloth were wet from snow, her boots were drenched and icky. She grumbled to herself, curly blonde hair flying in her face, as she pressed on.

Berevar was not the beacon of hope the girl thought it would be.

Struggling against the knee deep snow dunes, the girl constantly felt her surroundings with gloved hands, tugging on the rope frequently for assurance. She had hired a guide to bring her through the rough wilderness of Berevar, in hopes that Berevar's connection to magic would give her a clue of purpose. Not all who wandered were lost, but she was indeed lost in her wanderings. She knew what she was, but not who she was. She had hoped a journey into the mythical subcontinent of Berevar would help her to see. Yet right now, with nothing but white snow clouding her vision, she was still blind.

After a little while longer of hiking, she eventually felt the guide stop.

"What is it?" The girl huffed as she stumbled to his side.

"We are here."

The girl paused, blinking several times. She saw what appeared to be a yawning cave in front of her. She started to walk in, still trying to get a clear view.

"You will be perfect. Pure virgin with magical properties."

The girl whipped around, confused, "What?"

"I-I was thinking about my girlfriend!"

...

"Can we just head in? I'm exhausted."

The guide stepped past her, forcing the girl to follow. They were still roped together. The girl tried to adjust to the darkness, pulling off one of her satchels, "Need light? I can light a torch."

"That will not be necessary, girl."

Was that the sound of the rope being cut? She looked down, barely watching the rope fall to the black, stony ground. The girl stood confused for a moment before a heavy shove slammed into her chest.

"Hey!"

She looked up to see the silhouette of her guide. He shoved her back. Stones rattled around her as she whispered, "What are you-?"

Another shove. This time, she felt herself teetering on an edge. She heard stones slip off a ledge and into darkness. She felt pebbles give way beneath her. A flash of stubbornness overtook the girl. She reached out, yanking the rope tied around the figure as she started falling.

"Wait!"

The girl found herself falling in midair, in the dark. The screaming of her guide echoed around her as she winced her eyes shut and waited for the bottom to come.

Priests and priestesses prayed around a circle of blood as dim candlelight flickered in the corners of the room. Twice a year they met to renew the strength of a magical spell placed here in Berevar, one keeping a powerful secret hidden from the rest of the world. The Black Paladin of N'Jal yet existed, and his soul was entombed here in the icy depths. Were he to be released, the Cult feared for the consequences.

"And so it will be," the head priest said, making a motion with his hand. The others repeated his words and held their hands out to the doors of the tomb. The blood red glyph began to glow brighter, stronger, and filled the room with its red light.

"See? Even with our dread matron sealed once more, we can keep the creature sealed away!" the priest said triumphantly.

Seconds later, a rumbling was heard from inside the tomb and the glyph began to fade. In fact, it looked like it was being absorbed through the door. As the light from the spell finally faded, the doors flew open. Hundreds of pounds of stone door landed on one of the priests, leaving nothing but a pool of blood visible on the floor.

A rush of wind blew out the candles and drenched the icy cave in darkness.

The Head Priest, Harnel, desperately felt around in the darkness for the nearest wall. The sound of a scream and a loud crunch filled the chamber and suddenly the startled silence erupted into a full blown panic. Blindly, priests and zealots trampled each other underfoot as their unseen assailant whipped about the room. Small gusts of wind in the otherwise still cave were the only way that Harnel could tell the creature was moving.

Moments later, there was total silence. Harnel scrambled to his feet and tried to inch his way down the wall, until he felt the sudden gust of wind hit him directly in the face. There, in front of him was a pair of dimly lit emerald colored eyes, looking him up and down.

"I warned you," the creature growled. "If I ever got out of there, you'd all pay for what you did."

The priest choked out the start of a reply before he felt a skeletal hand grip his face and lift him bodily off the ground. His eyes were finally beginning to adjust to the darkness and what he saw horrified him. Desiccated bodied littered the floor, dried out husks that looked like they'd been left in a desert for a hundred years. Their eyes were sunken and mouths open wide in pain.

No... not me too! he thought as he scratched feebly at the hand holding his head. The grip of the creature merely grew tighter, forcing him to finally look into the face of his soon to be killer.

Bleached white bone peaked out from behind rotten skin. The creature's wings barely had a membrane left as they flexed back and forth. Between the gaps of the wing bones, a spiny tail whipped back and forth. Finally, the face, a pair of emerald green eyes growing brighter and brighter as excitement seemed to well up in the creature.

"Drago..." Harnel gasped out as the former Paladin of N'Jal looked him dead in the eyes.

With that he felt something pierce into his very core. A muffled scream filled the chamber as he felt his very life force being ripped from his body, but it was more than that. He could feel his connection to his goddess fading as well, as though he were...

"MMMPH!" he cried as he clawed more desperately at the glowing hand draining his life force. As his strength faded, however, the strength of the grip on him only grew stronger. Slowly he felt himself fading, being drawn into the monster standing before him.

"You'll never return to Her... With each soul I devour, Her grip on Althanas will weaken, and She has only Herself to blame."

The priest's eyes dulled and turned a milky white before the creature dropped the body and stood a little straighter. A self satisfied grin filled the partially rotten face of the dracolich as he turned toward the cavern's exit.

"You're next," he whispered to the darkness as he slipped through the shadows toward the exit.

The time of rebirth had come at long last, and now every single worshipper of N'Jal would be eliminated. MetalDrago would make damn sure of that.

The fall was not that far deep. Relief that there would be no broken bones flooded her as she slammed into a pool of water only a moment or so after falling. The guide crashed into the waves after her, and she realized that she needed to get out of the water. Despite her innate ability to control ice, she could not freeze normal water. In fact, her environment was uncontrolled in this murky pool.

She swam rapidly into any blind direction, unable to see the shore. Head above the water, she gasped for air. She found herself floundering for several moments before her foot slammed into a slippery stone. She was soon wading in shallow, cold water. She was in a frigid arctic climate, and she worried about any potential harm the cold could cause. Fear flooded her as she wondered if she could indeed die out here...

She crawled out and onto land. She coughed as her hands slammed into dirt and her knees dug into loose stones. She was freezing. Her nixstella necklace was cold and hard slapping her skin around her neck. The sound of splashing behind her resounded, and she realized her would be guide turned attacker was close behind.

Trembling, the girl stumbled to her feet and attempted to run, "Stay away from me!"

She knew little of combat, aside the basic unarmed self defense taught by that voice in the tube she had grown up in. She had no muscle memory of even that, however. She only had basic skills in her family's powers, and blind as an underground rat, she was too terrified. Cold, alone, in the dark. Could this be the end?

A heavy force slammed into her and grabbed her, "You're not going anywhere! The sacrifice needs to be made to seal him! You'll pay for drenching me!"

She squealed. One strong arm wrapped around her waist while another gripped her shoulder. Her senses were blurred as he shook her around in attempts to daze her.

"It's a shame the sacrifice requires a virgin! I'll need another way to hurt you!"

She gasped, finally too scared and having had enough. Fear of captivity, just like before, flooded her. Never again...

She stomped her foot several times until it landed on his own boot. Then, she kicked back, hitting just below his knee. He cried out as she caused ice to form where his hands held her, causing his grip to slip. She tore herself from him and broke into a run again.

Unfortunately, she tripped over a small boulder in the darkness. She felt herself careen into the stones, drawing blood on her face. She cried out in pain, feeling dazed. After a moment, she remembered the man threatening her and tried to get up. However, as she tried to push herself up, a boot slammed into her back.

"I'll beat you into a bloody pulp, girl! The sacrifice requires a virgin with magical affinities, but it said nothing about delivering you to the blood circle tortured!"

The girl's senses spun, her mind blotted and clustered in terror. She winced her eyes shut, fearing her terrible end...

(Bunnying of the NPC approved by partner)

The shadow slipped through the darkness entirely undetected. Stragglers in the cave, servants of the priesthood, died before a sound could leave their lips as hand and tail wrapped around their throats and squeezed the life out of them like sweet juice from a ripe fruit. As it did, skin and sinew reconstituted and regenerated. No longer a skeleton with bits of flesh hanging off, the dracolich approached the entrance to the cave system with a far heavier crunch of ice and rock beneath his feet.

"-delivering you to the blood circle tortured!" echoed down the corridor toward the monster. It stopped a moment, webbed ears cocked to the area the voice came from. There did not appear to be a single person left alive down her besides the source of the noise, so it decided to take a few steps toward the voice. In the shadows it waited, footsteps lighter than a leaf on the wind as it stalked its prey.

The guide, a rather large human male the creature had seen before on several occasions during its run with the Cult, stood above a young woman, no more than eighteen or so by the look of it, and had a mean looking dagger ready to tear into her flesh as vengeance for whatever she had done to throw off his plans.

Quite the shame for him that he was related to the Cult, though, the creature thought as it stepped out silently from the shadows and stood quietly behind the man. The human brought the dagger up and as he was about to bring it down upon the young girl, the clouded skies above cleared and moonlight poured into the cave, illuminating the entire area.

Except for the exact spot the man was standing. He was overshadowed by a much larger creature than himself. The knife slipped from his fingers as a bony tail slipped from around the former Paladin of N'Jal and wrapped around his neck. An outstretched hand caught the dagger before it fell to harm the girl.

"Ah, Maltris... still up to your old tricks, I see... Playing the helpful guide to bring the innocent to your precious sacrificial altars," the creature hissed as it took the blade and drew a line in the human's back, slicing through the thick leathers like wet paper. Blood seeped through the wet leathers and began to pool on the floor.

Wide eyed terror combined with pain was clearly visible on the pathetic creature's face, but that was of little consequence to the nearly demonic entity that the Cult had finally allowed free from his prison. No, the important thing was something far more.

The monster dropped the dagger in his hand and brought his palm up to grip the face of the human with a smile full of twisted glee. As the human struggled to breathe around the crushing of his windpipe and the palm blocking his nose, his pitiful cries grew weaker and weaker as his body became increasingly emaciated, the effects of years of starvation settling in all at once. His skin turned ashen and pale and wrinkled as though he'd put on a century of life in mere seconds.

"None of you will ever rejoin Her... No, instead you'll fuel me as I rip your little cult apart piece by painful piece," the dracolich said as the last signs of life left the body of the human. He tossed the useless body aside and walked up to the wall of the cave that the girl and her guide had fallen into. There was likely another way out, but the newly minted undead wasn't really in the mood to search an empty cave system for an easier way out.

The girl behind him was still breathing however, and had done nothing to deserve being here. He turned toward her with a somewhat conflicted conscience. He could just leave her here to die, but something told him that she could actually be useful, were her magical talents good enough to warrant becoming a sacrifice.

"You there, get up," Drago growled.

Well, that was traumatizing.

The girl shivered, petrified, long after the death had played out in front of her. This guide had been about to torment her, then kill her. She knew she appreciated being saved, yet... A death as painful and horrific as that?

As the immediate adrenaline left her body, she felt the full effects of Berevar's climate setting in on her. Sure, this cave was warmer than the outside, but it was far from summer heat. That, and she was dripping wet. Shuddering, she gasped when her horrifying savior told her to get up.

What should she do? On one hand, this... creature... terrified her. On the other hand, it saved her life. Either way, both fear and appreciation drove her to the same conclusion. For now, obey.

But will he imprison me like my grandfather?

She stood to her feet, struggling to stand correctly. She was practically vibrating from the cold. First thing was first, light and warmth.

"I-I'll ge-et some li-igh-t-t-t."

She pulled out two pieces of wood from her satchel. They were sadly soaking wet, but they would have to do. The girl rubbed them together rapidly, gritting her teeth as she awaited the sweet flames of fire. After what felt like ages, a weak spark formed. It was all she needed. She held the two sticks and willed the fire to get burning. As she magically forced the flames to stay alive, she looked around anxiously. She eventually laid eyes on what appeared to be a wall mounted torch. She stumbled over, feeling frigid and stiff, and touched the two sticks to the flames.

A chain reaction happened.

It was not just a torch, but an entire network of flames that slipped through the walls and illuminated the room. As precious light flooded the dilapidated cavern, she gasped. Sure, she saw the full effects of her would be murderer's murder, but she also saw a pile of other skeletons pilled up in one corner. The pool she had immerged from was brown and still, and the rest of the cavern was all too much just that, a cavern.

She got a good look at her new companion. He was a towering creature with some kind of draconic heritage. Was he from Dheathian? But no, that made no sense. He apparently had been sealed here. He appeared... like dead man walking. Grey skin clung to bones and marrow, and sickly green energy coursed through his skeletal frame. She gaped in clear fear, feeling like a helpless child before him. Would her ice and fire even do anything against such a monster if she was driven to it? She stared with wide, paranoid eyes at this monster, the flames on her wet wood fizzling out.

She looked down to her drenched clothes, then looked to the pile of bones. Travel gear and winter clothes were mixed into the pile, some hanging onto the frames of corpses still. She grimaced, feeling awful for playing with the bones of what she could assume were girls who were not as lucky as her. Yet, if she did not change soon, she would die from these elements.

"I... Be back."

She already was pulling off her outer layers as she approached the bones, feeling sick and defiling. She winced as she slipped behind the pile, picking out what clothes would fit her and peeling her soaked layers off. As she slipped a red coat over her thin body, her clear nixstella necklace reflected the burning flames around her.

She eventually immerged, hair still wet and clinging to her new travel gear, but she was far warmer. She looked back to the pile and frowned.

Rest in peace, sisters. I am sorry.

She then turned and faced the abomination they had been sacrificed to contain. What could she expect of this undead creature? She clenched her fists, fear pulsing through her veins. Yet, she needed to be smart. And put on a brave face.

"I don't mean to hurt you." She paused, not wanting to make her words sound like a threat, "I believe we both want out of here."

A low gutteral sound that could only be a growl or chuckle issues between the parched lips of the creature as he flexed his wings. The girl was clearly a lot more courageous than most who had been brought here to keep him sealed away. He shook his head as the girl looked up at him.

"Human, if I had intended you harm or thought you could even hope to harm me, you wouldn't be standing there right now," he growled. Whether she was scared and just blurting out whatever came to mind or just another arrogant piece of trash needing to be put in their place, he didn't particularly care.

"Besides, you're not one of my targets. The only people I intend to kill are those N'Jalian Cultists and the Unholy Bitch herself!" his statement slowly rose into a roar as he lashed out with a ferocious punch at the wall, cracking it a good three meters up and causing a bit of snow to fall from the opening above.

A sigh issued forth as he turned back toward the cave system. He could have climbed out with his claws, even with the girl on his back, but he did not think she would do so well being in contact with an undead in such a way. Besides...

"I have to find my swords," he said. "Come with me if you want to get out of here, or climb back up the way you fell in. Your choice."

This creature scared her. Hanuh stood aloof as this... demon... explained his goals with a temper and a deadly vengeance. She stood, watching him march off the find his swords. He made it obvious he meant no harm to her, but what if he was lying? She had been lied to before.

As cold water dripped from the stalagmites above, Hanuh shivered. The echoing sounds of the caves leaving her with a sense of entrapment. She had been trapped before. With a shudder, she realized that her fear of imprisonment outweighed her fear of this hulking undead beast. She grimaced as she followed him into the darkness.

We both want escape. We both want freedom. That is enough reason to trust each other... for now.

Hanuh's long, blonde hair was still drying. The curly hair was tangled. With a sigh, she took a rope left over from changing and tied her hair back, so it would not stick to her face. As they left the room, she took one of the many torches of the room to provide light, and a bit of warmth for her small, frigid body. She winced at how monstrous and terrible the draconic undead was. She sighed, following him regardless of her discomfort.

"I was contained before, against my will." She tried to break the ice, her voice timid and childlike, "That small tube, the murky waters... I don't know how long I was suspended in there."

The torch revealed the natural winding paths of a cavern cluttered with rubble and stone. The girl was careful not to trip while holding the torch.

"I can't let myself get captured again. Ever. I'm not going back to that place..." She gritted her teeth, still remembering the bitterness of all her stolen years. She looked over to humanoid and asked shyly, "How long were you trapped here?"