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  1. #21
    Nuclear Rage

    EXP: 64,948, Level: 10
    Level completed: 99%, EXP required for next Level: 52
    Level completed: 99%,
    EXP required for next Level: 52


    Flamebird's Avatar

    GP
    1,898

    Name
    Felicity Rhyolite
    Age
    19
    Race
    Neanderthal/ Human Hybrid
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Corone

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    The situation was dire. Too dire. He knew for a fact that things had gone too far, and this was his moment.

    "Yes, he has."

    From the entrance of the room, he walked in. In a white cloak, the young Thayne steadily knelt down to Shinsou and Felicity. He extended his hand, and Felicity started to glow in a strange light. Gwenael looked straight at Shinsou, speaking.

    "That is my plan."

    As the ten million stars in his eyes glimmered, he narrowed his eyes. "I dare not speak my complete doubts aloud, but you saw a Great One fall at the feet of a Lesser. We are all fallible."

    Gwenael turned his gaze to Storm Veritas, the furious man who he quite frankly did not like. "I forsake the rules, this once, to put this matter to rest. This man has long evaded justice..."

    He turned to Felicity again. The girl's panting was slowed to steady breathing. As she opened her red eyes, the light grew dim and she stirred.

    Gwenael peered into her mind, speaking to her while he spoke aloud. "I have a plan. Arius is a dangerous man, even for a mortal. But I know what to do."

    "I slowed your perception of time. It has only been several seconds, but it has been long enough for you. I still sense your anxiety."

    "If I speak it aloud, he will hear what I have to say and attempt to thwart it. He is shrewd. I may be able to dance circles around him, but it will take something special to cast his spirit to Jomil's judgement." Gwenael stood up, his being starting to flicker in a golden white aura. His Thaynehood was increasingly obvious as the cloak slowly dissipated into nothing, replaced by the wings of a snow owl. Of course, his demeanor was different as well. He was assertive. He was in control.

    "Steady yourself. This is about more than you. If you refuse to face your fears in the face of something bigger, what are you? A coward."

    Felicity gasped as visible emotion flooded her eyes, still leaned against Shinsou. Gwenael's gaze only flickered to her for a moment before his returned to the steady gazes to the Brotherhood leaders.

    "He means to set a trap at the clock tower. Shall we spring it?"

    His legs morphed. Powerful talons gripped the stone floor as his hair grew longer, down to his waistline. "I know you feel immeasurable pain. I know it is not always controllable, I get that. But how short sighted can you be when your own desires come first, before the task?"

    As Gwenael turned to face the door, Felicity cast her gaze to the floor, tears flooding her eyes. "I’m-"

    "-Don't say it." Gwenael spat. "You have felt enough shame to fill N'jal's void with. No. Learn. Don't dwell. Be free. And leave the rest of this mess to me."

    Gwenael turned to the trio, a small smile on his ethereal face. "You all leave it to me." "Even you, Veritas. I know you are enraged. Do not let your personal desire for revenge ruin this."
    Last edited by Flamebird; 05-06-2020 at 12:30 PM.
    "I can't be proud of anything. I am ashamed of everything."

    "I gave my heart, my allegiance, all my energy for this and got nothing but ashes in return. What on earth did I do to deserve being chewed and spit out like this? Time and time again, it's all the same."


    Felicity Playlist.

  2. #22
    Ride The Lightning

    EXP: 166,794, Level: 17
    Level completed: 83%, EXP required for next Level: 3,206
    Level completed: 83%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,206


    Storm Veritas's Avatar

    GP
    25,550

    Name
    Storm Veritas
    Age
    39
    Race
    Human
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    All at once, the arc of Shinsou’s long con seemed to emerge for the wizard. Felicity, the bold, aspirational young general, had been a bit of bait-and-switch. When the chips were down, she had collapsed in a heap, too small for the moment. With her fall came the rise of a god, the dismissive, arrogant Thayne they had come to learn was “Gwenael”.

    That’s a hell of a buy one, get one sale, Telgradian. I guess your recruiting still has a pretty fucking good eye.

    It was obvious to Storm that if any were able to fall the spectral, body-shifting time wizard they had come to hate as Arius Mephisto, it would be this winged deity. The object of the immortal’s ire, Storm Veritas felt a very unique concoction of awe and apathy fill his empty stomach.

    Gwenael kills Arius. Arius kills Gwenael. Win-fucking-win in my book. The only hand we can’t play is having Arius take Gwenael’s body; that’s a trump card that leaves us all screwed.

    Turning his eyes to the girl, he saw sadness and pity. She was brave, and bold, and overwhelmed by the moment. She leaned into Shinsou for support, both physical and emotional. This battle was neither her fault nor her responsibility, but she seemed completely exhausted. Shinsou, on the other hand, seemed positively radiant next to the wretched pile of pulp that Canen was disintegrating to, and far more stable than the fledgling heroine. Speaking with a sharp, decisive tongue, the wizard addressed his two fellow Brotherhood elite.

    “Gwenael is our ticket, but if Arius takes his form, all is beyond lost. Again, we’ve got no playbook, but if I had the ability to assume a form, a Thayne sounds like a pretty good god-damned bet. Saddle up, we need to fly.”

    Gwenael was gone, having flown up the central pit that they had traveled down, a stony cylinder marked by dense, spiraling stone stairs. Listening to the clicking of his metal-soled shoes upon the granite beneath him, the wizard sent a light pulse below him, the electromagnetic burst effortlessly hoisting him upward.

    They’ll catch up. Can’t wait at this point. Not letting the diva-god fuck this up on us all.

    Smooth and powerful, Storm flew out of the prison, landing at the top step and resetting his cuff-links and dress shirt to tuck neatly into the pants. Fingers combing his silvery hair, the wizard exited the holding area on foot, briskly walking into the windowed amphitheater atop the prison. Slivers of the sharp sun sprayed in through windows, and in the bleached, sunlit air the dust danced in a thick and random waltz. His eyes adjusted from wide to razor slits; the warm air greeting him with a punch. Exasperated gazes of two guards affirmed that Gwenael had just passed by; you don’t see a Thayne every day.

    “Sir, the clocktower…” A dumbfounded young knight pointed to the open door, stammering his speech as he attempted to explain that which he must not have just seen.

    “Good, got it. I’ll take care of it. Send help downstairs, to Shinsou and the girl. They’ll need water, and maybe first aid.” Storm stopped, smirking a bit at the absurdity of it all.

    “And send a second envoy down with a mop and bucket. Someone with a strong stomach.”

    Fucking Whitevale.

    The door was held open for him by a dutiful guard, a thirty-something young man with a shaved head and bright eyes. It was fear behind them, but he soldiered on. Storm knew the feeling. The two exchanged nods as the magician marched past with focus and a predatory look.

    He heard the shuffling behind him; Shinsou and Felicity were on the way. There was no time to wait; Gwenael hadn’t and Arius wouldn’t. Storm took one step out of the building and aimed at the clocktower, pushing his weight forward before launching himself into a long, magnetic-propelled flight.

    It was time for Arius Mephisto to die.

  3. #23
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

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    Shinsou could do nothing but watch on as the lean electromancer's impatience got the better of him. For an older man, Storm's footwork was surprisingly sharp. His leaps and bounds up the spiralling staircase to Whitevale's surface were crisp and precise. Augmented by that mighty electrical power he was so feared for, it was a matter of seconds before his friend had reached the parapet and was out of sight.

    For fuck's sake. Let's hope Arius isn't counting on you and Gweneal turning up alone, or we're all fucked.

    The Telgradian turned his attention to Felicity, sliding an arm under hers to shoulder her weight. Her PTSD had gotten the best of her. There was no doubt that this moment of weakness hadn't escaped Veritas's unforgiving eyes, but there were bigger issues at hand now. Therapy would have to wait.

    "Try and walk, Felicity" Shinsou insisted as they made their way up the stone stairs, "We're in a world of trouble if we get to the top like this and Arius has already dealt with that hot-head."

    Progress was agonisingly slow. Every now and then he turned his eyes to the girl, seeing what Storm had already seen. Sadness and pity beyond oblivion as the pair limped halfway home. The girl slumped half across his shoulder almost made a mockery of the Felicity Rhyolite he had fought in the Citadel, the one that had given him such trouble that he had to assume his final form. The Telgradian would have been lying to himself if he said he wasn't now questioning his decision to promote her, but he knew that everything was perfect in hindsight.

    Easy to assess everything after the fact, though, isn't it? Got to get some semblence of you back in the game here, Fel. Work with me.

    "Felicity, listen to me."

    They stopped on the stair that exactly made the halfway mark between the lower prison level and the entrance at Whitevale's level above. Shinsou, with determination in his shining golden eyes, swivelled the young girl round, placed two hands on her shoulders and looked her dead in the eye.

    "Right now I need you to think. This isn't about the past, or what we've all lost, way back when. Right now, this is about what we have left. If Arius gets his hands on Gweneal, it's over. All of it, as we know it, gone. I don't know if he can, or whether it's even really his plan, but we have to assume that's what is going through his mind. You can put a pin in it right now, we all can. But we have to get there, and get there soon."

    Felicity looked almost gone, her eyes cast to the granite beneath her feet, having submitted to her emotions. The Telgradian lifted her chin with his free hand until their gaze met.

    "Hey, hey, hey. Listen to me. I didn't recruit you because I didn't believe in what you can do. I don't bring losers to Whitevale. You know what Storm thinks? He thinks you're weak, that you can't handle this gig. He's probably questioning my judgment. There's nothing more I love in this world than proving that wise-ass wrong, and he is. He can't see what I saw. I want you to go up there and show him the strength that brought me to my knees."

    The Telgradian hated speeches, especially admist a time-sensitive crisis, but he could think of no other way to motivate his charge. Slowly, the red headed girl absorbed his words. Shinsou had no idea what she was thinking and was three seconds away from fireman lifting his apprentice up the coiling staircase when some fire returned to her eyes. Nodding slowly, as if understanding the universe for the first time, her voice finally regained some density.

    "Let's go."

    With an affirmative nod, Shinsou righted the girl and flew out of the blocks, sprinting until the spiral ran out of stairs and they were once again level with the town of Whitevale. The pair left the holding area with urgency and bolted through the same windowed amphitheater Storm had passed through what now seemed like hours ago, the disturbed wisps of dust ionised from the electromancer's passing.

    Shinsou eyes swivelled straight to the clock tower as he hit the outdoors.

    No sign of Storm. Judging from his life force, he's near the tower. I can't sense that piece of shit Arius, though-

    His thought was cut off dead as a sphere of crimson energy balled into the back of his head, and his legs gave way underneath him, crumpling like burning paper. As he skidded a few yards over the gravel, blood pouring from his mouth, the dazed Telgradian heard an all too familiar voice lording over him.

    "All too easy."

    The Telgradian bit his bloodied lip as the pulsating life force swelled in his belly. It was him. Arius was right there, apparantly inside the body of one of Whitevale's guards. Slowly, he pulled apart the armour he wore, each piece dropping to the floor with a clang. Gasping for breath, the spellsword glared through wincing eyes at his oppressor as Felicity stood frozen.

    Without warning, a magnesium-white flare burst into existence from Arius’s free hand, and the resulting shockwave sent the bewildered redhead crashing to the floor beside her injured leader.

    "I think it's better if you all stay on the floor." The megalomaniacal usurper suggested, turning now to his nemesis. "Surprised to see me, Shinsou? It's been a good while, although you probably barely remember our last meeting. If you're wondering, it only took mere moments to conjure a portal from the tower to here. I was counting on one of you to dive in without thinking and take the bait. No surprise who bit first, obviously."

    Arius walked up to Shinsou, swiftly bringing his boot down on the man's ribs. There was a loud crack as the Telgradian's ribs buckled under the weight of the rubber and steel. The Telgradian wheezed, spitting a gobulet of blood on the dusty Whitevale stone.

    "Storm's on his way to the clock tower now, expecting to run into me. When he gets to the top, well...let's just say for his efforts he's earned a vacation somewhere warm. Like Fallien's glasslands, perhaps. A one-way portal to a very permanent exile."

    As the sun cast its heat on the blood that had spilled, Arius revelled. He had divided, and now all that was left to do was to conquer.

  4. #24
    Nuclear Rage

    EXP: 64,948, Level: 10
    Level completed: 99%, EXP required for next Level: 52
    Level completed: 99%,
    EXP required for next Level: 52


    Flamebird's Avatar

    GP
    1,898

    Name
    Felicity Rhyolite
    Age
    19
    Race
    Neanderthal/ Human Hybrid
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    Weak.

    She remembered clearly how weak she had always been. Powerless against the abusive forces that pushed and shoved her around. She was always the weak one, protected by her high strung cousin and cool headed uncle until they died; leaving her alone.

    Weak.

    "Pathetic." The memory of a cloaked woman flooded her mind. "Getting laughed out of the Ranger's initiation grounds like that. You're weak. You remind me of myself when I was your age, a loser. Let me teach you to be strong."

    But Felicity never learned how to be. She was still weak at her old teacher's harsh hands as well. She was a stark contrast to her new mentor, who now...

    "Ack!"

    A cruel, twisted man shoved his boot deeper into Shinsou’s rib. Shinsou choked, bubbling blood visible against his pale lips. Glued to the ground by a strange magic, lying in pain nearby, memories swirled in Felicity's mind. The old ones meshed with the new ones, and this very Telgradian's words echoed stronger than the rest. The past was knocking on her door, ready to break in again. Take her loved ones again. Arius was after Gwenael, her dear friend, and wanted to possess him as his own body.

    Not again...

    Felicity panted, the pain from Arius’s attack holding her down. Arius lifted his boot and rammed it into his victim's side. Shinsou cried out as Arius's face glowed in sick pleasure, "I've been waiting for this, Shinsou!"

    Felicity winced, his pain visible as anger swelled inside. How dare he... How dare this man just waltz into her life and attack her mentor like that? One of the select few people who ever believed in her?

    Not again...

    The past was knocking on her door. But the past was behind her. Now, she was not the same weakling her old mentor took in out of pity. Shinsou said it himself, he did not bring a loser to Whitevale.

    She was not weak anymore.

    Not again!

    Pinned to the ground, unable to lift a finger, Felicity bit down on her lip instead. As the taste of iron blood could be tasted on her lips, the pain dissipated. Bolstered with new strength, the anger she felt towards Arius was bolstered as well. With unnatural strength, she bolted from her place on the ground as radiation poisoning caused Arius and Shinsou both to wince in sickness. With the sudden advantage, Felicity landed a solid punch on the off guard mage. Several teeth flew from his mouth as blood pooled from his broken jaw. He cried out as he backed off by several paces, Felicity advanced. As Shinsou struggled to recover from that beating, Felicity squared off the dark mage. She burned with the dark energy of rage. How dare he! How dare this bald maniac threaten her master! Arius looked back at her, anger visible in his eyes. Yet, oh, Felicity's anger was far worse.

    "Leave him alone!" All the passion, love for the man who had given her purpose again, was made known through the enraged scream. As pain returned to Felicity's body, a strange ringing throb, she ignored it. This was the girl who brought Shinsou Vaan Osiris to his knees in the Citadel. This was the girl who would give her life to prevent any more loved ones from perishing.

    She drew her sword and charged at him. Still stunned that the girl was standing after his attack, Arius flung another bolt of magic at her, but she side stepped in a dodge. She raised her sword, ready to strike, when a second bolt landed on her chest again. She was flung back again. Her sword slid across the stone floor in a smooth slide as she rolled with a series of grunts. After she stopped, hair covering her face, she looked up again, shaking.

    "Stay out of this, girl!" Arius shouted, "This is my hour!" He turned his face to the Telgradian still bleeding on the floor.

    Protective instinct overcame the magical pain echoing off her bones. Felicity got up and darted towards him again, "Fat chance!"

    Another magical beam. Felicity was knocked against the wall as the oppressor sighed, exasperated. Eyes exhausted by all these petty interruptions, he wiped the blood from his chin. "It seems I must deal with you first, child. I am clearly out of your league. My machinations are beyond your stopping."

    Felicity was hung to the wall by some sort of telepathic force. Indeed, he was beyond her power. But she was not weak. All she needed was to hold him until the others arrived.

    "This isn't about the past, or what we've all lost, way back when. Right now, this is about what we have left."

    Felicity winced as Arius walked closer, applying more invisible force to her frame. The pressure was insane, her head felt ready to explode in the ringing. Still, she kept herself breathing as he sneered.

    "I want you to go up there and show him the strength that brought me to my knees."

    Shinsou was counting on her.

    She was strong.

    Felicity grunted, unable to lift her head as Arius walked up to her. He brought a knee to her rib, causing blunt force to explode. Yet, as Felicity winced, she kept her eyes locked past Arius, to her mentor.

    Shinsou believed in her. He was one of the first to. That was all the drive she needed. The man who brought her in, taught her, promoted her to a position of importance, and truly believed in her capabilities. She smiled, looked down to Arius with a slight wince as he brought his boot to her chest. Paralyzed she was, but it did not stop her from smirking.

    "Go ahead," She spat, "Break me down, bury my face in the hard floor." Her face twisted as he brought his hand up and punched her gut. It barely phased her. "I'm stronger than stone, can endure until I'm ground to literal dust. Every time you hit me, it makes me stronger."

    She locked eyes with the power tripping mage, glaring with intensity of ten thousand suns, "I still won't let you kill my mentor and take my town!" She gritted her teeth as he slammed his knee into her side again. She fought on. "I won't give into a demon, a monster, like you! Every time you even bat an eye towards Shinsou, I'll stand in the way again! So go ahead! Try to stop me!"

    Felicity understood she was in for a world of pain. She could take it. Infuriated that some strange little girl stood between him and his prize, Arius stopped talking and started to beat her to his heart's content. A rapid series of punches and hits were unblockable as her limbs were forced against the wall by his magic. He hoped to knock her out, force her to exhaustion. However, Felicity's bones were strong like steel, and her body could take more punishment than ten men together could bear. All she had to do was keep this bald bully content until Gwenael and Storm arrived. Knowing Gwenael, she knew her pain would alarm him of the enemy's location.

    Shinsou! Felicity thought of her leader as she squeaked from a punch in the face, Stay back, don't grab his attention again! I got him!

    The torture continued, but she took it with as much dignity as she could muster. He may have had her beaten, but she was still strong. Arius would not have the pleasure of watching her crumple so easily. Even with tears in her eyes, even with rapid bruising spreading across her body, she smirked. Every time she bled, she had temporary relief. It was enough to spit at him and cause him to hit her harder, resisting the radiation poisoning that turned on and off. He learned to avoid making contact with the blood dripping from her leaps as her chest heaved in effort. The more she endured, the more he tried to wound her. Soon, enough, her magical affinity perked as he started flinging harmful magic as her body. Choking, Felicity clung to consciousness as she reminded herself that help would soon come. She repeated the name of her guardian in her mind until he came.

    Gwenael. Gwenael, Get over here!

    She refused to break, even if this was the worst pain she felt in her life - far worse than when her old teacher beat her for the slightest wrong step. She finally started to cry in pain as she felt magical energy strip her stamina from her muscular frame. No! Keep going, Felicity! Figh- Gwenael!
    Last edited by Flamebird; 05-15-2020 at 02:14 PM.
    "I can't be proud of anything. I am ashamed of everything."

    "I gave my heart, my allegiance, all my energy for this and got nothing but ashes in return. What on earth did I do to deserve being chewed and spit out like this? Time and time again, it's all the same."


    Felicity Playlist.

  5. #25
    Ride The Lightning

    EXP: 166,794, Level: 17
    Level completed: 83%, EXP required for next Level: 3,206
    Level completed: 83%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,206


    Storm Veritas's Avatar

    GP
    25,550

    Name
    Storm Veritas
    Age
    39
    Race
    Human
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    The world moved before him in a blur, as each footfall led to an increased degree of hostility. He was steeled by each step, more confident and committed to the notion of killing Arius. Shinsou and Felicity and the Thayne all had incredible power, but also introduced their own new vessel for the evil time mage to assume. The only way that Storm Veritas could guarantee the form would be isolated would be to face him alone; perhaps better still he rationed this wise as only his magics had near-infinite speed. In the absence of time manipulation, preposterous speed was what he figured to be their best bet.

    No distractions. No hesitations. No mercy. Keep it simple; you see him, you confirm it’s him, and flash fry him with every possible droplet of your power. He dies today; this ends today.

    The wizard moved with a motivated gait but without running; his mind fixed on scenarios that could transpire as small currents of dust rose and fell silently by him. The fresh air was a welcome replacement, his mind clearing of the muddled scents of death as he considered the iterations of what lie before him.

    All or nothing. If it means destroying the clocktower, all of Whitevale… hell, all of Corone… it’s got to happen. He’ll keep bouncing around countries and islands, killing thousands, taking new forms, overthrowing governments.

    There’s just no one else to stop him.


    Leaving the sun for the cold threshold of the clocktower, Storm’s footfalls once again reverberated in the small, stone building. The large church was a connected but fully standalone structure from the tower, a tall, narrow passage with thin cut windows lining the stairs that spiraled northward. The aging electromancer effortlessly strode up the stairs near the outer wall; a careless footfall would be such an anticlimactic end to this arc. A voice from above ushered down.

    “You’ve come for me alone, old man? Your form is disinteresting; there’s still time for you to turn around.”

    The taunts of the voice above confirmed that Arius was waiting. Storm stop to catch his breath, settling the anger that reflexively quickened his heartbeat. There were so many options here; the notion of pulling the tower down from below dawned on him. Still; he had to see Arius die, in whatever form he existed in. Simply assuming the most powerful entity he had ever encountered would not survive a cave-in felt a fool’s errand.

    Or maybe fly up, catch him by surprise?

    This notion rose two tendrils of doubt in the experienced adventurer. He had suspended his own disbelief into thinking that he was fast enough to hit Arius with lightning; as fast as lightning traveled, it was still decidedly not instantaneous, and therefore could be too slow for the monster awaiting him. Nevertheless, as “slow” as lightning was, his flight was little more than directionally surprising. No; Arius had wanted him here; the wizard would otherwise have either fled or attacked by now.

    As many insults filled his mind, Veritas bit his tongue and soldiered forward. The door before him at the top of the stairs shielded the gears of the working clock, as well as the wizard who had filled his life with so much dread. Arius was responsible for the fall of Tylermande; the attack on Shinsou. He had created insurrection in Whitevale, and killed Canen, stunning Felicity in the meanwhile. His time to die was overdue.

    Deep breaths. Be ready. Be charged.

    Storm reached forward, glancing down quickly at over eighty feet of vertical drop. He’d love to sling Arius’s carcass down this cavern, to see how long the final vessel’s bits would scatter. He turned the knob slowly, announcing his presence.

    “Kind of you to wait for an old man, sorry for the present I’ve…”

    There was no clocktower gear room. There were no large metal cogs, nor nefarious wizard. There was merely a single black oval, with a pink eye glowing behind it. The eye began to close as Storm gazed upon it, feeling his body pulled through the narrow aperture of the doorway and into the darkness.

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

    The lights came back without pain, a sun shining down upon his body as he rose from the dust. The soil was red, a clay like consistency, and the sun pushed down through clouds with frustration, unable to break free.

    No!

    Disbelief. His eyes shot about, noticing the scorched earth he slowly struggled to rise from. His body ached, not of injury but rather of something more like atrophy; a weakness he could not subscribe a specific point to. About him, black broken tree trunks scattered the surface of the bumpy area; large deciduous trees laying about in charred pieces. There were fragments of life existing in the soil; dark brown grasses that thrived and an odor of sulfur that dominated the area. He had been to this place before, and it was unmistakable. It was confirmation that all was lost.

    It was Raiaera.

  6. #26
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    Arius had ridden roughshod over the Brotherhood, but more than that he had embarrassed all of them. In a few short weeks, Mephisto's scheming and counterplotting had eroded them from being the one major obstacle in his path to little more than a dirt track beneath the wheels of his well oiled machinations. Each pained gasp from the Telgradian, each groan of pain from the young Felicity Rhylolite and each moment that passed without Storm Veritas was just another paving slab in the road to unopposed rule, and the warlock savoured it with every kick and every punch. Arius was so ahead of himself, so sure of his victory that he wasn't even relying on his magic to maim anymore; a final, unbearable insult.

    As the Telgradian looked up through blurred vision, past the crimson band of his own blood, he watched as the man he hated most cultivated a world of pain for his apprentice. A swiftly flowing stream of blows rained down before he finally reverted to magic again; a sign that he was ramping up the assault and getting serious. Felicity was dangerous when cornered, but even though she was smirking through the blows and absorbing as much punishment as her body could take, there were only flickers of her power and no sign of a full activation of her beserker magic.

    His heart sank at the realisation of his foolishness. She had been his closing gambit. Gweneal himself seemed to be reluctant to interfere, or otherwise unable. Clenching a fistful of dirt, he cursed to himself as he pilated to his knees, crushing the blood-soaked grains of sand within his grasp in anger. Shinsou had been terribly naive, putting such pressure on her, believing that her unrefined abilities would come out of nowhere to save them all. Storm's sudden disappearance now signalled the worst case scenario for the Telgradian. Now because of him both his best friend and his apprentice, the two people who looked to him and trusted him, had been failed by his poor judgment.

    It was too much.

    With a roar of anger, Shinsou slammed his knuckles into the ground and ground the dirt beneath into pits. A surge of adrenaline shot through his pained chassis and, drawing upon every last drop of energy available to him, the Telgradian righted himself.

    His head lifted to bring his eyes up to Arius, who had now paused his brutal assault on Felicity to gaze upon the broken man he had floored moments ago. As he stood, seething and as if lifted by the Thayne themselves, thoughts raced through his mind. All this time, Shinsou had been counting on everyone else to come up with a solution. Storm, with his mighty power. Felicity, with her unlimited potential. But what about Shinsou? What about all of the terrifying power at his disposal? Yes, Arius was almost beyond the pale, but had the Telgradian really ever used the extent of his abilities? The years of pain, of struggle, of suffering that he had endured to ascend to this point were telling, but he had never once let it all go in the name of anything. Not once; not against Felicity in the Citadel, not against Storm in Radasanth all that time ago. Why was he holding back, still, when he could still end this?

    …because you’re scared of becoming something like Arius, aren’t you? Some power mad, bitter old man with a huge chip on your shoulder. Scared you’ll be hated again here like on Telgradia. You fucking idiot. You’ll never be him. You’ll never be anything if you don’t stop him here. You owe it to Storm and Felicity, and everyone in the Brotherhood and beyond to annihilate this cunt once and for all. You owe it to yourself. Stop holding back.

    As the Telgradian reconciled with himself, he quickly rose his right hand parallel to his shoulder. It flirted with the air before violently tearing the powerful Enpera from its otherworldly sheath, a rift of dark matter conjured from a well of his shadow sorcery. Earthly scents of damp rock and cold electricity mingled in the air about Shinsou as the surroundings simply held their breath.

    “Break, Enpera!”

    The resulting snap resounded loudly enough to drive away the birds in the trees outside of Whitevale’s perimeter wall. A multihued shockwave of latent energy from the release of his sword’s seal sucked up an ever-shifting cloud of dust and stone and dumped it over an onlooking Arius Mephisto. Felicity used the window to roll out of the way, stunned at the sudden occurance. Immediately, the conjuror waved his hand to magically divert the debris, but as soon as the spell had punched a hole through the filth it only revealed the serious and determined visage of an onrushing Osiris. The Telgradian’s eyes glowed gold, Enpera’s blade overlaid with a pulsating kaleidoscope of purple and black.

    Arcane power surged from Arius’s hand to stop it.

    “Hakai: Enpera Asurendo!”

    Mephisto’s eyes widened as the incantation split his focus. The power in his hand was meant to stop an anticipated Enpera Kurohitsugi, but what came instead was something he had never seen. The wizard gritted his teeth as he watched his magic career harmlessly past Enpera’s blade, and shouted in surprise as Shinsou drove the tip of it into the floor beneath him. Almost instantly, a deluge of razor sharp rocks rose from the floor, two ripping through Arius’s right calf and shredding the muscle fibres to nothing. A taste of tangy Underwood lemon filled the air as the badly haemorrhaging conjuror desperately tried to activate one of his teleportation glyphs.

    Wha-?!

    Calmly, fearlessly, the Telgradian reacted. He parted the portal beginnings with the sheer force of his sword, cleaving the membrane in two before gripping Arius by the throat within the same spin and slamming his body into the floor with such force that Felicity felt the thud from where she had escaped to. His wits slowed by pain and concussion, it took even Mephisto some time to work out exactly what just transpired as a trickle of scarlet forked down his lip. It was time that the young Telgradian used well, slipping his sword into the folds of flesh between Arius’s shoulderblade to pin him to the floor.

    "How about that?" Shinsou, his lips soaked with his blood, glared daggers from golden eyes above him. "Looks like you bleed like any other man, Arius."

    “It's not enough, boy. It will NEVER be enough!” Mephisto's voice growled gutturally from the floor.

    “You’re right. Not enough. Not yet.” His response elicited a condescending snigger. Arius didn’t take him seriously, and it was not difficult to see why given the events of the last few months, but danger lay in delusion. "Not until I've crushed your corpse to dust!"

    With a final glance over to Felicity, and then back to his nemesis, Shinsou closed his eyes.

    “Hakai: Enpera Shinohaya.”

    Blearily, Arius looked up, staring into a void of dark ebony that shot out from Shinsou’s feet. Six silver rings of light shimmered with power before drenching the pair in irrefutable brightness, so much so that even Arius’s arcanely attuned eyes were momentarily stunned. However, just before the powerful spell could take form, Mephisto winced in pain and snapped his fingers. Dark, raven-like wings folded from his wounded back, smothering them both and pinning the Telgradian to the floor. The dark sorceror smiled evilly in this new form, baring a row of sharp canine teeth as he removed Enpera from his shoulder, then spoke.

    “Did you think you were the only one capable of sealing your power? Fool! I'll send you straight to hell!”

    Rough hands reached out, slashing at Shinsou’s eyes with a magical light to disorient him, before quickly and erratically weaving the air behind them into another teleportation glyph. This time, the rune dwarfed the pair of them and activated with such force that before the Telgradian could protest, the gravity from portal’s surface wrenched his arms behind his back. As his blinded eyes snapped back, Shinsou kicked as hard as he could at where he thought Arius’s injured leg was. The reality continued to part behind him, until at last he found himself kicking against the conjuror’s exposed bone. Roaring in pain, the raven-like Arius momentarily lost his balance, and Shinsou tried to roll him over into his own portal.

    It was too late, though. At a wordless command, Arius fully opened the gate and Whitevale watched as the swirling mass of leylines and blue whorls consumed both men entirely. As suddenly as it had begun, the wind died down to nothing, leaving only dust-blind eyes and cowering townsfolk in its wake. The bewildered Felicity Rhyolite sat there, unclaimed by the pull of the now closed portal that had wrought Shinsou and Aruis from the plane of Althanas. Her fearful and bewildered gaze around missed the shimmer that announced Gweneal’s arrival to her proximity.

  7. #27
    Administrator

    EXP: 10,042, Level: 4
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    Level completed: 21%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,958


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    Thread Title: The Redemption of Tylmerande
    Judgement Type: Basic Rewards


    Storm Veritas receives:

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    1800 EXP
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    1190 EXP
    100 GP

    Rewards to be added momentarily.

  8. #28
    Administrator

    EXP: 10,042, Level: 4
    Level completed: 21%, EXP required for next Level: 3,958
    Level completed: 21%,
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    Rewards Added

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