Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lutetia City: Valentine Park

"Thanks," Luca gave Crista a faint smile as she handed him the salve, tentatively pulling off his shirt in order to apply the sealing ointment.

Across the room, Inarin stayed focused on helping Madison however he could with seeing to Izaic's injuries. It seemed that the older proselyte had not suffered too brutal a wound, but a number of his ribs were cracked and a furious bruise had formed just above his solar plexus, where the blade had struck and been halted by the mithral. Although he was no doubt in extreme pain, the injuries weren't life threatening, and there wasn't much that could be done for them out in the field.


A short distance away from the fighting, 'Noah' emerged from behind the remnants of one of the stands, trailing the pale and shrivelled looking corpse of a middle-aged man by one arm. The doppelganger's injuries had healed, and his mouth was wet with sanguine from where he'd drained his victim's life essence to kickstart his regeneration. Letting the man fall limply into the dirt, Jamie was still taking in the ongoing battle when one of the spawn scrambled over to him. "To master!" she hissed. "To master now!"

"kay," the young vampire responded, rolling his shoulders experimentally. Yeah, he was back in condition to fight.

Tearing the tattered remnants of his white cloak off, Jamie broke into a run towards where Nox was engaged, crossing the distance swiftly to close in on the combatants.


Aurelion gave a frustrated growl as his weapon was deflected, pulling back for another strike only to see Leandre being shoved towards him by the force of the dread knight's strike. He lowered his blade, using his free hand to catch and steady the elder paladin, and so was kept at bay until Duval had time to ignite her hellish smokescreen. Swearing, Aurelion pushed forwards through the smoke, only in time to see Savien thrown halfway across the grounds by the impact of a blazing spawn. "Savien!" he cried out, eyes widening at the speed at which both paladin and monster tumbled over the dirt.

His eyes went back one more time to the retreating Duval, cursing at the distance she had already put between them. "Leandre!" he called, looking back at the elder paladin. "Help sir Durandet. I'll pursue Duval. We can't let her loose on the park."

And with that, he started in a sprint after the vampire, moving towards where Nox tangled with more of his fellow knights.


As Nox's aura washed over them, Peregrine and Estelle were rooted to the spot, the former driven back a step by its sheer intensity. Perrin felt his gut lurch, a jarring blend of fear and unnatural rage churning together within him and shaking his spirit to the core. The young paladin staggered, his guns lowering as his strength wavered and his willpower warred against his instincts.

At his side, the more experienced monastic Master held firm, though her face was twisted in a grimace of gritted teeth. With a snarl, Estelle lunged forwards and made a two handed swing with her blade for the monster's leg, aiming to sever it at the knee - or if not sever it, cause it enough harm to force him to drop.


When the monster's aura washed over Noah, it struck against the animancer's own - a tide of blackness breaking against a speck of light in the dark storm that was the battlefield to his awakened eyes. As though in reaction to the unholy pressure, he felt Deliverance's warmth feed into his own, reinforcing his aura with a strength that was not wholly his. The world seemed to slow down at the monster's roar, as a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Aurore's presence felt more solid now than it ever had before.

You carry my blade now, Noah. The blade in which I invested everything of myself, and swore to carry to my grave.

No longer do we fight side by side, my friend. Today we fight as one.

A burst of animantic power drove Noah forwards, the inner fire burning in his soul fuelling his body to push it beyond its injuries, beyond its human limitations. To those around him, it would appear that some of the light of Deliverance had spilled to wreathe the animancer in his own soft glow - but in truth, his anima was so focused that it had begun to shimmer through even into the vision of those without the gift of soulsight. Like a blur he wove around the Caer, and Deliverance arced, its radiant aura leaving an afterimage of brilliance in the air as he sought to intercept the monster's claw and sever it before it could strike.
 
Crista nodded and watched as he applied the salve.

"Just take it easy. The cleric will be over to treat you in a minute okay?"

Madison applied the salve to Iziac's wound, trying her best to make it cover as much as she could. Already she was running low on supplies. Once she did that she wrapped the wounds tightly in bandages to make sure that if any of them opened up again that there would be some pressure applied to stop the bleeding. She looked up at Inarin and saw his face was still pale with shock.

"He will be okay if he stays here and rests. I can see that you are a bit bruised there. After I take care of your other friend I will take a look to see if I can ease the pain, but I could really use a helping hand with these patients if you're willing."
 
Shit

Lucian didn't anticipate the demon being able to stop Cayra's attack. He didn't even think he would be able to hurt her as he did, and felt shards of her soul burn with his own. For a moment the knight stumbled but regained his footing as he charged toward the beast.

Tear him to pieces! Quickly, before he can do anything else!

Even through her pain, the holy blades that managed to dig deep into the demon's body attempted to spin around him and sever his spine.


More swiftly than before, the frost dissolved into Glutton's body as he leaped at Sampson with an attempt to dig his teeth into him. It hardly did anything to slow him down, though it seemed the more abuse the summon's body took, he became somewhat smaller.

Aderyn held the knife close to her body, trying to numb herself to the pain and fear that she felt. She had few tricks up her sleeve, but that wouldn't help in the long run. She wasn't strong enough, and Arianne was gone.

What do I do? What do I do?
 
"Ser Durandet!"

Before even waiting to catch his breath, the paladin scrambled after Savien to assist him. Grass and sod uprooted from under his feet in his dazed attempt to run, though before long he reached his fallen comrade. The spawn still flailed and tried to claw at the paladin further, but was interrupted by an Ivaran steel sabaton to the temple. A belligerent and drunken assault from gauntlets and a broken shield rendered the small ghoul's head and torso into a reddish paste, also staining the kneeling Fortress with its viscera. The blood loss and tissue damage was starting to kick in, he was quickly growing faint and adrenaline was all that kept Leandre from collapsing.

He struggled to grab Durandet and drag him from the tent, occasionally stopping to shout down at him, cry out for assistance, or try to wake the paladin.



The dread knight's furious charge only stopped once on the way to her Patriarch. A couple with two children were fleeing the scene, a little boy holding the father's hand and a baby cradled in the mother's arms. Elisabeth's eyes narrowed, and she diverted towards them. First in reach was the father, the caer's blade drove through the man's lower back, impaling him upon Duval's blade. He tried to shout, but was unable to speak in time. The mother and son screamed as the former paladin ripped her blade upwards and split the man in two and basked in the blood and ashes. With newfound and frenzied vigor the dread knight stamped her foot into the ground and sent a serpentine trail of fire along the ground. Tortured screams from the blazing mother and infant only further fed her animalistic hunger.

Whether by accident or intentional, the son was left alive, too shaken to cry or shout, instead left behind drenched in blood and mildly burned. Today was not a fever dream, it was all too real.

Without so much as a word, Duval continued to charge to Nox's side. She now approached even faster, and the sight of her lord in peril drove her to move faster still. Her armor began to flicker to life with rage, what was once embers now replaced with outright flames.
 
Robert had no time to revel in the success of his strike. He felt the full weight of the Caer's fear aura washing over him as the monster directed his attention away from Duval and Perrin. The paladin shuddered, teeth gritting as he struggled to maintain his composure. Though trained to resist mental influences, Robert was still a relatively fresh paladin.

His blade schlcked from Nox's body as he tried to bring his weapon around to defend himself, but it was too slow. Hopefully Noah's counter attack would save his life.

---

But Leandre would not stumble upon an unconscious Savien. Even as he approached he would find the paladin still very much awake, fighting unarmed from the ground. He lashed out with his good hand into the monster's maw, metalclad fist shattering through rows of its teeth with each strike. With its attention focused on Savien, the Fortress would finish the spawn with ease. No sooner had he pulped its head than did Savien attempt to rise.

His armor was dented and scuffed, and he was covered in the black ichor of the beast. His left arm hung useless at his side. The bandages around his face had come undone, reveal a viscous, angry scar lining down his eye. Blood leaked from the torn stitches in his wound and dripped down his jaw. He pitched over as he stood and vomited once into the grass. A shudder ran through him, a deep quake that epicentered in his spine and shot agony out to his limbs, to every finger, every nerve. Savien choked on the pain, trembling as he fought the urge to lie down, to curl up into a tiny ball and shut it all away.

The screams of a woman in the distance, the bleating of an infant. Savien looked up. The distant fires reflected in his eye and his lips tightened into a thin, bloodless line. He rose to his full height and looked his brother in the eye.

"Let's move."
 
Last edited:
The way Nox stood now, he seemed a tower of crumbling obsidian flesh, oozing blood as dark and thick as pitch in torrents and waterfalls. Yet...nothing seemed to make him falter. Deep down in his core, the Caeruleum Patriarch knew that under normal circumstances, his body would've given out, rendering him helpless before the amassed foes. But the circulating typhoon of fear kept his feet held firm. The over-full, distended stomach stuffed to the brim with the bodies of hapless mortals made sure his regeneration did not cease. The whirlwind vacuum of slain souls being rend from their torn, shattered bodies and flung by unseen, fel forces into his maw renewed his strength, and more. And more. Andmore. ANDMOOOOOOOOORE.

A sick, sadistic light shone behind his eyes as Noah's celestial blade broke through his right wrist, splattering the animancer with black as night gore, his attack against Robert stopped in its tracks, talon adorned limb spiraling through the air like a dead leaf caught in an updraft.

A cruel, barbaric fountain of blood gurgled laughter erupted form his muzzle as the spirit's half broken form dug deeper and deeper into his corrupted form, slicing through bone and muscle.

Both burned so badly Nox wanted nothing more than to savor the pain. It had been so LONG since he'd been HURT like THIS!

His other hand would catch Estelle's swing, almost casually. The steel of the blade would buckle and bend in against the might of his grip before being wrenched away and tossed clear. Then the Caer would lunge into her charge, jaws slamming down on the Monastic Master's shoulder like a serrated bear trap.

--- --- ---

From her approaching vantage, Elisabeth Duval would seem a knight from her history books stalking towards her unwitting master. He wore a suit that shone like a copper sun, holding a two handed, rectangular blade that glimmered with the same light that Noah's did. The giant of a mortal was closer to her liege than she was. For such heavy armor and, possibly unknownst to her, his age, the soldier of the Wick was quick. Startlingly so. He might even reach Nox before she did...
 
Inarin nodded to Sister Madison. "I'm fine," he said hurriedly, "see to the civilians first." He paused, remembering himself and looking briefly embarrassed. "Ah, that is, if you think that's best, Sister. But honestly, I'm fine."

Physically, at least.

'HELP! SOMEBODY!'

The proselyte clenched his fists, trying to stop Val's screaming from playing in his head, to no avail. His eyes lingered on Izaic for a few moments longer, before he pushed himself back to his feet. "I'm going back," he said, not to anyone in particular. "I need to- There are still people out there that need help."


Aurelion cried out in helpless anger as Duval tore through the fleeing family, the gut-wrenching feeling of failure sinking into the pit of his stomach. People were dying on their watch, to one of their fallen sisters. They hadn't been prepared, not even close to it. And now they were paying for their hubris.

The dread knight's slaughter had slowed her flight, if only for a few moments, but it was enough for Aurelion to gain ground. He drew his lawkeeper once more and took aim at her retreating back, locking in an explosive round.

THOOM.

The shot was well aimed, set to strike Duval in the back and detonate with devastating force were she unable to avoid it. If nothing else, hopefully it would buy him time to reach her.


"Using a spirit to fight for you? Lame."

As Lucian charged towards Nox, he would find himself intercepted as another figure charged him from the side at incredible speed, delivering a kick towards his torso aimed to send him sprawling. Jamie - still wearing Noah's face - flashed a grin at the knight as he joined the fray, holding his salvaged paladin blade at the ready. They were close to Nox now, and the vampire kept a half-eye on the other combatants in case any of them diverted their attention from his master onto him, but he was confident that he was a lower priority target. That was good. He enjoyed being underestimated, every now and then.


Nox's grip on her blade wrenched the weapon from Estelle's grasp with ease, causing her to stumble back a step as her stance was thrown off balance. She didn't have time to recover before the monster's jaws came down on her, digging deep into her upper arm and her shoulder like knives into butter. She shrieked with pain as the monster's impossibly wide jaws closed, taking her arm in its entirety from her body along with a chunk of her torso. Blood splattered from the bite wound in a gruesome tide, and she collapsed almost immediately as the shock tore through her system.

Perrin's eyes widened with horror and he let out a shocked and strangled cry upon witnessing the Master fall. He took a step back, lifting his guns and opening fire with a barely controlled spray of consecrated bullets, emptying both clips into the towering monstrosity's head and upper body at almost point blank range as he retreated backwards, his heart racing with terror.

In the meantime, Noah didn't halt in the moment's following his slash taking Nox's arm from his body. The animancer continued to move around the Caer with a singular focus, his steps now taking him to behind the demonic vampire. He brought Deliverance down in a horizontal swing for Nox's leg, hoping to remove it as cleanly as he had removed his arm.


A short distance away, Glutton was able to land a glancing bite on Samson as the winter wolf was a split second too slow in leaping clear of the demon's pounce. He gave a whine of pain in response, black blood leaking from the injury, but showed no intent to give ground.

It was at that moment, though, that a cluster of spawn scrambled into the conflict, a few of them throwing themselves mindlessly at Glutton whilst another scurried to Nathan's side. "Quick to master, go quick boy-child!"

The young vampire looked up from where he was still clutching at the wound in his shoulder, frozen tears forming a thin layer of frost on his cheeks. "What?" he managed to push out through gritted teeth, followed by a pained hiss.

"To master, go! He calls, summons, commands!"

It was probably too much to hope that they were leaving, Nathan thought, but he pushed himself to his feet all the same. With Glutton hopefully occupied by the spawn for the moment, he whistled for Samson once more. "Samson, I need a ride," he instructed.

The luminescent white wolf barked in response, his eyes flashing, and in the next instant his form began to grow. Swirls of snow and ice masked his body as it bulged and cracked, bones expanding and realigning as the corrupted hound grew to the size of a pony in a few short seconds. Lowering himself down onto his haunches, Samson waited as Nathan clambered onto his back, cradling his still-limp arm - before starting to bound away towards Nox.
 
Crista stood, turning her attention to proselyte. He seemed determined to return to the battle field outside and Crista could tell there was no changing his mind.

"You're not going out there alone. If you're going out there then you will stay with me, and if I tell you to run you will run. Do you understand? We are losing a lot of men out there and every life we can spare counts."

Madison watched as the two of them prepared to leave and moved from Inarin over to Luka.

"How is that salve working for you?"

She spoke while examining his wounds.
 
Leandre glanced over Savien's battered form and cursed to himself. His colleague looked more like a dog's toy than an actual person, that could fall apart at any minute. The paladin straightened his posture, at least as much as he could without coughing and sputtering up blood.

"Is that, is that Ser Hayes?"


CLANG. FWOOSH!

Elisabeth could see her glorious uncle, being rent asunder by these miserable apes, but reborn! He was ascending to something greater, before her very eyes!

Without being able to think much more, the explosive round from Aurelion embedded itself deep in her back, and exploded. A blast of flame echoed around Duval, much greater than what a Lawkeeper's explosive round was capable of. Streaks of burning ichor shot through the air in every direction, not entirely unlike napalm. A frenzied shriek of pain and rage could be heard behind the conflagration, with a gurgle at the end of it.

As the smoke cleared, the back of the dread knight's armor sported a spiderweb of cracks where Aurelion's shot landed, and they were seeping the same tar-like blood and igniting as it oozed to the burning portions of her plate. Before Kurtrin, Aurelion and even Nox's eyes, the splits in her body and plate stitched themselves together. A scar remained where the break once was, but otherwise it seemed like she had recovered.

As if to prove this, the knight charged another ten meters towards Nox, then turned on her heel to engage those behind her once more, if they so dared challenge her.
 
"By the Light! Noah!" Robert exclaimed as the Warden saved him from what could have been a grievous injury. Any doubts Robert harbored over the identity of Noah's blade vanished as he felt the warming aura emanating from the steel. Sacred Steel. Noah's sword was blessed by the Pleur, irradiated in an energy field which defied every other power besides itself - Wynter included. But for Noah to wield it... that would mean that he had been-

There was no time to think about it. Before he knew it, Nox had counter attacked, and Master Dufort was missing an arm.

"NO!" he roared, intent on charging Nox ... before a larger threat caught his eye - a flame-wreathed knight bounding across the grass towards them.

"Perrin! Stop the bleeding!" If they could lather the wound in salve, she wouldn't bleed out - otherwise, the master would be dead in minutes. He only hoped Noah could hold Nox off for long enough to give Perrin a chance.

Turning from them both, Robert charged Duval as she bounded toward Nox, hydrolic pistons in his power armor pumping the giant metal legs across the grass with surprising speed.

"YAH!" he swung his greatsword down on her head.

---

"It is," Savien nodded, "the Golden shines again."

He looked to his left and right before removing a spiked metal tent pole out of the ground. The paladin trained it ahead of him and began moving towards the ongoing battle. "Come on. Let's go and die."
 
Last edited:
Roughly half of Perrin's volley would find their mark, spattering Nox's legs and chest and arms with bullet holes, tearing through him as if he were paper. One shot would find the Caer Lord's left eye, exploding out the back of his skull in a visceral spray of bone of ichor, causing the vampire to release the rent limb from his maw before he could consume it. Oh how he would howl in protest as half of the world fell away from his view, replaced with blinding pain and horrible joy. Already his wounds, each and every one, was beginning to stitch themselves closed, destroyed and sundered flesh filling itself in with billowing grey mist. The destroyed optic seemed a veritable sphere of cold, dead fire that seemed to focus solely on the one that had rendered it momentarily useless, peering deep into the gunslinging Paladin's soul.

However, just as he began to advance on his new prey, his control was torn away from him as It took control. So narrow minded and singular was his intent that he had not noticed Noah's incoming blade.

But It had.

With bone-snapping speed, Nox spun on his heels, his lower form becoming smoke and vapor as the blade passed through it. Despite being half incorporeal, the blessed sword still cut true, almost toppling the monster's form, but mitigating enough damage that he was hardly swayed from his course. His remaining hand closed in towards the animancer's head, claws as large as shortswords cutting through the air with the force of a freight train and the speed to match. If he did not escape or deflect such an attack, it would mean certain death for the young warrior.

Kurtrin, with his own divine blade, was not close enough to intercept. He had made his decision to pursue and engage Nox, and Nox alone, turning a blind eye to his Brother's struggles with the flaming dreadknight, continuing to close in on the true threat with Judicator in hand.
 
"I need to check on my friends," Inarin said. "If you'll help me find them I'll go with you, but otherwise I'm going to look for them anyway. Val ... his brother... and Jimmy..." He could see Val in his mind's eye, refusing to leave his brother's side and being set upon by the monsters in his grief. And Jimmy... there was a chance he was still alive. If he could save either of them, then he had to try. Even if it was a futile hope. He had to know that he'd tried.

Without waiting for confirmation one way or another from Crista, the proselyte started for the door, and headed back out towards the chaos.


Grimacing at his foe's regeneration, Aurelion did not relent. Before Robert had turned, the paladin loosed a second explosive round for the dreadknight. Even if it would not slay her, the more he could tax her healing, the closer to being put down she was. Even the most potent regenerator had their limits, could be overwhelmed. The Golden had proved that during the skirmishes. And for al her fel power, this fallen knight was no Avacyn. With any luck, the explosive shot would leave Duval reeling for long enough that Robert's swing would strike true.


With Nox's attention turned away, Perrin looked to the master as Robert had instructed. He went to her side, but when he drew close enough to see the full extent of her injury, it became clear that even salve wasn't going to be enough to save her. Not just her arm was missing. A chunk of her torso was just gone, her side rent open to leave shattered ribs exposed from the side, her lungs torn. A puddle of blood already coated the ground underneath her.

Dufort was dead.

Perrin tried to push down the horror, turning away with a bitter grimace, but all the training in the world hadn't hardened him enough for this. He'd been a paladin for less than half a year, faced monsters and villains alike, but this was something else entirely. His spirit wavered on the verge of breaking, his body shaking. He took a step away from the master's body, knuckles white on his pistols. Shock and fear left him paralysed, not even moving to reload his weapons as the battle continued to rage around him.


Aurore's instincts and his anima-enhanced speed were all that saved Noah's life. As the claw swept through the air towards him, he leaned back sharply, the blade-like appendages raking shallowly across the side of his face and missing his eye by inches. Pain flashed through the warden's mind, but he didn't stop. He rebounded from his dodge to bring his sword across in an upwards slash across Nox's torso, then pushed back, creating breathing space between the two of them in a quick leap to give him a moment to assess his next move. He ignored the blood running down the side of his face, as well as the pain in his midsection where his motions had torn some of his stitches. To falter now, to let his body react as it pleaded to, would mean death. He had to rely on his anima to keep him in the fight beyond his physical limits, even if he paid for it later.


As more foes closed in on Nox, they would find themselves intercepted, as the white-furred form of a great wolf bounded into Savien and Leandre's path, blocking them off from their approach. Upon the beast's back was perched a figure likely familiar to Savien from both security footage and case files.

Nathan looked down at the two paladins with bitterly cold eyes. Frozen blood clung to his upper body where Mia's weapon had struck him, but the wound itself was gone. There was an eerie hollowness to the child's stare, and the air around them seemed to grow colder by his very presence.

He made no immediate moves of aggression, but his icy glare seemed to be daring them to take another step forwards - or perhaps warning them against it.
 
Last edited:
Crista saw Inarin head out before she could even consider her answer.

"God damn it."

She stepped around the people in the room, following Inarin out into the chaos. Things were worse than she had left them just a few moments ago if that was even possible.
 
"Savien!" Leandre barked at his compatriot, "Wait!"

He hesitated in his own charge, eyeing Hart and the wolf it stood upon. Of course he had recognized who it was supposed to be, but at this point he paid little mind to it, as clearly the Caer's influence was already so far-reaching. He stood tall once more, bearing a shattered aegis in one hand, and a bloodied sword in the other. Despite his injuries, the resplendent guardian assumed a defensive stance, and pointed Vanguard at Nathan.

"I will give you but one chance to step aside!"


KLANG!

Aurelion's shot struck a glancing blow at the dread knight's shoulder, which managed to knock her off balance just long enough for Robert's attack to connect. His blade did not hit her head, instead gouging diagonally along her torso from shoulder to hip. For a brief moment Elisabeth seemed to scowl directly into Arodring's eyes, even through the suit, as her ichorous blood sprayed onto the power armor and stuck to it. Her free hand reached to punch, no, gouge at the armor's shoulder, as if attempting to rip it off with demonic strength and razor-sharp claws.

"BURN!"

Her claws scored the metal on his torso as she moved to counterattack, drawing sparks to ignite the Caeruleum blood that now drenched Robert's armor. Within an instant it burst into sickly flames, and the air reeked of petroleum and noxious fumes as the napalm-like liquid caught ablaze. Her own blade became engulfed in the sanguine inferno as well, as she prepared her next swing.
 
Savien squared against the wolf, pike centered for the beast's chest. His ribs were fractured, his face torn, he had no feeling in his left arm... and yet the knight balanced his weapon with the poise of a seasoned warrior, body tensed to strike, to kill.

His guard lowered a bare inch as he noted who was mounted on the wolf.

"Nathan," he spoke the boy's name, his angry grimace fading into disbelief. Duval had been a heartbreaking betrayal, but she had been a paladin - stripped of any pretense of innocence long before she broke her oath. But Nathan? Nathan was a boy. More child than man. He had had friends, family, passions... How had he been seduced by the whispers of Wynter?

"What..." Savien struggled between rage and pity, "what did he threaten to take from you?"

He watched Nathan's eyes track him as he moved, the blue orbs quick and watchful, no longer unseeing...

The paladin's jaw tightened, his good eye narrowing.

"What," his voice was low, "did he promise to give you?"

---

Duval wrenched off a chunk of metal from Robert's shoulder, exposing a small bit of the insulated wiring and nanofoam beneath. Her talons raked over Robert's titanium plate, scoring the metal and painting the armor in her blood. A moment later, the ichor burst into scathing flames, covering his breastplate in fire.

But Robert was in power armor. The metal in his pauldron alone was several inches thick. The cooling mechanisms and nomex underlying his plate would keep him well defended against Duval's hellfire - a fact she doubtless knew well, as a former paladin.

CLANG! His broadsword met Duval's backswing. He growled back at her, his expression far less hateful, though no less determined. With his free hand, the knight swung for her exposed face, his augmented strength packed with enough force to rip a mortal man's head off his neck.

"I must decline, demoiselle," he grunted in reply to her angry roar, "you, however-" His knee came up, attempting to slam the reenforced joint into her abdomen with the force of a battering ram, "- are MORE than welcome to take your own advice!"

Aurelion wasn't far off. If he could hold her here, the paladins would have the advantage. That was, of course, assuming that Noah and Perrin were holding their own against Nox. Locked in combat, Robert was unable to turn and see how they fared.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The holy blade ripped through his chest cavity, severing tendons and ribs and long-dead organs as it sliced. To not only dodge his talon's considerable reach but to find a way to both counter attack and create distance...Nox was surprised. Impressed, even. And in such a state as Noah was to boot.

The Caer would give pause, pale forked tongue lolling from the side of his maw. "You intrigue me young warrior. If only you fought for the side of justice" Nox would laugh, openly mocking the Warden and his ilk. "Where was the fighting spirit the night before?" The undead taunted, challenging the youthful animancer before throwing the full weight of his ghastly aura at him foe.

A fient, as the Caer lunged towards Perrin, jaws distended and slavering sanguine drool.

~~~~~~~

Izaic opened his eyes in time to see Inarin start out the door. Groaning, the world swimming around his field of vision, he'd struggle to rise to his own feet...to follow after the Nuvellon...

~~~~~~

The Golden never faltered from his path, his purposeful stride carrying him closer and closer to death. He'd come to terms with what today would bring the moment he had sensed them.

The Caer.

The demons from his nightmares. The horrors from an era more than half a century past. Each scream that accosted Kurtrin seemed more a memory that a fresh plee for salvation. In his mind, he was young again. Virile. Powerful. Each death spurred his stride. Each gout of blood fueled his wrath. The grip on his rectangular blade was firm, hardened.

Once Master Dufort had fallen, his lope had evolved into a full on sprint. Old legs found new strength, enough to carry and hurl the ancient paladin across the fields of carnage and through the air, blade poised to remove the winter Spain's head from it's foul shoulders.

But would he reach Nox in time to save his monastic brother?
 
Hearing Nox speak, his mocking voice as he addressed Noah, was what snapped Perrin out of his paralysis. He couldn't let the other young warrior stand on his own against this monster. He holstered his guns in a quick movement, and drew his sword hastily from its sheathe, ready to strike at Nox's exposed flank- but then the monster moved. The Caer lunged for Noah, who jumped aside deftly to avoid what had seemed like a fully committed strike, but then with a suddenness that seemed to defy the laws of momentum, Nox turned. His lunge reversed, and the cavernous maw descended towards Perrin.

With little time to do anything else in response, the paladin gave a yell of defiance, thrusting his blade forwards straight towards the incoming Caer with the intent of driving it up through his mouth and into the beast's skull.

Perrin's counter struck true, piercing through the roof of the Caer's mouth at an angle and driving itself out near the base of the skull. Nox's eyes would go wide with shock, and then wider with pain. Real pain. He'd gargle on his own ichor, spraying the paladin's front with viscous black ooze.

Grimacing at the grisly display, the paladin wrenched his blade back and used Nox's shocked faltering to retreat back a few steps, clear of the monster's reach, wiping his face of the blood with his free hand as he did. So you do feel pain, do you, monster? Good to know.

Noah did not remain idle either. As soon as he realised that the attack had been a feint, he pushed himself back into the fray in an attempt to intervene - to help Nox's true target. Even with his anima-given reflexes he was unable to stop the initial strike, but moments later he was once more swinging his blade for the monster's leg, much as he had before. Even if a severed leg would doubtless regenerate quickly, its removal could unbalance the Caer for long enough to land a more decisive strike to his head.


His own lawkeeper now holstered, Aurelion charged Duval's exposed back with his longsword clasped in both hands. He swung the blade in an arc for the dread knight's neck, seeking to take her head from her shoulders in a single swing mere moments after Robert's attempted strikes. His face was twisted in a snarl, but his eyes were hardened with discipline, as he refused to allow his rage to consume him.


Nathan stared down at Savien and Leandre, their words eliciting no visible reaction on his face. He met Savien's gaze with unblinking, emotionless eyes. "Everything," he answered simply, his voice as cold as his stare. "And everything. Not that it mattered what he said. It wasn't as though I had a real choice, either way."

He held one of his hands up before his face, gazing at his alabaster skin as if contemplating it anew. "The part of me that weeps for the dying is getting quieter... it's only a matter of time before it, too, dies."

When the boy turned back to face the paladins, his face had cracked with the barest of sorrowful smiles. "If either of you survive this, please tell my family and Claire that I'm dead. It's close enough to the truth. My heart will soon join the list of things it's taken from me, and then the me that they knew and cared for will be truly gone. Maybe he already has, and I'm just still catching up."

The smile faded, replaced once more by an emotionless stare. "Nonetheless, I cannot let you pass. Step forwards, and you will die. You are both injured. Engaging me in battle would be foolish. You would die before you reached me."

As if to demonstrate his point, a wave of cold poured out from the boy's form, visibly freezing the moisture in the air as it moved. The grass around him and the great wolf turned to ice in an instant. The wave of cold stopped mere feet away from the paladins, but even still, whispers of frost brushed at their armour in warning.


The path back towards the chaos was littered with the bodies of those who had been unlucky enough to be caught by the roving spawn as they fled from the scene of the explosions and the ongoing fighting. The scent of blood and death filled the air, mingling noxiously with the smoke of the fires that still raged around the bomb sites. It was all Inarin could do to stop himself from shaking as he hurried through the park towards the cloud of smoke that continued to billow from the tournament grounds. His knuckles were white around his sword, held up in readiness to face any threats that came between him and his goal.

A quiet hiss was the only warning he got. Like a cat pouncing on a mouse, a lone spawn - having lingered when its pack of sisters moved on to feast on a fallen man - leaped from behind an overturned food stall. Inarin gave a yelp of surprise, but his training kicked in before he had a chance to panic. He swung the longsword in an arc, and the blade sliced straight through the wretched creature's neck. Its body slumped limply to the ground at his feet, whilst its head rolled past him to come to rest in the grass.

His heartbeat raced out of control, and he took a step back with a slightly choked gasp. But the danger was past. For the moment.

Steeling himself, he kept pushing on. The sound of fighting began to grow audible once more up ahead.


Pain was the first thing that would register with Jimmy's senses when consciousness returned to him. His body had been twisted and broken by Nox's charge, but as sensation gradually began to return to him, he would feel his bones snapping back into place and his wounds closing together in a decidedly unpleasant and unnatural fashion. There was nothing soothing or gentle about the healing he was undergoing - it wasn't even the natural, almost imperceptible regeneration of a vampire. It was as though some external force was gripping his body and forcing it to heal, tugging and pulling on his injuries until they were stitched back together.

For all its unpleasantness, it was effective. Within a short minute, his broken body was returned to - if not perfect health - health enough that his natural regeneration could bring him the rest of the way. As the pain ebbed away, he would become aware of a hand pressed lightly to his chest - wet with a warm liquid. But if he opened his eyes, he would be greeted by only darkness.

A person's weight slumped onto him in the next instant, and he would hear an exhausted sigh.

"Jimmy..?" The slumped figure spoke, and the familiar voice would identify him as Arien. He sounded faint, drained and exhausted. "Tell me that worked, c'mon..."

Within the smoky black shroud that still lingered at the edge of the battlefield, it seemed Arien had not been idle.
 
Last edited:
Madison looked up when she heard Izaic get up. her eyes widened as she watched him got for the door and she scrambled to her feet.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Madison stepped in from of him, blocking his exit.

"You can't go out there like that! You're too damaged."

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

Crista was following Inarin from behind, keeping an eye out for threats up ahead. She had heard the hiss from the spawn and was going to intercept it, but it moved faster than she anticipated. It lept at Inarin to attack but just as quickly the young proselyte decapitated the creature and they pressed forward. She stayed closer to him now in order to buffer any further attacks that came their way.

Crista was firmly grasping the hilt of her wolf's head sword and beneath her gauntlets her knuckles were white. She knew she had her fight back against these spawn attacking the city but her mind kept doubling back to thoughts about Luca. Was he okay? Had that part of town been attacked too? Her heart was pounding with anxiety beneath her breast plate as they approached the din of battle.
 
Leandre had nothing to say to Nathan, instead he stepped closer to Savien to get his attention. "This will sound ridiculous," he prefaced, before gesturing first to the icy mage, then to the fiery knight past him. "Do you think we can make it there? Between them?" His voice was low, "It just might weaken them both, perhaps? If we split up and move around him, we'd have a better shot at dividing his attention," He moved back to his position, ready to move if Durandet was willing to follow his hare-brained plan.


The Dread Knight turned to see the threat behind her, when the trio of strikes rang true. Her off-hand only slightly softened the blows that sought to decapitate her, leaving both that arm and Duval's head barely attached to her body. A pained howl rang from her lips, and the violent motions splattered both Robert and Aurelion with more of the foul oily ichor, yet these droplets were already alight from contact with that which was already aflame.

Elisabeth had been struck down, and now clutched her injured arm in a pool of her own ignited blood. The Caer's face had softened into surprise, and grief. For a few seconds they saw not the Caeruleum Knight, but instead a lone paladin, sent to die by those she once dedicated her life to. Duval herself could only see the burning building collapsing over her. All those years ago, these Selenite dogs had turned their backs on her, and now they dared brand her as a monster now! Grief was replaced with anger. Anger, with hate. Hate!

Warmth began to emanate from the Caer again. The fires surrounding her broken body reignited with renewed energy, and began to spread. First a yard around her, then two, then five! The ground was enveloping itself in a hellish inferno, and sought to consume anything flammable within! Extreme heat cauterized the Knight's wounds, stopping the bleeding for now, while her regeneration worked tirelessly to rebuild her.

Duval began to stand once more, still shaky as her bones slowly realigned and flesh bubbled to replace itself. Her paladin training was evident, if purely due to the creature's indomitable spirit.
 
Failed. Failed to save your father. Failed to protect anyone. Failed to save Al or Val. Failed.

Jimmy had tried his best to get back up after being trampled by Nox, but his body refused to move at all. As Val screamed for help, he felt his heart breaking for him, knowing that something bad had happened to Al. When his vision went black and he knew this was the end. He hadn’t made a bit of difference despite how hard he tried to protect the twins, but at least the disappointment would be over. I’m sorry…

The next thing the Proselyte felt was a vast amount of agony shooting through his body. At first, he feared that in death, he was just reliving what Nox had done to him repeatedly, but he still felt the ground beneath him and nothing stomping him into oblivion, so that wasn’t what was happening. Groaning, Jimmy tried to stop the pain, but it continued as bones that he didn’t even know he had returned to their proper place. It was something he had never felt before and never wanted to feel again, if he even made it past whatever was happening. Jaw clenched tightly before he felt himself relaxing, the unpleasantness suddenly over.

What…? Jimmy could feel something damp against his chest, in the shape of a hand, but he couldn’t figure out who it belonged to or what exactly what happening. He slid open his eyes and stared at absolutely nothing. Why was it so dark? Was he still dead and somehow his mind was playing tricks on him. However, the moment he heard Arien’s voice, he was fairly sure he was somehow alive.

“How…? Arien…?” Jimmy groaned, coughing a little as he ran his fingers shakily through where he was assuming Arien’s hair was located. He still couldn’t see and that bothered him, but he was just happy to be alive. Until he remembered Al.

“Arien, what about Al and Val…? Are they okay?” He questioned, sitting up carefully to keep from knocking over Arien.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top