SOUL FORGE (CLOSED)
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The Lioness sauntered over to the door and lifted a paw, pushing against it. With a creak, it opened revealing another room altogether. An empty round room with stone floors, walls and a stone ceiling, roughly 10 meters in diameter. The same runes covered every inch available, cutting through the dimness with an eerie blue glow. There were no apparent exits to the room.
"Enter and find the center," the Lioness said with a flick her tail.
"Enter and find the center," the Lioness said with a flick her tail.
Glow
Punmaker Extrordinare
Hazel shivered as the door opened. Whatever this next challenge was she hoped it would go better than the last. But, she couldn't shake a feeling of dread. So far she had failed what if the next challenges only got harder? But there was no going back. She swallowed and stepped into the room.
6purplecats
Member
When it became clear both Hazel and Eryth would at least keep going, Alex made her way to the door as well. She hoped she wouldn't have to deal with another cryptic messenger like the lioness in this next test...
The three entered the round room with Emee wrapped around Eryth's shoulder, and the door closed slowly behind them as the Lioness watched in silence.
When the doors shut with a heavy boom, the room was pitched into darkness so deep nothing could be seen. There was no light from any source at all and there were no sounds from anyone including the three. Each found themselves in the dark, utterly alone.
(please pm me for details on the next post which will be individual!)
When the doors shut with a heavy boom, the room was pitched into darkness so deep nothing could be seen. There was no light from any source at all and there were no sounds from anyone including the three. Each found themselves in the dark, utterly alone.
(please pm me for details on the next post which will be individual!)
From above, James could see the north side of the island from his seat on Aster. The mangroves thinned and looked lifeless without the pleasant glow of the wisps that were usually there. The tan beach beyond the trees was lit by bright sunlight since it was just barely mid afternoon, but even so, something dark was stirring beneath the sapphire waters just beyond the breaker waves. Lady could be seen running on the foot path that lead to the beaches. She was swift and sure footed, as her blonde braid swayed behind her. It was clear she'd taken no time to put on her armor but had left immediately to the beaches.
He steered the Raven over to the source of the disturbance, readying his staff and ready to strike anything that he found.
Lady arrived at the beach as the waters began to bubble violently on the horizon. There was either a large beast on the move or many things coming at one time. It did not matter which. Her duty was to protect the island with the Carenium, Forge and her friends.
She donned her gloves and drew Sperest with her left hand without hesitation. The sand beneath her feet made for an uneven terrain, and would lessen her speed, but she would battle as long as she could with her blade alone.
The bubbling shifted closer the beach and soggy forms began to emerge from the darkened waters. Creatures with pale, decrepit flesh with oozing teeth and black eyes were crawling their way to the beach. The dead were rising from the sea.
There were no ordinary dead though. Swaths of wispy shadow followed them, hiding in their ruined body's. These dead had brought the Shadow's with them and in broad day light too. She had to appreciate the tactic of their enemy. Crossing in the dark deep of the water using the easily controlled undead as vassal was smart.
Body after body rose from the foaming waves until dozens were running through the surf the beach with more behind them. Gripping Sperest tightly in both hands now, she ran forward to meet them, calling to James as she did.
Fire consumed many of the dead but more rose from the sea to replace them. They moved fast and were twice as deadly now that they were possessed by Shadow. She sent a arching sweep over the shoulders of her first enemy, taking his decaying head in an easy swipe. The Shadow inside phased out and let out a squeal as it faced the daylight.
More poured onto the beach, bellowing and moaning as they ran toward them.
James fought his way to her side. Not only did the undead hate normal fire, but the bright flames Lumil produced made the Shadows screech in pain as they faded away. Despite this, a surge of undead surrounded them, and the Shadows pressed in.
"I do feel a little bare," she chuckled, "It is a good thing I have you to watch my back."
6 undead bore down on James running at him all at once, and dodging his fire. The Shadows were learning it seemed. The first one to reach him clawed at him, ripping the sleeve of his robe.
He elbowed this closest one as he drew his blade, taking care to still attempt at fireballs as his sword neatly moved between 3 of the remaining 5, slicing them into inoperable pieces. James then had an idea and cast the fire upon his own blade, the bright light cutting through the remaining two with precision. "Another good thing: I can never forget my armor." The flaming sword met a few more zombies before he spoke again. "I have an idea. JUMP." Lumil swung across his legs as a jet of flame flew in all directions before it flung away from his one handed grip and he drew it back to him, turning it so the spikes met another mindless host.
The raven, meanwhile, had swooped down and claimed a few undead lives itself, being careful not to get too close to the shadows as to not leave itself vulnerable.
Lady knew when James called for her to jump, she did not to hesitate. His teamwork had improved on the field, but sometimes his old solo habits flared. His flames ate away the dead but more ran through the surf, surrounding them with shadow. Lady sliced through three..then four...a but the sea of dead was endless.
A dozen of them had rounded on James and many more were on the way. The ones that didn't come to them set off into the trees toward the Carenium.
"We cannot let them reach the dome!" Lady yelled over the hideous battle cries. She turned to run after the Shadows leaking into the trees but as she turned, a large hand reached out and grabbed her free arm. Pain ripped through her arm as the Shadows seared into her skin. Screaming, Lady whipped around and sent Sperest though its belly with a twist until it slumped over.
"Take Aster and go protect the others!" she ordered as she shoved off the monster and took on another. She was no stranger to pain, but the Shadows were some of the worst she had ever felt.
He did not wish to leave her in battle, especially when she screamed in pain, but he knew the safety of the others was more important. He called down his bird and jumped on it, heading back to the base and hitting some strays with a few well placed blasts. James jumped off and landed at the entrance archway, pulling his sword and staff in both hands and yelling in a loud booming voice.
"SHADOWS!!!!!!!!!! YOU!!! SHALL NOT!!! PAAASSS!!!!"
He bought Lumil down and created several spikes of earth that impaled the nearest shadow hosts and created a front wall of risen earth, sending a line of fire after it to scorch those stuck and began to rain more fire down below, attempting to catch them before they reached the shield of earth.
Lady wheeled around on corpse after corpse, Sperest's light kept them at bay for awhile but only far enough to take the next swing. She hoped he had made it to the path to protect the Carenium. That was all that mattered. She took down several more until a voice broke through the air, even making the decrepit puppets pause.
James voice boomed, causing her to glance up at him in his dramatic pose. What in the world was he doing?
Of course his theatrics were using much of his energy and soon he would be exhausted. She sliced through several more enemies under the beach began to shake as a Giant corpse bubbled up from the deep. Its eyes were missing, leaving behind rotten sockets and an arm was torn to shreds but yet it continued to wade through the surf, headed straight for them.
Lady drew up her sword at the sight of the Giant's body stomping over the beach. There were too many to simply cut to down now and the massive undead would crush her under his foot, Shadows or no Shadows. It was time to let Sperest loose.
She let the Giant stomp closer as she sent massive explosions of water through the surf with his foot falls. As he ran toward her, she gathered her energy, let it build and feeding it to her weapon. Sperest grew brighter until it was painful to look at to all but her. The energy crackled in her blade as the shadows hissed away from her.
Raising the tip to the bright sky above...there was a great flash of light and a thundering boom...then blackness.
As his strength left him, James headed inside and begun to look for a hidden place to rest, sending his last fireballs at the giant beasts legs and shouting to within before reaching his hidden spot and fading. "VICTOR!!! INTRUdErS Inc-omin...g...." He hoped lady was alright, and victor could hold off the shadows long enough for the new guardians to get their blades and fight back, all the way to the source... but his worries vanished with his consciousness... Zzzz....
*****
Victor was asked to stay at the Forge but the sound could be heard even deep in the Carenium. It was a sound he knew well. Lady had released Sperest and that in itself was enough to worry about. He would not leave his post however. She had ordered him to stay and he would keep his command. He only hoped that she keep going long enough to recover from the cost.
******
James woke up with a light headache and a red robe over his face. He pulled his cape behind him and got up, picking up the staff he was previously cuddling and beginning the quest for his sword. He found it next to a dresser and a shattered mirror. His room. It took a moment to groggily fumble for the handle of his door before reaching down and finding it. A few corpses down the hall told him that they had won, but only recently. He followed the mass of the re-dead over to Victor and the entrance to the soul forge. "Holding up down here?"
Victor had made a temporary barrier of infused salt at the doorway of the Panel Room. It had kept the dead at bay, but the living were free to pass over into the untouched entry to the Forge. He was pacing, though the crutch was beginning to tire him. All had been quiet for some time, but leaving his post was not an option. He nearly sent a curse at James when the Guardian appeared in the doorway. Realizing who it was, a look of relief spread over his young face and he nodded.
"Aye, holding for now, but you're the first one I've seen since the battle started."
"You heard lady use sperest?"
The soldier nodded, trying disguise his worry with a thoughtful expression instead.. "I did and not too long after the silence started to trickle down. She hasn't returned yet."
"She is at the beach. I shall get her." And with that he dashed off, meeting a mortally injured aster at the door
" You were brave today buddy… Good work." A sword plunged into its heart. He deserved a clean death.
A look over at the beach and more running. A large horde of corpses now coated the sand and he could barely see the glint of armor next to the giant. He picked her up, sure that her sword was with her but out of decapitation distance before slowly hauling her back up.
She was covered in sand and grimaced in her unconscious state as his hand gripped the burn on her arm left behind by the Shadow's grasp. Sperest stayed clutched in her left hand, glowing dimly, faint like it wielder, but just as resilient. The way back to the Carenium was a long one, littered with the charred bodies of the undead. Raina gave a call from the top of the dome and swooped down to greet her owner, keeping a sharp eye on James.
"Careful and quiet, spybird. She is not well." He carried her up to the entrance and accidentally bumped her feet on the walls. "Shoot." He cursed under his breath and checked to see if that woke her.
She was too gone to feel the bump. Her head lolled back as her messy, honey colored braid hung down, close to brushing the floor. Raina followed with her sharp eyes and gave another crow at him. The piercing cry made Lady's eyes flutter, and for a moment they opened, focusing on James, but in a haze of exhaustion. Her consciousness lasted only a second before fading again, and her eyes shut.
"You idiot bird!" (Whisper) He wanted to set lady down and fry the thing this instant but the weight in his arms stopped him. He got a better grip with more control over the sleeping beauty he was carrying and worked her over to her bed without incident. As soon as she was gently laid down James whipped out Lumil and pointed it threateningly at Raina. "Don't.Become. Dinner." He grumbled something along the lines of "Aster never had this." Before tucking her in comfortably and leaving.
****
Victor had waited patiently for James to return, expecting Lady to be behind him. When the Guardian appeared in the doorway, his blue eyes searched and grew panicked. "You didn't find her?"
"Shes in her bed, resting."
He sighed in relief and sank onto one of rhe benches, putting his crutch to the side. "Thank you for finding her."
A long moment passed as the former soldier stared at the plain wooden dias. The three had not yet returned and that put him on edge as well. Glancing to James, he considered the man for a moment. He'd know the swordmaster for a little over a year now. Quirky and strange as he found the human, he could tell that James actually cared about Otherworld, even if it wasn't his home to begin with. He wondered why he decided to go with Lady that day, and another question plagued him too, but he eould never ask it.
"James..." Victor asked as they waited, "Why did you go with Lady that night?"
James was silent for a moment, folding his arms and leaning against the wall once more, staff resting besides him. "Thats a question with a 5 part answer. First and I guess second in priority now but a year ago it was top… is that its a worthy and noble cause. Protect the innocent from both realms and stop a great evil... It sounds so enticing my second reason is exactly that. Its an adventure." A pause as James looked over at the veteran.
"Sounds a bit why I joined the Black Guard," Victor replied, "They kept the Knight's Code. Uphold the weak and defy the wicked. The adventure was worth it too."
He shifted on the bench, to see James better. "What are the other reasons?"
"Talking with whoever made m'lady's armor and getting a forge weapon for myself. Smith's are rare in the overworld… and things like Sperest are even rarer."
Victor's amicable and curious expression turned to a bit of a sly one. "I didn't know blacksmithing was a lost art in the human realm. You named four, what is the fifth?"
"Now this could quite possibly beat all the previous reasons for why I'm here combined..."
The soldier raised a brow in curiosity, staring at James in his dramatic pause until he couldn't stand it anymore, "And that is.."
"And was not a reason a full year ago, but is very much a reason now………"
The soldier gazed at James in anticipation. He suspected what the answer might be. After all, he spent more time watch and learning the comings and goings in the Carenium for awhile now. He couldn't know for certain though, so he waited with an expectant nod.
James was asleep, his head against the wall and his shoulders drooped.
He steered the Raven over to the source of the disturbance, readying his staff and ready to strike anything that he found.
Lady arrived at the beach as the waters began to bubble violently on the horizon. There was either a large beast on the move or many things coming at one time. It did not matter which. Her duty was to protect the island with the Carenium, Forge and her friends.
She donned her gloves and drew Sperest with her left hand without hesitation. The sand beneath her feet made for an uneven terrain, and would lessen her speed, but she would battle as long as she could with her blade alone.
The bubbling shifted closer the beach and soggy forms began to emerge from the darkened waters. Creatures with pale, decrepit flesh with oozing teeth and black eyes were crawling their way to the beach. The dead were rising from the sea.
There were no ordinary dead though. Swaths of wispy shadow followed them, hiding in their ruined body's. These dead had brought the Shadow's with them and in broad day light too. She had to appreciate the tactic of their enemy. Crossing in the dark deep of the water using the easily controlled undead as vassal was smart.
Body after body rose from the foaming waves until dozens were running through the surf the beach with more behind them. Gripping Sperest tightly in both hands now, she ran forward to meet them, calling to James as she did.
Fire consumed many of the dead but more rose from the sea to replace them. They moved fast and were twice as deadly now that they were possessed by Shadow. She sent a arching sweep over the shoulders of her first enemy, taking his decaying head in an easy swipe. The Shadow inside phased out and let out a squeal as it faced the daylight.
More poured onto the beach, bellowing and moaning as they ran toward them.
James fought his way to her side. Not only did the undead hate normal fire, but the bright flames Lumil produced made the Shadows screech in pain as they faded away. Despite this, a surge of undead surrounded them, and the Shadows pressed in.
"I do feel a little bare," she chuckled, "It is a good thing I have you to watch my back."
6 undead bore down on James running at him all at once, and dodging his fire. The Shadows were learning it seemed. The first one to reach him clawed at him, ripping the sleeve of his robe.
He elbowed this closest one as he drew his blade, taking care to still attempt at fireballs as his sword neatly moved between 3 of the remaining 5, slicing them into inoperable pieces. James then had an idea and cast the fire upon his own blade, the bright light cutting through the remaining two with precision. "Another good thing: I can never forget my armor." The flaming sword met a few more zombies before he spoke again. "I have an idea. JUMP." Lumil swung across his legs as a jet of flame flew in all directions before it flung away from his one handed grip and he drew it back to him, turning it so the spikes met another mindless host.
The raven, meanwhile, had swooped down and claimed a few undead lives itself, being careful not to get too close to the shadows as to not leave itself vulnerable.
Lady knew when James called for her to jump, she did not to hesitate. His teamwork had improved on the field, but sometimes his old solo habits flared. His flames ate away the dead but more ran through the surf, surrounding them with shadow. Lady sliced through three..then four...a but the sea of dead was endless.
A dozen of them had rounded on James and many more were on the way. The ones that didn't come to them set off into the trees toward the Carenium.
"We cannot let them reach the dome!" Lady yelled over the hideous battle cries. She turned to run after the Shadows leaking into the trees but as she turned, a large hand reached out and grabbed her free arm. Pain ripped through her arm as the Shadows seared into her skin. Screaming, Lady whipped around and sent Sperest though its belly with a twist until it slumped over.
"Take Aster and go protect the others!" she ordered as she shoved off the monster and took on another. She was no stranger to pain, but the Shadows were some of the worst she had ever felt.
He did not wish to leave her in battle, especially when she screamed in pain, but he knew the safety of the others was more important. He called down his bird and jumped on it, heading back to the base and hitting some strays with a few well placed blasts. James jumped off and landed at the entrance archway, pulling his sword and staff in both hands and yelling in a loud booming voice.
"SHADOWS!!!!!!!!!! YOU!!! SHALL NOT!!! PAAASSS!!!!"
He bought Lumil down and created several spikes of earth that impaled the nearest shadow hosts and created a front wall of risen earth, sending a line of fire after it to scorch those stuck and began to rain more fire down below, attempting to catch them before they reached the shield of earth.
Lady wheeled around on corpse after corpse, Sperest's light kept them at bay for awhile but only far enough to take the next swing. She hoped he had made it to the path to protect the Carenium. That was all that mattered. She took down several more until a voice broke through the air, even making the decrepit puppets pause.
James voice boomed, causing her to glance up at him in his dramatic pose. What in the world was he doing?
Of course his theatrics were using much of his energy and soon he would be exhausted. She sliced through several more enemies under the beach began to shake as a Giant corpse bubbled up from the deep. Its eyes were missing, leaving behind rotten sockets and an arm was torn to shreds but yet it continued to wade through the surf, headed straight for them.
Lady drew up her sword at the sight of the Giant's body stomping over the beach. There were too many to simply cut to down now and the massive undead would crush her under his foot, Shadows or no Shadows. It was time to let Sperest loose.
She let the Giant stomp closer as she sent massive explosions of water through the surf with his foot falls. As he ran toward her, she gathered her energy, let it build and feeding it to her weapon. Sperest grew brighter until it was painful to look at to all but her. The energy crackled in her blade as the shadows hissed away from her.
Raising the tip to the bright sky above...there was a great flash of light and a thundering boom...then blackness.
As his strength left him, James headed inside and begun to look for a hidden place to rest, sending his last fireballs at the giant beasts legs and shouting to within before reaching his hidden spot and fading. "VICTOR!!! INTRUdErS Inc-omin...g...." He hoped lady was alright, and victor could hold off the shadows long enough for the new guardians to get their blades and fight back, all the way to the source... but his worries vanished with his consciousness... Zzzz....
*****
Victor was asked to stay at the Forge but the sound could be heard even deep in the Carenium. It was a sound he knew well. Lady had released Sperest and that in itself was enough to worry about. He would not leave his post however. She had ordered him to stay and he would keep his command. He only hoped that she keep going long enough to recover from the cost.
******
James woke up with a light headache and a red robe over his face. He pulled his cape behind him and got up, picking up the staff he was previously cuddling and beginning the quest for his sword. He found it next to a dresser and a shattered mirror. His room. It took a moment to groggily fumble for the handle of his door before reaching down and finding it. A few corpses down the hall told him that they had won, but only recently. He followed the mass of the re-dead over to Victor and the entrance to the soul forge. "Holding up down here?"
Victor had made a temporary barrier of infused salt at the doorway of the Panel Room. It had kept the dead at bay, but the living were free to pass over into the untouched entry to the Forge. He was pacing, though the crutch was beginning to tire him. All had been quiet for some time, but leaving his post was not an option. He nearly sent a curse at James when the Guardian appeared in the doorway. Realizing who it was, a look of relief spread over his young face and he nodded.
"Aye, holding for now, but you're the first one I've seen since the battle started."
"You heard lady use sperest?"
The soldier nodded, trying disguise his worry with a thoughtful expression instead.. "I did and not too long after the silence started to trickle down. She hasn't returned yet."
"She is at the beach. I shall get her." And with that he dashed off, meeting a mortally injured aster at the door
" You were brave today buddy… Good work." A sword plunged into its heart. He deserved a clean death.
A look over at the beach and more running. A large horde of corpses now coated the sand and he could barely see the glint of armor next to the giant. He picked her up, sure that her sword was with her but out of decapitation distance before slowly hauling her back up.
She was covered in sand and grimaced in her unconscious state as his hand gripped the burn on her arm left behind by the Shadow's grasp. Sperest stayed clutched in her left hand, glowing dimly, faint like it wielder, but just as resilient. The way back to the Carenium was a long one, littered with the charred bodies of the undead. Raina gave a call from the top of the dome and swooped down to greet her owner, keeping a sharp eye on James.
"Careful and quiet, spybird. She is not well." He carried her up to the entrance and accidentally bumped her feet on the walls. "Shoot." He cursed under his breath and checked to see if that woke her.
She was too gone to feel the bump. Her head lolled back as her messy, honey colored braid hung down, close to brushing the floor. Raina followed with her sharp eyes and gave another crow at him. The piercing cry made Lady's eyes flutter, and for a moment they opened, focusing on James, but in a haze of exhaustion. Her consciousness lasted only a second before fading again, and her eyes shut.
"You idiot bird!" (Whisper) He wanted to set lady down and fry the thing this instant but the weight in his arms stopped him. He got a better grip with more control over the sleeping beauty he was carrying and worked her over to her bed without incident. As soon as she was gently laid down James whipped out Lumil and pointed it threateningly at Raina. "Don't.Become. Dinner." He grumbled something along the lines of "Aster never had this." Before tucking her in comfortably and leaving.
****
Victor had waited patiently for James to return, expecting Lady to be behind him. When the Guardian appeared in the doorway, his blue eyes searched and grew panicked. "You didn't find her?"
"Shes in her bed, resting."
He sighed in relief and sank onto one of rhe benches, putting his crutch to the side. "Thank you for finding her."
A long moment passed as the former soldier stared at the plain wooden dias. The three had not yet returned and that put him on edge as well. Glancing to James, he considered the man for a moment. He'd know the swordmaster for a little over a year now. Quirky and strange as he found the human, he could tell that James actually cared about Otherworld, even if it wasn't his home to begin with. He wondered why he decided to go with Lady that day, and another question plagued him too, but he eould never ask it.
"James..." Victor asked as they waited, "Why did you go with Lady that night?"
James was silent for a moment, folding his arms and leaning against the wall once more, staff resting besides him. "Thats a question with a 5 part answer. First and I guess second in priority now but a year ago it was top… is that its a worthy and noble cause. Protect the innocent from both realms and stop a great evil... It sounds so enticing my second reason is exactly that. Its an adventure." A pause as James looked over at the veteran.
"Sounds a bit why I joined the Black Guard," Victor replied, "They kept the Knight's Code. Uphold the weak and defy the wicked. The adventure was worth it too."
He shifted on the bench, to see James better. "What are the other reasons?"
"Talking with whoever made m'lady's armor and getting a forge weapon for myself. Smith's are rare in the overworld… and things like Sperest are even rarer."
Victor's amicable and curious expression turned to a bit of a sly one. "I didn't know blacksmithing was a lost art in the human realm. You named four, what is the fifth?"
"Now this could quite possibly beat all the previous reasons for why I'm here combined..."
The soldier raised a brow in curiosity, staring at James in his dramatic pause until he couldn't stand it anymore, "And that is.."
"And was not a reason a full year ago, but is very much a reason now………"
The soldier gazed at James in anticipation. He suspected what the answer might be. After all, he spent more time watch and learning the comings and goings in the Carenium for awhile now. He couldn't know for certain though, so he waited with an expectant nod.
James was asleep, his head against the wall and his shoulders drooped.
"Guys?" Eryth called out, feeling for the animal on his shoulder first before turning, still not seeing anything. "Hello?!"
"Eyrth...Eyrth!"
A woman with red scrubs on was snapping her fingers in front of his face with a furrowed brow.
"I know 3am is the dead hour, but jeez, man you look like a zombie," she said, looking him over, " Go grab some cof-"
Her words were interrupted as another nurse darted from around the corner, looking rushed. "Emergency port now, we have 2 car accident victims enroute. One with severe internal bleeding and spinal trauma. The other head and chest. We need all the help we can get. Meet them at the door!"
The red haired nurse nodded and started jogging toward the emergency room, "Guess coffee will have to wait, so much for the graveyard shift."
Eryth jolted up, standing a little to fast and catching a short wave of vertigo.
But I was just... it was...
The second nurse broke his thoughts. It was a tossup between head on and singe car occupied times two. He prayed to himself it was the latter.
"Alright... I... Yea, let's go."
It was surreal, one moment ago he was in the dungeon with Emee and now...
It was a dream? He went home though, he remembered it all clearly. Sure it explained the smoke... but he was supposed to break the dream if he realised it was one. That's how it worked, but....
Eryth found himself where he always had to go, the main hall heading to the emergency port. It was clean now, the staff had already come through and done the closing mop for that shift, and there was the barest layer of water left to air-dry. He realised he had stopped, and continued on to the bays.
He still had a job to do.
The first ambulance pulled into view and the rear doors flew open and a gurney was tugged from the back. The red-headed nurse ran through the doors and met them out front as the EMT's relayed the vital information. The figure on the bed was smaller to begin with, but strapped down and into a full back board and neck brace the girl looked minuscule.
"16 year old, female...driver's license says Joanna Edmonds...spinal...abdominal swollen, most likely ruptured spleen."
As the girl was wheeled in through the automatic sliding doors, her cries could be heard through the room. She was concious and her blue eyes darted frantically back and forth from under the head brace as she sobbed. Her face was scratched and her cheek swollen, already starting to bruise a deep shade of purple.
The red-headed nurse walked along side with a practiced pace, trying to soothe the girl. "Joanna listen to me, sweetie everything is okay...I know..."
Suddenly the girl's eyes fluttered and she gasp a raspy breath.
"BP is dropping!" the nurse yelled, as she slung the gurney into an room, "C'mon Eryth!"
Eryth jumped alongside the stretcher, ignoring the blood as he worked to keep her alive.
Without thinking about it twice, he grabbed the CPR oxygen mask and started to fit it.
"Starting CPR."
Compressions. Count under his breath.
"14... 15... oxygen... stay with me... 1... 2... 3..."
Two solid minutes pass and the girl had yet to respond to any of Eryth's efforts. The nurse at his side kept a steady watch for any sort of pulse, but shook her head every time he glanced up at her.
At the three minute mark, the redhead looked to him, with a grim expression. "Eryth...she's gone."
Dan kept trying for one more set, only stopping as he finally looked over to the screen. He removed the mask from her face, wiping a bit of sweat off his brow with his shoulder. There would be time to think later. "Fuck... We have one more, let's go."
The nursed nodded, before turning off the equipment and picking up the clipboard from the dead girls side. "Time of death 3:07 am," she whispered, "Sixteen...so young...Let's go."
Her red pony tail swung behind her and she jogged out of the cold room, and into the hallway. Already the second ambulance had arrived and two EMT's were wheeling the second victim in a gurney down the hall. Eryth followed behind her.
"He's DOA," called one of the responders, "Lost'em enroute."
The nurse didn't slow down her pace but came to the dead man's side and checked for vitals anyways.
"He's gone...but good god he..reeks of..."
"Yeah, you shoulda seen the bottles we found in the car."
The nurse shook her head. "We'll take him to the locker from here, guys. Go ahead and get your paperwork done."
"How's the girl?" asked one of the EMT's.
The nurse looked back and shook her head and a heavy silence fell over them.
As she took over pushing the dead man down the hall, as Eryth came to her side. A thick odor of alcohol rolled from the body and mixed with the tinny smell of blood. The man's head was covered in red from a deep wound on his skull, matting his dark hair and his brown eyes were stuck open, but unseeing. His face was familiar. In fact, it was almost as if Eryth were looking into a mirror.
"Damned drunk..." she hissed under her breath.
His face looked uncannily similar, too close to be coincidence.
The test. It was the test. Was it the test?
Was it real?
"I just need a minute." Eryth excused himself, heading down the sterile hall to the bathroom. He needed some cool water. He only just noticed his hands were shaking. They didn't shake before, he never shook.
He found the blue tile bathroom empty and the water from the tap blessedly cold and head clearing. Minutes ticked by until the door creaked open again and a familiar voice sounded, though the words were slurred.
"This is as real as it gets."
The DOA was standing in the doorway arms crossed, blood bubbling from the head wound. An exact copy of him.
"What the-" Eryth stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and landing on his ass in the bathroom. He quickly tried to get back up, not moving his eyes off of the horror standing before him.
This is a test. This is a test.
"Code blue! CODE BLUE!" Eryth screamed as loud as he could, hoping that someone heard, that someone would come.
"Yeaaah, mate, nobody is gonna hear that," his bloody doppleganger said in his slurry speech, "It's just yoouu an' me."
He stumbled over and the door shut behind him. "Why youu so scared. It's justa you...and I'm you....which make you...meee."
Eryth put his hand behind him as he bumped into the rear wall. "What do you want? Why am I seeing this?"
The second Eryth leaned against the sink as his brown eyes looked him. "What'dya think I want? I drink! As for why you're seein' me I dunno. Been a looong time since I've seen you."
"What are you talking about? I've never seen you in my life. And I don't fucking drink." Eryth took a step forwards, jabbing his finger at the mutilated mirror man.
The drunken Eryth swatted his hand away and snorted. "Pffft...yoouu see me and I see you e'very day in the mirror, mate. You doon't drink now, heh..I'm your future."
"I don't drink, and I'll never drink, and you are not my future. I'll fucking hang myself before I let myself do what you did here."
"Ooh you saaay that now...but you know you're tempted..." he replied, with a dry laugh, "Don't liiie and tell me youu're nooot."
Eryth looked down towards the sink, trying to get over the being's words.
"What am I supposed to do here?"
"Be hoooonest with yourseelf...I mean I'm here in the flesh to taalk to," he said with a drunken giggle, "Well, moost of me his heere."
"You want me to be honest with myself? How about this for honest. You don't fucking exist, this is some twisted nightmare, and I will never be you. I can never be you. I have finally found my place in the world, I am doing what I have always wished to do, and there is nothing that you can do to stop me from making sure you never exist, because I am not my father, I am not a fucking drinker, and I will not be fucking scared by this fucking illusion." Eryth's fist suddenly shot out, aiming square for his clone's jaw.
Before his fist connected, the man disappeared, taking the smell of blood and booze with him as the entire bathroom was pitched into darkness.
The blackness settled around him, feeling deeper and deeper by the minute until there was no concept of time at all.
Then a blue lights began to flicker here and there, surrounding him on the floors and covering the walls. As more appeared, more of the room was visible until a bright flash of light revealed a massive archway made of the same crystal as the dome of the Carenium.
Inside was a swirling blue mist so thick it was impossible to tell if anything lay on the other side. Its light cut through the darkness as if it had it own life and scrawling letters were etched into the crystal:
Where the darkness is its deepest, and the light is the brightest.
"What is this?" Eryth called out to nobody, hoping to hear some sort of response.
Some sort of riddle. A riddle. After that, they give him a riddle.
"Hazel? Alex?" Eryth hesitated, waiting to see if there was a response.
"Eyrth...Eyrth!"
A woman with red scrubs on was snapping her fingers in front of his face with a furrowed brow.
"I know 3am is the dead hour, but jeez, man you look like a zombie," she said, looking him over, " Go grab some cof-"
Her words were interrupted as another nurse darted from around the corner, looking rushed. "Emergency port now, we have 2 car accident victims enroute. One with severe internal bleeding and spinal trauma. The other head and chest. We need all the help we can get. Meet them at the door!"
The red haired nurse nodded and started jogging toward the emergency room, "Guess coffee will have to wait, so much for the graveyard shift."
Eryth jolted up, standing a little to fast and catching a short wave of vertigo.
But I was just... it was...
The second nurse broke his thoughts. It was a tossup between head on and singe car occupied times two. He prayed to himself it was the latter.
"Alright... I... Yea, let's go."
It was surreal, one moment ago he was in the dungeon with Emee and now...
It was a dream? He went home though, he remembered it all clearly. Sure it explained the smoke... but he was supposed to break the dream if he realised it was one. That's how it worked, but....
Eryth found himself where he always had to go, the main hall heading to the emergency port. It was clean now, the staff had already come through and done the closing mop for that shift, and there was the barest layer of water left to air-dry. He realised he had stopped, and continued on to the bays.
He still had a job to do.
The first ambulance pulled into view and the rear doors flew open and a gurney was tugged from the back. The red-headed nurse ran through the doors and met them out front as the EMT's relayed the vital information. The figure on the bed was smaller to begin with, but strapped down and into a full back board and neck brace the girl looked minuscule.
"16 year old, female...driver's license says Joanna Edmonds...spinal...abdominal swollen, most likely ruptured spleen."
As the girl was wheeled in through the automatic sliding doors, her cries could be heard through the room. She was concious and her blue eyes darted frantically back and forth from under the head brace as she sobbed. Her face was scratched and her cheek swollen, already starting to bruise a deep shade of purple.
The red-headed nurse walked along side with a practiced pace, trying to soothe the girl. "Joanna listen to me, sweetie everything is okay...I know..."
Suddenly the girl's eyes fluttered and she gasp a raspy breath.
"BP is dropping!" the nurse yelled, as she slung the gurney into an room, "C'mon Eryth!"
Eryth jumped alongside the stretcher, ignoring the blood as he worked to keep her alive.
Without thinking about it twice, he grabbed the CPR oxygen mask and started to fit it.
"Starting CPR."
Compressions. Count under his breath.
"14... 15... oxygen... stay with me... 1... 2... 3..."
Two solid minutes pass and the girl had yet to respond to any of Eryth's efforts. The nurse at his side kept a steady watch for any sort of pulse, but shook her head every time he glanced up at her.
At the three minute mark, the redhead looked to him, with a grim expression. "Eryth...she's gone."
Dan kept trying for one more set, only stopping as he finally looked over to the screen. He removed the mask from her face, wiping a bit of sweat off his brow with his shoulder. There would be time to think later. "Fuck... We have one more, let's go."
The nursed nodded, before turning off the equipment and picking up the clipboard from the dead girls side. "Time of death 3:07 am," she whispered, "Sixteen...so young...Let's go."
Her red pony tail swung behind her and she jogged out of the cold room, and into the hallway. Already the second ambulance had arrived and two EMT's were wheeling the second victim in a gurney down the hall. Eryth followed behind her.
"He's DOA," called one of the responders, "Lost'em enroute."
The nurse didn't slow down her pace but came to the dead man's side and checked for vitals anyways.
"He's gone...but good god he..reeks of..."
"Yeah, you shoulda seen the bottles we found in the car."
The nurse shook her head. "We'll take him to the locker from here, guys. Go ahead and get your paperwork done."
"How's the girl?" asked one of the EMT's.
The nurse looked back and shook her head and a heavy silence fell over them.
As she took over pushing the dead man down the hall, as Eryth came to her side. A thick odor of alcohol rolled from the body and mixed with the tinny smell of blood. The man's head was covered in red from a deep wound on his skull, matting his dark hair and his brown eyes were stuck open, but unseeing. His face was familiar. In fact, it was almost as if Eryth were looking into a mirror.
"Damned drunk..." she hissed under her breath.
His face looked uncannily similar, too close to be coincidence.
The test. It was the test. Was it the test?
Was it real?
"I just need a minute." Eryth excused himself, heading down the sterile hall to the bathroom. He needed some cool water. He only just noticed his hands were shaking. They didn't shake before, he never shook.
He found the blue tile bathroom empty and the water from the tap blessedly cold and head clearing. Minutes ticked by until the door creaked open again and a familiar voice sounded, though the words were slurred.
"This is as real as it gets."
The DOA was standing in the doorway arms crossed, blood bubbling from the head wound. An exact copy of him.
"What the-" Eryth stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and landing on his ass in the bathroom. He quickly tried to get back up, not moving his eyes off of the horror standing before him.
This is a test. This is a test.
"Code blue! CODE BLUE!" Eryth screamed as loud as he could, hoping that someone heard, that someone would come.
"Yeaaah, mate, nobody is gonna hear that," his bloody doppleganger said in his slurry speech, "It's just yoouu an' me."
He stumbled over and the door shut behind him. "Why youu so scared. It's justa you...and I'm you....which make you...meee."
Eryth put his hand behind him as he bumped into the rear wall. "What do you want? Why am I seeing this?"
The second Eryth leaned against the sink as his brown eyes looked him. "What'dya think I want? I drink! As for why you're seein' me I dunno. Been a looong time since I've seen you."
"What are you talking about? I've never seen you in my life. And I don't fucking drink." Eryth took a step forwards, jabbing his finger at the mutilated mirror man.
The drunken Eryth swatted his hand away and snorted. "Pffft...yoouu see me and I see you e'very day in the mirror, mate. You doon't drink now, heh..I'm your future."
"I don't drink, and I'll never drink, and you are not my future. I'll fucking hang myself before I let myself do what you did here."
"Ooh you saaay that now...but you know you're tempted..." he replied, with a dry laugh, "Don't liiie and tell me youu're nooot."
Eryth looked down towards the sink, trying to get over the being's words.
"What am I supposed to do here?"
"Be hoooonest with yourseelf...I mean I'm here in the flesh to taalk to," he said with a drunken giggle, "Well, moost of me his heere."
"You want me to be honest with myself? How about this for honest. You don't fucking exist, this is some twisted nightmare, and I will never be you. I can never be you. I have finally found my place in the world, I am doing what I have always wished to do, and there is nothing that you can do to stop me from making sure you never exist, because I am not my father, I am not a fucking drinker, and I will not be fucking scared by this fucking illusion." Eryth's fist suddenly shot out, aiming square for his clone's jaw.
Before his fist connected, the man disappeared, taking the smell of blood and booze with him as the entire bathroom was pitched into darkness.
The blackness settled around him, feeling deeper and deeper by the minute until there was no concept of time at all.
Then a blue lights began to flicker here and there, surrounding him on the floors and covering the walls. As more appeared, more of the room was visible until a bright flash of light revealed a massive archway made of the same crystal as the dome of the Carenium.
Inside was a swirling blue mist so thick it was impossible to tell if anything lay on the other side. Its light cut through the darkness as if it had it own life and scrawling letters were etched into the crystal:
Where the darkness is its deepest, and the light is the brightest.
"What is this?" Eryth called out to nobody, hoping to hear some sort of response.
Some sort of riddle. A riddle. After that, they give him a riddle.
"Hazel? Alex?" Eryth hesitated, waiting to see if there was a response.
6purplecats
Member
Alex looked around frantically, but she couldn't see a thing. The silence suddenly enveloping her was unsettling. "Guys?" Alex called out. No answer came. "Hello?" she yelled, louder this time.
She was alone in the dark, wonderful. "What did the lioness say again? Find the center...?" She had no idea how she was supposed to do that when all she could see was pitch black. She decided to keep walking away from the door, hoping she would run into something that could show her what she needed to do. "Hopefully something a little more helpful than that lioness..." she mumbled to herself.
The darkness faded away to bright light of many colors filtering in from stained glass windows. The walls were a pleasant cream color and rows of benches sat behind her, full of people. In front of her sat an alter where a man in a suit was preaching, his voice booming through the entire room. Even as she stood there, the people continued listening, watching the man without distraction.
"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
'That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.'
Alex recognized the verse. She also recognized the place she found herself in. Church. Confused, she looked around. No one seemed to pay any attention to her, which she could appreciate. She hadn't really planned on ever going back to church in her life, let alone in a place like Otherworld or the Soul Forge. She shook her head. She had heard enough. Besides, she highly doubted the Forge would test her by making her suffer through a sermon.
She turned around and walked towards the giant doors that lead outside, while keeping a watchful eye on the people on the benches. Who knew whether they would try anything.
She found the doors were unlocked and opened at the push of her hand. When she opened the doors though, instead of bright green grass and blue skies, she found the world was ashen. It was as if someone had painted the world in shades of grey. The cars, the people, even a skinny alley cat skittered by completely in monochrome.
A bell rang and there was the shuffling of feet as the people inside got up in silence and began to pour out of the doors, bumping past her as if she didn't exist at all.
On the other side of the street stood a woman, however, with long dark hair. She was staring in her direction.
Alex quickly moved aside to let the stream of people pass. She stared around the grey world she found herself in. What kind of test was this? Her eyes fell on the woman staring at her. If anyone knew, it would be her. She was the only one paying any mind to Alex, after all. "Please don't be cryptic," Alex mumbled to herself before crossing the street to reach the woman.
"Hey, do you know what I'm supposed to do?"
The woman blinked at her, made no other expression. "Why would you want to do anything? Weirdo."
Alex felt her eye twitch with annoyance. "Wha-? I'm not a weirdo, you're a weirdo!" She shook her head and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down somewhat. The lioness, the tentacle monster, church. Alex was starting to get tired, and being called a weirdo certainly didn't make her like the woman standing before her.
"Look," she said through gritted teeth. "Something is obviously going on here. Everything's gray. You were staring at me. So I am assuming you know something, but if that isn't the case I can ask someone else. So, do you know anything about what is going on here?"
The woman blinked at her again, totally unphased by Alex's outburst. "Nothing is going on. Nothing ever goes on," she replied dryly, "Why would you want to do something about nothing?"
Alex sighed. This was the wrong approach. Of course the Soul Forge wasn't going to send a guide to her who would tell her exactly what she needed to do. "Right, well, thanks for the information anyway," she mumbled at the woman as she walked away.
She began making her way back to the church, though she wasn't planning on going inside. As she walked, she repeated the stuff James and Lady had said in her head. To find what lies without, one must search within. What did that mean? She reached the church building and turned her back to the wall, looking out over the grey world with an eyebrow raised.
"'Why would you want to do something about nothing?'" She mumbled to herself. "Nothing ever goes on... Nothing ever-" She paused. "Heh, sounds like my life before... But at least I did something about it-" She paused again, then her eyes dropped to the ground as realization struck. She had left. Did that really count as doing something about it? After spending 23 years doing absolutely nothing, she took her first ticket out. Was that her own initiative? Was that really something to be proud of?
To find what lies without, one must search within.
Alex looked behind her. Church. She looked forward again. Grey, boring world. Then, her eyes fell back on the woman. Apathy.
Now Alex was the one staring. "No way," she mumbled.
The grey world passed by Alex as she stared at the woman who stared back. Then a familiar face appeared walking down the street. a short woman whose skin was so pale, the grey world made her look nearly translucent. Shoulder-length, dark hair framed her face and her eyes were cold, so dark they were edging to black. She walked down the dull sidewalk at leisurely pace, as if she had no where else to be or didn't care if she did.
Alex's mouth was completely open as she stared at... well, herself. It had to be, right? What was going on? Was this a projection by the Soul Forge? Or had she somehow been transported to another reality?
A thousand scenarios rushed through Alex's head, many of which were influenced by movies or shows she had seen in the past. If she were to see herself - or if her other self were to see herself, would the world explode? Would she disappear? Was it like time-traveling where she couldn't let herself know she was there??
Not quite knowing what to do, Alex decided to follow her clone. She made sure to match her pace and stay calm, so her clone had no reason to turn around and see her.
The clone walked down the street, keeping its ambling pace until it reached a steely grey park bench and sat down in silence. She stared out into the world with a disinterested, blank face until her eyes flicked to Alex. There was some small flash of recognition, but still the monochrome copy did nothing.
Alex stopped in her tracks when her clone's eyes fell on her, but nothing exploded so she guessed it was fine.
"Ehm... Hi."
Alex accompanied her greeting with an awkward wave. "So eh, must be weird to run into yourself, right?" she said uneasily. She wasn't sure how aware her clone was of what was going on, but then Alex herself was completely lost on what was going on so she supposed it didn't really matter. "What eh, what are you doing?" she asked.
The clone shrugged. "Nothing. What do you want?"
Alex sighed. "Well, what I want is to know what I have to do to pass this test..." She flopped down onto the bench, next to her clone, "but I don't suppose you know anything about that, do you?"
"Why do you want to know about this test? What's the point?" her clone shrugged, "You'll probably just die anyways."
"I'm not here to discuss the inevitability of death with you," Alex said. "I'm here to get a Soul Forge weapon. That's the point."
"And why would you want one of those?" she huffed back with the same disinterested tone, "Not like you ever wanted much of anything before, right?"
"Hey, that's not true! I wanted things! I just..." Alex trailed off looking uncertain. She just what? Never went the extra mile? Gave up before she even tried? "I just didn't think it was worth the effort," she said in a small voice.
"Are you happy now? You're right. I'm in over my head. There's no point to any of this, because whatever I do- it's not like I'll be able to finish what I started. I'll get all excited about one thing and as soon as things get difficult I quit." A laugh escaped her, dry and meaningless.
"Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"I don't want to hear or do anything," the clone shrugged, "But it sounds like you do. Isn't that weird?"
Her grey copy stood up her and walked away, leaving her alone. A fuzzy mist poured in around them turning the world in a formless cloud.
Without warning, Alex was pitched into darkness.
Then a blue lights began to flicker here and there, surrounding her on the floors and covering the walls. As more appeared, more of the room was visible until a bright flash of light revealed a massive archway made of the same crystal as the dome of the Carenium.
Inside was a swirling blue mist so thick it was impossible to tell if anything lay on the other side. Its light cut through the darkness as if it had it own life and scrawling letters were etched into the crystal:
Where the darkness is its deepest, and the light is the brightest
Alex stared at her surroundings, a perplexed look on her face. That was it? No monster to fight, no catastrophe to stop? No need to show some heroic qualities or to prove herself? She felt... strangely dissatisfied.
She took a step towards the archway, then hesitated. The blue mist looked ominous. What if there was another test? She shook her head. If there was she would deal with it. She looked up at the message engraved on the archway and raised an eyebrow. "So either way, you won't be able to see a thing..." she mumbled, though she found she had trouble finding her usual ironic tone.
Without thinking much more about it, Alex started walking towards the archway and the blue mist.
She was alone in the dark, wonderful. "What did the lioness say again? Find the center...?" She had no idea how she was supposed to do that when all she could see was pitch black. She decided to keep walking away from the door, hoping she would run into something that could show her what she needed to do. "Hopefully something a little more helpful than that lioness..." she mumbled to herself.
The darkness faded away to bright light of many colors filtering in from stained glass windows. The walls were a pleasant cream color and rows of benches sat behind her, full of people. In front of her sat an alter where a man in a suit was preaching, his voice booming through the entire room. Even as she stood there, the people continued listening, watching the man without distraction.
"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
'That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.'
Alex recognized the verse. She also recognized the place she found herself in. Church. Confused, she looked around. No one seemed to pay any attention to her, which she could appreciate. She hadn't really planned on ever going back to church in her life, let alone in a place like Otherworld or the Soul Forge. She shook her head. She had heard enough. Besides, she highly doubted the Forge would test her by making her suffer through a sermon.
She turned around and walked towards the giant doors that lead outside, while keeping a watchful eye on the people on the benches. Who knew whether they would try anything.
She found the doors were unlocked and opened at the push of her hand. When she opened the doors though, instead of bright green grass and blue skies, she found the world was ashen. It was as if someone had painted the world in shades of grey. The cars, the people, even a skinny alley cat skittered by completely in monochrome.
A bell rang and there was the shuffling of feet as the people inside got up in silence and began to pour out of the doors, bumping past her as if she didn't exist at all.
On the other side of the street stood a woman, however, with long dark hair. She was staring in her direction.
Alex quickly moved aside to let the stream of people pass. She stared around the grey world she found herself in. What kind of test was this? Her eyes fell on the woman staring at her. If anyone knew, it would be her. She was the only one paying any mind to Alex, after all. "Please don't be cryptic," Alex mumbled to herself before crossing the street to reach the woman.
"Hey, do you know what I'm supposed to do?"
The woman blinked at her, made no other expression. "Why would you want to do anything? Weirdo."
Alex felt her eye twitch with annoyance. "Wha-? I'm not a weirdo, you're a weirdo!" She shook her head and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down somewhat. The lioness, the tentacle monster, church. Alex was starting to get tired, and being called a weirdo certainly didn't make her like the woman standing before her.
"Look," she said through gritted teeth. "Something is obviously going on here. Everything's gray. You were staring at me. So I am assuming you know something, but if that isn't the case I can ask someone else. So, do you know anything about what is going on here?"
The woman blinked at her again, totally unphased by Alex's outburst. "Nothing is going on. Nothing ever goes on," she replied dryly, "Why would you want to do something about nothing?"
Alex sighed. This was the wrong approach. Of course the Soul Forge wasn't going to send a guide to her who would tell her exactly what she needed to do. "Right, well, thanks for the information anyway," she mumbled at the woman as she walked away.
She began making her way back to the church, though she wasn't planning on going inside. As she walked, she repeated the stuff James and Lady had said in her head. To find what lies without, one must search within. What did that mean? She reached the church building and turned her back to the wall, looking out over the grey world with an eyebrow raised.
"'Why would you want to do something about nothing?'" She mumbled to herself. "Nothing ever goes on... Nothing ever-" She paused. "Heh, sounds like my life before... But at least I did something about it-" She paused again, then her eyes dropped to the ground as realization struck. She had left. Did that really count as doing something about it? After spending 23 years doing absolutely nothing, she took her first ticket out. Was that her own initiative? Was that really something to be proud of?
To find what lies without, one must search within.
Alex looked behind her. Church. She looked forward again. Grey, boring world. Then, her eyes fell back on the woman. Apathy.
Now Alex was the one staring. "No way," she mumbled.
The grey world passed by Alex as she stared at the woman who stared back. Then a familiar face appeared walking down the street. a short woman whose skin was so pale, the grey world made her look nearly translucent. Shoulder-length, dark hair framed her face and her eyes were cold, so dark they were edging to black. She walked down the dull sidewalk at leisurely pace, as if she had no where else to be or didn't care if she did.
Alex's mouth was completely open as she stared at... well, herself. It had to be, right? What was going on? Was this a projection by the Soul Forge? Or had she somehow been transported to another reality?
A thousand scenarios rushed through Alex's head, many of which were influenced by movies or shows she had seen in the past. If she were to see herself - or if her other self were to see herself, would the world explode? Would she disappear? Was it like time-traveling where she couldn't let herself know she was there??
Not quite knowing what to do, Alex decided to follow her clone. She made sure to match her pace and stay calm, so her clone had no reason to turn around and see her.
The clone walked down the street, keeping its ambling pace until it reached a steely grey park bench and sat down in silence. She stared out into the world with a disinterested, blank face until her eyes flicked to Alex. There was some small flash of recognition, but still the monochrome copy did nothing.
Alex stopped in her tracks when her clone's eyes fell on her, but nothing exploded so she guessed it was fine.
"Ehm... Hi."
Alex accompanied her greeting with an awkward wave. "So eh, must be weird to run into yourself, right?" she said uneasily. She wasn't sure how aware her clone was of what was going on, but then Alex herself was completely lost on what was going on so she supposed it didn't really matter. "What eh, what are you doing?" she asked.
The clone shrugged. "Nothing. What do you want?"
Alex sighed. "Well, what I want is to know what I have to do to pass this test..." She flopped down onto the bench, next to her clone, "but I don't suppose you know anything about that, do you?"
"Why do you want to know about this test? What's the point?" her clone shrugged, "You'll probably just die anyways."
"I'm not here to discuss the inevitability of death with you," Alex said. "I'm here to get a Soul Forge weapon. That's the point."
"And why would you want one of those?" she huffed back with the same disinterested tone, "Not like you ever wanted much of anything before, right?"
"Hey, that's not true! I wanted things! I just..." Alex trailed off looking uncertain. She just what? Never went the extra mile? Gave up before she even tried? "I just didn't think it was worth the effort," she said in a small voice.
"Are you happy now? You're right. I'm in over my head. There's no point to any of this, because whatever I do- it's not like I'll be able to finish what I started. I'll get all excited about one thing and as soon as things get difficult I quit." A laugh escaped her, dry and meaningless.
"Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"I don't want to hear or do anything," the clone shrugged, "But it sounds like you do. Isn't that weird?"
Her grey copy stood up her and walked away, leaving her alone. A fuzzy mist poured in around them turning the world in a formless cloud.
Without warning, Alex was pitched into darkness.
Then a blue lights began to flicker here and there, surrounding her on the floors and covering the walls. As more appeared, more of the room was visible until a bright flash of light revealed a massive archway made of the same crystal as the dome of the Carenium.
Inside was a swirling blue mist so thick it was impossible to tell if anything lay on the other side. Its light cut through the darkness as if it had it own life and scrawling letters were etched into the crystal:
Where the darkness is its deepest, and the light is the brightest
Alex stared at her surroundings, a perplexed look on her face. That was it? No monster to fight, no catastrophe to stop? No need to show some heroic qualities or to prove herself? She felt... strangely dissatisfied.
She took a step towards the archway, then hesitated. The blue mist looked ominous. What if there was another test? She shook her head. If there was she would deal with it. She looked up at the message engraved on the archway and raised an eyebrow. "So either way, you won't be able to see a thing..." she mumbled, though she found she had trouble finding her usual ironic tone.
Without thinking much more about it, Alex started walking towards the archway and the blue mist.
Glow
Punmaker Extrordinare
As blackness descended around her, Hazel felt a cold chill down her spine. She felt alone. "Umm guys? A plan?" She called out; her voice echoing in the empty chamber.
There was no reply.
Instead, she found herself standing in the middle of the sidewalk that was very familiar. To her right, sat her library and through the window's she could see her comfy chair waiting for her. The American flag on pole out front snapped in the breeze as people passed her by, walking past to their own business.
Further down the side walk, a blonde haired girl sat on the curb clutching her knee as tears streamed down her face. Beside her sat a ragged stuffed unicorn, but it offered no comfort as the girl cried over her skinned knee.
The sudden change in scenery was disorienting. Alex and Eyrth were nowhere to be seen. She panicked "Hey, what's going o-" then she paused, when she saw the little girl. Okay keep calm. They probably got transported to a different area or something you just need to find them again. She swallowed and walked over to the little girl. "Hey, you okay?
People passed by ignoring the both of them, only the little girl seemed to notice her. Her big blue eyes were full of tears and her bottom lip trembled as she looked up to Hazel half scared, and half relieved.
"I f-f-fell," she cried, "I lost momma an-and fell. M-my knee hwurts."
Hazel's eyes softened at the teary eyed youngster. "I'm so sorry. Here let me see." She knelt down next to the child and examined the knee. If Eyrth were here he'd have some kind of first aid kit on hand. But he wasn't. The scrape didn't look bad. "Do you know where your mommy went? How about your mommy's cell phone number? We can go to the library and call her from there." She reached over and placed the unicorn in the little girl's lap. "I'm a bit lost too so we can go find our way together." She smiled encouragingly and held out her hand. "Sound like a plan?"
"O-ok-kay," she sniffled, reaching out taking her hand, "I d-dont know where s-she w-went or a n-number."
She stood with one hand in Hazel's and the other clutching the unicorn in the other. "We c-came from the ice cream pp-lace."
Down the street from the library there was a group of shops, one of which had a minty colored ice cone painted on the window front. "M-maybe she went back?'
"Okay, We'll check there." Hazel looked back over to the library. It felt weird being back where it started, but she didn't dwell on it for long. With the child's hand in hers she walked towards the shop. One step at a time she kept telling herself. Keep moving you'll make it. She was starting to feel how the child probably felt; lost, uncertain, afraid. It was as if she was in a dream. Only she wasn't.
As they walked together toward the ice cream shop, people on the streets passed them by as if they didn't exist. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to the sniffling girl with a skinned knee and her rescuer. Entering the shop there was a man standing behind the counter scooping up a chocolate chip mint ice cream cone for a woman. There was no friendly greeting from the worker or any sort of recognition of their entry at all besides the cheery doorbell that rang behind them.
The weird, atmosphere was not lost on Hazel. Something wasn't right. She hesitantly approached the counter. "Um, excuse me. Hi I was wondering, did you see a woman come in here with this girl? They got separated, we're trying to find her again."
The man at the counter ignored Hazel as if he didn't hear her at all. His eyes did seem to see the little girl standing behind her.
"What's wrong, kiddo? Are you lost or something?"
The little girl shook her head no and shuffled over to stand behind Hazel, hiding her face. "No, mommy's just not in here."
Hazel was taken aback by the man's apparent rudeness. "Umm, I asked a question." Hazel tried to keep her tone civil but with all that happened recently her temper was short.
"Have you checked outside?" the man asked as he handed off another scoop, this time rainbow sherbet, to a waiting customer.
"Yeaah," the little girl sniffled, " But I didn't see her. "
The man gave her a gentle smile and nodded. "Alright, wait right there while I finish this next order. I'll see if I can find her for you."
While the man turned away to complete the next order, the little girl tugged at Hazel's shirt. "Mommy isn't here. You promised to help me find her
Hazel's fustration turned to confusion she was going to ask if the man could see her when girl's statement caught her off guard.
"I'm sorry, sweetie but it doesn't look like she's here do you know where else she might of gone? What does she look like?" Then she turned her attention to the man. "Um, hello?"
It was if she wasn't even there. Hazel started to grow frightened. Was this part of the test?
"Momma looks like me, but taller...and pretty..." she said, bottom lip starting to tremble again, "B-but she isn’t here. I d-don't like the ice-cream man. "
The man and every customer in the shop continued to ignore Hazel. All but the little girl who was beginning to cloud up again.
Now Hazel was ticked, really ticked. She didn't know what kind of game Lady was playing or how she paid these jerks to help, she didn't care. If there was one thing she couldn't stand was being ignored and seeing a little girl brought to tears. Especially, when she had something important. She stalked closer to the counter. "Listen, jerk. I'm not playing anymore are you going to help me or not?"
The man ignored her still. No one heard her or acknowledged her presence at the counter. The little girl began to cry again, first with a little sob and then a more wretched cry of fear.
She tugged on Hazel's shirt, "I d-don't ww-ant to b-be here....I wanna gooo. I wanna find-d mommy!"
"Yeah, we can go." Hazel looked on last time at the man. She waved her hand in his face and went "Heloooo," before turning and stringing out of the shop, with the little girl in tow. Once they stepped outside she took several breaths, trying to calm herself. Everyone in that's shop didn't acknowledge her. It was as if she wasn't there. Now she had to figure out what to do next. She rubbed her fingers on her temples. "Alright," she said finally. "We'll try the police station." She knelt in front of the girl "My name's Hazel by the way, what's your name?"
The man behind the counter saw nothing of Hazel as he finished up the last customer, only noticing the little girl had left when he was done scooping the ice cream.
In the streets people passed them without paying a bit of attention, just as before. The police station was a mere block down the street and two cop cars could be seen parked on the curb outside.
The little girl's wispy blonde hair was stuck to her red cheeks from crying and her nose was running. "L-Lily," she mumbled thickly, "J-just like momma."
"Aw that's a pretty name." She smiled reassuringly "We'll go see if the policemen will help. And get that nose of yours blown." She squeezed Lily's hand. "Let's go."
Inside the station a uniformed officer sat behind the counter plugging away at the computer under the florescent lights. Another officer entered from another office to the side and her eyes immediately landed on Lily.
"Oh hi, sweetie," she said kneeling in her gear, "Are you by yourself?"
Now, Hazel was certain something was up. A cop wouldn't ignore her. She placed a hand on the officer's shoulder. "Hey, can you hear me?" The panic she felt caused her voice to catch at the end. This was not good. Not good at all.
The cop acted as if Hazel had never addressed or even touched her and extended a hand to Lily.
"It's okay, I'm the good guy. Lets see if we can find where you parents are."
The little girl shied away from the officer and the woman gave her a gentle nod. "It's okay to be scared."
The cop reached up to her dispatch radio at her chest and spoke into. "Hey Marv, have we had anyone looking for a lost child, blue eyed with blonde hair?"
"Nope, nobody's come in yet," came the crackling reply.
"Roger, thanks."
The cop looked back to Lily and reached out to touch her shoulder. "Come with me and we'll find your parents, okay?"
Lily let go of Hazel and ran toward the door terrified.
"Hey! Come back!" Hazel took off after Lily. Why was going on? Why couldn't anyone see Hazel except Lily. What game are they playing? Tears started to come down Hazel's face.
It was as if she didn't exist to them anymore. "Lily!" Hazel cried out through her tears. She was frustrated, tired and wanted this to be over.
Lily ran down the sidewalk crying, but was met by another officer and a woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes who looked as if she might cry too.
"MOMMY!!!"
The lost little girl trampled toward the woman and immediately the woman dropped to her knees, to scoop her up.
"Sweetheart! I was so worried! Where have you been?"
"I was playing an' I fell...and then a nice lady found me."
The woman looked around with her baby in her arms, her eyes searching for a moment before landing not on Hazel, but on someone behind her.
"You were the one who found my little girl? Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Whoever the woman was speaking to walked past Hazel and up to the reunited pair. It was a woman...who looked exactly like her.
"Oh it was no trouble at all. Lily is a very sweet girl, " the copy said to the mother. Then she turned and looked directly at Hazel with a bit of a smile, "Isn't she?"
Hazel stared at the doppelganger in shock. "What!?" Her mind was racing a mile a minute. "What are you doing? I'm the one that found her!"
"Thank you so much...I was so worried about my Lily, what's your name?"
"Hazel, and it was no trouble at all no need to thank me."
The two conversed for a moment as if Hazel didnt exist, and then the mother and daughter went on their way. The copy turned to her and leaned against the patrol car at the curb.
"Its not nice to shout," she said, "And I you may have found her, but I'm the one who got the credit."
"But you're not me. You're just a copy. You knew I was here. Why didn't you say anything?" Was the doppelganger trying to replace her? Did Lady know about this?
"Of course, I knew you were there," she replied with a shrug, "but is that really whats important here?"
"You are not me." Hazel hissed. "You didn't do this I did." Hazel couldn't believe it. The doppelganger actually had the gall to take the credit with her standing there. "Tell her I did it."
The copy turned and looked at the mother and daughter walking away happily. The mother held her close and kissed her cheek as they walked down the sidewalk in the bright afternoon light.
Then the copy sighed and glanced over to the Hazel with a half smile. "When you see them like that, does it really matter who they think helped them? They're happy and whole again."
"I-I" Hazel stutterd. She looked down, defeated, she hadn't thought about that. "I don't know." She said after a long pause.
The copy of her arched a brow at her and lifted off the patrol car, turning to leave. "Maybe its something you should think about then, Hazel."
As she walked away, the world around them faded away to darkness, as if it was never there at all.
A long moment passed in the pitch black and silence, before blue lights began to flicker here and there, surrounding her on the floors and covering the walls.
As more appeared, more of the room was visible until a bright flash of light revealed a massive archway made of the same crystal as the dome of the Carenium.
Inside was a swirling blue mist so thick it was impossible to tell if anything lay on the other side. Its light cut through the darkness as if it had it own life and scrawling letters were etched into the crystal:
Where the darkness is its deepest, and the light is the brightest
Hazel blinked in confusion as her surroundings change. She hesitated for a moment, then stepped through the archway.
Sections in italics by @aryamajor
There was no reply.
Instead, she found herself standing in the middle of the sidewalk that was very familiar. To her right, sat her library and through the window's she could see her comfy chair waiting for her. The American flag on pole out front snapped in the breeze as people passed her by, walking past to their own business.
Further down the side walk, a blonde haired girl sat on the curb clutching her knee as tears streamed down her face. Beside her sat a ragged stuffed unicorn, but it offered no comfort as the girl cried over her skinned knee.
The sudden change in scenery was disorienting. Alex and Eyrth were nowhere to be seen. She panicked "Hey, what's going o-" then she paused, when she saw the little girl. Okay keep calm. They probably got transported to a different area or something you just need to find them again. She swallowed and walked over to the little girl. "Hey, you okay?
People passed by ignoring the both of them, only the little girl seemed to notice her. Her big blue eyes were full of tears and her bottom lip trembled as she looked up to Hazel half scared, and half relieved.
"I f-f-fell," she cried, "I lost momma an-and fell. M-my knee hwurts."
Hazel's eyes softened at the teary eyed youngster. "I'm so sorry. Here let me see." She knelt down next to the child and examined the knee. If Eyrth were here he'd have some kind of first aid kit on hand. But he wasn't. The scrape didn't look bad. "Do you know where your mommy went? How about your mommy's cell phone number? We can go to the library and call her from there." She reached over and placed the unicorn in the little girl's lap. "I'm a bit lost too so we can go find our way together." She smiled encouragingly and held out her hand. "Sound like a plan?"
"O-ok-kay," she sniffled, reaching out taking her hand, "I d-dont know where s-she w-went or a n-number."
She stood with one hand in Hazel's and the other clutching the unicorn in the other. "We c-came from the ice cream pp-lace."
Down the street from the library there was a group of shops, one of which had a minty colored ice cone painted on the window front. "M-maybe she went back?'
"Okay, We'll check there." Hazel looked back over to the library. It felt weird being back where it started, but she didn't dwell on it for long. With the child's hand in hers she walked towards the shop. One step at a time she kept telling herself. Keep moving you'll make it. She was starting to feel how the child probably felt; lost, uncertain, afraid. It was as if she was in a dream. Only she wasn't.
As they walked together toward the ice cream shop, people on the streets passed them by as if they didn't exist. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to the sniffling girl with a skinned knee and her rescuer. Entering the shop there was a man standing behind the counter scooping up a chocolate chip mint ice cream cone for a woman. There was no friendly greeting from the worker or any sort of recognition of their entry at all besides the cheery doorbell that rang behind them.
The weird, atmosphere was not lost on Hazel. Something wasn't right. She hesitantly approached the counter. "Um, excuse me. Hi I was wondering, did you see a woman come in here with this girl? They got separated, we're trying to find her again."
The man at the counter ignored Hazel as if he didn't hear her at all. His eyes did seem to see the little girl standing behind her.
"What's wrong, kiddo? Are you lost or something?"
The little girl shook her head no and shuffled over to stand behind Hazel, hiding her face. "No, mommy's just not in here."
Hazel was taken aback by the man's apparent rudeness. "Umm, I asked a question." Hazel tried to keep her tone civil but with all that happened recently her temper was short.
"Have you checked outside?" the man asked as he handed off another scoop, this time rainbow sherbet, to a waiting customer.
"Yeaah," the little girl sniffled, " But I didn't see her. "
The man gave her a gentle smile and nodded. "Alright, wait right there while I finish this next order. I'll see if I can find her for you."
While the man turned away to complete the next order, the little girl tugged at Hazel's shirt. "Mommy isn't here. You promised to help me find her
Hazel's fustration turned to confusion she was going to ask if the man could see her when girl's statement caught her off guard.
"I'm sorry, sweetie but it doesn't look like she's here do you know where else she might of gone? What does she look like?" Then she turned her attention to the man. "Um, hello?"
It was if she wasn't even there. Hazel started to grow frightened. Was this part of the test?
"Momma looks like me, but taller...and pretty..." she said, bottom lip starting to tremble again, "B-but she isn’t here. I d-don't like the ice-cream man. "
The man and every customer in the shop continued to ignore Hazel. All but the little girl who was beginning to cloud up again.
Now Hazel was ticked, really ticked. She didn't know what kind of game Lady was playing or how she paid these jerks to help, she didn't care. If there was one thing she couldn't stand was being ignored and seeing a little girl brought to tears. Especially, when she had something important. She stalked closer to the counter. "Listen, jerk. I'm not playing anymore are you going to help me or not?"
The man ignored her still. No one heard her or acknowledged her presence at the counter. The little girl began to cry again, first with a little sob and then a more wretched cry of fear.
She tugged on Hazel's shirt, "I d-don't ww-ant to b-be here....I wanna gooo. I wanna find-d mommy!"
"Yeah, we can go." Hazel looked on last time at the man. She waved her hand in his face and went "Heloooo," before turning and stringing out of the shop, with the little girl in tow. Once they stepped outside she took several breaths, trying to calm herself. Everyone in that's shop didn't acknowledge her. It was as if she wasn't there. Now she had to figure out what to do next. She rubbed her fingers on her temples. "Alright," she said finally. "We'll try the police station." She knelt in front of the girl "My name's Hazel by the way, what's your name?"
The man behind the counter saw nothing of Hazel as he finished up the last customer, only noticing the little girl had left when he was done scooping the ice cream.
In the streets people passed them without paying a bit of attention, just as before. The police station was a mere block down the street and two cop cars could be seen parked on the curb outside.
The little girl's wispy blonde hair was stuck to her red cheeks from crying and her nose was running. "L-Lily," she mumbled thickly, "J-just like momma."
"Aw that's a pretty name." She smiled reassuringly "We'll go see if the policemen will help. And get that nose of yours blown." She squeezed Lily's hand. "Let's go."
Inside the station a uniformed officer sat behind the counter plugging away at the computer under the florescent lights. Another officer entered from another office to the side and her eyes immediately landed on Lily.
"Oh hi, sweetie," she said kneeling in her gear, "Are you by yourself?"
Now, Hazel was certain something was up. A cop wouldn't ignore her. She placed a hand on the officer's shoulder. "Hey, can you hear me?" The panic she felt caused her voice to catch at the end. This was not good. Not good at all.
The cop acted as if Hazel had never addressed or even touched her and extended a hand to Lily.
"It's okay, I'm the good guy. Lets see if we can find where you parents are."
The little girl shied away from the officer and the woman gave her a gentle nod. "It's okay to be scared."
The cop reached up to her dispatch radio at her chest and spoke into. "Hey Marv, have we had anyone looking for a lost child, blue eyed with blonde hair?"
"Nope, nobody's come in yet," came the crackling reply.
"Roger, thanks."
The cop looked back to Lily and reached out to touch her shoulder. "Come with me and we'll find your parents, okay?"
Lily let go of Hazel and ran toward the door terrified.
"Hey! Come back!" Hazel took off after Lily. Why was going on? Why couldn't anyone see Hazel except Lily. What game are they playing? Tears started to come down Hazel's face.
It was as if she didn't exist to them anymore. "Lily!" Hazel cried out through her tears. She was frustrated, tired and wanted this to be over.
Lily ran down the sidewalk crying, but was met by another officer and a woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes who looked as if she might cry too.
"MOMMY!!!"
The lost little girl trampled toward the woman and immediately the woman dropped to her knees, to scoop her up.
"Sweetheart! I was so worried! Where have you been?"
"I was playing an' I fell...and then a nice lady found me."
The woman looked around with her baby in her arms, her eyes searching for a moment before landing not on Hazel, but on someone behind her.
"You were the one who found my little girl? Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Whoever the woman was speaking to walked past Hazel and up to the reunited pair. It was a woman...who looked exactly like her.
"Oh it was no trouble at all. Lily is a very sweet girl, " the copy said to the mother. Then she turned and looked directly at Hazel with a bit of a smile, "Isn't she?"
Hazel stared at the doppelganger in shock. "What!?" Her mind was racing a mile a minute. "What are you doing? I'm the one that found her!"
"Thank you so much...I was so worried about my Lily, what's your name?"
"Hazel, and it was no trouble at all no need to thank me."
The two conversed for a moment as if Hazel didnt exist, and then the mother and daughter went on their way. The copy turned to her and leaned against the patrol car at the curb.
"Its not nice to shout," she said, "And I you may have found her, but I'm the one who got the credit."
"But you're not me. You're just a copy. You knew I was here. Why didn't you say anything?" Was the doppelganger trying to replace her? Did Lady know about this?
"Of course, I knew you were there," she replied with a shrug, "but is that really whats important here?"
"You are not me." Hazel hissed. "You didn't do this I did." Hazel couldn't believe it. The doppelganger actually had the gall to take the credit with her standing there. "Tell her I did it."
The copy turned and looked at the mother and daughter walking away happily. The mother held her close and kissed her cheek as they walked down the sidewalk in the bright afternoon light.
Then the copy sighed and glanced over to the Hazel with a half smile. "When you see them like that, does it really matter who they think helped them? They're happy and whole again."
"I-I" Hazel stutterd. She looked down, defeated, she hadn't thought about that. "I don't know." She said after a long pause.
The copy of her arched a brow at her and lifted off the patrol car, turning to leave. "Maybe its something you should think about then, Hazel."
As she walked away, the world around them faded away to darkness, as if it was never there at all.
A long moment passed in the pitch black and silence, before blue lights began to flicker here and there, surrounding her on the floors and covering the walls.
As more appeared, more of the room was visible until a bright flash of light revealed a massive archway made of the same crystal as the dome of the Carenium.
Inside was a swirling blue mist so thick it was impossible to tell if anything lay on the other side. Its light cut through the darkness as if it had it own life and scrawling letters were etched into the crystal:
Where the darkness is its deepest, and the light is the brightest
Hazel blinked in confusion as her surroundings change. She hesitated for a moment, then stepped through the archway.
Sections in italics by @aryamajor
Victor waited with the snoozing James, his tinny sounding snore echoing through the Panel Room in a steady rhythm. The constant rumble was enough that he didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming into the room behind him.
"Victor."
A calm, but weak voice called his name and he turned to see Lady standing in the doorway, hair a mess and covered in ichor mixed with sand. She was okay. Relief flooded through him as she gave him a nod and a little smile. He snatched up his crutch and leaped to his foot, hopping over to her as fast as possible. "M'lady!"
Lady held a finger to her lips, then pointed at James who continued to sleep, undisturbed against the door frame. Victor nodded in understanding as she walked over slowly. He knew the effects of Sperest well, having seen them many times before. She would be weak for awhile, and her body sore from channeling so much energy at once. Those were mild compared to what could happen to her though. He'd seen that before too, and he had no desire to see anyone have that sort of pain, much less Lady.
"They haven't come out yet, m'lady. You don't think they..."
She shook her head and sand trickled down from her hair. "No, they will be fine. We just need to give them time."
Victor nodded, trusting in her as he always did. He didn't know how she always seemed to know what to do, or at least stay so calm when she didn't know. It was one of the things the Black Guard loved about their shield maiden, her quiet but confident calm.
"And you m'lady?" he asked, catching her eyes for a moment.
"The usual, but nothing more," she assured him.
The soldier opened his mouth to reply, when the room grew dark and blue runes began glow from every inch of the stone. Someone had made it through the Forge. The wooden dias in the middle of the room began to sink, disappearing into the floor without a sound, and leaving a black hole behind. A long minute passed and the dias rose again carrying three figures on it. Eryth. Alex. Hazel.
All of them lying on their backs, knocked out cold, but clutching weapons in their hands. Two bows and a pole-arm with a spike and hammer, a bec de corbin.
Despite her exhaustion, seeing these new Guardians emerge seemed to give her a spot of energy. They had not been rejected but the Forge, but embraced as she knew they would be. She walked over to them on the dias and nodded to Victor. "Help me get them upstairs."
The soldier nodded and carefully stepped up to the dias as he pulled a little satchel from his belt and handed to her "Shall we wake James as well?"
Lady glanced to her comrade snoozing at the doorway. "No, let him sleep. We'll take him up stairs too."
He nodded and began sprinkling some of the refined fairy dust over Hazel and Alex, adding a little of his own energy to the mix. Their knocked out bodies began to lift from the ground and float gently over the floor. Victor paused when made it to Eryth.
"Lady..."
She stopped nudging Alex along and looked over at Eryth. The man had gone through one of the most drastic changes she had ever seen emerge from the Forge, including James. He would be in shock when he woke and it was probably best he wasn't alone.
"I know, Victor. Take him to his room and stay with him."
With his orders given, the soldier sprinkled some of the dust over the nurse and he began to float, dragging a long scaled tail over the floor.
They floated the newly dubbed Guardians through the halls, tucking each into their rooms and leaving their weapons beside them. It was always good to keep manifestations of the soul close at hand.
While Victor stayed with Eryth, Lady returned to retrieve her sleeping friend. She sprinkled the last of the dust on him, using her own energy. Even using that much of her strength right now made her feel dizzy. James' sleeping form began to drift into the air as she picked up Lumil so it wouldn't drop. The weapon was warm, nearly hot in her scarred hands, but it remained calm for her, consenting to being picked up. Lady nudged James up the stairs and to his room before making sure he was safely floating over the bed. The dust would wear off soon and he would drift down the bed. She slipped a blanket over him, making sure Lumil was by his side, then left to go clean herself up.
"Victor."
A calm, but weak voice called his name and he turned to see Lady standing in the doorway, hair a mess and covered in ichor mixed with sand. She was okay. Relief flooded through him as she gave him a nod and a little smile. He snatched up his crutch and leaped to his foot, hopping over to her as fast as possible. "M'lady!"
Lady held a finger to her lips, then pointed at James who continued to sleep, undisturbed against the door frame. Victor nodded in understanding as she walked over slowly. He knew the effects of Sperest well, having seen them many times before. She would be weak for awhile, and her body sore from channeling so much energy at once. Those were mild compared to what could happen to her though. He'd seen that before too, and he had no desire to see anyone have that sort of pain, much less Lady.
"They haven't come out yet, m'lady. You don't think they..."
She shook her head and sand trickled down from her hair. "No, they will be fine. We just need to give them time."
Victor nodded, trusting in her as he always did. He didn't know how she always seemed to know what to do, or at least stay so calm when she didn't know. It was one of the things the Black Guard loved about their shield maiden, her quiet but confident calm.
"And you m'lady?" he asked, catching her eyes for a moment.
"The usual, but nothing more," she assured him.
The soldier opened his mouth to reply, when the room grew dark and blue runes began glow from every inch of the stone. Someone had made it through the Forge. The wooden dias in the middle of the room began to sink, disappearing into the floor without a sound, and leaving a black hole behind. A long minute passed and the dias rose again carrying three figures on it. Eryth. Alex. Hazel.
All of them lying on their backs, knocked out cold, but clutching weapons in their hands. Two bows and a pole-arm with a spike and hammer, a bec de corbin.
Despite her exhaustion, seeing these new Guardians emerge seemed to give her a spot of energy. They had not been rejected but the Forge, but embraced as she knew they would be. She walked over to them on the dias and nodded to Victor. "Help me get them upstairs."
The soldier nodded and carefully stepped up to the dias as he pulled a little satchel from his belt and handed to her "Shall we wake James as well?"
Lady glanced to her comrade snoozing at the doorway. "No, let him sleep. We'll take him up stairs too."
He nodded and began sprinkling some of the refined fairy dust over Hazel and Alex, adding a little of his own energy to the mix. Their knocked out bodies began to lift from the ground and float gently over the floor. Victor paused when made it to Eryth.
"Lady..."
She stopped nudging Alex along and looked over at Eryth. The man had gone through one of the most drastic changes she had ever seen emerge from the Forge, including James. He would be in shock when he woke and it was probably best he wasn't alone.
"I know, Victor. Take him to his room and stay with him."
With his orders given, the soldier sprinkled some of the dust over the nurse and he began to float, dragging a long scaled tail over the floor.
They floated the newly dubbed Guardians through the halls, tucking each into their rooms and leaving their weapons beside them. It was always good to keep manifestations of the soul close at hand.
While Victor stayed with Eryth, Lady returned to retrieve her sleeping friend. She sprinkled the last of the dust on him, using her own energy. Even using that much of her strength right now made her feel dizzy. James' sleeping form began to drift into the air as she picked up Lumil so it wouldn't drop. The weapon was warm, nearly hot in her scarred hands, but it remained calm for her, consenting to being picked up. Lady nudged James up the stairs and to his room before making sure he was safely floating over the bed. The dust would wear off soon and he would drift down the bed. She slipped a blanket over him, making sure Lumil was by his side, then left to go clean herself up.
Emee reappeared at the foot of Eyrth's bed, sitting up on his hind legs and looking over him over with his big blue eyes. "Ery?"
Eryth rolled slightly in his sleepiness, consciousness starting to come to his closed eyes. Slowly, he opened them, looking at the pillow by his face and the door of the room before he looked across the blankets at the little. They would need to go to the forge soon and... no, they went to the forge. At least, he thought they did. It seemed foggy in his mind, a strange fever dream of a lion and a serpent and a clone... "Emmee?" He mumbled, noticing that just past the little housepet he seemed to still be wearing black boots... or...
He wiggled a toe, nearly jumping as he realised that a foot that was not his wiggled before him. He straightened up quickly, only to fall over on his side as a shot of pain went through him like he had sat on his own hand too hard. He ended up on the floor in a mess of blankets, scrambling slightly to try and get up. It felt like something was grabbing onto him by his tailbone, and it was only after a second of struggling with the blankets that he noticed his arms. His black, scaly arms, his hands tipped in short claws. Hastily, he pulled the rest of the blankets off and undid his shirt. Scales. Everywhere was scales. His feet looked more like they were from a dinosaur and-
A tail! He had a flippin' tail! It was as long as his legs, at least, and nearly as thick. He grabbed the end of it, a strange feeling of claws touching a tail - his claws touching his tail, going up his spine.
"Eryth....Eryth!" Victor said, trying to stand. The man was panicking, not that he didn't blame him, but he was going to hurt himself if he didn't calm down. "Take a few deep breaths."
"Victor?!" Eryth's voice was half giddy excitement, half horror. "I have scales! I have scales?! How-?!"
He grabbed his elongated snout, feeling out what used to be his nose and was now most of his face. "And a snout?! And claws?! And-" His hands went to his pants, pulling them open slightly for a private peek. Whatever he saw, he looked mortified. A high pitched noise as he inhaled sharply was the last conscious thing he did before he fainted.
Victor winced as Eyrth hit the floor, out cold again."Deep...breaths...right." He shuddered to think what the nurse had seen down his pants and shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought. He didn't have anymore dust to float him back on to the bed nor could he lift him. With a sigh, the soldier eased himself to the floor, and gently tapped on Eyrth's scaly cheek. "Wake up, C'mon."
Eryth opened one eye again, a little confused at what just happened. It fell down to his snout, clear in his view, and he sat up again, putting his arms out to catch himself from a wave of vertigo. "This is real?! I actually-... And...?" He grabbed his tail again, tugging on it gently as if to make sure it was really his. "This... This is..."
Victor held up his hand, balancing as best he could next to his frantic friend. "It's real, I assure you. You made it through the Forge and it changed you. There's probably a mirror on the inside of your wardrobe. You should go take a look."
"Yea!" Eryth took his hand, getting to his feet before wobbling slightly. These new feet were far from human, and the tail ironically threw him off balance, but the instinctual movements were already coming in, his tail shifting slightly to keep him steady. "Ok... Walking is weird... and..." His tongue shot out of his mouth briefly, the fork tasting at the air before it darted away. "And I can smell things with my tongue. Hehe, this is so strange. If this is a dream, don't ever wake me up, okay?" His hand shook a little as he put it on the handle of the wardrobe. Slowly, he opened it up to look at the mirror within.
An alien looked back. His eyes were familiar enough, but nothing else was. Especially not the patch of blindingly bright electric blue below his neck and around it on a- "A frill! I'm a frillie?! Holy shit, I'm a frillie! Victor, I'm a frillie! And a good looking one at that." He turned in the mirror, inspecting his tail and the earless sides of his head. "This is incredible. A frillie. Me."
Victor sat back on his butt and grabbed his crutch, starting to bring himself back to his feet. "You...like it?" he asked, hesitantly.
"I love it. I think. I still feel a little dizzy, so I might just be crazy." His hands lifted up the frill around his jawline, the sheet of scales was warm to the touch, but he had no clue how to work t. "Are the others ok? Did they change a lot too?"
Eyrth's reaction threw Victor off a little. I t certainly wasn't the reaction James' had when he finally woke from the Forge. "Hazel and Alex are both fine as far as I know," Victor replied as he hobbled over, "They haven't changed from what we can tell, unless its a change we just can't see yet The Forge will do things like that sometimes."
"That's good. We all made it, huh." He turned in the mirror again, pulling up a pant leg and looking at his new feet. "You have no idea how many people back home would kill for this to happen to them. It's..." His enthusiasm died suddenly as realisation dawned on him. "I can't go home anymore, can I?"
The soldiers eyes cast to the floor. "You could, but you would remain looking the same."
Eyrth's reaction threw Victor off a little. I t certainly wasn't the reaction James' had when he finally woke from the Forge. "Hazel and Alex are both fine as far as I know," Victor replied as he hobbled over, "They haven't changed from what we can tell, unless its a change we just can't see yet The Forge will do things like that sometimes."
The soldier crossed the room and put a hand on Eryth's shoulder. "I don't know what will happen. A lot of things are going to change, even if we beat the Shadows. I do know one thing. You'll always have a home here. You're a Guardian and you'll always belong."
"Thanks, Victor." Eryth kept staring in the mirror for a bit, collecting his thoughts and getting used to the stranger he was.
"What about the weapons? What happened with them?"
"Over there," he grinned, nudging his head toward the bed, "It's usually not a good idea to pick up another Guardian's weapon though. Sometimes they don't like being touched by others."
He turned, his tail thwacking against the wood rather uncomfortably. "Ow."
The soldier hobbled back, giving Eryth plenty of space to make it to the bed. "A tail will take some getting used to, I think," he chuckled.
Next to the bed there was a long polearm, at least seven feet long with a wicked looking head. The top was capped with a simple enough spear, easily sharpened and replaced, and more than enough to deter someone from getting too close. One side held a set of four blunted spikes, not meant for piercing but rather for brute blunt force impact to smash bones through armour. The other held a long, curved spike, the namesake of the weapon. "Hey... I know what that is. It's from the renaissance, right? A crow's beak, bec de corbin..." He took a few steps over, still finding his footing, and crouched down. Surprisingly, having a tail was not all that difficult right off the bat, and he managed not to fall on his ass, but just barely. "You guys can show me how to use it?"
Victor grinned as he looked over the weapon and then to Eryth. "We can show you. I was a spearman myself, in the Black Guard."
He reached out, picking up the spiked stick daintily and carefully. There was a strange, elegant brutality to the weapon. A device meant to pummel someone artfully, a weapon to best knights and thieves alike. Shadows... it would remain to be seen. "Not exactly a scalpel, now is it?"
"No, but when you become a master at your weapon, it will become as precise as one. First, it needs a name though. All weapons of this caliber are given a name by their wielder."
"A name? Well... I don't know. A bec de corbin.... Could just name it Corbin really. Crow. French is a good enough language I guess. Bonjour, je m'appelle Eryth and all that."
Victor raised a brow at Eryth. He didn't know French or really what it was other than a human world language, but it sounded nice and Crow sounded good. "Corbin is a fitting name, if you're up to it we can go see if the others are awake. I'm sure Lady would like to talk with you too, if she isn't resting."
"Corbin it is then. Seems a little unwieldy to carry around all the time, should I take him with me?"
"Sure, just walk with it upright," Victor chuckled, "Don't want to impale anybody by accident."
"Of course." Eryth turned Corbin upwards, resting it on his shoulder slightly before taking a few careful steps forwards to the door. With his hand resting on the handle, he was able to support himself right up to when he finally opened the door, swinging it inwards and stepping out into the hall a little faster than he wanted to, which in turn lead his next step to be a little faster, and so on until he ran right into the wall infront of him, falling down and landing on his tail.
Eryth rolled slightly in his sleepiness, consciousness starting to come to his closed eyes. Slowly, he opened them, looking at the pillow by his face and the door of the room before he looked across the blankets at the little. They would need to go to the forge soon and... no, they went to the forge. At least, he thought they did. It seemed foggy in his mind, a strange fever dream of a lion and a serpent and a clone... "Emmee?" He mumbled, noticing that just past the little housepet he seemed to still be wearing black boots... or...
He wiggled a toe, nearly jumping as he realised that a foot that was not his wiggled before him. He straightened up quickly, only to fall over on his side as a shot of pain went through him like he had sat on his own hand too hard. He ended up on the floor in a mess of blankets, scrambling slightly to try and get up. It felt like something was grabbing onto him by his tailbone, and it was only after a second of struggling with the blankets that he noticed his arms. His black, scaly arms, his hands tipped in short claws. Hastily, he pulled the rest of the blankets off and undid his shirt. Scales. Everywhere was scales. His feet looked more like they were from a dinosaur and-
A tail! He had a flippin' tail! It was as long as his legs, at least, and nearly as thick. He grabbed the end of it, a strange feeling of claws touching a tail - his claws touching his tail, going up his spine.
"Eryth....Eryth!" Victor said, trying to stand. The man was panicking, not that he didn't blame him, but he was going to hurt himself if he didn't calm down. "Take a few deep breaths."
"Victor?!" Eryth's voice was half giddy excitement, half horror. "I have scales! I have scales?! How-?!"
He grabbed his elongated snout, feeling out what used to be his nose and was now most of his face. "And a snout?! And claws?! And-" His hands went to his pants, pulling them open slightly for a private peek. Whatever he saw, he looked mortified. A high pitched noise as he inhaled sharply was the last conscious thing he did before he fainted.
Victor winced as Eyrth hit the floor, out cold again."Deep...breaths...right." He shuddered to think what the nurse had seen down his pants and shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought. He didn't have anymore dust to float him back on to the bed nor could he lift him. With a sigh, the soldier eased himself to the floor, and gently tapped on Eyrth's scaly cheek. "Wake up, C'mon."
Eryth opened one eye again, a little confused at what just happened. It fell down to his snout, clear in his view, and he sat up again, putting his arms out to catch himself from a wave of vertigo. "This is real?! I actually-... And...?" He grabbed his tail again, tugging on it gently as if to make sure it was really his. "This... This is..."
Victor held up his hand, balancing as best he could next to his frantic friend. "It's real, I assure you. You made it through the Forge and it changed you. There's probably a mirror on the inside of your wardrobe. You should go take a look."
"Yea!" Eryth took his hand, getting to his feet before wobbling slightly. These new feet were far from human, and the tail ironically threw him off balance, but the instinctual movements were already coming in, his tail shifting slightly to keep him steady. "Ok... Walking is weird... and..." His tongue shot out of his mouth briefly, the fork tasting at the air before it darted away. "And I can smell things with my tongue. Hehe, this is so strange. If this is a dream, don't ever wake me up, okay?" His hand shook a little as he put it on the handle of the wardrobe. Slowly, he opened it up to look at the mirror within.
An alien looked back. His eyes were familiar enough, but nothing else was. Especially not the patch of blindingly bright electric blue below his neck and around it on a- "A frill! I'm a frillie?! Holy shit, I'm a frillie! Victor, I'm a frillie! And a good looking one at that." He turned in the mirror, inspecting his tail and the earless sides of his head. "This is incredible. A frillie. Me."
Victor sat back on his butt and grabbed his crutch, starting to bring himself back to his feet. "You...like it?" he asked, hesitantly.
"I love it. I think. I still feel a little dizzy, so I might just be crazy." His hands lifted up the frill around his jawline, the sheet of scales was warm to the touch, but he had no clue how to work t. "Are the others ok? Did they change a lot too?"
Eyrth's reaction threw Victor off a little. I t certainly wasn't the reaction James' had when he finally woke from the Forge. "Hazel and Alex are both fine as far as I know," Victor replied as he hobbled over, "They haven't changed from what we can tell, unless its a change we just can't see yet The Forge will do things like that sometimes."
"That's good. We all made it, huh." He turned in the mirror again, pulling up a pant leg and looking at his new feet. "You have no idea how many people back home would kill for this to happen to them. It's..." His enthusiasm died suddenly as realisation dawned on him. "I can't go home anymore, can I?"
The soldiers eyes cast to the floor. "You could, but you would remain looking the same."
Eyrth's reaction threw Victor off a little. I t certainly wasn't the reaction James' had when he finally woke from the Forge. "Hazel and Alex are both fine as far as I know," Victor replied as he hobbled over, "They haven't changed from what we can tell, unless its a change we just can't see yet The Forge will do things like that sometimes."
The soldier crossed the room and put a hand on Eryth's shoulder. "I don't know what will happen. A lot of things are going to change, even if we beat the Shadows. I do know one thing. You'll always have a home here. You're a Guardian and you'll always belong."
"Thanks, Victor." Eryth kept staring in the mirror for a bit, collecting his thoughts and getting used to the stranger he was.
"What about the weapons? What happened with them?"
"Over there," he grinned, nudging his head toward the bed, "It's usually not a good idea to pick up another Guardian's weapon though. Sometimes they don't like being touched by others."
He turned, his tail thwacking against the wood rather uncomfortably. "Ow."
The soldier hobbled back, giving Eryth plenty of space to make it to the bed. "A tail will take some getting used to, I think," he chuckled.
Next to the bed there was a long polearm, at least seven feet long with a wicked looking head. The top was capped with a simple enough spear, easily sharpened and replaced, and more than enough to deter someone from getting too close. One side held a set of four blunted spikes, not meant for piercing but rather for brute blunt force impact to smash bones through armour. The other held a long, curved spike, the namesake of the weapon. "Hey... I know what that is. It's from the renaissance, right? A crow's beak, bec de corbin..." He took a few steps over, still finding his footing, and crouched down. Surprisingly, having a tail was not all that difficult right off the bat, and he managed not to fall on his ass, but just barely. "You guys can show me how to use it?"
Victor grinned as he looked over the weapon and then to Eryth. "We can show you. I was a spearman myself, in the Black Guard."
He reached out, picking up the spiked stick daintily and carefully. There was a strange, elegant brutality to the weapon. A device meant to pummel someone artfully, a weapon to best knights and thieves alike. Shadows... it would remain to be seen. "Not exactly a scalpel, now is it?"
"No, but when you become a master at your weapon, it will become as precise as one. First, it needs a name though. All weapons of this caliber are given a name by their wielder."
"A name? Well... I don't know. A bec de corbin.... Could just name it Corbin really. Crow. French is a good enough language I guess. Bonjour, je m'appelle Eryth and all that."
Victor raised a brow at Eryth. He didn't know French or really what it was other than a human world language, but it sounded nice and Crow sounded good. "Corbin is a fitting name, if you're up to it we can go see if the others are awake. I'm sure Lady would like to talk with you too, if she isn't resting."
"Corbin it is then. Seems a little unwieldy to carry around all the time, should I take him with me?"
"Sure, just walk with it upright," Victor chuckled, "Don't want to impale anybody by accident."
"Of course." Eryth turned Corbin upwards, resting it on his shoulder slightly before taking a few careful steps forwards to the door. With his hand resting on the handle, he was able to support himself right up to when he finally opened the door, swinging it inwards and stepping out into the hall a little faster than he wanted to, which in turn lead his next step to be a little faster, and so on until he ran right into the wall infront of him, falling down and landing on his tail.
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6purplecats
Member
As Alex slowly regained consciousness, her first observation was that her bed was strangely comfortable this morning. It was soft… as if she was sleeping on a cloud. She frowned, her eyes still closed, wondering if this was because of that new mattress she had bought a week ago. Maybe it took some time for a mattress to get comfortable?
She rolled onto her side and stretched, then startled at the sound of something hard clattering onto the floor. She groaned and covered her head with a pillow. It wouldn’t be her messy apartment without some clutter left on her bed. She realized it probably wouldn’t be long before her alarm would go off and she would need to get ready for work. A curse, muffled by the pillow, escaped her.
“I don’t want to-“
-hear or do anything, but it sounds like you do. Isn't that weird?
The memories of the Forge, the Shadows and Otherworld launched Alex into an sitting position, any thoughts of sleep gone from her mind. She was back in Mallory- her- the bedroom, which could only mean one thing. She had made it. Her whole body stiffened as she realized what that meant. Slowly, she crawled over to the side of the bed and peeked. Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw, and she couldn't hold back a grin. "I knew it..."
It was a longbow. She carefully picked it up from the floor, handling it like a holy artifact. Its design seemed simple at first glance, but on closer inspection Alex noticed an intricate vine-like pattern carved into the upper and lower limb of the bow. The entire bow was made from a dark material Alex didn't recognize, and when she looked at it too intently she felt as if she was staring into the dark eyes of a beast. "This sure is... Otherworldly..." she whispered with a smile.
Whatever the material was, it was clear it did not lack in strength or flexibility. She would be able to do quite some damage from quite far away. Just the way she liked it.
Inspecting the bow from every angle, Alex felt as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. She couldn't help herself anymore; she needed to show someone. If she made it out, she had no doubt Eryth and Hazel did as well. She wanted to see them. Not quite caring about the fact that she was wearing the same clothes she had worn inside the forge and had slept in afterwards, she scrambled out of the bed towards the door. She looked around, trying to find anyone in the hallway.
She rolled onto her side and stretched, then startled at the sound of something hard clattering onto the floor. She groaned and covered her head with a pillow. It wouldn’t be her messy apartment without some clutter left on her bed. She realized it probably wouldn’t be long before her alarm would go off and she would need to get ready for work. A curse, muffled by the pillow, escaped her.
“I don’t want to-“
-hear or do anything, but it sounds like you do. Isn't that weird?
The memories of the Forge, the Shadows and Otherworld launched Alex into an sitting position, any thoughts of sleep gone from her mind. She was back in Mallory- her- the bedroom, which could only mean one thing. She had made it. Her whole body stiffened as she realized what that meant. Slowly, she crawled over to the side of the bed and peeked. Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw, and she couldn't hold back a grin. "I knew it..."
It was a longbow. She carefully picked it up from the floor, handling it like a holy artifact. Its design seemed simple at first glance, but on closer inspection Alex noticed an intricate vine-like pattern carved into the upper and lower limb of the bow. The entire bow was made from a dark material Alex didn't recognize, and when she looked at it too intently she felt as if she was staring into the dark eyes of a beast. "This sure is... Otherworldly..." she whispered with a smile.
Whatever the material was, it was clear it did not lack in strength or flexibility. She would be able to do quite some damage from quite far away. Just the way she liked it.
Inspecting the bow from every angle, Alex felt as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. She couldn't help herself anymore; she needed to show someone. If she made it out, she had no doubt Eryth and Hazel did as well. She wanted to see them. Not quite caring about the fact that she was wearing the same clothes she had worn inside the forge and had slept in afterwards, she scrambled out of the bed towards the door. She looked around, trying to find anyone in the hallway.
Glow
Punmaker Extrordinare
Hazel slowly awakened to find her self in bed. She stretched slowly, wondering how long she had until her alarm went off. She didn't particularly feel like going to work today but-
The memories came flooding back; Lady, Victor, The Forge, everything came back in a flood. Hazel sat up and stared blankly ahead. The doppelganger's words really struck home. How could she have been so stupid? All she was trying to do was be a hero, not help that little girl. She wasn't being heroic, she was just out for the glory. She put her legs over the side of the bed and stretched. That's when she noticed the object at the end of the bed. It looked like..
A bow? Hazel reached over and picked it up gently. It was a beautiful forest green color and quite elegantly made. It fit in her hand perfectly. She peered closer at the bow to discover intricate carvings in the wood. The quiver's color matched the bow. Each arrow had white feathers at the end and where a deep brown color.
"Wow," she whispered. She held the bow, gingerly, afraid that one false move would cause it to break. The events of the Forge seemed a distant memory. She took the bow and slung the quiver of arrows across her shoulder. Making her way across the room, she opened her door and stepped out into the hall. Alex would want to see this.
The memories came flooding back; Lady, Victor, The Forge, everything came back in a flood. Hazel sat up and stared blankly ahead. The doppelganger's words really struck home. How could she have been so stupid? All she was trying to do was be a hero, not help that little girl. She wasn't being heroic, she was just out for the glory. She put her legs over the side of the bed and stretched. That's when she noticed the object at the end of the bed. It looked like..
A bow? Hazel reached over and picked it up gently. It was a beautiful forest green color and quite elegantly made. It fit in her hand perfectly. She peered closer at the bow to discover intricate carvings in the wood. The quiver's color matched the bow. Each arrow had white feathers at the end and where a deep brown color.
"Wow," she whispered. She held the bow, gingerly, afraid that one false move would cause it to break. The events of the Forge seemed a distant memory. She took the bow and slung the quiver of arrows across her shoulder. Making her way across the room, she opened her door and stepped out into the hall. Alex would want to see this.
James awoke to the sounds of banging down the hall... Which could be more undead, which he doubted… or it could be the newbies waking up. He wondered if anyone had changed their forms and a flashback of himself breaking a table reminded him that either way it was battle stations. He stretched for a moment before heading off, lumil floating and following behind him.
Victor watched as Eyrth crashed to the floor and winced. The nurse was going to have to take it easy for a minute. "Maybe you should walk a bit slower...." he chuckled, before his eyes flicked up to see Alex's pale face coming down the hall. "Miss Alex! You're awake."
Alex smiled widely. “Victor! Look, I-“ It was then that her eyes fell on a… a lizard man? On the floor? She yelped and took a step back, then looked at Victor questioningly.
James appeared behind alex. "Yep. Someone changed. Isn't that the nurse fellow?"
Eryth rubbed his snout. "Springy legs too." He licked the air again, tasting a new scent. "Hi Alex."
Hi James. It is in fact that nurse fellow."
Alex’s eyes widened. “Eryth?! Oh my god you’re an Argonian!” She realized her volume was a bit high and coughed awkwardy. “I mean eh, you look great!”
Victor nodded to Alex, assuring her that this was , infact, Eyrth. If his words wasnt enough, Emee came scurrying into the hall and up the lizard man's leg to his shoulder. "Ery!"
"So, like the new form overall or want to..wait I do not think you can cry anymore."
"No, not an Argonian, silly." Eryth put his free hand under his frill, lifting it up slightly. "I'm a frillie! And the morph is absolutely stunning, a real frillie like this would be worth tens of thousands of dollars, at least!" He pet Emee carefully, gently scratching the housepet. "Probably not, so far it looks like this is reptile accurate all over."
Victor nodded down the hallway, as he leaned back to avoid one of Corbin's spikes while Eryth talked. "Would you guys want to try out your weapons?"
"I think that is an excellent idea."
The voice as a soft, but familiar one and Victor looked up to see Lady. She stood in a fresh blue tunic, with Sperest on her hip and her hair damp, but rebraided down her back as always. Her smile was broad enough to reach her eyes, but her usually bright blue-green eyes were duller than normal, belying her exhaustion. She was also holding her arm at a strange angle and the soldier knew immediately Lady had some sort of wound. He didn't ask about it though. She wouldn't like someone worrying over her or calling her out in front of everyone else. He gave her as much of a bow as he could. "M'lady."
Lady looked over Eryth, unphased by his new body, and then looked to Alex and Hazel who had just joined them. Facing the Forge had been so difficult for them and yet they had made it through.
"I'll guide you to the training room upstairs," she said, motioning them to follow her.
Lady guided them to the main hall and up the stairs to the room across from the armory. Pushing the heavy wooden door aside, she revealed a large room with targets of painted hay mounted against the back wall, wooden dummies, a soft grappling mat, a platform for dueling, and practice weapons racked off to the side.
"Welcome to the training room. Go ahead and explore as long as you want. James and I will be here to answer questions. But you should think about giving your weapons names. All good Forge weapons have a fitting name. "
Victor watched as Eyrth crashed to the floor and winced. The nurse was going to have to take it easy for a minute. "Maybe you should walk a bit slower...." he chuckled, before his eyes flicked up to see Alex's pale face coming down the hall. "Miss Alex! You're awake."
Alex smiled widely. “Victor! Look, I-“ It was then that her eyes fell on a… a lizard man? On the floor? She yelped and took a step back, then looked at Victor questioningly.
James appeared behind alex. "Yep. Someone changed. Isn't that the nurse fellow?"
Eryth rubbed his snout. "Springy legs too." He licked the air again, tasting a new scent. "Hi Alex."
Hi James. It is in fact that nurse fellow."
Alex’s eyes widened. “Eryth?! Oh my god you’re an Argonian!” She realized her volume was a bit high and coughed awkwardy. “I mean eh, you look great!”
Victor nodded to Alex, assuring her that this was , infact, Eyrth. If his words wasnt enough, Emee came scurrying into the hall and up the lizard man's leg to his shoulder. "Ery!"
"So, like the new form overall or want to..wait I do not think you can cry anymore."
"No, not an Argonian, silly." Eryth put his free hand under his frill, lifting it up slightly. "I'm a frillie! And the morph is absolutely stunning, a real frillie like this would be worth tens of thousands of dollars, at least!" He pet Emee carefully, gently scratching the housepet. "Probably not, so far it looks like this is reptile accurate all over."
Victor nodded down the hallway, as he leaned back to avoid one of Corbin's spikes while Eryth talked. "Would you guys want to try out your weapons?"
"I think that is an excellent idea."
The voice as a soft, but familiar one and Victor looked up to see Lady. She stood in a fresh blue tunic, with Sperest on her hip and her hair damp, but rebraided down her back as always. Her smile was broad enough to reach her eyes, but her usually bright blue-green eyes were duller than normal, belying her exhaustion. She was also holding her arm at a strange angle and the soldier knew immediately Lady had some sort of wound. He didn't ask about it though. She wouldn't like someone worrying over her or calling her out in front of everyone else. He gave her as much of a bow as he could. "M'lady."
Lady looked over Eryth, unphased by his new body, and then looked to Alex and Hazel who had just joined them. Facing the Forge had been so difficult for them and yet they had made it through.
"I'll guide you to the training room upstairs," she said, motioning them to follow her.
Lady guided them to the main hall and up the stairs to the room across from the armory. Pushing the heavy wooden door aside, she revealed a large room with targets of painted hay mounted against the back wall, wooden dummies, a soft grappling mat, a platform for dueling, and practice weapons racked off to the side.
"Welcome to the training room. Go ahead and explore as long as you want. James and I will be here to answer questions. But you should think about giving your weapons names. All good Forge weapons have a fitting name. "
Alex grinned when she saw Hazel had a bow as well. Archer buddies after all. When Hazel’s eyes fell on Eryth however, Alex decided to leave the explaining to him. She turned around to see if she would be able to find any arrows to practice with, when something occurred to her. She had handled bows before in her life, but this one felt different. It was different, or going through the Soul Forge would have been a wasted effort. She eyed the bow in her hands cautiously, then turned to Lady. “Is there anything we should know about handling weapons from the Soul Forge? How would this bow differ from an ordinary one?”
"Every weapon is different. I think you find you bow from the Forge will be more instinctual. You'll feel a sort of connection that will call to you," she replied with a smile. "Go pick yourself a quiver and arrows from the armory and I'll show you."
“Sure thing!” Alex remembered where the armory was from the tour on the first day. On the way there and back she couldn’t help her giddiness. It had been a while since the last time she had practiced archery, so she was excited. Especially the addition of some mystical bow that was hers improved her mood considerably. She returned to the training room with a quiver filled with arrows. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Lady walked further into the training room and gestured to one of the targets. "Pick your arrow and draw, but do not release. You'll feel your bow drawing in your strength. Get an idea for what it feels like." Then she glanced to everyone else. "It may be best to stand back, just in case."
A tickling feeling spread over her hands, warm and but not uncomfortable. Like it had always belonged in her hands. The bow had a presence...a life of its own as it recognized her, calling for her to loose the arrow. "Can you feel it? " she asked quietly.
Before Alex knew what she was doing, the arrow flew through the air and hit the target with a ‘thunk.’ She blinked twice, then her eyes flickered over to Lady. “Eh, sorry,” she said. Her giddiness had disappeared to make place for… a strange sort of intrigue. “It felt like the right time to let go…”
The arrow had landed outside the bullseye but had driven in so deep, it came close to the side fetching. Lady walked over and pulled the arrow from the hay with a wince before turning to Alex with a smile. "Excellent. Your weapon is a part of you and will rely on your own skills, but it will guide you in certain aspects. The more you use it and learn, the more powerful you will become. Just remember using that power can come at a cost which is where you will have to master control. An excellent first try though. "
“Thanks.” Alex smiled, though a bit uneasily. With great power comes great responsibility. Of course. But the thought of having such responsibilities made her nervous. Self-discipline certainly wasn’t one of her talents. She reached into the quiver to grab another arrow. “Maybe I should continue practicing,” she said.
Lady backed away from the target and nodded. "Practice is the best thing for now. Try putting a bit more of your energy into it."
James took to meleeing a dummy with his staff, working on spinning it just without dissarming himself. "And be… careful. *thwack* not to use it.. *twack* too often. *clatter* like on grunts. Exhaustion is something to fight just as much as the enemy."
Lady watched for a moment as Alex continued to practice and then walked over to James where he was hitting the dummy. She drew Sperest and in one smooth motion stopped his next strike with a small smile. "You know it is far more fun to practice against a live opponent."
He turned to her with a sly grin on his face "And you know i'll win." He repositioned his staff with a dramatic flip and took an offensive stance. "Begin."
Lady laughed and made the first lunge at his side, slipping the point of her blade between his elbow and his side to make a point. Sperest was one of the few weapons that could puncture his metallic skin, and she had no wish to hurt him.
James drew serpest away and pulled out a dull wooden sword, tossing one to her as he gripped the floating orb of his staff, somehow holding the rest. A lunge at her leg.
Eryth rested Corbin on his shoulder, the beak hanging over his back. "So... The weapons are supposed to be magic too, right? How do we know what they can do?"
Lady blocked James attack easily and held up her hand to pause him. "You'll have to discover that as we go. Abilities sometimes manifest on their own or in times of need. We wont know what you can do, until you start trying."
His tongue shot out again for a second, tasting the smells of training around him. "So.... not really? I just have to sort of feel it out?"
She nodded, "Indeed. I discovered a one of Sperests simply training and another in a more urgent moment. That's why control is so important. Your weapon is fueled by your own energy. Letting it get out of control can have disastrous results if you are not prepared." Then she smiled and glanced to James. "And there there are times to let your power loose too."
"And how do we train for these... Shadows and such? I can't imagine they tend to fight in single combat with us very much."
"No, they don't, but learning to take one combatant on first will help," she said, gesturing to one of the dummies, "You'll need to learn your weapon as it is, but I have a feeling your skills may come along when they are needed."
"This seems to me like a lot more of an intuitive weapon than a sword or bow... just a long stick with some spikes on it really. How much can I really train to use it effectively?"
"What do you know about this kind of weapon?" She asked evenly, walking toward him.
"Not a whole ton... just that it was used in the renaissance when everyone was running around in full suits of armour. I think it's supposed to be used against knights, mostly."
"Show me you stance Eyrth," Lady nodded, as she lowered the wooden practice sword. He seemed knowledgeable enough and asked excellent questions. One of the reasons she chose him.
He spread his legs to shoulder width, gripping Corbin roughly evenly around the center point of the handle and turned the beak to face towards Lady. The eight foot weapon then suddenly shrank down to a much less encumbersome 5ft poleaxe. "Er... I didn't do that... Did I do that?"
She chuckled a little as the weapon shrank to a much more manageable size. "lt looks as though, you have discovered one of your weapons nuances." She adjusted his stance turning his shoulders to the side some with a gentle hand. "Smaller target." Then she used the wooden sword to tap lightly at his knees making his springy new legs bend just a bit. Circling back around, the adjusted his claws as if they were completely normal. "You want a strong grip but not so stiff you can't adjust if you need too."
His legs tensed up more with the taps from her sword, the bend in his legs making him just about ready to bounce like a rubber ball if needed. His black claws were easy for her to move as he watched intently, letting her adjust him. His tongue shot out once more. "And how exactly do I use it? Like a spear or an axe?"
"Its a versatile weapon, and your style will depend on your opponent. The hook and spikes can be used as more of a spear type attack, or to throw a fast opponent off balance, while the hammer can be used to deal hard, crushing blows to larger enemy." As she spoke, she pointed to each part of Corbin she referred to, and the looked to Eryth. "Would you like to try?"
"Er... Sure. Is there a dummy or something you want me to use?"
She pushed her braid over her shoulder and held out the wooden practice sword. "I can be your opponent. It will give you something to react to."
"Oh... Is that safe with the metal and all? Don't you need armour?"
She took her stance and held out the wooden weapon in her right hand, keeping her injured arm away from him. "Take it slow, and get a feel for your weapon, you will not hurt me."
"Just... Like this?" Eryth lunged with the weapon, leaning in as his tail pushed back to balance him while he tried to angle Corvon's beak around her neck.
Lady side stepped and brought the wooden sword up. It connected with a small pop against the pole, glancing it away from her. He moved quick and that was good for someone who would be using such a weapon. "Very good, reset and try again."
James frowned slightly at the exit of his sparring partner but recovered and grabbed sperest gingerly by the blade to offer it to lady.
Sperest glowed warmly and a few arcs of electricity flitted through his hand, sparking on the material of his cloak. Lady chuckled as the sparks began to burn the edges of the garment and took the sword from him.
"My cloak!" He said in mock indignation. A swift pull off revealed a large scar across his back as he put it out.
Eryth did so, bouncing a little on his feet as he readied to put the hook behind her again, this time going low for her close knee.
Lady sidestepped again, out of the hooks reach and closed the gap between them, giving Eryth's lead hand a tap with the wooden sword. "Always watch your lead hand, you'll want to keep those fingers," she chuckled.
"What about gloves? Gauntlets? We are planning on getti g as much armour as we can, right?"
Lady backed away and rolled her injured armor some, trying to keep it loose as possible from the angle she was holding it at. "Those will help, but I must admit, some of your changes will make finding armor that fits some what difficult. I will have to see what is available and go from there."
"Not a lot of tail armour around?" Eryth smiled, thrusting at her center slowly with the spear-tip.
She swept the practice sword down, snapping it over the shaft of Corbin and spear into the floor. "Aye, not much of that here, but I believe we can manage."
Push. Eryth swiftly stepped forwards, pushing with the center of Corbin to knock Lady back. The headless, steel tipped end then came around to try and stop just short of the side of her head.
She didn't flinch as she let him finish out the offensive move. "Well done. With much more practice, I think you will make a fine Guardian Eryth."
"I uh... That was strange." Eryth looked at the weapon in his hand, shifting it back to a central, ready position. "It just sort of... Felt like that was what I needed to do. Is that what you meant when you said they were like parts of us?"
"Any weapon can become a part of you when you spend enough time with it," she replied as she held out Sperest and the practice sword. She enjoyed duel wielding but it probably wasn't the best idea at the moment. "But Forge weapons are made from your essence and powered by your Soul. That is a different sort of bond all together. Feelings do happen and sometimes they are simply intuitions, but on occasions weapons with far more influences have been forged. "
As James put out his cloak, Lady sheathed Sperest and jumped a little with a hiss. A red stain was starting to bloom on her sleeve despite the fact she had wrapped it. "It seems that you and Alex are taking to your weapons well," Lady said, "You asked about multiple opponents, as well?"
"Yea. We are expecting to be in a lot of uneven number situations, right? Hordes sort of thing?"
She nodded, "Yes, we will be facing many enemies at one time. James and I have abilities capable of dealing with that sort of situation, though admittedly even we have hour limits. Your weapon is more of duelists tool. That would be where your more specialized skills will be useful. "
As if offended, Corbin suddenly grew again to a long, eight foot lineman polearm. "Er... I think Corbin says otherwise."
Lady laughed and stepped back from the growing polearm to give it space. She was often surprised by the weapons some people emerged from the Forge with and Eryth was no exception. He was kind hearted and caring, but perhaps his weapon showcased his boldness as well. "So it would seem. Then I shall have to give you more of a challenge." She walked over to the wall and put her hand over one of the stones before leaning close and whispering to it. The Carenium was wrought with magic even guardians from her time didn't comprehend and was equipped with everything that was needed. A scratching sound, the scraping of stone on stone, echoed through the training room and from the wall stepped out a broad humanoid in stone armor, including a helm. It knelt before her, ready for a command. She created two more, feeling her energy ebb, and nodded to Eyrth. "Get ready." Turning to the stone men she gave them the word and they each gave a smack to their chest, sending grey dust into the air before standing and marching forward toward the lizard man.
Eryth's frill popped up slightly in fright as he realised she intended him to fight them. His hands shifted on Corbin, lowering the spiked head down slightly as he tried to keep some sort of focus other than running away as fast as he could, sonething his springy legs were happy to do for him. "Are you sure? What if I get hurt?"
"You will not know unless you are tested," Lady smiled as she leaned against the wall, "As I said, the best way to learn is against a live opponent. Getting hurt is a risk we run as Guardians."
He kept the spike down towards the beasts as he tried to keep them all on roughly the same side of him. "This is a hell of a test to start off with."
"Aye, but it will be more like a real fight. Focus, listen to your instincts." The stone men advanced. One drew a stone sword, the other held a pole arm type weapon in his rough hands, and the last round on him with two hooked blades meant for grappling. The one with the sword stepped forward first, not hesitating to thrust out with his sword straight at Eyrth's heart.
Thinking quickly, Eryth parried the blade away with the end of his weapon, trying to keep distance from the group. The extra reach on the polearm have him a distinct advantage over a sword, even without a training outside of instinct. "They're made of stone, how do I even hurt that?!"
: He quickly jumped back, landing off-balance but catching himself with his tail. His frill was still semi poofed, catching the wind of each of his movements like a little umbrella. "This is insane!
The third arched up with his hooks and wrapped them around Corbin's shaft, locking up the weapon and tugging Eryth forward the opposite direction of his fall. Lady made no move to stop them, she just leaned against the wall and watched intently, neither amused nor dissapointed. "Focus Eryth. Focus on what needs to be done."
A rush came over Eryth as an even more insane idea crossed into his head. He tugged back on the weapon, but didn't hold with his feet, instead using it to try and jump up onto the stone man's chest to kick him in the head or chest, whichever his foot found first, as he kept Corbin in his hands.
The weapons ripped out of his stony hands, still hooked to Corbin's pole, and fell backward with boom into the training room floor. A large crack popped across its chest and it didn't move after that. The one with the sword had recovered though and arched a swinging attack at Eryth's unguarded head.
Eryth ducked down, cowering underneath his weapon as he raised the shaft to try and block the incoming sword.
A point stuck into Eyrth's side as the sword clashed hard against Corbin. The second stone-man and come about and thrust his spear into the nurse's side, just enough so moving would be uncomfortable.
"Uh..." Eryth looked down at the spear in his side, then up to the golems and finally to Lady. "Am I "dead" now?"
She nodded, "If it was a Shadow, yes." Her eyes flicked up to the stone men who stood over him. "He yields." At her command they withdrew their weapons and knelt beside him, waiting for another order.
Eryth regained his footing, absentmindedly smoothing out the frill on his neck. "Well... I took one out at least. I didn't think I was going to even hurt them."
"You will be surprised what you can do when faced with things like that," Lady grinned as she lifted from the wall, "Give them another command to start again and keep trying. If you are bested all you have to say is 'yield.' "
The swordswoman to suddenly quiet Hazel and nodded. "You should follow suit with your own weapon and practice."
OOC NOTE: PLEASE BE ADVISED THIS RP WILL BE MOVING TO A PLAY BY POST FORMAT. COLLABORATIONS WITH YOUR FELLOW PLAYERS OR NPC'S WILL NOW BE NECESSARY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS WHILE LARGE ACTION POSTS WILL BE MADE 2X A WEEK. IF NO RESPONSES ARE GIVEN TO LARGE POSTS OR COMMUNICATION IS NOT GIVEN OTHERWISE TO THE GM THE RP WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE DIRECT THEM TO ARYAMAJOR. THANK YOU.
"Every weapon is different. I think you find you bow from the Forge will be more instinctual. You'll feel a sort of connection that will call to you," she replied with a smile. "Go pick yourself a quiver and arrows from the armory and I'll show you."
“Sure thing!” Alex remembered where the armory was from the tour on the first day. On the way there and back she couldn’t help her giddiness. It had been a while since the last time she had practiced archery, so she was excited. Especially the addition of some mystical bow that was hers improved her mood considerably. She returned to the training room with a quiver filled with arrows. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Lady walked further into the training room and gestured to one of the targets. "Pick your arrow and draw, but do not release. You'll feel your bow drawing in your strength. Get an idea for what it feels like." Then she glanced to everyone else. "It may be best to stand back, just in case."
A tickling feeling spread over her hands, warm and but not uncomfortable. Like it had always belonged in her hands. The bow had a presence...a life of its own as it recognized her, calling for her to loose the arrow. "Can you feel it? " she asked quietly.
Before Alex knew what she was doing, the arrow flew through the air and hit the target with a ‘thunk.’ She blinked twice, then her eyes flickered over to Lady. “Eh, sorry,” she said. Her giddiness had disappeared to make place for… a strange sort of intrigue. “It felt like the right time to let go…”
The arrow had landed outside the bullseye but had driven in so deep, it came close to the side fetching. Lady walked over and pulled the arrow from the hay with a wince before turning to Alex with a smile. "Excellent. Your weapon is a part of you and will rely on your own skills, but it will guide you in certain aspects. The more you use it and learn, the more powerful you will become. Just remember using that power can come at a cost which is where you will have to master control. An excellent first try though. "
“Thanks.” Alex smiled, though a bit uneasily. With great power comes great responsibility. Of course. But the thought of having such responsibilities made her nervous. Self-discipline certainly wasn’t one of her talents. She reached into the quiver to grab another arrow. “Maybe I should continue practicing,” she said.
Lady backed away from the target and nodded. "Practice is the best thing for now. Try putting a bit more of your energy into it."
James took to meleeing a dummy with his staff, working on spinning it just without dissarming himself. "And be… careful. *thwack* not to use it.. *twack* too often. *clatter* like on grunts. Exhaustion is something to fight just as much as the enemy."
Lady watched for a moment as Alex continued to practice and then walked over to James where he was hitting the dummy. She drew Sperest and in one smooth motion stopped his next strike with a small smile. "You know it is far more fun to practice against a live opponent."
He turned to her with a sly grin on his face "And you know i'll win." He repositioned his staff with a dramatic flip and took an offensive stance. "Begin."
Lady laughed and made the first lunge at his side, slipping the point of her blade between his elbow and his side to make a point. Sperest was one of the few weapons that could puncture his metallic skin, and she had no wish to hurt him.
James drew serpest away and pulled out a dull wooden sword, tossing one to her as he gripped the floating orb of his staff, somehow holding the rest. A lunge at her leg.
Eryth rested Corbin on his shoulder, the beak hanging over his back. "So... The weapons are supposed to be magic too, right? How do we know what they can do?"
Lady blocked James attack easily and held up her hand to pause him. "You'll have to discover that as we go. Abilities sometimes manifest on their own or in times of need. We wont know what you can do, until you start trying."
His tongue shot out again for a second, tasting the smells of training around him. "So.... not really? I just have to sort of feel it out?"
She nodded, "Indeed. I discovered a one of Sperests simply training and another in a more urgent moment. That's why control is so important. Your weapon is fueled by your own energy. Letting it get out of control can have disastrous results if you are not prepared." Then she smiled and glanced to James. "And there there are times to let your power loose too."
"And how do we train for these... Shadows and such? I can't imagine they tend to fight in single combat with us very much."
"No, they don't, but learning to take one combatant on first will help," she said, gesturing to one of the dummies, "You'll need to learn your weapon as it is, but I have a feeling your skills may come along when they are needed."
"This seems to me like a lot more of an intuitive weapon than a sword or bow... just a long stick with some spikes on it really. How much can I really train to use it effectively?"
"What do you know about this kind of weapon?" She asked evenly, walking toward him.
"Not a whole ton... just that it was used in the renaissance when everyone was running around in full suits of armour. I think it's supposed to be used against knights, mostly."
"Show me you stance Eyrth," Lady nodded, as she lowered the wooden practice sword. He seemed knowledgeable enough and asked excellent questions. One of the reasons she chose him.
He spread his legs to shoulder width, gripping Corbin roughly evenly around the center point of the handle and turned the beak to face towards Lady. The eight foot weapon then suddenly shrank down to a much less encumbersome 5ft poleaxe. "Er... I didn't do that... Did I do that?"
She chuckled a little as the weapon shrank to a much more manageable size. "lt looks as though, you have discovered one of your weapons nuances." She adjusted his stance turning his shoulders to the side some with a gentle hand. "Smaller target." Then she used the wooden sword to tap lightly at his knees making his springy new legs bend just a bit. Circling back around, the adjusted his claws as if they were completely normal. "You want a strong grip but not so stiff you can't adjust if you need too."
His legs tensed up more with the taps from her sword, the bend in his legs making him just about ready to bounce like a rubber ball if needed. His black claws were easy for her to move as he watched intently, letting her adjust him. His tongue shot out once more. "And how exactly do I use it? Like a spear or an axe?"
"Its a versatile weapon, and your style will depend on your opponent. The hook and spikes can be used as more of a spear type attack, or to throw a fast opponent off balance, while the hammer can be used to deal hard, crushing blows to larger enemy." As she spoke, she pointed to each part of Corbin she referred to, and the looked to Eryth. "Would you like to try?"
"Er... Sure. Is there a dummy or something you want me to use?"
She pushed her braid over her shoulder and held out the wooden practice sword. "I can be your opponent. It will give you something to react to."
"Oh... Is that safe with the metal and all? Don't you need armour?"
She took her stance and held out the wooden weapon in her right hand, keeping her injured arm away from him. "Take it slow, and get a feel for your weapon, you will not hurt me."
"Just... Like this?" Eryth lunged with the weapon, leaning in as his tail pushed back to balance him while he tried to angle Corvon's beak around her neck.
Lady side stepped and brought the wooden sword up. It connected with a small pop against the pole, glancing it away from her. He moved quick and that was good for someone who would be using such a weapon. "Very good, reset and try again."
James frowned slightly at the exit of his sparring partner but recovered and grabbed sperest gingerly by the blade to offer it to lady.
Sperest glowed warmly and a few arcs of electricity flitted through his hand, sparking on the material of his cloak. Lady chuckled as the sparks began to burn the edges of the garment and took the sword from him.
"My cloak!" He said in mock indignation. A swift pull off revealed a large scar across his back as he put it out.
Eryth did so, bouncing a little on his feet as he readied to put the hook behind her again, this time going low for her close knee.
Lady sidestepped again, out of the hooks reach and closed the gap between them, giving Eryth's lead hand a tap with the wooden sword. "Always watch your lead hand, you'll want to keep those fingers," she chuckled.
"What about gloves? Gauntlets? We are planning on getti g as much armour as we can, right?"
Lady backed away and rolled her injured armor some, trying to keep it loose as possible from the angle she was holding it at. "Those will help, but I must admit, some of your changes will make finding armor that fits some what difficult. I will have to see what is available and go from there."
"Not a lot of tail armour around?" Eryth smiled, thrusting at her center slowly with the spear-tip.
She swept the practice sword down, snapping it over the shaft of Corbin and spear into the floor. "Aye, not much of that here, but I believe we can manage."
Push. Eryth swiftly stepped forwards, pushing with the center of Corbin to knock Lady back. The headless, steel tipped end then came around to try and stop just short of the side of her head.
She didn't flinch as she let him finish out the offensive move. "Well done. With much more practice, I think you will make a fine Guardian Eryth."
"I uh... That was strange." Eryth looked at the weapon in his hand, shifting it back to a central, ready position. "It just sort of... Felt like that was what I needed to do. Is that what you meant when you said they were like parts of us?"
"Any weapon can become a part of you when you spend enough time with it," she replied as she held out Sperest and the practice sword. She enjoyed duel wielding but it probably wasn't the best idea at the moment. "But Forge weapons are made from your essence and powered by your Soul. That is a different sort of bond all together. Feelings do happen and sometimes they are simply intuitions, but on occasions weapons with far more influences have been forged. "
As James put out his cloak, Lady sheathed Sperest and jumped a little with a hiss. A red stain was starting to bloom on her sleeve despite the fact she had wrapped it. "It seems that you and Alex are taking to your weapons well," Lady said, "You asked about multiple opponents, as well?"
"Yea. We are expecting to be in a lot of uneven number situations, right? Hordes sort of thing?"
She nodded, "Yes, we will be facing many enemies at one time. James and I have abilities capable of dealing with that sort of situation, though admittedly even we have hour limits. Your weapon is more of duelists tool. That would be where your more specialized skills will be useful. "
As if offended, Corbin suddenly grew again to a long, eight foot lineman polearm. "Er... I think Corbin says otherwise."
Lady laughed and stepped back from the growing polearm to give it space. She was often surprised by the weapons some people emerged from the Forge with and Eryth was no exception. He was kind hearted and caring, but perhaps his weapon showcased his boldness as well. "So it would seem. Then I shall have to give you more of a challenge." She walked over to the wall and put her hand over one of the stones before leaning close and whispering to it. The Carenium was wrought with magic even guardians from her time didn't comprehend and was equipped with everything that was needed. A scratching sound, the scraping of stone on stone, echoed through the training room and from the wall stepped out a broad humanoid in stone armor, including a helm. It knelt before her, ready for a command. She created two more, feeling her energy ebb, and nodded to Eyrth. "Get ready." Turning to the stone men she gave them the word and they each gave a smack to their chest, sending grey dust into the air before standing and marching forward toward the lizard man.
Eryth's frill popped up slightly in fright as he realised she intended him to fight them. His hands shifted on Corbin, lowering the spiked head down slightly as he tried to keep some sort of focus other than running away as fast as he could, sonething his springy legs were happy to do for him. "Are you sure? What if I get hurt?"
"You will not know unless you are tested," Lady smiled as she leaned against the wall, "As I said, the best way to learn is against a live opponent. Getting hurt is a risk we run as Guardians."
He kept the spike down towards the beasts as he tried to keep them all on roughly the same side of him. "This is a hell of a test to start off with."
"Aye, but it will be more like a real fight. Focus, listen to your instincts." The stone men advanced. One drew a stone sword, the other held a pole arm type weapon in his rough hands, and the last round on him with two hooked blades meant for grappling. The one with the sword stepped forward first, not hesitating to thrust out with his sword straight at Eyrth's heart.
Thinking quickly, Eryth parried the blade away with the end of his weapon, trying to keep distance from the group. The extra reach on the polearm have him a distinct advantage over a sword, even without a training outside of instinct. "They're made of stone, how do I even hurt that?!"
: He quickly jumped back, landing off-balance but catching himself with his tail. His frill was still semi poofed, catching the wind of each of his movements like a little umbrella. "This is insane!
The third arched up with his hooks and wrapped them around Corbin's shaft, locking up the weapon and tugging Eryth forward the opposite direction of his fall. Lady made no move to stop them, she just leaned against the wall and watched intently, neither amused nor dissapointed. "Focus Eryth. Focus on what needs to be done."
A rush came over Eryth as an even more insane idea crossed into his head. He tugged back on the weapon, but didn't hold with his feet, instead using it to try and jump up onto the stone man's chest to kick him in the head or chest, whichever his foot found first, as he kept Corbin in his hands.
The weapons ripped out of his stony hands, still hooked to Corbin's pole, and fell backward with boom into the training room floor. A large crack popped across its chest and it didn't move after that. The one with the sword had recovered though and arched a swinging attack at Eryth's unguarded head.
Eryth ducked down, cowering underneath his weapon as he raised the shaft to try and block the incoming sword.
A point stuck into Eyrth's side as the sword clashed hard against Corbin. The second stone-man and come about and thrust his spear into the nurse's side, just enough so moving would be uncomfortable.
"Uh..." Eryth looked down at the spear in his side, then up to the golems and finally to Lady. "Am I "dead" now?"
She nodded, "If it was a Shadow, yes." Her eyes flicked up to the stone men who stood over him. "He yields." At her command they withdrew their weapons and knelt beside him, waiting for another order.
Eryth regained his footing, absentmindedly smoothing out the frill on his neck. "Well... I took one out at least. I didn't think I was going to even hurt them."
"You will be surprised what you can do when faced with things like that," Lady grinned as she lifted from the wall, "Give them another command to start again and keep trying. If you are bested all you have to say is 'yield.' "
The swordswoman to suddenly quiet Hazel and nodded. "You should follow suit with your own weapon and practice."
OOC NOTE: PLEASE BE ADVISED THIS RP WILL BE MOVING TO A PLAY BY POST FORMAT. COLLABORATIONS WITH YOUR FELLOW PLAYERS OR NPC'S WILL NOW BE NECESSARY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS WHILE LARGE ACTION POSTS WILL BE MADE 2X A WEEK. IF NO RESPONSES ARE GIVEN TO LARGE POSTS OR COMMUNICATION IS NOT GIVEN OTHERWISE TO THE GM THE RP WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE DIRECT THEM TO ARYAMAJOR. THANK YOU.
Glow
Punmaker Extrordinare
Hazel nodded and brought up her bow. She had watched Alex with hers. It seemed easy enough. She knocked an arrow and drew. Suddenly, a warm tingling sensation spread from her hands throughout her body. She felt as if she knew the bow, and the bow knew her. It was an oddly pleasant feeling. She lined the arrow up the best she could with the target and released the arrow; watching it hit the target almost exactly in the center. "Hey! That wasn't bad for a first try." She grinned. She quickly knocked another arow and pulled back again, but her hand slipped and the arrow shot out of the bow and landed just in front of the target. "Oops, guess I'm going to need more practice than I thought." She laughed sheepishly. "Have you ever shot a bow before?"
*"My kins men were from the plains. Spear and bow hunting is common there. Though is was hardly considered lady-like," she said with a wink.
Hazel laughed and nodded. "I can imagine." She turned back towards the target and continued to shoot; determined to achieve mastery. Every time she drew she felt closer to the bow. She could feel the grain of the wood beneath her fingers; memorized each little line of it's intricate carvings. She felt as if the bow was her friend. It was weird, being friends with a bow. But then again, she met a talking lion and Eyrth was a lizard.(she still couldn't get over that.) So, by this world's standards this was probably completely normal.
*credits to @aryamajor
*"My kins men were from the plains. Spear and bow hunting is common there. Though is was hardly considered lady-like," she said with a wink.
Hazel laughed and nodded. "I can imagine." She turned back towards the target and continued to shoot; determined to achieve mastery. Every time she drew she felt closer to the bow. She could feel the grain of the wood beneath her fingers; memorized each little line of it's intricate carvings. She felt as if the bow was her friend. It was weird, being friends with a bow. But then again, she met a talking lion and Eyrth was a lizard.(she still couldn't get over that.) So, by this world's standards this was probably completely normal.
*credits to @aryamajor
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The shock wave sent her to her knees as it broke over the remains of her shield. "Lady you have to go!"
"I can stop them!"
"He's too far gone."
"No!"
The field was flooded, bloody and roiling with battle. Over the screams and the roars the clash of metal on metal wrought through the air. Both of them were in the center pitched in a duel.
A cry came from behind her, a voice she knew well. Victor. Then another, gutteral cry beside her. Tinner.
The shock wave of another attack from Iravanis swept through like a furnace blast, blistering her cheeks some.
Everything was falling. Dying to the darkness.
Sperest felt hot in her hands, as it pulled at her...calling her. She let it have what it wanted. It grew brighter until it was painful to look at. The shadows hissed away as she raised it high. She would end this now before it was too late. Let go.
The night light up with bright light and arching pain.
Lady jolted up in bed covered in sweat. It had been over two years since that and the dream still plagued her. Slipping her feet over the side of the bed, she pushed back her long hair with shaking hands. Would those dreams ever cease? Dropping her hands to her knees, the pink scars stood out even brighter than normal. She didn't mind the scars, or the pain they had caused. It was only her failure she regretted. She wouldn't fail again. Not with James, Eryth, Alex, Hazel. They had been training for three days and shown remarkable skill in that time. There was still much to learn, of course, but they were doing well.
Standing, she pulled on her tunic and clasped Sperest around her hips. The blade felt warm like always and it was a comfort to her as she left her room. It was deep in the middle of the night, but sleep wasn't going to come to her again. Not after the dream. Wandering outside to the humid night air, she climbed to the top of the Carenium dome and leaned against the glittering crystal. It'slight had no source and no Guardian alive knew where it had come from. The dome had always been there and its glow seemed to keep away many enemies.She stared out into the night, taking in the millions of stars and their swirling colors overhead. It was a sight she never got tired of, except for the deep blackness marking over the sky to the east. It felt like heavy over the land, sucking the life out of even the brightest stars.
As she looked out into the horizon, a tickling feeling came to her mind, a sense that something was moving. Then she felt the quick snap and Sperest sparked under her palm. Without hesitation, she scaled down the ladder and into the Carenium. The great room was still pitched in darkness, but Victor was already there, hobbling as fast as he could down the room in his night shirt.
"M'lady do you feel it?" he asked quickly.
"Aye. They have crossed the border trap."
Victor ran his hands through his hair and glanced down the hall. "They've only been out of the Forge for three days. They aren't ready."
She could tell the soldier was worried, and she put a hand on his shoulder. The border trap had kept the Shadows from spreading in that area for awhile, but even she knew it wasn't a permanent solution. It had only bought them time, and now that time was up. "They will have to be. Help me wake them."
"Yes, M'lady, " he nodded, before turning back the way he came.
Lady took a deep breath and went down the opposite corridor to wake James, if he hadn't already felt the border fall. They would have to move out by first light.
"I can stop them!"
"He's too far gone."
"No!"
The field was flooded, bloody and roiling with battle. Over the screams and the roars the clash of metal on metal wrought through the air. Both of them were in the center pitched in a duel.
A cry came from behind her, a voice she knew well. Victor. Then another, gutteral cry beside her. Tinner.
The shock wave of another attack from Iravanis swept through like a furnace blast, blistering her cheeks some.
Everything was falling. Dying to the darkness.
Sperest felt hot in her hands, as it pulled at her...calling her. She let it have what it wanted. It grew brighter until it was painful to look at. The shadows hissed away as she raised it high. She would end this now before it was too late. Let go.
The night light up with bright light and arching pain.
Lady jolted up in bed covered in sweat. It had been over two years since that and the dream still plagued her. Slipping her feet over the side of the bed, she pushed back her long hair with shaking hands. Would those dreams ever cease? Dropping her hands to her knees, the pink scars stood out even brighter than normal. She didn't mind the scars, or the pain they had caused. It was only her failure she regretted. She wouldn't fail again. Not with James, Eryth, Alex, Hazel. They had been training for three days and shown remarkable skill in that time. There was still much to learn, of course, but they were doing well.
Standing, she pulled on her tunic and clasped Sperest around her hips. The blade felt warm like always and it was a comfort to her as she left her room. It was deep in the middle of the night, but sleep wasn't going to come to her again. Not after the dream. Wandering outside to the humid night air, she climbed to the top of the Carenium dome and leaned against the glittering crystal. It'slight had no source and no Guardian alive knew where it had come from. The dome had always been there and its glow seemed to keep away many enemies.She stared out into the night, taking in the millions of stars and their swirling colors overhead. It was a sight she never got tired of, except for the deep blackness marking over the sky to the east. It felt like heavy over the land, sucking the life out of even the brightest stars.
As she looked out into the horizon, a tickling feeling came to her mind, a sense that something was moving. Then she felt the quick snap and Sperest sparked under her palm. Without hesitation, she scaled down the ladder and into the Carenium. The great room was still pitched in darkness, but Victor was already there, hobbling as fast as he could down the room in his night shirt.
"M'lady do you feel it?" he asked quickly.
"Aye. They have crossed the border trap."
Victor ran his hands through his hair and glanced down the hall. "They've only been out of the Forge for three days. They aren't ready."
She could tell the soldier was worried, and she put a hand on his shoulder. The border trap had kept the Shadows from spreading in that area for awhile, but even she knew it wasn't a permanent solution. It had only bought them time, and now that time was up. "They will have to be. Help me wake them."
"Yes, M'lady, " he nodded, before turning back the way he came.
Lady took a deep breath and went down the opposite corridor to wake James, if he hadn't already felt the border fall. They would have to move out by first light.
Victor knocked on Eryth's door with his free hand. "You still awake Eryth?"
Something crumpled into the floor inside with a loud crash before footsteps came up to the door. A sleepy black lizardman opened it up, fixing his bright frill on his neck absent-mindedly. "Mhm, yea. Always ready."
Emee bounced from the bed and scurried up to Eryth's shoulders as Victor waited for the nurse to pretend like he was awake. "I'm sorry to wake you but a dragon landed on the island and she's looks like she is hurt pretty bad. I can't handle her on my own enough to help her. Mind giving me a hand?"
"A d... A dragon?" Eryth paused for a second before grabbing the messanger bag filled with Victor's medicines and Corbin. The polearm had been good recently, keeping himself at a shorter size whenever Ery was walking around. "I can help. Where is she?"
"She's at the far side of the island near the docks. I think she only just made it here," Victor said, as he hitched is own bag a little higher, "I'll show you. Its better to go out after dark in pairs." The soldier turned down the hall and started clicking down the corridor. He lead Eryth outside and down the east side of the stone paths and past the groves of trees. The wisps came out, playing in their hair and flitting around, as they lit up the path. Eventually, the path sloped downward to a the waters edge where a massive dock awaited, utterly empty. "I know she is here somewhere.." A hoarse, but angry groan came from their left and a massive shadow block lay heaving in the dirt.
Her scales were a pale, dusty green with a good hint of blue. A mighty set of wings striped in bright orange were resting on her back, matching her fierce orange snake eyes. "There! Hello? Can you speak?"
The dragon snorted which turned into a deep groan of pain as it tried to stand up. The beasts legs wobbled, then faltered as she slammed back into the ground with wild eyes. Her tail flicked back and forth viciously . "They don't speak the common-tongue," Victor said, as he hobbled toward her, "And right now she is terrified. They tend to go survival modes when attacked and may not remember everything they do."
Eryth tasted the air. A scent of blood, iron, salt, ash. "Maybe you should go first... I'll do my best with what you showed me. I'm still not sure about some of these vials though... Looks like she's injured across her chest... tattered wings too?"
Victor hopped over and the dragon hissed before snapping her sharp teeth at him. "Easy...its okay..." Her tail whipped around and took him in the back of the shins, sweeping him off of his feet. The soldier landed flat on his back and immediately shimmied away from another attempted bite. Away from the dragon he, dropped his head back to the dirty and called out to Eyrth. "Yeah...tattered wings."
"Are you alright? She hit you pretty hard there." Eryth stepped over to the man, watching the dragon as his own tail swished behind him.
"Uhg...I'm alright..." Victor groaned as he sat up, "We gotta calm her down before we get closer." He hoisted his bag off his shoulder and handed it to Eryth. "Look inside and find a red pouch and take it out carefully. You'll find a ball of herbs inside that will knock just about anything out. If we can get her to eat it, she'll take a nap and be none the wiser when she wakes up."
Another involuntary lick shot from his mouth as he took the bag. Strong scents of medicines, herbs, and alcohol. "A sedative... She wouldn't actually try to bite my arm of or anything, would she?" Ery asked, fishing around in the bag.
"She might, right now. Dragons go into a feral mode when attacked," Victor said as he gazed at his crutch that sat far too close to the dragons maw, "She'll snap at you probably, maybe you can just toss it in?"
"Just play skeet ball with the dragon? Sure, I can do that." Eryth removed the pouch and gave the air another lick, tasting to see how the dragon might react to the substance.
"Just don't lick it," Victor instructed, "Its a potent mix. I didn't want to have to use it but we're not going to get her calmed down." The dragons tail flicked as her eyes glared at Eryth, daring him to come close.
The packet didn't smell too offencive, but it was definetly medicine. "Alright... Just going to give a dragon a sedative.. No biggie."
"Welcome to being a guardian," Victor replied with a mild laugh, "All part of the day job, my friend."
"Here yea go girl... Don't bite." Eryth took a tentative, light step forwards, resting Corbin on his left shoulder as he offered the packet with his right.
Her reptilian eyes studied him a wild intelligence, as she waited to see what Eryth would do. As he got closer she hissed some, baring her teeth.
"Shhh. Don't worry." Eryth's voice was gentle, as calming as he could make it. "Just let me near... That's it." He took one more small step, his tail dropping slightly in fear.
The dragon growled a warning growl, then took a snap at him, her teeth clacking against each other.
He could feel his frill tense up with the snap, but he was still far from her. "Nono, I'm not going to hurt you. We're here to help. Just be calm." Testing fate, he took another slow step to the dragon.
The frill caught her attention and she froze, as she looked him over. Her nostrils twitched, sniffing the air for his scent, but she still stayed defensive. "Well, you've got her attention at least," Victor said, "Keep going."
"Oh... You like me a bit? Not angry anymore?"
The dragon sniffed at him some more, but didn't growl again. Instead she lowered her head some, staying cautious, but less defensive.
Eryth got closer, putting Corbin down at his side slowly and gently before taking another step forwards. He was almost within reach of her now, and far too close to be safe. "It's ok, don't worry. I'm scaley like you, right?"
Her nostrils flared as she panted in pain and her clawed curled into the dirt, as she tried to get closer to sniff him. Her maw was inches away from Eryth's hand and the medicine as she blinked at him.
His empty hand came around, pausing just short of her snout before he went to touch her gently.
A forked tongue licked at his hand, then she bumped at his palm with her nose trying. Her eyes scanned him over, looking less wild but no less in pain.
"There ya go girl. We're gonna help you, alright mate? You just have to trust me. This will make the pain go away, okay?" His other hand came back, offering the satchel of herbs.
She shied away from the sudden appearance of his other hand, and her lips curled at the potent smell of the medicine.
Eryth stepped a little closer, taking a chance at caressing her neck. "Shh, it's ok. Just be cool."
The dragon let him pet very lightly, keeping a careful eye on him as she let out a heavy breath. It was obvious she was loosing the strength to keep her head up and she lowered it slowly to the ground, licking a little at his hand. "I think you've got her calmed down, but I might see if she'll take the medicine anyways. Poking around on those wounds might piss her off again."
"Mhm. Here, girl, it's for your own good. Just to make the pain go away."
She licked a little more until the medicine ball accidentally stuck to her rough tongue. Her head whipped back and forth at the awful taste of fruit and menthol and she scratched at her mouth, sounding miserable. It took only a minute or so before the medicine started to dissolve and her head grew still, and her tail stopped twitching.
"She's asleep... Alright, where do we start?" Eryth picked Corbin back up, looking over the dragons wounds.
"Do you mind tossing me the crutch?" Victor asked from his spot on the ground.
"Yea..." Eryth picked up the cane and trotted over to the man, handing him the handle.
Victor hauled himself to his foot, easily once he got his his crutch back and then hobbled over next to the snoozing dragon. Scratching at the stubble on his chin, he looked her over and sighed. "The biggest one is on her belly. We'll have to roll her over."
Eryth hopped over to her side, checking her flank briefly. "What would have caused something like this?"
"It could have been another dragon, or any number of creatures. It could even have been a Shadow. Those wounds tend to look more like burns, but dragons are fire proof on the outside, so I'm not sure how that would work, truth be told," Victor replied as he hopped over to her tail fore paw. "Is she safe to turn?"
"I guess. It's your medicine... I would check for signs of broken bones first though, and neck or spinal trauma."
"Do what you need to do," Victor nodded, "If she's safe, I'll help you turn her over."
Eryth nodded to himself, visually inspecting the dragoness' scales and where the bones should be before moving over to her tail end. You know, he could take a peek, she wouldn't mind. He shook his head a little, killing off the crazy idea. Her wide hips seemed fine, as did her tail and back. Moving to her far side, it seemed the wounds were kept to flesh and scale, not bone. "I can't confirm if anything is broken right away, we can probably move her.
"Let's take a chance then. You grab her flank and I'll grab her fore paw and we'll roll together," Victor instructed as he moved into position and crooked his free elbow around her front leg.
Eryth did so, keeping his hands on the dragon's thigh as he tried to keep his mind off of the bizarre urge he had felt a few moments ago. He pulled on her thigh, rolling her onto her side and making sure her tattered wing did not get caught up underneath her own weight.
"Mhm. We probably don't have the gauze to deal with a wound that size, eh mate?"
"Perhaps not, but more than likely she wouldn't leave it on anyways," Victor replied, "There's some alcohol in there to clean the wound and the griffins blood will help it heal up faster."
"Could we cauterise? I don't really see another way to make sure it seals quickly."
"We could try, the inside of it will seal but the outer skin is fire proof. It will leave a nasty scar."
"I don't want to take the risk it gets infected or doesn't scab over properly. What sort of tools do you have for doing that?"
"For her size? Hmm...fire poker might work. Or one of the regular blades from the armory might be big enough to heat up for cauterizing it, what do you think?"
"Yea, a sword would do it. Can you make a fire here or do you need me to grab sonething back at the Caeranium for that too?"
"I can get the fire going, if you'll get the sword," the young soldier said, "But we should hurry. That medicine is hard to measure and sleep time varies."
"Yea! Don't worry, I'll be right back!" Eryth turned, bounced a little, and took off on his springy legs, sprinting his scaled feet down the path they had come as fast as he could, his tail bobbing wildly with every step.
There was a rack on plain swords in the armory of different sizes and lengths Victor knew Eryth would find quickly. He sat to work and gathered up the firewood and used a flint to start a fire, adding some element dust to make it burn hot enough to cauterize well. By the time Eyrth returned he had already bandaged up the poor dragoness' feet.
Eryth returned quickly, skidding to a stop next to Victor with the large sword dangling in one hand and Corbin resting in his other. Tickle tickle? He put the sword down next to the fire, looking over the dragon's hindpaws as Victor worked. "I'm back, any movement from her?"
"None so far. Let's hope we don't either," he replied, before nodding to fire, "Go ahead and get the blade hot. I've already cleaned the wound out some."
Eryth stuck the sword into the embers of the fire, doing his best to keep the blade somewhat clean. "Do you need me to do anything else Victor?"
"Can you start with her tail? It's in rough shape. Clean it up first, then use the gryphons' blood to start up the healing process. It will take a few days of bandages to get her feeling right. Normally, I would have given her the sirens' tears for pain and peace first, but she needed something a bit stronger, eh?"
"Just a bit, eh?" Eryth trotted over to her tail, looking over the long gash that had penetrated her scales. Quickly, he pulled the correct bottles from his pouch and sanitized his own hands before starting on the wound. Victor looks rather alluring with his hands on a scaled being like himself, doesn't he? He closed his eyes hard briefly before rinsing out the grime he could with the limited sanitizer agent. "Everything okay over there, Victor?"
"Aye, everything looks fine. As soon as you finish with her tail, the sword should be ready. I'll like you do that. Probably wouldn't be the the best idea letting me hobble around with a red hot weapon," he replied, with a quiet chuckle.
Eryth tucked the mostly empty bottle away back in his bag, taking a lick at the air as the sting of alcohol briefly overpowered him. Quickly, he pulled out the gryphon's blood and started to apply it as Victor had showed him. Getting away from the smell and taste as soon as possible sounded veeery good. Especially after the events of the Forge. "Sure thing. How's her breathing rate?"
"Steady as far as I can tell," the soldier said as he finished his work and pulled himself up. A quiet moment passed as he shuffled over to the fire. It was still burning hot, which was good. "It's a good thing you came along."
"No problem." Especially for such a handsome man.
He stopped by the fire, tentatively grabbing for the handle of the blade to test how hot it was. Warm to the touch, but not painfully so.
"Are you ready? the young soldier asked, looking to Eryth. He paused, catching an odd look on the nurses face. "Everything alright?"
"Yea, fine. Just odd thoughts. It's nothing." He pulled the sword from the fire, bouncing over to the dragoness as he kept the blade in a somewhat safe orientation. The metal glowed orange with heat, but the blood was still fresh on the surface and the wound needed to seal. "
Victor followed behind him, wishing for a moment he could move like he used to, and took a alcohol dampened linen to wipe away the extra blood from the poor dragon's wound. Once he was done wiping it down again, he nodded. "Go ahead, but be ready to move fast just in case."
"Got it. Sorry girl..." He raised the sword up, gently placing the glowong blade against her scales with a hiss. Quickly, he lifted it and moved a width down, trying to do as little damage as possible.
The dragon let out a long, pained groan and her paws curled. Victor watched her eyes intently, waiting to see if she would actually wake up, but she remained asleep. For now. "Keep going. I think she is alright."
His tongue shot out of his mouth as he moved forwards. Burning flesh, blood, hot iron, the dragon herself, and a taste he only just now recognised. Sweat. Specifically a man's sweat. Pale in comparison to the odours assaulting him, but present.
The dragoness stirred some, her tail twitching, but otherwise remained asleep until the work was complete. "You did well Eyrth, I think Lady was right about you," Victor nodded, "One of us should stay out here until she wakes up."
"Thank you." Volunteer and you will get a chance to take a look... He shook his head again, putting the hot sword down on the ground and picking up Corbin. "I should stay. If she is still angry when she wakes, I can run faster."
"Aye but you have also been training hard .I can stay if you like. Guardians should always be well rested," he replied for before letting out a chuckle, "Just don't take Lady as an example of being well rested."
Victor could certainly help him rest... "No, it's fine. Really. I can stay. I think I need to try and clear my mind of something right now anyway, maybe fresh air will help."
The young man nodded, wiping sweat off his brow with his sleeve and looked to Eryth, with slight concern. The nurse acted like something was on his mind, but it wasn't his place to pry into a guardian's life unless the offered the information. Or he saw something by accident of course. "You sure?
"Yeah... Just sensitive stuff." He took a seat under a tree facing the dragon as they waited. "I'll be right back as soon as she wakes."
"Alright then," he nodded as he started for the trail, "I wouldn't fall asleep though. When dragon's wake, the wake hungry. 'Night Eyrth. Thanks for your help." Then he hobbled down the trail at his lumbering pace, leaving Eyrth to the fire and the dragon watch.
With just him, the dragon, and Corbin left, Eryth felt like he had some time to think. Something about him felt alien, like it wasn't really him making those thoughts. If they weren't so... Personal, he might've been more open to Victor about what exactly was going through his head. Right now, he just wanted to sate his needs with the- No! He was doing it again, inappropriate, horrible thoughts. Still, his body could not lie, the ideas were sparking something inside of him, whether he liked it or not.
Something crumpled into the floor inside with a loud crash before footsteps came up to the door. A sleepy black lizardman opened it up, fixing his bright frill on his neck absent-mindedly. "Mhm, yea. Always ready."
Emee bounced from the bed and scurried up to Eryth's shoulders as Victor waited for the nurse to pretend like he was awake. "I'm sorry to wake you but a dragon landed on the island and she's looks like she is hurt pretty bad. I can't handle her on my own enough to help her. Mind giving me a hand?"
"A d... A dragon?" Eryth paused for a second before grabbing the messanger bag filled with Victor's medicines and Corbin. The polearm had been good recently, keeping himself at a shorter size whenever Ery was walking around. "I can help. Where is she?"
"She's at the far side of the island near the docks. I think she only just made it here," Victor said, as he hitched is own bag a little higher, "I'll show you. Its better to go out after dark in pairs." The soldier turned down the hall and started clicking down the corridor. He lead Eryth outside and down the east side of the stone paths and past the groves of trees. The wisps came out, playing in their hair and flitting around, as they lit up the path. Eventually, the path sloped downward to a the waters edge where a massive dock awaited, utterly empty. "I know she is here somewhere.." A hoarse, but angry groan came from their left and a massive shadow block lay heaving in the dirt.
Her scales were a pale, dusty green with a good hint of blue. A mighty set of wings striped in bright orange were resting on her back, matching her fierce orange snake eyes. "There! Hello? Can you speak?"
The dragon snorted which turned into a deep groan of pain as it tried to stand up. The beasts legs wobbled, then faltered as she slammed back into the ground with wild eyes. Her tail flicked back and forth viciously . "They don't speak the common-tongue," Victor said, as he hobbled toward her, "And right now she is terrified. They tend to go survival modes when attacked and may not remember everything they do."
Eryth tasted the air. A scent of blood, iron, salt, ash. "Maybe you should go first... I'll do my best with what you showed me. I'm still not sure about some of these vials though... Looks like she's injured across her chest... tattered wings too?"
Victor hopped over and the dragon hissed before snapping her sharp teeth at him. "Easy...its okay..." Her tail whipped around and took him in the back of the shins, sweeping him off of his feet. The soldier landed flat on his back and immediately shimmied away from another attempted bite. Away from the dragon he, dropped his head back to the dirty and called out to Eyrth. "Yeah...tattered wings."
"Are you alright? She hit you pretty hard there." Eryth stepped over to the man, watching the dragon as his own tail swished behind him.
"Uhg...I'm alright..." Victor groaned as he sat up, "We gotta calm her down before we get closer." He hoisted his bag off his shoulder and handed it to Eryth. "Look inside and find a red pouch and take it out carefully. You'll find a ball of herbs inside that will knock just about anything out. If we can get her to eat it, she'll take a nap and be none the wiser when she wakes up."
Another involuntary lick shot from his mouth as he took the bag. Strong scents of medicines, herbs, and alcohol. "A sedative... She wouldn't actually try to bite my arm of or anything, would she?" Ery asked, fishing around in the bag.
"She might, right now. Dragons go into a feral mode when attacked," Victor said as he gazed at his crutch that sat far too close to the dragons maw, "She'll snap at you probably, maybe you can just toss it in?"
"Just play skeet ball with the dragon? Sure, I can do that." Eryth removed the pouch and gave the air another lick, tasting to see how the dragon might react to the substance.
"Just don't lick it," Victor instructed, "Its a potent mix. I didn't want to have to use it but we're not going to get her calmed down." The dragons tail flicked as her eyes glared at Eryth, daring him to come close.
The packet didn't smell too offencive, but it was definetly medicine. "Alright... Just going to give a dragon a sedative.. No biggie."
"Welcome to being a guardian," Victor replied with a mild laugh, "All part of the day job, my friend."
"Here yea go girl... Don't bite." Eryth took a tentative, light step forwards, resting Corbin on his left shoulder as he offered the packet with his right.
Her reptilian eyes studied him a wild intelligence, as she waited to see what Eryth would do. As he got closer she hissed some, baring her teeth.
"Shhh. Don't worry." Eryth's voice was gentle, as calming as he could make it. "Just let me near... That's it." He took one more small step, his tail dropping slightly in fear.
The dragon growled a warning growl, then took a snap at him, her teeth clacking against each other.
He could feel his frill tense up with the snap, but he was still far from her. "Nono, I'm not going to hurt you. We're here to help. Just be calm." Testing fate, he took another slow step to the dragon.
The frill caught her attention and she froze, as she looked him over. Her nostrils twitched, sniffing the air for his scent, but she still stayed defensive. "Well, you've got her attention at least," Victor said, "Keep going."
"Oh... You like me a bit? Not angry anymore?"
The dragon sniffed at him some more, but didn't growl again. Instead she lowered her head some, staying cautious, but less defensive.
Eryth got closer, putting Corbin down at his side slowly and gently before taking another step forwards. He was almost within reach of her now, and far too close to be safe. "It's ok, don't worry. I'm scaley like you, right?"
Her nostrils flared as she panted in pain and her clawed curled into the dirt, as she tried to get closer to sniff him. Her maw was inches away from Eryth's hand and the medicine as she blinked at him.
His empty hand came around, pausing just short of her snout before he went to touch her gently.
A forked tongue licked at his hand, then she bumped at his palm with her nose trying. Her eyes scanned him over, looking less wild but no less in pain.
"There ya go girl. We're gonna help you, alright mate? You just have to trust me. This will make the pain go away, okay?" His other hand came back, offering the satchel of herbs.
She shied away from the sudden appearance of his other hand, and her lips curled at the potent smell of the medicine.
Eryth stepped a little closer, taking a chance at caressing her neck. "Shh, it's ok. Just be cool."
The dragon let him pet very lightly, keeping a careful eye on him as she let out a heavy breath. It was obvious she was loosing the strength to keep her head up and she lowered it slowly to the ground, licking a little at his hand. "I think you've got her calmed down, but I might see if she'll take the medicine anyways. Poking around on those wounds might piss her off again."
"Mhm. Here, girl, it's for your own good. Just to make the pain go away."
She licked a little more until the medicine ball accidentally stuck to her rough tongue. Her head whipped back and forth at the awful taste of fruit and menthol and she scratched at her mouth, sounding miserable. It took only a minute or so before the medicine started to dissolve and her head grew still, and her tail stopped twitching.
"She's asleep... Alright, where do we start?" Eryth picked Corbin back up, looking over the dragons wounds.
"Do you mind tossing me the crutch?" Victor asked from his spot on the ground.
"Yea..." Eryth picked up the cane and trotted over to the man, handing him the handle.
Victor hauled himself to his foot, easily once he got his his crutch back and then hobbled over next to the snoozing dragon. Scratching at the stubble on his chin, he looked her over and sighed. "The biggest one is on her belly. We'll have to roll her over."
Eryth hopped over to her side, checking her flank briefly. "What would have caused something like this?"
"It could have been another dragon, or any number of creatures. It could even have been a Shadow. Those wounds tend to look more like burns, but dragons are fire proof on the outside, so I'm not sure how that would work, truth be told," Victor replied as he hopped over to her tail fore paw. "Is she safe to turn?"
"I guess. It's your medicine... I would check for signs of broken bones first though, and neck or spinal trauma."
"Do what you need to do," Victor nodded, "If she's safe, I'll help you turn her over."
Eryth nodded to himself, visually inspecting the dragoness' scales and where the bones should be before moving over to her tail end. You know, he could take a peek, she wouldn't mind. He shook his head a little, killing off the crazy idea. Her wide hips seemed fine, as did her tail and back. Moving to her far side, it seemed the wounds were kept to flesh and scale, not bone. "I can't confirm if anything is broken right away, we can probably move her.
"Let's take a chance then. You grab her flank and I'll grab her fore paw and we'll roll together," Victor instructed as he moved into position and crooked his free elbow around her front leg.
Eryth did so, keeping his hands on the dragon's thigh as he tried to keep his mind off of the bizarre urge he had felt a few moments ago. He pulled on her thigh, rolling her onto her side and making sure her tattered wing did not get caught up underneath her own weight.
"Mhm. We probably don't have the gauze to deal with a wound that size, eh mate?"
"Perhaps not, but more than likely she wouldn't leave it on anyways," Victor replied, "There's some alcohol in there to clean the wound and the griffins blood will help it heal up faster."
"Could we cauterise? I don't really see another way to make sure it seals quickly."
"We could try, the inside of it will seal but the outer skin is fire proof. It will leave a nasty scar."
"I don't want to take the risk it gets infected or doesn't scab over properly. What sort of tools do you have for doing that?"
"For her size? Hmm...fire poker might work. Or one of the regular blades from the armory might be big enough to heat up for cauterizing it, what do you think?"
"Yea, a sword would do it. Can you make a fire here or do you need me to grab sonething back at the Caeranium for that too?"
"I can get the fire going, if you'll get the sword," the young soldier said, "But we should hurry. That medicine is hard to measure and sleep time varies."
"Yea! Don't worry, I'll be right back!" Eryth turned, bounced a little, and took off on his springy legs, sprinting his scaled feet down the path they had come as fast as he could, his tail bobbing wildly with every step.
There was a rack on plain swords in the armory of different sizes and lengths Victor knew Eryth would find quickly. He sat to work and gathered up the firewood and used a flint to start a fire, adding some element dust to make it burn hot enough to cauterize well. By the time Eyrth returned he had already bandaged up the poor dragoness' feet.
Eryth returned quickly, skidding to a stop next to Victor with the large sword dangling in one hand and Corbin resting in his other. Tickle tickle? He put the sword down next to the fire, looking over the dragon's hindpaws as Victor worked. "I'm back, any movement from her?"
"None so far. Let's hope we don't either," he replied, before nodding to fire, "Go ahead and get the blade hot. I've already cleaned the wound out some."
Eryth stuck the sword into the embers of the fire, doing his best to keep the blade somewhat clean. "Do you need me to do anything else Victor?"
"Can you start with her tail? It's in rough shape. Clean it up first, then use the gryphons' blood to start up the healing process. It will take a few days of bandages to get her feeling right. Normally, I would have given her the sirens' tears for pain and peace first, but she needed something a bit stronger, eh?"
"Just a bit, eh?" Eryth trotted over to her tail, looking over the long gash that had penetrated her scales. Quickly, he pulled the correct bottles from his pouch and sanitized his own hands before starting on the wound. Victor looks rather alluring with his hands on a scaled being like himself, doesn't he? He closed his eyes hard briefly before rinsing out the grime he could with the limited sanitizer agent. "Everything okay over there, Victor?"
"Aye, everything looks fine. As soon as you finish with her tail, the sword should be ready. I'll like you do that. Probably wouldn't be the the best idea letting me hobble around with a red hot weapon," he replied, with a quiet chuckle.
Eryth tucked the mostly empty bottle away back in his bag, taking a lick at the air as the sting of alcohol briefly overpowered him. Quickly, he pulled out the gryphon's blood and started to apply it as Victor had showed him. Getting away from the smell and taste as soon as possible sounded veeery good. Especially after the events of the Forge. "Sure thing. How's her breathing rate?"
"Steady as far as I can tell," the soldier said as he finished his work and pulled himself up. A quiet moment passed as he shuffled over to the fire. It was still burning hot, which was good. "It's a good thing you came along."
"No problem." Especially for such a handsome man.
He stopped by the fire, tentatively grabbing for the handle of the blade to test how hot it was. Warm to the touch, but not painfully so.
"Are you ready? the young soldier asked, looking to Eryth. He paused, catching an odd look on the nurses face. "Everything alright?"
"Yea, fine. Just odd thoughts. It's nothing." He pulled the sword from the fire, bouncing over to the dragoness as he kept the blade in a somewhat safe orientation. The metal glowed orange with heat, but the blood was still fresh on the surface and the wound needed to seal. "
Victor followed behind him, wishing for a moment he could move like he used to, and took a alcohol dampened linen to wipe away the extra blood from the poor dragon's wound. Once he was done wiping it down again, he nodded. "Go ahead, but be ready to move fast just in case."
"Got it. Sorry girl..." He raised the sword up, gently placing the glowong blade against her scales with a hiss. Quickly, he lifted it and moved a width down, trying to do as little damage as possible.
The dragon let out a long, pained groan and her paws curled. Victor watched her eyes intently, waiting to see if she would actually wake up, but she remained asleep. For now. "Keep going. I think she is alright."
His tongue shot out of his mouth as he moved forwards. Burning flesh, blood, hot iron, the dragon herself, and a taste he only just now recognised. Sweat. Specifically a man's sweat. Pale in comparison to the odours assaulting him, but present.
The dragoness stirred some, her tail twitching, but otherwise remained asleep until the work was complete. "You did well Eyrth, I think Lady was right about you," Victor nodded, "One of us should stay out here until she wakes up."
"Thank you." Volunteer and you will get a chance to take a look... He shook his head again, putting the hot sword down on the ground and picking up Corbin. "I should stay. If she is still angry when she wakes, I can run faster."
"Aye but you have also been training hard .I can stay if you like. Guardians should always be well rested," he replied for before letting out a chuckle, "Just don't take Lady as an example of being well rested."
Victor could certainly help him rest... "No, it's fine. Really. I can stay. I think I need to try and clear my mind of something right now anyway, maybe fresh air will help."
The young man nodded, wiping sweat off his brow with his sleeve and looked to Eryth, with slight concern. The nurse acted like something was on his mind, but it wasn't his place to pry into a guardian's life unless the offered the information. Or he saw something by accident of course. "You sure?
"Yeah... Just sensitive stuff." He took a seat under a tree facing the dragon as they waited. "I'll be right back as soon as she wakes."
"Alright then," he nodded as he started for the trail, "I wouldn't fall asleep though. When dragon's wake, the wake hungry. 'Night Eyrth. Thanks for your help." Then he hobbled down the trail at his lumbering pace, leaving Eyrth to the fire and the dragon watch.
With just him, the dragon, and Corbin left, Eryth felt like he had some time to think. Something about him felt alien, like it wasn't really him making those thoughts. If they weren't so... Personal, he might've been more open to Victor about what exactly was going through his head. Right now, he just wanted to sate his needs with the- No! He was doing it again, inappropriate, horrible thoughts. Still, his body could not lie, the ideas were sparking something inside of him, whether he liked it or not.
A sword cracked down on the ground next to Eryth, the stone golem was no match for Eryth's sheer speed. Not yet, at least. A problem had shown itself over the last day of training, heat. Lacking the sweat of mammals, Eryth was quick, but lacked the stamina he once held. Corbin's hammer came around, cracking the arm of the golem before he dashed back from a second sword on his right.
Lady watched Eryth intently, letting him figure out the puzzle that was battle on his own now. "Excellent form Eyrth, just watch your lead hand."
He spun the weapon around, keeping the hammer over his shoulder as Victor had shown him and using it as more of a quarterstaff than an axe. A quick shuffle of his hand and he safely parried away a wild swing of a massive battleaxe, driving the force into the ground as he tried to circle around to keep his two remaining assailants on the same side of him. "Thank you."
Lady nodded in approval. He was improving quickly and now it seemed he was ready for more of a challenge. She walked around him, slowly and then beckoned him toward the door. "Let us get some fresh air. James is busy and company for patrol would be nice, if you would like to join me?"
"Sure thing. It's still cool out, do that'll be nice."
Lady lead Eryth out to the island. The morning air was cool but the rising was bright and warm. A heavy fog sat in the hollows between the trees, catching the sleepy wisps in a gentle net. She set out down the cobblestone path toward the beach with Eyrth by her side. "How are you getting along since returning from the Forge?"
"Pretty fine. The body was a big change, not an unwelcome one though. I keep thinking of cute little costume ideas and... Other things. Yea..." He grew quiet, his tail losing the happy bounce it normally had as he walked."
The path became wider and the moss between the cobblestones turned to a tan sand as it gave way the beach front. Gobs of dried red and black ichorr from battle stained the sand in some places. Lady raised a brow at the newly dubbed guardian. It was a difficult transition for many and Eryth was no doubt feeling strange, no matter what his enthusiasm tried to hide. "You sound troubled Eryth. What is on your mind?"
"Just... weird thoughts. Really personal things... like thoughts that aren't mine. You probably wouldn't want to hear it..."
Lady paused and looked at Eryth, her brow furrowing. "No, these types of things must be said. Trying to contain them on your own can have...unfortunate results. Tell me, Eryth."
"Well... er... like... It's just a lot of really weird things about... things I don't think..." Lacking the ability to bring words to his mouth, he made an O with one hand and pushed his claw into it. "Stuff."
She glanced at his hands and understood his meaning. Those types of things were not her area of expertise but it was natural for him to be concerned and it was her duty to the new Guardian to listen and advise where she could. "Did these...feelings occur after you emerged from the Forge?"
"Yea. After I got Corbin, I just started thinking weird things about everyone around... Well, not you. Sorry. I don't know if that was rude or reassuring."
She rested a hand on Sperests' pommel and stayed quiet for a moment, thinking of Eryth and what she knew of him. In all the time that she observed him, she had never once seen him show that sort of interest in anyone. He did not seek companionship and mainly kept to himself, even at work. "I see," she replied evenly, "Soul Forge weapons are made from our essences. Whether we realize those parts of ourselves or not. Perhaps these...thoughts and feelings...they are a part of you, you had yet to uncover before now. You would not be the first Guardian to have a similar experience."
"Well I don't want them to be a part of me! It's distracting, and sick and-" I kind of like it. "Agh. It keeps happening. It's like I'm trying to fight myself here, but myself has a voice now!" Eryth threw Cobin onto the sand in frustration. "I have been fighting myself for too long for him to get a voice. I can't deal with it."
The sharp ring of metal echoed over the beach as Lady drew her blade and in two quick paces to an arching swing at Eryth. The tip of her blade caught his tunic, but not his scaled skin. "Eryth Hassan!"
His frill popped out to full extension for the first time, a wild display of electric blue around his head as he tumbled back from Lady. He fell on his rear, scrambling back as he dragged his tail on the ground between his legs. "What was that for?!"
She marched forward, the focus of a battle tried swords woman written on her face. With another flick of her wrist, she took another piece of his tunic. "Did you learn nothing in the Forge!?"
A memory of the forge flashed back to his head. The taste of blood on his tongue, no his nose, and the man.... him. His weakness moulded before him.A memory of the forge flashed back to his head. The taste of blood on his tongue, no his nose, and the man.... him. His weakness moulded into a figure before him. "I didn't see anything in the Forge I didn't already know!"
She didn't stop. A swing came close to his tail. Just enough to feel the breeze. "Where your darkness is deepest and your light brightest," she growled, "You felt the both. A soul always has both! You must accept it!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying! It's just hard, and I've been doing that forever! I just want a break!"
Lady whipped around and Sperests' tip stopped just short of his frill. She stared him down with her blue-green eyes, perfectly and deathly calm. "You must accept it as a part of yourself. Face it," she said, "And then you must choose what to do with that side of yourself. "
"Accept it? Accept... that?! It's wrong! I get thoughts like... They're just wrong! Objectively!"
"If that is how you feel, then choose differently," Lady said, keeping her gaze, "But until you accept your darkness and your light together, then decide how to face it. Corbin will never meet its potential. Giving up is not the way."
"I... I'll try harder. It won't beat me." Eryth frill dropped a little as he found courage in his words. "I can do it."
Lady withdrew Sperest with a swish and sank the blade home into its scabbard at her hip. Her eyes searched over his as she held out a hand to him. "Come and retrieve your weapon, Eryth."
The black scaled man took her hand, stepping up onto his bouncy legs as his frill flattened down. He obsessivly patted down the bright blue and flack skin as he walked over to his weapon. "You could have just talked to me..."
"Would you have listened?" Lady replied evenly, as he walked over to Corbin waiting for him in the sand.
"I... Probably... Maybe..." He mumbled, stepping over to his weapon and picking it up gingerly.
Lady stepped through the sand to Eryth. The Guardian still looked a bit rattled from the way she had made her point, but it had been effective and that's all that mattered. "May I see?" she asked, nodding to the pole arm in his claws.
"Yea... Here." Corbin was dormant as he was passed to Lady.
She kept the weapon in her hands with a firm grip, her eyes scanning it over. At least it wasn't trying to kill her as Iravanis had. It was laying in wait for something but revealed more about its master in doing so. "Hmm...indeed," she nodded, handing the weapon back. "Eryth, am I wrong in my guess that you have not had a significant other?"
"I uh... No." He put his hand on the back of his frill as he admitted what he thought was a rather embarassing fact. "I just... Never found the one... Or really looked..."
"I see," she nodded, thinking over his words. "I think perhaps your weapon is a part of yourself you are unwilling to admit. Given your current thoughts and past. You are not the first guardian to have a weapon that reflects hidden traits. The question remains on what to do about it." She gave the nurse a kind smile and patted him on the shoulder. "Eryth, you have a gentle heart that you keep tucked away, but everyone has desires. I think perhaps when someone comes along that fulfills both what your heart looks for and also what Corbin wants, that you will find some peace."
"And... I... Er...yea. I guess. I mean... I had ideas before just... Not this extreme. Sorry, you really don't need to hear about that sort of stuff."
Lady chuckled some and shook her head. "I do not mind listening. It is not as if your words are falling on innocent ears. Talking about it is a good thing." Her smile faded some as she invited Eryth to continue walking along the beach. "I am all to aware of what happens when you face a burden or worries alone."
"Well... Thank you for listening. I'll spare you the details of the other changes this body has done to me." Eryth rested the heavy head of Corbin over his shoulder as they walked. His massive feet were well built for sand, acting almost like snowshoes in the shifting beach. His tail bobbed up and down just over the sand, leaving a little trail whenever it touched.
Eryth dodged something rather unpleasant looking in the sand as they walked along. He only just now noticed the mess all around them. "What happened here?"
She glanced up at the guardian beside her. They were out of the Forge and into training. They may as well know now what they will be facing. "While you three were in the Forge, the island was attacked. Shadows in possession of undead corpses attempted to lay siege to the beach and the Carenium."
"Undead? Like Zombies? Are we fighting Zombies?"
"The undead are simply some of the more troublesome denizens in Otherworld. They're usually only around when a witch or warlock makes them. Or Hades is feeling humorous. However, these undead were taken by Shadow. They were using the undead skin to cross the channel and hide from the sun because they attacked in broad day light. Shadows can take over anyone, from what I have observed."
Lady raised a brow at him as she kicked aside a pile of dried goo. "The undead can be dealt with using fire. Shadows simply do not like the light. It's one of the only reasons Sperest and I have survived so long."
"Only visible light? Because what you and I can see is actually just a form of radiation that interacts greatly with objects. Other wavelengths can pass through objects, or even interact to the point that they can cook them.
She shrugged, not being familiar with the terms he was using. Victor had been reading more into the human world, since he was unable to join them in the field. She would ask him later. "Light. If those are your terms for light. Then, yes."
Lady lead them toward another winding stone path and into the tree groves along the north of the island. The early morning light filtered through the trees and a gentle, humid breeze tickled through their leaves. Lady could feel a set of eyes on them though, shifting in the shadows watching them. "Eryth, stay on the path." She said quietly before drawing Sperest and slipping into the trees.
"Lady?!" Eryth asked the trees, trying to make out the already-vanished guardian. "Hello? What's happening?"
Lady didn't reply. A cold breeze blew through the trees, making the branches creak and groan as they swayed. Over the sound of the leaves another soft whispering could be heard.
"Hello-*" Eryth's voice cracked as he lowered his weapon into a ready stance, slowly turning on the forest path. His frill began to lift, the bright blue on his neck being joined by the hidden patches around his head.
A tendril of jet black shot out from the shadows and wrapped around Eryth's ankle, sweeping him off his feet and dragging him towards the treeline.
With a scream and a display of his frill, Eryth held onto Corbin as well as he could as the underbrush caught and pulled on his weapon. "Laaaaadyyyyyyyy!"
The tendrils dragged him, until he came to the foot of a tall, nearly skeletal figure with four glowing red eyes and long jagged claws. It had no distinguishable features other than roiling misty shadows for its body. A mouth yawned open bearing needle-like teeth as it hissed at him, drawing a claw back to strike.
Corbin suddenly jut forwards, the metal cap on the end of the polearm reaching eight feet and cracking into the vague jaw of the being. "LAAAAADYYYYY!!!"
Eryth swiped back and forth erratically with the elongated polearm, trying to make contact with something solid to injure the being.
The creature hissed, becoming angrier and as it kept reforming over and over until it made a desperate attempt to end the aggravation. A long tendril clawed out blindly collided into dirt next to Eryth's frilled head.
Eryth squeaked as the tendril threw bits of dirt onto his head. Quickly, he moved the end of Corbin down to try and break the tendril holding him as he tried to lurch free.
Another tendril grabbed his other ankle and more began to grow around him, as the creature shrieked in anger. The creeping, cold limbs started taking over the ground around him and claws raked at the dirt as it's face reformed.
"Get off!" Eryth swung his weapon around, aiming to crack Corbin's hammer into the monster. Helpfully, the weapon shrunk down again as he twirled it.
A resounding pop echoed through the trees as Corbin's hammer crashed into the shadowy creatures chest creating an electric blue spark. It squealed and then suddenly froze stock-still. The tendrils stopped writhing as if stalled in time while the red eyes of the creature beamed down on him unblinking.
He moved the spear tip down to the tendril on his leg, breaking it before scrambling free from the creature's grasp. He got back to his feet once it was safe and looked to see if he could make out any signs of injury or movement.
The broken tendril did not regrow as the monster stayed in its frozen form. Only its eyes seemed to be able to move now, slowly moving up with a murderous gaze the Eryth.
"LAAAADYYYY!" Eryth screamed again, holding his weapon over his shoulder with the pommel primed to strike.
Lady stepped appeared through the trees with a few leaves in her hair as her eyes flickered from Eryth to the creature and back again. She drew Sperest as she walked and in one fluid motion took off the shadowy figures head with her glowing blade. Immediately, it began to disintegrate into a pile of black sand which slithered back into the trees of its own accord, leaving no trace of itself behind. "I am not sure what you did, but well done," she grinned.
"I uh... I just hit him with the hammer and he froze... I don't know what happened. It felt tingly, like it was electric or something. And thank you for coming, where did you go??"
"Eh, just our resident Shade growing bored and playing tricks," Lady shrugged, "I just cannot afford to be too careful, given the attacks on the island recently. He will reform in a day or so. Sounds as though you may have uncovered a skill of Corbin's though. He simply froze?"
"Well... Yea. There was this little pop like a shock and the hammer sort of went tingly feeling and he just stopped." Eryth explained.
"Interesting," she mused, her eyes flickering over Corbin and then to Eryth, "And is that what you wanted to happen? The Shade to stop?"
"I... I guess? I didn't really want to hurt it, just make ir go away or something. To escape."
"Remember that feeling," Lady nodded, " So, when you need that skill again you can call on it. However, if it comes to you or the creature you have stunned...do not hestitate to make the final blow if you absolutely must."
"I... I'll try. If I have to. I'm just not terribly comfortable with the idea of actually killing something, especially when I can still try to help them in some way."
"A view I highly respect," she replied earnestly, "But there are some things out here that will kill you without hesitation, like the Shadows. Defend how you can, and protect how you must to keep living. It's...a hard choice and it never becomes easier." She patted him on the shoulder and nodded. "Back to path, with us yes?"
"Yes, that sounds like a great idea." Eryth lowered his weapon, beginning to walk through the brush of the forest. "I was hitting him with Corbin before I hit with the hammer, but it didn't seem to do anything. Do you know why?"
She lead them to the path and continued their patrol as she plucked wayward leaves from her braid. "Shades are malignant dead spirits without a true physical form. A regular weapon would have passed right through. A Soul Forge weapon is the only thing that can cause damage against them. The more you master your weapon, the more effective you will be against such creatures. They do eventually reform, even when a master guardian kills them."
"But Corbin is a forge weapon. It should have connected, right?"
"I take it, you hit the creature and it began to reform immediately?"
"Yea... I think? It was a bit of a blur."
"Your weapon is only as strong as your own will," she replied, " Your weapon struck, just not quite strong enough to banish him for awhile as Sperest did. I would have been surprised if you had."
"It is as strong as my will? So, this is as much of a mental fight as it is a physical one then?"
"Indeed. A will of a Guardian can even over power the physical limitations on their bodies. At a cost of course," she replied, wiggling her gloved fingers.
Lady watched Eryth intently, letting him figure out the puzzle that was battle on his own now. "Excellent form Eyrth, just watch your lead hand."
He spun the weapon around, keeping the hammer over his shoulder as Victor had shown him and using it as more of a quarterstaff than an axe. A quick shuffle of his hand and he safely parried away a wild swing of a massive battleaxe, driving the force into the ground as he tried to circle around to keep his two remaining assailants on the same side of him. "Thank you."
Lady nodded in approval. He was improving quickly and now it seemed he was ready for more of a challenge. She walked around him, slowly and then beckoned him toward the door. "Let us get some fresh air. James is busy and company for patrol would be nice, if you would like to join me?"
"Sure thing. It's still cool out, do that'll be nice."
Lady lead Eryth out to the island. The morning air was cool but the rising was bright and warm. A heavy fog sat in the hollows between the trees, catching the sleepy wisps in a gentle net. She set out down the cobblestone path toward the beach with Eyrth by her side. "How are you getting along since returning from the Forge?"
"Pretty fine. The body was a big change, not an unwelcome one though. I keep thinking of cute little costume ideas and... Other things. Yea..." He grew quiet, his tail losing the happy bounce it normally had as he walked."
The path became wider and the moss between the cobblestones turned to a tan sand as it gave way the beach front. Gobs of dried red and black ichorr from battle stained the sand in some places. Lady raised a brow at the newly dubbed guardian. It was a difficult transition for many and Eryth was no doubt feeling strange, no matter what his enthusiasm tried to hide. "You sound troubled Eryth. What is on your mind?"
"Just... weird thoughts. Really personal things... like thoughts that aren't mine. You probably wouldn't want to hear it..."
Lady paused and looked at Eryth, her brow furrowing. "No, these types of things must be said. Trying to contain them on your own can have...unfortunate results. Tell me, Eryth."
"Well... er... like... It's just a lot of really weird things about... things I don't think..." Lacking the ability to bring words to his mouth, he made an O with one hand and pushed his claw into it. "Stuff."
She glanced at his hands and understood his meaning. Those types of things were not her area of expertise but it was natural for him to be concerned and it was her duty to the new Guardian to listen and advise where she could. "Did these...feelings occur after you emerged from the Forge?"
"Yea. After I got Corbin, I just started thinking weird things about everyone around... Well, not you. Sorry. I don't know if that was rude or reassuring."
She rested a hand on Sperests' pommel and stayed quiet for a moment, thinking of Eryth and what she knew of him. In all the time that she observed him, she had never once seen him show that sort of interest in anyone. He did not seek companionship and mainly kept to himself, even at work. "I see," she replied evenly, "Soul Forge weapons are made from our essences. Whether we realize those parts of ourselves or not. Perhaps these...thoughts and feelings...they are a part of you, you had yet to uncover before now. You would not be the first Guardian to have a similar experience."
"Well I don't want them to be a part of me! It's distracting, and sick and-" I kind of like it. "Agh. It keeps happening. It's like I'm trying to fight myself here, but myself has a voice now!" Eryth threw Cobin onto the sand in frustration. "I have been fighting myself for too long for him to get a voice. I can't deal with it."
The sharp ring of metal echoed over the beach as Lady drew her blade and in two quick paces to an arching swing at Eryth. The tip of her blade caught his tunic, but not his scaled skin. "Eryth Hassan!"
His frill popped out to full extension for the first time, a wild display of electric blue around his head as he tumbled back from Lady. He fell on his rear, scrambling back as he dragged his tail on the ground between his legs. "What was that for?!"
She marched forward, the focus of a battle tried swords woman written on her face. With another flick of her wrist, she took another piece of his tunic. "Did you learn nothing in the Forge!?"
A memory of the forge flashed back to his head. The taste of blood on his tongue, no his nose, and the man.... him. His weakness moulded before him.A memory of the forge flashed back to his head. The taste of blood on his tongue, no his nose, and the man.... him. His weakness moulded into a figure before him. "I didn't see anything in the Forge I didn't already know!"
She didn't stop. A swing came close to his tail. Just enough to feel the breeze. "Where your darkness is deepest and your light brightest," she growled, "You felt the both. A soul always has both! You must accept it!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying! It's just hard, and I've been doing that forever! I just want a break!"
Lady whipped around and Sperests' tip stopped just short of his frill. She stared him down with her blue-green eyes, perfectly and deathly calm. "You must accept it as a part of yourself. Face it," she said, "And then you must choose what to do with that side of yourself. "
"Accept it? Accept... that?! It's wrong! I get thoughts like... They're just wrong! Objectively!"
"If that is how you feel, then choose differently," Lady said, keeping her gaze, "But until you accept your darkness and your light together, then decide how to face it. Corbin will never meet its potential. Giving up is not the way."
"I... I'll try harder. It won't beat me." Eryth frill dropped a little as he found courage in his words. "I can do it."
Lady withdrew Sperest with a swish and sank the blade home into its scabbard at her hip. Her eyes searched over his as she held out a hand to him. "Come and retrieve your weapon, Eryth."
The black scaled man took her hand, stepping up onto his bouncy legs as his frill flattened down. He obsessivly patted down the bright blue and flack skin as he walked over to his weapon. "You could have just talked to me..."
"Would you have listened?" Lady replied evenly, as he walked over to Corbin waiting for him in the sand.
"I... Probably... Maybe..." He mumbled, stepping over to his weapon and picking it up gingerly.
Lady stepped through the sand to Eryth. The Guardian still looked a bit rattled from the way she had made her point, but it had been effective and that's all that mattered. "May I see?" she asked, nodding to the pole arm in his claws.
"Yea... Here." Corbin was dormant as he was passed to Lady.
She kept the weapon in her hands with a firm grip, her eyes scanning it over. At least it wasn't trying to kill her as Iravanis had. It was laying in wait for something but revealed more about its master in doing so. "Hmm...indeed," she nodded, handing the weapon back. "Eryth, am I wrong in my guess that you have not had a significant other?"
"I uh... No." He put his hand on the back of his frill as he admitted what he thought was a rather embarassing fact. "I just... Never found the one... Or really looked..."
"I see," she nodded, thinking over his words. "I think perhaps your weapon is a part of yourself you are unwilling to admit. Given your current thoughts and past. You are not the first guardian to have a weapon that reflects hidden traits. The question remains on what to do about it." She gave the nurse a kind smile and patted him on the shoulder. "Eryth, you have a gentle heart that you keep tucked away, but everyone has desires. I think perhaps when someone comes along that fulfills both what your heart looks for and also what Corbin wants, that you will find some peace."
"And... I... Er...yea. I guess. I mean... I had ideas before just... Not this extreme. Sorry, you really don't need to hear about that sort of stuff."
Lady chuckled some and shook her head. "I do not mind listening. It is not as if your words are falling on innocent ears. Talking about it is a good thing." Her smile faded some as she invited Eryth to continue walking along the beach. "I am all to aware of what happens when you face a burden or worries alone."
"Well... Thank you for listening. I'll spare you the details of the other changes this body has done to me." Eryth rested the heavy head of Corbin over his shoulder as they walked. His massive feet were well built for sand, acting almost like snowshoes in the shifting beach. His tail bobbed up and down just over the sand, leaving a little trail whenever it touched.
Eryth dodged something rather unpleasant looking in the sand as they walked along. He only just now noticed the mess all around them. "What happened here?"
She glanced up at the guardian beside her. They were out of the Forge and into training. They may as well know now what they will be facing. "While you three were in the Forge, the island was attacked. Shadows in possession of undead corpses attempted to lay siege to the beach and the Carenium."
"Undead? Like Zombies? Are we fighting Zombies?"
"The undead are simply some of the more troublesome denizens in Otherworld. They're usually only around when a witch or warlock makes them. Or Hades is feeling humorous. However, these undead were taken by Shadow. They were using the undead skin to cross the channel and hide from the sun because they attacked in broad day light. Shadows can take over anyone, from what I have observed."
Lady raised a brow at him as she kicked aside a pile of dried goo. "The undead can be dealt with using fire. Shadows simply do not like the light. It's one of the only reasons Sperest and I have survived so long."
"Only visible light? Because what you and I can see is actually just a form of radiation that interacts greatly with objects. Other wavelengths can pass through objects, or even interact to the point that they can cook them.
She shrugged, not being familiar with the terms he was using. Victor had been reading more into the human world, since he was unable to join them in the field. She would ask him later. "Light. If those are your terms for light. Then, yes."
Lady lead them toward another winding stone path and into the tree groves along the north of the island. The early morning light filtered through the trees and a gentle, humid breeze tickled through their leaves. Lady could feel a set of eyes on them though, shifting in the shadows watching them. "Eryth, stay on the path." She said quietly before drawing Sperest and slipping into the trees.
"Lady?!" Eryth asked the trees, trying to make out the already-vanished guardian. "Hello? What's happening?"
Lady didn't reply. A cold breeze blew through the trees, making the branches creak and groan as they swayed. Over the sound of the leaves another soft whispering could be heard.
"Hello-*" Eryth's voice cracked as he lowered his weapon into a ready stance, slowly turning on the forest path. His frill began to lift, the bright blue on his neck being joined by the hidden patches around his head.
A tendril of jet black shot out from the shadows and wrapped around Eryth's ankle, sweeping him off his feet and dragging him towards the treeline.
With a scream and a display of his frill, Eryth held onto Corbin as well as he could as the underbrush caught and pulled on his weapon. "Laaaaadyyyyyyyy!"
The tendrils dragged him, until he came to the foot of a tall, nearly skeletal figure with four glowing red eyes and long jagged claws. It had no distinguishable features other than roiling misty shadows for its body. A mouth yawned open bearing needle-like teeth as it hissed at him, drawing a claw back to strike.
Corbin suddenly jut forwards, the metal cap on the end of the polearm reaching eight feet and cracking into the vague jaw of the being. "LAAAAADYYYYY!!!"
Eryth swiped back and forth erratically with the elongated polearm, trying to make contact with something solid to injure the being.
The creature hissed, becoming angrier and as it kept reforming over and over until it made a desperate attempt to end the aggravation. A long tendril clawed out blindly collided into dirt next to Eryth's frilled head.
Eryth squeaked as the tendril threw bits of dirt onto his head. Quickly, he moved the end of Corbin down to try and break the tendril holding him as he tried to lurch free.
Another tendril grabbed his other ankle and more began to grow around him, as the creature shrieked in anger. The creeping, cold limbs started taking over the ground around him and claws raked at the dirt as it's face reformed.
"Get off!" Eryth swung his weapon around, aiming to crack Corbin's hammer into the monster. Helpfully, the weapon shrunk down again as he twirled it.
A resounding pop echoed through the trees as Corbin's hammer crashed into the shadowy creatures chest creating an electric blue spark. It squealed and then suddenly froze stock-still. The tendrils stopped writhing as if stalled in time while the red eyes of the creature beamed down on him unblinking.
He moved the spear tip down to the tendril on his leg, breaking it before scrambling free from the creature's grasp. He got back to his feet once it was safe and looked to see if he could make out any signs of injury or movement.
The broken tendril did not regrow as the monster stayed in its frozen form. Only its eyes seemed to be able to move now, slowly moving up with a murderous gaze the Eryth.
"LAAAADYYYY!" Eryth screamed again, holding his weapon over his shoulder with the pommel primed to strike.
Lady stepped appeared through the trees with a few leaves in her hair as her eyes flickered from Eryth to the creature and back again. She drew Sperest as she walked and in one fluid motion took off the shadowy figures head with her glowing blade. Immediately, it began to disintegrate into a pile of black sand which slithered back into the trees of its own accord, leaving no trace of itself behind. "I am not sure what you did, but well done," she grinned.
"I uh... I just hit him with the hammer and he froze... I don't know what happened. It felt tingly, like it was electric or something. And thank you for coming, where did you go??"
"Eh, just our resident Shade growing bored and playing tricks," Lady shrugged, "I just cannot afford to be too careful, given the attacks on the island recently. He will reform in a day or so. Sounds as though you may have uncovered a skill of Corbin's though. He simply froze?"
"Well... Yea. There was this little pop like a shock and the hammer sort of went tingly feeling and he just stopped." Eryth explained.
"Interesting," she mused, her eyes flickering over Corbin and then to Eryth, "And is that what you wanted to happen? The Shade to stop?"
"I... I guess? I didn't really want to hurt it, just make ir go away or something. To escape."
"Remember that feeling," Lady nodded, " So, when you need that skill again you can call on it. However, if it comes to you or the creature you have stunned...do not hestitate to make the final blow if you absolutely must."
"I... I'll try. If I have to. I'm just not terribly comfortable with the idea of actually killing something, especially when I can still try to help them in some way."
"A view I highly respect," she replied earnestly, "But there are some things out here that will kill you without hesitation, like the Shadows. Defend how you can, and protect how you must to keep living. It's...a hard choice and it never becomes easier." She patted him on the shoulder and nodded. "Back to path, with us yes?"
"Yes, that sounds like a great idea." Eryth lowered his weapon, beginning to walk through the brush of the forest. "I was hitting him with Corbin before I hit with the hammer, but it didn't seem to do anything. Do you know why?"
She lead them to the path and continued their patrol as she plucked wayward leaves from her braid. "Shades are malignant dead spirits without a true physical form. A regular weapon would have passed right through. A Soul Forge weapon is the only thing that can cause damage against them. The more you master your weapon, the more effective you will be against such creatures. They do eventually reform, even when a master guardian kills them."
"But Corbin is a forge weapon. It should have connected, right?"
"I take it, you hit the creature and it began to reform immediately?"
"Yea... I think? It was a bit of a blur."
"Your weapon is only as strong as your own will," she replied, " Your weapon struck, just not quite strong enough to banish him for awhile as Sperest did. I would have been surprised if you had."
"It is as strong as my will? So, this is as much of a mental fight as it is a physical one then?"
"Indeed. A will of a Guardian can even over power the physical limitations on their bodies. At a cost of course," she replied, wiggling her gloved fingers.