Jump to content

Exalted: Shards of Hope - Fiction: The Dead Walk (Complete)


Travis Kincaid

Recommended Posts

Callum sat and worked the pestle and mortar, grinding fresh and dried herbs with local berries and some water. The fire threw light and heat out into the darkness and illuminated his companions. Rysha was running a stone along the length of one of her blades honing the edge to a razor's sharpness. The steady rasp of stone on metal contrasted with the muted sound of Callum's own work. Mei was studying a scroll by the firelight, whether it would prove to contain any wisdom worth having was yet to be determined. Eilein was nearby, concealed within the shadows and darkess, keeping watch over the group.

The three solars were tired but something about this place made sleep fitful at best and the nightmares made it worth the exhaustion to avoid sleep. Three days before they had unknowingly crossed into a shadowland, and now as they tried to find their way out they found that some ... thing, stalked them. They had already had more than one encounter with the restless dead. Their latest encounter just a few hours ago had left all three of them with wounds infected with some sort of poison. They all found their limbs heavy and their joints stiff as the black ichor worked its foul magic on them. Callum was working as fast as he could to create a cure from his store of herbs and the few living plants in the region.

Satisfied that the latest compound was thoroughly mixed Callum placed the mortar into the fire pit to heat. "Ten more minutes and we can try this new cure," Callum's voice was tinged with pain and weariness. The venom had attacked him more than the others, inflaming his burn scars and reawakening the pain and sensation of heat from them. Silently he cleaned the pestle off and stared into the fire as though willing the concoction to cook faster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Travelling with you two takes me to the most interesting places." Rysha's voice was taut, her eyes searching the darkness around them intently even as she reflexively sharpened her short sword, but she was at least managing gallows humor. Which was more than either of her companions would have expected from the tightly-coiled bundle of lethal reflexes and nerves they'd saved a few months ago. She might be as tightly wound as a hangman's noose, but at least the wary danger in her eyes was for the world outside their narrow circle of firelight and not her companions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"It is interesting," Mei-Ying agrees absently, not catching the irony in Rysha's tone as she concentrated on the scroll.

"There's actually surprisingly little lore on shadowlands and deathlords in the libraries of the Realm...as dangerous as this place is, there's a great deal to be learned here."

She glances up and nods at Callum, a bit belatedly. "I'm glad you know your herbs. My training isn't much help without proper facilities..." The Twilight trails off for a moment, experiencing a pang of remembered loss for the Archives, the annex...where she'd learned so much, and where she'd had to flee. The moment passes as quickly as it comes though.

Mei-Ying claps her hands and dusts them off as she replaces the scroll in her pouch. "I have a difficult choice to make. According to what little I've found, the powers of a shadowland to confound...the...-otherworldliness- if you will, is at its weakest at noontime. I believe if we can reach the edge by noon, that is our best chance to find our way clear. This isn't as easy as it sounds though because time of day and exact location are...difficult to be precise about here. We'll need to work out a way to determine when it is...and where we are."

"So far, I'm not -completely- sure how to do that, but I do have an idea. I can summon a spirit...an elemental. Elementals have powerful connections to Creation. The effects of a shadowland on them could be...reduced. Or even negated. An elemental guide might be able to lead us out."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rysha's violet gaze flashed slightly in the firelight as she tilted her head to fix Mei-Ying with a wry smile, one hand resting lightly one of the leather sheathes that concealed the golden bracers protecting her arms."Or eat us, I assume is the rest of that? Based on prior experience, I mean."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Hmm?" Mei looks at Rysha, then shakes her head with a smile.

"No no, there's really very little danger involved in summoning elementals as long as you show respect and don't try to overreach. The question is which sort to summon. The ritual is time consuming and requires a lot of power. Not to mention you two would have to protect me during the process, and who knows what the essence flare would attract..."

She shrugs. "But if anyone has a better idea, I'm definitely listening."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Callum wraps his hands in leather strips and pulls the mortar out of the fire. "First we rest, cure this poison, and heal. I don't know how this venom affects your ability to use sorcery but it will impair our ability to protect you, myself especially." Callum dips a finger into the foul smelling paste and smears a dollop of the steaming goo into one of his wounds. Immediate relief fills his features and he quickly treats the remaining wounds.

Passing the mortar to Rysha he says, "Apply a small amount into each bite, it will draw out the venom and the juices will mix with your blood to neutralize the rest. By morning we should be able to get moving again, if you thing summoning a spirit or elemental will help us, so be it."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Great. I don't think I want to even ask what's in this." Rysha winced slightly as she peeled back the first bandage to treat a bite, then the next. "As for elementals, Mei-Ying, you might as well ask Callum's opinion of Realm fashion or mine of blacksmithing. Neither of us has a ghost of an idea what you're really talking about, so..." She winced again, gritting her teeth as she replaced a particularly stubborn bandage. "We're just to have to assume you know what you're doing."

She flicked her eyes around the campsite, pushing herself up off the ground with a visible effort to get a better look. "This is about as good a piece of ground for defending ourselves as we're going to find anywhere near here, so if you're going to light us up like a beacon-fire anywhere, it might as well be here."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mei-Ying nods and accepts her share of the ointment.

"I just wanted you to know what to expect."

She winces and gasps at the sharp stinging when she dabs the stuff onto her bite, but a glare from Callum stops her from ending the process early. Finally the livid, torn skin is covered in Callum's nasty, stinging goo and Mei expertly reties the bandages, though it seems to be paining her anew.

She lies down then and stares up at the murky, empty sky of the shadowland and wonders if this too was fate, or if the powers of death could somehow overcome those of destiny, and consume them. Sleep does not come easily that night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Overhead the darkness begins to lessen and as day comes to the shadowlands. Callum wakes to hot doggy breath and a lick on his face, "Ugh, definately not better than a kiss from a beautiful woman," he mutters to himself. He rolls away from Eilein and fetches his waterskin, drinking down a few large swallows worth to revive his throat.

Wothout waking the others Callum stalks off to retrieve his traps. He finds that they are all empty, much to his disappointment if not surprise. Returning to the camp he wakes the others and begins to prepare a hot porridge in his camp stove. "Hopefully you two are feeling better, I know I am."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Better, in this case, being a very relative term." Rysha hadn't uncurled from the blanket half-covering her, but he caught a glimpse of violet beneath her half-closed lids and her hand rested firmly on the hilt of the warhammer she normally carried slung across her back. "Lovely morning. Smells like carrion."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mei-Ying sits up and blearily rubs her eyes.

"Breakfast first," she suggests. "Then we'll begin."

The meal is, like most things in shadowlands, not terribly enjoyable. While the food was brought in with them, it had been there long enough to become bland and tasteless. Much longer, and it would start to rot, even with preservative measures taken.

Mei eats without comment, then gets up and moves around, testing her muscles. Despite being tired from a poor night's rest, she's pleased to note the effects of the poisons are abating.

"Thank you, Callum," she tells the woodsman. "The last place we can afford to be slowed is here. You may have just saved us all."

She then opens her satchel and starts getting an odd assortment of items out. A packet of candles tied into a bundle with string. Two sets of rods, some silver, some dark iron. Several flasks of colored liquids. Finally, ominously, a small ritual dagger.

As she arranges the instruments, she says, "The ritual will take about four hours...a third of day or night. During that time I'll be using a lot of Essence, and absolutely must not be interrupted or it could fail on the spot."

The sorceress looks up at her companions. "So if you have any questions or concerns, now is the time."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"No questions." Rysha finished picking clean the last of the salted meat she'd chosen as her meal for the morning, pushed herself to her feet and took a moment to check each piece of her gear; cesti firmly tied in place, hammer ready across her back, sword fastened at her hip, bracers across her forearms, chain shirt beneath her leathers, the bandana that concealed the golden mark of the sun on her forehead. Everything in its place. Well, nearly everything.

She gave Callum a crooked smile. "I suppose there's no point in being subtle here, is there?" Extending a hand, she released some tiny inner knot and the glittering golden length of Morning's Edge dropped smoothly into her waiting palm from thin air. Four and a half feet of orichalcum blade gleamed brilliantly in the weak half-light of a shadowland dawn, the delicate feather-like patterns that ran the full seven inch width of the blade almost seeming to shift across each other under Rysha's touch. She spun the blade through a smooth circle as though reacquainting herself with a lover, then flipped it smoothly into a backhanded grip so she could rest the point on the ground and lean against it. "Let's get on with it."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Callum nods, "Aye, but that doesn't mean that some degree of stealth isn't in order." Callum locates the largest tree overlooking the small hollow and quickly scales it. Taking a position on one of the higher branches he summons his powerbow, the orichalcum glimering in his hand. "OK Mei, we're as ready as we're going to be."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mei-Ying nods and with a dark iron rod she scratches a five pointed star using a single unbroken line in the ground. She then takes a silver rod and scratches a circle that encompasses it, touching each of the points. She's careful not to let any of her footsteps overlap or fall inside the boundary of the circle.

"Five points for the five elements, joined in Creation. Iron to call, silver to bind," she murmurs as if to herself as she lights and places a candle at each vertex of the star. Each is a different color; red, blue, white, green, and brown.

Mei's caste mark burst into brilliance then, shining out like a beacon...then erupted into its full display. A wheel of fire, geomantic patterns described within in lines of vibrant violet, turned over her as she drew on her essence and bent to touch the diagram she'd drawn. Silver light spread out from where she touched; Essence filling the pattern of her summoning. When the light reached the brown candle, the earth trembled under their feet. When it touched the red, the flame of the candle sputtered and leapt up ten feet, becoming a raging tower of empyreal fire. When it touched white, a zephyr roared into being around it, making a tall, thin funnel that swept dust into the sky...yet did not mar the diagram in any way. When it touched blue, rain fell from the clear sky above in a narrow torrent...but the candle burned merrily, and the soil soaked up the water as fast as it fell. The green candle hardened and darkened into wood when the light reached it, and it grew into a small tree...the top of which was still afire even as leaves sprouted and spread.

The light spread into the star then, each line the color of one of the candles, and trailing a streamer of their elements. When at last all the lines were glowing there was a sound like a thunderclap, and all of Creation itself felt strange...as if it had been wrapped tightly around them; tense and stretched like a hide that was bearing too much load.

Mei-Ying opened the flask of liquid and moved around the outside of the circle. A sweet scent emerged and lingered in the air where she passed. As she walked, she spoke "Mela. Pasiap. Hesiesh. Danaa'd. Sextes Jylis." Finally she reached the twisting column of wind at the white candle and said again, "Mela."

From there, the ritual proceeded, which seemed to be little more than a long speech delivered in Old Realm. Even to someone who understood the ancient language, the words were excessively erudite and convoluted...a recounting of of celestial hierarchies that connected the Elemental Dragon of Air to the Wind Masters to their servants, as well as self-identification and a summary of her own authority based on obscure fealties and pacts. As each spirit was invoked, she fed more essence into the pattern of the diagram, causing the elemental animas to flare up momentarily.

The twisting mandala over and around her, combined with the elemental displays of the summoning made this far from subtle...and it was far less than four hours before they attracted the attention of others within the Shadowlands...

(hee...I shall leave the specifics of what comes up to you guys, since y'all are who has to fight 'em. :))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rysha had paced a slow, irregular circle around Mei's work for almost an hour when the first walking dead wandered into view, shambling mindlessly toward the blossoming pattern of essence that called to them on some instinctive level buried in the decaying flesh itself. They moved with irregular, relentless purpose, mouths gaping hungrily, and Rysha watched them come with the poised stillness of a waiting serpent. The rightness of the moment surprised her, a cool certainty that stilled her hands and make the daiklaive held in a low guard as light as the brush of the wind on her face. This is what I was meant for. The certainty stole through her bones, brushed aside the tiny trembling pulses of fear as her violet gaze swept across eyes rotting in their sockets and limbs far too heavy with rot to do more than bludgeon. Wait. The half-familiar voice came in the back of her mind, resonant and rich with anticipation. Always wait. Make the first blow the last. She can't afford any distraction, so it must be done perfectly. Just so.

Now. The nearest of her enemies was almost within reach of the low rise on which they stood when she moved, Morning's Edge flashing with vicious speed, and the first zombie dropped with its head cleanly cut away. Step, cut, step, cut, step, step, cut. She danced through them with an impossible grace, twisting out of reach of grasping arms and gnashing jaws, her blade flashing like the kiss of the dawn's first light on the mountains and punctuated with the occasional swift snap-kick or deft deflecting punch to knock a target back into reach of her blade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Callum sat perched in a tree. His butt was starting to get bored and go numb. He listened to Mei but her chanting meant little to his ears. Below him Rysha was walking a never-ending circuit of the hollow they were camped in.

And then all hell broke loose ... literally.

Callum saw the undead as soon as Rysha did and as she flew toward the first clump of shambling corpses he scanned the area. Oh, this is NOT good ... he thought as he quickly counted. It was practically a legion of bodied. What do you call a legion of undead? A cemetery? ...

Callum shook his the rogue thought out of his head. Nocking an arrow he took aim and released. Steel, ash wood, and falcon's feather flew through the air. Free of anything but the impulse of the bow and the pull of gravity the arrow lanced toward a sudden impact. The arrow slammed into the corpse's breast bone, the impact cracked ribs audibly and sent the thing reeling backwards. It collapsed to the ground but within mere moments it was clambering awkwardly to it's feet again, the arrow still sticking out of it's chest as though mocking Callum.

"Damn!" he muttered as he nocked another arrow. Taking aim he unleashed the string and watched as it flung the arrow toward the creature. He had switched to a target arrow and aimed for the creature's head. With a sickening wet crunch the arrow pierced the skull ... twice. Brains, pus, and old blood fountained momentarily out of the two holes. And yet still the corpse moved on. "OH come ON!" Callum cried out, "Rysha, keep your wits, I'm gonna have to light things up!"

Nocking yet another arrow Callum focused. He aimed once more for the creature's head. Before releasing the string he summoned a portion of his solar essence, not more than a mote or two, and fused it with the arrow. Callum released the string and watched. The arrow flew through the air but was not more than a yard from the bow when it burst into flame, the broad hunting tip glowing first red then white hot as the fire burnt and yet did not consume the arrow.

And the it struck. The broad head slammed into the hole already started by the target arrow and passed into the skull of the creature. The heat and fire combined with the decaying contents of the skull and exploded. Blood, gore, and fragments of bone showered the area immediately surrounding the undead. Headless the corpse, tottered and then collapsed, unmoving and dead once more.

Nodding with satisfaction Callum began to cast forth firey destruction upon the horde of undead coming up over the lip of the hollow. For every two he dispatched two more would move down toward the hollow to be slain by Rysha. Blood, and rotting flesh contaminated the ground, he saw that Rysha was covered with no small amount of gore herself but as yet not one creature had made it to within ten feet of Mei.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rysha slid through the oncoming ranks of her enemies like a farmer threshing wheat, every stroke an efficent crushing of a head with her hammer or a smooth bisection with her daiklaive, the swift smooth sway of her slender frame twisting her away from each clumsy blow of rotted limb or gnashing bite of teeth. Trained soldiers might have swamped her with sheer numbers, but the walking dead knew no such skill, and she danced through them and over them as untouchable as the wind.

The trained gladiator in her recognized foreplay when she saw it. So where's the other boot?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Callum reached back to his quiver and grasped ... nothing. Damm, bad timing. Rysha was a dervish of destruction below and behind him Mei continued to chant, arcane symbols and glyphs glowing in the air and circling the hollow. Callum sighed and pulled the bow string back. Focusing an extra mote he willed an arrow of pure essence to form in the bow. Why do I have an extra bad feeling about this? he asked himself as he searched for a target worthy of the invested essence.

At the back of the horde of animated bodies a lone figure moved toward the hollow. It was different somehow. Chalk white skin and cataract eyes could not hide the purpose in its stride, the sense of intelligence to it's movement. And then of course there was the jet black plate armor and the ginormous diaklave. The souls of the damned tried to reach out of the armor and sword but succeeded only in grabing hold of the light and pulling it into the armor. It was as though the creature were clad in darkness that no light could banish.

"You'll do nicely," Callum spoke softly as he released the string and let the energy fly. The bolt shone like a ray of pure sunlight and stabbed toward the being with the alacrity of a diving hawk. At the last moment the creature shifted and half spun, the diaklave swept up and neatly cleaved the essence in two. The firey arrow burst and the light and flame was swallowed hungrilly by the ebon blade. "Uh oh.

"Rysha, we have a solicitor coming. Why don't you see what he wants, I'll deal with our remaining guests." Callum called out as he prepared a volley of pure essence. The string of his bow sang like a dulcimer as dozens of arrows rained down. Callum banished all thought, operatiing purely on instinct and essence he drew and released, drew and released faster than any mortal would be able to follow. Shafts of burning light lanced down and incinerated brains and hearts, and with startling speed a narrow lane was carved up the middle. Clear save for the still bodies of the dead Rysha now had a path to the darkness cloaked being.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rysha flicked her daiklaive into a quarter guard, examining the newcomer with the cool, empty stare of a hunting serpent examining potential prey. Quick. Strong, too, from the ease of movement. And unsurprised by Callum's arrow. No easy mark. Her left hand spun the hammer slowly, almost absently, the only movement in her otherwise utter stillness. Beyond the daiklaive in her hand and the faintest glimmer of golden sparks beneath the silk of her headband, she might have been on the sands of the arena or a mortal duelist in a formal sparring match.

Ready.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Above Rysha a great wolfs head roared, purple and gold as lances of fire and essence rained down into the zombie hordes. Callum scanned around as the last one dropped. Hu and Eilein were watching their backs and making sure that nothing could sneak up on Mei as she worked.

Raising the bow once more Callum called forth a shard of pure light and fire, a shaft so bright that it hurt to aim past it. The shard of solar flame pulsed with Callum's anger and stung his eyes with it's brightness, but he held, he would not release the bolt just yet ... "Begone filth!" he cried to the armor clad being, "Leave this place in that name of the Unconquered Sun! Leave now or face the wrath of the Sun's Chosen!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Sun's Chosen?" An inhumanly beautiful voice spoke out above the carnage that was a quickly dwindling undead force. "He must be desperate these days. Go ahead archer, fire another of your precious essence arrows... it did you so much good a moment ago." He made a mocking gesture with his hand, twirling it as if to bow, but he never he never did.

The illusion of the Necromany was shattered and the disguise of the undead shook itself off the large armored Knight. His skin remained pale and chalk white but his features were restored. A powerful frame supported armor so thick that only a mighty Exalt with mastery over essence could hope to move in it. The pauldrons were gaudy, far larger than were needed, but they kept his heavy black cape (complete with red lining) firmly attached. Like oil upon water, the souls of the damned moved in painful yet hypnotic patterns. His features were flawless, the very picture of beautiful. His silver hair was pulled tight into a ponytail tied with a simple thing of black satin.

"You walk through my land, upon my soil. I shall ask only once fools: What do you here?" His 'ginormous' soulsteel blade glided slowly upwards before resting upon his massive armored shoulder with a 'clink' sound. It was wickedly designed. Double edged and serrated coming to a wicked point where the blood groove was completely absent, only empty space, as if two single edged swords were mounted upon a hilt back to back with a few inches between them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"We're passing through. Why, did we forget to check in at the customs station? I'm sure it was clearly marked; perhaps those in charge of it stepped out for a brief meal of flesh?" Rysha's voice was gracefully amused, courteous without a scrap of warmth, her own blade held smoothly at guard but without making a move against their 'host'. "My companion calls us a guide so that we may leave this place safely and with a minimum of... fuss." She flicked her hammer slightly, shaking a few strips of rotted flesh and splintered bone from the surface, and her violet eyes were as composed as a waiting serpent's. "Your residents, on the other hand, seem to prefer to molest simple travelers. So what will it be, stranger? Will you stand aside and let us leave your precious soil without further incident, or need we make it more precious still with a few flagons of your blood?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Callum did his best to retain a straight face. He was not sure who this man was but he exuded power in enough volume that Callum began to wonder if they hadn't just bitten off, far more than they could chew. Despite Rysha's haughty attitude Callum felt that she was best suited to parlay with the newcomer, he remained at his perch, his bow drawn, essence seething constrained in the shape of an arrow of pure fire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"A few flagons of my blood?" The Death Knights melodic laughter chilled the Lawgivers to their cores. "My dear, I was prepared to simply parley and be on my way. I assure you that not all my kind desire to spend their days reaping a harvest of the Sun's Chosen." He paused and gave a Rysha a once over. "Or whatever is passing for them these days. Trust me, I have more pressing matters to attend to."

He started to pace from side to side, the whole time his gaze locked on the upstart Solar Exalt. "But you... your mouth needs to be put in check, and this day I will teach you why sarcasm is better used on those whom you know are your lessers." A malicious smile graced his thin lips. "You should not have strayed so far from your charge young Solar." He gazed for a brief moment at the defenseless Mei-Ying, still engrossed in her ritual some several yards away, well out of reach for both the Abyssal and the child Solar. Lost in her showmanship and bloodlust young Rysha had strayed a lot farther than was healthy for a guardian to be if she hoped to be able to protect her circle mate. "As you stop to rattle you bone box with me child three of my more... sturdy, servants are closing in from her opposite flank. Your archer friend could never hope to defeat all three before at least one descended upon her."

With a mighty swing the blade flew off his shoulder and hit the ground, slicing deep into the soil. "Turn your back on me to save her and I will cut you down. Strike me down, and you may win a glorious victory for yourself, but not in time to save your precious sorceress." The grin spread over his beautiful features. He rocked his head slowly from side to side and mocked Rysha by making ticking noises with his tongue.

Slithering through the underbrush Callum could see from his high vantage point what looked to be several decaying upper human torsos of varying genders fused together at the spine to create a disgusting undead 'snake'. Rotting organs and entrails dragged with their massive bodies as three of the fearsome creatures closed in upon the unsuspecting Mei-Ying, pushing themselves along with inhuman speed by the arms still attached to each body.

“Sometimes child, it’s not you who suffer for your arrogance. It’s your loved ones.” His cold stare locked on Rysha’s and he waited for the Sun Child to make her move.

Quote:
Rysha, test your Conviction! Can you turn your back on your companion in her time of need and take a chance of defeating the tainted filth that passes for an Exalt?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Callum groans, the man was right, there was little chance that he could take all three of those creatures on, he had expended far too much of his essence already. Luckily he had apparently not known about Eilein and Hu, with their help this may yet be a fair fight.

Leaping from the tree towards the center of the hollow Callum loosed the fatal blast of essence at the leading creature. He poured all but the barest remnants of his essence into that one blow and watched as it streaked through the air and impaled the first creature. The arrow erupted into a conflagration of solar flame and rapidly the abomination was reduced to smouldering remains, once again devoid of life.

And then he hit the ground. Instinctively banishing his bow Callum landed in a roll and used the forward momentum to absorb the impact. He came up out of the roll, drew his axe, and charged the creatures. He called to Eilein and Hu, together the three of them would halt the remaining horrors, they had to, it was that or Mei could die.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rysha's whole body tensed slightly, a cool shudder of fear running up her back, then the corner of her eye caught Callum in motion and she clamped down on her fear for Mei's safety with an effort. Play his way, you've lost already. "Choices, choices." She kept any hint of worry out of her voice with a slight effort as she ran the terrain of the hill through her mind again. There. "Trust your word and leave her unguarded from one side, or challenge you and leave her unprotected the other. Your sense of the poetic is... inspiring." She took three long steps forward as she spoke, blade raised as though to strike him, then braced her feet against a fallen tree and punctated the last word with a twisting backward leap that carried her arching through the corona of Mei's essence and landed her in a tight crouch just outside the burning summoning circle with her blade ready at hand, braced to defend her charge against either opponent should they draw closer. Her warrior's pride simmered with the need to cut this bastard down to size, but she quenched it with an effort of will and pushed herself to her feet, back nearly to Mei's. She owed Mei her life, and that counted for more than pride.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Death Knight grinned as Rysha began to dash forward. He matched her pace and as she leapt backward he dashed forward at speed that was nothing short of impossible to follow until he simply just vanished in a humanoid blur of shadowy streaks.

Gone.

The impact against Rysha's spine instantly informed her where he had reappeared. Like a flickering wisp of the Underworld her opponent crashed into her, his huge, thick, soulsteel pauldron launched her forward taking her by surprise.

His onslaught was relentless as his daiklave arched upward where golden spark and lamenting spirits wailed in unison. Again, and again the blows came and as best she could Rysha parried them all, barely.

His strength was titanic and what he lacked for in speed (compared to hers) he made up for by shattering her defenses. Every time he attacked her her weapon was knocked away and she was forced back several steps. Their blades locked and a shower of golden and black sparks rained down upon the combatants as they found themselves face to face with nothing between them but their locked daiklave hilts. "You amuse me child. As predictable as..." He grinned, keeping his eyes locked on hers just as their weapons were locked together. "The dawn."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rysha's eyes blazed with violet fire, her feet sliding furrows into the dirt under the pressure, and only her rigid stance kept her legs from buckling. Her voice hissed out between teeth gritted with effort, and the ringing vibration of their locked swords gave the words an eerie undertone of aching steel."We... aim... to... please. Shows every hour... on the hour."

She dropped her legs out from under her in a lightning swift motion, blade screaming along the side of his armor, and flipped up onto her feet in a savage overhand sequence of feints and parries, quick and deadly as a plains wildfire.

Not quick enough to cut him; what his blade didn't knock aside, his armor blunted. But perhaps quick enough to buy her some breathing space.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The clashing of orichalcum and soulsteel rang throughout the hollow and laid a backdrop for the cacaphony of wet sounds and dull thuds that surrounded Callum and Eilein. The wolf lept at the creatures and bit, tore, and clawed at thier necrotic flesh. That same flesh squelched, ripped, and separated like so much rotted meat but still the creature moved forward.

Callum swung his axe in an arc high over his head and then down. A sickening sound of flesh splitting was nearly covered by the crunch of bone. If I cannot stop your undead flesh, I will simply chop you into pieces. Up and back the axe swung and then down, chopping through more bone and sinew.

Callum could see that the third creature would soon reach the crest and begin its descent into the hollow, and towards Mei. "Eilein, crack the bone, destroy the marrow!" he cried out, trying to impress upon her the best way to deal with these monstrosities.

At last with a final chop the first creature's head spun from it's body which promptly fell into a rotting heap. Callum staggered upright and back, he took a moment to look back and saw Rysha fending off attacks from the abyssal. No help there, he thought as he turned and launched himself at the third and final creature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All was going according to plan. As Rysha and her opponent continued to clash blades the Deathknight continued to monitor both her performance and that of Callum, who was making very short work of the Spine Chains. It was of little consequence, none of this attack was meant to succeed.

The Harrowing of Innocent's Lament was sent by his Deathlord Liege to test their abilities. Later, when the his liege felt the time was right Harrowing of Innocent’s Lament would destroy these Sun Children and corrupt their shards making them exalts of death like himself.

"This certainly is the best entertainment I've had in quite some time child, I should thank you." He brought his blade up and rested in a defensive position. It was nearly as wide as a tree's trunk and three inches thick. It was massive, even by Exalt standards.

Was my command not clear, Harrowing of Innocent's Lament? A seductive feminine voice found its way into the Deathknights skull. I want them unharmed, they're more useful to me alive then dead. If any bear so much as a single bruise, my displeasure will be evident upon your body and soul for centuries to come. Your fun is over.

"Luck favors you this day Sunchild." The Deathknight tried his best to remain composed, he had violated the command of his mistress; he was to observe, not engage. "As I said, I have more pressing matters to tend to. Time is running out for your ally. Go."

The tip of his blade became buried into the ground as he thrust it down into the soil. He bowed slightly, still resting one hand on the handle of his daiklave. "I give you my word Lawgiver. You will reach your friend alive."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rysha read his face for a single heartbeat, blade held in a tight guard, and every instinct of years in the arena screamed for her not to trust him. Except that an indefinable something told her that she could, just this far, do exactly that.

"Until we meet again." The words came on reflex, without thought, and then she was in motion with a diving roll that carried her past Mei and brought her hammer up into the jaws of the oncoming mass of bone and rotted sinew with shattering force. "Callum, cover Mei's back!" Her golden blade caught, twisted, parried blow after blow while her hammer methodically shattered bone to pulp and she fought down a rush of terror at leaving Mei unguarded from one side on a deathknight's word.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rysha's blade sheared bone from bone bare inches from Callum's legs, and powdered bone scattered across his face as her hammer smashed the head of the thing into a cloud of gold-lit dust. "So I see." Another twist of motion brought her back to the struggling remains of her own victim, and she shattered its long fused smile and half a dozen points in a surge of golden light.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After a short rest Callum heaves himself to his feet and hangs the axe at his belt once more. He crosses the hollow once more, careful to avoid the summoning circle and begins to collect his arrows from amongst the ash, dust, and bones. "Hopefully things will be quiet, I think we have some time yet before the ritual is complete," he says to Rysha as he works. Finally he returns to the campfire and carefully inspects the arrows, one by one, before returning them to his quiver.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All throughout the confrontation with the death knight, Mei Ying had continued her ritual...though she'd been ready to stop at a moment's notice should things start escalating out of control. She'd almost stopped during Rysha's brief tussle with him, but quickly realized the abyssal knight was either not as powerful as he seemed, or was simply toying with them. Either way, completing the summoning seemed to be the most important thing at the moment.

The invocation went on and on, as each element was invoked and retired. The names of spirit hierarchies and bureaucracies were called on. Essence was channelled and released.

Finally the last phase of the ritual came about. Mei got to her feet at the edge of the circle and closed the elements, save only for Air.

In the tongue of the Old Realm, she shouted, "Tanaka! Dragon of the East Wind! By the pacts and legalities I have cited...by the power vested in me to act in the name of the Unconquered Sun...I call you to act on the Mandate of the Heavens and send one of your heralds to aid us in our task! I ask of you the services of a great Huraka, for one task and one task only...then will he be unbound to return. Send us a great bear of the wind, 'O' Tanaka, who's might moves sea and stone...who's hide turns fang and claw and sword...and who's breath wipes away illusion and obfuscation, to reveal the truth!"

For a moment there seems to be no response...then the circle flares with bright golden light, echoing on the ground the geomantic diagram that revolves around Mei Ying's anima. In the center of it something is moving...something half-seen. There is a great roar, and sand explodes upward and is pulled by unseen air currents into a visible shape...the shape of an enormous bear, its outline illustrated by wind-driven sand...it's very substance that of wind.

It swipes at the barrier's edge...though Callum especially can see that it's not really putting its full force into it. The circle sparks and glows, but holds steady. Then the Huraka speaks, a voice like a gutteral snarl.

"Tanaka sends me for one task, Lawgiver. Tell me what you would have me do, and I will give you the Dragon's reply."

Mei Ying stands unperturbed by the presence of the giant spirit, despite its obviously dangerous nature and fierce mien. "Lead us from this land of shadow back into the light," she says. "Listen to the wind, use your breath to foil the fell magic here...and make sure we get out with you. That's what I ask, honored spirit. The need is pressing, and should we fall here, Creation may lose still more souls to the Shadow. You are our last hope."

The Huraka snorts and paws at the sandy soil, leaving furrows behind.

Finally it sniffs the air and replies, "So mote it be, sorceror. Follow me."

The wind bear blows out a great breath that whistles and moans like a gale. As it spreads ahead of him, the unnatural darkness seens to lift a bit, allowing a glimpse of stars. It seems to be all the Huraka needs, for he bounds off in that direction.

(hee...okay, not wowing I guess, but it moves the story along. :))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...