Avataria - Roleplaying Thread

[clockwork2]

[146]
Damn...must carry on! I can't die here, Alaina...Claira...I gotta...save..them. My vision faded as my face met with the floor, strange....it seemed, alive. "Take my power hero, and cure your blade...it will never be the same, but it will be fixed. Your mimic appears to be ready to merge with it." A voice said, and I felt halved...nay, multiplied! I looked around and saw I was seeing triple! "H-how the....I'm not like this! Oh no I'm cursed aren't I!?" Someone said, it sounded like me. I turned, and saw a yellow me who was on the verge of panicking but instead decided to ponder the question. "Right...I'm dying, voice talks to me. I feel multiplied...THAT'S IT! I'VE BEEN SPLIT INTO MULTIPLE CLONES!" He said, smacking his hand rather hard. "Say what now? Split? I'm me, not you!" A red me said, smacking yellow rather harshly. "CUT IT OUT!!!" A blue me said, blasting red with a blast of ice, "Arguing among-st ourselves won't help, and isn't it kinda awesome that we are split into more of us? Anyways, I feel like someone's missing, oh yea! Where is our heroic side?" The others looked at him as if he had just babbled absolute nonsense. "Each of us is a reflection of our personalities, I'm the studious and calm side. Yellow you are the...the.... Panicky side of us, and the intelligent side. Red is obviously the aggressive and selfless one, as demonstrated by how he went straight to smacking you in the head. But where's the heroic and courageous side?" Blue said, and my sight went one-sided upon his words finishing. I looked down, and was dressed in a lime-ish green version of my armor. "So we are four." I said, which was met by the others with absolute laughter, but they then remembered Alaina and Claira were dying. Combining their magic, Alaina and Claira were stable. "Hmmmm, I seem to be able to do earth magic now...odd." I said, "Maybe we are each able to do a new element!" The others decided not to test my theory, and simply carried on, it may also have been because there were dark warriors coming at em. "YIPE!!! WAIT UP!!!" I shouted, but not before slashing a good few of em.

 

[sanofa]

[147]

Continuing Vayne's last post

Entrance preparation test's done and the entrance exam is coming. The principal came down and congratulated me, for passing the entrance preparation test. "I thought you were too weak to do the entrance exam, but that was outstanding! Only a few passed the Entrance Preparation Test, and you took him out within an hour!" the principal said as he shook my hands, do I really look that weak? No matter how people look at me though, I'm strong. The principal told me to take rest for a few day as the exam takes place in the next few days, and that it will have three trials. He led me to a building that seemed very much like an apartment, he brought me to the fourth floor and to the last room in the hall. I expected it to be much more...small, due to the students living here, preparing for THEIR exams too. But I was shock when I entered my room, it was luxurious! King size chairs with jewel decorations, a long dining table and a big, comfy and soft bed! The principal gave me the key to this room, and when he went out, I quickly jumped on the soft relaxing bed. I had a long day today, so I deserves some rest. As my eyes closed, I began to think about Aina and Leo, along with all the people I've met during the journey. They must've had it hard, trying to fight for their lives, while trying to figure out why did they come to this cruelsome world... But for everyone's sakes, I will not stop from finding a solution to help everybody to get back to where they belong! The next day was sunny, even though its in another dimension, I could see shops setting up and selling items, even weapons! I wore my armor and walked out, locking my precious luxurious room. I went down to the market, and it was filled with people, some where even selling and buying weapons! To my surprise, I knocked into the principal's secretary. She was tall and had a long blue hair, she never said her name, but she seemed nice, as she gave me a tour around the school. We went to places like the main school building, the hospital, the arena, the dorms, and finally the preparation dorms. She waved her hand as she walked away, and when she was gone, I went back into my room. Two days huh? There will be three trials as the principal said, and it will continue without us resting, so not many passed the entrance exams, especially the ones that are physically weak. I passed my two days doing nothing, reading books or training my skills.

And so finally the day has come, I've packed my stuff and moved to the arena. To my surprise, there were thousands of canditates in the exam. Geeks, barbarians(literally), muscle mans, and many more was there. Some even picked on me since I looked weak. As I walked around, a guy came and gave me a badge, and told me to wear it. I looked at the badge, 1616 was on top of it. I guess I'm the one thousand six hundred and sixteen, or the last canditate to show up here...

Hours later, a guy with a strange walking style showed up and told us that the exam started and he explained the rules to us. The rules were basically simple, run until we reach the end. Though he never said how long and how far it is, he told us to just follow him. So we did. He ran like a robot with approximately a speed of an cat, and most of us either couldn't catch up or had to take their time to catch their breaths. By the time we reached the destination, 431 canditates were left. Shocking how that long run wasn't a match for me, but was a huge failure for the ones that cannot make it. The place was like a huge forest, covered in mist. The examiner said that the second phase is somewhere further in. He said this forest is full of vicious monsters, and are able to get lost easily if we don't follow him. I think this is by far the least canditate lost compared to the previous one, as only 5 to 6 people were lost. The second phase in held in a somewhat big mansion, with the word 'haunted' is everywhere.

 

[Ironside]

[148]

Regex: ... So you know nothing?
Selia: No, is it anything serious?
Regex: Well, let's just say that the fallen knight was awakened by your powers and then you relocated him to your position
Selia: I could neve...
Regex: There's more to this, isn't it Auxion?
Selia: What?

Regex is certain that Selia is Auxion and therefore doesn't hestitate to attack her directly, she dodges carelessly and slips on the ground.

Selia: What are you doing!?
Regex: Auxion, you have absolutely no idea what I'll do to you for killing Selia
Regex: Massive Coup de Burst!

Regex begins to bounce from tree to tree at an immense speed rate and landing attacks on Selia.
She is able to block an attack every now and then, but soon falls to the ground from the pain.

Auxion (thinking): This is it, she'll attack back and then I can finally take over and kill him.
Selia: Regex, please stop this!
Regex: I won't fall for it anymore

Without letting her say anything more, he prepares a robot cube to blow her into pieces.

Regex: It's over for you Auxion

Regex throws the cube and jumps back. It becomes a small robot.

Regex: Robot, self destruct!
Selia: I can't let you do that, I have no idea why you're attacking but I certainly won't die here.
Selia: Waygate of Inverse!

The charging robot is suddently starting to fly towards Regex, but he dodges and the robot blows up some trees behind Regex.

Selia rises her left hand and begins to fire missiles of dark energy towards Regex, but as he tries to dodge she uses the powers of the waygate of inverse to make it almost impossible to do so.
Regex gets hit by a lot of the missiles and falls to the ground burning in the dark energy.
She puts down her hand and conjures a blade of dark energy and finally pierces Regex.

Selia: Waygate of Death, activate!
Regex: ... You trully are Auxion, damn you!

 

[clockwork2]

[149]
We have no idea how many friends we've lost, but it's time to make up for those deaths....we raised our blades, now merged with the mimic, and charged out of the temple. yellow saw a light form behind him, and turned blade ready....only to find a stunning lady there, she looked like Kareena, but it clearly wasn't her. "Speak my love, what!? Am I so stunning you are at a loss for words? And why is there four of you?" She said, and yellow simply smiled. "Taera, now is not exactly the time for this... You look very pretty though!" yellow said, and ran off towards the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Kargath was busy fighting alongside his brother, or rather...his father, as Rex had gotten tired and changed into Cadaos. "So son, have you lived a good life until now? I hear you were quite the womanizer, heheh I remember I had my fair share of women...they were all dragons though, heh." Cadaos asked Kargath, a sparkle appearing in his eyes as if remembering a more peaceful and happy time. "Yes, and that is indeed true. Although maybe I have a taste in the more feisty ladies, as my last little date was my ticket to this realm." He said, cringing alittle as he realized his love for women may very well get him killed one day. "AHAHAHAH" His father boomed, "You may be the one who has more children of my sons!" And went back to roasting and whiplashing opponents.

 

[Ironside]

Chapter XXXI
[150]

Selia falls to her knees after seeing Regex die in front of her eyes. The darkness of Auxion falls into the back of her mind for a while.
It wasn't long until Regex is surrounded in green energy and awakens from the dead.

Selia: How can this be, Regex mentioned that I summoned that knight we fought, but this time I'm sure I'm not doing it
Regex: That's because I'm free now, I have collected 6 bodies and now I will awaken to slay you once and for all and permanently take your body.
Selia: You worthless beast!
Regex: I wonder... will you kill Regex one more time?
Selia: Just awaken already so I can end your worthless existance, just like I've done in the ancient past.
Regex: Relocate Waygates!

Regex is aided by 5 additional bodies: the first is the fallen knight, 2 of them are normal fallen warriors which Regex killed before fighting the knight and the final one was a titan.

Selia: You monster, you dare to awaken Aris, Titan of Frost against me?
All 6 bodies: Anything to take you down. Prepare for a battle like you've never had before.

 

[clockwork2]

[151]
Kargath could've sworn he was going crazy, he was pretty sure his dad was too, but he saw four Aarons approaching them. Swinging like crazy! "Long story." A yellow Aaron said, and dashed past swinging his blade. Darkness advanced upon them. "Oh not you AGAIN!" All the Aaron's said in exasperated unison, and simply stabbed him like crazy. "ARRGGHHH GODAMN YOU ALL!!!" Darkness screamed. "SHUT UP AND DIE ALREADY!!!" Red said, hacking off Darkness' arms and legs. Darkness attempted to get inside Kargath, who somehow grabbed Darkness and hacked off his head. "THIS TIME!!!YOU.DIE.NOW!!!!" Kargath shouted, "FOR MY FAMILY!!!!" And continuously hacked darkness apart. "I'm not that easy to kill." A voice said, and the Aarons turned to find Alaina's body possessed. "NO!" All the Aaron's shouted, and blasted a beam of sickly orange light on Alaina. "Huh?" She said, and seemed to realize what happened, "Oh not again!" And kicked Darkness out.

 

[Amargaard]

[152]

*Rave has gone missing, his remains nowhere to be found in the slaughter.

(The following text is from Rave's perspective)

"Don't hold back! End their miserable lives!", another quiet, yet loud voice in my head whispers. I grab another rebel and crush his puny body, with the big black hands that have been given to me. His scream and the sound of his bones cracking fuses with the eternal whispering in my head.
"They're nothing but betrayers - all of them!", the voices have been my friends, keeping me company in the eternity of silence I spent in the void. They'd never abandon me... Yet I hate them. They are sharing some of my thoughts, pushing other thoughts away. When they first came to me, many years ago I tried ignore them - I soon found out they're impossible to ignore, something I would have to live with.

A blue draconian charges confidently towards me, with his axe raised. A whispering voice tells me what to do, and I blindly follows it's advice, like I usually does. The voices think faster than me, they are smarter than me, they are my masters, yet they are part of me. I grabbed an evil minion next to me, and used it as a shield to block the draconian's attack.
"Give me all you've got, you ugly balloon-freak!", the scaled warrior yelled and continued swinging his double-bladed axe wildly.

"Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! ..." the voices yell continuing in unison, so painfully loud. They always do that, if I'm not reacting fast enough or if I don't understand them. Smoke... what do they mean?!
...

(The following text is from Kargath's perspective)

The tight grab on the metallic shaft of my beloved axe, the sound of weapons clashing together all around me and the smell of fresh blood - Feelings I love, like most other draconians. No wonder, I am fighting the biggest and ugliest baddie on the battlefield! I mean, who else could provide me challenge?

But I sure underrated that big black garbage-man, he moves faster than anyone would imagine from such a heavy armor. It's hard to tell, what a balloon-face is thinking, but it looks like he is confused about something.
I see a chance to use the confusion, so I leap forward, and swing my axe once again, but he amazingly blocks it with his enormous robotic arms. How can he move them so fast?

I land safely on the ground again, but this thing is starting to piss me off. What is his weakness? Before I can think that through, I notice how the missile-launching box on his shoulder pad starts emitting a thick black smoke.
Is he about to fire a missile at me? Didn't he just use his only missile to blow up the gate?
Luckily no missile appears, but the smoke gets thicker and thicker and soon it surrounds us, as a sight-preventing barrier. I can't see!
I'm not easy to scare, but removing my senses sure makes me feel uncomfortable. I start swinging the axe in all directions, fearing that he may surprise-attack me.

But some minutes later, the smoke slowly vanishes and my enemy is nowhere to be seen. Strange, but no time to wonder why, let's continue the rumblin'!
...

(The following text is from Am'ar's perspective)

Finally away from the crowd! A lot of people were preventing me from entering the battle, but now I'm finally free to unleash my strength!
I move my war-staff fastly forward and back, switching it to scythe-mode, and then run towards the many small nasty creatures.

"Am! Have you come to deliver your sunglasses?", a familiar booming voice says, followed by a laughter. Kargath, he has become my favorite battle-partner, since the arrival in Avataria. We have something in common that other rebels don't understand - the love for battles.
"Keep on dreaming!", I answer back, smiling. Fighting just gets a lot funnier, when Kargath's around.

Suddenly, I notice something that I would not have expected to see - Cadaos, that big black dragon, who I saw die with my own eyes, is on the battlefield as well. It seems like he's on our side, but why should he suddenly join the rebels? A dragon like Cadaos cannot be trusted!

Suddenly, my head feels lighter, like a balloon, with it's string cut. I know this feeling, it's a part of my memory coming back! I have travelled worlds several times, and every single time, I've lost parts of my memory in the process through the portals. A few pictures of the past are forced into my thoughts. Pictures of dragons. I slowly walk backwards, leaving the frontline for a while, to make room for someone else. I close my eyes, in order to see the pictures clearer.

I'm in a dark forest, it's night and the moon is watching the very land from the sky. I'm hiding in a bush, and suddenly a group of black dragons passes by.
I remember no more from this scene.

Then suddenly, I'm in a new place, a city of some sort - it's much brighter than before. Skyscrapers are in every direction. Elves in future suits and differently-colored dragons, are walking the streets. I am too, and next to me, walks a dragon with orange scales.
Everything fades out once again.

These pictures of my past didn't tell me much. Many questions still roam my heart - Who am I? Where do I come from? Why am I in Avataria?
...

*Razet "dies".

(The following text is from Darkness' perspective)

Being pulled out from Alaina, I now realize my odds are bad. She is clearly the weakest one here, besides, everyone are prepared for another body-fusing. I see no other choice, but to flee. I must escape, gliding from shadow to shadow.

Wait! Is that Overlord Razet? My luck may just have turned! He he he he he..
...

(The following text is from Aaron's perspective)

It's quite weird, I'll have to get used to it myself as well, but my power and personality have been divided into four me's. I myself, dressed in my original scratched lime-green suit, resemble the heroic and courageous Aaron, with powers over earth. The yellow me, got the intelligence, but the panicky side of me as well - he's probably the one with power over light. The blue Aaron has the studious and calm personality, and powers over ice. And then there's the red one, aggressive, but selfless.

With Darkness gone, we are just standing doing nothing. Alaina heads for the gate, as she is weaponless, and thus useless in the fight. So are we, but we still have our magic powers at our disposal.
"Aaron! Didn't I told you to watch out for my son?!", Cadaos says. Apparently, only I and my clones can hear his booming voice. While I try figure out what to answer, he explains.
"Don't speak - Think! We are communicating through a mind-link, I created when I gave you the seed of power"
One of my clones soon replies calmly "What do you mean exactly Cadaos?"
The dragon looks at the blue me, as if he was the one who answered.
"I told you to take care of Rex, when he was taken to the rebel base - and now, when I return, I find him unguarded between warriors of both sides, and you being away from him.."
The dragon's distrust is the worst thing we can possibly get right now. I hurry to answer, as I notice the angry look in Cadaos' eyes, "I intended to protect him, it wasn't me who decided to leave - I was forced into a place, which changed me to what I am now. Luckily, nothing happened in my absence"

We are interrupted, as a familiar enemy walks towards us. Overlord Razet! He wears a leather hood, hiding his ugly face, as always, but his body is infused in dark flames, indicating that Darkness is with him.
My red clone doesn't hesitate to attack the overlord, but neither does Razet hesitate sticking his red blade through my clone's stomach, and leave him to die painfully by the poison.
"Cadaos! Not only did you humiliate me, you also destroyed my precious tower, and betrayed our master!"
"Is that so, Razet? I almost feel sorry for you..", Cadaos answers with a humiliating voice, ignoring my dying clone.
Razet gets angry, "I will have my revenge, traitor!", he then charges forward towards the big black dragon.

"Yellow, try use your powers on Red!", my blue clone says. Yellow nodded and rushes to the dying clone and put his hands over him.
"I thought you were the smart guy, Yellow?! It's too late to save me, use your powers defeating that bastard instead!", Red says angrily, but Yellow chooses to ignore him.
"I said stop wasting your powers on me!!", Red uses his last strength to raise his arm and push away his clone.
"Please.", Red says quietly.
Blue enters the conversation "If that's his last wish, you should do it, Yellow."
Yellow agrees, and soon after he throws a spear made of pure light towards the overlord.
The Overlord falls from the powerful throw, but only Darkness is further effected by the spear. He is forced to leave the body, but he will probably escape once again.
Now it's my turn, I run to the enemy, who is still lying on the ground. I grab his poisonous blade, and stab it right through his back, piercing him face-down to the ground. Razet screams in pain, but can do nothing but wait 'till his own poison kills him.

"You couldn't even reach me, Razet... pathetic fool!", Cadaos said to his dying enemy. Soon after, the black dragon shrinks and slowly retakes the shape of Rex.
...

(The following text is from Alaina's perspective)

Why am I on this side of the wall?! I have no guns, or any old weapons, with me. I wonder if there are any guns at all in this world?

Soon a small girl runs out from the destroyed gate in the Rebel camp. Wait, isn't that Kareena? And isn't she holding two guns? I'll ask if I can borrow one of hers..

"Kareena, I'm sure you can do with one gun only - can I have one of them?", I ask politely.
Kareena stops up, and looks strangely at me, as if I were an alien.
"Sorry miss Alaina, you can't have Excalibur"
What? She ignores my questioning face, and continues towards the battlefield, asks Kargath something. The blue draconian nods and laughs loudly like only Kargath can laugh. Soon after she climbs up his back, and starts shooting enemies from there.
I'm stunned by her abilities, Kareena is good for an eleven year old girl, who never have had special gun training.
Additionally, the gun takes down several enemies at a time. What kind of guns are they?

*Am'ar and Talban have held off the evil forces.

(The following text is from Asorath's perspective)

Duke Talban, I and the rest of the leaders in the rebel council have just been disrupted in our meeting, because the forces of evil stroke again. But it seems the attack turned to our favor. Without anyone to lead the attacking forces, they were easily defeated, and now we have the chance to counter-attack.
Duke Talban climbs up a pile of corpses, and speaks from there so anyone can hear him. Am'ar and I stand on his sides.
"Let's not waste time, we will continue as planned. I will lead one-third of the rebel forces towards the Arena. Another third of our army follows Asorath to Hillcrose Top, and the last third remains here at the base, under the leadership of Am'ar.", he ordered.

I better start gathering my knights. Hopefully, this war will end soon.
...

 

[clockwork2]

[153]
I see Alaina walk up to me in confusion. "What's with?" She said, and yellow hastily explains. I walk over to red, and close his eyelids and mutter a silent prayer for him.... If only I could do something! I turn back to Razet, and start slashing him apart with his own blade. "I don't care if you can't die! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER!!!" I shouted, and screamed with anger repeatedly stabbing him, then broke into tears. "Ugh, quit crying...heh." Red said, his eyes open for a second, then he dissipated into red dust. "he's fine, I see his face in my sword." Yellow said.

 

[Ironside]

[154]

Selia: Don't waste my time then, go ahead and attack.

Aris conjures an orb of frost on each of his hands and relocates to Selia and attempts to attack.

Selia: Auxion, you are a fool, a normal titan can't ever defeat a divine one.

She blocks and lands a deep wound on Aris without him even realising and then relocates away from danger.

Aris: I have given this one the Waygate of Inverse, because I know it's the only one trully able to face you head on
Aris: Waygate of Inverse!

Selia is teleported back to Aris and he grabs her hand, which starts to freeze immediately. At this very moment Regex uses Coup de Burst to hit Selia into the head, making her lose balance.

Regex: I'm not done yet, Waygate of Balance!

He then grabs the hand which isn't freezing and holds it to the ground, at this time the knight charges at Selia aiming to crush her head.

Knight: It's over now
Selia: It's only over when I say it is!

She conjures a orb of light in her mouth and spits it somewhere into the forest, the orb goes bigger and faster as it travels.

Aris uses the waygate of inverse to retrieve the enormous orb of light and Regex starts to attack it straight on, aiming to destroy it as soon as possible.

Selia: Too late, you made this even easier for me. Orb of Light, I awaken your powers! Transformation!

Selia instantly breaks free of the the freezing aura and grabs the orb.
Slowly the orb becomes smaller and smaller while Selia is transforming into something greater...

 

[sanofa]

Chapter XXXII

[155]

Vayne

We were all standing in front of the gates, curious to what will happen. Our first examiner has done his job, and the second examiner comes in. He wore tattered clothes and and a belt holding a large gun. his face has a big scar across his whole face, and he looked at if he is about to kill us. " Now... four hundred and twenty-five canditates are here, better than last year's exam." The examiner spoke in a deep-evil-like voice. " Now, the second phase, might be the last thing you will ever go through in your life." He started walking to examine us. " This year's canditates are much stronger than last year's. Good" The examiner stopped, he turned his back on us, and started to unlock the gate.” Now, I will hand over these.” A guy at the back pulled out a table, on top of it is watches. He took one of it and said “ Wear these watches as u walk in.” One by one, in a line, all of us went in inside and wore the watch. Since I am the last, it took me a long time to get inside the gate, and once I got in, the gate behind me closed tight shut. And the examiner spoke,” The watch records your time and acts as your map. The map is blank right now, but when you walked to places unknown in the watch, it will record down the places you’ve went. You can go in teams of three or you can even go in alone, but be warned, the monsters inside are very viscous and tough. The ones who comes out alive, passes the second phase, and those who fail, will DIE. Now I wish you all good luck, I will be waiting at the exit.” That being his last word, and he disappeared. Peoples started gathering in teams of three, but as I have no friend, I went in alone.

The place was dark and is filled with insects and webs. The place reeks of the word ‘haunted’. I started walking forward, while casting my revealing light spell, and the place lit up around me. But, that might be the biggest mistake I ever made. Monsters hiding every corner revealed, their skin all peeled, and some is even eating each other. Disgusting, I thought. The monsters saw me, and all of them rushed at me.” This might be trouble.” I pulled out Taiken-Geto and readied my stance, three of them came, and I gave them my swing, cutting them half. I ran back, trying to find a narrow area so that I can take them on by one, but when I tried to reach the stairs, something blocked me, as is a wall was blocking my route. I waited at the stairs , trying to get them all in line, then I would use Ground Explosion, a skill that when I plunges my sword into the ground, enemies around me will be explode from below. Minutes later, monstrous creatures came at me, like they hunger for my soul. I got in my defense stance, wanting to counter attack them, but one of the monster was smart, it jumped on one the monster and leap at me, which I didn’t have the time to block it, instead kicking it, but I lost my stance, and many of them leaped at me. But then suddenly, something blasted them and they disintegrated in an instant. I turned around, and two people was standing at the door up the stairs.”Looks like you’re having trouble, Vayne” Wait, how did he know my name?”Right…Could you kindly dispel the spell that’s preventing me from going up the stairs?”,”Sure” The leader of the two replied me.

I ended up doing the exam with those two, and when almost two hours and half, we finally reached the exit. Not one person is here. I sat down on a corner and closed my eyes, trying to regain my stamina and strength for the next phase…

Leo and Aina

Leo’s view

This is from Leo’s view.
I woke up in a tent, still feeling a bit dizzy, but I could see a few people having meals, and some sleeping. I got up from my bed, and walked out. Many soldiers were having fun, like drinking, chatting, and some were even playing games! Then I thought ,am I missing something? I looked around, I’m forgetting something….What was it….Oh yeah! Vayne and Aina! I couldn’t see Excalibur nor Taiken-Geto is here. And Aina is resting in the tent next to me. I was worried, what if Vayne is in trouble!? I rushed around, while dragging my feet, and someone stopped me. It was an orc, and he seemed to be the leader of the camp.” What are you doing? You’re still injured. Please rest in your assigned tent.” Then he tried take me to my tent, but I stopped. I can’t let Vayne get in trouble!”Let me go! I need to go find my......argh!” My pain interrupted my talk. I crouched down, trying to relieve my pain, but I can’t dilly dally here anymore! I need to get Vayne!” You’re hurt! Please, whoever you’re trying to find, don’t want to see u get hurt now, so please rest until your wounds have recovered”. I nodded, as since Vayne never liked to see his friends in pain, so I just went back to my tent and concentrate on recovering. I’m sure wherever Vayne is, he is fine… I lay down on my bed once again, trying to get some sleep.

Aina’s view

This is from Aina’s view.

I was running, running towards Vayne and Leo, but they disappeared into the darkness once more. I sat down there, crying, as they always moved forward towards their path, while I am left alone. Then, suddenly, something came, with light around him, cleared the darkness around me. When I look up, Vayne and Leo are reaching out their hands to me… Then I woke up inside a tent, with voices could be heard. I got up, and sat there, thinking about how did I end up here. Now if I retrace back, I was breaked down into pieces, and the next thing I remember is…Ah! Vayne! Where’s Vayne!? And Leo! Then I walked outside, only to see soldier enjoying their lifes, and Leo walking to the tent beside me. I approached him, and he looked awfully bad. “ What happened, Leo!? Where’s Vayne!?” I shot those words at him. “ I don’t know either, Excalibur and Taiken-Geto was gone too.” Leo turned and looked at me. I went back into my tent, trying to look for clues, then I found a note lying beside my bed.

Dear friends,
I have went to find a place where it contains this world’s information, and to find out how to get us back to Z.E.O.N.. Please do not worry about me, I will be fine as long as Taiken-Geto is with me.

P.S. Please tell Leo to rest more, as he must be worry sick about me now. And you should get plenty of rest too, don’t stress yourself too much, you won’t get pretty if u stress too much.

Rest well,
Vayne.

I looked at the note, relieved to know that Vayne is safe, but he might get himself into trouble… But I’ll do as he says, I looked again at the word ’pretty’. So I try not to stress myself too much, and wait for Vayne to come back, and see my healthy pretty face.

 

[Ironside]

[156]

None of the 6 bodies is able to see nor attack the great transformation happening before their very eyes. Auxion litteraly begins to fear what is being forged as his power of light trembles against the power level while the darkness power melts in the presence.

Auxion: Unimaginable power!

He places the bodies in battle stance while waiting for the transformation to finish, he knows he won't get many attempts to slay something like that.

Minutes pass, the new form can already be seen party emerging from the inversed space conjured with light.
It appears to be a giant creature, somewhat resembling a mix of a bird and dragon, the whole thing is surrounded by an aura of light.

Auxion: The thing is gigantic!

Suddently the transformation completes, the inversed space disappears and Selia fully appears at the blink of an eye.

Selia: Let's finish this, shall we?
Selia: Divine Blast!

She unleashes a giant wave which travels in a straight line covering a huge area. The 3 normal humans had absolutely no chance to dodge and were eliminated at the spot.
The nature is completely unaffected by the massive divine wave, it appears Selia decides which targets take the hit.

Regex: 3 waygates with 1 strike? Unacceptable!
Selia: Divine Blast!
Aris: Waygate of Inverse

The divine blast suddenly pierces Selia, but she is unaffected.

Selia: None of my abilities can hurt me, the power of Inverse will be useless here.

She then releases her wings and flies into the air.

Regex: Waygate of Balance!

Regex then jumps high and punches Selia back into the ground. Without a second
delay she once more flies into the air.

Regex: You don't learn at all! Waygate of Balance!
Selia: Apparently you don't...
Selia: Divine Phoenix Form!

Selia shifts into a form of a complete phoenix, burning with divine fire and light all around her new body.

Selia: This power takes me great energy to channel, but it basically eliminates anything.

Regex was already jumping right into her, with no way of going back. Selia flies into Regex and pierces him through with the divine fire, leaving him burning with no way to be saved. She doesn't stop and flies towards the knight...

 

[sanofa]

[157]

Vayne

I was at some arena, fighting with what seemed to be an dark-armored person, and sooner when I have a clearer view, I realized who he was. Dark armors, with a long tail-like armor hanging from the back, he let out an dark sinister presence, and what's more is that he was horribly evil. He cheeky laughter is like of an evil traitor, who once someone good, but turned bad because of greed. While I was taking a close on his face... I couldn't believed my eyes. It was ME who was standing there, trying to kill...well me! And his eyes, it was pitch black I could be sure he was me, his hair was the same as mine, my red marks were at the same place, whats even worse, he was in Reaper Mode! At one point, he came flying by me, while swinging his deadly scythe towards me, and when he hitted, I woke up. I was dreaming, it seems I had been sleeping here for 2 whole hours. But, one weird thing is that, no one was around. I stood up, brushed off the dust of my clothes, and searched around for any clues.

After some time of searching, nothing was found. There was no traces of anyone here, neither traces of their footprints. Then suddenly, a voice rings in my head. “ Welcome…” That was what I heard. I looked around calmly, trying to not get my guards down. Then, in one corner, is a big muscular figure. He muscles were as big as an professional wrestler, his clothes are tattered, and his face, has an big across his face. “ U have reached the last phase… This will be the hardest thing you’ll go through in your life… Do you still wish to continue on?” He asked me, I had no hesitate, I gave him a nod, as a answer to his question.” Very well, follow me.” The muscular guy spoke. He opened up a door, which I didn’t know there had been one, and followed him into the dark, eerie halls. Only sounds of our footsteps can be heard, and when we reached the end, a wide space stood in front of us.” Here… is where the last phase will take place…” I looked at him, and then looked at the wide space. The place looked almost like an arena, a huge circle surrounding us, and it was organized in rows. I was in the dead center, like an bulls eye target. Then I remembered, I had to asked him where are all the candidates. “ Where is the other candidates, Mr. Examiner?” I questioned him politely, hoping to get information out of him.” They have failed the last phase…” What!!? They failed!? But… I thought I was in the last phase with all the others!? “ How could that be!? I saw them passed the second phase! But why am I the only one who’s not yet “failed”, huh!?” I got angry, is he lying or is it just a sick joke? If it is a joke, it’s not funny.” They have gone ahead of you, and failed ahead of you… Now no more dilly dallying… Go and begin your last phase…” He pushed me into the center of the arena, and that is when the nightmare comes true. It was like the same thing with what happened in my dream. Another me came out, but instead, in Reaper Mode.” He… is this even me? He look so weak… Haha!! That’s is so hilarious, I can’t believe that I’m his double! But, no matter, I’m much stronger thatn his is! Hahaha…” He face palmed himself and kept on laughing, with the evil laugh that darkens that atmosphere.” The last phase has now begun! Let the phase… begin…” The examiner lifted an arm, and the whole surrounding turned inside out. I blacked out, and the nest thing I knew, was lying down on the grassy fields, with the blue sky, now cloudy. I stood up, and noticed someone was coming. Seconds later, a figure came running by. His bronze heavy armor, is very easy to identify, and his brown hair that matches with his armor, dragging along a heavy broadsword. It was Leo, along with a few other soldiers behind him.” Vayne… is that you!?” Leo yelled out, and came running, but stopped along the way.” No… why are you…” I looked at him, pointing his fingers at me, and looked at my body. The white light cloth armor, is now gone, and black metals is around my chest. I looked at my fingers, they were all claws, as if they hunger for flesh. I couldn’t belived it… I’m in REAPER MODE!” No.. It’s not what you think!” I tried to convince them, but they did not hear.” Please, for yours and ours safety, we have to lock you down. Please understand this, Vayne.” He pointed Soulbane at me, and I knew, that I couldn’t harm anyone.” Okay,” I held my hands up, and dropped my scythe. The soldiers hold my arm, and push me to somewhere else. I blacked out then, and again, I woke up, sitting down in a corner of my cell. I stood up, and wandered around. Maybe this is good for me… I thought, but then, I felt an evil presence appearing behind me. I turned around, and another me was standing there.” Got yourself trapped in a cell eh? Ha! That’s so you.” He said ina cheeky manner.” Who are you!? Why do you look like me!? Answer me!?” I yelled, and he turned around at the cell’s door.” Can’t you see? Are you blind or something? I’m you, and you are me, silly.” He said, and pointed his scythe, Excalibur at me.

“That is impossible! You could not be me! I’m me!” I shouted, wanting to get an answer.” I’m the hatred that you have been bottling up inside yourself, and I have taken form as since I was getting bored inside. Now… hand over your body, mind and soul to me, or die protecting your precious little trashes.” He held up an orb, and inside of it was, Leo and Aina, being tortured severely.” Why you..!” I jumped at him, and tried to punch him, but he evaded it easily, and hold it with his hand.” You are too weak…” And he threw me against the wall, crushing it, and I fly over the wall. I landed back in the same exact spot that I came here somehow. I was overwhelmed by the strength he threw me with, and didn’t seemed to be exerting any force at all. He landed in front of me, and help up his scythe.” Come one, are you THAT weak? And you were supposed to be me! Ha!” He laughed, and then swung his scythe randomly, causing the nearby trees to dissolve.”Stand up, and fight me, you coward! Hahahahah” He laughed and pointed his scythe at me. I was injured, not that much, but my force shield couldn’t absorb all the impact.

 

[Amargaard]

[158]

Team Main Base: Am'ar, Aina & Alaina

(The following text is from Am'ar's perspective)

I'm sitting in the rebel camps largest tent all alone, taking a short break. All the others, who used to sit here are either with the duke or Asorath. The rebel soldiers at the camp seems to have forgotten the war for a time, they are even having fun, drinking some of the duke's precious talbanian ale. I'm not gonna stop them. Not right now.
But I myself can't have fun. I can't stop thinking about my past, my lost memories. It's just something I need to know, and I can't relax until I find out.
All I remember are pictures, a few pictures from different parts of my past, but I remember none of them clearly.
My eyes are closed, beneath the sunglasses. A moment of silence.. but another failed attempt on trying to remember.
I push the thoughts aside, leave the tent and start working on what I should be working on - stopping those soldiers.

... What!? Half of them are gone!?

Team Hillcrose: Asorath, Original Aaron, Blue Aaron & Yellow Aaron

(The following text is from Original Aaron's perspective)

I and my clones have been chosen to help Asorath reclaiming Hillcrose Top. We're still on our way, and it may take a while since most of us are on foot. Asorath, and his knights in the front are all mounted though.

Team Arena: Duke Talban, Kargath, Rex/Cadaos & Kareena/Taera

(The following text is from Duke Talban's perspective)

We have walked for a time now, through the dead and hilly landscape. I have walked silently in the front, not saying a word 'till now. The foul Arena is visible in the misty horizon. I lift my left hand, signalizing my soldiers to stop. I turn around, looking at the army under my command. A moment of pride.

"Soldiers! Once again we are marching towards a merciless battlefield - and this is the land of Zaarnoth. We are not the ones having advantage in this twisted land..."
I paused, and looked back at the arena, then continued.
"I do not know what horrors await us in the arena - perhaps none. But, if we are about to enter another battle, we will lend all our strength and courage to defeat whatever horrible pests awaits us..."
I paused again, thinking of a way to end the speech.
"We are the people of Avataria, not them. Move forward, Avatarians, move forward and fight for the very freedom of our planet!"
I pull out my sword from the sheath, and raise it to the air. A few seconds later the soldiers cheers, and follow as I run towards the large arena...

Optional Artistic Object - Talban's speech

 

[clockwork2]

[159]
I looked at the others, then at my blade. I coulda sworn I...I blinked twice, in my blade, was a reflection of the Razet. "N-no....It can't be!" I said, only to have the reflection smile with a look of triumph. "W-whats wrong green?" Blue said, walking towards me, "That is...disconcerting, possibly a symbol he still lives... We have more pressing matters though, we need to organize a strategy...." With that he pulled out a map, and used his sword as a decided designator. "Asorath's forces are mainly horsemen, we must assume the enemies scouts have planned an anti-cavalry defense..... And our numbers could be bolstered by kingdom of evil prison camps, scouts reported enemy convoys, no doubt moving prisoners behind the frontline." Blue said, pointing towards a few black question marks.

 

[Ironside]

Chapter XXXIII
[160]

Selia is flying towards the knight, knowing the power of Inverse can't save him and before being able to dodge gets pierced and dies a sudden death.

Selia: 5 down, Aris to go.
Aris: You know... I've been waiting for this moment for a long time... Combining a Titan with all 6 waygates!
Aris: Awaken, Waygate of Space, Time, Life, Death, Balance and Inverse!

Selia cancels the phoenix form due to the great amounts of power needed to channel.
Aris takes the chance and disappears.

Aris: I believe you've seen the waygate of space and time before, but have you seen them combined?
Aris: The union of these 2 waygates allows me to create paradoxes of the first rank, adding inverse and balance allows the creation of perfect paradoxes.

Out of the blue sky appear 5 Aris-es, each different in age : Baby, young, average, current one and elder.

The elder stays back while the others attack Selia.
Selia: Divine Blast!

The 3 bellow the current one are still too slow to be able to dodge such an attack while the current barely makes it out.

Elder Aris instantly appears at the current one and absorbs his powers.
Elder Aris: I'm Aris, from a long future in which Auxion never left me, I have mastered the power to awaken Auxions real form without the sacred ritual.

Selia: I cannot let you do that!
Elder Aris: Too late, Combine with me all 6 waygates in addition to the Waygate of Auxion.

A complete rift of all elements surrounds Aris, destroying him into oblivion.

Auxion: At last, I have my chance to destroy you.

Selia jumps back a long range because she knows what will follow.

Out of the rift appears a circle created by orbs of each element, in the center lay 2 bigger orbs; light and darkness.

Auxion: I hope you remember this form. Last time you awakened me without knowing the side effects of not doing it, but this time you wouldn't do that if I didn't tell you.
Auxion: This orb will call forth all Septim gods if you don't awaken me. As you know, not even you can face an army of Septims alone.

Having no choice Selia walks closer to the orb and finally awakens the orb by buffing it with her life energy.

The orb begins to transform into a giant body constructed out of elements of all type, wears a giant sword.

Auxion: Selia, somehow you won last time, will you be able to recreate that scenario?
Selia appears to have a doubtful look on her face and still answers "There can be no doubt!"

 

[Kanadaj]

[161]

Dracor takes a look at the grounds from the sky. When he arrived here, he didnt know where he was, nor what caused him to come here. Since then, he remembered the strange explosion in the divine realm and regained most of his powers. But for the first time, he felt such an immerse energy which was similar to his own, and it attracted his attention.

Meanwhile Auxion finished his transformation, and now in his released form he can easily use his waygate abilities without calling for them. He suddenly appears behind Selia using the Waygate of Space, with his image still hovering where he was before thanks to the Waygate of Time, and slashes with the giant sword, releasing a wave of pure energy. Selia can barely dodge it, but the wave still got her, offsetting her balance.

Auxion: I've finaly got you! Elemental Storm!

Using the Waygate of Time and Space again, Auxion appears in 7 places, relasing 7 Elemental Waves with his sword at the same time, all of them targeting Selia. But in this exact moment, a flash of light and a burst of explosion occurs just near Selia. It doesnt hurt her, but in the place of it the human form of Dracor slowly emerges, with his red wings still shown on his back. He stops all the waves by knocking his staff to the ground, raising a circle of divine flame around them, but also turning his red hair to white suddenly, indicating how powerful the attack was.

Dracor(thinks): If he can dish out even more powerful attacks like this, or just keeps it on like this for too long, I will have to take on my dragon form to bear with it...
Dracor: Such an immense battle... It was entertaining this far, but without intervening, I guess I won't get the answers I desire. So, who is the first to tell me where I am and what is going on?

OOC:

The art was not made by me, but well, I'm just too bad when it comes to arts...

Dracor

 

[Ironside]

[162]

Selia quickly responds to the appearing figure and traps Auxion in a prison of light. She knows it cannot last long but it will do until the introductions are done. She moves to appearing figure and speaks:

Selia: Your power level is of great level. I assume you have only just recently arrived.
Dracor: Maybe so, what I seek are answers.
Selia: Well, I can't say much about the land itself, I have come here with the single purpose of slaying the creature which stands behind you.
Dracor: What is it?
Selia: Auxion is the name, it's a very powerful creature which created the septims, which are evil titans. It is very important that he falls.
Selia: As for the land, it appears to be a land where war is currently at hand, I could feel from the very start, that a lot of blood was split on the land.

Auxion exists the prison of light...

Auxion: Two opponents with one fight? I accept!

He then disappears into a rift of space.

Selia: Get ready if you want to fight, else make way so I can finish it.

 

[Kanadaj]

[163]

Dracor: So be it, I will help you. Judging from the nature of your power, you couldn't wield it this freely if you lied.

Selia: That's true, if I was evil, my powers would be sealed as his were. But I had to remove the seal, and now with every moment he's regaining more and more power.

Dracor steps away from Selenia, and a huge magical rune appears under his feet. A second later, where he stood before a huge dragon stands with red scales, except his belly and his spikes on his back, which are white.

Dracor: Let us go to him.

Then they both disappear, following Auxion into a small world he created to suit his needs better in this fight. Elements rage over each other: the blowing wind tries to freeze their limbs while the hot ground gives the feeling of being burned alive. In this world, light or darkness dont have a meaning. This won't stop them, but will make the fight a lot harder than it would originally be.

Auxion appears before them, the light he emmits seems to be intensified by the envoriment.

Auxion: This is where our final battle shall take place. I have prepared it for this single moment. And thanks to the dragon, I will gain not just one, but two powerful bodies at once!

Auxian appears right in front of them with his blade already slashing. Selenia summons a blade of light and blocks the attack, but is knocked back in the process.

Dracor: Krat'thul atar!

On his words, a barrier made of both light and fire surrounds both him and Selenia. It doesn't block their vision nor their movements, but can absorb an attack before disappearing. During the process he spins around, trying to hit Auxion with his tail, but Auxion isn't there anymore...

Dracor in his true form

 

[Ironside]

[164]

Selia: Then it's time to go ultimate
Selia: Phoenix mode!

Selia transforms into what appears to be a giant bird made of fire and light

Selia: Let's go, just make sure not to touch my skin now

Auxion reappears and grabs Selia around the neck, ignoring that his hand is slowly burning away from his body.

Selia: What are you doing!?
Auxion: Just stand still

Dracor realises that this must be all part of a plan so he quickly conjures a wave of pushing force ignited with fire to knock Auxion away.

Auxion: Very clever
Selia: It was all part of my plan too, he tried to tear me apart from the inside, but what he doesn't know is that the divine flame disables regeneration, he won't be able to restore that hand with any ability now.
Auxion: Damn! I must avoid contact then afterall.

Selia moves back into the air and shouts, "hold him for me and I'll pierce him to deliver an instant kill!"
Auxion wants to escape into the rift but it's too late, Dracor is already too close.

 

[Kanadaj]

Chapter XXXIV
[165]

Dracor grabs Auxion with his paw at the deck, strangling him were he are.

Dracor: Liatara thris dum tra-krah!

A chain of light breaks forth from under the scales of Dracor, binding Auxion at several places to himself, while a giant orb of magma engulfs him, slowing his movements. Then, out of the ground around them four pillars with runes iscribed all over emerge, and chains of light finally leave Dracor's body and link themselves with one of the pillars' base. The runes start to glow up slowly from the bottom to the top as the seal charges up.

Dracor: Now!

During the process, Selia charged her powers, and now she is already at the point where she can not be looked at thanks to the intense light she emmits. She starts to fly at Auxion with an incredible speed...

Auxion tries to break free from the chains, but as he tries to use his power, the magical runes binding him start to activate faster, absorbing all the power he releases, but appearently this spell exhausted Dracor as well. As Auxion takes a better look around, he realises the problem: the freely roaming elements he created to make the battle easier are absorbed into the pillars as a Vortex.

Auxion: You can not stop me!

He releases an insane amount of energy, so much that one of the pillars start to crackle. But it's too late, Selia is already there...

OOC: He is your character, I leave his fate to you

 

[Ironside]

[166]

Auxion refuses to give in and instantly transforms back into his orb form, all power of the auxion is unleashed into Selia's phoenix form.

The reaction causes the very energy of Auxion to burn and Selia continues to push to the orb.
Selia pierces the orb, placing it on fire and then flies away. The amount of energy she had to burn not only ends her phoenix form, but also her dragon form, setting her back to the human form.

The orb starts to teleport around while burning. Seeing as he has no hope of surviving he gives in and burns to ground.

Selia and Dracor are teleported back to Avataria where Selia just sits on a rock with almost no energy left.

Selia: At least it's over...

 

[Kanadaj]

[167]

Dracor changes to his human form, which still has white hair; and sits down near Selia.

Dracor: Yes, it's over. I am Dracor Scaleflame, also known as the Guardian of Hope and the Patron of War, as my two elements represent these thing - but it seems like you are the same. I remember... only a few things before I came here. I was fighting in the divine realm of my world against a thing that caused nothing but destruction. I fought with him together with all the gods, titans and other powerful creatures, but we utterly failed. Then somehow I lost my consciousness and woke up here powerless. It took me several days just to regain enough power to fly again. I have been wandering around since then, trying to collect whatever information I could about this place. This was around a week ago...

Before Selia could answer, Dracor suddenly stands up and looks around. Then he closes his eyes and uses a weak light magic to observe the lands around. When he finds Regex's ashes, he starts running. Selia wants to follow, but is too exhausted to run, so she just stands up and slowly walks to where Dracor went.

When Dracor reaches the ashes, he puts his hand over the main pile, and starts incanting a ritual. The burnt body slowly starts to gather under his hand, forming a black sphere of ash. Then, just before he finishes, Selia arrives.

Selia: What are you doing?
Dracor: I saw your expression when you had to kill him. You are sorry for him, and I want to help. He tried to help you, but Auxion fooled him and so he had to die. I think I could resurrect him if I had all my powers, but I feel so weak... I can still do a favor for him, though.

Slowly the surrounding plants start to burn without heat or fire, their life force absorbed into the orb in Dracor's hand. His hair slowly blackens - he shouldnt abuse this power as it is the complete oposite of his nature. Then, after no life except theirs remained in the radius of 15 meters, the orb starts to glow, and starts to transform. After minutes, Regex's original body levitates where once the orb of ash was. Dracor fell to one of his knees, keeping his hand over the body so it wont fall. His hair's last quarter are already black - he can't remember, what happens if it is completely black, but he is sure it's not a good sign. Then, he forces himself to stand up, and continue the work.

Dracor: If he dies with nothing left behind, noone would remember him except us. I have watched over him: he fought for others while he wanted to get back to his own world.

 

[sanofa]

[168]

Vayne

I stood up, and withdrew Taiken-Geto. His evil laughter is very evil, much very same as the Reaper that had invaded my world. I rushed towards him, while dragging my katana, I slash it toward it, very sure that I could have hitted him, but it did not. Instead he jumped out high in the darken sky, and flew down, swinging his scythe, and I blocked it, but a huge shockwave was created, causing a huge hole on the hole. The impact was so great, that I had to kneel down. "Is that it? You suck very much, me." He said it in a very disturbing manner, and started to push more. "Gravitational Push!" And then the gravitation around me started to get heavy, as if the earth itself wants to consume me. I pushed back, and flew upwards, with the other me chasing towards me. "Now this is more like it!" He yelled and flew above me, then using his flat surface of the scythe, he pound me down and then, at an incredible speed, he flew below me, and kicked me up. I was flying upwards, and that is when I saw a huge light appeared and a giant bird was flying, but it was gone as soon as the light faded. I turned around, and the other me was in front. I elbowed him, and he didn't have time to counter. I pushed him all the way to the ground, and then use the same ability that he had use to improve his impact towards me. "Gravitational Push! Level 2!" Which had activated the second level of Gravitational Push, which is two times the stronger. We hitted the ground, and the hole he gave me, was three times the deeper, and a larger shock wave was created.

"Urgh." He spited some saliva, and then I backed off, trying to regain the energy I had lost during the the impact he gave me. Damn, why is he so powerful, I can't even have that kind of power when I'm in Reaper Mode. I thought and I noticed someone was talking to me, in my mind. You must control the hatred and darkness inside of you, learn to use it of your own free will.... The voice whispered in my head, I was wondering who it was, but I kinda understood what he meant. By calling the Reaper that had sealed inside of me, while controlling with my light powers, and accepting the darkness, I can control the Reaper, while maintaining my conscious. I started to recall those terrible moments of the Zarks killing my father, and the moment which they had been stabbing him countless of times, while thinking of the happy times I had with my friends and my father. "Argh!!!" I shouted, darkness was surrounding me, with stripes of white. "Ahhhhhhhh!!!" I screamed, as the pain was imaginable, but it somehow feel.... warm. The darkness and bright light aura covered my whole body, and then it disappeared. My reaper armor was in around my body, with a few bronze stripes and with a giant broadsword was replaced with my katana. I stood up, looking at my new form. Dark and light eh....? I looked at the other me, and he was no different from his early personality. "Heh, you just changed your armor and weapon, that down not make any difference, I'll still cut you in half, and then end everything that has to do with Zarks." He shouted and rushed toward me. I pulled out the broadsword, which seemed to be as light as an katana, and did the same action. Our weapons clashed, and an immense force was releasing, mostly his. How could be so strong in just an moment? I won't believe it!!! His scythe was releasing much force as he begin to grow more and more hatred for me and the Zarks. The force was very immense, so I had to jumped before I was crushed by his force, but he followed. "You won't get away!" He chased me, and I had no other way than to keep dodging his random slashes.

He had been slashing whenever I stopped to turn, and trees around us were all slowly disintegrating, and he had no expression of being tired, being the one doing all the attacking, even I get tired. But, not for long my energy ran out, and I could fly, which also made me very tired from all the constant running from him. I activated my clocking device, which basically had no used as he just keep randomly attacking everywhere, which can randomly hit me. I took out a pill from my pocket, but it was the last pill as since I had been using them throughout the immense battle. It was an energy pill, which restores my energy and even increase if I was in a good condition. "You can hide, but you can't run!" He yelled, and started to slash everywhere. "Why are you doing this!? Aren't you supposed to be me!?" I yelled, revealing my position. "Its because I love KILLING!!!!! NOW DIE!" He screamed and rushed to me, but I countered with my broadsword, and he went flying. He got up, and rushed at me again, and again I swung my broadsword, causing him to fly away. Why the hell does he keep attacking me without thinking, even doing the same routine?

Leo

I could feel the earth shaking from somewhere else, but did not care as since it may could just be a environmental problem. But then, somewhere in my heart, tells me that Vayne was in trouble, as usual. I got up from my stuffy bed, and decided to check it out. I went out of my tent, and soldiers was sitting at the campfire, eating and chatting, like not having a care in their life. I walked out, with my armor still on, I looked at the sky, glancing back at the old days I had with Vayne and Aina. We were always having fun, like eating together, or sometimes even training at a dojo. But those happy days were gone when the Zarks had planed to use our city as their headquarters. Hopefully, there were still some rebels rebelled against these bastards, but they were just too powerful. Me, Vayne and Aina had to train day and night as the Zarks commanded, and there was the Reaper invading out planet. But Vayne's foster dad had sealed it inside of Vayne, and along the final words of his foster father, he was gone from the world, never to be seen again. Those final words told Vayne that his biological father was killed by the Zarks, and thus carried a humongous hatred for Zarks. Even though burdened with a monstrous demon inside of him, he is still able to carry on his life, like nothing had happened. I looked back at when I was an orphan at the orphanage, I was always left alone as since I was an Zark, but Vayne, who have never seemed to be disturbed by that, came into my world and rescued me from the darkness that had been consuming me. We did some very crazy stuff along our life's journey, we even stole from a stand, those day was very carefree, and even after adopted into the Filonius family, we have still been best friends, and nothing seemed to be able to break us apart. I turned around and look at my tent, Vayne... I hope your okay... And I went back inside and slept again, with those memories as my life's pillar.

 

[Kanadaj]

[169]

Selia wants to help Dracor, but she can't: her power is way too drawn out to do so. But even so, Dracor won't give up on what he started.

Dracor(thinks): So be it. If not trully alive, he can still continue to exist.

Then he starts talking in a language no thing from this world should ever speak. it sounds like it came from the ground itself, shaking something deep withing Selia. It just doesn't feel right. A huge mass of magical energy is released from Dracor's body, and a second later, the energy is drawn in in huge amounts. A gigantic circle of lifelessness is spreading in the field, burning every plant and animal in the vicinity. Not even Selia is saved - she falls to her knees with her hand trembling as her life-force is drawn out. To her it's only a minimal amount, but it's still a bad feeling.

And all the while, Dracor's hair turned to black. The life draining stopped, and Selia slowly stands up. But when Dracor turns back to look at her, she freezes from the shock - Dracor's originally strange eyes are glowing with an evil red light. It's way too far from the original reptilish iris and the orange color with white right around the iris.

Dracor: This feeling... I remember now... My father... He was a fool, a mix of fire and light. But my mother... She was Anklya, the archdemon of ruthless atonement... I am no mere dragon...

Then he says some other strange words, and suddenly, Regex opens his eyes. He is not breathing - this is the first thing he realises. But he is alive - at least to some degree. But then something odd happens - Dracor bent with pain as demonic horns and claws disturb his human form. Selia starts to feel the presence of a divine seal, much more ancient than anything she could imagine. To stop the metamorphosis, she starts to power up the seal with the remains of her power and even with some of her life-force. There is something deep within him that should not be let loose - else no one would care to make such a seal.

 

[Amargaard]

OOC: I will leave a summary in the other thread, since this is a long post

Chapter XXXV
[170]
Am'ar stood in a small workshop-tent in the rebels' main camp, all alone. He mumbled angrily to himself, still mad at the lack of respect from the soldiers. He could not control them, they would not listen to him. He had stepped angrily away from the awkward scene, and in his silent anger decided to at least try be a little useful, by working on some unfinished blades for the rebel's weapons.
He repeatingly hammered the tool quickly into the fiery red-glowing metal, to shape the blade, when he heard voices behind him. Just outside the tent. Curious, he stopped the hammering and listened.

"Are you sure they are coming back Aina?", a soft voice said nervously. It was Alaina, the elf from the future, if Am'ar remembered correctly.
Alaina and Aina happened to be in the same situation, with their yet-to-be boyfriends gone.
"Aaron and Vayne will be back I'm sure, mrs Tekan, it's just a matter of time"

Alaina Tekan? Am'ar remembered that name from the past, yet he had no idea where he have heard it before. Suddenly, he blacked out and more pictures from the past flashed into his mind...

----

When Am'ar opened his eyes once again, he was experiencing another lost scene from his past life. He walked down the dark silent streets, in the midst of the night. The surroundings were a weird mixture of identical skyscrapers, wild nature and stinking slums. His face was hidden by hood and sunglasses, and next to him walked an orange draconian.

"This planet, Getax, is home to elves and draconians like me. You should stick to the shadows, they are not used to see your kind here. Mostly, the people here are peaceful, but you can never be too careful", the draconian on his side said.

Am'ar didn't answer, but asked a new question for his informative companion "How far do we have to walk yet?".
The draconian carried around a map, took a quick look and said "Mr. Tekan lives in the slums, so we must be close"

After a long search through the dirty slums, they noticed an electrical sign saying "Tekan's inventions". It flashed perilously, as if the lights were about to go out, and perhaps because of that, it was easy to find in this late hour.

Am'ar knocked on the door, and signalized for his orange companion to hide. Nothing happened, so the Orc continued knocking, this time harder, and soon the door opened and the face of a tired elf appeared. The crystal on the end of Am'ar's staff flashed, and lighted up everything around them in purple, for a few seconds. The mysterious spell had worked as expected - the elf stood still, like if completely frozen.

Am'ar bound Mr. Tekan to a chair and stopped the spell's effect. The elf looked confused and scared around, and finally at Am'ar's green skin.
"What!? What are you?"

"Easy to answer. I am a customer, but before you ask, I will not reveal who I am.", Am'ar said, and continued "I want you to make me a weapon, able to cut through the strongest of walls, and I know that you are the man, able to do that."

"And why should I do that?", Mr. Tekan asked.

Am'ar held up a leather pouch, and opened it slowly. "This is the payment", he said, and revealed a lot of shiny blue, teal and green crystals. "I will walk off, you will become a rich man, and you will never see me again"

Mr. Tekan looked greedily at the crystals. A poor man like him had never seen anything like them. "Then release me..", he said with a weird mixture of facial expressions.

They walked downstairs to his working room, and for hours he worked while Am'ar watched him silently in his deep concentration. But suddenly, Am'ar noticed a small girl on the stairs. She just stood there, staring at the Orc.
Mr. Tekan soon noticed her as well, "Alaina, what are you doing here?!". She ran to Mr. Tekan, "I couldn't sleep papa, who's that scary man?"

"I will tell you everything later. Now, go to your room and try to sleep. I need to concentrate", he said with a fatherly smile. Alaina did as her father had told him, and left the two adults alone.

Hours later, as the sun was about to rise, Mr. Tekan looked at Am'ar with tired and relieved eyes.

"I present to you - the GC3. It's a gun, shooting almost unstoppable beams. Insert these batteries, they will probably last longer than you need them to. However, they will have to recharge for a time, whenever used."

Am'ar took the green gun, dropped the leather pouch and left the inventor. He closed the door to the small Tekan-family's house, his orange draconian friend landed just beside him.

"We'll have to leave Getax soon, Am'ar. You don't wanna be around when the natives wake up", the draconian said.
Am'ar nodded, and looked at his gun.
"Take us to some world where I can test this thing.."

Am'ar's companion took up some crystals, identical to those they had just given to Mr. Tekan. The teal crystals formed a circle in the air, and soon after emitted a teal smoke. The two stepped through the smoke, and were no longer on Getax.

----

Am'ar woke up in the tent, still alone. How long did the black out last? Apparently not long, since nobody had found him. A little piece of the puzzle had been revealed. He now knew that about ten years ago, he had been on the planet Getax, and bought his gun, GC3, from Alaina's father.

But with secrets revealed, new questions rose in his head. Who was the orange draconian friend, and why did he need the weapon in the first place?

Drawing: Am'ar and Alaina in Mr. Tekan's working room

 

[sanofa]

[171]

Vayne

I've been hiding behind trees, while the other me had been slashing everywhere, seems he couldn't find me. How long had I been running away, trying to avoid his attacks. "Come out, come out, where ever you are, you little sly rat!" He yelled and swung his scythe at my direction, I stared at the black wave coming towards me, but evaded it just in time. The tree behind me disintegrated to nothing. "How long can you keep running, little rat? I hope your ready, cause your grave is gonna be here!" With that, he swung his deadly scythe again and again, cause a huge explosion around the area. I jumped, and managed to evade it again, but my boots barely touched it, and it disintegrated completely, making my feet burn tremendously. "Not so cocky now are ya!? Now DIE!!!!" He yelled, charging at me, I deflected his attack with my broadsword, which seemed to have been lighter than I thought. The cling and clangs of our weapons crossing had been constantly released, and I have already lost a lot of my stamina. He have also suffered attacks from me, and now we are both heavily injured, with wounds that bled here and there, although he seems to be the one bleeding much, since he have never cared about his injuries. How can I defeat him... He just wont back down! I need something to efficiently defeat him... But what, and how do I defeat him at all. I manage to land attacks on him, but he didn't show signs of hurting... He started charging at me, while dragging his scythe. His left leg and right hand seem to not be in a well shape, because he never tried to use full strength when using his right hand and left leg. I guess those two place must be his weak point...

 

[Kanadaj]

[172]

As the seal starts to feed up on Seila's power, Dracor says the last word of the spell he started. And suddenly, even time freezes around them. The air is filled with death and even Selia feels she will be consumed by the darkness. Her hands are trembling of terror - something deep within her tells her to run, until she can keep running. But she stays, and keeps charging the ancient seal.

And then, a moment later, time flows again, and Regex sits up. His eyes are glowing with an unearthy light, which then slowly fades. He is not alive, but not trully dead anymore. But what Selia can feel of him makes her wonder if this is a dream, or a nightmare.

The seal's power is returning - and six ancient pillars raise at seemingly random spots in Avataria. They were destroyed at the same time Dracor's world was. But now they are here, and the runes all over and around them glow up and start to drain the magical power from the strong magical sources they were created near. Two shackles of light appear around Dracor's wrists, and chains connect them to the ground, or to something deep under it - to the pillars, whose real form, made of magic, is connected to each other. A strange existence is formed in front of Dracor - it's body is made of energies, through which Selia can feel the ancient pillars that just appeared. It's form slowly turns into a humanoid being of light. Glowing wings surround it's body, which end in Dracor's shackles. It raises it's faceless head, and eyes of voidness look at them.

Being of light: We knew this would happen sometime. You thought you survived by some kind of miracle, but what saved you was the magic that sealed your powers. The seal was reformed by her, *the being points his finger at Selia* and now we can help you control your power, but we can not surpress it anymore as the seal is already too weak to do that. You are already exhausted because of using your remaining power to control your demonic half. You shall sleep now and regain your power. We will meet soon enough again, and then we will tell you some of your lost past.

Dracor slowly loses consciousness, and the faints, falling forward. In the last minute, Regex catches him, with movements fast enough to amaze Selia.

Regex: Kskhrr shkhgr...

The sound shocks Regex. He is not breathing anymore, and as that he seems unable to talk. After some moments, he realizes that he could help this problem, had he the necessary equipment...

 

[Arcisal]

[173]

Rex

The march had been slow.

All around Rex, weary soldiers with tired hollow eyes peered around them, seemingly oblivious of the path of destruction that they followed to their destination. All formation and strict adequate had been blatantly disregarded now, soldiers loosening their breastplates and dragging their blades. The sun, scorching overhead, was to blame. The heat made it nearly unbearable for the troops to march in line whilst in their armor. Even mounted officers and commanders had finally given up trying to keep their men in strict regime. They themselves had succumbed to the heat.

At the back of the lines, Rex trudged on as well. His abrupt switch in allegiances meant that he had some time to escape a considerable distance, before the King realizes that one of his own had turned against him. He was short on time, but enough for what he came for.

The entire army marched along as path of destruction, left by the previous Army of Evil's march on the way to the Arena. They moved as a narrow body, six or seven men along one "line", although it was impossible to tell. Cavalry flanked the sides, but not enough to reach all the way behind, leaving those soldiers on the back facing the full force of the sun.

Rex knew his brother walked at the fore of the march, alongside his ever-so-inspiring leader, Talban. He still did not understand what his brother saw in the old man. They were draconian! The prime of all races and the greatest of all species! And yet, he and his brother, one of the last few living draconians, bow down to petty pink-skinned humans, complying to orders and foolish tactical maneuvers. They should be the tacticians! They should be the ones leading scores of battle-hardened troops to a glorious fight!

He couldn't see where exactly Kargath was, but he knew he was probably side by side with his "leader". Breaking off from the line, Rex quickly stood atop a small mound, only a small distance away from the march. From the elevated point, he could see the whole army, like a long trail of ants, only slightly thicker. They were moving along a curve right now, trying to get round a particularly large hill. Looking up, Rex could see why. The hill, covered in the same dusty brown as the trail they tread on, was massive. No greenery dotted it's side, nor any living creature tread on it. It was steep most of the way, no visible path to be seen.

If he were to make it to front before they arrived at the arena, he had to take this "shortcut" perilous as it is. Readying himself for an even more disheartening trek to the forefront, Rex began to climb up the steep slope of the hill they wanted to avoid.

Dillich

The sun never seemed to descend. It hung over their heads, mocking them and making them delirious, unaware of time. It was near unbearable. The armor itself was already heavy enough. But being at the back of the line made it all the more worst. He was at the very back, the last man of the army. A few paces in front of him, his fellow comrade in arms stumbled over a small mound and cursed under his shallow breath.

His lips cracked when he spoke. "Hey." he hoarsely spoke at the soldier in front of him. When he continued his lazy trudge, he called out again. "Hey!"

The soldier swung his head around, revealing deep light grey eyes unnatural in comparison with his brown hair, messy and dry. "The hell you want."

"Water." Dillich replied weakly.

"Even if I had..." the grey-eyed soldier spoke in between deep hoarse breaths. "any bloody water...none of it...goes to you."

They would never survive this march. His waterskin had already been emptied long ago and it was doubtful they would be as lucky as to come across another oasis. All around him, he saw men with the same slow lazy step, each move more reluctant than the previous one. The felt sorry for those pitiful lots, even the captains, mounted on their horses. But then he felt sorry for himself too.

He noticed something was missing. The draconian. Most of his peers jeered at him, callin him a lizard-man or scale fiend. But he was none of those. Only Dillich knew what he was, a draconian. And he wasn't there. Probably deserted the army. But the draconian...his name? Rex, or something along those lines, hadn't taken a sip of water and still marched in the line that had already been deserted.

Once again, he called out to the same soldier. "Where's the Anaby?"

He swung his head lazily around again and muttered something under his breath that he couldn't quite catch. Dillich looked around and finally spotted him, just a few metres in front of the same soldier himself. He increased his pace to catch up with him and when he did, he laid a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Come to the back." His friend simply complied, happy to let those behind him walk past him as well. But when Teig tried to step past them, Dillich stopped him as well. "Let them pass."

"What is this?" asked Dillich's new conversational partner. His rigid features looked tired, like everyone else's. Strangely enough, his helm was still on, but his vizier was open. He carried no shield like normal soldiers, but wielded a massive broadsword only he could carry.

The grey-eyed looked at Dillich for a moment, and then voiced out as well. "Yeah. What is this?"

"We're deserting this hell march." responded Dillich. "I don't think Talban is going to stop anytime soon, with the sun still so high. Maybe the heat has got to his mind now."

The two, for a moment, stared at him blankly. Minutes passed and the sight of the army grew smaller and smaller, but still within sight. "Desertion?" It was the first soldier Dillich spoke to who voiced out. "If the army finds out--"

"Execution" finished Malk. "The Anaby was never merciful to deserters.

"Asorath isn't here. Some say he might've gone west, to elsewhere where the evil army hadn't tainted it yet. But if we stay here, it's a slow execution anyways."

"We might stop." said Teig. "Or stumble across another oasis."

"No." It was the one with the broadsword this time. "Dillich is right. I marched through this same path when I was still marching under Asorath's banner. No oasis caught my eye then."

A short silence proceeded. Then Dillich finally spoke out again. "We can make our way to this hill." He pointed behind him towards a steep slope that peaked high above them. "They won't expect any of the troops to go that way. We may even find shelter, possibly even a tiny trickle."

"Perhaps." The Anaby said, half-pondering, half-agreeing. "It seems like we have no choice." He hefted his broadsword onto his backstrap and turned to Teig. "Well?"

The grey-eyed soldier looked nervously onto the dusty ground. "I guess I have to as well." Finally looking back up at his two comrades.

"So it's settled then." Dillich said and turned and began a long trek upwards.

 

[Ironside]

[174]

Selia first looks at Regex and then Dracor, actually wondering what to do next, one can't talk and the other fell asleep in front of them.

She decides to attempt to communicate to Regex,

Selia: Regex, what's going on?
Regex: Kgrfig hakto
Selia: This is strange...

She begins to connect the points of the puzzle, seing the dark power within Dracor as he revived Regex makes her realise that Regex may be connected to Dracor himself.

She moves to Dracor and tries to wake him up, but she can see that it's not time yet.
Having not much other to do, she decides to check Regexes spirit for status.

It looks calm and peaceful at first, but then the spirit starts to shade in darkness. Selia stops for a moment to consider, but then sees she must stop him once again. She also sees that Regex was somehow granted additional power, and finally she realises that her powers are at minimum levels, meaning the battle could get intense even for her.

Selia conjures her sword of Light, which triggers a reaction in Regex and he jumps back with immense speed.

Selia (thinks): My theory was right, he is controlled by an unstable current of dark energy.
Selia: I'll have to kill you again Regex, this time for your own good.
Regex: Gigtrzuf!

 

[Kanadaj]

Chapter XXXVI
[175]

Selia, Regex & Dracor

Selia jumps after Regex with her sword ready to thrust. When close enough, she thrusts, but regex jumps sideways.

Selia(thinks): Damn, he is incredibly fast, even with Dracor between his hands.

She stops for a moment, to gather some energy - in her current form, casting area spells is already too hard to do it instantly, but to counter Regex's speed, she can't rely on incantations or runes to empower the spells. After a second break in defensive stance, she gathers enough energy for a greater attack. All the while, Regex did nothing but watch her from afar.

Selia: Burst of light!

A small ray of light marks the spot in which a moment later light erupts from the heavens, burning everything away. Regex could barely dash out of it in time, leaving one of his legs burned to ashes. But then, it slowly regenerates, and seeing that, Selia jumps to attack directly.

Selia: I can't let you recover!
Regex: Khokn kzusis!

She thrusts again at the immobile Regex. But he dodges, with his left hand releasing Dracor and knocking Selia's hand away - his new strength is enough to send Selia flying some meters away.

Selia(thinks): Why does he not attack? He could've hit me from that position, and that could have been fatal for me. Why?

Regex's leg is restored while she stands up. Selia has to go all out if she wants to destroy him, but for some reason, Regex seems to do nothing but dodge so far...

Clarox, the archdemon of temptation

As a master of temptation, he knows exactly how much he should wait until his time comes. He heard the call of evil to join the army, but he does what he wants, and now he thinks he should do his move.

He can sense the army moving towards Hillcrose Top from his hideout - that's the best target right now. Exhausted humans with extreme thirst... So easy to manipulate. He selects one - a strong one, already on the verge of madness. And he starts whispering to him in unheard whispers, with illusions and promises appearing in the person's mind that he can not understood, but will affect his mind.

Clarox: You will get everything that you want... Kill them all, and you can be free... You can go home, be with your wife instead of walking in this dessert until you die... Slay them, and you shall be granted power beyond imagination...

It doesn't take long for him to be tempted. He draws his sword, and cuts the throat of the first person near himself. Then he kills another, and another - and with every death, he loses more of himself, becoming more and more powerful as the magic of the demon goes through his body.

Asorath and notices the danger too late - already a handful of his men are dead, when Aaron gets to the frenzied soldier and freezes him to stop the massacre. Then, Clarox stops the flow of his power, and his victim stops breathing.

 

[Arcisal]

[176]

Talban

All around them, the waste stretched out it's arms of desert taint miles around them. The land itself was a bright yellow tint of hot sand and barren infertile earth. Not a tree was in sight, neither any form of shade except for a handful of grotesquely shaped boulders, like disfigured loaves baking in the oven. The occasional bush would appear here and there, serving only to give color to the land from the infinite streaks of brown that they were already sick of. Brown had become their black.

The sun glazed overhead, not too far above to be covered by scarce clouds and not too low to burn them all quickly enough. It mocked them, hanging there unmoving and unchanging. What water that had been brought here had long finished, their supply quickly drying up with the heat of the dunes multiplied tenfold by their armor. The only person who seemed unaffected by the heat was Kargath, the draconian the same as he were when Talban first met him.

If they didn't find the Arena fast, the heat might kill them off faster than the evil army. All of them were starting to feel the effects of the heat. Fatigue had set in deeply into their bones, the soldiers disregarding any formation whatsoever. More than once did a soldier collapse suddenly, no doubt from the near-unbearable desert heat.

How had they end up here? Talban wasn't particularly sure. But a string of unfortunate events that seemed only trifling at first forced them to take an unexpected detour. Apparently, somewhere along the way, they simply must've veered off.

"The Arachi Desert." A deep voice that seemed to always growl with every syllable sounded. The draconian had a hard time speaking the human's language, his snout unfit for such words.

Talban turned his weary head towards Kargath. "Escape. My men, we'll sooner be picked off one by one by the heat faster than any evil army can if we do not escape this heat soon." Every word was heavier and heavier.

"Escape?" The draconian sounded perfectly fine, any signs of fatigue which may have set in invisible from his voice. "Unlikely. At least with the men like this. Shelter is what we need now."

Talban turned back his gaze to the massive boulders in the distance. He lifted a weary finger at that direction. "There?"

His draconian friend had already spotted the rocks already. "I was thinking of going there. But my instincts tell me it is to be avoided."

Talban gave him a disbelieving look. Instincts? If it was shelter he wanted to find, he'd take the first and possibly only, opportunity he had. "We can't risk it. Only a day's supplies left to spare."

"If we never make it to the Arena, we may not have to save up the war rations at all. We might as well use them now. I doubt any of these men are in good shape to be fighting after these turn of events." the draconian replied.

Deep down, Talban knew he was right. He had to admit it. But he was still adamant that they would face their battle. He would not be brought down by the climate, but he would instead seek a glorious death.

"We march to the rocks. And we save the war rations." said Talban weakly. Lifting his hand to resume the grueling march, Talban, once again set off to escape. Escape from an ever-looming enemy.

Lilith

The night was cold. Colder than her old home. Strange, the elements never seemed to have any effect on her, usually at least.

Dusty corridors spiraled on, twisting and turning as a labyrinth should. Little or no illumination filled this place, amplifying the effect of the cold. But she had no problem seeing. She continued her wandering, each step a thundering roar that resounded through multiple directions.

All along the corridors, a wall smooth lay untouched, evidenced by the smooth coat of dust that showed no markings. The wall itself was bare. No signs of decay could be visibly seen surprisingly. But Lilith knew better. This place was of the dying. She could feel it's torture.

While grand in size, this labyrinth held no decorative markings of the sorts. Only the occasional rune could be seen, scrawled messily upon the floor, large and wide for everyone to see. The rune itself seemed to emanate no power. Of course, it was simply a scribble, not an actual rune. Despite her age, she could not recognize them which seemed to trouble her. This was no ordinary place.

Lilith felt like she had wandering forever, neath these catacombs. She did not know why she were here. Only under the orders of her treacherous father. But she obeyed and now she was left to aimlessly trope through these undying halls.

Turning along another curve, Liltih spotted something that managed to catch her attention. A simple scribble, like the various ones she had seen scrawled on the floor. But this had been carelessly written on the untouched walls. She though it was part of the walls itself, but when she saw no layer of dust coated it, she knew she was wrong. On a closer inspection, it seemed that the rune was not so much a rune, but a set of writings. She could not decipher what it was at first sight but it looked vaguely familiar, like something she had seen in a distant past.

Checking down the corridor to see if anyone were there, a foolish measure of security considering she had already been down there for days without even as to find an insect, Lilith went on her knees in front of the scrawled writings and began to decode them. It was an incredible mess, writings and words overlapping one another making some of the symbols to be near unreadable. She squinted her eyes. Even though they were accustomed to darkness, it were better if there were any form of illumination to better translate this mysterious text.

The only sound that now filled the corridor was the soft muttering of Lilith. So engrossed was she that she did not notice a figure maybe, perhaps a being, or an enigma if it were to boil down to that, pass by here. It were only for an instant, barely even to be called a moment. But like a shadow, it passed by unnoticed and unheard.

Lilith had sat there, trying to decipher what it were. More than once she simply tried to walk away in frustration, but the thought always itched the back of her mind, eventually forcing her to return and continue her attempts in unlocking what it said. She sat for hours on end, her body unmoving, only her hands and eyes darting about. The cold was all but forgotten. The writings drowning them out.

Perhaps time was forgotten, but finally, with a satisfied sigh, she finished decoding it. She hadn't read the text yet but she was just a simple step away from fully deciphering the scribbled text. With a content heart, she replaced the last figure with the keyword to finally unlock this message that had been gnawing at her.

First a gasp. Then she fell back. And then she refused to move, staring blankly at her achievement dumbfounded. She turned away, but she must confirm what she had seen.

Memories came flooding back. She suddenly found what all the runes were, she knew where she was. The once vague text became crystal clear. She even knew whose handwriting it belonged to.

Scribbled messily upon the wall, a set of large alphabets that she was well familiar with. Scrawled upon the wall, disturbing the even distribution were the words, in dark crimson, LILITH.

 

[Ironside]

[177]

Selia begins to fight Regex on melee range to save energy, while observing that Regex doesn't do anything but block and dodge.

Selia: What are you trying to accomplish?
Regex: Tghh dkkka!

Selia stops but Regex slowly goes towards her, trying to give her a sign, but Selia takes it as an offense and therefore channels her next spell. She rises her right hand into the sky.
After channeling for 3 seconds, a massive group of clouds join into a center above Regex.

Regex recognizes that attack and therefore stops his movement and instead jumps into the forest to prevent getting hit.

Selia: Lightning Bolt!

The lightning hits Selia into her right hand.
Regex is surprised, but he realises that is not all there is to this atack.

Selia: Nova Storm!

Selia becomes the epicenter of a wide storm which causes destruction all around her.
Regex can dodge almost none of the bolts of lightning due to the incredible speed it has.

Selia: I'm not done!

She begins to move slowly and the whole storm moves with her as she moves.
Regex takes several more hits, when suddenly he reaches for something in his pocket. It's a moderate steel conductor, which begins to redirect all the bolts into itself, letting them into the ground. Even in the ground Regex can feel the energy of it, but he's glad he managed to stop the attack.

Selia used too much energy and faints once again.
Regex goes and sits on a rock next to her and says,

Rege: Jghatz Gkkar.

 

[Arcisal]

[178]

Rave

The monstrosity lumbered onwards, through sand that may as well be burning hot coals and the air thick with dust and debris.

In his arm, or arm, Rave carried something bundled up, precious like a gem. Encased in various colored fabrics, it was only with a discerning eye that one could tell there would even be something underneath the patchwork package. So small was it that Rave did not leave it to fate or chance, whichever of the cruel masters, for him to forget as he so easily does. Now brought near his chest as if cradling it like an infant.

On closer inspection, one could tell that there were simply only three colors. Blue, Black and Red. The later color was present in all sorts of various dark hues, smeared and scattered across both black and red. If one had been watching closely, one could tell that these this bundle was not so much cloaked in cloths or multi-colored fabrics. Rather, the torn banners, bloodied and defiled with crimson streaks, of both the evil army and the flags of the Rebels served as coverings for what lay in Rave's arm.

The beast continued to lumber on. The desert wind whipped around him, the sand elevated by it. Had it not been for what lay in his arm, he would have never been here. On the other hand, he would've never been around either.

Just on the horizon, a set of large boulders lay dormant, baking in the wicked heat of the sun. The beast lowered his head, close to the precious package he carried now. He listened closely, and though he could give no answer, he perfectly understood what had been told of him.

Rave set off, towards the large rocks, a bundle, made of the rags of the fallen banners, in his hand.

Kargath

An uneasy feeling gnawed the back of his mind. They should not be here.

He could feel his stomach twisting, not from hunger but from the grim sense he had of their destination. He could not place why or what, but the feeling was too strong to simply dismiss like a servant. But nevertheless, he would follow Talban. He would follow him right into the Dark King's chambers if he had too, whether or not his stomach twisted and turned tenfold that it had now and more.

They had already gone this far. It was impossible for them to fall so quickly, without even a fight. The thought itself seemed blasphemous. The leader of the Rebels and a third of their forces slain by the desert heat. Perhaps it were the best choice for them.

The march had been grueling. Four more men had collapsed. Water supplied were bitterly low. Though the draconian himself needed none of it. It were a special trait of his. Kargath's strange ability to go on days without any sustenance whatsoever. His entire family shared the trait. They had never known why it was so but it had always helped them in combat.

The boulder's shape began to steadily increase. They were nearing their destination. From a distance, the place seemed simply be oversized rocks, but upon nearing the actual place, Kargath could tell it was massive, far beyond their expectations. Imagine what it would be face to face. The thought dulled his mind, and he tried to not think about it anymore, rather at the monotonous march, foot after foot.

As they continued to march, so did the boulders grow. Talban, next to Kargath let out a raspy whisper, filled with wonder. "Massive." A single word, but fitting.

The sand beneath their feet had already become normal. Kargath himself was protected by the heat of the desert floor with his scales. Another natural advantage he possessed.

Step after step, they continued on. The desert wind started to rouse, tiny specks of sand and dust flung into their faces. Barely a handful of steps into their march, the wind violently whipped across their faces, forcing the draconian to shield himself lest he trip and be consumed by the dunes.

"Talban!" he let out a yell. He could barely see who was next to him, the figure rapidly becoming a vague blur in the storm. "To cover, quickly!" The last word was yelled particularly loud.

He received no response from his friend, but Kargath still pushed onwards. Despite the sand and heat, he trudged through the storm, each step tiring him out more than it should have. On and on he went, at times where he simply felt like giving up allowing him to be taken by the wind, but he trudged on.

The wind was so violent that Kargath could not bring himself to lift his head up, the sand around him now scratching his scaly scalp. He blindingly moved forward, each step hoping he would find any sort of shelter. One step, another and another--clink!. Kargath felt his foot hit something hard in the sand. He was surprised. Shielding his face as he bent down, lowering himself to inspect what he had hit, he managed to, after blindingly fumbling through the sand, find it and pick it up.

The sand covered it but he would tell it was made of metal. Rust had set in, making it old. He could feel, with his thumb, what was once beautiful inlaid designs. Using his hands to feel it, he could tell it were a helm. A ceremonial helmet? In the desert?

Dropping the helm, he took a peek at what lay before him. At first, the sand entered his eyes, as expected, but after a while, Kargath managed to see just only a tiny bit.

All around him, pieces of armor and weapons lay untouched around him, each of them coated in the same rust as the helm he had picked up. Wheels of chariots and spears poked out of the sand dunes. Rounded shields and breastplates lay, half-covered by the sand.

A terrible scream pierced the sound of the sand around his ears. A high pitched scream that belonged to no man or woman. Kargath turned around and unsheathed his battleaxe. They had led themselves to their death.

The sand whipped around him, and he could not see. But after just a flash, he could hear another of the piercing screams once again, followed by a deeper roar as if made from the mouth of an insect.

For once in a long time, Kargath felt fear.

 

[sanofa]

[179]

Vayne's decision (Really long

How long has it been since we started fighting? It all happened so fast... I was preparing for my last phase for the exam... But somehow I ended back up here, fighting with the darker side of me, or that is what he said... I was standing alone in the dark void, looking back at the light which flickered on like a light bulb. I looked at my dearest friends, Aina and Leo... They seem to be happy, but then, they frowned. They ran back, further away from me, I tried to chase them, but it doesn't seems that I'm catching up with them at all... I stopped eventually, trying to scream Why are you running!?. " Your dear friends abandoned you... They don't worth shit that what you had to go through." Someone said. His voice was dark and evil, like a demon's.I tried to avoid what he had said... But he's right... I thought as flashbacks came to my mind. I was always training hard, with my foster father... He had praised me for my talents in becoming the best Gun Dueler that is, but the others did not seem to agree. They were always looking at me with angry or jealous eyes, and some even started to attack me, even though I had always win in the end. "But they were the source of your happy memories..." Another one said, and this time the voice was angelic, although in my voice... Whenever I'm in a sad mood, or not feeling well, Aina and Leo was always there for me. They were the only ones who looked at me with happy eyes, without a doubt in me at all... We had to train together, ate together, and even tried to skip schools together... "But when that Reaper became one with you, you were considered as the one who brings unluckiness..." The dark evil voice again said, but this time revealing itself. His dark armor as similar as my Reaper mode, his hair was pitch-black, and his eyes were colored with the color of void. "Who the hell are you!?" I raised my voice, swingin my arm at him. "I'm you, you idiot!" He answered, and put his palms on his face. "Ever since the damn Reaper came inside of you, you never had any friends at all!" He said, "Its not true..." The angelic voice answered, and appeared himself. His white armor, as white as the pure snow flake, shone brightly in the dark void space. Wing grew on his backs, and it flapped as he landed. "Grrrh, why do you always mess with my work!? You damn sissy!" He screamed his anger at the white me. "You better shut you mouth, devil, I'm him too." I looked at them both, standing in between them. Why are there two me's? I thought, and they look at me. The white one answered first, "Well, you see. We're the entities of your conscious, with me as your good, kind and honest side, and him as your evil, unforgiving side.” He answered, with the black one still angry at him. “What…do you mean?” I asked. Why AM I here? Weren’t I was fighting with the evil side of me? How did I end up here? Then the black one responded, “You were, until the other guy knocked into you, merging your souls. Now you’re on the verge of death. How nice…” He said, and crossed his arms.

Even though I had no idea what was going on, I knew that now I have to get out of that place. “Not so fast, young man.” The white me blocked my way. “But I need to go back where I came from!” I answered. “You will not pass until you have defeated and accepted the dark side of you.” He then started to float back, along with the black me. “Even though you said you had no grudges against Zarks, somewhere inside of you still thinks that they are the bad ones, and ‘till now had still not forgiven them. The hatred had started to bottle up inside, and gradually it had a form. The black one who will destroy anything it sees, seeing them as Zarks.” Then they started to float back into the darkness, and then, in front of me, was the one who I had been fighting when I was conscious.. He had already ready his stance, and he charged at me almost instantaneously. I couldn’t block it, and fell to the ground, with my katana flew away. It was as if he couldn’t control his speed, he knocked into the pitch-black wall. He stay unconscious there, so I quickly grabbed Taiken-Geto, and ran to his place, pointing the sharp blade at him.

Memories floated through my mind, and I couldn’t help but to remember it, even though it is was painful. My memories had only stopped until where I was at the hospital, with Aina sleeping beside me. Her hands grabbing mine, I didn’t mind. I got up, and sat there, looking around the place. It was plain, a desk was stationed at the edge of the corner beside my bed, and a vase was on top. There was a door to the left of the entrance, and I assumed it was the bathroom. I tried to remember what happened that had made me went to the hospital, but it was very painful, though I showed no expression, trying to hold the pain inside. It seems that I had woke Aina up, and her innocent face, staring at mine. It was obvious that she had been crying, her brown eyes turned red, and streams of tears went down her face. Then I went back to where I was fighting the black me. He was sitting unconscious near a tree. I think I had finally remember what I originally supposed to be doing… At my world and at this world… It was to protect those dear to me… And then the words of the last phase’s examiner came to my mind, “You will have to face your inner self, and must learn to accept it as your own.” I look at my other self. He had woke up, but this time, his face instead looked relieved. “Guess I will need your powers to help whatever I need to do now, and always. The Reaper inside of me IS annoying, but it was it’s powers that allowed me to be able to protect the ones dear to me…” I said, and the other me placed his hands on my shoulder. “I will always be with you…” He mumbered, and disappeared, without a trace.

It was as if a heavy rock was removed, I felt even more easy compared with before. “I think I will pay the school another visit…” and with that, I flew back to the ancient portal. It was only minutes when I reached the entrance, and some man was standing in front, his arms crossed. “So it seems that you have learn to accept yourself, and become one with it… Interesting, by far you are the one who showed the most potential… Now…” He said, taking out what seems to be a badge. “ With this, you have passed the test, and is now a student of our school. I wish you the best of luck with your goal.” He said, and placed the badge on my right chest. It glowed, and the door opened itself. He nodded, as a sign of telling me to go inside. I nodded back, and walked inside the bright light. I was back at the same school ground, from when I had first stepped in. I walked as the students look at me, but I did not care, and walked towards the main school building. I opened the door, and the same long hall was still there. Now If I remember correctly, the elevator should be at the end of the hall. Best to be moving on. I walked to the elevator, normally and then when I reached it, I stepped inside. Still as grand as always huh? I mumbered, and pressed the button ‘Library’ on the pad. The door closed, and the elevator started moving. I stood there, looking at my hand, and mumbled again, “This time… I will get us home… So wait for me! Aina! Leo!” As the door opened, I could feel the cool breeze slowly blowing at me, and once the door opened fully, I stepped in. The library was filled with bookshelves full of books, containing wide variety of books. I slowly walked, until I found a book with the name of Avataria, the world of constant battles. I took it out, and brought it a nearby table. I opened the thick book, and started reading it. I flipped through the pages, as nothing seems to have caught my attention, until I saw the subtitle “World Travelling”. I quickly switch all of my focus into it.

Every once in a blue moon, world travelling occurs in the magical world, Avataria. It is said, that once someone travels into the world of Avataria, the traveller will lose their memory, and as time passes, fragments of memory will start to piece back together. Although there is also another theory saying that you can even travel to Avataria in your dreams, though you will have no memory of it happening, you will still have the same effect of travelling to Avataria. An old magician had once travelled from his world to Avataria, for whole forty years, and successfully returned to his world, with all of his memories coming back. He wrote the methods in an paper, and left it in this library, in case if anyone ends up the same way he does, and it will guide him back to his original world.

I looked at the book, surprised. I wonder what was the method… I thought, then flipped to another page.

In order to activate world travel, you need to fulfill these requirements before it can occur.

1 ) The weather must be in an bad situation, as bad as possible.
2 ) The highest mountain would be the gateway.
3 ) You must NOT have any metal or iron on you during the travelling, if not, it would fail.
4 ) Finally, you must wait for the situation in number 1 for a thousand years, as it only occur once in a thousand year.

The three requirement were quite easy, except for number four… When would the next “occurring situation” if its another thousand years. I took the book, and hid it with my magic. I exited the school ground, and then went back to Avataria to find out the highest mountain in this world. I started my Energy Boots, and float high enough to be able to spot any high places. The only high point area, was at the top balcony of the Evil Castle. And at the same time, the weather got really bad, it was really black, like the sky itself turned black. I noticed some small figures walking towards a hill, at the ourskirts of the castle. I turned, and saw the rebel camp, with another smaller camp camping at the west of it. “The west camp would be my nearest resting point… I will camp there, then start my journey to the Evil Castle… It wouln’t be easy, so I would wait for the best possible moment to bring my friends there…” I said, and flew to the west camp.

 

[Amargaard]

Chapter XXXVII

[180]
Commander Asorath sat on a hazel stallion, with several white dots shattered on it's long soft body. He rode alone few meters in the front of the following army, that the duke had given him command over. He, and every mounted rebel soldier behind him trotted slowly forward, so the infantry soldiers in the back could keep up. It was one of these short rare moments where the sun was free from the imprisonment of the thick black clouds, which had haunted most of this twisted land, since the Wall of Horror was built. The duke had bravely chosen the dangerous mission south-west through the desert, and given the easier task to Asorath, but though he did not suffer from the heat, he still hated the look of the endless fields of dry dirt with an awful smell of death constantly hovering over them. But he kept reminding himself that, they might one day be covered in a coat of grass and flowers, once again. 'I'm sure they will, and I will be here to walk on them', Asorath thought confidently to himself.

Many of the soldiers chatted happily with one another, but the commander remained silent, with his eyes fastened on the horizon. Finally, the hill with the black tower ruins on top appeared in the distance. Many of the rebels had talked about Hillcrose Top and the battles there, which all took place before Asorath and his men joined in. Now, he finally had the chance to see it for himself. He quickly spotted out the advantages of controlling the hill. It was indeed a strategic place, a natural rocky ditch surrounded most of it, and large pointy rocks served as walls, not to mention the many uses the high terrain could provide.

From the looks of it, it was still abandoned as they had hoped, but they could take no chances, they would charge in there, ready for a potential battle. The commander turned around, and signalized to the army to be silent and hold their current position. It took a while before the happy chatting vanished. He once again turned his attention to the hill. No one said a word, neither did Asorath when he made his stallion gallop rapidly towards Hillcrose Top, soon followed by the rebel army. His long brown hair waved wildly in the wind, and his silver armor reflected the light of the sun. He quickly noticed this himself, and was aware that it would alert any awaiting poacher, but there was nothing he could do about it.

They got closer and closer, and still no visible signs of an upcoming sneak attack from the forces of evil. He rode through the ditches, and suddenly several arrows made from the darkest metal and wood he had ever seen, flied through the air and one cut itself through the thin skin in the horse's side. His stallion screamed in pain, and started riding wildly out of order. More arrows rained down upon them, but he avoided most. An arrow hit through his silver armor in the back, luckily it only got a few inches into his body, and another hit his horse from behind. He pulled out the arrow in his back, and tried to regain control of the horse, but had to jump off the saddle in the end.

Only now, he had the chance to look around. Agents of evil had hidden behind the large pointy rocks, and there were more than he thought at first, but his army was still bigger and he was sure that this would end in victory. He unsheathed his long 2-hand blade. It was an yrots, a magical runeblade from the north. He had journeyed all the way to the Northlands himself long ago, just to receive this magnificent weapon. A runic message graced the blade, from shaft to the end, and if he remembered correctly, the message was a prayer to the gods of good. The evil poachers were already being overwhelmed by his soldiers, but one of the twisted creatures blew a horn, and soon after more foul minions of Zaarnoth stormed fearlessly out of the ruins and ran down the hill, with their weapons raised.

Asorath was the one closest to the ruins, but he courageously stood still, readying himself for the small beings to get close. The blade smoothly cut through their bodies and though he was alone, they were no match for him. The runes on the yrots-blade glowed faintly when coming in contact with the evil creatures, and for that reason they seemed to fear the blade. The few remaining, ran back towards the ruins, and Asorath followed up the hill, with a smile on his lips. He enjoyed this, to end their miserable lives, they deserved no better. Their short legs made it easy for him to keep up with them, and continue his killing spree. When they were at the top, only one remained, but it ran through the entrance to the fallen tower.

The commander followed without hesitation, but the creature was gone. The remaining fundamental walls enshrouded the circular room in shadows. Several corpses lied in the room, and what a stench! Asorath heard a noise, coming from a wooden hatch in the floor. "Got ya" he whispered to himself, and walked towards the hatch. He opened it, and a stair down to the unknown blackness appeared. He wasn't afraid of the darkness though, and walked down the stairs. A torch on the wall suddenly lit itself, and though surprised, Asorath grabbed it.

He soon reached the end of the stairs, and a wooden door, with a sign saying 'Razet's lab' in bad handwriting, appeared. He kicked it in, and there it was. The creature he had hunted, it's puny axe pointed towards the commander, and a panicky look on it's face. Everywhere in this dark room, were dusty bookshelves, tables filled with notes and different bottles with disgusting liquids. There were no windows, and the only source of light was the torch.

Asorath walked slowly towards the shaking creature, laughing silently to himself. His enemy could expect no mercy. Only a few meters between them now, the creature charged foolishly towards the human, and was killed brutally like the others. He dried the blood from his blade with some papers from an old table, but on his way back, the wooden door closed itself, and soon after a mysterious breeze made the torch go out, and the commander was left alone in pitch black darkness. Luckily, the runes on the yrots-blade glowed like never before, lighting up a few meters around him. Though, it was a sign that evil was nearby, and judging by the strength of the light, it was a lot of evil.

"Commander Asorath, I presume?" a high tone voice echoed throughout the room.
His fist tightened on the shaft of the blade, and he looked around. After realizing that it was hopeless to spot anyone in this darkness, he replied calmly "Yeah, that's me, and who are you?".
"Pleasure to meet you Asorath, people call me Darkness"
Darkness.. he had heard tales of him from the soldiers, but if he remembered correctly, all the tales ended in a loss for Darkness. 'Heh, successfully taking possession of Hillcrose Top and finishing the job, the others couldn't, It must be my lucky day', he thought to himself..
"Aaah, the famous Darkness, eh? Where are you hiding? Get your ass out here, so I can kick it!", Asorath smiled for himself and looked around once again. What he didn't know, was that Darkness was in fact all around him, and had been feeding on his hatred since he entered the basement.

"You don't have to be rude, but as you wish, commander", a figure formed from the shadows a few meters in front of him. Darkness was wearing a suave dark purple suit, covering his chest and arms, but his face was nothing but black void. A rapier, as black as anything else in the room, formed from his hand, in the same way Darkness appeared. The shadow being bowed gently, and pointed the rapier at Asorath.
"Come then, go ahead kick my ass commander".

Asorath replied "My pleasure!" and charged at Darkness. He easily pushed away the rapier with his much heavier sword, but his advantage was his weakness too. Darkness was quicker to pull his blade back up than Asorath was, and cut through the air, scratching the chest of Asorath's silver armor.

Darkness could easily finish the job, by cutting the human's throat, but he found it very entertaining, and wanted to play with his prey a little. Asorath was furious, and continued slashing wildly, which in the end apparently worked effectively, as Darkness lost the rapier when Asorath made a lucky hit.
"Ha", Asorath said short on breath and prepared the final strike.

But just as the magical yrots-blade was about to hit the living shadow, Darkness vanished into the shadows, and then appeared right behind Asorath. "Playtime's over". He kicked Asorath from behind with inhuman strength, and the confused commander flied several meters through the dark room, and ended up in a small prison cell, in the corner of the abandoned laboratory. Darkness vanished again, and before Asorath could get out, his enemy had reappeared just outside the bars and locked him in. He had dropped his blade too far to reach. Damn it!

"I'm not intending to kill you, but this will not be comfortable." Darkness warned him. Asorath could tell from his voice that he was completely serious now, and perhaps a little sad as well? But he didn't pay much attention to the evil being, instead he desperately kept making futile attempts of breaking the bars apart.

Darkness raised his hands, and Asorath soon felt something wrong in his body. He could not tell exactly what it was, but it soon made him puke blood. He lied there helpless, lost in his own misery, puking blood, but the real pain had not even begun yet. He could barely move, and everything circled around in his head. His was sweating, and his entire body felt itchy and awfully warm, and it only got worse. He managed to move his hand to scratch the other arm, but his arm's consistense felt horribly wrong, and in his deep curiosity and fear what was happening to him, he decided to remove his glove, to find out, but he was so weak, that it was hardly possible. In the end he got it off, and was shocked to see his hand darkening quickly, looking more and more like Darkness' skin. He screamed in agony while his skin turned into void and heavy tears slided down his cheeks, realizing that he would soon become a monster like Darkness. That made him look at the silent bastard, and then at his glowing blade, which lied useless on the floor several meters behind Darkness.

His skin was almost as black as Darkness', but unlike the latter, Asorath still had facial features, which slowly disappeared though. The pain was unbearable! He looked at the sword again, and without knowing how, he commanded the shadows of the room, to lift it up and stab Darkness in the back with it. The shocked shadowy being tried pull it out, but it was all the way through his chest and it was to no use. The runes glowed even stronger than before, now it was literally in the heart of Darkness. He screamed, and soon after exploded, in a mixture of light from the sword and darkness from his body. Darkness' shadows would no longer cause any more trouble for any good man on Avataria.

With Darkness no longer able to process the spell, Asorath's pain was almost gone, though he still had that wrong feeling in his body. Even with Darkness gone, Asorath's blade continued glowing... and the light from it was terrible!
Asorath knew that he was the source of evil, that made the runes glow. He felt at home in the shadows now, and the shadows obeyed his command. The darkness around him eased the pain, and he was soon able to stand up.
He looked at his blade with disgust, and left the prison. He could sneak through the bars now, like a shadow. He had no trouble seeing in darkness anymore.

Asorath was about to go back up to his army, which probably had built up a camp already, but then remembered his new appearance. He looked down at his hands, almost as black as Darkness'. He realized that even though he had killed the old Darkness, he had created a new, and it was no other than himself.

 

[-Peper-]

[181]

The King

The throne room was quiet, The King sat in there impatiently waiting for a report. Never this much furious, he was. Then suddenly a winged demon scout knocked the wall, asking permission to enter the room. The King did nothing but a small nod. The scout looked panic, but also smiling aswell "My King, I got a report for you."
Without being asked, he raised three fingers to the head of the scout, still emotionless. Then he do what he always did; accessing the mind. The scout was in the woods, looking to the left. Ah, it's the Tower. The scout leaps from tree to another tree quietly, then stopped after a while. His eyes fixed at something, which then he zoomed at. A man, which had his skin discolored almost black. Never seen that man in the Kingdom or even among rebels. His eyes were looking pretty dead, same as his whitered blowing hair. Nothing reflected in the man's eyes but a desire.
Then the flashback ends, back at the Throne room. Finally the King spoke, raised one of his eyebrows in the process "I don't remember giving him such an order, but he did a good job." Then another beast scout broke in the room, covered in sweat and panic. "My King, our attacking force were surpressed..." The King stood, but still emotionless, as he were expecting this. The beast continues "Overlord Razet were 'killed', Commander Rave were nowhere to be seen, and also Darkness." The King looked outside. Those useless slaves, can't they even defeat an army of rebel? "Search for Rave, and also bring Razet's head here. I got a punishment for him"

 

[Arcisal]

[182]

Rex

The sun continued to taunt him, each moment within it's light an intense sear. Blisters that formed on his feet made the already arduous walk more of a torture rather than an annoyance it once was. The ground around him looked the same, a sea of monotonous brown. The wind whipped around him, causing dried flakes of his scales to prance away in the air, like dead leaves on an autumn fall.

All around Rex, the desert land spread out in all directions, reaching to the horizon and beyond. How the hell did they end up here? While his vision was far and true, he could not find the long trail of soldiers he had been expecting.

Rex felt the heat of the sun again, fiddling with his vision and his head. He seemed to think it strange that it would have felt twice as hot now even though he had been under the damn ball of fire for hours, but then he remembered the higher he climbed the mountain, the closer he brought himself to it. Shielding his face, he looked upwards, towards the peak of the mountain. It was not far away, perhaps half and hours walk. But he remembered how hot it was already. With a reluctant sigh, he continued his trek up the hill.

Talban

Most of it passed relatively quickly.

The sandstorm was unnatural from the start, but not accidental. It was meant to cloak them, hide their massive disfigured shapes from the men. And when they were least expecting it, they struck upon them like a hammer striking an anvil. Those...things, descended upon them, their numbers mind-numbingly large. The creatures themselves, ferocious, tenacious and deadly. Unlike anything he had seen, with his own eyes that is. He had heard of the fables, children's stories meant to scare them. But facing them as if they were the dark side of his imagination was an countably more horrifying he would expect.

The Qua'thar, they called them. Walkers of the desert dunes. Rulers and kings of the underground. Half-arachnids and half-humans. Equipped with pincers, jaws and massive striking tails that never missed and the ingenuity of the human mind, it was no wonder they were used to scare children. He was even lucky he had survived the initial attack.

Talban now wandered in the dunes. He was alone. Perhaps the only one left. He felt sick at himself for abandoning his own men, cowardice should be dealt with death. But each time the same roar of terror sounded, he pressed on, leaving behind his men to die, leaving them behind in the place that would become their graves.

His armor was smeared with blood. Marks of grey and purple, most likely ichor decorated the surface of the metal, with streaks of red, he did not know whether it was his or not, adorned them to give it a gruesome finish. He stumbled on, his legs faltering each step of the way. His sword was dragged along the sand, leaving a long line that marked his journey. His helm was gone, gray hair now whipping freely in the desert wind. At every step, he let out a small grunt. At his side, he held a wound that stung deeply with a gauntlet hand that once held a shield which he abandoned long ago. The wound was deep, he could feel it. But strangely very little blood was pouring out as it should've.

He stumbled on, the fearsome shrieks driving him, forcing him to escape. Flee, as far away from that terrible place.

As the sun finally began to descend, so did Talban's last reserves of energy. It was cooler now, the sky above him blanketed by clouds that seemed like white fields of cotton. He laid his head down. He now drew deep ragged breaths. His wound still felt fresh. Lazily, he laid his sword by his side and lay his head upon the sand. He was on the side of a tiny sand mound, so that Talban's head could still look at the sky and the ground before him.

So, this was how the Revolution would end. From the stubbornness of a foolish old man who still thought he could fight, giving birth to the fall of what he had dreamed for, worked for, along with his own life.

Talban thumbed the dark crystal that hung around his neck. It was small, unnoticeable, hanging round his neck by a simple string, but he had not known what it was even up until now. It was a gift, from his wife before Avataria was as it was. Before he had to take up arms, and before the evil took her away. Perhaps the only reason why he kept it was that it was the physical memory of his wife that he had left.

The sky grew dark, or was it him? Was this death? Slow, calm and patient. Biding his time, greeting his victim like an old friend. Talban thought he would soon find out.

Out in the distance, his rheumy eyes caught sight of something. A person. Death coming to take me. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, but he tried vainly to keep them open. The last image he managed to capture was the figure of a short man, clad in simple white robes, leaning over him, the place too dark to see his face.

And then it was dark.

 

[clockwork2]

OOC: Is it ok to post with Aaron now?
[183]
Some of the more experienced rebels twitched uncomfortably, Alaina ran to see to them. "Are you all right?" Alaina asked, then she twitched, for she felt something rise anew. Darkness endless. She looked upwards, the clouds seemed to darken. "Oh, I hope Aaron's ok." She said to herself.

 

[Kanadaj]

[184]

Selia, Dracor and Regex

It's already dawn when Selia wakes up. She was layed near a fire which is now burned down, only the ashes remain. They are not in the forest, but instead near a huge wall. Regex sits on the other end of the ashes, watching the smoke as it vanishes in the air, deep in his thoughts. When Selia moves, he looks at her, and speaks some partially understandable words with strange, overwordly sounds.

Regex: Hyu whkehre wheak khen hyu khtackd mie. Hyu mhisndrstud mie. Akhi ahhm sdhill Rhegex.

Selia: But how...?

She just noticed that the half-dragon is missing. She looks around, and uses her superior vision to look for him, but she still can't find a trace.

Selia: And where is Dracor?

Regex: Khamm!

Regex stands up and starts to walk away from the wall. In a short time, they find the edge of the forest they came from, and a bit later even a small lake. And at the middle of it, Dracor sits in his human form meditating, his legs crossed.

He floats right above the water, flames appearing randomly around him, with their core being both black and white at the same time - it's hard to even grasp what Selia sees, yet she can already tell the duality of them. The flames then fall down to extinquished by the water. The shackles slowly fade in, and now even small whirling pillars of flames appear around Dracor, with their core even more black and white than before. They are not extinquished by the water - the water slowly flows up on them, but then something happens - their core turn mostly black, and the water explodes. A magical barrier stops them from leaving the lake or reaching Dracor, but the wild reaction can still be seen. The chains of his shackles appear, and the pillars return to be enhanced by both powers.

Dracor looks up, and the shacles and chains disappear. As he notices Selia, he stands up and walk to her on the surface of water, while the water is boiled under his feet.

Selia: A nice show you showed me there, but it seems like you can't control the power that should have been yours since the day of your birth.

Dracor: It may have been mine, but it was sealed completely, so I have to learn how to use it. The demonic power is chaotic, and I have to keep the balance of my powers to control it's power. Well, for mass destruction it's not that bad uncontrolled, but without something to give it a form, like Regex himself is, it's not good. Like this.

With this, he points at a nearby tree, and a red lightning is released from his finger - but not into the tree, but into a spot in the water further away from them.

Dracor: I guess it's not a real problem for demons, but I just can't control it just like I want to...

Selia: Anyway, it's good to see you being still yourself. How much time was I knocked out? And what about Regex?

Dracor: Not much, a day. Regex is still himself, my magic made him an undead, not an evil thing. But his instincts told him that he should protect me, since right now his life-force come from me - if I die, he does as well, and if I don't release him before, his soul is damned forever. There is a way to get around this, but I don't think there would be any artifacts in this world capable of generating lots of life-force constantly...

Selia: I see. Well, that is something I can hardly accept, but I don't wan't to fight you - at least not now. I should return to my world and report Auxion's death.

She faces away from Dracor and start's casting a long spell, during which a solid wall of light forms before her.

Selia: I am Selia, Thy warrior of light, who shalt returneth to Thy world whence she hath came from to dost her duty. Openst me the Gate of Light and guideth my path!

On the wall a door forms, which slowly starts to open... after Selia steps through, it shatters into million pieces of light to vanish seconds later. But Selia was broken when she reached the other side...

Clarox

Clarox feels an immense power of light, which moves through space, time and worlds. He feels, as it reaches it's destination, and is terrified as he feels the tremendous power the other side responds with, and as the passage stars to form. No evil would remain, shall the source of power come to this world. But Clarox knows it can't, and already feels as the Secret of Avataria starts to react. The reaction still amazes him - the source on the other side can resist the power of the Secret for seconds, but then even it can't bear with it, and the passage shatters. No one can directly open a way to Avataria, and, even if, for some reason, someone reaches this world, his or her memories will be erased, with only the common knowledge remaining. Clarox is one of the few who know about this Secret - from this hidden micro-world of his, he can watch any point of Avataria, and already watched over the process multiple times, in fact so many that he can already sense it happening just like now he did.

But still, the source of the original message raises his attention - he takes a closer look at that point of Avataria, and is totally amazed by what he sees - a divine titan, a dragon-demon-half and a demonic undead. Yes, the undead - it is "powered" by the demonic power of the hybrid, making him extremely responsive towards demonic magic. But Clarox must wait - now, with only the three of them there, they can easily notice him, and even track him back. He will wait, and strike when they are separated, so the undead is already under his control when they meet again.

Now he takes his look on the new source of power on Avataria: Asorath, the corrupted human. He shall be a new ally for his king. But Clarax has no goal with him as his duty is to destroy the enemy from inside. He turns his gaze on the not so accepted leader of the rebel army, Am'ar, who should have no knowledge of how magic works, so he can't track down Clarox - an easy target, but one with a seemingly strong will. It will take a time, but it matters not. He starts whispering with his wordless words the sweet lies that no mortal should resist - about greatness, riches, freedom and peace. Am'ar can't hear the words - but his mind begins to long for these things, getting closer and closer to accept the speachless commands of Clarox, which promise to give all of these things in the back of his mind. But his consciousness still holds, holding into the sad truth of war. Or at least, for now, but Clarox will keep it up as long as he has to...

 

[clockwork2]

OOC: errr, which chapter is it?
[185]
I stagger greatly. "Hmm? What, don't tell my you got tired by WALKING!?" Said blue aggravated. "I feel something, it is human, or used to atleast. I have a baad feeling about this, blue, stay on your guard." I said, looking at him with a stern look. "In the meantime, lets get some supplies." I said, and dragged blue before he could object. "Hey! I might have wanted to! Ok, I wouldn't but still!" He yelled. I tried pulling red out, but when he did, he just looked like a reflection without a body. And he grinned, in a sinister manner. Suddenly, it lunged into me. "Gac.....Hahhhahh, foolish boy, you could NEVER kill me!" I said, or whoever was influencing me. I gripped my sword, and felt the being sway, an advantage? I gripped harder, hoping to get good grip. "R-run." I managed to say, before my other hand smacked the sword out of my grip. "I'll need a new weapon." I said.

I awoke to find myself the shadowy reflection, Razet was messing around with my body, trying to make it seem more like him. "C-curse you, I will no...t..aggh!" I said, this body lacked a host, and without a host I would soon join red. Who was infact probably dead, I wonder if that'll hamper me in life. Hrrmmmm, oh well. I won't have much of a life anyways, hmmm, I sense something. I turned to find a spider lurking about, ugghh I hate spiders, it's either be a spider or go and die. I leaped in, and found myself disgusted due to partly seeing the spiders insides. "FREEDOM!!!!" I shouted, with difficulty, and leaped over Razet. Taking courtesy to reward him with a bunch of webs, hrrmmm, handy.

 

[Amargaard]

OOC: Clock, please add the chapter.

[186]
The duke slowly opened his eyes, but he could not move and his eyelids were so heavy. He tried all he could to stay awake, to look around and find out what had happened to him. He was surprised when seeing the dark room he was in, no windows, no lanterns. He lied above the floor, he was sure, on a table perhaps? Only source of light was from the holes in an old wooden door. Where was he? How long time had passed since he fainted? These thoughts made it even more difficult to keep his eyes open and though he struggled all he could, they soon closed themselves and he fell asleep again. This had happened several times now.

The next time Talban woke up, there was light, not like at the endless fields of sand he had been at before he got here, but light as from a lantern. Two blurry figures with white clothes appeared above him. They stared down on him and talked to him, but the words flowed together and the duke did not understand a single thing they said. The light he had longed after before, was now only annoying and tiring. He fell asleep again.

 

[Ironside]

[187]

Dracor and Regex decide to continue their quest and so they begin to walk into the forest.

Regex: I do not know where to go next, but we can return to the place where I originally came from. I've met several different beings there.
Dracor thinks slightly and then agrees to join him.

As they walk Regex experiments to test his new powers from time to time, but as they seem to be leaving the forest Regex suddenly gets hit with a feeling to look at where Selia had originally appeared from.

Regex: How can this be? Why is the portal of light in the sky again?
Dracor looks above but sees nothing
Dracor: There's nothing there
Regex believes it must be an illusion and therefore decides to shoot up and see what happens.
Regex closes his left eye and fires a laser from his right one into the source of light.
Dracor stops and observes his actions.
Regex can see the light inversing itself and slowly turning into a purple color.
Suddenly the same laser Regex fired originates from the purple light and aims for his eye, where it originated from. Regex manages to quickly dodge the attack.

Dracor is able to see the laser appear out of nowhere
Dracor: I saw that, what do you see?
Regex: The light turned purple and then fired back at me.

Regex observes the light turning even darker, and after a while they can hear a voice:
??: I'll be comming for you soon Regex.
After this the light completely inverses itself and disappears. Regex is shocked but decides that they continue their way.

As they arrive at the hill where Regex was originally killed he says,
Regex: This is where I was first slain, I can see the rebel forces bellow us. We should go and help them. This is what I had done when I firstly arrived in this space.
They move down towards the rebels.

 

[Kanadaj]

[188]

As Regex and Dracor close on to the camp, something strange happens - some soldiers suddenly leave their posts without a word, and walk slowly towards the two, while, for a single moment, Dracor feels the presence of a powerful demon, but the feeling vanishes too fast, he can't tell, who or where did it come from. The only thing he can feel is the wind blowing his red hair.

Then, after the soldiers get close, they group up, and after they are within 3 meters they grab their swords and spears - there are 2 swordsmen, 1 elite guard who dual wields his shortswords and 3 spearmen. The swordsman on the front thrusts at Dracor, but Regex kicks the sword away, and stands in front of his "master" to protect him, while he tries to analyse the situation.

Regex: They are closing on us, can you do something about them?

Dracor: They are under the effect of some spell... If I can tell how it works, I can nullify it somehow, but I need time for it, so give me some!

Regex initiates a fight with the soldiers - initially he only uses his body's increased capabilities, but the soldiers are getting constantly stronger and faster, and after around three minutes, he already has to use his weapons to stall them, and they keep pushing him more and more. The dual-wielder causes the most problem - he has the mark of an officer around his wrists, and moves smoother and more dangerously than the others.

The officer jumps over Regex's head and kicks him in the back, while the others enclose a circle around the undead. He's in a bad situation, but now, that the most dangerous one is away, he can keep the others at bay. Regex knows that he couldnt reach the officer, and that his "master" can handle him alone, so he focuses on the fight at hand.

Clarox watches this entire thing from his hideout with a joy - he left the seed of temptation in the soldiers, so he didn't have to keep connected to them. He doesn't know the exact extents of his opponent's power, but he don't want to risk as he is not the one to risk anything.

As the officer approaces the hybrid, he slashes with his swords at him, only to be blocked by a huge claw of flame. As he looks up, he is terrified - a gigantic monster, which must have came out of some weird nightmare, stands above Dracor, with his claws being as big as the tower of a castle. It took a lot of time to prepare this spell, but Dracor's effort didn't go in vain - as the monster roars, all the soldiers look at it - and they are terrified, from what they see and what they hear. It's real, and at this moment, it's more real than anything they could imagine. Some of them instantly pee in his pants, others just start crying. The massive fear they feel eats away the seed of temptation, as the instinct of survival takes over greed and dreams.

Behind them is a massive wall of light, hiding the sight of the monster from the camp. Dracor, with his hair now white and his shackles being seen, doesn't want the people to see this monster he created to invoke fear. He realized, that whatever drives these people are originated from their personality, which he had to broke in order to break the spell. After some moments, the phantom image and the wall dissolve, leaving only the cry of the men in the field.

Dracor: Let's move in. We will call help to them later, right now nothing would help them, they have to think before they could accept the help of others.

They move on, into the camp, with Dracor's hair already turning into red again as the stress of the spell fades away.

 

[-Peper-]

Rex

The sky was dark purple, with sparkling stars decorating it. Dazzling winds still continued to blow, causing sandfog that even worsen his sight at night. He's now exhausted, no power to fly nor to invoke his father. How long he'd been walking? Maybe three or four hours already, or the sky is only darkening as he walk? And no trace of anything he'd known on the way, it's just the damn same desert. After a while, he sat down exhausted. But something's coming, he decided to look behind. Great, a sandstorm in the night, and it's coming his way. He looked forth and saw another mountain; is it the same mountain he saw earlier? Not sure, and no way. He wasn't walking in circle, he knew it. Without thinking any longer, he ran to the mountain to avoid the sandstorm. The tall, massive mountain is not too far. But the problem is can he reach it before the sandstorm does?

Asorath

Asorath had been evading his own troops for his own good. He leaps from shadow to shadow easily, with nowhere to go. He just can't go back like this, or simply he doesn't want. The darkness and shadows here were keeping him alive in some meaning. Then he stopped, and name of a place blinked on his thought. The Kingdom of Evil

 

[Amargaard]

OOC: Just to clear out confusion - In the main base are Aina (Vayne's fiance), Alaina Tekan (Aaron's romantic interest) and Am'ar Gaardos (Temporary leader of the Rebel base camp).
And Leo (Vayne's best friend), Regex (Undead Cyborg from the future) and Dracor Scaleflame (Dragon demon hybrid) have just returned to the camp too.

Chapter XXXIX / Chapter 39
[190]

Leo returns to the base

Leo and the many rebel soldiers that had joined him in his search through the forest for Vayne, had all returned. As they got closer to the once fearsome dark gate of the Wall of Horror, a glimpse of shame kicked in their conscience. They had all left the base, blinded by their racism towards the greenskin leader. They knew it was wrong, yet their hatred towards his kind made them decide to follow Leo. Especially Leo was ashamed. He was the one who convinced the others to abandon the base to search for his friend. He looked down at his feet, looked down at the steps he took, each one brought him closer to an apology to the greenskin.

Some rebel guards atop of the black wall looked down at the returning soldiers.
"Who are you?" one of them asked.
"We are rebels, and we have returned to join the fight" Leo answered, hoping that he could avoid telling the whole story. Luckily the lazy guard didn't ask for more information, and told some of the others to open the gates.
Leo and the soldiers walked in, without a word.

Most of the tents stood quietly waving in the light breeze, unused, some belonged to these soldiers.
"Just return to your tents, I'll explain it to the greenskin", Leo said.
Walking away from the soldiers, he headed for the leader's tent. What should he say? He took half of the army to find Vayne, yet returned without him..
While thinking of all this, he didn't even notice Aina running towards him, and was shocked when she jumped into his arms, hugging him. He was surprised and happy to see her again.

"Where have you been?!" she asked.
"Looking for Vayne" Leo replied shortly, "But he is on his own".
"So, you didn't find him?" she said with a worried look in her brown eyes.
Leo looked down on his feet again, shaking his head.

Am'ar the rebel commander

Am'ar stood with crossed arms, and overlooked the remaining soldiers. He had told them to train and prepare their bodies for the upcoming final siege, when suddenly a familiar face showed up - Regex. He was surprised to see the strange human, or whatever he was, again after his mysterious disappearance.

"Regex! Long time no see. Where have you been?" he said happily.
"Long story, but meet Dracor - a new recruit in the siege against evil"
Am'ar looked at the newcomer. He was dressed up in red clothes and wore a long dark staff with a glowing orb on the top.
"Welcome to the army Dracor, I'm Commander Am'ar. You're a magician I guess?" he said.
"Yeah, you can call me that" Dracor replied, not wanting to reveal all of his secrets.
"Interesting, we could really use more guys like you. I sadly don't have the time to show you around the base, but feel free to look around yourself."

Dracor and Regex left, and Am'ar returned his attention to the training soldiers. Alaina was among them too, the only girl in the crowd.
He kept an eye on her, thinking of the lost memory he got back a few days ago. She was the only link to his past on this planet, but he didn't want to ask her yet.

He picked up a metal dumbbell and started train as well, but once again he was disturbed. This time by one of the soldiers who had ran off earlier. He had seen his face before, but couldn't quite remember the name. It was Leo.
Apparently Leo expected Am'ar to speak, but he didn't and he had to start the conversation himself.
"Commander, can I talk to you for a moment, without anyone hearing us?", Leo asked, hiding his emotions. The sunglasses made it hard to tell what Am'ar was thinking.
After a short break, Am'ar handed his dumbbell to Leo.
"Train first, and meet me in Talban's tent, when we're done - that's in about half an hour", Am'ar said.

Leo was relieved, that the greenskin hadn't asked yet. He could use a break before telling him...

 

[clockwork2]

[191]
I was fading now, the spider had seemed to learn how to fight me off. So is this how it ends? Fading away, after fighting evil this long, gaining so many friends. Only to die a slithering shadow, I felt like crying, I then remembered shadows couldn't cry. So I moaned, moaned till my soul faded into something else, to hell or heaven. It mattered not, I would miss my friends.

"You can't die yet!" A familiar voice said, thrusting a body at me, I turned to see Razet. "W..hy? Would you save me?" I asked. "I want you to know how it feels, to feel endless hate, to feel undying agony. And know that the sweet release of death won't come, knowing that your friends will eventually die, and you won't. Enjoy hell as I know it." He said, laughing maniacally. "I'll take your curse, and say to hell with you!" I shouted, latching onto him. What happened next was rather confusing, but I was in my own body. "Good riddance, I hate your body anyways. However, you will feel my pain now. And that shall give me a little joy. HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAH!!" He shouted.

I ran, dazed, and lost. I considered simply dropping to the floor, and crying. "AAAAAAGH!!!" I shouted, and a faint picture of Razet stabbing himself flashed, so I really am cursed. I sank to the ground, my body felt like bleeding, but I had no wounds. So it just ached. I searched myself, and found Rave discarded all my weapons, except a rifle with a letter that reads: Figured you need something to defend yourself with, I want to savor this Aaron, to savor my revenge! "So generous, and such a evil being." I said, and started analyzing the area, to find a way home.

 

[PrinceOfThaWest]

[192]
Deep in the woods of Greatwood Forest, on a small hill which was couple of kilometers away from the Mysterious Temple, a bit south of Talban village strange sounds suddenly could be heard and it seemed like something bad was happening. Birds, deers and other sorts of animals have fled away from the area it was coming from. After couple of minutes and strange and noisy sounds, an purple explosion occured and it seemed like it's some sort of dark chaos magic, not ordinary expolsive object. Dust and ashes were everywhere, flying around the area in circles but one thing was very visible trough it. It was shadow of two beings, who were standing in the middle of that purple void and dust, clearly calmly. "So this is where that purple gem of yours took us, Azal?" said one dark deep voice, which appeared to echo trough it's own self.

"Fear not my master, that mage from our age knew what he was doing, and we must be there with purpose" a quick and rather raspy response came from other, a lot smaller individual in the crowd of them two. "You best be right about that, because if you're not some heads might have to be chopped off the shoulders, gwah!" voice of echo grunted as he was saying the words, slowly and calmly. After couple of minutes of silence, dust and purple void have vanished, and appearance of shadow, covered with huge armor made of pure steel, even helmet which doesn't reveal nothing but place where eyes should be, whose design seemed like he was shouting all the time, at least the area around his mouth was appearing to be unbreakable. Clearly the taller person was a wraith, while he was made company by small green creature, who seemed to carry that raspy and squeezy voice.

"I sense strong scent of something which is drawing me to it, my little stupid friend. Seems like you were right after all!" said the wraith, slowly starting to make his way down this small hill deeper into forest. "I told you I'm always with you and that I serve you good, master!" shouted the green being, quickly running after the wraith as he was left couple of meters behind. "I have some feeling that I might even start an empire here, hah!" the voice's echo had spread around the area as they disappeared deeper in the forest.

OOC: My first IC post, hope it's good enough for you guys, I'll leave everything to myself and reveal facts slowly later on as my RP proceeds.

 

[Kanadaj]

[193]

Dracor, Regex, Am'ar and the camp

Something dark arrived to Avtaria, something dark and evil - but most strangely, something that could pierce the protective magic of the realm, causing the memory erasing magic not to take effect. It must be an artifact, and Dracor can feel it's arrival, even it's direction and the distance as it discharges when the two dark beings arrive. As the power fades, only one thought remains in Dracor - now they are between hell and high water. He has to tell Am'ar about the event as fast as possible. He asked a couple of soldiers wether they have seen the commander, but after the third negative answer, he chose to use magic. He started to think about the best method, when a soldier came to him.

Soldier: I've heard you're looking for the commander. He went to Duke Talban's tent, you may find him there. It can be found not too far from the middle of the camp, it's the biggest one you can find.
Dracor: The gods themselves may have sent you to me. Thank you!

Then he moved on to the tent with Regex following him, but seeing no point in keeping him close right now, Dracor infused Regex with some mana and lifeforce.

Dracor: You may leave now, for the next day or two, you can move freely without the need to be close to me. You will know when I need you, but as long as we are in the camp, I doubt it would happen.

As they parted ways, Dracor begun weaving magic. His grasp tightened as he strugled to keep his powers shrouded, while concentrating on the magic worlds and symbols only showing up in his mind. It is the hardest way to cast a spell, but he had to avoid drawing unnecessary attention, both from the camp and from outside. As he reached the tent, he raised his staff, and then hit the ground with it. The orb glowed brighter, while a red pattern slowly appeared on the ground starting from the tip of the staff, and later surrounding the entire tent, then turning invisible.

Then, as he entered the tent, Clarox lost him - the archdemon couldnt feel the presence of the dragon on the world, nor raise his eyes on him. And Clarox wasn't alone - noone could feel the tent or whoever was inside of it anymore. Regex could feel as even the magical link between him and his new master was severed for the first time. It felt as bad as losing an arm, but he instinctively draw on the infused powers to keep up his life functions.

Meanwhile, Dracor bowed to Am'ar.

Dracor: Commander Am'ar! First, I would like to state that I dared to surround the tent with a magical symbol, shrouding it from the outside. No magic or technology can detect us inside, and even if we left the tent open, while people would see us from the outside, their mind would not react to the fact that we are here. It's a precaution as I feel more and more forces joining the struggle. I've came for a sole reason: evil arrived from another world outside the walls, who could retain their memories, which means they are powerful or have an artifact that can bring them here like this. Either way, I doubt that they came for any good, and they are outside the wall, which means we must expect an attack from the outside. Please, consider my warning and what we can do about it.

Dracor knows that in reality he has far more power than the commander and could wipe the entire army, but he needs these people to help him in this world. Even if it should be him to fight with the newly arrived enemies, he will only watch for the time being, as the intent of the wraith is not yet sure.

The King and Clarox

Clarox watched the entire war so far with joy. But what happened really ruined his mood. There is a dark force outside of their territory with an unknown intent and he even lost the sight of the dragon and the rebel commander. Bad news, but he has to report this to his king. He already opened the mental link to the king, and as an archdemon, he knows the king can't kill him through it as he could with his lesser kin. But Clarox could be still tortured by his lord.

Clarox: My majesty... Your loyal serveant reports to you that we have some... unexpected events happening. I've lost the sight of the hybrid and the outsider calling himself Am'ar. I can't find them with magic, nor using the tainted soldiers in their camp.

King: How could that happen?!

A mental wave reached Clarox, shaking his momentarily formless being, giving the feeling of being skinned alive, even without a body. He is used to working from the shadows, why would he assemble his form, when he could just hide his essence?

Clarox: My... my majesty... The hybrid used some kind of magic to shroud themselves... Ugh... But... There is another thing...

King: Speak!

Clarox: Two new beings arrived... Agh... They are emitting a dark aura... And one of them is... Mighty... But we have no control over them... AAAAARRRRGH!!!... My Majesty... He could be a powerful ally... He... is... outside the wall... behind the rebel camp...

The mental stress lessened on Clarox as the king took the newly arrived wraith into consideration.

King: Clarox, ask for their intent! If they refuse to cooperate remotely, you are alloved to assemble your true form using my seal.

As he says that, Clarox feels as the temporary seal of the king charges him with power. Using this, he can be far stronger in his true form than he normally is, but the wraith seems strong and can not be manipulated by his mental powers, while the wraith's magical and physical powers are still unkown. It's still worth a shot to ask from safety anyway.

Clarox (to Azal and his master, telepathically): I am Clarox, Archdemon of Temptation. You are unkown to this land, and my master, the King of every evil thing here asks for your intention.

With these words, Clarox tries to stress their minds, showing off his powers to convince them.

 

[PrinceOfThaWest]

[194]

The duo slowly made their way down the forest, carefully and safely. They were walking down the small forest road, still following the scent of purple crystal wraith sensed not a while back. Wraith was walking like two meters in front of small green being which carefully followed his steps and kept his head bowed down, in fear. Suddenly an arrow flew beside wraith's head, directly hitting the bag small green being held on his back. Sound of arrow and the impact clearly made little green being stressed, whilst Wraith had no intentions of even moving to dodge it.

"We have guests it seems, little Azal" voice of dark and powerful echo said slowly as wraith raised his head up, glancing around the area. There was no sign of archers nor any attackers, at least not visible to eye of the random human being. "Ma-... Master, we are in trouble, what are we going to do now?!" shouted Azal in pain, gulping as he kept his head bowed down, in fear from both wraith and attackers. Sound of spilling water could be heard around the duo, as everything else was quiet. Wraith raised his right hand in motion for Azal to shut up, looking around the area. "You shut up and shut that hole on your bag... That thing you're drinking is sipping away, soon your throat will be dry. In that case it'll be easier for me to slice trough it, and I guess you don't want that to happen" said wraith with his strong voice, still looking around.

Azal gulped once, bowing his head down and placing the bag onto ground. He then ripped small piece of his clothing, adjusting it over the hole and starting to tie it all together, to cover up the hole. Suddenly one archer jumped in front of wraith, aiming his blade at wraith's throat. "State yourself, strangers!" shouted the male who had appearance of a elf, keeping his blade steadily at wraith's neck, or at least spot where it should be. "I am Zynn the great, beside me is my small partner, Azal. I came to bring doom to everyone who conquer me" wraith gave a quick response, raising his right hand up to male's blade, grabbing it as he wrapped his fingers around it. Before even noticing, elf male who kept his blade at wraith's neck was out of it control over the blade. "Now bow your head down, peasant. And there will be no dead people" wraith kept talking, but then that sound of flying arrow happened again.

*BANG*

Arrow directly hits the side of Zynn's hemlet, breaking into pieces. Zynn flipped his head over in the direction arrow came from. "Tell that little kid to get out of woods, before I break him in whole". Elf male gulped once, raising his free hand and beckoning his companion over. "I-... I apologize great sir, please spare us!" shouted elf male with blade, gulping as he looked up at Zynn. Small little elf with bow in his hands, and arrows on his back came out of bushes, appearing to be scared of Zynn as he approached the crowd. Azal jumped in front of the kid, examining him carefully from head to toe. "Awww, what are you?" said the kid as he widened his eyes, examining Azal back. "You're free to go, weakling. Don't even think about gathering more weaklings and getting into my path, or you'll be broken - everyone!" shouted Zynn with his strong eachoing voice, releasing his grip over the blade. Elven duo ran away instantly, disappearing in the mists of this dark forest.

A telephatic message was received by Zynn and Azal, and they looked at each other. "I am Zynn the great, I came to seek out purple gem crystal, you know where I can find it?" Zynn gave quick response, slowly wrapping his fingers around the big sword which is in stash located on his waistline.

 

[Amargaard]

Chapter XL / Chapter 40
[195]
Am'ar leaned up at the table, with his arms crossed. Dracor noticed his right eyebrow rise above the sunglasses, as he perceived the warning. Without a word the commander took a few steps, and pulled down a large horizontal map of the battlefield. Am'ar wasn't the talkative type, and he always thought things through before replying.

"From outside of the walls, you say?" He still looked at the map, with his back turned to the magician.
"Yes, and I sense immense powers from there. I'm not sure what it is, but we should prepare ourselves for it", Dracor said.

The greenskin remained quiet for a while, he wasn't sure what to do. And since he hadn't heard anything from Talban and Asorath, he was starting to fear they had passed away along with their armies. If that was the case, hope was lost.

"Any suggestions?" he turned around and asked calmly.
"I am no strategist, but we should of course bolster the defenses at the wall as much as possible", Dracor said, "and my magic will be of great help too"

Am'ar grunted with irritation, not hearing an answer that he could use. If the human spoke the truth, their only hope would be if the rebel armies returned.
"Thanks for the warning Dracor", Am'ar turned his back again, and watched the map, implying that Dracor should leave.