ENDLESS JOURNEYS (O/A)

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

Silhouette shrieked in pain as she was brought to the ground. She couldn't fathom what was happening. Trinity's light had actually managed to not on pierce but also grip the shapeless mass the ancient had become.

She writhed and thrashed in an attempt to free herself, but the Godess' power had trapped the creature. An ornate glyph appeared beneath her and released chains of light that bound Silhouette. It burned to no end, but she wasn't actually being damaged by the light. She howled in rage as it finally sank in: she was going to be bound and tortured until someone freed her.

Her eyes looked deep in to Trinity's as she mewled, "Mark my words, Trinity! One day another like you, a woman who walks the shadows, will find me and free me! When that day comes, I will find you, or whatever descendents you may have spawned, and they will suffer endlessly for what you have done to me!!!"

Trinity didn’t want to do this but she had to. She would have only get in the way of saving the world and put many innocent lives at risk. She wished that they had met in better terms to finally get the answers she sought. Instead that did not happen. “I’m sorry it had to come to this but you leave me no choice. I’m sorry, I have to go.” She knew her words fell on deaf ears but felt it needed to be said. She kneeled leaped upward.

Trinity resurfaced near Nova and in the distance she saw someone with white hair with what appeared to be a pegasus? At that moment it looked like they were handling things themselves. She didn’t have time to look at this further more creatures appeared not long after she came back. Her voiced carried from behind Keleth and Nova, “Nova, Keleth, how are you holding up?”

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Nova Blancke

Rikki Tikki Travi

BeaMichelle

Koori no Kitsune

 

[BeaMichelle]

Keleth swung her hammer horizontally into the face of a displacer beast. As it went tumbling away she noticed the presence of the cinder wolves. She was about to throw her hands up in frustration, but she quickly changed her tune when she heard Alec's howl, the wolves respond in kind, and then witness the wolves attack the displacer beasts.

"Oh, y'know. Disapearing cats, burning dogs, guys riding on flying horses, nothing we can't handle." the grinning Dragon-kin quipped.  

[PixelMuse]

“Better than nearly being suffocated by the goddess of dark serenity.” She breathed in the fresh air as she thwacked away some displacer beasts. “Nova, how are you holding up?” she asked knowing full well he had to keep using magic to stay alive.

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Nova Blancke

Rikki Tikki Travi

BeaMichelle

 

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Silhouette stewed and seethed in the deepest region of the shadow realm. For every second that passed on the surface, days passed for her.

It held on as best she could to the last thing she took, but it too (along with her sanity) was slipping away.

A week later she finally lost hold over the fear she had taken. It burst from the shapeless void she had become and rose the surface like a freed bird.

Once it hit sunlight, the fear sought out the young woman it once belonged to and worked it's way into her back. To be more specific, the spine, where all fear starts to be felt.

Kerana

 

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Kerana

With a little hint of reluctance she calls for her guardian’s name…
“ALEC!”

Zephyr had just assisted a cinder wolf in killing a displacer beast when he heard Kerana's cry. Her words went beyond even him and reached Alec's sleeping consciousness. He forced himself back into control and looked in the direction of her voice. His initial response was one of rage, but it was interlaced with genuine worry and fear that his beloved was in danger.

Disoriented by the involuntary and sudden loss of control, Zephyr struggled to speak to his host. "Alec, focus. Use your mind, not your anger."

Alec's eyes shook with anxiety as he processed everything he had missed. Not much time had passed, but his summoning had worked. Kerana must've used magic to cover so much ground. If he ran, he could be too late. Her scent was hard to track because of the stench of sulfur and his being upwind.

Upwind.

Alec begged the wolf for guidance and power. In this, the wolf was more than happy to oblige. Alec hunched down on all fours and bound toward Kerana. The winds he followed took shape and swirled around him. His physical body became one with the flow and burst forth faster than he could possibly go.

Just as a small pack of five displacer beasts were about to converge on Kerana, he swept in with the winds and embraced her tightly. The winds that he had carried him caught up and swirled around them to form a tornado. He brought her down to a kneeling position. He cradled her head and back in his hands and pressed his furry cheek again her tear soaked one. The winds twisted around them and carried the beasts into the sky while taking the breath from the creatures lungs. All the while, Alec held Kerana and whispered into her ear, "Shh. It's alright. I'm here."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec caressed Kerana's hair and shushed her gently. The tornado around them died down in tandem with the decreasing rumble of battle.

"I know. I know. It's alright. I'm not mad. I'm just glad you're alright." he cooed into her ear.

In the back of his mind was the knowledge of what the demon left inside of Kerana. He would tell her later. If she knew right at that moment, he suspected she might panic and add fuel to the creeping fire. For now, he was concentrating on calming her fear.

Around the city, the last of the displacer beasts were falling to the combined efforts of the dragon-kin and the cinder wolves. The day was all but won.  

[BeaMichelle]

Keleth smashed her hammer into the head of the last displacer beast that was standing befor her. She huffed and rest her arms and head on the end of the handle. She was smiling. She looked around at the battlefield. The battlefield. Her home. Slowly, she wasn't smiling anymore. Buildings demolished. Fields ablaze. Cattle, men, women, and children lay wounded or dead amomg the streets.

She fell back on her rear and folded her knees up to her chest. Keleth had dreamed of battle. She had wanted the respect of those who saw her as nothing more than a small tailed farm hand. But what was around her. It litteraly hit close to home. She hung her head out of view, and let the tears flow.  

[PixelMuse]

As the sounds of battle faded she felt great. Slashing the displacer beasts in twain made her feel like she was in her element. Life on the battlefield was a familiar place to her. No uncertainty, no feeling like she was underprepared for the situation at hand, this was her turf. As the sounds of battle faded and the remaining few retreated. "Now that's more like it aye Kel...eth?"

She turned around and found the destruction this battle brought. Her eyes lowered. She felt awful. None of this would have happened if she was here. Would this dragon kin still be willing to join her party after this? Would she want to stay and help rebuild.

Her glaive sank into the shadows. She looked to Nova, he appears to be okay despite his condition. She can't help but blame herself for that as well. Trinity sat next to her, she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry about all of this… it seems wherever I go destruction follows. I've stayed here too long and this happened. I need to put an end to this, need to re-activate the wells of magic the Necromancer is seeking out to drain. Just wish there was a faster way to do this. If you wish to stay to rebuild, I wouldn't blame you. If you wanted to join us and help put an end to this I'd be honored to have you fighting by my side."  

[BeaMichelle]

Keleth sniffed, huffed, and ran her forearm arcross her eyes in an attempt to collect herself. She then picked her head up and looked to Trinity with bloodshot eyes.

"In all of the stories I hear about you...they never mention what actually causes the calamities that seem to follow you. Just that you're the harbringer of destruction. I always knew there was more too the stories."

"The necromancer, he throws everything he can at you doesn't he? Even that witch we just fought. Yeah, she had it out for you, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was pointed in your direction.."

"I could stay here and rebuild, and I'm sure my people would welcome my assistance. Heh, especially since I'm freakishly strong for someone my size. But my place isn't here. It never has been. So yeah...I'll come with you. I'll my strength, and my hammer, are yours. Let's make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else."  

[PixelMuse]

Trinity nodded toward her answer. "I will do what I can to prevent it. Sure enough I'll put the end to the chaos, one way or another."

"Though, about the witch… I can't help but feel that she had no help from the Necromancer. She may have been the one who gave me the ability to manipulate shadows to begin with. For now I've been able to seal her in the Shadow Realm."

"If you need to say goodbye to your friends and family. Now's the time to do it." She looks to Nova, "The same goes for you."

"I shall look for Alec and Kerana, and will meet you at the village."  

[Nova Blancke]

Multiple times during this fight his control slipped. During those times there was nothing. No senses only for the magic that he used to tether his soul to his body. This...may not have been a good idea. But it was the only option he had. He did at the entrance of that tunnel. Even now he was struggling to fully regain control. What was going on out there? He needed to know! But he couldn't move a damn thing or help while in this state! The only real indications from the outside were minor twitches and his eyes somehow losing it's shine.

He knew that this wasn't what death was like. That was something he had experienced many times over already. No, this was, different. Nova wasn't sure yet what it was but he believed that by tethering his soul to his already dead body he had somehow transferred his conscience to it. So essentially he'd be a soul that was aware of itself.  

[PixelMuse]

Trinity drops through the shadow to search for Alec and Kerana. She found it was easier to look for them this way. When she found them she saw Alec holding Kerana comforting her. "You alright?" directing the question to both of them.

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Rikki Tikki Travi

 

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec looked up at Trinity and nodded. "We're alright. It looks like that demon released Kerana's fear. It's caught up all at once. She just needs a mo-ment."

Alec looked past Trinity toward the shapes making their way through the dust. The remainder of the cinder wolves approached Alec. Their alpha muttered and barked a language intelligable only to Alec.

He began to reply.

"Alec of the Yaetes pack."

"No, I'm still unfamiliar with my wolf."

"I'll keep that in mind, though I hope there isn't a next time."

"Thank you. I wont forget your sacrifice. Farewell."

The alpha nodded in response and led his kin back to whence they came.

Alec looked back to Trinity and asked, "Did you kill tbe demon that brought this carnage?"