Xirena - The Northern Territories - First Appearance

[Genrin619]

A long blade that looked as if it was made of smoky black quartz started to protrude from his palm, growing until it reached the ground. He gripped it tightly. It was terrifyingly beautiful. Something about it seemed to promise absolute death - even for a phoenix. "I will give you one chance and one chance only. Swear loyalty to me and you will live. Swear loyalty to me, do as I say, and you can have everything you want. You need only ask and it's yours. Defy me and I will cleave your soul from your body so that it will never rise from the ashes again."

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming
Home

 

[Phoenixabovetheashes]

Xirena's eyes snapped to Nezhar's. "My loyalty and my body is yours to do with as you wish as long as the people of this world are left alone." she said as she sank gracefully to the ground. She tilted her head back to look up at the Witch King as she paused to listen for his reply.  

[Genrin619]

Nezhar narrowed his eyes. Who does she think she is, negotiating? I won't be able to trust her. She's stubborn and strong willed. She'll be trouble for me just like those nobles. His anger flared briefly at the thought of the traitors. The ground shook but then was still. He placed the tip of the blade under her chin, pressed to her throat. "The people of this world are subject to my conquest and rule. But as long as you do as I say, this world will stand. If you betray me... I will destroy every last living thing. Understood?"

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming
Home

 

[Phoenixabovetheashes]

Xirena lowered her head, briefly closing her eyes in gratefulness then rose to stand face to face with Nazhar with the blade still pressed to her throat. A small line of blood ran from her neck down her lithe, muscular body.

"Then my loyalty you will have for infinity." She claimed. Her body shuttered as a brand seared the area between her shoulder blades. Her and the Phoenix were now slaves to the Witch King for each of her reincarnations. Loyalty to their people was as binding as a marriage contract.  

[Genrin619]

Nezhar eyed the trail of blood, longing to spill more. But for the time being, he had no reason to. And according to her, people were scarce in these parts. I will have to find the village in that valley and kill them soon... Reluctantly, he pulled he blade away. It twisted and shrank down into his palm again, gone before her very eyes. "Are there humans in this world of yours," he asked with a tone of disgust, as if the very word human left a bad taste in his mouth.

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming
Home

 

[Phoenixabovetheashes]

Xirena turned and started to make way to her cabin. Calling out over her shoulder, "Come with me and I'll show you on the map where the majority of the people live." She walked with a gentle sway letting the moonlight guide the placement of each step. Xirena's hair thankfully was long enough to cover her shapely bottom from Nezhar's sight as she continued to stride forward. Her only thought was as she lead the Witch King back to her abode was at least the people are relatively safe.  

[Genrin619]

He followed, not at all liking being told what to do, even if she was just doing as he'd instructed. That's how it started with the nobles, he reminded himself. Casually informal. Slipping in insubordinate remarks. Then the next thing you know, you're on your back in the citadel, stabbed through with several spears from every angle.

His hands twitched as if to make fists, body tensing.

The shadows moved, solidifying into a living black shape, walking along with them as if it was a person, mirroring their moves. At least the shadows are still loyal, he thought. They're the same in every world, even if the people are not. The shadows never lie. He watched her shadow closely to see how it would honestly react to him, curious at what it would reveal. Before he could study it too closely, a long javelin-looking protrusion made of what looked like semi-liquefied silver pierced him straight through the heart from nowhere. The shadow being split into several, forming a ring around him and Xirena.

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming
Home

 

[Phoenixabovetheashes]

Xirena whirled around with a start, startled to see a long piece of metal sticking of out Nezhar's chest. Normally she would have run to an injured person but not wanting the same fate to happen to her, she peered into the dark Forest surrounding them. Satisfied that no immediate harm would incur, Xirena ran back to the Witch King. Grasping the javelin-like metal, she immediately let go and bit back a scream. The metal was a sharp biting cold that burned her to the touch. Xirena called forth the Phoenix Flame and tried again. The cold didn't seem to affect her this time and she pulled it from Nezhar's chest.

Keeping her sense's open to the threat of danger, she shed one tear and applied it to the gaping hole that posed no risk of bleeding out. Phoenix's tears were a well sought healing ingredient because of their ability to heal even the most deadliest of wounds. While she applied it to Nezhar, she watched the muscle, bone and tendons, knit back together in a most beautiful fashion.  

[Genrin619]

The wound healed, but the liquefied silver did as was intended. He could feel it seeping into his bloodstream, burning his circulatory system. He seemed to know exactly what was going on; he growled, a hair-raising and fear inducing sound, as he stood. "Death is too good for them," he said, seething with rage. The silver wouldn't kill him - almost nothing could - but a great number of spells and curses could be done with silver. He supposed it was their way of trying to further secure their safety. He laughed cruelly at the attempt, knowing that it only served to fuel his rage and thirst for vengeance. Without so much as thanking her, he strode past the protective barrier of shadows. "Take me to the nearest beings. If they don't have a graveyard, I will MAKE one."

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming
Home

 

[Phoenixabovetheashes]

Xirena shifted into her hybrid form that would allow her to travel quickly. She was beginning to become accustomed to accessing the Phoenix quickly. Musing to herself and simultaneously thanking Nezhar, she finished her shift effortlessly. She hovered in the air, her wings holding her effortlessly. She began to head south towards the Eastern Kingdom. Reaching out with her senses she calculated the distance they needed to cover. Assuming that Nezhar would follow her, she rose into the air and flew.  

[Genrin619]

It wasn't long before they reached the three corners where the Northern Territory, the Eastern Kingdom, and the Badlands met - a notorious site of conflict. The ground was barren and red, stained with the blood of the fallen. Nezhar stopped in the very center point, feeling the thousands of dead beneath his feet. The graves had been hastily dug amid the battle, shallow enough that here and there sun-bleached bones poked up. "They've been dead for many years," he said almost to himself. "They will be more difficult to raise, but stronger." He sat, back straight and eyes closed, feeling his way through the corpses to those that were mostly intact, drinking in the essence of death as he looked for the strongest soldiers to make his own. "You will need to make a fire and hunt. Bring as much meat as possible. Do nothing with it but lay it by the fire."

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming
Home

 

[Phoenixabovetheashes]

Xirena stared in confusion at the Witch King, surprised to be so easily dismissed. She whirled in away from him in a huff regaining her mortal form. Eager to work her frustrations out, she closed her mind to all external frustrations and focused on the hunt. Something she knew she was spectacular at. Tracking a herd of deer-like creatures to a nearby grove, she formed a bow with her Phoenix flame.

Breathing away her frustrations she formed her hunter's stance and released flamed arrows in multiple succession. The deer-like creatures died instantly from the flame allowing her to make the multiple kills. She worked tirelessly for what seemed like hours to haul the massive amounts of meat to where the Witch King sat. Successfully having completed her haul, she counted 40 deer-like creatures total.

While she waited for the Nezhar to rejoin her she built up a large fire. Then she sat down to wait. While semi-resting, she puzzled the conundrum that was named Nezhar. Such as his story, where he came from, why he was so hell-bent on destruction. The more she thought about him, the more confused she felt about his power and how it seemed to strengthen the bond she had with the Phoenix.  

[Genrin619]

Nezhar hadn't moved so much as an eyelash the entire time. After another couple of hours, when the moon was high in the sky, he spoke without opening his eyes. "Cook one of the animals, just enough to kill illness but leave it bloody and warm. Bring the organs to me." Then he was still and silent again.

The process was draining his energy rapidly, but instead of making his muscles go limp, they locked up like stone. He drew warmth from the fire, feeding it to the corpses underground, breathing life into them slowly. First the marrow, then the bone, mending tendons and rebuilding veins. He would soon need the meat...

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming
Home

 

[Phoenixabovetheashes]

She did as was requested and skinned one of the deer-like creatures using a skinning hoist that she crafted from the limbs of trees. Searching for some rock glass she formed herself a knife using the heat from her Phoenix flames. She then turned and used that same knife to skin the deer-like creature using the same precise slices she used previously. The new knife cut so smoothly that it took less time and less effort to skin the deer that she finished in little time.

Xirena placed the carcass on spit over the fire, turning the deer creature over quickly allowing the meat to heat yet remain bloody. Removing the deer from the spit, she sliced the belly open and removed the internal organs. The heat didn't bother her for she was flame and heat a constant companion. Placing the bloody, warm organs near Nezhar, she awaited further instructions from the distant individual.  

[Genrin619]

He reached over, taking the organs one by one and running his hands over them. Then he buried the bloody entrails, saving the heart for last, buried in the center. Pressing his palms flat to the earth, he began whispering in another language, both beautiful and terrifying. The ground rumbled and trembled faintly beneath them. The wind gathered, picking up the blood-stained dirt and swirling around them, obscuring everything from view. One by one, figures emerged from the dust. They looked alive, beings of every race covered in armor. Only their eyes - completely white and void of both pupil and iris - gave hint that they were something more than simple soldiers.

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming
Home