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 Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:28 am
Harveer almost couldn't believe Lailah had rushed in, almost. It was with a small sense of relief that Katya went in after her. They were deep within the tainted forest, why would any of them think it a good idea to split up and go alone like that?
The pale angel fell into line beside Eligor and Genesis, following them quietly. At least until they passed to the rusted through chains. How odd was it, something this thick had rusted all the way through? Or broken straight across? There shouldn't have been so much rust, even if there was a way to cleave through the metal, how could it have rusted? He shook his head and continued on. Facing the ball of fluff the same as the rest of the squires.
That didn't look like a normal heretic? What was it? "It's... We should go after that thing guys. If there's one, there's bound to be many." Harveer offered, pretty sure if that little tainted thing knew anything about anything it was off to tell someone else of their presence. Any chance of them sneaking through the rest of horrific place was completely shattered. As if it hadn't been earlier..
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 8:18 pm
Careful and quiet, same as her peers, she headed towards her left, towards what might have been stables once upon a time. Maybe. She approached slowly, and entered the building. She took note of the few loose stones making up what would have been the roof. One of the support columns looked beat up, but was still standing. That didn't mean it couldn't fall over still. Standing just inside the threshold, the idea of spears jutting out from any of the walls or the floor petrified her. She couldn't take another step inside even if she wanted to. Taking Anguish in her hands, she held it at-the-ready when she heard something scuttling around in one of the stalls. The razor-sharp tip pointed low, and she managed to take a step further inside. Then another slow step. The sound of a bit of stone falling and splashing onto the wet mud startled her, and drew her attention away for just a split second. The sound also startled the prey Alethea was stalking, and out from the decrepit mount stall a six-legged varmint with a disgustingly long tail tried to run for safety. Except, when it saw Alethea, the course of action changed. Baring large incisors and long claws, it jumped right at her.
The pink angel was caught off her guard, and she squawked and instinctively pulled her arm back and re-aligned the tip of her ranseur with the beastie, impaling it nearly instantly. It let out a blood-curdling squeal before it died and sputtered a thick black fluid.
Althea was horrified, but oh so grateful for weapon training. She remained still, listening to see if that death rattle attracted more attention. After only a moment, she took a few steps back, and tried to dislodge her ranseur from the beasties body. It wasn't easy. She had to resort to using one of the standing pillars to aid in scraping the thing off. Her weapon was covered in dark fluid and blood.
Yeah, not spending more time in here alone. She left the broken building and walked along the side, peeking into the holes. No more creatures in there, but she noticed fresh straw lining a couple of the stalls. Odd.
Falling in behind the others, she made her way across the drawbridge without incident. However, the loud clip-clop noise nearly caused her to jump out of her skin. Then she saw it. She immediately took a battle stance pointing her weapon in the direction of the noise. She stiffened, and held her breath, only moving her eyes to keep the fuzzy thing in sight. "It's kinda cute." she thought.
But she had to consider what it was. A Dragnid beastie is dangerous and aggressive, no matter the size. That one was about waist tall, something she could handle. But it didn't appear aggressive like that other creature, it only appeared caught off guard and scared. She'd never before seen a child heretic, so she had no idea what they looked like. And it was hard to tell with all that fur. The last hooved-heretic she saw had very fine fur, so 'faun' was the furthest thing from her mind. It had eyes like a pae, and behaved more pae-like, and less rabid than a beastie though. And the taint, oh my gosh the taint. She considered it might be a normal pae, only horribly corrupted. Her eyes widened at the realization of who this might be.
She approached Eligor, placing herself between him and Genesis. "That's her! I think that's the kidnapped girl. The taint must have warped her. That means maybe Andrei and the others are nearby. We have to follow! "
Alethea shuddered to think what may have become of Malek and Kurt if that child was warped into a fuzzy heretic monster with his much exposure. "We can save them! I don't think it's too late!" She had a renewed sense of purpose now that she considered maybe they could succeed with this mission.
It was still not worth it to her though, but at the very least they could succeed in their mission so their comrades didn't die for nothing. No more lives lost, no more sacrifices to the heretics.
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2015 8:34 pm
Katya jumped as Lailah's sharp voice rang into her ears. She was quiet enough for the covert nature of their mission, but the tone remained harsh nonetheless. The red demon shrunk a little as she lowered her bow, eyes still fixed on that great wooden door. "But she... He?" She caught herself, realizing that she had no idea of the tiny fuzzball's gender. "But... It was just a child, Lailah. Almost a baby." Guessing at Lailah's likely response, Katya quickly added, "Heretic, tainted or not, it would be cruel to put it down immediately without thought to an alternative." Cruel indeed... But hopefully not necessary. She hoped that her moment of hesitation didn't lead to something far worse further down the road.
The consensus seemed to favour pursuing the strange little one further into the keep. Indeed, from this room that was the most obvious exit, but not the only one. They had all been funneled into a trap once already, with disastrous consequences.
What if there were more deadly spikes or Guardians knew what else on the other side of those doors? Perhaps the dark hallways to the side might have been a better idea. But then again, they likely offered zero chance of catching up to the tainted child, who just might have cause to alert someone- or something- further into the ruins.
Katya ran forward as quietly on her feet as she could, using her wings to help lighten her footfalls and deflect the sound as much as possible. The darkness to her left and right suggested that the halls in those directions were similarly hard to see in, and would likely be navigated only slowly, or by torchlight, which was a great way to inform ambushers that they would soon have company. She flattened herself against the wooden doors and peered in through the crack that had been left open, arrow nocked and bow at the ready.
"I'm not saying it's a good idea, Alethea," Katya murmured, "But you're the fastest of all of us by far. If you wanted to try to catch the little tainted thing, I would support and cover you." Perhaps a short pursuit might be in order, followed by a more cautious advance if they didn't catch up within a couple of rooms or so. Or they could just try one of those side halls and see if it wasn't possible to sneak around the back, or at least find a treasure chest with a rare item in it or something.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 9:59 pm
Clarux was going to verbally agree with Eligor, however very few others even listened. What was the point of this if they couldn't even act as a group. They were Knights...well in training at least, but they were trains specifically for this. To work together to uphold the greater good of the Guardians. To bring Light to the Darkness, and yet here they all were, squabbling and squawking and skittering off alone.
"What's the point of a plan if no one will follow it?" she snarled quietly to herself.
And then that...thing arrived.
Clarux didn't like it, whatever it was. The cackle it gave as it dissipated was not of a child, and she didn't like the tone. It was a tone of 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' Her mind raced. What could it possibly be so cheery about?
"Eligor," she said. "I think it's it best interest that we pursue it," She gave a stern look at the door. "If anything, so it doesn't alert something else to our presence here. I'd really like if we attempted to keep an aura of surprise as long as possible."
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 11:14 pm
Irritated that already it felt like nothing was going right on this mission, Lailah gave Katya an odd look at her response. "I asked why you let it get away, not why you didn't kill it." Interesting response from the little one. Or was it interesting that she would assume that's what Lailah had meant by the question?
Of course, she didn't know a lot about being an archer. Hand to hand, sure, she knew a lot of ways of incapacitating a foe, with or without her weapons. Now that she thought about it though, how did one do that with arrows? Okay, maybe there was something to that question, but...she was simply irritated that the demon had done nothing instead of something. Even if she had no suggestions on just what she could have done.
"I don't know, could have done something to stop her or slow her down...something. You're supposed to be a good shot with that thing, could have...I dunno...just grazed it to startle it into stopping or something..."
Eligor mulled over the varied answers he'd received from his question, rubbing his temples in an attempt to block out Lailah's unhelpful commentary towards Katya. Not the time for complaining on what had or hadn't been done. They needed a plan on what to do now. "It didn't look like any Faun I've ever seen," he responded finally, adding, "But, it didn't look like anything else I've ever seen either. Alethea, do you really think it might be the missing girl? Could she have been so corrupted by the darkness?" He had felt it; he could tell that a number of them had. The corrupt, sickening wrongness that had left the room with the girl. If she had been here for the time period she had been missing, combined with her age, well...could it be possible? It was a theory, and that's all they had at the moment.
"Either way, dark creature or lost child, I think it's clear we need to catch up with it. Clarux is right. It's clearly going somewhere with a purpose. If we have any chance left of remaining unseen at this point, I'd like to keep it. It's small enough; we should just do what's necessary to catch it without harm, okay?" he said, pointedly eying a couple members of the group.
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 12:24 am
It seemed that the Squires had come to a general consensus to pursue the small bundle of fuzz through the door. Their footsteps echoed off the atrium's walls despite their care. Once they reached the door, they would find that it took a few of them pushing with all their weight to force the door to begin moving, scraping against the stone and dislodging years of dust in its wake. It became apparent that the only reason the child had gotten through earlier was because she'd squeezed through when the door was already cracked open. For any of them to fit, however, it took extra effort. If any of them had thoughts about where the door may lead them, they may have been in for a surprise at what they found behind it.
Beyond lay a long room with high ceilings. At least, they had to guess that they were, since they couldn't actually see them. The room itself was mostly darkened, with only a few torches at the far end providing any light. The ceiling remained in shadow, as did much of the room itself. It seemed to be something of a long hall, dominated primarily by a massive stone table in the middle. It seemed large enough to comfortably seat dozens and dozens of Pae along either side, but it remained mostly empty and layered with such thick dust that it clearly hadn't been in regular use. The only signs of use on this near end were some of the same hoof prints seen outside, spread randomly across the table and accompanied by other markings that looked like slide or drag marks. Had somepae been playing on top of it?
At the far end of the table sat a massive stone chair. It seemed like a throne of sorts, given the size and place of prominence, but lacked any of the glamour or flair of anything the Squires would have found familiar. It stood strong and tall, demanding attention from all before it. Not only tall, but wide, the seat seemed intended to hold a rather sizable occupant and would likely dwarf any smaller soul who dared attempt to claim it.
Sprawled across the seat, a creature had one knee kicked up to drape over one armrest and his upper body lounged against the opposite side. His horned head was tilted downwards where the small creature the Squires had followed was whispering in fervent, hushed tones in his ear, the expression on his face thoughtful, but cross. Frowning, he looked up at the noise of the door being pushed open and proceeded to glare at the Squires. He seemed to be a larger version of the child they had seen earlier, however, with a few different, noticeable features. As soon as they entered, he turned and snapped off an order to the child.
"Take them and get them out of here. I'll handle this."
She seemed to jump back at his directions, but quickly moved away from his side and around the table. At this point, the heads of a few smaller creatures, smaller even than she, appeared and peeked around the side of the table before she could wave them away. Together, the tiny gathering of children and toddlers were rushed out of the room, leaving the Squires alone with the lone, horned beast.
Or were they?
They would assume they were alone, until a soft growling coming from the shadows around the lounging 'king' raised in pitch and volume at their entrance. Was something lurking, waiting for someone to move? The blue creature at the other end of the table seemed un-alarmed by the sound, simply regarding the Squires with something like disdain.
After a moment of simply staring, doing nothing to correct his posture, he called out, "Alright, I'll bite. Who the hell are you lot, and what are you doing here?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:18 am
Genesis looked at Alethea and took a step back, noticing the purposeful way she had inserted herself between her and Eligor. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, now was not the time for such things. Despite this, she gave Alethea's suggestion some thought, but just couldn't find any credibility to it. If it was the kidnapped girl, than she was beyond saving because Genesis didn't see a trace of her in the creature.
She didn't want to pursue the creature. In what few minutes they had been standing here, there had been plenty of time for the small creature to get ahead and warn others. It would have been better for them to go down the other way and get a head start in that direction. However, most minds seemed made up and arguing about it would just waste more time. They could only spend so much time on these decisions, there element of surprise was surely already gone, if they ever had it.
Genesis joined in the assist to push open the door, her arms strong from wielding her two-handed sword. Their struggle to open the door just enforced to Genesis more that they were going the wrong way, she kept her mouth shut to avoid wasting more time though. She looked all around the room, her mind buzzing with questions, wishing she could talk to walls (not that there was any time to talk to walls). Her eyes followed up the room until they landed on the boy sitting in the throne... On the creature sitting in the thrown, she had to remind herself. The air felt thick with taint. His appearance only confused her more with his slightly demonic appearance, but his hooves draped over the side of the chair screamed heretic.
Genesis didn't draw her sword quite yet, still feeling conflicted, even the way he spoke to them now didn't seem completely... evil. She looked around at the others before choosing to speak up. "We are searching for our friends, have you seen anyone apart from us?" There seemed to be no point in going into the whole, squires of the order of light thing right now. Instead, she was testing out the waters to see how this creature might react. He was clearly outnumbered... right?
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 2:57 pm
Alethea nodded at Katya, agreeing it was a stupid idea. But she was going to do it because she saw some logic in it. The pink angel sped across the atrium to the large doors, but found she couldn't fit. She tried pushing, but the door wouldn't budge. "Help! It's stuck!"
Once they had access, Alethea slipped in with the intent of pursuing the child. But it was too dark to see anything. Except that light at the end of the room. She hesitated, deciding it was a bad idea to rush ahead to get the child. The idea may have flashed through her mind this was a trap and they took the bait.
Once inside, she whispered, "Kalimel." Alethea held her hand out and her light sword lit up with a quiet *whrrr* She used it like a torch to see what was around them. It was a very large room. Even with the extra light, she couldn't see the ceiling. She hadn't seen stars either, so she knew she was still inside. There was an enormous table ahead of them. Who would need a table this size!? Even the ones back at the castle weren't this big and it seated nearly a hundred!
"I don't think we're alone," she said as she swooped her sword towards a dark area. She saw a familiar reflection, like the glow of an animal's eyes in light. The stray cake and candy thieves in the city had eyes that reflected light in much the same way.
But slight movement ahead followed by an angry voice. That wasn't the voice of the child. Yup. Trap. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and the closer the group got to the head of the table, the better she could see the abomination.
Alethea stayed behind Genesis, letting her speak for the group. She put her light sword 'away' for the time being but kept her hands on her weapon, just in case.
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Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:53 am
Harveer listened as the others came to an agreement about going after the little heretic. There wasn't enough time to argue anything, and he'd been on the side agreeing with going after the thing. He joined Alethea at the door, giving it his all to get the substantial door to open. The pale angel grunted with the effort, not having expected it to be so heavy after the little fluff had passed through it before.
With Alethea having entered before him, he was treated to a glance of the room with a touch of light to it. It was exhaustive in size, and trying to make him sneeze. He wiggled his nose, holding back the reaction to all of the dust they'd just kicked up. Guardians be blessed there was a lot of the foul smelling dust around in there. Finally, golden eyes found the throne at the far end of the room. Or was it the head of the table? He couldn't tell for certain, but whatever it was, it was occupied.
Harveer's eyes narrowed, looking at it. He could almost make out some of the more odd features. This didn't look a thing like some of the heretics he'd seen in the past. At least, not from the distance they were standing. But it spoke, masculine. Whoever or whatever he was, it wasn't good. Harveer could feel the taint oozing off it from where they stood at the opposite side of the room. The disdain was dropping when the thing spoke towards them, earning a bit of a glare from Harveer. Genesis returned his question, not giving them away, and he was quite content with that. The heretics may have known they were there, but they didn't need to know who or what they were by any means. Besides, even if this came to a fight, this fluffball of a heretic was alone. There were more squires than this thing... The train of thought had his hands itching towards his blades. Doing his best to keep a straight face, Harveer shook himself out of it, keeping a ready stance. This was a tainted heretic after all, this wouldn't end easily.
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Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:48 pm
At Lailah's insistence that she should have done something about the escaping child, Katya frowned heavily. "Look, I've not had a real target to practice my pinning shot on yet, and I'm really not looking to find out whether it would work or not on some small child." Apparently the demon DID have some sort of technique for incapacitating rather than killing. Truth was she'd played with the idea, but the target had just been just a little far away, and a little too small even for her bow skills. And secretly, Katya was bristling internally at the fact that Lailah was right- she had frozen at a crucial moment when she should have acted.
As the squires heaved the door open, a swirl of dust could be barely seen in the poorly lit hall beyond. It hadn't groaned open so much as it ground against its own hinges, and the harsh sound caused Katya to wince as the group made their entrance into the dark, somewhat cold stone room.
As soon as she was through the doorway, the young demon swept off to the left side of the entrance, stepping sideways, bow raised, as she moved to a covering position at the flank of the group, opening the distance between them somewhat so that should there indeed be another trap within this long room, they wouldn't all be bunched together coming through the door.
Ahead, just barely visible by the light of the torches. was a little slip of a-
-A thing. A faun? Maybe. It didn't look akin to any Faun Katya had ever seen. But that was the closest thing she could think of. It was almost certainly of the same ilk as the small fuzzball she had just let escape through the door, and it reeked of taint. And yet, again, It was no mindless beast.
Did it really not know who they were, or why they had come? Something about the way it carried itself on the tall chair, and the words it spoke suggested to Katya that this individual was not necessarily related to their target, but whether or not it would be an obstacle remained to be seen. Katya remained slightly behind the group, at the flank and in the shadows, letting the more assertive squires converse with this individual- the first solid contact in this cursed place.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:21 pm
Under ordinary circumstances, Dante would have grimaced at the idea of Katya and Lailah going off together. He'd never understand why she liked her. But Katya going alone was even worse, and at least Lailah never backed down from a fight. He tried not to dwell on whether that was a good thing.
He followed the rest of the group, gripping his staff tightly. It wouldn't do as a killing weapon, but he'd lost his sword, and this would at least keep enemies at bay. He hoped fervently he wouldn't have to use it. As they crossed the drawbridge and into the atrium, the same thing caught his eye as caught everyone else's: a little grey ball of fur. A heretic! Dante should have known they'd be behind all this. Still, something seemed off about the tiny evil creature.
Eligor's voice made him turn his head. He shrugged a little in response to his question. "Not sure," he signed. "Baby faun? Out here--don't know." Signing one-handed was cruder than his normal, eloquent signs, but he wasn't about to put down his staff--or even tuck it under his arm--even for a second.
Genesis' suggestion that the faun was Tainted made him shudder. He could only imagine what foul magic was afoot here. Then he nodded at Harveer's idea. Where there was a baby Tainted faun, there was sure to be a bigger Tainted faun, and that would be a much worse surprise. Better to find it before it found them. "I agree--follow." He signed, gesturing in the direction the faun had gone.
As that seemed to be the consensus, Dante fell somewhat in the middle of the group as they pursued the faun child into the next room. He moved off to the side with Katya. If she was covering the group, he'd do his best to cover her. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his gaze was drawn to a bigger Tainted faun sitting on a throne of sorts. He'd been right. And so had Harveer--the little one they'd seen earlier was shepherding a whole herd of Tainted heretic toddlers out of the room. One almost wanted to feel sorry for them. Living here in this cold, dark, desperate place. His heart ached for the wee things.
And then the big one started talking.
Dante gripped his weapon. He hoped whoever did the talking would do well (as clearly that wasn't going to be him), and think clearly about their words. He was glad when Genesis spoke up. She'd always been sort of a leader. He hoped her assertiveness would be of use now.
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:40 am
Clarux followed with her group after the small thing. She wasn't the slowest knight, but she certainly wasn't the fastest either. She clung to her spear in her hands as it was a lot easier to pursue with it there than strapped to her back. The length of the pole hindered her speed if it was holstered, and speed was needed.
She wasn't sure of what to make of this new sight. Of small things being scurried off and this...maybe faun thing approaching them and speaking to them.
She also couldn't help but give a small look of confusion at Genesis with what she said and how she said it. Was she going to ask them to borrow a cup of sugar next? She snorted lightly. There was no point in talking over people now. Genesis was the one that spoke up so she could deal with continuing it. She was more interested in the strange sound that seemed to encompass the entire room. Wandering off would raise suspicion, but Clarux had a feeling it was not a good sound in the slightest,
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 2:55 pm
As the door scraped open and Katya peeled off to the left, Lailah mirrored her on the right side of the room. Her daggers were drawn, the very 'wrongness' of this entire area setting the angel on edge. She slipped into the shadows, circling around the opposite direction while scoping out the room for dangers. There seemed to be plenty and the room itself was enormous. Plenty of darkness to hide within, which worked well for her...and yet, also for any other dangers lying in wait. She had a decent view of the convoy of children being herded out of the room, but they were of less concern to her at the moment. Little more than a curiosity. No, the figure on the throne was definitely more interesting, sporting hooves from the look of it, but also demonic-looking wings...and horns?
What in the dark forest was that?
As it began to speak, she did little more than note that it was indeed sentient or at least it could talk. Didn't make it intelligent yet. However, her attention was divided by the low growling noise that increased in volume as the dark furred creature spoke. Tense and alert, she surveyed her surroundings, trying to tell just what it was with which she might be sharing the shadows...
Eligor had strugged to keep his expression neutral and veil any surprise from showing as he squinted at the figure at the far end of the table. It was dark in here, but...he was pretty sure he saw the dark outline of wings. Bony, leather and spine wings, much like his own. Yet...the creature was definitely furry...he could tell that much from this distance. What...was it? Some twisted beast from the dark forest? Yet, the glare they received, even from the brief stare, Eligor could sense intelligence in its eyes. Then it began to speak.
So it was sentient. Not some mere beast of the forest. At least...he'd never heard or read anything about any of them speaking before.
But...what was it?
Unknowingly, he'd self-consciously tucked his wings tighter to his shoulders. Noting that many chose to hold any comments, letting Genesis take the role of speaker, he stepped up to stand beside her as a show of solidarity. He had not missed Katya's or Lailah's movements and to be honest, he felt better with them scouting the perimeter. Best draw the focus to the rest of the group to keep attention off of them. Besides, best to try the diplomatic approach first. If all else failed, then...
He cleared his throat, settling his staff at his side more like a walking stick, so as to appear less hostile. The creature seemed to have no idea why they were there...or was that an act to throw them off their guard? With such corruption on the air, it was hard not to assume the worst. Best go with diplomacy as he thought and see how this played out. "Our apologies for the intrusion, but my companion speaks true. If you have any news of any others like ourselves in the area, we would greatly appreciate it."
A Squire of action, Lailah was getting antsy with all the standing around and debating that the others seemed so fixated on doing on this mission. And now they seemed to want to have a friendly chat with the fuzz beast. Wonderful. She aimed a glare back at the gathering at the door, thinking to herself, This is ridiculous. This is going to take forever at this rate and the more we stand around, the more we make targets of ourselves for whatever else is in this dark pit. It would have probably been faster if I could have come alone. I'd have been in and out of here and back home by now.
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Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 3:47 pm
The creature remained in his relaxed position in the chair, though only a flicker of movement in the darkness betrayed more truth than his irritated stare. A long, lion-like tail lay draped over the arm of the chair and as the Squires spoke, it flicked idly, but with short, sharp movements, much like an aggravated feline. His eyes narrowed at their answers, but Genesis had barely finished speaking before he interrupted with a bark of derisive laughter.
"Ha! You're trying to tell me you losers have friends? I find that hard to believe." He grinned to himself, looking from one intruder to the next. "Even if you did, doesn't mean you can go stomping into someone else's place. No, not sure I buy that 'friend' story anyway. I think I'd remember more of you twits blundering through here. Nah, must be some other reason you're here..." He seemed to think very hard about this to himself, making a show of scratching his head and putting a finger on his chin as if in deep thought. Finally, he seemed to come to some conclusion that made him grin. "Ah! Perhaps you came to swear yourselves to my service! I could always use more minions."
Those with their eyes on the shadows would soon find others staring back. Twin pinpoints of glowing purple light began to blink from the darkness, regarding the Squires with palpable hatred. As the shapes began to emerge, they proved to be small and lightning quick in their movement. A type of rodent of some sort, vaguely resembling a squirrel complete with long fluffy tail...and an extra pair of legs. Their fur was scruffy and rough, their six paws ending in vicious, black claws. Their eyes glowed faintly purple and once in the light, could be seen to possess a pair of saber fangs. Though they glared at the Squires and growled, they made no direct moves to attack for the moment.
One individual broke from the darkness and darted towards the opposite end of the table. Scrambling atop, it zipped towards the speaking creature on the throne and halted abruptly on its haunches, chattering and gesturing wildly with four of its paws. The horned creature's previous amusement faded swiftly, replaced by an angry glower. Brushing aside his aloof air, he pushed himself up and swung his hooves to the floor to stand. He extended one hand towards the squirrel creature, which swiftly darted up the offered limb to perch on his shoulder. The other hand moved towards his waist, where upon standing was revealed that he was wearing a simple woven belt; upon his hip hung the coils of a whip. The small six-legged creature continued chattering in his ear, turning and gesturing towards the Squires with emphasis.
When the creature took hold of his ear and pointed directly ahead and fell silent, the hooved one's eyes narrowed again, following his line of sight. Now standing with wings flared, the furry creature sneered and flipped the whip's coils free from the loop at his waist to fall to the floor. He gripped the handle tightly, eyes scanning the group before fixating on the pink one.
"YOU!" he snarled, raising the whip to point at Alethea. "You claim you come looking for friends, but there's a murderer in your midst! They told me what you did. Tell me now...do you always take such joy in inflicting pain on those smaller than you? In terrorizing tiny creatures before snuffing out their meager little lives?" Tail whipping with fury, the creature took a step forward, grip tightening on the whip's handle. Curse these intruders! It was bad enough they come stomping into his domain, but they'd also cost him a minion! Of course, he had more, but that wasn't the point. The point was, it had been HIS minion.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 10:00 am
With one ear on the conversation, and both eyes scanning the room for any potential ambushes, Katya kept the larger situation in the back of her mind. She was glad that Eligor had joined Genesis at the fore to converse with the young(?) creature. His added wisdom might be useful in their... Negotiations.
Katya frowned at that thought. The term 'negotiations' might have been a little generous for describing what they were doing. From the way it sounded, they were dealing with a petulant teen with what might have been an overinflated claim to his own lordship, were it not for the even younger individuals that exited the room- and the growling sounds.
And the eyes staring back. Quite a few of them.
The demon stared back with her own bright golden eyes and kept an arrow nocked, but not drawn. She wasn't exactly spoiling for a fight, but was ready should one begin to materialize. A blur of movement to her right caused her to snap her gaze in that direction, and she slid one of her feet back into a ready stance. Something small, familiar but... wrong somehow. A perversion of a cute woodland creature was chattering at the hooved one, and it appeared to be very agitated.
Whether or not Katya sensed danger before, she certainly felt it after the tainted faun appeared to lose his temper at the suggestion that Alethea had murdered one of his friends. Or servants. Either way, it looked like things might be escalating and they would have to face grave danger again. For some reason, this made Katya grin in a resigned manner. This could very well be the life of a servant of the Light.
She took stock of the situation. Dante and herself covered the left flank. Lailah was on the right, and she was confident that Lailah could handle it alone. The rest of the squires formed the centre and Eligor and Genesis were up front- if an attack were to eventuate, Genesis could hold and buy time for Eligor to withdraw behind the main body of their force and ready a spell. The doorway they'd come through could be an escape route but a bottleneck at the same time- or it could be the source for tainted reinforcements. She loosened the straps on her heavy pack in preparation for whatever might come.
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