Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Just so you know, there aren't two armies. There's Aurora's army, and Nox. Nox would be the large black man striding towards the Princess. No one has died. There's just been alot of chaos and dissaray.

So, I hope that clears things up for you.))

Yet again Paal decided that now was a rather bad time to be laying in the mud; yet again he failed to do anything more than struggle. If he could just get to his feet, he might be able to regain his bearing, steady up and recuperate. Still, without help the most he could even dream of was getting to his knees.

Well, a man can dream, can't he?

Silently chuckling to himself, it took him a moment to realize that he had pushed himself to his knees. He was still a little shaky, but he knew how to fight from this position. If he could just lean against something for a minute or so he could stand back up, he was sure of it...

Marilla over-looked what was going on, restraining Sunray from lip-buzzing rudely at the dark figure. Marilla could read Snuray's eyes - her steed held so much contempt over that...thing.

Marilla then returned her eyes back over at the figure - still staring at Aurora. Then, Marilla was slightly surpirsed when Aurora asked the question - directed towards the strange being. She shuddered, still keeping her eyes on it.

((*tap* Actually, Nox has no evil aura... he isn't evil. His allegiance has yet to be discovered.

Just so you know biggrin ))

His name was Evell. He was 19 years of age, tall, muscular, and handsome. He had a beautiful and oving wife, a son and a daughter, and had been a loyal citizen of Rideron since the day of his birth.

Now, he was kneeling in the mud, his boots slicked with the watered dirt and torn grass of what would soon be a battlefield. His armor gleamed proudly in the sun. His blade was drawn at his side, and his shield was up before him. He was one of the few who had stepped forward to defend their Queen from this abomination. However, he felt sickness in his very bones. A sort of fear that he had never before experienced. The thoughts that kept screaming through his mind:

"What of my children? What of my wife? What will become of them?"

With every step the creature took, Evell's fear grew. He was a strong man. He had great courage and faith in his heart. Yet as the distance between him, his comrades, and the beast grew smaller, his eyes began to water.

Tears were slipping from Evell's eyes when the beast was no farther than twenty paces from the defensive wall. He found it hard to keep his shield still, and his sword arm ready. Yet he did. He had to. If he was going to die this day, his family would know that he died valiantly, and not as a coward.

Evell's mouth opened, and he spoke. His words were a command to the creature, and though his voice shook with fear, there was steel within it.

"C-come no further! You shall not harm our Lady Aurora!"

Thee Shadow Fiend came to a halt. As he did, it appeared the entire army was holding its breath.

Its smile grew wider, and its right hand lifted up to its back. Every seasoned soldier knew that the thing was drawing a weapon. A sword. A -massive- sword, that went from the Shadow Fiend's hand to the ground with over a foot of the blade to spare.

((Quick description: The blade measures over five feet in length, and nearly two inches in width. Nothing is known of what the blade is made of, but it almost certainly not human crafted. The metal's surface swirls and clouds like smoke, and has a dark bluish-onyx color to it. There is no crossguard to the sword. Instead, the blade tapers into the handle of the sword, which is wrapped in worn leather. On the blade, apparently inlaid with silver wire or something similar, is the inscription Zxaxthlir. The edge is serrated, and looks like broken glass.))

Evell spoke again, and though his fear was growing, so was his determination.

"In te name of Rideron, you... you shall not pass!"

The Fiend looked from Evell, to Aurora, to Felicia, to Aurora. The grin grew wider, and finally revealed the monstrous, shark-like set of teeth that it had in its mouth. What appeared to be well over fifty jagged, misaligned and razor sharp fangs smiled down at Aurora. It also raised an eyebrow.

Truthfully, Nox was quite curious what Aurora was about to do.

Aurora almost jumped as one of the soldiers spoke out to try and deter the being. Her men had been so quiet up till now. She hoped that the brave soldier's words would give confidence to the rest of the army and also made a note to commemorate the soldier as well. Her attention went back to the being who was drawing out a long odd looking sword. "Does he mean to fight?" Aurora questioned herself glancing at the sword and then back at the being. "What to do, what to do. If I attack there would be a very good chance that Rideron will be no more. I can't let that happen. However that grin, why is he smiling so? Is he playing with us like a cat plays with his food?" Aurora suppressed a shudder at the thought. "I, Princess Aurora of Rideron ask you again, sir. What do you want?" She addressed the being more sternly than before.

Seeing as Felicia had drawn her weapon and looked to fight, Esiri made a small sigh of irritation. Carefully, she pulled another soldier over to them, one that was not in the formation, and draped the still stunned warrior onto him.

"Support him until he is able to stand please," Esiri told the soldier. Esiri pulled out her scimitars and searched out for her shade.

"Tynan."

"Yessss, M'Lady?"

"Protect the Queen. I think it's time I played a little of my hand."

"Is this wissse, M'Lady Esiri? Showing mooortals your gift would mosst likely give them the wrong iiimpression of you-"

"I thank for your concern Tynan, but if she is the Queen of Rideron, I must protect her. My life comes second to my cause. You know this."

". . . As you wisssh, M'Lady. I know whaaat he issss. . . he is a Shadow Fiend...

Esiri's eyes widened. This could get messy. What on Alteron was a shadow fiend doing here!? She thought they were normally peaceful, only coming out in darkness.
"Thank you, Tynan.

Esiri disliked what she was about to do. No doubt many of the soldiers would regard her the same as the dark one after she was finished. She worried what Felicia might think.

"Oh well...time to do what I offered," Esiri whispered under her breath.

Stepping calmly forward she, walked into the shadows by a group of soldiers and then sunk into their shadows. Quicker than light, she reappeared out of the shadows next to the dark man. Before he could react, Esiri whipped both of her swords forward so that they were positioned in a scissor-like cross at the dark one's neck. She knew that no ordinary weapons would even begin to harm this one, but her scimitars were not ordinary. They were blessed and inscribed with holy symbols of the Spirit World. If the man before her was evil in any way, just the presence of the blades would cause physical pain. If not, he'd still be affected as if they were regular weapons and as if he was normal.

Esiri held her swords pressed lightly against the man's neck. Neither drawing blood nor releasing any pressure. She really didn't want to kill another shadow of the dark.

"The Queen asked you a question, good Sir. Answer her," Esiri ordered politely. She doubted the Fiend would listen, so kept a wary eye on his magnificent sword.


((Esiri would know about Shadow Fiends, because A) She's been to the Demon World more than once and if she hasn't seen a fiend there, she's blind and B) She's an elf and has been around for more than 100 years. You'd think she'd know about the about the races of the Demon and Spirit Worlds' by now. To Bayne: to make sure that I don't come off as Godmoding, I left room for your character to do something to Esiri, should he wish.))

{{15/16 Shadow Jumps}}

((I'm not bringing this up to contest you, Esiri, but a Shadow Fiend is not a Demon. They are not good, or evil, but neutral, and have no relation whatsoever to Demons. Though they appear frightening, they are simply the dominant and controlling species that exists in a plane subjacent to the one that our characters are currently in. The fact that Esiri is an Elf should have nothing to do with her knowledge of Shadow Fiends, as in the history of the written world, only two Shadow Fiends have ever broken the Twilight Pact and opened their eyes before dusk. The first would be Xiljaed, the "son" of Twilight, who in turn was the "son" of Night itself. Xiljaed was sentenced to obliteration by his kin for attempting to overpower the Night. The day before his execution, Xiljaed opened his eyes and laid waste to several small mountain villages in the North. The experiences and eyewitness accounts are the only recorded records of a Shadow Fiend outside of the Shadow Walk, until Nox. However, many shadow fiends have been observed in their natural world through the magics of a handful of Necromancers, Shadow Dancers, and one Archmage. So, there are countless texts about Shadow Fiends, but very little has actually come from the first hand exposure to them. That is why they are entitlted Shadow Fiends. The first and only experience with one in the human world (until now, that is) was purely of destruction and genocide. From that encounter stemmed the entire superstition that darkness was "evil" and that is had a malicious intent.

God, this is a long explanation. I hope you're still with me, Esiri biggrin It'll be the little OOC history lesson for everyone.

Xiljaed's appearance was back when the world was young, and in elemntal upheaval. However, being an Elf, 'm sure Esiri has read more than one book discussing Shadows Fiends. It's completely fine to me if your character is aware as to what Nox is, it's justifiable through the fact that you have a shade agent.

For future refference, how does a shadow jump work? Does Esiri quite literally jump into the Shadow Walk, then back out of it at her destination? If so, expect a suprise the next time she tries to use it against Nox.

Oh, and Shadow Fiends are not directly connected to the Spirit World, as whenever a Shadow Fiend is obliterated, their shades are recycled into the Shadow Walk. Since no object can be without a shadow somewhere in the world.

Yeah, I've put way too much thought into this -.-;;

Anyway, on to my post! razz ))

Esiri's attack was far from subtle, fast as it was. Her path through the Shadow Walk was like striking your hand into a pool of water. The ripples could be seen and for Nox, felt. However, he was certainly not expecting anyone amidst this army to have the power to violate the Shadow Walk. As such, he did not find the time to react before her blades were hung around his neck.

It irritated him. More than most things in this world irritated him. As such, when Esiri used her blessing and favor to attack a Demi-God from the very plan through which she travelled, it should come as no suprise that he would discipline her.

It amused him, how easily Humans could be convinced to believe something. How simple it was to break a man's morale, and how even an anteloupe knew more (instinctually) about a Shadow Fiend's presence than a human.

Granted, he -had- been toying with them. So this should come as no suprise. Regardless...

First things first. It was time to show this Elf that she was little more than a flea when it came to her exploitation of the Shadow Walk.

Depending on just how composed a person was, the following may come as either no suprise, or absolutely mind boggling.

The Shadow Fiend's form suddenly slipped out of focus, as if the camera lense of the world had suddenly slipped too close to Nox. The fine lines and details of his figure were suddenly distorted, and seemed to flow in the direction of the wind. Quite literally, it appeared as though Nox was a figure made of inky, lightless smoke. The massive figure swayed, and then took a step forward. The blades that were at his neck now passed through him as the ethereal haze moved ahead, towards Aurora.

At the same time, something strange was transpiring at Esiri's feet. Like the tentacles of an anenome, the shadows in the grass were curling up and back, around Esiri's boots. As each tiny shadow played itself onto her footwear's surfaces, it suddenly became solid, like a hook.

The shadow in the grass intended to have her anchored in place, while the Shadow Fiend's form suddenly snapped back into focus. His eyes were once again fixed on Aurora, smile still upon his face. This time he spoke. As his mouth opened, the voice that moved from it was deep and coarse. It was implacable, but somewhere between the roar of a beast and the tone of a man.

"Rideron." The word seemed addressed not only to the princess, but to all of her people as well. "To where do you ride?"