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 Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:41 am
Ragnvald burst out laughing. “Wow, now I was wondering when the cider thing would come up... In my defense... and my manhood, I am also drinking whiskey... And not the cheap kind. But I do still have to pay for my women so I am not well off either way.”
The young man could only shake his head in disbelief of what Darius had said. Yet he knew it would come. Beer or bitter brews never seemed to agree with his stomach and he always found himself face down puking and aching for hours. Ragni shook his head and shudder a bit, then took another sip of his cider. His dark eyes watching the amber liquid rock back and forth until settling.
“I do agree with you, but I must say I am already missing the attention of my female lover Jesi there... Not sure why she is so upset with me. She is not the first to get angry about violence though. I find that strange. It is not like I killed that man... But oh well. What am I to do when there is nothing to be said or understood. Anyways I would talk to one of these pretty girls but I fear they would shoot me down as soon as they saw me drinking my teat juice.” Ragni chuckled at himself and glanced over to Darius who seemed to be relaxing for the first time since before they were lost in the mountains and came here, to this desolate town.
The swordsman spun around on his stool to lean his back against the bar and put his elbows up as well. Eyes searching the room until he saw Jesi walking about taking orders from a few others around the inn. His dark brown eyes fell back down to the ground, but his nerves kept twitching as he noticed people moving and coming closer, but saw that it was only Jesi walking past to the back.
Finally after coming back from a daze he noticed the new woman coming up who had also been with the search, after a moment he noticed just how useless half the people in the search party had been, albeit no offense to them as for the fodder they were meant to be, and slowly he felt laughter building yet again but held fast and watched the woman down her drink. Unfortunately the wolf appeared for a brief second before his eyes, giving the bloody snarling smile. He shook his head to clear it and continued to looked at the black haired beauty and then to the white haired one, dark and light.
Now there is every man's fantasy...
She was quite a fetching woman. Everything Ragni looked for in a woman... almost.
“Yes please join us, the more the merrier... So then... Umm, what is your name now, was it Oriella?”
Ragnvald paused and smiled at himself, another true smile where his eyes wrinkled at the corners.
“I really need to start writing these things down or one day I am going to have a permanent slap mark or no balls to dangle as I piss,” he couldn't help but mutter to himself.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 7:17 am
Kristalia took a sip of the fruity drink and smiled at Ragnavald, granted she was a little annoyed that he did not remember her name, but then again she had not remembered Darius earlier.
So she let that slide."Names Kristalia Inverse...And one thing you should know,is that I'm not like other girls."
Kristalia was going to continue talking when Darius muttered something.
She was about to ask what he had said but all of a sudden, Darius was pointing and talking to her.
She suppressed the urge to punch him for startling her and just propped her elbow on the bar looking at him with a smile, clearly entertained by his short tale.
"Interesting..." She glanced at Ragnavald and then back at Darius."So at times you have been enemies...or rather yet rivals. Yet here you are.."
Looking rather childish she turned on her stool closing her eyes.
It was things like these that gained her weird looks and mumbles from the townsfolk but she didn't care.
After her third turn she stopped in front of the men and opened her eyes peering through her silvery locks, watching the room spin only slightly.
"Oh and i don't drink. Life may be too short,but if your drunk and a situation arises when you need a clear mind...well...
Her thoughts trailed off as she unconsciously touched the scar over her eye and her ever present smile downed in size.
"You might not be able to react as needed."
She dropped a few coins back on the bar and asked Jessi for another fruity concoction.
She grinned at the woman as her cold drink was served, Talia then turned to the men and noticed lucrezia join them and ask for ale,and a deep sorrow filled her.
Talia had known about lucrezias predicament with her husband and in some small part of her soul, she thanked God for not letting her father get to his extent in his drunken years.
She also thought that the man deserved it, and all in all her sorrow was for the woman with them, she had no child and was now alone, and usually in places like these you don't get remarried often.
"Hmm...She is a gorgeous woman,so i think she could find someone..."
Kristalias thoughts trailed off as Ragnavald called Lucrezia,Oriella.
She giggled and stifled a laugh as she looked at him with amusement."You wont gain many favors from a woman if you keep guessing their names wrong."
Talia was going to give him a mock lecture in how to win a woman's favor, when she noticed Ragnavalds Smile and noted in her mind that it was dazzling.
She then turned to lucrezia and nodded at the woman,removing any sadness in her eyes and voice, only mixing in a small amount of disapproval and amusement in both.
"Lucrezia! ha ha iv never known you to down a drink so!" Kristalia enjoyed this, being distracted.
Althou in her life, anything remotely interresting could grab her attention.
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Hermit Omega Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 3:15 pm
Darius frowned. Not be able to react? This girl obviously didn’t know what it was like to kill a man. She didn’t know what it was like to watch someone’s eyes glaze over and the realization of their own demise comes over them. She obviously didn’t know that drinking was one of the simplest ways to bring moral, getting intoxicated, bullshiting with people who understand your trials. The alcohol was a social lubricant.
“This is a small town, the likelihood of bad things happening here are slim, you living here should know that better than any of us. I have talked to the elders, and they have admitted that other than the missing people, nothing even remotely bad has happened here in decades. It’s far enough out of the way that nobody bothers to come here. So having a little drink to raise moral, let loose for just a few hours when you can’t work anyway. It just seems preposterous to me, especially after such a rough night.
Besides the fact that even if something does happen, for someone like me who has had to end more lives than I can remember. If something happens, and I die because I was drinking, so what? Should I live my entire life cold sober remembering the horrors of war? The mind wanders often to the faces of the people one has killed. Just enjoying life for the little time I do have to relax, well all I can say is that one needs to take the most out of life, enjoy what little time we have here. Getting drunk, being merry, it is not something to look down upon. Because believe it or not, not everyone turns into a d**k like that drunk whose been causing us issues.”
He shrugged, tried looking around again, and realized that he was drunk, his vision trailing behind his head, moving slow. He felt himself smirk a little and shrug. He didn’t really care if the girl drank or not. He was too drunk to not talk about it though. His mouth wandered, but instead of picking fights when he was drunk, Darius was prone to become more empathetic. He enjoyed being able to end disagreements with debate rather than by running someone through with his sword. His body felt loose and hot, he rolled his head around slowly, popping the bones in his neck and groaned with the relief.
Then his eyes settled on the women he had seen the blue waves emanating from. Only now she was next to them. He heard Ragni’s words rolling off his tongue, the sly little b*****d, knowing that most women were attracted to what they couldn’t have, he was sure it was automatic now, acting indifferent, he usually got what he wanted. Though he wasn’t sure it would work on this woman. She had certain airs about her that made it seem like she would see through his subconscious attempts. Darius liked watching the man play his little games, he was pretty damned good at it, and it was entertaining. But Darius’s attention span was shot.
He heard Kristalia talking to her as well. The women supposedly did not drink much, and with the sadness he felt from her he couldn’t help but wonder if their was a connection. She seemed sad, but at the same time strong enough to go on. Darius felt a smile stretch across his face, someone who lived a rough life yet lived on anyway, it was the story he heard everywhere he went. Everyone had troubled times, Darius included. He almost blurted something out but then thought better of it. Much to his horror his mouth seemed to work in defiance with his willpower. He looked to Lucrezia.
“Even with the silent emanations of sadness, you are utterly beyond beautiful.”
Then without waiting he rose suddenly and began walking towards the door. Cursing himself for making a fool of himself even though he had just had a speech about how drinking didn’t make fools out of everyone. He realized that rising and leaving abruptly probably would make him seem even more like a idiot. It was too late now he realized. He had decided to go have an adventure exploring around the town at night, he was determined to do it. He opened the door and went outside.
It was cold, the snowing had picked up considerably, along with a light breeze. He could acknowledge that it was cold, but didn’t really feel it. He knew that he would have to keep active or he might regret it later. He began walking eastward, off to where some houses were, and a large cliff. He walked up to the cliff and watched the mass amounts of snowflakes drift off into the black abyss, it was a dark and quiet night. He wondered to himself how snow managed to make the world go silent. He took his two handed sword from off his back and began practicing forms. Striking with precision, practicing the ability to dance around blades, to hit where you wanted, and to hit very hard, and not be in a stance where one could not recover fast enough for the next enemy. Sweat beaded his forehead and his breathing grew rapid. He wondered how much longer his abilities with the blade would keep him alive. His life would be short, without glory, and his name would be forgotten. Such was his lot in life, along with countless others. What was a man to do but enjoy it.
He decided to go back and get some sleep. He was getting the hell out of Orsin Vear, back to civilization. He spun around and stopped suddenly. His hazy vision made out figures standing in the snow. His first assumption was that it was villagers watching him go through his forms. But they stood there silently, in the dark placed randomly. He then thought maybe it was Wendel and some of his friends come to try and teach him a lesson.
“Is that you ya drunk b*****d? Go back home!”
There was no response. Darius felt a feeling of anxiety wash over him. Something was not right. He realized that he thought these people were naked, he couldn’t make them out all that well, but he saw no bulk, it looked like they were out in the middle of the freezing night with nothing to bar them from the elements. Darius felt his grip tighten on his blade involuntarily. There was a sudden flash. There was a immense feeling of danger as red enveloped them. It had something to do with the vision, something to do with the third eye. They suddenly roared as if the aura he was seeing was bringing them. An inhuman shriek bellowed out from them, piercing the nights silence. They charged toward him suddenly, Darius ran. Going towards the edge of the cliff, not wanting them to have the ability to flank him. Then he made out their forms in the darkness.
He froze in silent terror as he saw things that could not be. Their bodies rippled with muscle, they had a human shape but were covered in protruding bones. Long claws extended from their fingers. Jagged teeth stuck out from distended jaws. They were fast, faster than him. He screamed a curse as one of them caught up to him and slashed three of it’s claws across his right arm, cutting through his leather armor and tearing his flesh underneath. He swung around, his blade cleaved through the center of it’s face, it shrieked as it fell spasming to the ground, lashing out, trying to kill him even though it no longer had life.
He stood with his back to the cliff, five of them surrounded him. Roaring at him with their claws extended, posed to kill him. His heart hammered against his ribcage, the cold air biting his lungs. He was still drunk, the pain his body was feeling was more of an idea than a true feeling. He laughed, these things they couldn’t be real, they were just more hallucinations brought on by stress alcohol and the cold. He couldn’t accept them, they could not possibly be real. He saw that they were splattered with blood. He had to make the assumption that they had found earlier prey.
One dashed forward, he blocked it’s claws with his blade, cleaving the hand in two between fingers. It did not slow down and immediately struck out with the other hand. Darius stepped back and swung his blade, smacking the creature with the flat of his blade and knocking it howling over the edge of the cliff. The others advanced immediately, attempting a new tactic. He cursed again, running one of them through with his sword and wrenching it out sideways, spilling it’s guts steaming onto the snow. The blade cut into a second one of them, but got lodged into it’s ribcage and he lost his grip on it. The other two fell upon him, clawing at him, turning his armor into strips of leather. He roared and flung them off of him, and tried to scramble to his feet, slipping in the snow and landing on his a**. The creatures were tangled up with each other, and struggled to gain a footing as well.
Darius forced himself up and pulled out his one-handed blade and took his shield from his back. By then they had rose and leaped forward with enough force to knock him down again. One impaled itself on his blade through the chest, they other latched onto his shield. Shrieking in fury and snapping it’s jaws at him hungrily. It’s saliva spilling hotly onto his face. Darius let his sword go and tried to punch the creature in the side of the head. It caught his arm, though it’s arm was less than half the size of his it was like trying to bend steel. The creature lurched forward again, it’s teeth catching his cheek slightly, cutting long burning slashes across it. Darius focused all of his strength and through the thing off of him. He tore his blade out of the dead creature next to him and sliced across the still living one over and over again, spilling it’s insides out. It’s black blood staining the snow. Darius wasted no time. He ran to retrieve his two handed blade and spun back to the direction the main town, where more howls were arising.
“What the @$#% is going on?!” he cried as he ran forward, sword and shield in hand.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:51 pm
Nox sighed Why does it seem that most of us that went are all happy accept me, well not including Lucrezia. Then again she was widowed not to long ago so happy probably wasn't her first emotion she'd be feeling right now. Maybe they didn't have the visions? Should I ask them? Nox grabbed his head and put it against the table.
"What the Hell am I supposed to do?" he muttered to himself. Then he looked up at the bar then sighed again, put his gauntlets back on just as he heard the cry of the creatures outside. Nox ran out the door to see what was making the noise just as one of the creatures attacked him slashing right through the fabric hoodie he wore. He cried out and spun quickly slamming his steel-covered fist into it's bottom jaw shattering the bone and a few of it's fangged teeth. Just then he saw for the first time what exactly he was fighting; it horrified him, the distorted bones, the burning red eyes.
"What are you?!" he cried at the beast as it approached him with it's jaw hanging broken and crushed. The boy then sweep kicked the beast and wasted no time in taking off running from the monster. What the @$&* was that thing! he thought just as he saw one of the mercenaries that led the expedition to the mountain.
"Darius!?" he said paniced just as he reached the man and looked up to him. "What are these thing!? Have you seen anything like them?" he said with fear in his eyes as the boy looked at the battle hardened man.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:57 pm
Lucrezia eyed the handsome man who had gotten her name wrong "Lucrezia," she said shortly "What was your name? Ragnellia?" She sat down as gracefully as she could, despite her aching head and confused emotions. She looked at him again, he was quite nice looking but she never had much use for a pretty man.
Lucrezia ordered another mug of ale and turned to the silvery-haired girl that she vaguely knew to be Kristalia "If there was ever a night to start drinking," she said with a smirk, sipping the ale that had been brought to her "It would be tonight." Lucrezia looked the girl up and down briefly and took another drink. Their fathers had been occasional drinking companions, fortunately Kristalia's father had given up that demon, and Lucrezia was glad for it, she didn't want to see another young woman's value be determined the way hers was.
Lucrezia was taken out of her thoughts by the other mercenary. He seemed quite intoxicated, but she could still feel an unmistakable air of strength coming from him; she also felt something like a heavy weight when she looked at him, he did not have happy eyes. She wanted to say something to him just then, to communicate that she thought she might understand whatever pain he felt but she just looked away, what could a used up widower whose value was that of a bar tab say to anyone? Lucrezia shook her head, this was all nonsense... maybe she was going mad.
Was it madness that Lucrezia felt when she felt as though an invisible rope had pulled her towards these people, and now that she was with them, something loosened inside of her. The visions she had seen seemed to be good proof of insanity.
The tall mercenary distracted her once again when he spoke to her of her sadness and beauty. Her normally inscrutable expression vanished when her mouth dropped a little. That was the last thing she expected from a battle-hardened mercenary, and when he got up and left, she stared after him, still in shock.
Lucrezia tore her eyes away and looked at the other two "Does that happen often?" she asked, completely unsure of handle herself. It had certainly been the nicest thing ever said to her, she was used to perverted, mean comments more than anything.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 6:36 pm
Darius charged back towards the inn, as fast as his legs could carry him. He was numb with the cold, yet his legs burned with the exertion. He had to kill another two of the things on his way back. They seemed drawn to him. They were slaughtering the villagers, but went into a frenzy when they saw him and dropped what they were doing. It was starting to piss him off. He wondered if it had to do with something that happened atop the mountain. If the visions had somehow unlocked something inside them, and whatever it was drew these creatures from some dark hole within the mountains. If that was the case, then it was them that the monsters were after. They had to do something about it. It was their responsibility to take them out.
The Inn came into view, several of the buildings around it had caught aflame. It seemed that not everyone had noticed that there had even been an attack yet. Then Darius noticed the teen who had gone with them atop the mountain. Nox was his name. Darius found himself a little surprised when he watched the fifteen year old take out one of the abominations with his bare hands. He would have to ask him about this Muay Thai that he had said he was learning. It seemed like a very deadly art. He saw Nox dislocate the creature’s jaw and then kick it back, where it writhed, probably suffering from some kind of brain damage. Nox ran to him and addressed him.
“No Nox. Not in all my years, in all my journeys have I encountered anything like these creatures. But so far they have proven to die just like any other beast. Hopefully we can~”
There was an earthshaking cry that rose up all around them, cutting off what Darius was going to say. All of them came screaming towards the Inn. In the darkness Darius could not even count all of them. He let out a stream of curses and held up his blade. He looked to Nox and yelled out over the rumbling shriek.
“Get back into the Inn, we can try to hold them off there!”
He started moving towards the inn when the first of the beasts reached him, he chopped it’s claw off at the wrist, and then twirled the blade back around and decapitated it. The beasts were covered in blades, but were not very well combat oriented. Whoever, or whatever they were, their minds were much less then men. They had managed to claw the s**t out of him, but he had taken more damage from peasants wielding nothing more than farming tools. Darius dashed into the Inn.
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Hermit Omega Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:00 pm
Nox listened to the man; he knew the answer to his question already, but clung to the hope he might know how they could fight back. Then suddenly more of the beasts were upon them again. Nox struck the beast in the temple and as the steel on his knuckles connected with it's skull he felt the bones underneath splinter and crack. The beast died on impact.
Nox then sprinted after Darius into the inn and shut the door behind him slamming the thick wooden latch into place. He then looked up to Darius once again and slid his hood off his head.
"Those...things are freaky as Hell!" he said to Darius. He began pacing about with a nervous look on his face. All the sudden his look switched from nervious to panicked. "Where's Alina!? I didn't see her here! Craaaaap!!"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:28 pm
Aliana had been home for a while when she first heard it. A shriek; inhuman and earsplitting. It sent a chill down her spine, made her shudder. She had never heard such a noise, and it terrified her beyond any childhood nightmare. What was worse? It came from the street in front of her home.
She had been about to crawl in bed, but now she wasn't so sure. She didn't change out of her nightclothes, instead wandered into the kitchen where her parents were still talking. They were obviously troubled; it was silently agreed that they'd heard it too. For a while, they were all still, listening. Then the shriek came again, loud and clear: right in front of her door. Things started banging against it. Her father went and picked up a knife--it was the best they had--and stood in front of Aliana and her mother. "Get in your room," he said. Aliana opened her mouth to protest, but her father cut her off. "NOW!" Her mother fled to the bedroom, but Aliana stood her ground for a moment before her father grabbed her shoulder and practically threw her, slamming the door to the room. Then the front door burst open. Aliana listened intently. Shouts, screams, the sounds of a struggle. Disturbing sounds. Then, for a moment, silence.
Aliana and her mother held each other, standing in front of the small window. For a moment, it seemed all was going to be alright...then the door splintered. In front of them stood the most hideous creatures Aliana had ever seen, worse than anything she could ever have imagined. Their twisted, distorted bodies were horrifyingly tragic. Before she could even fully register their existence, or even their numbers, they lunged forward. Her mother threw her away and yelled something, jumping into the midst of the creatures, which ignored Aliana for the moment and took to tearing her mother apart. She was shuddering, frozen with fear, until one of the things looked up from the carnage of her mother and made eye contact. Aliana didn't even have to think about her reaction. She screamed, and threw herself out the window. She was slim enough to fit easily through, but the creatures, she hoped, were bulky enough that it would stall them.
She ran. The cold biting the skin left exposed by her small nightdress, the ground seeming to grab at her feet to make her stumble, tears streaming down her face, she ran for her life. She felt like a newborn baby: powerless, hopeless, no possible way to defend herself. It wasn't long before she heard the cursed things following her. She pushed herself harder, ran faster than she ever had before...and she managed to stay ahead of them. She had always been somewhat quick, but she was aware it was a miracle that they hadn't overtaken her yet. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, attributing the speed to adrenaline.
She could see the inn. It's where she instinctually headed. The mercenaries were there. She knew that if there was anywhere that was safe, it was with them. Unfortunately, there seemed to be almost no way to get inside. They'd already locked themselves in and the monsters were swarming the front door.
The front door...not the back.
She altered her course, dashing down an alley that would take her to the back of the inn. Turning the corners quickly and maintaining her speed through the tiny maze, it seemed she lost the creatures, if only for a moment. Then, sweet salvation. She slammed against the back door of the inn, banging her fist against the wood. "Let me in!" she cried frantically. "Let me in it's me it's Aliana for the love of everything let me in!" She heard her pursuers approaching behind her, and almost lost hope. Then the door opened, a maid grabbed her by the front of her dress, and pulled her in, slamming the door and sliding the bolt into place.
The woman held Aliana for a moment, comforting her and assuring her she was safe before leading her gently into the room where the others were, just as Nox voiced his concern. "We just found her," the woman announced, leading Aliana to a table. Aliana sat down, burying her face in her arms and sobbing quietly, still trembling violently with terror and grief. She could tell these images would haunt her forever, the sight of her mother being dismembered by the abominations that seemed...well, almost human. The thought made her trembling intensify.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 11:37 pm
When he saw Alina had been found and brought to the inn he quickly made his way over to her and sat down next to the girl and put his gloved hand over her's. He noticed for the first time some of the creatures' blood was on the metal knuckle part of his glove.
"The creatures, they got them didn't they?" he said looking at her, concern written across his face. He looked down remembering how his own parents had dissapeared and probably dead now. His thoughts also went to his sister who was in their house still and stuck in the bed due to her sickness. Nox's eyes were filled with the saddness of loosing his family. He imagined that it was the way Alina would be feeling right now if his assumption was right.
"I'll be here for you Alina." he said looking straight into her eyes, his own had tears welling up in them that he would not permit to breach or he might not be able to stop for who knows how long.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 5:59 am
Ragnvald waved it all away nonchalantly. “Eh, I am in no need of wants and favors from women, I earn coin for a reason whores, whiskey, and food... Usually in that order. Ah, and the occasional well versed blacksmith... Well at least one in particular I trust my swords to.”
His callused hands fell to the longsword on either side of his hips, fingers tracing the 'S' patterns of their guards.
Slowly but surely he finished his cider with a reluctant sigh. The swordsman had never been one for beer or cider, but whiskey had always been a lover when things needed to be forgotten and he decided to sail in a bottle slightly different than rum.
“I am not sure what is so bad about drinking as long as you know when to quit.” Ragni rubbed his hands together to try and get the sticky substance to rub off with friction. He had a mind to complain about the sticky bar, but he knew he would get no help from Jesi and the barkeep didn't seem to be about this particular night, most likely rolling in the sheets with his pig. He scoffed at the thought and went back to looking over Kristalia and Lucrezia, both pretty girls, but for some reason he found himself lacking.
Then he turned and gave a chuckle as the dark haired woman decided to throw a female name at him, it was rather amusing.
“Fair enough ladies I shall note your names, I am sorry, forgive my lacking mind and memory for all the hits it has taken over the years.”
Slowly he drifted back into his daze listening to Darius, Lucrezia, and Kristalia talking.
There it was, the wolf seemed to always be waiting and slowly its maul began to open. Not in a since of a bark, but a slow opening, like a panting motion as the wolf's bloody tongue fell out to one side dripping blood into a snow covered plain. Something seemed to be moving in the darkness that was his mouth, squirming and writhing violently-
Ragnvald snapped back to reality as Darius spoke out in a burst. The mercenary looked up to his companion in a minor shock as he spoke to the dark haired beauty.
“Umm... Wow, now that was an exit, a lot better than my lackadaisical act...”
Ragnvald burst out laughing, wiping his eyes as tears formed from the act of such raw laughter. He was of course not laughing at Darius, just how the man chose to take his exit. “I must say I love that man. He is like a brother and always keeps me on my toes. But that is something I was not expecting. Usually he likes girls but I have never heard him say something like that and so forward... I have always thought him as a wordy fellow, never so direct... Maybe I have read him wrong and only connected his swordplay to his wordplay... Kinda foul of me.”
The mercenary began to restlessly twiddle his thumbs as he sat deciding on whether to go upstairs to his room or not yet, or maybe if he should chase after his only friend in this begotten demon spawned town.
He was actually rather torn and decided to just wait at the bar, hoping his companion would soon return and give him the comforting presence of a true friend in the midst of pig pokers and farm girls.
Or so that is how the young man could only think of such a small town. In truth he had grown up a little of everywhere before leaving his own family who had just been trying to con and escape their own reality.
Ragni sighed in irritation at the unwanted thoughts, his dark gaze looking to the large main window beside the front entrance of the inn. It looked like the snow was coming down harder and the night was only darkening, almost eerily as if something was going to happen.
After awhile he shot up in his stool. His ears aching as they caught a screeching howl of a sort. Slowly he stood and felt his hands drift near his sword hilts.
“Did anyone else hear that...?” Slowly he looked around, seeing that everyone had, and then his eyes caught sight of a younger lad who had accompanied them as well dart for the door shouting.
“Hey wait don't leave the inn. Everyone stay here, if there is something out there then we are safer here for now...” Ragnvald doubted his own words as he slowly made his way over to the large window.
This window must have cost a fortune, he chuckled to his lacking train of thought.
Slowly he snapped back and began to slid long tables over toward the window and began to flip them over and barricade the glass so as to keep anything that might be trying to get in out. But he stopped as he heard a shout of frustration and he looked back to see a huffed up and red faced Jesi.
“Ragnvald, what in the ghost of my grandmother do you think you are damn well doing! Unstack those tables right now and put them back!” Jesi threw her hands down in frustration and began to clench her fist tightly.
The mercenary grinned lightly and arched a eyebrow at her. Then back to the barricaded window as yet another howling screech came through, and then another and many more followed.
“Go to the back door and lock it now Jesi, this is no time to argue. Wait back there in the kitchen after and maybe try to barricade the door to reinforce the bar lock.”
He smirked as he thought about their tussle in the kitchen, fond memories always at the wrong time.
But Jesi did not protest and did as told.
Ragni moved to flip a long table and some stools and chairs against the door, but before he did Darius burst through the door.
“Seven Spirits, you b*****d, watch where you are going, you almost bulled me over!” Ragni took his mercenary friend in and saw the blood dripping from him. Slowly he took a deep breath then released it.
Cocking his head slightly while still holding the table he couldn't help himself in making a quip, “So found a pretty lass who liked to scratch, eh? That means she is a keeper. Does she like to bite too?”
Ragnvald chuckled as the door slammed back open to have Nox fly through. Gracefully his spun on his right heel to avoid the young man.
“Dammit, how many more are coming...?”
But the inhuman shrieks began to close in and he made short time in bolting the front door and slamming the table against it along with a few stools and chairs. Then all that was left were screams of horror and the howls. Ragni was unsure of what or who was making them but he was not going to find out.
After a minute the swordsman regained control of his racing mind and began trying to piece things together. Then heard Nox's cry of alarm. But not long after Jesi brought the young Aliana in to the common area of the inn.
“Well then everyone is here who I care about. Doors are barricaded and the only real window that anything could fit through unless these things learn to climb up to the second floor and through the windows in some of the rooms... But I think there are only about three rooms with windows so we should be fine there...”
“So what happened Darius?” Ragni glanced back to the large mercenary.
“Any plans so far or assessments? I know I only have one or two plans to think of and they both include haphazard suicidal plans with my possible demise..” The young man gave an uneasy laugh as he waited for a reply from Darius, or anyone really. Things were becoming very dangerous all of a sudden, and on top of it all the dire wolf was there every time he blinked.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 1:05 pm
Lucrezia drained her glass and looked at the door. She should leave, go home and sleep away the rest of this odd night; but she stayed seated, something told her she should stay where she was and Lucrezia was too unnerved by everything to do anything besides listen. Her instincts were usually good, she just never listened to them and got a world of trouble for it, tonight she would see what happened.
Lucrezia stared at the bottom of her glass for a while, until her eyes blurred.What felt like a feather, brushed her cheek but she ignored it, it was all on her head; it happened again and she slowly looked up and the shadows of the room had seemed to take on a life of their own. Lucrezia blinked and shook her, but everything remained odd. It was a noise and the movement of Ragni that made everything clear again.
Lucrezia watched him impassively as he began to cover the windows, but it was a shriek that made her sit up. Shivers went down her back and she slowly got up. A feeling of terrible foreboding rippled across her body and she crossed her arms tightly to her body. She had never felt a chilling fear before, not even when her husband went into his rages and drew his belt. The large mercenary, Darius, who had complimented her, came flying through the door. Lucrezia saw his blood and her body grew tenser, she thought she could still hear the horrible sounds coming from outside.
A young shaken girl had been brought in and soon after Nox came barreling through the door. Lucrezia shook her head again, she would not let fear take her, she had enough self-preservation to not fall apart. She walked over to the two mercenaries "What is happening?" she asked them, and then flinched slightly as another howl pierced the air.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 7:08 pm
The shelter-less girl had listened intently to the conversation that had carried on in the hall of the congregational. Obviously she was not the only one who had experienced the disturbing images, but from the reaction each had, they all seemed to suffer from different visions. Her mind strained to think past her own to find out a meaning. Although the more she strained, the harder it seemed to be able to decipher. For the moment, she was too concerned with what little food her stomach had been forced to forfeit to the snow. She grumbled in distaste and caught the end of the conversations either heading home or to the inn. In a way, it relaxed her to know they weren’t dwelling on the matter. Considering she had already lost anyone of consequence years ago, the missing hardly caused her to bat an eyelash. She stepped away from the wall and proceeded down the street. Her rags were hardly keeping the cold out today. Judging from the failing light, more snow would soon fall. She shivered.
“Take what you need, shed what you don’t…” a whisper in the wind sent a shudder of fear down her. She looked along the dark road. Not a soul ventured here or there. No one, and half the town either at the bar or lost to the mountain in one form or another. Her mind slowly flooded with the obvious. The town is dark. No one will be home…
The first home she came to was that of Ms. Andelberry, the wretched woman who shot a hand across her, and her son and two daughters ages sixteen, twelve and eighteen repectively. Husband and father had been one of the first to go missing and now the family had taken to the thought the latest group had found a sign of him and the rest of the missing party. Shadow huffed as she eyed the quiet home. The doors and windows were locked. She shook her head. In the years of her isolation, she had never resulted to this crude of a solution. Why now? Why had her morals slipped so far past what she was willing to persue?
“To exist, is to survive. Take what you need, shed what you do not…” The harsh words sent a gale wind of icy cold snow upon her. Her body trembled, able to fully grasp the words and their meaning. She nodded slowly to the nothingness that drove her. If she was to survive, she need only take what was needed for that.
She glanced back and forth between the homes and pulled a stone from the snow. Her hands were turning blue. She held her breath and threw the rock to the lowest window. It shattered instantly. With a loose board from the side of the house, she carefully cleared away the broken fragments left behind. Her fingers burned. Her scraps of tossed fabric soaked through to her bones. She was so cold, so hungry. At last she had gotten the pane cleared of glass and used the board to scale her way inside with little difficultly. A sense of fear and thrill ran through her.
She instantly felt warmer the moment she was inside. She ran to the kitchen and searched their storage. Her eyes fell upon a few slices of bread and a bad of rice in their dry pantry, a half dried fish and an onion. She blinked in agitation, snapping a piece of the hard rye and nibbling it thoroughly. The fish, a brief image of Kristalia’s family in her mind, she would return for on her way out. As quick as her dipping rags would allow, she made her way to the bedrooms. She opened doors and scanned the darkened rooms for any sign of what might be the eldest child’s. It took a moment, after climbing the staircase to the second level and opening the room at the far end of the hall, but she finally found it. She ransacked the drawers, stripping down from the cold garment she wore and her fitting herself with the girl’s clothes she had never worn before. Needless to say, it took a moment to figure out what the corset was, and other at getting the infernal thing on by herself, but she managed over the blouse. She distrusted the skirt that came with it and instead ventured to the family heir’s room. Being only of sixteen, his trousers, gloves and boots belted rather well to her petite figure. She was just about to grab her sights on that fish when a shrill screech made her freeze.
At first she had thought the family had come home to find their window smashed and pantry raided of one bread piece, but the noise was most certainly coming from the streets and growing louder and more inhuman. She slowly grabbed a cloak that hung from the boy’s door. It smelled strong of wood and soot, but it was sure to be warm around her shoulders. She peeked out his window and gasped at the distorted figures that sped along the street. Her face stood agape in the darkness of the room. Their forms merely black clouds as they jaggedly ran through the pure snow. Her disgust crippled by fear as one tore through a helpless man awoken by their cries. He was not simply stabbed, or cut open as mercenary or hungry bear might, no this man, as well as many others, were devoured by limbs and protrusions that had no other function but to devastate a body to nothing more than a bloody reminisce. Shadow backed away unconsciously when a crash from downstairs had her heart in her throat.
The creature scaled the stairs as if sure of her position. Shadow hadn’t time to think, she closed the door and pushed a chair beneath the handle. It hardly stopped the oncoming demon. “To exist, is to survive. Take what you need, shed what you do not…” the voice played at her fears. What could it mean, but deep down she knew. The door crack and split. She knew that it was either her or it. “Take what I need,” her gloved hand grabbed a piece of the splintered door, a large stake-like shard, “Shed what I do not…” With every ounce of her strength, she plunged the wood splinter through the creatures lunging mouth and up. The soft tissue made her choke and fumble. Its head twisted and spun in frantic movements that only made the wood spike move further up through its mouth into its skull. For a moment, Shadow just hung on, simply trying to understand what she was doing, unable to, and hanging on again to the thought of survival.
It seemed like hours of this struggle, but in fact it was all but seconds. Her arms ached, her hands would have been torn had it not been for the gloves. She might have been killed had she been on the street any longer. She looked closely. The figure almost seemed human, distorted and ripped of their humanity, but once was human. She killed someone. She stole from someone. She began to tremble when another shriek from outside told her that she needed to get away. She pushed open the window and used its small balconied ledge to get a grip on the rooftop. Snow and ice trickled down in her face, but the gloves held firm. It was awkward, but she managed to make it to the top, breathing heavily.
Heavy footsteps and shouts of a familiar voice caught her attention and she watched as the one called Darius ran through the street toward the Inn. Shadow watched from her perch as the light inside slowly was barricaded away. The other mercenary was probably inside already. Odds are, that would be the safest place to wait it out. She counted the buildings while she continued to catch her breath. At least she was on the right side of the street. Four houses down, if she could manage to jump from rooftop to rooftop, the upstairs windows might let her in. What a night to lose a meal…
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Hermit Omega Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 8:44 pm
Darius whirled to face the door that the beasts outside slammed against howling, he had to bite down to keep from wincing. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins like wildfire, his mind was trying to take in too much information at once, and now his wounds were really starting to ache. Everyone wanted to know what was going on. He had to take several deep breaths before his brain caught up with all that was transpiring. He was attacked by beings that did not seem of this world, he killed several, and saw them tearing people apart. He put his hand to his arm, it came back red. He grunted, it stung but felt rather superficial. He just was a little worried that such hell beasts might be poisonous. He didn’t need that kind of s**t.
“Someone give me a cloth and some alcohol to drench my wounds.”
He ran a hand through his hair, and his grip tightened on his sword when another shriek arose in the night, and a body was flung against the wall. The damn things were idiots, they were not trying to break through the barricaded windows. But Darius knew they would eventually figure it out. One stress factor after another, he was sure his hair would be turning grey within the next few years, and his heart would give out on him pretty damn soon. He had to remind himself that he had to take it easy. To breath. That there was nothing he could do to change the predicament he was in, but had the free will to try and decided where he would end up when it was all said and done.
“There are things outside. @#&#xin;g monsters. They are slaughtering everyone in town, burning down the buildings, eating people’s flesh. If anyone is feeling like a hero, I advise against it. There are many of them, and they are covered in sharp objects. I thought I was just too drunk when I first saw them, but they are real, they are killing everyone. We need to decide what to do quickly, who knows how long the barricades will hold the bastards. I suggest everyone get something to defend themselves with. Tablelegs, bottles, knives, it doesn’t matter. When they get in, it is up to us to defend ourselves. There will be no miracles, there will be no heroes. It us as mortals versus these creatures. Be prepared to defend yourselves and make peace with your gods, because there is a chance that none of us will make it through the night.”
He looked around at all their horrified faces. His face grim, stern, he was ready to kill every last creature that burst into the inn. He knew that they were attracted to him and the others, just a gut feeling that he couldn’t deny.
Suddenly the entire world turned red inside Darius’s head. Voices crept around in whispers at the base of his skull. Hungry chanting. Hungry for power. Hungry for the souls of the powerful. He heard them outside the walls. They wanted something. Something that they had gained ontop of the of the mountain. It was drawing them. These monsters craved their blood and whatever sweet treasures that it promised. He felt their fury, and their hunger. Knowing what they thought, what they felt, infuriated him. There was a minor sense of sadness emanating from them, but it was almost like a forgotten dream, a shadow off the colossus that was their anger. These were the missing townspeople, or at least their flesh. They were no longer human. There was a sudden pain in the center of Darius’s forehead, and his hand shot up to press against it. It came away wet with blood. Darius cursed, knowing that it was a sign from the vision. Bloodlust arose from his very core. He wanted to stain the walls with their black blood, end their damned shrieks with the edge of his blade.
He grabbed Ragni’s arm and pulled him close, uttering sharp whispers through gritted teeth.
“They are after us Ragni, the people from the top of the mountain. They want to steal our souls. We have to kill them before they burn us out. They have weapons, but are untrained. What are your thoughts?”
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