A wave of heat assailed Garret, and he collapsed backwards, closing his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós. The ship suddenly banked the left and he felt himself sliding down the side. He hit the railing hard, and with a sickening crack, the wood splintered. He felt his feet fly out into open space, and he grabbed frantically for anything to stop his fall. His hand grabbed on a shattered piece of wood that dug into his hand, but he kept his grip. Then he opened his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós and saw why the ship was veering to the left.
A huge pit of molten lava simmered beneath them, and gouts of flame speared upwards, some coming uncomfortably close to the ship. Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós spotted the gate, a single ring of stone that clung to a small rock that jutted out and over the volcano├óÔé¼Ôäós crater. It seemed perpetually ready to fall into the lava, but as he watched, it seemed to ward of the molten rock. A geyser smashed into it, but simply dripped off like water.
Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós hand began to slip, causing the wood fragment to cut a long gouge in his hand, but he felt two hands grasp his fore arm, and he was pulled back onto the ship. Leaning against the wildly turning deck, using the rail as a impromptu floor, Garret turned to see Book grinning at him. ├óÔé¼┼ôI got you!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, but was cut short when the ship lurched dangerously again. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is wrong with you, woman!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted Felix who was hanging onto his door frame to keep from falling out of his chambers. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell if you want me to fly into the geysers!├óÔé¼┬Ø Melissa snapped, but she kept the helm steady as the ship weaved around the massive columns of flames.
The ship semi righted itself, and the crew managed to stand up. Garrets kept his hand firmly clasped on the railing though, as the ship began to speed to the edge of the crater. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho the hell puts a gate in the middle of a volcano?!├óÔé¼┬Ø Book shouted to Felix.
├óÔé¼┼ôThis used to be a city! On a mountain top!├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix shouted back. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis is a relatively recent occurrence. ├óÔé¼┼ôLOOK OVER THERE!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted a look out, pointing to a flaming ship in the distance.
It was the ship that went through the gate before them. It├óÔé¼Ôäós hull was entire consumed with flame├óÔé¼Ôäós as the ship slanted towards the gate. It got closer and closer to it, and Garret could swear that he could see a figure in the middle of the flame├óÔé¼Ôäós, directing the ship towards the gate. But it├óÔé¼Ôäós efforts where in vain, as a massive geyser shot straight up and cut the ship in twain. The fire├óÔé¼Ôäós burst through the decks and smashed into the balloon, which exploded in a brilliant white flash. The explosion shook Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós teeth, and the entire ship vibrated.
├óÔé¼┼ôLets get the hell out of here!├óÔé¼┬Ø said Felix, and Melissa seemed all to happy to oblige. They cleared the edge of the volcano├óÔé¼Ôäós crater, and Garret stared over the edge, seeing only devastation. Massive river├óÔé¼Ôäós of lava poured down the sides of the mountain, consuming what was left of buildings and roads. A single tower remained standing, the lava seeming to slough off it like water. But as they watched, the tower was enveloped in unnatural green flames. Then it collapsed inwards and exploded with a massive blue fire ball. ├óÔé¼┼ôThat├óÔé¼Ôäós a magi tower!├óÔé¼┬Ø exclaimed Book, pointing out how the piece├óÔé¼Ôäós of the tower where still invulnerable to the heat of the lava.
├óÔé¼┼ôThen what the hell could destroy that! It should have been full of magi!├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said, but then he noticed the body├óÔé¼Ôäós in the rubble. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh gods├óÔé¼┬Ø moaned Garret ├óÔé¼┼ôthis has to be the work of the Necromancers!├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôNO! that is impossible!├óÔé¼┬Ø said Book ├óÔé¼┼ôThe Necromancers only control life and death and life beyond. They cannot cause the earth itself to attack us!├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret turned to ask him what could do that when Felix strode over to them. ├óÔé¼┼ôListen! I need you to get down below!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôFat lot of good that will do against a volcano!├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret snapped. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts not a volcano you should be worrying about now├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix said, pointing at something in the distance. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat├óÔé¼Ôäós that?├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret asked. Felix handed him a looking glass, and Garret peered through it. A massive ship with two gas bag├óÔé¼Ôäós followed them. A black flag hung from its nose and Garret saw the skull and snake of the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós and their ally├óÔé¼Ôäós. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is it?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Book.
├óÔé¼┼ôI├óÔé¼Ôäóm not sure, but I think It isn├óÔé¼Ôäót friendly├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret replied. ├óÔé¼┼ôAll right!├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix shouted, brining the crew├óÔé¼Ôäós attention to him. ├óÔé¼┼ôA rather large privateer is heading towards us. I count maybe twenty gun├óÔé¼Ôäós per side, and a rather large crew compliment. They are heading straight for us, so Bester, can you run down and stroke the turbine├óÔé¼Ôäós faster?├óÔé¼┬Ø. A wiry man nodding and sprinted down the stairs ├óÔé¼┼ôThe rest of you, get to the gun├óÔé¼Ôäós├óÔé¼┬ª if it comes to a broadside our only chance is to hit their bag├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix continued, and ducked into the captain├óÔé¼Ôäós cabin.
Garret strode after him, but the Kia burst out of the room carrying a brace of pistols. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is a privateer?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. Felix slid his first two pistols into holsters at his hips ├óÔé¼┼ôThey are civilian ships that are told to go after Trog and Talan ships. Some of them find ├óÔé¼╦£traitors├óÔé¼Ôäó and decide to take them as pries├óÔé¼┬Ø. He grabbed two more pistols which he slid into two holsters on his chest. ├óÔé¼┼ôBut we aren├óÔé¼Ôäót traitors!├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret exclaimed as Felix strapped two more pistols to his fore arm├óÔé¼Ôäós, where a spring would snap them into his hands. ├óÔé¼┼ôThat doesn├óÔé¼Ôäót matter to them├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix said, all trace├óÔé¼Ôäós of the flamboyance that pervaded his bearing gone. ├óÔé¼┼ôI├óÔé¼Ôäóll get my sword├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said. Felix simply nodded and headed to the cannon deck.
├óÔé¼┼ôDon├óÔé¼Ôäót worry├óÔé¼┬Ø said a voice from behind Garret, who jumped around to see Melissa behind him. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon├óÔé¼Ôäót worry├óÔé¼┬Ø Melissa said again ├óÔé¼┼ôFelix has a plan. He always gets quiet when he has a plan├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret nodded, and Melissa ran up to the navigator├óÔé¼Ôäós wheel.
As the night wore on, Garret found sleep creeping on him. He shook himself, and reaffirmed that his guns were all at hand. Then he look out the porthole and saw nothing through the thick fog that had come up around the ship. ├óÔé¼┼ôMaybe the pirate will miss us├óÔé¼┬Ø he said quietly as a bird smashed against the side of the ship, plummeting quickly out of sight into the fog. Garret chuckled. Then a cannon ball smashed through the room next to him.
Garret reflexively curled into a fetal position as shards of wood flew everywhere and smoke obscured the entire cabin. Garret heard several more concussions and a single scream as more cannon shot├óÔé¼Ôäós peppered the side of the Shadowrunner. He slowly uncurled, and checked him self as the ship began to list to the right. He was amazed to see the shrapnel that had shredded the walls, and yet, none had hit him. As he ran out of the room, he noticed that the ship was now listing at a 20 degree angle. Garret ran into the shattered room and looked frantically around for Book. He heard a moan, and spotted Book with a massive hunk of wood jammed through his left leg.
Garret ran over to him, but Book was unconscious. Garret quickly ripped a hunk of his shirt off. He then pulled the wood from Book├óÔé¼Ôäós leg, and trying not to notice how badly it looked, tied a makeshift splint around the obviously broken bone, and hurried to the deck. The as he reached the deck, a resounding BANG sounded from the Shadowrunner cannons. Thick smoke coiled out from the gun├óÔé¼Ôäós and obscured the enemy ship, but Garret still heard some small arm├óÔé¼Ôäós fire from the other ship. Garret ducked down as some musket ball├óÔé¼Ôäós ground into the deck near him.
├óÔé¼┼ôFIRE!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted Felix, who was perched on the rail that surrounded the captain├óÔé¼Ôäós cabin. The crew that where on the ship opened fire with their gun├óÔé¼Ôäós and the bullet├óÔé¼Ôäós shot through the quickly dispersing smoke. The enemy ship came into view and Garret whipped out his two shot pistol. He took aim at a man that stood at the nose of the ship aiming a swivel cannon. Garret fired and the man collapsed with a hole in his chest. He toppled off the side of the ship falling through the fog. Then Garret cracked off another shot and another man fell dead.
The enemy ship opened fire with another broadside. Wood splintered as cannon ball├óÔé¼Ôäós smashed into the Shadowrunner. Smoke filled the air once again, but still the Shadowrunner returned fire with her remaining cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós. Theses were aimed high, and several skidded off the balloon├óÔé¼Ôäós sides. One however punctured the side and gas started to hiss out. Garret couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót hear it or see it, but he knew that gas was coming out as the enemy ship started to sink.
The crew of the Shadowrunner whooped and cheered. Garret grinned too as he reloaded his pistol. Then the balloon├óÔé¼Ôäós hole started to knit itself together, the fabrics growing like living tissue. ├óÔé¼┼ôThey have a mage onboard!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted Melissa, who was holding some cloth on a wound on her arm. ├óÔé¼┼ôBester! DIVE!├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix yelled into the horn that leads down to the turbine room. Garret stood up, but collapsed again as the ship suddenly dropped fast. Garret grabbed onto the rail as the balloon of the Shadowrunner began to deflate, and a barrage from the enemy ship ineffectually fired, and only one of the cannon balls even got close to the Shadowrunner.
The ship dropped, the gas from the balloon filling the tank that rested under the turbine room. Bester and his assistant, Julian, had switched on the pump that lead to the balloon. After the ship fell deeper into the fog, Felix gave the order to refill the balloon. Bester kicked the switch and turned the wheel that regulated pressure. Gas rushed up into the balloon and the Shadowrunner ceased its plunge. Garret let go of the rail, relaxing for a bit.
Then the fire bolt sped from the sky and whooshed narrowly past the Shadowrunner. It cut a path thought the grey fog, replacing it with black smoke. Another four shot past, each one missing the Shadowrunner, but one got close enough to light part of the deck on fire. Two crewmen ran over to douse it with their shirts. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the hell are those?├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret asked Felix, who was near. ├óÔé¼┼ôThose I believe to be fire bolts├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix responded. Another shot punctured the clouds, but missed the ship by twenty yards.
The Shadowrunner slipped quietly through the fog, every eye out for the enemy. Garret brought Book to the -------, which was serving as a makeshift infirmary. Book was deathly pale, and his leg was starting to rot, but the medic who looked more experienced at fixing meal├óÔé¼Ôäós then fixing men, said that she would do her best. Garret simply hoped that the ship would survive its next run in with the privateer.
Rings
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Archangel of Death
- Posts: 854
- Joined: 28 Jan 2005, 18:15
Smythson was a little perturbed. This was, in itself, a worrying incident. Smythson never shifted from his normal passive emotion. He was always sure of what he was doing, why he was doing it, and his rightness. So it was until the Talan had walked into his casting chambers and handed him a rune stone. The rune stone had the pitifully simple glyph of image.
Smythson had activated the glyph and the always beautiful image of Sara had appeared, floating slightly above the small stone with a shimmering glow about her. ├óÔé¼┼ôSmythson, this wont work. Come back├óÔé¼┬Ø she had said, with just the faintest trace of pleading in her voice. Smythson had then almost fallen out of his intricate casting chair. She knows! he had though immediately, and was almost prepared to walk into a gate and flee all the way to Shamazad.
He had then stopped his panic and threw it into the depths of his massive mind. He was smarter then this, and soon his thoughts had come to the most immediate problem. Sara knows what he was doing, and how to get away before having a large number of unnecessary surgical operations├óÔé¼Ôäós acted on his still living body. So he gathered up his favorite runes, a few potions of his own concoction and called Ur to him.
Ur had walked in, his furred body almost brushing the human sized frame of the door. Ur, being Talan, was not as smart as the Trog or humans, so he had taken a few minutes to absorb the orders that Smythson had given him. The Talan had carried out his tasks admirably, and soon Smythson had one of the Artifacts on him.
The Four Artifacts had been taken from the depths of a ruin on Shamazad, and the one Smythson requested was the most powerful of them all. Named Soul Reaver, the Artifact literal ripped the air in twain with a massive bolt of├óÔé¼┬ª something. It was not quite magic, and it did not emanate any of the clumsiness of technology. The line it traced with its shot├óÔé¼Ôäós would also cut through anything, even most of the less powerful shields that the Necromancers could summon. It only had enough mana in it to power a few shot├óÔé¼Ôäós, but the fact that Smythson had it in the first place would make even an army consider taking him on.
However, the price Ur had paid for this artifact had been quite dear. The Talan had walked into Smythson├óÔé¼Ôäós chambers, with literally half of his face burned away. His left arm had been ripped off and parts of it still dangled from the torn socket. The Talan had given Smythson the Artifact, and then collapsed, dead. Smythson had then left, sparing a single backwards glance at his long time servant. He had trodden out into the freezing ice of the massive glacier that his castle had been made on.
Smythson then took out his most powerful rune. It was made of the most massive Rune stone that he could find in the mine├óÔé¼Ôäós of all the rings. He had made it into a glove, a massive glove that was as black as onyx and a light as cloth. It was harder then steel and had not one, not two but an amazing amount of three runes├óÔé¼Ôäó on it. Two elemental and one control. Time, Space and Direction all combined to create the most useful and magical item├óÔé¼Ôäós in the history of the Ring├óÔé¼Ôäós they. The Onyx Glove, as Smythson called it, created Gate├óÔé¼Ôäós.
He forced the pointer finger out and held the glove forward, as if pointing to something on the horizon. He then brought the glove up to point through space, through the First Twin, Terrix and Emperryon. Straight to the jungle├óÔé¼Ôäós of Shamazad, where his plan├óÔé¼Ôäós where coming to bear. The Rune├óÔé¼Ôäós flared and Smythson started to shout the spell words to the open air.
The tip of the glove├óÔé¼Ôäós pointer finger shot out a beam of invisible energy, an energy that seemed to ignore the snow flakes and the very Rings themselves. Smythson then brought his glove down, down until, with a massive effort, he pointed it as the ground in front of him. The rune├óÔé¼Ôäós flared brighter then the sun, but Smythson didn├óÔé¼Ôäót shut his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós. He had to keep them open, for the magical drain was too great. If he closed his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós he might never open them again.
He gasped out the last three words and the gate snapped into existence like a rubber band. Smythson collapsed and the glove slid off his hand. The gate stood their, shimmering. I did it! he thought. That was his greatest achievement, creating the longest gate in history. Even the ancient books of lore said that extended gate├óÔé¼Ôäós beyond one Ring was impossible.
It took Smythson a few minutes to notice he wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót seeing with his eyes. Smythson gingerly felt his where his eyes should be. But his fingers felt nothing, and he pulled them back quickly before they entered the hole├óÔé¼Ôäós where his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós had once been. Smythson could still see, but his vision had a deceptive blur, because he was seeing the ambient magical energy├óÔé¼Ôäós of the world, not the real world. What he saw was the magic collected and pooled in the world, how it was stronger there and weaker there.
Smythson got up and looked at the Onyx glove. It was dead, without any magical energy whatsoever. It looked like a hole in reality and he batted it away, wanting to be rid of it. Then he looked at the gate, which appeared as a different hue. The different ring├óÔé¼Ôäós have different energy├óÔé¼Ôäós! he though. Elation. Wild joy began to fill him. ├óÔé¼┼ôI CAN SEE!├óÔé¼┬Ø he cried, noticing how his voice disturbed the mana. How it filled his lungs, and how he could gather it with out changing his vision. Color and light where only the outside, but now he could see in. The inner workings of the universe. He looked up.
He screamed. The true massiveness of the universe suddenly hit him, all of its majesty, evil, good and the mind destroying massiveness of it, all hammered his brain. Smythson tore his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós away from the haven├óÔé¼Ôäós and locked his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós on the floor. He then remembered how some might be put off by his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós absence, and so he took a bandana he was planning to use once he got to Shamazad. Then he bound it about his face and striped off his clothes until he was down to a shirt and pants. Cold rushed into him, the deadly cold of the Deadly Twin, the Second Dark Twin.
Then he plunged through the gate and blistering heat smashed into him. He ran straight into a tree, but that was the least of his worry├óÔé¼Ôäós. The magical energy of life itself, the massive abundance of life that surrounded him almost affected him like the universe. But once you have seen the entirety of the universe, even for a second, you can handle a tropical rain forest.
Smythson looked around and took in the area. He could feel Janetown, and decided to head that way. His rune├óÔé¼Ôäós where at hand, and he walked thought the jungle like a ghost. Reed├óÔé¼Ôäós, plants and underbrush seemed to slide away from him. A loud growl alerted him to a massive four legged cat that was behind him. He turned and saw how simple the creature was. He then flicked his finger and the skin of the cat dissolved. Then, with a long drawn out screech, the cat dissolved layer by layer. With one last hiss, it died and the bones began to strip themselves down to the marrow. The energy of the cat stood, ghostlike, in the semblance of its form. Then Smythson put his finger in it and the energy flooded into him.
He felt like he had rested for a week, eat the best foods and excursuses. He actually felt ten year├óÔé¼Ôäós younger. I need to keep from taking too much energy in he though I might explode. He laughed and sped through the jungle even faster then before.
Janetown was not a town, village or anything of the sort. It was a massive, walled paradise. But Smythson didn├óÔé¼Ôäót notice the beauty of its building├óÔé¼Ôäós or the happy hubbub of its citizens. He only knew that he needed to find a guide to the ruin├óÔé¼Ôäós. He knew that Sara was wasting her time with that useless Garret.
Smythson had activated the glyph and the always beautiful image of Sara had appeared, floating slightly above the small stone with a shimmering glow about her. ├óÔé¼┼ôSmythson, this wont work. Come back├óÔé¼┬Ø she had said, with just the faintest trace of pleading in her voice. Smythson had then almost fallen out of his intricate casting chair. She knows! he had though immediately, and was almost prepared to walk into a gate and flee all the way to Shamazad.
He had then stopped his panic and threw it into the depths of his massive mind. He was smarter then this, and soon his thoughts had come to the most immediate problem. Sara knows what he was doing, and how to get away before having a large number of unnecessary surgical operations├óÔé¼Ôäós acted on his still living body. So he gathered up his favorite runes, a few potions of his own concoction and called Ur to him.
Ur had walked in, his furred body almost brushing the human sized frame of the door. Ur, being Talan, was not as smart as the Trog or humans, so he had taken a few minutes to absorb the orders that Smythson had given him. The Talan had carried out his tasks admirably, and soon Smythson had one of the Artifacts on him.
The Four Artifacts had been taken from the depths of a ruin on Shamazad, and the one Smythson requested was the most powerful of them all. Named Soul Reaver, the Artifact literal ripped the air in twain with a massive bolt of├óÔé¼┬ª something. It was not quite magic, and it did not emanate any of the clumsiness of technology. The line it traced with its shot├óÔé¼Ôäós would also cut through anything, even most of the less powerful shields that the Necromancers could summon. It only had enough mana in it to power a few shot├óÔé¼Ôäós, but the fact that Smythson had it in the first place would make even an army consider taking him on.
However, the price Ur had paid for this artifact had been quite dear. The Talan had walked into Smythson├óÔé¼Ôäós chambers, with literally half of his face burned away. His left arm had been ripped off and parts of it still dangled from the torn socket. The Talan had given Smythson the Artifact, and then collapsed, dead. Smythson had then left, sparing a single backwards glance at his long time servant. He had trodden out into the freezing ice of the massive glacier that his castle had been made on.
Smythson then took out his most powerful rune. It was made of the most massive Rune stone that he could find in the mine├óÔé¼Ôäós of all the rings. He had made it into a glove, a massive glove that was as black as onyx and a light as cloth. It was harder then steel and had not one, not two but an amazing amount of three runes├óÔé¼Ôäó on it. Two elemental and one control. Time, Space and Direction all combined to create the most useful and magical item├óÔé¼Ôäós in the history of the Ring├óÔé¼Ôäós they. The Onyx Glove, as Smythson called it, created Gate├óÔé¼Ôäós.
He forced the pointer finger out and held the glove forward, as if pointing to something on the horizon. He then brought the glove up to point through space, through the First Twin, Terrix and Emperryon. Straight to the jungle├óÔé¼Ôäós of Shamazad, where his plan├óÔé¼Ôäós where coming to bear. The Rune├óÔé¼Ôäós flared and Smythson started to shout the spell words to the open air.
The tip of the glove├óÔé¼Ôäós pointer finger shot out a beam of invisible energy, an energy that seemed to ignore the snow flakes and the very Rings themselves. Smythson then brought his glove down, down until, with a massive effort, he pointed it as the ground in front of him. The rune├óÔé¼Ôäós flared brighter then the sun, but Smythson didn├óÔé¼Ôäót shut his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós. He had to keep them open, for the magical drain was too great. If he closed his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós he might never open them again.
He gasped out the last three words and the gate snapped into existence like a rubber band. Smythson collapsed and the glove slid off his hand. The gate stood their, shimmering. I did it! he thought. That was his greatest achievement, creating the longest gate in history. Even the ancient books of lore said that extended gate├óÔé¼Ôäós beyond one Ring was impossible.
It took Smythson a few minutes to notice he wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót seeing with his eyes. Smythson gingerly felt his where his eyes should be. But his fingers felt nothing, and he pulled them back quickly before they entered the hole├óÔé¼Ôäós where his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós had once been. Smythson could still see, but his vision had a deceptive blur, because he was seeing the ambient magical energy├óÔé¼Ôäós of the world, not the real world. What he saw was the magic collected and pooled in the world, how it was stronger there and weaker there.
Smythson got up and looked at the Onyx glove. It was dead, without any magical energy whatsoever. It looked like a hole in reality and he batted it away, wanting to be rid of it. Then he looked at the gate, which appeared as a different hue. The different ring├óÔé¼Ôäós have different energy├óÔé¼Ôäós! he though. Elation. Wild joy began to fill him. ├óÔé¼┼ôI CAN SEE!├óÔé¼┬Ø he cried, noticing how his voice disturbed the mana. How it filled his lungs, and how he could gather it with out changing his vision. Color and light where only the outside, but now he could see in. The inner workings of the universe. He looked up.
He screamed. The true massiveness of the universe suddenly hit him, all of its majesty, evil, good and the mind destroying massiveness of it, all hammered his brain. Smythson tore his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós away from the haven├óÔé¼Ôäós and locked his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós on the floor. He then remembered how some might be put off by his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós absence, and so he took a bandana he was planning to use once he got to Shamazad. Then he bound it about his face and striped off his clothes until he was down to a shirt and pants. Cold rushed into him, the deadly cold of the Deadly Twin, the Second Dark Twin.
Then he plunged through the gate and blistering heat smashed into him. He ran straight into a tree, but that was the least of his worry├óÔé¼Ôäós. The magical energy of life itself, the massive abundance of life that surrounded him almost affected him like the universe. But once you have seen the entirety of the universe, even for a second, you can handle a tropical rain forest.
Smythson looked around and took in the area. He could feel Janetown, and decided to head that way. His rune├óÔé¼Ôäós where at hand, and he walked thought the jungle like a ghost. Reed├óÔé¼Ôäós, plants and underbrush seemed to slide away from him. A loud growl alerted him to a massive four legged cat that was behind him. He turned and saw how simple the creature was. He then flicked his finger and the skin of the cat dissolved. Then, with a long drawn out screech, the cat dissolved layer by layer. With one last hiss, it died and the bones began to strip themselves down to the marrow. The energy of the cat stood, ghostlike, in the semblance of its form. Then Smythson put his finger in it and the energy flooded into him.
He felt like he had rested for a week, eat the best foods and excursuses. He actually felt ten year├óÔé¼Ôäós younger. I need to keep from taking too much energy in he though I might explode. He laughed and sped through the jungle even faster then before.
Janetown was not a town, village or anything of the sort. It was a massive, walled paradise. But Smythson didn├óÔé¼Ôäót notice the beauty of its building├óÔé¼Ôäós or the happy hubbub of its citizens. He only knew that he needed to find a guide to the ruin├óÔé¼Ôäós. He knew that Sara was wasting her time with that useless Garret.
As dawn came to Terrix, the Shadowrunner slipped into the massive mountain range├óÔé¼Ôäós that separated then Gate from the city castle of Stelvi. Unfortunately the pirate that was steadily rushing towards them was going to reach them long before the city├óÔé¼Ôäós patrols would see them. So Felix called the crew, Garret and a still hobbled Book. Even with as much knitting balm that Garret could find, Book├óÔé¼Ôäós leg was still wrapped in bandage├óÔé¼Ôäós and a splint.
├óÔé¼┼ôAll right├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix said, calling the assorted men and women to order. The crew was gathered in the ------- so even the man who was going to lose his arm could here Felix├óÔé¼Ôäós plan. ├óÔé¼┼ôThat privateer will be on us in a few hours, and we can├óÔé¼Ôäót take them with our cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós, and they our number us two to one. We also have lost one of our turbines and most of the cargo hold├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôSo what are we going to do?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked the man on the ------- counter. He was sitting up as well as he could with his arm rotting from with in. Felix turned to look at him, then stared at everyone else who was gathered in the rather small -------. Then he grinned for the first time for two day├óÔé¼Ôäós. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to surrender├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Captain Hawk was not very happy. That small piece of crap ship had cost him a crewman when they had fired there pitiful broadside into his ship. The cannon ball had smashed into him and splattered his brains all over the deck. Now Hawk strode around the deck, stepping over the gore, heading towards his two bit mage. The mage, Juliana, was chained to the deck so she couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót escape. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø said Hawk, leaning down to speak quietly ├óÔé¼┼ôI want you to be ready for causing pain on the prisoners. I want all there good├óÔé¼Ôäós before we blow the ship up├óÔé¼┬Ø. Juliana whimpered, her jaw still bruised from when she couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót hit the other ship through the fog.
Hawk grabbed her chin and forced her face towards his. ├óÔé¼┼ôIf you fail again, I will hand you over to the less friendly members of the crew├óÔé¼┬Ø he said quietly. The color drained out of her face and Hawk laughed, striding to the helm of his ship. ├óÔé¼┼ôAll right!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted to his crew ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to get the ship in a few hours and we can finally repay them for Richey├óÔé¼Ôäós death!├óÔé¼┬Ø. The crew cheered and went about there duty├óÔé¼Ôäós with renewed vigor. Hawk grinned and knew the ship would be his. How could he fail with a mage?
The Shadowrunner slowed. Hawk could barely believe it. The ship was slowing down and coming along side him. ├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø he said to his cannon crew ├óÔé¼┼ôLets see what they are doing. To his considerable surprise and delight a white flag was waving from the top of the enemy ship├óÔé¼Ôäós balloon. The two ships came along side each other and Hawk got to see the remains of there crew.
There was two men in good condition, a Kia in a captain├óÔé¼Ôäós uniform, a woman with a arm the splint and a shortish old man with a heavily bound up leg. Hawk smiled and yelled to the Kia ├óÔé¼┼ôHEY! That├óÔé¼Ôäós a fifteen man crew! Where├óÔé¼Ôäós the rest?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôDead├óÔé¼┬Ø said the Kia, looking weary and tired. Hawk frowned. This might be a trap. He looked over to Juliana who whimpered. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan you truth-see on him?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Hawk. Juliana shook her head and said ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬ª I├óÔé¼Ôäóm to far away├óÔé¼┬Ø. Hawk gestured to the crew and they lowered the gangplank.
Hawk, ten of his twenty man crew and Juliana all went over to the crew that remained on the deck. Hawk noticed that the floor was slick with blood and a crushed and mangled body lay on the deck where it appeared a cannon ball had smashed through him. ├óÔé¼┼ôTruth-see├óÔé¼┬Ø Hawk said to Juliana.
Felix barley managed to not tense up as the mage looked at him with her piercing blue eyes. He looked at her and saw her blackened eye, bruised jaw and general demeanor. The mage├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós where completely hopeless, but then Felix felt something touch his mind. Then after a few agonizing seconds, the mage├óÔé¼Ôäós shook her head. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe tells the truth├óÔé¼┬Ø she said. Felix could barely stay on his feet. Thinking a fervent prayer to the whatever deity was listening, as well as a heartfelt thanks to the mage.
Hawk grinned and gestured to the rest of his crew. They swarmed all over the Shadowrunner and began to take stock of it. One grabbed the corpse and started to throw it over the edge of the ship. Then the rest of his crew filtered to the top, but suddenly there was a scuffle at the edge of the ship. Hawk turned and heard a gun shot. The crew man that was dragging the corpse to the side of the ship staggered back and died.
The ├óÔé¼╦£corpse├óÔé¼Ôäó threw off its disuse and turned out to be a wiry man. He flicked his pistol and it switched to the second chamber. Then he fired it straight into Juliana├óÔé¼Ôäós chain├óÔé¼Ôäós. They separated and the man dashed over to the Hawkwind. Hawk yelled to his crew, but it was too late. Juliana giggled. Hawk turned to her, mouth agape as Juliana pointed to him. Flame├óÔé¼Ôäós shot from her finger, black flame├óÔé¼Ôäós that enveloped him. Hawk screamed as pain flooded him that could no longer be imagined.
Felix dashed through the commotion as the crew of the pirate ship started to swarm to the enemy ship. But while Felix and the others had distracted the captain of the enemy ship, the rest of his crew had snuck into the bottom of the ship. It was a rather clever device created by Bester the mechanic. It slid from the turbine room into the enemy ship, where two men with saw├óÔé¼Ôäós got into the enemy engine├óÔé¼Ôäós.
Felix fought hard, parrying swords and slicing with his dragon claw. He saw the rest of his crew burst onto the deck of the enemy ship, the enemy crew rush after them. But then his vision was obscured by a screaming man. The man, Felix recognized, was the captian, and he was enveloped in black flame├óÔé¼Ôäós. As he screamed and screamed, the mage laughed and laughed. With one final shriek, the captain jumped over the edge.
Bester ran back into the stair well as the enemy crew rushed back onto there ship. He and the rest of the Shadowrunner crew dashed through the room├óÔé¼Ôäós till they reached the engine room. His assistant slammed the door shut and Bester lit the fuse. The enemy crew managed to batter the door down and ran into the turbine room as the twin bag├óÔé¼Ôäós of gun powered finally exploded.
Garret had run onto the enemy ship, then off it again, then back on. He was jumping from one ship to the other, stabbing and slicing in a whirlwind of death. He was on the other ship, ready to dash over the gang plank as the engine room of the enemy ship exploded. The explosion flung him over the Shadowrunner├óÔé¼Ôäós deck and he almost didn├óÔé¼Ôäót grab the rail on the other side. But he managed to grab onto it and he held on as explosion├óÔé¼Ôäós rocked the ship.
The twin gunpowder bag├óÔé¼Ôäós seemed to do enough damage to the pirate ship, but when the main gunpowder store lit up, the fire works lit half the Shadowrunner on fire. Garret managed to clamber up onto the deck, and saw how the crew where desperately trying to keep rampant fire├óÔé¼Ôäós from consuming the ship. Garret felt the ship rock and looked over his shoulder. The ground was closer then he would of liked. ├óÔé¼┼ôGARRET!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted someone and it was then that he saw the piece of debris slide across the deck, heading straight for him. He dived out of the way, but a explosion rocked the deck. The Shadowrunner was going up in flak├óÔé¼Ôäós and the general order was to abandon ship.
Garret slid over the fake blood that the crew had slathered on the deck, trying to reach the rope├óÔé¼Ôäós that the crew was using to get to the rapidly approaching ground. ├óÔé¼┼ôThe gunpowder store is going to blow!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted some one, and every one still left on board flung themselves off the ship, hoping to escape. Garret glanced at the ground and threw himself over the rail. He fell in silence for a split second, then the Shadowrunner exploded in flame├óÔé¼Ôäós. The twin ship├óÔé¼Ôäós exploded together, slowly floating towards the ground as the balloon├óÔé¼Ôäós tried to keep them aloft. Then the gas leakage reached a critical point, and the balloons blew apart.
Garret saw the ground rush towards him. its coming up awfully fas he thought before he blacked out.
├óÔé¼┼ôCOME!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted someone. Garret jerked up and looked around for the source of the voice. He saw a glimmering ice field surrounding him, and a massive black tower rose in the distance. He spotted someone in the upper balcony. ├óÔé¼┼ôCome to me├óÔé¼┬Ø she said softly, and Garret felt giddy joy over coming his sense├óÔé¼Ôäós. He began to run towards the tower, but the tower seemed to become farther and farther from him the closer he got. Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós had to stop, a massive black curtain rising up between him and the tower. Once again there was something terrible behind it. Garret grabbed it, ready to pull it away. He did so.
├óÔé¼┼ôAll right├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix said, calling the assorted men and women to order. The crew was gathered in the ------- so even the man who was going to lose his arm could here Felix├óÔé¼Ôäós plan. ├óÔé¼┼ôThat privateer will be on us in a few hours, and we can├óÔé¼Ôäót take them with our cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós, and they our number us two to one. We also have lost one of our turbines and most of the cargo hold├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôSo what are we going to do?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked the man on the ------- counter. He was sitting up as well as he could with his arm rotting from with in. Felix turned to look at him, then stared at everyone else who was gathered in the rather small -------. Then he grinned for the first time for two day├óÔé¼Ôäós. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to surrender├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Captain Hawk was not very happy. That small piece of crap ship had cost him a crewman when they had fired there pitiful broadside into his ship. The cannon ball had smashed into him and splattered his brains all over the deck. Now Hawk strode around the deck, stepping over the gore, heading towards his two bit mage. The mage, Juliana, was chained to the deck so she couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót escape. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø said Hawk, leaning down to speak quietly ├óÔé¼┼ôI want you to be ready for causing pain on the prisoners. I want all there good├óÔé¼Ôäós before we blow the ship up├óÔé¼┬Ø. Juliana whimpered, her jaw still bruised from when she couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót hit the other ship through the fog.
Hawk grabbed her chin and forced her face towards his. ├óÔé¼┼ôIf you fail again, I will hand you over to the less friendly members of the crew├óÔé¼┬Ø he said quietly. The color drained out of her face and Hawk laughed, striding to the helm of his ship. ├óÔé¼┼ôAll right!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted to his crew ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to get the ship in a few hours and we can finally repay them for Richey├óÔé¼Ôäós death!├óÔé¼┬Ø. The crew cheered and went about there duty├óÔé¼Ôäós with renewed vigor. Hawk grinned and knew the ship would be his. How could he fail with a mage?
The Shadowrunner slowed. Hawk could barely believe it. The ship was slowing down and coming along side him. ├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø he said to his cannon crew ├óÔé¼┼ôLets see what they are doing. To his considerable surprise and delight a white flag was waving from the top of the enemy ship├óÔé¼Ôäós balloon. The two ships came along side each other and Hawk got to see the remains of there crew.
There was two men in good condition, a Kia in a captain├óÔé¼Ôäós uniform, a woman with a arm the splint and a shortish old man with a heavily bound up leg. Hawk smiled and yelled to the Kia ├óÔé¼┼ôHEY! That├óÔé¼Ôäós a fifteen man crew! Where├óÔé¼Ôäós the rest?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôDead├óÔé¼┬Ø said the Kia, looking weary and tired. Hawk frowned. This might be a trap. He looked over to Juliana who whimpered. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan you truth-see on him?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Hawk. Juliana shook her head and said ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬ª I├óÔé¼Ôäóm to far away├óÔé¼┬Ø. Hawk gestured to the crew and they lowered the gangplank.
Hawk, ten of his twenty man crew and Juliana all went over to the crew that remained on the deck. Hawk noticed that the floor was slick with blood and a crushed and mangled body lay on the deck where it appeared a cannon ball had smashed through him. ├óÔé¼┼ôTruth-see├óÔé¼┬Ø Hawk said to Juliana.
Felix barley managed to not tense up as the mage looked at him with her piercing blue eyes. He looked at her and saw her blackened eye, bruised jaw and general demeanor. The mage├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós where completely hopeless, but then Felix felt something touch his mind. Then after a few agonizing seconds, the mage├óÔé¼Ôäós shook her head. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe tells the truth├óÔé¼┬Ø she said. Felix could barely stay on his feet. Thinking a fervent prayer to the whatever deity was listening, as well as a heartfelt thanks to the mage.
Hawk grinned and gestured to the rest of his crew. They swarmed all over the Shadowrunner and began to take stock of it. One grabbed the corpse and started to throw it over the edge of the ship. Then the rest of his crew filtered to the top, but suddenly there was a scuffle at the edge of the ship. Hawk turned and heard a gun shot. The crew man that was dragging the corpse to the side of the ship staggered back and died.
The ├óÔé¼╦£corpse├óÔé¼Ôäó threw off its disuse and turned out to be a wiry man. He flicked his pistol and it switched to the second chamber. Then he fired it straight into Juliana├óÔé¼Ôäós chain├óÔé¼Ôäós. They separated and the man dashed over to the Hawkwind. Hawk yelled to his crew, but it was too late. Juliana giggled. Hawk turned to her, mouth agape as Juliana pointed to him. Flame├óÔé¼Ôäós shot from her finger, black flame├óÔé¼Ôäós that enveloped him. Hawk screamed as pain flooded him that could no longer be imagined.
Felix dashed through the commotion as the crew of the pirate ship started to swarm to the enemy ship. But while Felix and the others had distracted the captain of the enemy ship, the rest of his crew had snuck into the bottom of the ship. It was a rather clever device created by Bester the mechanic. It slid from the turbine room into the enemy ship, where two men with saw├óÔé¼Ôäós got into the enemy engine├óÔé¼Ôäós.
Felix fought hard, parrying swords and slicing with his dragon claw. He saw the rest of his crew burst onto the deck of the enemy ship, the enemy crew rush after them. But then his vision was obscured by a screaming man. The man, Felix recognized, was the captian, and he was enveloped in black flame├óÔé¼Ôäós. As he screamed and screamed, the mage laughed and laughed. With one final shriek, the captain jumped over the edge.
Bester ran back into the stair well as the enemy crew rushed back onto there ship. He and the rest of the Shadowrunner crew dashed through the room├óÔé¼Ôäós till they reached the engine room. His assistant slammed the door shut and Bester lit the fuse. The enemy crew managed to batter the door down and ran into the turbine room as the twin bag├óÔé¼Ôäós of gun powered finally exploded.
Garret had run onto the enemy ship, then off it again, then back on. He was jumping from one ship to the other, stabbing and slicing in a whirlwind of death. He was on the other ship, ready to dash over the gang plank as the engine room of the enemy ship exploded. The explosion flung him over the Shadowrunner├óÔé¼Ôäós deck and he almost didn├óÔé¼Ôäót grab the rail on the other side. But he managed to grab onto it and he held on as explosion├óÔé¼Ôäós rocked the ship.
The twin gunpowder bag├óÔé¼Ôäós seemed to do enough damage to the pirate ship, but when the main gunpowder store lit up, the fire works lit half the Shadowrunner on fire. Garret managed to clamber up onto the deck, and saw how the crew where desperately trying to keep rampant fire├óÔé¼Ôäós from consuming the ship. Garret felt the ship rock and looked over his shoulder. The ground was closer then he would of liked. ├óÔé¼┼ôGARRET!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted someone and it was then that he saw the piece of debris slide across the deck, heading straight for him. He dived out of the way, but a explosion rocked the deck. The Shadowrunner was going up in flak├óÔé¼Ôäós and the general order was to abandon ship.
Garret slid over the fake blood that the crew had slathered on the deck, trying to reach the rope├óÔé¼Ôäós that the crew was using to get to the rapidly approaching ground. ├óÔé¼┼ôThe gunpowder store is going to blow!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted some one, and every one still left on board flung themselves off the ship, hoping to escape. Garret glanced at the ground and threw himself over the rail. He fell in silence for a split second, then the Shadowrunner exploded in flame├óÔé¼Ôäós. The twin ship├óÔé¼Ôäós exploded together, slowly floating towards the ground as the balloon├óÔé¼Ôäós tried to keep them aloft. Then the gas leakage reached a critical point, and the balloons blew apart.
Garret saw the ground rush towards him. its coming up awfully fas he thought before he blacked out.
├óÔé¼┼ôCOME!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted someone. Garret jerked up and looked around for the source of the voice. He saw a glimmering ice field surrounding him, and a massive black tower rose in the distance. He spotted someone in the upper balcony. ├óÔé¼┼ôCome to me├óÔé¼┬Ø she said softly, and Garret felt giddy joy over coming his sense├óÔé¼Ôäós. He began to run towards the tower, but the tower seemed to become farther and farther from him the closer he got. Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós had to stop, a massive black curtain rising up between him and the tower. Once again there was something terrible behind it. Garret grabbed it, ready to pull it away. He did so.
The black curtain fell and some one very very familiar to Garret stood before him. It was himself. Garret opened his mouth and gaped before waking up.
Garret opened his eyes and moaned. The sky was very bright and his head hurt. He closed them and tried to ignore the splitting head ach that gripped him. He sat up and opened his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós, looking at the ground. It was brown and cracked, and he soon felt well enough to stand. Garret got up and felt himself over for serious injuries. He had nothing more then a nasty bump on his head.
He looked around the area and noted that he was in a forest of purplish crystals. They sprouted from the ground like plants, and each one seemed to glow faintly. Garret noticed how the plank├óÔé¼Ôäós and debris├óÔé¼Ôäós from the [i[Shadowrunner[/i] littered the area. That meant he wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót far from the others. So he walked towards the thicker area of debris├óÔé¼Ôäós, hoping he could find the others.
Suddenly a long, snakelike neck shot up from the ground. It was red, segmented and it├óÔé¼Ôäós head was long and reptilian. Garret backpedaled and reached for his sword. The head looked at him and began to weave back and forth as Garret found, to his dismay, that his sword was not there. So Garret kept his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós locked on the head├óÔé¼Ôäós black eye├óÔé¼Ôäós and tried to make himself look as big as possible.
The head continued to wave back and forth, and Garret began to feel a slightly itching on his palms. That usually meant something was sneaking up on him, but he dared not look away from the creature before him. He did notice that it couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót move that fast as the neck went under the ground and the creature must be a burrower. So he took a step back.
Suddenly he felt teeth sink into his shoulder, and something pull him backwards. He fell backwards and felt himself being dragged. Garret felt the thing attached to him and found it to be another head, like the one that was in front of him. Garret tried to pry the head off his shoulder. He managed to loosen it slightly before he was dragged under the sand.
He managed to get the head off of his shoulder, and felt the sand rush into his mouth. He flailed around and felt his hands and arms connect to something long and slimy. He then felt one of his feet burst out of the dirt and reach air. Something latched onto it and pulled him violently out. Unfortunately something clamped onto his right hand and pulled with equal ferocity.
Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós air supply was running out fast, and with an almighty wrench, he pulled his hand free of the thing holding onto it, and ignoring the pain, pushed him self out of the sand. He then threw up, disgorging a large amount of sand from his mouth. His rescuer grimaced. Garret had thrown up on his foot.
├óÔé¼┼ôWater├óÔé¼┬Ø croaked Garret after he managed to get most of the sand out of his mouth, save for the thin layer that was left in his throat. The man who had pulled him out handed him a flask of water and said ├óÔé¼┼ôJust take a little and slosh it around├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret did so, clearing out all but the horrid taste in his mouth. He then spat the water onto the ground, where it sank in almost immediately and vanished.
├óÔé¼┼ôGood thing I saw you getting pulled under├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said as Garret handed the flask back to him ├óÔé¼┼ôOr that grub would be spitting your bone├óÔé¼Ôäós out├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôGrubs.. there where two├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret replied. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo the Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós are two headed. The first one districts you, then the second pull├óÔé¼Ôäós you under├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, helping Garret to his feet. Garret looked at the ground and saw a ripple of movement under it. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt├óÔé¼Ôäóll probably go off to find some smaller food├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, looking around to make sure that the Grub was gone. ├óÔé¼┼ôThank you├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said, brushing more sand off himself. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo problem├óÔé¼┬ª just if you see another Grub, turn round and slash the head behind you. If you get it├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós then it will be too hurt to lunge, and that├óÔé¼Ôäós when you run├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said helpfully.
├óÔé¼┼ôThanks├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said again. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow can you help me?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked the man.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere you on that air ship that went up last night?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThere where two, and yes├óÔé¼┬ª did you see them?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was impossible to not see a light show like that├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said. He sighed. Then whipped out a small concealed dagger from his shit and threw it. With a sickening sound it slid into Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós chest. Blood blossomed around the wound and Garret fell onto his back, his hand clutching the wound. ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, standing above Garret with his sword drawn, ├óÔé¼┼ôOrders├óÔé¼┬Ø he finished, raising his sword to strike for Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós neck.
Garret felt for anything that could help him. He grabbed onto a piece of wood laying on the ground next to him. The sword plunged down, but Garret brought the frail, small piece of wood up and smashed it into the man├óÔé¼Ôäós Achilles├óÔé¼Ôäó heel. The wood was very jagged, and dug into the man├óÔé¼Ôäós heel. The man screamed, dropping the sword. Garret dug the wood deeper into his heel, but the man collapsed to his side. Garret grabbed the hilt of the dagger still embedded in his chest and wrenched it out, ignoring the pain. Blood flowed freely from the wound as he got on top of the man. Garret stabbed the bloody dagger into his assailant├óÔé¼Ôäós eye.
He then wrenched it out again and a hunk of gore and blood splashed the area. The man made a sound like something in too much pain to make a sound, then died. Garret rolled off the corpse, blood all over his face and clouding his eyes. He brought his hand up to clear some of the red from his face, but his hand was also covered in blood from his own wound.
Garret found, to his surprise, that he wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót dieing from the wound. The knife didn├óÔé¼Ôäót hit anything other then muscle, but Garret knew that he would die of blood loss soon anyway. So he lay back, staring at the sun. It was bright, and the world seemed to be made of light. Then someone leaned over him. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell, well, well├óÔé¼┬Ø said some one very familiar to Garret. It was himself.
Garret leaned over Garret and seemed to pity him. ├óÔé¼┼ôW-Wh├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret managed to croak, his hand├óÔé¼Ôäós plastered over his wound. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬ª look what you got yourself into├óÔé¼┬Ø his other self said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Garret. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts simple├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret replied ├óÔé¼┼ôI├óÔé¼Ôäóm you, and I was only supposed to kick in if you where in mortal peril├óÔé¼┬ª and here you are ├óÔé¼┬ª bleeding to death in the middle of the crystal fields of Terrix├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret wondered if he had always stated the obvious. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell we cant have you die and ruin that nice body for me├óÔé¼┬Ø his other self said, leaning over to him. He then whispered something and vanished.
Garret felt the world go heavy, and he fell unconsciouses. Then, to his surprise, he woke up again. Sitting up, he felt his chest. No wound. In fact├óÔé¼┬ª there wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót even any blood. His shirt was mended and his sleeve├óÔé¼Ôäós had no evidence of any blood on them. His face was clean, or at least, only covered in dust and sand. He looked around and found that the man that had tried to kill him was quite dead. Garret got up and shook himself. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the hell├óÔé¼┬Ø he muttered. First he saw himself in a dream, and then he helped himself. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is going on!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said to the world. the answer├óÔé¼Ôäós easy! said a very familiar voice in his own head.
Garret shouted and looked around. No one was around him, and no voice├óÔé¼Ôäós where to be heard. Garret, still glancing around, began to walk towards the center of the debris field. The explosion must have been bigger then he had thought, because as he walked carefully around the crystals and pieces of wood, the sun began to wane until it was a mere crescent. Garret looked up a little bit and saw that the curve of the horizon actually allowed him to see the burnt out hulk of the Shadowrunner. He also saw some fire light, and hoped that that was a camp, not secondary fire├óÔé¼Ôäós lit by burning coal.
He walked through the crystal├óÔé¼Ôäós and saw some dead body├óÔé¼Ôäós, each one mangled and burnt by the double explosion├óÔé¼Ôäós of the Shadowrunner and the Hawkwind. One was fresh, but the dead woman looked to be one of the pirate crew. That meant that the Shadowrunner├óÔé¼Ôäós crew where in charge.
A short while later he was almost at the camp, but before he could shout out his name, a bullet whizzed by his head.
Garret opened his eyes and moaned. The sky was very bright and his head hurt. He closed them and tried to ignore the splitting head ach that gripped him. He sat up and opened his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós, looking at the ground. It was brown and cracked, and he soon felt well enough to stand. Garret got up and felt himself over for serious injuries. He had nothing more then a nasty bump on his head.
He looked around the area and noted that he was in a forest of purplish crystals. They sprouted from the ground like plants, and each one seemed to glow faintly. Garret noticed how the plank├óÔé¼Ôäós and debris├óÔé¼Ôäós from the [i[Shadowrunner[/i] littered the area. That meant he wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót far from the others. So he walked towards the thicker area of debris├óÔé¼Ôäós, hoping he could find the others.
Suddenly a long, snakelike neck shot up from the ground. It was red, segmented and it├óÔé¼Ôäós head was long and reptilian. Garret backpedaled and reached for his sword. The head looked at him and began to weave back and forth as Garret found, to his dismay, that his sword was not there. So Garret kept his eye├óÔé¼Ôäós locked on the head├óÔé¼Ôäós black eye├óÔé¼Ôäós and tried to make himself look as big as possible.
The head continued to wave back and forth, and Garret began to feel a slightly itching on his palms. That usually meant something was sneaking up on him, but he dared not look away from the creature before him. He did notice that it couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót move that fast as the neck went under the ground and the creature must be a burrower. So he took a step back.
Suddenly he felt teeth sink into his shoulder, and something pull him backwards. He fell backwards and felt himself being dragged. Garret felt the thing attached to him and found it to be another head, like the one that was in front of him. Garret tried to pry the head off his shoulder. He managed to loosen it slightly before he was dragged under the sand.
He managed to get the head off of his shoulder, and felt the sand rush into his mouth. He flailed around and felt his hands and arms connect to something long and slimy. He then felt one of his feet burst out of the dirt and reach air. Something latched onto it and pulled him violently out. Unfortunately something clamped onto his right hand and pulled with equal ferocity.
Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós air supply was running out fast, and with an almighty wrench, he pulled his hand free of the thing holding onto it, and ignoring the pain, pushed him self out of the sand. He then threw up, disgorging a large amount of sand from his mouth. His rescuer grimaced. Garret had thrown up on his foot.
├óÔé¼┼ôWater├óÔé¼┬Ø croaked Garret after he managed to get most of the sand out of his mouth, save for the thin layer that was left in his throat. The man who had pulled him out handed him a flask of water and said ├óÔé¼┼ôJust take a little and slosh it around├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret did so, clearing out all but the horrid taste in his mouth. He then spat the water onto the ground, where it sank in almost immediately and vanished.
├óÔé¼┼ôGood thing I saw you getting pulled under├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said as Garret handed the flask back to him ├óÔé¼┼ôOr that grub would be spitting your bone├óÔé¼Ôäós out├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôGrubs.. there where two├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret replied. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo the Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós are two headed. The first one districts you, then the second pull├óÔé¼Ôäós you under├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, helping Garret to his feet. Garret looked at the ground and saw a ripple of movement under it. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt├óÔé¼Ôäóll probably go off to find some smaller food├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, looking around to make sure that the Grub was gone. ├óÔé¼┼ôThank you├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said, brushing more sand off himself. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo problem├óÔé¼┬ª just if you see another Grub, turn round and slash the head behind you. If you get it├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós then it will be too hurt to lunge, and that├óÔé¼Ôäós when you run├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said helpfully.
├óÔé¼┼ôThanks├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said again. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow can you help me?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked the man.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere you on that air ship that went up last night?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThere where two, and yes├óÔé¼┬ª did you see them?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was impossible to not see a light show like that├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said. He sighed. Then whipped out a small concealed dagger from his shit and threw it. With a sickening sound it slid into Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós chest. Blood blossomed around the wound and Garret fell onto his back, his hand clutching the wound. ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, standing above Garret with his sword drawn, ├óÔé¼┼ôOrders├óÔé¼┬Ø he finished, raising his sword to strike for Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós neck.
Garret felt for anything that could help him. He grabbed onto a piece of wood laying on the ground next to him. The sword plunged down, but Garret brought the frail, small piece of wood up and smashed it into the man├óÔé¼Ôäós Achilles├óÔé¼Ôäó heel. The wood was very jagged, and dug into the man├óÔé¼Ôäós heel. The man screamed, dropping the sword. Garret dug the wood deeper into his heel, but the man collapsed to his side. Garret grabbed the hilt of the dagger still embedded in his chest and wrenched it out, ignoring the pain. Blood flowed freely from the wound as he got on top of the man. Garret stabbed the bloody dagger into his assailant├óÔé¼Ôäós eye.
He then wrenched it out again and a hunk of gore and blood splashed the area. The man made a sound like something in too much pain to make a sound, then died. Garret rolled off the corpse, blood all over his face and clouding his eyes. He brought his hand up to clear some of the red from his face, but his hand was also covered in blood from his own wound.
Garret found, to his surprise, that he wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót dieing from the wound. The knife didn├óÔé¼Ôäót hit anything other then muscle, but Garret knew that he would die of blood loss soon anyway. So he lay back, staring at the sun. It was bright, and the world seemed to be made of light. Then someone leaned over him. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell, well, well├óÔé¼┬Ø said some one very familiar to Garret. It was himself.
Garret leaned over Garret and seemed to pity him. ├óÔé¼┼ôW-Wh├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret managed to croak, his hand├óÔé¼Ôäós plastered over his wound. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬ª look what you got yourself into├óÔé¼┬Ø his other self said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Garret. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts simple├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret replied ├óÔé¼┼ôI├óÔé¼Ôäóm you, and I was only supposed to kick in if you where in mortal peril├óÔé¼┬ª and here you are ├óÔé¼┬ª bleeding to death in the middle of the crystal fields of Terrix├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret wondered if he had always stated the obvious. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell we cant have you die and ruin that nice body for me├óÔé¼┬Ø his other self said, leaning over to him. He then whispered something and vanished.
Garret felt the world go heavy, and he fell unconsciouses. Then, to his surprise, he woke up again. Sitting up, he felt his chest. No wound. In fact├óÔé¼┬ª there wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót even any blood. His shirt was mended and his sleeve├óÔé¼Ôäós had no evidence of any blood on them. His face was clean, or at least, only covered in dust and sand. He looked around and found that the man that had tried to kill him was quite dead. Garret got up and shook himself. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the hell├óÔé¼┬Ø he muttered. First he saw himself in a dream, and then he helped himself. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is going on!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said to the world. the answer├óÔé¼Ôäós easy! said a very familiar voice in his own head.
Garret shouted and looked around. No one was around him, and no voice├óÔé¼Ôäós where to be heard. Garret, still glancing around, began to walk towards the center of the debris field. The explosion must have been bigger then he had thought, because as he walked carefully around the crystals and pieces of wood, the sun began to wane until it was a mere crescent. Garret looked up a little bit and saw that the curve of the horizon actually allowed him to see the burnt out hulk of the Shadowrunner. He also saw some fire light, and hoped that that was a camp, not secondary fire├óÔé¼Ôäós lit by burning coal.
He walked through the crystal├óÔé¼Ôäós and saw some dead body├óÔé¼Ôäós, each one mangled and burnt by the double explosion├óÔé¼Ôäós of the Shadowrunner and the Hawkwind. One was fresh, but the dead woman looked to be one of the pirate crew. That meant that the Shadowrunner├óÔé¼Ôäós crew where in charge.
A short while later he was almost at the camp, but before he could shout out his name, a bullet whizzed by his head.
its your story not mine => its your fault 
Garret slammed to the ground. He looked up, trying to see where the shot had come from. He spotted the sloppy hidden watcher and recognized Bester, the mechanic. ├óÔé¼┼ôGOD DAMN IT!├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret shouted, getting up ├óÔé¼┼ôITS ME!├óÔé¼┬Ø. Bester peered through the darkness and suddenly covered his mouth in shock. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh shit├óÔé¼┬Ø he muttered before running over to Garret. Bester ducked down and helped Garret to his feet. ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you okay?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. Garret nodded and brushed some dirt off his cloths then Bester led him to the camp.
The ├óÔé¼╦£camp├óÔé¼Ôäó was little more then a two lean-too around a fire lit on some salvaged coal and wood bit├óÔé¼Ôäós. The lean-too that sat with it├óÔé¼Ôäós back away from the ruin of the Shadowrunner was the sleeping quarter├óÔé¼Ôäós where the remnant├óÔé¼Ôäós of the crew slept together for warmth. The other one, which Garret could see into, held the wounded. Three makeshift star├óÔé¼Ôäós shot out of the ground at the edge of the camp, with freshly over turned dirt making the grave├óÔé¼Ôäós. Each nine pointed star was made of some wood bit├óÔé¼Ôäós and tied together with twine.
Garret and Bester joined the crew again, and many where surprised and jubilant to find another one they had thought dead to be alive. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe thought you where dead!├óÔé¼┬Ø said Book, his right leg ending at the knee. ├óÔé¼┼ôI was for a bit├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôSo the rot stuck in the wound?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked Book who nodded. ├óÔé¼┼ôMy shin itch├óÔé¼┬Ø Book muttered ├óÔé¼┼ôhow can it itch if it├óÔé¼Ôäós not there!├óÔé¼┬Ø he hobbled over to the wounded shack using a wooden plank to move around.
├óÔé¼┼ôFelix├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôHow soon can we move out?├óÔé¼┬Ø. Felix├óÔé¼Ôäós grin faded ├óÔé¼┼ôWe can├óÔé¼Ôäót move out with this many wounded!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, gesturing to the four other├óÔé¼Ôäós in the wounded shack with Book. ├óÔé¼┼ôAlso how would we get to Stelvi! Its over one hundred league├óÔé¼Ôäós away! The Shadowrunner would of gotten us there in a week but now it├óÔé¼Ôäós a wreck!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWe cant stay here! Have you seen those grub├óÔé¼Ôäós?├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThose killed one of my crew!├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix shouted, getting hysterical
├óÔé¼┼ôWho else is dead?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Garret
├óÔé¼┼ôKathleen, the cook died in the fight├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix said ├óÔé¼┼ôJuan, assistant mechanic was killed by the grub and├óÔé¼┬ª Melissa died from a stomach wound. She was buried two hour├óÔé¼Ôäós ago├óÔé¼┬Ø
Garret was silent for quite a while, sitting with the others around the fire. The happiness from when Garret arrived had faded. Every one was thinking of those who had fallen. The mage that from the Hawkwind had run off during the evacuation of the Shadowrunner. The watchwoman on duty right now stared off into the night, eye├óÔé¼Ôäós alert. She handled the only rifle that survived the crash, and had some shot and powder in her pockets.
Suddenly a Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós head shot up out of the ground in front of her. She pulled the rifle up to her shoulder and aimed at the thing├óÔé¼Ôäós head. ├óÔé¼┼ôDie you motherfuc-├óÔé¼┬Ø she whispered but suddenly the head behind her clamped onto her shoulder. She screamed and fell back wards. The Grub pulled her into the ground, but she managed to wedge the rifle between two rock outcropping, keeping her head just above the sand. The Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós teeth sank deeper into her shoulder, and her hand├óÔé¼Ôäós let go of the rifle.
Garret and the rest heard the scream, and they all dashed to the weapons. Garret grabbed a large hatchet and dashed off ahead of the other├óÔé¼Ôäós. He arrived to see the Grub start to pull the woman under. He dived at the thing├óÔé¼Ôäós exposed neck and smashed down with the hatchet between it├óÔé¼Ôäós chitins plate├óÔé¼Ôäós. His hatchet cut clean through, and the grub├óÔé¼Ôäós neck slid under the ground with the head still attached to the woman├óÔé¼Ôäós shoulder. Garret heaved her out of the ground, and she coughed up some dust that she had inhaled. Garret heard something rushing up behind him, and threw the woman aside and turned to see the second head of the Grub fly at him, stretching the neck impossibly long.
Garret dodged and the Grub flew past him. Garret reached around for the hatchet, but the Grub snaked around shockingly fast, snapping back to its normal length like rubber. It snagged Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós foot and dragged him rapidly towards the soft ground that surrounded its body. Suddenly the Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós neck was blasted apart by a musket round. Garret looked up and saw the wounded woman with the rifle. ├óÔé¼┼ôGot him├óÔé¼┬Ø she whispered as the rest of the crew dragged them both to the wounded shack.
Roughly one third away from the encampment, Stelvi Pass was under attack. The pass was actually three small ravines nestled in the massive mountain range that stretched from one side of Terrix to the other, and Stelvi was the largest and easiest pass to bring a massive army of Troggs through. And that is what the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós where trying to do.
Of course the Army, which was more of a government unto itself, was well set up to stop them. The Fortress was a massive, two mile wide fortress the encompassed the entire three passes. It had three stage├óÔé¼Ôäós. The Wall, The Store├óÔé¼Ôäós and the Quarters. The Wall had garrison├óÔé¼Ôäós where musket team├óÔé¼Ôäós could fire folly├óÔé¼Ôäós into any approaching army, while cannoneer├óÔé¼Ôäós stood three story├óÔé¼Ôäós up, three time├óÔé¼Ôäós over. This created a massive barrage of artillery and musket fire that would take more then the Trogg could throw at them. The Store├óÔé¼Ôäós where the granary├óÔé¼Ôäós, ammo store├óÔé¼Ôäós and quartermasters. The Quarter where the civilians├óÔé¼Ôäó and soldiers bunked, but a sprawling town also spread outwards from the Fortress.
The port had no gate, because the designer├óÔé¼Ôäós realized how stupid it would be to put a way straight to Emperryon right at the front lines. As the town slept, the army prepared for the Trogg rush, and the night wore on with an incredible slowness. The Wall was filled with soldiery, and the squad├óÔé¼Ôäós of musket men where literally packed shoulder to shoulder for two mile├óÔé¼Ôäós, one hundred thousand men strong, with five hundred thousand Kia and even two Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós occupying every slot required. The dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós flew fly by├óÔé¼Ôäós over the Fortress, there massive wing├óÔé¼Ôäós blotting out huge tracks of sky. The red one had gorged on meat├óÔé¼Ôäós to prepared his fire, while Blue one had been resting in a specially built chamber to store up the required energy├óÔé¼Ôäós for his lightning.
The Trogg however knew something the human├óÔé¼Ôäós didn├óÔé¼Ôäót. There would be no new supply ship from Emperryon. The Thirteen Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós had distracted the Magi of the Empire with there spell to raise the dead. The spell had worked for two day├óÔé¼Ôäós, but by then the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós had cast the spell that had warped the universe. The very basic material of the universe had been tapped to create lava and mountains where none had been before. The gate would be destroyed, and the Hawkwind would take care of the rest[/i]├óÔé¼┬ª.
Dawn broke and the Trogg attack began. Massive trebuchet├óÔé¼Ôäós lined the back of the army, for the Trogg never mastered the art of producing Gunpowder, so Smythson, the most technically inclined Necromancer, cooked up the massive counter balance thrower├óÔé¼Ôäós that could devastated as much as a cannon. The massive rock├óÔé¼Ôäós hurled through he air and smashed against the thick wall├óÔé¼Ôäós of the Fortress. Men and Kia died in droves, smashed to bit├óÔé¼Ôäós. The cannons returned fire to wreck even more damage onto the Trogg themselves. Cannon ball├óÔé¼Ôäós tore through rank├óÔé¼Ôäós of four legged warriors and hundred├óÔé¼Ôäós died.
The advancing wave was not stymied however and soon they drew into musket range. Then the bottom part of the Fortress wall fell forward, revealing hundred├óÔé¼Ôäós of men and Kia with rifles. The foremost Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós reared back like horse├óÔé¼Ôäós, back legs placed firmly on the ground. The rank├óÔé¼Ôäós behind them pushed them forward as many sergeant├óÔé¼Ôäós shouted the command to fire!
A haze of shot rushed through the air into the front rank of the Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós. Even though they where five hundred yards away, the rifled musket├óÔé¼Ôäós tore them to shreds. Black ichors flew from many wounds, guts and entrails splattered. Arm├óÔé¼Ôäós, leg├óÔé¼Ôäós and other limbs where torn away. The Trogg line collapsed, screaming in agony. The army of man charged out, over the moat that there wall had covered when it fell. As they drew swords and pistols, leaving rifle behind, cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós fired and the Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós swooped in. Battle was truly commencing.
Srg. Kelly lead his squad forward, pistol already expended by blasting a Trogg in the neck with it├óÔé¼Ôäós round. Cannon ball├óÔé¼Ôäós screamed over head and the Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós seemed to be broken. The squad managed to catch up to the massive warrior├óÔé¼Ôäós, and Kelly had quickly slashed his sword through one of the monster├óÔé¼Ôäós gut. The Trogg collapsed, its hands trying to keep its intestine├óÔé¼Ôäós in. ├óÔé¼┼ôFIRST BLOOD!├óÔé¼┬Ø Kelly shouted and the rest of his squad joined the fray, firing pistols into the packed mass of enemy├óÔé¼Ôäós.
Kelly dodged a massive swipe from a Trogg, its huge battle axe easily avoidable. He then slid his sword into its neck and pulled it out again. Men screamed around him, and the maelstrom of battle consumed his entire being. His sword dances, flinging blood and gore in every direction as he killed Trogg after Trogg. Cannon balls exploded and some of his men died, but the Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós where retreating all the way. As the Trogg line receded, fully retreating at gallop pace, Kelly stopped running and called for Grenade├óÔé¼Ôäós.
Grenade├óÔé¼Ôäós where a new toy from Emperryon, and now seemed a good time to use them. The four burliest men that still lived in his squad began to chuck the heavy explosives into the enemy. The explosion├óÔé¼Ôäós tore apart many of the enemy and the line was turned into a ragged bundle of troops. Many squads and troop├óÔé¼Ôäós fallowed Kelly├óÔé¼Ôäós suit and threw grenades at the Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós back. The explosions threw the enemy back and soon even the cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós where out of target├óÔé¼Ôäós to fire at.
As the men held a resounding celebration about the victory, Kelly slept. But the Red Dragon gorged on fresh corpses. Even though Trogg tasted only passable, but they built up his store├óÔé¼Ôäós for fire. She, for she the dragon was, peered into the night after eating her fill. She saw a single thing moving out there, a human by the heat it gave off. Red├óÔé¼Ôäós saw heat, and the form she spotted was a human moving towards the Fortress.
The Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós interest was perked, and she begin to walk towards the human. As the Red drew closer, the Human didn├óÔé¼Ôäót waver or show any fear. Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós tended to inspire those in humans, despite how much time├óÔé¼Ôäós they told them that Human├óÔé¼Ôäós tasted foul. So the Dragon stopped and waited for the human to come closer to her, so as not to startle it. Humans are notoriously jumpy.
The human form solidified into a female├óÔé¼Ôäós shape, and the Red decided to greet it. ├óÔé¼┼ôHello├óÔé¼┬Ø it said, it├óÔé¼Ôäós voice low and raspy like all dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós tend to be. Really it wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót there voice at all, but simply words sent through human├óÔé¼Ôäós minds. The Red was shocked however when the female responded, not in the human tong, but in the Elder tong. ├óÔé¼┼ôGreetings, venerable one├óÔé¼┬Ø it said, it├óÔé¼Ôäós oddly shaped mouth sounding the syllable├óÔé¼Ôäós of the Elder tong surprisingly well ├óÔé¼┼ôI need your assistance, to stop this terrible bloodshed├óÔé¼┬Ø she gestured at the dead that littered the field ├óÔé¼┼ôMy name is Sara, and this seems to be my fault├óÔé¼┬Ø
The ├óÔé¼╦£camp├óÔé¼Ôäó was little more then a two lean-too around a fire lit on some salvaged coal and wood bit├óÔé¼Ôäós. The lean-too that sat with it├óÔé¼Ôäós back away from the ruin of the Shadowrunner was the sleeping quarter├óÔé¼Ôäós where the remnant├óÔé¼Ôäós of the crew slept together for warmth. The other one, which Garret could see into, held the wounded. Three makeshift star├óÔé¼Ôäós shot out of the ground at the edge of the camp, with freshly over turned dirt making the grave├óÔé¼Ôäós. Each nine pointed star was made of some wood bit├óÔé¼Ôäós and tied together with twine.
Garret and Bester joined the crew again, and many where surprised and jubilant to find another one they had thought dead to be alive. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe thought you where dead!├óÔé¼┬Ø said Book, his right leg ending at the knee. ├óÔé¼┼ôI was for a bit├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôSo the rot stuck in the wound?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked Book who nodded. ├óÔé¼┼ôMy shin itch├óÔé¼┬Ø Book muttered ├óÔé¼┼ôhow can it itch if it├óÔé¼Ôäós not there!├óÔé¼┬Ø he hobbled over to the wounded shack using a wooden plank to move around.
├óÔé¼┼ôFelix├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôHow soon can we move out?├óÔé¼┬Ø. Felix├óÔé¼Ôäós grin faded ├óÔé¼┼ôWe can├óÔé¼Ôäót move out with this many wounded!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, gesturing to the four other├óÔé¼Ôäós in the wounded shack with Book. ├óÔé¼┼ôAlso how would we get to Stelvi! Its over one hundred league├óÔé¼Ôäós away! The Shadowrunner would of gotten us there in a week but now it├óÔé¼Ôäós a wreck!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWe cant stay here! Have you seen those grub├óÔé¼Ôäós?├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThose killed one of my crew!├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix shouted, getting hysterical
├óÔé¼┼ôWho else is dead?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Garret
├óÔé¼┼ôKathleen, the cook died in the fight├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix said ├óÔé¼┼ôJuan, assistant mechanic was killed by the grub and├óÔé¼┬ª Melissa died from a stomach wound. She was buried two hour├óÔé¼Ôäós ago├óÔé¼┬Ø
Garret was silent for quite a while, sitting with the others around the fire. The happiness from when Garret arrived had faded. Every one was thinking of those who had fallen. The mage that from the Hawkwind had run off during the evacuation of the Shadowrunner. The watchwoman on duty right now stared off into the night, eye├óÔé¼Ôäós alert. She handled the only rifle that survived the crash, and had some shot and powder in her pockets.
Suddenly a Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós head shot up out of the ground in front of her. She pulled the rifle up to her shoulder and aimed at the thing├óÔé¼Ôäós head. ├óÔé¼┼ôDie you motherfuc-├óÔé¼┬Ø she whispered but suddenly the head behind her clamped onto her shoulder. She screamed and fell back wards. The Grub pulled her into the ground, but she managed to wedge the rifle between two rock outcropping, keeping her head just above the sand. The Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós teeth sank deeper into her shoulder, and her hand├óÔé¼Ôäós let go of the rifle.
Garret and the rest heard the scream, and they all dashed to the weapons. Garret grabbed a large hatchet and dashed off ahead of the other├óÔé¼Ôäós. He arrived to see the Grub start to pull the woman under. He dived at the thing├óÔé¼Ôäós exposed neck and smashed down with the hatchet between it├óÔé¼Ôäós chitins plate├óÔé¼Ôäós. His hatchet cut clean through, and the grub├óÔé¼Ôäós neck slid under the ground with the head still attached to the woman├óÔé¼Ôäós shoulder. Garret heaved her out of the ground, and she coughed up some dust that she had inhaled. Garret heard something rushing up behind him, and threw the woman aside and turned to see the second head of the Grub fly at him, stretching the neck impossibly long.
Garret dodged and the Grub flew past him. Garret reached around for the hatchet, but the Grub snaked around shockingly fast, snapping back to its normal length like rubber. It snagged Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós foot and dragged him rapidly towards the soft ground that surrounded its body. Suddenly the Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós neck was blasted apart by a musket round. Garret looked up and saw the wounded woman with the rifle. ├óÔé¼┼ôGot him├óÔé¼┬Ø she whispered as the rest of the crew dragged them both to the wounded shack.
Roughly one third away from the encampment, Stelvi Pass was under attack. The pass was actually three small ravines nestled in the massive mountain range that stretched from one side of Terrix to the other, and Stelvi was the largest and easiest pass to bring a massive army of Troggs through. And that is what the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós where trying to do.
Of course the Army, which was more of a government unto itself, was well set up to stop them. The Fortress was a massive, two mile wide fortress the encompassed the entire three passes. It had three stage├óÔé¼Ôäós. The Wall, The Store├óÔé¼Ôäós and the Quarters. The Wall had garrison├óÔé¼Ôäós where musket team├óÔé¼Ôäós could fire folly├óÔé¼Ôäós into any approaching army, while cannoneer├óÔé¼Ôäós stood three story├óÔé¼Ôäós up, three time├óÔé¼Ôäós over. This created a massive barrage of artillery and musket fire that would take more then the Trogg could throw at them. The Store├óÔé¼Ôäós where the granary├óÔé¼Ôäós, ammo store├óÔé¼Ôäós and quartermasters. The Quarter where the civilians├óÔé¼Ôäó and soldiers bunked, but a sprawling town also spread outwards from the Fortress.
The port had no gate, because the designer├óÔé¼Ôäós realized how stupid it would be to put a way straight to Emperryon right at the front lines. As the town slept, the army prepared for the Trogg rush, and the night wore on with an incredible slowness. The Wall was filled with soldiery, and the squad├óÔé¼Ôäós of musket men where literally packed shoulder to shoulder for two mile├óÔé¼Ôäós, one hundred thousand men strong, with five hundred thousand Kia and even two Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós occupying every slot required. The dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós flew fly by├óÔé¼Ôäós over the Fortress, there massive wing├óÔé¼Ôäós blotting out huge tracks of sky. The red one had gorged on meat├óÔé¼Ôäós to prepared his fire, while Blue one had been resting in a specially built chamber to store up the required energy├óÔé¼Ôäós for his lightning.
The Trogg however knew something the human├óÔé¼Ôäós didn├óÔé¼Ôäót. There would be no new supply ship from Emperryon. The Thirteen Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós had distracted the Magi of the Empire with there spell to raise the dead. The spell had worked for two day├óÔé¼Ôäós, but by then the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós had cast the spell that had warped the universe. The very basic material of the universe had been tapped to create lava and mountains where none had been before. The gate would be destroyed, and the Hawkwind would take care of the rest[/i]├óÔé¼┬ª.
Dawn broke and the Trogg attack began. Massive trebuchet├óÔé¼Ôäós lined the back of the army, for the Trogg never mastered the art of producing Gunpowder, so Smythson, the most technically inclined Necromancer, cooked up the massive counter balance thrower├óÔé¼Ôäós that could devastated as much as a cannon. The massive rock├óÔé¼Ôäós hurled through he air and smashed against the thick wall├óÔé¼Ôäós of the Fortress. Men and Kia died in droves, smashed to bit├óÔé¼Ôäós. The cannons returned fire to wreck even more damage onto the Trogg themselves. Cannon ball├óÔé¼Ôäós tore through rank├óÔé¼Ôäós of four legged warriors and hundred├óÔé¼Ôäós died.
The advancing wave was not stymied however and soon they drew into musket range. Then the bottom part of the Fortress wall fell forward, revealing hundred├óÔé¼Ôäós of men and Kia with rifles. The foremost Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós reared back like horse├óÔé¼Ôäós, back legs placed firmly on the ground. The rank├óÔé¼Ôäós behind them pushed them forward as many sergeant├óÔé¼Ôäós shouted the command to fire!
A haze of shot rushed through the air into the front rank of the Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós. Even though they where five hundred yards away, the rifled musket├óÔé¼Ôäós tore them to shreds. Black ichors flew from many wounds, guts and entrails splattered. Arm├óÔé¼Ôäós, leg├óÔé¼Ôäós and other limbs where torn away. The Trogg line collapsed, screaming in agony. The army of man charged out, over the moat that there wall had covered when it fell. As they drew swords and pistols, leaving rifle behind, cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós fired and the Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós swooped in. Battle was truly commencing.
Srg. Kelly lead his squad forward, pistol already expended by blasting a Trogg in the neck with it├óÔé¼Ôäós round. Cannon ball├óÔé¼Ôäós screamed over head and the Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós seemed to be broken. The squad managed to catch up to the massive warrior├óÔé¼Ôäós, and Kelly had quickly slashed his sword through one of the monster├óÔé¼Ôäós gut. The Trogg collapsed, its hands trying to keep its intestine├óÔé¼Ôäós in. ├óÔé¼┼ôFIRST BLOOD!├óÔé¼┬Ø Kelly shouted and the rest of his squad joined the fray, firing pistols into the packed mass of enemy├óÔé¼Ôäós.
Kelly dodged a massive swipe from a Trogg, its huge battle axe easily avoidable. He then slid his sword into its neck and pulled it out again. Men screamed around him, and the maelstrom of battle consumed his entire being. His sword dances, flinging blood and gore in every direction as he killed Trogg after Trogg. Cannon balls exploded and some of his men died, but the Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós where retreating all the way. As the Trogg line receded, fully retreating at gallop pace, Kelly stopped running and called for Grenade├óÔé¼Ôäós.
Grenade├óÔé¼Ôäós where a new toy from Emperryon, and now seemed a good time to use them. The four burliest men that still lived in his squad began to chuck the heavy explosives into the enemy. The explosion├óÔé¼Ôäós tore apart many of the enemy and the line was turned into a ragged bundle of troops. Many squads and troop├óÔé¼Ôäós fallowed Kelly├óÔé¼Ôäós suit and threw grenades at the Trogg├óÔé¼Ôäós back. The explosions threw the enemy back and soon even the cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós where out of target├óÔé¼Ôäós to fire at.
As the men held a resounding celebration about the victory, Kelly slept. But the Red Dragon gorged on fresh corpses. Even though Trogg tasted only passable, but they built up his store├óÔé¼Ôäós for fire. She, for she the dragon was, peered into the night after eating her fill. She saw a single thing moving out there, a human by the heat it gave off. Red├óÔé¼Ôäós saw heat, and the form she spotted was a human moving towards the Fortress.
The Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós interest was perked, and she begin to walk towards the human. As the Red drew closer, the Human didn├óÔé¼Ôäót waver or show any fear. Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós tended to inspire those in humans, despite how much time├óÔé¼Ôäós they told them that Human├óÔé¼Ôäós tasted foul. So the Dragon stopped and waited for the human to come closer to her, so as not to startle it. Humans are notoriously jumpy.
The human form solidified into a female├óÔé¼Ôäós shape, and the Red decided to greet it. ├óÔé¼┼ôHello├óÔé¼┬Ø it said, it├óÔé¼Ôäós voice low and raspy like all dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós tend to be. Really it wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót there voice at all, but simply words sent through human├óÔé¼Ôäós minds. The Red was shocked however when the female responded, not in the human tong, but in the Elder tong. ├óÔé¼┼ôGreetings, venerable one├óÔé¼┬Ø it said, it├óÔé¼Ôäós oddly shaped mouth sounding the syllable├óÔé¼Ôäós of the Elder tong surprisingly well ├óÔé¼┼ôI need your assistance, to stop this terrible bloodshed├óÔé¼┬Ø she gestured at the dead that littered the field ├óÔé¼┼ôMy name is Sara, and this seems to be my fault├óÔé¼┬Ø
NOTE: Sorry about the lateness of the new episode. The Marching Band season started again, and you know what that means! 9:00 to 9:00 practices! Standing around for hours at a time! Holding, let alone PLAYING, Sousaphone├óÔé¼Ôäós! So I have been rather A: Tired and B: Out of Whack for the last week. Enjoy the latest, and fairly exiting, episode of Ring's.
A rather drunken man tripped over his own feet and spilled beer all over Srg. Kelly, who sprang to his feet swearing loudly. The still celebrating men around him simply laughed as Kelly, grumpily, strode into the night to get away from the party. He elbowed his way through the crowd, knocking one particularly dazed privet into a bed, and finally reached the door leading to the ready room├óÔé¼Ôäós.
The ready room├óÔé¼Ôäós had been constructed entirely for the battle that had just taken place, and they would be filled in with stone so the enemy didn├óÔé¼Ôäót try hitting them with their damnable trebuchet├óÔé¼Ôäós. It also allowed Kelly to get into the quiet night with out too much trouble. He spotted the Red Dragon in the distance and smiled. ├óÔé¼┼ôSuppose I├óÔé¼Ôäóm not the only one who need├óÔé¼Ôäós a walk├óÔé¼┬Ø.
The Red slid the Artifact into her stomach pouch and nodded to Sara. ├óÔé¼┼ôThank you, Elder one├óÔé¼┬Ø the human said, bowing low. The Dragon blinked slowly and turned to leave. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon├óÔé¼Ôäót forget. His name is Garret├óÔé¼┬Ø Sara said to the Dragon. ├óÔé¼┼ôI may be twenty thousand year├óÔé¼Ôäós old, but I don├óÔé¼Ôäót forget anything├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon said, turning her head to Sara. ├óÔé¼┼ôBut don├óÔé¼Ôäót worry, I will find him├óÔé¼┬Ø The Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós stared straight into the human├óÔé¼Ôäós, and Sara nodded. ├óÔé¼┼ôI hope he can do what you say├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Kelly started when he saw the Dragon actually talking to├óÔé¼┬ª something in its bizarre sibilant tong. He dropped the towel he had grabbed to clean his shirt as he saw a tall woman, wearing white robe├óÔé¼Ôäós, talking back to the Dragon. He pulled out his pistol, and cocked it. Its Her he thought, fear clutching at his heart and I can kill her and end the war now!. He began to sneak towards the two.
Suddenly he saw the Dragon slip something into its stomach pouch, and the realization hit him. He ran back into the barracks. He bellowed for the troop├óÔé¼Ôäós, and despite there drunkenness, the troop├óÔé¼Ôäós rallied surprisingly quickly. The first two squads that formed out side only had there pistols, but the word was spreading up to the cannoneers. As the men aimed for the woman, and the cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós prepared to fire on the Dragon, and the entire Fortress waited with baited breath, silent and watchful, all cheer gone from them.
The Dragon prepared to take off, readying herself for the long flight ahead of her. Suddenly a over eager Kia, claw├óÔé¼Ôäós trembling, pulled the cannon firing cord and his gun screamed. The cannon ball smashed through the Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós right wing, cutting a ragged hole through the membranes. The rest of the cannons fired as the Dragon got off the ground. Sara pushed with all her might and the Dragon sped away, magic pushing her along.
A wave of musket fire shot up to the Red Dragon, and the tiny bullet├óÔé¼Ôäós found chunks in her armor and red hot blood fell from the sky, and one soldier got a drop in the eye. He dropped, screaming as fiery blood ate into his brain. The Dragon sagged, losing some height, but the power Sara gave her kept her flying until she cleared the Fortress. Kelly swore, for when he looked back to where Sara had been, the Necromancer was gone.
The Dragon winged her way towards the Gate, her blood dribbling down multiple hole├óÔé¼Ôäós priced in the soft flesh that was protected by her scale├óÔé¼Ôäós. The hole in her wing was shooting pain through her entire side. But she pushed on, and started to glide, easing her work lode.
The sun grew into dawn, brining a harsh heat down onto the small camp set up by the crew of the Shadowrunner. They had split into three groups. A few of them started to forage, finding that the Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós tasted terrible, but some spices found in the wrecked ------- of the ship help that. The second group was busy collecting wood, wreckage and supply├óÔé¼Ôäós to make the camp more permanent. The third group was tending to the wounded, and helping to build the camp up.
By the end of the first day the camp had expanded to include a basic cover to ward of the merciless sun. A makeshift cistern was put up, holding the meager water that the crew had scavenged. The two tent├óÔé¼Ôäós had been fortified into something more sold, using wood and nail├óÔé¼Ôäós collected from both downed ships. Garret was frying up two segmented piece├óÔé¼Ôäós of a Grub when something at the edge of the camp exploded.
He sprang to his feet, the frying pan he had been holding dropping to the ground, the Grub meat forgotten. He located the direction of the explosion and dashed to the area. He found that two of the crew, a cargo loader named Steven and a ensign who├óÔé¼Ôäós name Garret had yet to learn. They where helping a wounded man to his feet, trying to keep him from putting weight on his right leg, which was pieced straight through by a shard of crystal.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat happened?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Garret as the two men started to drag the wounded man away from the smoldering crater that resulted form the explosion. ├óÔé¼┼ôOne of the damned crystals├óÔé¼Ôäós exploded!├óÔé¼┬Ø The wounded man said ├óÔé¼┼ôI saw it flash, then bang!├óÔé¼┬Ø. Steven told him to be quiet and get some rest as they pulled him to the wounded cabin.
The crystal├óÔé¼Ôäós that seemed to pepper the Terrix were the source of rune stone├óÔé¼Ôäós. The energy├óÔé¼Ôäós that the magi and necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós harnessed with rune├óÔé¼Ôäós came from the crystal├óÔé¼Ôäós, but when they where left alone for a long while the energy├óÔé¼Ôäós built up and exploded violently. The shard├óÔé¼Ôäós of the crystals actually sank into the ground and started to grow into new crystals. The crew started to be on the look out for glowing crystals, for those would soon explode if left unattended.
The second day dawned, and Felix began to discuss the plan of escape. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe still cant move with theses wounded├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret was saying, when a watchman shouted the alarm. The crew ran to the side of the camp, and gasped. A dragon was heading straight for the camp. ├óÔé¼┼ôDragon├óÔé¼Ôäós are our allies! We are saved!├óÔé¼┬Ø was the general sentiment, but Garret noticed how the Dragon was favoring one wing over the other, and as it got closer he spotted trail├óÔé¼Ôäós of blood coursing from various wounds. Felix noticed the same thing as well, and shouted to the crew.
├óÔé¼┼ôGET OUT OF THE WAY! That Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós wounded!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted, and the crew began to get quickly out of the way as the dragon made a landing. It tried to slow down, but the hole in it├óÔé¼Ôäós wing caused it to skid a twenty yard├óÔé¼Ôäós, it├óÔé¼Ôäós claw├óÔé¼Ôäós digging into the ground as it tried to slow before bowling into the camp. It came to a stop, laying in a disorganized heap about ten feet away from the camp├óÔé¼Ôäós edge. The crew ran forward as the Dragon tried to look around.
Garret, Felix and even Book ran towards it├óÔé¼Ôäós head. Book was still hobbled by a makeshift crutch, but still he kept pace with the other two. The Dragon brought it├óÔé¼Ôäós head up, it├óÔé¼Ôäós tired eye├óÔé¼Ôäós scanning the people that gathered around it. Each person felt a slight flutter in there minds, as the Dragon assessed there name. It├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós fell on Garret, and the Dragon surged to it├óÔé¼Ôäós feet. Standing on it├óÔé¼Ôäós six claw├óÔé¼Ôäós, with it├óÔé¼Ôäós massive wing├óÔé¼Ôäós spread to full length, the Dragon was a impressive sight, chasseing the crew to surge back in fear. It bowed as best it could to Garret. ├óÔé¼┼ôExalted One, I found you├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon said bowing her head all the way to the ground. Garret blanched.
A rather drunken man tripped over his own feet and spilled beer all over Srg. Kelly, who sprang to his feet swearing loudly. The still celebrating men around him simply laughed as Kelly, grumpily, strode into the night to get away from the party. He elbowed his way through the crowd, knocking one particularly dazed privet into a bed, and finally reached the door leading to the ready room├óÔé¼Ôäós.
The ready room├óÔé¼Ôäós had been constructed entirely for the battle that had just taken place, and they would be filled in with stone so the enemy didn├óÔé¼Ôäót try hitting them with their damnable trebuchet├óÔé¼Ôäós. It also allowed Kelly to get into the quiet night with out too much trouble. He spotted the Red Dragon in the distance and smiled. ├óÔé¼┼ôSuppose I├óÔé¼Ôäóm not the only one who need├óÔé¼Ôäós a walk├óÔé¼┬Ø.
The Red slid the Artifact into her stomach pouch and nodded to Sara. ├óÔé¼┼ôThank you, Elder one├óÔé¼┬Ø the human said, bowing low. The Dragon blinked slowly and turned to leave. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon├óÔé¼Ôäót forget. His name is Garret├óÔé¼┬Ø Sara said to the Dragon. ├óÔé¼┼ôI may be twenty thousand year├óÔé¼Ôäós old, but I don├óÔé¼Ôäót forget anything├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon said, turning her head to Sara. ├óÔé¼┼ôBut don├óÔé¼Ôäót worry, I will find him├óÔé¼┬Ø The Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós stared straight into the human├óÔé¼Ôäós, and Sara nodded. ├óÔé¼┼ôI hope he can do what you say├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Kelly started when he saw the Dragon actually talking to├óÔé¼┬ª something in its bizarre sibilant tong. He dropped the towel he had grabbed to clean his shirt as he saw a tall woman, wearing white robe├óÔé¼Ôäós, talking back to the Dragon. He pulled out his pistol, and cocked it. Its Her he thought, fear clutching at his heart and I can kill her and end the war now!. He began to sneak towards the two.
Suddenly he saw the Dragon slip something into its stomach pouch, and the realization hit him. He ran back into the barracks. He bellowed for the troop├óÔé¼Ôäós, and despite there drunkenness, the troop├óÔé¼Ôäós rallied surprisingly quickly. The first two squads that formed out side only had there pistols, but the word was spreading up to the cannoneers. As the men aimed for the woman, and the cannon├óÔé¼Ôäós prepared to fire on the Dragon, and the entire Fortress waited with baited breath, silent and watchful, all cheer gone from them.
The Dragon prepared to take off, readying herself for the long flight ahead of her. Suddenly a over eager Kia, claw├óÔé¼Ôäós trembling, pulled the cannon firing cord and his gun screamed. The cannon ball smashed through the Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós right wing, cutting a ragged hole through the membranes. The rest of the cannons fired as the Dragon got off the ground. Sara pushed with all her might and the Dragon sped away, magic pushing her along.
A wave of musket fire shot up to the Red Dragon, and the tiny bullet├óÔé¼Ôäós found chunks in her armor and red hot blood fell from the sky, and one soldier got a drop in the eye. He dropped, screaming as fiery blood ate into his brain. The Dragon sagged, losing some height, but the power Sara gave her kept her flying until she cleared the Fortress. Kelly swore, for when he looked back to where Sara had been, the Necromancer was gone.
The Dragon winged her way towards the Gate, her blood dribbling down multiple hole├óÔé¼Ôäós priced in the soft flesh that was protected by her scale├óÔé¼Ôäós. The hole in her wing was shooting pain through her entire side. But she pushed on, and started to glide, easing her work lode.
The sun grew into dawn, brining a harsh heat down onto the small camp set up by the crew of the Shadowrunner. They had split into three groups. A few of them started to forage, finding that the Grub├óÔé¼Ôäós tasted terrible, but some spices found in the wrecked ------- of the ship help that. The second group was busy collecting wood, wreckage and supply├óÔé¼Ôäós to make the camp more permanent. The third group was tending to the wounded, and helping to build the camp up.
By the end of the first day the camp had expanded to include a basic cover to ward of the merciless sun. A makeshift cistern was put up, holding the meager water that the crew had scavenged. The two tent├óÔé¼Ôäós had been fortified into something more sold, using wood and nail├óÔé¼Ôäós collected from both downed ships. Garret was frying up two segmented piece├óÔé¼Ôäós of a Grub when something at the edge of the camp exploded.
He sprang to his feet, the frying pan he had been holding dropping to the ground, the Grub meat forgotten. He located the direction of the explosion and dashed to the area. He found that two of the crew, a cargo loader named Steven and a ensign who├óÔé¼Ôäós name Garret had yet to learn. They where helping a wounded man to his feet, trying to keep him from putting weight on his right leg, which was pieced straight through by a shard of crystal.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat happened?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Garret as the two men started to drag the wounded man away from the smoldering crater that resulted form the explosion. ├óÔé¼┼ôOne of the damned crystals├óÔé¼Ôäós exploded!├óÔé¼┬Ø The wounded man said ├óÔé¼┼ôI saw it flash, then bang!├óÔé¼┬Ø. Steven told him to be quiet and get some rest as they pulled him to the wounded cabin.
The crystal├óÔé¼Ôäós that seemed to pepper the Terrix were the source of rune stone├óÔé¼Ôäós. The energy├óÔé¼Ôäós that the magi and necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós harnessed with rune├óÔé¼Ôäós came from the crystal├óÔé¼Ôäós, but when they where left alone for a long while the energy├óÔé¼Ôäós built up and exploded violently. The shard├óÔé¼Ôäós of the crystals actually sank into the ground and started to grow into new crystals. The crew started to be on the look out for glowing crystals, for those would soon explode if left unattended.
The second day dawned, and Felix began to discuss the plan of escape. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe still cant move with theses wounded├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret was saying, when a watchman shouted the alarm. The crew ran to the side of the camp, and gasped. A dragon was heading straight for the camp. ├óÔé¼┼ôDragon├óÔé¼Ôäós are our allies! We are saved!├óÔé¼┬Ø was the general sentiment, but Garret noticed how the Dragon was favoring one wing over the other, and as it got closer he spotted trail├óÔé¼Ôäós of blood coursing from various wounds. Felix noticed the same thing as well, and shouted to the crew.
├óÔé¼┼ôGET OUT OF THE WAY! That Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós wounded!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted, and the crew began to get quickly out of the way as the dragon made a landing. It tried to slow down, but the hole in it├óÔé¼Ôäós wing caused it to skid a twenty yard├óÔé¼Ôäós, it├óÔé¼Ôäós claw├óÔé¼Ôäós digging into the ground as it tried to slow before bowling into the camp. It came to a stop, laying in a disorganized heap about ten feet away from the camp├óÔé¼Ôäós edge. The crew ran forward as the Dragon tried to look around.
Garret, Felix and even Book ran towards it├óÔé¼Ôäós head. Book was still hobbled by a makeshift crutch, but still he kept pace with the other two. The Dragon brought it├óÔé¼Ôäós head up, it├óÔé¼Ôäós tired eye├óÔé¼Ôäós scanning the people that gathered around it. Each person felt a slight flutter in there minds, as the Dragon assessed there name. It├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós fell on Garret, and the Dragon surged to it├óÔé¼Ôäós feet. Standing on it├óÔé¼Ôäós six claw├óÔé¼Ôäós, with it├óÔé¼Ôäós massive wing├óÔé¼Ôäós spread to full length, the Dragon was a impressive sight, chasseing the crew to surge back in fear. It bowed as best it could to Garret. ├óÔé¼┼ôExalted One, I found you├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon said bowing her head all the way to the ground. Garret blanched.
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Archangel of Death
- Posts: 854
- Joined: 28 Jan 2005, 18:15
Garret was at a complete loss for words. He backed up a bit and the dragon collapsed, it├óÔé¼Ôäós breathing raggedly. The crew rushed forward, but Book shoved them back. ├óÔé¼┼ôWAIT! I Studied Dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós when I was young! There blood burn├óÔé¼Ôäós!├óÔé¼┬Ø But even with his warning, a few crew member├óÔé¼Ôäós singed there hand├óÔé¼Ôäós on fleck├óÔé¼Ôäós of dragons blood. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe├óÔé¼┬Ø Book continued ├óÔé¼┼ôWill heal, but only if we get some meat to her├óÔé¼┬Ø. The some of the quicker crew ran off to find the Grub that they had hacked up an hour ago.
As the Dragon automatically chewed on the meat, Felix, Book and Garret all met together. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat did it say?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Felix. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou heard her├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret snapped, still bewildered. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe was speaking the Elder tong Garret!├óÔé¼┬Ø Book said. Garret looked up ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked, dumbfounded.
├óÔé¼┼ôShe was speaking in Elder tong and in a dialect that I haven├óÔé¼Ôäót heard├óÔé¼┬ª ever├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBut I cant even speak Kia!├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret replied
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat did she say?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Felix.
├óÔé¼┼ôShe greeted me, calling me the Exalted One├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe must of gone through hell, shot up that badly just to find me├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôHow do[/i] you know it├óÔé¼Ôäós a female├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix asked Book. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt├óÔé¼Ôäós obvious├óÔé¼┬Ø He replied ├óÔé¼┼ôSee if they don├óÔé¼Ôäót have the young pouch, then they are male├óÔé¼┬Ø.
A crew member chose that moment to burst into the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôFelix, sir! The dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós waking up!├óÔé¼┬Ø. They all walked over to the dragon that was munching on a whole Grub a hunting party had slain. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe can speak mind to mind, but it take├óÔé¼Ôäós a lot of effort to alter the language├óÔé¼┬Ø Book told Garret ├óÔé¼┼ôBut let├óÔé¼Ôäós see what she has to say├óÔé¼┬Ø Then he melted backwards into the crowd and Garret stepped forward.
├óÔé¼┼ôGreeting├óÔé¼Ôäós Exalted One├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon hissed. It seemed like Empire, but Garret noticed a slight sibilant under tone and odd pronunciation├óÔé¼Ôäós of words. ├óÔé¼┼ôHello├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy are you here and I├óÔé¼Ôäóm not├óÔé¼┬Ø, but the Dragon cut him off mid-sentence ├óÔé¼┼ôI have urgent news for you, something that only you, me and Sara├óÔé¼┬Ø. Now it was her turn to be cut of mid-sentence, as the blood drained from Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós face. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat ever├óÔé¼┬ª she has to say is not important to me├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Dragon tried to resume talking, but Garret cut her off again ├óÔé¼┼ôNo! She is evil, and her words are evil too├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe wants you to have this!├óÔé¼┬Ø The Dragon snapped angrily, handing a small, black, stone to Garret. She then started to eat, loudly.
Garret looked at it. It was smooth, black and had an intricate pattern carved into it, making a graceful, never ending line that branched and rebranched. It was beautiful, elegant and memorizing. Garret knew it was probably something evil, but he simply pocketed it, something in the back of his head screaming that this was important. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the hell!├óÔé¼┬Ø Book said as Garret walked to him, the crowd dispersing, each looking at Garret with look├óÔé¼Ôäós of aw├óÔé¼┬ª and fear.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret asked wirily, guessing what Book was about to say. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou can speak Elder fluently, and it├óÔé¼Ôäós in a dialogue I can├óÔé¼Ôäót even place! It├óÔé¼Ôäós similar to one that went out of use five thousand year├óÔé¼Ôäós ago, and you just got something that practically SCREAMS artifact!├óÔé¼┬Ø Book was close to shouting. ├óÔé¼┼ôBook├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôCalm down├óÔé¼┬Ø. Book seemed to swell up, but he almost lost his balance and toppled over. Garret laughed, tension leaving him as he steadied his friend.
The Dragon ate, slept and the wound├óÔé¼Ôäós that had almost killed her began to close. The fascination of her arrival had turned to hope of rescue, and bewilderment in the crew. They started to avoid Garret, and each had there own pet theory. Some thought he was a Necromancer traveling incognito. Other├óÔé¼Ôäós though he was a Dragon, turned human and traveling the Empire. One man insisted that he was a fabled Speaker, or one who could learn a language by looking at someone. He was rebuked multiple time├óÔé¼Ôäós, because if Garret was a Speaker, then why wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót he at a diplomatic embassy in Salem, trying to keep the Empire from falling apart.
Garret finally couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót take the whispers and look├óÔé¼Ôäós, so he slipped out with a sword and pistol, eye├óÔé¼Ôäós open for the infrequent Grub attack├óÔé¼Ôäós. As he walked out of the campfire and sat down, leaning against a dully glowing crystal. He took out the stone the Dragon had given him, and looked at the pattern. It seemed vaguely familiar, but as he stared at it, the ghost of the memory vanished as he stared at the stone.
├óÔé¼┼ôDamn├óÔé¼┬Ø he whispered, not sure why he was upset. He looked up and saw a ghostly apparition. It was a man, dressed in simple clothes that seemed regal. A simple circlet surrounded his forehead, but it was unadorned and simple. He looked over his shoulder at something Garret couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót see. His face, serene and expressionless suddenly broke into a smile, and a woman ran into his arms. Garret grasped at the memory of the stone, the circlet and the pattern. But as the apparition faded, the woman and man still embracing, and with them the memory winked out.
He suddenly realized something. He ran over to the Dragon, who was peering at the star├óÔé¼Ôäós and the inner ring├óÔé¼Ôäós intently. ├óÔé¼┼ôDragon├óÔé¼┬Ø he said as he approached he ├óÔé¼┼ôI apologies for my temper├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Dragon blinked slowly and blew out a light puff of steam which enveloped Garret. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou and your race make up your mind├óÔé¼Ôäós so quickly, it seem├óÔé¼Ôäós that my race move├óÔé¼Ôäós as slow as the star├óÔé¼Ôäós themselves├óÔé¼┬Ø She remarked.
├óÔé¼┼ôDragon, I need to know what Sara wanted me to know! I need to know why she sent you to me├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said, head bowed. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe said that you where the only one who could end the war, ending it with peace between the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós and Empire. She wants you to come to her, as her first message├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós widened ├óÔé¼┼ôFirst message?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. The Dragon looked at him piercingly, and Garret remembered what had sent him here in the first place. The vision.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes... That├óÔé¼┬Ø The Dragon said ├óÔé¼┼ôCome with me, and I will take you to Stelvi and perhaps stay with you for a while. It might├óÔé¼┬ª be fun├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôFun?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Garret. ├óÔé¼┼ôI have become bored and tired of the continual battle between the Empire and the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós. I am tired of watching the younger race├óÔé¼Ôäós bicker and argue and fight. I am tired of the my race being a bunch of conservative├óÔé¼Ôäós├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret smiled, thinking that the Dragon sounded like him, only a month and a few week├óÔé¼Ôäós ago. ├óÔé¼┼ôYour Right├óÔé¼┬ª this may be fun├óÔé¼┬Ø He said.
The Dragon was truly a magnificent sight at dawn. Her golden red scales glinted in the sun, and her wings spread to shadow the entire camp. As she began to prepare for her flight, the crew brought back three more Grubs from a hunting expedition. The Dragon ate a whole Grub raw and cooked the rest with a very light blast of fire. After they had eaten, the crew got to work.
Gathering up more wood and partially deconstructing the half burnt wreck of the Shadowrunner the crew managed to gather four very long wood slats that made up the underside of the Shadowrunner hull. They laid them on the ground and lashed them together. The sun was full in sky, beating down harshly on the backs of the men and women working. But by the end of the day half of there carriage was finished.
By dawn the next day the carriage was finished. All twelve of the crew, counting the passengers, could stand side by side and they hoped the Dragon could carry them. And that the basket wouldn├óÔé¼Ôäót fall apart in the air.
Garret hated the trip. Hated it with a vengeance. The Dragon had to go up, in a jerking, swaying wing powered gain and then it would swoop down and it felt like he was falling. He heard someone throwing up, and felt something gather round his feet and dribbled out of the many holes in the makeshift aircraft. It also seemed to go on forever, leaving Garret exhausted by the end of the day. As they came to a shuddering halt the crew staggered out and lay on the hard ground. Garret lay back looking at the sky. He felt some vertigo, because Terrix was a far larger ring then his home.
He spotted something though that spoke for how far they had gone in only a week, the volcano. It still sparked and flamed, sending up gouts of smoke that where slowly drifting towards them. It stretched out for miles in a thick stream. Soon the crew had to get up and prepare themselves for the night, munching on the meager food they managed to pack with them. The Dragon stood vigil over them, allowing them all to sleep.
It was a cold night. The Dragon rested, keeping one of her eyes open. She suddenly shot her head straight up, peering through the night with her heat vision. She saw something small and hot flying through the air. She sniffed the air and smelled the Blue Dragon. She got up, quietly and winged into the air towards him. ├óÔé¼┼ôHello brother├óÔé¼┬Ø she said when they reached a meeting point. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy have you sided with the dark one?├óÔé¼┬Ø He asked, abandoning the age old ritual of greeting between Dragon kind. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe is not the one that has caused this! I know├óÔé¼┬Ø she snapped back. ├óÔé¼┼ôThe humans have a record of her atrocities that are longer then your body! I have been sent to take back what she gave to you├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Dragon groaned inwardly. Blue had always been the more hotheaded of all the Dragons she knew. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon├óÔé¼Ôäót force me to take you down├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. The Dragon grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôIts been along while since I have sky danced with someone as handsome as you├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Blue opened his mouth and some lightning arched out towards the Dragon.
She dropped by snapping her wings in, and the lightning blasted over her harmlessly. She then glided under the Blue and flipped on her back and fired off a quick blast of flame. The Blue opened his wings and flew forward, but to slowly. The fire scorched his tail painfully. The Dragon didn├óÔé¼Ôäót want to harm him, for they had worked together at Stelvi for ten years, but the Blue was aiming to kill with his next lightning blast.
So she sighed and dodged, turning sharply and flying straight at the Blue. They passed and she raked him with her claws across the wing. The Blue screamed and attacked the Dragon. His strike was poorly aimed and only ripped off some scales without cutting the skin underneath. The Dragon bashed him in the head with her tail and watched him fall. He plummeted head over tail, falling and falling with his wings tangled up in a useless mess.
├óÔé¼┼ôCurse him!├óÔé¼┬Ø The Dragon said and dived after the Blue, getting under his smaller body and desperately trying to slow his fall. She managed to get his safely, if uncomfortably, to the ground. He lay a few miles away from the crews resting place, his wings damaged and unconscious. The Dragon quietly left him there, hoping he would not try to follow them in the morning.
She then crawled into the camp and fell asleep, her left eye half open and staring out into the night.
When the Blue came too he found the humans and the Dragon where gone. He snarled and took wing, ignoring the pain. He thought he knew where they where going. Stelvi.
As the Dragon automatically chewed on the meat, Felix, Book and Garret all met together. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat did it say?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Felix. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou heard her├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret snapped, still bewildered. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe was speaking the Elder tong Garret!├óÔé¼┬Ø Book said. Garret looked up ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked, dumbfounded.
├óÔé¼┼ôShe was speaking in Elder tong and in a dialect that I haven├óÔé¼Ôäót heard├óÔé¼┬ª ever├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBut I cant even speak Kia!├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret replied
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat did she say?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Felix.
├óÔé¼┼ôShe greeted me, calling me the Exalted One├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe must of gone through hell, shot up that badly just to find me├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôHow do[/i] you know it├óÔé¼Ôäós a female├óÔé¼┬Ø Felix asked Book. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt├óÔé¼Ôäós obvious├óÔé¼┬Ø He replied ├óÔé¼┼ôSee if they don├óÔé¼Ôäót have the young pouch, then they are male├óÔé¼┬Ø.
A crew member chose that moment to burst into the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôFelix, sir! The dragon├óÔé¼Ôäós waking up!├óÔé¼┬Ø. They all walked over to the dragon that was munching on a whole Grub a hunting party had slain. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe can speak mind to mind, but it take├óÔé¼Ôäós a lot of effort to alter the language├óÔé¼┬Ø Book told Garret ├óÔé¼┼ôBut let├óÔé¼Ôäós see what she has to say├óÔé¼┬Ø Then he melted backwards into the crowd and Garret stepped forward.
├óÔé¼┼ôGreeting├óÔé¼Ôäós Exalted One├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon hissed. It seemed like Empire, but Garret noticed a slight sibilant under tone and odd pronunciation├óÔé¼Ôäós of words. ├óÔé¼┼ôHello├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy are you here and I├óÔé¼Ôäóm not├óÔé¼┬Ø, but the Dragon cut him off mid-sentence ├óÔé¼┼ôI have urgent news for you, something that only you, me and Sara├óÔé¼┬Ø. Now it was her turn to be cut of mid-sentence, as the blood drained from Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós face. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat ever├óÔé¼┬ª she has to say is not important to me├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Dragon tried to resume talking, but Garret cut her off again ├óÔé¼┼ôNo! She is evil, and her words are evil too├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe wants you to have this!├óÔé¼┬Ø The Dragon snapped angrily, handing a small, black, stone to Garret. She then started to eat, loudly.
Garret looked at it. It was smooth, black and had an intricate pattern carved into it, making a graceful, never ending line that branched and rebranched. It was beautiful, elegant and memorizing. Garret knew it was probably something evil, but he simply pocketed it, something in the back of his head screaming that this was important. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the hell!├óÔé¼┬Ø Book said as Garret walked to him, the crowd dispersing, each looking at Garret with look├óÔé¼Ôäós of aw├óÔé¼┬ª and fear.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret asked wirily, guessing what Book was about to say. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou can speak Elder fluently, and it├óÔé¼Ôäós in a dialogue I can├óÔé¼Ôäót even place! It├óÔé¼Ôäós similar to one that went out of use five thousand year├óÔé¼Ôäós ago, and you just got something that practically SCREAMS artifact!├óÔé¼┬Ø Book was close to shouting. ├óÔé¼┼ôBook├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said ├óÔé¼┼ôCalm down├óÔé¼┬Ø. Book seemed to swell up, but he almost lost his balance and toppled over. Garret laughed, tension leaving him as he steadied his friend.
The Dragon ate, slept and the wound├óÔé¼Ôäós that had almost killed her began to close. The fascination of her arrival had turned to hope of rescue, and bewilderment in the crew. They started to avoid Garret, and each had there own pet theory. Some thought he was a Necromancer traveling incognito. Other├óÔé¼Ôäós though he was a Dragon, turned human and traveling the Empire. One man insisted that he was a fabled Speaker, or one who could learn a language by looking at someone. He was rebuked multiple time├óÔé¼Ôäós, because if Garret was a Speaker, then why wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót he at a diplomatic embassy in Salem, trying to keep the Empire from falling apart.
Garret finally couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót take the whispers and look├óÔé¼Ôäós, so he slipped out with a sword and pistol, eye├óÔé¼Ôäós open for the infrequent Grub attack├óÔé¼Ôäós. As he walked out of the campfire and sat down, leaning against a dully glowing crystal. He took out the stone the Dragon had given him, and looked at the pattern. It seemed vaguely familiar, but as he stared at it, the ghost of the memory vanished as he stared at the stone.
├óÔé¼┼ôDamn├óÔé¼┬Ø he whispered, not sure why he was upset. He looked up and saw a ghostly apparition. It was a man, dressed in simple clothes that seemed regal. A simple circlet surrounded his forehead, but it was unadorned and simple. He looked over his shoulder at something Garret couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót see. His face, serene and expressionless suddenly broke into a smile, and a woman ran into his arms. Garret grasped at the memory of the stone, the circlet and the pattern. But as the apparition faded, the woman and man still embracing, and with them the memory winked out.
He suddenly realized something. He ran over to the Dragon, who was peering at the star├óÔé¼Ôäós and the inner ring├óÔé¼Ôäós intently. ├óÔé¼┼ôDragon├óÔé¼┬Ø he said as he approached he ├óÔé¼┼ôI apologies for my temper├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Dragon blinked slowly and blew out a light puff of steam which enveloped Garret. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou and your race make up your mind├óÔé¼Ôäós so quickly, it seem├óÔé¼Ôäós that my race move├óÔé¼Ôäós as slow as the star├óÔé¼Ôäós themselves├óÔé¼┬Ø She remarked.
├óÔé¼┼ôDragon, I need to know what Sara wanted me to know! I need to know why she sent you to me├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said, head bowed. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe said that you where the only one who could end the war, ending it with peace between the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós and Empire. She wants you to come to her, as her first message├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret├óÔé¼Ôäós eye├óÔé¼Ôäós widened ├óÔé¼┼ôFirst message?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. The Dragon looked at him piercingly, and Garret remembered what had sent him here in the first place. The vision.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes... That├óÔé¼┬Ø The Dragon said ├óÔé¼┼ôCome with me, and I will take you to Stelvi and perhaps stay with you for a while. It might├óÔé¼┬ª be fun├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôFun?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Garret. ├óÔé¼┼ôI have become bored and tired of the continual battle between the Empire and the Necromancer├óÔé¼Ôäós. I am tired of watching the younger race├óÔé¼Ôäós bicker and argue and fight. I am tired of the my race being a bunch of conservative├óÔé¼Ôäós├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret smiled, thinking that the Dragon sounded like him, only a month and a few week├óÔé¼Ôäós ago. ├óÔé¼┼ôYour Right├óÔé¼┬ª this may be fun├óÔé¼┬Ø He said.
The Dragon was truly a magnificent sight at dawn. Her golden red scales glinted in the sun, and her wings spread to shadow the entire camp. As she began to prepare for her flight, the crew brought back three more Grubs from a hunting expedition. The Dragon ate a whole Grub raw and cooked the rest with a very light blast of fire. After they had eaten, the crew got to work.
Gathering up more wood and partially deconstructing the half burnt wreck of the Shadowrunner the crew managed to gather four very long wood slats that made up the underside of the Shadowrunner hull. They laid them on the ground and lashed them together. The sun was full in sky, beating down harshly on the backs of the men and women working. But by the end of the day half of there carriage was finished.
By dawn the next day the carriage was finished. All twelve of the crew, counting the passengers, could stand side by side and they hoped the Dragon could carry them. And that the basket wouldn├óÔé¼Ôäót fall apart in the air.
Garret hated the trip. Hated it with a vengeance. The Dragon had to go up, in a jerking, swaying wing powered gain and then it would swoop down and it felt like he was falling. He heard someone throwing up, and felt something gather round his feet and dribbled out of the many holes in the makeshift aircraft. It also seemed to go on forever, leaving Garret exhausted by the end of the day. As they came to a shuddering halt the crew staggered out and lay on the hard ground. Garret lay back looking at the sky. He felt some vertigo, because Terrix was a far larger ring then his home.
He spotted something though that spoke for how far they had gone in only a week, the volcano. It still sparked and flamed, sending up gouts of smoke that where slowly drifting towards them. It stretched out for miles in a thick stream. Soon the crew had to get up and prepare themselves for the night, munching on the meager food they managed to pack with them. The Dragon stood vigil over them, allowing them all to sleep.
It was a cold night. The Dragon rested, keeping one of her eyes open. She suddenly shot her head straight up, peering through the night with her heat vision. She saw something small and hot flying through the air. She sniffed the air and smelled the Blue Dragon. She got up, quietly and winged into the air towards him. ├óÔé¼┼ôHello brother├óÔé¼┬Ø she said when they reached a meeting point. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy have you sided with the dark one?├óÔé¼┬Ø He asked, abandoning the age old ritual of greeting between Dragon kind. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe is not the one that has caused this! I know├óÔé¼┬Ø she snapped back. ├óÔé¼┼ôThe humans have a record of her atrocities that are longer then your body! I have been sent to take back what she gave to you├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Dragon groaned inwardly. Blue had always been the more hotheaded of all the Dragons she knew. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon├óÔé¼Ôäót force me to take you down├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. The Dragon grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôIts been along while since I have sky danced with someone as handsome as you├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Blue opened his mouth and some lightning arched out towards the Dragon.
She dropped by snapping her wings in, and the lightning blasted over her harmlessly. She then glided under the Blue and flipped on her back and fired off a quick blast of flame. The Blue opened his wings and flew forward, but to slowly. The fire scorched his tail painfully. The Dragon didn├óÔé¼Ôäót want to harm him, for they had worked together at Stelvi for ten years, but the Blue was aiming to kill with his next lightning blast.
So she sighed and dodged, turning sharply and flying straight at the Blue. They passed and she raked him with her claws across the wing. The Blue screamed and attacked the Dragon. His strike was poorly aimed and only ripped off some scales without cutting the skin underneath. The Dragon bashed him in the head with her tail and watched him fall. He plummeted head over tail, falling and falling with his wings tangled up in a useless mess.
├óÔé¼┼ôCurse him!├óÔé¼┬Ø The Dragon said and dived after the Blue, getting under his smaller body and desperately trying to slow his fall. She managed to get his safely, if uncomfortably, to the ground. He lay a few miles away from the crews resting place, his wings damaged and unconscious. The Dragon quietly left him there, hoping he would not try to follow them in the morning.
She then crawled into the camp and fell asleep, her left eye half open and staring out into the night.
When the Blue came too he found the humans and the Dragon where gone. He snarled and took wing, ignoring the pain. He thought he knew where they where going. Stelvi.
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Zoombie's AlterEgo
- Posts: 13
- Joined: 29 May 2005, 05:29
nicely done! but...
nicely done zoombie. one problem is that you changed book to speak like you would speak, not how book speaks. by this i mean when he says, "you have something that pracitcally screams artifact!", that is you talking, not book. i know zoombie by the way, so i know how he talks. CIAO
Being sick is no fun. But writing Rings is!
The Dragon set down about twenty miles away from Stelvi. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou will need to walk the rest of the way├óÔé¼┬Ø she panted. ├óÔé¼┼ôBefore I go├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said quietly ├óÔé¼┼ôcan I talk to you alone├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Dragon nodded and they walked a good distance away from the crew, who where busy setting up a small camp. Garret found himself beginning to notice when he talked in the elder tong, and tried to speak in that. ├óÔé¼┼ôDragon├óÔé¼┬ª. What dose Sara want with me?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked.
The Dragon looked at him in the eye ├óÔé¼┼ôShe told me├óÔé¼┬Ø She said ├óÔé¼┼ôto not tell you, but she did tell me├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret sighed ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is this thing?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked, pulling out the artifact that the Dragon had given him ├óÔé¼┼ôThat is a rune stone├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon said ├óÔé¼┼ôIt seems to be a message rune├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôReally├óÔé¼┬Ø said Garret glad to finally make some progress. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan you activate it for me?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy don├óÔé¼Ôäót you├óÔé¼┬Ø the dragon replied. ├óÔé¼┼ôI can├óÔé¼Ôäót do magic├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, flustered. ├óÔé¼┼ôTry, just to humor me├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon said. She seemed to be enjoying this.
Garret grumbled, but held the Rune stone at arms length at stared at it. It suddenly flared white, blinding him for a second. He tossed it away and it shattered on the ground. ├óÔé¼┼ôDamn├óÔé¼┬Ø he swore, looking at the shards. But suddenly a woman appeared for a split second, saying ├óÔé¼┼ô-ove├óÔé¼┬Ø. The image reset to the starting point and played thought the second of animation before starting again, in a droning repeat. ├óÔé¼┼ôI broke it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret moaned to himself, willing the rune stone to turn off. The image vanished and the Dragon chuckled ├óÔé¼┼ôI think we should go soon, day will dawn any minute now├óÔé¼┬Ø.
The small party, haggard and worn out, started there twenty mile trek towards Stelvi at night, slowly winding there way through the crystal fields that began to grow less and less populated. The Dragon flew in almost the opposite direction, and most of the group was too tired to question. Garret spent the trip pondering the clues that lay before him. A dream, a half forgotten memory, a assassin and a broken message where all that he had, and they didn├óÔé¼Ôäót do anything to help him.
Book took the trip hard, his leg still mangled, and his crutch beginning to wear. He pushed on though, but slowly fell behind. Garret helped him as dawn began. The rest of the crew where mute and even Felix wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót talking, for they all thought of the shallow graves they left behind. Suddenly a shout was raised from the front of the column. Stelvi City had been spotted.
Srg Kelly looked out over the massive rampart of the Fortress. The work crew├óÔé¼Ôäós where still clearing the dead away from the field. The Troggs had lost more then the army had thought, many cut down by stray cannon fire. The work crew where unperturbed by the mangled corpse, for they had been working for ten years now in defense of the pass. Kelly was still angry at him. He had let the dread Necromancer Queen slip through his hands, and despite being congratulated for his quick thinking, Kelly still felt angry. If the solders hadn├óÔé¼Ôäót been drunk and partying, then they might have been better shots a part of his mind said.
Kelly pushed those thoughts away, and turned around. A man in a black robe was leaning against the other side of the rampart. ├óÔé¼┼ôHello├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, his face hidden by a hood. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you? Civilians aren├óÔé¼Ôäót allowed up here├óÔé¼┬Ø Kelly said, stepping forward. The man threw back his hood, revealing a embroidered bandana that warped around his eyes. However he seemed to be unaffected by blindness, for he took Kelly├óÔé¼Ôäós hand easily, without feeling for it.
├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Kelly asked again as the stranger shock his hand. ├óÔé¼┼ôI, my good sir, am here to offer you a job you cant refuse├óÔé¼┬Ø├óÔé¼┬ª
Keith woke up. He looked around wildly. The sun was too small, the city not the right design as the one he had fallen asleep in. He stood up, the blanket falling from his body. He accidentally stepped on another sleeping form, who simply rolled over in a drunken stopper. He stepped out of the ally way he woke in and stared at the wooden city he was in.
A dusty brown color seemed to be every where, muted in the dim sunlight. The citizens seemed to be paler and sallow. A massive walled Fortress seemed to stretch for miles in both directions, interrupted only by a large mountain range. ├óÔé¼┼ôStelvi├óÔé¼┬ª the fortress! I├óÔé¼Ôäóm on Terrix!├óÔé¼┬Ø he mumbled to himself. All he remembered was staring at the puddle of beer when Garret had left him behind├óÔé¼┬ª then├óÔé¼┬ª then. Nothing. Keith shock himself and backed back into the ally way.
His pack he had used as a pillow. He opened the flap and rummaged around inside. A small knife, some food, some money and├óÔé¼┬ª a note! He smoothed it out and read it out to himself.
Dear Keith
You may be wondering what happened to the last few weeks of your life. They are gone. They wont come back. Try not to think to hard
Keith snorted and thought about throwing the note away. But then a chilling thought struck him. He rummaged in the pack and found a charcoal stylus and wrote out Dear Keith. It matched the page almost exactly. Keith moaned and threw the paper away, standing up with his hands on his head. He knew Garret was heading here. Maybe he hadn├óÔé¼Ôäót arrived yet├óÔé¼┬ª
Keith wandered into the city that Garret had just entered. Garret and the others in the crew were all taken to the guard headquarters, where they were debriefed and welcomed to the city by the head of the Guards himself. They then dispersed, all seeming a bit unsure about what to do. Felix also seemed at a loose. Garret suggested the nearest inn. Book and Felix agreed, and they walked towards a inn named Troggs Head. They walked by an alleyway where some drunk was having a violent wakening, and then walked into the bar.
Keith was still wandering about when he was mugged. Dusk was coming and streets where narrow. Keith quietly took the dirk from his backpack and slid it into a sheath. Some people where giving him shifty looks. He began to head to an inn or tavern, but suddenly he was surrounded. A five man gang looked at him menacingly, and their leader stepped forward. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou smell like money├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, pulling out a rather long and hefty looking machete.
The gang advanced when it came apparent that Keith wouldn├óÔé¼Ôäót get out his money. Suddenly one of them charged and attacked Keith with his short sword. Keith fluidly dodged, unsheathing his dirk at the same time. He plunged it into the man├óÔé¼Ôäós face, blood splattering on the ground as he pulled out. The man├óÔé¼Ôäós inertia brought him into the other gang members, who seemed dumb struck.
Keith looked at his bloody hands and gore caked dirk with horror. He was a doctor, but this was different. Suddenly two strong arms closed around his neck. He reacted instinctively, bringing his foot up into the man behind his crotch. He broke loose from the strangle hold and smashed the man in the face with his palm. Bone splintered and Keith slashed him arose the throat. Blood sprayed, but another man was attacking Keith from behind. He kicked out, hard, and smashed the man in the sternum. His assailant gave a something between a gag and a gasp, and fell backwards. Keith threw the dirk and it slid between the man├óÔé¼Ôäós eyes.
The two remaining gang members looked at Keith and ran, dropping there weapons. Keith stood, panting and sweating. He looked at his hands and remembered the gore caked hatchet from his village. Then he threw up. Then he noticed the short sword that one of the gang members had. He picked it up and took the sheath from the corpse. He then cut a bag of coins from its belt, and poured the ill gotten coinage into his own purse.
├óÔé¼┼ôWHO GOSE THERE!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted some one from the far end of the ally way. Keith looked up and saw the guard advance towards him. Looking around in panic, he spotted a door. He ran to it and smashed his foot into the handle. The door splintered open, ripping a gouge free from the wall it was anchored to. Keith ducked into the shop, diving through the front door and into another street. He ran around the nearest corner, but the guard was still following him.
The guard came round the last bend that Keith had took, and stopped. It was a dead end. He turned around and went back the way he came, thinking that Keith had slipped past him some how. Keith rolled off the roof he had climbed onto and merged into the nearest crowd, trying to clear his head. What is going on? he asked himself, but he found no answers. So he ducked into a nearby inn, the Troggs head.
The Dragon set down about twenty miles away from Stelvi. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou will need to walk the rest of the way├óÔé¼┬Ø she panted. ├óÔé¼┼ôBefore I go├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret said quietly ├óÔé¼┼ôcan I talk to you alone├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Dragon nodded and they walked a good distance away from the crew, who where busy setting up a small camp. Garret found himself beginning to notice when he talked in the elder tong, and tried to speak in that. ├óÔé¼┼ôDragon├óÔé¼┬ª. What dose Sara want with me?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked.
The Dragon looked at him in the eye ├óÔé¼┼ôShe told me├óÔé¼┬Ø She said ├óÔé¼┼ôto not tell you, but she did tell me├óÔé¼┬Ø. Garret sighed ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is this thing?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked, pulling out the artifact that the Dragon had given him ├óÔé¼┼ôThat is a rune stone├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon said ├óÔé¼┼ôIt seems to be a message rune├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôReally├óÔé¼┬Ø said Garret glad to finally make some progress. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan you activate it for me?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy don├óÔé¼Ôäót you├óÔé¼┬Ø the dragon replied. ├óÔé¼┼ôI can├óÔé¼Ôäót do magic├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, flustered. ├óÔé¼┼ôTry, just to humor me├óÔé¼┬Ø the Dragon said. She seemed to be enjoying this.
Garret grumbled, but held the Rune stone at arms length at stared at it. It suddenly flared white, blinding him for a second. He tossed it away and it shattered on the ground. ├óÔé¼┼ôDamn├óÔé¼┬Ø he swore, looking at the shards. But suddenly a woman appeared for a split second, saying ├óÔé¼┼ô-ove├óÔé¼┬Ø. The image reset to the starting point and played thought the second of animation before starting again, in a droning repeat. ├óÔé¼┼ôI broke it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Garret moaned to himself, willing the rune stone to turn off. The image vanished and the Dragon chuckled ├óÔé¼┼ôI think we should go soon, day will dawn any minute now├óÔé¼┬Ø.
The small party, haggard and worn out, started there twenty mile trek towards Stelvi at night, slowly winding there way through the crystal fields that began to grow less and less populated. The Dragon flew in almost the opposite direction, and most of the group was too tired to question. Garret spent the trip pondering the clues that lay before him. A dream, a half forgotten memory, a assassin and a broken message where all that he had, and they didn├óÔé¼Ôäót do anything to help him.
Book took the trip hard, his leg still mangled, and his crutch beginning to wear. He pushed on though, but slowly fell behind. Garret helped him as dawn began. The rest of the crew where mute and even Felix wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót talking, for they all thought of the shallow graves they left behind. Suddenly a shout was raised from the front of the column. Stelvi City had been spotted.
Srg Kelly looked out over the massive rampart of the Fortress. The work crew├óÔé¼Ôäós where still clearing the dead away from the field. The Troggs had lost more then the army had thought, many cut down by stray cannon fire. The work crew where unperturbed by the mangled corpse, for they had been working for ten years now in defense of the pass. Kelly was still angry at him. He had let the dread Necromancer Queen slip through his hands, and despite being congratulated for his quick thinking, Kelly still felt angry. If the solders hadn├óÔé¼Ôäót been drunk and partying, then they might have been better shots a part of his mind said.
Kelly pushed those thoughts away, and turned around. A man in a black robe was leaning against the other side of the rampart. ├óÔé¼┼ôHello├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, his face hidden by a hood. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you? Civilians aren├óÔé¼Ôäót allowed up here├óÔé¼┬Ø Kelly said, stepping forward. The man threw back his hood, revealing a embroidered bandana that warped around his eyes. However he seemed to be unaffected by blindness, for he took Kelly├óÔé¼Ôäós hand easily, without feeling for it.
├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Kelly asked again as the stranger shock his hand. ├óÔé¼┼ôI, my good sir, am here to offer you a job you cant refuse├óÔé¼┬Ø├óÔé¼┬ª
Keith woke up. He looked around wildly. The sun was too small, the city not the right design as the one he had fallen asleep in. He stood up, the blanket falling from his body. He accidentally stepped on another sleeping form, who simply rolled over in a drunken stopper. He stepped out of the ally way he woke in and stared at the wooden city he was in.
A dusty brown color seemed to be every where, muted in the dim sunlight. The citizens seemed to be paler and sallow. A massive walled Fortress seemed to stretch for miles in both directions, interrupted only by a large mountain range. ├óÔé¼┼ôStelvi├óÔé¼┬ª the fortress! I├óÔé¼Ôäóm on Terrix!├óÔé¼┬Ø he mumbled to himself. All he remembered was staring at the puddle of beer when Garret had left him behind├óÔé¼┬ª then├óÔé¼┬ª then. Nothing. Keith shock himself and backed back into the ally way.
His pack he had used as a pillow. He opened the flap and rummaged around inside. A small knife, some food, some money and├óÔé¼┬ª a note! He smoothed it out and read it out to himself.
Dear Keith
You may be wondering what happened to the last few weeks of your life. They are gone. They wont come back. Try not to think to hard
Keith snorted and thought about throwing the note away. But then a chilling thought struck him. He rummaged in the pack and found a charcoal stylus and wrote out Dear Keith. It matched the page almost exactly. Keith moaned and threw the paper away, standing up with his hands on his head. He knew Garret was heading here. Maybe he hadn├óÔé¼Ôäót arrived yet├óÔé¼┬ª
Keith wandered into the city that Garret had just entered. Garret and the others in the crew were all taken to the guard headquarters, where they were debriefed and welcomed to the city by the head of the Guards himself. They then dispersed, all seeming a bit unsure about what to do. Felix also seemed at a loose. Garret suggested the nearest inn. Book and Felix agreed, and they walked towards a inn named Troggs Head. They walked by an alleyway where some drunk was having a violent wakening, and then walked into the bar.
Keith was still wandering about when he was mugged. Dusk was coming and streets where narrow. Keith quietly took the dirk from his backpack and slid it into a sheath. Some people where giving him shifty looks. He began to head to an inn or tavern, but suddenly he was surrounded. A five man gang looked at him menacingly, and their leader stepped forward. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou smell like money├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, pulling out a rather long and hefty looking machete.
The gang advanced when it came apparent that Keith wouldn├óÔé¼Ôäót get out his money. Suddenly one of them charged and attacked Keith with his short sword. Keith fluidly dodged, unsheathing his dirk at the same time. He plunged it into the man├óÔé¼Ôäós face, blood splattering on the ground as he pulled out. The man├óÔé¼Ôäós inertia brought him into the other gang members, who seemed dumb struck.
Keith looked at his bloody hands and gore caked dirk with horror. He was a doctor, but this was different. Suddenly two strong arms closed around his neck. He reacted instinctively, bringing his foot up into the man behind his crotch. He broke loose from the strangle hold and smashed the man in the face with his palm. Bone splintered and Keith slashed him arose the throat. Blood sprayed, but another man was attacking Keith from behind. He kicked out, hard, and smashed the man in the sternum. His assailant gave a something between a gag and a gasp, and fell backwards. Keith threw the dirk and it slid between the man├óÔé¼Ôäós eyes.
The two remaining gang members looked at Keith and ran, dropping there weapons. Keith stood, panting and sweating. He looked at his hands and remembered the gore caked hatchet from his village. Then he threw up. Then he noticed the short sword that one of the gang members had. He picked it up and took the sheath from the corpse. He then cut a bag of coins from its belt, and poured the ill gotten coinage into his own purse.
├óÔé¼┼ôWHO GOSE THERE!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted some one from the far end of the ally way. Keith looked up and saw the guard advance towards him. Looking around in panic, he spotted a door. He ran to it and smashed his foot into the handle. The door splintered open, ripping a gouge free from the wall it was anchored to. Keith ducked into the shop, diving through the front door and into another street. He ran around the nearest corner, but the guard was still following him.
The guard came round the last bend that Keith had took, and stopped. It was a dead end. He turned around and went back the way he came, thinking that Keith had slipped past him some how. Keith rolled off the roof he had climbed onto and merged into the nearest crowd, trying to clear his head. What is going on? he asked himself, but he found no answers. So he ducked into a nearby inn, the Troggs head.
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Archangel of Death
- Posts: 854
- Joined: 28 Jan 2005, 18:15