Spoiler ()
Lilith hadn't had a lot of friendly run ins since her return to Sardius. Meeting the vasilus of wind again, the Griffin, was no exception. The two were locked in a heated battle and Lilith's opponent had her flying blind at the center of a massive vortex. Most of the clouds in the region had been blown away or drawn into this one area. While Lilith skirted around the outer edges of the eyes of that massive storm, the Griffin stalked her from the outside, just waiting for a chance to strike. "Griffin! If you don't stop this, I promise it won't end well for you!" Lilith declared.
No reply was voiced, but Griffin appeared out of the swirling clouds and assaulted Lilith at tremendous speed. He was much larger than her, no shorter than twelve feet tall, sporting a body covered in fur and feathers, clawed appendages, a long tail, and massive wings. His head was very much like an eagles and his eyes were filled with malice. She had just enough time to dodge or parry each of his attacks, but he didn't let up, and threw numerous melee attacks until she began fighting back. She got off one punch, which he promptly dodged and then slipped out of her range. "It isn't enough for you to stand by a broken system, but now you'll aid Aisha as well? Are you insane?!"
"You're attacking the wielder of Ascension. Are you insane?" Lilith shot back.
"You won't use it, and even if you tried, I know how you fight. You haven't changed ..."
"Listen, you. I need your help. I have no intention of letting Aisha have her way with the emblem, but I can't stop Wrath on my own."
"Try again in another cycle, Lilith. I'm not interested in anything you have to say. The only difference between you and Wrath is that he has a plan. You're just grasping at straws like always." Griffin ended his rebuttal with an attack. He sent a giant blade of wind at Lilith which she easily dodged. It kept going and cut right through the swirling walls of the vortex and revealed the outside world for a brief moment.
"Enough already! If I have to beat the stubbornness out of you, I will, Griffin!"
"You do. So what are you waiting for? I'm right here." he replied, crossing his arms and glaring at her.
Ascension materialized over Lilith's back and she took it in her hands. "I don't know why you insist on violence all of the tiiiiime!" she yelled before charging right at him. Her first swing was an inevitable miss, and not intended to end the battle anyway. She merely had to gauge her opponent's speed, and it was horrendous. he had disappeared without so much as a hint to which direction he fled in. "Here he comes ..." Lilith muttered. She moved back from where she was just in time, and Griffin came speeding by like a bullet with a pair of blades made of pure anima energy in each hand. He came to a stop high above Lilith, almost at the top of the vortex. He waited just a few seconds and then came flying back in her direction again, smashing through the sound barrier on the way. He reached Lilith in under a second and the two collided like a pair of asteroids. The force of the blast knocked them both back, and Lilith moved to a greater distance while Griffin prepared for his next attack.
"Weak." Griffin mocked. "Give up if you aren't going to take this seriously."
"I shouldn't have to do this to get you to listen to me ... YOU IDIOOOOOT!!!" Lilith held Ascension high above her head, and then she and the sword disappeared in a blinding light that overcame the entire storm. The whole thing was dispelled in an instant and a massive shockwave was released in the storm's wake. The winds flew out in all directions, kicking up tons and tons of sand and carrying it away into the desert, and blanketing the nearby mountain range in the cloudy remains of the storm. Griffin was left floating underneath a clear blue sky and looking around at the mess. "You don't usually resort to things like that so quickly ... hmm."
"I don't know when Wrath will return. I need to gather allies, not fight them!"
Griffin shook his head. "Still grasping at straws, I see. I'm not convinced." He came flying at Lilith at blinding speed after refusing to listen and landed a solid right hook. The hit sent her spinning away from him, barely holding onto her blade. "Ahhh that felt good." he said under his breath. Lilith recovered shortly after, and returned a look of absolute fury. Her irises began to shine along with Ascension ...
No reply was voiced, but Griffin appeared out of the swirling clouds and assaulted Lilith at tremendous speed. He was much larger than her, no shorter than twelve feet tall, sporting a body covered in fur and feathers, clawed appendages, a long tail, and massive wings. His head was very much like an eagles and his eyes were filled with malice. She had just enough time to dodge or parry each of his attacks, but he didn't let up, and threw numerous melee attacks until she began fighting back. She got off one punch, which he promptly dodged and then slipped out of her range. "It isn't enough for you to stand by a broken system, but now you'll aid Aisha as well? Are you insane?!"
"You're attacking the wielder of Ascension. Are you insane?" Lilith shot back.
"You won't use it, and even if you tried, I know how you fight. You haven't changed ..."
"Listen, you. I need your help. I have no intention of letting Aisha have her way with the emblem, but I can't stop Wrath on my own."
"Try again in another cycle, Lilith. I'm not interested in anything you have to say. The only difference between you and Wrath is that he has a plan. You're just grasping at straws like always." Griffin ended his rebuttal with an attack. He sent a giant blade of wind at Lilith which she easily dodged. It kept going and cut right through the swirling walls of the vortex and revealed the outside world for a brief moment.
"Enough already! If I have to beat the stubbornness out of you, I will, Griffin!"
"You do. So what are you waiting for? I'm right here." he replied, crossing his arms and glaring at her.
Ascension materialized over Lilith's back and she took it in her hands. "I don't know why you insist on violence all of the tiiiiime!" she yelled before charging right at him. Her first swing was an inevitable miss, and not intended to end the battle anyway. She merely had to gauge her opponent's speed, and it was horrendous. he had disappeared without so much as a hint to which direction he fled in. "Here he comes ..." Lilith muttered. She moved back from where she was just in time, and Griffin came speeding by like a bullet with a pair of blades made of pure anima energy in each hand. He came to a stop high above Lilith, almost at the top of the vortex. He waited just a few seconds and then came flying back in her direction again, smashing through the sound barrier on the way. He reached Lilith in under a second and the two collided like a pair of asteroids. The force of the blast knocked them both back, and Lilith moved to a greater distance while Griffin prepared for his next attack.
"Weak." Griffin mocked. "Give up if you aren't going to take this seriously."
"I shouldn't have to do this to get you to listen to me ... YOU IDIOOOOOT!!!" Lilith held Ascension high above her head, and then she and the sword disappeared in a blinding light that overcame the entire storm. The whole thing was dispelled in an instant and a massive shockwave was released in the storm's wake. The winds flew out in all directions, kicking up tons and tons of sand and carrying it away into the desert, and blanketing the nearby mountain range in the cloudy remains of the storm. Griffin was left floating underneath a clear blue sky and looking around at the mess. "You don't usually resort to things like that so quickly ... hmm."
"I don't know when Wrath will return. I need to gather allies, not fight them!"
Griffin shook his head. "Still grasping at straws, I see. I'm not convinced." He came flying at Lilith at blinding speed after refusing to listen and landed a solid right hook. The hit sent her spinning away from him, barely holding onto her blade. "Ahhh that felt good." he said under his breath. Lilith recovered shortly after, and returned a look of absolute fury. Her irises began to shine along with Ascension ...
Clash of the Patriots
Spoiler ()
The Battle of Urcenter was horrendously violent, with both generals taking to the front and inflicting horrors upon the enemy. The Ursian army still had the upperhand, however, and victory was all but inevitable until the reinforcements arrived. Boscov remained behind with several of his finest to allow the others to fall back into Urcenter and escape the open conflict. From there they would attempt to take up fortified positions and bunker down. Boscov led the charge and wiped out an entire battalion in a little over two minutes. While daunting and quite inspiring to those who stayed behind to help him, it also drew the attention of virtually every archer and ballista within range, and Boscov found himself avoiding an overwhelming amount of incoming fire. He was hit several times and eventually vanished in a massive gust of wind that left dozens of Ursian soldiers on the ground.
Meanwhile General Remus led a large cavalry unit in pursuit of the soldiers heading back into the city. A pair of dragons were guarding the flank taking potshots at Remus and his men. Several of them were blasted clear off of their mounts or sent to the ground in a bloody heap after having their horses struck. Remus pressed forward and ordered a strike. His riflemen were also on horseback and toward the front of the group. They took aim as best they could and all at the same dragon. The concerted attack riddled the dragon with bullet wounds and it quickly turned to flee into the city while the other one continued to launch attacks at them, and all the while making a steady retreat itself.
Jason, Niel and the others weren't so lucky in the fighting; they had not been killed themselves or lost anyone else, but the Ursian army couldn't reach them before the retreating Neviskotians hauled them away. At this point, it was a safe bet that if things went really well for the allied forces, they would be used as shields, or maybe just bait for a counterattack. With the Neviskotian's putting their backs to the coast and their fleet, Niel assumed the former. Jason didn't bother trying to figure out how little or how much trouble they were in and instead just focused on getting out alive, though there was little he could do other than not anger the men keeping him prisoner.
Boscov reappeared in the midst of the Ursian forces and let loose one powerful attack, killing over a dozen soldiers and then pulled out in a burst of wind before any could any could launch counterattacks. Looking back to make sure the remnants of his forces had completely fallen back to the city, Boscov broke away from the fighting and signaled the others to follow with a booming roar. The army followed, but Boscov and his dragons made it to Urcenter long before the army did and not a one of them was shot down.
Meanwhile, Remus and his vanguard kept the pressure on, and soon without any support, the other dragon was forced to flee into the city as well. Remus stopped his charge just short of the larger buildings, and waited for the bulk of his forces to catch up. Defeating Boscov without damaging Urcenter even further was out of the question, but he could keep collateral damage to a minimum if he fought them little by little, a tactic he only abandoned due to the obvious intent of Boscov's initial attack on the city. They were waiting for reinforcements. Falling back into Urcenter bought them a lot of time already, and Remus had no intention of giving them anymore than necessary. They would have to retake the city quickly to ensure the Neviskotian reinforcements didn't get a solid hold on the city. As his troops gathered, Boscov prepared his own men. An all out battle in the city itself had happened many times in the past, and on greater scale, but the city was already ravaged from the initial assault, and so another battle with the intent to eradicate the enemy would only make things worse. More and more hours passed as both sides prepared for the next and possibly final confrontation over the city.
Meanwhile General Remus led a large cavalry unit in pursuit of the soldiers heading back into the city. A pair of dragons were guarding the flank taking potshots at Remus and his men. Several of them were blasted clear off of their mounts or sent to the ground in a bloody heap after having their horses struck. Remus pressed forward and ordered a strike. His riflemen were also on horseback and toward the front of the group. They took aim as best they could and all at the same dragon. The concerted attack riddled the dragon with bullet wounds and it quickly turned to flee into the city while the other one continued to launch attacks at them, and all the while making a steady retreat itself.
Jason, Niel and the others weren't so lucky in the fighting; they had not been killed themselves or lost anyone else, but the Ursian army couldn't reach them before the retreating Neviskotians hauled them away. At this point, it was a safe bet that if things went really well for the allied forces, they would be used as shields, or maybe just bait for a counterattack. With the Neviskotian's putting their backs to the coast and their fleet, Niel assumed the former. Jason didn't bother trying to figure out how little or how much trouble they were in and instead just focused on getting out alive, though there was little he could do other than not anger the men keeping him prisoner.
Boscov reappeared in the midst of the Ursian forces and let loose one powerful attack, killing over a dozen soldiers and then pulled out in a burst of wind before any could any could launch counterattacks. Looking back to make sure the remnants of his forces had completely fallen back to the city, Boscov broke away from the fighting and signaled the others to follow with a booming roar. The army followed, but Boscov and his dragons made it to Urcenter long before the army did and not a one of them was shot down.
Meanwhile, Remus and his vanguard kept the pressure on, and soon without any support, the other dragon was forced to flee into the city as well. Remus stopped his charge just short of the larger buildings, and waited for the bulk of his forces to catch up. Defeating Boscov without damaging Urcenter even further was out of the question, but he could keep collateral damage to a minimum if he fought them little by little, a tactic he only abandoned due to the obvious intent of Boscov's initial attack on the city. They were waiting for reinforcements. Falling back into Urcenter bought them a lot of time already, and Remus had no intention of giving them anymore than necessary. They would have to retake the city quickly to ensure the Neviskotian reinforcements didn't get a solid hold on the city. As his troops gathered, Boscov prepared his own men. An all out battle in the city itself had happened many times in the past, and on greater scale, but the city was already ravaged from the initial assault, and so another battle with the intent to eradicate the enemy would only make things worse. More and more hours passed as both sides prepared for the next and possibly final confrontation over the city.
Reporting Act I
Spoiler ()
Relying on some vague directions, Cecily, Clara, and Cloe eventually arrived in the small town at the bottom of the valley. Despite being spring it was quite chilly the town was still more or less empty save for the few scouts keeping an eye on things. One person ran out of an old worn down tavern and flagged the trio of pegasus knights down. "This better be the place." Cecily muttered. After landing, the scout came up to them and waved.
"Been expecting you three." the man greeted. "The boss is in the tavern behind me. Tread lightly. He's had a bad couple of weeks."
Ironic telling us that. We're just here to make it worse, really. That and try not to die, obviously. Cecily thought, shrugging at the man's warning a bit.
"Been expecting you three." the man greeted. "The boss is in the tavern behind me. Tread lightly. He's had a bad couple of weeks."
Ironic telling us that. We're just here to make it worse, really. That and try not to die, obviously. Cecily thought, shrugging at the man's warning a bit.
Absolute Resolve
Spoiler ()
Cassandra was up against Burke once again, but this time things were noticeably different even with the two of them simply standing there. Cassandra was now armed with a tome and a dagger. Burke had his scythe out and ready to go. Naomi was sitting on Axe Coffin with a healing staff resting across her lap, observing once again. "I'm ready." Cassandra told him straight to his face.
"Ready, are you? What's gotten into you all of a sudden, hmm?" Burke asked. This was quite the change in attitude.
"I don't only practice when I'm with you, you know. More importantly, there isn't much more you can teach me if all you plan to do is beat me up with physical weapons. No one can beat you conventionally, but I can still outpace you, Burke."
"Enough talk. Show me where your confidence lies so I can smash it to pieces! Everyone, attack!" Burke yelled as he charged at Cassandra.
"Everyone? Oh crap." she echoed, and she evaded an attack that came from behind by leaping off to the side. She'd barely dodged a throwing knife aimed at her back, and over a dozen masked men began coming out of hidden pathways in the walls, all carrying weapons. Dodging Burke's initial attack was easy enough; she actually had learned to avoid most of his attacks. The difficult part was not being struck by the next attacker, who swung at her with a spiked club only half a second after she evaded Burke's attack. She side stepped his downward strike and then leaped clear over Burke as he tried to side swipe her with his scythe. This is the lesson to end all lessons. They're throwing everything at me, even the kitchen basin.
She almost got cleaved as she landed, having just barely ducked under a swinging blade that was there to greet her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a spear thrower in the middle of a toss and she narrowly avoided the spear he threw at her by leaning out of the way as it passed. It got stuck in the wall and Cassandra began a mad dash toward her attacker. I know what Burke would say. 'You can't run forever!'. I have to start whittling down their numbers or they'll wear me down and then finish me off. The man she was about to attack had just grabbed another spear and was about to chuck it right at her. Since she was charging at him with no fewer than five people chasing after her, something was bound to go wrong on his end, but he threw it anyway, and Cassandra leaped right over it, kicking him in the head just as his spear impaled one of her pursuers. Her target went down and Cassandra kept running.
Burke had gone around to intercept her and when she saw the two blades on that scythe of his speeding toward her she dropped, just narrowly avoiding them and sliding under the attack. Burke turned to face her almost instantly and he had his pistol out this time. When Cassandra saw the gun aimed right at her, she held up her tome like a shield, and Burke fired as the others caught up and passed him by. Her maneuver had saved her from taking a bullet to the chest. Her only goal in lifting up her tome was to give Burke something else to shoot at. The bullet passed right through the tome with ease, but as he fired, Cassandra moved her body out of the way. A simple tactic to make sure he didn't get the chance to lead her. With his shot spent, she wouldn't have to worry about that pesky firearm anymore and she focused on the mob that had just reached her. There was no escape possible since Burke was outside the surrounding circle of men. If she jumped, he would just be there to meet her in the air and the fight would be over in an instant. She had to fight, and that was the only way to remain standing in the end.
As each opponent came in and swung or lunged at her with their weapon, she sidestepped, parried with her tome, leaned out of the way, and even outright blocked when she was able to. When one of the men wielding a sword rushed in to take her out, he launched a log splitting slash down at her, which she quickly evaded, but she didn't stop there. She knew they would take her down soon if they kept all trying to hit her at the same time, so she sank her dagger deep into her attacker's back and then ripped it out and ducked under the next attack as he hit the floor.
Next, things got ugly. Cassandra's arm was caught by a whip. She looked on in shock at the culprit and then she was hauled to the ground. She dropped the dagger in the process, but was still able to stop the next man from getting to her by blasting him back with a dark spell. She found the man constantly tugging at her to keep her off balance, but she rolled to her feet and rushed him, dodging the punch he aimed to stop her with, and sending him staggering away with a solid and resounding roundhouse kick to the side of his head. The whip was hers and she used it to strike at one of the men approaching her. He received a nasty lash that removed his mask and left him disarmed and nursing his face. Next she took on two of them at once, attacking one with the whip while evading the other's attack. The whip wrapped around the man's leg and yanked him off his feet, and as soon as he landed on his back, he was blasted in the chest with dark magic. Cassandra dispatched the second one by simply flipping him onto his back and then stomping on his face one time. It did enough damage to keep him from attacking her again, and she moved to get some distance.
Burke approached once the circle was broken up and tried to strike her with his scythe again, but he couldn't even get off the attack this time. Cassandra angrily lashed out at him and caught his weapon with the whip. Burke expected her to try to pull it away from him, and she did try, but it was only a feint. When Burke tried to overpower her and pull back in an attempt to knock her off balance so the others could finish her, she leaned into it. The pull coupled with her own movement closed the distance between her and Burke in a split second, and she struck him at point blank range with the strongest spell she could conjure. He took the attack to his face and stumbled backward just as the rest of the masked men arrived. She quickly grabbed the scythe and yanked it away from Burke's hands and kicked him in the chest to force him back again. After that, she chucked the scythe, sidestepped an enemy attack, smacked in the back of the head with her tome knocking him cold, and then smashed another in the face with her elbow.
Burke easily recovered and to attack her in the usual way, with fists and feet, but Cassandra beat him to the punch once again and attacked him with her whip. The whip wrapped around Burke's neck before he could react and she pulled tightly to keep him from getting his footing back. Finally someone had the sense to leap down and grab one of Cassandra's legs and hold her in place. Cassandra immediately summoned a dark energy spell that enveloped her attacker's head, and the man cried out in agony repeating "My eyes! Argh my eyes!" The instant he let go, she yanked her foot away, and dashed toward Burke with a handful of the masked men in tow. She quickly rolled underneath Burke, passing between his legs, and keeping a tight grip on the whip and her tome. The masked men went around Burke while he struggled to tear himself free. She ran right at them, breaking off to the right to attack one of them. With Burke acting as an anchor, she was able to easily skirt around the man and close line him with the whip, sending him straight onto his back. Cassandra came in close to Burke hoping to use him as an anchor one more time and take him out of the fight. One of the masked men tried to stop her with a sweep kick, which she promptly leaped over ... and that was when things got interesting.
Burke finally grabbed the length of the whip that wasn't strangling him and yanked on it while Cassandra was in midair. She thrust her foot outward to kick one of the masked men, and then the combined forces sent her into a fast orbit around Burke. She came back down after the first pass and made a second on foot. Burke was completely tied and tangled up in the whip, so Cassandra wrapped things up by shoving the grip into one of the eye holes in Burke's helmet and violently kicking him away.
The fighting didn't stop there though. Another one with a sword came and struck at her. She parried the attack with her tome, blasted him in the chest with dark magic, smashed him across the face with the tome, and then kicked him away just in time to sidestep the next attack. The order of responses was different this time, as she began with a kick to the side of his knee that forced him off balance, then she bashed him in the face with her tome, and finished with a magic attack. His mask was nearly destroyed and he hit the ground in a daze, his face partially revealed from the attack. Only a handful of enemies were left, they moved out to surround her. Having only her tome left made things extremely difficult for her.
"You're so close, Cassy! You can do it!" Naomi cheered in the background.
And once that was said, the leftovers rushed in all at once, not really caring if they struck each other in the assault. Swing after swing and stab after stab all came within moments of each other and Cassandra was grazed numerous times while trying to avoid all of it. Soon after the assault began, however, she went low and tripped one of her opponents to make an exit for herself. She didn't get by before beating his face in with her tome, though, and as she moved to get away from him, one of the masked men tried to hit her with his bludgeon but only managed to smash the downed man in the stomach. He wasn't getting back up anytime soon, and Cassandra had all the room she needed to maneuver now, and she also had a short sword on the ground she could use. She quickly picked it up and gave it a good twirl before pointing it at them in a challenging manner. They were undaunted and charged in. She threw the sword down at their feet, and one of them stumbled right as he reached her because of it. His misstep gave Cassandra a massive opening, and she swung upwards with her tome so hard that the impact sent him off of his feet and onto his back, and she dropped the tome in the process and could only watch as it flew across the room. Nothing she could do about it for the moment. The last two enemies were bearing down on her. Instead of a direct attack, the closest one tried to sweep kick her. She performed a simple aerial to avoid that kick and then ran like hell.
She ran to the next weapon she could find, but it really wasn't her type, it was the spiked club from earlier. She picked it up anyway and readied herself for the attacks. They came in quickly, one with a Kigenese blade, and the other with a halberd. Cassandra tried to block with the club, but the two already had a brilliant plan to take her down. The halberd wielder attacked first, prompting Cassandra to block the attack, and once she was locked in with him, the sword wielder moved in and swiftly stabbed her. The pain paralyzed her for a brief moment, and when the man twisted the blade she cried out in pain, desperately trying not to release the club.
Desperation quickly took over and she yanked the swordsman's mask off with her right hand. He looked surprised. That wasn't quite what she was trying to accomplish. She tried again and ripped out a lock of the man's hair in two swift motions. He screamed and she pulled herself off of the sword, smashed him in the side of the head with the club, ducked under the other man's attack, swapped the club for the sword, and swung as hard and fast as she could with both hands. The man took a hit to the chest and staggered away, leaving Cassandra to recover for a moment. That had been so painful, and she could still barely think. She was sick of being attacked. She was sick and tired of always fighting for her life like this. Mercy and reason weren't making any sense to her at this point, and she attacked the masked man a second time, sending him to the floor in a bloody heap.
Cassandra was the last one standing, but only because Burke decided not to continue after being restrained so easily. No one had died during this brutal exercise, but the injuries were severe and a couple including Cassandra were bleeding out at an alarming rate. Naomi stood up and walked over to the man who had been impaled by a spear and began to treat his wounds. Cassandra's wound was just as bad in a sense, but was already healing on its own. Burke eventually shredded the whip and broke free. By the time Naomi got to the bloodied halberd wielder, Burke approached Cassandra.
"Impressive. What you did is nothing to gloat about, but the fact that you were able to do this so quickly is the real marvel."
"I'm tired ... I'm so sick and tired of being attacked all of the time. Stop it! Just stop! Please?!" she pleaded, tears building in her eyes.
Burke chuckled and put up a hand urging her to slow down. "For once you made a claim and stood by it. I think you've earned a reprieve, anyway. More importantly, I think you might be ready for what Thanatos asks of you. Maybe. Just maybe. At the very least we won't have to worry about a bunch of brutes taking you out, heheh." It was somewhat good news, and Cassandra fell to her knees, her muscles finally relaxing, and finally taking normal breaths again. There was so much she wanted to say, and so many complaints she wanted to get off of her chest, but instead she simply keeled over. Naomi healed the wound caused by the swordsman, but Cassandra didn't get back up. Part of her wanted to just rest and relax there on the ground. She was asleep inside a minute, and Burke picked her up off of the floor with a sigh. "Good work today, all of you." Burke announced to the room. He received a nod in reply from Naomi and varying moans and muttering from everyone else, which he found amusing. With that, he left the training hall with Cassandra sound asleep in his arms.
"Ready, are you? What's gotten into you all of a sudden, hmm?" Burke asked. This was quite the change in attitude.
"I don't only practice when I'm with you, you know. More importantly, there isn't much more you can teach me if all you plan to do is beat me up with physical weapons. No one can beat you conventionally, but I can still outpace you, Burke."
"Enough talk. Show me where your confidence lies so I can smash it to pieces! Everyone, attack!" Burke yelled as he charged at Cassandra.
"Everyone? Oh crap." she echoed, and she evaded an attack that came from behind by leaping off to the side. She'd barely dodged a throwing knife aimed at her back, and over a dozen masked men began coming out of hidden pathways in the walls, all carrying weapons. Dodging Burke's initial attack was easy enough; she actually had learned to avoid most of his attacks. The difficult part was not being struck by the next attacker, who swung at her with a spiked club only half a second after she evaded Burke's attack. She side stepped his downward strike and then leaped clear over Burke as he tried to side swipe her with his scythe. This is the lesson to end all lessons. They're throwing everything at me, even the kitchen basin.
She almost got cleaved as she landed, having just barely ducked under a swinging blade that was there to greet her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a spear thrower in the middle of a toss and she narrowly avoided the spear he threw at her by leaning out of the way as it passed. It got stuck in the wall and Cassandra began a mad dash toward her attacker. I know what Burke would say. 'You can't run forever!'. I have to start whittling down their numbers or they'll wear me down and then finish me off. The man she was about to attack had just grabbed another spear and was about to chuck it right at her. Since she was charging at him with no fewer than five people chasing after her, something was bound to go wrong on his end, but he threw it anyway, and Cassandra leaped right over it, kicking him in the head just as his spear impaled one of her pursuers. Her target went down and Cassandra kept running.
Burke had gone around to intercept her and when she saw the two blades on that scythe of his speeding toward her she dropped, just narrowly avoiding them and sliding under the attack. Burke turned to face her almost instantly and he had his pistol out this time. When Cassandra saw the gun aimed right at her, she held up her tome like a shield, and Burke fired as the others caught up and passed him by. Her maneuver had saved her from taking a bullet to the chest. Her only goal in lifting up her tome was to give Burke something else to shoot at. The bullet passed right through the tome with ease, but as he fired, Cassandra moved her body out of the way. A simple tactic to make sure he didn't get the chance to lead her. With his shot spent, she wouldn't have to worry about that pesky firearm anymore and she focused on the mob that had just reached her. There was no escape possible since Burke was outside the surrounding circle of men. If she jumped, he would just be there to meet her in the air and the fight would be over in an instant. She had to fight, and that was the only way to remain standing in the end.
As each opponent came in and swung or lunged at her with their weapon, she sidestepped, parried with her tome, leaned out of the way, and even outright blocked when she was able to. When one of the men wielding a sword rushed in to take her out, he launched a log splitting slash down at her, which she quickly evaded, but she didn't stop there. She knew they would take her down soon if they kept all trying to hit her at the same time, so she sank her dagger deep into her attacker's back and then ripped it out and ducked under the next attack as he hit the floor.
Next, things got ugly. Cassandra's arm was caught by a whip. She looked on in shock at the culprit and then she was hauled to the ground. She dropped the dagger in the process, but was still able to stop the next man from getting to her by blasting him back with a dark spell. She found the man constantly tugging at her to keep her off balance, but she rolled to her feet and rushed him, dodging the punch he aimed to stop her with, and sending him staggering away with a solid and resounding roundhouse kick to the side of his head. The whip was hers and she used it to strike at one of the men approaching her. He received a nasty lash that removed his mask and left him disarmed and nursing his face. Next she took on two of them at once, attacking one with the whip while evading the other's attack. The whip wrapped around the man's leg and yanked him off his feet, and as soon as he landed on his back, he was blasted in the chest with dark magic. Cassandra dispatched the second one by simply flipping him onto his back and then stomping on his face one time. It did enough damage to keep him from attacking her again, and she moved to get some distance.
Burke approached once the circle was broken up and tried to strike her with his scythe again, but he couldn't even get off the attack this time. Cassandra angrily lashed out at him and caught his weapon with the whip. Burke expected her to try to pull it away from him, and she did try, but it was only a feint. When Burke tried to overpower her and pull back in an attempt to knock her off balance so the others could finish her, she leaned into it. The pull coupled with her own movement closed the distance between her and Burke in a split second, and she struck him at point blank range with the strongest spell she could conjure. He took the attack to his face and stumbled backward just as the rest of the masked men arrived. She quickly grabbed the scythe and yanked it away from Burke's hands and kicked him in the chest to force him back again. After that, she chucked the scythe, sidestepped an enemy attack, smacked in the back of the head with her tome knocking him cold, and then smashed another in the face with her elbow.
Burke easily recovered and to attack her in the usual way, with fists and feet, but Cassandra beat him to the punch once again and attacked him with her whip. The whip wrapped around Burke's neck before he could react and she pulled tightly to keep him from getting his footing back. Finally someone had the sense to leap down and grab one of Cassandra's legs and hold her in place. Cassandra immediately summoned a dark energy spell that enveloped her attacker's head, and the man cried out in agony repeating "My eyes! Argh my eyes!" The instant he let go, she yanked her foot away, and dashed toward Burke with a handful of the masked men in tow. She quickly rolled underneath Burke, passing between his legs, and keeping a tight grip on the whip and her tome. The masked men went around Burke while he struggled to tear himself free. She ran right at them, breaking off to the right to attack one of them. With Burke acting as an anchor, she was able to easily skirt around the man and close line him with the whip, sending him straight onto his back. Cassandra came in close to Burke hoping to use him as an anchor one more time and take him out of the fight. One of the masked men tried to stop her with a sweep kick, which she promptly leaped over ... and that was when things got interesting.
Burke finally grabbed the length of the whip that wasn't strangling him and yanked on it while Cassandra was in midair. She thrust her foot outward to kick one of the masked men, and then the combined forces sent her into a fast orbit around Burke. She came back down after the first pass and made a second on foot. Burke was completely tied and tangled up in the whip, so Cassandra wrapped things up by shoving the grip into one of the eye holes in Burke's helmet and violently kicking him away.
The fighting didn't stop there though. Another one with a sword came and struck at her. She parried the attack with her tome, blasted him in the chest with dark magic, smashed him across the face with the tome, and then kicked him away just in time to sidestep the next attack. The order of responses was different this time, as she began with a kick to the side of his knee that forced him off balance, then she bashed him in the face with her tome, and finished with a magic attack. His mask was nearly destroyed and he hit the ground in a daze, his face partially revealed from the attack. Only a handful of enemies were left, they moved out to surround her. Having only her tome left made things extremely difficult for her.
"You're so close, Cassy! You can do it!" Naomi cheered in the background.
And once that was said, the leftovers rushed in all at once, not really caring if they struck each other in the assault. Swing after swing and stab after stab all came within moments of each other and Cassandra was grazed numerous times while trying to avoid all of it. Soon after the assault began, however, she went low and tripped one of her opponents to make an exit for herself. She didn't get by before beating his face in with her tome, though, and as she moved to get away from him, one of the masked men tried to hit her with his bludgeon but only managed to smash the downed man in the stomach. He wasn't getting back up anytime soon, and Cassandra had all the room she needed to maneuver now, and she also had a short sword on the ground she could use. She quickly picked it up and gave it a good twirl before pointing it at them in a challenging manner. They were undaunted and charged in. She threw the sword down at their feet, and one of them stumbled right as he reached her because of it. His misstep gave Cassandra a massive opening, and she swung upwards with her tome so hard that the impact sent him off of his feet and onto his back, and she dropped the tome in the process and could only watch as it flew across the room. Nothing she could do about it for the moment. The last two enemies were bearing down on her. Instead of a direct attack, the closest one tried to sweep kick her. She performed a simple aerial to avoid that kick and then ran like hell.
She ran to the next weapon she could find, but it really wasn't her type, it was the spiked club from earlier. She picked it up anyway and readied herself for the attacks. They came in quickly, one with a Kigenese blade, and the other with a halberd. Cassandra tried to block with the club, but the two already had a brilliant plan to take her down. The halberd wielder attacked first, prompting Cassandra to block the attack, and once she was locked in with him, the sword wielder moved in and swiftly stabbed her. The pain paralyzed her for a brief moment, and when the man twisted the blade she cried out in pain, desperately trying not to release the club.
Desperation quickly took over and she yanked the swordsman's mask off with her right hand. He looked surprised. That wasn't quite what she was trying to accomplish. She tried again and ripped out a lock of the man's hair in two swift motions. He screamed and she pulled herself off of the sword, smashed him in the side of the head with the club, ducked under the other man's attack, swapped the club for the sword, and swung as hard and fast as she could with both hands. The man took a hit to the chest and staggered away, leaving Cassandra to recover for a moment. That had been so painful, and she could still barely think. She was sick of being attacked. She was sick and tired of always fighting for her life like this. Mercy and reason weren't making any sense to her at this point, and she attacked the masked man a second time, sending him to the floor in a bloody heap.
Cassandra was the last one standing, but only because Burke decided not to continue after being restrained so easily. No one had died during this brutal exercise, but the injuries were severe and a couple including Cassandra were bleeding out at an alarming rate. Naomi stood up and walked over to the man who had been impaled by a spear and began to treat his wounds. Cassandra's wound was just as bad in a sense, but was already healing on its own. Burke eventually shredded the whip and broke free. By the time Naomi got to the bloodied halberd wielder, Burke approached Cassandra.
"Impressive. What you did is nothing to gloat about, but the fact that you were able to do this so quickly is the real marvel."
"I'm tired ... I'm so sick and tired of being attacked all of the time. Stop it! Just stop! Please?!" she pleaded, tears building in her eyes.
Burke chuckled and put up a hand urging her to slow down. "For once you made a claim and stood by it. I think you've earned a reprieve, anyway. More importantly, I think you might be ready for what Thanatos asks of you. Maybe. Just maybe. At the very least we won't have to worry about a bunch of brutes taking you out, heheh." It was somewhat good news, and Cassandra fell to her knees, her muscles finally relaxing, and finally taking normal breaths again. There was so much she wanted to say, and so many complaints she wanted to get off of her chest, but instead she simply keeled over. Naomi healed the wound caused by the swordsman, but Cassandra didn't get back up. Part of her wanted to just rest and relax there on the ground. She was asleep inside a minute, and Burke picked her up off of the floor with a sigh. "Good work today, all of you." Burke announced to the room. He received a nod in reply from Naomi and varying moans and muttering from everyone else, which he found amusing. With that, he left the training hall with Cassandra sound asleep in his arms.
Prodigy
Spoiler ()
A rather spacey looking young girl was sitting through a lecture along with around twenty other students in a room built for a hundred. Since this was being handled from her perspective, it wasn't clear what the professor was saying(nyehahah). Her thoughts were on some of Weyland Enterprises' and Hammer Industries' weapons. She spent most of the lecture envisioning and fiddling with them in her mind. She didn't pay much attention to the two men at the entrance to the class room who were keeping an eye on her the whole time. The professor took notice of her daydreaming and glared at her before deciding to ambush her. "Miss Gizem? Miss Gizem, are you still with us?"
"... kinda." she admitted.
"I'd hate to bore you with Ursian history, but this stuff is important."
"You only really need to look at the last one hundred years to sum it all up, if you ask me. We attack the Neviskotians with new tech, they hit us back with their new tech. Repeat with a few new faces here and there." she explained in a slightly monotone voice. "And occasionally the Kigenese talk to us about more than just fighting the Corvians ..." she added as an afterthought.
"Ahem ... Corvus is not a real country, Miss Gizem."
"The fallen seem to think it is ..."
"Alas, they are nothing but mindless man eating barbarians. Hardly even sapient. That aside, what has you so preoccupied that you can't be bothered to hear my lecture?" By this point, a few other students were giggling. This wasn't even the tenth time this cycle had repeated itself, and some of them tossed their gazes to the two men standing by the entrance, expecting them both to get involved soon.
"I was going over some of the new stuff in my head."
"New stuff? Goodness, is this about Hammer technology again?" the teacher realized. That was the cue, and the two men approached, and one of them took out some things to write with.
"Not just Hammer. I thought of a way to improve the ballistas Weyland Enterprises made." She stared at the men and the things they'd brought for a moment and then took the pen and parchment and began jotting down a few notes. She also drew a shockingly accurate diagram of a hex ballista. Once she was done, she handed the men the pen, ink, and parchment back. The man with the diagram nodded to her and then left. The other stood by for a moment, leaving the professor in a bit of an awkward situation. Finally the girl just said something random. "... I just made ten thousand gold."
"Honestly, how am I supposed to teach with another Weyland inventing things right in the middle of my lectures?!" the professor yelled. The other students began laughing more loudly at the outburst. "Quiet! And you, bodyguard, note taker ... whatever you are; get out of here. If Miss Gizem has ideas to share, she can do so on her own time, not in the middle of-"
"You're still adjusting, I understand, so I'll give you a fair warning. There must be at least one listener present at all times. Lois' ideas have improved even Seth Weyland's designs and will save lives in the long run. They don't come at convenient times, as you must realize by now. Her other teachers are adapting to the slight disruptions this causes. So will you, or we will be forced to find her another history teacher."
"Don't take Lois away! She's hilarious!" one of the students yelled from across the room. The professor scowled. This was incredibly annoying.
"I'm hilarious. Man up, Professor." Lois remarked, which was enough to get the rest of the students laughing, and loudly.
"I said quiet!" he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Very well, I will try to manage ..."
"Excellent ... and since I did not get the chance to mention this before the lecture began, Lois, the project director from Hammer Industries would like to have you at one of his meetings later tonight."
"... do I have to walk?"
"No. Transportation will be provided. You will dress appropriately for the event, I hope."
"I'll wear my shirt the right way ... that's all you get for ten thousand." she joked, though her voice always came out the same either way. The man nodded and made for the door, intending to stand by for the rest of the lecture.
"... kinda." she admitted.
"I'd hate to bore you with Ursian history, but this stuff is important."
"You only really need to look at the last one hundred years to sum it all up, if you ask me. We attack the Neviskotians with new tech, they hit us back with their new tech. Repeat with a few new faces here and there." she explained in a slightly monotone voice. "And occasionally the Kigenese talk to us about more than just fighting the Corvians ..." she added as an afterthought.
"Ahem ... Corvus is not a real country, Miss Gizem."
"The fallen seem to think it is ..."
"Alas, they are nothing but mindless man eating barbarians. Hardly even sapient. That aside, what has you so preoccupied that you can't be bothered to hear my lecture?" By this point, a few other students were giggling. This wasn't even the tenth time this cycle had repeated itself, and some of them tossed their gazes to the two men standing by the entrance, expecting them both to get involved soon.
"I was going over some of the new stuff in my head."
"New stuff? Goodness, is this about Hammer technology again?" the teacher realized. That was the cue, and the two men approached, and one of them took out some things to write with.
"Not just Hammer. I thought of a way to improve the ballistas Weyland Enterprises made." She stared at the men and the things they'd brought for a moment and then took the pen and parchment and began jotting down a few notes. She also drew a shockingly accurate diagram of a hex ballista. Once she was done, she handed the men the pen, ink, and parchment back. The man with the diagram nodded to her and then left. The other stood by for a moment, leaving the professor in a bit of an awkward situation. Finally the girl just said something random. "... I just made ten thousand gold."
"Honestly, how am I supposed to teach with another Weyland inventing things right in the middle of my lectures?!" the professor yelled. The other students began laughing more loudly at the outburst. "Quiet! And you, bodyguard, note taker ... whatever you are; get out of here. If Miss Gizem has ideas to share, she can do so on her own time, not in the middle of-"
"You're still adjusting, I understand, so I'll give you a fair warning. There must be at least one listener present at all times. Lois' ideas have improved even Seth Weyland's designs and will save lives in the long run. They don't come at convenient times, as you must realize by now. Her other teachers are adapting to the slight disruptions this causes. So will you, or we will be forced to find her another history teacher."
"Don't take Lois away! She's hilarious!" one of the students yelled from across the room. The professor scowled. This was incredibly annoying.
"I'm hilarious. Man up, Professor." Lois remarked, which was enough to get the rest of the students laughing, and loudly.
"I said quiet!" he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Very well, I will try to manage ..."
"Excellent ... and since I did not get the chance to mention this before the lecture began, Lois, the project director from Hammer Industries would like to have you at one of his meetings later tonight."
"... do I have to walk?"
"No. Transportation will be provided. You will dress appropriately for the event, I hope."
"I'll wear my shirt the right way ... that's all you get for ten thousand." she joked, though her voice always came out the same either way. The man nodded and made for the door, intending to stand by for the rest of the lecture.
Headin' Out
Once the sails were repaired, the Utka was deemed fit to sail again. The rest of the repairs would have to wait until they reached Tremere. Bogdan true to his word had Zel transferred in restraints from the Leverager to the Dark Utka, and after all was said and done, the two ships headed out, full sail, bound for Tremere as the sun began to set.
Raquel spent some time by herself near the front of the interior of the Dauntless where there was virtually no through traffic. She had a book in her hand and opened but wasn't reading it anymore. Her thoughts were somewhere else for the moment.
Spoiler (Retrospect)
The Leverager was heading out full sail and that was the best they could hope for. Catching up to the Dark Utka would be mostly a matter of luck, since neither ship had a speed advantage. Raquel decided to take the time to speak to Zel. Gabbie offered to be her guard for some reason. She didn't have much reason to object. It turned out that Zel was quite well guarded, having five of the Leverager's crewmen scattered around the brig and keeping an eye on him. In his 'cage' was a single chair for him to sit in, and though it wasn't completely obvious at first, his hands were tied behind his back. Raquel grimaced seeing him like that. Gabbie didn't hint at anything; not even the slightest clue as to what she was thinking.
Raquel was offered a chair by one of the sailors and Gabbie stood off in the corner with her arms crossed and her face obscured by shadows. Raquel then summoned up the courage to address the man who not long ago had tried to kill her. "Zel ...? I ... I need to ask you ... ... I need to know why you attacked me so suddenly like that."
"You know why," Zel immediately shot back with indignation. "You had the choice of picking another boat with conditions aside from aiding our mortal foe! Instead, you, and now that other cur, chose to betray your homeland. I cannot, as the son of a Dragon Slayer, abide by that decision! And so I attacked." He was still having a hard time believing that he was in this situation. They must've used some form of treachery to have brought him down. Maybe that dastard's sword was poisoned?
Raquel immediately curled up a bit and put her head down and stayed like that for the duration of his reply. "But you knew we had other Neviskotians in our group, didn't you? What about how they feel?" She felt it deeply that her next pair of questions were all but pointless to ask at this point, but she asked them anyway. What was worse was she was going back, back to her days of arguing with superiors, but now the role was reversed. "Why did you just ... attack me?! You could have at least let me explain myself ...."
"What they felt is none of your concern," Zel snapped with fury. "You had a duty to your nation, the one guiding light that has protected you throughout your entire life, and you went and betrayed it. That you even considered assisting the Neviskotians' war effort is evidence enough that you're a traitor! That's why I challenged you, and that's why I will not stand to aid you or most of your mercenaries."
Another brutal rebuttal. "Stop demonizing dragons! Urrrgh, this is ... exactly the kind of stupid argument I had with some of my instructors back at the academy. It's not the war effort I'm trying to help. Nobody deserves to be a slave, and keeping these dragons away from the rebels will save lives. If we were helping Captain Bogdan rescue human beings from the smugglers, would you be this upset about it? Honestly?"
"Whose lives? Certainly not your countrymen's lives," Zel said resolutely. "And the fact is, they aren't human, no matter what you scalewhores may say. They're monsters, nothing more, and nothing less." He had had enough of this rubbish, it seemed.
"I guess I just misjudged you, then." Raquel replied gloomily. "I can't work with people who are caught up in the feud between Ursium and Neviskotia. This is way more important than that two thousand year old dragon debate! The people we're after are everywhere and they're far more dangerous than a few dragon eggs ... but you obviously don't care about that. We're going to release you at Tremere. You'll have to find your own way back to Ursium. I'm sorry."
"Tremere won't come too soon, I assure you," the white knight seethed. Already the knight was thinking about his imminent escape. First, he'd ride back to Ursium, and inform his Father of the mercenary dogs' treachery. Then, they would ride together, and avenge this disgrace! It would be glorious.
"I ... I guess that's it, then." Raquel wasn't sure what else to say. She was nothing but a traitor in Zel's eyes and nothing she said could change that. She slowly stood up from her chair in front of his cell and her gaze fell to the floor again. There was one thing she realized, one more thing she had to say before leaving. "I'm trying to save my father. There's nothing more important to me than that, especially not the war. I'm not a traitor." With that, Raquel began a melancholy walk out of the area.
Good, she's on her way out. Now I can do what I really came here to do. Gabbie thought to herself, watching Raquel's every move until she was out of sight. The second she was, Gabbie stopped leaning on the wall and came out of the shadows and approached Zel's cell. She stood there like an authority figure, arms akimbo, and a pissed off look on her face. "You aren't always a complete ass, so I'll give you a fair warning," she began, taking her hands off of her hips and cracking her knuckles. "If you try to attack us again ... I'll kill you, and no one stop me; not Raquel, not Connor, and especially not that retarded archer. And if you get in our way at any point in time, I won't just kill you, but anyone you were stupid enough to bring along. I don't care if you don't agree with what we're doing, but you'd better just get over it, because if I ever catch you with the enemy, you're history."
Zel ignored Raquel's flimsy sob story, but was more affected by Gabriella's vicious display. Of all people, he would've thought she'd support him. This was unfortunate, but the path to glory required some sacrifices, the knight supposed.
"Understood," he said, mostly to get the vixen out of his face.
Raquel was offered a chair by one of the sailors and Gabbie stood off in the corner with her arms crossed and her face obscured by shadows. Raquel then summoned up the courage to address the man who not long ago had tried to kill her. "Zel ...? I ... I need to ask you ... ... I need to know why you attacked me so suddenly like that."
"You know why," Zel immediately shot back with indignation. "You had the choice of picking another boat with conditions aside from aiding our mortal foe! Instead, you, and now that other cur, chose to betray your homeland. I cannot, as the son of a Dragon Slayer, abide by that decision! And so I attacked." He was still having a hard time believing that he was in this situation. They must've used some form of treachery to have brought him down. Maybe that dastard's sword was poisoned?
Raquel immediately curled up a bit and put her head down and stayed like that for the duration of his reply. "But you knew we had other Neviskotians in our group, didn't you? What about how they feel?" She felt it deeply that her next pair of questions were all but pointless to ask at this point, but she asked them anyway. What was worse was she was going back, back to her days of arguing with superiors, but now the role was reversed. "Why did you just ... attack me?! You could have at least let me explain myself ...."
"What they felt is none of your concern," Zel snapped with fury. "You had a duty to your nation, the one guiding light that has protected you throughout your entire life, and you went and betrayed it. That you even considered assisting the Neviskotians' war effort is evidence enough that you're a traitor! That's why I challenged you, and that's why I will not stand to aid you or most of your mercenaries."
Another brutal rebuttal. "Stop demonizing dragons! Urrrgh, this is ... exactly the kind of stupid argument I had with some of my instructors back at the academy. It's not the war effort I'm trying to help. Nobody deserves to be a slave, and keeping these dragons away from the rebels will save lives. If we were helping Captain Bogdan rescue human beings from the smugglers, would you be this upset about it? Honestly?"
"Whose lives? Certainly not your countrymen's lives," Zel said resolutely. "And the fact is, they aren't human, no matter what you scalewhores may say. They're monsters, nothing more, and nothing less." He had had enough of this rubbish, it seemed.
"I guess I just misjudged you, then." Raquel replied gloomily. "I can't work with people who are caught up in the feud between Ursium and Neviskotia. This is way more important than that two thousand year old dragon debate! The people we're after are everywhere and they're far more dangerous than a few dragon eggs ... but you obviously don't care about that. We're going to release you at Tremere. You'll have to find your own way back to Ursium. I'm sorry."
"Tremere won't come too soon, I assure you," the white knight seethed. Already the knight was thinking about his imminent escape. First, he'd ride back to Ursium, and inform his Father of the mercenary dogs' treachery. Then, they would ride together, and avenge this disgrace! It would be glorious.
"I ... I guess that's it, then." Raquel wasn't sure what else to say. She was nothing but a traitor in Zel's eyes and nothing she said could change that. She slowly stood up from her chair in front of his cell and her gaze fell to the floor again. There was one thing she realized, one more thing she had to say before leaving. "I'm trying to save my father. There's nothing more important to me than that, especially not the war. I'm not a traitor." With that, Raquel began a melancholy walk out of the area.
Good, she's on her way out. Now I can do what I really came here to do. Gabbie thought to herself, watching Raquel's every move until she was out of sight. The second she was, Gabbie stopped leaning on the wall and came out of the shadows and approached Zel's cell. She stood there like an authority figure, arms akimbo, and a pissed off look on her face. "You aren't always a complete ass, so I'll give you a fair warning," she began, taking her hands off of her hips and cracking her knuckles. "If you try to attack us again ... I'll kill you, and no one stop me; not Raquel, not Connor, and especially not that retarded archer. And if you get in our way at any point in time, I won't just kill you, but anyone you were stupid enough to bring along. I don't care if you don't agree with what we're doing, but you'd better just get over it, because if I ever catch you with the enemy, you're history."
Zel ignored Raquel's flimsy sob story, but was more affected by Gabriella's vicious display. Of all people, he would've thought she'd support him. This was unfortunate, but the path to glory required some sacrifices, the knight supposed.
"Understood," he said, mostly to get the vixen out of his face.
Gabbie happened to be thinking about the event, as well, sparing the Dark Utka a few occasional glances as it sailed along beside the Leverager. There wasn't much to do if she was dwelling on things like that so frequently. As long as she didn't have any dreams about it, she knew she would be alright.
A Night With A Prince
Spoiler ()
"Now open your eyes ..." came Steinn's voice. He'd just taken his hands away from Gabbie's eyes so she could see where she was. He was standing right behind her and wearing an open black frill shirt and black pants. Gabbie was wearing a high cut gown and had her hair tied up for once. The two were standing on a balcony overlooking a massive Ursian city. When Gabbie opened her eyes, she gasped at the sight of it. Lights, everywhere and they were quite a few stories up. She turned to Steinn and said "It's beautiful ... ... so where the hell are we, anyway?" A good question. For some reason, she didn't have an accent anymore.
"Ursentius. With Ursium's resources and Corvus' cooperation, this nation has prospered mightily. Our two peoples have finally come together, you know that."
"Soooo who's the emperor?"
"Valdimarr. We reached an understanding, and so I let him take the throne. That was ... what I wanted to speak with you about, Gabriella. I'm only still alive because I have changed my name to Devlin Stone and vowed that Steinn Devlinos would never be seen again. I did this all for a reason." Steinn explained.
"I ... still want to call you Steinn. But what reason? What'd you give up the throne for?" Gabbie asked, already blushing. The man was leaning in rather close. He slowly picked up her hands, held them in his, and looked deep into her eyes. Blush complete.
"I just had to find a way ... to be with you, Gabriella. The way you so beautifully slay your enemies ... the way you handle yourself in the air on that slender wyvern ... the things you do with my tail ... I ... I must have you."
"... I'm yours, you magnificent raven winged adonis." The two passionately kissed afterward ... and time passed.
The two eventually went into a luxurious bedroom with a round bed and enough curtains and pillows around to rival a Sancturan palace suite. Gabbie was sitting at the edge of the bed and Steinn was on one knee speaking to her once again. "So long have I waited for this night ... tell me, Gabriella, do I make you happy?" he asked pleadingly.
"The happiest ... and I'm about to make you even happier than that~" Gabbie replied playfully while nudging the front of his shoulder with her toe. Steinn soon took her leg and rested his cheek on it for a moment.
"How could you make me any happier than I already am?" Gabbie just smiled back cutely and kept her shoulders high and close to her head as she leaned back on her hands for support. Before long, Steinn's attention was taken away from Gabbie's smile and toward the newly sprouted wings slowly coming to her side. Not only that, but she revealed a feathered tail similar to Runa's that slid over the bed and came around to her side. Steinn could only gawk as his cheeks went red.
"Haaaappy?~"
"H-how ... what sorcery have you used to become ... such a vision?" Steinn inquired, barely able to contain himself, and breathing rather heavily. "Already so perfect and beautiful, and now you have surpassed even that ...."
"Weeell it turns out that my parents were actually fallen and they used some weird magic to disguise me as a human. It finally wore off ... now let's make an army of children to do our bidding and care for us in our old age~ That's what fallen do, right?"
"We do more than that, my beloved~" Steinn countered. Finally he laid her back on the bed. Their tails began to gently wrap around each other as the two kissed.
"Ursentius. With Ursium's resources and Corvus' cooperation, this nation has prospered mightily. Our two peoples have finally come together, you know that."
"Soooo who's the emperor?"
"Valdimarr. We reached an understanding, and so I let him take the throne. That was ... what I wanted to speak with you about, Gabriella. I'm only still alive because I have changed my name to Devlin Stone and vowed that Steinn Devlinos would never be seen again. I did this all for a reason." Steinn explained.
"I ... still want to call you Steinn. But what reason? What'd you give up the throne for?" Gabbie asked, already blushing. The man was leaning in rather close. He slowly picked up her hands, held them in his, and looked deep into her eyes. Blush complete.
"I just had to find a way ... to be with you, Gabriella. The way you so beautifully slay your enemies ... the way you handle yourself in the air on that slender wyvern ... the things you do with my tail ... I ... I must have you."
"... I'm yours, you magnificent raven winged adonis." The two passionately kissed afterward ... and time passed.
The two eventually went into a luxurious bedroom with a round bed and enough curtains and pillows around to rival a Sancturan palace suite. Gabbie was sitting at the edge of the bed and Steinn was on one knee speaking to her once again. "So long have I waited for this night ... tell me, Gabriella, do I make you happy?" he asked pleadingly.
"The happiest ... and I'm about to make you even happier than that~" Gabbie replied playfully while nudging the front of his shoulder with her toe. Steinn soon took her leg and rested his cheek on it for a moment.
"How could you make me any happier than I already am?" Gabbie just smiled back cutely and kept her shoulders high and close to her head as she leaned back on her hands for support. Before long, Steinn's attention was taken away from Gabbie's smile and toward the newly sprouted wings slowly coming to her side. Not only that, but she revealed a feathered tail similar to Runa's that slid over the bed and came around to her side. Steinn could only gawk as his cheeks went red.
"Haaaappy?~"
"H-how ... what sorcery have you used to become ... such a vision?" Steinn inquired, barely able to contain himself, and breathing rather heavily. "Already so perfect and beautiful, and now you have surpassed even that ...."
"Weeell it turns out that my parents were actually fallen and they used some weird magic to disguise me as a human. It finally wore off ... now let's make an army of children to do our bidding and care for us in our old age~ That's what fallen do, right?"
"We do more than that, my beloved~" Steinn countered. Finally he laid her back on the bed. Their tails began to gently wrap around each other as the two kissed.
The real Gabbie was curled up on top of her bedroll instead of inside it, with Ringo right beside her watching and occasionally yanking his tail free from her when she got a hold of it. He wanted to sleep too, and curling up was his favorite position, but every time he did, his tail would wander just a little too close to his master and she would grab it without warning. Eventually he just decided to nuzzle her until she woke up and went off to do stuff with the other humans. That would give him some peace. He definitely wasn't leaving this nice spot he'd found.
Nuzzle. Nuzzle. Nuzzle. "Friggin' hell, what is it?! ... oh." Gabbie realized it was only Ringo. He was fed and watered already, so she immediately figured he was just being cute. "Alroight, whaddya want?" No true response came; just Ringo's everlasting stare. "So you just want me awake, huh? Foine. Not like I'll get to get back to what I was doin' anyway ... dammit. I was just about to ..." she cut herself off, opting to simply shake her head and sigh instead.
Tremere Port
The Leverager and the Dark Utka weren't fortunate enough to find two vacant spots right next to each other, but they were able to find two spots. The spot for the Leverager was much smaller than the one it had occupied at Port Temptress. It was so much smaller in fact that the normal loading ramp on the main deck would be at too steep an incline for people to safely use it. Bogdan remedied the situation by using unloading and loading from the gun deck, which also had an exit for just such an occasion. That wouldn't help the Dauntless situation one iota, but at least they could come and go as they pleased for the moment.
Bogdan addressed Raquel and pretty much anyone else around who was listening. "The Utka needs more repairs and so we will be in port for a day or two. You are free to lodge on the ship or find an inn in the port somewhere. This is for Raquel's group ... the rest of you are to return here after you handle your business. That is an order. Now, Raquel ... the matter of your wagon should probably be discussed in private."
"... okay."
"Meet me in my cabin in a few minutes. I need to speak with the dockers and schedule some repairs for the Leverager, first. Get it out of the way ...."
Edited by Phoenix, 25 April 2012 - 10:55 PM.
