Shards of Twilight [Closed]

[Otaku-sama]

As the other three golems approached, Paradox hobbled in the opposite direction, barely staying ahead of the stone giants. As he limped, be saw the golem in pursuit of Cerce damage itself against the wall. The blood that covered the statues dissolved the stone after centuries. Paradox. Pointed towards the damaged arm of the golem and his swords flew to it and stuck the swords into the crack. The swords rapidly and repeatedly stabbed at the crack in the golem's arm, making the damage much worse, hopefully enough to have a piece fall off.

[Saiba Aisu]

Cerce ran past the Golem's large feet lightly, his green cloak flowing gracefully out behind him as he dodged the gigantic creature's powerful attacks. He almost lost his balance and tripped when the Golem struck the wall, which would have been fatal. Catching himself gracefully, he turned and sprang back, watching with dismay as the other creatures moved slowly but surely towards the almost defenseless Paradox.

 

The dark-haired man swore and briefly gathered the energy for a shield to cast around his ally before letting it slip away unused - any sort of barrier he constructed around Paradox would be quickly destroyed and would provide hardly any protection. For the moment, Paradox was on his own. Cerce swore and closed his eyes, doing his best to ignore the booming steps of the Golems, spreading his awareness of the Air around to the entire room, relaxing into a liquid state of serene calm, like a shimmering bubble. His mind brushed lightly against the blood-stained, stone surfaces of the the Golems, the ruined corpse laying upon the cross, and even against Paradox's flushed face. With a sudden start of surprise, Cerce focused his attentions into a series of irregularities that dotted the walls around them—there were concealed grooves, housing some sort of weaponry? Traps of some kind, perhaps?

 

As the Golems drew closer to Paradox and hefted their fearsome weapons mechanically, Cerce desperately threw his focus into these crevices, trying to somehow set off a trap that would save them both.

[The Warden]

Deus frowned, his old brow bending downwards.

 

'I suppose, the heat of this forge is starting to make me feel less than comfortable. The lady Cyndane did say that we would spend limited amounts of time together, however, I am not really quite certain I know where my chambers are. We came straight here after initiation, and I doubt that the guardsmen would know. So, I shall just endure the heat for now, escaping out into the hallway should I need a breather' Deus replied, his eyes rolling around the room.

 

He looked around hopefully for something resembling a fan.

[Vector Nightmare]

Character Post: Victor

 

"Suit yourself." Victor shrugged. There was a fan Deus could use, though it was large and cumbersome, as its original intention was to cool metal. "I suppose they'll send someone to check up on us soon, anyway."

 

Beating the metal with his hammer, now that the most delicate parts of the work had been completed, Victor distracted himself from his work for a bit, in order to address an issue that had been concerning him. He had to do it carefully, of course - you never knew who could hear what and whom he could tell it to.

 

"Lady Cyndane seemed like a very careful person, no?" He said with a fake smile, half-turning to the priest, hoping he would catch the need for discretion as well as grasp the topic at hand. He had caught some bits and pieces of what had occurred before he had arrived. It seemed that the "Lady" Cyndane's primary concern was the preservation of her authority. Anything that threatened it, even in the slightest, was in danger of being... removed. He was hoping Deus could enlighten him more about the events in the audience chamber.

 

-----

 

OoC: GM post coming up tomorrow, first thing.

[The Warden]

Deus meshed his fingers together to rest his head on them. 'Someone in a place of power needs several states. Authority, power and connections. The lady is careful due to her tedious position. She is very straight-forward and knows what she is doing and what she needs to accomplish. The Amethyst Order isn't exactly known for its freshly baked bread afterall' Deus replied, failing to catch on. 'She does however get edgy, crass and offensive slash defensive when it comes to threatening objects and things. She carries at least twenty daggers on her at all times' he added.

[encapturer]

Ashley dropped her spear and grabbed her blade from the ground and prepared to strike, however, her foe quickly brought itself to its feet, faster than she anticipated. She was foolish to treat these creatures as normal humans. On top of that, they were all crawling on all fours, from which Ashley could not discern any weakness from yet.

 

There would be no time to leisurely pick apart this enemy, though; Ashley heard two sets of sounds nearby. The noises matched the sound from steps her current enemy made as it slowly moved closer though the blood and mud on the ground. *tat* *tattattat* *tattat*. An aside glance confirmed it: Ashley was surrounded.

 

There was no way Ashley could take out all three on her own. Not from her current position at least, she figured. She had to escape this trap first, which probably meant ditching the armor for now. There were a few flaming corpses fighting, but most of them she saw were preoccupied with other soldiers. She just had to hope that her clothing would offer some protection.

 

Ashley's armor changed back into her clothing within the mass of black particles that appeared. Gripping her sword tightly, she lept backward with all her strength the moment her foes attacked. Fortunately, they all jumped towards her at the same time, giving her an greater chance of successfully fending off any stray attacks with her blade as she backpedaled away from the three.

[Naimo]

Hyena had ran for it when a solider had killed one of the wolves, and now the other two were following. Three moving animals, their muscles beating out a firm beat as they dashed in this long game of tag, driving further and further away from the battlefield, though they had not entirely strayed away from it.

 

"Come and catch me," Hyena was taunting to the demon wolves. She didn't know if they understood, but what was she to care? Her eyes were rolling all directions again, her grin was becoming so wide she was on the verge of laughing. She skidded to a stop, and faced her enemies. She took one glance at their seriousness, and suddenly began to laugh. Her sonic woundwaves would doubtlessly be picked up by the soldiers, but she couldn't help it. She kept laughing and laughing, rolling over on her back, both hands over her hurting stomach, as she let it all out, unable to stop. She knew the demons had been irritated slightly by her earlier burst, but this one was different - it was 'full blown', much higher, much louder, much more irritable to the human ears.

[Vector Nightmare]

Battle Post: Cerce & Paradox

 

As Paradox had predicted, with each slash from the remote-controlled weapons cracked the sturdy, yet already damaged skin of the Golem a little more, eventually breaking off entire shards of stone. The twentieth slash shattered the entire granite arm all the way from the elbow. Yet Paradox had apparently not thought this quite as thoroughly.

 

Even one-armed, the Golem did not stop its pursue of Cerce, and with its weapon arm still attached and at the ready, it was almost every bit as dangerous as before. It would probably take hours to break down the entire Golem with sword slashes, starting from the shattered arm, hours which neither of the men had. And in the meantime, three more Golems were approaching Paradox, who didn't even have the swords close to defend himself.

 

Then Cerce struck blindly at the wall behind Paradox, trying to set off the hidden traps. A reckless move, considering the earlier trap had almost brought the ceiling down on their heads. At any rate, his wind lashes had no effect - those traps were carefully set up not to be triggered by careless decoy strikes. Paradox was in as much of a predicament as before, the three giant statues closing in on the entrance point.

 

And in the meantime, the Golem that pursued Cerce, now one-armed, did something completely unexpected. It raised its weapon overhead, then hurled it with massive strength towards the ceiling. The granite axe struck the rock above Cerce - though of course it failed to break through the many layers of stone, the weapon, along with huge shards of rock that could easily shatter a man's head or even bury him alive, began collapsing. It seemed that despite their limitations, those Golems possessed some tactical intelligence, which indicated great mastery in their construction.

 

Yet somehow... if Cerce and Paradox could spare a moment from their struggle to notice, they would definitely sense it. Something had changed since Cerce tried to trigger the traps. The air was heavier - even heavier than before. The stale, murky air seemed to be suddenly stirring, probably imperceptibly for someone not experienced in its ways.

 

And, if that was anything more than the imagination running wild in this forsaken place... dark whispers, too low to be heard, seemed to be flowing along that current.

 

=======

 

Battle Post: Ashley & Hyena

 

Even though Ashley had managed to duck out of the way, the three creatures followed up smoothly, and in her precarious position, that would have definitely been deadly. But even as the foremost murderous creature was within striking distance, a man leapt between her and Ashley. The thing's claws dug into his chest, impaling him right through, but the man stood his ground, gritting his teeth as he firmly grasped the lifeless zombie from the arms, refusing to let her go. Powerful as they were, the unnamed soldier had put all of his dying strength into this deadly embrace, which was enough to hold her down for just a few seconds - in that time, five lances sprouted from their bodies, impaling both the soldier and the creature, who flailed wildly, but stopped moving soon as the shaft of the fifth spear went right through her head.

 

"Don't lose focus!" Kael, who had hurled the fifth lance, shouted at Ashley. He had drawn his sword, and was now at a stalemate with another one of the zombies, trying to fight off her relentless attacks. "We are all counting on you two!" The remaining four warriors, who seemed to be used to comrades sacrificing themselves to protect others from those demons, engaged the third opponent, allowing Ashley a brief respite.

 

Then, a piercing howl-like scream erupted above the sounds of battle. Hyena's hysteric laughter rang through the front. The demonic wolves and the earlier attackers whined and howled in response, backing away, shying from the deafening sound. The soldiers, who, despite their disadvantages, could react and adapt rather than work solely on instinct, took advantage of this after getting over the initial shock, cutting down as many of the opponents as was possible in that single moment of weakness.

 

However, those piercing sounds had no effect on the female demons, who, despite the fact that they only numbered to about dozen, had already caused casualties at least thrice their number. And one of them was now approaching Hyena from behind, ducking low to avoid the impact of the sonic shockwaves she emitted, as she lunged for an attack.

 

=======

 

Character Post: Victor

 

Victor felt cold sweat run down his spine, and it had nothing to do with the heat and physical exertion. Was Deus completely oblivious to the dangers involved in openly criticizing the megalomaniac leader of the Amethyst Order when they were right under her nose? Then again, Deus probably had good reasons not to be afraid. His powers were perfectly suited for handling a dangerous situation. But if Cyndane took it upon herself to get him out of the way... so Victor didn't respond, instead continuing to work in silence. Whatever Deus did, he wouldn't drag Victor down along with him.

 

"It is nearly finished." He said after some more minutes, observing the tampered metal. "We just have to leave it to cool down. Don't be mistaken though - this is just the frame. The real work begins after that's done." He was proud of the dagger - though it was difficult to tell now as the metal was still fresh from the forging, when it was cooled and beaten to shape, it would be a sight to behold. Slim, yet sturdy, made from darkened steel so as not to reflect light too brightly and give away the position of the wielder, slightly curved and long enough for a quick stab in the gut. Indeed, a perfect weapon for an assassin - the high-quality material provided by the Amethyst Order's stockpiles allowed for that.

 

But still, it was only a piece of metal for now. The real challenge began tomorrow, when Victor would have to see if he could turn it into the desired instrument to enhance Deus' powers.

[Otaku-sama]

Paradox didn't let himself have a moment of celebration when a large piece of the golem chasing after Cerce. Paradox knew that the golems approaching him would eventually reach him, Paradox brought back his orbs. They dropped the swords they were controlling and dashed towards the broken piece of golem. They managed to control it and returned to Paradox. The rock swung back and forth, then the orbs suddenly released the rock, sending it flying into the three golems pursuing Paradox. It hit one sqaurely in the chest, sending cracks all along it's torso. It also made the golem stagger, making the other golems stagger. This provided Paradox valueable time to get farther away from them. Paradox knew that if he were to have any chance of survival, he would need to control one of the golems. His orbs can not control a golem of that size. He would have to call upon the gods of the earth. But now, getting away from the stone beasts was more of an immediate concern. Paradox hobbled all the way to the opposite wall as the golems got their balance and continued to pursue him.

[encapturer]

In all of Ashley's travels, she had not seen such a sight; soldiers willingly sacrificing themselves against a greater foe while their comrades cut both of them down. It was noble, but heart wrenching; Ashley could not help but imagine the lives that these people left behind due to these creatures. To add insult to injury, if no one survives this, the mastermind behind these attacks would just use the bodies to consider spreading terror. One thing was clear: that mastermind was beyond redemption, no matter the reasons he may have for doing this.

 

Kael's words resonated through Ashley as he spoke them. These people were *depending* on her. She had never felt like she was worthy of the title "Sentinel", and in this situation, she was indeed nothing more than a warrior with a few parlor tricks. Still, a warrior she was, and as such she was not about to let these people down. No more senseless sacrifices.

 

Ashley readied her blade once again, raising it in front of her. Her breath was heavy, but she did not feel tired at all. She heard Hyena's trademark laughter as she stood, and it almost knocked Ashley off her feet with the sheer intensity of the outburst. This turned out to be the kick in the arm their side needed, as all of the lesser demons were disoriented, allowing the soldiers to easily dispatch of them. Now only the female demons remained as a credible threat.

 

Turning her sword to have a more horizontal slant, Ashley rushed the demon that Kael was engaged with, there was much more room to work with compared to the one fighting against four soldiers. As she approached, she strafed around to Kael's left, let out a loud scream, as she swung the blade diagonally upwards with both her hands, aiming to dismember or decapitate the monster.

[The Warden]

Deus smiled, but it would be challenge to affect the metal to his powers. 'Excellent work, I've never really watched a smithy work before, granted I first thought that they were only good for brassing the candlestick holders, but their uses far outweigh that' he remarked. Okay, it was really quite dull to sit in a chair, but to put it another way, it would be far worse compared to being tied to a chair dangling over a pit.

[Saiba Aisu]

Cerce gave a short cry as the ceiling above him began to dissolve into large chunks of falling rubble due to the Golem's unexpected attack—it appeared he had underestimated his enemies' intelligence and tactical ability, and the price for it would be very costly indeed. As the cascade of rubble increased, he gathered his strength and quickly erected an invisible barrier of Air that turned aside or deflected the falling stones, where they struck the ground harmlessly. As Cerce gritted his teeth and struggled to maintain the shield, his expression was quite different to the confident, graceful attitude that had characterized him so far into their journey, even when running past the Golem's attacks in an attempt to distract it from Paradox. That Cerce had been a creature of airy self-assurance and implacable serenity; there was hardly any similarity between him and the man that now struggled under the onslaught of debris.

 

Then, just when things didn't seem like they could get any worse, something entirely unexpected happened—the Golem's weapon, which had been temporarily trapped in the ceiling now hurtled downwards noiselessly, just as Cerce began to lower the barrier. With a sound like breaking glass, it struck the dwindling shield and clattered against the ground; Cerce was flung backwards, unconscious. Although the barrier had managed to dispel most of the adverse effects completely, its sudden destruction had been more than the dark-haired man had been able to deal with. And as the one-armed Golem began to move forward with killing intent, the air filled with the echo of sinister, sibilant whispers born on shadow.

 

And now Paradox was entirely on his own.

[Otaku-sama]

Paradox watched in horror as his ally was knocked unconcious by the golem's weapon smashing Cerce's barrier. Paradox had to move quickly, but was still crippled by his broken shin. He was running out of options and he had four angry golems to deal with. The golems were too large for his orbs to control and the orbs had run out of things hard enough to damage them to throw.

 

As Paradox desperately searched his mind for a solution, mysterious whispers floated in the rancid air. Paradox stopped for a second to listen to them. The whispers were indeed there, not simply stress-induced hallucinations. Paradox had found his solution. His souls needed help to control heavier objects and he had found it. The problem is he needed to persuade the spirits to aid him, instead of them watching his slow demise. He took his golden pot and put his last bit of incense. He lit it, releasing white smoke. The whispers intensified all around him, louder than the golems' footsteps.

 

"Oh oppressed spirits, hear my call! The creatures that bind you assail me! Aid me in your release!" Paradox called to the spirits.

[Saiba Aisu]

As Elisabeth and Roland proceeded further down the damp tunnel of the Catacombs, footsteps echoing, a sinister sense of foreboding seemed to fall upon them, as if they were being watched by several malevolent eyes. Concerned that they might be going the wrong way, the black-clad woman pulled out the map once more, reading it by way of Roland's illumination to have something to do. Despite the cold and gloomy air of the passageway, it still appeared that they were going the right way, for the moment.

 

At that moment, the scuffle of several booted feet was heard ahead of them, as if an invisible army was approaching from the shadows of the tunnel. Before Elisabeth had time to even turn and pull Roland away, there was a loud hissing noise through the air, aimed at the purple light held in the young man's hands. With a dull groan, Roland suddenly slumped against Elisabeth, blank eyes staring, and in that moment before the light faded from his fingers, she had time to register the arrow sticking through his forehead.

 

Then the purple light went out, leaving Elisabeth alone in the darkness. And now, she would have to fight her way out.

[Tempest Dahlia]

Elisabeth gasped at the sudden situation. ln less than five saconds she was alone, abandoned from the loss of her comrade. Blood trickled down his forehead an onto her bare shoulder, and she shuddered in excitement. "Everyone l know has to die for my thorns..." she said as she dabbed her finger into the blood, smelling it, tasting it, then finally pressing her bloddy finger into the damp earth.

 

A large circle began to form under her feet. "If l have to fight my way out of here, then so be it..." she said.