The Purging of the Realms

[Batmansbutler]

Without a second to spare, Malice jumped(flew) into action. Springing off the floor the the cave. He grabbed his engery swordfrom his back sending it flying twords the aliens chest. He missed only to have it connect with a satisfying slice at the alien's thigh. Wow those things are qick though Malice and pulled out his gifts, hand-scythes. And casting his protection shield upon himself. Readying himself. He still had his spells and the two gifts

[Kitty]

((OMG YAY! I'm not the only girl here now. I feel loved. :usad

Anyway I haven't been posting alot lately, my whole family is all stressed out and on the edge about packing up since we're moving this Saturday. If mum caught me on the comp she'd like, bite my head off, skin me, then use my skin as a rug in the living room. -Ahem- So I might be able to post today and some tommorow, then I'm getting packed up -completely- which means the whole comp is going to London either Thursday evening or Friday. I'll be able to post like, Monday or so then. ))

[R'Kaia DrachenFeuer]

((Oh, no worries, from what I've seen on BF, you are loved. O__o BTW, I saw your devART page--very good! I'm an Elfwoodian, myself...eh, at least I'm not surrounded by guys. And I love the quote on your sig. ^^))

[Vadriel]

((Well then...we've all met...shall we?))

*J'kar whips out his large battlescythe and charges at the nearest Praetorian. The creature hisses and leaps at him, and he narrowly steps aside as the beast slams its tail tip into the ground beside him. He swings his scythe in an arc aiming at its neck, but it dodges and he only severs a piece from its head crest. The alien aims a slash at his chest, but he turns and deflects the blow with his right shoulderplate, the alien's sharp claws leaving a jagged rip across the armor. He recovers and punches the alien in the throat, and it gags and staggers back. he takes the opportunity to lean back on his tail and double-kick the Praetorian in the chest, sending it further back. The creature recovers and lunges again, this time at his throat. J'kar drops into a spinning-trip stance and dodges its claws while knocking its legs from beneath it. He slides back into a standing stance and slams his foot across its chest, pinning it to the ground. The alien slashes at his ankle, but he grits his teeth and keeps the pressure. He hefts his scythe with both hands, and with all his strength decapitates the struggling Praetorian.

He leaps back to avoid the acid blood that gushes from its severed neck, and he wipes the blade of his scythe off quickly with an acid-resistant cloth. The metal was already pocked, but the durable blade was still usable.

Panting, he looks at the others fighting their battles, and plunges again into the fray.*

[DragonOfChaos]

Charging the nearest creature, Ian attempted to go straight for it's throat. But it easily deflected his claws and scored a deep gash on his shoulder. The blow sent Ian flying. Landing on his back, he grabbed his injured shoulder. Calling upon his powers, he sent a film of ice across the wound, closing it to prevent bloodloss until it could be taken care of. Then, standing, he faced the creature. He let out a growl and started to walk forward. The growl crescendoed into a roar, and he broke into a run. The wristlets flashed, and his hands were engulfed in silver flame. Meeting the creature head on again, he struck out. The creature attempted to block his blow, but when Ian's blow connected, silver fire ran along the creature's arm. Flashing back to Ian's hand, the fire left the creature's entire arm crystalized. With another blow, Ian shattered its arm. Screeching, the creature spit at him. As the acidic blood came within an inch of his skin, the amulet Ian wore flashed, and a strange, shimmering green barrier flashed around his body. The acid splattered on the shield, hissing faintly. After dripping off Ian's body, the shield faded. Reaching out again, Ian grasped the creature's throat, squeezing. The silver flames played around the creature's head and upper torso, slowly crystalizing it. With a final snarl, Ian wrenched the beast's head off of its shoulders, sending shards of ice flying. Turning, Ian began to shatter eggs. The less of these creatures, the better.

[-Azrael666-]

Having regained the agility and confidence of his former self, Azrael began walking calmly toward one of the aliens, pulling the hood of his cloak over the top of his head. The alien, taking this calm demeanor as a sign of defenselessness, rushed hastily at him. Seconds before the blow was to penetrate his chest, Azrael swiftly turned, dodging the attack, and in the same moment, drawing both his daggers, cut the alien's side open. The wound apparently angering the creature, it turned to slash at him again, met with its attack being dodged and another wound inflicted. Now wary of Azrael's agility, it turned around once more, but held its ground. Azrael stood firm, and suddenly sensed an attack from behind. Dropping to his knees, he barely missed a lunge from behind him, and brought his dagger up into the attacking alien's throat. Bringing his other dagger up into the wound as well, and pulling the two blades away from eachother, he effectively killed the alien, its acidic blood dripping down and rolling off the hood of his cloak. Less than a second later, the first alien took this opportunity to send Azrael flying into the wall behind him, barreling into him full speed. Now Azrael, having lost his wind and being rather sore, was feeling anything but agile. He rolled sideways, and barely missed a slash to his face. Pain rushed through him. Putting his hand to his right eye, he pulled it away, red. The slash had missed his eye, but ran deep across it as three bleeding claw marks. Azrael needed time to regain his breath, but didn't have it. The alien was bearing down on him and there was nothing he could do in time.

(("I'm an Elfwoodian, myself" - Kitty has a gallery there too ^_^ also.. someone better save me ))

[Vadriel]

*The alien leaped at Azrael, and the jaws came within inches of the prone figure's face when the alien's descent stopped abruptly. It looked down in shock to see the scythe blade that had appeared in its chest. Before the acidic blood could drip on Azrael, J'kar pulled the Praetorian back and snapped its neck from behind, then flung the limp body away. Favoring his wounded leg, he helped Azrael to his feet.*

"Careful there, pal...these guys are tricky."

*Azrael leans against the wall and pants, regaining his strength, and J'kar turns back to the fray.*

[DragonOfChaos]

Ian had broke very few of the eggs. They had a surprisingly tough shell, despite their transparency. After a few more hits to the current shell, it gave way, silencing forever the heartbeat of the foul creature inside. Before he could turn to the next, however, it burst open and the hatchling beast sprung out onto him. Ian managed to conjure a small ice sheild in front of him before impact, but the beast pinned him. It was all Ian could do to keep the beast from biting into his flesh. "A little help here!" he yelled to the team.

[Vadriel]

((Umm...you're not too familiar with the alien life cycle are you? The eggs are leathery sacs with lips at the top. The infant stages are built kinda like a big hand with a tail that curls around your neck as the creature latches onto your face, forcing a tube down your throat and depositing an embryo in your thoraxial cavity. The "facehugger" then dies and falls off, but after a few hours the embryo inside of you matures and bursts out of your ribcage, killing you and letting an infant Alien be born to the world, where it runs off and grows to maturity. The embryo takes on characteristics of the host, and a Dragonoid-Alien would be bad, so don't let the facehugger latch on. Once it's on, you pretty much have to remove the host's face to get it off. I doubt you'd live...so...don't let that happen.))

*J'kar turns and snorts. How many teammates does he have to rescue? He leaps forward and lays his hand on the bony back of the facehugger, sending a wave of heat through its body, boiling its insides and killing it without letting its acid blood boil out and melt Ian's face off. Turning away from the coughing Ian, he looks at the scene before him. Four down, two to go, with a bunch of eggs to deal with...and probably their mommy...*

[-Azrael666-]

As he tries to recooperate, Azrael's vision begins to blur, blood running down his face and into his eyes. The streams of scarlet pulse from his wounds, pooling at his feet. Beginning to feel weak, he realizes the slash's depth had been considerable. He begins absorbing the spectral energies of the aliens which had fallen, hoping it will help him regain his strength. As the energy runs into his body, his vitality and sight return to normal. Reaching up to his face, he wipes off the thick layers of blood, and realizes that the wounds themselves are gone. In the process of absorbing new spectral energies, he was able to mend his physical injuries. Thinking this interesting for but a moment, he turns to help his comrades.

Again casual in his manner, Azrael walks towards one of the two remaining creatures. Its eyes meet his, and it rushes forward. Dodging the alien's attack, Azrael wields his crossbow and duplicates a bolt. As the creature turns to face him, it is met by a crossbow bolt in the throat. The alien drops to the ground, dead. Azrael walks over to more easily drain it of its soul's spiritual energy, when he notices that there are none. No soul had escaped. He dashes backwards as the alien stops feigning death and lunges at him, forcing him to purposely fall to escape injury. He draws his daggers as he falls backwards, but his wrists are immediately pinned by the massive alien, immobilizing him. Acid is pouring from the wound from which the crossbow bolt is protruding, running down onto Azrael's shirt. He uses the motion still in his hand to lob a dagger over the alien's arm, which catches it in the side of the head as its jaws are about to pierce his skull. Pulling back for an instant, the alien takes enough pressure off Azrael's other wrist to allow him to reposition his hand. He turns the other dagger upright, and jabs it into the alien's claws. The alien reels back even further, and Azrael grabs both his daggers, striking for the throat. The alien quickly dodges and strikes, effectively disarming Azrael. Now enraged, with Azrael defenseless, the alien lunges down for the final blow. Azrael twists his head sideways, barely missing the attack. Now in an awkward position, he knows he will be unable to miss the next one. The alien lunges forward one last time.. and stops a moment before completing its fatal attack, as Azrael took hold of the crossbow bolt still in its throat and pushed it in further. Before the alien can recooperate from the pain, Azrael imbues the bolt with an intense flame, causing it to almost instantly melt the flesh around it. The mutilated alien falls, unquestionably dead. Azrael stands, absorbs the energies from his kill, and casually brushes himself off.

[Vadriel]

*J'kar stands, watching as Azrael finished off the alien, with rather effective style. Deeming the rest of the team competent to kill the last Praetorian, he turns to the task of boiling the fifty-some-odd eggs in the chamber which, surprisingly haven't even begun to open yet. He whirls his hands, gathering flame energy into him, then thrusts his hands outward, spewing fire from them in a focused blast similar to a flamethrower. He attacks the eggs in short bursts, dousing them in flame one by one, the pathetic and sharp squeals pealing through the chamber. The sound seems to revirberate throughout the caverns, and a grating shriek is heard from the chamber below. The sound is unlike anything that could be found in this realm, and he shudders as he identifies it: an Alien Queen, pissed at the slaughter of her offspring, on her way to destroy the intruders. Judging from the distance of the cry, they should have time to finish their work, but not much more...J'kar again shudders at the upcoming battle and returns to burning the eggs...not a single one must escape.*

[DragonOfChaos]

((Sorry, J'kar, I'm more of a Predator guy.))

Ian watched patiently as J'kar destroyed the rest of the eggs. He realized that his ice-based skills didn't make much impact on the eggs. He resigned himself to treating his shoulder wound. He slowly began to break the ice off. The wound had yet to stop bleeding entirely, and a sluggish trickle of blood flowed down his arm. He reached into a pouch at his belt and pulled out a stip of light green cloth. He placed it over the wound, and it was immediately soaked by his slow flowing blood. He froze it back on, hoping the medicine contained in the stip of cloth would speed his healing and eliminate any infection. Turning to J'kar, he asked, "I'm guessing that the queen is on her way. Any strategy suggestions?"

[Vadriel]

*J'kar thinks for a second, then shrugs and continues flaming the eggs.*

"Best advice, don't get hit. She's one tough mutha, and she's got a range like you wouldn't believe. Her tail can reach you from about 16 feet away. She herself is probably anywhere from 20 to 30 feet long. If she gets in range to attack, you're GOING to suffer some harsh wounds. She is THE perfect killing machine. If you plan on walking away from this battle, I'd advise poking at her from a distance. She'll take a hell of a lot of damage, and mostly our elemental attacks will be all we can use; most of her body is armored against piercing. Even though fire and ice will be the most useful, it'll still be diminished in effect. This beastie can survive in the cold and neg-pressure of outer space. She's bound to be tough as nails. However, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now...deal with that last Praetorian."

[DragonOfChaos]

"Got it." Ian stood, wincing a little as his wound pulled at his shoulder. He turned to the last beast and walked forward. He summoned his magic again. Blades of ice slowly formed around his hands. I won't be able to use this magic any time soon. I've nearly depleted my resources. And that was nearly true. The runes on his wristbands, the ones that had once glowed brightly, had now faded, barely giving off any light at all. As he walked to the creature, he called to his companions, "A little help here?"

((Speaking of the other companions, where are you all?))

[Vadriel]

((I know...people have been inactive lately. Rune is sulking, threatening to leave BF...Kitty is en transit to a new home...don't know about everyone else.))

*J'kar sighs. Must he do everything? He summons a fireball and blasts it at the Praetorian. It hits the beast square in the chest and knocks it back, not doing a whole lot of damage but still knocking it down.* "Think you can get it NOW?"

*Returns to scorching eggs.*

[DragonOfChaos]

"Calm down, you unstable demon-spawn!" Ian shook his head. To lose your temper in a battle situation had its place, but all he was doing was hitting the eggs. Ian lauched himself into the air, landing on the Praetorian's chest. Letting out a battle cry, he began to slash his way through the creature's exoskeleton. Acidic blood flew everywhere, causing the amulet's shield to flash up again and again. In the end, Ian stood in a pile of broken, steaming body parts. He looked to J'kar, still breathing heavy. "How long till the queen arrives?"

[Vadriel]

"My guess...not long. We'd better get ready for her." He finishes off the last egg and turns. He concentrates deeply, and a weak flame surrounds every party member, not burning them but coating them just inches from their skin. The fire concentrates at the points of their wounds, and surges into them. The wounds rapidly heal, and the party members feel a great surge of rejuvinating energy. J'kar is slightly weakened from the exertion, but for the most part, his spell healed everyone, so that they wouldn't be tired for the queen. Another grating shriek peals out and echoes from the tunnel at the end of the egg chamber. "Yeah...my guess is pretty soon."

((By the way...J'kar didn't lose his temper...he was being sarcastic. He is not the type to get unnecessarily mad at a teammate. For the most part, not much gets him mad. If he does, you know it, believe me.))

[DragonOfChaos]

((I figured. But Ian thinks that. He's about as cold as his powers, and values control and discipline over pretty much anything else. So it's just his personal opinion.))

Ian kneeled on the floor, folding his wings around himself like a robe. He closed his eyes, concentrating. His wristlets slowly began to regain their original glow. "J'kar, you must hold it off for a short bit. I must recharge if I am to attack at range."

[Vadriel]

"Hmm...I hope I can summon a strong enough barrier after rejuvinating your bodies."

J'kar begins moving his hands in a complex pattern, muttering in The Tongue of the Ancients, the language of Demons, Dragons, and all whose blood stems from them. His hands glow with a searing flame, and his motions leave fiery trails in the air until an incredibly twisted and entwined maze of a design floats in the air before him. His voice raises as he lifts his hands and throws them forward at the cavern entrance from which the queen will soon come. The arcane fire design rockets towards the entrance, expanding and filling out to become a solid wall of flame. Through the flickering energy, the Queen's massive crest can be seen rising up behind the wall. J'kar drops to his knees, exhausted. He likely won't be much help until he can recharge, and that barrier won't withstand the queen's wrath for long.

[DragonOfChaos]

Ian looked at the barrier, thinking. "J'kar. Will the queen's carapace react to being super heated then frozen? Will it split into pieces like most matter would?" Ian had an idea, but had to confirm his suspicions before testing it. While waiting for J'kar's response, he too, began mumbling in the language of the Dragons, continuing to gather his power.