Mercenary's War

[Dhrenzen]

"I don't mind riding horses. It'll be nice to get off my feet. But I'll need a fast horse. None of those slow ones."

He untied a horse. "This one will do."

 

[Dhrenzen]

(( I'll be out of the loop for the next week & 1/2 b/c I'll be in Disney with my school band. I'll be sure to notify everyone when I return. ))

 

[DragonOfChaos]

Riana silently picked out a horse. "V'leta, do your summoning now. They don't allow magic near the Citadel, even by their own mages." Ian took to the air, hovering a few feet above the ground. "Make it fast. I don't want their superiors wanting to see us."

 

[Vadriel]

((Getting a little confused by the different RPGs are we? It's V'kleta in this one, buddy))

V'kleta concentrates, and begins to shift. He becomes a traditional centaur, with the horse portion as he described earlier. As everything forms to completion, he grunts and splits off into two pieces, horse and man. The horse part grows a head and armor...the man grows legs and is clothed once more. He mounts the horse, and stands ready.

 

[DragonOfChaos]

((Ack, I'll have to edit that. The post was made about 30 seconds before class ended, so excuse my slip-up))

"V'kleta, it would have been more...discreet to summon the horse, instead of morphing into it. Be more careful."

They picked up the pace, going full gallop. Soon, the base of the mountain came into view. The gates loomed before them, towering far above their heads. As they came closer, the doors opened enough to allow them through. As soon as they were through the doors, they closed, releasing a boom that echoed down the tunnel.

Ian landed next to his companions. "Dismount, and do it quickly. We have to be off before they get word from the wall. I'm sure they've seen through our disguise by now."

 

[Vadriel]

V'kleta hops down, places his hand upon the horse's flank, and the beast puffs into a muted ball of flame, surging into V'kleta. In about 3 seconds, no sign of the horse remains.

"Sorry about the conspicuousness of the summoning...I am more of a morpher than a conjurer...conjuration was never my bag. Can I carry my scythe normally now? Please?" His hand strays up to stroke the handle that is curled about his chest, a wistful expression on his face.

 

[DragonOfChaos]

"Fine. Wield it. But if anyone comes upon us in the halls, it can't be moving, and the eyes must all shut. It must look simply like it was carved that way." He looked into the massive room they had entered. It had to be at least a hundred feet high, and fifty in diameter. The walls were dotted with battlements, supposedly if any enemy made it this far. Ian spied an open door not too far from them. "Let's go. Our target is most likely up high."

 

[Vadriel]

Grinning at being able to carry his beloved weapon, V'kleta started towards the door, following closely behind Ian. He glanced down at the head of his scythe, and it winked obligingly before closing all its eyes and straightening to become dormant.

 

[DragonOfChaos]

They roamed down the hall, looking for a staircase. They found one at the end, spiralling all the way up and out of sight. They climbed up, losing count of how high they went. Eventually, the stairway let out into a singal hall, with a singal door under heavy guard at the end. The apparent leader of the ten guards stepped forward.

"What are you doing here?" He appeared suspicious.

Ian stepped forward. "We're from High Command. We're here to relieve you."

The man drew his sword. "Not possible. You haven't followed procedure. You don't appear to have papers. Drop your weapons and surrender!" The rest of the soldiers drew their weapons.

Ian sighed. "Fine, we can do this the hard way, then. J'kar, you take the five on the right. Feel free to let the scythe run wild." He thought for a moment. "But not too wild. I'll take the other five. I need to test these out." He scraped his punchblades together.

 

[Vadriel]

V'kleta grins malevolently, his smile creeping across his face until it nearly reaches his ears. He whips the scythe forward and it comes alive, all the eyes blinking open at once and focusing on the nearest guard, who gulps as he realizes how doomed he is. V'kleta grasps the scythe at the very end of the handle, and it snakes out like a whip to impale the nearest guard, jerking back and severing the human in half. He then throws the scythe at another guard, it reaching out and curling around him before slicing his head off with a single swipe. The weapon uncoils from the corpse and stands straight up for V'kleta to grab in passing. As he takes the scythe, one of the guards aims a jump kick at V'kleta's chest. The guard's foot impacts and makes a sickening crunch as it meets the concrete-hard muscle over V'kleta's ribcage. V'kleta grins further and the scythe curls around the guard's leg, still in kick position, before lopping it off at the hip. V'kleta reaches out and grabs the guard by the head with a single hand, then thrusts him onto the scytheblade. Another guard rushes him from behind, but V'kleta sidesteps and grabs him around the neck with one arm. He chuckles at the guard's struggles, then squeezes his arm tight, popping the human's head off. The last guard backs up dropping his weapon, and V'kleta walks towards him, a maniacal smile on his face. The guard's face goes pure white as the scythe snakes out to embed itself in the guard's side, then pulls him towards V'kleta's waiting jaws. The guard's skull shatters as V'kleta bites into his face, chewing away at the limp body's head. V'kleta twists his neck with a jerk and rips out the guard's spinal column, chewing for a short time, then dropping what's left as he stands amused by Ian's battle with the other five guards.

 

[Dhrenzen]

(( I'm back, and will sit this one out ))

 

[DragonOfChaos]

Ian shook his head. Demons knew little of true battle. It always had to be messy witht them, didn't it? The other guards looked on in horror at the carnage that V'kleta had wrought. "V'kleta, did you have to create such a mess?"

Still shaking his head, he stepped forward. He closed his eyes, and waited. The guards circled him. One struck out, aiming for his knees. Ian's wrist flicked out, his wristblade intercepting the sword. He snapped his wrist up, catching the guard a glancing blow with the dull side of the blade. The guard stumbled back, his eyes slightly glazed over. With a yell, he charged, the other guards following. Ian was lost from sight under a flurry of blows from the guards. From inside the storm of blades, the sound of ringing steel could be heard as Ian deflected blow after blow. Then, a blue light flashed within the ring, and the air became colder. One by one, the guards fell. Within moments, Ian stood in a circle of dead men. Their wounds had a coating of frost, the blood sluggish. Ian opened his eyes. "That is a true fight. No mess."

 

[Vadriel]

V'kleta snickered. "What is war without corpses to feed upon?" V'kleta morphed Drakotaur and devoured each corpse one by one, including the ones Ian had killed. However, when he came to those, he stared distastefully at the frost covering the wounds. He torched the frozen corpses with conjured blackflame and downed the bodies. Upon noticing the stares Dhren and Ian gave him as he shifted back to human mode, he stifled a belch with his fist and hiccuped. "What? I hate my food cold." Picking his scythe up from where it was stuck in the ground, he held it forward to the bloodstained ground. The scythe's eyes all flicked open and glowed, and the blood on the floor separated into droplets and floated up to cover the scythe, soaking in and being absorbed. With the blood came the ethereal souls of the guards, being devoured in their own right by the evil weapon. When V'kleta and his scythe were finished, not a trace of the guards remained. Wiping his hands together in a brushing-off motion, V'kleta gave a sideways grin to Ian, who looked sick. "What? I thought you wanted no mess? See? We demons can clean up quite well."

 

[Dhrenzen]

"Shockingly painful death I would assume." Dhrenzen spoke up.

Walking to Ian he congradulated him on a masterful display of skill.

 

[Vadriel]

V'kleta crosses his arms and sighs...people just can't appreciate the sort of power it takes to do the feats he does...if he weren't an abstract, the exertion of the shapeshifting would likely kill him...mortals have no respect for inner skill...only that which they can see.

He idly toys with his scythe as Dhren and Ian talk...until it becomes too much to bear. He explodes at his teammates.

"Oh, yeah, sure...congratulate him! If it weren't for me you'd all be dead by now. You think that the two of you could've made it past all three of those bladed creatures alone? You think that anyone in this reality could've dispatched the guards as quickly and easily as I? Who's the one who made all evidence of our slaying the guards completely disappear, down to the spectral trails that linger after death? Why can't people respect me? Is it because I'm a demon? Is that it? Can only mortals be worthwhile? Are only mortals deserving of your respect? I'm sick of this! All I've done for you, all I've sacrificed, all I plan to still sacrifice...nothing to you? Am I just a commodity? Your pet demon? I won't tolerate it...it's clear you need me, and if you don't pay me the respect that I have earned with my every move since...since..." He closes his eyes and shudders, then opens them again and tiredly begins anew.

"...I've done nothing but help you in the most efficient ways I can...I don't even get anything out of this. Money? I can materialize any wealth I need. Power? I have power. Fame? A demon will never be famous, only infamous. My own self-preservation? I am an abstract...I can never die. I live in all planes of existance, all realities...the only lives of us at stake are yours...and I'm fighting for them. Doesn't that mean something? Anything?"

He sighs and droops...he shifts into a swirling black smoke and drifts off.

((He'll be back...just needs to blow off some steam.))

 

[Dhrenzen]

"Good God, that was bad. I hope he never does hat again. Didn't mean to critizise him, I just prefer your style of killing better. Less unsettling for the the stomach. I suppose he's right though. I should appreciate him more. Although I don't like demons, I can make an exception for him."

 

[DragonOfChaos]

"He is a strong warrior, and cunning, too. He does deserve respect. But he makes everything much more difficult than need be. Those guards could have been slain quicker, and he wouldn't have had to take the time to remove the corpses and blood. The mages wouldn't think to check spectral trails that spirits leave, they're far to obsessed with the arcane to deal with the divine." Ian sighed. "It's too bad. We might need him once we're through the door."

((Honestly, J'kar, I was planning on showing you one of the powers of the amulet you have, but if V'kleta wants to storm off like this, his loss...))

 

[Vadriel]

((Well...it's been awhile coming. V'kleta is volatile...and he has sacrificed a hell of a lot, literally a Hell of a lot for the power he has. He uses his power for any cause he sees fit, and is infuriated at those who don't pay him any respect or appreciation. Don't worry, he'll be back before too long...and I doubt the amulet really helps him a whole lot...to him it's likely just a trinket that looks good next to his other, more powerful amulet.))

 

[DragonOfChaos]

((If you think so. But the story really can't progress without the amulet. I was planning it, then I get into the thread and you have V'kleta storm off. It kinda threw off my plans, so now we can't do anything until you get back.))

Ian walked to the door. Reaching for the handle, a current of arcane energy crackled over the surface. Snatching his hand back, Ian looked at the door, contemplating a way past its enchantments.

((If you guys want to try and get through it, be my guest. But don't RP your success or anything. The enchantment is good, good enough to stop V'kleta. Let's just say the equivalent of a magical apocalypse could happen, and the room behind this door would still exist. One of you, however, does have the ability to make it through.))

 

[Vadriel]

((Let me guess...you need V'kleta's amulet? Fine...he may come back soon. Another couple of posts in here, the equivalent of a few hours, and I'll have him come back.))