Bishops...Perhaps it is too early to give such an impactful name to such fresh faced travellers still learning the rules of the game they find themselves in now. Almost like children shock when you give them the reverse card and falter their plans of victory but the skirmish has beckoned the monster has backed them into the corner, mercilessly hunting them since that night it seems...One must commend the perseverance of such a puny, insignificant god spawn like him. This prey is tricky and has a pack so still not one sided as it may seem. While outnumbered this thing has the blood lust of hellhound in a dessert that suits his all 'menacing' look and personality but our feral pack also contains those whose souls seem to weep for freedom from their horrendous choices...I wonder if their morals will be the deciding factor on this, what looks to be the final board of the final round.
The air was filled with haze of black and white mixing in the shapes of heat rising from a soaked surface around the trees, Shitto looked almost finished with his fusing into the elder tree that now resembled a tower of a old evil king, opposite him the Fallen one Kyu standing dagger faced point towards his elbow, still twitching in muscles and eye,
''Ha! The birdie who couldn't do anything but do a pretty fire trick last time?! PleASE tell me what you think you can do to defeat me then?!''
Kyu surveyed the bush and treeline, seeing Otto and Mountain seemingly flushed of colour as their worries turn to a smirk looking at the Azamaar, returning his sights to the excuse of a creature that had stalked them thus far on their journey and responded,
''Well...That is extremely relative is it not?''
The usual owl like tilt took Kyu's face except this time still his muscles pulled and squeezed making his face contort and not keep his usual cold and collected expression before the responding,
''It is bold of you to assume that I would battle alone against you scum!''
As the words left his mouth two arms appeared from the shadow forming Shitto's neck, one stabbing in releasing pints of Oozing black blood while the other was batted away by a tendril and proceeded to explode in a pitch black expanding blaze. A vast explosion came from the gnomish tree body as it expanded, spurts of the tendrils goo and blood, the colour of grey like that of a rain cloud that just released its last charge. The mass expands out reaching for anything as the contorted waste that was its body twists and bends backup like a puppeteer with troubles using his hands in his old age,
''How many times does it you lot.. explosions can't kill me you mongrels''
Shitto says picking his targets, The bee and bird? the giant and goblin? He wonders where that half-mix that caused problems last time was but before he could scan the area for him he saw a glint of oily blue as a curved sword dives into one of his left sided tendrils pinning it to the ground, rippling like a fish full of fight being removed from the water while he tried to compose himself to plan the next move, a secondary blade of similar shape flies through his right sided tendril but he lifts it and viciously swings it back in the direction the sword came from.
A outline of a half-mix with a arm outstretched could be seen, convinced this is the young prince from nights prior he swings with all he can muster hoping to pulverize this pest, tendril crashing through the trees towards the target, the half-mix lifts his index finger to the sky and the tendril is taken off, swinging like a propeller at full speed up and then plummeting down at the same velocity. Cutting through the mess of organic oil and guts with gusto, leaving the opportunity for Bee to wail his hammers down with the force of a railway rifle tearing off a large piece of the central body. The dirt and debris of bark and fallen logs jump into the air clouding the battle field again as Shitto tries to think, the numbers against him are even worse than before but he was determined to gain his revenge here, then he heard the faint mocking whisper surrounding his head
''You barely kept your life with just the three of us...You sure you can handle us with almost double the number?''
Shitto spun violently but saw nothing around him until he heard the small crack of an explosion from below, looking down he sees the sight he had been seeing in his visions for the past two nights, a blurred mixing concoction of bright violet and strong green, this time moving in a way that made the blurs of his eyes fill every spot in the available space he went through resulting in his foot above Shitto's head,
''DAEDALUS SHOW WHY YOU ARE WORSHIPPED AND BLOW AWAY THIS SCOURGE OF YOUR MIGHT WITH THE MIGHT GALES OF YOUR DRACONIC ROAR''
The slightly clouded sky saw itself engulfed in grey as more and more clouds formed spiralling above the area taking the shape of a dragon spiralling around staring down with a eye of formidable ocean blue at this black mess now eyes widened as he saw the beasts tail connecting and whispering around the half-mixes foot, he thought to himself before the bolt came striking down
'Well...the power of a right hand...even more than that of a step I see..'
''FORCE OF THE FORGOTTEN!''
Willabaar with rage in his eyes brought his foot down like the firing pin letting go as the dragon above let out a searing roar and followed, dissipating into the ground with a godly shockwave spreading far, taking the hundred foot trees out of the ground roots and all, Water from the lake thirty feet away rose up and crashed across to the other side with the shape of a monstrous wave seemingly destroying all in sight.
The large Orc descended with a pillar of light as he snakes the ground with his staff making it ripple, landing with great crass before transmitting into sand, enveloping the Gnomish looking tree wrapped with sand, rubble and bark as Jericho stands, muscles gleaming off the sun with the steam produced from his sweat and oil, stretching his hand into the sky asking,
''Oh great one forgive my unholy brother! Shame the likes of him must be the voice of such power. I beseech you though help my quest, bring me the one close to me and you along with the ones he is starting to see close, We must send them far so your voice will not be quieted once more!''
The haze that surrounded the battlefield from the mighty attack formed into the feral pack we followed, Wilt and Willabaar out cold and resting with Kyuuwin, Orelia, Otto and Mountain circling them wondering what had transpired as they all seem to circle the now unconscious half-mix before the elder brother spoke
''Do not fret, using a technique such as the Force of the forgotten would drain the Ki of the most learned monk, even the First born of our lands''
Kyu moved forward and bowed a traditional bow, speaking to the half-mix whose eyes widened at the sight of this,
''Please allow us to continue our travels with Willabaar, we can watch over him if we can escape from here.''
''I know...Nice form...a bow of Recocton royalty is not easy to do...Willabaar must enjoy being here...Okay I will send you close to Nomadir but please make him stay there for me...three days at most understood?''
Kyu's head did it's usual tilt with eyes squinting in confusion
''Of course my lord...I do pick up quick?''
A smile broke on Jericho's face, broken by the sounds of pain and pleasure coming from the mother tree, sliced and broken into splintering blobs of black ooze trying to reform once more, taking the half-mixes sight before turning back to the cleric,
''Let your god light your path well my new friend''
''She will, that dragon might be hard to light yours though''
Confused but accepting the remark with a hearty laughter he claps his hands before separating them making a circle of six phased moons appear,
''O Deity of deadly gales, use thyn winds of the world to travel these chosen paths, fresh of taste and fragrance for we will rejoice there soon! On my piety it will be done!''
In a flash of haze that disappeared as quick as it arrived they see a clean forest nothing like the one they were in prior. This new forest was much larger scale of nature in both feel and view, the ground no longer short dark green weeds of grass spotted with dirt and dust but fields of rolling green, flowing far out of sight, the trees easily double in size of what they had been in, stretching far into the clouds that now loomed above them but seemingly dragging towards the forest that looked like a speck in the distance. Kyu watched the clouds spread quicker than natural and closed his eyes seemingly giving a small prayer, hands clasped in such fashion before turning to the group of disorientated people he was still with before proceeding to light up his palms and heal the goblins gaping hole in his shoulder. Noticing the bones all snapped and shattered looking at Mountain, still staring coldly towards the forest himself contemplating or guarding, Wilt could no longer tell them as the burning pain was numbed and dull, looking down at the hole collecting dust as Wilt started coming around looking more and more like a statuesque fashioned for ash stone but still having that ability to move it while it did feel like moving a bag of sand he could move it, Kyu let out a small smile before his eyes went wide and his face went flat seconds before hitting the ground face first, Mountain was the first to act twisting him over looking at the smile, larger than life itself, The Azamaar then crashed using to much of his reserves and trying to fuel it longer with the powder, he was now snoring and sleeping in his sleep memories from what sounds like childhood.
''NO...NO MYR!! I'M SORRY I'LL TRAIN HARDER….NO I STILL FEEL PAIN! AHHH!!''
Thrashing violently but surprisingly smiling more than the fallen had ever shown his group with their faces now filled with pity, not even wanting to laugh at what they saw but only feeling sad for the Azamaar, his smile growing as much as his movements became aggressive. Mountain looked over to the now rising Wilt placing his hand on the formally pierced shoulder putting pressure on to test the damage before Wilt turned,
''I get what you are trying to do but please leave all forms of healing to Kyu...At a stretch I'd let the royal asshole take a shot...well if it was a paper cut...maybe''
He looked over the others still recomposing themselves before noticed his new environment, seemingly awoke back to the situation,
''WHAT HAPPENED! WHERE IS KYU AND WILLABAAR?!''
He noticed the dwarf smile and glance at the goblins arms that were straddling him as he spoke,
''Kyu did the healing...Willabaar gave us time to escape and his brother is there fighting our battles...fuck sake is this that royal family power level everyone gawks about...anyway they two are sleeping now...Ah well not sure where we are do any of you?''
Otto and Orelia sat five feet from the sleeping pair that saved them moments before arriving here, Otto now realised that this man he was Oathed to was no mere adventurer but someone who's resolve was burning and his skills fine tuned, Reserves on par with some of the biggest names of magic in this era that seemingly did not falter on results. Taking a breath Otto spoke
"We either take the risk now with the royal mutt or we wait for this favour to be repaid."
This comment got a reaction from the young elven caster who was in a contemplative thought before being dragged from the astral steer.
"Otto what do you mean? If you stay on this path the debt will be repaid and we can move on."
Orelia spoke with a half a happy tone but underlying with bits of dread in her words.
Whispering in the goliath's way.
"Kill now or serve. Not much of a choice but it is down to just us...only us two left now so what are we doing then"
Otto said as low as his vocal cords would allow. This statement made Orelia's head spin as if the world's axis just changed, making her nauseous and as if her throat closed, stealing the air from her lungs,
"I….I'm not sure….If we do then.."
Orelia wheezed the words out her body, rejecting the actions she tried to perform almost like there was a dam stopping these ideas from flowing out, building pressure and stress on her mind. Otto looked, noticing the girl seeming to be pulled in two different directions, her face showing signs of fear, he relented and placed a firm hand on her shoulder,
"That's enough...take your time. It's the only thing we got at the moment"
Otto smiled towards her looking forced and moved towards the group, Orelia was confused by her own mind knowing this group were feral and wild, will to do much worse than what her family had done remembering Willabaar cleaving the head of the young human the first night they meet, recalling the feelings of fear and anger towards him and the fallen angel that ended her fight.
Scratching at the small black spot on her neck she felt as though the rage of that night was returning just to think even now but what could she do? Leaving Otto and this group might result in vocal cords healing being undone, becoming someone who cast through speech, she would have nothing and have to start anew but staying would mean she may have to watch the last person on this dark world that she considers family die without being able to do one thing about it, before being stuck with this group all alone. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, strutting towards the sleeping pair that had made her mind this swirling storm cloud of rage and unknown but as she saw their peaceful resting faces, a feeling of warmth swept over her remembering that they have not forced Otto to do anything but fight with them after the first incident, had shared drink and the food they hunted and treated them like family making her feel conflicted and strained.
Wilt still standing over the snoring two slumbering with such a look of peace, rummaging through his bags looking for something, muttering under his breath until he feels a slender hand on his shoulder, looking up seeing Orelia's cold eyes, crouching down beside him as her hands turned a bright silver with laces of gold flowing down from her palms and dissipating into the grey skin of the Azamaar, Wilt seemingly amazed turned to her and asked,
''Wow even I can feel the warming aura of that stuff, You a cleric to??''
Otto erupted in laughter while Orelia gave him a glare of freezing coldness, quickly responding with venom,
''No. A Onomancer...my reserves won't matter if a fight breaks out again so I am just going to infuse my reserves into birdie here and then he can handle the healing.''
She looked over to the half-mix still sleeping and snoring,
''Him on the other hand I think even if all of us put our reserves into him it won't make a difference...Still I swear that he has been using Ki so it won't do anything but kill him.''
''Nah Ores he used ki the first night I met him, used it to smack that blob so hard his face went in two ha!''
Orelia was shocked at what was said, looking over to Otto, faking a laugh along with the demon before looking at her with the same panic she seemingly felt, she noticed Otto did not want to mention more and proceeded to go back to healing the Azamaar, seeing the goblins eyes were filled with shock also, he knew what this meant as she leaned in closer, still spewing venom in her words,
''Wilt Grove...My priestess wishes for her secret to remain just that''
Wilt's eyes glazed over before blinking back to reality, looking left and right wondering where the last few seconds had gone. Being brought out of his thoughts by a passing shadow of a loud cloud being dragged towards the battlefield they just left, the winds pressure seemed to pick up creating a tempest of wind and currents as the shining from the girls hands stopped and Kyu slowly lifted himself up, looking around like a confused barn owl as usual before meeting eyes with the smug Orelia as she turned and said,
''Well turns out you're not the only healer here anymore birdie ha!
''A basic reserve transfer...is that considered healing now? Is my way of magic nothing more than a joke to yo-''
Mountain intervened putting the white tipped dagger back into his hand and offering his other to help him up
''Come on bird boy how ya feeling?''
Kyu stretched his body and wings cracking with the chime of a holy bell before accepting his dagger and the help to his feet responding,
''Thank you Bee maybe your soul can be saved still''
Bee pushed his hand into his face, rubbing vigorously while Kyu continued,
''Now allow me to heal Willabaar''
Orelia chimed in once more,
''No!! We shouldn't! we don't know about how his powers work prob-''
''I have heard of people such as him before and healed them on occasion. I know what must be done,''
A flash of white lightning smacks from the fallens fingertips, surging through Willabaar's body flicking his eyes open in a instance while he sat up, gasping for air until finally swallowing the ball in his throat, looking at the fallen,
''Thanks Kyu...where is Jericho?''
He said while scanning the faces around them,
''He told us to go and wait in Nomadir for three days and he will arrive''
''Then we leave now, we should be able to stretch the distance''
Willabaar now leaping to his feet, pointing towards the centre of the new forest they find themselves in and proclaims,
''Let us go my False Heroes and find what riches await us!!''
Still confused, the onlooking party seem to accept the brain dead plan and slowly slump behind the now marching Half-mix, still offering the powder around to Orelia's annoyance, hums and laughs melding in and reverberating around the trees around them, getting more silent as they headed into the unknown. Above them however, the ever shifting winds all spiralling around the sky, conjoining from far and wide to create a storm cloud like we have not seen in this continent, the sounds of thunder distorted and echoing, ending with a monstrous roar, the head that looked like a pale sky slowly pierced the cloud and snarled at the ground below before disappearing into the clouds once more, only a massive black snake like shape ripping through the air seemingly waiting for it's perfect time to strike.
As the grand play Shitto tried to play did not go as intended as no plan survives contact with this pesky group of enemies. We find are heroes wisped away from the responsibility of what they started and towards mystery pushing more trauma from their minds and continuing to act like they have no cares or worries in this deadly game where their stocks as pieces only seem to increase to the major champions of the board, from that of a lowly pawn to now the reputation of a pesky knight. Oh but of course the way they do find the light every time they find themselves snared and being dragged down to the darkest depths of the bellowing abyss away from the paths insisted by their respective benefactor, I don't think i have seen such interestingly wild and untamed knights for this era, being both a fairly sized advantage when listening but also a massive boon to them when their rage festers to the surface...well it all depends on who puts there leash on these feral dogs and is willing to take a few bites to make a champion out of these false heroes.