Dark Age Legends

[D. Ein]

Sorry, double-posted

[Dude Man]

The minotaur growled at Ein.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to order them to listen to you as well." Marshal said, before he made some hand motion at the monsters.

The minotaur then looked at Ein.

"Go ahead, tell it what to do." Marshal said smiling. He could tell Ein was uncomfortable, with the monster.

----

The shaded warrior was caught off guard and struck by Steorra's attack, and fell to the ground lifeless.

"What the?" Darak said in confusion. He then turned around and noticed Steorra. "Ah, it's you...Thanks..." Darak then walked towards Steorra. "I assume Valos sent you."

----

Rink looked at Duilin.

"Hey, man. Sorry about earlier." Duilin said calmly

"Don't worry about it." Rink said.

They then shook hands; well Duilin's hand was of course much larger, but never the less they shook hands.

The two then turned their focus upon The King and Zeros'.

[D. Ein]

Ein called the minotaur over to the shed.
-"Alright, so we need to lift that, yes, like that, and then hammer this into- HEY, not that hard! We don't want to break this thing just yet! Alright, so get that, yeah, then i'll get this and attach it to this..."
He continued working on the machine.

--- --- ---

-"Yes, the gentleman with white hair told me to seek you out. I want to be allied with the Crimson Empire for now. The pay seems good."

[Zeros']

Zeros' simply shrugged.

"Lead the way," he said simply.

---

Allen nodded, as Aura went back into her room. He leaned against the wall, and waited for her.

[Xorlak]

Having passed through the barrier, Draven approached the northern wall of Alphagrad, rubbing his hand against his chin as if in thought.  He took several steps to the left, finding the right spot, then suddenly shot up into the air in a giant bound, performing several flips as he flew over the fifteen foot high stone wall.  As he began his descent towards the opposite side, a bright red flash of light emitted from his right palm-- his crimson blade, giving away his position to a group of Grey soldiers below with a loud swoosh...

He landed on his left foot and right knee, thrusting the blade into the ground before him with both hands.  Five streams of flame emitted from the blade, breaking up the stone street as they raged towards five surrounding soldiers, incinerating them in a violent explosion that through their bodies backwards.  The sixth soldier was left unscaved, and quite taken aghast.

Draven stood up and smirked at the man, resting the burning blade on his right shoulder.

"Tell your leader that your perimeter has been breached, and to send your finest warriors to stop the intruders that have made their way to the center of town."

At the end of his sentence he stuck his left hand out towards the man and pointed at his head.

"Quickly now..."

A bright crimson flash emanated from the tip of his finger, and a tiny vermilion orb, no bigger than a pebble, shot out towards the soldier like a bullet.  The speck of light passed some two inches from his right cheek onward through a window of a wooden building some ten feet behind the Grey soldier.  A second passed, before a fiery explosion burst through the building, breaking the glass and raining flame upon the man.  

He took off, probably to tell his commanding officer just that...

----

The stately king nodded.

"Excellent.  Thank you.  Let us go..."

The entourage reformed around the king, and he began to lead the group through the darkness back towards the beach.  Ven joined his king up front by his side, and the two began to chat, although at an inaudible tone except for those closest by.

But before they could get too far, they heard a voice behind them:

"ARRGH--!!"

"Huh?  What was that?"

Another torch was illuminated, revealing that they were one man short.

"Edward?  You okay?"

A few seconds of silence, then, "Yeah, no problem," from the darkness behind.  Edward became visible in the light of the nearest torch.  He was a younger man with a green cloak, and had it wrapped tightly around his body as if he were cold.

"Just tripped back there... can't see a thing."

The group continued on, reaching the small boat at the beach which they would board to return to the dimly lit ships visible off coast...

[Trent]

Aura emerged with her armor on, her scimitars at her sides, and the flying disc hairpin in her hair. "I'm ready."

--- --- --- ---

The three warriors followed Draven over the wall, watching him pwn the soldiers. "Are you sure it's a good idea to alert the enemy to our presence?" asked Zion. "Damn, you are good at this." Xenai admired the emperor's display of badass-ness.

[D. Ein]

The Iron wing, with it's new weapons, returned back to installation S-207. There, a new portal was charging up. Destination: 2 km south off the Crimson Capital. Meanwhile, Felix went over to a higher-ranking diciple to review the plans for their assault of the capital.
-"So, we teleport there, and then what?"
-"Then you are to continue south to the capital's walls. There should be a few guards or turrets there, you shouldn't worry about those too much. Just take them out using your usual methods."
-"What do we do once we're at the wall?"
-"Find a gate, bust it open. If you don't find one, or if the existing one is too tough to open, use this."
The diciple handed Leaven a small sticky brick, a crossbow, a very long and thick rope, and a sheet of paper with a sign on it.
-"Put this brick onto the wall, then just carve this sign in it using any avaliable objects. It should then burn a thin hole all the way through the wall. The hole won't be nearly wide enough for any of you to fit through. Instead, you take a bolt, tie the rope to it, and shoot it through the hole. It should go all the way through the wall and on the other side. After that, light the rope - it contains powerful explosives, and should blow a hole wide enough for you to get through, if you're lucky."
-"And if we're not lucky?"
-"Run. The wall will collapse. In the end however you will have a way through either way. Also, I believe your ride's good to go."
The man pointed to the vortex in the middle of the room, which was now blasting out lightnings every way inside it's shields. The group went through...

They landed on soft grass. Tall walls of the capital could be seen from their position. Leaven whispered to the rest of the group:
-"Okay, we should do this by the book - nice and quiet. Don't attract attention to yourselves. Stay low."

--- --- ---

Ein was now done building his machine. The ogres made a huge pile of tree trunks near the shed. Ein walked around his creation.
-"Well, the big part's done. Now... We give this thing life."
He started etching things on the machine's hull, wheels, and the mechanisms in the middle. They seemed like they were meant to propel something, like a giant crossbow.

[Xorlak]

(Remember that the Crimson Capital is located on a floating island one mile above the mainland, surrounded by barriers, and is on maximum security due to the threat of a Haraldur attack.  Heh...)

----

Draven began to walk towards Alphagrad's center.

"I merely wish to see what this enemy is all about, and this is the quickest way."

A group of 25 or so Grey soldiers turned the corner around a building.  Draven immediately began running at them at full speed, his crimson blade outstretched to his right.

"Fools!  I said your finest!  Not peons!"

Not fully knowing what was going on, the soldiers turned and drew their weapons.  Draven engaged the closest few, felling them singly with a quick slash each...

----

Vincent held up three fingers, moving towards a window in the corridor.

"Three hours.  Have your forces there in exactly three hours, and your path will be open..."

He jumped out the window, falling some distance towards the paved ground in a courtyard of the fortress below.  He pressed both of his hands before him like a prayer, then pressed them against the floor as he landed.  A blue circle surrounded him, rising up from the ground, cutting off the piece of floor he stood in as it rose from the ground.  It was a sort of floating disk, with a large propeller underneath.  He flew up into the sky, towards the northeast, towards the Fortress Sigmund...

[Zeros']

Allen nodded at Aura.

"Good.. Let us be off, then," he said, and turned.

He walked briskly from Aura's room, to down the hallways. The torches that had been lit after the threat of Haraldur illuminated the hall, and gave it an eeriey glow, as the torches crackled, sending shadows skittering across the hallway.

He lead her down several flights of stairs, and to a door, which, was guarded by two guards. The guards stood at attention, and saluted Allen, who, saluted back. One of the guards pushed open the door, and whispered something to Allen, in which, he nodded.

He walked in the room, which, was about 10 meters by 10 meters. It had no windows, or any other exits, except for the singluar door. In the middle of the room, was a large, circular disc, spanning about half the room, with several smaller, white circles in the middle, all on a raised, stone platform. There were also a variety of gadgets and gizmos, as well as a set of stairs leading up onto the platform.

Allen walked over, and started to tinker with the machine.

"This will take a few moments to charge up, but, when it does, it will teleport us to the nearest mass of land, from which, we'll proceed to the island that has the materials I need on it," he informed her, as he tinkered with the machine. A soft, pink glow started to form around the area of the circle, as, a mixed form of magic, alchemy and technology started to power up.

---

Zeros' nodded, and follow the king and Ven. He was interested on what they were talking about, but, he didn't want to intrude, so, he simply followed behind them, his sword giving him enough light to see by, as well as the troops torch light.

He kept his senses on high alert, though. It would do no one any good if they were ambused simply because they weren't ready or expecting an attack.

[Dude Man]

A Grey Empire soldier ran to the doorway of Abodahon's room. "My lords! The Emperor of the Crimson Empire himself is in Alphagrad."

"Hmm...Interesting. In fact this gives me an idea. Melkoth, I'm going to obtain Valos and bring him into Alphagrad, I'll put his 'loyalty' to the test. We'll launch the rest of my plan at a later time." Abodahon explained. He then walked off, and then headed his way out of the palace.

----

Duilin and Rink followed along with Ven.

"I've got a funny feeling like somebody is after me..." Duilin mumbled

"I'm not surprised...Maybe Valos is hunting for you." Rink said back

"Maybe...But I do wonder were he could be. He's been gone for awhile."

"Who cares? He's off fighting a war."

----

Valos sits down on a rock. His head is aching like hell. Random pictures run through his head...Images and scenes of his past...

--Flash Back--

"The attack on Romme is going to happen in a week, and I've been called." Says a large man, with six fingers on each hand, wearing a suit of dark coloured armour, and a medium helmet.

"You be careful, Darion. I don't want my only brother dieing." Says a similar looking man, with a normal amount of fingers and no helmet.

"Ah, don't worry, Maxwell. They say it's a weak kingdom. Besides, High General Draven is leading the attack."

"Hey, isn't Nex going aswell?" Maxwell asks

"Yeah. Right now he's keeping an eye on Duilin and Pophin. They've got mop duty." Darion laughs.

A fairly attractive woman with a Russian accent, wearing body armour speaks. "Pophin and I may also be called over later, if any problems happen, but it's not a sure thing."

"What use would that wimp Pophin be? Duilin's a tough guy, but Pophin?" Darion asks

"He can be of some use." The women replies

"Yeah..." Maxwell says, suddenly a rumbling sound happens. "What the...Damnit Valos!"

Maxwell gets up and open up a door, and picks up a five year younger looking Valos, and tosses him on the ground. His hair is shorter, and his tattoo is more visible. "Would you stop practicing that witch craft bullshit? It's bad enough that Nex uses it!"

"But..." Valos stutters

"Shut up, wimp! You're lucky we didn't kill you like the rest of those losers in that village! We can't trust a mage who used to be prisoner!"

----

'They took you from your home, Valos...The ones who did it may be dead, but the people who made them still live.'

'Nex, became to miss trustful, and became too loyal to the Dark Empire. So I had to destroy him. Remember; follow the Talonscar...

[Trent]

Aura started off after Allen. She'd heard about the threat of the one guy, whom she'd not known anything about. Obviously, he was powerful. If a floating castle has to go into an emergency state because of one guy, he's obviously powerful. She saluted the guards and followed Allen into the room.

"This is a really interesting device," said Aura. "Teleportation, huh? That should be fun."

--- --- ---

"Xenai, Tsu, let's go!" Zion gave the command, and the three started. They were each able to take out the enemy at the same rate as Draven. This would make the process much faster.

[Kahn]

<span style='font-family:Optima'>"Wake up"</span>
Hyperion opened his eyes and looked towards the voice. A shadow figure stood above him.
<span style='font-family:Optima'>"Get up"</span>
He pushed himself to his feet and came face to face with the figure.
"Who are you.. And where the hell am I?"
<span style='font-family:Optima'>"You need not worry, you are near Retangrad but out of danger. As for me, I have come to make you an offer."</span>
The figure reached behind it's back and presented a halberd(axe/spear).
<span style='font-family:Optima'>"This weapon has been passed down from shape shifter to shape shifter throughout the ages, Its purpose is to protect the weak and rid the world of evil. With it you will be able to take any form you so desire." </span>

[D. Ein]

//I never get the details right... well, now i know\\

-"Ugh, look! The thing's floating! The shadows made it seem as though it stood on the ground... damn optical illusions. We're gonna have to find a way to get it down."
Leaven and the Iron Wing crawled up just below the fortress. Leaven noticed a low hum below it.
-"Damn... looks like they have shields as well. However... nothing can shield them from THIS!"
He pulled out one of the reflective balls, and threw it way down, near the fortress' middle. The "cannonball" busted, releasing a vortex. Unnoticed at first, it only made itself known by rising winds, due to the air being pulled in. Eventually it grew in power and started blasting lightnings around, which didn't do much due to the barriers installed on the fortress. However, the fortress slowly started to get pulled down...

--- --- ---

Ein finished doing the "paintjob" on the machine. He silently muttered a short chant, and all the diagrams flashed and started to glow softly, each different colour. He climbed into the machine.
-"Ooh, a beauty. Now, let's see if it works."
He drove it around a bit, constantly exclaiming about how much of a genius he was. Then, he parked it back near the shed, and walked over to the pile of logs. He turned to Marshal.
-"Hey, could you tell those oafs over there to make the ends pointy?" He pointed to the ogres. -"This will be our ammo."

--- --- ---

Steorra started to get mad as Darak was obviously ignoring her.
-"So, am I good to join or what? I know you're all high and mighty but could you at least respond?"

[Xorlak]

Draven plunged his blade into the heart of the last Grey soldier, quickly pulling it out and pointing it to the side.

He began striding down the center square, tapping the crimson blade on his right shoulder.

"Five minutes... five minutes before I liquefy the cobblestone streets..."

Hmmm, clearly that one who ran off... that one who was working for Ragnar was responsible for capturing this city, and the peons were sent in afterward to occupy...

A volley of blue orbs appeared from the south, and began to rain down upon the invading foursome.  Draven extended his left hand, creating a translucent red barrier that deflected the ones in his path left and right, sending small explosions bursting into the surrounding buildings.  It was a legion that was stationed in the southern half of the city, ready to join the still ongoing battle outside, but was diverted to handle Draven and co.  There was at least a hundred, a mixture of mages and warriors...

----

The men boarded the boat, which was slightly cramped due to the new passengers, and began to make way towards the dimly lit ships in the darkness.  A ladder was thrown down when they reached the middle ship, and the king ascended to the deck, followed by Ven and his other men.

"Welcome aboard the Posidon X, friends."

King Henri politely spoke the gesture to Duilin and Zeros'.  It was probably too dark to see, but the ship was slightly irregular in shape compared to the other two vessels.

"Feel free to look around the ship at your leisure.  There are guest chambers if you wish to rest, and a gambling hall downstairs.  We've quite a distance to travel, but these ships are quite fast and the trip will be over before you know it."

The king took his cape in his right hand and bowed slightly, before turning and heading up a flight of nearby stairs to a higher level deck.  Most of the entourage followed.

----

"Preparations are complete.  Prepare to move forward, as per our orders."

"What's with this vibration?"

"Uh, sir... We're uh... losing altitude..."

"What?"

Julian pushed the soldier aside to get a better look out the window.  Dark as it was, the barely visible treetops below were getting closer...

"Is the emerald failing?  Where's James?"

"He said he was checking up on the barrier orbs."

"What about that alchemist?"

"Assigned a critical repair mission."

"Blast it!  Hans!  Rufus!"

The burly Rufus stepped up from behind Julian.  Hans appeared running at a sprint from accross the room.

"Yeah, boss?"

"What-cha need?"

Julian pointed to the window.

"We're falling.  One of you go out there and see if you can see anything abnormal."

"DONE!!"

Yellow lightning crackled around Han's body, and he shot ten feet across the room through the window and out into the sky, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.

Rufus followed like a slow running football player.

"Hey!  It's my turn!  You got the last one!"

A green aura engulfed him as he shot through the window after Hans, and proceded to follow him down around the side of the floating palace.

Julian covered his face.

"Idiots!  The door!  The door!!"

[Zeros']

Zeros' nodded at the king, as the aura around him dimmed, and disappeared. Instead of wandering around, he simply leaned against a wall, and looked towards Rink and Duilin.

"So... What now?" he asked.

---

Allen cursed, and quickly started to readjust the teleporter as he felt the floating fortress loose altitude. It started to hum louder, and the disc on the platform started to spin slowly, as it erupted with energy, sending a shower of colors into the air, illuminating the room a translucent glow.

"HURRY! Get on the platform! We'll do no good to the empire dead, and buried into the water!" he yelled over the hum of the machine, as he waited for Aura to step on.