Dark Age Legends

[Xorlak]

Draven turned to Allen.

"We're probably going to have to split up once we get inside.  You stick with knight boy over here and see if you can get this thing under control.  I doubt they changed the inner designs much..."

He then turned back to Ven, grabbing him by the collar of his armor and jerking his face up to his.

"You hear that knight boy?  If anything happens to my alchemist, you die.  Clear?"

"But I--"

Draven began shaking the man.

"Clear?"

"Erm, uh, y-yes sir!"

He dropped the knight, who began to clench his teeth.

The lizards were beginning to file into the ship, and a humming noise was audible.

"Time to go."

Draven hopped over the boulder, and began to slink down the slope, weaving in and out of the rocks as he approached the black airship.  Ven sighed before following behind.

[Zeros']

Zeros' rubbed his temples with his fingers and peered at the word puzzle again, starting to think more on the strange combination of words.

"Hmm..." he tilts his head and starts to rearrange the words inside of his mind. "Let's see her... No... That's not right..." he sighs and grumbles, rubbing his eyes. "When did lizards get this smart?" he asked to no one in particular, raking his hand through his hair.

Then, he frowned and said five words, "No beer with a pub?"

//Not sure if that's it, but it's five words, has something to do with a place that serves drinks and has one letter left out.\\

---

Allen nodded and looked over towards Ven.

"Yes sir," he said, making a small salute towards Draven before following behind the two stronger men, as they drifted closer towards the ship.

[Dude Man]

//Really, really close. Here is another hint, if you don't get it from this hint then...I don't think I can continue.\\

Gorus dealt a few more cards.

"Ack!" One of the lizards groaned. "Look at thiz, thiz hand iz awfull." he showed the other lizard his hand.

The other lizard looked at his hand. "That hand is ass ussefull as a pub with no beer."

"That's an odd metaphor." Gorus said, narrowing his eyes, looking at the lizard oddly.

"Yeah I know, it jusst came to my mind, for ssome reason."

//I practically just gave that to you.\\

----

"You're coming with us. Put your hands on your head." Said one of the guards drawing his sword, as he walked towards the trio.

Duilin pointed his hand at the guard walking towards them, lightning energy sparked from his finger tips and a bolt of lightning blasted from his hand, striking the guard in his torso, the metal armour he was wearing didn't help him at all. The life was nearly jolted right out off him and he fell to the ground unable to move.

As the second guard witnessed this he lifted the whistle he had chained around his neck and and blew on it, making a high pitched a loud sound. A second later a loud bell rang from a nearby tower. A group of four winged mutants flew to where they heard the whistle, and began circling around the area. Soldiers from all around a half-mile radius who heard the sound grabbed their weapons and began running towards the commotion.

A bullet covered in a large amount of ice, was shot from Marshall's MagiPistol, it jabbed right into the second guard's chest, breaking through the armour. The guard then fell dead on the ground.

The peasant who reported them backed away and ran, Duilin went to run after him yet Marshall grabbed his wing. "Don't! He's only an innocent.!"

Duilin shook his wing from Marshall's hand, spun around and swung his fist right into Marshall's face. Marshall grabbed his nose and stepped back a few feet.

"Don't touch my wing!" Duilin growled.

Marshall glared at Duilin. "You almost broke my nose!" He cried.

"Suck it up." Duilin snapped back.

"HEY!" Firstman shouted, grabbing the sword from the barely conscious guard laying on the floor. "Quit screwing around, let's get the hell out of here!"

"Alright. You two run. I'm gonna take out those mutants, they're giving us away."

Duilin jumped into the air and flapped his wings, and flew up until he matched the height of the flying mutants.

"Hey freaks! Come and catch me!" Duilin taunted, waving his middle finger at the mutants. He exaimed the group, they were definatly mutants, and they were holding spears.

The spear-wielding mutants flew towards Duilin, he shot a fireball at one of the mutants, and knocked it away, its spear caught fire so he threw it at Duilin. The half demon caught it and threw it back, and impaled the mutant and it fell to the ground. The three remaining mutants circled him. They growled and made some strange noises.

"You no mutant. You die." One mutant dove towards him, with his front facing the ground, and his spear pointed forward.

Duilin flew upwards avoiding the strike and dove down and smashed his elbow into the back of the mutant, causing it to rotate head first downward and drop his weapon. Another mutant came towards Duilin and jabbed his spear towards him. Duilin grabbed the spear right under the blade, and broke it off. The third one came up towards him from the other side, he jabbed the blade right into the mutant's heart killing it almost instantly. The first mutant then tired to grab Duilin yet he grabbed the winged creature's wrists, and squeezed them. The mutant however showed no sign of showing pain and just glared at Duilin oddly, and then kneed the half demon in the belly. Duilin let go, and flew back, and few feet. The mutant with the broken spear then struck Duilin in the chest, with the wooden pole and then in the face.

Duilin lost his flight control and began to fall, yet he gained backed his balance however and the flew towards the mutants, coving himself in lightning energy, he then stopped and then blasted the energy into the sky, then a series of lightning bolts began to rain down, striking the remaining mutants, and taking them to the ground below.



Meanwhile down at the floor of the city, Marshall and Firstman had been running from the army of guards, chasing them. A few of them were armed with shotguns and fired at them the occasional times, and Marshall shot back with his magipistols blasting fireballs and ice chunks.

Suddenly Marshall and Firstman found themselves surrounded, as they were in a small street with two large groups of guards on both sides.

"Damn. Maybe we should just surrender." Firstman suggested.

Just then the shot gunners then aimed their weapons.

"I don't think they want us too." Marshall said. "Wait I've got an idea."

"On three!" Said a voice from one of the crowds of guards.

Marshall then holstered one of his MagiPistols and then held on to his amulet.

"One..."

The sapphire then began to glow. "Grab onto me."

"Two..."

Firstman rolled his eyes. "Not this again, you know how much this bugs me."

"Three!"

Just before the guards fired their weapons, a large puff of blue smoke, came and then sucked into a mass under Marshall and Firstman, a brown skinned wyvern then smashed from under the ground and flew the two people away.

"Damnit." Snapped the guard captain. "They're too high now..." He crossed his arms as he watched them get away. "Guess we'll leave it to the Aerial Mutants."

[Coriko]

?Hey mister, what?s with the clothes, you some sort of evil over lord? My name?s Timmy, my dad is Jerry and my mom is Marie. I had a dog named Marie; she died when I threw her out the window. I actually didn?t; really, I just say I did to seem cool. Do you lie to be cool, mister? I do all the time. Like this one time, when I was with my friends and we found a frog and we were like ?no way? and then I said I?ll eat it. And they were like...?

A loud bang interrupted the child?s prattling and then it started to rain Timmy. Walking forward the man started to wipe flecks of skin off his cloak unaffected by the past five seconds. He thought of this as a necessary loss. A man was standing a few meters a way looking where Timmy was and his wife was crying against his shoulder. The cloaked figure stopped and looked at the pair.

?Was he yours??

Jerry slowly nodded.

?You better hope that kind of behaviour wasn?t picked up from anyone else in the town.?

With that the figure kept walking through the town. Picking a door at random he walked in.

?AHH, what are you doing?! Get the hell out of my house.?

?My sincerest apologies ma?am.?

The figure bowed slightly and left the house. Once in the street he turned around facing the house. He raised his staff up to the house. The ruby started to glow. He lowered the gem to the ground. A red ring formed around the house. He then lifted the staff up the skies. A deep rep blast came out the ground and enveloped the house cutting off all visual view. Slowly he lowered the staff towards the ground and the pillar lowered and disappeared. His staff dimmed in colour and then the light went out. The house was gone, there was absolutely nothing left. It was like the house was never there. Shouting in a loud booming voice the figure addressed the town.

?You will call me Druid or Sir. Druid is not my real name and if you?re lucky you will never know what is. I will inhabit your town for a few days while I get re-oriented. You will show me the utmost hospitality or you will end up like that woman.? He said thrusting his staff in the direction of where the house used to stand. ?I will ask you questions and you will answer to the absolute best of your abilities. I will you know if you are lying and you will pay dearly. Don?t annoy me and don?t speak unless spoken to. Do not break that rule or you will end up like Timmy. If I need anything else I will let you know.?

With that he concluded his address. He then picked another house at random and entered. A few minutes later a family walked out without a fuss.
_______________________________________________________

Druid got out of bed and stood up. Slowly the sun was creeping into the room. As soon as it got to Druid?s feet it stopped, leaving space a reasonable space between it and his feet. It didn?t want to risk illuminating Druid?s war scarred body. The foot stepped forward, the sun moved back. The foot stepped forward, the sun moved back. Anyone watching this would have been shocked and amazed, but after seeing it several hundred times, it gets annoying.

?For god?s sake Sun. We?ve had this conversation before. This is my room. Outside is your world and you have the power there. We have had this conversation on my world and now this one. Now, either grow the balls and come forward in my domain or piss off till you do.?

Slowly the sun shrunk away thinking it may be best to try again tomorrow.

?Damn pansy.?

Druid muttered to himself and was about to get dressed. He had been in this town a day or two now and had found out some interesting things. For one he was on a planet called Gaian or something to that avail, he wasn?t sure. People here summoned creatures and used fire and over elemental powers. His powers were classified as shadow magic here. And? his train of thought was interrupted. Something wasn?t right. He stopped moving and looked at his surroundings. His cloak had been moved, the door was ajar and a lamp was lit in the hallway. His cloak was on a blue wicker chair instead of on the desk where he had put it on top of his staff. Then it hit him, his staff. Rushing over he grabbed his cloak and headed for the door. Walking outside he saw that the town had gathered. All were standing behind a muscular man that was holding his staff.

?You slow minded imbeciles. You think that staff is the source of my powers? That staff is a conductor and only serves the purpose as a way to channelling my powers. I don?t even need it for that,?

With that he shot a small beam from his index finger right at the man holding his staff. The man gasped and fell backwards with a tiny hole right between his eyes.

?as you can see. Thank you for your hospitality. If you hadn?t pulled this stunt I would have walked away and never returned. Since you did however, I will annihilate anything that so much as moves in this town will make sure nothing will ever be able to live here again.?

While he was talking his hands started to glow the same colour as the gem on his staff. Then he lifted his hands up in the air which seemed to spark and smoke. His hands fractured into millions of pieces, absorbing into the dust. As soon as this happened he plunged his hands downwards into the ground. A massive wave erupted around him moving outwards, like in the forest but more intense.  When the wave would come across anything living it would cause that thing, human being or animal, to be destroyed at a molecular level. They would agonisingly be ripped apart atom by atom. This entire process was over in a blink of an eye.
The town was completely empty and most building knocked over in ruins and there was nothing but quietness. Slowly Druid stood up, his hands had reformed. He stood there in the vast emptiness slowly breathing in and out. He walked over and picked up his staff, and then started walking eastwards for whatever may lie in his way.

[Zeros']

Zeros' slapped his forehead and groaned. Now it was obvious, since he said it outloud.

"A pub with no beer," he said, feeling dumb for not getting it last time.

[Dude Man]

Duilin met up with Marshall and Firstman who were riding on the back of a wyvern. They hovered in the air, so they could talk.

"Duilin." Marshall called. "How are we going to get out? They have magic cannons on the walls surrounding the county. We won't be able to fly out of here, without getting shot down."

Duilin rubbed his chin. "Well I might be able to get by the cannons." He said. "Well, then again no. Zeros' was always better at that then I was. I'm more of the uh..."

"What?" Firstman asked.

"Anyways, let's just get to lower ground." Duilin said as he swooped downwards. "We're too easy to spot way up here."

Marshall flew the wyvern down, following Duilin through the city.

----

Vandrin was sitting in his chamber room, reading a large book, titled "How to Get Even More Stinking Rich Then You Already Are." written by somebody named Dill Rates. As he was in the middle of reading a sentence a messenger dressed in a green and burgundy suit came in.

"Count Vandrin." Said the messenger in greeting. "I have troubling news. Apparently three rebels broke in the county, they have destroyed one of our main barracks and they are still at large."

"Do you have a physical description of them?" Vandrin asked, putting his book down.

"Yes, two of them have been identified as white males, likely between the ages of twenty and twenty five. One was wearing a thick blue suit with a black coat, and the other wearing similar clothing but with coloured brown."

"And the third one?"

"He's described as a 'rouge mutant' he has wings and is about the height as most of the winged mutants. Yet he has a full head of hair and is wearing a grey martial arts suit."

"Interesting." Vandrin said getting off of his chair. "Very interesting indeed." The count picked up his katana sheaths and strapped them on his belt. "I'll take care of this one."

"They could be very dangerous sir."

"So could I."

[Coriko]

Breathing in and out, Druid sat up in a tree. He had been walking for a few hours and came across nothing but the occasional bandit. He dealt with them according to how he believed the law would. This is according to the law back on his home world of course, and since he was ruler, well he did what he believed to be right. So he sat in a thick branch meditating over the past few days. He thought about the revolt and the trick that bastard Silas pulled. Jumping down from the tree he started to walk. Where he didn?t know, but he was getting worked up and needed to calm down. He was walking for about five ten minutes when he saw a man and woman wearing white arguing with a man and woman wearing blue. As Druid got closer he started to hear their conversation.

?You are on the path to moral corruption. Join the Karmax we offer inner peace and absolute equality.?

?That?s no true my brotherin. You will parish in the flames of eternal pain sooner than I will unless you repent and come to the right side, the Jarmaloos.?

?Look an impartial, we shall see who is right.?

The two pairs rushed up to Druid, unaware he was not looking for inner peace and spiritual enlightenment and that he had also just massacred a town of about 100 plus people. As Druid was ready to vaporize the hell out of the two groups, he heard a booming voice.

?My, children you are all sinners in the eyes of god. I am his messenger here to tell you change. Repent or pay the ultimate price. He is not without judgement and will condemn your immortal souls.?

At first Druid couldn?t place the voice of this new preacher to any body. However soon he saw a man dressed in a black suit, a white tie and white sunglasses.

?Please, children come to me, embrace your life for what it is. Live in his favour for all of eternity or die in your false faith. I preach the message of our holy lord he is not with out the act of vengeance.?

?Please preacher, we were here first.?

The man in black looked over at the man dressed in blue. The man in blue who made that last remark gasped and started having convulsions. He grabbed at his chest. Blood started to drip from the corners of his mouth and then he collapsed.

?Carrey, oh please no.?

The woman in blue knelt down beside her partner and started to cry. The woman in white knelt beside the woman in blue trying to comfort her. The man in white turned to the man in black.

?I am not a man of violence, but what was that sir? Did you see no way to solve this conflict with out the act of aggression.?

The man in white lifted up his hands to make the action of posing a question. The preacher grabbed is wrist and lifted it up in the air. The man in white was lifted off the ground, yet the preacher wasn?t even stretched all the way. Druid hadn?t noticed how tall he was until he saw this.

?My friend you have sinned and you will now be absolved.?

With that the preacher moved his arm back and opened his hand up. Then he rushed it forward, yet he didn?t touch the body. The man in white?s heart was forced out of his back and he went limp. The discarded heart lay on the ground a foot or so in front of Druid. Druid saw this and realized the preacher was using telekinesis.

?You have been rejected by god. You shall burn forever in the pits of hell.?

The preacher dropped the man?s body and made a sweeping motion at the women. They were knocked several meters backwards and lay limp.

?You have felt the touch of god. Although you have been rejected, consider yourself blessed you have felt it at all. And what of you sir? I have dealt with the non believers and have not heard your story.?

?Your one twisted preacher man, you know that? Those religious freaks were mine! I saw them first I claimed them, I was even working out how I was gonna kill them. And then you came along and stole my kill in name of your god? Please, I kill for respect and you kill because you believe you are god?s messenger? I have news for you, I am god and your not my messenger. Whoever your working for tell them to get off their ass and talk to me directly.?

The preacher stunned by this stood there. Then, recovering his wits almost immediately, the preacher rushed Druid, who was ready. He had been waiting for this and had gotten himself in the right stance. As the preacher was rushing forward, Druid stuck out his staff and the preacher ran into it impaling himself. Once the preacher was secure on the staff Druid lifted up his staff and flung the preacher over his shoulder. When the preacher was off the staff flying through the air Druid flipped the staff around so the ruby was pointing at the preacher and fired a concentrated blast of shadow magic. The preacher was blown even further back. When the preacher hit the ground he kept rolling backwards. Druid turned and started to walk away when he was blown forward by a force against his back. Taking the roll he jumped to his feet and turned to face his attacker. To his surprise it was the preacher.

?God??

The preacher sputtered and spit out some blood.

?? is unforgiving.?

With that the preacher once again charged at Druid. Once he was close enough, Druid swung his staff and it collided with the preachers jaw, knocking him back.

?Shut the hell up!?

Druid ran and jumped forward towards the preacher. His knees were out and his legs were bent back. The knees collided with the preacher?s chest knocking him backwards again. Druid then walked forward to the body of the preacher, who now quietly rambling to himself god?s message. The bottom of Druids cloak was sopping against his legs, he looked down and saw that this was because it had the preacher?s blood on it. He ripped off the bottom part of his cloak and through it at the preacher.

?Where?s your god now prick??
 
With that he kicked the man?s head and heard a loud crack. Druid turned and walked away.

?I hate religion.?

Latter that evening a figure stood up in the field. He straightened his tie, picked up his sunglasses and headed after the cloaked figure.

//Please note, I don?t hate religion. This post is not making fun of any religion or trying to make a point. I just have seen a lot of evil priests in shows and wanted to put one in myself. If any one is offended I am sorry. \\

[Dude Man]

The door opens up, as Zeros? enters in the correct password. The next room is a large hallway, about twenty feet long, five feet wide and eight feet high.

On close inspection, and likely a man with as great senses as Zeros? wouldn?t have much trouble spotting this, there were raised plates all over the place, only three inches apart from each other. There were also many openings on the wall, and it appeared there were several trip wires close to the floor in the middle of the room, it would be tricky to get over them and not land on a raised plate.

And what anybody could plainly see, are several swinging blades swinging across the room. Obviously whoever made this didn?t waste any time (or had to much of it.)

If the plates were stepped on they would likely trigger a highly lethal projectile covered in poison. It was the same poison that Haraldur used to kill Abodahon, so likely even Zeros? wouldn?t be able to endure.

And with the anti-magic gas in the place, the challenger of this security system wouldn?t be able to rely on any magic to help him. (Or ki or chi or whatever the heck else.)

If he couldn?t do that then he could try out another word puzzle to get disable the security system?

INFIGOUCAHENMFYYEONYOURHATOUNDSURISOUTHAVEETHTOMHUCTI

No hints, and there is likely several combinations that could do (I think) but you have to guess the exact one I am thinking of.

//So yeah this one isn?t much of puzzle. (unless you want to try the word scramble, but I doubt you do.) This one is more of a creativity test, just try and have it make sense and easy for me to read. Have fun.\\

[Coriko]

?Silas, once I get my hands on you I am going to make sure you suffer,?

Druid had been muttering to himself for a while. He had gotten all worked up after his fight with the preacher.

?Damn, I hate this desolate rock, these humans who are weak and powerless.?

With that he fired a beam of shadow magic at a passing traveller, who in turn screamed in agony and disappeared into dust.

?Sigh, I need to be proactive. Let?s see how much my powers can be used here.?
Druid stopped and looked around at his surroundings. He was in a big grassy field, a patch of trees to the north. Next he saw a small pond with some people sitting beside it to the east. He could just make out a crowd of people in the west where he had just come from. Finally to the south he saw a small village to the south.

?Ok, let me try a few things, and these people will help me?

Druid knelt down and looked towards the west. He then fired three single shots of shadow energy towards the crowd. Four people were hit by these bolts and fell down. He then walked slowly towards the remaining three people.

?What seems to be the problem my fellow travellers??

?There?s been an attack! We were walking and then three of the people in front of the group fell forward and had black smocking out of their heads. One of these bullets, or whatever they were, went right through one guy and killed David as well.?

?Wow, I have good aim. I mean three head shots and a double kill. Thank you very much for the information gentlemen.?

With that Druid lowered his staff and raised it up towards the heaven and a deep red pillar enveloped them like it did to the house. He then whipped his staff half way down and then to the side. The pillar lowered but it was still prominent enough to restrain them. Two of the men had lacerations all over their faces and arms; however the third looked almost un-phased. He looked confident and arrogant where as the other two were scarred. Druid noticed this but he didn?t care.

?Now watch this, my friends.?

Druid stood with his right hand side facing the pond and pointed his arm, which was holding the staff, towards it. He opened up his left hand and it started to pulsate and glow. Then once there was a massive aura around his and he closed it into a fist and the aura seemed to be released and flew towards his right hand and then out his staff. The gem glowed red as he aura hit it but nothing seemed to come out. Druid smacked the crystal on the ground and a massive blast blew a hole in the ground. The three men looked from one to another with a questioning look on their faces.

?Interesting, this is quite interesting. Don?t you guys think so??

Druid turned and looked at the men. The aura seemed to return from his right hand to the left one. He cupped his hands together and then opened it back up. One of the pillars of shadow magic contrasted and expanding around one of the sick men and then completely obliterated him once Druid opened his hand up.

?Now, let me try that again.?

With his hand still pulsating the aura, Druid refocused his attention to the pond. He then once again allowed the aura to go from his left hand to the right. Unlike the last time, the aura shot out of the end of the staff on the first shot and flew towards the people beside the pond. However just before killing the people the beam fizzed out.

?What the hell, ok so on this world my powers are limited. Let?s see if this works.?

Druid then closed his fist and reopened it causing the pond and all of its surrounding to explode. Druid then turned and killed the other man with cuts on his face. He walked forward eyeing the man with confidence.

?You didn?t have anything to do with that attack on the pond. Cause you know it never ever fails normally.? The man said nothing. ?Fine, that?s perfectly okay.? Druid looked over his shoulder towards the town. ?You see that town? Take a last look.?

With that druid launched himself in the air, streaking behind him a deep blood red cloud crackling with black electricity.

?Hmm, didn?t think I would be able to do that here? Druid though to himself.

The man watched the cloaked figure streak through the sky, knowing what was sure to follow. The figure reached the top of his arch and then started his downward dive towards the town. The impact force was immense and a loud crack cried out from the town just before a massive red cloud went along the ground of the town towards the outer limits. Then as if following a flight plan, the cloud arched up and down in a circle back towards the centre of the explosion. Once the cloud reached the centre it then shot upwards and expanded and slowed as it climbed until it dissipated. The dust was thick and so the restrained man couldn?t see anything and assumed the Druid died in an attempt to show off. Just as he was thinking this a silhouette could be seen emerging from the shadows. The man tensed up but soon saw it was a survivor. The survivor was limping and grabbing at his chest. The survivor saw the restrained man and started to move towards him. The survivor was just about at him when he exploded, dust flew at him. Behind he saw the Druid with his open palm.

?Why did you do all this? What possibly could you have gained from all of their deaths?? the man questioned.

?This was all an experiment. I am from another time or place or planet for all I know, and I just want to know the limits to my power in this?? he paused thinking for the correct words ??desolate wasteland you call home. Now that I have seen my powers I have no use for you.?

Druid was about to strike the man down when something caught his attention back at the village ruins.

?I?ll deal with you latter.? And then Druid launched himself towards the town.

[Xorlak]

Just at the massive airship was lifting off, the trio made it to the gargantuan black wall that was the hull.  With a single bound, Draven flew up the side of the ship, his cloak unfurling as he landed on the deck, pressing his body against a cabin wall to avoid detection by a group of heavily armored lizard men on the other side of the deck.

Shaking his head, Ven leapt and latched onto a ladder on the side of the now flying ship as it roared upwards, an amber glow emanating from nooks in its steely black sides.  Making sure the alchemist was with him, he scurried up the latter, not wanting to look down.  Ven was no expert in flight, and a slip would likely be his doom.

When he finally arrived on the open air deck, Draven was nowhere to be found.

"Argh!  Great, just great!"

He sat down on the black metal floor, waiting for Allen to join him.

"Look, I don't know a thing about airships, let alone how to take one over...  So, uh, lead the way.  Just as long as we can get King Henri out of this mess..."

(Feel free to have Allen 'lead' Ven around.  Just make stuff up.  Heh...)

----

Draven waited in the shadows as the two lizard guards walked his way.  Walking too close to the edge, they were...  He was going to wait for Allen and the knight to catch up, but this was too good a kill to pass up.  As the lizards glanced in his direction, Draven sped forward, striking the one closer to the railing with a clothesline left, sending the reptile spiraling over the edge of the ship, squealing as it fell.

"H-Hey!!"

The other was quick to draw his weapon, but Draven turned upon the larger reptilian soldier, grabbing his thick scaly neck with his right hand.  The beast lashed out with its tongue as flame consumed his neck, unable to scream.  In a moment it keeled over, dead, as Draven tossed it's useless smelly head aside.

"Better buckle up boys and girls, here comes payback..."

[Dude Man]

//Hey is it just me or is almost every single post pretty long?\\

"Okay, I think we lost the guards." Firstman said, looking around.

"Yeah, it's pretty quiet." Marshall replied.

"Yeah...a little too quiet." Duilin mumbled. (over used phrases ftw!)

Duilin slowed down and landed on the road.

Marshall's wyvern passed Duilin and then made a U-Turn and landed in front of Duilin. "Why are we stopping?" He asked.

"I sense a strong aura, along with a couple of others." Duilin answered.

"Recognize any of them?"

"Nope. But one of them is pretty strong."

"Stronger then you?" Firstman asked sounding concerned.

"Maybe. I don't know." Duilin shrugged "I've never been too good at this aura detection thing. Auras like Retan's and Haraldur's, I can tell are way stronger then me, but ones a bit closer are a bit tricky. At least I know it's not too much stronger then me."

"Well, let's just get out of here." Firstman said looking around rapidly. "We need to get back to the base camp. We aren't worth anything to the resistance dead." He looked behind him. "There, uh, Duilin, shoot one of your thunder bolts at that wall, I don't see any magic cannons near by."

Duilin shrugged. "Okay, but I think we should keep moving, they're bound to find us sooner or later. These peasants seem to be pretty sucked up to the oppressor."

Duilin pointed his fingers at the wall, and lightning energy sparked around his hand and began to swirl around, he then focused his demonic energy into lightning and his eyes got noticeably brighter.

"I don't think you should do that." Said a voice from behind them.

"Damnit they found us." Firstman shouted. "Marshall, let's split!" He patted the wyvern on the side, but it didn't obey him.

Duilin turned around, pointing his energy filled hand at the enemy behind them. "Well, who might you be?" He saw the group, it was an older man, and looked a lot like the guy in the statue he saw earlier. To his left, there was a pair of large burly looking mutants, they were unarmed yet from what it looked like they didn't need to have any weapon to cause a lot of damage. To his right there were smaller looking mutants, yet they had a greenish glow around them and green flame in their hands, obviously magic users.

"I'll ask the questions! Now identify yourself and surrender or you will be eliminated!" Snapped the human in the middle.

"Oh me? I am Haraldur, The Aspyes Revolutionary. I'm here to spread my barbaric word, pillage your houses and rape your women." Duilin smirked.

Marshall and Firstman glared at Duilin as he said that. They were not amused with Duilin saying things like that about him.

Vandrin laughed and then scowled. "I know for a fact that you aren't. You look nothing like him. I can also see that you are not one of my mutants. You look more like a human and?demon crossbreed." He then unsheathed his swords. "I will ask you again, who are you?"

Duilin grinned at Vandrin. Marshall jumped off the wyvern and took out his other magipistol.

"It's none of your business. Now let us leave or else you will highly regret it." Marshall said.

Firstman jumped off the wyvern and held out his sword. "I don't think this is a good idea Marshall." He said quietly.

"Very well then." Vandrin sighed. "You leave me no choice." He then pointed at the trio with his swords and the four mutants ran towards them.

Duilin with his energy still contained in his hand jumped over the group of mutants running at him, he then pointed his hand forward, as he was flying in the air and closing in to the ground, towards Vandrin. A large orange bolt of lightning then shot from his fingertips towards the Count, hitting him directly in the chest. The count nearly fell down, yet surprisingly seemed to have not been to badly hurt by the attack Duilin then landed in front of Vandrin and the two glared at each other in the eyes.

The two brute mutants then came towards Firstman. One ran towards him attempting to plow him, yet he sidestepped out of the way, avoiding the mutant he the slashed the creature in the back with his sword, digging into the thick protective tissue around the mutant, and drawing some dimly coloured blood.

The mutant grabbed his back and stepped forward a few steps, wile arching backwards. The other mutant then came at Firstman and swung his fist at him. Firstman then slashed his sword at the oncoming fist, yet the weapon was knocked from his hand by the large fist, yet the mutant?s fingers were nearly cut off.

The mutant stepped backwards looking at it's damaged hand. Firstman then picked his sword up. The first mutant then came at him. He then stabbed his sword at the mutant?s chest, and dug in almost right through to the other end. Firstman grinned, expecting to see the mutant die, yet he found him self grabbed and then tossed several yards away. The mutant roared and the plucked the sword out of him and then tossed it away.

Meanwhile the two magic mutants were having a fireball shoot out with Marshall. The mutants were able to make short work of the wyvern by bombarding it with poison fireballs, causing the poor winged creature's skin and organs to melt leaving a burning pile of goo. Marshall was running side to side blasting fireballs and ice chunks at the mutants, wile dodging the odd poison-fire projectiles coming towards him. Marshall then stopped, he side stepped out of the way of an oncoming shot and then aimed an ice bullet shot at one of the mutants shooting in the neck. He aimed for the chest, but just as well.

The mutant mage then fell to the ground, with a chunk of bloody ice stuck in its neck. The other mutant looked at it's fallen comrade. "You die!" It snarled and then empowered it's aura and then dashed towards Marshall...

[D. Ein]

//Heh. Nice work, DM. "a pub with no beer" is my Quake 3 screen name Smile \\

It would've been a rather amusing situation if Zjott did not know that the golems were, in fact, under his command. While the Stone Juggernaut was smashing the city apart, the two Atronachs were finished with the remaining resistance in the area. Just then, Zjott noticed the unmistakable Kandarinian symbol etched on one of the stones of the Atronachs.

The golems retracted their shining weapons, and advanced further into the city. Zjott hopped down in the path of one of them.

-"Hey, you! Thing! You are Kandarinian, no? You are under my command, yes? I order you to stop!!"

The golem seemed to understand what Zjott was shouting. He looked down, and his face almost seemed to somehow twist into... a grimace? He instantly swooped Zjott from his legs and both of them vanished into the thin air, leaving only traces of crackling static electricity...

The remaining two golems were still rampaging through Asgarnia, although the arcane cohesion between the individual stones seemed to weaken just a little bit...

//last post before they deactivate. DS, you can take one (or both!) out your way, if you want. I won't use them for the one post until you decide what to do with them.\\

--- --- ---

General Arlin was busy vanquishing a very violent outbreak of freedom fighters in a conquered city. His whip was slicing through the raging insurgents, blood splattering on his face. His eyes had a battle-crazed look to them.

-"WHITE FLESH!!! MWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHA! DIE DIE DIE!!!!"

The corpses were piling up rather quickly around Arlin. He had to fight atop of the pile, as to not give his opponents an advantage.

Suddenly, Arlin heard a whoosh behind him. He turned around to find a battleaxe heading right for his chest. Damn... the whip was not going fast enough to deal any damage, and the opponent was too close to use it anyway. Arlin prepared for the worst.

Contrary to all expectations, the axe did not come down on Arlin. Instead, the fighter fell down onto his knees, the look of pain stuck on his face. Arlin finally noticed a spear sticking through the fighter's chest.

-"Finally, reinforcements..."

He dove into the battle with new spirits, when one of the Kandarinian soldiers approached him.

-"Sir, the Marshal requests your immediate prescence at the palace."

-"Can't it wait?"

-"Sir, I don't think you understand. He requests your prescence there..."

It was too late when Arlin understood what the soldier meant. The three-clawed amulet embedded into his skin painfully zapped him with electricity, and Arlin was gone, just like that.

--- --- ---

Lord Victo, the overlord of the Borr region, was dining peacefully when a servant knocked at his chamber doors.

-"Come in."

-"My lord, the Marshal of Kandarin asks for your prescence at his capital palace."

Victo put his eating utensils down. What would Kronos possibly want with him? He sent his tribute, and it was recieved... He did not get any complaints, so there should have been no problem.

-"Did he by any chance state the reason for his request?"

-"No, my lord. He did, however, ask you to arrive as soon as possible."

Something urgent? What would a figure close to the status of emperor want with a minor lord?

-"Has the Marshal sent someone for me?"

-"Yes, my lord. There's a Kandarinian servant waiting for you outside, atop a fully charged Storm Atronach."

-"Tell them I will be out soon."

The servant bowed and left the dining chambers. Victo sighed, looking at his unfinished food, and headed for the door.

--- --- ---

The trio of the high commanders was together making further plans for their allotted land.

-"GAWD!!! WHY in the name of the MARSHAL do you HAVE to HOG all that AWESOME land??!!"

Hasterb shook his head impatiently.

-"Soghol, the land was agreed upon to be split into parts of our involvement..."

-"GAWD! Look at the DAMNED map, you IDIOT! That rat VORREN is stealing ALL my LAND! LOOK! 50% for Vorren, 30% for you, and 20% for ME!!!"

-"Ah... you added in that zero there, Soghol..."

-"WHAT?! 2%?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!??! !!!!!!!!GAWD!!!!!!!"

Vorren smiled his nastiest smile.

-"Yep. The 18% goes to the training of our Sovereignty's soldiers."

"!!!BUT...!!!"

A knock on the door interrupted the commanders' constant bickering. A senior officer entered.

-"Sirs, the Marshal sends for you. Please be down in his chambers immediately."

The commanders knew better than to keep their master waiting, so they left for the door right away. However, they continued their territorial disputes even on their way down to the Marshal's chambers.

-"2%?! What bloody VERMIN are you, VORREN?!"

-"Oh, just shut up."

-"This is NOT over! I WILL talk to the Marshal about this! MARK MY WORDS!!!"

-"Soghol, shut up."

-"GAW...!!!"

-"Soghol, shut UP."

...

--- --- ---

Zjott ended up in an unknown room, but alone. The Atronach was gone without a trace. Was Zjott the victim of a clever plot of the ever-scheming Asgarnian insurgents? No... nobody would dare replicating the holy icon of Kandarin, other than Kandarinians themselves...

As he looked around, however, he found his suspicions to be false. He was in a very rich-looking room with only two openings, both doors. Way too rich for Asgarnia. One of the doors was very large and gilded with white gold, the wooden parts painted into Kandarinian colours. The rest of the room looked just as luxurious as the door, with an expensive-looking chandelier hanging down from the ceiling. There were a lot of other signs of richness, such as matted dark red rubies stuck all around the room, but Zjott didn't have the time to analyze the rest.

The air around him started crackling, and another person popped out of nowhere. This one had fair blonde hair, tied in a ponytail. He was holding a bloodied whip, and wearing a blood-covered leather trenchcoat.

-"Eh... you were summoned here too, then? General Arlin here, at Marshal's service."

-"Yes... Marshal's service, yes, of course. I've been long absent from the truths of Kandarin... perhaps the Marshal wishes to punish me. I'm Zjott zu Heltzer, by the way."

-"Zjott zu Heltzer? The zu Heltzer? The one that has conquered eight cities with one legion, all while under pressure from the deceitful Asgarnia?"

Zjott felt the blood rushing to his cheeks.

-"Why, yes, that's me, heh..."

-"Wow... I... I don't know what to say... this... this is such an honour..."

In truth, Zjott didn't know what to say, either. His deeds were heard of all across the Sovereignty, while he was barely aware of its existence. It's like, he knew it was there... He knew it was real... but it was as if the whole empire was from another world, something that didn't concern him at all. To him, it seemed that the Marshal betrayed him - they just threw him into that hellhole of a city and forgot about him.

Then, the second, smaller door opened. Out of it came a well-dressed man with rough features and some scar marks on his face.

-"Good afternoon, gentlemen... Has the Marshal not sent for me? Why is he not here now?"

The two generals looked over at the newcomer. Arlin was the first to answer.

-"Hell, I don't know... You were invited as well, right?"

-"But of course. That's what I just said."

-"I see... So, who exactly are you?"

-"Lord Victo of Borr at your service, gentlemen."

This day was getting more and more exciting for Arlin. First, he met Zjott, the legendary conqueror, and now...

-"The Lord Victo? The one that created the Lord's Will? Damn, half of our victories were only possible thanks to you..."

-"But it gets better. As my tribute, I've sent a new prototype which I call the Master's Will. An ordinary soldier drinking that will now be able to stay stealthy for 2 minutes, instead of the previous 1 minute for the Lord's Will."

2 minutes of invisibility... Victo was a genius. Unfortunately, Arlin did not have the time to tell Victo how great he was - there were sounds coming from the other door again.

-"Look, Soghol, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the very easy way... I take the 50%, Hasterb gets the 30%, and you get the 2%, or I get the 51%, Hasterb gets the 31%, and you get a knife through your heart."

-"GAWD! So NOW it's THREATS, huh? I'm SO telling the Marshall exactly WHAT you were telling me!!"

-"Go ahead, I'm not stopping you."

-"Well... umm.... I WILL tell him, and you WILL be punished! YEAH!"

-"Whatever..."

Arlin threw a dry look towards the three commanders.

-"Gentlemen, meet Soghol, Vorren and Hasterb... the senior commanders of the Prime Divisions..."

The talk fired up, and everyone went back to talking about their own matters, without paying attention to each other. Eventually it sounded as loud as at a marketplace, until...

-"What is all that racket?"

Immediately, everyone went quiet. A younger-looking fellow entered the room. His clothes seemed to be made of leather as well, and he was petting the unmistakable dragon skull in his hands...

[Coriko]

An arrow flew threw the creatures skull as it was about to hit Marshall. The creature halted, but it didn't die. It turned to look where the arrow had come from. Against the sun it saw the silhouette of a man. The figure shot a heavily concentrated blast at the creature burning a hole through its centre. It crumpled to the ground. The figure jumped down off the building and walked up to Marshall.

"I've been trying to find you all day."
____________________________________________________________

Druid?s cape was whipping against his legs. The air streaming passed his face and body, yet he seemed untouched by it. He felt good to be flying again. He would fly every day back in his own dimension, yet here he felt heavy, probably because of a higher gravity. He assumed he would be unable to perform flight before. He could fly but the added gravity affected his performance. It made him unsteady and locked. He couldn?t manoeuvre well and once he hit a certain speed of flight he couldn?t change direction or any movement at all. He started to slow down when he got close to the town. This would allow for a better landing. He figured play it safe till he got used to it. He slowed to a crawl and straightened himself. He lowered to the ground. He had been on the ground for a millisecond when a massive force pushed him through two buildings and a well.

?Son of a bitch!?

Druid was back on his feet in less than the time it took for him to be knocked down. He stood to his full height to try and intimidate his attacker. He couldn?t see the attacker but assumed it was a mage of some sort, because he wasn?t pushed over by a physical being. A figure emerged on the other side of the two houses and well where Druid landed. It was unmistakeably the preacher.

?No living being can stop god?s message.? The preacher charged him.

Druid got into a solid stance. He crouched down a little and had his arms ready for the impact. He summoned some shadow magic to hold his feet in place down and act as a wall behind him. The preacher hit him sending him soaring backwards, shattering his wall and restraints. Tumbling head over heels Druid crashed into a stone tavern. He sat there thinking.

How could he have knocked me over? I was planted down and restrained. Maybe I?m not as powerful as I thought.?

Druid looked up; it was in ruins from his attack. He looked around houses were fallen over, statues piles of rubble.

What am I saying, of course I?m powerful.

He took a deep breath and stood up, composing himself in an authoritative manner.

The two stood, eyes locked on, waiting for the other to make the first move. The preacher wisped his hand upwards and disappeared.

?Neat trick, you can become invisible.?

Druid was knocked from the back and he quickly spun around. Then he was knocked form the other side. Druid stopped crouching and stood up. He stood perfectly straight with the exception of his hand on his staff. Druid reached to his left and caught a hand.

?Tsk, tsk, you have to be quieter than that.?

 And Druid threw the invisible figure forwards and returned to his stance. He then heard the figure behind him breathing; quickly he spun around swinging his staff, it colliding with the preachers face.

?Now is that your best effort? You?re getting sloppy.?

Once again Druid stood up straight, hand on his staff. He heard nothing. He strained his ears to pick up the slightest sound. Still nothing. All of a sudden the hairs on the back of Druid?s neck stood up. He swung around just in time to knock an air born preacher down. The sword the preacher had picked up skidded of to the side.

?Now, is that really fair? Trying to convey god?s message when I?m not even looking?? Druid kicked the man in the stomach. ?That?s not very noble of you, and besides, where the hell did you get the sword? No matter, seeing as normal methods cannot kill you I guess I?ll have to take extra measures.?

Druid looked at his downed foe and he sighed. Turning around he walked away. His mind was wrestling with what he just did.

What are you doing? You are showing compassion, you can?t do that. You are ruthless and evil. You kill for fun!
I know that, I just don?t feel like killing him. Other disrespectful people or people who stand in my way of taking down Silas will die.
Like the towns people?
Yes, exactly like the town?s people. Besides, I fight with honour and that is why I couldn?t kill him.

From behind Druid heard the battle cry of the preacher. He was running at him from behind, again. The preacher jumped and lunged for Druid. Just as the blade was about to pierce Druid, the preacher and the knife exploded into dust (his particles were ripped apart causing him to appear as dust).

That was killing him with honour. Druid declared in a triumphant manor to himself. He turned away from his inner thoughts and said aloud, ?Okay, I?ve screwed around enough with these people long enough. Now to find who?s in charge around here.?  Druid decided walking was better than flying, at least for now, and headed north.

[Dark Spartan]

//D. Ein: Noted. I'll think of something...\\

Alex moaned as he picked himself up off the ground. A platform had collapsed out from underneath him, nearly dunking him into the sludge. As he brought his armored frame upright, his thoughts of pain immediately turned to relief...

...He had reached the armory.

"Okay then," Alex grunted. "A jumping puzzle like that....NEVER again." He soon noticed that the golem was catching up. He realized that such a monstrous being would be unaffected by the stagnant mix that would kill all else. He had a few minutes, tops.

Turning back to the armory door, Alex busted the lock with the butt of his rifle and kicked the door down. He scanned the area through his scope, and deemed it safe. He strolled in, weapon at ease along with his mind. He surveyed what he had to use.

The warehouse contained a barrel full of gunpowder, a box of fuses, a ramrod, a pile of ten or so cannonballs, a tinderbox and one 24-pounder cannon, like the ones seen on pirate ships and whatnot. Alex had never used a cannon before, but he knew the basic idea. He loaded some gunpowder in, packed it in with the ramrod, slid the heavy 24-pound cannonball down the barrel, and loaded the rear with a fuse. All he had to do now was roll it into position and aim it. He was unsure of how much gunpowder was enough. Too little, and the cannonball would come up short. Too much, and the cannon barrel might detonate. He didn't have time to decide, the golem was now wading through the waste that he had just worked so hard to jump over.

Alex wheeled the massive gun outside and did his best to level it. All he had to go on was a primitive ironsight, and that didn't compensate for the cannonball's possible trajectory. It was a gamble.

To keep the colossus from moving too much, Alex did his best to get his attention.

"Hey, hey you! Eat lead you rockhead!" Alex never was too good at insults.

The golem, turning towards where he heard the rebel's meager call, emitted a supersonic roar and stomped towards the armory.

Alex lit the fuse. He had mere seconds to aim before the cannon--

*BOOM!*

A deafening blast filled the air as the cannonball launched from the barrel at terrifying speed. Alex watched desperately as the 24-pound ball of lead arced straight towards the golem's chest. In a spine-chilling impact it ripped through the golem's torso. A shockwave rippled through the rest of the golem's stony body. The bonds were overloaded. In an amazing light show of crackling electricity, the once-terrifying monster collapsed into a pile of rocks.

One down. One to go. Could Alex do it again? The other golem was across town. He also noticed something about the cannon.

He had apparently loaded too much gunpowder. The rear of the barrel was slightly cracked. Would Alex dare another shot, or locate another cannon?

He didn't have much of a choice. This was the only armory he knew of. He'd use this cannon until the last shot was fired.

Finally, the second golem had caught sound of what had happened to his brother in the Industrial District. Obviously irritated at his ally's death (to say the least), the second golem now was thundering towards Alex.

Hands somewhat shaking, Alex proceeded to load the cannon once again. In his anxiety, he overlooked how much powder was loaded into the cannon, an obvious mistake.

He waited for the rock monster to get into range, and lit the fuse. Carefully he aimed, but then--

*BOOOOM!!*

This time the cannon had done more than just fire. The cannonball flew out on a ballistic trajectory as the cannon itself detonated from too much powder. Alex, immediately hailed with metallic shards, was thrown back from the force of the explosion, and was slammed into a wall. Despite this mishap, Alex was able to keep his eyes on the ball...as it flew, flew, flew and...

...missed. The ball hung a little to the right of the golem's right shoulder. Amused at this pathetic attempt of counterattack, the golem emitted an earth-shaking laugh. Alex seemed doomed, until...

...The golem's laughter was winding down. As Alex faded in and out of consciousness, he saw the electrical bonds between the golem's rocky components start to dissipate. The golem moaned and emitted one last ear-splitting scream as it fell apart into a rain of boulders, smashing buildings below.

Alex struggled to pull himself up, but to no avail. Cannon shards had lodged themselves inch-deep into his armor. The shockwave from the explosion had resulted in two broken ribs and a fractured leg. His visor was cracked in several places and his HUD flickered as a result. The white magic proceeded in its treatment, but until the pain was dulled, Alex would be immobile.

Thankfully, the white magic could be detected by rebel mages who could pinpoint his location and send a scouting party. All Alex had to do was crawl inside the warehouse and wait for assistance. Ignoring pain temporarily, Alex used what little strength he had in his arms and gripped his way along the ground. Once inside, he leaned up against the back wall and groaned.

"Well..." he said to himself, coughing. "Not precisely according to plan...but, hey, one less thing for me to worry about in the future."

[Dude Man]

//Ein, will Roland and the Elder be at this meeting thing? Wink \\

"Coriko." Marshall said in relief. "It's about time. Where the heck have you been?"

"Hey! Doesn't anybody want to give me a hand here!?" Firstman yelled cornered against a building with two brute mutants heading towards him.

Marshall shot a couple magic blasts from his pistols at the mutants, which flew by them hitting the wall of the building beyond them. The one that was impaled, and had a bleeding hole in him, turned around and looked at Marshall.

"Come on...focus..." Marshall murmured to himself as he aimed his gun at the hole in the mutant's chest. He then shot a fireball from the gun three times. Each ball of flame hit right on target, directly into the hole in the mutant's chest. The creature roared in pain as it burned up.

The second mutant came at Firstman he rolled out of the way and dove for his sword. He grabbed the weapon and then threw the blade at the mutant, impaling it right through the neck. The mutant gargled a bit, before it fell down to the ground.

Firstman sighed. "Coriko, where the hell have you been?" He said as he ripped the sword out of the dead mutant.

//Let's assume they know each other already to save time, it was an 18 month interlude between chapters so it'll make sense.\\

"We've had to mostly depend on that guy." Marshall said pointing at Duilin, who was fighting with Vandrin. "Let's just see how this turns out, don't jump in."

--

As Marshall, Coriko and Firstman finished off the mutants Vandrin and Duilin were engaged in a mighty duel.

Vandrin swung one of his katana down at Duilin. The half demon jumped back avoiding the oncoming blade. The count then swung his other katana. Duilin then spun to his right dodging the blade and ended up beside Vandrin's arm. He grabbed his wrist and twisted it causing him to drop his katana. As it was falling to the ground both Duilin and Vandrin reached for it. As Duilin reached for the blade he swung his foot back into Vandrin's gut, pushing him back. He caught the blade, just in time to face Vandrin and block an oncoming swing.

Duilin swung his blade horizontally across, attempting to get him across the neck, yet the count smashed at the swinging katana with his own and pushed the blade back. Vandrin then went for a slash at the chest, yet Duilin arched back his sword and blocked the strike. Vandrin then quickly spun around Duilin, cutting him across the wing.

Duilin growled in pain, and then smashed his sword down at Vandrin, yet the count shifted backwards away from the mighty swing. The count the spun around again, cutting him across the arm. Duilin was starting to get angry; he fiercely began smashing his blade, down several times, yet the agile Count was able to block each strike.

"I've been practicing with these probably longer then you've been living young man." Vandrin said mockingly. "You have no chance."

Vandrin could tell by the way Duilin fought, that he mostly used crushing weapons, likely a mace. He showed some sword skill, yet not nearly as much as Vandrin did. The two fighters clashed swords for several more minutes. Duilin was nicked and scracthed yet the skilled count remained untouched.

A few peasants had actually begun to watch the fight, as it was the first time they saw a public figure actually battle an outlaw.

"I've had it." Duilin snarled. "No more dinking around." Duilin then wiped his hand across the blade of the katana, enchanting it with demonic and wind energy giving it a golden glow.

"Oh you want to play that way do you?" Vandrin then preformed the same motions, yet he enchanted it with poison magic, giving it a lime green glow. "I can see that the gift of magic is with you, young one. But you're not a master of it yet."

The two enchanted glowing blades were then clashed together. Duilin and Vandrin glared at each other. "Come on boy." Vandrin taunted. "Put more into it. Only your hatred can defeat me."

Duilin the kicked Vandrin in the chest pushing him back. "What the hell are you talking about?!" He said lowering his blade, looking at him oddly.

"Heheh." Vandrin laughed. "I can tell you're demon. I've done some studies on them. Quite a manipulative bunch they are. The half breeds can be usefull, especially your type."

"Just shut it." Duilin snapped stepping towards him, and swinging his blade downwards at him. Vandrin blocked the blade with an upward swing of his; he held his katana with both hands, pushing the blade back yet Duilin was pushing quite hard himself.

"I heard about some of the stuff that happened around Bandervil." Vandrin said weakly, pushing the blade back. "Those Aspyes like to spread words around. They said that Haraldur gave his life to destroy the Grey Empire."

"Yeah I was there." Duilin said. He then looked at him in the eye. "Wait, why am I telling you this?"

"Because you're a fool!" Vandrin yelled, he let one hand go and then shot a blast of poison magic; Duilin then let one hand go of his blade, and blocked the blast with a protective bubble on his hand.

Duilin then went to grab Vandrin's blade yet his hand was grabbed by Vandrin's hand. The two had a one-handed mercy fight as they had their katana locked; the magic mixture was begun to make a bright eerie glow were the two blades met.

Duilin ended out to be the more physically strong as he twisted Vandrin's hand, causing him to squak in pain. Just as Duilin twisted it a bit more, Vandrin glared at him. "Time to die." Vandrin's hand began to glow a lime green.

"Oh shit." Duilin then let go of the counts hand, and the immediately backed away.

Vandrin shook his hand and then blasted a large stream of poisonous energy at Duilin. He blocked the stream of energy with his blade, the lightning energy then faded out and then sword began to melt.

"My sword!" Vandrin shouted. He greatly valued those katanas they were very valuable but only as a pair.  

Duilin laughed.

"You cretin!" Vandrin roared he then dashed at Duilin and the swung down his blade, Duilin then jumped backwards, flapped his wings and then front flipped over Vandrin. He was about the land on the ground headfirst yet he pushed down on the ground and then dove backwards driving his feet into the counts back, pushing him to the ground. Duilin landed standing right over Vandrin, he stepped on the counts hand, holding the katana, causing him to let go. He picked the blade up and then grabbed the old man by the neck, and held the sword into his back.

"You won't get away with this, you know." Vandrin said.

"Yeah, yeah." Duilin whispered. "You tell yourself that. Now I'm gonna make you a deal old man. Yeah, listen up. Me and my buddies, you see those two...and..." He looked at Coriko. "Who the hell is that!? When did he get here!?" He shook his head. "Anyways, let the kids fly outta here. They need to get home. I don't want anyone following them. Got it?"

"Yes." Vandrin said, he didn't believe what was going on; he just kept his eyes closed.

Marshall looked at Duilin. "Thank you. We owe you one for this." He then held onto his amulet, and summoned a regular ole' green wyvern. "Try not to hurt the man too much." He said grinning. He looked at Coriko. "Yeah, that's Duilin an old...friend I guess. Okay, so yeah Firstman and me were able to blow up the barracks, well Duilin...helped. So yeah, you want to just get out of here? This place is making me sick."

Firstman hopped onto the wyvern "Let's get the hell outta here!"

Marshall looked at Coriko, as he hopped onto the big lizard. "Coming, Coriko?"