Dark Age Legends

[Xorlak]

As soon as Draven released Nex, he cupped his hands to his sides and summoned a sphere of crimson energy between them.  The bright ball of light grew immensely, engulfing his forearms in crimson flame as rays of red shot out in all directions.  His aura swirled madly about him, and the black clouds in the sky parted and circled, as if upset by his very presence...

"Gladly."

With that, he thrust his arms straight down and the world flashed orange.  A shockwave of fire burst in all directions in the wake of the intense crimson blast sent straight down.  Like a comet the fire pillar raged ground-ward, its head over twenty feet in diameter and it's tail connected to Draven's hands as he pooled more and more of his energy into the blast, his face painted completely red, his eyes wide and his mouth twisted into an insane sneer...

----

Virmir shut the book he was flipping though while standing on the deck and placed it under his arm.  He slowly walked toward Ko'ji as she kneeled.  Most commanding officers would take insult to being addressed by their first name by a lower rank, yet the High General did not seem to mind or even notice.

He bent down in front of her, resting his left hand on her shoulder.  He placed two fingers of his right under her chin and gently lifted her head up so she was not looking at the ground, but into his eyes.  The cold veil over those twin orbs was gone, instead replaced by a deep yet sad kindness, as father to a daughter might display.

"Ruiki," he said softly, "sacrifice without meaning is never acceptable.  Never offer your life so freely.  Your life is just as valuable as the next..." His eyes and voice trailed off, his tone becoming considerably darker. "Life is not a thing to bargain..."

He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, his claws digging into the fabric, then stood and turned.  He clasped his hands just under the two swords strapped to his back and walked towards the end of the ship, looking up at the sky painted green by the shield that trapped the humans in the city, his tail flicking back and forth.

"Do not worry for Helix's life.  It is my concern, and by all means necessary, I will see to it that he lives...  I swear it."

[ElderScrollinIt]

"I... I mean not to burden you... but if there's any way I can help, I want to. Just tell me, anything I can do, I'll do it!" Ko'ji stood up swiftly.

"Please, I need you to tell me what I can do..."

[Trent]

//I less-than-three college. Razz

Xenai was lying down somewhere on the deck, asleep. He didn't care if he was in the way. Zion was keeping watch on things nearby. Tsu and Aura were in their quarters. There wasn't much to talk about that was really eventful.

--- --- ---

You must be kidding me. This is too easy. Anti turned around, catching the fireball in his hand as he did. He turned a full circle, and flung the ball back at the guy who made it.

[Dude Man]

The elite caught the fire ball right back, yet he nearly fell over. The elite shook his head at Anti, making the fireball bigger. He then jumped in the air and performed several flips to gain speed and the fireball rocketed forward at his foe...

---

Nex was buried into the ground, as the first head of crimson energy smashed into him. Several of his seemingly infinite layers of robes were incinerated on contact, but Nex thought it would be best to defend and counter the attack as Draven continued to pour more of his energy into the stream.

He pushed his hands into the stream of energy and started to push it back by summoning demonic flames and pushing them forward. Nex was surrounded with an aura of orange flame and started summoning more and more hell flames. Several plumes of flame sparked off from his aura and burnt inverted pentagrams into the ground.

Nex summoned more and more fire and pushed it forward until his stream of fire had matched Draven's.

//DBZ KI BEAM FIGHT!!\

[Trent]

Anti jumped into the air, pulled his leg back, and lashed forward with it at the fireball, kicking it like a soccer ball, sending it flying back faster than it came. He would scream "GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!" if it connected.

[Xorlak]

(Rotate control stick!!)

Draven began cackling manically.  Nex's demonic imitation flames couldn't hold a candle to the real thing, and he knew it.  Thrusting his hands further down, a bulge of crimson energy traveled down the trunk of the beam, causing it to swell significantly and the head to explode with destructive force.  As the two opposing energies pushed against each other, an intense wind blasted in all directions, smoothing out the terrain and parting the clouds as the two giants fought...

----

(Blast!  I'm sorry, I totally forgot she had nothing to do.  Heh...)

Virmir turned half way and smiled, flicking his tail once.  "Well, there is one thing..."

He looked back at the sky.  "I have a cure in mind, but still, we need more time... As he is, his spirit is vulnerable to the unseen... Invisible demons that aren't part of this plane and never could be, yet are a serious threat because of his soul's weakened state..."

He looked down and shuttered. "Should his soul be consumed by one of these, he will become undead instantly... or worse.  Possessed..."

He turned to her, baring an air of utmost importance.  "Will you travel to the cleft-between-planes and guard his spirit to buy us as much time as possible?  There is huge danger in this, as you will leave your physical body behind.  If your soul is consumed by the unseen, you too will become undead...

"I do not ask this lightly, and you may refuse if you wish.  But I have confidence in your abilities..."

(Chapter ends in one week.)

[ElderScrollinIt]

Ko'ji's ears percked up as she heard the words spoken from Virmir. She looked at his half smile, and for some reason... it was comforting. It was something she had never felt before.

"I will guard his soul. Not a single demon will touch him while I'm there! I just need time to prepare... I will need as much spiritual energy as I can get." Ko'ji pulled out three necklaces. One was a cross, platinum, designed to strengthen the spirit. The other was an unholy symbol, a circle with a demonic sign inside, used by most demons to absorb power that threatens them. The last was another cross, golden, designed to be able to access spirit energy faster. She hung the three necklaces around her neck.

"My body will want to keep these on at all times. Just let me charge them with my spirit energy, and they should be able to work properly. I'll go downstairs, to Helix's side." Ko'ji walked calmly down into the ship's interior and sat down next to Helix, who was still in bed. She cupped both her hands near the necklaces. They began to move back and forth, then violently around in circles. She was changing most of her air magic into energy. The golden cross began to glow.

[1 of 3 trinkets charged]

[Dude Man]

"Ah, good to see you Coriko." Wilham greeted, as he continued moving rocks he pulled one rock and the rest tumbled down catching him by surprise he stepped back to avoid getting hit on the foot by any of them. As the rocks fell down they revealed a tunnel.

"Hmm, what could this be?" Wilham asked semi-rhetorically.

//Me and Coriko already planned this out and since we're short on time, I'll go ahead.\

Wilham and Coriko walked through the tunnel.

"This doesn't look like one of the temples, but maybe this tunnel will lead us to it." Wilham said.

Part way through the tunnel was a strange field of energy, it looked like a very shallow pool of water, but it was lit with a blue light.

"This is odd. The water seems to be flowing, rather than streaming down like a water-fall."

Wilham stuck his hand into the water-like field and his hand disappeared. He quickly pulled it back out, and all was normal again. He then decided to try it again, he dipped his hand in, and then took a step forward; he slowly peeked his head through, and then pulled it out.

"Wow. Come in, Coriko, this is amazing!" Wilham said, and then stepped all the way through...

---

On the other side of the field, was a very strange and outlandish interior of a building. The walls appeared to be built of metal. The floor was clean and flat. On the ceiling were these strange flat light sources, they seemed to be part of the ceiling itself, it made the place seem as bright as being outdoors.

Wilham stepped around for awhile, then suddenly a man in a black suit who was patrolling the halls spotted him and looked shocked.

"Who are you?" The man asked, speaking in a British accent. "How did you get here?! Start explaining or I'll call the guards!"

Wilham put his hands up. "It's okay, there is no need. I mean no harm." He said in defence. He turned to look behind him to see if Coriko was coming.

--- ---

The elite was smashed by the fireball and was knocked to the ground rolling several times before he stopped moving. He slowly and weakly got back up. He lifted his fists and the gems on his gauntlets began to glow as he charged his energy.

---

Nex noticed Draven was pushing more and more energy, so he thinks he can out do him? He started to summon more and more flames, and the crimson fire started to get pushed back as Nex spread his arms across making the stream of flames wider but narrowing to met his foe's attack. Screams of pain started coming from Nex's location. But they weren't coming from Nex, Nex was summoning so much flames that the sound of screams of the tortured souls of hell were coming through. It still wasn't enough for Nex's tastes. The orange flame started to turn a blood red as streaks of the coloured lightning started to flow through and began pushing away at Draven's beam of energy...

"Black Magic...gotta love it..."

//No, I didn't rip off Kronos' line. Shut up Ein Razz.\

[Drannic_Lord01]

"Wow... Tiberius fell asleep pretty damned fast."

"Tiberius is here, too? I would have liked to know you guys were here... where's Justin?"

"He's back in Tjedon, probably looking for a way to stop those airships..."

"AIRSHIPS!?!?!?"

"SHH!!! You wouldn't want to wake Tiberius, or the rest of these injured pirates..."

"Oh, they've all been given sedatives."

"What? Why?

"Why don't you tell me the hell's been happening first!?"

"It's alright. No one's been harmed, but the Dark Empire has assumed control over Tjedon."

"Gee, isn't that great news... damned Dark Empire bastards..."

"Jeese! Calm down a bit, will ya?"

"I missed you, you know..."

"Huh...? What are you talking about?"

"When you went away, back up to where ever that place is called..."

"Asgard?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I was only a little girl when I first met you. I was around nine, about ten or so years ago..."

"Jannis, why are you-huh?" Jannis fell into Ben's arms, holding tightly. He was confused, not knowing what to do. He just stood there, looking back down at Jannis

"Don't ever go away again! I wanted to see you again so much! It was as if tearing my heart out, knowing I'd probably never see you again!" She broke out into tears, her face pressed against Ben's chest. Ben put one hand around her, and one behind her head, stroking her hair.

"I'm here, now, it'll be alright... I'm not going anywhere for a long time... I'll be here for you..." As he stroked her soft hair, she backed her face away from his chest for a moment, then looked up at him.

"A... long time...? You'll be here... for me...?" She sniffled once or twice as she looked up at him.

"I promise you... nothing can stop me from keeping my word, especially not when I'm with you."

"... thank you..." A tear slid down her soft cheek. She held on to him again, the side of her head agains his chest.

"I'll never let go of you again... I love you so much..." She held on even tighter as she spoke. Love? This was something Ben had not felt in such a long time. The only other times he'd felt this was the last few times he was with her, ten to five years ago. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like, being shrouded in darkness, battle after battle, with the Dark Empire.

"I... Don't know... what to say... Have you... always...?" Ben felt the side of her head as she nodded in response. Now, he really couldn't say anything. He was petrified. He was clueless, to think that someone had loved him and he hadn't known about it this whole time. What was he supposed to say? He wasn't really good at saying what he feels... not with love, anyways...

"You have...... always. I didn't even know..." She backed away from his body again, her watery eyes piercing his. It was calming, though, peaceful, affectionate. She smiled lightly, still looking into his eyes, slowly putting her arms around his neck.

"I-I... I can't-t-" She put a finger over his lips, and pulled his head down, slowly, so that it was level with hers, and gave him a soft kiss. Her hands reached down to his face as she held on to him, Although she no longer needed to.

After a minute or so, they broke off. Ben's cheeks turned red as he looked back at Janis.

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

[Jenia]

Indher didn't seem very impressed. The light show seemed even usual for her.
Holding the small and, now red rock in her hand, she appeared to be examining it thoroughly.

"Nope, this is useless."

With that, she threw the rock upwards and blasted it with lightning, causing it to shatter...

"So..." she turned to the now normal man "...Ready?"

[Xorlak]

Draven's beam was pushed back as Nex supplemented his own with black magic.

"Blast it!!" he bellowed as his aura exploded, a tremendous mass of crimson energy massing around his body.  His eyes began to glow red as he snarled, coursing more and more power down the shaft of light.

The world around flickered red and white as the bright flashes rapidly interchanged like a strobe light, painting the sky a deep crimson.  The crater Nex stood in deepened by an order of magnitude as the fierce winds blasted away boulders...

----

Anslem slowly opened the door to Helix's room and peered inside.  Seeing that Ko'ji was there meditating, he quietly entered and bowed before her.

"Riuki, allow me to accompany you on your quest."

"I was looking for someone to accompany her..." Virmir said from behind as he entered the room. "There is much danger in this, do you understand that?"

Anslem nodded. "Yes... it is my fault, anyway... as a Blade Knight, it was my duty to protect him... I was standing right next to him when it happened... I should have..."

"What's done is done, Anslem."

At that moment another  Velken Battle Mage entered the room, wearing the usual black robes.  Anslem expected to see Renard, but instead recognized the silver fox as Gaston.  He was clutching a tome in his claws and was wearing rectangular glasses.  Obviously they did not fit over the ears as human glasses did but instead perched atop the base of his muzzle.

He bowed briefly to all three (conscious) Velkens in the room, his tail waving nervously from under his robes. "Lord Virmir, though I am no priest, I have some experience in soul separations, and can provide the services you require..." he flashed  a glance at Anslem and Ruiki, "... provided the parties involved are willing..."

Virmir nodded. "Excellent.  We will begin as soon as these two are ready."

[ElderScrollinIt]

"I just need a few more moments to charge my equipment." Ko'ji blasted away at her wind magic, changing it to spiritual energy. The room caught a slight breeze, and the platinum necklace glowed faintly. The unholy symbol, however, shattered. She did not need that last symbol, but it would have been useful.

"Alright, I'm ready. Thank you for going with me." Ko'ji stood up from the ground and dusted off her pants. She then looked at this Gaston Velken and walked towards him.

"Let's go. We've got to protect Helix as much as we can!"

[Dude Man]

Nex noticed he was getting Draven angry, and that smirk on his face was finally gone. He liked this. He continued to pour more energy into his stream. An orange glowing inverted pentagram appeared underneath him and spirals and helixes of flame began to swirl around him. Nex levitated himself, to avoid getting pushed away by intense winds. However he took them as an opportunity.

Nex chuckled lightly. He absorbed the wind pushing against him and started to push it along his stream, giving it a slight physical boost, also the mighty gusts of wind began pushing at Draven...

--- ---

"It doesn't seem that this antidote is working at all. Ven seems just as ill as he did before." Rink said solemnly. "Something's odd about him, it seems like this poison isn't really damaging his body, but something else." He looked at the others. "Maybe there is somebody else in Tjedon, who has better knowledge about such things."

[Drannic_Lord01]

"Not damaging his body... what on Gaian could you possibly mean by that!? If it's not damaging his body, then the only other thing it could be damaging is-- oh... oh no..." Justin looked at the lifeless mass that was Ven. Apparently, his fears had been realized.

"His... soul... Rink, I do know how to cure an undead awakening. I used to be a monk over at the monestary in the Arctic Region. I will need time, though. Ven's soul is being threatened by all manner of invisible creatures and demons. If just one of those creatures were to attack his soul in it's weakened state, he may not have any soul at all, or worse, be possesed by one of those creatures' souls."

"What do you propose we do, Justin?" Jacobie asked from the doorway.

"You need to guard his weakened soul. I believe that if you pass into the next plane of being, then you will be able to meet his soul. You might even be able to talk with it, of course, if it isn't already fighting back creatures..."

"Is that even possible? To ascend into the next plane... one would have to die... or leave themselves in a coma..."

"I know the propper rituals of ascention. In fact, I have the rune with me, right here." Justin pulled out a rock with glowing, cyan symbols and letters. It seemed to have its own magical aura. He placed the rune on a table in the house.

"Ma'am, do you have any clear rooms, like any empty bedroom areas or anything?"

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

"Ugh... I haven't sailed anywhere since I was young... I bleedin hate ships..."

"Hey you! Cap'n says we're gonna reach land at around dawn. You might wanna git some sleep..." The pirate returned downstairs. Valiko took his advice without hesitation.

"Hey, Duilin! Morning's not for another ten hours or so! You could get some good sleep in... or stay up here if you like." He made his way down some stairs that took him to a lot of beds, some of which had pirates, and a few farmiliar faces. Tiberius nearly looked dead; he was sound asleep. Ben was in a bed with another woman, her head on his shoulder. Valiko took a bed at random, plopped down, and tried to get some rest.

"Hmm... I feel strange..." He thought to himself, "Like we're being... hunted... Oh well. I have been getting really tired. Time to sleep..."

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

[Dude Man]

"I'll go to sleep when I get tired." Duilin replied.

He didn't like how slow this ship was, if the Dark Empire didn't smash up his old ship after they left it, they'd probably be there by now. Then again, that was a pretty fast ship.

He leaned against the dock. Ten whole flippin' hours for them to get there? He could get out and swim faster than that. He never thought he'd see the day when he was annoyed by commoner's vehicles in comparison to his magical strength.

--- ---

"No, but there is only a bed and dresser in the bed room, you guys could probably just move it out." The woman replied.

"So, Ven's soul is in danger?" Belle asked.

"This seems pretty deep. I'm going with you." Rink said to Justin.

"Are you sure?" Belle asked the imp.

"Duilin wouldn't want to loose Ven. He's put a lot into protecting Tjed. So I think, as his best friend, I should try and do something on his behalf." Rink said to Belle, and then looked at Justin. "I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I am small and quick, which would make me a tricky target. Plus, I know my way around an immortal realm or two."