Dark Age Legends

[Dude Man]

//I think you're moving too fast Drannic.\

"Okay, uh guys..." Duilin saw something in the distance, it looked like Hell had just opened up and dumped it's hellish remains upon the ground. He couldn't make out every detail, but something big and robed was floating over a pit, and there were things not as big things marching around fighting what looked like people. "What is that?" He asked pointing at the demonic scene.

---

//Uh, Trent have you been skipping my posts?\

"You're kidding..."

Nex embraced the blast, it was a huge amount of energy, it was sucked into his aura and his energy was nearly just as high as it was before.

"Why thank you."

However he noticed fireballs were raining downwards at his Steam Demons.

"Draven, Draven, Draven..."

Most of the meters smashed into the steam demons knocking them to the ground, but not fully killing them, a bunch of them however were just missing them. There were explosions, but the steam demons just walked right threw them, unaffected by the flames or even the shockwaves...

"One of the people I knew who would be a large obstacle in our plans, was you Draven. Lucky for you, super skilled water mages are of very short supply in Thanatos, so I thought why not fight fire with fire? Or at least something immune to it."

"Plus explosions won't due much either. Nyahaha!"

Only a couple of the steam demons seemed to have suffered any major injuries. And most of them got up and continued to advance towards the pit. A few of them continued moving around hunting down the remaining lost souls...

Nex's gauntlets glowed again and he fired a thunderous red lightning bolt from each hand, one at Draven and one at Anti.

//Might as well keep track of some stuff to help you guys out.\

Giga Nex's Energy: 85%

Steam Demons: 33 + 2 severly injured and unable to fight much

[D. Ein]

"Aah, nature!

Nothing quite like it. The chunks of the dead wyvern behind me dissipated into the ground, just after hitting the rocky terrain of Terian. The sounds of the raging ocean beating against the monoliths was reverberating between the trees just up ahead. So loud, so annoying... I almost wished to be back in the citadel, but that's no fun.

The device disguised as a commorb was actually a shape-shifting stone. I smashed the orb onto the rocks, revealing a gold pendant with a large jade in the middle. Without further ado, I put it on.

Quite obviously, I didn't see myself changed, as that's not how the amulet worked. Unfortunately, I had no mirror to look at, so I had to resort to water. The damned amulet crafter didn't tell me exactly what the stone turned me into by default, so I had to check it out myself.

The reflection of the water revealed a morbidly obese, opulently dressed merchant. I suppose that's better than nothing, though something a little less flashy would've been a lot better. Ah well, I guess that's life.

Looking about, I noticed a detail that I missed before - there was a small pier some distance away, with a ship docked at it. Perhaps someone there could tell me how to get further into the mainland? Or... maybe, it would be better to commandeer the ship... Bah. I'll figure it out once I get there."

[Coriko]

"Yeah, we should. I do not want to be here when the rest of tho creatures come and find their ally dead. Here," Coriko pointed to a steal padlock door on the far side of the room. "I think they went through there."

---

Druid slowly descended onto the palace's front step. It was unlike any palace one had ever seen. It had a long open corridor with rooms branching off. These were offices for the high ranking individuals in the society. There was a total of six. Druid did not believe in spreading around the power. At the end of the corridor was a giant room that acted like the senate/throne room. Druid moderated sessions while others would pose questions and opinions. The final room to this building was Druid's ensuite. It was modest for a supreme ruler but extravagent for an aristorcrat.

"Ah, I'm home. I see one thing stayed in tact while i was gone."

"Yes sir." A gruff voice was heard to Druid's left. It was Onan, one of Druid's warlords. "We protected this building with our lives after you left." The figure walked up to Druid and stuck out his hand. Druid shook it. "It's good to have you back sir."

Druid never fraterneized with his underlings but the six who occupied these rooms were an exception. "I'm glad to be back. Where are the other five?"

Onan reclaimed his hand and looked down. "It is just Kane, Yuri, Baird, and myself now sir. Saar was killed by Silas. He got past our defences to steal your treasure and take over the final obstacle that defied him."

"I am sorry to hear that. He was a fine and trusted warlord. What about Nim?"

Onan looked up with hate in his eyes. "He was there when Saar died. He helped silas get in."

"WHAT!?!" roared Druid.

"Yes, he betrayed us because Silas offered him power. We captured him after Silas announced he was leaving to finish you off. He is being held in a guarded cell."

"Where!?!"

[Xorlak]

What in blazes?!?!

He knew flames wouldn't hurt those blasted tin things much, but he dropped freaking giant rocks from space on them!!

"Arrgh!!!"

Draven's aura exploded and he surged downward around Nex's blast of energy, down towards the nearest tin-demon.  He blocked a swipe from its huge hand with his fist, a red shock wave disintegrating nearby boulders.  He then noticed steam bellowing from the nearest pipe-things on the monster's back.  Hmmm...

Jumping over the creature, he turned and grabbed the two of the pipes that were sticking upward.  Pumping crimson energy into his hands to increase his strength, he pinched the metal tubes shut and then bent them downwards almost in a knot, preventing the flow of steam...

[D. Ein]

"The ship's captain was a rather pleasant person. Let me stress the key word here: was. Not pleasant enough, unfortunately.

I don't know whether or not he was surprised to be stabbed in the back by a skeleton of the fish he was gutting. I mean, back stabbing isn't exactly my style (hehe, or it just may be), but... baaah, I just didn't feel like giving him a chance. I ask pleasantly, ladies and gentlemen, I ask quite pleasantly of his boat - what do I get in return? Not his boat, that's for sure.

The crew that followed was just a matter of method. Wielding the fish skeleton as a dagger, the captain (now undead) went about methodically slaughtering each one of his crew mates. It's difficult to find a crew so obedient as to the point that will die for you... all the better for me, though, right?

Sadly, I knew that I had to have my minions look and behave human(esque). While my adoration for people with open, bleeding wounds in them is rather great, not many share my idealist view on life. So, I had them repair their clothes, and steer the ship as if they were still alive. As if. Hehehe.

The one setback we experienced, however, was that ever-present, terribly uninterested blank gaze from the zombies. This quickly proved to be a problem with the first pirate ship we encountered. Normally, I suppose, the pirates expected the crew of the other ship to be surprised, scared even, of the merest sight of the black cross-bone flag. All they were met with, though, was a blank stare."

[Dude Man]

The steam pipes were hot, extremely hot enough to melt the skin off a persons' hands. But Draven (likely) we more than able to withstand the heat.

The steam demon attempted to reach behind and grab Draven, but his mobility was noticeably slower. Before he could get a hold on Draven the 'engine' on it's back exploded in a huge gust of steam and fire and the demon fell to the ground. But it was still alive, its cannon arm wasn't able to move, nor where his legs, however his other arm was enough for him to tug himself along. Blood was gushing from it's back, and it turned it's head and gave a mighty roar at Draven.

Meanwhile another Steam Demon sneaked behind Draven and gave a three round burst of flaming metal at very close range at the fire mage.

'Oh for the love of all that is impure and unholy! I have to think of EVERYTHING when dealing with this guy.'

Nex's Energy: 83%

Steam Demons: 32 + 3 severely injured and unable to fight much

[Ted Der]

Phew. Man it had been a long trip of hiding and sneaking around. Sneaking around on a ship that you didn’t have a clue to where it was going. Akran shifted his bow from his shoulders. He let it slide to the ground along with his quiver of arrows. He lifted his right arm, absentmindedly, and rubbed his scar. The scar was huge. It looked as if his arm had been almost sliced in two. The scar started from his thumb joint, ran down through is palm and went up almost to his elbow.

With a heavy sigh, Akran sat behind a tree. He never liked to be spotted anywhere so, he created his usual protection. Without really concentrating on what he was doing, Akran used his power to recreate the already existing shadow of the tree so that it covered more of the ground than it was already. This power, which he took for granted now, didn’t come to him naturally. A long time ago, he acquired it from his brother, but that was always a painful topic.

Suddenly, he heard something. It was the sound of glass breaking. He stood up quickly, drew an arrow from his quiver and held it ready. He wiped his black greasy hair from his eyes and very carefully, he looked around the tree.

A merchant stood there. He was quite big and seemed to be confused. He was touching his face as if he was remembering where his features where. The merchant waddled over to a patch of water and knelt down to admire his reflection. Akran never liked to introduce himself, so he watched this odd man from a distance. The merchant stood up and looked around. Then something caught his eye. Oh no, was it Akran? No, it couldn’t be, thought Akran. No one ever sees him unless he wants to be seen. He crouched down as the fat merchant waddled right past him. He turned around and saw that the merchant was heading for the docked ship Akran had left just a little while ago. With absolute and complete silence, Akran followed this strange man.

[Xorlak]

"Blast it!  There's like, 32 more of these freaking-- GAH!"

Draven fell forward as the blasts of molten metal struck him in the back.  Pushing himself up and sneering as the liquid dripped off his cape, he shot into the air with a bang.

Two guyers of molten lava followed his assent, bursting from the ground.  The bulk of the lava formed into spheres and rotated around him as if he were the center of an atom.

"I hate things that take forever to kill..."

With a flick of his wrists, a few spheres shot downward, embedding themselves in the steaming pipes of the beast, where they solidified and cooled into solid rock.  By this time several more tin-freak-things were aiming and firing at him, so he spun around and flew in a wide arc behind them, dropping the magma bombs in a spray at the monsters' tubes.

[Dude Man]

//You might want to say exactly how many you attack Xorlak, just so I can keep track. I'll just assume you attacked four plus the first one you attacked in your post.\

As its steam tubes turned to rock it's back engine exploded, rendering it immobile.

The group heading towards Draven continued to advance as the lava orbs smashed onto their steam tubes turning them to solid rock, and their backs exploded shortly after. One of them however shot down the lava orb, with its fire-metal cannon as it came towards him. The lava and the molten cannon ball smashed into each other creating a small explosion in the air.

Nex's laugh then echoed through the air, and he shot forth a large black-red bolt of dark energy at Draven.

At nearly the same time, as Nex fired his shot, the Steam Demon fired a three round burst of flaming metal chunks at Nex.

Nex's Energy: 75%

Steam Demons: 28 in fighting condition

[Dude Man]

//Ooops, forgot about Wilham.\

"I don't blame you." Wilham replied, rubbing his neck. He walked over to the padlocked door.

(I'd assume the padlock would be on the other side, since one of them locked it, from the other side)

Wilham banged on the door with his gauntlet. "Open up. We got him."

From the other side a muffled voice was heard.

"I don't know if I should let you in. What if it's forcing you to do this?"

"Trust me it's dead." Wilham replied, speaking loudy.

"Well...okay." The person on the other side said reluctantly. The sound of a lock opening was heard and the door slowly opened. "Hurry! Hurry!"

The two then quickly got through the door, and he closed it behind them.

"So...you killed it?"

"Well, yes." Wilham said. "Well, apparently shooting fireballs at it's head at the same time it's shooting it's death beam is how it's done."

"Really? That's...that's great! We might actually be able to beat these things now." The officer said.

"So, where's McNeil?" Wilham asked.

"He, went ahead, with the others. I was told to stay here." He explained. "If you want to talk to him, just keep going down this hallway."

---

Meanwhile in as isolated area of the base, which was mostly cut off from the rest of the area was a libratory. With several Daleks, about, there was one Black Dalek, with gold bulbs on its armour and a golden eyestalk. He was next to two pure black daleks with an extra gun piece in place of their plungers.

"Communications have been lost with Dalek Vann!" A Dalek said to the gold trimmed one.

"Impossible the Kaleds must have found a weakness." The gold trimmed Dalek.

"We belive these were not Kaleds, but people of a similar and possibly superior race to the Kaleds."

"They are still inferior to the Dalek race. Set them to a higher priority of extermination!"

"I obey."

[Coriko]

Coriko started down the hallway after McNiel.

"C'mon I want to find out more about these robots. That was unlike any other MagiPistol I've ever seen!"

---

Druid shot out of the palace entrance and flew across the island.

A stone building stood alone on the far side of the island. It was about three stories high. On the ground floor was a cavernous room with a fireplace by the stairs. On the top two floors were the cells. The guards sat infront of the fireplace. Two of the guards played a game of cards called Dorrika. The other guard sat with his feet up asleep infront of the fire.

A loud crack was heard and the wooden door exploded, splintering into several hundred pieces. The two guards who were playing cards ducked behind the table to protect themselves from the splinters and the sleeping gaurd toppled backwards. The three guards leaped up but then immediatley dropped to their knees after they saw who broke down the door.

"Where is he?" Druid demanded

"Third floor my lord." One of the guards replied. Druid walked past them and glided up the stairs. Druid reached the third floor quickly. It was dark and quiet. Druid stood perfectly still at the entrance to the cell block.

"Nim, I've come for you."

Druid started to walk slowly forward. The floor creaked beneath each step. He didn't look left or right, just walked forward very slowly. After he reached the third cell he stopped. Druid slowly turned his head to the left. He had a soul destorying look on his face. Huddled in the farthest corner from Druid was Nim. No words passed between the two but a lot was said by Druid's face. Their eyes met for the briefest moment before he killed Nim. Druid turned and walked back down the stairs. He passed the guards who were still kneeling.

"Now, I can set about completing my goal."

Druid started off towards the palace.

[Xorlak]

"Arrgh!!"

Draven was hit by the blast while his attention was diverted upon the annoying metal things.  He tumbled through the air and crashed into a pile of half-molten boulders, ash spewing up into the air.

Blast it!  Were he at full power, he'd be able to crush these tin cans with his little finger.  Curse that miserable demon and drawing out his death for ten hours!

He pushed a few large rocks off his dented armor and stood, glancing up into the sky...

His mouth dropped.

He was facing southward, with the giant-freak-Nex in view, the steam things coming at him.  But his eyes were to the sky... For the dark clouds parted and revealed a black airship...

It looked like three ships combined, two smaller bodies connected on either side of a third.  Gigantic fins protruded from the rears, two mammoth cannons on top, and a score of smaller ones protruding from the sides... Slowly the black airship descended...

"You... stupid MORON!" Draven screamed, pointing at Nex. "Look at what you've done!!"

The airship stopped several hundred feet over the battle field.  A hatch opened on the underside, and slowly floated downward...

"Did you actually think you could open a gods-forsaken hole to the netherworld here without getting HIS attention?!" the Crimson Emperor screamed.

Blast it!  He was no where near ready for this!  Though he was several hundred miles away, Retan was still way too close to the Tower of Heaven's Bane to be vulnerable... And to top that off, Draven was exhausted from fighting metal-face and his freaks all night.  Argh!!


Crimson eyes burned brightly through the darkness...

"Ah, Draven..."

The platform the Dark Emperor floated downward upon seemed to have no means of propulsion at all.

"... how delightful for you to join us once more.  Although, it seems as though you have caused mischief since we last met..."

----

They're watching something else...

He's watching something else...

Now is your chance...

Your only chance!

...

Indeed, it was... and he knew it...
"Pst... Duilin! ... Duilin!"  The cloaked figure whispered, just loud enough for the half demon to hear. "Over here!"  He didn't quite want to atract the attention of the others... not yet, anyway.

Peaking out from behind a tree, the black cloaked figure waved at Duilin and motioned him towards the dark forest.  He needed to speak with Duilin in private, away from the others...

----

Commander Vlak snarled.

What were those?  Giant cats?  Ugh.  There were a bunch of small ones too.

The battle raged on in Tjedon Valley, Lizards and Drannivolka and humans slashing each other to bits.  The lizard fleet commander watched from the safety of his airship, high above the captured city, and behind the protective shield, no less.

"Pah!  I tire of this! Captain!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Order The Sinistral to break formation and blast the entire enemy army straight to Thanatos."

"But sir," the lizard captain hesitated, "can they do that without hitting our own lizards?"

Vlak thrapped him on the head. "You idiot!  Those are C-class.  We'll just grow more!"


A rumbling emerged over the city...

One of the three black airships floating above, The Sinistral broke formation and started moving away, through the green shield like it was water and over the city walls.  The massive cannons upon one side turned downward, and it began humming, a blackness engulfing the barrels as it slowly moved towards the battle raging hundreds of feet below...

----

Virmir turned an ear upward.  On of the airships was flying away...

"What is Vlak doing?" He asked, flicking his tail in agitation.

"... No idea..." Bryce scratched the fur on the back of his head.

Virmir turned to the Blade Knight.  "Send a messenger to find out."

Bryce bowed quickly and flew off.  "Yes, my Lord."

Virmir sighed, his duty of setting up the human extermination program delayed for just a moment. Good.  He needed every last minute he could buy...

[Drannic_Lord01]

"What the hell is that?" One of the three airships parted from the other two, lowering its cannons, ready to demolish the entire field. Aaron was well aware the capability of airships.

"Damn it all! Elite! Back to the caves!" The elite warriors, after hearing Aaron, looked up and saw the Airship. All of them made a run for the caves, along with Aaron.

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

"Ugh... I hate traveling by sea."

"Well, in our favor, this ship is quite large, and it should be able to withstand a storm out in the open water. I don't think we have to worry about that, though. The air around us is getting colder, if you catch my meaning... hehhehheh..."

"At least we're 'almost' there. Ugh, I'm starting to feel woozy..."

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

[Dude Man]

Nex absorbed the flaming metal chunks the Steam Demons shot at him, and restored his energy.

"Excellent! Good as new!" Nex laughed.

It was a good thing Draven wasn’t clever enough to think of shooting down the Steam Demons' projectiles before he could absorb them, or else he’d start running low on energy, and that would lead to him reverting back to his previous form…

His attention slightly drew to the black Vessel above him. He used to be drawn to the Dark Emperors power. That’s what made Abodahon infect him with the spirit demon, that’s what gave him that sharp pain in his insides whenever he felt any doubt to Abodahon’s loyalty. Betraying Retan leads to death, betraying Abodahon leads to things beyond death, beyond pain and fear. He couldn’t let that happen again. He could not betray his master who still lives in death…

Valos slowly got up. Was  Nex insane? He wouldn’t be any match for Retan. If Nex was indeed invisible, he was sure Retan would find some way to kill him…

"You're a fool Nex!" Valos shouted. "You can't survive against the Crimson Emperor, much less the Dark Emperor! Why do you even try!?"

"Why?" Nex looked below him, down at Valos. "Because this world belongs to the true species of superiority, demons, and it sure as hell doesn’t belong to these two freaks!" He said referring to Draven and Retan.

Nex couldn't do anything to harm Retan. He knew of Tower of Heaven's Bane, which gave the dark emperor his power. Might as well go for the easy target…

Nex used a big chunk of his energy to send a telepathic mind affection wave at the fire mage, if he was able to break into his mind, then he would start to feel as if all his limbs were broken. Regardless if his mind affection spell was successful he then blasted a series of red lightning bolts down at him.

--- ---

Duilin couldn't believe was he was seeing, but mostly because he wasn't able to get a good enough look at it. He needed to get closer...

But then he heard someone whispering to him. He held out his mace, he wasn't going to be too careful around here. But it was somebody who knew him, and was following him.

All he could make out was a black figure behind a tree. Who was it? Was it Renard? But why would he follow him here? Maybe it was Ophelia, who wanted his help. Or maybe it was some stalker, who overheard his name. Guess he'd just have to find out.

Duilin walked over to the near by dark forest, and then he stepped behind the tree where the person was whispering to him...

--- ---

"I'll say." Wilham replied, walking along with Coriko. "But I think this world we are on is actually ignorant of magic. They don't seem to have a single mage here, and it's a military instalment."

The two continued moving.

"But their technology is clearly was surpass our own. It's quite a grand display of non-magical ability."

[Coriko]

"I have noticed that as well."

The corridor opened into a room that was quite similar to a bomb shelter. McNiel was sitting at a table talking to some scientist. As soon as he saw Coriko and Wilham he stood up.

"Dear lord you're alive! How did you escape the robot?"

"Wilham figured it out, when they shoot their gun they have to lower their force field. Hiting their eye piece will blind them and their shield will be down so weaker weapons can finish them off. If you have a kill shot the first time aim for the seal between the head and the body. Thats correct, right Wilham?"