Dark Age Legends

[Xorlak]

"Well make it as big as you can, and hurry it up!"

Iduran-Mavas began pacing around.  If he was going to get back at those two winged freaks and Ven, he'd need something strong.  And that little red gremlin too.  And King Henri...   Hmmm, he wondered if his powers worked as before.  It would be difficult without the pendant, but its power was essentially bound to his soul, so he should be able to copy forms still.  Yes, perfect.  He'd copy this new body and keep this old man's as well, since it might be a useful form in the future, especially if the new form didn't look human.  He probably should kill the strange cat woman and take her form as well, though he needed to wait for her to finish.

He stopped for a moment... Iduran... Iduran... where had he heard that name before...?  Bah, it didn't matter.

He snapped out of it when he realized he was being spoken too.

"I'm looking for a few individuals... payback, you see.  First is man, a tad on the short side, with silver hair and wings...  He was wearing a black trench coat last I saw him..."

Blast it.  If he still had the pendant he would be able to take that form even through that man was still alive.  But as he was, he didn't even have his old body as an option.  He was starting completely anew.

"Then there was a taller man, about average height, with black hair, also with wings."

He didn't remember too much about him.  Ven of course was easy to describe.

"Finally there's a guy with brown hair and a thin beard who wraps himself in a black cloak and carries a silver sword on his back.  Under the cloak he wears fine polished silver armor..."

Ven used to be very easy to track.  He wondered if without his old body, that would still be the case.

----

(Coriko, you of course realize the ships have been out at sea for a while now.  Heh...)

Jayce looked up as the clouds began to break apart, revealing stars above.  This of course meant they were leaving the vicinity of the Dark Continent, for the lands which Retan immediately controlled were always shrouded by the thick clouds.  He smirked (again).  They were off the continent's south-eastern cost, and their destination of Tjed was not far off.  It wouldn't be too long now...

[Jenia]

Deciding enough ashes were ground inside the bag, she smirked and got up.

"There. Now to start drawing..."

She bent down to the ground and started making yet another circle in the dirt.

"Right, so you a score to settle with 3 guys who probably died by now...Sound fun..."

Cripes, should I warn him?
Oh well, in case anything goes wrong, I have my back-up nearby.

She paused and licked her lips.

"Mmm...It would be interesting to see what you turn yourself into..."

Hmm, he will probably be confused by this. I should explain.

Returning to drawing, she continued.

"You see, inside this large circle, there will be two smaller ones. Once I'm done preparing, you will have to stand in the smallest circle and imagine yourself having the body you want. Yup, all you have to do is picture it, and let the magic do the rest. Oh, and I suggest not trying to morph into anything larger than twice my size, you might end up missing a foot or perhaps even a whole leg. And if you mistakebly think of yourself as a gigantic dragon at that moment..."

She paused again, and looked at him directly, licking her lips again.

Am I hungry? Or do I smell blueberry? Heh, I'll worry about that later.

"Well,  let's just say I'd have a pretty cute disembodied dragon head for a trophy."

Again, that's assuming YOU get pulled out.

Returning to drawing she quickly finished making all circular shapes. She was getting truely excited, and it showed. Her eyes were widening wildly, and her sharp teeth were exposed as she smiled broadly. It looked as if she was about to lose control and just finish the job by forcefully ripping apart the earth with her claws.

"Alright, the runes are all that's left. Gimmie five minutes and I'll be finished. Now why are you hunting these freaks again? Whatever the reason may be, it would be very probable that it is within my best interest to help you..."

[Xorlak]

Mavas sat down on a rock, drumming his fingers impatiently.

"Because they killed me!  Blast it."

Hmm, this sounded interesting.  What sort of body would he need to fight them?  Probably something with wings, to match those two...  Claws likely, since he no longer had his sword...  Hmmm... He continued thinking anxiously.

----

Henri found himself navigating the airship over a dark barren rocky landscape.  Unfortunately without the stars, it was difficult to tell which direction they were headed.

"I don't have any idea where we are... Will have to move away from the Dark Continent if we're to have any chance of determining our direction.  I just hope we're not heading inland..."

"What is that?"

Ven pointed out the forward window, his mouth hanging open slightly.  Up ahead was some sort of structure, surrounded by dark clouds and sitting at the peak of the highest mountain.

"A... tower...?"

Indeed, that was what it appeared to be.  It was barely visible in the distance, but it was definitely some sort of narrow structure.  It started at the very peak of the mountain and soared skyward, piercing into the very black clouds above.  The top was not visible, so the height was not discernible.  But even if it ended right there in the clouds, it was massive...

Things could be seen flying around it...

"Uh... I don't think we want to go there..."  Ven stammered.

"Right."

Henri banked a hard left.  That's when the screech of the flying beast pursuing them could be heard.

"Dark Dragon!!"

The dragon was dead on, right behind the ship.  It was a big one, almost one third the size of the vessel.

"Blast it!  Hang on!"  Henri pulled a lever all the way down and the ship shot forward in a burst of speed.  Ven hung on for dear life.

[Jenia]

Fernis giggled.
"Killed you? No wonder you are so full of anger. I never thought the dead would dwell on them being killed!"

But perhaps that means my last circile opened too wide of a door, allowing another spirit to get sucked in... That is definetly not good news...

She finished with the outer circle and proceeded to the smaller inner circle.

"The great probability they have died by now aside, what will you do after you've killed them all?"

Maybe I should make my offer...?
Bah, I have nothing to lose by asking.

"Hey, why don't you join me? My goal is to rebuild a kingdom from less than ashes, then letting it's people know the true meaning of 'refusing to stay dead'..."

Her devilish smile widened.

Having finished making the runes for the smaller inner circle, she proceeded to start with the bigger inner circle. She scribbled a few runes, paused, then whipped away the dirt she drew on with her hand.

What...Why am I doing it THAT way? I should use my own mark, this would be much better of an insurance...Heh heh heh...
If he truely wishes to betray me, he would never see that coming...
But I will only reveal that to him after he gets it. Yes. Perfect.

She started scribbling again, this time in an even greater haste.
Soon enough, Fernis finished. Whiping the dirt of her hands andknees, she stood up.

"Alright, ready when you are. Just step into the smallest circle..."

...and become MINE! HAHAHAHAHAHA...!!!

[Dude Man]

"Hmm, you know I'd probably need more people to manage this boat." Duilin said to the old drow. "Do you know anyone who would be willing to travel with a mysterious stranger?"

"Well, no. Not really. But if you're willing to walk back to Asgarnia, then maybe you could find somebody there." The old man laughed back.

"How'd you know I came from Asgarnia?"

"I assumed, since that's the closest city near here. Back when this place was more stable, just about everyone was either coming to or from Asgarnia."

"Okay, makes sense. I guess. So do you know anyone willing? Like a ship requires more than one person, I'm sure you'd know."

"I might be able to help." The old man suggested. "I mean, it ain't like anyone else is gonna come by. And it was only a matter of time before I just took one of these fishing boats and just sailed in to middle of the sea and let myself die." He chuckled.

"Uh sure. But I think we need at least a third person." Duilin stated.

"Maybe we could help." Said a female voice, from the distance.

Duilin turned to see a pair of newcomers. "And you are?" He asked.

"What's wrong Duilin? You don't remember me?" A woman dressed in a brown hooded robe emerged from the darkness and removed her hood.

"Belle!" Duilin said, in surprise.

"Oh, so you remember my name. That's good. It's been about two years since we last saw each other. You just running off to Laus not even saying good-bye. I thought you were dead."

"Hey, you're exaggerating. It's only been 18 months." Duilin replied. "Anyways. I thought YOU were dead. Haraldur attacked the Crimson Palace and I don't know what the hell he did, but it got sucked into a vortex of some sort from what I heard. Sorry, I never tried to look for you."

"Sorry doesn't cut it. For an entire month I couldn't keep you out of my mind. And then me and my buddy Lagart, spotted this winged guy from a distance. So I thought it was you. So yeah. So what the hell have you been doing!?"

"Sleeping."

"For 18 months."

"Yeah, I know. Or maybe I was in a coma. But I apparently got sucked into a vortex by Retan. You know about him right? Yeah, now I'm back."

Belle rolled her eyes. "Well, I did hear about a group of rebels getting sucked into Retan's banishment vortex, and I actually could see it. So I suppose I can believe you. So you really thought I was dead?"

"Yeah. If I didn't I would have gone looking for you." Duilin said sincerely.

"Well..." Belle turned her head. "Okay, then. Well what happened was I got transferred to another fortress, the day after you left. Well, and when the Grey Empire came, I was moved around a lot. I don't know, I think they were running low on servants, because of the Aspyes pointlessly killing them all. So after a day when the Dark Empire came back, I worked at North Point for awhile...as a slave, some crap about me being an unworthy human. So yeah, then I met Lagart."

A large lizard man stepped towards, Duilin. He had two horns, yet one seemed to have the tip broken off and a bandage rapped around it. Rather then the traditional armour, he was wearing brown and beige robes, of similar colour to Belle's.

"He not like the other lizard men. For some reason he likes humans, especially me." She then cupped her hand beside he mouth and whispered. "Sometimes I think a little too much." She then moved her hand down and spoke normally. "But yeah, he helped me escape and wile we were traveling he saw something that looked a bit like you."

"Interesting." Duilin replied, he then motioned to the old drow next to him. "Well, this here is my very good friend umm...Drow Oldmen..."

"My name's Goldolf." The old drown snapped back.

"Whatever." Duilin then looked at Lagart. "So uh, you know how to manage a ship at all?"

"Lagart, doesn't really talk much." Belle said. "But yeah, he knows a little. More then me at least, but I guess that's not saying much since I don't know anything about boats."

"So uh, where do you say we were headed anyway?" The old drown asked.

"I'm thinking Tjed." Duilin answered. "I've got some old friends down there. I've got a feeling I'll be warmly welcomed."

"Sure, sure." Belle said. "I guess I'd be willing to see Duilin Talonscar in action."

"Didn't you already?" Duilin winked back provocatively.

"Shut it, Duilin." She snapped back, looking rather embarrassed.

"Whoa, whoa, did you too like..." The old man said pointing back and forth at Duilin and Belle.

"Enough!" Belle shouted. "Can we just go? I don't like it. Here, besides they might send somebody looking for Lagart."

Duilin chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Sure. Let's get going."

[Zeros']

Zeros' thought furiously for a moment. He had a huge chain coming directly at him. With his downed position and his dis-socketed arm, he couldn't do much.

Putting his mind into overdrive, he barely rolled away, the mace smashing into the edge of his right wing. He winced, but bore the pain and quickly hoped onto his feet. He reached over with his right arm and slowly, agonizingly, popped his left shoulder back into it's socket. He didn't scream, only wincing once again.

He rolled his shoulder and grinned. He flapped his wings. All limbs were go.

"Well now... It seems I should get serious now, hmm?" he said before he disappeared. He used one of his oldest techniques, but also one of his favorite. He made himself disappear from the spiritual and retanal vision, making him invisible.

"Now, now... Can you find me?" he echoed into the room, setting himself up southeast, in location ot Gorus.

---

Allen gasped and quickly held on. He hadn't been expecting this either, so, it was quite a surprise.

"What can we do?" he said to his companions, keeping his voice calm as possible.

[Xorlak]

Iduran-Mavas brought a hand to his chin.

"Hmmm, I might just consider that offer."

He had a necromatic slave before, Degz-whatever, and he was fairly useful at times.  Of course, his mind had been ensnared by the pendant, so he was 100% loyal.  Blast it, he needed to get that back.  If it wasn't destroyed...

He carefully stepped into the circle, careful not to smear any of the drawn lines.  Yes!  Something draconic, he thought, but relatively human sized.  Scales tough enough to withstand a blade.  Razor sharp claws, wings...

(You can do whatever you want to him.  Heh...)

----

"Maybe we can outrun it!"

The airship rocketed forward with Henri at the helm.  Suddenly a black-violet plume of flame seared past the ship.

"It's... shooting at us?!?!"  Ven tried to look behind.

"Blast it, if this were a warship, we'd have plenty of cannons back there to fire back.  But this transport vessel only has the one... Wait!  That's it!"

Henri thew a lever back, and Ven was tightly pressed against the rail as the flying vessel skidded to a near halt.  The dragon rocketed past, right in front.

"Ven!  Shoot it!!"

"ME?!?!"

"Yes, YOU!"

Ven fumbled with the controls before him and the cannon sent off a blast, nowhere near the dragon.

"Blast it, Ven!  Use the controls to AIM!!"

The dragon seemed to have become annoyed, and returned with another blast emanating from its mouth.

Henri thrust the lever forward and turned the wheel hard.  Ven was nearly swept off his feet as he hung on to the rail and the ship banked sideways, veering to the right, the dragon's shot another miss.

[Jenia]

Swiftly, Fernis clapped her hands together as she stood before the set she drew.
The outer circle activated, and the runes lit up in bright purple.

Shortly after, the smaller inner circle lit up in deep blue, cousing the body of iduran to light up in blue itself.
Suddenly, that which appeared to be dark fog came out of iduran. It although it's shape was not clear, the core was crystal clear-
Shining brightly within the darkness.

The inner larger circle lit up in a bright violet color, and the dark fog was pulled unto it, as if it was pulled there by force of gravity, sucked inside by a voilent wind.

Iduran's body dropped unto the earth., whilst a strange figure was being formed inside the violet light. Sucking in dirt, ashes and air in order to form itself, it soon took a the shape of a robust, winged humanoid.
And then, as if it never existed, the light show just stopped. A lot of dust was still kicked up in the air, and it was hard for Fernis to see anything more than the figure's outline.

"Well, congradulations, you two are now seperate."
She was smiling happily, as if she had just recieved charity and was saying thank-you.

Hmm, I can't tell him the truth about having him bound to me as a precaution...
I guess I'll have to make up some lie, huh!

"Oh, and, uh, just so you know, since my magical energies were a main component in the process, your body will deteriorate if something really bad happens to me!"

Fernis scratched the back of her head.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get Iduran up. Without him, my plan will either turn filthy or impossible."

Hurrying over to Iduran, she realized Elphos was still out in the forest waiting to ambush.

No biggie, I'm sure he would rather just wait than meet ANY form of excitment...

(Was that good enough?  Laughing )

[camishio]

"aahh i believe the time is write " said canal as he looked upon the small farming city of zexreiphanel he jumped down from the cliff upon which he was perched when he landed he drew his scythe and the crimson metal shone. he walked towards the town he walked through the gates holdin his scythe against the ground a man walked in front of him and asked if he needed some help with anything canal repilied yes and lifted the man by his shirt and said yes i need to find the leader of this town the man pointed to a large domelike building canal smiled at him and the man disengrated

[Dude Man]

Gorus sniffed and darted his eyes around the room. "An invisibility spell eh?" Gorus said loudly. "Cute."

By now all of the lizard warriors had left the room in fear of being accidentally hit by Gorus. He once killed several of his own men, due to his negligence. His motto was: 'If they don't want to get killed, then they should just get the hell out of my way.'.

"Well...I'll be damned before I waste time looking around for you, and if the magic game you want to play...Heheh..." Gorus then flexed his muscles and began to glow in green-cyan aura, which consumed his entire body, and his began to flow across the room, and his shape began to change. His neck became longer, his arms and legs became one, his body became more rounded, and his energy became darker. The room then started to get darker and the walls began to crack...

---

"Holy shit!" Rink exclaimed. "I just felt a massive aura burst..." He felt it coming from the main barracks area of the mountain. The room were Gorus said he'd meet Zeros'. He recognized the aura as a more magically enhanced version of Gorus' also feeling similar to a wyvern's. Rink better find Zeros' and just get out of here!

---

Gorus had taken the form of wyvern, with pitch black scales and glowing green eyes and an aura of darkness surrounding him. He had turned to his strongest and most prized form, the DEATH Wyvern.

The Death Wyvern shrieked loudly and then swung open its wings and bolts of black-violet coloured lightning began to shoot everywhere across the room...

--- ---

Marshall got his gear, and met Coriko outside of the hidden base (we'll assume). "Okay, so you ready to go? We've got a few miles to travel, a village of slaves to free and whole lot of Kandarins to kill!" He said, with a bit of a battle ready grin. Marshall's wyverns were still there, so they wouldn't have to go on foot again.

[camishio]

canal walked into the building where the man had directed him he looked around and saw the man who looked like the mayor of this village it as soon to be his village canal raised his hand the man barely had a chance to look up as a ball of dark energy engulfed him the man was no more. "this village is perfect. huh whats that extreme power i must have it this town can wait"

[Coriko]

"Sure let's go, I'm itching for a fight." Coriko said to Marshall

[Xorlak]

"Myeh heh HA HA HA HA HA!!  The power!!  The POWER!!"  Mavas bellowed as dramatically as possible.  

A green scaled beast stepped forth from the mists, looking something like a cross between a lizard man and a dragon.  He stopped suddenly when he realized what Fernis meant.

"Wait...  What did you say?"

Before even waiting for an answer, a huge claw lashed out at the cat-like woman's face.  But Mavas jerked it away before it could come close, red hot pain shooting deeply into his new arm.  He knew exactly what that meant...

"You!!  You wretched b-b-b-- f-female dog!!  I mean cat! ... I mean ? !!! BLAST IT!!!"  He was unable to curse her, let alone lay a scratch on the woman.

"How dare you trick me!!  Release me at once!"  He could do naught but shout at his 'master' irately, though a set a menacing white fangs.


Meanwhile, the old knight lying on the ground stirred slightly.

"Uhhh..."

[Zeros']

Zeros', seeing this transformation, stood by in his invisiblity. He smirked.  He knew something wasn't right with that lizardman. And this, was, apparently why.

He put up a reflective magic shield, making the bolts sail harmlessly away from his body.

"Well, well... This is an interesting development. So, this is why you were stronger then most other lizards," he said, eyeing Gorus up and down.

[Jenia]

Fernis sighed, stopped and turned back at the draconian being calling himself Mavas.

"Look, it's not like I had a choice..."

OK, so I did. At least I can rest assured it was the right one.

"The bond should wear off on it's own in, say, a year's time..."

No, it won't, but I'm supposed to be comforting, right?

"I believe you can speed up the process if you acquire a powerful magical artifact, if it bothers you THAT much..."

Now either help me or get out of my sight.

"Besides, it's not like I'm one of those stinky bastards who would use the bond to make you into my puppet slave... Go ahead, return to the dark continent if you like, wreak havoc like no tommorow... Why should I get in your way? If you don't want to aid us, I don't want to force you into it."

She turned back to Iduran and bent down, looking into his face.
"Alive? Good..."

She took a closer look at his face.
"You don't look too good. Nauseous? Here, drink this."

She took out a small glass bottle from one of her pockets and handed it to Iduran, who was still lying on the floor.

Drat, I was hoping to save this for later. I can't make those myself... But I can't risk losing my main source after I got this far!