| |
|
Part 50a: War
===========================================================
50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
LOOK TO THE SKY, ARCHONS. I AWAIT.
And it begins.
Berd and Meredith arrive in a world gone insane. From the
outcropping of stone the young woman can see the city, perhaps three
hundred feet lower and four or five miles away. It is in flames,
and even here the air is filled with smoke and the stench of burning.
Clouds start to boil across the sky above their heads, rolling in from
the horizon on all sides, as if tremendous winds are bearing them in
from all directions at once. Lightning flashes, increasing as the
clouds approach, until the whole rim of the sky seems to be alight.
And at the centre of the heavens, far above her head, is a spark that blazes like a sun.
And then they are rising to meet Berd, six wheels of
flame, leaving the others to continue their razing of the city.
The six spread out, looking to englobe the spark, growing more intense
as they climb higher.
And their voices scream down the sky, reaching Merediths ears, even above the roar of the approaching storm...
+ WE CLAIM THIS WORLD! HARBONAH HAS COMMANDED IT! WE WILL DESTROY ALL WHO STAND IN OUR PATH! +
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith stands on the outcropping over looking the devastated city.
The smoke would have caused tears to spring to her eyes had they not
already been there. Battles were something that she had always seen
through the eyes of others. Sequestered in the Parish, she had never
experienced it for herself. It is worse in person.
This was Berd's battle to fight. There was not much of anything
Meredith could do to fight and she does not wish to distract the drake
by moving around while he battles the six flaming wheels. Their voices
ring in her ears, a cacaphony of screeching metal on metal.
I am at your disposal should you need anything more Meredith says through the bridging, and then again opens herself to
Berd, giving him complete access to her power. There is hesitation
before she continues You are kindhearted, please do not let that stop you from taking what you need to defeat the Archons. I have endured worse. it was hard for her, to suggest something to another, but she got the
words out. She hopes they were not too offensive, but if so she doubts
Berd will care, given the circumstances.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
THEN I SHALL TAKE YOUR CLAIM FROM YOU, AS I DID WITH ANOTHER. OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN SO SOON?
Berd's smile is invisible behind the cornea of light that surrounds
him. He hangs upon high, staring down at their forces as they
rise toward him. The flow of energies thicken, and the air grows
heavy with the taste of power.
LET THIS BE A REMINDER.
A spear of magnetics, coruscating with the light of dying atoms, spikes
down from the sky to impale one of the rising wheels of flame, twisting
and shifting to shear energy and rend flows asunder.
TWICE I FOUGHT THE DESTROYER TO A STANDSTILL.
Thunder rolls again, and now the first drops of rain begin to fall, thick and heavy.
Another avenue of attack - the Archons do not trust one another. They have no 'true' bridging. They do not share defenses. Berd's smile, like a myriad diamonds within the burning light, grows even wider.
Thank you, Meredith.
Berd's own psychic strength is greater than any one of these creatures,
and now, coupled with Meredith's vast well of power, it comes crashing
down to bury another Archon. Killing force - Berd wants to finish
this one quickly.
And he stoops, falling between the Archons to suddenly level out and
shoot out on a tangent to the city, holding the range open between
himself and the Archons. Soon, they will have to unveil their
true power.
Soon, Berd will have to do the same.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith stands tall as the rain begins to fall. She is glad that she
already had her hood up. She forces herself to stand witness to the
destruction of the capial city as Berd wages his war against the
Archons. She keeps her mind open, allowing Berd to pull on and take
anything he needed for the coming battle.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Far below, the armies scatter, driven out of the open by the breaking
storm, and by the war in the heavens above them. There is a pulse
of light which is also a deep, resonant tone, and metal weapons are
torn from hands, even as one of the Archons is cast down to strike the
sodden earth. Water flashes into steam in an instant, and the
Archon screams in torment as boiling rain lashes against its burning
skin.
The fallen Archon shatters, casting shards of itself across the field.
High above, beyond the worst of the rain, its companions pause, and
then move forward and up again. Around them, vortices of flame
burst into being, hurtling towards Berd, tearing at his armour like a
pack of wild beasts.
And the wall of rain sweeps into the dying city, forcing its attackers
out of the streets and plazas, and into the open fields beyond.
Lightnings crash across the sky, and hail starts to fall. The
fires start to die.
Meredith crouches to grip the stone, seeking a handhold, even as the storm winds howl around her...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Before the torrent of rain and howling winds, a wave of fear hits
Meredith, and she staggers back a few steps. In the few moments it
takes her to surface from the fear of others, the rain starts. Her
cloak, so effective at protecting her from the fire, is soaked
instantly. Then come the winds.
Meredith hits the deck, the gloved fingers of her left hand gripping
the wet rock tightly. Through the bridge, she calls out to Berd. Berd, ware! Meredith then uses the bridge to show the drake the location of a group
of people who feel like Dorian and are gathering their strength for an
attack.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd soars through the explosion and flames around him, their
stone-burning might flaring off shields of gravity, electromagnetism,
and sealed air. The Archons have been foolish, to date. They have been
arrogant. They are ill-used to battling such as he.
Soon, they will no doubt turn greater powers his way. For now,
though, they have left him as the master of the field, and Berd
exploits that edge for all it is worth.
I SURVIVED THE HAMMER THAT SMASHES SUNS.
His voice is heavy with icy fury. The Archons pursue, and he
focuses his mind upon one of them, buttressed by Meredith's psychic
strength. A killing wave flows out to wash over the Archon like
the tide. Without combining their strength, they are no match for
him and Meredith on the psychic plane. The tide becomes a vise,
to crush the spirit and mind of the target of his rage.
Another part of the hydra studies the Archons clinically.
So...they are of the Underflow. Berd had known that, but not to
this extent. Perhaps...there. And there. Is it
possible? Might he touch them directly? One mind peels away
to attempt just that.
Then he drinks deeply of the Underflow himself, before grinning with
tiny, fanged teeth. The little dragon rolls, and his head turns
to locate another, different Archon. Inside the brilliance of his
aura, the toothy mouth opens. Thunder strikes without
accompanying lightning in that instant, and the sky between the two
sparkles as molecules are rent asunder. Air warps and wobbles as
the Archon flies into a deadly river, the sonic wave so focused that
observers below hear only a tearing, shriek-roar above. But the
barren, rocky hills to the south of the town, in line with Berd and the
Archon, erupt in a pyrotechnic display and vomit debris thousands of
feet into the air, molten and boiling from the vibrational wave of the
drake's scream.
Meredith's warning strikes, then, and in an instant Berd seizes the image her mind offers.
No time.
His mind changes tacks instantly, one part of it lashing out, creating
a sinkhole in the sky between the storm and the knot of people
preparing, no doubt, a sorcerous strike. Another mind grips
reality by the tethers and twists, violently. Crude, but
effective, both.
Spears of lightning follow the paths of least resistance, striking down
again and again into the group Berd has 'marked' with a trail of
charged ions. Simultaneously the laws of magic of that small area
crack, struck a powerful blow by Berd's psychic force. It may be
enough. Best that it is - even if his strikes prove stronger,
there are still nine Archons.
...my thanks, guardian...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
An Archon, struck by Berd's attack, spins away wildly, staggering
through the air, its flames guttering and fading as it falls, and the
rain washes over it. Its voice is like the sound of tearing
metal, as it plunges into the ground and the soil and water extinguish
the last of its flames and stop its rotation.
Lightnings crash down into the earth where Meredith has directed Berd
to send them. And where they strike, nothing remaims, save for a
pool of rapidly cooling molten glass.
Another of the Archons hurtles forward, and stops, suddenly, as if it
had flown into a solid wall. It spins, and wavers back and forth,
as if unsure what to do next.
The remaining Archons retreat and regroup, all of them, moving fast and
driving upwards to rise above the storm. Above Berd now, more
clouds are gathering, and fire starts to pour from them. There
are voices echoing through the clouds, chanting in strange tongues, as
the torrent of flame starts pushes through the rain clouds.
The ground before the city starts to steam as the falling fire washes
across its surface, and banks of boiling fog roll outward, sending the
armies in search of higher ground. Sometimes groups from both
sides find themselves on the same high ground, and the battle is for
territory again, but the definition of good terrain has altered to
include elevation and low temperatures.
In the mud and water of the field, the fallen Archon attempts to rise
again, and shatters like a fine crystal goblet hurled against a stone
wall...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd mental struggle with the single Archon ends in an instant,
resistance crushed under the force of his and Meredith's minds. A
command goes out, slipped into the creature's spirit...one it should
not have difficulty following.
...destroy your rivals. Now.
But this has taken time, as has the strike against the sorcerers.
Two archons destroyed, one subverted, and suddenly there are nine raining power down upon Berd from above the storm. Now they push
themselves to their utmost, twisting their fire into hammers to shatter
him, assaulting him with nine minds. Berd cries out from within
his shield and becomes a falling star, a comet rocketing toward
Meredith's stony spire.
He impacts a hundred feet away, and shattered rock whistles past her cheek.
More fire falls from the skies, thundering into the ground where Berd
struck. For a moment steam and smoke occlude any sight, then a
small figure is visible during a break in the assault. Berd
pushes himself laboriously to his feet, his eyes dull, and a fresh
barrage falls upon him...to explode scant feet above his head, stopped
in mid-strike. The drake's eyes kindle. THE PRINCE WHO WAS A THOUSAND ENSNARED MY BROKEN BODY, SOUGHT TO SLAY IT FOR A MILENNIA.
HE FAILED.
And he rises into the storm of flame, bleeding pain into the aether.
The cloak over his mind is torn away by the Archons' assault,
revealing...themselves. Their attacks are fractioned, parts of
them reflected back by Berd's mirror-bright defense. The drake's own assault,
independant of the defenses held in place by another mind of the hydra,
focuses upon another Archon. Coupled with Meredith's strength,
the relentless pressure grinds down upon that ashuranti's shields like an ocean's weight.
High above, the Archons struggle not only to fight their two-fronted
war, but to hold against a third front that has opened - an assault
against their physical selves. Another of the hydra has reached
out and begins interfering,
weakening them, bleeding away their strength. They are of the
Underflow, and Berd has remembered how it is to control such
forces. No longer are they inviolate to his touch. They
resist, and do so well...but it costs them.
Below them, Berd begins to rise again, impossibly quickly for a winged
creature. His eyes are furnaces of wrath. One Archon is the
focus, again, for his fury, and for an instant becomes the victim of a
gravitational shear. Down the center of its body, gravity
reverses along a plane, an impossibly thin blade of uncountable g's in
two opposing directions.
Simultaneously, lightning strikes upward from the cloud - twin bolts that pass the Archons and stop,
high above them. The electricity dances, then coalesces into two
forms. One is shadowed, a piece of the night sky given form and
wings, surrounded by flickering, amythest flame; the other explodes
into brilliant fire to rival those of the ashuranti below. Both draw blades simultaneously, and the air about their weapons smokes with the bleed-off of forces.
Then the two, winged warriors fall upon the Archons from high above as
Berd rises to meet them, carrying the battle away from the city.
Meredith - be warned. They have noticed you, but for the moment I occupy the bulk of their attention.
That may change. I have cut off their exit - they cannot flee this world. There is grim satisfaction in Berd's voice, and not a little pain. They have no choice but to fight.
Death ground, Cyan would say.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Flattened against the rain slick rock, Meredith's slight form stiffens.
Another wave of fear, the fear of armies, slams into her. She is caught
up in the tide, but having navigated these waters once before, finds
her footing quickly. She sections off the fear, but now it is
different, it is still there... it is hers.
Panic courses through her veins as a wicked hand of ice closes around
her heart. Meredith's mouth opens, but little sound comes out, the icy
weight on her chest suppressing the wind in her lungs and the link
granting Berd access to her power falters. The potent, chill fear
steals her attention... Ai how she despised the cold, her heart was
freezing, she was so afraid and there was no one to help her, she was
all alone with the fear of an army at her back and her own freezing
terror at her front. A Meredith sandwich, a few days past its shelf
life.
Then the shapes, haunting, flying things with horribly curved swords
rise in the pounding rain, focusing intently on their target. Her.
"Nononononononononononono" she whispers, a chant, a mantra. If she says
it enough it will become true. But alas this technique did not work at
the Parish, and it is doing little to change her current situation.
And then Berd comes crashing to the earth, the force of his impact
sending tremblors through the stone. berd. Berd. BERD. Even as rocks
fly by her face from his impact, a cause pierces the fear. Her
strength... the link establishes itself and she clings to that focus,
tryinig to combat the oppressive fear. As it is she cannot manage to
speak through the bridge.
To confirm her fears, Berd acknowledges that the Archons are aware of
her presence and his words break the vicelike grip of the fear long
enough for Meredith to squeeze out a few words before she is swallowed
by the icy torrent. The link falters, but holds steady.
Yes... and they come for me.... her
mind voice is brittle with fear and resignation. She was so cold and
she could not fight them, and Berd needed to focus on their mission, on
defeating the Archons and she needed to focus on giving him everything
she had, while she could.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Fire falls from the sky, mingling with rain and hail to produce vast
clouds of steam, which tear apart in the screaming winds, and become
rain once more. Invisible energies clash, as Archons fight each
other. Two against one, and the combat is fierce, beyond all
reason, as they hammer at each other with forces whose sounds drown out
the roar of the continual thunder.
For many of the men, on the battlefield, far below, the echo of those attacks is the last sound they will ever hear.
Berd blazes brighter, like a mirror reflecting and focussing the sun's
rays, and heat flashes out from him, not his own doing, but a result of
the attacks against him being deflected. It dries Meredith's
skin, hair and clothes in seconds. The girl can feel the warmth,
and realises that where Berd had stood, the stone has melted. Two
of her attackers are down, their feathered wings ablaze from the
backwash. A third is struggling to its feet, its right arm
twisted at a strange angle, and the gleaming sword hanging from
nerveless fingers as it blinks stupidly at her, its yellow eyes glazed
by shock.
Berd rises, waves of energy pulsing and spinning around him, and
something happens to the Archons... Their fires seem to
change, growing darker, starting to die, and then, they start to
cluster together, and a bubble of shimmering air forms around them as
their forms revert to what is, for them, normal.
And in that moment, the two angels, the dark and the light, fall upon
them from on high. Two Archons die in that first instant, each
cloven into two parts by the weapons of the angels, the parts spinning
apart and sliding out of the sky, trailing flame and smoke.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
...I am watching, Meredith. I am with you.... A small voice in Meredith's ear through the bridging.
...be strong....
The gravitational shear, a blade so viciously sharp and thin it
surpasses those of an electron's width, falls upon another Archon then
fades. Berd's burning eyes narrow. His foes gather
together, bring their forces to bear as one, rather than as separate
entities. Part of him recognizes the danger inherent in such
cooperation.
Part of him merely notes the convenience of their placement.
I PASSED THROUGH THE SHADOW OF A DARK HORSE, FELL ENDLESSLY THROUGH SKAGGANAUK ABYSS.
I SURVIVED.
Their shield is shattered by the sudden attack of the twin angels of
light and dark - those two split apart for an instant, then swoop back
in to the attack, blades of dancing energies cutting with dreadful
precision. Then the angels, having done their jobs, pull
away. Berd surveys the knot of Archons that remains as he rises
to hang before them, slightly lower than their altitude.
They don't realize it, but Berd is hampered by their position.
Enough people have died already below, and more continue to die with
every second this battle wages. The city itself is
threatened. There are certain things that cannot be summoned,
certain levels of forces that would be dangerous to attempt. But
his fury cannot be contained, and he drinks recklessly of the
Underflow, the energy building within him until the little dragon
shines like the sun, his eyes like galaxies of light. When he
speaks again, his voice is a aetheric roar.
YOU SLEW MY DAUGHTER, AND I ASSISTED YOU IN THE DOING!
His mind strikes out, enhanced by Meredith's vast strength. He
does not target any single Archon, no. Instead, Berd levers that
weight against their own bridging, seeking to shatter this naescent gestalt.
Both angels draw a web of energies about the Archons in great whips
from their crackling blades. Only for an instant, and in that
instant the storm seems to pause, to hold its breath. Something
seems to whisper in Meredith's ear, something that has hung silently
beside her for the length of this chaotic battle.
...Meredith...shield your eyes...I cannot guard against that...
The Underflow is a strange and terrible place. It energies are
vast and unfathomable...literally so. For, unaspected, they are
endless possiblity. Only when those energies are given a purpose,
an aspect, are they of use.
Now Berd opens his mouth, and his psychic voice is suddenly quiet, as frigid as the depths of space.
I have had many names, Archons.
A tiny star, agonizingly bright, hangs between his teeth.
Once, I was known as Shiva.
The star explodes.
A river of power erupts into the sky, angled up to punch out of the
atmosphere rather than into the ground below. It washes over the
Archons like a shining tide.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hellish forces battle around her, and Meredith focuses on her task with
a single minded determinedness bourne of years of service. She is
huddled on the stone and shivering, her body shaking from a mix of fear
and cold... and then it is gone. One instant she is soaking wet and so
cold, fear grappling with her with icy talons, and the next she is
completely dry and feeling soft waves of heat caress her exposed skin.
And the fear lessens its grip on her. She rises despite the winds that
balloon her cloak about her and simply watches the sky, her eyes
transfixed on the battling gods.
The two attackers, one already injured, the second hale and whole,
continue their approach, but they are interupted by the battle of
greater proportions that is being waged above them. Berd is brilliant
in his power and its use. Her mind, her power is being swept along with
him and she marvels at his effectiveness.
At his warning, Meredith drops into a crouch and hugs her cloak about
her slight form. She flips up the hood and holds it in place, while she
buries her head into her shoulder. Her eyes are closed tightly. Danger
may be approaching in the guise of wings and swords, but she trusts in
Berd.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Archons, trying to form a defensive gestalt stagger and lurch across the sky as they are swatted aside by the force which holds the heavens in order...
One of the fighting Archons falls then, spiralling down in flame and
smoke, plummeting as if it had never had the ability to walk across the
firmament, leaving just two fighting each other. As the one
falls, it transforms, shifting to a more human shape, but still
wreathed in fire. It plunges into the muddy ground in a billowing
wave of steam, and what is left of the army howls in dismay and starts
a disorderly retreat from the field.
Of the two creatures moving towards Meredith, only one looks to have
any fight left in it. The other simply seems to be following its
companion. That companion moves closer to the girl, who now glows
like a bright autumn moon on the storm-ravaged hilltop, as protective
energies swirl around her. A serpent of living shadow coils
around her, blacker than the ocean depths, lashing out, almost quicker
than the eye can see, it strikes. There is no lightning, no burst
of fire... the hostile warrior simply crumbles to ash, which scatters
upon the storm winds.
The other falls and, no longer able to hold its blade, it crawls away, dragging its useless arm.
The angels sweep in upon another Archon, their movements precisely
matched mirrors of each other. The Archon pulses, and a circle of
light splays out from it, and a million voices chant a Word. The
dark angel becomes as transparent as crystal, and shatters into a
glittering dust, even as its counterpart cleaves the eshurianti in twain.
There are only four Archons left now, and one of them fights for Berd.
High up, the drake opens his mouth and sings a song of pure
force. A beam of raw power reaches out towards the Archons in the
blink of an eye. Energy crackles along the edges of that
corruscating torrent, lacing the sky with lambent discharges and
obliterating the lightning. The clouds are cast aside, burning,
as the water in them is broken and recombined. The very air in
the path of that bolt simply ceases to exist. Reality itself is rewritten, and where that maelstrom of destruction touches, the Archons burn and melt and vapourise...
There is a sound, like the breaking of every wine glass in the Universe, and the sky is Berd's.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd hovers, staring unseeing up into the sky. For a long moment,
his senses sweep the aether, searching for any traces of clever,
cunning archons who might have evaded and hidden themselves. As
an afterthought, he reaches down with claws of energy and formes a
globe of soft, but impenetrable force about the fallen archon - dead or
alive, it will remain for study. Berd has not forgotten its
transformation.
The coruscating energies that surround Meredith lash out in a similar
fashion, to capture her retreating foe. Carefully, almost gently,
similarly to the archon. They are the enemy, and Berd's heart is
heavy with rage and hate, but he will not torment a broken foe.
The storm breaks, the clouds beginning to dissolve. Driving rain
and wind becomes a light shower, and a rainbow suddenly flickers in the
sky. Not Berd's doing, that - simple atmospheric conditions at
work. The Drake stares expressionlessly at the space where the
dark angel fell. Goodbye, Zaph. Again. His eyes turn to the angel of fire. And my thanks to you.
The words are wistful, dreaming of a time when the brilliant creatures
were not simple, mental creations, but much, much more. In a
flash of fire and a single, clear note that hangs in the air, the
winged being vanishes.
Berd's opalescent eyes find the crumbled, broken army, and he swoops low to hover above Meredith's shoulder.
And my thanks to you, Meredith. They were strong - stronger than I expected. Together, we prevailed.
Abruptly a disorienting wind explodes around the fleeing army,
buffeting them and sending them to stumbling. A mighty voice
thunders from above, each syllable a concussion in the air. CEASE
YOUR ATTEMPTS TO RETREAT. HOLD YOUR PLACE, AND THROW DOWN YOUR
WEAPONS. ENOUGH PEOPLE HAVE DIED - SURRENDER AND LIVE.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith remains crouched down with her head into her shoulder, eyes
squeezed shut until she hears Berd's voice. It was over then.
The young woman rises, the winds have calmed, gale force weakening to a
strong breeze. She lets it blow the hood of her cloak down as she, too,
surveys the remnants of the army. Their fear pushes on the outskirts of
her mind. Gods had fought a terrific battle in their sky and the
strongest manifested himself as a small drake. A curious guise indeed,
given what he was capable of, and what he had been.
<i>I am happy to have been able to assist.<i> Meredith replies to Berd while disengaging the link that allowed him
access to her power. There is fear in that brief touch. Berd decimated
12 Archons, unleashed titantic forces, and altered the actual reality
of the world to conquer his foes. She did not wish to have that ability
turned unto herself by displeasing him. This fear keeps her from
showing to much awe at what has just transpired. It is better to fade
into the background and stay unobtrusive.
And so she does not ask how he did that, what exactly happened, what
they were going to do next, or any other of the questions that are
running through her mind. Instead Meredith stays standing, her head
slightly downcast as she waits to see how the army will respond.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Both armies are retreating, in spite of Berd's warnings. One
streams from the field, stricken by panic, weapons dropping as they
go. They cannot, of course, escape, Berd still has Nairans
sealed to defend against Archons, and to trap those already
present. The army is also trapped.
The other army moves back to the city to assist in the firefighting and
rescue of the injured, their minds too concerned with friends and
family to worry about mere enemies.
The fallen Archon is lifted, together with the soil in which it is
imbedded. Now human in shape, though almost twelve feet tall, it
still pulses with heat, even in death. Cooling slowly...
The other captive is more solid. Smaller and frailer in form, it
has wings like those of a great bird, still smouldering from the blast
which felled it, but its body is like that of some wiry goblin, with
scaled skin and a snake-like head. Still shocked by its pain, it
clutches at its shattered arm and blinks stupidly at Meredith and
Berd. Then it glances at the dead Archon, and gives vent to a
sound which might be a laugh, or a cry of pain.
Finally it looks to Meredith, seemingly afraid to gaze too much upon
Berd, and gestures with its good hand towards the broken arm, "Yat junkar. Dojadi harrat, gebben."
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
The winds continue to buffet the fleeing troops, then slowly taper
off. Exhaustion will set in soon enough, and Berd carefully opens
a hole in the stormclouds over a small area ahead of the routed army -
a dip in the land, complete with a sizeable creek. A place they
can hunker down and perhaps feel a little more secure. Lit now,
by the sun's rays that stream down from above.
Perhaps it will settle their spirits. But there is nowhere for them to run. Not now. This world is sealed.
Another mind turns toward the city. All through it, fires begin
to gutter out. Heat bleeds from burned buildings with unnatural
swiftness, allowing exploration. Animals unaccountably begin to
make themselves heard - dogs barking from beside trapped children, cats
wailing as they perch above an unconcious man. The animals fade
after the rescuers have come and gone, to reappear elsewhere.
There is only so much Berd can do. It sickens him how easily he
can bring forth terror and destruction, but how difficult it is for him
to actually heal without making fundamental changes in the makeup of creature.
So many things lost to him, now. But his inability to heal strikes most deeply to his core.
Berd settles down upon the rainswept rock beside Meredith. He can feel fear, sense it through the bridging.
It is, after all, on the forefront of her mind. That hurts
him. He remembers a time when he was nothing more than a small,
clever drake, greedy and sleepy. People loved him, then.
But events swept him away. Kia, Jack's daughter, had thrust him
into a river of strength that washed away some of the cobwebs in his
mind, that provided some of the energy he had placed into Cyan in her
creation. A creation that had weakened him, severely, regressed
him.
He had been injured. He had required a guard. He had
created Cyan, and poured a great deal of his own power into that
creation. And he had become the little drake in mind as well as
body, gaining yet another name in the process.
...a child's voice, as the tiny figure reaches up hands freshly forged of sunlight and dust. "Bird! Bird!"...
Now, grown in power again, slowly his spirit begins to approximate what
it was before Cyan, when it had been injured, weak. He would
never, could never be what he once was. His first fall was far, far too
deep. But now he was nothing like the happy, lazy little dragon
who had loved to sleep on Cyan's shoulder, allowed her to bear him
where she chose, and ate of everything he found.
Now he was to be feared. And apparantly with good reason.
Meredith clips off her own strength and Berd pulls back. My daughter...where are you now? Where does your spirit lie?
I miss you so.
Over the bridging, he continues to speak with Meredith.
The city will be saved, I hope. The army
of the enemy...can be put to good use. Prisoners, first, they can
assist with the rebuilding of what they have destroyed. Perhaps,
in time, they will come to care for this land. Certainly that is
possible, if they are conscripts of the Archons. I will not see
them executed, though.
But look. Here is one of the creatures that would have struck
you. It seems...willing to discuss matters. Perhaps it was
a slave. What do you think, Meredith?
The body of the Archon slowly dissolves into the earth as Berd exerts his will upon it.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
The weather shifts again. The storm's force spent and shifting
into a cool drizzle, like a very wet fog it covers the city, dampening
combustibles, slowly killing the fires that still burn, stopping them
from spreading further.
The injured creature hunches down against the rain, huddled around its
pain. Its yellow snake-eyes gaze at Meredith, almost refusing to
acknowledge Berd's existence. Again it says strange words, and
its voice is pathetic and small.
"Yat junkar. Dojadi harrat, gebben. Nabok yat, hasod."
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith looks up at the injured animal, that which was seeking her
destruction moments before. Stripped of its companions, and apparently
it's pride and urge to attack, Meredith finds herself feeling sorrow
for the injured creature. Was it nothing more than a servant to greater
forces, like herself? She considers Berd's request as the beast repeats
its entreaty. Without replying to Berd, Meredith steps forward towards
the injured creature.
She deftly frees her left hand from its woven prison and she can feel
her shoulders relax as the pressure of the glove's presence is
relieved. She stops a foot from the creature, unafraid of being hurt.
Pain was something she understod and could handle, but right now she
needed to understand this servant. Meredith meets snake yellow eyes
with wide pewter grey eyes.
She extends her bare left hand for the creature, waiting to see if he will take it.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd continues his subtle work at assisting the Nairan's efforts to
save their city. One of his hydra-minds keeps a close eye on the
battered invaders, observing their retreat, and another continues to
hold the World closed against any further Archon intrusion.
And he carefully observes as Meredith moves toward the injured
warrior. It would be pointless (and insulting) to caution
her. And she made this decision on her own - it would be
contradictory and cruel to begin dictating her actions now.
So Berd watches and waits, eyes still lit by the secret fire of his spirit.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
The creature extends its hand, its eyes glazed. "Gertagh narioth pyrodi yat?"
And then its fingertips brush Meredith's...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith's eyes widen and glaze over as its fingertips brush hers. For
a few moments they stand still, connected but only the tennuous touch
of their fingers... and then Meredith's hand moves, taking the claws of
the creature into a gentle grip.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
The strange creature seems to relax a little under Meredith's touch,
but then grows more agitated again, before finally slumping into almost
unconsciousness.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith frowns slight and tightens her grip another notch.
Then she braces herself for what it is to come. She owes it to the creature, for what information he has shared.
Even though she is expecting it, a cry of pain escapes her lips as the
bones of her right arm shatter and break even as those of the creature
are repaired and restored to health. Meredith falls to her knees, her
right arm hanging limply at her side, tears springing to her eyes. She
keeps a hold of the creature's hand long enough to send her thanks,
then releases it. Meredith remains kneeling before the creature, her
left arm cradling her newly broken right one.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ahh, Meredith. That which you take on.... Berd's voice is sorrowful.
I...remember. Once. A similar thing.
He stares up into the weeping sky, and clambers over the rocks to sit
beside the injured girl. A small dome springs into being over
Meredith as she hunkers on the broken ground, to hold off the
rain. A warm breeze takes away the chill.
There is nothing more Berd can do, save watch the creature.
Your bravery puts us all to shame.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
It rests now, the dullness flowing from its eyes gradually, even as the
pain goes from its body. Not speaking, its inhuman face conveying
its gratitude to the girl...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith is still handling the pain, her left hand gently cradling her
right arm. After the inital rush of pain and discomfort Meredith
gingerly moves her left hand up to survey the damage.
Only to find none.
Her right arm was clear of any physical signs of injury, but the pain
was there, intense and real, screaming in her mind. Yet the actual
wounds were not. It appeared she had only taken the pain from the
creature, and left the injury. She sighs quietly and lowers her
battered face. Even in helping the creature she had failed.
The breezes warms her flesh, but does little to thaw the cold knot of
fear and failure that has lodged itself in the young woman's heart. The
creature did not pass along good tidings.
Berd please... Meredith's mind voice is laced heavily with pain spiced with a dash of failure I am many things... brave is not one of them... she trails off, not wanting too much of the sharp pains to bleed through the bridge to the drake.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
You are far too critical of yourself, Meredith....
The girl's strength of will is appalling. Berd studies the being
before them, watching. Waiting to see if there will be any
further attempts to communicate...or worse.
There seems to be little he can do at the momement.
Drusilla. This world is clear. How go your preparations?
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith remains kneeling on the ground. She does not reply to Berd,
there is no point in starting a debate for she already knows the end
result. Plus she does not want to irritate the drake and possibly bring
his wrath upon herself.
Instead she sits tight, taking shallow breaths and trying hard not to
move her right arm which is still screaming with the pain of another's
injury. Part of her wonders if Drusilla will even respond.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Drusilla
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sounding flat and distorted through Berd's seals, a voice whispers faintly, "I
was worried Berd, it has been three days, did you run into strong
resistance? My study of Nairans has been impeded by some sort of
barrier which was thrown around the world within a few hours of your
departure from here, so I have no way of knowing how things go there."
"My own preparations go well. My armies are gathering at several
strategic points, and I have made an alliance with the vampire princes
of the Eastern Mountains. In addition, the actions of Vhuul and
Metatron have awakened some of the oldest and most cunning
drakes. I have exerted my will upon them, and gained access to a
flying army."
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith. I am no healer, but it may be I
can assist with your pain. It is phantom - perhaps I can 'split'
it between us. Pain split in half would be more bearable.
Pain split many ways, even moreso.
But I do not fully understand how your gift functions, and in any case, I do not wish to 'steal' from you.
The drake's head rises, and another mind speaks to Drusilla over the vast gulf between Worlds. The
barrier is mine, Drusilla, to hold any further reinforcements from
entering. Resistance was strong - twelve Archons - but Meredith
and I proved stronger. This time. Perhaps we have gained
even more knowledge with the doing. Their army has retreated, but
I hold them here for the moment. I suggest capture and
assimulation into this population - they can assist in the rebuilding,
perhaps someday in the future become members of standing within Nairan
society. Some may wish to return to their homeworlds...which
might prove problematic.
It is quite possible they were pressed into service.
Three days. For us, it has been minutes only. The time
differential between Nairans and your world is quite strong.
Continue to build your defenses.
It is good that you prepare your army.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
The young woman shakes her head, a sharp movement of denial. This burden I bear alone she replies quietly to Berd, denying him without realizing the possible
consequences. Ai, it was too late now. What would happen would happen.
If he truly sought to beat her down, to place his own burden upon her,
it would only be a matter of time anyways. If anything she had just
provided him a convenient reason to rain his wrath down onto her. If
that was truly his intention. She still was not sure, but she was no
longer afraid. It was a good thing.
Her arm throbbed, an aching counter part to her pulse.
She speaks again through her mind after Berd addresses Drusilla, the pain a faint shadow to her words. They
serve because they believe the Archons' fight is just. The destruction
of their breeding world... a cowardly act taken by a human, and so the
entire race shall pay. This is the cause this army fights. there is a soft mental sigh They will be the last to die
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
There is a long pause. I am sorry, Meredith. Should you wish any assistance, please inform me. The drake sighs within. How terrible that she takes such pain from people, and must suffer it alone.
Her news from the creature, though, is grim. Dorian's
rash vengeance has brought about even more horror than we first
expected. The obliteration of a world was terrible enough.
But now others - allies? Neighbours? - turn their eyes upon
our alliance. Even an enemy of the Archons might be convinced to
join them after seeing a vision of a World burned away.
After all, how could they be more terrible than that?
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Drusilla
-----------------------------------------------------------
"It is good that the barrier is your doing then,
and not part of some scheme of the enemy. I believe it is also a
good idea to try and persuade these troops to join in the defence of
Nairans. There was a time I would have recommended their deaths,
but some of them are powerful, and if they can be persuaded to change
sides, they would be valuable assets.
A sound tactical decision to... Ah... are you aware that somebody
just tried to break through your barrier? I sensed their presence
against the outside. Just briefly, but they are gone now.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith does not reply to Berd's sorrow. This was her path in life and
she was finally learning to accept her lot in life instead of trying to
fight it unsuccessfully. She speaks up when Drusilla mentions someone
trying to break through Berd's barrier.
Say the word and my assistance is yours she replies through the link to Berd and Drusilla, the pain becoming
more of a distant memory as she became more accustomed to its presence.
It no longer ruled her, but she was not completely free of its control.
The young woman then looks at the creature before her. It's good arm is
outstretched to her, a trusting entreaty in its eyes. Meredith sighs
against the pain and nods slowly. She disengages her left hand from
where it was supporting her right elbow and then takes the creature's
hand into her own. It is a gentle embrace, and her mind is open to
whatever it is the creature is trying to communicate to her.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd keeps watch on the creature and Meredith - it may trust Meredith,
but that does not change the fact that it will do what it wishes, for
its own purposes.
Death would serve no one, least of all
them. Should you view this as good sense rather than compassion,
well and good. But it serves both ends. We fight this war
for all creatures, even those deluded by the Archons.
Curious. I was not aware. A moment. I will hunt for a signature.
One of Berd's hydra-minds immediately breaks off to scent the barrier,
searching for any areas that show spiritual 'fingerprints'.
Should any exist.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Drusilla
-----------------------------------------------------------
You are, of course, correct. Slaughter would be pointless, and make us as bad as those we face.
The enemy soldier struggles from it's sitting position, and into a
kneeling posture before Meredith. Its good arm is extended, and
the three-fingered hand rests in hers. It's head is bowed, and
its eyes are closed.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd drums his claws on the rock upon which he sits. He appears deep in thought.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith's eyes snap open, her mouth an 'O' of suprise and shock. She
shakes her head in quiet denial and shakes her head softly. She looks
the creature in the eye and her grey eyes are kind and understanding.
And she moves her hand to stroke the side of its head softly, a sad
smile on her lips.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Drusilla
-----------------------------------------------------------
The person who tried to contact you wants me to
deliver a message if I can. I don't know who he is though.
Do you want to hear what he has to say?
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd's attention, divided two ways, divides again. As usual, this isn't a problem.
Please do, Drusilla.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Drusilla
-----------------------------------------------------------
As you wish... These were his exact words
to me, but be aware that, though I detected no traps on his words,
tailored to strike at you, I have taken the liberty of filtering what
he said, so it will sound flat.
And she relays the message...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
How interesting. The tone is wintery, though the ice is not directed at Drusilla.
Thank you, Drusilla. That, in essence, is
the message left 'etched' upon my barrier. A psychic fingerprint,
as it were.
Cold fury begins to build again within the drake as his many-headed mind shuttles tasks back and forth. Meredith.
How go things with you? I have...business to which I must attend,
and attend now. But I need to know how well things are with you,
and this one. If you would come with me, we can bring him along.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
With a soft pat, Meredith's hand falls from the creature's side. While
Berd and Drusila speak, she addresses the creature in a flurry of odd
noises and sounds that are intelligible to the others, save for when
she says her name at the end.
She does not look at Berd but her there is no hesitation in her reply.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd's burning eyes glitter for an instant, and he stares up into the clouds above.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith nods, an unspoken answer to Berd.
Then she speaks to the creature again, in a flurry of the odd language.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Drusilla
-----------------------------------------------------------
The small creature inclines its head to one side, studying Meredith, then replies in the same odd tongue, "Dra gedanjin. Akaf-hik dra, udra makkenjan dra, uch dra beshkoptantok. Dra nadro'ak. Udra choetantok."
Berd. I think things may be coming to a head now, for the one who sent the message. Blows have been struck.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
So I see. Drusilla, we go, now. You
will need to send an army here to secure the enemy's...but I suspect
its spirit is broken for now.
Power begins to burn around Berd again, and the air above him ripples and dances in a heat haze.
I will return. Shortly.
Meredith, if you are prepared, we go. We go to rescue, not to
attack - I have no intention of fighting against a prepared trap.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith rises, wincing at the new flares of pain that shoot up and
down her arm. She fights back tears. It really was a terrible break.
We come sehe says simply.
Before being sucked into the Underflow Meredith replies to the creature using the same gutteral language.
And then they are gone.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
...and they fall, fall through the stars of the Myriad Worlds toward
the brilliant river far, far below. Berd wards them, his senses
searching for the presence of Archons.
Expedience. James' life is in
danger. I cannot heal him, but I can give you the devices with
which you can splint his wounds.
I am sorry, Meredith. I wish I could repair the break. But
true healing is now beyond me, and has been for a long, long time.
I will watch him. Unless he strikes directly at you, though, he
will not be harmed. At worst, I will leave him with his
people. At best, he will return with us.
Again, I offer to take part of the weight of the pain. An offer, nothing more. This journey will take some time.
As they float in the Underflow, Berd wraps them within his own shadowy concealment.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Upon entering the Underflow Meredith closes her eyes. The sight of
swirling, dancing stars, glittering in their cold beauty was indeed
fantastic to behold, but it was also distracting. Distraction was not
something she could allow for, not when they were returning to James
and the others... and he warned of treatchery. She keeps her breathing
even and shallow, her right arm bent and held against her stomach by
her left arm. It was the best way she could keep the painful right
elbow as close to immobile as possible.
When Berd addresses her and shares the danger James is in, Meredith's
breath catches. She feels the rise of emotion, demanding action, and
only through every scrap of training is she barely able to suppress it.
She is taking larger breaths now, and they are deeper. The throbbing
from her arm is now a welcome distraction. How quickly things change
from one moment to the next.
She considers Berd's offer. To be free of some of the pain would allow
her to be of more assistance in whatever situation has placed James'
life in danger. At the same time, that pain may slightly hinder the
drake... and he was far more able to assist in matters that threaten
lives than she was. No, it was better for her to shoulder this burden
alone, and so she would.
If there is any way I can be of assistance in aiding James it is done. I need only direction Meredith vows, a grave certainty and seriousness in her sending.
She then speaks in the creature's tongue again, her physical voice sounding slightly distracted.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
The creature does not seem unduly concerned by movement through the
Underflow - flight is natural to it, and freedom of movement in all
directions. This is just a different form of that movement.
Meredith questions it, in its own tongue, and it is happy to answer...
Berd drives them onwards, through a place which isn't a place, filled
with great, dark shapes, some of which move with their own agendas...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Trust that I will ask, Meredith. And should you see a means of assistance, take it.
Berd flows through the brobdingnagian shapes around them, apparantly
ignored. Or, perhaps, avoided. He slips around a collossal,
half-glimpsed thing, and glides past a shimmering slick surface that
extends like the curve of a planetoid in every direction. Then
away, and as he shoots more deeply into the underflow, before the
gargantuan form is lost within the twisting, brilliant space, it can be
seen that the curved surface he followed was the lens of a tremendous,
alien eye....
James. Can you hear? Against whom do you stand? I cannot see them - they are shaded from my spiritual eye. Some sort of
barrier about them...I see glimpses of a dark shape, nothing more.
Meredith sees an image of James, standing amidst a green field
surrounded by tents and a vast army. Many of the soldiers, some
'human', some manifestly not, stand at the edge of the space, placing
wagers and watching intently. Two bladed Archons hang in the sky,
and facing James, slightly off his 'line', is Aaron, Ilsefravnier in hand. Chance is nearby as well, on the outskirts.
Something faces James, but all Berd can see is a flicker of
motion. A shadow in the air. Some mystic force blocks
Berd's psychic sight.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith keeps her eyes closed, and so remains blind to the impossibly
huge shapes they flow around. She considers the creature's reply, and
then speaks back in flurry of harsh noises.
Berd gives his direction, and then shows her the situation James is in,
a duel. Having never seen her friend's prowess in battle, Meredith is
unsure of if she should be frightened or not... still an unknown
opponent is not a good thing.
She is back to shallow even breaths as her focus shifts and her consciousness flows...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Frustration fills Berd as he closes in on his destination. He
cannot even see James' opponant! Psychic shielding of a sort he
has never encountered before prevents him from imaging the enemy over
this distance. The drake suspects that this is not the purpose of
such a defense - obviously it would be easier to simply do as he does,
and cloak oneself. Ultimately, this defense was created to wall
someone off from spiritual contact on an absolute level.
Its side effect is most irksome.
He could, of course, slip into James' mind to utilize the man's
sight. James is open to him, at the moment. But obviously
the soldier is fighting a tense battle against his opponants -
'General' - and any distraction could be fatal. Berd elects the
path of silence and surprise, and holds back for the nonce.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Vast shapes moving through darkness... things big as worlds, alive and
possessed of will, sliding through the voids between/behind/beneath the
Myriad Worlds. And hurtling between them, three bright shapes,
tiny and brilliant as stars.
The three move, speeding onwards, and in the distance ahead of them,
light grows. Still not close, and occasionally eclipsed by the
shadowy forms, but definitely there, and closer with every heartbeat...
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Meredith
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meredith's even breathing stays even, but the breaths she draws in deepen.
Her lips thin into a look of concentration as a thin film of sweat covers her brow.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd's burning eyes are locked on the world ahead. He only peers
forward, not wishing to give the game away. Not wishing to give
away any sign of their presence ahead of time.
Certainly they are expected.
I will alight us upon a nearby hillside, two
miles from the camp. I can transport us closer from there fairly
easily, but I would rather not materialize within the radius of the
Broken God's effects. It could be...dangerous.
Do you have any requests or instructions, Meredith? It's a faint hope, but one never knows.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Drusilla
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd, I can send troops if you think you will
need them. Not my entire force, perhaps a third of them, and they
will not arrive immediately, this place is at the limit of my range, so
they will be a short time behind you.
===========================================================
Re: 50a - War by Berd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Berd considers...and comes to his decision.
This is a trap, Drusilla. To send troups
against this foe may be to squander them, and to alert them to your
presence. My purpose here is to rescue my associates - I would
prefer to avoid any long entanglements.
This is not to say I do not appreciate the offer. But I suspect this is not the time for open battle.
===========================================================
|
|
