Fated (Chapter Fifty-One)
Friday, November 6th, 2015 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mindcrackloveBut hey, Fated's over 100k words now!
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/F
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet
Chapter Fifty-One
Sunspire, Minecraftia. October 31, year 573. Time instance 483Z.
Adrian looked up from sharpening his sword as Iirkolav clanked into the room. He wore a slight frown on his face as he sat down in a chair opposite Adrian.
"You didn't tell me you were monstrous." Iirkolav's voice was slightly accusing, but mostly sad. "I need to know these things, Adrian. I need to know anything that can give us an advantage."
Adrian growled softly. "It's not an advantage. I'm a liability, a murderer. I almost killed Niel and I absolutely destroyed Velloh without a second thought. I'm uncontrollable..."
Iirkolav frowned. "You're only nuts when in monstrous form, right?"
"Right."
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen. Why?"
Iirkolav frowned. "That's interesting. Usually...." He trailed off, thinking.
"What?"
"It's...it's nothing." A shiver ran down Iirkolav's spine.
Usually we lose our minds by now.
Adrian glared at him. "What? Should I be attacking people in human form too?" He shook his head as if to clear it and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "S-sorry. My blood's just...itching."
"Itching?" Iirkolav questioned.
"Yeah. It itches and burns when it wants to go monstrous. It usually kicks off when I get pissed- which is easier when I'm like that- or when I see some...some kind of prey."
Iirkolav felt Adrian's eyes on him, looking almost hungry in their gaze.
Monstrous forms and minds differed greatly between the Davions.
“Prey?”
“Anyone that’s…weaker than normal.” Adrian had ceased blinking, and he seemed to be sizing Iirkolav up, trying to determine if he could take him.
“I’m monstrous too, you know.” Iirkolav snapped. “And I can control my transformation and actions. So maybe don’t attack me.”
Adrian shivered and shook himself once more, clearing his mind. “Sorry. I…I just…” He sheathed his sword and hugged himself, continuing to shiver. “I can’t control it and I…I don’t…what is it? Why am I like this?”
Iirkolav sighed. “I don’t know if you got the memo, but I’m essentially Vechs Davion. Well, I am Vechs Davion. I’m from a timeline where Aureylian died to one of the Hostiles, but Norazdomu pulled me out of the timestream into another so I could save Aureylian, leaving it with two Vechses. To avoid confusion, I renamed myself Iirkolav. My other self- the one from this timeline- is yours and Nia’s ancestor, but as he and I are genetically the same, I technically am as well.
“Now, I made a bad mistake when I was a lot younger, magically charging myself and turning myself into a monster- seven and a half feet tall, red, scaly, batlike wings, and fiery breath. It’s been in the genetic line ever since, and some have better control of it than others, I guess.” He shrugged. “I’m sure Vechs’ child, or one of them, was monstrous and went on to have more children with the gene. I never met anyone other than myself until you with this…ability.”
“It’s an affliction.”
“When you can’t control it, it can be.” Iirkolav fired back. “I’ve only lost control of it a few times, and they were some of the most terrifying experiences of my life. Perhaps I can teach you to control and utilize this form.”
“I don’t want to utilize it for shit.” Adrian snarled. “I want it gone. It’s made me a…a monster, a literal monster, and I’ve killed an innocent pigman and wounded Niel!”
“Wounding barely matters.”
“It…it matters to me, okay? It matters to Niel.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked away. “He didn’t deserve it. He’s…practically defenseless.”
Iirkolav nodded, understanding more than Adrian realized. “Anyway, I know you don’t want to use it, but you need to learn how. There’s no getting rid of it and it’s a very powerful weapon.” He pulled the potion out of his pocket and swirled the dark red liquid. “I need to either have access to a certain energy line or drink a few drops of this potion to transform. I don’t have any control otherwise over my transformations, except when I transform in a burst of rage.”
Adrian watched the potion momentarily before whispering, “That’s the only way I transform.”
“I know. I wish I had time to teach you how to use your form, but honestly I need to figure out how you work first and we just don’t have the time. I actually came up here to tell you that it’s time to prepare yourself, as the Kalt’onians will be here in a few hours.”
Adrian sighed and got to his feet, Iirkolav not far behind. “I just hope I won’t transform in the middle of the battle.”
As Iirkolav left the room, he silently disagreed with Adrian.
If you don’t transform, we might never see what you’re really capable of.
~~~
It was several hours after noon when the Kalt’onians appeared in the distance. Rows and rows of men wearing brown and red, shields locked and spears at the ready. The Sunspines stood ready as well, warriors with swords and shields in tight formations with spear-wielders scattered around. Aldobiva, Nia, Nessy, Axid, six Shadefangs that happened to be in Sunspire, and about twenty Sunspines that looked uncertain as to their skills with a bow were all gathered at some of the higher branches of a jungle tree in order to rain arrows down on their opponents.
Others- Tranpar, Tim, Niel, Trymdas, and Marcus (who would arrive on the battlefield at sundown)- remained back, away from the fighting. Nak seemed displeased with leaving Nia’s side during a battle, but she insisted that he would be more use to their forces on the frontlines and not sitting in a tree with her when she was perfectly safe.
Adrian gulped quietly as he watched the Kalt’onians stop a ways away, watching them carefully. A Sunspine nudged him and he looked down, feeling an odd sense of familiarity when it came to this man and the Shadefang accompanying him.
“Don’t show your fear, Adrian.” Ragebent Blade told him. “It only encourages them.”
“Those desert rats can smell terror.” Fatewriter confirmed. “And they love the scent. Beat it back and show them that you’re ready to destroy them.” She paused, letting an anxious smile break through. “Granted, I’m not doing too great of a job of that.”
“Focus.” Blade mumbled, turning his attention back towards the enemy. “Adrian, aren’t you going to flank them on Teramelle with the other riders?”
“Y-yeah.” Adrian re-adjusted his iron helmet that he had obtained earlier that week from Wrath of Souls, the Ashenhorn metalworker who oddly lived in Sunspire. “I’m just not sure how well that’ll go. There’s not a lot of us.”
“That doesn’t matter. There are Skullblades among you.” Blade insisted. “We can’t be defeated, today of all days.”
Meanwhile, Samuel turned to Tarsen and switched his spear to his left hand in order to shake Tarsen’s hand.
“If one or both of us don’t make it through this, I want you to know that I’m glad to have you as my friend.”
Tarsen grinned and pulled Samuel into a hug. “You too, bro.”
Samuel pulled away from the other man as a horn blasted, signaling the Kalt’onians to march forward, weapons at the ready. Samuel readied his spear and narrowed his eyes, shifting instinctively into battle mode. To his left, Tarsen drew his sword (Samuel tried to ignore his urge to yell at his friend about his terrible armor design), and to his right, Shred prepared herself to leap into the fray. Despite what she had been told, she had moved into the battlefield, leaving Mira behind with Tranpar and the others.
Secretly, Samuel was glad to have her by his side. She was a capable warrior and despite her lack of logic when it came to transport and boats, she was intelligent and highly skilled. A small smile flickered onto his face as he thought of his friends beside him, but it quickly faded as the first screams of death rang through the air as Kalt’onian and Skullblade met in battle.
Two of the strongest fighting forces in the world.
Nia took a deep breath and drew back the bowstring of Kaen no Mai, checking one final time that it was indeed a phantom arrow that she had readied before releasing the string. The flaming arrow leaped out of the bow, slamming into her target and throwing him back a good five feet before he hit the ground, burned and unmoving. The warriors around him paused, staring in amazement, before one of Aldobiva’s arrows struck one in the neck. Before the other could really react, another hit him as well.
Nia stared at the girl beside her. “How do you shoot so fast?!”
“I was trained to be a sharpshooter my entire life.” Aldobiva muttered, readying another arrow. “And teaching someone else tends to improve your skill as well.”
Nia nodded and resumed her concentration, shooting down another soldier. She was silently thankful that she had infinite arrows, as the pile that they had seemed awfully small in comparison to the thousands of enemies before them.
Axid flinched as one of her arrows struck a man in the shoulder, making him stumble and look around for the source of the arrow wildly. She looked almost apologetic as she aimed another arrow, this time falling short.
One Sunspine fumbled his bow and swore, elbow bumping into Nia as she released her shot, making it arc in a completely different direction.
Onai felt the arrow coming and the shadows reached out from the jungle to grasp the phantom arrow, dissolving it in darkness. He turned around and flipped off Nia, despite the fact that she couldn’t see him very well, before returning to the battle.
A slash of darkness energy decapitated a solider before he drove his sword through Valkan’s torso. Valkan shot Onai an odd look. “I thought you hated me. Why did you do that?”
“Because you’re a part of this team whether I like it or not, and your story is not yet over.” Onai informed him, blocking a spear from another enemy. “Watch yourself.”
Valkan shrugged and threw himself back into the battle, dual blades lashing out at anyone who dared get near him. He seemed to rejoice in the blood he spilled, grinning wickedly as his enemies fell around him. He ignored Katrin’s cry of pain as his sword grazed her side as he raced past and ignored the blood that spattered onto him, but Zel didn’t.
The earth elementalist growled low in his throat as he knelt to check if Katrin was okay, swearing quietly to bash Valkan’s skull into a rock to see which broke first. He drove a stone spike into an advancing horse, wincing as its rider leaped off at the last second and cut the arm off of a Skullblade. The wounded warrior finished off his Kalt’onian opponent, but he stumbled back, somewhat alarmed at his lack of a limb.
For about an hour the battle raged on, the Skullblades slowly but surely winning the conflict, until the earth ripped itself up and Spalor’s head poked through the ground. The incomplete stone dragon bellowed a challenge and crushed about twenty Sunspines as she crawled up from the depths of the earth, spreading her useless stone wings to the sky. A large and orange creature followed her shortly thereafter, looking somewhat uncomfortable with his time underground. He was roughly twenty feet tall and covered in obsidian spikes and orange scales, built almost like a wingless bipedal dragon.
Arcbiter took a deep breath and released a torrent of flame towards the Skullblades, many raising their shields just in time to save them from the worst of the damage.
“I’m up.” Nessy muttered, setting down her bow. “Try not to hit me, alright?”
“We’ll try.” Nia said cheerfully, watching Nessy leap from the tree branch as purple flames covered her body.
Nessy’s wings expanded fully and she pulled out of her dive to circle Spalor, shooting bolts of flame.
“Hey, slowscales! Remember me?”
“ROAAAAAAR!”
“Yeah, I thought so! Come and get me!” Nessy ducked under a swipe from the stone dragon and flew underneath her belly, flipping upside down to blast flames at the vulnerable and exposed muscle.
Spalor screamed and swiped her tail as Nessy passed beside it, barely missing as the smaller dragon seemed to mysteriously shift three feet to the left. “Missed me!”
As she swooped around to claw at Spalor’s eyes, a slightly larger red dragon slammed into her, almost knocking her out of the sky. She barely managed to right herself before she hit the ground, looking around wildly for her attacker but not finding them.
But someone else did.
-~-
A shiver ran down Blame’s spine as he watched the battle, remembering his own war against the Kalt’onians. As a Skullblade beside Shred was killed with a spear, he absentmindedly clutched his left side, where he had felt the bite of that weapon before.
Pak put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be alright.”
“I know. But Shred might not be.”
“Shred’s a capable fighter.” Paul assured. “She’ll be fine.”
“So was I, and I was hit!”
“You were carrying a comrade and had your back turned.” Vechs told him.
“Will you stop that infernal pacing?” Blame snarled, and Pause only briefly stopped walking before resuming.
“I can’t. I’m too anxious about this. What if we lose another descendant?”
“We won’t.” Aureylian assured.
“You don’t know that.” Blame muttered.
Nebris took a sharp intake of breath as a red figure slammed into Nessy, almost knocking her out of the sky. “Wh-”
Another Mindcracker froze and stared into their orb, whispering “No no no no no!” frantically before they cried out and their orb shattered, turning to sand in their hands.
They fell to their knees, watching the bronze sand trickle through their hands as another descendant fell.
no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 04:11 am (UTC)AH.
/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/
no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 04:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 07:14 am (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 04:48 am (UTC)G.C.
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Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 06:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 07:14 am (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 12:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 07:13 am (UTC)I'm shaking. I'm shaking so hard I can barely type. Please, not Nessy. Please. *cries*
My family is wondering what's wrong with me and I can't answer. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!?! I should never have started to read Fated! I regret my life!
-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 03:45 pm (UTC)that was meant to say 'hey! its not nessy!'
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Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015 06:40 am (UTC)BUT YOU KILLED SOMEONE!
-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 08:51 am (UTC)(As if to prove that letting him live was a bad idea, her immediately grazes Katrin with his sword. ;-;)
-Anon Cami
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Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015 02:38 am (UTC)-Anon Cami
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Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 01:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 10:04 pm (UTC)Are you sure you're okay?
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Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 06:51 pm (UTC)- Sierra Winters
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Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2015 09:56 pm (UTC)I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW
I swear if you just killed Axid or Claire I'll break something
(Granted its probably not either but stilllllllllll)
-Random Anon
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Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 03:42 pm (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 12:36 pm (UTC)Decendants die.
Good job, Aureylian.