Fated (Chapter Fifty-Two)
Sunday, November 8th, 2015 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanadin posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
mindcrackloveAn additional milestone that we've reached (we've hit a lot lately) is that Fated is now longer than Residual.
That's right, Fated is the longest part of the Monstrous Trilogy. I always knew it would be this way, but reaching it...wow.
In any case, I know you just want to find out the results of the cliffhanger last chapter, so here you go. Enjoy. :3
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-Two
Sunspire, Minecraftia. October 31, year 573. Time instance 483Z.
Nia yelped as something sharp grazed her shoulder and blood spattered her from the right, turning her vision dark and purple as red coated the blue lenses of her goggles. She jerked back and screamed as she saw Aldobiva- or, rather, what was left of Aldobiva- collapse in a bloody heap beside her. A few other pieces of the girl went spinning down to the ground or off into the jungle, but a good portion of her blood was on Nia and the other archers as well as the sharpshooter’s killer.
The descendant of Pause had fallen.
The red dragon bared his teeth and unleashed a torrent of fire on the archers, many of them sustaining severe burns. Nia managed to duck away from the worst of the flames, but Axid opened her mouth in a soundless scream as her right side was seared pretty badly. One of the Shadefangs raised his bow and fired off an arrow at the dragon. It bounced off harmlessly and with one strike from the creature’s claws, the Shadefang’s throat was suddenly on the outside. He toppled over but the monster before them didn’t revel in its victory for long.
An arrow from Kaen no Mai slammed into the Hostile’s shoulder and he roared, turning his attention to Nia as he struggled to not fall from the knockback the arrow hit him with.
Nia suddenly realized that she had made a very bad mistake.
~~~
“The archers!” Nessy screamed. “Adrian, the archers!”
Adrian looked back at the tree as Nessy swooped by on her way up, freezing as he saw the red dragon turn and incinerate a decent portion of the archers. He saw the blood coating one of the figures, the only one with a glowing bow, as she shot a flaming arrow into the creature’s side. It roared and turned its attention toward her, making her scramble back on the branch.
Adrian urged Teramelle to turn away from the battle and leap over a line of advancing Sunspines, racing back towards the tree with his sword ready. He had no idea how he would help but his eyes narrowed in determination as he raced forward, watching what was going on closely.
The Hostile lashed out at Nia, barely missing as she rolled away, before breathing a cone of flame. She made a split-second decision and leaped from the tree, avoiding incineration by seconds. She let out a scream as she fell, making Adrian shout his cousin’s name.
Nessy swooped in and grabbed Nia in her talons, almost losing what ability she had to fly as she struggled onwards. The larger red dragon slammed into her and she instinctively dropped Nia in order to not die, roaring when she realized what she had done.
Adrian was pretty sure that Nia was dead, knowing that Teramelle couldn’t reach where she was falling in time, when a red figure swooped under her from where he had been circling Arcbiter and caught her on his back.
“Watch yourself!” Adrian blinked as he recognized Iirkolav’s voice, despite the distortion that the monstrous form provided to his voice. The monster landed near Adrian, letting Nia shakily climb off.
Adrian pulled Teramelle to a halt beside his cousin. “Are you okay?!”
“Yes, I’m fine, but Aldobiva’s dead and Axid’s still up there!”
Before she had even finished speaking, Iirkolav had turned back to the tree and ran towards it, using his claws to quickly scale the bark to reach the top.
Couldn’t let another die.
“Aldobiva’s…?”
“Yes!” Nia looked pained. “Look, don’t worry about me, okay? We need to take out these damn Hostiles, they’re absolutely destroying us!”
Adrian suddenly looked around. “Where’s that thing that was fighting you, anyway?”
“I don’t know.” Nia looked around as well, frowning. “Maybe it ran. It seemed pretty cowardly to me. If I had shot it again, I think it would have run.” She shook it off. “Get back out there, okay? I’m going to try to find another spot to start shooting again.”
Adrian frowned. “You’re hurt.”
“We’re all hurt, Adrian! We just have to do our best!”
Adrian sighed and conceded to her point, turning Teramelle around to leap back into the fray.
He wasn’t too happy about it, though.
~~~
Another hour passed and the battle continued on, the sides almost evenly matched but the Hostiles present slowly beginning to put dents in the Skullblade’s defenses. Spalor fought with the same vigor she had shown at the beginning of the battle, but Arcbiter was beginning to slow. He had several wounds from both Nessy and Iirkolav, plus some arrows in him from Nia and various cuts on his feet and legs from Skullblades.
He struck at Iirkolav, almost knocking him out of the air, but felt a couple of jabs in his leg. He roared, looking down to find a boy in iron armor on the back of a unicorn, having been stabbed by both. He seized the boy in his claws and lifted him to eye level, malicious red glow boring into Adrian’s fearful green eyes.
“You’ve made a bad mistake.” Arcbiter growled. “I grow tired of your foolishness and this battle both. When darkness falls, Specterveil will summon reinforcements and this will all be over. But you won’t see that, will you?” He bared his teeth and Adrian gulped.
Adrian felt his blood burning. He felt it crying out for him to transform, to let the monstrous form overtake him. He was tempted, too- he might be able to put a dent into this stupid monster. But then he considered his friends below, he considered how he was just as likely to turn on them as the Hostiles, and he fought his blood with every ounce of strength he had.
He wouldn’t do it. He refused.
Arcbiter roared as Iirkolav flew at his face, scratching at his eyes. The Hostile’s other hand came up and swatted at him, forcing the monster back. “Now! Katrin, do it now!”
With great effort, Nessy hauled Katrin up higher into the air, almost next to Adrian. “Open your mouth!” She ordered.
“Wha-”
“Thank you!”
As Adrian started to ask the question, Katrin focused her water powers on the familiar dark red potion in her other hand. As it wasn’t pure water, she could only lift a few drops, but that was all she needed.
She sent the liquid into Adrian’s mouth even as he recognized the potion for what it was and tried to close his mouth, block the liquid, anything, but it was too late.
The instant that it went down his throat his blood burned brighter and flames danced across his body, drawing the Hostile’s attention. Adrian didn’t notice Nessy gratefully circling back towards the ground, nor Iirkolav pulling into a laborious hover to watch.
Adrian let out a roar, long claws lashing out to dig through the scales on Arcbiter’s hand. The Hostile screamed in surprise and dropped him, but the monster’s leathery wings extended and carried him forward to dig his claws into Arcbiter’s throat. He roared in absolute fury, digging his claws in and tearing out chunk after chunk of flesh, covering both himself and Arcbiter in the green blood of the Hostiles.
Arcbiter screamed in pain, drawing the attention of half the battlefield as he clawed desperately at Adrian to get him off. The furred monster pushed off from Arcbiter as he began to collapse, flying over the battlefield and not even watching as the Hostile behind him dissolved.
Sea of Flame II had been defeated.
He was already back on the hunt, looking for his next target.
Nia, on the other hand, stared in awe from her new perch as Arcbiter dissolved into a small orb that could fit in the palms of her hands. It was filled with orange flames and smoke and hit the ground almost gently, rolling a little before coming to a stop near a small rock.
She exchanged glances with Nak, who had insisted upon being beside her after the previous incident, something that she didn’t protest to.
Before Nia could suggest that they go and retrieve it, something very odd happened.
The sky rumbled and a bolt of red lightning arced down, hitting the ground beside the orb and leaving a man in its place. Nia couldn’t see too well from where she was sitting, but he appeared to be as tall as Iirkolav with green goggles, a red hat, and some kind of brown belt around his waist. The man stepped forward and bent down to carefully pick up the orb from where it had landed in the grass.
As he straightened up, he seemed to turn to look right at Nia. The light from the setting sun reflected off of his goggles briefly before the red lightning returned, taking the man and the remnants of Arcbiter with it.
Nia blinked slowly, pushing her goggles up her face to reassure herself that the man was really gone. She slowly looked at Nak. “Did you see him too?”
“Y-yeah.” Nak looked just as confused as she did. “Who was he? What…”
While they sat confused, Iirkolav quietly smiled to himself.
“Still picking those up, huh, Vechs? Thanks.”
With that, he turned his attention back to Adrian, glad to see that he had chosen to attack the Kalt’onians and not the Skullblades. He resolved to keep a close eye on him as he swooped down over the battlefield, unleashing fiery death on the Kalt’onians who dared to be underneath him.
Minutes later, another weapon of the Sunspines charged out of the forest, weapons at the ready and darkness clinging to him like the chill of death. Marcus had an almost crazy grin on his face as the last rays of the sun faded and the full power of the Hallow Night came into effect, the vampire feeling his strength increase more than he would have thought possible. He leaped over dozens of Skullblades and landed well within the enemy’s lines, roaring a challenge and going at them with complete disregard to his own safety.
Wherever Marcus struck, death soon followed, the vampire totally within his element. He had no idea how he hadn’t realized how powerful this night made him before, but it was perhaps his proximity to one of the places where Vallor’roth’s spirit lingered the most.
The Skullblades also roared as they felt the strength they had expended over the day returning, their strikes more sure and their senses more sharp.
“Gih Vallor’roth! Lamnhif nyas!” Broken roared, the call quickly being taken up by the Skullblades as they fought on. The Kalt’onians finally were beginning to look concerned, like they might not win. Some even began to break rank, starting to flee.
Spalor growled and the earth rumbled beneath her. “Fight them, you cowards! Reinforcements are on their way! Any who flee will meet a worse fate than any that these savages could inflict!”
The Kalt’onians were clearly more afraid of Spalor than of the Skullblades, as they, for the most part, reformed and carried on the attack, although less confidently than before.
Soon, however, a cold laugh rang across the battlefield and two red eyes appeared in the darkness. A shate slowly faded into being high above the warring sides, magical energy swirling around him.
“Your reinforcements have arrived, Kalt’on.” Specterveil hissed, the darkness forming itself into legions of monsters behind and to the sides of the desert warriors. Skeletons, giant and cave spiders, zombies, and the occasional creeper, all with glowing red eyes and under the control of Specterveil, stepped forward to assist the Kalt’on army.
A single laugh rang out from the Skullblade side as both sides paused to watch Specterveil, some rejoicing and others feeling a twinge of concern.
“You idiot.” Broken shouted, drawing the attention of the leader of the Hostiles. “You absolute fool. You dare to attack us, the Skullblades, on the Hallow Night? Not only that, but you let the battle drag on into the darkest hours of the day, and then you summon undead to battle us?” He laughed more. “Vallor’roth is the lord of the undead! They would not dare to disobey him, especially not on this night!”
As the Clanlord of the Sunspines spoke, the undead that Specterveil had summoned paused, the red glow fading from their eyes that was soon replaced with silvery flame. They turned on their previous allies and attacked, initiating what had to be the biggest slaughter in Kalt’onian history.
Between the summoned undead, the Skullblades, and the descendants, the Kalt’on forces fell like saplings to an inferno. Spalor soon shouted for them to retreat before vanishing underground once more. Specterveil screamed in rage as he disappeared into the shadows, not willing to risk himself in battle.
The Skullblades seemed content to let the Kalt’onians flee, but the undead were unstopping in their assault, continuing to chase and harass the fleeing enemy and likely would until daybreak.
Valkan and Marcus had to be held back as well, but it was up to Iirkolav to stop Adrian from chasing down his prey. He seized the other monster’s arm and looked him in the eyes, gaze intense.
“You’ve hunted enough for tonight. You’re exhausted. Rest, Adrian.”
Adrian was about to strike at the scarred monster holding him when the small portion of his mind that was still human recognized that he was indeed exhausted, muscles sore and fur coated in blood. Iirkolav continued to speak and Adrian’s eyelids grew heavy until he passed out, transforming back into a human without any further conflict.
Iirkolav sighed in relief and carefully picked Adrian up, ignoring his own screaming muscles as he listened to the raw cheer of joy that the Sunspines let out at their victory.
He made his way to Nia, gently setting down her cousin beside her as she reached the base of the tree. She sighed in relief and sat, hugging Adrian’s unconscious form tightly. “Thank you.” She whispered. “You probably saved him out there.”
Iirkolav nodded, but before he could respond, a Shadefang- the only one that Nia had seen since she had leaped from that first tree- tapped her shoulder, looking shaken.
Fatewriter shivered before speaking. “Vallor’roth has a direct message for the descendants. He has said that you must travel south and defeat the Hostiles to free Kalt’on- their king is dead but they don’t realize it, as one of the Hostiles has taken his form. But that’s not the only threat- a few of the Hostiles were sent north during this conflict to attempt to convince Kaepravah, Iilthrild’s eldest daughter, to give them the Heart of Pain, a power source that in their hands could destroy the entire continent forever. You have to hurry- if you fail, everything done to stop them in the past was done in vain. Kaepravah can be found deep within the mountains in Dalania, and the capital of Kalt’on, Dae’vos, is where Kyilld awaits her fate.”
Nia and Iirkolav both stared at the Shadefang. It wasn’t uncommon for seers to be shown glimpses of the future by Vallor’roth, but to be spoken to directly by the creator…
“The Hallow Night holds many surprises, I see.” Iirkolav muttered. “Thank you, seer. You…you’re certain he spoke directly?”
“Yes.” Fatewriter nodded. “I heard his voice. I almost collapsed…” She hesitated. “Come find me later if you have questions, but for now I need to get back to Ragebent Blade.”
Nia looked concerned. “Blade? Is he okay?”
Fate nodded again, turning around as she had moved to leave. “Physically, yes, he’s only scratched up a little. It’s just… it’s his sister. She was killed just before dusk.” Before either of the Davions could speak, she was gone.
-~-
Pause had been in shock ever since his orb had shattered, sitting with Coe in the corner and mumbling ‘no’ over and over. Beef sat with them as well, looking sad, his own dark orb shoved into a pocket somewhere.
Meanwhile, Vechs was looking a little shaken as he sat on the couch with Blame, Aureylian, and Paul all seated around him. He watched the flames in Arcbiter’s orb swirl around and around in a slow pattern.
“I just went down there.” He mumbled. “I just went down to Minecraftia, retrieved the orb of a fallen Hostile, and came back. No big deal. Took about ten seconds.”
“How?” Aureylian asked for the hundredth time. “How did that happen?”
“I don’t know.” Vechs repeated. “I just…”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Paul admitted. “And it might be due to the link that you have to the orbs, and the link that you both have to the Vortex. It might have realized that the orb belonged to you and sent you to retrieve it.”
“Nia saw me.” Vechs mumbled. “Nia and Nak saw me. I looked right at them…”
“Not a huge deal. They’ve seen weirder.” Blame told him. “Iirkolav will probably figure it out…” He glanced at Vechs’ orb as it sat beside him, watching Iirkolav ask Nia who Ragebent Blade and Fatewriter were. “He usually does.”
“Is that direct interference, though?” Vechs asked, looking at him sharply. “Will Norazdomu count that?”
“Norazdomu may have caused that.” Paul reasoned. “Don’t worry, Vechs. All you did was retrieve something that belonged to you. It’s probably safer that way.”
Vechs nodded and got to his feet. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m going to go put this back on the wall with the others.” With that, he left the room, leaving his friends to wonder if he was as alright as he seemed to be.
no subject
Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015 10:40 pm (UTC)I have a feeling this'll affect Tarsen kinda badly >_<
Also yay for milestones!
-Random Anon
no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 12:01 am (UTC)G.C
no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 12:02 am (UTC)Meahhhhhhhhh
no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 12:28 am (UTC)Yay .3.
no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 11:29 am (UTC)-Anon Cami
no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 01:31 pm (UTC)But yeah. Tarsen won't be too happy about this.
no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 01:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 03:50 pm (UTC)But Aldobiva :(
And Vechs went down there and got an orb...whoa... So much stuff in this chapter I can't write about it all.
(::) (::)
-the lurkiest lurker
no subject
Date: Monday, November 9th, 2015 06:56 pm (UTC)I assume.
no subject
Date: Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 07:14 am (UTC)-Anon Cami
no subject
Date: Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 12:14 pm (UTC)