Fated (Chapter Seventy-Two)

[tanadin]

I had quite a bit of fun with this chapter. ^^ For...several reasons.

Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Fated-map-544073443
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RKoeOLYhQctmZ5McNHc_kid0tjfb1BxyuD8i95FmFQE/edit?usp=sharing

Chapter Seventy-Two

Perhaps we should go back to see how they had gotten themselves into the situation that I was reacting to, back to when Onai split from the group.

Kingdom of Kalt’on, Minecraftia. November 13, year 573. Time instance 483Z.

As Onai leapt out the window, Nia swore softly and took aim at the Hostile that seemed so intent on killing them. She had to trust the darkness elementalist to not do anything stupid.

Not that this isn’t stupid, she thought to herself as she fired an arrow into Alvark’s chest. He roared as the arrow stuck and almost forced him off of the wall and to the ground below, the magical knockback of Kaen no Mai once again showing itself. One of the Hostile’s heads turned towards Nia and he released a spray of acid at her, and it was at that moment that the young Davion realized she had no plan.

Fortunately for her, Nak did. He leaped in front of her, shield up, and a violent hissing sound told her that his shield had taken most of it. A quiet growl from Nak seemed to indicate that at least a little bit had gotten on him, but he shrugged it off, charging forward and slashing at Alvark’s head. His sword bounced off harmlessly and the Hostile’s jaws clamped down on the sword, snapping the blade.

Nak backed away slowly, fear taking over as he looked into the malicious red eyes of the Hostile. Alvark’s head snapped at him again but caught his shield in his jaws. Alvark attempted to crush it for a moment before just tearing it off Nak’s arm and spitting it down to the ground below. He moved to bite at him once more but took an arrow to the throat, screaming in agony as blood poured from the wound. He turned both heads to Nia, but another arrow struck him in the chest.

This time he released his hold on the wall, intentionally falling but twisting to land on his feet. He still fell and lay there on the ground, bleeding and pained, before forcing himself to his feet once more. He seemed to notice a dark figure break off from the main battle and head towards a building that appeared to have Kalt’onian archers on the roof and followed, as did a second dark figure.

Nia swore, guessing correctly that Alvark was after the two Skullblades, but she knew that there was nothing she could do. She sent an arrow Alvark’s way- not surprisingly missing- before following the others up the stairs and continuing up the citadel.

As they climbed, the two Skullblades below continued on their mission, with Fatewriter desperately trying to keep up with Ragebent Blade. Neither seemed to notice as Alvark drew closer, and Blade kicked down the door to the building before heading inside without looking behind him. Fate was about to follow when a spray of acid stopped her and sent her leaping back and out of the way as Alvark stepped between her and her goal.

“Going somewhere?” The Hostile snarled before spitting more acid at her. Fate rolled out of the way and shot an arrow at him, which, while dragonbone, didn’t seem to bother him too much. He growled softly as it bit into his scales but it didn’t have anywhere near the effect that arrows shot by Kaen no Mai had.

Alvark spat acid at her again, but as she darted out of the way, his other head lunged at her, teeth sinking into her right arm. She cried out in pain and struggled to get free, but his teeth sunk deeper and she heard bones snap. One of his feet came forward and pinned her to the ground, knocking her bow aside. He withdrew his head and studied her momentarily before his other front foot moved forward as well.

“I’ve always wondered if you Skullblades look human under that mask…” He hooked one claw on the edge of Fate’s mask and, without hesitation, yanked it upwards, sending her mask spinning away and into the wall of the building, leaving the Shadefang’s face exposed.

One of the most unnerving and heart-stopping things a Skullblade can experience.

Fate shook violently, not only from fear and pain but from how exposed she felt without her mask. Her eyes were wide and she felt as if someone had just stripped every protection from her and had laid her soul on a table to examine and judge. Alvark looked her over for a moment before shrugging slightly.

“Curiosity satisfied.” He declared as his other head’s mouth opened, and Fate couldn’t even shut her eyes to protect them from the inevitable acid spray that would surely shoot out at her momentarily.

And shoot out it did, but not at her. There was a furious roar followed by a scream of pain from the Hostile, his heads whipping around with acid spraying at the dark form that had jumped off the roof and driven a sword into his back. The figure jumped off of the Hostile’s back, driving his sword into Alvark’s side in order to slide down slower before hitting the ground.

Alvark released Fate by turning to address this sudden, painful threat, but as he moved to strike, the shadows reached out and wrapped around him, yanking him away from the fight. Injured as he was, he would only get himself killed, and Specterveil knew they couldn’t risk that anymore.

Thus, the sudden rescue.

Blade turned to Fate to make sure she was alright, only to find her lying on the ground, unmoving other than shivering. As he approached, he realized that her mask was missing and quickly looked away. She noticed and whimpered, slowly and painfully curling up to hide her face. Blade wiped off his sword and sheathed it in order to retrieve her mask from the ground. He dusted it off before kneeling by his friend and offering it to her.

Fate whimpered softly once more but took the mask from him, putting it on as quickly as she could. She relaxed somewhat once it was on but one look at her right arm had her shaking again.

“Fate. Fate, look at me.”

Fate didn’t seem to react to him, curling into a tight ball in an attempt to not look at her arm.

“Fate. Can you stand?”

Fate didn’t react.

“I’m going to take you to someone who can fix your arm, okay? Fate?”

No response.

“I’m going to pick you up if you don’t stand up.”

Blade sighed and latched his shield onto his back before struggling to get a decent hold on Fate in order to pick her up. She made an alarmed sound but didn’t struggle, instead shifting slightly to make it easier for him and leaning against him.

If Shred finds out about this, she’ll tease me forever.

Blade didn’t dwell on that long, however, pausing only to retrieve Fate’s bow before setting off towards where he had last seen Mitven, determined to save his friend.

~~~

Voryn took a deep breath as the group stopped in front of the ornate door. “I’ve been looking forward to this moment my entire life.”

“Then let’s not delay it.” Iirkolav reasoned. “Marcus, if you would?”

Marcus cheerfully kicked down the door and marched in, the others not far behind.

To their surprise, however, the king appeared to be alone, seated on a chair in the middle of the room. He smiled slightly as they entered, and as Nia got a good look at him, she felt a shiver run down her spine. He was certainly dressed like a king, in royal robes and a golden crown. He had short, styled black hair and tan skin. What was unnerving about him, however, were his eyes- a horrible, malicious red that practically burned with hatred as they seemed to settle on Iirkolav momentarily.

The king seemed to shake it off, however, and clapped for them, rising to his feet. “I’m surprised you managed to get up here. Between the guards and the Hostiles, I expected you all to die.” He laughed quietly to himself. “Although, you were never very good at that, were you, Iirkolav?” His eyes snapped to Iirkolav once more and narrowed in hate.

“Someone should teach you to stay dead.”

Iirkolav frowned, clearly puzzled. “How would you know…” A horrible thought occurred to him. “Wait…red eyes…didn’t Skera say that…”

A damn good actor, in her own words.

The king threw his head back and laughed, raising his hands slightly. The potted plants on either side of the door they had come from shivered and grew, creating thick vines over the doorway to block their escape.

“You fools. You didn’t think that the real Kalt’onian king would ally himself with the Hostiles and attack Sunspire with no apparent reason?”

“Frankly, yes.” Nia muttered, raising her bow and aiming an arrow at the ‘king.’ He shook his head and his form flickered and morphed, transforming into someone that made Nia lower her bow in surprise.

Her aunt Velana smiled sweetly at her. “You wouldn’t shoot your aunt, would you?” Other than the red eyes, it was a perfect transformation…

“Don’t listen to her.” Iirkolav growled. “Kyilld is a sneaky bitch and I can’t believe she managed to fool us!”

“It’s not that hard.” Kyilld told him innocently, sidestepping out of the way of his strike.

Voryn charged her as well, but he wasn’t as lucky as Iirkolav. Kyilld shot a magical blast through his chest as she ducked under his swing. She didn’t seem to notice his body hit the floor as she raised her hands once more and focused her powers momentarily.

Vines reached from every plant in the room- now that Nia had noticed them, she realized that there were dozens- and grabbed the limbs of the group, wrapping tightly around them and holding them captive and defenseless. Nia’s arms were pulled together, although interestingly enough they left the bow in her hands, but her legs were locked in place and not pulled in any particular direction.

I never thought I’d have to think of the phrase ‘I do not like the feeling of vines wrapping around my calves’ but here we are.

Iirkolav roared in fury and struggled against the vines, but they were wrapped too tightly around him to allow much movement. Even Marcus couldn’t break free with his vampiric strength, earning growls of frustration. Nia was pretty sure this situation counted as ‘really fucking bad’ on a scale of one to ten, especially when Kyilld transformed back into her true form and walked casually up to Iirkolav.

Kyilld had light green skin and wore clothes made of vines similar to the ones wrapped around her captives. Her hair was a darker mass of vines and she had two wings made of some kind of plant matter folded against her back. She gently drew a claw along Iirkolav’s jaw, ignoring the fury painted across his face.

“Not a fan of being tied up? Oh, I know what’s wrong. You’d rather I was Blame, right? Would you like me to turn into him for you?”

"Go fuck yourself."

"I'm not really into being watched." She smiled mockingly. "Sorry.”

“Um. Ew?” Nia really did not appreciate this conversation. For one, there was a time and place, and this was not it, and second, she didn’t really want to think about an alternate version of her ancestor and Shred’s ancestor…she stopped that train of thought right there in order to focus on the situation.

Kyilld ignored her in order to raise an eyebrow slightly at Iirkolav. “I’ve been looking forward to capturing you for quite awhile, now. I’ve been planning how best to kill you all, and then once you showed up again…well. I’ll teach you to stay dead. And then dear Nia over there will-”

Resync.

A tendril of darkness suddenly smashed the window open, making Kyilld jerk and whirl around. Onai dove through the window and rolled as he hit the floor, blades of darkness lashing out and slashing through vines at random. Kyilld struggled to hold her prisoners in place, but one of the blades struck her and disrupted her concentration. She lunged at Onai, cutting open his shoulder, before wrapping vines around him as well, pinning his arms to his sides. He was breathing heavily, clearly exhausted, and his hair seemed almost completely black instead of its usual dark brown.

Nia struggled against her bonds and, to her surprise, found her arms relatively free. Her eyes narrowed and she aimed her bow at Kyilld as the Hostile screamed her fury at Onai before turning back to Iirkolav.

Nia realized that she couldn’t reach the quiver on her back but Kaen no Mai reacted to her need, doing something it had never done before.

It formed a phantom arrow between her fingers.

Nia marveled over it for only a second before setting it on the string and pulling it back as far as she could, which admittedly wasn’t that far, but it would have to be enough.

“Happy birthday, fucker!”

Kyilld turned to question Nia’s sudden shout, but only succeeded in taking an arrow to the chest. She screamed as she was thrown against the wall and set ablaze, vines releasing their hold on their captives. A second arrow thudded into the Hostile, causing both her and her vines to disintegrate.

Kyilld’s orb hit the ground with a dull thud, leaving the room eerily silent.

Canopy Carnage II had been defeated.

The sky rumbled and a bolt of red lightning shot into the room, straight through the ceiling as if it wasn’t there, leaving Vechs Davion in its place. He scooped up the orb and turned to Iirkolav, tossing something to him. The moment the object left his hands, the lightning returned, striking and taking Vechs with it.

Everyone stared as Iirkolav caught the object and looked it over before recognition set in and a smile spread across his face. “Blame.” He whispered as he hugged the stuffed animal, a cat, tightly.

After a moment he sighed and released his gift, re-focusing himself on the task at hand. “I suppose we’ve killed the king. Now to stop the fighting…”

-~-

As Vechs returned to the Vortex, he found Blame holding the orb that showed Nia (and Iirkolav, due to their close proximity) and smiling. The Skullblade looked up at his friend and nodded, returning the orb. “Thank you.”

Vechs shook his head and handed it back. “Go ahead and hang onto it until I get back. I need to put Kyilld with the others.” He paused. “You just made Iirkolav really happy, you know.”

Blame nodded. “I know. That’s why I did it.”

Vechs smiled to himself as he left the room, Kyilld’s orb clutched in his hand.

At least he’s got something to make him smile again.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Oh my god the thing with the cat stuffed animal, and all the happiness, but the thing with the mask, and all of the feels, and more cool magic bow powers! And no one died this chapter! Except a Hostile, which is good. Yay! Things! Stuff! Story! Plot! Details! This made me incredibly happy after having an hour long orthodontist appointment. Good job Tanadin! You are safe from fire trucks and water cannons for now! Also, I am incredibly hyper right now.
-Observing Anon

[tanadin]

I mean, Geluuvoryn got murdered, but he wasn't anyone important! Just leader of the Sandbreakers! XD

But YAY LIVING

[eclipse3]

Daww, that's adorable! And yay no one important died! (R.I.P. Geluuvoryn)
G.C. (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

[r7]

The line in italics was originally supposed to feature the word "thighs" but that was deemed a bit too risque.

If you didn't know what that scene was alluding to, you do now. >:3

-Unofficial Official Editor

[(Anonymous)]

*cough* *sputter* *choke* *questions humanity* *is disturbed* *FML*

[tanadin]

I CHANGED IT FOR GOOD REASON
FURTHERMORE, IT WAS MY EDITOR WHO WANTED ME TO PUT IT IN
ER
THAT WAS
BAD
PHRASING
UM.
HE'S ASEXUAL. IF THAT. HELPS. ANY.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm disturbed with the fact you even considered it . . . T_T
-Anon Cami

[tanadin]

I didn't for good reason.

[r7]

It was in reference to one of the other (very old now) fic on here, the "ghastly curse saga". The author is a member of the Project based on the trilogy, but I honestly can't remember her MCL account.

[tanadin]

It's Geek, and I think her name here is tarisirfalas?

[tanadin]

Correction: it's gomt20 here, I'm used to her ao3 name :P

[(Anonymous)]

[She gently drew a claw along Iirkolav’s jaw, ignoring the fury painted across his face.

“Not a fan of being tied up? Oh, I know what’s wrong. You’d rather I was Blame, right? Would you like me to turn into him for you?”

"Go fuck yourself."] - Fated

[He cut across the road into the woods, preferring the solitude within the leaves rather than chancing across another fellow prisoner. A few steps later, he stopped abruptly when he felt something catch onto his clothes. Thinking he had snagged onto a stray branch, he tried to wiggle free, but it pulled back. He stumbled backwards, trying to grab onto whatever had latched to him. With his footing gone, it was easy for the thing to pull him roughly against the trunk of a tree.

“What the fuck?” he cursed, winded. He searched for his attacker in the shadows fearfully. Chuckling evilly, Vechs approached him from behind the tree, pale tendrils already wrapping around his limbs, pinning him against the bark, his arms above his head.] - Possession

Almost mirror situations it Kyllid had transformed into Blame. Loved the Ghastly Curse Saga but for different reasons and not as much as I love this set of stories. :D

- Scara

[tanadin]

c:
And yay! ^^

[(Anonymous)]

*has the same reaction as that anon up there* EEK MY INNOCENT MIND

-the lurkiest lurker

[tanadin]

None of my readers are innocent. :p

[(Anonymous)]

I have one question. Is it a taxidermied cat?
(On the other hand, the forceful removal of a skull blade's mask seems to send them into complete shock. Says a lot about Blame willingly taking off his in (the first) Iirkolav's final moments . . .)
-Anon Cami

[tanadin]

IT'S A CAT PLUSHIE

Exactly.

[(Anonymous)]

Now I'm imagining Blame sewing up a kitty plushie like an old granny.
*Sarcasm* Thanks a lot!
-Anon Cami

[tanadin]

I....I mean....
He actually does that. Actual Blame sews cat plushies. Hence this. :P

[koijuly]

Cat blob ^_^ just so much smiles.

Worried about possible lasting effects on fate, poor fate ;-;

[tanadin]

She's a horribly anxious person and that was one of the most terrifying things to ever happen to her.

[koijuly]

Argh don't confirm my worries, I like fate and you ma'am are mean, but I still love it

[(Anonymous)]

This was an amazing chapter. I loved it. The part with Fate and Blade almost made me cry because it was so cute and exactly like something I would write my characters doing. When the sneak group discovered that the 'king' was Kyllid - also good. Nia's thoughts during that portion of the story - freaking hilarious. And Iirkolav's reaction to the kitty plushie IS THE SWEETEST THING. <3 <3 Oh, and they killed a Hostile. Ten thumbs up!

Funny that it's during a fight chapter that all the cute things happen. (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)

-the lurkiest lurker

[(Anonymous)]

*Only when bad guy gets killed and good guys win. Apart from that one person who died.*

[tanadin]

I really liked this chapter, too ^^