Monday, April 02, 2012

The path winds ever onwards...

"I don't believe you." Crow was on his feet, glaring at the Elf and he dwarf angrily, Addy looked shocked as she was startled awake as her pillow moved.
"You callin' me a liar, manling?" Grundown was on his feet, weapon in hand faster than ana could blink, and then she was on her feet, between the pair.
"Grun! Stop it." she looked back at Crow, sadly. "Crow... I know. But it's true. She turned on us both, tried to kill us both... Kept going on about the plans of the Lord of Lies." She shook her head. "Everything she's said to us, for the past five years has been a lie. And I think from what she was saying... she had something to do with the taking of Mercia."
Crow glared at the Elf, who stared unflinchingly back, shaking her head. "No, Crow. Why would we lie about this? She was our friend as much as yours."
The Kharachians fists clenched, and Addy touched his arm gently as she stood shakily. "Where is she?" he asked eventually, his voice angry, his eyes dark.
Grundown shook his head, gesturing at the village behind them. "Somewhere in there lad? Or in the woods? Who knows?"
"You must know more Grundown! You can't come to me with something like this and offer me nothing!" Crow raged, starting to step forward, but being stopped by Addy.
"Crow... I... I don't know what is going on here completely but..." she shook her head. "You can't be angry at your friends for this."
The Kharachian glared at the Traldan angrily and she withered under his gaze, but the anger escaped him with a long bitter sigh.
"So what do we do?" he asked eventually, as the group sat down again.

===

"It would almost be a nice day if it wasn't for why we were in the woods." Aylix said with a sigh as the group trudged cautiously along the forest path, Lucy riding on his shoulders.
Gregory let out a hollow laugh. "It is almost as if the weather is ignorant of what is happening."
The distance was eaten below their feet slowly, when eventually John announced that he had to rest.
With an exasperated look at each other, Aylix and Gregory agreed and soon found a small place to rest just off the path. Hanging out water and some of the limited food they had been given the group let themselves relax a bit - except Gregory.
"How far away are we?" the Crowan asked staring down the path as Aylix joined him.
The mercenary shrugged. "No idea, it can't be that much further, especially as we've not seen any other refugees."
Gregory sighed. "I am not sure we should have left, you know."
Aylix raised his eyebrows, surprised, glancing back at their charges before back at the Crowan. "You can't fight every front of a fight at once, High Father. This is just our front. We need to see them through to Netherthong, we need to finish that front before we go joining any others."
Gregory raised his eyebrows. "You're not just a drunk." he smirked, mouth twitching to Aylix's assenting nod.
A noise made them both stop, a sound they were both all too familiar with; battle.
They looked at each other, then at their charges then at the sound of the fighting in the opposite direction. A glance of agreement passed between the pair before they tore off in direction of the fighting, barrelling through the undergrowth.

===

Leanna sighed as she leaned back against the door of the room she had been given, clutching at the holy symbol around her neck like a lifeline. "Seraklan, please... From all this planning, I've come too far for this all to fail now. Too far for it all to fall down because some wussy merchants son with father issues gets a case of the nerves."
Letting go of the holy symbol she pushed away from the door, crossing to the table as she took the scroll out of the hidden pocket she had stowed it in, unrolling it and laying it out on the table.
"Seraklan, by your powers we twist the fates, we alter the great game and we subvert those plans than others lay down. For the past five years I have sown the seeds of dissent, I have planted the ideas of treachery and I have furthered the cause of your name. In two nights, a betrayal of one faithful volunteer will seal the ring of your power around the city of Mercia and make it yours. Tearing it away from your Dark Sister, the Mother of Monsters. Even now your other agents are subverting the sites that the followers of Krygan started to sanctify and with my ritual, with the death of one final volunteer - your power shall be absolute."
She pulled out her silver dagger, to her eyes a holy aura of power surrounding it. "Glory to Seraklan." she said with satisfaction, drawing the dagger across her hand and letting some of the blood fall onto the scroll. "In your name, for the last three hundred and thirty one days I have bled onto this scroll and it is powered with my devotion and it is that devotion that shall see the Great Lie spread."
Her satisfied smile spoke volumes as the blood was absorbed into the parchment, leaving it clean and the holy aura flared for one intense second.

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