Shad
Midnight
Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Post Count: 2684
Location: Lion's Maw
4252503 Potch
200 Soldiers
38 Nation Points
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 Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:27 pm Post subject: 044 - And We're Off |
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[size=150:1phdmz90]And We're Off
[p:1phdmz90]"Om nuvis smolen taung modri sofulgen tralsumifen magdr---"[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]"I'm getting pretty fed up with this," Lionel interrupted.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]Tyne's head shot up with fire in his eyes. "Breaking my concentration will not hasten your situation any," he hissed.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]"We've been out here in the woods for four days now, and I'm getting pretty tired of it. I know you have to have a home somewhere," Lionel replied. Tyne had been proving quite the annoyance. He'd been able to shield a number of his thoughts by resorting to some foreign tongue Lionel could not recognize, and it seemed fairly obvious that what he was working on had nothing to do with sending him home.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]Tyne's anger grew, but then suddenly he became quite calm and a small smile broke across his face. "Your situation is being researched already. I've passed the word along, but my task here deals with other matters. If you would really like to see my home though, I can take you there."[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]Lionel remained silent and stared at the mage, his arms crossed. "Very well," Tyne said, his grin widening, and he began to chant. A moment later the world around Lionel began to fade, and he was in the foyer of a mansion, facing a door.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]"Welcome, Mr. Vampire," Tyne sneered. If you'd really like to see my 'home', just step outside and take a look. Lionel was growing tired of the mage's games, but he pushed the front door open regardless and stepped outside. His eyes widened instantly. How very... messy.[/p:1phdmz90]
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[p:1phdmz90]The whole crew was ready and waiting by a small bus at 5am, yawning and rubbing their eyes unaccustomed to such an early rise. The site of the incident was about an hour's drive north, and they ought to arrive just as the sun set in. There were thirteen of them here: Andrew, Alex, Glenn, Kevin, Marcus, Anwyn, Krivin, Scott, Costanza, Marco, Logan, Red, and Blue. Croft saw them off with a "good luck" at the door, and the bus took off down the road.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]About an hour later it pulled to a halt behind the remains of the ambush. The bodies had been cleared up, but the two vehicles still remained in ruin. The group quickly piled off the bus to avoid a similar fate and began to scout the area. It did not take long for Andrew to find a prominent note attached to one of the wrecked vehicles ahead of them. 'Step away from the bus' it read, and he barely had time to shout "Look out!" before their mode of transportation burst into flames. The group hit the ground as shards of glass and metal went flying everywhere.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]The old Freedom Fighters were the first to their feet, instinctively taking up a defensive posture around the area. Logan soon followed, checking everyone for serious injuries. There had been no missile or obvious magic at work; the bus seemed to have exploded of its own accord. Andrew glanced at the note still in his hand, but the text had changed. It now said "Go north".[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]No one had been injured beyond a few minor cuts, which Logan healed easily enough, and with no better option available all save the driver of the bus complied and continued to make their way up the road on foot. Something like this had to be expected from the start. None of the scouts sent by One Nation north of this point had returned. They were walking into a trap, that was obvious enough, but the mage had challenged them to do so. The trap would be to test them, not to kill them.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]After about an hour on foot the land around them began to take a new form. They'd passed field after field of relatively flat farm land, but the sky ahead of them was dark. A black cloud loomed over the land, transfixed in the sky though all of the clouds around them blew calmly by. They carried on, and as they neared it vegetation dwindled. The land seemed to be stained brown. "Something dreadful awaits us," Krivin stated.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]"Hmm?" Kevin beside him turned with a bit of surprise, for no one had spoken since the cloud came in to sight, and even before that Krivin had been pretty quiet.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]"I can sense it already," Krivin replied. "There is immense fear ahead of us, unlike any I've ever felt before."[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]They were now quite near to it. It was like walking in a moonless night. Though behind them the sun shone brightly, its very rays seemed to reluctantly turn aside at the base of the shadow. Everyone felt it now... a sense of dread and foreboding. Slowly the ground shifted, and they were walking down hill. There was a dim light in the distance, though far from helping the situation it only escalated their uneasiness.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]At last they reached it, quite tired despite having traveled a relatively short distance. It felt like the sky was bearing down on them, adding some unknown burden to their backs. They came to a halt between two houses, the first they'd seen in quite a while. A lamp post on either side provided less than adequate light to make out any further surroundings.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]"This is it," Andrew stated, beginning to charge up his laser energy. Glenn drew his sword and the others prepared themselves likewise. They could hear footsteps approaching ahead of them.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]A body slowly came into view, not on the ground but above them. A small boy was walking upside down, floating in the air. His every step made a hollow piercing knock, though he walked on nothing at all.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]"The master welcomes you," he said in an eerily calm child's voice. "He says that he would love to meet you, but he must test you first. He lives in the mansion on the north side of the village. He says that your test is to find him there, alive."[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]Everything went black. Glenn opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by a blinding light. He was lying on a wooden floor, unbound and sword still in hand. Immediately he jumped to his feet and looked around. He was in a small featureless room, the sealing, walls, and floor all made of wood. He could find no source for the light, yet it seemed to encompass everything; He had no shadow. He heard an odd sound behind him, like that of a whimpering dog, and slowly, still rather frightened by what had just happened, he turned around to face it. There he saw the back of a man curled up in a ball, nodding back and forth in front of a wooden door. He was wearing a One Nation uniform.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]"A.... are you alright? Are you one of the scouts sent here earlier?" he asked sheepishly. The man stopped rocking and quickly turned its head around to face him. Glenn lurched back in horror, for the man's eyes and mouth were sewn shut. It began to make a high pitched laughing sound and rose to its feet. Where its hands ought to have been the mutilated man bore two long fleshy spikes, and raising them out in front of it the creature charged.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]Glenn, still dazed by the horror, barely reacted in time. He dove out of the way into the corner of the room as the creature's arms splintered the wall where he'd been standing. Quickly he rose to his feet to defend himself. The beast whirled towards him and with a terrible wail ran forward, swinging its arms about wildly. He swung his sword once, twice, and both of its jagged stubs fell to the ground, yet this didn't seem to phase it. It continued to run at him, and reaching him it began smacking its head into his side pitifully, desperate to kill so long as life remained in it.[/p:1phdmz90]
[p:1phdmz90]Utterly appalled, Glenn ran the monster through with his sword and then fell to the ground himself. He sat there staring in disbelief for a few minutes before his heart rate finally settled down. Then he stood and walked to the door by which the creature had once been sitting. It was unlocked.[/p:1phdmz90]
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NDR: Have fun guys. I'm going on vacation and will have no internet access from the 8th until about the 22nd, so this little horror show will probably last until at least then. The goal was spelled out clearly enough; make it to the mansion in the north of this town alive. |
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