The First Blight: Curse of Dumat [RP/Closed]

[ShadowFolk]

Sulahn'nehn's eyes went wide. A demon of Pride had made it's way out of the Fade and stood before them. It easily dispensed of the remaining creatures; it was a testament to the whispers she'd heard of a Pride demon's power. Her chest ached as even the one residing in her took notice of it's presence. The Wardens were tired and beaten, if the towering demon lifted even a claw at them she doubted they would last long.

How right she was, within his first attack, the male barbarian lay motionless on the ground. Ulrin looked as if he would follow Alrik soon and she did not know if Ghil had any strength left. She was terrified.

The elf let out a shout, blasting the demon but she did not see make so much of a flinch.

 

[Rosen2012]

Ulrin watched as the barbarian lunged forward toward their new adversary. the elf himself was still shocked by the sight of the thing. And the demon took Alrick down with such ease. Tossing him aside like he was nothing...

"This- this must be the end." The elf gripped his knives and rushed forward, managing to barely keep his vision focused he dug his weapons into the demon where he could.

 

[Cinnonym]

"What is this devilry..."

Ghil was stunned, the fearless strength sapped out of her at the sight. It wasn't until her comrades attacked that she regained her senses. Two elves? She had to protect them. She charged forward with a scream of frustration, swinging her greatsword to cut into its side with as much power as she could muster.

 

[duckflesh]

The Pride Demon growled and hissed as it bore the onslaught of attacks; Ulrin's strike managed to sever its right arm completely, the massive limb hitting the earth with a thump.

The demon took a deep breath, calming itself.

"Why would you summon me here and then stand between me and my right?" It looked from Ghil, to Ulrin, and finally to Sulahn'nehn. "I shall kill you one by one. And the last? The last will be eaten."

True to its word, it leaned down quickly and wrapped a heavy hand around Ghil, picking her up as if she weighed nothing and then smashing her into the ground with all its force.

The barbarian did not get back up.

"You and me," the Pride Demon laughed, "and the devil makes three. Who is next?"

 

[ShadowFolk]

Sulahn'nehn was enraged. They seemed to be falling left and right and she had no way of immediately knowing if any of them were going to ever get back up. Her friend had just been brutalized and from the looks of things, both elves would suffer the same soon if they could not stop it. She screamed with effort to tear the demon down.

 

[Rosen2012]

Ulrin attempted to curse, but all that happened when he spoke was a terrible cough. Now Ghil as well! The Creators were cruel weren't they. He charged forward again raising his knives over his head to stab into the demon again, but with his blurred vision he only sank one into its flesh.

 

[duckflesh]

The Pride demon looked dead on its feet; puddles of black liquid pooled beneath it. But it was grinning-- the elves did not look much better.

Rearing back, it rammed its head into Ulrin, impaling him through the belly on its horns. It laughed uproariously in its deep, gloating voice before hurling him away, blood cascading through the air like rain.

Now it turned on Sulahn'nehn.

"I am going to eat you. I am going to start with your legs, and I am going to take my time. And then I will take your dead friend and wear him like clothing."

 

[ShadowFolk]

Sulahn'nehn looked and Ulrin's body with as much shock as she had for the others. She was the only one that remained standing. If they still breathed, she could not let the demon go any further. "You! You will do nothing but wish you never left the Fade!" It looked as if it had one foot in the grave or at least she came to that conclusion as she put her hands before her and visualized ripping the bastard in two.

"You- Die- Here!" The elf strained to make the visualization become a reality, her magic pulling at it in opposing directions. She only managed to tear part of at it's neck from it's shoulder. She fell to knee, breathing heavily.

 

[duckflesh]

Tarry blood splashed over Sulahn'nehn as the Pride Demon collapsed, its body quickly beginning to bubble and dematerialize.

But she could not have peace-- not quite yet. After only a few breaths, she began hearing a voice in her head. This was not the deep, mocking voice of the demon-- this seemed much more pleasant, more reasonable. It was not unlike her own voice.

"She is a child of Elvhenan, and a vanquisher of demons! She is of the proudest and most ancient lineage!"

Seemingly not of her own accord, her eyes turned to Thaedrin, still totally unaware of his surroundings-- and untouched from the combat.

"But if that is so, why does she suffer such treatment from a slaver? Why has she let this man abuse her? Even now the best funeral rights he can give for Diocles are to soil the world with demons, demons that have hurt-- or killed-- her only friends. When the slaver returns from the fade, will he show remorse? Will he apologize for this, or for anything?"

Her eyes turned to spot one of Ulrin's knives lying in the grass, very nearby.

"Is she still a slave, too afraid to fight back? Or is she a child of Elvhenan, and a vanquisher of demons?" the voice spoke, slowly fading away. Once it had vanished, it was hard to say whether it had been something from outside, or merely her own thoughts.

 

[ShadowFolk]

Her eye flicked from the glinting blade and back to the blood mage. Sulahn'nehn walked towards and and scooped it up, each action seemingly to take a decade to pass. For a long while all she did was look at it, turning it over in her hands. Thaedrin had caused so much death, was he too like her master; A mage that should be punished for all the pain he brought to others. Would spilling his blood be right?

 

[Cinnonym]

To the others, Thaedrin was as still as stone, his eyes fixed on some distant location, his aura roiling with the effort of holding open the Veil. Within the Fade, however, he was lucid and in complete control. For all the demons that had stolen into the mortal realm, there were many that he was yet restraining, waiting for one powerful enough to accomplish the task he had set before himself. The Pride demon overwhelmed him, and then, finally, when it was thrown back into the Fade, weakened, he reached out for its essence and pulled--

Magic surged along the ground like a shockwave, though only Sulahn?nehn was there to feel it. It resonated with flesh and blood, healing, rebuilding. He used the demon?s power like he would have used his own life force, fueling his abilities beyond the scope of mere men. The barbarians, the elves, and the corpse in front of him: their torn flesh was mended and their bones pieced together. Though it did not leave the skin as good as new, their wounds were no longer a danger, no longer threatening to end a life.

Thaedrin snapped back into the waking world with a sharp gasp and a shudder; when he saw Diocles had been repaired, he hurriedly held his hands to his chest to feel for a pulse. There was a breath of relief? But it was temporary. When he looked at the archer?s face, suddenly all the fury came back to him and he struck a blow across the man?s jaw with his fist.

It felt so damn good that he just kept punching.

 

[ShadowFolk]

Sulahn'nehn's chain of thought ended abruptly as she felt what seemed the world shifting. What happened? She shook her head, trying to remember just what had been at the foremost of her mind. Something about her people, and demons, and-

Diocles was being beaten. Had Thaedrin gone mad? Sulahn'nehn rushed forward with Ulrin's knife in hand. She pulled at Thaedrin from behind, wrapping her arm around his and brandishing the blade. "You will stop!" she shouted. "Have you no shame?! You have killed us all and you will let him lie in peace!"

 

[FortyThree]

Diocles awoke on the first punch. His eyes opened on the second. By the third, he realized what was happening. He was alive. He had been winning, and then he had died in an instant, stolen away to something.. Other. And Thaedrin had brought him back, had risked everything to do so. He was still a son of a *****, but he had earned a few free hits.

Regaining his strength, the archer shot forward his arms around the blood mage. He pulled Thaedrin close, crushing the man against his chest in an embrace, removing him from Sul's hands.

"You idiot. ... You blighted, scale sucking, bloody, Toth-burned, idiot."

 

[ShadowFolk]

Sulahn'nehn dropped the blade in fright. Diocles' corpse just grabbed Thaedrin and spoke. She stumbled backwards onto her ass. She stammered, hardly able to get the sentence out of her mouth, "Di-...But- Y-You're alive!"

 

[Cinnonym]

Thaedrin didn't move for a moment, he was shocked half to death. Then he twisted sharply out of the man's grasp, shoving him away.

"Get off. Gods. ...At least one of us can be relied upon."

If Sulahn'nehn hadn't already been falling all over herself, he would've given her a shove just for the joy of it. As it was, the moment he pulled himself to his feet and stood upright, the blood loss and fatigue put him right back on the ground. Two steps and the first syllable of another snide remark were all he'd gotten out before he had to take a knee, gasping.

Ghil sat upright, apprehensive. She looked around wildly for sign of the demons, but even the grass had recovered all its burned bits. "The demons--where did they go, escaped!?"

 

[Rosen2012]

Ulrin stirred as well. The elf gasped and groaned. He expected to cough up more blood and was surprised he did not. The rogue put his hands on his chest and looked around confused... "W-we are alive? How are we alive?"

 

[duckflesh]

Alrik, holding one hand to an enormous bump on his head, grinned at Thaedrin.

"Knew Constable Thaedrin must have good plan! ...Actually, thought had gone insane. But was good plan."

He walked over to inspect the Pride Demon's remains, running his hands through the rapidly evaporating goo.

"Too bad Alamarri not see. Die of fear. Bow to us."

 

[ShadowFolk]

Her heart rate jumped again when she heard Ghil's voice. She lived too! Perhaps they all were. "Dead. They're all dead..." She had the biggest urge to hug the giant tightly and probably would have if she were not so far away. Though that feeling did not last long when she looked at Thaedrin, "And this sodding blighter nearly got us all killed!"

When Ulrin spoke she knew they were all fine. At least they were now. "If I must guess, it is by this one's blood magic." she spat out her words. She was thankful that they lived, but in her mind she was quite reasonably upset.

 

[FortyThree]

"I am."

Diocles grinned at Sul, running his fingers along the new, somewhat gruesome, scars on his chest, and the line of half-healed flesh across the bridge of his newly restored nose. He felt drained and weak, but he was alive. He sprung to his feet, energetic with pure joy. He swept the female elf into an even more powerful hug than he had given Thaedrin, picking her up off the ground in his arms.

"I am, I am, I am!"

 

[ShadowFolk]

Sulahn'nehn continued screaming exactly how she felt about Thaedrin's choices until she's been scooped up and it ended in a squeak. What was happening now? Was that a hug? That was definitely a hug. Did humans actually hug elves? They must if it was happening now. What was she supposed to do with this new...thing.

No, no, no. She was angry. She was angry and they would all hear about it for quite some time and- oh well, she tried.

"You're alive. And you're an idiot." She returned his hug though she could not muster the same strength.