Lisa shook her head. All around her was blackness; the only object in the void was the voice. It echoed strangely, reflecting off invisible surfaces and reaching deep into her mind where ordinary sound could not reach. All of her senses were focused on this. She could taste the words, smell the inflection, feel the accent.
"You are weak. Helpless. You know you cannot win. Your only hope lies in surrender."
She felt a slight pull. The desire to succumb to the darkness was growing stronger. She heard herself speak.
"Nope. This is my mind, and I'm not gonna give in. Time to wake up."
Light and sound exploded back as she returned to consciousness. Groaning, she pulled herself out of a holly bush. She'd only blacked out for a few moments, but the battle was already raging. She put aside the ache in her head and jaw, and tried to ignore the bruises already forming. Considering how close she'd been to the blast, she was lucky to escape serious injury.
Glancing around, she realized that either she'd been thrown further than she'd thought or the main fighting had moved away from where she lay, for the screams and roars were somewhat muffled. A sudden noise made her start, but it was just Cobalt returning to her side, his polished surface stained and scratched, but similarly unscathed.
Despite appearances, Lisa was a far more experienced warrior than she would care to admit, and spent no time wondering why the scout had been wrong, or who they were fighting. All that she was thinking was how to stop the fighting as quickly as possible. Cormac would have been very surprised at this logic.
"Into the mêlée..." she muttered under her breath and stepped forward. A prickling sensation on the back of her neck stopped her. She felt a vague sensation of falling, before the cold lanced into her with a sharpness that made her gasp. She tried the bars once more, but they still held firm - the cold iron was driven firmly into the damp, dank stone. The faint moonlight that pierced the thick black clouds was the only source of light or life in the cell. She was utterly alone. Again. Her mind raged at her. Why had she dared to rely on others? She had no right to happiness, not for a thief and liar. She slumped against the wall, spent.
"You're only as strong as your weakest point, my dear."
----------
Tessa crouched in the lengthening shadows, agitated. Her Plauna flitted around her, equally restless. Leon and Harlequin sat next to them, their patience diametrically opposed to the young medic's.
"Leon, people and monsters are dying! Last time I checked, that was not a good thing!" she hissed.
"Not yet..." he murmured.”The only advantage we have is surprise. We're only going to get one proper chance at this, and we can't waste it."
"And you knew they were going to be ambushed? And didn't do anything?"
"You know *I* couldn't tell them. And they would be rather suspicious if a mysterious young woman told them out of the blue that their most trusted and skilled scout missed a huge war party lying in wait, no? Besides, the chaos and confusion will prove a perfect distraction. Not even he would be able to deal with this kind of action easily."
"But there must have been something we could've done! I mean, do you have any idea how many...children are now fatherless? Or, or how many mothers have lost their sons?!"
"Do you have any idea how much worse it will be if we don't stop them now?" replied Leon in the same calm, reasonable and infuriating voice.
Lisa pulled a face. "Sometimes...I wonder about..."
Leon's eyes snapped open and the beginnings of a gasp died in his throat. "Lisa's in trouble. Go help her."
He passed his hand over a shadow before them and gestured. Tessa gave him a brief, smoldering glare and dived through, Shannon gliding with her. Leon returned to waiting, knowing a lecture about double standards lay in the near future.
"Yes...I do know. And I bear that responsibility because I'm the only one who can. One day, I hope for forgiveness, but never understanding..."
----------
“Huh. Thought it’d be harder than that.”
A bulky middle-aged man darted slightly awkwardly from tree to tree, slowly making his way to where Cormac fell. His dark jeans and padded sleeveless vest made him difficult to spot in the twilight.
He paused, crouched beneath a scraggy bush. There was no real cover between him and Cormac after this. Despite himself, he was trembling. He forced himself still – the kid was dead, he’d seen his blade strike him down. The mew was still around, but between them he and Apex could deal with it. When he stood, he was going to see…
There was no sign of a body.
The man swore under his breath, pushed his greasy blond hair out of his eyes and peered through the trees. The warning snap of a branch came too late, and he turned just in time to meet Cormac’s boot coming the other way. Cormac winced as the bone crunched under his sole, but his ribs still ached and the strange metallic vest Leon had given him had only just stopped the razor-sharp disc. He wheezed slightly…it felt as though the impact might have bruised a rib, or worse.
“Arrg! My chaw!” The man’s scream was muffled slightly.
There was a pause as the two sized each other up. Ross was acutely aware that he’d lost the element of surprise, and Fionn’s warnings of the potential power of the kid were well placed in his mind. The fact that he’d survived his initial attack troubled him as well – he hated drawn out battles, and preferred quick, lethal strikes.
Cormac on the other hand knew that in his current state he was no physical match for Ross. The broken jaw was down to more luck than anything else, and once the initial surge of adrenalin wore off, he would be in serious trouble. They both made the same decision.
“Thenardi!”
“Apex!”
Thenardi landed softly in a half-crouch in front of Cormac, claws drawn. The two men backed away – it was their monster’s battle now. Thenardi remained tense, searching for his foe, his normally childish features set into a resolute glare. This was the most important fight of his life, and far more than ever before was at stake.
A low buzzing sound filled Cormac’s ears. Before he’d even opened his mouth to cry a warning Thenardi had flung himself flat. An ebony blur flashed by at head-height, twisted round and arced back in a wide loop before slashing down where Thenardi lay. He rolled to one side, lashing out as he did so. The mask bounced away and came to a sudden halt about ten yards in front of Thenardi, who’d already leapt to his feet. A long dark cloak billowed out behind the phantasmal body, while the now still sun-shaped mask floated several inches above the collar. Behind Thenardi, arm-thick branches crashed to the ground, sheared cleanly in two by the razor sharp edge.
Cormac bit his lower lip. This was to be his first battle since Leon’s tutelage – he feverently wished it could have been less critical. The Galious looked formidable.
“Alright, Thenardi…you know what…to do.”
Thenardi nodded with a sharp meow.
Leon had explained that Thenardi share Cormac’s gift of precognition. There was some difference, however, as Thenardi’s mind was designed differently to his own. In short, Thenardi’s short-term precognition would be far sharper than Cormac’s, and he’d be able to adapt more easily to using this in battle. This manifested itself in reflexes far beyond that of a normal monster, in addition to further precognition, though this would be far harder.
In short, at least until Cormac’s experience grew, it was best to let Thenardi fight on his own, using his enhanced agility. Any orders given would almost certainly be carried out before Cormac could say them aloud. Cormac had often let Thenardi fight under his own judgement, as Mews were monsters whose strengths were speed and agility, and so could react to most situations faster than their trainers. This never bothered Cormac until now. He knew it was perverse, but he still hated not being in control, even though he would probably have let Thenardi fight on his own.
The two monsters circled each other, looking for an opening…
----------
Gracefully, the lithe young woman leapt down from the oak’s branches. Lisa and Cobalt lay side by side, both sunk into their respective miseries, incapable of struggle. She paused for a moment, head cocked to one side as though listening to a distant sound, before nodding and gesturing to her side. Her Haktak slithered to her heel.
“To be taken…alive…” she whispered, with a voice that sounded hollow and far away. The pair closed in. A blackjack appeared in the woman’s hand. The Haktak raised a talon to strike…
“Get away!”
Tessa cannoned into her side, knocking her to the ground. Shannon whirled around the Haktak’s head three times before unleashing a blast of cold directly into the serpent’s face. Tessa, momentarily distracted by the roar of pain, received a stunning blow to the side of the head that left her sprawling in the dirt. She rose quickly, and whirled round to face her foe, and so saw her features for the first time.
The thinness and paleness of the face were striking, certainly. There was also a haunting familiarity to the features that would guarantee to frustrate her for some time. But what slackened Tessa’s jaw were her eyes. Two tiny points of charcoal black were set deep into pools of foggy grey-white. Looking into them brought on an unnerving sensation of having the back of one’s skull scrutinized.
The woman blinked. If anything, she looked more bewildered than anything else, as though there was no way that Tessa should be there, and she made no aggressive movements. This made it harder for Tessa, as she lacked Leon and Lisa’s fighting spirit, and faced with a confused and seemingly harmless foe was unsure how to proceed. Shannon and the Haktak had broken away and stayed by their owners’ sides, sharing the uncertainty.
And then someone hit Tessa very hard on the back of the skull.
----------
Apex and Thenardi remained apart. Neither had launched any proper attacks yet, though there had been many feints and parries. To Cormac’s surprise, Ross had very little say in what Apex did; he also seemed content to let his monster slug it out on her own.
Suddenly, Thenardi leapt. Apex had barely registered the movement before razor-sharp claws tore through her side. The dark mask let out a ghostly wail of pain and swatted Thenardi away with a huge, ethereal arm. The nimble cat leapt over the clumsy blow and dived forward, slamming headfirst into the billowing cloak, he landed and leapt again, this time planting a foot into the center of the mask. Apex collapsed backwards as he landed gracefully before it. The whole exchange took less than ten seconds.
Cormac felt an unexpected surge of relief. It was reassuring to know that even in this desperate situation he could rely on his monster’s skills as well as his own.
The spikes that framed the mask lengthened and curved. Thenardi leapt back as the imposing creature forced itself upright. In a moment, the air blurred, the speed of the spikes spinning building up enormous air friction. Gouts of flame billowed forth, and Thenardi was lucky to escape merely singed. Pressing her advantage, Apex fired typhoon-born bursts again and again. Thenardi bounded and leapt and dodged, evading the flames by inches and seconds, using the surroundings to slowly close in.
Ross wiped the blood from his mouth, closed his eyes and concentrated. This was risky, but he’d had enough. Besides, Apex wasn’t doing well – if he lost, there’d be hell to pay from both sides.
As Thenardi landed on a thick bough, there was an ominous cracking noise. Before he could move, the entire branch fell away, and only his incredible agility stopped his arm from being snapped in two. He yelped in pain as the broken branch clipped his shoulder as he landed awkwardly on the ground.
He sprang away as another sheet of flame struck the ground. Unfortunately in the midst of the inferno a limestone pebble, stressed beyond endurance, exploded into red hot shrapnel in a million-to-one chance. Thenardi gritted his teeth as several pieces of scalding rock burrowed into his body.
Cormac watched in horror as his partner crashed to the ground. Untrained senses screamed at him that something was fundamentally wrong. In his mind’s eye he’d seen Thenardi land safely on the branch, and the pebble remain unbroken. That’s what should have happened. What had happened was possible, but very, very unlikely – almost an impossibility. But something…something had interfered. Something powerful, focused and experienced. Something or someone…
He gasped.
“’Anord’? Chaos?”
Ross’s features flickered from surprise to annoyance to anger. He had to finish this, now. The attention of two men and monsters on the timelines was causing efforts to manifest themselves in far more powerful and unexpected ways than he had ever experienced, and already sweat beaded his forehead as he struggled to control the chaotic forces he wielded. He gritted his teeth and focused.
A freak gust bent the smaller trees double and whirled the broken branch through the air. Thenardi managed to leap over it, but it struck Apex full in the chest, knocking it back. The concentrated simoom went awry, igniting several trees.
“Thenardi! You can’t…trust your precognition…anymore! Just rely on your…own skills! You can do this!” Cormac wheezed.
Thenardi rose to his feet, ignoring the terrible pain from his wounds. The flames that lit the dark sky gave a ghostly, dreamy glow to the makeshift arena. Apex raised his hands and lightning flowed, but the mew was already up and away, tumbling through the falling embers.
A large birch, weakened by fire and lightning but mainly by Ross’ attention, slowly toppled down, ready to swat Thenardi out of the air. But now he was thinking for himself, instead of relying on suddenly uncertain talents. He stretched out and sunk the tip of his claws into the bark, and using this leverage managed to push up and over, forcing his body to backflip over the falling obstacle. Apex had no time to dodge as Thenardi landed feet first into the wraithlike body. The blow knocked the deity back, but she responded immediately with a straight blow that struck the feline in the air. Thenardi twisted and managed to land on his feet, but Cormac saw that he was breathing hard, and couldn’t take much more.
Apex pulled her cloak around her. Cormac knew what was coming next.
“Thenardi! Wisp attack!”
But as Apex pulled her cloak away, revealing the shimmering ball of blue energy, Thenardi countered with a zap attack. The laser struck the blue wisp, and a massive concussive blast ripped trees out of the ground or snapped them in two as the oxygen ignited. Thenardi’s cry of pain was mirrored by Cormac’s as the mew slammed into Cormac’s chest, causing his injured ribs to grind together.
The pair stayed sprawled in a heap twenty yards from where they’d been standing until the echoes that reverberated around the forest died away. Cormac forced himself to his feet, eyeing the thirty foot crater and the halo of snapped or uprooted trees. The power of Chaos. Ross and Apex were gone.
Thenardi looked pained but proud. This fight had been won using his own skills, not those given to him. Distant shouts brought both to their senses. The battle was not over.
“Come on…Thenardi. Let’s find…the others.”
-------------------------------------------------- This was originally going to be longer, but I figure that if I wrote all I wanted to in this chapter it would end up being overtly long. Enjoy ^.^
By DarkBlitzX on Monday, February 28, 2005 - 03:43 pm:
Yay! Someone wrote something.
Good job. Some thing's i don't really get, but i expect i have to read earlier chapters. Let me ask some things
So..Ross is the avatar of chaos. also, this part.
Lisa pulled a face. "Sometimes...I wonder about..."
Leon's eyes snapped open and the beginnings of a gasp died in his throat. "Lisa's in trouble. Go help her."
how can he hear her.? another thing is the part where
Into the mêlée..." she muttered under her breath and stepped forward. A prickling sensation on the back of her neck stopped her. She felt a vague sensation of falling, before the cold lanced into her with a sharpness that made her gasp. She tried the bars once more, but they still held firm - the cold iron was driven firmly into the damp, dank stone. The faint moonlight that pierced the thick black clouds was the only source of light or life in the cell. She was utterly alone. Again. Her mind raged at her. Why had she dared to rely on others? She had no right to happiness, not for a thief and liar. She slumped against the wall, spent.
"You're only as strong as your weakest point, my dear."
what iron bars are you talking about? From this i got the impression af a jail cell.. but where idd it come from?
Ack - this is why you should always, always proof-read your stuff several times. That's just embarassing...
Anyway, point #1, It should be TESSA saying "Sometimes I wonder...", not Lisa.
#2 Can't really say...bear in mind that there are a few others who haven't been brought into play yet...
Incidentally, I'm unaware if anyone on the board can edit other's posts (though I'd be surprised if there wasn't), so if anyone could fix mistake the first, I'd seriously apprecite it.
And finally, yes, go read earlier chapters. Things will make a lot more sense. And they're great. ^.^
Just to let anyone following this know; I'm going to be extremely busy for the next couple of months between various activities in my life, so don't expect another chapter until beginning of June at the earliest. Sorry, but it'll be for the best - I'd rather wait and give y'all something great then churn out something rushed and unfocused.
By DarkBlitzX on Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 10:52 am:
:/, I don't like it, but what you say is true. As for me, i should be producing at least two chapters between now and june, for which of my stories i have no idea.
By Dragon's soul on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 06:26 am:
Sorry I'm a little late, but that is quite a good chapter.