Maelstrom of Darkness

"Shut up." Minare replied as she began to circle Mort inspecting him as a predator would a new object. Wondering if it was something to eat, fight, or join. His armor looked dingy, so he either didn't care for his tools of war and hunting or that he was in such constant battle he didn't have time to maintain it. She really wanted it to be the latter. "I am of Shakala, this purple moon is only a minor annoyance. I don't care about your reasons or motivations. I only care about becoming a better warrior. Prove to me that you know something, I can learn and I will follow you till you prove that you are weak, and then I will act accordingly." She stopped in front of him her eyes always met his judging his nerve.

(Param, it's not a problem for me either. ^.^ Take all the time you need, I know it's a difficult.)

"Oh, trying to! Okay!" Light said as she waited with her, after a long minute she looked at all the stuff she was holding, then to the door. She looked at them both a few times after clicking on.
"Oh umm... I had to open it..." She quickly flew over to the door and pushed it open and waited for her to come in.

"I'm really glad you did that, actually," the neko said, her tone not sounding as glad as her words. "I was just about to bust it down. I'm Kira by the way."

She entered the facility after Light did. "Close that up behind me," she commanded. She continued to carry her things through the abandoned and somewhat run-down-looking main hall.

"Sorry for the mess," Kira commented. "We haven't had time to clean it up in a while."

She continued walking through the building, where very few other people were around. Most of them were out at the city walls fighting off the 'night terrors'. The Isolon Fist headquarters currently only had people like herself in the research and development department, and people analysing what little data they got from wherever their spies could get it from outside of Negav, inside of its walls. Kira continued until she got to another large door which she would need assistance opening up.

I think I'll just drop in next to Mort and Minare...

As Persephone wandered the dim streets of the city she had once admired, she heard a pair of voices from around a corner. They seemed to be talking about the same subject that was in the rumors: Demechrelle, supposedly the one responsible for this whole disaster.
"You might want to learn a bit about Demechrelle if you plan on challenging her," she announced, stepping out of a shadow. "She's a darkness elemental who had to be put away by the Guardians themselves centuries ago, and who still managed to make the Evernight Forest a living nightmare in her sleep. In fact, I'll wager she was put to sleep to stop precisely this from happening." She raised her arms emphatically as she said this.
"If you're serious about going on a quest to bring her down, I recommend you get a little more serious about mustering forces. We should have a chat with what's left of the government and see if there are any plans on making a counter-strike, or at least find out what they know. In fact, that's where I'm headed if either of you care to join me."

Things had changed a lot and a little in Felarya. While the large still ate the small as usual, not even the largest predators could afford to walk alone these days, not if it didn’t wish to be ripped apart by the corrupted beasts that seemed to resurrect every night, their numbers only increasing with every kill, and especially if it didn’t wish to be covered in the living shadows, irreparably warped and made to serve ‘her’. SB-087 or ‘Steel Blood’ considered what that must feel like for the poor souls: did it hurt? Were they still aware even as they marched on the last bastions of light in Felarya? Or was it pleasant, a surrender of control as the mind was melded with countless others?

“chrelle' is responsible for the purple moon. So I endeavour to defeat this person. Alas, I fear that I alone may not be able to see this quest through. And the thought of throwing my life away is not very appealing."

That caught the android’s aural sensors. The assassin drew near, curious as to who would be foolish enough to think they could take on the Queen of the Night. She listened to the conversation unfold between the grungy man and the athletic Shakala. Clearly, both of them had some misconceptions about the gravity and scope of the current situation.

Thankfully for the both of them, a woman intervened to set them straight. Steel Blood emerged from the shadows, her red, white, and black artificial skin becoming fully opaque as opposed to its normal stealthed translucence.

Her steely, near-human voice cut through the dull thud of the cannons, calling to the trio in a measured, almost affectless tone, “The woman knows what she’s talking about: I’d suggest you listen to her.”

She walked into their midst, her footfalls eerily silent. “My designation is Steel Blood. I’m one of the remaining members of the Isolon Fist. If you wish to assist us in our efforts against Déméchrelle, come with me. I am headed up to our headquarters.”
Though it was in her nature to simply turn and leave at this point, she remained, ready to clear up any doubts or questions the three might have, to the best of her abilities (and clearance to answer).

Minare groaned annoyed at both of the people interrupting her conversation. She really wanted to try and fight them all, but set her anger aside best not to bite off more than you can chew and choke. "I have yet to say anything about making a move against this Demechrelle, so i think you should 'Learn a about' me before you make assumptions on why I'm here." She glared Persephone.

"As I told this thing." Minare went on to explian gesturing to Mort. "I don't care what you are doing or what your motivations are. I follow and serve those who can teach me more about becoming a warrior. Be it strategy, magic, or might not who can appear from the shadows and pretend they talk me into submission." She scoffed.

Leila waited for a few moments, but it was obvious that the Dridder was too busy and had not heard her. She shrugged to herself and flew past the walls and into the city. She kept flying until she found what she was looking for, an open tavern. She lightly landed in front of the place and walked inside. A few of the patrons looked at her for a second as she entered and seemed a bit nervous, but most of the people ignored her. 'Just like always...' Making a bee-line for the bar, she sat down and gave the bar tender a stare that was just daring him to tell her that he wouldn't serve her. "What do you have?"

The barkeeper looked at Leila for a moment before shrugging. "Not much I'm afraid. Some ale, gin, whiskey, and brandy. I'm afraid I've had to water it all down though. Things aren't exactly as they used to be around here." The man's tone seemed to accuse Leila as being one of those things that were different.

Leila shook her head, ignoring the man's last comment. "I don't want alcohol. It clouds your judgement, makes you stupid, and makes you slow. In this day and age that's more of a death wish then ever before. No, I was wondering if you had hot chocolate."

The man scoffed and gave Leila a look that told her that he thought she was crazy. "Listen Fairy, this is a bar. I don't know how fairy bars work, or if fairies even have bars, but we don't sell hot chocolate here. Even if we did we wouldn't have the ingredients to make it these days."

"Should have known." Leila stood up and started to leave. "Alright then, since I can't get a drink then can I ask you this. Where's the Isolon Fist's head quarters?" A few moment's later Leila was back in the air, lazily flying to the Isolon Fists. She wasn't sure why she was doing it, but she had nothing better to do, and seeing as she was going to help defend the city anyway she may as well get something out of it.

Mort was equally as annoyed at the two strangers that interrupted their conversation. He raised his eyebrows when he heard Demechrelle was a darkness elemental. As for this "Steel blood", she seemed to be the next logical step in collecting companions. The isolon fists might have more potential candidates at their HQ. He was a little irritated by all these people coming along and telling him this quest was impossible. But he did have an ace up his sleeve that they didn't know about. He glanced around at the three women and chuckled darkly.

"A darkness elemental huh? Well I just so happen to be highly resistant to dark magic. You could say I was an... expert on the subject."

He looked at each of their faces in turn, debating inside his head whether or not to show these women what he really was. If he did, they might think he was on Demechrelle's side or something, and that would only make things worse for him. They would have to find out eventually, but for now he would keep a low profle.

"Well! Lets be off then! Lead the way to the HQ then 'Steel Blood.'"

He turned to Persephone

"You want to come too? Better than sitting around here I guess."

Then, he looked at Shakala. And with a confident glint in his eye, he spoke very earnestly.

"You coming girly? I'm a lot stronger than I look. I can't really show you right now so you'll just have to take my word for it."

Light slowly closed the door as instructed and looked around but only for a few seconds she continued to follow this woman. She didn't know what she was really doing, why did she have to follow her? What could she do? Light had numerous thoughts going on, one of them was just to quickly sneak out again but she decided to keep doing what she was asked. She had more questions but it really looked like the more she did, the more she would annoy this person so she kept quiet. She also noticed the siren noise but didn't know what that meant either.
"Eh, I guess I'll have to just see what happens... It doesn't look like I'm helping to save this place yet too..." She quietly muttered to herself.

Kira was sick of waiting for this slow storm sprite to open doors for her. She raised her left foot up and thrust it out in front of her. The door before her gave away, flying off its' hinges and into the wide courtyard where the dridder had been earlier. "Fuck that felt good..." Kira thought, annoyed that she had to do it herself.

"Armelle! Armelle, where are you?!" the neko called out, walking out into the courtyard. Her eyelids were beginning to become heavy to her, and the dark black lines under her eyes would suddenly be all the more apparent to anyone looking at her face.

"'Course, as I mentioned that's where I'm headed anyway," answered Persephone, beginning to walk in that direction. As they traveled she looked over the scenery. It was surprisingly quiet - all the usual bustle that used to occur at night was absent, despite everyone supposedly being nocturnal. She guessed that the population had dropped and that people were trying to stay quiet for fear of predators, bandits, or other nocturnal threats. They passed a few streets that were familiar to her - an open-air marketplace where she used to shop, a few restaurants she had once visited. A sizable portion were closed, and those that were open didn't seem overly busy - in fact she hardly saw anyone through the windows (although admittedly a lot of the windows were opaque, having been boarded up).
In the distance could be heard the intermittent echoes of the city's artillery and other defenses, which were understandably getting a lot more use in lieu of the Isolon Eye.
She turned to start a conversation with Mort. If he was as highly resistant to dark magic as he said, he would be a valuable component of a counterattack.
"So do we at least get a hint? How much can you tell us about your true power?"

By the time bale got to the battle grounds his face had lost and semblance of hope, or even emotion. He worked, fought, and even moved in a mechanical manner. Eventually he returned to within the city limits, carrying a full bag at his side, casting odd, almost hungry glances at the other denizens of negav. He returned to his rubble shelter to pick up his belongings then began walking towards the isolon fist head quarters in hopes of finding a weapon, a body, a scrap of metal...something....There was something he needed to find and he knew it. something missing, but it was out there. A figurative needle pulling an imaginary thread to restore the pieces of his former life.

Minare was silent as they left. Like she would follow a group that didn't understand what she wanted out of life. She walked in the opposite direction of them looking for some abandon place to stay till sun rise then she would look for someone else who was strong enough to teach her. It was a shame though, she really would have liked top use this dark power to her advantage like that man claimed he could. Probably lying anyway though, weak and stupid people do love to boast about power they don't have and things they never learned. The Shakala stopped trying to hide, most people would probably be helping defend the city or hiding so what did it matter to her. Her bright blue eyes however were still vigilant desperate people tended to do crazy things.

Mort looked back at Minare and listened to Persephone's request. Was Minare seriously abandoning them just because he hadn't 'proven' himself? He felt rage build up inside him. He was a proud man, not as proud as he once was, but his pride was still important to him. And she just spat on it!

"So..." He growled at her. "You think I'm not worth your time? Is that it? IS IT!?"

He could feel his rage build even further. He tried his best to hold back, but she had hurt his pride! He grit his teeth and his face twisted in fury. Suddenly, his arm burst into flames! His entire right arm was engulfed in jet black hellfire. The pillar of flame that was now his arm, crackled furiously. The very smell of the flames was enough to singe the nostrils. Mort took deep ragged breaths, barely able to maintain his composure.

"DAMN YOU!" His voice no longer sounded the same. It boomed with a deep demonic undertone, barely resembling his normal voice. "SAY GOODBYE!"

With a roar of anger, he pointed his arm at Minare. Suddenly, a huge stream of the unholy inferno leapt from his arm and surged at high speed towards her!

(Mort, you dope! XD Shakala isn't her name, it's her race! https://felarya.forumotion.com/t2727p75-nyaha-s-various-ideas-and-contemplations#107353
Also, Saen, you don't need to capitalize the S on shakala every time, I don't think. :3)

The Shakala had turned to face her aggressor as soon as he had started shout. Instinctively Minare raised her scorpion claw shield and tried to roll out of the way. The blast skinned her shield and she went into a fighting stance her weapon ready. "I will not say goodbye to the likes of you." She replied calmly. ".....Unless you think me an unworthy student to teach me the art of these black flames." She smiled, he was full of surprises and now she wanted to be able to learn his tricks too.

(wait don't you capitalize race names? =o like Orc, Elf? or was Shakala not the race name? I actually have a lot of questions I'll Pm you about them! XD)

[Darn you all for posting while I'm writing my posts! (Kidding of course, don't let up.)]

---

[Warning: Dangerous temperatures in close proximity. Please eliminate source of excessive heat or evacuate immediately. Artificial skin not rated for extended fire protection]

The automated warning was rather unnecessary: Steel Blood could feel the temperature of her ‘flesh’ growing rapidly.

“Hey, none of that!” She could bear the heat longer than a human, anyway. Rushing up behind the enraged man, the android attempted to put him into a choke-hold, hoping to stifle the flames before any serious damage was done.

Whether or not she succeeded, the next words from her unmoving face were, “She’s not worth your time, you fool!” She was never much good at talking, but maybe he would calm down before any major damage was done.

---

Back at the android’s intended destination, another outburst had just occurred.

Armelle, Commander of the Isolon Fist, was a patient woman, so when a large, metal door flew off its’ hinges towards her just as she was about to return inside her organizations’ headquarters, she didn’t dodge out of its path, but waited for it to arrive.

The one and a half inch thick steel slab simply stopped moving, from what Kira would be able to see. A bright metal point protruded from its center. From behind the otherwise sturdy door, propped up from behind by an old, but extraordinarily potent halberd, Armelle crawled into view, stood, and brushed herself off.

“Yes… Kira? What is it?” She was a patient woman, but this was the third (THIRD!) time the Neko had sent a half-ton projectile careening away from her when said object wasn’t even supposed to be a projectile, so there was some mild annoyance in the woman’s voice.

Persephone tumbled out of the way as Mort's arm lit up in surprisingly hot flames.
"Well I suppose that answers my question," she remarked. Mort was evidently not lying before, he did indeed have some impressive powers. Not that what she had seen so far was enough. All the same, though, he'd be useful to have on her side.
For the moment, she decided not to take part in the current scuffle if she could help it, and accordingly stayed a few paces away from the others.

Meanwhile, a metallic echo, attenuated to a murmur by the distance but still audible in the quiet of the night, emanated from the direction of the capitol. Hopefully something bad wasn't going on up there, or, Persephone thought to herself, she'd have to rethink her whole plan.

Leila reached the Isolon Fist's headquarters with very little trouble. The place seemed pretty damaged and certainly didn't look as it did when Nina had described it. Leila choked a little at the thought of Nina. It had been a long time since she had thought of her old and dearest friend. It had almost been a year since the Neera had gotten covered with those shadows and warped into a slave of Demechrelle. She snarled to herself and shook her head, Nina had died that day, or at least the Nina she knew had died. Regaining control of herself, Leila knocked on the door and waited.

Light quickly darted to the other side of the room in shock after the door being kicked in. She calmed herself and followed, still not speaking. She really didn't like this person now, she could at least be polite and ask her to do stuff instead of commanding her. She finally spoke up. "Soo... If it looks like you can open doors by yourself like that what other purpose do I serve here?" She asked. She wanted to do more than just opening stupid doors that could just be kicked down by her again later.

"Armelle! Don't let me forget: These pipes are for repairing the plumbing!"

The neko seemed to start to stagger with fatigue at that point as she walked toward her superior. Her annoyance was not lost on Kira, either, and she closed her eyes, looking away in some kind of restrained embarrassment. She just really didn't want to be fired.

"And, uh, I'll fix that, too," she said, looking at her handiwork with the door. "But more importantly, I found someone who might be useful to our cause."

She turned to Light, absent-mindedly swinging the heavy steel pipes she was carrying under her arm towards Armelle's head.

"This is....uh......."

Her voice trailed off as she realized she hadn't cared enough to ask the storm sprite her name.

-----------------------------------

"Look! There's one over here!!"

A human man in an average-looking brown robe was staring down the adjacent street at what appeared to be someone fighting with one of the creatures of darkness spawned by the night. No, not in his city. Without another word, he summoned a wooden magic staff and held it out in front of him, holding the open palm of his free hand outwards in kind. Taking aim at Mort, he fired off a basic, low-level magic attack, sending a projectile of pure magic energy. Should he hit the monster's oppressor, ostensibly an ally, he wouldn't want to do too much damage.

Mort was impressed at Minare's dodge. She was indeed a good specimen. She reconsidered her view and asked if he would teach her how to conjure the black flames. He rolled his eyes and responded.

"Well its not that simp-"

Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind! Caught by suprise, he cried out in anger and violently broke free from his assailants grasp. He wheeled around and saw that it was 'Steel Blood' who had tried to grab him! He raised his flame covered arm at her.

"TRY THAT AGAIN AND I'll-"

*BAM!*

A magical projectile came out of nowhere and struck him full force. Mort was cut off yet again and his rage flared up beyond what he could take. The black flames on his arm suddenly flared out of control and engulfed all of his body besides his eyes. He scanned the area in a flash and quickly caught sight of the mage that had dared to attack him. He roared an unholy cry of anger, and became a living pillar of demonic hellfire. Mort had been consumed by his rage and could no longer think straight. Only the desire to destroy the mage burned in his mind. Unless someone calmed him down, he would lose himself and go insane. The call of dark magic is difficult to resist once you are in its grasp, and with rage clouding his mind, it was very unlikely that he could resist this alone.

It wasn't difficult for Bale to hear the loud vocalizations that quickly led him towards a battle between what seemed to be one of the demons, and several fighters. He gritted his teeth and pulled forth a small tube, aiming at Mort from the shadows. A grin quickly spread across his face as the tube let forth a short barrage of darts, filled with a sedative, and numbing agent. He cracked his neck, and quickly switched in a second clip just in case.

Mort didn't even notice the darts, as they disintegrated in the demonic fire that covered his body before they could even hit him. He walked slowly towards the human mage, leaving behind a trail of the hellfire, that literally dripped from his body. His face was wreathed in flame and wasn't visible, but you could bet your life he had the most horrifying look on his face.

"Rghhh..." All he could manage in his heightened state was deep grunts. "URRRGGGHH!!"