Joan led Laget through the woods, and into the a clear patch, devoid of trees. In the middle there stood a humble house, of wood and stone, with clear windows and a "Welcome" sign on the front door, no doubt a gift that came from mommy dearest to her family. They were approaching the door when Laget noticed a heavy breathing from behind the door. "You might want to step back." He said, preparing for what he knew would come. Peasants were predictable. Joan went back a couple of steps, and he calmly turned the doorknob on the wooden door. He was greeted by a swinging an ax, but humans were slow in both body and mind, so he had plenty of time to dodge, and counterattack the bear-like lumberjack that was attacking him. A quick punch on the throat send him back quite a few feet, falling on his back. The man tried speaking but nothing but garbled gibberish of guttural shrieks, more akin to cough than to speech came out of the man's mouth. Laget had broken his larynx. In the back of the desolated room, a head peering over in terror. This was probably the boy Joan had talked about. The execution of the plan would have to be significantly less dramatic than what he had expected, but if wanted it to be shocking enough he had to do it now. He unsheathed his Jian and returned his gaze at the man, whose face was making an unreadable expression, a mix of fear and sadness. It didn't took long for Laget to understand what he might be thinking. "Don't worry. Your boy is safe. Elve's word." He took an offensive stance and sliced the man's neck. The lumberjack's body tried to breath while he bled, making a gargling, and awful sound. A girl's cry and a boy's yell pierced the air almost immediately, and the sound of feet rapidly approaching Laget's location made him react, punching whatever it was before it could reach him. It was the boy. This was even better than Laget was hoping for. Fortunately, he had hit him in the chest, and he hadn't done any serious damage. The boy couldn't say anything either, but not because of a physical impossibility, it was merely rage and pride. "You're a brave kid. I suggest you get your friend out there..." He pointed towards the front of the house. "... and get out of the village. This village and probably most of the ones near will be destroyed or at least severely damaged." Out back, Laget's waitress yelled a powerful "why?" into the house, probably too afraid to walk in herself. Laget nodded. "That's a good question. You hate me now. You want to kill me, because I killed your father. In literature, a son avenging the death of his father is unheard of; in fact, so rare that I wondered if the same was true in real life. I am Laget Antaeus. Find me. I'll be waiting for you." Laget moved out of the house, calmly, walking past an enraged Joan and leaving behind a dead father and his broken son. His plan would perhaps take ten years to fulfill, but he hoped this one broken son would do what several others haven't.
Tebryn was almost half-way done with the summoning circle when he felt a scrying pool begin to form above the town. With a whim, the threads of magic were sent reeling and withering in all directions. He resumed full focus on the summoning circle, when he felt the pool continue to form. Annoyed, he rammed it with a concentrated burst of magic. The pool shattered into hundreds of dissipating tendrils, and was no more. It had put up more resistance than he expected... Tebryn was about to ponder this when he noticed that two of his minions were missing. He wasn't surprised to find that one of them was Czin, who was a demon formed from a death deity from another realm. He had changed little in his conversion to hell and retained most of his powers, including the ability to completely disappear then reappear whenever, wherever, and as whatever he wanted. He seemed to prefer hiding, only popping up when he was needed. The other's absence, who was the fallen angel Arkordorf, he couldn't explain...
From the shadows, from the rooftops, Quickknife watched the scene. He had followed the fruit-seller girl to the town hall. He had watched the panicked town elders react to the news, saw them run to the captain of the guard...too aghast to even think of sending a messenger. He had followed the captain to the barracks and seen him conversing with a woman wearing flowing robes. Probably the town sorceress, he deduced, and that spell he saw her cast afterward must have been a summoning spell; which in turn meant that the wizards who then appeared were there for him. He scrutinized the newcomers. There were five of them. He didn't know whether to be flattered or insulted. Five seemed an awfully sparse battalion to send, but then again he had learned from Tebryn just how powerful even a single magic-user can be. He didn't really know enough about magic to pass judgment on them just yet. But the game was certainly going to be more interesting than expected. The wizards filed out of the barracks and surveyed their surroundings. Quickknife grinned. He may not know much about magic, but he certainly knew human behavior and he could tell they were clearly looking around. Not listening, not smelling, not reaching out with their minds; just looking. Amatures, he thought to himself. These wizards had clearly not been on many manhunts. Even if they were using some sort of vision-enhancement spells, which Jack strongly suspected, there was no way they could hope to catch him using one sense alone! They would... But now, they seemed to be acting quite strangely, faces paling, cowering and pointing in terror at... Quickknife cursed to himself as Nex lumbered into view. Though both were well acquainted with the joy of killing Nex had quite a different mode of operations, preferring an attack of voracious brute force and ignorance to Jack's subtle hunt from the shadows. And now he was lumbering straight towards the wizards; Quickkife's wizards. That walking gullet was going to ruin all his fun! No, things were changing again. Nex was just walking past the wizards, who were in turn not even giving a "Prithee, halt!" in resistance. They were still going to be his prey after all.
Nex Cruentus had become bored. He had destroyed a small village, eaten many men, and had even done the maintenance that all of that required. He needed a challenge; something, anything. But there was nothing challenging t be found, people were easy to kill, building easy to destroy, and those mages were cowards. Nex scrunched his face angrily, he was mad at the world for leaving him bored. He decided that he might as well see how many buildings he could destroy with a single swing of his arm. He pulled his arm back, melding it into a sort of spiked wrecking ball. In a cloud of debris, wreckage, and dust he destroyed the building in front of him. Now it was time to destroy two buildings, he proceeded to the next buildings down the street.
Jacob looked on in horror as he saw that monster begin tearing apart the town. When he turned back to the other, more experienced members of his squad, their faces were only determined glares as they carefully set up the magical trap. After a few more incantations and a quick inspection, they fled into near-by buildings and nodded to Jacob. He swallowed. This is your moment... he thought, Time to shine. "HEY, YOU DIM-WITTED PILE OF DENTED POOPER-SCOOPERS! COME GET ME!"
HEY, YOU DIM-WITTED PILE OF DENTED POOPER-SCOOPERS! COME GET ME! Nex Cruentus turned around to find the insect that had just insulted him. It truly was an insect, a tiny, insignifigant, insect of a man; at least he had guts. RRRROOOAAARRR A massive roar shook the foundations of the town and broke nearby windows. This insect had just insulted a mountain, and that angered the mountain. The beast's eyes glowed and it's muscles tightened. It took a step forward and in a split second had managed to launch itself as a wretched, spiked, hell bent mass of metal at the insect who had just insulted him. In less than a blink of an eye the beast was upon the poor man.
Tebryn watched the conflict with mild amusement. Nex's roar could be heard even from where Tebryn was standing, though Tebryn could heard just as well something miles away as something right next to his ear. He felt Nex call upon the enchantments placed on him and thought, Surely this dim-witted dolt isn't stupid enough to fall for this. But Nex did fall for it, and was soon rolling right into the trap laid out by the small group. As Nex mowed right over the poor sap who insulted him and continued right into the waiting portal, Tebryn had half a mind to simply let him go right on through. But he could use Nex, if only until he could find a suitable replacement, so he teared the portal apart inches before Nex rolled through.
AHHHHHHHHH The poor fool who had recently insulted Nex Cruentus was no longer what could be called "human". Rather, he was what could be called a "Wretched, Gruesome Mess". The buildings on both sides of the streets were now covered in a gory milkshake of sorts. There was blood everywhere with chunks and bits of flesh and bone mixed in. It was a gruesome site. With that single attack Nex had torn the man limb from limb, and he was still angry. RRROOOAAARRR Nex was still furious, he was never well known for keeping his temper. He swung his arm in anger and crushed the building next to him. He breathed in heavily, and then he stopped for a moment. He sniffed the air, something was different, something was wrong. He sniffed again, their were shards of magic hanging in the air, he recognized the smell of magic thanks to all of the mages he had eaten over the years. Something, or someone, had tried to cast a spell on him. He swung his arm at the ground in anger for being so ignorant, he had run head first into a trap. It seemed that the spell had failed though, that or Tebryn had stopped it. Nex looked around, someone had casted that spell, and he doubted that it was the man that he killed, he hadnt actually done anything. He couldn't see anyone, he figured that they must be hiding. He had learned his lesson, he couldn't just rush at these guys, so he picked the next best option. He dug his claw into the ground and pulled up a massive chunk of cobblestone and chucked it at the nearest building. If he couldn't ram them he would throw things.
Battle. Quickknife was not expecting this. He had hoped for a mind game, not a crass free-for-all. And yet, his wizards were not partaking in the fight; they were content with continuing to stare in shock and horror at Nex. Perhaps this could be salvaged after all... He looked down into the alleys below, catching sight of a group of people disappearing into a root cellar. Quickly he bounded down from the rooftop then casually sauntered over to the cellar, checking it's hinging as he did so. Yes, this one would work nicely. He tried pulling the door. Locked, as expected. He pulled on it a few more times frantically for effect, then assumed his best panicked voice. "Help! Let me in! He's after me! Oh god, the Quickknife is after me!" From inside came a quickened yet hushed debate of voices, then the interior bolt was drawn and the door opened. With a quick "Hello," Jack greeted the small ensemble of terrified faces that stared out at him from within and before they could react snatched one of them out and slammed the door, bolting it from the outside. Then he turned his attention to his prey. A dirty lad, about ten years of age, struggled in his grasp. He would do. Anyone would do for this... He plunged a knife into the boy's heart, taking a moment to enjoy the pure bliss of ending a life, then dropped the boy and pulled out a piece of paper. His blade was now a pen and the child's blood the ink. Once his message was written he walked back towards the street, kicking aside the urchin's discarded corpse. The wizards hadn't done much. They were still standing there. Yet the shock was gone now. Their attention had been fully taken by their new, metallic foe and they seemed to be preparing for some sort of attack. Jack grinned. Maybe a battle wasn't so bad after all. It allows for all sorts of new mind games if in the proper environment... Up the building, down the street, down the building, across the street, in the alley, up the street...even in the chaos of war, proper precautions must be taken to remain invisible in the waning light. But now here he was, atop the barracks' roof, the town square spread out before him in all it's destroyed glory. Across the way, Nex was charging at the headstrong young soldier in front of the ruins of the smiths, while directly below the mages were breaking their huddle and beginning to more forward... Quickkife threw his blade at the frontmost wizard and dashed away, not allowing himself the luxury of watching it land. It went straight for the heart, as always. The Quickknife does not miss. The mages stared at their fallen comrade, faces aghast. Then one of them approached the body and pulled off the message skewered upon the daggar. Two crimson words were written upon it; written with a knife in the blood of a child...
Quickknife Kenven thought angrily as he read the blood-inked note. He turned towards where he felt the knife come from and quickly laid out a grid of magic, which the slightest movement would disturb. Bingo he thought as he felt one of the lines break and expand to reveal the figure of Quickknife. "He's behind those buildings! Move!"
After he threw the boulder of cobblestone road Nex Cruentus waited for a moment... nothing happened. That was good, it meant that he had killed the rest of the mages. And now he was bored again. What to do, what to do... He had already destroyed buildings, and that had almost got him in some big trouble. What to do... It wasn't long before Nex decided what to do. He would see how far he could throw these buildings. Nex bent over and gripped one of the near by buildings by it's foundations, and with a violent spin chucked the entire building. He then turned around and watched to see how far it would go.
As Nex was looking up at the building he had just thrown, he noticed something farther down the road. A muscular, shirtless man with plain white trousers and a bald head glared back as Nex stared. He raised a plain, wooden staff, aiming its top tip at the house Nex had just thrown, and it slowly stopped and turned about, going straight for Nex.
Nex Cruentus saw an old man down the street, whom he was going to generally ignore until his game was abruptly stopped. The house he had just thrown had stopped in mid air and was now coming back at him. He wasn't going to fall for the mages's trick again like last time. This time he would play the mages's game. Instead of rushing the mage he stood his ground and waited for the house. When it was nearly upon him he made his arm into a giant baseball bat sort of weapon and swung.
the man made no movement, despite the ball of wood, metal, glass and ceramics which vaguely resembled a house that was now hurdling towards him. At first, it seemed that he was doomed, but then the house began to slow, coming to a complete stop inches away from the man. A thunderous crash followed by several tinkles followed its landing in front of him. Then, the planks of the former house began to part, shards of glass and ceramics on top of them falling and breaking. They creaked and moaned as they bent and moved, protesting against the magic's will. Soon, a large tunnel lay between the gleaming mountain and the shirtless man, who still had not moved. The man gripped his staff with both hands and twirled it around, working it behind his back, and ending with a gesture which beckoned Nex to fight.
It seemed that this old man wasn't and average mage. He was powerful, powerful to stop a flying house in it's tracks twice. Nex one might think that this would anger Nex Cruentus, but it didn't. Instead he laughed, a loud, hearty laugh which was followed by something akin to a compliment. "A worthy opponent" Nex half stated, half congratulated. Now there was a decision though, should he fight long range or short range? Nex decided to use both. Nex grabbed a near by lamp post, and made a large spear out of it. Then, Nex dug one claw into the ground in front of him. With that leverage he pulled himself forward and launched the spear, but as soon as it had left his claw-hand he dug into the ground with that claw and this time launched his own claw, still attached to his arm, at the old man.
The man gripped his staff with both hands and swung, sending forth a cascading avalanche of dirt and rock. Nex's projectile was quickly engulfed and obliterated, and Nex had to retract his claw to prevent it from suffering the same fate. With the tsunami of earth rushing towards him, Nex could do little more than brace himself for impact. With a resounding boom the two impacted, sending rock and debris flying and forcing Nex to use much of his strength to stay standing. After the initial impact, the wave soon subsided and Nex had a clear shot at his opponent. With a roar which would make mountains tremble Nex charged, reaching incredible speed in just a few strides. Before the man could do much more then raise his arms, Nex was upon him with raging might and claw. What happened in the next moment was too fast for human eyes too see, though it produced a crack which could be heard for miles and ended with the two's hands being locked together. Each pushed against each-other with the might of a mountain, neither yielding nor retreating. For several moments they stayed locked in this deathgrip until suddenly Nex's tail darted forward with lightning speed. The man tried to dodge but was too slow, the tail slicing his shoulder in half. After a momentary outcry of pain, the man rammed his head forward, hitting Nex straight in the chest and causing him to stumble backwards. He then thrust his hands forward in quick succession, each sending a blast of kinetic energy which knocked Nex backward even further. The man then raised his staff slowly and with a flourish, a vortex of wind spiraling towards him as he did so. Nex, regaining his balance, began to charge but was too late. The man brought down his staff pointing directly at Nex, sending forth a force even nature would be proud of. Nex was sent flying backwards, the rippling wave of force going straight through his body and rending the back of his metal coat with a huge gash. He landed with a crash which shook the entire town, and looked upon the man, who was clutching his now-bleeding shoulder. "I'll be back." He said in a deep, heavily accented voice. He then rammed his staff into the ground which burst upward a plum of earth and, when it fell, he was gone.
RAWR! New Cruentus let forth a roar that shook houses and broke windows. Who ever that man had been he had managed to actually hurt Nex. He glared at the direction from which the man had just fled. Nex melded his back back together using the metal from the rest of his body. He took a second to meditate in order to check his condition. He wasn't pleased with his results. He had used a lot of energy and already needed more metal for his body. He looked around; he didn't see any more people and wasn't sure if there was another smithy. Nex got up and started walking forward, pulling any metal from the surrounding houses as he went, occasionally smashing a house in anger as he went.
This was not the way things were supposed to be. Quickknife had grossly underestimated the skill and competence of these wizards. They were no mere students of the arcane, he realized. These were highly skilled warwizards, trained for the sole purpose of eliminating him. And they had been trained well. Within minutes, they had taken a clear upper hand. They knew him, that much was clear. His every move and strategy they had studied meticulously. Everywhere he turned a wizard lay in ambush, or a barrier had been erected, or a magical trap lay, waiting to be sprung. They had yet to actually lay eyes on him, but without a doubt they were winning. For the first time in a long time, the great Quickknife Jack was being beaten at his own game. Then, the earthquake hit. Fueled by the duel between Nex and the old wizard, it swept through town, crumbling buildings and sending people screaming for cover. Within seconds it stopped, but the resultant chaos was enough. This was something unexpected for both Jack and his foes, something that he could use to his advantage. But he had been beaten, that he knew, and even any advantage he gained from this event was fleeting at best. He had no choice but to employ a tactic he had not used in years... Quickknife fled.
Tebryn's circle was almost completed, only a few more feet remained. He did not let excitement grip him, for that would lead to carelessness and Tebryn did NOT want to find out he messed up after all the time he had spent on this. Suddenly, he felt something in the woods beside him. Despite how close it was, it was blurry and difficult to distinguish. Stopping the circle for a moment, he turned to the direction he felt it. At first, he saw nothing, then he saw something white dart between the trees. The attack came suddenly and without warning. The gods themselves were sending their full force, he could feel it. Damn it! he thought. Priests! He grabbed at the power of the souls trapped within him, ignoring their waves of pain, willed it to manifest as a ball of flame, and threw it at the woods. A ball of flame erupted from Tebryn's palm and hurled itself at the wood, and halfway there it began to dissipate. Tebryn fed the ball more energy and attempted to thwart the priest's attempts at extinguishing it. Then, he felt power collecting behind him. He barely deflected the beam of light sent towards him. Angry, he willed the place that the beam had come from to explode, and so it did. He reached out with his consciousness and soon found that he had been surrounded. Arg! he thought, then sent a mental message to his guard; Get back here IMMEDIATELY!! I'm under attack!
Get back here IMMEDIATELY!! I'm under attack! It took Laget a second for him to recognize that it was not one of his own thoughts, but wasted no time and started running across the forest, everything around him blurring in a mass of white, green and brown as he sped through all of it, ocassionally jumping to get past a root or a rock. It didn't take him long to return to the restaurant, and from there to the circle wasn't more than a minute. The landscape turned barren and desolated as he entered the body-filled patch in which his boss was standing. "What's going on?"
Priests. Tebryn spat in another mental message. Keep them off me until I can finish the summon. He told Laget as he dodged another beam of light and obliterated its origin in a maelstorm of fire.
