Kyra fell, no, it almost fell but contained itself, it was an abnormal effort only to not touch the oozy red floor. It hold it's head with both hands and shaking mumbled to itself.. "Non..no... what is this?, I don't like it, I don't like it at all, it scares me..." Then for an span of what seemed eternal yet was less than a second Kyra lost its consciousness without having enough time to fall to the ground as it quickly recovered it. Multiple memories assaulted its mind on a very disordered way... "The task of kill, the mission to purify, crimson cemetery, a creation of red ooze, time off punishment, rejection and a new creation, a fine bloody banquet and endless scarlet festival, painted all in red, all in red, all in red, definition of those that is oozy and red, RED, RED, RED, RED, RED, RED, RED..." Then just when it was about to broke the sound of a closing door assaulted Kyra "Sand ghouls! Below us!" The face of the young twisted into a bizarre smile, something seeking to release all its stress into a killing spree. "It's fine!!!!! I really feel out of shape, Sand ghouls you said?... ARE THEY SO STUPID THAT THINK THAT IS FUN TO COME BACK AND DIE AGAIN HUH???" Screamed the young with a very different tone of voice, not showing the same charm or kindness that Kyra had before. It raised its hand, Eather flew from its being yet after a few seconds it twisted in pain "What's up with this stupid body?, I can't weave eather like before... shit, shit, shit. You really find amusing to make me go angry isn't that?... Fine I don't even need to go serious against those things" Eather shone around Kyra's right and hands and surrounded its black gloves with Althea type eather greatly increasing the potency of Kyra's hands and also becoming a deadly weapon against the undead. Without thinking it twice it launched itself againt the close one and smashed its fist charged with Althea into the face of the first ghoul. "Die again useless scum!!"
Shae dashed to Hessa side, twirling her twin blade swords around her. The ghouls edged out of the sand to collect the fallen victim, but the Death Walker sliced their hands away. Their haunting eyes gazed longingly at the warm flesh, their mouths broken and awash with blood. But Shae’s blades were relentlessly quick, whirlwinds around her hands and the ghouls could not inch any closer. “You will not touch her! Let death consume you all!”
Kyra crushed the skull of one ghoul, but many more where clawing their way out of the sand, two more lunged for it. Joe began weaving his spell, suddenly her felt blood leave him, his ankle! A sand ghoul underneath he grabbed his ankle and began draining his moisture! Shea slashed at them furiously, soon more and more began emerging awoken by the smell of water they were appearing in droves! And to their horror the ghouls Kyra smashed, the goals that were hit, got back on their feet and struck again! one clubed Shea in the back! Another lunged for Kyra from the side!
Ra'if & Asrar He had taken Altair's thrashing without even a whisper. Though he was hurt, he'd withstood far worse pains in the past. Still, part of him realized he'd practically asked for it, and that he'd gone too far by insulting the man so directly. The better half of him was indifferent however, unconcerned with his injuries and even less with Altair's death threat. Asrar didn't speak a word to him on the journey from the skull to the sky pyramid, which unnerved Ra'if. He wasn't nearly as stupid as he'd made him self look in the past few hours. The minute he had set foot inside the Pyramid, he had anticipated some creep to attack their little group from just about anyhwere. He had his shield and curved sword out by the time the sand ghouls emerged. Asrar retreated behind Ra'if who's eyes were darting all over the enemies in front of him, watching their every move. Speed seemed to be their weakness as the creatures moved very slowly. Only few warriors used a shield for anything more than defense, but in the teachings of the Hakim, is was as much a weapon as anything. Ra'if bashed his shield repeatedly into the skull of a nearby sand ghoul. He took a step back, jabbed his blade at the ghoul's detoriating face and punched three holes in it's skull before jumping back and out of the ghoul's reach. Asrar, in the meantime, seemed to be thinking hard and deeply. The wood of her walking stick buzzing with energy, stripes of light escaping through it's cracks. "They can't be killed," she said. "What?" asked Ra'if, astonishment etching itself into his sweaty forehead. He wasn't so much sweating from heat as he was from concentrating on the enemies before him.
Kyra received a strike of one of the creatures... It as a strong hit, yet not so strong as to cause so serious damage..... or at least it shouldn't had been. Yet even that strong yet not so strong hit that should only caused the young to flinch instead sent it flying a couple of meters landing heavily on the ground. "What?... what was that??" mumbled the young confused and slightly scared, but overall angry. It stood up and charged it's two hands with Althea, and on that moment it realized... "This frikin' body rejects eather?" And it's face twisted into a dreadful look just by that fact Being a body that rejects eather, the only idea of focusingt it into one point would seriously weaken the other spots, making any damage Kyra would receive on these spots to hit twice the strong. Kyra cursed, yet still launched against the mass of ghouls close to it. It raised its two arms and begun to pummel with a barrage of blows all the ghouls that were at its reach... Yet it also ignored that abusing the eather and its physical condition would let it severely tired.
Jakem blasted ten of them with Divine arrows, he weaved the spell again and sent it at the ghouls surrounding Shea smiting many, but.. they got back up again. The battle was getting desperate as they were being flooded by sand ghouls, their bodies seemed to darken the very room. Jakem looked around desperately. "The pyramid tests, brain more than brawn... There must be another way." "Look for a clue somewhere!" Hesse was dragged from Shea's feeble attempts to save her slowly, she had lost so much moister she could barely move. Hands grasped at her pulling her deeper into the sand. Her eyes grew wide, she was staring at something, her face turned upward as if she was looking at god him self. The look of a near dead woman.
Crack. Shae went down like a sack of hammers. Another ghoul snatched at her wrist with inhuman strength. She just managed to swipe off its grip. Looking to her right, she watched in horror as more ghouls began to drag Henna through the sand. No. Shae tried to rush towards her, only to be pulled down by more and more ghouls. I have to save her! She raised her arms in fury, swiping with maddening speed. Dashing across to Henna, Shae skidded along her knees, spinning Big Sister and Little Sister like meat grinders. “Get away from her, you bastards!”
I looked down at the ghoul, I forcibly tugged my ankle away from the ghoul, slammed my foot into its face, and jumped back, I looked at Hessa, then I looked up toward the ceiling. "Right the hint those two gave us, look out for a mirror!" I called out, expecting to see a mirror above us.
Illudes screeched in alarm as a sand ghoul rose up beneath him, latching onto his hind-leg. No! No no no no- Panic chocking him, he struggled vainly to get away, but was only dragged deeper. The moment he felt blood begin to pour from his wounds, however, something inside him snapped. KSHIIIIIIINGGGGGG! His claws spliced through the monster's skull as if it was water, eyes glazed over with no emotion, but a wordless snarl was written all over his face. Small fangs gleamed in the light, and he wrenched himself free with the sickening rip of torn flesh. Tattered strips of skin and feathers hung from his hind-leg, but it didn't seem to slow him down. Instead, the adrenaline rush only made him faster. Wilder. "Kyreeeeeeeeee!" the scream of a hunting eagle echoed off of the walls, and Illudes launched himself on the next ghoul, carving into its body and kicking off to the next, mindless in his own terror. His own rage. "Look for a clue somewhere!" he finally snapped out of it when he heard Jakem's shout, and sprang to the ceiling, trying to dig his talons in for purchase. he had to find some sort of clue before they were all killed! Riddles riddles riddles.. more riddles appeared around him, and he stared at them in confusion. They were glowing -maybe they could be used? "Right the hint those two gave us, look out for a mirror!" "A mirror! I'm on it!" he shouted.
"Shit, this doesn't work..." said Kyra breathing quickly and heavily, its body was getting tired. It jumped back to gain some distance, the scream of the others looking for a mirror caught its attention. Only there it noticed that there were more people than itself, it thought what was it doing on that place to begin with.. "I bet is some foolish idea of the faker......" thought Kyra while focusing its eyes on the mirror.. Yet its eyes didn't caught interest in the mirror but on the creature that was on it, Illudes. The eyes of Kyra shone as it fixed its glance on Illudes.... "I found something very interesting thought while licking its lips with its tongue
Joe looked up, no mirror, a riddle in bright red, read "The enemy of corruption, hater of decay, my purging might has no bounds, I cleanse with fury all in my path, my foot steps are black and ashen, my searing might put's all mortals in awe. What am I?
"Time to enlighten them!" Asrar barked, her voice unusually strong and confident. She lifted her staff with both hads and smacked its tip into the ground. The earth surrounding her began to tremble and cracking causing some of the ghouls to slip away. But the power of her weave was not in unearthing the ground. A bright flash of light blasted from her staff. Ra'if had to cover his eyes with his shield in fear of going blind. Grain sized shards of pure light dashed towards the far edges of the room, revealing everything in their path with their blinding glow. "I don't think they like light," a tired sounding Asrar muttered as her weave began to fade. Even her staff seemed exhausted by the tremendous supply of eather that Asrar's signature weave had demanded. A good two decades of eather reserves had just been blasted out in the hope that ghouls were indeed vulnerable to light.
I smirked as I saw the bright red. "JUSTICE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs after I finished reading the riddle. Justice was the enemy of corruption after all, it hates decay, it purges all wrong doers, it cleanses the corruption with fury, and mortals stand in awe of what justice may bring. "Please let this work." I thought.
nothing and the ghouls multiplied, the riddle glowed a bright read, hands were swarming them now, reaching for there skin anyplace to drain there moister.
Cleaving ghoul after ghoul after ghoul, her wrists spinning around themselves like elastic. They climbed out of the sand only to return as dust. But they were relentless, their unyielding eyes staring at her, hungry for blood. Their numbers grew and light dwindled. Only the vicious swirl of blades around her shimmered in the blue glow of the riddles and she gazed frantically about her. Left. Ghouls. Right. Ghouls. Above… "The enemy of corruption, hater of decay, my purging might has no bounds, I cleanse with fury all in my path, my foot steps are black and ashen, my searing might put's all mortals in awe. What am I?” Her eyes averted for too long and the savages broke through, biting at her arm and legs. She didn’t have time to breathe, her body buried into the sand by a thousand hands and she could only stare at the mirror as the sand ghouls pulled her into darkness. “Fire… it’s fire!” She shouted. And then, Shae was gone.
Altair His halberd swung in a wide arc around him, removing the legs off a few ghouls. "Watch each others backs!" he shouted. "Fire... it's fire!" She shouted. And then, Shae was gone. Altair looked for the source of the voice, only to see the woman pulled down beneath the sand. Rushing forward, he slashed away the hands of a ghoul reaching for him, and then plunged the shaft of his halberd down into the sand where Shae had gone down. "If you can hear me, grab on!" he shouted, hoping that she was still within reach. Fire was fine and dandy, but he had none at the moment, so the shaft of a halberd would have to suffice.
Fire? I've got fire. But I don't want to explode everyone in here... Alavina hovered above the group, her wings beating the air furiously, and pulled out a potion that created an explosive fire when shattered. The whole battle she had remained in the air supporting her allies when she could. Aly felt sad that her companions didn't have wings like she did. Otherwise this battle might have been a whole lot easier. "I have fire. Should I throw it, Hessa?"
The riddle glowed, dimly, but slowly brighter and brighter it's light cover the room and then...Screams! The undead screamed in terror! And one by one they set ablaze! The riddle was a spell and the last ingredient was the answer, fire! Soon all the ghouls ran around screaming as their bodies turned to specks of ash. But now the very thing that save them threatened to burn them alive! And as they desperately tried to avoid the burning screaming ghouls a door opened to the right. "Through there quickly!" Jakem yelled, dashing for his daughter struggling to carry her limp form. They dashed for the door, throwing them selves through! .......... The door lead to a slide, and half a minute later they had slid into a pitch black room, no sand cushioned their fall, but hard almost glass like stone. The room was not only dark, but cold and empty. "Hessa! hessa my daughter speak to me!" Jakem said frantically, She didn't respond, and her chest rose and fell only slightly.
I ran through the door and fell down, when I opened my eyes I stared at the ground. "...Fire... a simple answer... and it went right over my head..." I thought, feeling angry with myself. "...You're a complete idiot! You nearly got everyone killed! You think you're smart, but you're not, you can't even find an answer to a simple riddle, the thought process should have been simple as well, most undead creatures are affected most by two things, holy magic and fire! You knew that and you didn't even remember it! JUST LIE DOWN IN A DITCH AND DIE!" I thought, berating myself, I then finally looked around and saw Hessa. "...No time to feel sorry for yourself... she's in bad shape." I thought, I got up, feeling a bit weak, I had gotten a bit dehydrated from the ghouls. "I'm sorry everyone." I said, I walked over to Hessa. "Don't worry, I'll have you up in a minute, don't move." I said, I pulled out some water for her and set it down next to her, I then opened my grimoire. "Redeeming light which shines so bright, please lend me strength to help one fight!" I said, the pages began flipping of their own accord, my robe began flowing behind me from a wind that no one else seemed to feel, beams of light rose from the ground around me, spiraled around me as they reached above my head, and then sunk into Hessa.
“If you can hear me, grab on!” Altair shouted down at the sand. Nothing. Ghouls began to claw at him as well but he span his legs in the air, bringing down tremendous roundhouses. Their faces exploded on impact, a firework of sand powdering the area. He reached for his halberd once more, hoping for some movement. Nothing still. Suddenly the room burst into a hue of orange, the mirror surrounding them in delirious fire. The ghouls burnt away and the rest of the team fled, but Altair held on, rummaging his halberd in the sand. Still nothing! Wait! A niggle. It was enough and he thrust his lance out of the ground to find a pale and trembling Shae clutching the end, her eyes and mouth filled with sand. Without a skip of the heartbeat Altair scooped her up and dived through the door, the violent volcano erupting behind them. Now finally in the peaceful darkness, she coughed up a few lungful’s of dust and blood. Her skin was cold and her eyes were wide as she lent herself up by the sandstone walls. The bites had taken their toll. Crimson sipped through her leather corset, her stomach open and gooey.
Tsubael stepped back as the ghouls began to rise from the sand and attacked her comrades. A few came at her as well, but she seemed rather low on their list of delicacies. Still, she had a soul and, according to the inari records she'd read, ghouls wanted to consume the souls of the living just as much as the flesh. She was not safe. A hand emerged from the sand, followed by a decaying, toothless face. He reached for her foot, but Tsubael stomped down on it. Another latched onto the hem of her dress and she staggered aside, trying to shake him off. The dress began to tear before she managed to swat the ghoul off. Its grotesque skull shattered as her heavy black book smashed its head. The others weren't faring much better. They were slicing and dicing, but the ghouls and bits of ghouls just kept coming. They won't stop until there's nothing left, Tsubael thought. She searched her memory banks for a solution, but the inari records didn't say anything about how to deal with ghouls. They were an unscientific myth. The only solution she could think of was to beat them and beat them and beat them. Grind them into little pieces, too small to fight… or burn them to ash. “Fire… it’s fire!” Shae shouted. "This one is formatting a solution," Tsubael said. There were a lot of spells enchanted on her internal components. She knew her magical potential was quite high, though she'd never tapped into it. Nonsense. This one has read the complete works of Azi Khaliya's greatest magi, she thought. There was no excuse for not being able to weave eather, especially when she had so darn much of it inside of her. Think… think… there were gaia enchantments on her critical components, to keep them strong… nox enchantments to bond her soul and memories… adra and merc enchantments on some of her steam piping, to aid its flow… there were charon enchantments all over her boiler, keeping it hot… Ah, that's the one! But boiling water wasn't the same as making fire. This one shall make due, Tsubael thought as she tore off a strip of her dress and wrapped it around her hand. The old, dry fabric ought to catch easily. Then, she just channeled the charon enchantment's power into her right palm and suddenly… Every ghoul in the room went up in flames! Tsubael stared in wonder but, after some quick calculations, realized that this had nothing to do with her stumbling attempts at weaving eather. Something else had set them on fire. A riddle on the ceiling was glowing brightly. "Through there quickly!" Jakem called over the sounds of screaming ghouls. Tsubael trudged after them, dodging the flaming undead. She hesitated when she saw it was a slide. Landing on someone would be… bad… possibly deadly for whichever poor soul was waiting at the bottom. Tsubael stood aside, braving the flames and zombies while everyone else went through. After a long pause, she finally hopped in, and hoped no one was waiting at the bottom.
The room suddenly lightened, just like last time, the riddles along the wall shone a brilliant blue, to their sinking hearts it became clear they were not out of the woods yet. More dead bodies, they lay strewn across the floor but unlike the others which where dried out and ravaged, these ones looked like they were killed, cleanly. Neatly cut in half, or with a gaping holes in their chest. All of them were soldiers, some of them were old, either skin and bone or rotting. And at the end of the room a more pleasant sight greeted them, a girl, young only around 16 it looked but with an inhuman stare, her eye’s where bright with light, her skin glowed. She was barely covered, and across her skin runes of ever sort where seared into her flesh. Arcania, glowing pulsing, it almost seemed as if she where a ghost. Her hair was white, and flowed to her waist her expression was cold and stone like. In her hand, a bloodied pike. She hovered, a few feet off the ground, and then slowly, made her way towards them. “Welcome to the second trial. Would you like to hear the rules?” she asked.
Only when the ghouls were erased Kyra noticed how tired it was. It collapsed sitting on the ground and breathed heavily. It touched the left side of its body where the creature had impacted its, clothes were intact yet the mass inside of them still felt somehow like pulp. With certain fear it put its right hand inside its clothing only to touch something clearly deformed, it was painful, extremely painful yet Kyra pressed more and more until it realized something spiky and hard, it quickly removed its hand and saw it covered in red and some white and hard small fragments that could only belong to its own ribs. It gasped... "This body is so weak... physically its fine, yet only a little flow of eather can weaken it a lot" thought while coughing a red substance... It decided to lie there for a while, however unexpected to Kyra a miracle happened; the blood of its hand and mouth moved by itself and returned to it's original place, the same happened to the fragments of bone on its hand... "Gaaah..." screamed Kyra out of the pain that was born of this strange process, yet it quickly checked again inside its clothes, to its own surprise, it felt the skin intact, with no trace of the previous wound, also its bloody clothes had been magically cleaned by itself... Kyra was unnable to understand it, yet said event made it change its mind "Hmm, it seems this body have some surprsies, not bad, not bad at all" thought while pressing the wounded zone, checking the correct positions of th rib's bones. ---------------------- Once they reached the new room, a ghostly figure greeted them offering to them the rules of a new trial. Yet all this meant bullshit for Kyra who angrily fixed its eyes on the man that seemed to be the lead of the group. "Hey... I don't care who you are, but you better explain me what in the damned charon are we doing on this stinky place. I don't know in what sort of stupid quest did the faker get into, but unless it grab my interest I'm outta here. So spit the beans now" said with a menacing tone and eyes that reflected an unknown rage. Slowly its two coloured hair was changing its tonality to a completely white one.
I sighed and looked at the girl. "...We have no choice, do we? Let's hear the rules." I said quietly, any traces of the confidence, cheerfulness, and certainty had disappeared from my voice and demeanor, to me, I had screwed up majorly, the one thing that I thought that I would excel at, and I had failed, even made the situation worse, the only reason that I hadn't given up altogether was that I thought my magic might be worth something.
Tsubael came crashing down, sounding like a pile of metal pots and pans. She sat at the bottom of the slide, with hem of her dress still burning. "This one is unharmed," she said, in case anyone cared. They probably didn't. She was clutching her book to her chest. Thankfully, it hadn't burned. That was all she cared about. The automaton patted the flames on her dress until they went out. She stood to survey the scene. Another dark room. More bodies, but fresher than the previous batch. Some people were hovering over Hessa, administering medical attention. Again, the riddles on the walls illuminated, lighting the chamber. This time, a girl stood before them, instead of a dying soldier. She hovered toward them, with a weapon in hand. “Welcome to the second trial. Would you like to hear the rules?” the girl asked. "This one wishes to know the rules," Tsubael said.
