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+---- Thread: [SE] Ignore all the burdens that you keep (/showthread.php?tid=11620)
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Random Event - 07-11-2025
The air shimmered—first subtly, then with the heat-warp of a mirage given form. A pulse of light flared to Liam ’ s left, golden and blinding against the soot-stained haze, and from it stepped a figure both radiant and terrible. Wreathed in coils of sunlight, the spirit resembled a lion forged of flame and heat, its mane rippling with celestial fire. With a low, reverberating roar that echoed like temple bells, it surged forward—slamming into one of the approaching fyrhunds with a force that shattered stone and scattered void-tainted embers into the air. The beast let out a mangled cry before crumpling, its fire extinguished beneath the spirit’s radiant weight. As quickly as it had come, the spirit disappeared.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Maea - 07-11-2025
[say]"Not a chance,"[/say] Maea grated out through clenched teeth, clutching her injured arm to staunch the bleeding. Leaning back she kicked a hound hard on the snout as it tried to get in behind her, grimacing as it yelped and darted away to the side.
When the golden lion appeared to her right, she thought for a second that it was Remi. Why he'd be out here she couldn't have explainend, and a quick glance was enough to prove her wrong - but the impact of the spirit's aid was as fierce as any the Bastion might have made. Down went the first of the fyrhunds, and now they were down to two each.
Still not ideal. In an attempt to buy them some time the ancient called on her flames to obscure herself and Liam from sight, and pointed to a mound of rocks some yards away. [say]"Up there - can we make it?"[/say] Higher ground would give them the advantage they needed to survive this. If only they could get there - the alternative did not bear contemplating.
Scorch (Ancient): Can generate and manipulate flames within a 30ft radius, pulling heat from the environment or their own body.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Liam - 07-13-2025
The spirit's appearance was welcome, especially when it managed to dispatch one of the fyrhunds. Liam sent a grateful thought in its direction, but then it was gone, the lion forged of flame and heat dissipating into nothing more than memory. Later, Liam would marvel at the creature that had come forward to help him and Maea in their time of need, but for now, it was more important to focus on the battle at hand.
There was a burst of light and heat, flames licking up from nothing to encircle the pair, holding back the angry fyrhunds for a moment. Glancing in the direction that Maea indicated, Liam saw the outcropping of rocks that she'd indicated and nodded grimly. [say]"We have to,"[/say] he said. With the high ground would come the upper hand in the fight, and the alternative was to stay here and be surrounded, which was just asking to fall prey to the fyrhunds. [say]"Let's go!"[/say]
As soon as the fire dropped, Liam was moving, slashing at one of the fyrhunds to warn it off as he took off for the mound of rocks.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Maea - 07-13-2025
The curtain of flame fell away and they charged across crusty ground, up the hill towards the black stack of boulders. Not a moment too soon; one of the hounds was leaping through the dying ward and snapped after Maea's heels as she tore after Liam, avoiding her tendon by inches. Hot breath chased her onward faster than she recalled moving since she lost the supernatural speed of the Ascended - and she'd not missed her old teleportation quite as badly before now.
Staggering and scrabbling as the ground turned steep, she found herself lagging behind. Realizing that she wouldn't make it all the way up in time, she spun around just as the massive bulk of a hound slammed into her. Toppling to the ground in a tangle of snapping teeth and kicking legs, an intense burning in her arm made her scream - acid, sticky and noxious with void was dribbling from the snapping jaws. Her armor protected her from the worst of it, but it still hurt like five hells.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Liam - 07-13-2025
Having batted away one of the fyrhunds with his sword, Liam's way was left clear; he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Maea was on his heels, and when he was satisfied that she was, he put on a burst of speed, hoping to be able to reach the rocks with enough time to turn and guard as she climbed up. Unfortunately, he seemed to have underestimated the fyrhunds' speed - or perhaps he'd simply hoped for the best. A scream stopped him in his tracks just as he began to climb, and he was back off the rocks and turning towards Maea before he could stop to think.
His heart thundered in his chest to find Maea on the ground, tangled with a fyrhund that snapped and snarled at her, fear slicing ice cold into his calm and collected thoughts, disrupting whatever plans he might have had. There wasn't even anything he could do; any blow he might have sought to land upon the fyrhund that had Maea pinned might just as easily land upon his partner. All he could do, then, was hope to distract the other three, drawing them away from what they might see as easy prey.
Making a split second decision, Liam reached for his sword's blade with his off hand, slicing into his own palm. The scent of fresh blood drove many beasts into a frenzy, and if he could just distract them long enough for Maea to get out from beneath that one -
[say]"Over here!"[/say] he snarled at the fyrhunds, stepping away from the tangle of beast and woman as his blood dripped to the ground at his feet. Readying his sword, he prepared for the onslaught that he hoped would come his way, leaving Maea to fight her own battle - however wrong it felt to do so.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Maea - 07-13-2025
The tang of blood upon the wind had exactly the kind of effect Liam had hoped for. Three pairs of gleaming eyes turned to follow him for a fraction of a second. With a baying of hounds that caught scent of prey, the first two fyrhunds leaped over Maea and her own opponent and came barreling towards the soldier. Massive in size and weight, it was not unlike being charged by two bears, and within moments they were upon him; snapping and biting, leaping and trying to knock him over to where the gleaming sword couldn't bite back.
Hearing his shout, Maea growled with desperate hurry as she slashed at the beast atop of her wiith her chakram. Hot blood and violet gore soaked her dress, and the bulk atop of her ribs squeezed all the air from her lungs until lights flashed like the ghost of will-o-wisps before her eyes. A yelp sounded when she landed a hard kick against its hip - a moment later she got her legs in beneath the scorching gut and heaved, creating space for her arm to slash across her chest. Blood sprayed from the deep gash in its throat, showering her face and hair and stinging her eyes - but she was alive, and the beast was not.
Dragging herself out from beneath the carcass, through a haze of fouled blood and pain she strained to catch a glimpse of Liam. Unaware that she had been screaming his sname over and over, she couldn't figure out why her throat kept stinging - it wasn't important anyway. She just had to get to him and make sure he was unharmed. He was, right?
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Liam - 07-13-2025
The sting of the blade biting into Liam's palm was sharp and sudden, but he didn't have time to do more than hiss faintly with the sudden pain. It was nothing, after all, in comparison to the near-blinding fear that had him by the throat. His heartbeat thundered in his ears as he readied himself, bracing for the onslaught that he hoped would come - and it took only a moment before his hopes turned to reality.
Two of the remaining fyrhunds came barreling towards him, their snarls loud enough to nearly drown out Maea's screams. If one got past him, he was as good as dead; he couldn't fight on two fronts at once, not without Maea to guard his back. He hurriedly darted backwards, both to lead the fyrhunds further from his partner and to get the mound of rocks at his back. At least then, maybe he would stand a chance of holding them off.
The good news, he thought, was that Maea was alive - she was shouting his name, over and over, but there was no time to reassure her. Not that he could, anyway; he was, after all, in dire straits. He had only a basic sword at his disposal, and these fyrhunds were massive, and ferocious, and driven half-mad with bloodlust. Liam gripped his sword in his uninjured hand, eyes flicking between the two fyrhunds advancing on him. Which would strike first, and would he be fast enough to counter?
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Maea - 07-13-2025
They charged him together. Working in unison, the first hound to reach him leaped straight for the former dragoon's throat in a heavy frontal assault. The second hound was a second slower. Striking out to his left, it made an attempt to bypass the man and slip in behind his back. Pack hunters as they were, this was a usual tactic - well practiced, and backed by a ferocious hunger.
Maea's limbs felt heavy as lead as she staggered to her feet. She could swear she was running, but the distance between herself and her destination shrank so slowly as though she'd been caught in quicksand. Throwing one disc to the exposed back of the first fyrhund to charge Liam, she kept the other in reserve - for when she caught up. In case the first one missed. In case she had no choice but to spill more of her own blood to help him, or heal, or –
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Liam - 07-14-2025
Liam watched the fyrhunds, his mind working overtime as he tried and failed to strategize his way out of the situation in which he found himself. There was no magic fix, no channeled spirit, nothing aside from him and two hunters, pack animals who were out for his blood. His left hand dripped the precious liquid onto the rocks at his feet, his palm slick with crimson. It wasn’t a deep wound, but it was a distraction all the same, and one he could hardly afford.
The first fyrhund lunged. Liam dodged reflexively, sidestepping to his right as he brought his sword up and over in a short arc meant to knock the fyrhund’s jaws aside - but he hadn’t accounted for the beast’s claws, which sank into the muscles of his upper arm as it sailed by, leaving an acrid, lancing pain in its wake. Liam grunted, a strangled sort of noise that was probably louder than he realized.
The second fyrhund had lunged in unison, moving to his left to try to cut in behind, but since Liam had dodged to the right, both creatures now stalked him from the left, having failed to get around behind him. That was something, at least. Liam faced them with his sword held between, the rocks now on his left to protect his injured arm. While the cut on his hand was shallow, the soldier was keenly aware that the slices on his arm were anything but, seeping blood onto the rocks at his feet at a rate that was concerning, to say the least. But he didn’t have the time to stop and bind the wound, so he continued to bleed freely as he squared up with his adversaries.
Maea was somewhere nearby, if the chakram that had sliced through the air was any indication. He could only pray she would arrive soon, whole and unharmed, and ready to rejoin the battle.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Maea - 07-14-2025
It could be worse, but not by much. Two remaining out of the original five - that was a feat anyone could be proud of. One decimated by the summoned spirit, one lying dead behind her feet, and two within sight just up ahead, still held at bay by Liam's staunch defense.
But wait. Something didn't add up. Counting again, and a third time, Maea felt a cold shiver of dread ghost down her spine. And then a snarl sounded from the crest of the mound, a spine chilling sound that announced their defeat in this race for the high ground. Outsmarted - they'd been so preoccupied with the pursuit that neither of them noticed how one body separated from the rest, took the long way around to scale the hill from the other side. And now Liam was in serious danger, caught in a pincer - literally between a rock and a hard place.
Maea's thoughts came to a screeching halt. A shadow rose past terrified pleading and half formed plans of action, summoned by the single, awful possibility of it ending here. Was this how much their promises of forever was worth? Was this all the time they'd been allotted? Was she really going to let these barking dogs get away with spilling her lover's blood, like he was mere prey and not the sun her world had come to revolve around?
No.
An itchy started up in her bones just then, impatient and demanding. When she threw out a hand for the valiant figure of Liam - too far away still for her to reach - it began to shimmer, a ripple of light that extended to the rest of her body. Making it grow. Consuming her pale countenance and trading supple skin and soft hands for ink-black scales and claws, a serpentine neck, and wings that unfurled towards the sky like a clap of thunder.
What reached Liam a moment later was a black dragon's furious roar, and the swipe of a massive paw that sent the fyrhund with his blood on its teeth flying. With a snap of her maw the dragon snatched the fourth hound on top off the mound between her jaws, letting blood rain to the ground – and quite suddenly the soldier's opponents were reduced down to a single one.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Liam - 07-14-2025
As the two fyrhunds snapped at him again, held at bay by the threat of his blade, Liam started to think that maybe he could do this. Maea would be with him at any moment - he was sure of it - and together, they could vanquish the remaining duo.
But - wait -
A snarl from above answered the question of what had happened to the third remaining fyrhund, and Liam blanched as he realized that he was now in an impossible position. Even if he could hold off the two on the ground, he had no way of defending himself on multiple fronts. Horror dawned as he realized that there was a very real probability that Maea was about to watch his untimely slaughter. He risked a tortured glance in her direction, full of regret and apology -
Only to find that in her place was the rapidly shifting form of something quite large, something he’d never seen before. It seemed that the fyrhunds were similarly distracted, for when the black dragon’s roar shook the ground beneath his feet, the soldier realized that he’d been staring and yet had not been attacked; turning his gaze upon the fyrhunds, he watched as one went flying, smacked away by one great paw. Another was snatched up by angry jaws, sending blood raining from the sky as its life was rapidly extinguished.
That left one - and one was something that Liam was able to handle. With a wordless cry, Liam lunged for the remaining fyrhunds, arcing and stabbing and raining lightning-quick blows upon its rocky hide, hoping to end its miserable existence before it could recover from the draconic surprise.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Maea - 07-14-2025
Blood filled the air, a stench of fear and viscera mingled with sweet coppery undertones like a perfume worthy of the battlefield. The fyrhund was fighting back, but as wound after wound opened up in its lava-crusted skin the ferocity of its attacks waned. With the dragon's tail coiled protectively behind Liam's back it became impossible to reach him that way - and with a final push the creature was felled, crumbling to the ground in a battered heap.
The stillness that followed was eerie. Nothing moved. Not the steaming carcasses nor the fyrhund Maea had sent flying; and slowly, wary of her unaccustomed size and strength, she lowered her dragon's head to inspect her partner with a nacreous eye. White as a full moon and subtly iridescent with rainbow hues, it was the only indication of who she was. All else was black, from the glistening scales to the tongue that licked her chops free from blood.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Liam - 07-14-2025
It took a massive effort to fell the final fyrhund. Liam was losing blood at a staggering rate, but adrenaline kept him on his feet long enough to complete his task and banish the creature into oblivion. When the fyrhund was finally crumpled upon the ground in a heap, Liam stared at it, chest heaving, painfully aware of just how close he’d come to dying this day, and reminded once again just how powerful Maea was. He’d need to get stronger, if he was going to keep his promise to her; at this rate, she’d outlive him for sure.
But for now, winning their battle was enough, and Liam slowly lowered his sword as Maea lowered her massive head, eyes pale and iridescent, marking the black dragon as unmistakeable her. The soldier regarded her with a quirked brow. [say]”Did I know you could do that?”[/say] he mused, a teasing lilt to a voice that shook subtly with exhaustion.
Using the blade, Liam cut a few strips from his shirt before sheathing the sword in a fluid, practiced motion. Then he began to bind his wound, wincing faintly as the depth of the wound became apparent. No longer carried by the adrenaline of the fight, he started to tremble, and his fingers slipped as he tried to tie off the makeshift bandage with one hand.
RE: Ignore all the burdens that you keep - Maea - 07-14-2025
A huff of warm breath wafted towards him from flared nostrils, the only answer she could give him in this form. The instincts that came with this form were many and powerful. The open sky beckoned her to conquer, the horizon demanding to be explored. Hunger, deep and insatiable, pulled at her to consume the prey she'd defeated – but most of all she needed to keep her precious one alive. For now, that meant putting off all those other things for another time.
Melting down into the familiar form of the pale-haired, mist eyed little woman, her fingers gently took over the task of tying the bandage when his failed him. [say]"I didn't know I could,"[/say] she admitted softly, awed herself by the generosity of her goddess. [say]"This doesn't look good, you know that, right? Will you allow me to heal you?"[/say] Tightening the knot securely, Maea slipped in by his side, offering her shoulder to lean on should his legs betray him. Dread was receding like tidal waves pulling away from shore, but the taste it left behind was acrid on her tongue – this had been a cloose call. A harsh reminder that anything could happen at any moment - and they had let their guard down.