Most of the named characters heretofore have their own player behind them. I have tried my best to combine the personalities of the players as I know them to their character, their character's race, and their class. Basically, I'm totally sorry to Reyes if he didn't wanna be frozen.
The player of Redem(ption) has helped me piece together some of the more difficult parts, and so brilliant is his writing that if you REALLY liked a segment of this story, it was undoubtably written by him.
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A blinding explosion of searing heat exploded against the scales of the enraged raptor and, as the flames began to dwindle into mere smoldering ashes, his gleaming eye caught the hands that had attacked him, glowing anew as the fiery energy began to gather for yet another onslaught. Exhausted from this battle and still confused from the sudden ambush just moments before, his deadly jaws swung in the direction of the mage, sparing a deep roar of anger before his head dipped and he prepared to charge her.
"I think not!" A large, deadly mace landed with a sickening thud against the belly of the raptor and suddenly the mage was forgotten as he recoiled and in it's rage sprang forwards. It's large jaws snapped at the source of pain and noise, the glaring elf before him. The paladin ducked and dodged keenly to the side, leaving the raptor's head to connect solidly with his shield.
Rearing up and glaring down at the Blood Elf that had managed to keep most of his attention, his huge, muscled legs flexxed as his front claws clenched in preparation for the strike. So many a raptor had the paladin slain that the next few seconds appeared to him as if in slow motion. Every breath, every blink, counted. The raptor's tail was thrown to the side, propelling his body up and forward, head tilted down and jaws aimed ready to taste the flesh of this humanoid attacker, and the paladin's allowed his instinctive reflexes to take over. Delolith fell to his knees and put every ounce of strength into the force of his deadly blade, raised high towards the back of the raptor's throat. Even as the dinosaur's blood was spilt, a fresh burst of heat blasted against his skin and he was thrown away from the elf, dead before his body thudded against the ground.
The paladin's triumphant gaze met his sister's proud eyes, but no words were yet exchanged as they glanced together towards yet another raging raptor.
This beast was bloody confused. A seemingly invincible voidwalker, the likes of which the dinosaur had never before encountered, attacked relentlessy. A living demon, it reeked of cold and death and filled the air with shadow somehow more real than any before as it's claws raked along the raptor's scales. The raptor screamed in rage and terror at the demon; It felt itself weakening against the constant onslaught, even as another shadow glided silently behind it, blades glinting in the sunlight as they were unsheathed. The invisible rogue darted in and out around the two combatants, striking at the raptor's weak points and vanishing again before he could turn and spot this deadly and invincible threat. Panic rose in the dinosaur's voice, though he had been doomed the moment that the battle had begun. He'd been attacked by the tireless voidwalker, the magics of the shadow realm from its warlock master behind it, and now that infernal deadly stabbing whose source he could still not see to retaliate. And so his rage went into the demon, who felt naught for it.
The warlock Redemption, chanting in a tongue that defied comprehension, called upon the powers of shadow to drain the life of the beast, feeding off it, growing ever stronger as the raptor grew weaker. Gathering his hands together, he summoned the Dark energies from shadow realm, strengthened them with his own spirit as it manifested into a black ball of demonic energy that swelled between his hands. Only when the warlock deemed it ready, the energy was hurled at the raptor, it's flesh burning now with the purest darkness. Eyes glowing, the warlock threw his hands upward and summoned hellfire from the depths of the earth, scorching its skin and burning it alive.
As it gave one final scream of terror, he extended his arm and snared it's soul, constricting it forever as a crystal, to be used to fuel the most powerful of demonic magics. The corpse, burnt from within and savagely torn without, crumpled to the floor at the voidwalker's feet as it turned back to its master, eyes aglow with a malevolent will. It melted into the shadows as it was released from service to its master, its glowing eyes promising pain should it ever meet its enslaver on a more even footing.
As it vanished, the warlock's companion reappeared behind it, sword dripping with the raptor's spilt blood and eyes gleaming with the lust of battle.
"I like these," the young rogue's words were filled with the malice of a mercenary who delighted in his work.
"They take a little elbow grease," The mage agreed as she balled her hands together, whispered an incantation, and slowly spread her hands. Three skins of water grew between them to rest in one palm. One tossed to the Warlock as he snickered at the irony in her words. Another handed to her brother as they approached a break in the rather thin foliage, and the last water, nicely chilled, for herself.
Reyes needed none, for the rogue's energy was spent directly, rather than channeled and expelled as magic. He shook his head in decline of her following offer of food, content to sit against a small boulder in what looked like a small, very basic camp perhaps used at one (ancient?) time by hunters, and await his comrades.
"You're going to have to be careful, Djee", Delolith warned as he took a spot opposite her near Reyes. "These are smart. And strong. If he'd figured out sooner that I had nothing to do with the fire, h-"
"You would have gutted him sooner," she interrupted, nonchalantly waving his warning off. Djeeni rarely concerned herself with the 'what-if's', and this irritated the paladin to no end. The paladin's teachings had given him a firm belief that a lesson could be learned with every spell they cast, and though he was able to adapt his tactics and strategies to suit nearly every situation, his older sister had but one: Destroy very quickly.
While he lacked no confidence in his ability to wield his weapons, the same patronizing 'I give up for now but you're not right' gaze slid into Delolith's eyes as he turned to glance over at the roasted, broken bodies of their former antagonists. "Ought to please the General."
"That tightwad?" the rogue snickered with a sneer down at the daggers dancing between his fingers. "We could bring him the teeth of every last one, and he still wouldn't be satisfied enough to pay us what he owes."
"What?!" Djeeni shot him an alarmed glare. "Why didn't you tell us he'd break contract if you'd worked for him before??"
Reyes shrugged with nonchalance. "You never asked." He continued before she could fire the retort that was already smoldering in her eyes, locking his unworried gaze against hers. "Always settle for higher than what the work is worth."
"You settled our contract with him," Delolith remarked thoughtfully, having never removed his eyes from the remains of their 'work'.
"Let this be a lesson to ya," Reyes' eyes melted slowly to his courting blades once again. "I may not always be there to stop the big bad b-BITCH!!"
Djeeni was on her feet, frost in her eyes and sleeting from her fingers, one hand aimed at the rogue's feet and legs and encasing them in a solid shackle of ice. Even as the daggers flew at their owner's assailant, more ice slid from her free hand and the blades stabbed only frozen water.
Eyes rolling in exasperation (how many times had he exclaimed "She's seven years older and acts seven years younger!!" in utter exhaustion of her complusive actions?), Delolith stood and stepped away from the ice gathered near his feet. "Do you have to?"
"Last time I do you a favor," Reyes glowered as the ice suddenly crumbled, no longer able to hold shape let alone their stealthy captive. He vanished and cartwheeled towards her, the daggers melting into invisibility when his hands closed around their handles.
Burying the side of his face with one hand, Del simply shook his head in shame as his sister and friend dueled their disagreement. Nearly a daily event, most of their companions had witnessed it (multiple times), and knew now not to step in the middle.
Beyond the hissing whoosh of flame and clangs of metal against staff, however, Redemption's ears twitched against yet another din, distant yet thick, as though a thunderstorm was gathering just beyond the horizon. He fought to listen, eyes darkening with impatience when Djeeni and Reyes' bickering threatened to drown it out. A shadowed glare sharpened the downwards curve of his brow until his patience was no more; One hand shot from the folds of his earth-colored robe and the air imploded into a torrent of arcane magic, the energies he no longer manipulated but would never forget. The clap was enough to halt the duelers, though Redem's whispered 'enough!' melted their confusion and irritation into quiet purpose as the warlock gestured to one ear. Delolith's gratefulness lit his face, but when he saw the expression on his companion's face, he too decided against speaking, glancing over his shoulder to follow Redem's intent stare.
