When Darkness Falls
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CS: EDIT! Did not really like how this one ended, so I've decided to go in and edit a few things :3
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"Talking"
'Thoughts'
Other Voices
[Chaos Notes]
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Chapter 10
Rebirth of a Dark God...
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Anticipation. Restlessness. Fear and Excitement. All of these and more played through Sparrow's mind as she leaned against the cold balcony, her eyes fixated on the darkness that was Wraithmarsh. The hours seemed to fade into nothingness as she awaited her fellow Heroes to hurry up and prepare themselves for the upcoming battle that was sure to ensue. She had long ago donned her more battle friendly gear as well as a wide variety of weaponry that would prove their usefulness by the end of the night. Now, here she waited with great impatience as her companions argued over strategies. Hammer wanted to burst into the marsh in a blaze of glory, killing anything and everything that got in their way. Garth on the other hand wanted to study their opponent, observing their behavior, find their weakness, and then sticking accordingly. Reaver sided with Hammer, wanting nothing more that to show off his prowess while Sylver took Garth's side believing it the best way to keep alive.
Sparrow really didn't give two shits what they did as long as they did something and soon. As a woman of action, patience was not one of her virtues. All this waiting around and doing nothing, and allowing Nox and whatever other evils that awaited them time to prepare for their inevitable assault, was really beginning to tear at her mind. As proof of this, she had been tapping her foot in annoyance and ferventness, aching to do something other than standing around.
Groaning, Sparrow dipped her head down so that it met with the cool, marble railing. This was taking too long. At this rate they were going, Nox would surely die of old age rather that her sword through his throat.
Pushing herself from the balcony, Sparrow bound down the hall and to the study. The maids that she passed quickly moved out of the way and stared down the hall with grimacing looks. Her steps alone betrayed her frustration. As she closed in on the study, she could hear the voices inside arguing back and forth. Even after three long, tiring hours the four inside were still debating on their entrance alone.
"I'm telling you! If we don't deal with everything in our path outright, then they could easily come up behind us when we less need it!"
"And I'm telling you that we do not need to be wasting our energy so soon! By the time you smash everything in sight, you would not be able to hold that oversize 'mallet' of yours against our true foe."
"There is no fun in sneaking through the shadows. What is the point in wielding a blade or gun if you don't get to use it?"
"We aren't going there for fun, you twit! This isn't like a band of incompetent Hobbes or swarm of mindless Hollow Men! This is a well organized army of bandits and cursed humans lead by another cursed human who may or may not have someone controlling him!"
Pushing the doors open violently, Sparrow stormed into the study. However, none of the other four seemed to notice her and instead looked as if they were about to have their own private blood bath in her nice, clean study. Hammer looked as she was about to knock Garth's head off and Sylver's eyes began to turn black as his inner beast desired nothing more than to rip out Reaver's throat.
"Mallet? How about I knock your head off with this mallet?"
"Oi..."
"That is all you can about do. You believe that everything can be solved but smashing it."
"Oi?"
"Twit? Is that the best you can come up with, you over grown excuse for a hair ball?"
"Oi!"
"Don't tempt me you decease carting lout. I have a mind to gut you here and now, sparing the bandits the trouble of doing it themselves!"
"OI!"
"Incompetent Old Goat!"
Her nails began to dig into the wooden surface of the desk that separated them all from one another.
"Loud Barbarian Drunk!"
The corner of her eye began to twitch violently.
"Flee Ridden Mongrel!"
Her lower lip began to bleed as she bit down on it hard.
"Impudent Man Whore!"
A sudden and rather deafening explosion quickly followed the last insult, causing them all to jump violently and turn their heads to the pissed off Sparrow. In her hands was her ever famous blunderbuss, its barrel smoking. The ceiling above them crackled for a moment before large chunks fell and landed on the table. If they were to have looked up, they would have seen a couple of servants look down the newest hole of Bloodstone Manor.
Strapping her still smoking gun to her back, she leaned in, arms on the table and gave all of them a glare that would make the Commandant shiver. "We are getting nowhere." Her voice was a deadly calm, a raging fury buried not but an inch away. "How are we suppose to take down a massive movement of bandits and cursed if you people can't stop fighting one another?" She sounded like a mother scolding her four children to share a single tow. Hammer looked away, Garth grunted, Sylver mumbled, and Reaver simply glared with a faint ting of red on his face.
Pulling a large map of the marsh off of the wall, she placed on the table the Heroes surrounded, pulled out a marker, and commenced to circle various parts. "From what the scouts have confirmed, the main horde is here, here, and here." Pointing to the circles with the tip of her marker, she moved it up and created one big circle further up the map. "They surround this large area rather tightly, giving reason to believe that Nox is holed up somewhere in here." She tapped what looked like to be the center of the dead city that claimed the marsh hundreds of years ago. Looking up, she saw an unknown emotion flash across Reaver's eyes, but quickly dismissed it for the flickering light of the fire before she turned her attention back to the large map. Her tone became low and deadly calm. "Cut off a serpent's tail, and it burrows deep underground until it can recover. Cut off its head, the body will then wither and die. That is what we are going to do. Bandits depend on leadership to keep them in order. Without it, they will either fight amongst themselves or flee into different corners of the marsh. Strike at the heart, and the rest will die along with him. Understand?"
The other four looked up at her and nodded with grim understanding. "Good." She pushed herself up from the desk. "We leave at sunset, use the extra darkness to our advantage. I'm counting on you two to take down any Cursed that ventures too close quietly." she pointed to Garth and Sylver without looking up from the map. "Hammer and I will take down what gets in our path. And Reaver-" Pushing herself up from the table, she countered the glare the Pirate King was giving her with one of her own. "You will be covering our rear, shooting anything that decided to sneak up behind us."
"Pray tell, who died and put you in charge? In case you haven't noticed by now, Little Birdie, I don't take kindly to being ordered around by someone else." he challenged with his arms crossed over his chest, that ever so deadly grin playing across his lips as his trigger finger twitched. With speed that only a woman that had been through hell and back could ever possible have, Sparrow reached over, grabbed Reaver by his roguish shirt, and pulled half of his body over the table until she could look him right in the eyes, their noses nearly touching.
"The moment I saved your sorry ass from a rather painful death ten years ago, it became mine." The grin that flashed across her lips caused a sharp shiver to run down the pirate's back. The tone in her voice... Only one other woman had used that tone. A woman long before Sparrow... A woman that had plagued his mind every night for the past five hundred years. Sparrow suddenly released her hold rather roughly. "Play nice and we might talk about me not ripping off the only head you ever really think with every time you open your mouth."
Sylver stifled a snicker, Garth gave a rather uncomfortable grunt while shifting feet, and Hammer flat out laughed, causing another faint ting of red to creep across Reaver's face as his ego took one brutal stab. A ruthless pirate that would gladly sacrifice anyone in his former town to retain his youth, he was. But he was still human... ish. What more, he was still a man and Sparrow seemed to know just how to get men like him to back away. Ten years on the sea, making a name for herself, did wonders for her personality.
Slowly letting go of Reaver, she straightened herself and began to make her way out the door. "Sunset is only an hour away. I suggest you all bring everything you've got and pray to your gods. This is going to be a long night." The last part was more of a mumble to herself, but the message was clear to them all. As she walked out of the study, Sylver quickly followed suit like the shadow he was. The three who remained in the study looked at each other for a moment before dispersing to different corners of the manor to prepare themselves for the night they faced. As Sparrow had said... it was going to be a very long night...
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"Do you really think that they have what it takes?"
"Have you no faith in your own blood?"
"I've seen her in battle. She could not defend herself from a mere Banshee without the aid of another."
"You forget. Despite what the stories told, when you fought the Three Gods, you did not act alone. Alone, they are weak. Only together, when they act as one, will they have the power to finally end this war that has lasted for so long."
"Do your eyes see this?"
"No. What lies ahead is unknown, even to my sight."
"And yet you remain convinced that this child can destroy something that not even I could."
"A child she may be, however she has the potential to become what my brother could not."
"..."
"Do not lose faith. She will see this to the end... After all, she is your flesh and blood."
"For Albion's sake, I hope you are right."
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"Dammit, Reaver! I swear by all that is Holy and Corrupt, if you live through this night, I will personally have your head on a platter!" snarled Sparrow as she fired several rounds into a snarling Cursed Bandit before quickly doubling back to slash at another that was behind her. Hammer was slamming her weapon into another, crashing it into a crumbling pillar with a sickening crack. Garth was providing cover fire by unleashing his Will Blades into anything that got too close to the others while also zapping at anything that got too close to him with his Lightning. Reaver was also firing at whatever wanted to become 'friendly' with his guts. However it was more to protect his own hide rather than the others.
"Why is it that when anything goes wrong, you think it's my fault?"
"All you had to do was cover our rear! How is it that you can possible screw that up?"
"As I said, I do not do well with authority!"
"Will you two shut up and concentrate on killing the things that are trying to kill us!" The two glared at Hammer before they fired their pistols into a single Cursed. Sparrow gave Reaver her best 'I'll-deal-with-you-later' look before quickly following after the other two, firing and slashing at anything that got in her path. Reaver grunted, and followed suit, knowing [with much distaste] that it would be hell trying to get back to Bloodstone on his own. A blood curdling roar emitting from the darkness as Sylver viciously tore into bodies, his once white fur now red with blood. Garth channeled a powerful bolt of electricity into Hammer's weapon, which she then slammed into the ground, creating a powerful spark and shock wave that sent the bandits flying. Sparrow did something similar by pumping a powerful wave of energy into her blunderbuss. When she fired a round into a body, it erupted with a potent blast of fire that quickly engulfed anything around it. Reaver did what he did best and fired shots into the darkness and up at tall cliffs. Ever round met its mark with deadly accuracy.
The Five of them steadily made their way deeper into the shadows of the marsh. Though the really had no idea where the heart of this little infestation was, they decided to trek the path where the majority seemed to be coming from. However, for every one they fell, five more would take its place. Garth and Hammer were running low on energy while Sparrow and Reaver began to grow short of ammo. The only one that seemed to be keeping up was Sylver, whose inner, beastly bloodlust was consuming him. It terrified Sparrow to no end, seeing the blood run through those cold, heartless eyes, but he was their best weapon against them. After all, what better to take down monsters than a monster itself?
The four below continued to smash and blast their way through the marsh while the fifth decapitated anything that tried to stray into the shadows. After what seemed like an eternity of blood and gore, the group of Heroes finally managed to reach what they believed to be the nest. A system of forgotten caverns, stretched wide across the dark marsh, tunneling deep within the cold earth. Reaver mentioned something about an ancient race of bandits and pirates who used the tunnels in the same fashion that he would use his own hidden under the manor.
Hammer, upon gazing into the deep darkness paled. "I don't..." Her usual strong voice quivered slightly, drawing the attention of others. "I don't do well... in confined spaces." Sparrow could practically feel the former pacifist's inner shame. But who could blame her? Twenty-some-odd years ago, she had descended into darkness and returned only to find the one person she would kill to protect bleeding his life onto the once pure Temple marble. Since that day, the two had become sisters fighting a single battle to free the spirits of those they called 'beloved' and Sparrow had long known of Hammer's newly acquired fears.
It was Garth, however, who made a gesture of assurance by raised his arm and gripping her shoulder in a way that told her 'not to worry.' Hammer looked down at Garth and nodded numbly before heaving her maul over her shoulder and entering the cold, damp cavern. Due to the tightness of the tunnel, they had to proceed down in a line. Hammer led in front, her weapon posed to smash at anything in her way. Garth followed behind her, hold a spell bound dagger that emitted a dim light for them to see. Then followed Sparrow, who kept her eyes and ears open to anything and everything. Reaver was close behind her, his gun shifting to every moving shadow. Sylver [still in his beastly form] took up the rear, descended down backwards so that nothing could escape his sight.
However, one did manage to escape their attention. High above, in a shadowed overlook, a black Balverine looked down at them with dark eyes before fading into the darkness of the caverns. It weaved and sprinted, throwing itself off of high ledged and bounding off the walls, passing through a cavern filled with innumerable bones, and another where the vast horde of bandits and cursed slept. It finally came into a large room that was devoid of everything but a dark throne and a pedestal where its master stood. As it ran up to him, it hunched close the ground and whispered a series of hisses and growls.
Nox smiled a fangy grin. "They're earlier than expected..." He then suddenly turned to the pitiful creature that slumped to the ground. "Separate them. I do not care what happens to the others, but the girl must be led to this chamber. Go!" He suddenly swung his foot, catching the creature in its ribs. Yelping in agony, the beast gave a faint, almost silent snarl before it slunk into the shadows to carry out its master's wishes.
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Sparrow shivered silently as she and her rather unorthodox team made its way deeper into the ground. Not only was it growing colder the further they went down, but there was also a growing stench that made her just want to slice off her nose. It was a sweet, sickly scent that came with the mixture of old and fresh blood, rotten flesh, decay, and other smells best left un-described. She was not the only one to 'enjoy' its effect either.
"By Avo's Grace." coughed Hammer as she pinched her nose tightly with her free hand. "What is that?"
Sparrow shook her head in distain. "Whatever it is, it makes the sewage of Bloodstone smell like a field spring cut roses." Sylver grunted in response as his nose scrunched up rather tightly. Sparrow pitied the beast as his sense of smell was far more acute then theirs. Garth and Reaver were the only two seemingly unfazed by the malicious odor. Reaver due to the fact that he had lived in the foulest city for well over five hundred years and Garth... had a scarf pulled tightly across his face.
"I don't see what the big deal is." quirked Reaver with his usual "I'm-better-than-you" tone. "You two are making such a fuss over a smell. If you ask me, it is beyond pathetic."
Hammer stopped midstride and turned to face the arrogant pirate. Garth and Sparrow quickly pressed themselves against the cold wall so not to get in her path. "Well maybe if you didn't have your head up your ass at every waking moment, you would be able to use that nose of yours for something other than sniffing out a good lay!" All sense of security vanished from her body as her voice bounced off the walls, making her booming voice all the more painful.
'So much for the element of surprise...' Sparrow thought with a grim look and a tick in her eye. When her voice finally faded away, Reaver reached up and rubbed his ear roughly as though to try and regain his hearing, all the while glaring at the towering former monk with one eye closed tightly.
"Well excuse me for being far more superior than you." Reaver should have stopped while he was ahead, as evident from the growing battle lust slowly filling Hammer's now cold eyes. However, he continued on with a cocky grin and his hands on his hips. "And at least I can get laid. No man -or woman for that matter- would even think of touching a loud, drunk, and [quite frankly] ignorant barbarian such as yourself." A chilling silence followed his words as they sank into Hammer's mind.
Garth inched a little closer to Sparrow to whisper, "This... is not going to end well, is it?"
Sparrow shook her head slowly, her eye concentrating on the sight before her. Steam was practically emitting from Hammer and her eyes actually began to bleed red. No... this was not going to end well at all. "That's it! Hero or no Hero I am going to snap you like the twig you are-"
Just as Hammer took a threatening step towards Reaver, her maul raised to cave in his skull, a deafening roar emitting from high above. Sylver quickly looked up and then [just as quickly] charged forward and slammed into Sparrow enough to throw her body out of the way. Not but seconds after, a large pile of rocks smashed right where she once stood. Groaning from the sudden and rather painful force, Sparrow slowly got back up to her feet, her ribs throbbing in pain. Sylver looked back up and snarled up at the blood drenched Balverine/bandit before jumping up and slamming it into the rock face.
Sparrow, ignoring the pain in her side, quickly pulled out one of her pistols and attempted to fire it at the cursed beast. However, with Sylver struggling with it, she could not get a clear enough shot without the risk of hurting her companion. Reaver, on the other hand, did not seem to share her morals and was about to fire at both of them before another cursed suddenly crashed into him and sent him plummeting down another tunnel with a shout.
"Ambush! AMBUSH!" shouted Hammer as a third lunged from the shadows straight towards her. She attempted to smash in its skull, but it quickly doubled back and began to attack her relentlessly, forcing her down another, separate path, away from the others.
"They're trying to separate us! Stay togeth-" Garth's words were cut short as a clawed hand suddenly snatched him by his vest and pulled him into the darkness. Sparrow bit back a violent string of curses and attempted to go after the Will User. To be honest [as evident from their time in the Spire], Garth really didn't know how to handle much without his powers. She was stopped short as yet another beast fell from above to block her path. It was bigger than any other she had come across yet. It had several oozing wounds and patches of fur missing from its body. As it snarled fiercely down at her, diseased saliva dripping down its jaws, putting Sparrow on edge.
"I have no time for this!" she snarled to herself as she skillfully pulled her blunderbuss from her back and fired at the creature. Being at a rather close range, she was able to make her mark. The beast howled in pain as a large pool of blood began to form at its feet, however it still retained enough strength to stay up. With deadly speed, it slammed her and pinned her against the wall. Swinging her legs about, she kicked at its side and anywhere else her feet could reach. This did very little as it pressed her into the rocky, wet wall harder and bent down as if to bite her. She could feel its cold, sticky saliva drip down to her skin. Panic setting in, Sparrow strained to reach one of her hidden daggers.
"Your flesh..." The voice was low and more like a garbled hiss. This caused her to freeze for a moment, if on out of confusion. Sylver was the only one with Balverine blood that she had ever heard speak in its beast form. To hear another [even though it was less than intelligent and hardly audible] was one of the few things she could chalk up on her 'what-the-fuck' list. "Sweet flesh... Give me... your flesh..." Though its speech left much to be desired, its meaning was the same in any language.
Finding a newfound resolve to break free, Sparrow put more energy into her struggling as it lowered itself to take a chuck of her skin. Just as she could feel its teeth grazing her body, she managed to free one of her daggers. A piercing wail overwhelmed her as she was able to plunge the cold metal into one of its eyes. Reeling in pain, the cursed man flung Sparrow away from it as it clawed at its face. Wasting no time, Sparrow quickly retrieved her discarded blunderbuss and fired several rounds into the creature. She managed to take off one of its arms and blow a larger hole into its stomach before it finally fell to the ground, still and lifeless.
Her chest heaving with adrenaline, Sparrow pulled the overly large gun close to her chest and gently slid down the side of the rock face to catch her breath. When her mind finally cleared, she quickly wiped away the saliva dripping down her neck as well as any of the beast's blood that make contact with her skin. Had any of it gotten in even the shallowest of cuts... A deep shudder ran down her spine at the thought.
Quickly getting up to her feet, she swung her gun over her shoulder, took one last look at the bloody mess, and then took off into the cavern to find her now missing allies and [if she was lucky] the root of this infestation.
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She was not sure just how long she had been wandering around looking for any sign of life other than something trying to kill her, but Sparrow was officially fed up with this place and its entirety. It was cold, it smelled of something more foul, and [no matter where she stepped] she would always end up boot high in some corpse, entrails, or some other bodily part that she really did not want to see.
In fact, it was about the time she stepped into what was her eleventh pool of blood did she finally snap. "Avo curse this place and all within it! I did NOT sign up for this!" Her shouts bounced off the walls. "I just bought these boots too..." she added with a grumble while trying to shake the blood from her already stained boots, before cupping one of her hands to her mouth.
"Sylver!" Her voice ricocheted off the cold walls, echoing almost painfully before it faded into oblivion. "Garth! Hammer! Where are you?" Her purposely left out Reaver's name in her calling. In truth, though he was a Hero like her and an asset, she really didn't give a rat's ass about him. He was arrogant, obnoxious, and -worst of all- betrayed her not once, but twice. Knowing him and his nature, he was probably making a deal with the Balverines and Bandits so that they could skewer her alive.
When no reply bounced back at her, she mumbled what was probably her thirtieth string of curses before pressing on through the caverns. This assault had gone less than desired and Sparrow had the sinking feeling that it was only going to get worst.
After wandering and blasting her ways through the caverns, she finally was able to find herself in what seemed like the heart of it all as evident from the sudden change in the surface. Unlike the rest of the caves, the walls and floor was some form of marble, cold to the touch and almost pitch black in color. If it weren't for the occasional flickering of a torch every few feet or so, she would have thought that she had stumbled into a void, swallowed by the shadows. This, coupled by the chilling silence, had the Hero of Albion turning in circles, her pistol in hand and pointing at every moving shadow and her other hand rested firmly on the hilt of her silver tempered Daichi.
Just as she allowed her body to faintly let loose its tenseness, the torch behind her suddenly died with a faint gust of wind. Instinctively, she twirled around and fired a shot blind into the darkness. She felt her heart leap into her throat as she heard the round pierce something hard instead of soft. Her blue eyes danced with hidden fear as she attempted to find the other being sharing this room with her. Another torch blew out and another round was fired. A low, mocking laughter called from behind as something brush past her. Spinning around, she fired several rounds until she heard the clicking of an empty barrel.
She reached down to reload it, only to find that she had used up everything she had brought. Cursing her luck, she tossed the gun to the side and pulled her katana out with one hand and the dagger hidden in her boot with the other. The last two torches blew out, engulfing her in darkness. This was bad. Even though she had spent the last ten years training both body and mind, she had not developed her eyes to the point she could see in the dark. Unlike the creature that shared the same room with her.
Moving around blindly in the dark, Sparrow attempted to find one of the torches so that she could light it with her own fire. Just as her leg finally brushed against one, and she began to channel her Will into it, something hard and heavy collided with her side, sending her crashing to the ground with a surprised, pained cry. Another bought of laugher emanated from the darkness as she clutched her side in pain.
"It's about time you got here." called out an all too familiar voice. Groaning softly and spitting out what she presumed was blood in her mouth, Sparrow rolled her body to the side just enough to try and catch sight of her assailant. Though it was dark, she could vaguely make out a silhouette moving about. "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever find this place. For the Hero of Albion, you sure are slow." The taunting voice grew closer as the thundering sounds of heavy steps on the cold marble ground made her ears throb. She felt something hard press against her side, forcing her to roll over on her back before she felt the mass press down tightly on her chest, slightly limiting her breathing.
"But, as the Guest of Honor, I suppose we can forgive you this time." She heard the sound of clicking fingers and then suddenly the dead torches sprang to life. It stung her eyes something fierce as sudden bright lights danced around and it took a moment for them to adjust so that she could get a good look at the man above her. The first thing she noticed was that his booted foot was the mass on her chest holding her down. The second thing was his face. Scarred was an understatement as it looked like his flesh had a very intimate moment with a cheese grater. Some of it was obvious claw marks while some looked as if someone has taken a knife to his face. But that was not all. Dotting the sides of his face, down his neck, and along his arms there were dark, piercing tattoos that looked almost carved into his skin.
Without even really thinking, she mumbled "Good lord, what happened to you?"
She could feel Nox stiffen slightly as he looked down at her in mild disbelief. "What the hell do you think happened to me?" he shouted as he lifted his foot off of her and quickly slammed it against her side that was already abused enough. She could feel her ribs cave in slightly as she doubled over in pain. Walking over to her, Nox reached down and grabbed a fist full of her hair, forcing her to look up at him. A dark grin played across his scared face as he saw a bit of blood slide down from the side of her mouth. "You know, I should thank you for what you did... or rather, did not do." Sparrow's eyes narrowed.
"It would have made no difference if I was there or not." she hissed, her voice somewhat raspy from the pain in her side. "You would have all died, all the same."
"Oh no, you did make a difference." He roughly released her head and took a step back. "If you hadn't have been there, then they would not have come."
"What are you talking about?" she asked with a slight wheeze as she tried to lift her body up from the ground. She was on her knees when the bandit lord began to circle her, his echoing voice taunting her as he did.
"Haven't you ever wondered? Why a man bitten by a Balverine still has his sanity?" He chuckled insanely as he watched her try to get back up to her feet only to fall back to her knees. A Hero she may be, but she was still only human and the pain working her body was slowly overwhelming her. "When a human is bitten by a Balverine, their blood becomes cursed, forcing a change. They become mindless, blood craving beasts with no memory of their humanity." Sparrow wanted nothing more than to cut out his tongue. Nothing was more annoying than getting a lesson from a murdering lunatic. "And yet, here I am. Full of cursed blood and still retaining my humanity." He held out his arms as if he was something of great importance. "Are you curious to know why?"
"Dying..." she spat with venom and sarcasm.
Nox smirked at her venomous voice and pushed down on her back with his boot so that she fell to the floor once more before continuing his little circle around her. "Of course you are. Birds are always so curious." He heard her growl darkly while trying to get back up. "They follow your wake, you know. Moving within the cover of darkness. Watching you. Studying you. Haven't you ever felt their eyes? They followed your shadow to that place ten years ago, to the cave where the beast took me and lured you. They found me, bloody and barely alive. They took me in, brought me back from death's clutch. They even pushed back the cursed just enough for me to keep my sanity. And all I had to do... was bring you out."
He stopped once more and bent down. Reaching down, he clutched her face and brought it up so that she was forced to look into his dark red eyes and his sinister smile. "I bet... you wish you had killed me the moment you saw me."
"Actually..." she whispered while slowly reaching for the dagger strapped to her inner thigh. "I'm quite impressed!" With her shout, she drove the blade into his gut. As he let go and howled in pain, she rolled herself backwards and jumped back to her feet. It was the oldest trick she had learned: play your enemy as a weak and sniveling woman, then hit them hard when they get close enough. She cringed slightly from the sudden and rather violent movement, but quickly regained her foot and took off towards her fallen pistol.
She heard the clank of metal as Nox pulled the dagger out of his stomach. Just as she was about to grab her gun, something hard and heavy slammed into her, pinning her to the ground. She heard something growl death into her ear and something wet drip down to her neck. She cursed loudly and struggled against his grip, pushing her arm to reach the gun that was just out of reach. Nox's head shot up and saw what she was trying to do. Grinning, he got up from her, making sure to push her down with his boot, and then snatched the arm from her. He dangled it in front of her for a moment before tossing it into the darkness, knowing that she would have a hell of a time finding it.
Snarling, Sparrow pushed herself up and stood her ground before the cursed man. "You know, you are really beginning to piss me off!" Her ribs were about to crack, so using her sword would be useless until it was a last resort and he just cut her chances with Skill until she could find an opening to blast him with her bigger gun. Which left only one other thing.
Feeling her Will surge, she reached out throw a bolt of lightning at him, only to have her fingertips spark for a moment and then nothing. As she looked at her hand in disbelief, Nox roared with laughter. "Surprised? Didn't it ever occur to you the reason why I had you led to this specific room?" He tapped his foot against the marble. "This room was built with a very rare stone with a powerful magnetic pull that nullifies those molecules in your body that allow you to use your little magic tricks. Very useful if you ask me."
'Fuck! This night just keeps getting better and better!' Cursing to whatever god 'blessed' her with such luck, she quickly pulled her bigger gun from her back, ignored the searing pain as her body resisted the movement, and fired.
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Reaver growled in annoyance as yet another body fell before him, a spray of blood erupting from the single gunshot wound in the head and landing on his elegant, stylish pants. Sitting down on a smooth rock, Reaver holstered his beloved .48. Pulling out a cloth from his shirt, he began to try and dab what little blood would come off [not whip as it would just smear into the fabric] while assessing his current situation. He was alone, that much was given. He was pissed, also given. Ammo was running low, he was boot deep in mud and other liquid-solids he cared not to know, his head was pounding, he was lost, and -worst of all- his favorite pair of pants were now soiled with tainted blood!
Cursing at the pile of bodies before him, he kicked at them in frustration. He needed to find the others and fast. While he prided himself in his ability to fight on his own, he really needed the others if only to use them as shields for him to beat a hasty retreat should things get ugly. Tossing his now bloody rag on the pile of dead men, Reaver got back up and began to make his way through the cavern system to find something that wouldn't try to kill him the moment they saw him.
As he reached a Y-section in the cave, he heard a distinct roar bounce off the wall. Though it was faint, he was sure of it. It was gunfire, but not just any. It was the sound of a very large, very powerful gun. More specifically, Sparrow's limb blasting blunderbuss. A ghost of a smile played his lips. Taking the path the sound came from, his mind began to reread his situation.
Perhaps this wouldn't be such a bad thing. With everyone separated, that gave him was quality 'alone-time' with his favorite little bird. Perhaps he would even get the chance to plant a round in her own pretty skull without her annoyingly loyal lapdog getting in his way.
[...][...][...]
Pain. Blinding pain. Blinding pain and a dull ringing that would not leave her ears. That was the sum of what Sparrow felt as her arms gave out and her still smoking gun fell to the ground with a loud 'clank.' The recoil had finally pushed her ribs over the edge. She could practically hear the bones crack as a torrent of blood rushed to her mouth. One hand reached down to clutch her side while the other went to her mouth to try and keep her lifeblood inside of her. Staggering backwards, her back crashed against a column and she soon found herself on the ground, blood dripping from her mouth and the skin on her side stretching out slightly thanks to the cracked bones.
Choking on a bit of blood, Sparrow coughed out what she could before her wild eyes moved to her current company. She had not missed. Nox took a good few feet away, blood dripping from the large wound in his chest. His face scrunched in pain and a low hiss vibrated from him, but the wound itself began to slowly stitch itself together, leaving only a torn shirt and small rivers of blood as proof it was ever there. Sparrow's mind howled with a series of curses, venomous remarks, and several colorful words to Avo himself.
Reaching up, Nox trailed his fingers across a streak of blood and then licked it clean, causing Sparrow to gag slightly. "H-How?" she hissed while spitting out another glob of blood. It hurt like hell to talk, but dammit she wanted answers! "No creature can heal that fast, human or otherwise." Before she knew it, her body was picked up and tossed to the side, crashing into the rock face. She let out what sounded like a mixture of a pained cry and a blood-filled-mouth gurgle the moment she hit the ground.
"Isn't it obvious by now?" His mocking tone was replaced with one filled with ten years of built hatred and anger. "I am not a normal monster." With speed only a Balverine could posses, he stormed over to her and gripped her shirt tightly, lifting her up and slamming her roughly against the wall. She reached up and gripped his arm to try and pry it off of her. It would have been easier for her to bend iron.
"What do you want from me?" she sputtered while trying to flail out of his grip. "If you want to kill me, then just slice my throat and get it over with!" She prayed her bluff would work long enough for her to figure out a way out of this mess.
Nox tilted his head slightly and grinned in amusement. "Kill you? Now, whoever said that?" He tossed her to the ground and stepped roughly on her good side. "While slicing open your throat and bathing in your lifeblood sounds very appealing to me, I have much bigger plans for you." He moved so that his foot was resting on her head, pushing her battered face into the cold marble ground. He leaned closer down, making sure to put more pressure on her head. "You think that you know everything. Even about yourself. But I know otherwise. I know your family's dirty little secret, even if you don't." Sparrow felt him lift up, but before she could do anything, he slammed his foot hard into the side of her head. Everything became numb as something bright erupted inside her mind before everything began to fade into oblivion.
[...][...][...]
Reaver watched from above with a bitter mixture of impression and rage. While he was impressed in the raw power the cursed man had, a demonic rage slowly built up down from the pits of his soul. While it pleased him to no end to watch Sparrow fall to the ground and writhe in agony, he was furious that it had not been him to invoke such a beautiful dance of pain. Sparrow was his to torment, tame, and kill. Not some boy with mange.
Without a sound, he reached into his coat and pulled out his pistol, aiming it at the back of Nox's head. It would be so easy... As his finger began to press down on the trigger, something heavy washed over him and he felt his entire body grow numb. His extended arm began to quiver as a he began to fight a sudden and very powerful weight as it pressed against him.
Reaver grit his teeth hard as he fought whatever was keeping him from shooting a round into the beast that was currently lifting the unconscious Heroine up and over his shoulder. Just as his arm felt as if it would snap from the pressure, Reaver dropped his arm, causing the metal of the gun to bounce off the stone he laid against, causing a painfully loud sound to echo. Wishing whatever god was looking down upon him a suffering torment like no other, Reaver looked down to see Nox staring up at him with a dark grin before turned around and leaving the room with Sparrow.
Cursing long and loud, Reaver got up to his feet and began to try and find a way down. He now had the daunting task of rescuing the one whom he wanted dead above all others.
'Great...'
[...][...][...]
A low, pained groan escaped Sparrow's chest as her mind slowly, and rather painfully, moved from blissful unconscious to the harshness that was reality. The first thing she became aware of was the buzzing. It started low, as if a bee was flying right beside her ear. She tried to smack away whatever was making the noise, but found that her arm would not move an inch from where it was. She tried her other, only to find it in the same condition as the first. The buzzing grew louder and deeper, forming inaudible groans. The haze in her mind began to clear and she began to realize that whatever held her arms down, or rather up, was cold. Very cold.
She attempted to shift her body, only to find that it would not move an inch. Whatever the cold objects were on her wrists, they were also on her ankles, holding her down on something hard, cold, and... sticky?
"So... You're finally awake." called a mocking voice right beside her. The shrill of something sharp gazing something hard pierced her ears, causing her to turn her head away. Though it did not do much good since she could barely move. "I was beginning to think I threw you around too much. Can't have you missing your own party, now can we?" The shrill sounded once more, and when she opened her eyes to glare at the source, she found it to be Nox slowly dragging the tip of a dagger across a stone slab. Due to the distance of the blade to her face, she deduced that she was tied to said slab.
Sparrow eyed the blade from the corner of her eye before looking back at its owner. He smirked and purposely dragged the dagger slowly beside the side of her face, producing an ear splitting shriek that made her cringe. He then lifted the dagger back up and began to play his thumb across its edge, as if testing its sharpness. Her glare darkening, she forced her neck to move just enough to see what kept her from jumping up and sinking something sharp deep into Nox's face. Dark shackles bound her wrists far above her head, a thick yet small chain protruding from it and latching onto the stone slab that held her. She suspected that the same thing kept her legs still.
Straining her arms, Sparrow attempted to break away, but quickly found that it did her no good. Nox look amused. Rising to his feet, he began to circle the slab. She did her best to follow his every move with her eyes.
"Don't bother. The steel is strong enough to survive even your blood's legendary strength." He reached down and taped one of the shackles with a clawed finger. "And don't even try to summon your magic. The restraints are made of the same marble from the Black Cavern. The only thing you can do is lay down." He chuckled softly at the last part. His words sinking in, Sparrow grunted and relaxed her body less she strained it any more than it already was.
"So... care to tell me why you went through all the trouble to bring me here?" She tried to keep the seething rage out of her tone, knowing full well that she was in no real position to tempt her captive. Cocky, she may have been, but she was no idiot.
"I'm glad you asked." His voice perked up slightly as he moved back to where he was sitting and leaned down on his knees so that he was eye level to her. He smiled at her with a sort of sick, dark innocence. "The reason why I brought you here tonight, was to finally get revenge. Revenge for what you did to me, as well as what your ancestors did to a friend of mine." Sparrow opened her mouth to speak, but he quickly reached down and placed a finger on her lips. "Now, now. No need for words. The only thing I want out of you is a scream."
With that, Nox twisted his free hand, sliding his dagger across her arm. Sparrow bit back a cry, but was unable to suppress a small squeak as cold steel ripped through her flesh. Biting down on her lip, she glanced at her arm. He had cut her just above her wrist, the wound deep enough to draw a large amount of blood. The sight made her face pale ever so lightly.
Humming a dark tune, Nox collected a bowl carved from bone and fashioned with dark runes. He positioned it just under the edge of the slab so that it caught the Hero's blood as it ran from her arm and rivered down the stone. Hissing back the pain that crawled through her skin, she glowered at the man-beast beside her. Seemingly ignoring her, Nox continued to collect her blood until the bowl was nearly full. "It's ironic isn't it?" His voice seemed to waver in and out as Sparrow's head slowly became hazy. "That it will be your blood to set him free." He lifted up the bowl and examined the markings carved into it, which began to glow with a malicious light.
"Who...?" Sparrow forced herself to ask. Her own voice wavered as her mind swirled, her face growing paler from her blood loss. Nox looked down at her and smiled a fangy grin.
"Oh, to answer that I will have to tell you a story." He sat the blood-filled bowl down on the slab and then dug into a pocket, pulling out a long, thick piece of cloth. "Once upon a time," he began while tying off her wrist, ceasing the blood flow to keep her conscious. "The world was shrouded in darkness. An ethereal Void that consuming everything in its wake. It was as beautiful as it was unforgiving. But the people..." His tone changed to a slightly more angry one. "The people did not accept the darkness. Instead, they shunned its dark embrace, defying the Three Gods that ruled over them. They were punished severely for their defiance. First they were consumed by fire, then they were swept away by an endless tide before finally falling unto madness, slaying one another and falling prey to their own dark desires. The people then submitted to the Gods. All... but one.
"A youthful blacksmith refused to bow before the Gods and instead chose to fight them. One night, while seeking a way to end the Gods' reign, he was summoned to the realm that birthed the Gods' by the one with the darkest soul. He temped the boy with power and a mystic sword, and all he had to do was submit to His rule." A faint call of longing chimed in his voice. As he continued, something began to weigh down at Sparrow's soul. An unknown fear slowly crept through her mind and she could not repress the shiver that crawled down her spine. "But the boy refused the God's offer. Instead he stole away the sword and freed his mind from the Void. With the sword in his possession, the boy began to develop a gift to bend reality to his will. And with this power, he challenged the Gods atop the highest mountain in Albion.
"The first to fight the boy was the Proud Knight, who was vanquished after underestimating the power of the sword the youth held. The second was the Cunning Jack, whose twisted mind made the boy face his own darkness. He to fell by the power of the sword. Last was the Dark Queen, whose own power and might outweighed the Knight and the Jack combined." With those words, Nox made a pained sound and his head twisted slight as if something has struck him. A dark emotion flashed in his eyes before he got up and began to circle the slab.
"For seven days the boy fought the Queen. Mountains collapsed and seas were raised. But in the end, it was the boy who remained standing. With the death of the Gods, the people rejoiced and made the boy their kind. Their Archon." With the title said, something warm began to pulse inside Sparrow, combating the heavy darkness that wrapped around her. "But..." Nox moved back to his rock and another dark smile played across his scared face. "Evil never truly dies, now does it?" Reaching down, Nox began to play with Sparrow's hair, causing her to move his head away from his touch. Frowning, he grabbed her chin and forced her head up so that she looked at him.
"The darkness grew and flowered once more as one of the Gods returned to reclaim his power and his thrown. But, because of your ancestor, He was cast right back into the Void. Imprisoned in his own mask. And now we come to the present day." He left go of her head, causing it to bounce off the stone. Wincing in pain, Sparrow bared her teeth at the man, but held her tongue. She could hear the dull echoes of gun fire and roaring. With every minute Nox wasted, her companions were getting closer and closer. All she had to do was keep silent and stall.
"You see, the Cunning Jack had a very special group of followers who bowed to his essence, doing all that he willed. Sacrificing, corrupting, even dying for their God. The Cult of Blades." He motioned around him and at that time, Sparrow realized the audience that surrounded them. Men and women wearing dark robes with streaks of red circled the room, chanting in a dark and forbidden language. Each once bore the same tattoos and markings that dotting Nox's being. "For centuries they followed your bloodline, awaiting for the time that their master would once again rise up and lead them to the Oblivion they sought. That was how they found me, barely alive and filled with immense hatred in my soul. They saw an opportunity, and they took it. And now... It's time for you to play your part."
Moving away, Nox stepped up to a hidden platform and lit two torches. As the platform lit up, something inside Sparrow cried out in fear. Atop a pedestal rested an ornament white mask painted with red and gold. Its hollow eye sockets radiated with malicious intent and, without her realizing it, a name escaped her chest.
"Jack of Blades..."
[...][...][...]
Growling her infamous battle cry, Hammer slammed her maul into the face of a portly bandit who tried to slice at her heart. As his body slumped to the ground with a sickening sound, Garth combined Lightning and Fire to create a powerful blast that send a group of cursed men to their deaths. When the last one dropped and everything grew still, Hammer slammed her now very heavy weapon into the ground and leaned against it.
"Dammit! Just how many more are there?" Since being separated from the others, the Hero of Strength had found herself combating all manner of creatures in an attempt to find her comrades. She managed to quickly find Garth, who was, at the time, being overpowered. With their reunion, the two quickly began a search for the others. Hammer had no real concern for Sylver or Reaver. But something in the pit of her stomach told her that Sparrow was endanger.
"Hammer." Garth's authoritative voice caused her to look over. "Have you noticed something... odd in the way the enemy is attacking?"
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. On the outside, there were hardly any sentries or attackers, but the moment we step foot into the caverns, we are ambushed by every breathing thing in the marsh. But it's how they are attacking us that gives me cause for concern." Standing back up, Hammer lifted her maul over her shoulder, trying to grasp what Garth was getting at. "They're pushing us out. The further we try and go in, the harder they swarm, forcing us to backtrack. They're trying to keep us out."
"Your right." Hammer looked down at the pile of bodies beside them. "It's as if... they don't want us to get somewhere."
"Or rather, interrupt something." The sudden voice caused Hammer to swing her weapon into the shadows with a growl. Reaver quickly threw himself out of the way just as a chuck of rock wall became dust. "Shit! It's a wonder why you are even called a Hero! You smash friend and foe alike!"
Giving a curt snort, Hammer slide her weapon back over her shoulder before turning her back on the pirate. Garth rolled his eyes at the childish display but then turned to Reaver. "What did you mean by 'interrupting something'?"
Leaning against the wall, Reaver cast off his usual charming grin. "Oh, nothing really." he chimed in a sing-song voice. "Except for Sparrow being carted off by the head cursed to become a human sacrifice." Garth's eyes widened at this statement and Hammer swirled around, red bleeding into her eyes once more. Storming over to the smaller man, she wrapped a hand around his neck and lifted him up a couple of inches from the ground.
"And you LET him?" Her roar was enough to make a demon green with envy and shifting figures to retreat back into the shadows. Reaver struggled against her iron grip, fighting to take in the breath that she denied him. "Where?" she demanded. His mind beginning to fade from lack of oxygen, Reaver managed to point in the direction he came from. Despite his answer, Hammer refused to lessen her hold until Garth reached up and took hold of her arm. Looking down at the will user, something in his dark eyes soothed her rage, causing her to drop the pirate. As he writhed on the ground, gasping for air, Hammer began to storm in the tunnel that he had pointed out, smashing anything and everything that got in her way. Garth followed quickly behind before Reaver staggered up and trudged after them with a dark curse.
'Hang in there, Sparrow.' She called out in her mind. 'Help is coming.'
She had lost her father before.
She was not going to lose her sister.
[...][...][...]
"So let me get this straight. You dragged me here into the middle of a smelly swamp so that you could awaken a pissed off demon?" Maybe it was the blood loss. Maybe it was everything that had happened finally caught up to her. Maybe it was a bluff to buy her friends some time to find her. Or maybe it was because she generally just did not care anymore. Whichever reason it was, Sparrow continued to look at Nox with annoyance and ire as he stood by the mask that the robed cult members bowed to.
"Your sarcasm, though rather disrespectful, is rather amusing given your current situation." Nox moved back over to the slab and picked up the bowl of blood that he had collected from her earlier before moving back to the pedestal. The chanting seemed to grow louder and darker. "To answer your previous question, the reason I did not kill you before is because you have been granted the honor to become the new host for our master."
Another, louder cry ripped through Sparrow's soul as his words sunk into her mind.
'No' a voice shouted in her mind. 'You mustn't let that happen!'
Heeding the voice, she began to struggle against her bonds once more, earning her a curt snort from Nox as he turned back to her. "Struggle if you must, but that will not change your fate. Tonight, the Master will finally be returned to Albion and enemies will become one. A single entity." He then lifted the bowl up and began to slowly pour it on the mask. As it flowed down its porcelain surface, it seemed to soak it in, like a tree drinking in water, leaving no trace that the blood was even there.
The cursed bandit then lifted the mask and began to slowly walk towards Sparrow, his voice chanting with the cult surrounding them. "With the blood of Ancient Heroes, may your power become prevailing. With the soul of Archon, may your life be eternal. Two beings become one." As he reached her side, he moved the mask inches above her face. She could feel dark tendrils slowly reach out to her, caressing her face, wrapping around her in a suffocating manner. She could almost hear the triumphant laughter from the demon within that cursed object. "Ironic isn't it? That your family's most feared enemy would chose you for his next host. Farwell, Hero."
As he lowered the mask towards her face, Sparrow shut her eyes tightly, praying to the Gods, and for a brief moment, time seemed to still. Her cries did not fall upon deaf ears that night as her salvation came in the form of a bullet. Roaring in pain, Nox released his hold on the mask, which clattered onto the slab right by Sparrow's head. She felt the dark tendrils release their grip, but not without leaving damage. Long, thin claw marks dragged across her face, assuring her that she would have yet another scar to add to her collection.
Hiss, Nox looked down at the bleeding hole in his hand and then towards the offender. Sanding only a few yards away, poised atop a high rock as if he were God himself, was Reaver. For once in her life, Sparrow was grateful to see his cocky, proud face.
"Reaver!" she cried out in relief. The pirate turned his eyes towards her, giving her the distinct look to keep quiet. A look that made her smile drop slightly at the memory of just who the man was. He then glowered back to Nox. As he jumped from his perch, Sparrow saw that his eyes were blood shot and crazed.
"You should know better than to take someone else's prey!" He fired another round at the bandit, but this time he dodged it, causing the bullet to bounce off of the slab, right next to Sparrow's side.
"Hey! Watch what you are aiming at, you bone headed moron!"
"You be quite! You are in no position to tell me what to do!"
Snarling darkly, Nox made a motion with his hand and before the Hero of Skill could react, the swarm of cultists began to attack. Some fired guns or bows while others charged towards him with hammers, axes, and swords. "Nothing will come in the way of the Master's revival!" With that, Nox retrieved the discarded mask and moved once more to place it on Sparrow's face. However, a large wave of lighting and one powerful blow to the side foiled him once again, causing him to fly through a rock face.
"Nobody messes with our Sparrow!" shouted Hammer. "Garth! Help Reaver while I get Sparrow free!" With a curt nod, The will user ran to assist his fellow Hero with the attacking cultists while Hammer raced to Sparrow's side.
"Am I glad to see you!"
Reaching down, Hammer grabbed a hold of the chains and began to pull, trying to break them apart with her Strength. However, despite her attempts, the chains refused to cave to her brute strength. Cursing loudly, Hammer commanded her to remain still before raising her maul and striking down on the chains. The slab under Sparrow cracking from the heavy force, but only sparks flew from the chains. Biting her lip, Hammer tried once more, with little results.
"Dammit! This isn't working!"
"The base! Try breaking the base of the chains!"
Taking her advice, Hammer quickly slammed into the weaker retraining piece that held the chain to the slab. As it shattered, allowing Sparrow to move her right arm freely, she gave a small cheer before instructing Hammer to do the same for the other three restrains. After the last one was crushed, Sparrow quickly got to her feet, being mindful of her cracked ribs. However, it wasn't until she balanced herself did she realized just how heavy the chains that had bound her were. At least fifteen pounds of pure, hard metal hung from her, causing her to arch forward slightly.
"Dammit! This shit is heavier than it looks!" Hearing a loud snarl, she turned to see one of the monks lunging at her, claws ready to tear into her flesh. With a grunt, Sparrow put all her stamina into her arm and swung, causing the heavy chain to slam into the cultist's face, sending him flying into the stone wall with sickening crack. The attack took its toll on Sparrow as well. Feeling her arm strain from the swing, she feared that another attempt would dislocate her shoulder. Seeing her friend reel in pain, Hammer shoved Sparrow in between herself and Garth.
"Garth, see if you can melt those chains off." Nodding, Garth turned from the attacking cultists, allowing Reaver to show off. Baying her to keep still, he reached out his hands and a stream of fire engulfed the chains inches from Sparrow's wrists. Hissing from the sudden heat, she did her best to keep still less she found her hands charred and useless. As the metal began to grow red, a piercing roar deafened the cries of battle, causing Garth to lose concentration and nearly catch Sparrow's garb on fire. Twisting her head as far as she could without moving her arms, Sparrow watched Nox pull himself from the rubble, his body turning into the beast that he truly was. His skin seemed to rip apart, as if something were trying to claw its way out from the inside. Nails were replaced with deadly claws. His face elongated to that of a snout filled with poisonous fangs. His clothes became torn, black fur quickly replacing them. Unlike other Balverines though, the fur did not cover all of his body. Patches were missing from various parts of his form, showing off diseased and scared flesh. To Sparrow, he looked more like a rabid dog with sever mange rather than a were-beast.
With his transformation, he let loose a fierce, dark roar before stalking towards the group.
"I have waited ten years for this night." His gargled voice will filled with an insatiable blood lust. "I will not let you destroy everything I have worked to create!"
He lunged towards the tightly grouped Heroes, but another roar sounded and a flash of white collided with black.
"Sylver!" Sparrow tried to turn around to see her beloved friend, but was stop short when Garth barked at her to keep still so that he could finish heating the chains without burning her. Seeing the white Balverine in his current state was probably not a very wise idea at the moment in any case. His fur was matted with a thick layer of blood and mud. There were several wound dotting his body from both steel and bullet. The most notable being a large gash in his side. As the two beasts collided, Sylver attempted to sink his fangs into Nox's neck, however the bandit was able to grab his head and toss him to the side. Despite his injuries, Sylver was able to land on his feet and charge once more.
As the two Balverines tore at each other, Hammer and Reaver did all they could to keep the cultists at bay. It wasn't hard. Most of them seemed like they had never even lifted a weapon. However, they vastly outnumbered them, slowly draining their strength. "How are those chains coming, Garth?" shouted Hammer over her shoulder as she crashed her maul into another skull.
"Almost there..."
"Please hurry." Sparrow bit down on her lip. The heat from the chain was starting to really hurt.
"Just a few more-"
"Incoming!" Hearing Reaver's cry, the group broke free of each other just as the two fighting Balverines slammed into the ground by them. Claws flew wildly as the two fought for both dominance and blood. Looking down at her chains, which were slowly starting to cool, Sparrow pieced together an idea.
"Hammer! Grab the end of the chain and pull!" Looking down at Sparrow with mild confusion, Hammer grabbed the two ends and began to pull. As she did, Sparrow began to pull in the opposite direction, keeping her arms taunt. Ignoring the severe pain this was causing her, Sparrow growled for Hammer to pull harder. Just as it felt like her arms would rip, the hot chains began to split apart. With one last determined and powerful tug, the most of the chain split apart and dropped to the ground. Heaving a deep sigh, Sparrow reached over and pulled Reaver's cutlass from his waist. She could not use her Will so long as the shackled remained and her guns had been discarded in the previous room, leaving her with very little choice of weaponry.
"I'll just borrow this." She ignored the death glare he gave her, Sparrow charged into the fight, stumbling slightly from the chains on her legs. She would deal with them later. Standing back to back with Hammer, the two of them slammed and slashed at those who surrounded them while Garth supported them with magic and Reaver shot down the ones who were firing from afar. All the while, the two fierce Balverines clawed and bit into one another. They were also slamming into the walls, causing the foundation to become steadily unstable.
It was when Sylver tackled Nox right into the stone slab that Sparrow had been chained to did things change for the worst.
"Enough!" Blood spewed from his mouth as he forced himself back onto his feet. Despite all the power he had, all that he had worked for, he was still outmatched by the pure blood. And while the mutt had just as many injuries as himself, Nox simply did not have the pure stamina a true Balverine had. The last attack had forced his beast back into his body, leaving behind a very battered, bloodied, and naked male. His dark eyes moved from Sylver to Sparrow, who stared at him with a look that clearly say "It's over."
Looking down at his feet, he saw the forgotten mask, its empty eye sockets staring at him with malicious intent. A dark whisper began to sound in his head. "Yes..." Reaching down, Nox lifted up the mask, a dark grin playing across his face. A silent fear cried out within Sparrow as the bandit clutched the cursed object tightly. A triumphant laugh escaped shook his being and the Heroes watched with concern as the remaining cultists began to slink into the shadows.
"If I cannot give your body to him, then I shall sacrifice mine! We will both have our vengeance upon you, Sparrow!" As Nox lifted the mask above his head, a dark energy began to swirl around him, causing a fierce wind to send the group crashing into a wall. Sparrow watched in growing terror as dark tendrils began to reach down from the mask and envelop Nox's face, just as they did to hers. Grunting in pain, Sparrow forced her body against the energy, staggering towards Nox.
"Sparrow! What are you doing!" called out Hammer as she shielded her eyes with her arms.
"We cannot... let him... put on that mask!"
"Then let's end this." Reaver snarled, taking aim at Nox's head. But before he could fire, the same pressure that befell him earlier returned stronger than ever, literally pushing him into the rock face. Both Garth and Hammer experienced the same and even Sparrow looked as if something was pushing back her body. Her heels dug into the earth as she struggled to remain standing. Tilting his eyes down, Nox looked down at the woman he had grown to hate with all his soul. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine as his eyes began to shift from red to a malicious gold.
"You will not interfere." His voice became deeper and sounded as if something else was talking along with him. "You cannot stop this. He is coming. For Albion. For the Blade. For you."
"You fool!" Sparrow shouted against the swirl of energy, her arm raised to shield her eyes from the debris that kicked up. "Do you really think that he would keep his promises to you?" Her companions stared at her in shock. Like Nox, her voice seemed to echo with another's. It sounded very much like her own, only deeper and filled with a powerful defiance. A foreign snarl crept across Nox's face at the sound of her voice. "Despite what you believe, a demon never keeps his word. Countless have fallen prey to his promises, only to be devoured the moment they outlive their usefulness. You are no different!"
Garth's eyes widened at his eyes caught something none else could. Despite the obsidian shackles around her wrists, Sparrow's Will began to vibrate with an ancient power. For a moment, it even seemed to shine a faint red rather than its traditional blue. It was as if something else was melding with her own energies. As the thought ran through his mind, his eyes caught something he had never seen before in all his years. It was faint, but kneeling down with Sparrow, was a figure. By its built, he was sure it was masculine in nature. It glowed with the same red aura that surrounded Sparrow's blue. It hummed with the ancient force that swirled against the dark energy that flowed from Nox.
'What... is this?'
"Be silent, whelp."The darkness in Nox's voice intensified as the air grew heavier around Sparrow, forcing her to bend on her knee. His eyes moved to her side as if he too saw the spectral being. "You will not deny me the power I desire. Nor will you keep me from the flesh I crave." His gaze moved back to Sparrow and a dark grin played across his lips at the defiance in her eyes. "Bare witness! You shall be the first to gaze upon your new God!"
And with that, he plunged his face into the sinister mask.
A muffled scream tore through Nox's throat as the demonic energy contained within the mask seeped into his being, tearing into his soul. A cry escaped Sparrow as the strange energy surrounding her blazed. Something inside her own soul cried out in both rage and fear as Nox's body writhed in agony. As the bandit tried to claw the mask from him, the pressure holding Sparrow down faded enough for her to rise up and charge at the man, her sword raised to kill.
'Kill the vessel before the fusion is complete!' a voice commanded. A command she was all too happy to obey.
However, before her blade could meet flesh, Nox's hand rose up and a powerful blast of dark Will sent Sparrow crashing back into the ground. The impact caused Sparrow to cough up a large glob of blood as she felt her broken rib pierce something inside of her. Hammer moved to reach Sparrow, but was forced back down as the pressure returned with greater force.
Hissing in pain, Sparrow looked up as Nox's screams grew quiet and his struggling became still. A painful silence echoed through the cave as his body rose up from the ground and turned towards the broken Hero. Golden eyes narrowed with glee, and for a moment, Sparrow swore that she could see a smile despite the fact that the white mask covered his face entirely.
"Finally... After centuries of waiting, Jack of Blades is back." His cold, velvet voice caused her entire body to tremble with an unknown feeling. A feeling that deepened as he held out his arms and allowed a large and powerful wave of dark energy free, the force of which caused the already weakened walls to finally cave in. As the cavern began to buckle and cave down upon them, Sparrow watched the possessed man took a couple steps towards her, only to double back when a sudden blaze of light flashed behind her.
As her mind grew numb and her sight began to falter, she heard someone call out her name before a pair of arms wrapped around her, lifting her up from the ground. And when she allowed her consciousness to wane, she heard a dark whisper call to her.
"This time... Nothing shall keep me away from what I desire. Until we meet again, little Sparrow."
[...][...][...]
CE:... [dies again] Edit... took... to... looooong! It's better than the first attempt, but not by much I bet. [shame]
By the way, before someone makes a comment about how I made Sparrow get pretty banged up, I did this for a reason. Sure she's a Hero wielding all three qualities, and sure she is the descendent of some of the most powerful beings known to Albion. But, she is still human [for now...] with human faults and weaknesses. She is not perfect in any way, shape, or form, and I don't want her to be perfect. Sure she's a badass who can kick anything thrown at her right back into the pits of Hell, but even she has her limits. Plus... I didn't want her to win at EVERYTHING. That would just make things boring.
Another note: I believe that people who can use Will abilities have a special "sight" that allows them to actually see the essence of Will in all living things [humans, beasts, plants, etc etc.].
Another, another note: I wonder who the strange voice and image in Sparrow could be? :3