The first night of the Outcast's struggle against the wolf pack was both harrowing and sleepless. So much so that he was amazed to see the his would-be predators fall back into the dark of night, let alone seeing the light of the sun in the breaking dawn.
Both his campfire and the opening in where he'd made his small camp had been his saving grace, for the fire had made the wolves cautious and the mountain to the Outcast's back had ensured that he couldn't be completely surrounded. But ultimately it had been sheer luck that he wasn't kneeling before the Ancients, awaiting their judgment.
Both the Outcast's body and inexperience had nearly been his end. Twice he had gone beyond what little safety the campfire had provided him. The wolves had also learned to attack whenever the Outcast was in danger of braking into a fit of coughing.
In the morning light, the Outcast had breathed the cold air filled with the traces of singed fur. His left wrist had been badly bitten along with his ankle on the same side. However in the case of his ankle, the boot had taken the worst of it, ensuring that his movement was not badly hampered. He put that to good use, bandaging his injuries and going to gather as much supplies as he could find to prepare for the next night, all while listening for any signs of the wolf pack or any other predators.
All too quickly a pattern formed afterwards. Each night the wolves would attack the Outcast's camp and each day he'd scramble to gather any and all supplies he could, all while attempting to find time to sleep and eat what little scraps of food he could find. By the end of the week, though both hunger and exhaustion had all but crippled the Outcast and his now worsened cough all but ensured that the next attack by the wolf pack would be his end.
As the sunlight faded away between the mountains, the Outcast could already see the glowing eyes and the hungry growls of the wolf pack as it closed in. Even as he felt the spasms of the cough coming, the Outcast forced himself to keep standing, determined to meet his end on his feet. The first of the wolves edged into the firelight as the Outcast's lungs failed him, the coughing fit leaving him breathless and his vision blurred to the point where he couldn't even see in the darkness of the dying campfire. He could hear the hungry, triumphant snarls of the pack as they attacked, but they sounded like they were an incredible distance away. The last thing he heard before black silence completely overtook him was a great and powerful war-cry.
Much to his surprise, the Outcast awoke to find himself in his campsite, a hide blanket covering him and a especially massive clansman who looked to be near thirty winters old sitting at on the other side of the fire.
"I see the Ancients have seen fit for you to remain at the vigil. And just in time too. The meat is just about done." The stranger said as he adjusted some of the makeshift spits he had made when the Outcast was out cold. The meat on them simmered and grease dripped into the fire with a delicious sounding his.
Even though he was still exhausted, the Outcast was hard pressed to maintain his composure and remain cautious of the stranger with actual food so close. "What...What is this?"
The stranger simply took two of the spits and offered one to the Outcast. "Part of my way of thanking you for your help, pup."
Hunger made the Outcast accept the food and dig in before he could ask the stranger what he was talking about. The meat was nearly gone before the Outcast asked his question.
"The wolf pack that was hounding you, they also made themselves a threat to my own tribe, attacking hunters and livestock with no provocation." The stranger explained, gesturing to the other spits, offering them to the Outcast. "I led a hunting party to either drive the pack off or them out. It proved to be more troublesome than I originally expected though."
"I thought these lands were unclaimed. If this is your clan's territory, I saw no banners or markings to make it known."
"You're not trespassing, these are still unclaimed lands." The stranger said reassuringly, raising his hand to calm the Outcast down. "As I said, there were some complications."
The Outcast was still uncertain. "Where is your hunting party then?"
"I ordered them to return to the rest of the clan while I dealt with the complications. Many of them were injured and I could not leave the rest of my people unaware. Now tell me, young one. Why are you alone in these unclaimed lands?"
It was odd how the unknown clansman had referred to the Outcast. Instead of saying the expected "one such as you" it was almost as if he was treating the sickly youngster as a equal. It was strange, in fact, it was the first time in the Outcast's life that someone hadn't either treated him with either a combination of shunning and scorn or, in the case of his late brother and two friends, a sort of overprotective attitude and a lack of faith in his abilities to take care of himself.
"I need strength... For too long I've been a burden, a shame to my family, clan and the ancestors. I have to end it. One way or another."
"I see, but why go so far to achieve what you already have?" The stranger asked cryptically.
"What?" Startled and confused by the clansman's question, a small coughing fit slipped out of the Outcast's body. As it subsided, the Stranger spoke up before the young man could try to answer.
"I think I know what you seek, and I have a possible idea to give you a way to help yourself towards your goal young one."
"Wait this is something I must-"
"Of course and from what I've seen, you will find a way to complete the trial on. What I offer, is guidance and tutoring from time to time. Along with one final gift for your aid, intentional or not."
The Outcast brooded for a moment considering the Stranger's words. "Very well, I accept your offer..."
During the conversation, the Outcast had completely forgotten to ask the Stranger's name.
"Kanai, I am known to most as Chief Kanai."
XXX
Even with land in sight at the head of the ship, Vercingetorix couldn't take his eyes off the rough seas behind him, feeling sick but it was not just from the seasickness.
"Big guy, you're only going to make yourself even more sick at this rate." Prince's voice came from behind, but Vercingetorix didn't turn to look at the talkative man.
"Then leave me be if that makes you uncomfortable."
"Hey look, you want to go after them, good luck swimming. Just keep in mind that you wont be the biggest thing swimming in that large and deep sea." A short distance to Vercingetorix's side, Prince leaned backwards over the rear end of the ship. "Still, despite all the big swimming uglies with far too many teeth, if they're anywhere as tough as you look, at least before you stepped on the boat, they'll be fine. Probably."
"One would think that you'd have better excuses by now." Shyvana's voice carried a icy spite that rivaled the weakest of Erica's cold spells
Prince let out an exasperated sigh. "There's a difference between those and what I'm trying to do here. Also, while I do have more than enough experience in that art, I've already made it clear, that isn't the case for that what happened."
"You dropped Erica into that storm!"
"To avoid us both becoming red smears on one of those many ice bergs that came from her mess."
The two bickered while Vercingetorix remembered storm that Shyvana mentioned. The Barbarian had aided the crew in keeping the ship afloat and in one piece, as this was his first voyage by sea and the seasickness had badly hampered his fighting ability, which had worsened along with the storm. He had been unable to defend the ship from the their attackers, who had chased Meshif's ship into the storm to begin with. He remembered the sounds of the fight and the sudden onset of extreme freezing cold that had abruptly halted the rocking ship. Deep and ominous creaking like that of an unstable glacier had resonated all around Vercingetorix and the terrified crew that were desperately blocking the holes caused from all the elemental magics that been flung at the ship and the near misses of the attacker's shipboard ballista during the chase. What had followed had been truly terrifying. First there was a sudden blast of heat from the front of the ship which was followed by a massive heart stopping icy crack and the sound of an immense cascade of water which drowned out all noise and the boat had heaved with all the violence of an enraged gargantuan and had thrown everyone about. Cutting through roar of water and the destructive thunder of shattering ice had been the fatal sound of snapping wood that completely had froze the Barbarian's blood.
Both anger and terror had led the Barbarian to the reckless decision of convincing the crew to use him to literally hold the ship together as they scrambled to reinforce the weakening hull while Vercingetorix had used all of his strength to hold onto the all to fragile looking ropes that had been fastened to numerous key points at both ends of the ship, praying silently to the ancients that the ropes wouldn't break.
Looking at the new scars from the ropes digging deeply into his forearms were a welcome testament to making through the storm. Unfortunately... not all had made it. He still couldn't believe how much of a blow it had been to learn that his rival Fenrir had been lost to the storm.
"Last I recall, it was your idea to go into the storm to begin with, Blondie." Prince said with an overwhelming amount of anger.
"You arrogant coward!" Vercingetorix turned to see Shyvana throw a punch at Prince, but the Ronin caught it with a deceptive ease.
"You don't get any free hits. You'd better be ready to pay the price on the next one." Prince warned in a low voice.
"Shyvana, enough! Letting him goad you wont do anything for Erica. Prince, leave." Andrastse's voice interrupted the argument between the Ronin and the Amazon before Vercingetorix got involved.
"Fine, I'll go help keep an eye out for whatever is going to hit us next." Prince released Shyvana's fist and walked past the Paladin. "She started it, by the way."
"Shut up and go." Andrastse replied, stone faced. Once the Ronin was further along the ship, the Paladin turned to Shyvana.
"We should toss that scum overboard." Shyvana, her face contorted in anger. Vercingetorix was tempted to help her, or at the very least enjoy watching the event, as he had little if any respect for Prince.
Andrastse grimaced. "As much as I agree with you Shyvana, we don't that option right now. Just stay away from him as much as you can."
The ship swayed noticeably as the course was adjusted, making Vercingetorix's stomach quiver. "There's too little room on this damned ship for that."
The Barbarian looked in the direction the ship was taking them, the distant shoreline coming closer allowing him to properly see the shear wall of various dark green ahead. He also spotted Deckard and Flavie towards the ship's bow. Seeing the Rogue, Vercingetorix felt more uncomfortable.
"There's nothing we can do about that. You're going to make yourself sick again..." Andrastse trailed off as she and Shyvana noticed Vercingetorix eyeing Flavie cautiously.
"That may be the least of our problems. What about the Rouge? What happens with her now that the Bone-Eater was lost?" One of the very few reasons that Flavie had not been left behind had been the condition the Lissandra would train the Rouge to contain and to a very limited extent control her dark power. While having no experience on the practices of training in the magical arts, Vercingetorix did not trust the Necromancer to have been able to teach Flavie anywhere near enough.
Shyvana immediately turned on Vercingetorix in the defense of Flavie. "What? The Necromancer made it abundantly clear why she couldn't stay behind. Are you saying that we should just... what, toss her overboard!?"
"Of course not! But how do we know that the next time she uses that cursed demon magic it wont, backfire?"
"It wont! Why are you so certain that she'll succumb to the darkness? Besides, I'll make sure it doesn't come to a point where she'd forced to expose herself to that magic again!"
"Shyvana, we all saw what magic she used. What it did to that thing we faced when all our attacks did nothing."
"To save us!"
"Shyvana, Vercingetorix, stop." Andrastse attempted to intervene. "Vercingetorix, you've made your point, but right now there's little to no options for us concerning Flavie. Shyvana, don't make promises you may not be able to keep. I'll figure something out..."
"When? The next time the demonic magic lashes out and strikes, Shyvana, myself, you or Durga down?" Vercingetorix retorted, some of his suppressed anger at Andrastse giving into the mages' demands to keep the tainted Rouge gave his words a bite to them.
Before the argument could go any further, the ship rocked heavily as though it had hit something, causing Vercingetorix to bend over the side of the ship and vomit out the precious little contents of his stomach.
"What did we hit?" Andrastse shouted over the sudden outburst of chaos as sailors scrambled about. One of the first things that Vercingetorix noticed after he stopped heaving was that the air was now heavy, hot and near suffocating with moisture and with the change in the climate, a smothering cloud of mist had engulfed the ship.
"There shouldn't be anything in these waters, they should be clear!" Meshif shouted back frantically as he scrambled to take over the rudder.
"Not anymore they're not! We've got ships all around!" Prince shouted from the position he'd taken at the front of the ship.
"What colors are they flying!?"
Within the misty air and the murky waters, Vercingetorix spotted the "ships" that surrounded them. "None! We're sailing in a graveyard."
From what little they could see in the mist, around Meshif's ship lay the carnage of a sinking armada. There was no way to sure, but from the chaotic nature of the broken ships and floating debris, it almost looked like a battle had taken place, but both sides had wiped each other out. Vercingetorix briefly saw a bloated corpse bobbing about in the water before something tugged it under. Clearly the natives had been eating well.
With the new danger and mystery surrounding them, Vercingetorix, Shyvana and Andrastse turned their focus on aiding the crew with navigating the treacherous waters in what ways they could, primarily in calling out obstacles.
The first sign of reaching civilization was a immense ruined lighthouse, really completely overrun by thick green vines that covered the gray stone. As soon as they passed the ruins, the sheer heat all but slammed into Vercingetorix. While the sun wasn't beating down like it had in the Aranoch, the water in the now gave the heat an absolutely suffocating feeling, which made it feel far worse. Each breath felt as though it carried nearly as much water as air. Also along with the moisture in the air was something, Vercingetorix couldn't quite name it, but it was similar to the cursed unease that had infested both the Rogue Monastery and Tal'Rasha's tomb.
"I can can feel it in the air, this foul malice. Just as fear permeated the air of Tristram, the I can feel the hatred in every breath I take. Mephisto is truly free." Deckard commented unsteadily.
As if unlocked by the name of the Lord of Hatred, the veil of fog fell away enough that those on board the ship could see a portion of what had once been the capital of an empire.
Meshif was absolutely astounded. "What in the name of Akkarat's balls?! We've only been gone a month!"
Prince was no less shocked. "What the fuck?! Last I saw this place was burning to the ground, not becoming a literal jungle!"
"Wait you mean to say this is Kurast?! That's impossible, I haven't been to this place for near a decade, but this jungle looks nearly as old as those from my homelands and they're centuries old." Shyvana exclaimed in disbelief.
The lighthouse they'd passed before had been a herald of the immense city's fate. Instead of the smoke and ash that Vercingetorix had expected to fill the air, there was only the fog moisture and the distant sounds of strange creatures shrieking among the trees that choked the visible ruins.
"This is the work of Mephisto, that is the only explanation for this jungle that has consumed Kurast."
At Deckard's words, Andrastse looked truly worried. "How can that be true Deckard? If he was just released from his prison and is able to do this to an entire city, why would Diablo have so much trouble with Tristram?"
"I do not know, Andrastse. I have my fears and I pray that they are only those..." Deckard's voice wavered in barely controlled terror.
"There seem to people at the docks ahead, if they retain their minds, perhaps they can tell us more." Flavie called out at the head of the ship.
"What are you talking about? There's only fog ahead." Durga asked in confusion.
"Look again merc, looks like the Amazon's little sister has one 'hell' of an eye." Prince retorted, earning a sharp glare from Shyvana and raising Vercingetorix's concern with the way and emphasis he had complemented Flaive's eyesight. That was quickly put aside as another wave of queasiness made him bend over the edge of the ship again and heave.
All he could do from that point was grumble. "As long as we get off this damn ship, it doesn't matter."
XXX
Like the deathly dance of embers and ash, Element faded in and out of consciousness.
She heard the voice of the Sorcerer speaking with something... inhuman. Not one of the elements of fire, lightning or water but from the sound of it, something far more foul.
"Ssssso impatient, you'd waste a fodder in a petty temper tantrum."
"The worthless mad brat nearly killed me! Did you really expect me to let her live before you intervened?"
"Ssshe would have merely sssscared or maimed you, unless I've underestimated your abilitiess...
"Silence you accused-"
Darkness swallowed her once again before spitting Element back out in what felt like an instant. This time Element was able to see, albeit her vision was heavily blurred. The world around her was bright hellish green and an unnatural heat closed all around threatening to consume her. She heard another girl screaming in agony close by. Lit by the hellish flames was a large serpentine thing that was coiled around some sort of table that looked like someone was strapped to it. There was another person standing at the edge of Element's blurred vision.
"We're running out of time, demon! Our pursuers weren't far behind us!"
The large serpent thing hissed in displeasure and another agonized squeal came from the human shape it was coiled around as the thing plunged a arm into the person's body with a disturbing sound that reminded Element of plunging a foot into wet mud on the side of the road after the spring rain.
"Then make time you fool! My Lord will have what we promised him, one way or another."
Afterwards, it all faded into screams and chaotic flashes of light and varying extremes of hot and cold.
When Element awoke, she was in a place she did not recognize, but standing over her was the woman who had come to ask her questions before the nightmare.
It had to have been a nightmare, hadn't it? Where were her parents and Shadow? The scared little girl all but begged the woman to tell her that her friend and family were fine.
But the woman shook her head and told Element that what had happened had not been a nightmare. Her family was dead and her village was gone. Nothing but ashes and mud remained.
At first, Element tried to trick herself into believing that the woman was lying, asking the flames of the nearby candles, the water in the cup by her bed... But the elements within whispered and sung the same dark tune.
It was all true and even worse... They'd destroyed it all at Element's command. And with their answer, the memories reassertted themselves in Element's mind with all the terrifying truth of reality. Her mother's slashed throat gushed blood, her father froze and burned in a single instant. The short lived screams of horror and pain from the last survivors of the attack. And Shadow lunging at the human monster, covered in blood and a insane expression upon her face.
At these images, all Element could do was scream... And her powers added their chorus to her horror, fear and anguish in the only way that was natural.
She never saw the destruction that her grief wrought or the havoc that ensued as her powers went wild feed on her dark emotions.
The next thing the little girl knew, was that she had no memories. She had lost no one for she had no one, no friends,no family, no home. Her memories were gone, the bad, and the good.
She was now the newest member of the Zann-Esu. Her past was nothing and her name lost to it.
Now and to the end of her days, she would be known as Erica Lam. Her last name, that of the village she'd forgotten. And with it, any sort of life that could have been normal, or even human.
XXX
Something was strange, and Erica couldn't quite place it. "She's not breathing!" There was a strangely garbled voice right next to the Sorceress that sounded a lot like Lissandra, but when she looked, the Necromancer wasn't there.
"Just what is a ballista?" Fenrir shouted from the top of the crows-nest right before something large and fast smashed into the water just left of the ship, showering drops all over the frantically scurrying crew.
"The thing that just threw that big, fuck off rock! They got one alright!" Prince shouted back as he ran towards the the ship's stern.
"That was far too close to be a warning shot. Can you see what flag are they flying?" Andrastse demanded Fenrir. The Druid peered at the distant but closing ship behind.
"They have a symbol like yours, Andrastse!"
The strange feeling only continued to grow for Erica. It was almost as if she'd seen this scene before...
"It's the Hand of Zakarum! They must have broken through the harbor defenses the Iron Wolves set up!" Meshif exclaimed frantically.
Suddenly Erica was at the back of the ship, power coursing through her arms as she fired glacial spikes at the closing war galley. The freezing missile flew true until it was just a few feet away from hitting before it curved into the sea harmlessly creating a large iceberg to the war galley's port side. The ship continued its pursuit without a care as the mages on board it launched their own magic strikes back along with more shots from their ballista.
All the while, the water was starting to become more and more chaotic and wild with the wind beginning to build.
"Dammit! Just need one hit!" Prince cursed in frustration as yet another of his fireballs careened into the wild waters. "Meshif, why does it feel like we're sailing into a storm?"
There had been a storm coming towards the ships from the east for a while, but according to the captain, it should have been easy to avoid.
"With the storm, we might be able to shake these fanatics. At the very least, the current will make it harder for them to hit us with the ballista." Shyvana answered in the captain's place as she took aim with her bow, waiting for the enemy ship to close into range.
Prince looked at the Amazon with an uneasy expression right before blasting a rock out of the sky with a, what Erica knew had to have been a lucky shot. "You talked him into this, didn't you?"
Once more the strange feeling came over the Sorceress. She knew that in mere moments a shot from one of the enemy mages would hit the rear starboard of the ship with a glacial spike, slowing them down and dragging them deeper into the storm. During with, the enemy closed in and attempted to rang, but the wild, growing waves had forced the ships into a suicidal boarding.
It was getting hard for Erica to breath. It felt as though her lungs were filled with water.
In the storms chaos, everything started to look as though Erica was seeing it beneath the waves, her vision became badly blurred and the voices were badly muted as though the screaming fanatic warrior charging her was breathing water as the rain poured down onto the locked ships that were thrashed about the sea.
Again the strange foresight dawned on Erica, telling her of the incoming wave and the dire mistake she was about to make. The Sorceress was unsure if it had been more out of hubris or naivete.
Erica blasted her would be foe out of her way and staggered to the front of the ship as it rocked dangerously.
The wave loomed high above the entangled ships, looking certain to crush them like a giant rolling in its sleep. With little time, Erica rushed as much of her cold magic as she could in her staff and blasted a beam of purest cold directly into the wave, freezing it and the chaotic waters surrounding the ships, turning the storm black waters into white blue ice, bringing all movement to a abrupt and jolting halt and the sound of utter silence.
It wouldn't last even half a minute.
"Are you insane?!" Someone screamed in absolute terror, Prince or one of the crewmen, Erica was unsure as at the very end of the words there was a great heart stopping "CRACKKKKKKK". It might have been a combination of the ice and the lightning of the storm, but that mattered little as all hell broke lose.
The ice that trapped them heaved as the sea around and below still raged, for as powerful as Erica was, she had frozen a shallow portion of the storm ridden waves. Frantic shouts and screams sounded all around the Sorceress as she realized too late the danger she'd created.
In the birthing chaos, Erica was quick knocked off her feet by the shaking ice and Prince roughly shoving her aside as he ran to the front of the ship, heat and sparks of flame gathering around him.
"Cut us loose from the warship, there's no hope if we're still stuck to it." Meshif screamed.
"On it!" Fenrir roared, shifting and boarding the enemy ship in a gray blur.
Now immense cracks made their way across the entirety of the frozen wave in front of the ships, water spraying out in violent promises of retribution for daring to contain the storm. The ships themselves groaned dangerously in the crumbling ice.
But amid the growing freezing chaos, at the bow of the ship sparks of flame burst to life and began gathering at Prince's sheathed sword as the Wanderer channeled an immense amount of mana for a powerful fire spell of some sort. All the while more and more water violently burst through the rapidly breaking ice.
A large solid shard of the frozen wave broke lose and Erica blasted it with a static bolt. As the shard was blown apart, multiple things happened at once. A ferocious wave broke through the frozen barrier in a deadly cascade, Prince unleashed his power via slashing out with his sword in a blasting wave of heat and fire, the ice holding the two ships collapsed, jerking both violently free.
Erica found herself being flung at the railing of the ship, the impact knocking the wind from her chest and sending her crashing through the railing, almost falling onto the thrashing iceberg filled water. Fortunately she was able to grab hold of the the edge of the ship's floor. Her precarious position allowed her to witness firsthand one possible fate that was waiting in the water as a screaming zakarumite was thrown from the ships in between two colliding icebergs and was silenced with a gruesome crunch. The rapidly fading firelight of Prince's spell made the image of the man being crushed by the ice stand out all the more, and the loud creaks of the ship she was desperately clutching to froze Erica's heart far more than the pouring rain.
Her grip begin to slip, threatening to send the Sorceress to a similar fate or worse before someone came to her aid.
Steam surrounded the air around Prince and his hand felt almost burning hot as he grabbed onto Erica's hand in an attempt to pull her up, but the melting ice that coated the side of the ship made it difficult for the Sorceress to do anything beyond keeping herself from falling into the deadly sea.
There was a loud crunch of colliding ice to Erica's right, caused Prince to frantically try to pull her up, but his earlier exertion must have eaten much of his strength. The Sorceress saw the incoming iceberg just before the Ronin abandoned her to the mercy of the waves, saving both of them from being crushed between ice and wood... At least if the ship had survived...
Freezing darkness overtook Erica as she fell beneath the surface of the waves, all sound and sight fading into nothingness as air the last bit of her lungs was filled with crushing waters...
Until she felt a strange and new warmth on her lips and suddenly air was forced back into her lungs. Erica's eyes flung open as she returned to the world, not in the middle of the malevolent seas but instead laying upon the sands of an unknown beach with Fenrir's lips locked on hers. An unknown strength within the Sorceress helped her heave the Druid off her with haste, but she found herself coughing up water instead of questions or spells.
"Good, it worked. You were right in saying she still lived, Bones." Fenrir said, relief heavy in his voice as Lissandra put a steadying hand on Erica's shoulder while she coughed out what felt like a small sea.
"What-" Erica's lungs coughed out the last of the sea water, leaving her throat already feeling awful from the salt. "-what the hell were you doing Fenrir?" The Sorceress felt her face burning red, one part embarrassment, the other part from gasping for air. Despite all the coughing and salt, she still found herself focusing on the feeling of another person's lips on her own.
"I had to force air into you to get the water out. I was saved by... someone in that way before and she taught me how to do the same."
"Couldn't either of you simply draw out the water with..." Erica quickly stopped herself as she realized that particular question would have been quite stupid coming from her. Lissandra's power would have been unable to control the water at all and Fenrir's elemental magic was well, going by what had happened the single time he had used it Erica would have been lucky if her body hadn't been torn apart. "Never mind..." Now that she'd recovered from nearly drowning, Erica felt exhaustion all but leap upon her back. Keeping a makeshift raft made of nothing but ice from melting or breaking in the fickle sea for as long as they had, none of them had kept track of the days, had taken a heavy toll on her added onto the cataclysm she'd unleashed.
Erica's hand fumbled around her belt blindly as she searched for a mana potion. Most were missing, but she was able to find one. The potion far was more relieving than usual. Her entire body shook as she was chilled to the bone from the exposure to the sea, but the air around her felt hot and suffocating, almost like another layer of water trying to drown her.
"Where are we?"
"No idea, I haven't seen the sun since we sailed into the storm, so there is no way of telling if we went east, west, north, south or any other direction. Haven't seen the stars either." Fenrir answered, standing up from where he hand been sitting in the sand.
"Lissandra?" Erica noticed that the Necromancer was distracted, searching through what of her inventory had survived the voyage. She almost looked worried for a moment until her fingers came across a pouch around the size of a small human head.
"Bones? Can your sight tell us anything?" Fenrir asked.
Lissandra secured the pouch to her belt, shaking her head in the process. "N-no. The only t-thing I can say is t-that I can say for c-cer-certain there is a great imbalance in t-this land."
"Guess I'll ask the locals. I'm not looking forward to that considering the last two southern trees I spoke with." Fenrir looked warily inland, which now Erica saw was almost sheer wall of dense jungle as she rose to her feet. Already her throat was beginning to feel parched once more.
"We're going to need water first, drinkable water." Erica said, looking up at the stormy sky that promised rain yet held back. The Sorceress was almost mentally begging for it to rain, for fresh water and so it could wash off the salt and sand that covered her.
"I'm almost sick of water at this point, but there's not really much choice. Can you walk, Erica?"
"Yes I'm fine." She replied and gathered her own inventory. The Summoner's Journal had survived the voyage as it was protected from the sea's wrath by wards. The tome of town portal and most of her potions had not been so fortunate. The Horadric Staff had stayed with the Sorceress after its use as a key had been completed. Originally the staff would have been consumed, however Erica had managed to change the enchantments with minimal loss of the staff's power. For now though, she was more interested in using it to keep her on her feet. Beyond those few things and the clothes and armor she wore, there was nothing else.
Erica looked back at the deceptively calm sea and wonder what had been the fate of the others. Had they been crushed by her ice and then drowned beneath the waves or had they by some miracle survived the ice and storm.
The Sorceress then turned her gaze inland. Fenrir had Moonfang resting on his shoulder, his gray hair now a loose and chaotic mane since he'd lost the band he'd used to keep it in a tail. His stance was cautious and tired. Lissandra looked slightly less miserable, though there were faint signs that she too was fairing just as badly as the Sorceress and the Druid.
An ominous shiver ran up Erica's spine. It wasn't the chill of the stormy weather or the elements but instead it felt as though something dark and terrible was staring into her soul.
"Erica, are you certain you're a-alright?" Lissandra's voice distracted the Sorceress from trying to find where the feeling was coming from. It quickly faded to the back of Erica's mind, finding a dark corner to lurk just enough to be noticed but not enough for her to even attempt to follow up on it. It allowed Erica's growing thirst to take precedence.
"I just need some drink water, I'll be fine." Though she meant the words, they still felt like they were lies to comfort herself and her friends.
There was a strong sense of unease for all three of the castaways as they took their first steps off the beach into the damp dark jungle.
XXX
The island the pirates had made their hideout was a tropical one much like the Archer's home. The knowledge of such climes allowed her to evade the half-hearted attempts made to find her, even in her near broken state. Once the pirates abandoned finding her, the Archer then faced a greater threat. Not one of finding what she needed for survival, as she was familiar with what was edible and what would sicken or kill and knew how to make shelter. But rather her own mind threatened to be the end of her.
She was unclean, no matter how much she tried to wash herself in the small stream she'd found, she could remove the pirates' stench, the feel of their hands and stares of their eyes. Her nails scratched deeply in her overzealous and pointless attempts to rid herself of those. Each time she closed her eyes, she was back on the ship, back in their possession. Sleep was a curse that came in only when she could no longer force herself to remain awake and each time she awoke screaming and covered in freezing sweat, feeling ever more filthy.
Alone in her isolation, she began to see images of her friends, comrades and even her beloved sister staring at her in disgust, disappointment, calling her a failure, a slave, a thing. The Archer's demons made her desperate for any sort of escape. Many a time she found herself standing upon a cliff facing the sea, thinking that it was best to end it all. Let the sea take her and wash her clean for the afterlife, that any horrors of the darkest realms would be better than this living hell.
It was in the darkest of these times that the Archer, a single step away from taking the plunge, thought of those who had wrought this hell upon her. The boy had freed her and had paid for his crimes, but the pirates and especially the captain, would keep living, keep plundering. There was no guarantee that they would suffer in this life or the next.
That fact ignited the Archer's anger and hatred, thus driving her back from the edge and into the jungle thirst to plan her vengeance. At first she planned to hunt the pirates down like animals they were, but considering how quickly the animals she fed on in the jungle died that plan quickly withered away. There was no way she could allow the monsters such a merciful end. However she had no idea how to drag out a kill, how to prolong the suffering of those she hated. Even worse she had no idea when the pirates would return. So she spent time learning with the local wildlife until at last fate smiled on her.
It could have been weeks, months or even a year for all she knew, but it mattered not. At last, the Archer was going to see how long she could make the pirates would scream.
XXX
The Kurast docks that Shyvana stepped onto were far different from the docks of her memories. Only Meshif's single sad and battered vessel still floated where once there had been many ships of differing size, type and color. The sounds of distant thunder and jungle beasts filled the air where once the Amazon had heard the shouts of dock workers and endless chatter of merchants and priests bartering goods and salvation in equal measure. Instead of prideful towers built of stone an bricks, a dark jungle loomed malevolently in the background.
The docks were now little more than a sad and decaying shantytown, even more desolate and rotten than the ones Shyvana had seen from the merchant ship years ago.
"Welcome to Kurast strangers, few seem to come willingly to this ancient jungle any more, though I can't fathom why. The local Zakarum fanatics and demons make it a journey to die for." A man dressed in a red toga greeted them.
"Haha." Meshif said dryly as he stepped onto the dock. "You have no idea how right you are on the last part Hratli. But what in Akkarat's holy asscrack happened? And when the hell did demons come into this?"
"Undoubtedly Mesphisto has called upon more than just fanatics to ensure his brothers' safe arrival to his former prison." Deckard commented.
"Correct, for the demons are far more focused on finishing off the last remainders of Kurast's population that survived the decimation while the children of Zakarum have concentrated around the temple city of Travincal in the city's heart." At Hratli's mention of the religious fanatic's, Shyvana noticed Andrastse's fist clench.
Something struck Shyvana as odd. "Wait, if the jungle consuming Kurast is the work of Mephisto, why hasn't it claimed the docks as completely as the rest of the city?"
"The docks remain safe only because of a magical warding that holds the jungle evils at bay, though I'm not certain how long it will-"
There was something akin to a subtle pop that rippled through the air, quiet but noticeable. With an undeniable chill ripped its way up Shyvana's back with such force she staggered lightly. The Amazon wasn't the only one who felt it as everyone one around her reacted as well.
"-last." Hratli's eyes went wide as he whiled around to look towards the jungle as the sounds of panicked warning horns sounded in that direction.
"Dammit! One bloody break is all I'm asking for!" Prince cursed as he started running towards the growing chaos.
Andrastse moved to follow, but turned to the ship captain and Hratli. "Meshif, make the ship ready to head out again!"
"We're barely even floating! We'll be lucky to make it across the river mouth, let alone out of the harbor! Durga, you and Flavie make sure that nothing inhuman gets close to the ship!"
"At the very least give the people a possible escape should they need it! Anything!"
Shyvana quickly joined the Paladin as they headed across the ramshackle bridges between the stone platforms. "What are you saying, do you really think we can't beat back these monsters? After all we've fought!"
"We've lost half our number! And that includes both our mages." Andrastse snapped. "We may not lose but the battles from here on will that much more difficult without Lissandra's army or Erica's elemental attacks to help handle the enemy's numbers. I've made the mistake of underestimating the power of mages once before, I'm never allowing that to happen again." She glanced back at Shyvana with a fierce and painful fire burning in her eyes.
Shyvana, had no answer. As much as she was confident in her own abilities, despite the slowly advancing effects of Andariel's poison, she knew Andrastse had a point. It was a good thing Vercingetorix hadn't quite heard the Paladin though, the Amazon doubted the Barbarian would have been any happier than she.
The battle was already in full swing as the three fighters arrived. Soldiers clad in red cloaks fighting desperately with various lesser elemental spells against an on rushing tide of corrupted jungle creatures and hideous little child-like fetishes with knives as large as they were darted towards and away from the fight, their vicious teeth glinting in the chaos.
"Hold your ground and focus on the bigger targets!" A woman shouted over the din of battle. "The little shits will only hurt you at worst, the bigger bastards are the ones that can kill you."
"Sounds like Asheara and her Iron Wolves are holding up well." Prince commented calmly, eyeing the fight while drawing his sword.
"They're being overrun, Vercingetorix, help secure the right flank, I'll take the center, Shyvana shoot anything that looks like it will break through the line." Andrastse said while the Amazon and Barbarian immediately heeded her orders. Vercingetorix was in the air while Shyvana's arrows downed two large jungle hunters that were tearing through some of the Iron Wolves.
"Allow me to-" Prince smugly began to move up but stopped dead as the battle all but halted. A wave of fear moved through the battlefield, silencing all. The suffocating humid heat was suddenly replaced by an icy hand reaching into the chest of all present, attacker and defender, and squeezing the warmth from every heart present and leaving naught but dread.
Near an arch that acted as a marker for the last remaining stone bridge anchoring the docks to the jungle stood a tall dark figure completely covered in a dark cloak with a dim and eerie red glow emanating from the black depths of his hood. Shyvana could feel his eyes staring into her, piercing armor, clothes, flesh and bone into her very soul. It was all she could do to a terrified shuddering breath. This was their quarry, the one they hunted. The Dark Wanderer was before them.
"Aidan!" Andrastse shouted, breaking the spell of fear and immediately the battle began anew. Now the monstrous attackers pushed with a new terrified frenzy as though desperate to flee from the Dark Wanderer at all costs while the Iron Wolves' battle line rapidly began to buckle as the mercenaries desperately tried to stand their ground against both the monsters and the terror that flowed forward.
Biting her lip to force away the remaining paralyzing grip of fear, Shyvana emptied her quiver into the terrified tide, while trying to make her way to Andrastse or Vercingetorix. Either the Barbarian's colossal war cries or the Paladin's holy powers would be the key to stopping the Iron Wolves from completely routing. She found Vercingetorix first, smashing a jungle hunter into the stone beneath his boot while cleaving through three bloated over sized blood sucker bugs.
"Where's Andrastse?! The Iron Wolves are about to be slaughtered!"
"I see her!" Vercingetorix shouted, his height allowing him to see above the carnage while he wrought further mayhem on the battlefield. "By the Ancestors, she's pushing towards the Dark Wanderer, alone!"
"Hold damn you! There's no where to run so take as many of the bastards down with you!" Asheara's voice shouted again as further human shouts and screams of terror sounded from where the Iron Wolves had been desperately holding the line the last time Shyvana had seen them.
"Can you get to Andrastse?" Vercingetorix asked, clearly aware that there was little time for him to get to the Iron Wolves and the overextended Paladin before catastrophe struck.
"Yes, go!" Shyvana answered as she immediately began to make her way towards Andrastse, swapping her bow for knives and slashing her way through the frantic horde.
A small shock wave drove the Amazon's momentum forward as the Barbarian launched himself into the air, helping her carve through the wave of enemies faster. Another jungle hunter fell, blood pumping from its severed neck, allowing Shyvana to witness Andrastse almost reach the Dark Wanderer, only for their quarry to vanish with a flash of accursed light. In his place, horrid half formed demons appeared all around the Paladin.
"NO!" Andrastse screamed, but it wasn't terror that Shyvana heard but a painful frustration, as though the Paladin had been a hair's breadth away from claiming something precious only for it to be yanked away. That frustration immediately converted into wrath as the malformed demons closed in on Andrastse. Before Shyvana could move to the Paladin's aid, Andrastse's sword flashed out, butchering the closest flesh beast in a zealous rage. The other foul creatures lunged at the Paladin as much as their larval bodies would allow, but Andrastse's sword ripped through two of them with such violence that the weapon slipped from her grip, pinning one of the corpses to the blood soaked marsh. Yet she was far from vulnerable as by the time Shyvana reached her, the last remaining flesh beast had been beaten to a bloody smear of gore with Andrastse's now blood covered shield. The Paladin's eyes were almost exactly the same as eyes the Amazon had seen reflected in pools of blood just before her exile.
She shook the Paladin's shoulder roughly to snap her out of her bloodlust. "Andrastse, what in the hells are you playing at?! We've got to-" Shyvana trailed off as a new wave of frenzied monsters burst out from the dense jungle undergrowth and began splashing through the swampy muck towards the docks.
Andrastse, with whatever madness that had taken her gone, and Shyvana turned to fall back to the to what was left of the Iron Wolves' fighters, but the monsters of the previous wave were still many, some of which were taking note of the two lone fighters that didn't have a massive giant tearing apart monsters, leaving the two women caught between the tides of frenzied enemies.
The monsters charged as Andrastse and Shyvana readied themselves for a harrowing fight when a dreadful inhuman shriek whistled through the air above the battle from the docks.
An arrow wrapped in venomous green magics was the sound's source as bolts of foul energy lashed out at very monster it passed over, creating a chorus of screams as the arrow's victims shrieked in anguish. As the arrow passed over the two isolated fighters, Shyvana felt Andariel's poison stir within her, resonating with the dark missile. It buried itself just in front of the onrushing second wave with a burst of poisonous gas.
The monsters shrieked and died, either by poison or by their fellows trampling them as they tried to escape the foul miasma which slowed the wave, but did not stop it completely. It was then that the air around Shyvana and Andrastse turned hot and dry, as though they were back in the embrace of the Aranoch once again. A barrage of burning meteors slammed down on the area covered by the arrow's poison with a brutal and frightening violence that was only enhanced as the miasma ignited in a large explosion of chaotic and ravenous flame, the shock wave blasting the Amazon and Paladin back.
Her ears ringing, vision blurred and throat burning, Shyvana pushed herself coughing from the muck. As the aftereffects of the explosion slowly faded, she saw Vercingetorix crush a fetish that sought to attack her in her disorientation, before he moved to give her a hand to her feet. The sheer shock numbed any of the old pride or disgust to nothing as took a few moments leaning against the battered Barbarian to regain her senses.
The ringing subsided, allowing Shyvana to stand on her own and to hear the crackle of an inferno and the relative quiet from the direction of the docks, and frantic, panicked breathing.
"No... no...no not again...its all burning..."
"Andrastse." Vercingetorix moved to get the Paladin up from where she was on her knees. "Andrastse!"
"Wait!" Shyvana stopped him before he could try to shake the Paladin. "Shaking will do more harm than good." The Amazon's vision had recovered enough that she could see Andrastse's eyes, locked on the inferno cutting the docks off from the accursed jungle but focusing on something impossibly distant. "She's trapped in a waking nightmare."
Shyvana knew of this because a few days before she and Andrastse had come across Vercingetorix, the Paladin had awoken from a night-terror in a similar state, screaming and trying to get away from the nearby campfire. Whatever had been the cause of the sudden onset of fear, Shyvana did not know and hadn't seen the need to press for answers, as it had not resurfaced in any form since then, until now.
Vercingetorix nodded uneasily, and very carefully picked up Andrastse as though she were a child, who hissed in pain. "It burns, it burns!"
"We will need to know what caused this madness Shyvana." He said, turning back to the docks, as Shyvana glanced at the flames, with very strong idea as to the cause.
"We'll make her tell us when she returns from her terrors..."
At the docks, the surviving Iron Wolves were staring at their two saviors in terror. Prince, who had collapsed smoldering and his metal gauntlet glowing like fire and Flavie, looking pale as death putting the patch back over her eye.
"After which, we hope that we're still hunting Terror, rather than he's hunting us."
Author's Bit: YAY ME AND WOLFHEART ARE STILL ALIVE!
For those of you wondering where the hells I've been, it's been a busy year for me as I moved for the first time ever, and surprisingly it wasn't that bad. Of course that only covers about a month or two. After which the rest is good old slacking and distractions, some of which were productive in the form of a couple of short stories.
Also thank you for pointing out inconsistencies in my stories, I really need to start organizing my thoughts and actually writing down notes about my characters...
Anyways, really sorry for the wait, and hope this explosive welcome to Mephisto's Jungle was enjoyable.
Your ridiculously lazy shit,
AC-107
