*A/N* HEY ALL you will never guess it but OMG I don't own Blizzard
Entertainment and I don't own the rights to the game 'Diablo' 'Diablo II'
or 'Diablo II: lord of Destruction (NO SHIT!) If I did own any of that then
I probably would be rolling in cash and not writing this at all. If your
name is Natalie Rosewinger than I am really sorry for using your name and
it is probably a coincidence unless you are the person in my tag class
(which I know you aren't cause her name starts with a 'B') that I think
looks just like the assassin from Diablo II If your name is Cbiscut then I
truly pity you for having the name of a racehorse but I use it for my
paladin in battle net and since my CD is busted he will probably be gone
next time I sign on (and he was a slayer too soblaugh, laughgiggle are you going to the
track tonight?" Natalie hit Natasha again. ~¤~ The track was quiet but she
knew he was there somewhere. She looked from one goal to the other. No one
else was out there except for people going home. She thought se saw a
flicker of movement from the corner of her eye but looked and saw nothing.
"Maybe it is best if you do not search him out." "You better show yourself
whatever you are! I'm tired of talking to something I can't see." She said
in the direction of where she saw the flicker. "This one sees no reason to
do as you have.commanded and this one thinks that you will listen to it
because you want it's advice. You are not in a position to be making orders
my child!" Natalie closed her eyes and listened for the thing's footsteps
but heard two sets instead of one. She opened her eyes and looked to the
closest set and saw a shadowy figure. She had felt him watching her and
knew he was out here. He knew that she had known but had kept in hiding.
"You can come out." She said to him. He made no reply. All of a sudden she
felt all her limbs lighten until there was no weight at all. She felt
pushed backward slowly then flipped to look at the ground. She was pulled
up and then thrown towards the ground at breakneck speed. She tried to
scream but it was cut off. It may have been the speed of movement or
another strange force that cut off her voice and pushed out all the air in
her lungs but she couldn't breathe or move against the push. She was
trapped and only one thought crossed her mind, 'I'm going to die.' A
familiar voice came into her head, "Die? This one thinks not! If you die
then this one wonders how he has managed to pass from world to world
before. Wouldn't you? This one insures your safety and pleads that you will
stop fighting it. Rest is what you need." With those words Natalie fell
asleep. ~¤~ Natalie woke up with a headache like she had spent the night
drinking or got high or something else they always said gave you headaches.
She looked around the field and saw a cat like figure up in a tree. It made
no movement so she could not be sure if it was actually there. The clouds
were covering the sky and she was surrounded by darkness. "This one sees
you.but thus one knows that you see it too." The cat figure jumped out of
the tree and nimbly landed on its feet. The catlike tail swished from side
to side as it walked towards her. It was pitch black but seemed to emit a
strange light, "This one will help you as he can child." She reached out
and stroked the cat-person's head in between his pointed ears. It purred
softly then came back to its guard, "This one has much to tech and you have
much to learn. It is advised that the child take the lesson and learn it
well. On the morning you asked interesting questions, but the wrong ones
all the same. You should have asked what the dream was like the other
one.the boy with no name.He was fast with his questions and asked the right
ones to know what he needed to know." Natalie blinked and saw a hazy world.
A boy sat in a bed, the boy she had seen. He talked the cat-person who sat
on a shelf. The boy asked questions, "What was that dream?" "A premonition
of things to come and things that have already come." "Where?" "A world
called sanctuary." "Who was the girl?" "It is uncertain." "Why choose me?"
"You were not chosen, you were destined to fulfill this role." "Why?"
"Destiny is a tricky thing, it is hard to foresee and even harder to
understand once it had chosen its task." "But I didn't see you in the
dream, are you destined to die?" "All things die but it is not I who can
foresee when or how or even understand the meaning of when or how. I must
leave for now.have fun at school little one." Natalie blinked back into
real life, "You understand now?" "Not a bit but I am gonna have to find
that boy to do any more." "Good work child! You are smarter than I first
assumed. You surprise even me!" The creature smiled a toothy grin and faded
into the shadows. Some beaten and battered men came from all around moaning
and groaning with every movement, "What are these?" "Ghouls, they will
attract the attention of the boy you know a Cbiscut. Of course you will
have to survive until he arrives but I have great faith in you my child."
She raised her fists to chest level, "If it is a fight they want." She
struck out at them with bear fists and kicks. Her leather pants limited
some movement of her legs but she could still kick to chest level. Her tank
top and jacket offered little defense against the monsters, it was highly
needed defense that she made up for with strikes to the monsters' flailing
arms. She struck down one of three before she started to tire. The two
remaining ghouls struck at her and she lost some of that defense that she
worked so hard to make up for. She felt a strike fall on her arm and tear
through the jacket. Another ghoul entered the scuffle and she was
overpowered the beast pushed her to the ground and started beating and
tearing at her. She closed her eyes and passed out. ~¤~ He felt the
presence of the cat and opened his eyes. He got up from prayer and looked
for the demon, "What can you tell me now?" "Natalie is in peril." "What!
The girl? This is all, my fault! If only I had better spells or a more
accurate town portal scroll or knew her full name.all, my fault. We have to
save her!" "She was attacked by ghouls little one. There was nothing I
could do." He saw it now. The small shadows on the front pews in the
church, "Demon if you are-" "This one sees no threat, after all I am little
more than a messenger. If you hope to live long enough to see a real demon
you will need help, from the girl, and from me! The same goes for me. I
will need your help to see a real demon like the lord of terror himself. In
a way you are lucky because of your dreams. You know what to expect and you
will not only be able to see a demon once and live to tell about it because
of your dream but you will see it twice." The demon made a point, "I am the
great Cbiscut! You have nothing to fear demon." With that he was off to
find the girl, Natalie. She was very pretty and trained in martial arts but
she had never even come close to seeing what he had seen in the few days he
had been in transit between worlds. So what if he had shared the dream with
her. He knew what it meant and from what the demon had told him she did
not. He did not smile at that. It just meant more explaining he would have
to do. He ran out of the rouge encampment and into the blood moor. He
searched for any sight of the girl of the ghouls but a heavy fog had moved
in. He heard the sounds of ghouls beating at there pray. He ran and slashed
through two of them and allowed the third to escape. He looked at another
body that seemed to have taken battery damage to the head and chest. "A
girl did that sort of thing to a ghoul while being attacked by another
three!" "Two actually the third joined in as she was being defeated." "It
is still quite the task for one untrained girl to do on her own." He saw
Natalie. Her jacket had been shredded but the leather pants seemed
untouched as well as her tank top. Her arms were cut lightly at some points
but mostly just scuffed up. Her cheeks had taken some scuffing and bled
lightly on the right side. Cbiscut took a damp towel and lightly dabbed at
her cheeks and the cuts and scuffs on her arms, "She is beautiful.even more
so than the dream." He felt for a pulse and found one, then put a hand
about an inch above her face and felt for her breath. She was alive. Be
bent down and was about to kiss her when she opened her eyes and screamed.
~¤~ "Please stop it makes it harder to carry you." Natalie screamed and
kicked at him again, "PUT ME DOWN!" The cat-person reappeared in front of
her and looked into her eyes. She went silent. She stopped trying to
struggle and order her way out of the man's grip. She looked into the
yellow eyes of the cat-person and saw a great beauty. She snapped back to
the real world and screamed again, "Will you please shut her up!" "This one
tried, she is more willful than any of the powers expected. She is perfect
for facing great evils, don't you agree?" "I think she is gonna be dead
before we make it back if she doesn't calm down so I can carry her! I am
not here to do this stupid job so that she can try to kick my chest in
after I save her!" Natalie stopped screaming, "You did WHAT?" "Yes, yes
here it comes the I'm not totally defenseless speech then she will start
kicking again like the rouge I rescued." "Why did you do it? I mean why did
you save me?" "Huh? Because you are important to saving this world and
getting us back to ours." She pouted, "I thought you liked me for my looks
and were gonna kiss me for a minute there." He blushed deep red, "Well I
was just.uh." She hoped out of his grip and walked behind him, never
missing a beat, "You just what?" She saw him blush a deeper red and kissed
his cheek. "WHA!" The cat snickered as it faded away again, "It would seem
that you have an admirer little one." Natalie blushed a little, "I was
totally defenseless against those monsters.they had me down and I thought I
was going to die. Then a bright white night came and saved me. I am in your
debt sir night." "Quickly now we must hurry if we are to make it back to
the camp in time." Natalie jumped into Cbiscut's arms, "Will you carry me?
Please." "Uh.all right but only once. I'm feeling nice this time. You might
be hurt." "So brave sir knight, what is your real name?" Natalie said as
she traced the twisting pattern on his light breastplate. "My real name is
not important. Cbiscut is all you will need to call me." "So secretive."
She purred into his ear. Heh, heh, heh, this is funny demon but if you
don't tell me what happened to her, I swear I'll- his thought was broken by
the thoughts of another. You will do nothing little one and you will learn
well the lessons that I teach. I remember requesting that you not threaten
me and if you continue to do so I may be forced to take measures of my own
to make sure that you do indeed do nothing. The voice sounded so casual
about it's threats. May I remind you- "The camp we are there." The demon
faded from sight like it had before and walked close behind Cbiscut to hide
his shadow. Cbiscut came back into the real world and looked down at the
sleeping girl in his arms. He looked back into the camp and walked in, "So
much for so little.I doubt her looks will save us in the end.and they
defiantly will not save this world. Why did we even save her?" "Because.you
may be the chosen one but three there are to challenge three there must be
to defend." "Well then where is good old number three, or is that you?"
"Three, not I but you have met him.in your dreams my child." "Stop calling
me that!" "This one does not refer to you young master. This one refers to
the girl from the legends. The one that will save us all. You carry her in
your arms." "But then why does she seem all drugged up after just making
contact with some stupid ghouls." "You fail to see that which is right in
front of you." "You did this? But why?" "My child needed rest so I
offered." "You two aren't related really are you?" The cat-person's voice
crackled up again, "No, of course not." "Stop laughing at me demon. I was
asking a serious question." "This one knows, this one knows.this one saw
your question to be a jest at first. Maybe we should leave the girl." "Yes
maybe you are right." ~¤~ Natalie woke up. She felt normal but recalled all
of what she did while that Cbiscut guy was carrying her here, "Oh my god, I
was a total ass! I dunno what happened but it made me do this." She was
lying on her side in a bed that wasn't hers. She looked over her shoulder
to find what she was afraid of. She saw the Cbisctut guy but unlike her he
wasn't wearing a shirt. She didn't look under the covers but was glad to
feel that her pants were still on. Okay I know you are here you stupid cat-
person and I know that you can hear my thoughts so listen to me! I need you
to get me out of here. She thought. "Our beloved cat-person isn't the only
person who can hear your thoughts. Don't worry I just want to sleep. Oh
please just don't scream I really don't need that in the morning." Said the
voice of Cbiscut. She almost screamed but held back and talked to him
instead in a somewhat panicked voice, "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"
"Because I am trying to sleep like you should be." "Why are we in the same
bed?" "Because there is only one and you were already fast asleep when I
finished eating and I am not going to be put out of my bed by a girl,
chosen one or not." "Where is cat-person?" He rolled over to look at her,
"Out hunting I suspect but he could be here somewhere." "How long have I
been here?" "All night." "Did I do anything strange when whatever happened
to me?" "Yes." "What?" "You kissed my cheek, hopped into my arms and went
to sleep." "Why didn't you stop me?" He blushed and she could tell even in
the dark, "I dunno" "I'll scream if you don't tell me." "I really don't
know pleas don't-" She started all with a soft scream that could have been
a moan. "No please don't" She screamed a little loader. "Please I am
begging you to not do this I have told you all I know about it." She
screamed loader, and then it was drown out as he kissed her. She tried to
scream past it but had no luck. She tried to pull free but was pushed down.
He broke off, "Now don't scream any more." Another set of hidden eyes
watched carefully as Natalie blinked twice inhaled to scream but was
stopped just before she could as Cbiscut raise a hand. "Don't do it!" She
exhaled slowly keeping her eyes on him, "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO-" She
was pushed back down and looked into the solemn eyes of Cbiscut. They were
green/gray eyes that looked back at her. She looked back into her ushered
by instinct to scream ushered by fear to keep quiet. He did not smile at
her. It was just a dull look. "Okay." She said not saying anything else. He
rolled off of her and faced the window again. Natalie looked straight up
into the roof and did not go to sleep from fear of what Cbiscut might do.
The cat jumped down from the top shelf unnoticed. "Have a good sleep young
master. Come my child!" The cat-person beckoned to Natalie. She followed
him carefully making sure that he didn't get to far ahead. She didn't want
to be right behind him either. The cat-person looked back at her after
reaching the gates of the camp. She almost smiled as he looked back at her.
"The young master has seen many things.you have made him think of positive
ones. This one congratulates you .He feels for you and I believe that you
feel the same. This one needs to know, it is important my child." She
stopped smiling, "So you dragged me out here in the middle of the night to
find out if I have the hots for some guy I just met. I don't need this I'm
going back to the camp." She turned to go back to the camp. "So do you?"
She hadn't been expecting that not even from a demon. She shivered slightly
against the wind and against his interrogation. So what if I even do like
him? It doesn't matter I am gonna get out of here and then I will be all
right and far away from anyone in this stupid world. Why don't they just
save themselves? "They do not have the power that you have. They cannot
fight for themselves and Cbiscut may need your help more than he admits
too. I know the truth about you my child and you do have deep feelings for
the boy. I read you like a book." "Then stop reading me like a book! I
don't want you to read me like a book! I don't want Cbiscut to know that I
love him or-" She stopped. And the cat smiled at her, "I didn't just say
that." "Say what my child? Say that you love the young master? I believe
you did." "Then forget it I don't want you to even think it for all I know
he can read your thoughts too!" She almost begged the cat-person to forget
about it and leave her alone for once. "This one will not let him read that
thought but you will tell him the truth won't you?" "NO! He won't find
out!" The cat-person put his hand on her shoulder, "He will find out if he
hasn't already. You know it but want to hide it from him for as long as you
can anyway. Unfortunately for you, the young master reads minds." "Then I
will just stop thinking it." She felt amazingly light and then fell asleep.
The cat-person had done this before but always had some reason. She slept
and slept and didn't want to wake up. ~¤~ She woke up. She was back in the
bed. She looked over at Cbiscut, can he tell? She asked herself. She looked
down at what she was wearing and found it was a nightgown that was a little
bit tight. Natalie looked at Cbiscut's back. He rolled over and smiled at
her. She looked at him but didn't smile. "It is okay, you didn't wake me.
Of course that it the least of your worries isn't it. You couldn't care
less if I woke up because of your noisy thoughts." She looked at him saying
nothing then got up and walked over to the window. The cat-eyes watched her
move. She felt the eyes on her; they felt as if they were cutting into her
very soul. She looked back at the door and ran. She made it down the stairs
before something stopped her. A man, no this couldn't be he had to be
undead like the ghouls that had attached her. She could see the bleached
bones even if they were too close together to see past. The skull for a
head even with its horns at either side grabbed her thoughts as just a
defense. It raised a hand against her and pushed her to the ground. She saw
its weapon on its back, which was massive two-handed-sword. It reached down
at her and grabbed her arms. "NO!" She screamed, "NO, I can't die." It
pulled her up and sat her down in one of the pews of the church. It looked
at her and then called upstairs in a feminine voice, "Marcel, are you here?
I think the girl was trying to run away." A shadow in a corner turned into
the cat-person, "This one knows. She fears the young master. Wouldn't you?"
The thing that held her down pulled back its mask and looked at the cat-
person, "uh-huh, now Marcel, mind telling me where the young master is?"
"Upstairs but I expect he will be coming down soon to catch up with Natalie
here. My child, have I explained nothing! You will come to no harm in the
presence of the young master." Cbiscut stepped down the stairs, "She does
not fear any harm coming to her. She fears something else. Natalie
Rosewinger fears that I, The great Cbiscut will tie her down to the bed and
make love to her while she sleeps. She fears that she may wake up beside me
in the nude. Her mind screams every time she wakes up!" The thing was a
girl with blonde hair. Hair so blonde it was white, "N-Natasha?" She
smiled, "Well Natie looks like that Cbiscut kid wasn't out to date you
after all." She chuckled lightly. "How long did you know?" Natalie asked.
"I didn't Natie. I was pulled here by Marcel over there, after he used your
power to make a portal to our world. That is why you felt sleepy he tells
me. Sorry for the tight clothes and all I know they are a little flowery
for your taste but it is all I had with me. I have another change if you
want but it might be a little tight and a little revealing." She bent down
to Natalie's ear level and whispered, "Of course being revealing might not
be so bad with prince charming over there." Natasha winked innocently and
then got up to her full. She still wore that bone armor, "I'm a
necromancer, I raise dead stuff which sounds really dirty but it is kind of
cool. They tell me that if I get high enough with my powers I will be able
to raise demons and monsters and stuff." "Like the great Horizon himself."
"But why were we chosen, Marcel?" "Destiny." "Then why three of us, there
has to be some logical reason." "Three champions to face three great
evils." Cbiscut put on his last piece of armor on the bottom step, "What
are the three great evils, and don't go with some short stuff to keep us
thinking." "The prime evils. Mephesto, Baal, and the lord of terror from
your dreams, Diablo." "Tell us about Diablo." Natalie was getting up.
"Diablo is the youngest of the prime evils. He was banished from hell along
with his brothers by the lesser evils. He was incased in a soul stone as
well as Mephesto. Ball escaped the soul stone by destroying it but was
trapped within a shard of it. The demon was contained in the mage, Tal-
Rasha and he was sealed in a tomb to battle with the demon for all
eternity. Mephesto's soul stone was hidden and lost hopefully forever. The
lord of hatred was a terror and a destroyer to all humans. No one could
control the power and few could even conceive the destructive powers beyond
the walls of the small stone. Diablo was buried deep under the town of
Tristram. The archbishop Lazarus discovered his soul stone deep under the
monastery. He had all of the fighters in the city killed against a demon
called the butcher. The prince was sacrificed to be the host of the lord of
terror. King Leoric went insane and was killed by his own disciples. The
dark king was raised as a necromancer skeleton king with a massive two-
handed-sword. His crown drained life with every strike and he was a
challenge. We had two champions from sanctuary who were willing to give
their lives in order to save the town. We only had two, one a skilled
sorcerer and the other a skilled rogue. The third was brought from your
world, a ruthless warrior. He defeated the butcher and the skeleton king.
He went further and further down helping the towns people and defeating
monsters that couldn't possibly be described even in nightmares. The
archbishop Lazarus was defeated with skill and cunning instinct on the
warrior's part while the rogue and sorcerer stopped any demons from
attacking the warrior and distracting him from his goal. The lord of terror
was said to be defeated after that in a battle deep under the surface of
the earth. It was all supposed to end there but as when the dark lord lay
dead on the ground, the warrior cut out the soul stone. The rogue and the
sorcerer were none the wiser when the dark lord turned back to the boy
prince. The warrior screamed his own battle cry against the echoes of the
dark lord's death cry. The warrior had a small gouge on his forehead but it
was always assumed that it was inflicted by Diablo before he made his
passing. A short while after the final bout with Diablo demons started to
raise again. The people of Tristram looked to their saviors but the rouge
had gone back to the rouge encampment and the sorcerer was found dead. The
warrior stood at the remains of the monastery and then walked out to the
east. Little is known about the fall of Tristram. We must find Decard
Cain." "Wow.deep story." Natalie was half surprised half not even caring
about it, "I only have one more question, who changed my clothes while I
was asleep?" Natasha smiled, "Well I tried to get prince charming to do it
but he refused and said that it was a woman's job so I did it." "Oh."
Natalie's face filled with understanding and relief, "So when do I get
armor?" "When you find something weak enough to kill they drop some pretty
cool stuff when they die." Natalie got up, "Alright, on to the first
quest." ~¤~ Natalie dressed herself in the tight not so revealing cloths of
her friend. The more revealing cloths were what she planned to wear at
night when no one was around. Natasha had bought all the clothes she would
need in town and planned to find anything else she needed. Natalie wore a
sleeveless shirt that came down just pasted her belly button. The pants
were jeans that were very low and the shirt would have come down to any
normal pair of pants but these were super lows and left a lot of flesh
open. She still wore the black leather boots the zipped up the side. The
heel wasn't that big so she could still run without much effort. As soon as
she could she was going to switch into armor, any armor. A group of ghouls
attacked yielding nothing armor wise but a cap that Natalie was unwilling
to take. She took the weapons that they dropped though. A hand weapon with
three deadly talons and a buckler as Cbiscut called it that was a beaten up
piece of round metal that served as a shield. The next set of demons, were
a camp of short red demons that were raised by another one with horns. They
dropped leather armor and enough that she could get out of Natasha's
clothes. She did so behind a tree so that no one could see her. She stepped
out from behind the tree zipping up the top and putting Natasha's clothes
in her backpack. "Happy now? I was just trying to get C.B. here to give you
a good look and then maybe-" "Don't. I don't know what you think about him
and me but don't." "And besides I think the leather is better on her
anyway." Natalie blushes and Natasha opened her mouth, which is always a
mistake for her, "Oh so you want her more now that she is in skin tight
leather?" Cbiscut was so caught off guard that he answered truthfully,
"Yes." Natalie blushed a deep red now wishing that she hadn't picked up the
armor. Cbiscut blushed deep red now wishing that he had thought about his
answer. Natasha laughed at the two of them blushing and turned around.
"Where are you going?" "Back to town so I can leave you two lovebirds here
to do whatever you want." Natalie looked at Cbiscut and Cbiscut looked at
Natalie then it dawned on them. They ran after Natasha threatening her life
and throwing rocks. The cat laughed lightly and followed silently. ~¤~ She
watched Natasha's chest rise up and down slowly. She listened to her snore
ever so slightly, "Just like a slumber party." She got up out of the bed
and went upstairs to Cbiscut's room. She opened the door and snuck in
without making a sound. She made no thoughts other than something about a
better place to sleep. She slipped under the covers where Cbiscut lay with
nothing above his waist. He more light pants but she had never seen
anything beneath them nor did she desire to. Cbiscut was silent when he
slept but he rolled a little more than normal people when he was having a
dream. He shivered slightly then rolled. His arm lay across her waist and
he woke up and looked into her eyes, "Couldn't sleep so you decided to make
sure I didn't either?" She thought about why she had come up here, I can't
sleep with her she is so noisy, and plus I have the hots for you like the
cat said. "Alright you can sleep here. It will be quiet." He made no
response to the rest of it. Was he ignoring the fact that she thought he
was hot? Was he waiting to play his cards and say he liked her? She had to
know. "Are you in love with me?" He said nothing appearing to be asleep.
WAKE UP YOU SON OF A- her thoughts were interrupted by the subtle thoughts
of another. Wow, she is so hot, but there is no way I can tell her. To show
her that I had feelings like that for her would be to show weakness. She
can't know I am weak. No that would be too much. I'm glad I can block out
though now I can at least get some rest. Cbiscut did not move his hand off
of her waist like she was expecting him to when she heard his thoughts, Get
a grip on yourself Natie he is just a guy, he probably doesn't even like
you that much. Even if he did he has no idea that you know that he does.
She moved a little closer to him and went to sleep. ~¤~ She woke up and
felt no body heat other than her own. She was almost sad that he had left
but knew that he didn't really think that much of her at all. She got out
of bed and out of the sluttish clothes that Natasha wore. The top was
pretty much a bikini top and the skirt was a super short skirt. She shook
her head and searched for a mind. A mind she had felt before. She knew how
to search. She opened a field of search to the entire city and looked for
the voice that she knew so well. She looked and came to something. It made
her mind scream with pain and every nerve flair, I am Alpha One. You have
already failed. Now you will know true power. She fell over and tried
desperately to break the connection. It hurt. This mind was so powerful it
seemed evil. She heard it laughing and screamed out. Cbiscut ran to her,
"Are you okay?" The laughter died suddenly, "He comes.He is a super power.
I was just looking for your mind so I knew where you went. He sensed it or
something and grabbed me. It hurt. His mind was so powerful." "Who? Whose
mind?" "He called himself Alpha One." Cbiscut made no moves at all he
closed his eyes and searched. She felt his mind pass over her and then keep
going. He opened his eyes, "A mind that could cause you that much pain must
be an extreme power. It should stick out like a black cloud in a spotless
sky!" "I felt it. I swear." "I know you felt it. I heard your mental scream
before your physical one. I ran as soon as I heard the mental one. You must
have caused people to have shivers go up and down their backbones for
miles." The echoes stayed in her mind 'I am Alpha One. You have already
failed. Now you will feel true power.' She shivered. ~¤~ A girl walked out
of the city. The beasts had been defeated. She was just collecting berries.
She wasn't going to go to far anyway. She skipped along to a berry patch
and started picking. A shadow close behind her became more solid and then
became that of a wolf that stood on its back legs and left its front left
to attack like arms. The blast came into her mind, I am Alpha One, Turn and
face me child! The girl turned and dropped her berries. The wolf smiled a
toothy grin at her; I need you to help me. If you listen and do exactly as
I say then you will see this place again as it is. You will not be harmed
in any way if you accept however if you refuse and are caught in the way of
my task then I can no longer protect you from the savage beast within. The
girl shook her head; it has come to my attention that you have psychic
powers my girl. You will send a message for me to all that can use psychic
mind waves and that includes me. Tell them that you are in danger outside
of the rogue camp and if they do not surrender then the camp will fall. ~¤~
Natalie ran out into the wilderness in search of the call. She had told the
others that she was searching for better armor and weapons. They hadn't got
the psychic call and She didn't want to pull them into it. She looked
around outside and saw her. The little brunette girl stood there. There was
a dark aura around her. The aura turned into a wolf-man and tapped the
girl's shoulder. She ran trying desperately to escape. The wolf- man raised
his hand up into the air and two wolves materialized in front of him. You
are a threat to everyone around you! I am almost glad you came alone. This
world is doomed but you cannot return home. I will tear you apart and send
you that way. I will kill you girl and you have no chance to stop me. Give
up your life or give up the camp behind you? "I will not give up. DO YOU
HEAR ME? NEVER!" She threw herself at him but was topped by a force field
and bounced back to earth. She looked as he ducked down in almost a crouch
spreading his arms out to either side of his body. He brought his arms up
and almost made a clap but stopped just as his fingers touched. Not give
up? Do you plan to fight to the end? If you don't then you will be torn
apart, if you do then my request is simple. SHOW ME YOU CAN FIGHT! SHOW ME
YOU CAN SAVE THIS WORLD! Her mind hurt and her ears rung. She heard
charging footsteps and a lot of them. Demons are in every part of the
horizon. Show me your power child. You cannot win but you will fight
anyway. I see it in you. He gave a toothy growl at her, 'Now you will know
what the demons are capable of. If you do survive then you will know how
powerful the horrors can be. You will know what it feels like to fight your
way through a dank tomb of monstrous beasts and only when you are so
exhausted that you can no longer fight come upon another demon of superior
power. Fear this mortal! Learn to embrace the fear and you may survive. "I
will survive and when all is done you will too." She said as if it was
nothing at all. If that is what you see for the future you will live a very
short life. It will end today and no one will know. No one will know right
away. Then they will find out and weep and their tears will cover your
grave. Then there will be less and less tears. Slowly you will be forgotten
as just another victim of the demons attacks. You have failed mortal. You
have all failed! You have failed each other, you have failed the camp, and
you have failed this planet. Deep down you have even failed yourselves, and
your grave will be spat at by all of your failures. You failed me! If only
you came a little sooner I could have been saved bur you failed. Now you
will fail again!' "NO! I WILL NOT FAIL!" The demons bore into her and
tossed her back. She cut into the throat of one and cut the head of
another. She slashed off arms and legs tacking damage but taking no pain.
As much as she fought they still bore down on her and as much as they
slashed, cut, bit, and tore, she looked on and fought, cut, slashed and
tore back. The demons were aiming to kill but so was she and she had
training in the martial arts, which her opponents did not. Keep your cool
collect your energy and pain. It will be the fall of your final enemy and
will help guide you to him and survive long enough for a strike the rest is
yours. She heard her lessons over and over again. Her mind embraced them
and used them. She collected all the fear, anger and pain in her mind. She
forced it all in one tiny bubble and sent it to the only mind that could be
Alpha One. The wolf beside him fell over dead. Alpha One dropped down to
pick it up. You will be remembered my child. YOU MAY HAVE LOWERED MY
DEFENSES BUT I WILL NOT BACK DOWN! I WILL AVENGE MY CHILDREN AND YOU WILL
LIE DEAD BY THE END OF THIS DAY! The demons were all but dead now and the
wolf-man was approaching. She killed the last of the demons and approached
Alpha One. She stood inches away from Alpha. She took an elbow in the
chest. A sloppy came down on her head but she was hit while recovering. She
looked at the dirt and felt the wolf-man's footfall upon her back. Now I
have won. I have proved you too weak again. Why not accept failure? You
cannot win this fight and you can sense it. Why bother fighting any more? I
can wipe you away like nothing. Why do you keep the will to fight? "I don't
want to fight you. I have a question." Then ask it and you may receive an
answer before I kill you! "If you are as powerful and knowledgeable as you
claim to be, then why do you stand here gaping as your world is taken by
demons? Why do you not fight back against them? Why were we brought here at
all with fighters like you?" I am crippled. I cannot fight a battle I know
I will lose. I have seen demons tear through a city with little effort. Why
would that change? "You also saw demons, those same demons fall against a
single fighter. Does that not prove that one can make a difference? Does
that not prove that there is hope for a winnable battle? Is that not proof
that you might be able to win?" You speak wise words. The foot changed and
resembled more of a boot in shape and weight, "Maybe true power has a spot
in your ranks. Maybe with a true power such as Alpha One you can win." He
sounded as crazy and twisted as the cat person for always referring to
himself at 'this one'. So another nut bar joined their ranks but then she
changed her mind. It may have been the lifting of his boot or the way he
helped her up but she saw him as a man. A man who still had questionable
sanity but that was in short supply from all of the villagers. No one could
even guess to the horrors that he had seen. Her view on his sanity quickly
changed again. "My name is Marco. The armor I am wearing is sentient, which
means it thinks. Its name is Alpha One. It was the first actual set of
sentient armor ever found and it made it's way to me. It is a strategic aid
and watched and learned about your fighting skill and devised the best way
to strike. I know the appearance may be shocking at first but it is what
allowed me to defeat you. You were expecting sloppy fighting from a man-
wolf but did not expect a well-planed use of cunning and brute force. I
planted a shot to your chest so that you would need time to recover then
placed a blast with all of my magical force on the back of your head. The
power would have killed any normal fighter but you shielded with a psychic
barrier." She looked at the armor. It was red, white, blue and some yellow.
It had bug wings on the back, which were connected where the shoulder blade
of the suit extended out. There was a strange blue barrier over his chest,
which caught her attention. The helmet had vents at the top and a long fin
traveling back. The helm was mostly red and white. There was a cut that
would have allowed his face to be seen but instead of human flesh there was
more metal that looked like a face. This was there to defend him from face
shots. He picked her up in his arms and spread his wings, "We will return
to your beloved Cbiscut so that you may reunite." "NO! Wait for a minute! I
need some of this armor and stuff. I will definitely be using it." ~¤~
Cbiscut paced back and forth making Natasha a little bit nervous, "Just use
psy to find her." "I can only use it at such a level and last time she
tried to find me it blasted her mind remember?" "Oh, right. Just stop
pacing then!" Natalie ran in. She wore chain mail from her neck down. She
no longer wore the buckler on her arm or at all as far as they could tell.
She smiled at them and then stopped when Cbiscut looked at her with that
'you were supposed to be back hours ago' look that she had seen so many
times. "I brought a friend. His name is Marco." "So we have another
straggler, imagine my surprise." "HEY! I'm no straggler!" Natasha gave him
a mad look. Marco stepped into view and they stopped fighting, "Hello. I am
Marco Sendati, host of Alpha One. I have joined your ranks because I heard
that there might be a place for me. If I am indeed just another straggler
you will prove it against me young knight." "There will be no fighting
here." Marcel had been sitting on one of the pews in a corner, "This is a
church, a sanctuary to all of god's children." "Demon!" Marco cried. "In a
church. Now what does that tell you about this demon? I am just another one
of god's children." "Leave this sacred place! We will duel to the death!"
"We will not duel to the death because this is a church and people don't
fight in churches. If I wanted to kill you then I would leave the church
but I'm not interested." "No demon would beat me." He had a little bit too
much pride. He didn't know Marcel. The cat-person faded away and tapped
Marco on the shoulder then reappeared on a different pew, "Tell me human,
which one of us would still be alive if that had been an attack? Do you
still think that no demon can defeat you and that you are a match for all?
Get to know your opponent's tricks before you jump to conclusions. Oh, yes
I almost forgot, don't try and read my mind anymore because I think in my
native tongue so you wouldn't understand a thing. That was a very nice
trick though." Marco stood totally astonished, "When can I join?" "You
already did Marco. We unfortunately only have the two beds and four people
to fit in them. We already tried the girl and girl thing but that doesn't
work so-" Natasha broke in, "I'll share my bed! You can sleep with me."
Natalie felt it. The armor was unaffected by this but the man inside was
probably very flattered. The blue field over his chest let go and the armor
loosened. The helm came off revealing the untouched and innocent face of a
blushing boy. His hair was black and was spiked forward. His skin was pale
and his eyes were dark. "I have never slept with a girl before." He
stuttered slightly. "Well." Natasha said, "I haven't ever slept with a guy
before so it is a new beginning for both of us." "I feel so out of place
only knowing Natalie's name. What is yours fair lady?" "I'm Natasha and
spare the pleasantries because I am also a necromancer." "Ah, you work with
death as I work with life. I am a druid. Nature and the animals will be
with me everywhere. I look forward to finally resting for once. With such a
beautiful young woman too." Natasha blushed, "Well it is getting late maybe
we should rest now." ~¤~ Natalie looked at Cbiscut looking out the window
and decided it couldn't hurt if she changed right here. The chances of him
turning around before she was done were only getting higher as she waited.
She pulled off the chain mail allowing her leather armor to be seen again.
She unzipped the top as always and started changing when C.B. turned
around. He blushed deeply seeing the bear back of Natalie and turned back
to the window. Natalie wouldn't ever have had the mind to think about it
had she not heard his mind 'hmmmm, the city is so beautiful. Almost as
beautiful as Natalie. Speaking of Natalie where is she? Well I can go look
for- OH MY GOD! Oh shit man. Uh.look at the city and pretend nothing
happened. Oh but that was so amazing! I might never get to see that again.
One more little peek couldn't hurt could it?' She tapped him on the
shoulder making him jump but not turn around, "One more peek? You want to
see my back again? Or do you want to see something else?" Her mind filled
with his thoughts. He raced to try to stop them but it was too much for him
to keep up with. Oh my god, oh my god she is like offering- The thought was
stomped out. "Turn around." She commanded it like it was nothing at all. "I
can't!" "Why not?" "B-because you a-aren't f-fully clothed." He started to
stutter. She reached out, grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. His
eyes were closed. She reassured him by taking his hand and running it down
the side of her body. She was wearing her leather armor. He opened his eyes
and looked into hers. She was biting her lip. He kisses her to get another
feel of it before she broke skin. Usually she would have tried to escape by
screaming or pulling away. Instead she kissed back slipping her tongue into
his mouth. Her hands somehow found their way to his rear where they sat
happily. He broke the kiss, "Natalie what are you-" She kissed him again to
keep him quiet. She broke the kiss, "I was reassuring you. It's all right.
I'll change somewhere else where you won't see by accident. That is what
the extra room is for you know." She pointed behind her at a door. She went
into the extra room and he looked out the window again, Great now if I see
her she will know it is on purpose. Thoughts that weren't his entered his
head, Oh but it would be so sweet to see even a bear back again wouldn't
it. Just to see Natalie changing is a wonder. Just go in. You can say you
were checking in on her. Just as the thoughts became more insistent the
door opened and he heard Natalie walk out. She got into bed and under the
covers before he could turn around. He got under the covers himself looking
at Natalie as she tried to find a comfortable position. She nuzzled into
his chest and he felt silky skin. There was not leather or lace just skin.
"I couldn't take any more of Natasha's tight stuff. Sorry if you feel
uncomfortable." "I am a knight our relationship is as a gentleman and a
lady. I had no discomfort because I felt no need to do anything. Goodnight
Natalie." "Goodnight sweet prince. Oh and what you feel isn't nude either.
I bought silk pajamas." ~¤~ She heard the mental scream. It was not a
scream of pain. It was a scream of anger. She got up and got into her
leather armor and chain mail. The scream was on a frequency that she
reserved for talking to Alpha. Marco didn't have enough psychics to just
talk to one person but Alpha could channel to anything. She ran and then
saw it. Alpha was relaying the scenes of battle to her. The sword tore into
a demon but with no remorse and leaving no serviceable armor. It cut
straight down leaving the demon in two halves. The sword swung up and cut
deep into another demon. The demons tried to run. Marco chased after them.
The armor sent her a psychic message, 'He has vowed to destroy them all but
he tires and I cannot save him forever.' 'STOP HIM THEN! YOU ARE SENTIENT
SO WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THE LOSS IN DEATH?' 'I have no power over him.
Sentient I am but I con only do so much.' She pulled out both of the claw
weapons and ran out of the camp. She slashes through the demons still alive
so that they no longer felt any pain. She saw it then. The red armor,
swinging its sword. The demons were getting faster and smarter and were
attacking from all sides. He spun around and killed them all. "Stop!"
Natalie cried. "No, I must destroy Andariel and open the way east. If I
don't do it today it will just be harder and harder to do it tomorrow."
"You are going to get yourself killed!" "Just let me get to the burial
grounds. I will kill Blood Raven and we can go back." "All right but right
after that. Remember you have to survive. It isn't my fault if you get
killed." "I won't." The wolves appeared at his sides and tore into the
demons all around them, "I'm just a little tired." "Did you sleep at all
last night?" "No. Natasha is noisy when she sleeps. She didn't even try to
sleep for a while. She was more interested in lying on top of me and
feeling under my shirt. Nice girl but a little bit slow for me saying that
I just wanted to sleep." "Yah that sounds like Natasha." They came to an
entrance into a place that Natalie had never been to before. The smell of
the dead filled her nose. She guessed this to be the burial grounds. A
flaming arrow shot out and hit Marco in the chest. The arrow bounced off
the blue barrier. He put out his wings and jetted into the burial grounds
leaving Natalie to catch up, "I hope you know what you are doing or this is
going to be a very short trip." ~¤~ Cbiscut and Natasha ran out of the camp
after Alpha and Natalie. They followed the trail of blood and bodies to a
dank graveyard. They rushed in and saw Natalie dueling with ghouls and
other undead. Alpha One rushed through them with his sword close to his
lift side clutched tightly in his hand while the other hand was
outstretched and giving off a spinning blade of energy. "BLOOD RAVEN! You
relay much to heavily on your minions to fight for you. I will show you how
a real conjurer fights!" The energy blade twisted and turned until it was
more of an extension of his fist. He forced the blade into a ghoul and
jumped up to slash at another one taking it down. Cbiscut couldn't stand
the undead. They were always depressing to see and they deserved their
rest. He felt no guilt over destroying them nor did he feel any pity for
them when one fell. An arrow hit Cbiscut in the chest causing him to
stumble. "Join my army of the dead!" Blood raven had a cold voice that
seemed to echo itself in ones mind for a moment. Natasha heard the offer
and smiled from under her armor of bone, "No thanks, I have my own." At
those words skeletons got up at her sides and attacked the enemy ghouls.
"Does it not sicken you that you raise the bodies of the dead? Do they not
deserve their rest?" Cbiscut was very against the idea of undead and was
willing to support his ideas. "If these were souls I would almost feel that
what you said was true but they have their rest in soul. The body has
become mine to control after the soul is separated. I may be a necromancer
but I understand the balance of things." Then does it not sicken you that
you do nothing to fight for yourself? Alpha and Marco were one again and
she knew it. Natasha pulled out her two handed sword and fought off some of
the monsters. That got passed the minions, "I can fight for myself." Blood
raven fired arrows only at Alpha now who was tearing through her minions
like nothing. He was getting closer and she was running out. She turned and
ran. And found herself face to face with Natalie. "Hello Blood Raven. My
name is Natalie Rosewinger and I am an assassin. Oh and I have had my fill
of the undead!" Natalie slashed at the undead rogue who turned to face the
paladin, Cbiscut and the necromancer, Natasha. They all struck at her at
the same time as Alpha One dropped down on top of her. She screamed as
lightning coursed from her body through the ground and eliminated the
remaining undead. Her helmet was completely destroyed but some of the armor
was still usable. Natalie reached down and picked up the bow. It fit in her
backpack so she kept it. "Now to get back home so we can figure out what
some of this stuff does." Cbiscut had left all of the tools there not
interested at all in what they were or what they might do. "You had us
scared to death girl!" Natasha's worry was genuine, "You could have ended
up ad another one of those undead!" "Yah I could have died but then I was
only out here to stop Marco from joining them. I thought it was a good
cause." Natalie wanted to get back and find out what the bow did, "Lets go
before something else shows up to make us join the undead." ~¤~ "They are
very powerful.yes very powerful indeed, but as with all things they will
fall and I will gain new power from their failure." The laughter started as
a chuckle but then became an insane laughter, "They will fall my lady
Andariel. They will not be allowed to pass as long as my demons stand in
between them and the rouge monastery. You will keep your title as the demon
queen!" "I had better countess! If you were to fail me then the punishment
would be indescribable even in the language if hell! Do you understand
fully countess?" "Yes my queen! They will not pass." ~¤~ Natalie looked at
the camp walls. There had been battle here, and recently. There were fallen
demons and fallen men. The walls were blackened in spots where fire had
hit. Rouge guard had doubled at all of the gates. Natalie walked into town
looking around. Kasha was the first to approach her. "What have you done to
anger the demons so much as to attack the walls? What have you done
outlander!" Kasha looked so tired and so angry and so sad. Natalie dug into
her backpack and pulled out the bow. She handed the bow to Kasha who looked
it over, "The defeat of Blood Raven. I did speak of a reward however all of
the trained rouges are guarding the camp. I can offer you little on the way
of weapons but one of my lower rouges has spoken only good things about you
and wishes to travel with you, Paige! Come here Paige!" The girl that had
run from Alpha walked out slowly from behind a tent. She blushed at
everyone looking at her. Marco laughed in a strange way, "Of course! She
can come with us." She smiled at her acceptance and followed Marco
carefully. "I remember you. You were the wolf-man." She was about 14, which
was about the age of everyone in the group, "You promised that you wouldn't
hurt me or the camp if I did exactly what you said and you kept your word."
Her brown hair was tied at the back and up then hung freely. "Yes child I
did, or rather Alpha did. Remember I explained the sentient armor thing? I
never intended on hurting you or the city and I would hold the armor back
if I could but I can only do so much." A man shot around the corner in
front of them. He looked to be just another village person but with a
closer examination he had a crossbow. He fired at Natalie dealing a blast
to the chest. Natalie fell back against the force of the bolt and winced in
pain. "I-I am d-doing what needs to be done to s-save the camp." The man
was obviously crazy because he brought the crossbow up to aim at Marco. The
bolt fired and bounced off the barrier. Marco stepped up and the man
dropped the crossbow. The man turned and ran which seemed to be his only
sane action. Cbiscut kneeled down next to Natalie. He looked at her and she
looked back at him. "You don't look as hurt as you should feel." "Do you
want to know why? It is because I'm not as hurt as I should be." She pulled
the bolt out and there was no blood. The bolt had been fired from close
range and should have killed her. She got up and started the walk back to
the church. ~¤~ She pulled off the chain mail and then her secret was
revealed. The buckler had been melted into a chest guard. She pulled it off
and sat down. She sighed and brushed a hand through her hair. She couldn't
remember the last time she had a shower and was starting to wonder when she
would have one again. "I don't know about the rest of you but I am going to
clean off the stench of death." Cbiscut had never made so much sense
before, and he usually didn't voice his opinions or concerns. "That would
be so wonderful." Natalie sighed again, "How do you plan on doing this?"
"By taking a bath I suspect." Marcel was not being very talkative any more,
"That is how normal people get clean. Some of us have been trying to
sleep." "We are sorry to offend you with such mortal things Marcel."
Natasha really couldn't care less about the demon's sleeping arrangement.
Paige looked back and forth starting to be a little scared, "Where is that
voice coming from?" "Well since I don't have a chance at sleep at all I
will stop trying to rest." The cat-person became visible sitting on a pew
and got up. He looked a Paige, "Another one? Ha, where does this one sleep?
I have already been put out of a bed so I wonder." Paige's jaw dropped. Her
eyes grew in surprise and everyone got ready for her to scream. Marcel sat
there almost in laughter at the humans' futile attempts to get away from
the scream. Paige stared at Marcel and just to see if she was still alive
he hopped from one pew to the next and watched her head move back and
forth. "Oh my god." Everyone got ready for her to run into the streets
screaming, "IT IS SO CUTE!" She ran up to Marcel with a smile that went
from ear to ear. "What! Cute? No, Stop! I am a scary demon!" Paige gripped
Marcel in a hug, "Awww, pretending to be scary and everything. You are sooo
cute!" "Stop her please! We need to invest in a leash!" "Why don't you stop
her? You are 'the scary demon' after all." Marcel smiled and faded into
nothing but shadows and in her confusion Paige stopped hugging, which
allowed Marcel to find a place to hide. She looked around then started to
cry. Marcel stood behind Natalie and tapped her on the shoulder so she knew
where he was. "I meant it about the leash. I'm hiding until you get it."
"Where did he go?" Paige cried harder, "I want my kitty back!" "Calm down
everything will be-" Marco was cut off. "NO! I WANT MY KITTY BACK NOW!"
Paige was becoming unruly and Marcel couldn't stay awake forever. If he
went to total sleep he would become visible again and if Paige found
him.the penalty of allowing that to happen was more than Marcel wanted to
think about. "I WANNA SEE MY KITTY AGAIN!" The pressure on Natalie's
shoulders suddenly lifted. Paige stopped crying. She looked totally
astonished and ashamed that she was crying. She closed her eyes and stood
there. Marcel slowly reappeared behind her massaging her shoulders and neck
but then vanished again. "Thank you kitty." Paige said smiling. "I am only
doing this once kid." Marcel was sounding more and more like a real person.
It almost seemed like being around humans was rubbing off on him. "Okay
kitty, but please stay with me.I wanna sleep with you. You are soft like
the teddy bears my mommy used to make for me." Paige really liked the
kitty, "You remind me of her." "All right kid but I don't know where we are
going to sleep. Well actually you can probably sleep in the pews like I do
or at least try to do. We can get some fluffy pillows or something so it
isn't so hard. How does that sound?" "Sounds great, kitty." Paige had
opened her eyes and sat down on one of the pews, "Where are the pillows?"
~¤~ Natalie slipped into the bath. It felt wonderful to be getting clean
again. She scrubbed at some spots of dirt and blood on her arms and
shivered slightly. She combed her hair even though there wasn't that much
because she couldn't have it in the way. She had always used gel to do her
hair but if someone could spike their hair in this world she could poof it
back. She had always planed to find a less expensive way to do it but
didn't really believe in magic up until she got the messages in her head.
She knew she wasn't crazy but she wasn't quiet sure how else to explain
them other than of course magic. It was only the one voice at first. She
remembered Marcel talking to her while she sat in bed. She remembered what
she was wearing. She had her sports top on and her matching gray bottoms.
She remembered the dream. It was so vivid it couldn't possibly be just a
dream. Her mind filled with thoughts that were not hers, well, well. Paige
really must like that cat. A lot more than I do but that is because it is a
demon. It was Marco's voice. She knew it well she had heard it over and
over again for the past day, Maybe he isn't like the demons that destroyed
Tristram maybe he is different, just a normal person. It does not concern
me, I can do nothing against him until I feel threatened and as long as he
knows that he won't even look at me funny. She sank deeper into the water,
closing her eyes. She felt so warm here like nothing could hurt her. She
felt like she was cushioned by everything so that she didn't get hurt. She
opened her eyes and got out of the tub. All good things came to an end she
knew and she allowed the water to drain outside through the pipe. She liked
the setup of the tub. The pipe led outside the church and emptied out
somewhere. Then when someone needed to take a bath they just needed to tell
Cbiscut and he would conjure a cloud from the heavens. It was astounding to
watch. She got into her silk pajamas that were a top with spaghetti straps
that floated around her and a silky bikini stile bottom. It didn't bother
her that it was a little bit slutty because it felt good. She walked out of
the room and into the bedroom that her and Cbiscut shared. She slipped into
the bed and looked at him sleeping. It was going to be a nice night. She
was clean and was in comfortable clothes and in a church. Nothing could go
wrong. ~¤~ Marco slipped outside and looked at the landscape. He jumped up
and jetted to the roof of the church wearing the armor that he held so
dear. He looked at all of the tents in the camp and smiled. "My name is
Marco Sendati." The fact pleased him, "My name is Alpha One." That name
pleased him as well but not in the same way. There was a part of him that
despised Alpha One. A fighter. One who only knows how to fight, after all
his enemies were gone, what then? Marco looked at the horizon, Alpha One
looked at the possibilities of being attacked from that direction. The more
Marco was in the armor the further away from it he was. The more he saw it
relay battle strategies the more he hated to fight, or was it to kill?
Death was final, an eternal rest. What a gift that would be on a tattered
soul like his. The message entered his mind as Alpha One and it was not a
good message. It was in the demon tongue but Alpha translated, Well
mortals? Are you ready to test yourself against the countess? I think not.
You thought you had true power boy? You haven't even come close. Why not
bind yourself to the armor totally? Earn yourself all the fighting skills
you will ever need. You are still no match for me! I am the countess and
the counter to your armor. I know every trick it will try and use. Give up
now. It would be so much easier and less painful then fighting me. The
Marco in him almost accepted but the armor told him what was in store if he
were to accept, So instead of fighting against you I would fight with you?
Ha, only a fool would accept an offer like that! You only want me for the
armor and for an equal. I can sense it in you. If you are the counter the
armor than you would kill me anyway. If what you say is true than you would
wish to fight and I would never be able to turn my back on you. It is a
nice offer but I am afraid it is one that I cannot accept. NOR CAN YOU
REFUSE MORTAL! I will hunt you down like the rat you are! Well countess.
You finally show your true colors. I think you have about as much chance as
Blood Raven did, or didn't you know? Blood Raven died. Blood Raven's death
scream filled his mind again, So you did know. I assumed as much. He
blocked her out of his mind and went inside the church to sleep. ~¤~
Natalie woke up with a strange pressure on her chest. She opened her eyes
and found that it was Marcel trying to wake her up. She looked at him with
confusion. The look on his face was full of worry. His usual smile had
become a frown. He wasn't waking Cbiscut as well like she would have
expected. "What is wrong, Marcel?" Natalie was becoming a little concerned
herself. "The kid is gone! I looked all over the church. She is no where to
be found. I knew that something bad would happen if I got to attached to
her. You can use your mind powers to find her or something like that can't
you?" Marcel actually sounded concerned. "I thought you didn't like Paige."
"Ya well, she is nicer to me than the rest of you are. We just have to find
her." "All right, I'll try." Natalie closed her eyes and searched for the
mind of Paige. She had only heard the voice once before so it was probably
going to be harder than she expected. She was looking with no idea of where
to look or what to look for. It hit her like a fist. "She is picking
berries just outside of town, Marcel. She is fine. No one is attacking and
the only reason she decided to go pick berries was because she thought you
looked hungry. This is definitely sounding like puppy, of in your case,
kitty love." Natalie laughed a little. "This isn't funny! What if she had
died? I would have been blamed for her disappearance then when someone
finally found her mutilated body I would be blamed for that too. I don't
want to be pulled out of the church and beaten to death by that Marco
fellow. He really doesn't like me. I can read his thoughts when he isn't
wearing the armor but the armor puts up some barricade so I can't even send
messages." "He actually is starting to like you but that is beside the
point. I am gonna keep an eye on Paige while you go get her and bring her
back okay? I can't have a new, untrained member of the team out there all
alone. That would be against who I am. Plus she still could get killed and
I don't want a melancholy demon on my hands who thinks the world is out to
get him." "Yes, yes. I'll go get her and bring her back here. I will set
some rules for leaving the church without telling someone where she is
going or without going with someone or something. I can't have her sneaking
out in the middle of the night or something. It is embarrassing to feel so
protective over a human like that." Marcel got up and vanished. He didn't
like to let people see when or where he was going. He was paranoid as a cat
in a room full of rocking chairs. She watched the door close and got into
her armor letting Cbiscut sleep. He was usually the first one up but this
time it was her turn to let him wonder where she was. She ran out to the
berry patch and then saw it. Paige was struggling against vines from the
berries. Marcel stood there watching almost in tears. He could do nothing
against the demon. He had a truce against all demons, he explained it
through thoughts earlier. Natalie ran up and tore through the vines. Paige
fell to her arms and she ran back out of the vines to save herself from
them. They might not have been able to grab onto her but they could lash
out at her and that might be just as bad. "Natalie.why did you save me?"
Her question actually seemed to be an understandable one to her, "You don't
know what I did." "Paige! Stop. You are one of us now! We don't leave our
own." Natalie used a voice a little more stern then she had meant to. Paige
looked at Natalie, "I don't mean anything to you. I did leave one of my own
before. What if I do it again?" Marcel placed a hand on Paige's forehead,
"Sleep little one." She closed her eyes and fell asleep in Natalie's arms.
Curiosity grabbed Natalie and she placed her hand on the girls forehead
laying her down just inside the walls. She felt the pulling sensation that
she had whenever she got visions from another mind. She felt the pull and
allowed it to pull. The looked and saw a mage and a warrior. The mage was
clad in robes that became apparent to her as the robes of the archbishop
Lazarus. The warrior was clad in light plate and a crown that became the
crown of Leoric. He wore a sword and a shield that stopped most of the
attackers and defeated some of them. They were walking in a strange maze
like room with several teleporting magi that used fireballs and a close
range flash. The warrior cut into them and The mage blasted them away as
she fired arrows at them. After the fighting had finally stopped the
warrior stepped up and pulled a lever, "Are you sure you want to do that?
Last time it released monsters like those magi." "I can handle it Paige.
You worry about watching the other room." She looked over her shoulder and
saw a square like the one she stood in. A gust hit her from behind as the
Warrior pulled the first lever. She heard his footsteps toward the second
one and inhaled deeply. The walls to the square room opposite them gave was
revealing all the demons they had ever fought and the lord of terror
himself, Diablo. She fired arrows at some of the lesser demons but could
not see straight if she looked at Diablo himself. The mage cast spells at
the demons that rushed up. One demon made it past the barrier that had
protected them so well. It had pitch black armor. It looked straight at her
and she screamed. The armor covered the demon from heat to toe and two
horns jetted out of the top of its helm. It looked at her with eyeless
sockets and the raised its two-handed-sword to strike her down. The blade
met with that of the warrior end then the screech of steel on steel was
heard as the blade hit the chest. The armor gave way in a blue blur. The
armor lay on the ground useless to everyone because of the cut in the chest
and the melted pieces that were not up to the task of holding a magic
outburst. The voice so familiar to her made it's taunt, "YOU WILL NOT
ESCAPE ALIVE!" Diablo was here. Fire surrounded her everywhere. She tried
to fire at the red hulk that was Diablo. It looked at her and smiled. Her
shots did nothing against the monster. She ran. "PAIGE!" The warrior and
mage screamed together. She did not look back or stop. She just kept
running until she was several levels above the battle. She cried as she
opened the town portal and stepped through. The warrior and Mage were being
congratulated on their victory without her. She to the east back to the
camp and ran. Natalie jolted back to life. She had just experienced the
girl's sadness in full. She had just seen exactly what the girl had seen.
She did not blame the girl for running, given the chance she would have
done the same. The girl had beaten herself up about it since it happened.
If only she had been there, if only she had made her shots count. The
twisted world that she had run from was sickening to look at. She had every
reason to run but felt so guilty for leaving her comrades. Natalie took her
inside so that she could rest. ~¤~ The black armor clinked against itself
as the last remaining black knight walked over the lands. He had sensed a
dream involving him and the fateful change in allegiances. He was going to
destroy it. He came over the hill and looked down on the town. He looked
down his eyeless sockets tacking in the scenery. The town was guarded more
than it had been before. He sensed psychic capable beings, one, two, three,
four, but one was not human. He sensed it to be armor. It was powerful but
hid something inside it. He peered into it and got past the armor. He fell
on his back being hit by a psychic force so powerful that it could not be
natural, LEAVE US ALONE! WE DO NOT NEED TO ATTACK YOU AND YOU SHOULD NOT
FEEL THE NEED TO ATTACK US! YOU WILL NOT GET PAST THE ARMOR'S BARRIER!
PHYSICAL BARRIERS ARE THERE FOR A REASON AND PSYCHIC ONES ARE TOO! THAT IS
RIGHT THIS IS NOT A NATURAL PSYCHIC POWER! I AM A DEMON, JUST LIKE YOU! The
psychic blast left his disoriented. He looked up at the sky wondering why a
demon had yelled at another demon. He thought over the words and realized
it had not been yelling it had just been enhanced and sound increased. The
voice had not stressed itself at all. It had just been loud. He knew
psychic barriers were there for a reason but he was more and more curious
about it. He looked and saw an image of an armor clad man. The armor was
white as bone in some places, a dull yellow in others and blood red for the
rest. It had a sword and a psychic shield over its chest. It stared at him
and walked towards him. He got up to his feet and pulled his two-handed-
sword out to the ready. The demon watched as the armor walked closer.
Psychic wings spread behind the armor and it jetted towards him before he
could even get a look at it. The blade penetrated the breast plate with
ease. It tore up through the chest and pushed in once it reached the
throat. The demon stood dazed for a moment and then fell over to his side.
The armor looked down and kicked the body of the demon before dropping the
demon's own blade down to be the death of him. The armor stood and watched
the blue mist from the armor dissipate into the wind. The black armor of
the demon lay there unmoving however Alpha felt it necessary to drag the
two-handed-sword up the body leaving a long gash down the back. The demon
was defiantly dead and had not summoned beasts within itself to avenge its
death as most would have. "Maybe a better fight next time Alpha. Maybe if
we are lucky we won't have to fight any more." ~¤~ Alpha walked back into
the sanctuary. Natalie looked up at him and then back at where everyone
else was asleep. Alpha looked at Natasha and Paige as they slept silently.
Natalie was in her full armor. She looked at Alpha and smiled. She walked
up to him silently. "There is something we need to do. I remember hearing
you say something about stones. You said something about Tristram too. That
is where I am going next and if you won't help me get there than I will go
it alone." "Calm down," Said Marco, "We will get there when the others wake
up." "The one she needs with her is already awake. The others will need
their rest to fight the coming battles. You should rest but we need your
knowledge of the stony field. I have not set foot there for quite some time
now. Your memory is fresh and you would know where we would need to go." "I
know of the stones you speak. It is unfortunate that you wish to use those
stones to get to Tristram." Marco seemed more somber. "It is but the only
way to achieve our goal of freeing Decard Cain." Marco stood there, "Though
I know which stones you speak of, there is nothing we can do to get to
Tristram with them. The stones are a puzzle! You need instructions on how
to use them or they are just mundane stones. You also nee the Horadric
scroll in hand. That is in the dark woods but is out of my psychic reach.
You will need to travel underground and will be tattered torn and beaten
until you stop trying to get there. If you did manage to survive the trail
of the underground then you would surely lose to Woodfist, or did you think
the scroll would not be guarded?" Natasha's eyes flickered open and she
rolled over to see what was happening. She saw the back of Natalie and
could see some of Alpha past her. She looked at them talking to each other
about some stones and Tristram and a fist made of wood. She had no idea how
the three were connected. She looked at Alpha hoping that he would make
some kind of explanation but none came. She yawned and sat up which got
both Natalie's and Alpha's attention. "'morning. What's for breakfast?"
Natasha was thinking with her stomach because she was to tired to think
with her mind. "We aren't having breakfast." Cbiscut was there he just
hadn't said anything before that. "We can't go without breakfast.
Malnutrition will drain our energy." Natasha was a little sad at the
thought of not eating. Cbiscut tossed her a canteen, "Drink. It should keep
you alive and awake and away from malnutrition. You are going to lose if
you take on Treehead Woodfist as you are. We might as well as talk to Akara
and see if she has any simple quests to do before we try to save Dekard
Cain." "But Cain is the key and upper hand that we will need to combat the
great evils that you will face. I would normally be in a state where I
totally agreed with you, however they search to get the power of Cain. He
is a Hourodrim mage I doubt even Natasha or Natalie could compare to his
power." Marcel sat somewhere in his invisible state. "We don't have the
power to save Cain. I was pulled here for the original challenge remember?
I saw some of the demons that hid far under the earth in that poor city.
The demons that attacked at night were relentless, and cruel. Some of us
are prepared for what we will face but some of us aren't. I know what we
will be against but that was before, I can't fight some of that any more.
Can you promise me that I won't have to fight a monster like the butcher or
a tortured soul like King Leoric again? If you can promise me that the only
thing I will fight is fallen ones, ghouls and skeletons then I will be able
to do this even if there are great numbers but if I have to fight something
like that again." "I am sorry for what you were forced to endure but it is
the only way that we might not have to fight those things you described
again. Do Akara's quest if you want to but remember: every minute you spend
doing that is a minute you could be stopping someone from being twisted
into the puppet that you saw as Leoric or Lazarus. Every minute another
demon like the butcher could be brought into this world. Every minute
something like Diablo could be brought here to torment you." Natalie broke
into the conversation, "Excuse me but is there something I missed here? Who
is Leoric, what is the Butcher, and what is this talk about Lazarus. In
Batman there was a Lazarus pit and it rejuvenated life, what could be wrong
about that?" "The Butcher was one of the first demons I fought, Lazarus was
the one who brought him into Tristram, Leoric was king of Tristram before
he went insane because of the loss of his son, Lazarus was the one who
kidnapped his son and then turned him into the demon Diablo, Leoric was
killed by his disciples and Diablo raised him as the Skeleton King. The
Skeleton King had necromancer powers, in other words he raised the dead. He
was killed and dropped a crown that stole life points from defenders, which
meant that you got the life of some monster that you attacked. Any more
questions?" "How did you get here before? I saw Paige's dream and it didn't
have a kid or anyone that looked like you in it. Only two other guys, one
was a mage and the other a warrior." Natalie looked at him. "Some of the
less fortunate members of the party.died. I was but a mere child and
shouldn't have made it as far as I did. When the three fighters realized
what was coming they sent me and a rogue up to get the older fighters that
were still alive. They were far more equipped to take on a demon like
Diablo I ran as fast as I could to somewhere that I could create a town
portal.the rogue told me that she would wait to make sure that I could find
my way back down when I got the others. When I got to town I rushed to find
fighters but they were all asleep. I finally figured out why they had sent
me there and what the rogue had already known. I rushed to my town portal
just to hear the death cry of the evil demon." "They saved you, you are sad
about that?" Natasha sighed. "I couldn't help. I am sad about that. I know
have the experience to try again and I might be able to kill Diablo this
time. ~¤~ "So.They plan to rescue Decard Cain. I'm interested to see what
powers the old man has. He can't have much left of his sanity and I
wouldn't have any sanity left if I let them just waltz in there and take
him. I must make it a challenge so I will simply raise an old friend."
"What are you talking about demon?" Cain stayed in his cage his back to her
and his eyes closed. "Oh." The countess mused, "Your friend Grizwald. He
means something to you doesn't he? How much does he mean if I raise him to
make sure no one takes you away from this place?" "Foul demon! Do as you
wish. I will have no part in any of this anyway." "Come back to
me.GRIZWALD!" Cain could hear the sounds of the rising dead and the
tortured souls, "Grizwald, I am sorry." ~¤~ Natalie, Natasha, and Mark
looked at Cbiscut. Paige was asleep. Marcel patted her head lightly as the
talking went on. "First you neglect to tell us that you have been to this
world before then you decide to deprive us of our only advantage in the
territory that we are going into. Who the hell are you? You are probably
the one who pulled us all here in the first place!" Natasha was fuming at
him. "Go ahead kill Treehead and rescue this Cain. I would help but you
have not seen what I have and have not gone through the battles that I
have. I cannot kill another innocent that was taken by the powers of evil!
There is sure to be one. There always were in Tristram." Cbiscut had no
problem speaking his mind. "Do not be so certain young master. There are
few innocents still alive in Tristram. There is Cain but that is the only
thing that I can see as still being alive and still being innocent." ~¤~
Natalie and everyone else except for Cbiscut and Paige had gone on the
quest through the stony field to get to the Dark Wood. Cbiscut stood there
looking at Akara. She smiled at him and knew exactly what he had come for.
"In the Blood Moor is a place of great evil. The demons there are
threatening our camp and the people here. Cbiscut, where are your friends?
I thought you had a whole party which was only missing a barbarian, a
sorceress and an amazon. I only see you and a rogue scout." "I was part of
a party however we had to split up and I had to leave their party so I
didn't worry them. They will need all of their thoughts on what they are
facing in order to succeed." ~¤~ Voices echoed over the mountains in
psychic and mundane. The voices spoke of Diablo and dreams and a world
unlike their own. The voices echoes over the planes. They talked about
three chosen ones, the remaining of one, and the returning of another with
two new members in another set of three. The echoes were only ever a
whisper but haunting to those that heard it. They spoke briefly of the
third member in the first party. A cry echoed over the hills and planes.
"Diablo lives. We have seen it and now so have you. We cannot wait any
longer to bring a forth member into this world. We have the power to do so
now but instead of doing that we sit and watch out only chance at survival
take a trial in which they will hone their skills and become closer to each
other. There is one flaw in your reasoning if that is it. We plan to bring
two more people from the other realm and they will be entered into
something that is totally beyond them." "This is true. They will have no
ties to the other members in the party and will not have a chance to hone
their skills the same way but we must save our power until we have enough
to bring the other one at the same time." "I think you are wrong and we
should bring the one we can here now. We should do what we can when we can
and increase our hope's chance at survival." "As you wish. We will bring
one in. Now do we bring the Amazon or the Sorceress?" ~¤~ *A/N Yah look
what we got now! This story is really starting to blend well and I might
start to work more on it. Word tells me I have written 30 pages and I just
want to state that before I go on in the story because it might be
important to someone. If you want to check my authenticity then copy it all
out and change font size to 12 and text to times new roman.* ~¤~ Natalie,
Natasha, and Alpha One had made it through the underground passage meeting
with much resistance but defeating it fairly easily. The met with several
monsters that were unlike the others and had strange powers but they kept
on. The trip to get to the passage was probably harder on some of them then
the trip through it. They had run from The blood moor all the way to the
stony field and had kept against the rocks so they could avoid
confrontation with any beasts that inhabited that area. They had now come
through the passage and looked at the light of day. What little light there
was here in the day was hardly comforting. It had seemed that they had
called it the dark wood for a reason. A group of possessed archers rushed
towards them in a fury of arrows that were blocked, dodged or just missed
the intended target. Natalie rushed toward one of the archers and thrust a
blade into its chest. When it fell to the ground Natasha rose it as a
skeleton. Mark rose his two wolves that circled him and tore at anything
that attacked him or the other two. "This is not the mood you monsters
wanted to catch me in!" Natalie rushed forward again and slashed up one and
cut another one in half horizontally. "Natalie, maybe you should calm
down." Natasha wasn't smiling at any of this and she was worried about
Natalie. The voice of Mark came into her head, It's all right, she knows
what she is doing. Natalie continued to tear and cut at the monsters and
went through most of them before the others even had to attack for
themselves. Natasha used her bone wand to jab one and Mark followed up with
a sword slash cutting it diagonally. They kept going like that with Natalie
and Mark switching positions each time they came upon a group of monsters.
They came upon a large tree that emitted a strange magical energy. From out
of the trees rushed a squad of gargantuan beasts like the ones that they
had beat in the underground passage. There was also a green one and Mark
stepped back a bit at seeing it. "Treehead Woodfist. Extra fast, extra
strong. Get ready people!" Mark knew everything about this monster. It
rushed forward with it's minions and raised it's fist for a strike on Mark.
A psychic shield appeared as the fist dropped but then the shield broke and
Mark was sent to the ground. The fist came down on him again and Mark tried
to resurrect the shield. Mark caught the blow to the chest. The others were
too busy with the minions to be able to help him. The fist raised again.
Mark gave all control to the armor which raised it's arm and produced a
sword of mundane quality. The beast fell back from the unexpected blow but
this left Mark completely out of energy. Treehead quickly recovers and
pounded at Mark again. Mark cried out in pain and the armor started to
release. Mark cried out as another fist hit him, "NO!" Mark began to prey
to all that was good and holy that he would survive and that the great gods
would come down and smite someone who truly deserved it. As if in answer to
his prayers a blast of lightning hit Treehead. The voice of Akara entered
his mind, I saved you but you have to get up or you will still die. Mark
struggled to his feet and then smiled. He pulled out a blue potion and
drank down the contents of the flask, He then pulled out a white potion and
drank it down too. He pulled down the visor to his helm again and then
started to float. The magical blade appeared in his hand again and he
raised it up and flew straight at Treehead. "I'll kill you, you bastard,"
He screamed as he thrust towards the villainous figure. The sword was about
to hit Treehead when a large hand clamped around his wrist. Treehead
murmured his words, "I think not." Another sword appeared in Mark's free
hand and swung at the face of Treehead. The sword was deflected by Mark's
own sword, that was still in his other hand. Treehead threw Mark in
frustration then charged at him again and started laying pounds and punches
on him. Mark let out all of his rage and pushed over Treehead. Treehead
looked up dazed and saw the figure of a wolf-man raising up above him. The
wolf-man lay two long swipes across Treehead's cheat leaving long trails of
blood then it reached for his face. Treehead screamed as the wolf- man
tightened its hand into a fist over Treehead's face. The wolf-man turned
back into Mark and continued grabbing at Treehead's face. Natalie and
Natasha defeated what was left of the minions and looked over to see if
Mark needed help. Mark pulled back his hand that was now dripping blood
down the chest of Treehead. Mark summoned the magic sword and plunged it
deep into the chest of Treehead then the thrust forward making a deep gash.
He pulled back the sword and turned towards the tree that they had come
for. As Mark stepped towards the tree Treehead tightened his fists and then
got to his feet. "Watch out!" Mark turned and saw Treehead get to his feet.
Mark screamed at Treehead and then did something mentally to him. Treehead
looked at him with pain in his eyes and then Treehead simply turned off.
Mark watched as Treehead fell into a crumpled pile of blood, gore and hair
on the ground. There was little that was keeping him together even as a
pile now but Mark was not worried about that. He turned back to the tree
and reached into a knothole and pulled out a scroll. ~¤~ *A/N Too many
author's notes? I just read the first one and would like to make it clear
that my CD is back in working condition which is why I haven't been doing a
lot of work on the story. I have been training Cbiscut and making sure he
has that extra edge for battlenet games with more than just me as a player.
I can't take on any of the major demons alone but I am no help to anyone if
I am in a multi-player game. Also I would like to make sure everyone knows
but I have to go to a birthday party thing for my grandma next weekend, and
there isn't anything to do since the comic store left town so needless to
say I am gonna have a big chance to write this story. If I need to take a
breather from the story then that is what 7-11 and Walmart are for. Anyway
if you haven't played the game then you probably really don't care much
about what I write but since I am sure that there are only like two people
that haven't played the game that actually read my story I am gonna make
everyone happy and try to stick with the actual quest set up. I could
probably sit down for a month and figure out the exact amount of experience
needed to gain a level but that wouldn't blend well with the story. Anyway,
I am not going back to the Cbiscut story for a while I don't think so don't
get your hope up. Maybe I will kill him off or something.It would almost
make sense to do that I mean my battlenet Paladin Cbiscut all ways dies.
Okay this is going to be a little longer than normal author notes so maybe
you should just scroll down until the next section. For Chapters I am going
to do one for every act and then one for the secret cow level. I might skip
the cow level but I thought that would be comic relief (I think that is why
they bothered to put in the cow level was so that you weren't all ways like
serious and all about the game. Well that is it for this Author note.*
***~¤~***~¤~***(End of the author note)***~¤~***~¤~*** Natalie, and Natasha
rushed to keep up with Mark as he flew around the dark wood. He finally
stopped at the edge of a strange mark on the ground. He stepped on it and
then lamps on either side of him light up with a blue flame. Mark light up
with the same blue affect and he glowed a bright blue before he vanished
and then Natalie and Natasha were there alone looking at the plot of land
where Mark had disappeared. Natalie looked at the spot and yawned, "There
is no way I am steeping on that until I know whether he survived or not. I
don't even know how it works." Mark reappeared on the plot of land looking
impatiently at the other two. He pulled back the visor and smiled at them
then motioned for them to come on. He turned and then started to glow
again. "C'mon I'm not waiting any more. Let's go. I can then get you to the
stony field with no waiting. This isn't that bad." Mark smiled as he
disappeared. Natalie stepped on the pad first and had images pop into her
mind. She thought about mark and about the Rogue camp and then felt really
light. She then felt back to normal again and looked around at the rogue
camp. Natalie stepped off the pad and looked as a blue portal opened up. It
was impossible to see through it and it was over at the other side of the
camp in a little corner made by piled up rocks. Natasha appeared on the
pad, "I am not gonna stay there and be the only one still left alive to
talk about my disappearing friends." Natalie smiled and walked towards the
blue portal then stepped through. She blinked as she suddenly looked at the
stony field. The pulling sensation was there that time. She looked around
and saw another pad and stepped on it then stepped back. She looked over to
see small blue monsters that Mark had identified as carvers. There was a
set of stones too. Mark appeared at the portal and it closed behind him.
"Natasha needed rest and I found out what the words on the scroll mean.
Akara told me and when I asked about Cbiscut she said that he had forbidden
her to talk about him. Okay, up at those stones is where we need to go and
there is of course a unique monster there like the ones we have already
fought. This is Rakinshu. He is a carver and you don't have to worry about
the carvers getting back up after you kill them because there are no
shamans." Mark smiled as he stepped forward drawing his sword. The carvers
that dared leave the stones were killed by one of the two warriors. What
was left stayed with a carver that was a little more blue than the others.
He rushed forward and Mark dodged. He spun around tearing through a carver
and then saw Rakinshu rushing towards him again. Natalie had cleared most
of the carvers and was confused at why Mark didn't just kill the unique
monster. Mark struck Rakinshu and then Rakinshu emitted electricity. Mark
dodged some of it then jumped back to where Natalie was. Him and Natalie
tore through carvers and avoided Rakinshu. The carvers ran out and Rakinshu
stood guarding the way to the stones. Mark smiles, "All right. I know two
flaws in lighting enchanted monsters. First flaw is that poison damage
doesn't count to what brings out the lighting," He pulled out a different
sword, "Second thing is that if we kill him in one shot he only releases
one jolt of electricity at the same level as any of the others. If you have
a poison weapon switch to it and we will strike him at the exact same time.
If he survives then he has both poison damages working at him and he will
die a lot faster. Ready?" Mark and Natalie charged forward and slashed at
Rakinshu as they passed. He gave off his lightning then died. Mark turned
and walked towards the now safe stones and then opened the scroll. He read
slowly then touched the stones in an order. Each stone light up with his
touch then when all the stones were light a portal opened in the middle of
them. It was like the blue one but was an eerie red. Mark looked at Natalie
then lowered his visor. He brought his sword up in front of him and Natalie
did the same with her claw weapon. They looked at each other then stepped
through the portal at the same time. The felt the lifting sensation then
felt as if they were being thrust to the ground. They arrived in Tristram.
~¤~ *A/N gotta love suspense.* ~¤~ Akara smiled at the newcomer, "Welcome
to the rogue encampment." The newcomer looked around confused and dazed,
"What the hell just happened?" The newcomer was dressed in the same fashion
as Natalie and Natasha had been in when they had arrived. She looked to be
of oriental descent. Her black hair was smooth and straight down. She
frowned. Her black leather coat matched her black jeans fairly well. Akara
smiled, "I believe you were brought her from the other world, like the
others. That makes you either the amazon or the sorceress. I wonder which
one." The oriental girl frowned even more, "I don't care! I want to go back
home!" A voice came out of nowhere, "Are you sure you want to go home?
There are things that you can learn and do here that you can only learn and
do here." The oriental girl looked around even more confused, "All right, I
am insane. I might as well play along with you hallucinations." Marcel
appeared sitting on a patch of grass, "Insane? You might be insane and I
might be a hallucination. I wouldn't know if I was a hallucination, I've
never been one before. I'm not sure if you are insane thought because I
don't think you have ever been insane before either." The oriental girl
laughed, "Interesting logic you have. The fact that we would have no
knowledge about what we are unless we have been it before or someone has
told us who has also been in that position." Akara smiled again and said,
"I believe you are a proper sorceress. The amazon would most likely be more
aggressive and lash out at Marcel there." The oriental girl frowned again,
"There isn't any reason for me to lash out at the cat person. He is kinda
cute and I like cute things." She smiled at Marcel who blushed a little bit
but no one could tell past his fur. Marcel smiled, "You are the second girl
that has had that opinion of me." The girl patted Marcel, "My name is
Yvonne. I think I caught your name as Marcel." ~¤~ Natalie and Mark tore
into goat men and Skeletons with little effort. They saw what was left of
Tristram. They stepped into the square and saw a cage with a man stuck in
it. He cried out to them as three skeletal archers fired at them across the
square. They were champion skeleton archers according to Mark. The
skeletons were kind of hard to kill for Natalie and Mark but the did it
then went over to where the man in the cage was. They felt kind of funny as
they let the man down. "Decard Cain? Go to the rogue encampment
immediately! Mark did you feel that just now? That was weird." Said
Natalie. "Grizwald is coming." Cain muttered as he opened a town portal. A
large man came around the corner of the square. He looked normal except for
gashes and rot in patches on his body. Natalie jumped back to beside Mark.
Mark stood his ground and looked at the monstrosity before him. He jumped
forward and slashed at Grizwald. The monster staggered and then swung a
fist at Mark. Mark dodged the attack and then slashed again. Mark's attacks
had no effect on the monster. "He isn't dying! Why the hell won't he die?"
Mark screamed in frustration and struck at the monster again. Natalie
backed up further, "You mean you haven't ever seen him before?" Mark flew
back and landed beside her the psychic wings folding in behind him, "I
thought he was a ghoul." Grizwald was moving closer. He raised his arms
high for another strike. His fists were about to come down on a psychic
shield when he stopped moving for a moment then turned and looked up on a
roof. Paige was standing on the roof and drawing another arrow. Grizwald
turned again and got ready to strike when he stopped again ad then stepped
back for a moment. He looked up past Natalie and Mark and they turned and
saw a shadowy figure drawing another arrow across a bow. The figure let go
of the arrow and for an instant there was a green flash on his bow caused
from three different sources. From behind Natalie and Mark came three
skeletons that they readied themselves to fight. The skeletons kept going
and attacked Grizwald. Natasha smiled as she came around the corner of a
building. Grizwald got his bearings and broke every bone in the skeletons
with one shot each. A blast of lightning caught Grizwald on the back
knocking him forward ad the two archers on the rooftops pulled back their
arrows again. The lightning had come from another shadowy source. Grizwald
got up and gave a pained scream as the arrows hit him. Grizwald tipped over
onto his side. The second archer landed at his side at the same time that
Grizwald hit the ground. The Shadowy archer leaned down and muttered
something then got back to his feet and walked towards Natalie, Natasha,
and Mark, "Grizwald shouldn't have suffered like that. He has been dead for
quite some time now and was obviously brought back to life to guard Decard
Cain. He was cursed." "Was that the funny feeling that I had when we
lowered Cain from the cage?" Natalie looked at the hood and tried to see
past it. The shadowy figure made no movement, "No. For the curse to take
affect someone in your party has to be hit by Grizwald. It was more likely
to be my aura. I have joined your party due to common goals. I wanted to
free the soul of Grizwald and since you also wished to destroy his body in
the mortal plain then our goals were the same." "Who are you?" Natalie had
that question tearing at her mind since she had seen him. The shadowy man
had a hood on and a triangle scarf that she could see. The strange bow had
been separated into string and wood. The bow was in a quiver with the
arrows. The arrows and the quiver looked like the quivers of arrows she had
seen monsters die with, it had to be the bow. "I am the great and powerful
Cbiscut, I've come with my party of long range fighters to save Decard
Cain. You are Natalie. I remember people I.people, I think are my friends,"
Cbiscut pulled back his hood, "Our new Member is Yvonne. She, like Paige
thinks that Marcel is cute. She has lightning spells." Cbiscut opened a
town portal and the stepped through. Everyone followed him without
question. ~¤~ *A/N Oh ya! Finally back to my fan fiction.still writer's
block.Well, anyways, the real Natalie's Birthday is April 15th and since
Cbiscut is based on me I can either go with my birthday or the date that I
created C.B. on in the first place and that should be like 6 months ago or
something to that effect and I will check it in a minute. Oh.shit.it keeps
updating and says April 9th cause that was the last time I played good ol'
C.B. So now I should probably just use my Birthday.but like hell I am gonna
tell you when that is. I don't need Birthday beats. Ok now to tell you
about the rest. Yvonne is a girl in my English class and she is a little
uppity and positive so there will obviously be a plot where she is too
positive and C.B. threatens her life or something.I don't like people who
are overly positive all the time. Anyways.Natasha is a nice girl in real
life so I will try to bring that into the story as best I can. Mark is
based on a guy named Dave on my buss but not in any of my classes. This is
one of the few stories that I have written with me as a character and no
Rhonda. You can read this a million times and never find the character
Rhonda appear. She is not in any of my classes and not on my bus and I
don't talk to her any more. I like Natalie now cause she is really nice and
funny. I want to get Liam into my story cause Liam is funny and was
bothering Natalie, and best of all, Liam is British! I love that British
accent! Liam doesn't have the prissy England accent, he has the funny
British one and he is a riot! He is funny and for the first week when he
was in my tag class (don't get me wrong he is still in my tag class) he was
kicked out, and the sad thing is that Tag is only like 6 minutes long. I
have like written more Author note than I expected but if you like the
author notes then I guess this is like a dream come true. Bye, bye!* ~¤~
Natalie sat on the back of the pew swinging her feet back and forth, "So
you have abandoned us entirely?" Cbiscut said nothing and continued to
stare out the window of the church. Yvonne was sitting in a pew drawing
someone in anime style. Paige was nuzzling Marcel lovingly, while Mark
cleaned a weapon in the back. Natasha nibbled on some cookies that she had
bought in town. "Did you hear me or are you too high and mighty to listen?"
Natalie tapped her foot waiting for a reply from him. "I understand why you
are upset. You feel that I left you in your moment of need and then came
back to claim all of the glory." Cbiscut didn't even look away from the
window. "How the hell do YOU know anything about how I feel? Are you some
sort of psychic?" Natalie fumed at him. Cbiscut smirked, "Yes and I figured
that you of all people would remember that. You are the one that I have the
psychic link to. I know exactly what you are feeling. I perfected my
psychic power and I haven't learned to channel it yet. Do you want to know
how the man down the street feels about business or what any of the rouges
is thinking about?" Natalie stood there totally shocked. Yvonne raised her
hand, "Excuse me but is this a fight?" Natalie shot Yvonne a look, "No."
Cbiscut smirked again, "Your lips say no but your mind is screaming yes."
Natalie shot a glance at him, "Listen to me-" Marcel cut in, "Please if you
would be so kind as to SHUT THE HELL UP! Some of us are trying to rest. It
is hard enough as it is without you two screaming mentally and verbally at
each other. It is a wonder we get any sleep at all! Now if I have to
separate you two I will." Natalie stomped in a turn around and stared at
Marcel, "You stay out of this." Cbiscut went silent the second he heard
Marcel speak. He smiled at the world outside and then turned and walked to
the door. He looked at it and then stepped back and sat down as if waiting
for something. Marcel smiled then looked at the door and listened for the
knock. The knock did indeed come and the knocker was Akara, "Hello. I came
to give you a ring." Cbiscut smiled and got up then looked at Natalie who
looked away. Cbiscut reached out and took the ring thanking Akara for it.
He walked over to Natalie and took her hand, "Natalie, open your palm."
"Why?" Natalie looked at him disturbed. Cbiscut smiled, "Because this is
yours. You are the one who decided to save Decard when you did. If we had
all gone with my plan then Decard would be dead by now and no one would
deserve this ring." He pushed it into her hand smiling, "Wear it with
pride." ~¤~ *A/N Sorry.it really has been a long time since I
updated.anyway.came up with a lot of ideas for this and a second story with
the same characters mostly but it isn't a sequel but not a prequel either
because it happens in Cbiscut's past but in Natalie's future.if I ever get
through this I will write the story oh and just incase anyone was wondering
most of the people are either straight from real life people I know from my
school or based on people I know from school or have no relation to anyone
from shool at all oh yah and I am really sorry to all the people I copied
exactly even though they probably have no idea or don't know who I am or
just really don't care or haven't even ever gone onto Fanfiction.net but
just incase I would like to make this statement, "I HAVE NO CREATIVITY WHEN
IT COMES TO NAMES AND I AM REALLY SORRY SO PLEASE DON'T SUE ME"* ~¤~
Everyone was asleep inside the protection of the church, everyone except
for one individual from the party who was still wide-awake. The shadowy
figure jumped off the top of the church and darted through the camp. It
jumped over the wall in a flip and landed, bow drawn and arrow ready. It
dashed across the blood moor and into the stony field and through the
underground passage. The shadowy figure stopped in the underground passage
to rest for a few minutes than started off again and came out of the
passage, shooting down two monsters before they could draw out their
weapons. The figure ducked down and stripped the corpses of any useful
material then darted off again into the black marsh. Any and all resistance
failed and died against the figure. It stood in front of a dark tower and
slowly moved in. It pulled back its hood and dashed into the tower for
protection from any possible attacks. "Hello Paige." Paige jumped as she
heard something call her name and drew another arrow across her bow. Her
eyes darted from side to side across the dark tower and saw nothing, "Oh
please if I wanted to kill you I would have." And Cbiscut stepped out of
the shadows behind her. Paige readied her bow for an attack, "What are you
doing here?" She said in a shaky voice. Cbiscut smiled and punched her in
the gut, "I'm protecting you." Paige went unconscious. ~¤~ Marcel woke up
with a start and looked around the dark room slowly. He got up gingerly and
walked around the room taking in every detail. Marcel sank into a dark
shadowy corner and became invisible. He dashed out silently and walked into
all of the quarters and checked on everyone. Marcel snuck up onto the roof
of the church and looked around the camp for any movement. He squinted and
dashed to the other side of the roof looking for any sign of movement at
all. Marcel cursed himself and then jumped off the church and went into the
church through the main doors. Marcel stood there and looked all around
desperately for someone who was awake, "SOMEONE WAKE UP!!! THE LITTLE ONE
IS MISSING!!!" ~¤~ Natalie came down the stairs to see everyone all worried
and panicky. Natalie blinked a bit and rubbed her eyes to make sure she was
seeing what she was seeing, "Why is everyone so worried? I just come down
to get a glass of water and everyone is jumpy and panicky and I don't know
why! It is so stressful like I have been left out of something! Hey why are
you all ready for battle? It is still dark that is sleepy time." Everyone
went silent, "WHAT?! It's true people sleep at night and we usually only
fight during the day and now I just feel awkward. Where is good old C.B. he
is always helpful at a time like this." All of the party looked around for
a few minutes before Marcel spoke up, "I never realized Cbiscut was missing
too.I am less worried now because that most likely means that he is with
her and the young master is definitely my first choice for a body guard."
There was a general mumble of agreement from the rest of the party except
from Mark who thought he would have been a better guard. Natasha was the
only one who came up with a problem in the whole situation, "But what if
Paige isn't journeying with Cbiscut but Cbiscut went out journeying by
himself and Paige went out looking for him? She could be in trouble or
worse yet they could both be in trouble!" "The young master would not be in
trouble without mistress Natalie knowing.isn't that right? Wouldn't he use
his psychic link with you to tell you if he was in trouble or needed help?
He is a smart boy and though he may not always seem to be but he is the
kind of person who knows when to ask for help and when to back down from a
challenge." Marcel seemed to hold Cbiscut in a special regard but it was
fine with everyone else just as long as no one died other than the people
who where trying to kill the party or any of the party members. Natalie
yawned and continued down the steps and went into the washroom to get her
drink of water. By the time she had come out everyone was crowded around
the entrance to the church and looking at something that was coming in. The
party separated and let Cbiscut walk in carrying Paige in his arms, "OH MY
GOD!!! What happened?" Cbiscut smiled at her, "Nothing that should cause
any real damage but she is out cold so I am gonna let her sleep it off. She
will probably be fine when she comes to." ~¤~ Cbiscut stood in a great hall
with several outskirts to it. He drew his sword and plunged it into the
ground before his feet and knelt down before the closest thing to a cross
in the hall. He muttered a quick prayer and got back to his feet, "Now I
ready myself to cross the boarder between light and darkness and my only
worry is for the people that are not with me right now. I feel that if I do
not conquer this dank place that they may be in danger.countess, I am
coming for you." As he finished his words several close ranged blackened
rouges poured out from either side in front of him. Cbiscut slashed forward
and cut down on a lot of the monsters before they started crowding him.
Cbiscut spun the blade and cut through several more making an opening in
the crowd and he saw that there were no more enemies approaching him. He
doubled back and cut down the remaining black rouges and then charged down
one side and saw the countess "Come for a blood bath? Heh, heh, heh."
"Countess! You're mine!" Cbiscut sheathed his sword and pulled down his bow
and readied an arrow. "Well, I don't think that is very fair. You get a big
nasty bow and all I get is a sword and shield." She smiled at him and
charged forward. Cbiscut spun and let loose his warning shot across her
shoulder, which she scoffed at him for, assuming that he had missed in his
attempt to get out of her way. The poison then took affect and she felt a
little woozy. The second arrow was dead on target, which left the countess
just dead. Cbiscut fired another arrow into the corpse for good measure and
collected up the gold for later uses. "Now to get back to the people that I
care about and most of all the people that matter. Rest well countess, and
don't get any funny ideas of getting back up while I'm gone." Cbiscut
opened a town portal and was soon back in town with the money he had
collected and a few pieces of weaponry that had caught his eye. ~¤~ *A/N
Okay I know that was probably really confusing and you are wondering
whether you missed something or not but trust me you didn't and I didn't
just forget to write anything important this will all make sense just wait
and see. Bye now and keep reading please.review if you want.* ~¤~ Cbiscut
walked to the waypoint and vanished then reappeared in the camp. The rest
of the part was moving towards the waypoint but Cbiscut was not
particularly worried about that. He could sense Natalie from a mile away
but it was the fact that he knew that she thought he was with her at that
exact moment. Cbiscut turned and jumped over the barrier and ducked down.
He closed hid eyes and tried not to be discovered and tried desperately not
to think. If he thought it might drive Natalie over the edge to insanity.
He had never thought of two entities being exact same. He hadn't thought it
possible. He realized that he was being overcautious when he discovered
that nothing matching his mind was with the party, however he stayed down
in fear that his presence might cause an identity crises of sorts where he
might be endangering the rest of the party. He waited for the fake him to
choose a destination and waited for about five minutes until he hopped the
wall and followed them in the waypoint. He arrived in the black marsh that
he had just left and looked around for a moment and saw Natasha slip into
the tower. He sprinted to the far end of the tower where no one would see
him and listened carefully to the conversation happening not to far from
him about what supposedly lived in the tower and the countess. Cbiscut
smiled slightly thinking about his earlier skirmish in the tower. Cbiscut
scaled the wall and looked down to see the rest of the party and the
imposter. All of them where there except for Paige. He watched carefully
and drew an arrow across his bow and readied it to take out the imposter.
He looked down again and realized that Natasha was not there either. He
felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a voice, "I don't know who or what
you are but I know that if you let go of that arrow in an attempt to kill
our fearless leader you won't make it very far and I wouldn't want that to
happen to me." Cbiscut recognized the voice as Natasha's and expected that
if it weren't for the armor he wore that he would also be feeling the tip
of a dagger against his back. The next set of actions almost all happened
instantly. Cbiscut let go of the arrow as Natasha pushed his shoulder down
to offset his aim, Cbiscut then spun around and knocked the dagger out of
Natasha's hand and flipped backwards after it. By the time the arrow had
hit the ground the dagger had become a makeshift throwing knife that was
deflected from it's target by the weapon of a party member that he hadn't
been paying attention to and by the time Cbiscut had hit the ground he had
unsheathed and readied his sword. There was a silence that filled the tower
as the imposter Cbiscut drew a sword a lot like the real Cbiscut's. The
real Cbiscut lunged forward with an upward strike and sent the false
Cbiscut's sword into the air where the real Cbiscut then caught it and
examined it closely. He smiled and thrust the sword into the earth and
backed up a little swinging his sword forth and cutting off the handle of
the opposing sword. "Get that demon!" The false Cbiscut barked and Natalie
soon fallowed through with it. Natalie's swipes were precise and powerful
but Cbiscut had a good grasp on both defense and offense. Cbiscut moved
quickly knocking away the swipes and ready to knock away more but never
went on the attack himself. The slashes that Natalie was putting out where
less that her normal effort, it was if her heart wasn't in it. She didn't
seem to want to attack someone who wasn't attacking her. Cbiscut twisted
and grabbed her wrist and put the claws into the wood of the tower easily.
He didn't expect he had much time before she was free and came back to
attack him but he was going to make good of the time he had. He lunged
forward sheathing his sword and stopped just in front of the false Cbiscut.
Cbiscut pulled an arrow across his bow and pressed the arrowhead against
the chest of the false Cbiscut. Another hand was placed on his shoulder but
this time skeletal and Cbiscut knew what was about to happen. He lunged off
to the side as the sword of the skeleton came down into the shoulder of the
false Cbiscut. The imposter gave off a muffled cry as his flesh was torn
and then the blade was removed. Cbiscut got up from his roll and unsheathed
his sword again ready to attack the skeleton. The skeleton lunged at him
and he charged at it. There was the sound of metal against metal and all
was silent again. ~¤~ Natalie looked down at the body. She nudged it
lightly with he foot and then pulled away completely. She looked down at it
again and nudged it some more, "Where did you say that demon went Natasha?"
Natasha looked down, "It rushed off into the Tamoe Highlands and then I
lost track of it." Natalie looked up from the corpse of her tragically lost
friend. She looked down into the tower cellar and then started walking off
towards the Tamoe Highlands. Natasha chased after her after jumping off the
tower, "Where are you going?" Natalie looked up from the path she was
following, "The Tamoe Highlands." Natasha grabbed Natalie's Shoulder and
spun Natalie to face her, "Okay there are a few problems with that. The
first problem is that we haven't cleared the tower yet and I know that
sounds like a really stupid excuse to keep you here but the second reason
is that you are very angry and are going to get yourself killed. The third
reason is I can't let you go alone and the rest of us are morning and as
upset as you are." Natalie tossed Natasha back, "I should have killed that
disgusting beast when I had the chance! I should have killed it and Cbiscut
would still be alive! I should have saved him!" Yvonne teleported to be
right beside Natalie and smirked a bit, "Well isn't this a sad group. I
couldn't help but over hear your current plan of action and I felt that you
should know something before you go out doing something drastic that you
might regret." Natalie cut in, "The only thing I won't regret is chasing
after the murderer and killing it right now." Yvonne frowned a bit, "All
right if you are really sure you want to kill off Cbiscut then go right
ahead." Natalie looked at Yvonne with a scowl, "You had better say what you
mean by that very quickly and it had better not have anything to do with
metaphors and how Cbiscut might not want to be avenged or I will hurt you."
Natalie turned back to face the Tamoe Highlands again, "I'm sorry I didn't
mean that, it's just." Then Natalie started to cry. Yvonne shook her head
lightly, "C'mon Girlfreind, you know in your heart that good old C.B. can't
really be dead even though you've seen it for yourself you can't actually
believe that whatever that thing is killed him. I know Cbiscut obviously
better than you do. First of all I know that Cbiscut wouldn't have started
with a sword if he had a choice. The bow and arrow are always his weapon of
choice. The sword does more instant damage but the bow does a lot of poison
damage and he would have used it first to make sure that the demon didn't
go far. Secondly if the demon continued to attack then the sword would come
out for a faster kill and a lot less possible damage to the rest of us. Now
comes our second piece of evidence to prove that the dead man in there is
not Cbiscut. Cbiscut would have given his all no matter what before he
asked for help and then when he did ask for help he would have switched off
to someone in particular instead of just commanding us to kill the demon
and leaving the rest up to us. And here comes the final piece of proof that
the dead man in there is not Cbiscut. I ported to every single floor in the
cellar and there is not a single monster of any variety and the gold seems
to be mostly cleaned up. Cbiscut always did have money problems." Natalie
stopped crying for a few moments, "I don't know what to do without
Cbiscut.I knew that the dead person wasn't Cbiscut but I don't know what to
do without the real thing or a stand in." She looked back at the highlands,
"Yvonne, all that stuff that you said the real Cbiscut did.don't you think
it is odd that the cloaked guy did those exact same things? I mean he
started off with a bow and everything. Isn't it strange?" ~¤~ *A/N just
noticed that I added a whole bunch of characters and it doesn't say in the
very first a/n about all the legal stuff that I am sorry for.well
mostly.anyway, if your name is Paige then I am really sorry for using your
name but you can bitch at Blizzard cause that was the very first name of
the rogue I got for killing blood raven so it is there fault not mine. Also
if your name is Mark and you are upset at me cause I used your name, I want
you to think about what a common name mark is and then complain at me if
you still feel like it but the person I based Mark's character on isn't
even named Mark, oh and by the way I noticed how he hasn't had much plot
action at all and I plan to get him back into the story and I don't really
plan on killing him.I hope.If your name is Natasha then I am sorry cause
this is based on a girl on my buss and in my English and math class and if
you are that Natasha I am even more sorry but you are probably just so
overwhelmed that someone even bothered to put you in a story that you
really couldn't care less but this is just incase someone does care
remember. I also am sorry to anyone who's name is Yvonne but she is an
oriental girl in my English and math class who is really nice and can read
a few words and numbers in Japanese. Anyway.is that all? I dunno I kind of
lost track of all the characters in the month that I wasn't writing
anything so I am hopping that is all of the characters that I made that.oh
wait, if your name is Marcel then I am sorry but I think I remember that
was what the person who owned my cousin's legend of Zelda Ocarina of time
game before he did because that was one of the names in the files. Anyway I
should probably be sorry to my cousin and Nintendo now for mentioning a
game name and just mentioning my cousin even though he really couldn't care
less, or at least I hope. Anyway.goodbye my adoring fans* ~¤~ Cbiscut drew
his great, gemmed sword. He pushed open the door and was immediately
attacked by a Yeti. Cbiscut slashed through it and then had the sword
yanked from his hand by a Yeti with a different color configuration. The
Yeti snapped the sword and dropped the pieces. Cbiscut doubled back and
readied his bow. He pulled off a shot and the bow let off a faint green
light as the arrow set on its trip. The Yeti stood there dazed for a moment
then fell dead to the earth. Cbiscut checked to corpse carefully and pulled
an Axe out of the beast's grip. Cbiscut smiled, "Ah yes.The Guardian used
this.I remember he showed it to me and said I wasn't aloud to touch the
blade. He never used it though.he would have survived if he had used it. He
could have brought Diablo's Soul Stone to the Hell forge and ended all of
this like that. I never would have come back.I should bring Paige back with
me this time.it should have been me that stayed.She would have a family by
now." Cbiscut thought for a moment before putting the axe into his
backpack, "I'll fix things this time. I'll make Paige go back instead of
me. But perhaps there will be no need for me this time. Maybe we can all go
back home." ~¤~ Natalie slowly walked through the Tamoe Highlands keeping
her claws readied for an attack. She was going to find Cbiscut if it was
the last thing she did. She needed to find Cbiscut. She may have tried to
be a leader of the party with Mark but she had always expected Cbiscut to
come back. She didn't know what to expect this time. The party came up to a
pair of beaten doors with a spray of corpses around it. A yeti had died due
to some unknown cause that had seemingly resulted from the effects of a
single arrow. She smirked inwardly knowing that either this was the work of
Cbiscut or that her life would be over fairly soon and she wouldn't be
worrying about Cbiscut for a few minutes at least. She walked into the
Outer cloister slowly and silently watching the scenery as it changed from
tainted grass fields to dark damp hallway. The vision, or premonition,
whatever you would call it hit her like a ton of bricks. She opened her
eyes to the vision and saw another view of the Dark figure from her dream.
It didn't look the same however; it looked like a frail worn warrior. The
light changed and it was a strong horrid demon. Another light change and
the worn warrior barely able to carry his own sword stood there. Blood ran
down his face from a wound in his forehead that seamed to glow with a dark
power. Behind the warrior was a dark menacing cloud that seemed to leach
the life from the land itself. A man was with the worn warrior. He seemed
to have no idea of the demons within his companion. The man who was with
the dark warrior seemed to have a haunted aura around him, as if he were
plagued by the same visions as Natalie but on a different level of viewing
as if he did not dream about the warrior but of some other haunting
spectacle. The man looked as if he had seen his share of demons and looked
tired and old. Natalie found herself wondering how much sanity could be
left in the man and then returned to the real world. Mark was leaning over
her obviously to see if she was all right. Yvonne had hung around and was
using some protection spells to prevent attack. Paige kept an arrow drawn
watching for any movement and trying to find the cause of Natalie's
discomfort. Natasha was raising skeletons to make sure that they would have
defenders if they were attacked. Natalie smiled and got up then turned
around to see another set of big doors and another spray of corpses, "Lets
go back up to town." Natalie suggested. ~¤~ "When I fled the monastery I
accidentally left my magically imbued smiting hammer behind. If you could
get it for me I could imbue one of your items with magical powers." ~¤~
*A/N OMG I AM GETTING BACK INTO THIS STORY. Must be all the battle.net I've
been doing.anyway if anyone can find footage from the Secret Cow level I
could use it for this other project I am working on. Mooselav@hotmail.com
thanks guy.* ~¤~ The Smith stood admiring the Horodric Malice, "This shall
work well on the Hellforge! Herphasto will be put back here and I will be
the Armorer!!!" The Door burst open and a small army of skeletal warriors
charged into the room. The Smith had a few moments to wonder about their
intents and weather or not they were his allies before they attacked the
other creatures that were in the room with him. The dark ones and dark clan
around him fall like flies against the mage blasts and fairly strong melee
attacks. "I shall make weapons from your bones!!!" The Smiths cry and
promise were short lived. The barrage of mage blasts and skeletons seemed
to be over powering him for several minutes. The Smith raised his hammer
high and smashed the melee skeletons to pieces. A blast of teeth came into
the room followed closely by the Necromancer who had cast it. Natasha
charged in with her wand ready and her bony armor in perfect place with the
skeletal magic that she was using. She stared at the Smith as he crushed
her skeletons and did massive damage all around. The ground cracked and
broke into a few different pieces at some of the shots it took. Natalie
readied herself for the energy drain that always came with using a big
spell. Slowly in front of her a behemoth of clay and sand was formed. It
seemed to have a brute power that over went its body. The Smith ran up and
hit the new creature of clay on the head with his hammer. The creature of
clay began to crack and break but still stood and launched it's two handed
power punch to the Smith. The Smith shook off the damage and put the hammer
into the clay golem's head. The golem shifted a little and smashed into
pieces that scattered the cold ground. Natasha backed up a little slowly
worrying about what fate was in store for her. The Smith charged forward
putting in a hard hammer blow that struck with a bone-snapping crack
against the cobbles of the floor. The ground once again split and broke
into pieces. Natasha cast teeth in a hurry trying to do anything to attack
the horror that stood before her. She caught the hammer across the ribs and
was knocked back out of the room. Natasha groaned as she hit the ground
hard. The armor itself wouldn't have put up with the abuse that the Smith
was putting out but the added defense of the bone armor protected her ribs
and vital organs from any serious damage. She rolled and looked up to see
the Smith was starting to advance towards her. She grabbed hold of the wand
ready to defend herself in mundane ways since magic was now failing her. As
the Smith was about to lay in a shot on Natasha's weakened armor and body
an arrow, glowing with a strange green light, hit the Smith in the head.
The Smith stumbled back for a moment and the gained his footing and looked
up and past Natasha. The Smith saw nothing but the shadows, the quickly
dimming green light, and the blood leaking from his wound. The Smith became
enraged and put all of his efforts onto destroying the necromancer. This
must be her fault. Somehow she was attacking him, trying to torment him. He
readied his hammer for another attack and no arrow came to save Natasha
this time. The Smith smiled with yellow stained teeth as he brought down
the hammer for one final strike. As the Smith's hammer traveled downward he
was engulfed in flames and fireballs cast from around the same direction
that the arrow had come from. The Smith fell back crying in pain as the
flames burnt and wore at his skin. The smith fell over crying out more as
his skin burned and blackened under a constant barrage of fire from outside
the room. The Smith tried to get to his feet and was then hit by the
charging force of Mark and Alpha One. The sword of Alpha One tore deep into
the Smith's burnt and weakened flesh. The Smith let out one last death cry
as his body hit the ground, lifeless and motionless. The Smith's hammer had
been burned and melted and was no longer unable. The Smith's body itself
was unidentifiable other and the fact that it was stripped of most of it's
flesh and what was left was black with ash. Natasha got up to inspect the
body. The bones had been horribly mutilated and the creature could not be
raised. It was truly a pity that the body couldn't be salvaged. Natasha
examined the head with a special interest. There was no indication of the
arrow or any of the damage that it had done. If the arrow had been there at
all then it had been destroyed in the fury of fire. Natasha smiled a bit as
she stepped on the body of the smith and made her way towards the stand
that the Malice rested on. ~¤~
~?AUTHOR NOTE: I have stopped writing this. I stopped a while ago because when I put the thing in it took out all of my paragraphs and just had it as one extremely long paragraph. In any case I do not currently believe that I have a current copy with all of the paragraphs separated and I don't feel like making it back to the 50 some odd pages I was at before this happened. As for the self insertion part of the story, that was what I felt like writing. If you want a story with mid-evil characters who are linked completely to where they are then you either missed the part where I had some characters from their or you need to be looking elsewhere. I'm sorry that you wasted your time reading something that I only wrote because I was bored and had nothing better to do.?~
~?AUTHOR NOTE: I have stopped writing this. I stopped a while ago because when I put the thing in it took out all of my paragraphs and just had it as one extremely long paragraph. In any case I do not currently believe that I have a current copy with all of the paragraphs separated and I don't feel like making it back to the 50 some odd pages I was at before this happened. As for the self insertion part of the story, that was what I felt like writing. If you want a story with mid-evil characters who are linked completely to where they are then you either missed the part where I had some characters from their or you need to be looking elsewhere. I'm sorry that you wasted your time reading something that I only wrote because I was bored and had nothing better to do.?~
