RE: The Battle Majestic (Round 4 - Magpie Skies)
07-27-2017, 07:55 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-27-2017, 03:45 PM by Pharmacy.)
“Bring us closer.”
The dracolichen swung around. The algae-laden wings groaning as they filled with air. The passengers clung on for dear life as they dove into the clouds, wind whipping through their hair and filling their ears. Eventually, the whaleship – abominable yet dangerous – bobbed into the horizon.
“Gonna,” Scarlet muttered. She seemed less green than usual. “Gonna ram the stupid ship with my dragon.”
“Yeah,” Violet was not amused. “No.”
Violet was a little concerned though. Scarlet seemed to be get less and less peppy the more time they spent on the dragon. Perhaps there was a finite amount of energy in the body she was currently possessing? Violet was…gladly concerned about that theory. The plant monster was capable of horrific things and the fact it might have a power cap was comforting, to say the least. Not that she would tell Scarlet.
“She’s right,” Jacob said. “Best we go as individuals.”
“Ugh,” Scarlet still mustered enough energy to roll her eyes. “Fine.”
The whaleship got closer and closer, until they all could see Talis observing right back at them. Jacob made some gestures and made arcane utterances, before he leapt off the dragon. Violet watched as the mercenary got smaller and smaller. She steeled herself to do the same, but first, first, she’ll ask Scarlet to fly closer.
--
Talis held his breath as Jacob landed on the ship, the descent made more heavenly with the shimmering stasis bubble. The chronoknight was worse for wear –all scratches and dents – and his humorless expression indicated he meant business. The business of murder. Talis let himself a giggle –
– before Jacob was suddenly close to him, his determination and implacable fury palpable. The blade went in a dangerous arc and Talis could barely leap out of the way before the point buried itself into the grain of the transmogrified wood. The planks, in response, twisted and turned, braiding into a facsimile of mouth that swallowed the time-traveller’s sword. Jacob looked mildly horrified.
“What’s a bearded swordsman without a sword?” Talis sneered.
Jacob immediately decked him in the face. Talis clumsily fell to the ground and before he could even manage out a swear, the time-traveller pounced on him. They briefly struggled against each other, arms interlocking, before Talis managed to muster up enough focus to snap his fingers.
Jacob’s eyes bludged out as the space between them exploded. His breastplate crumpled inwards and Jacob sailed backwards, limbs flailing. The strength of the explosion was such that the mercenary violently skipped across the platform before sliding to a halt. Talis gestured with his right hand. The ropes and planks slithered on their own accord and wrapped around Jacob, effectively immobilizing him. He primed the more sinister of the gloves.
“Any last words?”
“V-violet.” Jacob wheezed.
Talis swiftly turned around and nearly got a purple foot in his face for all his troubles. Violet had disembarked from the dragon (courtesy of a vine) and currently was doing her best to hack him into pieces, and he could see – at the corner of his eyes – Jacob blinking out of his restraints, wrenching out his sword. Another setback. Talis could feel each one of them pushing him further and further from his goal into the inescapable void of failure. Helplessness.
He hated that feeling.
--
“We’re falling! We’re falling!”
Scarlet growled in annoyance but the pink worm was right. The leaves were shriveling up and the branches unmade themselves. The wing-membranes were growing thin – she didn’t need to look back to realize holes were starting to form – fast. Their dragon was losing attitude, at an alarming rate no less, and the princess was not particular wanting to test if she could survive the fall.
“Get. Get out of the way.” Scarlet caught a whiff of fragrance as something big and pillowy was pushed aside. Sruix, in his bespectacled glory, carefully stood up and grabbed at the browning vines. Scarlet felt a burgeoning alertness chipping away at her fatigue. She glared at the Gentleman, wondering what suspicious sorcery he had done.
“I’m helping,” Sruix snarled. “I can only provide enough juice for one action. One. Action. Choose wisely.”
“You mean--?”
“Yes.” A pause. “Really.”
Scarlet laughed with unprincess-like glee as she mentally pulled up the reins of the rejuvenated dragon and sped towards their whaleship. Clouds bleeding into smears. Their target seemed to be dimly aware, the hull pulling itself apart into a yawning maw, resplendent with plank-fangs and the groans of the trapped souls. Eryntse’s screams reached an ear-splitting crescendo and Scarlet swore she could hear her voice break microseconds before impact.
--
“You,” Talis swallowed. “You need me.”
Jacob responded by blinking closer. Roughshod columns rose like weeds but the mercenary made quick work of them. His stony countenance had transformed to annoyance – as though Talis was wasting his time. As though Talis was not enough of a challenge.
“I was here first. I was here longer than you – ”
Talis barely dodged a purple-colored blade. He survived three harrowing swings before his other opponent was too fatigued to continue. His other opponent in question was Violet. He remembered how he tricked her. Judging from the fire of her eyes, it seemed she remembered too.
“Sorry, mate,” Jacob swung at him again. “You’re convenient.”
“Convenient? There’s easier targets to kill and forget about – ”
“Yes.”
“That woman – ”
“RAGGH.”
“ – the plant monster – ”
“You’re afraid of death, are you?”
“Afraid? AFRAID?" The question caught him off guard. "How can I be afraid if – ”
There was a sickening crunch as the undead dragon collided with the whaleship. The floor buckled as the planks undone themselves. The combatants were knocked prone but one did not need to stand to realize the plant monster angrily jabbering at her own impulsive decision, other new passengers, and the fact they were pummeling into freefall. Again.
--
Violet stood up. The blade was cool and heavy in her hand. She narrowed her eyes at the recovering Talis and frowned.
“You tricked me,” Violet snarled.
“You are ignorant. You are naïve,” Talis had gathered his bravado again. He deftly blocked the sword with his right hand. Red rust spiderwebbed through the blade. There was sort of an ugly beauty to it. “But choices are choices. You will have to live with the consequences.”
“You tricked me.” Tears started to well in her eyes. “You never told me how powerful the gloves were. You made this wretched ship. You took my future. You took the life. The life of – ”
Snap.
Violet leapt backwards as something exploded. She raised her arm, feeling the sting of the embedding shrapnel and the stench of metal. She shook the rust from her eyes as she realized her weapon reduced to a pommel. She faced a raised hand.
“Steven? Is that what you are fighting for?” Talis sneered. “Foolish girl. The relationship you had is merely a series of animal impulses and arbitrary coincidences. Life is short. One must be cruel to survive and I intend to do so. It was a shame you were so generous with your trust.”
Talis pressed his middle finger and thumb together. Violet knew what was going to happen. She bared her teeth, and held her pommel defensively.
“Although it had certainly made things easier for me.”
Violet was ready to face her maker. She closed her eyes –
- and felt a hand on her bleeding forearm.
“ – Sruix?”
Violet’s eyes snapped open. There was the Gentleman. His other hand was wrapped firmly around Talis’s left hand. Sruix’s outfit seen better days but he still managed to look formidable despite his fallen nature. His spectacles glimmering ominously, as he carefully scrutinized the two combatants.
“Talis, you are out of control,” Sruix said, slowly, as though he was carefully choosing his words. “The gloves, the ship. You have lost your sight.”
“Let. Let me go,” Talis pulled at his hand, encouraging his opposite to further tighten his grip. “I can kill you too, you know – ”
“Talis, you do realize you and I are cut from the same cloth. Anything you can do,” Sruix frowned. “I can do too.”
Talis’s eyes widened. “You won’t.”
Sruix said nothing, but they felt something. Talis shrieked and struggled, but Violet could not see it. All she saw brilliance, beautiful and bright like facets of a perfectly cut amethyst, as the otherworldly magic surged behind her eyes. She felt enchantments crawling through her veins and dancing at the edge of her mind. For a brief moment, she was one with the universe – no, multiverse, and she could see the glimpse of Steven Taylor, her first and only friend, walking into the blinding horizon.
--
“Hey Pa, what should we do with this tree.”
Kollskeg the Unarmored shrugged. The alien seed had rapidly grown into a smallish tree. It was foreign and translucent and by all means, he should call it unnatural but the goats seemed to be developing a culinary fondness for it. The Chieftain quietly approved of whatever fed the goats, even if it likely came the worse end of that dragon.
“Pa, what should we do with…these guys.”
Kollskeg shrugged again, more empathetically to express his confusion. Strange and novel visitors had recently walked over the hill to their village. They consisted of identical knights who referred themselves as numbers and chimeric patchwork blobs the hue of setting sun. The leader, who referred to himself as “Eight,” had recently inquired him if he could stay in their humble village. Kollskeg was like why not. They seemed to have a good head upon their shoulders. Plus, they could totally help him slay more dragons.
“Pa, what should we do with that dragon?”
Kollskeg turned around and there was a sight to behold. An enormous dragon-like creature. Vines crawled across its skin like rich ore and their entirety was dappled with vibrant-colored hues. The wings were enormous and angelic, though made of planks instead of feathers. An entirely purple person, dressed in royal finery, stared at her white-gloved hands. She looked despondent as she lightly touched her steed with her left hand.
The dragon collapsed into a heap of compost and royalty. The princesses and queens screamed in disgust and tumbled away, revealing an enormous, plant-studded dragon corpse in the process of rigor mortis. Kollskeg’s mouth started to water at the thought of roast dragon.
But the thought didn’t last as he saw a sprinter, wearing only a singular lense and an expression of absolute anger and shame. He hefted his axe, wondering if he should really go after this individual or not.
“Don’t.” Kollskeg felt a rubbery claw on his shoulder. It was that strange dragon, although for some reason it was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and was accompanied by a mincing pink worm. There was an uncharacteristic annoyance alight on its snub-nosed face. “Even. Try.”
The dracolichen swung around. The algae-laden wings groaning as they filled with air. The passengers clung on for dear life as they dove into the clouds, wind whipping through their hair and filling their ears. Eventually, the whaleship – abominable yet dangerous – bobbed into the horizon.
“Gonna,” Scarlet muttered. She seemed less green than usual. “Gonna ram the stupid ship with my dragon.”
“Yeah,” Violet was not amused. “No.”
Violet was a little concerned though. Scarlet seemed to be get less and less peppy the more time they spent on the dragon. Perhaps there was a finite amount of energy in the body she was currently possessing? Violet was…gladly concerned about that theory. The plant monster was capable of horrific things and the fact it might have a power cap was comforting, to say the least. Not that she would tell Scarlet.
“She’s right,” Jacob said. “Best we go as individuals.”
“Ugh,” Scarlet still mustered enough energy to roll her eyes. “Fine.”
The whaleship got closer and closer, until they all could see Talis observing right back at them. Jacob made some gestures and made arcane utterances, before he leapt off the dragon. Violet watched as the mercenary got smaller and smaller. She steeled herself to do the same, but first, first, she’ll ask Scarlet to fly closer.
--
Talis held his breath as Jacob landed on the ship, the descent made more heavenly with the shimmering stasis bubble. The chronoknight was worse for wear –all scratches and dents – and his humorless expression indicated he meant business. The business of murder. Talis let himself a giggle –
– before Jacob was suddenly close to him, his determination and implacable fury palpable. The blade went in a dangerous arc and Talis could barely leap out of the way before the point buried itself into the grain of the transmogrified wood. The planks, in response, twisted and turned, braiding into a facsimile of mouth that swallowed the time-traveller’s sword. Jacob looked mildly horrified.
“What’s a bearded swordsman without a sword?” Talis sneered.
Jacob immediately decked him in the face. Talis clumsily fell to the ground and before he could even manage out a swear, the time-traveller pounced on him. They briefly struggled against each other, arms interlocking, before Talis managed to muster up enough focus to snap his fingers.
Jacob’s eyes bludged out as the space between them exploded. His breastplate crumpled inwards and Jacob sailed backwards, limbs flailing. The strength of the explosion was such that the mercenary violently skipped across the platform before sliding to a halt. Talis gestured with his right hand. The ropes and planks slithered on their own accord and wrapped around Jacob, effectively immobilizing him. He primed the more sinister of the gloves.
“Any last words?”
“V-violet.” Jacob wheezed.
Talis swiftly turned around and nearly got a purple foot in his face for all his troubles. Violet had disembarked from the dragon (courtesy of a vine) and currently was doing her best to hack him into pieces, and he could see – at the corner of his eyes – Jacob blinking out of his restraints, wrenching out his sword. Another setback. Talis could feel each one of them pushing him further and further from his goal into the inescapable void of failure. Helplessness.
He hated that feeling.
--
“We’re falling! We’re falling!”
Scarlet growled in annoyance but the pink worm was right. The leaves were shriveling up and the branches unmade themselves. The wing-membranes were growing thin – she didn’t need to look back to realize holes were starting to form – fast. Their dragon was losing attitude, at an alarming rate no less, and the princess was not particular wanting to test if she could survive the fall.
“Get. Get out of the way.” Scarlet caught a whiff of fragrance as something big and pillowy was pushed aside. Sruix, in his bespectacled glory, carefully stood up and grabbed at the browning vines. Scarlet felt a burgeoning alertness chipping away at her fatigue. She glared at the Gentleman, wondering what suspicious sorcery he had done.
“I’m helping,” Sruix snarled. “I can only provide enough juice for one action. One. Action. Choose wisely.”
“You mean--?”
“Yes.” A pause. “Really.”
Scarlet laughed with unprincess-like glee as she mentally pulled up the reins of the rejuvenated dragon and sped towards their whaleship. Clouds bleeding into smears. Their target seemed to be dimly aware, the hull pulling itself apart into a yawning maw, resplendent with plank-fangs and the groans of the trapped souls. Eryntse’s screams reached an ear-splitting crescendo and Scarlet swore she could hear her voice break microseconds before impact.
--
“You,” Talis swallowed. “You need me.”
Jacob responded by blinking closer. Roughshod columns rose like weeds but the mercenary made quick work of them. His stony countenance had transformed to annoyance – as though Talis was wasting his time. As though Talis was not enough of a challenge.
“I was here first. I was here longer than you – ”
Talis barely dodged a purple-colored blade. He survived three harrowing swings before his other opponent was too fatigued to continue. His other opponent in question was Violet. He remembered how he tricked her. Judging from the fire of her eyes, it seemed she remembered too.
“Sorry, mate,” Jacob swung at him again. “You’re convenient.”
“Convenient? There’s easier targets to kill and forget about – ”
“Yes.”
“That woman – ”
“RAGGH.”
“ – the plant monster – ”
“You’re afraid of death, are you?”
“Afraid? AFRAID?" The question caught him off guard. "How can I be afraid if – ”
There was a sickening crunch as the undead dragon collided with the whaleship. The floor buckled as the planks undone themselves. The combatants were knocked prone but one did not need to stand to realize the plant monster angrily jabbering at her own impulsive decision, other new passengers, and the fact they were pummeling into freefall. Again.
--
Violet stood up. The blade was cool and heavy in her hand. She narrowed her eyes at the recovering Talis and frowned.
“You tricked me,” Violet snarled.
“You are ignorant. You are naïve,” Talis had gathered his bravado again. He deftly blocked the sword with his right hand. Red rust spiderwebbed through the blade. There was sort of an ugly beauty to it. “But choices are choices. You will have to live with the consequences.”
“You tricked me.” Tears started to well in her eyes. “You never told me how powerful the gloves were. You made this wretched ship. You took my future. You took the life. The life of – ”
Snap.
Violet leapt backwards as something exploded. She raised her arm, feeling the sting of the embedding shrapnel and the stench of metal. She shook the rust from her eyes as she realized her weapon reduced to a pommel. She faced a raised hand.
“Steven? Is that what you are fighting for?” Talis sneered. “Foolish girl. The relationship you had is merely a series of animal impulses and arbitrary coincidences. Life is short. One must be cruel to survive and I intend to do so. It was a shame you were so generous with your trust.”
Talis pressed his middle finger and thumb together. Violet knew what was going to happen. She bared her teeth, and held her pommel defensively.
“Although it had certainly made things easier for me.”
Violet was ready to face her maker. She closed her eyes –
- and felt a hand on her bleeding forearm.
“ – Sruix?”
Violet’s eyes snapped open. There was the Gentleman. His other hand was wrapped firmly around Talis’s left hand. Sruix’s outfit seen better days but he still managed to look formidable despite his fallen nature. His spectacles glimmering ominously, as he carefully scrutinized the two combatants.
“Talis, you are out of control,” Sruix said, slowly, as though he was carefully choosing his words. “The gloves, the ship. You have lost your sight.”
“Let. Let me go,” Talis pulled at his hand, encouraging his opposite to further tighten his grip. “I can kill you too, you know – ”
“Talis, you do realize you and I are cut from the same cloth. Anything you can do,” Sruix frowned. “I can do too.”
Talis’s eyes widened. “You won’t.”
Sruix said nothing, but they felt something. Talis shrieked and struggled, but Violet could not see it. All she saw brilliance, beautiful and bright like facets of a perfectly cut amethyst, as the otherworldly magic surged behind her eyes. She felt enchantments crawling through her veins and dancing at the edge of her mind. For a brief moment, she was one with the universe – no, multiverse, and she could see the glimpse of Steven Taylor, her first and only friend, walking into the blinding horizon.
--
“Hey Pa, what should we do with this tree.”
Kollskeg the Unarmored shrugged. The alien seed had rapidly grown into a smallish tree. It was foreign and translucent and by all means, he should call it unnatural but the goats seemed to be developing a culinary fondness for it. The Chieftain quietly approved of whatever fed the goats, even if it likely came the worse end of that dragon.
“Pa, what should we do with…these guys.”
Kollskeg shrugged again, more empathetically to express his confusion. Strange and novel visitors had recently walked over the hill to their village. They consisted of identical knights who referred themselves as numbers and chimeric patchwork blobs the hue of setting sun. The leader, who referred to himself as “Eight,” had recently inquired him if he could stay in their humble village. Kollskeg was like why not. They seemed to have a good head upon their shoulders. Plus, they could totally help him slay more dragons.
“Pa, what should we do with that dragon?”
Kollskeg turned around and there was a sight to behold. An enormous dragon-like creature. Vines crawled across its skin like rich ore and their entirety was dappled with vibrant-colored hues. The wings were enormous and angelic, though made of planks instead of feathers. An entirely purple person, dressed in royal finery, stared at her white-gloved hands. She looked despondent as she lightly touched her steed with her left hand.
The dragon collapsed into a heap of compost and royalty. The princesses and queens screamed in disgust and tumbled away, revealing an enormous, plant-studded dragon corpse in the process of rigor mortis. Kollskeg’s mouth started to water at the thought of roast dragon.
But the thought didn’t last as he saw a sprinter, wearing only a singular lense and an expression of absolute anger and shame. He hefted his axe, wondering if he should really go after this individual or not.
“Don’t.” Kollskeg felt a rubbery claw on his shoulder. It was that strange dragon, although for some reason it was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and was accompanied by a mincing pink worm. There was an uncharacteristic annoyance alight on its snub-nosed face. “Even. Try.”