Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Into the Icy Darkness II: The Next Generation
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1590012" data-attributes="member: 15043"><p>“Rapier?” Valaron raised an eyebrow at Vintressa. The two had sequestered themselves in Valaron’s bedroom, for privacy and planning. “Since when does a wizard practice with blades?” </p><p></p><p>“For about two years I have,” Vintressa smiled in triumph. “The last time Raven visited home, Uncle Shaun gave me some lessons... yes, with his pink blade,” Vintressa answered Valaron’s unasked question. “I used some of my the money I received my last birthday to get my own blade… its nothing fancy, it has a little magic in it…” When her brother gave her a smirk of disbelief, she growled. “It’s not unusual! Raven is an expert with a nagaika, for crying out loud!”</p><p></p><p>“A naga-who?” Valaron asked, brow furrowed in question. He was a weapons aficionado, familiar with everything from katanas to maces to bows and crossbows. But for the life of him, he had never heard of the device Vintressa spoke of.</p><p></p><p>“A nagaika. Its basically a whip, studded with glass,” Vintressa explained. “It can leave quite nasty wounds when wielded properly.” </p><p></p><p>Valaron winced. He’d seen normal whips in use before, and could only imagine the damage one studded with sharp objects could do. <em>If you wrap that around someone’s neck...</em> a nasty image of blood, gore and pieces of spinal cord made him wince more. When he looked up, Vintressa was leaning close to him, her eyes and face dead serious.</p><p></p><p>“So don’t mess with her heart, m’kay?” she said quietly but forcefully. “She’s been messed with once, and if she’s got her nagaika with her, I’m not responsible for missing limbs. Chances are, I’ll lop one off before she’ll get to you,” Vintressa warned. <em>Don’t try to play playboy with her!</em></p><p></p><p>“What? You’re talking like I’ve been making moves, eyeing her and the like! I haven’t!” Valaron protested his innocence. <em>I haven’t toyed with her! Why would I toy with her! She’s a good friend!</em></p><p></p><p>Vintressa responded with a glare, and went back to what she was doing before... hefting Valaron’s weapons up, testing their balance. She picked up his katana, and gave it a few swings. The blade was large, and she nearly lost her balance because of the momentum.</p><p></p><p>“Gimme that,” Valaron grabbed the blade from her hand. “You’ll break something.” </p><p></p><p>Vintressa scowled when he took the weapon from her, and gave a slight huff. “Just remember, don’t mess with her heart, ok!” </p><p></p><p>“Ok, ok, I won’t!” Valaron growled back. “Why did that suddenly come up? Something’s going on with Raven?” </p><p></p><p>Vintressa looked at him again, but didn’t say anything on the subject.</p><p></p><p>“Now, what do you think they’re having us fetch for them?” Vintressa changed the topic. “It’s obviously something very special, if they are going to all of this effort. And it sounds suspiciously like the Ice Diamond of years before.”</p><p></p><p>“Ice Diamond? The thing from mother’s stories?” Valaron questioned, his voice betraying his annoyance that she didn’t answer his question about Raven. “That thing was broken and is sitting in the Abyss, Vin! Not here! And I sincerely doubt House Erelion journeyed to the Abyss, stole the broken staff from Graz’zt, remade it and <em>then</em> lost it!”</p><p></p><p>“No... mom said that only one of the two big stones that was designed to go into that staff was found and put with it. The Ice Diamond. Maybe they’re after the other stone?” Vintressa’s mind leapt. </p><p></p><p><em>The other stone did something I bet. Mom and Dad never found out what... perhaps that is what they were after!</em></p><p></p><p>“The Fire Stone or what not?” Valaron asked, wracking his brain for details. He coudl recall by heart all of his mother’s battles in excruciating detail, recount his father’s ordeals by sword, but he couldn’t remember such mundane details as a stone the two never recovered in their urgency to put down his grandmother’s rebellion.</p><p></p><p>“Maybe,” Vintressa sat on the side of his bed. For a few seconds, she looked off in the distance thinking. Finally she turned to her brother again. “Do we know what this Fire Stone <em>does?</em>”</p><p></p><p>Valaron shrugged. “No clue here, other than its magical. And if it’s like that Ice Diamond, I probably don’t want to... what?”</p><p></p><p>“Val!” Vintressa was now staring at him, her eyes wide in discovery, “You know that Ice Diamond! It couldn’t be carried by anyone who was not a part of the Caladron family! <em>We</em> are parts of the Caladron family!”</p><p></p><p>“So that’s why they need us,” Valaron nodded, grinning as he finally understood. “So now that we know what they want, we just need to come up with some ways of foiling them.”</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Raven breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the familiar hallway that her and Vin’s room lay in. Torches, lit by magical, cool fire, cast a dim glow through the halls in their darkened ‘night-time’ setting. In the dancing glow, shadows flickered through the hall, caused by the stuffed forms of magical beasts that stood as silent sentries. </p><p></p><p>Raven slipped past the enormous spread wings of a juvenile roc, long feathers arcing over the doorway to her room. She walked up to it, pulling out her key, before suddenly halting.</p><p></p><p>She heard a noise inside... a scraping, a bump, as if someone tripped over something and nearly fell.</p><p></p><p><em>Gods... they’re already here?</em> her mind panicked. She listened carefully, but heard no other noise.</p><p></p><p><em>Someone is in there,</em> she still thought, her body tensing, her muscles coiling their energy. Gingerly she reached for the door handle, and slowly turned it. Once it was turned full way, carefully, and slowly, she slid the door open, her eyes searching gloom inside.</p><p></p><p>At first, she saw nothing, but within seconds, she saw a low hump, on the far side of her bed, close to Vintressa’s. Thankful that one of the few spells she had memorized could solve a situation like this, she snarled, “Oklaton Ley!”</p><p></p><p>Immediately the room began to glow with an otherworldly light, which quickly grew as bright as the daytime sunshine. The shape ducked away as soon as she talked, beyond her sight.</p><p></p><p><em>They’re laying between the beds,</em> she realized. Glancing to her left, she saw her nagiaka, hanging from the doorknob just within her reach. Her hand lashed out quickly, grabbing its handle and pulling its black leather form into her grasp, as she willed the polymorphing spell off of herself. For all the disguise of being a gnome could help, she would have much rather had her human muscles swinging around her human-size nagaika.</p><p> </p><p>“Come out!” she snapped, letting the long whip uncoil, glass shards glinting bright along its darkened length. Putting all the courage she could in her legs, she started to walk forward. <em>What if it is an Erelion assassin?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Then I must fight him,</em> her mind reflected grimly. Her hands tensed on the grip of the whip more, just before she heard the stuttering voice.</p><p></p><p>“R...Raven? It’s... it’s just me,” a young man’s head popped above the side of her bed. His hair was jet black, and his eyes were an unusual shade of green, with vertical slits for pupils instead of round ones. Faintly, on his light complexed skin, were traces of darker patterns, like those of a tabaxi or tiger. His skin at present was an embarrassed shade of red, bare from the waist up.</p><p></p><p>“Royukgan!” Raven snapped, shutting the door quickly, “What are you doing in our room!” Her body wanted to give an immense sigh of relief, but she forced herself to keep an edge of anger in her voice. For all Royukgan being Vin’s love interest, he <em>wasn’t</em> supposed to be here.</p><p></p><p>“Well, I...um...” the young man sheepishly rose, a hand scratching the back of his head awkwardly, “Vinny told me that she would... um... well... you know...”</p><p></p><p>Raven’s crossing of her arms and glare told the boy she didn’t know.</p><p></p><p>“...um... well... meet me back here, when she got back from the... um...ball.” He took a big breath, “You know? And I... well... I... um... was going to,” he stammered onward. </p><p>Raven finally raised her hand, not wanting to know any more details of any plans that were now undoubtedly foiled.</p><p></p><p>“Well, I’m sad to say Vintressa won’t be back here tonight, or for a while,” Raven sighed. She turned and started gathering the required items, and searching for her own traveling clothes.</p><p></p><p>“Why? Is she in trouble? Did something happen?” the boy from Ak Konylu asked, now fully sitting on Raven’s bed, eyes wide in concern. Raven spun back around.</p><p></p><p>“You don’t want to know,” she said simply, before turning back to her work. For a split second, the strangest thought entered her head; whether Valaron would have liked to see her in her normal traveling outfit, or the dark gray, nearly black set of clothing her father had gotten her for her birthday... “just in case you need to sneak around somewhere,” he had grinned at her.</p><p></p><p><em>Why are you worrying over whether Valaron would like it!</em> her mind suddenly snapped, <em>The dark one is good for sneaking, and you might need that!</em> she thought, grabbing the set of trousers, tunic and padding.</p><p></p><p>“Yes, I want to know,” Royukgan’s voice broke her thoughts again. “Is she in trouble? Is there any way I can help?”</p><p></p><p>“Do you really want to know?” Raven turned around again and looked at him. He shook his head yes vigorously.</p><p></p><p><em>Can I trust him?</em> Raven asked herself. <em>He claims he was hiding in here to meet Vin after the ball. How do I know that’s not just a cover story?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>But why would House Erelion recruit the son of foreign royalty to help them?</em> another part of Raven’s mind asked. <em>House Erelion hates the ‘mongrels’ viciously, more than most of the other houses! They’d probably send assassins after him, not...</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>If they’re watching Vinny, Val and me... they’re watching him too!</em> At that realization, she sighed. <em>I need to tell him.</em></p><p></p><p>She never heard the noises outside of the room door.</p><p></p><p>“Royukgan, stay sitting there... this is kind of a long story,” Raven started, “and you have to promise me you’ll-“</p><p></p><p>The noise of the door crashing in drowned out any thought to the rest of her words.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Raven’s initial reaction to the noise was shock. She was standing, facing away from the door, her nagiaka on the bed, too far away to be of any good. She started to spin, but her reactions seemed so slow. She had a moment to look up, and see a human face, contorted in a look of terrible calm, a dagger in his hand. The hand and arm started moving in a terrifying arc, to launch the dagger straight at her heart...</p><p></p><p>Something metallic flashed by her eyes, and there was a dull <em>thwack</em>, as metal sliced into flesh. The face of the man before her twisted in a look of pain, his eyes screaming the call a man’s soul screeches as he dies. Whatever scream that was meant to come from his lips died as a gurgle, gushing from the three pronged blade imbedded in his throat.</p><p></p><p>Raven’s mind was puzzled as to what had just happened, but her instincts impelled her towards the bed, her hands grasping the handle of the long, vicious whip. Two more faces came into view, daggers in their hands as well. Even as her mind was just realizing that Royukgan was the only one that could’ve thrown the wicked looking blade into the throat of the first assassin, her wrists snapped around hard, and a low roar rose in the air as the nagaika slashed forward. </p><p></p><p>Off of the walls of the room echoed a devastating <em>craaack</em> as Raven snapped the whip back. Its glass studded shards neatly wrapped around the throat of the next assassin, slashing hard and deep when she snapped the weapon back. His throat shredded into ribbons of flesh, the second assassin fell, gurgling.</p><p></p><p>Raven brought the nagiaka back. But things seemed to move so slowly again. The last assassin’s dagger was up, and in the back of her mind she knew she would not be able to bring the nagiaka around to attack him in time. Her mind registered Royukgan’s screams for her to duck, to move, but her feet remained planted in the floor, unmoving. The assassin’s arm moved back, ready for release...</p><p></p><p>And suddenly his entire form froze... as if he was made of solid stone, unable to move.</p><p></p><p>A hand reached the would-be assassin’s shoulder, and shoved it aside. The man’s figure hit the wall, and fell awkwardly to the ground, arm still back in the same pose, body rigidly in the same position. The wizened face of Aegrifyr suddenly appeared in the ruins of the doorway.</p><p></p><p>“Raven! Royukgan! Come with me!” the nominal professor of Compulsions and Enchantments yelled. “There isn’t much time!”</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“I... had no idea you had such fast reflexes, Royukgan,” Raven breathed easier a few minutes later. His speed and reflexes were far faster than someone who was nothing more than a princeling student of wizardry should have... not to mention that his accuracy with that three pronged blade was downright frightening.</p><p></p><p> She and the foreign prince walked side by side behind Aegrifyr, who trailed the still <em>held</em> assassin in midair behind him.</p><p></p><p>“I... never really wanted to be a wizard,” the boy said quietly. “I was here mainly for diplomatic reasons, an attempt to show that not all of us ‘mongrels’ are the beasts and fiends you people think we are,” he smiled distantly. In a much quieter voice, that Raven could only barely hear, he added, “and now I have a reason to stay.”</p><p></p><p>“What?” Raven asked, eyebrows raised.</p><p></p><p>“Nothing,” the prince replied, before producing that wicked looking blade again. “And to answer the next question you had coming, this is a sai.” He handed it to her as the three continued to tramp through the quiet halls and corridors. Now that she had a closer look at it, she realized its center prong was longer than the two on the sides.</p><p></p><p>“You can use it to catch other people’s weapons, and wrench it from their hands, in the gaps between the prongs. And, in a pinch, it can be thrown to good effect,” he gave a grin.</p><p></p><p>“And you’re well versed in this weapon?” <em>Its ingenious... I should definitely tell Val about this little thing later on...</em></p><p></p><p>“All in my family are. It’s a very good weapon to keep on hand in self-defense, just in case someone manages to break through bodyguards... or unexpectedly attacks you, as in what happened this night.”</p><p></p><p>“Keep quiet!” Aegrifyr hissed from in front, and both teens suddenly filled the air with absolute silence. “There might be more of his friends!” The wizard then turned to the man, his form still frozen poised to strike, “Shortly, my friend, you <em>will</em> tell me what is happening!”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emperor Valerian, post: 1590012, member: 15043"] “Rapier?” Valaron raised an eyebrow at Vintressa. The two had sequestered themselves in Valaron’s bedroom, for privacy and planning. “Since when does a wizard practice with blades?” “For about two years I have,” Vintressa smiled in triumph. “The last time Raven visited home, Uncle Shaun gave me some lessons... yes, with his pink blade,” Vintressa answered Valaron’s unasked question. “I used some of my the money I received my last birthday to get my own blade… its nothing fancy, it has a little magic in it…” When her brother gave her a smirk of disbelief, she growled. “It’s not unusual! Raven is an expert with a nagaika, for crying out loud!” “A naga-who?” Valaron asked, brow furrowed in question. He was a weapons aficionado, familiar with everything from katanas to maces to bows and crossbows. But for the life of him, he had never heard of the device Vintressa spoke of. “A nagaika. Its basically a whip, studded with glass,” Vintressa explained. “It can leave quite nasty wounds when wielded properly.” Valaron winced. He’d seen normal whips in use before, and could only imagine the damage one studded with sharp objects could do. [i]If you wrap that around someone’s neck...[/i] a nasty image of blood, gore and pieces of spinal cord made him wince more. When he looked up, Vintressa was leaning close to him, her eyes and face dead serious. “So don’t mess with her heart, m’kay?” she said quietly but forcefully. “She’s been messed with once, and if she’s got her nagaika with her, I’m not responsible for missing limbs. Chances are, I’ll lop one off before she’ll get to you,” Vintressa warned. [i]Don’t try to play playboy with her![/i] “What? You’re talking like I’ve been making moves, eyeing her and the like! I haven’t!” Valaron protested his innocence. [i]I haven’t toyed with her! Why would I toy with her! She’s a good friend![/i] Vintressa responded with a glare, and went back to what she was doing before... hefting Valaron’s weapons up, testing their balance. She picked up his katana, and gave it a few swings. The blade was large, and she nearly lost her balance because of the momentum. “Gimme that,” Valaron grabbed the blade from her hand. “You’ll break something.” Vintressa scowled when he took the weapon from her, and gave a slight huff. “Just remember, don’t mess with her heart, ok!” “Ok, ok, I won’t!” Valaron growled back. “Why did that suddenly come up? Something’s going on with Raven?” Vintressa looked at him again, but didn’t say anything on the subject. “Now, what do you think they’re having us fetch for them?” Vintressa changed the topic. “It’s obviously something very special, if they are going to all of this effort. And it sounds suspiciously like the Ice Diamond of years before.” “Ice Diamond? The thing from mother’s stories?” Valaron questioned, his voice betraying his annoyance that she didn’t answer his question about Raven. “That thing was broken and is sitting in the Abyss, Vin! Not here! And I sincerely doubt House Erelion journeyed to the Abyss, stole the broken staff from Graz’zt, remade it and [i]then[/i] lost it!” “No... mom said that only one of the two big stones that was designed to go into that staff was found and put with it. The Ice Diamond. Maybe they’re after the other stone?” Vintressa’s mind leapt. [i]The other stone did something I bet. Mom and Dad never found out what... perhaps that is what they were after![/i] “The Fire Stone or what not?” Valaron asked, wracking his brain for details. He coudl recall by heart all of his mother’s battles in excruciating detail, recount his father’s ordeals by sword, but he couldn’t remember such mundane details as a stone the two never recovered in their urgency to put down his grandmother’s rebellion. “Maybe,” Vintressa sat on the side of his bed. For a few seconds, she looked off in the distance thinking. Finally she turned to her brother again. “Do we know what this Fire Stone [i]does?[/i]” Valaron shrugged. “No clue here, other than its magical. And if it’s like that Ice Diamond, I probably don’t want to... what?” “Val!” Vintressa was now staring at him, her eyes wide in discovery, “You know that Ice Diamond! It couldn’t be carried by anyone who was not a part of the Caladron family! [i]We[/i] are parts of the Caladron family!” “So that’s why they need us,” Valaron nodded, grinning as he finally understood. “So now that we know what they want, we just need to come up with some ways of foiling them.” Raven breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the familiar hallway that her and Vin’s room lay in. Torches, lit by magical, cool fire, cast a dim glow through the halls in their darkened ‘night-time’ setting. In the dancing glow, shadows flickered through the hall, caused by the stuffed forms of magical beasts that stood as silent sentries. Raven slipped past the enormous spread wings of a juvenile roc, long feathers arcing over the doorway to her room. She walked up to it, pulling out her key, before suddenly halting. She heard a noise inside... a scraping, a bump, as if someone tripped over something and nearly fell. [i]Gods... they’re already here?[/i] her mind panicked. She listened carefully, but heard no other noise. [i]Someone is in there,[/i] she still thought, her body tensing, her muscles coiling their energy. Gingerly she reached for the door handle, and slowly turned it. Once it was turned full way, carefully, and slowly, she slid the door open, her eyes searching gloom inside. At first, she saw nothing, but within seconds, she saw a low hump, on the far side of her bed, close to Vintressa’s. Thankful that one of the few spells she had memorized could solve a situation like this, she snarled, “Oklaton Ley!” Immediately the room began to glow with an otherworldly light, which quickly grew as bright as the daytime sunshine. The shape ducked away as soon as she talked, beyond her sight. [i]They’re laying between the beds,[/i] she realized. Glancing to her left, she saw her nagiaka, hanging from the doorknob just within her reach. Her hand lashed out quickly, grabbing its handle and pulling its black leather form into her grasp, as she willed the polymorphing spell off of herself. For all the disguise of being a gnome could help, she would have much rather had her human muscles swinging around her human-size nagaika. “Come out!” she snapped, letting the long whip uncoil, glass shards glinting bright along its darkened length. Putting all the courage she could in her legs, she started to walk forward. [i]What if it is an Erelion assassin? Then I must fight him,[/i] her mind reflected grimly. Her hands tensed on the grip of the whip more, just before she heard the stuttering voice. “R...Raven? It’s... it’s just me,” a young man’s head popped above the side of her bed. His hair was jet black, and his eyes were an unusual shade of green, with vertical slits for pupils instead of round ones. Faintly, on his light complexed skin, were traces of darker patterns, like those of a tabaxi or tiger. His skin at present was an embarrassed shade of red, bare from the waist up. “Royukgan!” Raven snapped, shutting the door quickly, “What are you doing in our room!” Her body wanted to give an immense sigh of relief, but she forced herself to keep an edge of anger in her voice. For all Royukgan being Vin’s love interest, he [i]wasn’t[/i] supposed to be here. “Well, I...um...” the young man sheepishly rose, a hand scratching the back of his head awkwardly, “Vinny told me that she would... um... well... you know...” Raven’s crossing of her arms and glare told the boy she didn’t know. “...um... well... meet me back here, when she got back from the... um...ball.” He took a big breath, “You know? And I... well... I... um... was going to,” he stammered onward. Raven finally raised her hand, not wanting to know any more details of any plans that were now undoubtedly foiled. “Well, I’m sad to say Vintressa won’t be back here tonight, or for a while,” Raven sighed. She turned and started gathering the required items, and searching for her own traveling clothes. “Why? Is she in trouble? Did something happen?” the boy from Ak Konylu asked, now fully sitting on Raven’s bed, eyes wide in concern. Raven spun back around. “You don’t want to know,” she said simply, before turning back to her work. For a split second, the strangest thought entered her head; whether Valaron would have liked to see her in her normal traveling outfit, or the dark gray, nearly black set of clothing her father had gotten her for her birthday... “just in case you need to sneak around somewhere,” he had grinned at her. [i]Why are you worrying over whether Valaron would like it![/i] her mind suddenly snapped, [i]The dark one is good for sneaking, and you might need that![/i] she thought, grabbing the set of trousers, tunic and padding. “Yes, I want to know,” Royukgan’s voice broke her thoughts again. “Is she in trouble? Is there any way I can help?” “Do you really want to know?” Raven turned around again and looked at him. He shook his head yes vigorously. [i]Can I trust him?[/i] Raven asked herself. [i]He claims he was hiding in here to meet Vin after the ball. How do I know that’s not just a cover story? But why would House Erelion recruit the son of foreign royalty to help them?[/i] another part of Raven’s mind asked. [i]House Erelion hates the ‘mongrels’ viciously, more than most of the other houses! They’d probably send assassins after him, not... If they’re watching Vinny, Val and me... they’re watching him too![/i] At that realization, she sighed. [i]I need to tell him.[/i] She never heard the noises outside of the room door. “Royukgan, stay sitting there... this is kind of a long story,” Raven started, “and you have to promise me you’ll-“ The noise of the door crashing in drowned out any thought to the rest of her words. Raven’s initial reaction to the noise was shock. She was standing, facing away from the door, her nagiaka on the bed, too far away to be of any good. She started to spin, but her reactions seemed so slow. She had a moment to look up, and see a human face, contorted in a look of terrible calm, a dagger in his hand. The hand and arm started moving in a terrifying arc, to launch the dagger straight at her heart... Something metallic flashed by her eyes, and there was a dull [i]thwack[/i], as metal sliced into flesh. The face of the man before her twisted in a look of pain, his eyes screaming the call a man’s soul screeches as he dies. Whatever scream that was meant to come from his lips died as a gurgle, gushing from the three pronged blade imbedded in his throat. Raven’s mind was puzzled as to what had just happened, but her instincts impelled her towards the bed, her hands grasping the handle of the long, vicious whip. Two more faces came into view, daggers in their hands as well. Even as her mind was just realizing that Royukgan was the only one that could’ve thrown the wicked looking blade into the throat of the first assassin, her wrists snapped around hard, and a low roar rose in the air as the nagaika slashed forward. Off of the walls of the room echoed a devastating [i]craaack[/i] as Raven snapped the whip back. Its glass studded shards neatly wrapped around the throat of the next assassin, slashing hard and deep when she snapped the weapon back. His throat shredded into ribbons of flesh, the second assassin fell, gurgling. Raven brought the nagiaka back. But things seemed to move so slowly again. The last assassin’s dagger was up, and in the back of her mind she knew she would not be able to bring the nagiaka around to attack him in time. Her mind registered Royukgan’s screams for her to duck, to move, but her feet remained planted in the floor, unmoving. The assassin’s arm moved back, ready for release... And suddenly his entire form froze... as if he was made of solid stone, unable to move. A hand reached the would-be assassin’s shoulder, and shoved it aside. The man’s figure hit the wall, and fell awkwardly to the ground, arm still back in the same pose, body rigidly in the same position. The wizened face of Aegrifyr suddenly appeared in the ruins of the doorway. “Raven! Royukgan! Come with me!” the nominal professor of Compulsions and Enchantments yelled. “There isn’t much time!” “I... had no idea you had such fast reflexes, Royukgan,” Raven breathed easier a few minutes later. His speed and reflexes were far faster than someone who was nothing more than a princeling student of wizardry should have... not to mention that his accuracy with that three pronged blade was downright frightening. She and the foreign prince walked side by side behind Aegrifyr, who trailed the still [i]held[/i] assassin in midair behind him. “I... never really wanted to be a wizard,” the boy said quietly. “I was here mainly for diplomatic reasons, an attempt to show that not all of us ‘mongrels’ are the beasts and fiends you people think we are,” he smiled distantly. In a much quieter voice, that Raven could only barely hear, he added, “and now I have a reason to stay.” “What?” Raven asked, eyebrows raised. “Nothing,” the prince replied, before producing that wicked looking blade again. “And to answer the next question you had coming, this is a sai.” He handed it to her as the three continued to tramp through the quiet halls and corridors. Now that she had a closer look at it, she realized its center prong was longer than the two on the sides. “You can use it to catch other people’s weapons, and wrench it from their hands, in the gaps between the prongs. And, in a pinch, it can be thrown to good effect,” he gave a grin. “And you’re well versed in this weapon?” [i]Its ingenious... I should definitely tell Val about this little thing later on...[/i] “All in my family are. It’s a very good weapon to keep on hand in self-defense, just in case someone manages to break through bodyguards... or unexpectedly attacks you, as in what happened this night.” “Keep quiet!” Aegrifyr hissed from in front, and both teens suddenly filled the air with absolute silence. “There might be more of his friends!” The wizard then turned to the man, his form still frozen poised to strike, “Shortly, my friend, you [i]will[/i] tell me what is happening!” [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Into the Icy Darkness II: The Next Generation
Top