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Into the Icy Darkness: The Great Demon War
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<blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1401410" data-attributes="member: 15043"><p><strong>A Rescue</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Within seconds, Shaun had leaped the twenty foot distance seemingly in a single bound, his heart riding high in his throat.</p><p></p><p><em>Elenya! Elenya!</em></p><p></p><p>He drew nigh to the cell, and his heart cried out at the sight.</p><p></p><p>Indeed it was Elenya, gripping the cell bars so tightly that her knuckles were snow white. She was devoid of clothes from the waist up, and the edges of marks appeared to come from her sides and go onto her back. Several burns were on her front... most alarmingly an imprint of a human sized hand burned over her stomach, its angry red form seeming to glow against her now decidedly pale skin. Her eyes were red, seemingly filled with tiredness, tears.... and now hope.</p><p></p><p>“Shaun! Shauny Shauny!” she reached out from inside the cell and grabbed at him, trying to pull him close. She couldn’t get close enough to bestow a grateful kiss or even rub heads, but Shaun found the touch of her hands, while weak, to be reassuring... and filled with a strength he had not seen there.</p><p></p><p><em>She has been through much,</em> he could tell, even if the physical markings of her ordeal had not been present. <em>And I will flay alive every person that helped do this to my love!/i]</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Shauny! Shauny!” she called again, fresh tears arising from her frame, noticeably thinner. “You came! You came!”</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Yes, I’m here now. Everything’s going to be alright, everything’s going to be ok! Its going to be ok!” he said in the firmest voice his emotional mind could muster. <em>I’ve found you again! I’ve found you!</em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The others by this point were clustering around as well, and Elenya’s eyes went wide in wonder at seeing the array of people drawn here. “You all came! You all came!” she said quietly, her mind in shock and relief. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Siabrey and Tess both immediately saw the handprint, and collectively one thing ran through their minds. <em>The baby! What did they do to the baby! Oh god, poor Elenya!</em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“We’re here to get you out, hon!” Siabrey called, and began tugging on the iron bars. The didn’t even squeal. Grumki, Lucius, and Shaun added their weight to the effort, and after a few minutes of ear shattering screeching, the left section of the iron ripped loose from the rocks holding it, and the party managed to pull it wide enough that Elenya could slide out. Immediately she leapt into Shaun’s arms, both of them crying.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>It was several minutes before the two pulled apart, and immediately Siabrey motioned to Elenya’s belly. The former barmaid sniffed, and cleared her throat. Her eyes changed a little, from relief, to determination.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“I was strong,” she said, her voice only cracking slightly now, ever growing in strength. “They tried to threaten me, and I would not tell them anything. But... I did speak...” her voice began to break quickly, her improvised wall of bravado being pummeled down by the memories of the horrors they inflicted.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“What did they do you?” Tess asked, already moving to try and heal what wounds she could. “How did they hurt you?” </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“They... they...” Elenya looked down in fear and shame. “They did many bad things!” The first tear quickly formed in her eye and tumbled down her face. “They took me, the first night... they... had their way with me.” Siabrey’s eyes immediately flamed with unbridled hate, while Tess’ moved towards sadness. Alone among the party, the bard understood from her own past what it was like to be forced against one’s will. She laid a reassuring hand on Elenya’s shoulder as Shaun cradled her head.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“It’s going to be alright, you are strong,” both she and Shaun repeated as Elenya broke into fresh tears. “You are strong, Elenya,” Tess repeated. <em>Much stronger than I was when it happened to me...</em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“No...” she gurbled, “I’m not strong... I broke... I talked... they threat...” she took a sniff as tears freely fell from her cheeks, “they threatened the baby!”</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Tess and Siabrey looked at each other. <em>This is NOT how Shaun should have found out!</em> they both quailed. To their surprise, the statement did not even seem to register on the rogue’s face.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>In fact, it did register. <em>Elenya’s pregnant!? I... I must focus on her right now! She needs me! Those questions can wait until later!</em> his mind decided firmly, and he merely held her head closer, quietly rocking her.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Um...” Siabrey began to speak. She hated to interrupt the consolation of Elenya... the woman sorely needed a reassuring hug and a shoulder to cry on, but they <em>were</em> still in a Temple of Hextor, and they still needed that sword for Lucius. She glanced over at the young lord, and her mind stopped.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>His bluish eyes were now blazing pure white, light enough that shadows danced along the walls from their illumination. His face was a mixture of sorrow, pity, and jsut beneath the surface, a seething, roiling rage at what had been done to his comrade and friend. His hands were rhythmically flexing and relaxing, and Siabrey was fairly sure that if a Hextorite or Gra’zztite had arrived at hte moment, they would meet an untimely, gory, and grisly end.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><em>He is falling faster!</em> Siabrey grew frightened. <em>The evil around us... the evil he’s seen done to his friends... its all affecting him, drawing him closer! He’s going to break soon!</em> </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“We need to go! We need to go!” she started, her voice panicky. Shaun and Tess unfocused from Elenya long enough to become scared themselves, as Lucius’ visage continued to change, and grow further away from the young noble they loved into something far darker and more terrible.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Elenya sniffled, and raised her head. “We need to go,” she said quietly, looking at Lucius. “For his sake.”</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>With a nod, Shaun let her out of his embrace, and Siabrey gave her a cloak to cover her naked torso. Elenya accepted it with a shuddering hug, and then turned to follow the party down the hall, towards hopeful escape.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><em>She truly is strong,</em> Tess saw, her awe and admiration growing as Elenya began urging the others forward.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“I don’t know my way around the temple, but I think this way sounds better than the noises coming from behind us,” she said, her voice now strangely steady, even as the tears only started drying on her face. The party rounded a turn to the left, and Elenya suddenly stopped, her body shaking slightly.</em></p><p> <em></em></p><p><em>To the left was a rather average sized room, darkly lit with three torches that gave off a sickly purplish light. In the room are several sickening instruments, some of which the party recognized to their dismay. One was clearly a rack, another looked to have a set of iron straighteners that could suspend a person spread eagle in the air, and other instruments abounded whose purposes looked too diabolical to imagine. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Handing from the ceiling were many manacles, some seeming to have acid or other vile fluids dripping from them. A table, originally wood but now with parts covered in a sick brown crust, straps clearly designed for arms and legs adorning its top, dominated the middle of the room, with etchings and gouges similar in size to the knife laying on the floor. Laying on the floor were several metal pokers, a knife with a fist on the pommel, its end covered in dried blood, and lastly, a torn shredded piece of ladies underwear, which Shaun sickeningly recognized as Elenya’s.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>To everyone’s surprise, however, this was not what she recoiled from. Her backwards steps were away from a door directly to the party’s front, its interior hidden by a wooden door that was barely ajar. Tess, morbidly curious and worried that Elenya might not be recoiling from <em>something</em> in the room but more of a <em>someone</em>, started walking forward towards it gingerly, when the party noticed a shadow in the opposite doorway in the torture chamber...</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emperor Valerian, post: 1401410, member: 15043"] [b]A Rescue[/b] Within seconds, Shaun had leaped the twenty foot distance seemingly in a single bound, his heart riding high in his throat. [i]Elenya! Elenya![/i] He drew nigh to the cell, and his heart cried out at the sight. Indeed it was Elenya, gripping the cell bars so tightly that her knuckles were snow white. She was devoid of clothes from the waist up, and the edges of marks appeared to come from her sides and go onto her back. Several burns were on her front... most alarmingly an imprint of a human sized hand burned over her stomach, its angry red form seeming to glow against her now decidedly pale skin. Her eyes were red, seemingly filled with tiredness, tears.... and now hope. “Shaun! Shauny Shauny!” she reached out from inside the cell and grabbed at him, trying to pull him close. She couldn’t get close enough to bestow a grateful kiss or even rub heads, but Shaun found the touch of her hands, while weak, to be reassuring... and filled with a strength he had not seen there. [i]She has been through much,[/i] he could tell, even if the physical markings of her ordeal had not been present. [i]And I will flay alive every person that helped do this to my love!/i] “Shauny! Shauny!” she called again, fresh tears arising from her frame, noticeably thinner. “You came! You came!” “Yes, I’m here now. Everything’s going to be alright, everything’s going to be ok! Its going to be ok!” he said in the firmest voice his emotional mind could muster. [i]I’ve found you again! I’ve found you![/i] The others by this point were clustering around as well, and Elenya’s eyes went wide in wonder at seeing the array of people drawn here. “You all came! You all came!” she said quietly, her mind in shock and relief. Siabrey and Tess both immediately saw the handprint, and collectively one thing ran through their minds. [i]The baby! What did they do to the baby! Oh god, poor Elenya![/i] “We’re here to get you out, hon!” Siabrey called, and began tugging on the iron bars. The didn’t even squeal. Grumki, Lucius, and Shaun added their weight to the effort, and after a few minutes of ear shattering screeching, the left section of the iron ripped loose from the rocks holding it, and the party managed to pull it wide enough that Elenya could slide out. Immediately she leapt into Shaun’s arms, both of them crying. It was several minutes before the two pulled apart, and immediately Siabrey motioned to Elenya’s belly. The former barmaid sniffed, and cleared her throat. Her eyes changed a little, from relief, to determination. “I was strong,” she said, her voice only cracking slightly now, ever growing in strength. “They tried to threaten me, and I would not tell them anything. But... I did speak...” her voice began to break quickly, her improvised wall of bravado being pummeled down by the memories of the horrors they inflicted. “What did they do you?” Tess asked, already moving to try and heal what wounds she could. “How did they hurt you?” “They... they...” Elenya looked down in fear and shame. “They did many bad things!” The first tear quickly formed in her eye and tumbled down her face. “They took me, the first night... they... had their way with me.” Siabrey’s eyes immediately flamed with unbridled hate, while Tess’ moved towards sadness. Alone among the party, the bard understood from her own past what it was like to be forced against one’s will. She laid a reassuring hand on Elenya’s shoulder as Shaun cradled her head. “It’s going to be alright, you are strong,” both she and Shaun repeated as Elenya broke into fresh tears. “You are strong, Elenya,” Tess repeated. [i]Much stronger than I was when it happened to me...[/i] “No...” she gurbled, “I’m not strong... I broke... I talked... they threat...” she took a sniff as tears freely fell from her cheeks, “they threatened the baby!” Tess and Siabrey looked at each other. [i]This is NOT how Shaun should have found out![/i] they both quailed. To their surprise, the statement did not even seem to register on the rogue’s face. In fact, it did register. [i]Elenya’s pregnant!? I... I must focus on her right now! She needs me! Those questions can wait until later![/i] his mind decided firmly, and he merely held her head closer, quietly rocking her. “Um...” Siabrey began to speak. She hated to interrupt the consolation of Elenya... the woman sorely needed a reassuring hug and a shoulder to cry on, but they [i]were[/i] still in a Temple of Hextor, and they still needed that sword for Lucius. She glanced over at the young lord, and her mind stopped. His bluish eyes were now blazing pure white, light enough that shadows danced along the walls from their illumination. His face was a mixture of sorrow, pity, and jsut beneath the surface, a seething, roiling rage at what had been done to his comrade and friend. His hands were rhythmically flexing and relaxing, and Siabrey was fairly sure that if a Hextorite or Gra’zztite had arrived at hte moment, they would meet an untimely, gory, and grisly end. [i]He is falling faster![/i] Siabrey grew frightened. [i]The evil around us... the evil he’s seen done to his friends... its all affecting him, drawing him closer! He’s going to break soon![/i] “We need to go! We need to go!” she started, her voice panicky. Shaun and Tess unfocused from Elenya long enough to become scared themselves, as Lucius’ visage continued to change, and grow further away from the young noble they loved into something far darker and more terrible. Elenya sniffled, and raised her head. “We need to go,” she said quietly, looking at Lucius. “For his sake.” With a nod, Shaun let her out of his embrace, and Siabrey gave her a cloak to cover her naked torso. Elenya accepted it with a shuddering hug, and then turned to follow the party down the hall, towards hopeful escape. [i]She truly is strong,[/i] Tess saw, her awe and admiration growing as Elenya began urging the others forward. “I don’t know my way around the temple, but I think this way sounds better than the noises coming from behind us,” she said, her voice now strangely steady, even as the tears only started drying on her face. The party rounded a turn to the left, and Elenya suddenly stopped, her body shaking slightly. To the left was a rather average sized room, darkly lit with three torches that gave off a sickly purplish light. In the room are several sickening instruments, some of which the party recognized to their dismay. One was clearly a rack, another looked to have a set of iron straighteners that could suspend a person spread eagle in the air, and other instruments abounded whose purposes looked too diabolical to imagine. Handing from the ceiling were many manacles, some seeming to have acid or other vile fluids dripping from them. A table, originally wood but now with parts covered in a sick brown crust, straps clearly designed for arms and legs adorning its top, dominated the middle of the room, with etchings and gouges similar in size to the knife laying on the floor. Laying on the floor were several metal pokers, a knife with a fist on the pommel, its end covered in dried blood, and lastly, a torn shredded piece of ladies underwear, which Shaun sickeningly recognized as Elenya’s. To everyone’s surprise, however, this was not what she recoiled from. Her backwards steps were away from a door directly to the party’s front, its interior hidden by a wooden door that was barely ajar. Tess, morbidly curious and worried that Elenya might not be recoiling from [i]something[/i] in the room but more of a [i]someone[/i], started walking forward towards it gingerly, when the party noticed a shadow in the opposite doorway in the torture chamber...[/i] [/QUOTE]
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