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<blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1975706" data-attributes="member: 15043"><p><strong>Nayu’s Worries Confirmed... and the Death of a Friend... sorta...</strong></p><p></p><p>Before the explosion of movement and shrieks, Nayu had one split second to see the ten shriveled heads, all mashed into the coffin alongside the embalmed body. </p><p></p><p><em>Oh great. Vargouilles. As if anything worse could happen.</em></p><p></p><p>Nayu’s reflexes were fortunately as quick as his mind, as he twisted out of the way of the ten creatures bursting for the air. The words on his lips changed from chants to calls for magical fire, and a long tongue of flame lashed out towards the nearest of the beasties. A high pitched, desperate scream echoed in the air, as the creature, its now burning hair streaming behind it like a falling star, careened about the room before slamming into a wall and falling to the ground.</p><p></p><p>A shriek, a blur, and the sound of flesh being torn apart told him that Felonca was next to him, and by the gargling screams, another one of the creatures had met her wrath. As Nayu spun away from one of the creatures attempting to dive on him, he saw Chou, Liu, and even Captain Li all running towards him, weapons at the ready. Two vargouilles dive towards the three warriors, only to be quickly dispatched by Chou’s sword and Liu’s fists.</p><p></p><p>The six remaining vargouilles had so far remained far and above the fray, watching, observing. Even before their errant fire-trailing comrade had fallen from the air, the six split up, all giving the same high pitched screech... a signal to their master. Two then dove towards the intended target, both managing to grab and bite Nayu several times. Somehow, the young sorcerer managed to resist the poison dripping from their foul lips. Two then dove towards Felonca, deeming her a threat to their mission of assassination, while two others dove loosely towards Captain Li, their paths errant enough that they could strike out at Chou and Liu as well. </p><p></p><p>Nayu heard Felonca give a loud yell of pain, before she spun herself around, her warfans cutting one of her tormentors in half. Nayu himself wasn’t paying much attention to that, or even the two vargouilles that were still swirling about his head. Instead, he looked towards a lone figure, at the far end of the hall, a large, confident smile on the man’s lips.</p><p></p><p>“Shikai,” Hu Mang called, walking towards them slowly. The calm tread of his steps echoing along the walls made an uncomfortable contrast to the noise of combat. “My brother... close your eyes and admit its over!”</p><p></p><p><em>Ah... this is why...</em> Nayu thought, just as he saw a bright flash of light seem to lance from Hu Mang’s hands, directly towards him. Nayu felt a sudden change in his feet, as if momentarily they were rooted into the hard marble floor. His arms slowed, even as the vargouilles he was dodging slashed about him faster and faster. A foreign presence, a magical presence, was inching its way into his body. With every ounce of his mind’s strength, he tried to push the magical invasion away, but found his movements growing slower and slower. No more than mere moments later, Nayu was frozen in place, unable to move as the vargouilles swooped down for yet another attack (Hu Mang cast <em>hold person</em> on Nayu, to make it easier for the vargouilles to feed.).</p><p></p><p><em>Just lovely,</em> his mind gave an acidic rant. <em>I’m going to have a front-row seat to a banquet where the main course is me. Dammit!</em> </p><p></p><p>Despite his paralysis, his tactile senses still functioned, and Nayu felt a scurrying on his back. Kenzi had come with him, hidden within the folds of his cloak. Slight feelings of worry seemed to be on the edge of Nayu’s mind, and the lizard’s rapid scurries spoke of confusion. <em>I wish Kenzi could just leap on that bastard and eat his eye,</em> Nayu thought as the screaming vargouilles drew closer.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, the hurried scurries stopped, and Nayu, for just a moment, saw his pet skitter across the floor, headed directly for the prince.</p><p></p><p>Who suddenly vanishes without a trace.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><em>If these things didn’t have big teeth, this’d almost be like practice!</em> Despite the combat, Felonca had trouble controlling a slight giggle. With ease she swatted the vargouilles around her out of the sky. Her cat-like eyes then flashed about, and saw two flashing down towards a curiously still Nayu. <em>Why isn’t he swinging?</em> she thought as she brought herself up to a run and did a spinning backflip <em>over</em> the motionless sorcerer, her warfans extended, slashing apart both vargouilles with ease. </p><p></p><p>“Find him! He turned invisible!” she heard the Captain yell, the older man gesturing out into the wide expanse of the vast hall before them. With nary a sound, she landed on the ground behind Nayu, her nose sniffing, smelling the air as Li, Liu and Chou finished the creatures by them.</p><p></p><p>Hu Mang had worn a very distinctive – and powerful – perfume this day... from across the hall she had been able to smell it. Her nose sifted through the scents and odors, trying to find it again. But the rush of the rich, wealthy and mighty had stirred up all of their perfumes, and the vargouilles themselves as well as the now opened coffin added even more stench to the area. For a few feet, she thought she could track him, before she lost the trail.</p><p></p><p>Just in time for an explosion.</p><p></p><p>A blast of fire nearly forty feet wide exploded in the midst of Liu, Chou and Li, sending all three flying. At that moment, barely thirty feet from Felonca, Hu Mang’s shimmering form returned to normal, a cackle on his lips. He was still cackling when she leapt at him, and for a moment, Felonca thought she had him cold, as his eyes grew big with terror just the second before she struck.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, his reflexes were almost as quick as hers, and he suddenly dropped low, causing both her and her blades to fly above his head. As she landed, she heard a familiar crackle of fire.</p><p></p><p><em>Nayu! Good! Fry the...AAAUUUGGGH!</em></p><p></p><p>Pain shot through her back, radiating out to her arms and her legs. Pain that she’d never felt before, as a new smell overpowered her... the smell of burnt fur and flesh. <em>I’ve been burned,</em> her mind recorded numbly as she desperately dropped to the ground herself. Her eyes found Hu, his hand still outstretched, the last energies of the <em>scorching ray</em> still on his fingertips, a mocking grin on his face.</p><p></p><p>“I am faster than you think, kitty-” he started to gloat, before his own words were swallowed by a cry of pain as a blast of flames blackened his calf and robes. Felonca didn’t need to look to know the blast came from Nayu. </p><p></p><p>Slowly, she pulled herself up. She could feel the cold air burning her back where Hu Mang’s blast had scalded her skin. The pain was now dull, aching, forced to the back from the needs of combat. Her giddy grin was gone, replaced by a look that could only be described as deadly.</p><p></p><p>“The game is up, Your Highness,” she started advancing towards him, warfans at the ready. She heard the hurried steps of sandals headed towards Nayu. <em>Good... Liu will heal him. Its you versus me, Chou and Li. You can’t win...</em> To her surprise, the young man gave her a sideways look of doubt, before he raised his hands upwards...</p><p></p><p>For a second, Felonca thought the blow to her back might have hit her head as well. It seemed as if the floor was tilting. A few seconds later, she realized with horror it wasn’t a hallucination, as several floor tiles rose suddenly and precipitously. With an explosion of marble dust, dirt, and stone, a creature from her nightmares roared forth.</p><p></p><p>It was some thirty feet long, with at worm-like body. At least a hundred legs ran along its sides as it clattered across the floor. From there, however, any comparison to a natural centipede ended. From its head came sharp, vicious horns, its misshapen mandibles dripping poisonous goo. Spikes and stingers seemed to arise from random points along its body, as its entire quivering form gave a gigantic hiss.</p><p></p><p>Just as quickly, the mass red beast charged directly towards Felonca. She tried to jump aside, but her battered back betrayed her. She felt the horrible jaws clamp around her leg, as the beast began to shake, ripping and shredding her limb.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><em>FELONCA!</em> Nayu panicked. Hurriedly, with little thought and even less control, Nayu marshaled the magical forces within his body. With a crackle of fire and energy, another long tongue of flame lashed out, this time against the unholy centipede that threatened his friend. The beast reared, dropping the hengeyokai as if she were a rag doll before spinning around, now charging towards its new tormentor.</p><p></p><p>“Get him! Get him!” Nayu shouted, pointing towards Hu Mang. <em>Kill him before he can call another one! I can deal with this!</em> a part of Nayu’s brain shouted, before his senses returned and yelled that it was all bravado. The sorcerer nervously pulled out his morningstar, as Liu adopted a combat position in preparation for the inevitable.</p><p></p><p>Twin battlecries rose from the other end of the hall, as father and son tore towards the spellcasting prince. The young man quickly saw that the distance between himself and Li and Chou was too small, and he turned to run. The old captain skidded to a halt, and with a mighty heave, threw his blade at the retreating spellcaster, hitting him in the middle of his back. With a yell, Hu Mang fell to the ground. Chou then finished his father’s work, cleaning removing the prince’s head.</p><p></p><p><em>So the old man has uses,</em> Nayu thought grimly, the centipede’s charge now slowing to a skitter. Felonca’s worn and shattered form was already up, stumbling towards the creature, as both Li and Chou now charged this last foe.</p><p></p><p><em>It’ll be over soon,</em> Nayu thought. His mind had yet to realize that even after the fight, there would have to be delicate explanations of many rather unexplainable events. Li and Chou meanwhile started slashing into the beast. And the beast turned.</p><p></p><p>By the look on Li’s face, it had clearly happened too quickly to register in the old man’s mind. One moment he was slashing the beast’s side, the next, its jaws clamped on his midsection, and with a mighty rend, tore him in half in a spray of blood and bone. Only a split second later, as the beast continued its spin, did it encounter the wrong side of Felonca’s warfans. The head of the foul creature sailed through the air, as its segmented body fell to the side, twitching in death throes.</p><p></p><p>“Gods,” Nayu heard Felonca whisper, the new silence in the hall carrying even the slightest noise. The sorcerer then looked towards Chou. The fighter stood, like a mighty oak, his face of stone, swaying lightly in some unseen breeze. His eyes, however, were riveted on his father.</p><p></p><p>The clattering ring of steel on stone echoed through the hall as the son dropped his blade, even has his cold, dead father’s hands still clenched his.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emperor Valerian, post: 1975706, member: 15043"] [b]Nayu’s Worries Confirmed... and the Death of a Friend... sorta...[/b] Before the explosion of movement and shrieks, Nayu had one split second to see the ten shriveled heads, all mashed into the coffin alongside the embalmed body. [i]Oh great. Vargouilles. As if anything worse could happen.[/i] Nayu’s reflexes were fortunately as quick as his mind, as he twisted out of the way of the ten creatures bursting for the air. The words on his lips changed from chants to calls for magical fire, and a long tongue of flame lashed out towards the nearest of the beasties. A high pitched, desperate scream echoed in the air, as the creature, its now burning hair streaming behind it like a falling star, careened about the room before slamming into a wall and falling to the ground. A shriek, a blur, and the sound of flesh being torn apart told him that Felonca was next to him, and by the gargling screams, another one of the creatures had met her wrath. As Nayu spun away from one of the creatures attempting to dive on him, he saw Chou, Liu, and even Captain Li all running towards him, weapons at the ready. Two vargouilles dive towards the three warriors, only to be quickly dispatched by Chou’s sword and Liu’s fists. The six remaining vargouilles had so far remained far and above the fray, watching, observing. Even before their errant fire-trailing comrade had fallen from the air, the six split up, all giving the same high pitched screech... a signal to their master. Two then dove towards the intended target, both managing to grab and bite Nayu several times. Somehow, the young sorcerer managed to resist the poison dripping from their foul lips. Two then dove towards Felonca, deeming her a threat to their mission of assassination, while two others dove loosely towards Captain Li, their paths errant enough that they could strike out at Chou and Liu as well. Nayu heard Felonca give a loud yell of pain, before she spun herself around, her warfans cutting one of her tormentors in half. Nayu himself wasn’t paying much attention to that, or even the two vargouilles that were still swirling about his head. Instead, he looked towards a lone figure, at the far end of the hall, a large, confident smile on the man’s lips. “Shikai,” Hu Mang called, walking towards them slowly. The calm tread of his steps echoing along the walls made an uncomfortable contrast to the noise of combat. “My brother... close your eyes and admit its over!” [i]Ah... this is why...[/i] Nayu thought, just as he saw a bright flash of light seem to lance from Hu Mang’s hands, directly towards him. Nayu felt a sudden change in his feet, as if momentarily they were rooted into the hard marble floor. His arms slowed, even as the vargouilles he was dodging slashed about him faster and faster. A foreign presence, a magical presence, was inching its way into his body. With every ounce of his mind’s strength, he tried to push the magical invasion away, but found his movements growing slower and slower. No more than mere moments later, Nayu was frozen in place, unable to move as the vargouilles swooped down for yet another attack (Hu Mang cast [i]hold person[/i] on Nayu, to make it easier for the vargouilles to feed.). [i]Just lovely,[/i] his mind gave an acidic rant. [i]I’m going to have a front-row seat to a banquet where the main course is me. Dammit![/i] Despite his paralysis, his tactile senses still functioned, and Nayu felt a scurrying on his back. Kenzi had come with him, hidden within the folds of his cloak. Slight feelings of worry seemed to be on the edge of Nayu’s mind, and the lizard’s rapid scurries spoke of confusion. [i]I wish Kenzi could just leap on that bastard and eat his eye,[/i] Nayu thought as the screaming vargouilles drew closer. Suddenly, the hurried scurries stopped, and Nayu, for just a moment, saw his pet skitter across the floor, headed directly for the prince. Who suddenly vanishes without a trace. [i]If these things didn’t have big teeth, this’d almost be like practice![/i] Despite the combat, Felonca had trouble controlling a slight giggle. With ease she swatted the vargouilles around her out of the sky. Her cat-like eyes then flashed about, and saw two flashing down towards a curiously still Nayu. [i]Why isn’t he swinging?[/i] she thought as she brought herself up to a run and did a spinning backflip [i]over[/i] the motionless sorcerer, her warfans extended, slashing apart both vargouilles with ease. “Find him! He turned invisible!” she heard the Captain yell, the older man gesturing out into the wide expanse of the vast hall before them. With nary a sound, she landed on the ground behind Nayu, her nose sniffing, smelling the air as Li, Liu and Chou finished the creatures by them. Hu Mang had worn a very distinctive – and powerful – perfume this day... from across the hall she had been able to smell it. Her nose sifted through the scents and odors, trying to find it again. But the rush of the rich, wealthy and mighty had stirred up all of their perfumes, and the vargouilles themselves as well as the now opened coffin added even more stench to the area. For a few feet, she thought she could track him, before she lost the trail. Just in time for an explosion. A blast of fire nearly forty feet wide exploded in the midst of Liu, Chou and Li, sending all three flying. At that moment, barely thirty feet from Felonca, Hu Mang’s shimmering form returned to normal, a cackle on his lips. He was still cackling when she leapt at him, and for a moment, Felonca thought she had him cold, as his eyes grew big with terror just the second before she struck. Unfortunately, his reflexes were almost as quick as hers, and he suddenly dropped low, causing both her and her blades to fly above his head. As she landed, she heard a familiar crackle of fire. [i]Nayu! Good! Fry the...AAAUUUGGGH![/i] Pain shot through her back, radiating out to her arms and her legs. Pain that she’d never felt before, as a new smell overpowered her... the smell of burnt fur and flesh. [i]I’ve been burned,[/i] her mind recorded numbly as she desperately dropped to the ground herself. Her eyes found Hu, his hand still outstretched, the last energies of the [i]scorching ray[/i] still on his fingertips, a mocking grin on his face. “I am faster than you think, kitty-” he started to gloat, before his own words were swallowed by a cry of pain as a blast of flames blackened his calf and robes. Felonca didn’t need to look to know the blast came from Nayu. Slowly, she pulled herself up. She could feel the cold air burning her back where Hu Mang’s blast had scalded her skin. The pain was now dull, aching, forced to the back from the needs of combat. Her giddy grin was gone, replaced by a look that could only be described as deadly. “The game is up, Your Highness,” she started advancing towards him, warfans at the ready. She heard the hurried steps of sandals headed towards Nayu. [i]Good... Liu will heal him. Its you versus me, Chou and Li. You can’t win...[/i] To her surprise, the young man gave her a sideways look of doubt, before he raised his hands upwards... For a second, Felonca thought the blow to her back might have hit her head as well. It seemed as if the floor was tilting. A few seconds later, she realized with horror it wasn’t a hallucination, as several floor tiles rose suddenly and precipitously. With an explosion of marble dust, dirt, and stone, a creature from her nightmares roared forth. It was some thirty feet long, with at worm-like body. At least a hundred legs ran along its sides as it clattered across the floor. From there, however, any comparison to a natural centipede ended. From its head came sharp, vicious horns, its misshapen mandibles dripping poisonous goo. Spikes and stingers seemed to arise from random points along its body, as its entire quivering form gave a gigantic hiss. Just as quickly, the mass red beast charged directly towards Felonca. She tried to jump aside, but her battered back betrayed her. She felt the horrible jaws clamp around her leg, as the beast began to shake, ripping and shredding her limb. [i]FELONCA![/i] Nayu panicked. Hurriedly, with little thought and even less control, Nayu marshaled the magical forces within his body. With a crackle of fire and energy, another long tongue of flame lashed out, this time against the unholy centipede that threatened his friend. The beast reared, dropping the hengeyokai as if she were a rag doll before spinning around, now charging towards its new tormentor. “Get him! Get him!” Nayu shouted, pointing towards Hu Mang. [i]Kill him before he can call another one! I can deal with this![/i] a part of Nayu’s brain shouted, before his senses returned and yelled that it was all bravado. The sorcerer nervously pulled out his morningstar, as Liu adopted a combat position in preparation for the inevitable. Twin battlecries rose from the other end of the hall, as father and son tore towards the spellcasting prince. The young man quickly saw that the distance between himself and Li and Chou was too small, and he turned to run. The old captain skidded to a halt, and with a mighty heave, threw his blade at the retreating spellcaster, hitting him in the middle of his back. With a yell, Hu Mang fell to the ground. Chou then finished his father’s work, cleaning removing the prince’s head. [i]So the old man has uses,[/i] Nayu thought grimly, the centipede’s charge now slowing to a skitter. Felonca’s worn and shattered form was already up, stumbling towards the creature, as both Li and Chou now charged this last foe. [i]It’ll be over soon,[/i] Nayu thought. His mind had yet to realize that even after the fight, there would have to be delicate explanations of many rather unexplainable events. Li and Chou meanwhile started slashing into the beast. And the beast turned. By the look on Li’s face, it had clearly happened too quickly to register in the old man’s mind. One moment he was slashing the beast’s side, the next, its jaws clamped on his midsection, and with a mighty rend, tore him in half in a spray of blood and bone. Only a split second later, as the beast continued its spin, did it encounter the wrong side of Felonca’s warfans. The head of the foul creature sailed through the air, as its segmented body fell to the side, twitching in death throes. “Gods,” Nayu heard Felonca whisper, the new silence in the hall carrying even the slightest noise. The sorcerer then looked towards Chou. The fighter stood, like a mighty oak, his face of stone, swaying lightly in some unseen breeze. His eyes, however, were riveted on his father. The clattering ring of steel on stone echoed through the hall as the son dropped his blade, even has his cold, dead father’s hands still clenched his. [/QUOTE]
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