Warriors Of The Coast

[stonegod]

He know what was happening before he saw it. His heart began racing the moment he heard the sounds. The sounds were part of any man or woman who had been in the Last War, and would remain with them forever.

The sound of fighting. And dying.

"Stop them the best you can! Disable the Flamists, but kill only if threatened. Show them their folly, but make sure they're alive to recognize it!"

His heart raced. It pained. Human, khoravars, halforks, all killing each other for foolishness. Not monstrous threat. Just the stupidity of a madman.

Ari was going to have to end it.

As he rushed, darkness surrounded him, the channeling of his gift to give him vigor. Onyx ran with him, and combined with the dread look on the hunter's face, put fear into many that looked. A quick quaff from a potion gave him speed, and a swift chant cursed any that even thought to harm him with lethargy. Or so he hoped.

He was going to end this. Take out the head.... He hoped he could incapacitate Nevillom without having to hurt him too much.

 

[DEFCON 1]

The chaos and confusion lasted several minutes. In that time, several good men and women were felled by bolts that by rights should never have been fired. When one of their own... the templar Jacoby... was dropped by a bolt to the eye... Horatio Donovan immediately sprung to action to quickly incapacitate the head of the crusade. All told, several men and women were injured and four of them were killed. A dark day. A dark day indeed.

The eighty or more people in the jungle that day will always take with them the memories of what belief without active thought can lead. Elder Samuel Nevillom believed in something so much, he was blinded to the truth. And what could have been avoided was not.

***

Jango sprinted down the stairs and entered the large chamber that was covered wall-to-wall with an intricate dragonmark pattern. "Yes. We are close. Through the door we will find him... further along." Jango could almost exeperience the feeling of glee that his second skin was feeling... like a psychic impression was laying over his mind. It was the same feeling he experienced when he woke up in the pirate's temple and first felt the creature as a part of him. A feeling of freedom. Of power. Of release. And now that same feeling was upon him again.

And Jango now wondered if this was really something good after all? It didn't necessarily feel... right. Was learning about his mark really this important?

He stood thinking for a second, and suddenly it knew of his indecision too. "No! You will move forward! Forward I say! We came this far to learn, AND YOU WILL LEARN!!!"

And for the first time... Jango began moving through no will of his own. And his body approached the door beyond the chamber and turned the knob...

***

Zendarrill Lorren was looking down forlornly at Elder Nevillom, who has regain consciousness from the blow Donovan struck. The leader of the province's Order of the Silver Flame was throwing every obscentity and command at him that he could. The Valenar tried to speak quietly to him... explain things... but the man was suffering a complete mental breakdown. And he wouldn't hear a thing.

"Let him be." Cerrill Maise called to the elf. "There's no speaking to him. Let him rant himself to sleep." The Exorcist motioned for Lorren to come back over, and he nodded once and walked away from the broken Elder. "I am sorry for this. His devotion ran deep. I had known him for many, many years. I almost wish that--"

Zendarrill stopped short and cut himself off. As the others looks at him... the elf's eyes unfocused... as though he was staring off and looking elsewhere. A few of the Daggerspell Mages had seen this of their master before and immediately moved forward to ask what was wrong. But almost immediately, Zendarrill snapped back to the present and a look of concern was now on his face.

"We must go back to the temple. Now."

***

Jango Silversun was now genuinely frightened. His body wasn't responding to his mind. His greatest fear had been realized... he wasn't in control. His entire life had been spent trying to gather a measure of control over his feelings on why he was marked as he was. There had to have been a reason, a plan, an explanation. He fought his fear his entire life that others would hold him in contempt for who he was and the mark that he had. And he thought he had found some answers when it had spoken to him the first time. It made sense. It put things plain. It kept him in perspective. And he had finally he had a grasp on things.

But now he realized... as his body moved through countless tunnels and doors... that he had a grasp on nothing. And it... had lied.

***

The rush of Guardians and many members of the Silver Flame back to the overgrown ruined temple was a sight to behold... because they were all following Zendarrill Lorren who was moving at top speed. Who was flying at top speed. Who had actually had transformed into...

...a dragon. A god's honest silver dragon. Flying as fast as he could back to the temple. And when everyone witnessed the polymorph that occurred, and the Valenar elf became a mature silver dragon... all of them knew that this temple business was the real deal.

And Khalia ir'Indari... the young woman wise beyond her years... flashed through several images, feelings and words that had occured over the past few weeks. And one name came to the forefront of her mind.

Jango.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Through the last door Jango walked, and the young elf came upon a large circular room. The ceiling rose about twenty feet in the air, and in the center of the stone floor was a large circular seal. The seal was about eight feet across, and Jango could see that it looked like the same designs that were used as locks in the previous temple he and the others had gone to. Only this time... one who knew the words that sealed the demons in... was on the outside. And Jango found himself speaking and casting spells that he never knew before.

And the seal began to glow and a low hum began to sound.

***

Rogan and Skarg ran along, following the flight path of what had been Zendarrill Lorren... but now was something... much different. "Did-- you -- know-- huh huh-- he-- was-- a-- dragon-- huh huh?" the halfork spit out to Rogan as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

As Ari and Khalia ran side by side with Ari's companion Onyx trailing slightly behind... Ari couldn't help but think that when the elf had said "This duty... Sur'Kil requests of you." he might very well have been speaking of himself.

Aern, Donovan, and Jina all followed the pack as well, each of them with their own thoughts of seeing a real, live dragon... not something most people would ever see. The myths and legends were great... but this was no myth.

***

The silver dragon flew at full speed to the overgrown ruins, then morphed back into elven form as he arrived at the door. The now-returned Zendarrill Lorren strode headlong down the stairs and began rushing through the complex as fast as he could move... knowing that something that should not have been happening, was about to. And as he moved through the tunnels, one thing he became aware of.

"That humming sound... it is getting louder."

***

The seal began to slowly spin, and split, and slide, and turn. For the first time in millenia it was unlocking itself again. And Jango could do nothing but watch helplessly as the voice in his head continued to make him intone the words that continued the process. And as the humming grew louder, the glowing got brighter, and the cracks in the seal began to open... Jango felt himself starting to rip apart.

"Yes! A new form for me below! Rise! Come to me! Rid me of this pale body and give me one anew!"

And the second skin that had attached itself to him in the other temple slowly began pulling itself off of him... oozing to the floor to the hands that were being seen, reaching through the cracks in the seal.

***

The Valenar rushed into the chamber as the humming sound grew louder and louder and louder. He immediately took in the sights of the room... a poor, young elf virtually melting before his eyes, as a thin, filmy skin was peeling itself off of him and reaching for the eight foot seal in the center of the room. The seal which every second was opening by bits and pieces as the puzzle sections slid into place. And from below, hands, tentacles, fingers, and other body parts began grasping for the freedom they had been denied for so long.

And with a transformation back into his regular form, the silver dragon Sur'Kil began trying to save the world.