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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Funeris" data-source="post: 2595221" data-attributes="member: 22792">Chapter 2: Journey into Darkness Continued (Concluded)The Inquisitor charged across the bridge slamming into Cassock of Cael.  The Priest of Death stumbled backward and shifted his weight, spinning to the right along with the heavily armored warrior.  Stumbling down the bank, the Inquisitor flipped and rolled, colliding with the river.  There he lay, disarmed and on his back, arms flailing uselessly against the air.Cassock stood, grasping the next Inquisitor with his bare hand, divine energy exploded outward before withdrawing back into the priest along with the Inquisitors life-energy.  The soldier collapsed, lifeless.  Cassock grinned haughtily before realizing the damage was already done.  Being forced away from the bridge had allowed the group of Inquisitors to the other side.  Now they swarmed about like angry wasps, their bastard swords the equivalent of painful stingers.  Gritting his teeth, Cassock dove back into battle.The flaming orb dissipated; the spell had run its course.  Leiban stood, his flesh charred and smoking, grimacing as the parched skin split open and bled.  He hefted his blade again and dropped it just as quickly.  Another of Ana’s arrows sprouted from his chest.  A slick line of vitae slid down his chin.  Shaking, Leiban lifted the sword again, a third arrow lodged in his body.  With a wobble, he fell, swallowed by death.Ana shouted with glee and momentarily forgot the unstoppable tide of battle ebbing toward her.  A bastard sword reminded her and re-educated the rogue.  It dug voraciously into her hip, lifting the light rogue into the air and dropping her some feet away.  Her head struggled upward; her hand struggled for her sword.  Spinum leapt in between the two projecting another rush of fire.  The fire singed but did not stop the war tank.  Its sword split the mage’s abdomen, cleaving through stomach and intestine.  Spinum slumped.Gabrielle loosed another wooden projectile.  It clattered harmlessly off the armor of the tank ahead of her.  She scrambled backward, but not enough to escape the bite of the very solid blade.  Arching backward unnaturally, her body fell to the earth.  A thick line of blood congealed across her chest and she squirmed farther away, the black, dealer of death closing.  She grasped helplessly at her dagger, unable to unsheathe it as another blow arced inward.Aramil’s blade blocked the attack, his arm nearly numbing from the force of the blow.  He pressed in to force the Inquisitor back but the war tank would not move.  Rather, it unleashed a flurry of attacks that decimated the roguish half-elf’s defense and his body.  The rogue was forced to duck the final swing, falling to the side.  A spray of blood blinded the half-elf.  Within the crimson darkness, he heard Gabrielle scream.Cassock darted in between the two Inquisitors focusing upon him.  Even with his combat training, Cassock was pressed to block both skilled warriors.  Their blades struck true more often than his war-mace.  Besides that painful fact, each warrior had a solid steel shield which prevented most of the priest’s attacks.  There were two of them, both well-trained in tactical combat and now, Cassock was beginning to tire.  The priest bellowed in rage as another sword shredded through his chain maille and his skin.Ana slammed bodily into the Inquisitor, the war tank, pressing him away from the mage.  She maniacally swung her blade, landing a minor scrape before feeling Ara’kull’s retribution.Spinum grabbed the moment, scrabbling away from the battle, his intestines cupped tightly by his hand.  He slowed to a stop by the frail form of Ariel.  The child stood at the edge of the forest, dagger clutched in her hand and wavering.  The mage thought momentarily about fleeing into the woods, this was not his battle at any rate.  But the quivering child slowed his feet to a standstill.  The mage turned back toward the battle and ran through his mind for some miracle, some tide-turning tactic.Aramil wiped the crimson fluid from his eyes.  A quick glance alerted him to Gabrielle’s unconsciousness.  The halfling lied unnaturally on the ground, a gaping wound like a hinge in her throat.  The rogue glanced toward the priest.  Cassock was on the end of a losing battle against three powerful opponents.  And without the priest, Gabrielle would die.  Aramil stood, blade drawn and charged the ring of warriors around the priest.  From the stream, the downed Inquisitor finally managed to roll over.  He stood, wobbly, and scrambled up the bank.  Three of his companions were battling the Priest of Cael.  One lie dead near the bridge and the last was overpowering the human woman.  The Inquisitor beamed, it was a good day to kill.  He stalked toward the half-elf, as quietly as his armor allowed.In the center of the triangle of warriors, Cassock dropped to his knees.  The cleric’s divine assistance was exhausted for a day.  His bones, his muscles were also spent.  He wished for quiet.  He wished for peace.  Cassock wished for darkness.  Above his head, whirling blades of tyranny moved ever closer, searching for a kill.--oo—oo—“Arakull may yet bless you this day, Tobus.”  End-bringer had not released his grip upon the cleric; had actually intensified the grip.  One of the invisible chains had squirmed farther down Tobus’ throat nearly cutting off the flow of air.  Instead, the chain burrowed deeper within the cleric if he fought back.  It allowed air to pass, if a bit painfully.Tobus tried to answer and a spasm blood poured from his mouth.   Pain exploded across his nerves; the chain dug deeper.  He slumped backward, all the fight leaving him.  Unconscious coalesced on the edges of his vision, refusing to take the priest until after the battle.Somewhere, a rasping laugh echoed in his mind; End-bringer’s malicious glee.--oo—oo--</blockquote>

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