P.S.S. "The Legend Of The Primal Keys"::Ch.2 a- The Truth [IC]

[Sutoratosu]

"Oh... a game of catch..." the beast said. "how kind of you!" he lashed out with his arm and swatted the HED clear out of the window, where it exploded outside and shook the house to it's very foundations. The smoke began to funnel out of the broken view point, no longer enclosed in the room... and when it cleared... The Demon was gone.

"Get back here!" Aaron shouted as he turned around in circles, trying to find the bastard. His hands crackled with lightning.

"Well..." a familiar voice called. "If you insist... but I'm going to take a parting gift this time! HAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA HAAA HA!"

As the Cackling ended, the Demon appeared once more, standing hunched in the door way to the living room. He extended his arms and made a strange gesture... a moment later, Muya, Atton, Samiel, Gilwyn, and Esmerelda, all were engulfed in a black flame, and then disappeared, not even leaving cinders behind in their wake.

"There we are..." the Demon chimed. He turned his sights on Aaron.

"If you tasty little morsels want to save your allies," he began, taking a deep bow, his tail slapping the floor repeatedly. "Then go to Castle Nix, there the Glorious Lord Rossephus awaits your unconditional surrender! Fail to show up, And I will gut and butcher them at dawn... it shall be a Fast-breaking feast worthy of my master!" With that said, he again vanished, this time in a black flame similar to the one he used to (Presumably) abduct the others... and the group was left standing there alone. the fire was gone, as well as the spit... there was no trace that either had been there at all... Except for the cooking pot containing Rodriguez's remains. Aaron walked over to it, knowing that none of this had been an illusion. He was visibly shaking. his face was unreadable, but he was grinding his teeth... and the sigils on his palms were blazing with life. He was blistering with wrath on the inside. This thing... whatever the hell it had been... A man was killed and stewed by it... it was inhuman, completely inhuman... to do that to someone, even think about it... No. something clicked in Aaron's mind then. something that hadn't clicked before. This is apparently the type of shit that Rossephus endorses. A world where right and wrong don't even mean two flying shits, a world where man kind is terrorized by beast born of darkness... Aaron had had enough after seeing this. All the teachings his (adoptive) parents had ever drilled into him all came flooding back now, about how strength is meant to protect others, about heroism and selflessness and all the other ideals of the Grass Sea and the Tundra. He had decided right then and there. He would no longer bitch about anything, not about responsibility, not about fate, nothing. because you know what? what he fucking wanted didn't matter. what these other people still standing in this room didn't matter either. He had forgotten that just a while ago, when he had been a brat... but now it was clear as day in his mind again. Rossephus had to be killed, for the good of the world and humanity. Aaron had been given proof of that now. and he intended to take fucking action.

He reached out his hand in a wide arc, a wave of teal energy issued forth and engulfed the pot sitting before him. in it's place was now a funerary Urn, ornately carved with gold and silver. He reached down and picked it up, Addressing everyone as he did so.

"before we do anything else," he began "We're going to give this man, whoever he might have been, a proper funeral. It's not up for a vote." with that he began walking out of the room, the elaborate urn under his arm.

"Aaron.. don't you think we honestly have more important things..." Eric began as he passed by him.

"Just because we're hunting a monster..." he replied, stopping for a moment. "Doesn't mean that we must become monsters in the process."

"Look, what happened to this man is horrible, yes," Eric said. "And he should be given a proper funeral, yes, but Aaron... the world itself is at stake... can we not simply wait until a more opportune time to put him to rest?" Aaron stared the other young man hard in the eye.

"If it were you in this urn, I would've had you in the ground and your last rites preformed within a day." He said. "That is the one of the benefits of having family and friends... to have someone who will care enough about you to not allow you to become carrion for the vultures when you're gone. And since there seems to be no one else... We're going to give this man that benefit now." He then left the room.

[K_H]

Ko'luki snarled.

"Darn it..."

Ko'luki then turned to those of them that were still there.

"My fellow Travelers, i was going to bring us to my Basement Laboratory when we were so impolitely interrupted by that fiend. Since some of us have been abducted, I think that we need those Blueprints of mine more than ever now. As soon as the Funeral is done, I want to take everyone downstairs."

this would have seemed crazy to them had they not seen Ko'luki kneel down in front of one of his Rugs before Aaron informed them about the Demon.

"You see, there's a Secret Room in the Foyer,"

Ko'luki held up his House Key.

"And this is no ordinary Key."

And with that, Ko'luki rotated the ornate pattern on the wide part of the handle of the Key ninety degrees so that it formed a cross, the Key's Midbar extended beyond the tumblers, and the end of the Key opposite the Handle had an extra tumbler that slid out of the existing tumblers. The meaning of this was easily visible to those who saw the new form of the Key. Ko'luki then turned the Key's Handle back to the original orientation, restoring the original shape of the Key when the Midbar retracted.

Edited September 17, 2014 by K_H

[Supernovae]

Everything seemed like a blur. Before the young Ekarder could realize what was happening the beast had made it's move. It had abducted several of his companions, including Esmeralda. And to make matters worse it had killed the one man he had grown to like in that city. Before shit had hit the fan, Rodriguez was the only man to show Maximus any kindness. And now he had been mutilated, destroyed, and cooked like a rabbit.

The others had begun talking, but Maximus couldn't listen. His ears were too busy ringing. The only word he had heard from Aaron was 'burial.' The Ekarder took his spear and stabbed it into the ground. "Give. Me. A shovel." The words came out like venom. His rage was hardly a secret to anyone in the room. His face was a beat red, while his body was trembling. But, while the rest of his body showed his rage, those who could see his eyes would understand his sadness."He ... he was my friend, if anyone should bury him it should be me."

[Chevaleresse]

Matrim stared at the pot in a mixture of horror, sorrow, and anger. "We should bury him. It's bad enough what happened to Rodriguez, we shouldn't leave him without his eternal rest."

[K_H]

Ko'luki heard Maximus ask for a shovel.

"Maximus, I'll go get a shovel for you."

Ko'luki then headed through his Living Room, exited his home through the Back Door, turned right, entered the Tool Shed, grabbed a Shovel, and headed back into his home. Ko'luki then handed the Shovel to Maximus.

"Here."

[Supernovae]

Maximus nodded at the alchemist and quickly made his way outside, searching for a soft patch of dirt. When he found the patch of dirt he looked down, still in disbelief about what had happened he closed his eyes to hold back any more tears. Then he made his first stab into the ground. The stab into the dirt was aggressive and almost reckless. He continued with the same motion, furiously ripping the dirt from the ground and tossing it over his shoulder with reckless abandon.

[Sutoratosu]

Meanwhile... in an Undisclosed Location miles to the north...

Samiel, Atton, Muya, Gilwyn, and Esmerelda each found themselves falling face first into the floors of separate jail cells after the Dark fire that had abducted them finally spat them out into their destination.

"Damnit..." Atton snarled as he got up. "that whore son laid out quite the trap... and we walked right into it..."

"But there's no way in hell we're going to give up..." Samiel added. "The others will be more than enough to help Divinius... but we need to get of here, now."

"Agreed..." Said Gilwyn as he sat up, his nose was smeared with blood. he placed his hand up to his nostrils, trying to stop the flow. He seemed to have fallen harder than anyone else.

"Well, hello there!" a new voice called out, interrupting the conversation. A wiry man walked into the cell block. He wore a bright shirt that was stained with every colored hue imaginable, a strange hat atop his head to match it. His hair was down in a braid like fashion, though not one of them had ever seen this particular style before, with so many strands of hair down up in it. He wore simple, black trousers and leather shoes. on his face he sported a goatee and a slightly zoned out expression.

"Welcome to jail, dudes... and ladies," he continued. he had a strange accent that sounded like it couldn't belong anywhere in the world. "My name is Earl, and I'll be serving as your Warden/ Drug Dealer/ Friend with benefits... if you catch my drift on that last one." he winked at them nonchalantly.

"So..." said Earl. "Any questions? any one looking for them... benefits?"

"I have a question..." Gilwyn spoke up.

"Alriiiiiiiiiight," Earl said. "Shoot, friend."

"Can you let us out of here?" He asked. Earl scratched his chin for a moment, mulling it over.

" 'fraid not, Brah," he answered finally. "If I did that, Master Rossephus would be like, Royally pissed off at me, and then I'd be like, royally fucked... and not in the good way either..." Gilwyn didn't say anything. he had figured that it wouldn't work... but at least now that was one escape method they could cross off the list.

"Alright then," Responded Gilwyn. "How would you like to die then?" The Warden/ Drug Dealer scratched his chin again, going other his option of answers.

"Strangulation maybe?" He said. "I don't know brah, something where I'd pass out first... pretty weird question though." then he turned and walked out of the cell block, calling out as he left.

"I'll bring you all some food in a bit... then we can get to know each other over some Lucy Grass!"

Lucy Grass... well, to Gilwyn, that certainly explained a lot. This Earl guy seemed a bit off... and it was because he was probably hopped up on the stuff just now... it probably also explained his rather weird taste in clothing... and it was also how Gilwyn was going to get them all free from here. If Earl was their warden, then surely he'd have keys... and he had offered in that last bit about friends and benefits... well, it would enough to get him and Gilwyn into close proximity of each other, though the man shuddered at the very thought of having to say 'I accept' to the offer... but it had to be done. He reached down to his belt and pulled out a spool of silvery string, unrolling it to full length and wrapping it around his palms...

"I assume you have something planned..." Samiel said, watching his actions closely, looking for clues to a plot.

"That I do..." Gilwyn sighed. "Though I honestly wish to god that I didn't..."

*****

Back At Ko'Luki's House...

As Maximus continued to dig the grave for the Friend he presumed to be dead, the Shadows by the roadside an in the woods began to stir evermore. Soon the young Ekarder was seeing burst of black movement in his periphery every couple of seconds. and then it stopped completely, and all was still save the wind. The young warrior was almost done with grave, but as he went remove another shovel full from the hole, he couldn't help but feel a presence behind him... If he glanced over his shoulder, he'd probably die of shock from what he'd see.

standing behind him... were beings straight out of bedtime tales... beings that were supposed to never be able to walk the earth again because of Castle Nix... Standing behind him, Grey skinned and shrawled in shadows, teeth red as rubies and eyes like black pits of death... Were at least fifty Men from Nix... and they all had a grin of pure evil spread wide on their faces as they stared down at the man digging the small grave... Ironic, because it might well be his own body lying in it in a few minutes.

[Supernovae]

Maximus kept digging furiously. With each passing swipe of his shovel the Ekarder found his mind to be more at ease. It was an odd thing, really. Manual labor always seemed to soothe the man, bringing him out of even the worst of his dark moments.

Dark moments...

As the young lad kept digging he couldn't help remove that though from his mind. There was something eerie going on, almost as if he was being watched. Finally, Maximus couldn't take it anymore as he decided to glance away from his work, just for a moment.

And that's when he saw them. They were like creatures straight from a nightmare and their were more than he could possibly count. The young Ekarder knew he didn't have much time. If he died, so be it he deserved as much for not being able to protect Rodriguez or any of the others who had been captured. But, the people inside were far too important to fall now.

Maximus picked up the shovel and made his move. The young Ekarder leaped from the hole he had dug and tossed the shovel directly at the nearest monster. Then reached for his spear.

Of course he had left it inside.

He turned back to the house and made a beeline. "RUN!!! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" He called while charging back to the house.

[Chim]

Trystane continued exploring Ko’luki’s house. It was his first time visiting an alchemist and he was curious about the inventions, like that strange key. But the object he was studying right now belonged to the Ekarder that was digging outside. Trystane wanted to help the man, but in the end decided against it and let Maximus deal with his grief. Thus the young hunter was now studying the Drake Lance. It was a very interesting weapon since he heard stories about it back home. And even though the spears he was wielding were made with the highest quality, they looked like firewood compared to Maximus’s weapon. He made a mental note to ask the man if he could try it once.

“RUN!!! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

The loud voice startled Trystane for a moment; he looked outside to see the Ekarder running away from what looked like creatures from nightmares. “Here, catch!” he yelled at Maximus, throwing man’s spear. He then turned back into the house. “C’mon! We got trouble, more monsters!” He held the door open so whoever was still left in the house could escape quickly.

[K_H]

Ko'luki had just kneeled down next to the same rug, when Maximus yelled.

“RUN!!! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

Ko'luki groaned.

"Not another interruption..."

Then, he stood up, pocketed his key again, looked outside of his house, and saw creatures that looked like they came straight out of nightmares.

"Rossephus, you fool..."

Ko'luki then turned and fled from his home, yelling to the others.

"RUN!!!"

Edited September 10, 2014 by K_H

[Sutoratosu]

"STOP RUNNING, DAMNIT!!!" Aaron's voice echoed through the night in a furious tone, seeming to emanate from everywhere at once. needless to say, it got pretty much everyone's attention, including the Nixafarians that were going after Maximus. They all turned to look behind them, seeing the young man a few meters a way, twenty or so fellow Nixes stood behind him at attention... their eyes burned pure white instead of black now.

"Not one of you is going to run away in cowardice!" he roared, prepared to reprimand anyone he had to in accordance with his recently acquired resolve. The Nix that had been going for Maximus all charged towards him now, hands outstretched and grinning evily. Aaron wasn't phased in the least bit. He slammed his left and right hands together in a prayer like fashion, sending out a miniature, Violet shock wave that seemed to startle the Nix. They all stopped in the tracks and began backing away.

"No..." Aaron told them. "You work for us now... and you will be content and obey!" With that said he swung out both arms in wide arcs, unleashing a torrent of white, shining tethers from his chest as a circular glyph hovered in the air, blazing the same bright white as the lines arcing out. Every beam found it's mark in the chest of a Nix, no matter how much they tried to run and hide, one by one, they had all been struck within a few moments. Aaron then held up his hands and clapped them together, forming a cage with his palms like one would when holding an insect. Both the Eyes of Aaron and the Nix, along with the glyph hovering in the air, blazed a bright scarlet. Glyph then faded along with the tethers. All fell silent for a few moments... then the Nix's eyes stopped glowing Scarlet, though now they were a birght white. They began to all assemble infront of him, forming columns of ten across the road and standing at attention just like the ones behind the young man. What Aaron had just did would seem beyond comprehension to most in the group, but to Maximus, it was clear as day what had happened... It was just like the teachers and instructors and bed time stories had all described it as...

Aaron... had just Soul bound himself to each and every one of the men of Nix before them... but Maximus could also tell that this was different from the traditional type of contract that Riders and Wyrms would make... this one was not mutual... it was a dominance oriented one... These things... they were all under the boy's control now.

"Bring me the urn that you made me drop when I was dealing with you all." he ordered the closest nix. it nodded wordlessly and disappeared. a moment later it stood by his side again, holding the ornate funerary urn it's arms. it handed it to master gingerly.

"Good..." The boy said. He stared straight at Maximus, the only other person he saw outside right now "Now then... let's get this funeral over with and head to Castle Nix."

[Supernovae]

Maximus caught his spear and was about to turn around and strike, when he heard a familiar. He turned to see Aaron, make a stand. The Ekarder couldn't help but smile, finally the young boy was ready to lead.

What he saw next completely removed any shred of confidence he had in the boy. Instead of facing them as a man, he stripped them of their free will. Took whatever soul they may have and made it his. Even if they were monsters, no one deserved that fate.

Maximus glared at Aaron. He couldn't be sure if he himself had free will any more. If it were that easy to control fifty of those monsters, than how easy would it be to control he and his companions. He shook his head at the boy, knowing the only way to prove his own freedom was an act of open defiance. "No. I don't know what you think you're doing, but you can't truly be that much of a fool. You think Rossephus wouldn't keep tabs on his own spies? If we keep those monsters around it only relays our position to him," he sighed, hoping that Aaron would be convinced enough to release those monsters.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Supernovae

[Sutoratosu]

((Silence you! You know only a fraction of a fraction of the story behind the Men of Nix... They deserve slavery and much worse for the things they did during the nix war...Don't go getting sympathetic for the shadowy bastards...))

"I'm not stupid enough to have kept his influence within them..." Aaron retorted to Maximus. "He sees nothing through their eyes now, he can't sense anything about their surroundings... and you sound as though you disapprove of what I've done...strange, given the fact that every tale and legend we have depicts these things as complete, horrible terrors that can't be negotiated or reasoned with, only killed... or dominated like I've just done... I mean, if you truly think it's a good idea, then fine, I'll release them all from my control and let them about their ways... and they'll probably kill countless people if I do that, just like they did during the Great war." He stared the young Ekarder right in the eye, and it was obvious he was being sarcastic about that last part about releasing them. He was determined not to back down. He had made a decision when he'd done what he'd just done, and he was going to back it up.

"And even besides..." he continued. "These were indeed left behind as his spies... but he did a shitty job of Soul binding them, I went through their heads... his binds weren't even a contract... they were made with some type of magick, not lenach, but still something I could study and identify... and it was pathetic. there were countless holes and breaks in the spell work where anyone with half a mind could've easily broken in and torn it apart and replaced it with their own version. and that's just what I did just now. And now we at least have something to back ourselves up if needed."

[Chevaleresse]

Matrim offered his opinion. "I don't know, lad. It seems like a being such as Rossephus would be a bit more crafty than that. I wouldn't keep these things around for long." He returned to inside the house after he ran out to see what the commotion was. The bard rummaged around for a bit, then came out with Ko'luki's guitar. "Did anyone have a song in mind?"

[Chim]

Trystane whistled an admiring tone. His plan to let non-combatants escape, if there were any at this point, and regroup at a point where they would’ve the advantage was completely useless. He hadn’t thought about Aaron’s power and to be honest he wouldn’t expect this to happen. “Nice technique! As long as you don’t use it on us,” He turned back to listen to Matrim’s song. “Oh and I agree with the others. Don’t keep them for too long.”

“Matrim, was it? Why don’t you just play you favorite song?”

[Sutoratosu]

Aaron took a step back, appalled that someone would think he'd actually use his power to take control of people...

"What sense would it make for me to control you all?" he asked the three men, a bit of anger in his voice. "I need people who will help me of their own free will, who will offer their own input. So why would I have asked you all to be my council if I were going to just take over your minds in the first place? What purpose would it serve? All I would have then is a bunch of Yes Men who say only want I want to hear instead of what I need to hear... I'd get nowhere..." He glanced out at the columns of Shades standing at attention, disgust on his face.

"And besides," he continued. "I'm fairly certain that even if I wanted to do that, which I don't, for the record, It probably wouldn't even be possible... These... things, somethings different about them... they aren't like people, it's almost like they want someone to come along and control them... once I had them all and the old spell was gone, the things practically invited me into their heads as if I was some Messiah they'd been waiting for centuries for... If I didn't know any better, I'd say that It's almost like they just want someone who can give them some purpose..."

[Chevaleresse]

Matrim made a placating gesture. "Relax, young man, no one accused you of anything. It's a joke. People have been known to make those, you know." He strummed the guitar a couple times, wincing. The bard set to work tuning the instrument for a short time, then cleared his throat. "I don't know how fitting the song is, but I believe it has a suitable tone. It's about an old legend I heard once."

[Supernovae]

Maximus sighed. The highway-man was quite the talented musician, but that still didn't change facts. Rodriguez was dead, most of the more experienced warriors that were with them were captured, and the boy that was supposed to save the world was a power-hungry coward, who fancied himself a messiah. Still, whining wouldn't help him or his group achieve their goals and as long as Maximus could think that Aaron was an ass, he knew he wasn't under his control.

The Ekarder remained silent as he flung his Drake Lance over his back. He looked around at the red eyes staring at their group. It was truly a horrifying predicament to have those things on 'their side.' Maximus wish they had ran. Or died fighting the beasts. But, to have those creatures gleefully looking at him as if they were suddenly his allies. It was infuriating.

Maximus took a small pocket knife out and pointed it at his hand. He knew he couldn't let what had happened to them, happen to himself. Whatever it took, Maximus would be a free man. He stabbed the knife into the back of his hand. The process didn't take long and their was little blood spilled. But, when he was finished he had carved the words, "Live Free. Rodriguez." into the back of his hands.

[Sutoratosu]

"I don't know who the hell you think you are!" a voice called out in the night, interrupting Matrim's song. Cesealia was stalking towards Aaron from the house. the paralysis on her leg seemed to be gone. "But you must be a madman if you'd actually consider soul-binding these...things to yourself, let alone actually using them in combat..." Eric was right behind her as she confronted the young man.

"There are certain unspoken things that shouldn't be done, Aaron..." he added. "And this... this is at the very top of that list."

"God..." Aaron muttered. "Do you all really not see the huge strategic value here? we have an fighting force now, a small army."

"I see no army here," Cesealia scoffed. "Only a group of inhuman monstrosities that will tear every last one of us apart the moment our backs are turned."

"No they won't..." The key bearer said defensively. "Look, we're perfectly safe from them now, look at th-"

"Kill them all... NOW." Cesealia ordered, interrupting him. "The only good nix is a dead one."

"My god, you must be kidding me!" Aaron said. "Just because you're squeamish about them doesn't mean we should throw away the opportunity that's sitting right in front of us!" Eric stepped forward and took over the argument from cesealia at that point.

"Alright..." he retorted. "Here's another reason then: There are these great little things called "Basic human rights"... they make it so that certain things done during war is deemed to be "Criminal"... this is one of those certain things. Using Nix warriors in combat, even against human beings who have sided with this Rossephus guy and are trying to destroy the world, is still a war crime if you do it."

"And do you really think that he won't be willing to resort to such? just look at what happened to this Rodriguez man... obviously the person we're up against doesn't give two flying damns about human life."

"Ah... I see your argument now. So just because our enemy doesn't care about right and wrong, means that we don't have to either?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Yes it is. You know it just as much as I do."

Aaron simply glared at Eric after that remark.

"Don't give me that look." Eric chided. "You said to me that just because we're hunting a monster, doesn't mean that we have to become monster's in the process. This entire argument I put up just now is your own words, Aaron, not mine." He had nothing to say to that. there was nothing he could say... because Eric was completely right, and everyone standing there knew it. a few moments dragged on in silence. Eric got fed up with it after a few minutes.

"Alright... I see that you intend to cross the line..." He said. "Congratulations, dumb ass, because you just lost every shred of integrity you have..." with that said he turned and began to walk off through the columns of Nix standing at Attention. He could only hope that this would work... And he knew it had when white tethers of light appeared all around him, extending out of the Nix Soldiers' chests towards Aaron. Eric turned to find the young man undoing his previous work. The Circular glyph representing the contract that had been forged hovered in the air. As everyone watched, the glyph cracked down the middle, which spread all across it's face. then the thing shattered as if it were glass. and the white tethers disappeared. The Soldier's eyes faded from white back to a deep black.

"Good," Eric said. "now ki-" he was interrupted as the Nix began to swarm everywhere, breaking out of their previous formation and attacking everyone in sight, including Maximus and Matrim and Ko'Luki... but they couldn't inflict any injury seeing as how they all spontaneously burst into flame before they could get close enough to anyone. The monsters fell to the ground in a heap, where they went still as the flames continued to burn, lighting up the night like tiny camp fires. Aaron had his free hand held out, a miniature fire burning there, much like the ones engulfing what was just moments ago the group's small army. he closed his palm, killing the small flame and in turn ending the blaze. There was nothing left of the monsters, not even ash...

the boy had an uncertain look on his face. He knew that ultimately what he'd done was 'Morally right'... but at the same time, he couldn't shake the feeling that his actions in destroying their only strategic advantage just now may have damn well cause everyone in the group, including himself, to have to pay with their lives for it in the future... he had the hunch that he had just signed all of their death warrants...

"there..." he said, a bit dejectedly, worrying just how right that hunch might prove to be soon... "Now let's just bury this man and go rescue the others..."

[K_H]

When the Nix had started to run at them, Ko'luki had taken out the Iron Pole and prepared to use it to knock about a few Nix Heads, but they burst into flames and disappeared without a trace before they got close enough. Ko'luki then put the Iron Pole back on his back, kneeled back down in front of the Rug he'd previously been kneeling in front of, and threw it against the wall, revealing a small Keyhole in the floor close to him. He then pulled out his Key, and altered it back to the second form.

"i'll just go get those Prototypes."

He then pushed the Key into the Keyhole, and twisted it.

*Click*

A section of the Floor that was in front of Ko'luki tilted slightly, reveaing a small handle that he grabbed, and when he pulled the section of Floor aside, it revealed a staircase that led downwards. Ko'luki then entered it, and headed downstairs to his Underground Laboratory. Once there, he grabbed several items, among them some small sealed Vials that had a prong of Copper and a prong of Zinc sticking out of the top, similar to one of the Vials that Ko'luki currently had hanging on his belt and one of the ones on Hilda, as well as a one-handed fusil. Ko'luki then put the Pronged Vials on Holding Hooks that were on his belt, put the One-handed Fusil on a holding hook opposite his HED Launcher, put the Key back in his pocket, and then headed back upstairs to join the others.

Edited October 15, 2014 by K_H

[Chim]

Trystane sighed at yet another argument. If this group had to work together to stop this Rossephus guy they were screwed. He didn’t agree with Aaron’s way of doing things, but all of this was pointless. “Why don’t we stop the arguing and keep going? We’re wasting precious time.”

[Supernovae]

Maximus couldn't help but grin at Cesealia and Eric. Finally, someone was making sense around here. The Ekarder wiped some of the loose blood off of his hands to reveal the newly written scars and looked at them. It was a rash decision. Maximus knew he should have waited for someone else to intervene. However, he'd been rattled by the contents of the situation at hand. He knew he had to have some way to not end up like those Nix creatures. At least a small reminder would help him keep sanity.

The Ekarder went back over and picked up the shovel he had flung at the first creature he had seen and quietly made his way back into the hole he'd dug. Then he got back to his work, this time in a much calmer state.

[Snap Crackle Pop]

Octavia's gaze lingered where the remains of the Nix would have been if there was anything left of them. She was glad that they were dead, but they were technically usable as an army for them. Using a lesser evil to take out a greater one- it probably would have been better to keep them, even though she personally didn't like the thought one bit. There was likely more from where they came from and the group could really use all the help they could get- a few hand fulls of people going up against what could very likely be a full fledged army... it didn't look promising. Especially since they were going directly where their foes wanted them to.

[Chevaleresse]

Matrim, being rather bemused, elected to simply start his song over.

[Sutoratosu]

Maximus soon reached a deep enough level to top digging. the Grave was done. All that was needed now was to bury the urn... and say a few words for the departed... or at least for those believed to be departed. And even besides, he couldn't go any further if he wanted to. The shovel hit something made of solid steel with a loud CLANK! and broke on impact, leaving the head snapped off from the handle and shaft.

***

Black Jack stood there on the edge of the wood line, peering out at the group of travelers as one dug a ditch and the others seemed to listen to a bard play hymns. his shimmering pitch black mane and silver eyes analyzed each of them in turn, sizing up the humans. He'd been standing there observing for a quite a while now...

"They the ones?" his older brother White Hoove asked as he trotted up beside him. He was aptly named, White Hoove. For though he was a Night Mare, his hooves and fore legs were brighter than a fresh snow drift.

"Indeed they are..." Black Jack answered. "The boy there," he pointed his front hoove at a young man of about Seventeen. he bore a funeral urn under his arm. on his face sat a pair of wire rimmed spectacles.

"Him?" White Hoove asked skeptically. "He took out all of them?"

Black jack lowered his Hoove and turned to glanced at his brother. "By himself in fact. The other's all just stood back and watched as he set the evil bastards to the torch."

"Then it is him we have to thank this night... I have just finished the head count... and it is not good even in the least."

Black Jack turned his full attention to this comment, very concerned. "How... how bad...?"

"We've lost at least seven..." White Hoove sighed "And four more are now missing. That's cut our numbers down by quite a bit... I fear for the future at this rate..."

Black trotted forward, glaring at the travelers from his and his brother's hiding spot. White hoove trotted up next to him.

"Are you thinking what I am, brother?" he asked the white footed stead.

"No," White Hoove shook his head. "But then again, I'm fairly certain that no one can ever be thinking what you are..."

Black Jack trotted forward and walked out of the hiding spot. White Hoove had no idea what the hell his sibling was up too, but he trusted that the young steed wouldn't do anything that could make the situation any worse than what it was... but one could never be too safe. He backed into the shadows of the tree line a little more, keeping a close eye on things as his brother approached the humans.

****

Black Jack intentionally stepped on a sizable twig as he made his way towards the group. Trying to be stealthy would have no use right now. He needed to draw attention. It seemed that the sharp CRACK! of the branch wasn't enough to turn any heads though. He'd have to try a more direct method... and he was dreading the one sided conversation he would inevitably have to start in order to do so.

"Hey, you there," he said as he trotted up behind Trystane. He knew that the young man would have no idea as to what he was saying. he got a little closer.

"God... I do loathe how you human's seem to be so dull... all your cities and buildings and architecture, and yet you can't understand the words coming out of my mouth plain as day. It's a bit ironic, if one thinks about it..."

All that Trystane heard was a horse's whinny coming from behind him... very close behind him... as if it were breathing down his neck, which, it was.