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the-house-of-the-nine · 5 years ago

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In Mind of Misery: Manipulation, Part 3

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[ And so the journey begins. Three Separate stories to tell here all happening Simultaneously. Attacking from three fronts, is this the beginning of the end for The Nine? Please Like, Share, and Follow us! We are hoping to get new people coming our way, and could use the love! Thank you everyone!!!!! ]

Cast:

[ L.K ] - Lazarius Kashebahl, Marseille, Raelyndia Duskhollow

[ P.K ] - Kretus Dark

[ V.D ] - Verzatea Duskflame, Pame Myl’Brin

[ J ] - Jursol, Jimba, Mawa

[ T ] - Talisin aka The Boy

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[ T ] “I-I ran away from home! My parents b-beat me!” Explained the boy with pleading eyes.

[ L. K ] Lazarius snapped his gaze from the child he was trying to talk to and back to Verzatea. He so badly wanted to lash out at her for interrupting him.

He was above doing such childish things though; and calmly ignored her question as he peered back toward the young boy. There was a demanding clearing of his throat when he did finally get the answer.

"This boy is tainted with the essence of the void; we don't have time to debate whether or not he is a threat or not."

He decreed as he pulled his fingers away from the boy and lightly traced his own brow line with them. In more of an afterthought he would speak out loud while thinking.

"If I put a small barrier around his mind; it will block the whispers from interacting with him . . .that will prevent NZoth from tailing us if the child is a threat unknowingly. . . we will have to bring him with us. Tranquillen is no place for him and returning him to Quelthalas is out of the question."

Lazarius glared back toward Verzatea once more.

"I will entrust him with you . . ."

[ V . D ] Verzatea's eyes widen slightly, taken aback by such a task assigned to her. There wasn't much to hide about Teas lack in confidence when it comes to students, and even now as she stared across the space between them and the boy currently in Mars clutches her blood pressure began to raise as her heart raced.

She grew flustered, but her eyes did soften at the sight of the mangy child, gangling and clearly abused all his life... Neglected. Perhaps there was something she could do. She wouldn't know until she tried, right? She had not only her entire book of experimental magics that became perfected and powerful over time, and she even had her great grandmothers book of shadows at her disposal.

An entire plethora of centuries of work passed down to every other woman in the family who possessed the affinity for magic. Unlike Verzas mother. Although her motherly certainly held true to the tradition her family set in place for its women; And she certainly had faith in Tea to uphold those family traditions.

It was up to Tea to determine who was worthy of such family secrets. And she knew plenty; And perhaps here one worthy candidate lay before them. She wouldn't know until their second meeting-- preferably home in the Bastille. Thus with a brilliant smile she agrees with a confident.

"I am honored to do so," and her eyes would move to inspect the Inquisitor before murmuring in a more personal remark, one which those in the distance might not hear.

"I will try."

[ L. K ] "So be it. . . boy."

Lazarius said in a snide; almost condescending manner though the malice in his voice could be cut with a knife, he was clearly not a man to trifle with.

"...it will either be a blessing and gift that you have found us. . .or a curse you will regret even in your undeath. . ."

And with that, the dark eyed Inquisitor would pluck the boys mind like a guitarist plucking a string. The two mummified fingers lightly tapped against the left side of his head; striking the temple very gently. This was all it took for the boy to immediately feel quiet.

A sense of calm and for once; if he was plagued by the whispers of the Old Gods, he would feel nothing. It was deafening quiet at this point; no more madness or torment and certainly no more voices. But as the wisps of shadowed tendrils slithered back into his fingertips the moment he pulled his fingers away; something loomed in the darkness.

Something that had no intention of allowing such magics to be done without consequence. A sense of foreboding danger soon swept across the wooded thicket they were standing in; and as the boy slowly fell into an unconscious state, Lazarius would rise from his knees and stand tall once more.

"They come. . ."

And he was not wrong. Lurking in the skies above multiple venomous tendrils began to lurch forth. They were like long spirals of black clouded madness that began shrieking through the blackened skies toward them. Three to be exact, each in a different location.

This was all because of the use of magic Lazarius had tapped into. This was why he warned them of such things, using their talents and abilities was only lighting the torch to illuminate them. And with that, it would begin.

THE FIRST OF THE BEASTS CHARGED THROUGH THE WOODS HEADING DIRECTLY TOWARD THE TREES IN WHICH PAME WAS HIDING IN. IT WAS MASSIVE, ITS TENTACLE ARMS WERE PLENTIFUL, IN FACT IT WAS CRAWLING TOWARD THE GROUP AT A BREAKNECK PACE USING NEARLY

TWO DOZEN SETS OF SLITHERING FLESHY TUBULAR ARMS TO PULL ITS HULKING BODY FORWARD. THERE WERE NO EYES AND ONLY SEVERAL SETS OF MOUTHS EACH FILLED WITH FANGS, AND SEVERAL ROWS OF THEM AS IT CHOMPED, SPAT AND HISSED ITS WAY THROUGH THE WOODS.

A SECOND BEAST WOULD BE COMING FROM THE NORTHERN WOODS, THIS ONE WAS VERY MUCH LIKE THE FIRST IN ALMOST EVERY WAY. IT HAD JURSOL IN ITS SIGHTS.

THE SLIME COVERED MUTATION WOULD BE BARRELING TOWARD THE ZANDALARI WITH GREAT SPEED, USING THOSE FLESHY ARMS TO PULL ITSELF AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE THROUGH STICKS, LEAVES AND ANYTHING ELSE IT COULD CRASH THROUGH.

THE THIRD BEAST WAS DIFFERENT. LIKE A MOUNTAIN CAT, ONLY INSTEAD OF ONE SET OF EYES, IT HAD ABOUT A DOZEN, WITH A SET OF TEETH THAT STRETCHED FROM ITS JAW NEARLY AROUND TO THE TOP OF ITS HEAD. IT WAS RACING TOWARD VERZATEA GALLOPING ON ALL FOURS WITH HER IN ITS SIGHTS.

[ L. K ] And just for good measure, As Lazarius realized what was happening, he suddenly clutched his side and fell to the ground. Several dark strands of energy began to radiate from his body where the eye was located.

He lay on the moldy, wet grass of the dead lands as the eye began to hum a loud bellow from within him. Several tendrils of dark energy were leeching into the ground.

The Inquisitor began to writhe in pain from this; he was unable to help anyone and lay beside the unconscious boy as everyone was dealing with their beasts.

"Master!"

Marseille shouted as he raced to his side and attempted to prop him up so he would not injure himself.

[ J ] Jursol heard strange movement coming fast. Right as she turned to say something the beast where rushing the group. Her eyes narrowed as she hunched down, she growled low as her clawed scaled hands stretched out like talons. A sharp whistle was heard as she charged the beast. Her raptors follows suit as they broke off to the sides.

They were flanking the beast with Jursol as the distraction. Jursol moves swiftly at the beast before she leaped, grabbing a branch that hung low. Her legs wrapped around it as Jimba leaped into the tree tops. The larger raptors she brought made high pitched sounds as they communicated.

Before the beast could even know what’s going on, the raptors were on it. Slashing at its body, their mouths lined with many sharp teeth worked to tear into the ooze. Jursol dropped down from the branch as she landed on top of the beast. Her large body likely squishing it before her talons tore into it as well.

She looked like an angry feral animal as she rip at the thing, growling and slashing at it with her raptors. Not much would be left of the beast after they were done. As she calmed down, her raptors and her backed up to check the others. Leaving the mess they made of the beast to be burned. The raptors made what seemed to be happy noises after the mess was made.

[ V . D ] The kaldorei allowed her eyes to flutter shut for a moment, absorbing the change in the atmosphere as a means to open her mind to the world on a more primal level. The shift if the wind, the rustle of the leaves and the vibrations of the branches... She focused, long and hard.

Until that increasing volume of snarls gets just close enough before the kaldoreis burning silver gaze opens up into a determined and calculated expression.

With a magnificent burst of speed in hand with her significant speed to make use of the familiar advantages of such a dense forest... Pame sprints before swiftly drawing her sword, with the built momentum of lunging toward a nearby tree to carry her body up and around, applying all her force into swinging her blade upward before striking it down into the head of the lunging monster.

Her intensity came from deep within. Like unleashing her inner panther. Sleek, but strong.

Verzatea was by far more graceful in judgement and execution. Her slim fingers broke the jewel lock before slithering the bracelet off with a single twist and roll of her hand-- This force and motion would wiggle the pliable razor sharp blade into unraveling. With a final flick the woman pushes that jewel lock above the open hole before pushing that lock back into place to solidify the reformed shape of her once cold, firm steel bracelet.

This action would have occurred in the same few seconds between Tea pulling forth her black bladed short sword from its sheath on her hip. No more wands called for a return to the old tricks. In a similar burst of energy the slimmer sindorei strikes as the beast reaches her, swinging the blade of her azurite sword into the creatures flank with a casual twist and dodge to the left.

Her hair and dress skirts twirled with the dancers graceful motion-- A tribute to her passion of ballet for sure, no matter how neglected the talent was to her duties. True, her dodging made her cut the equivalent of just a scrape. But equally effective to taking on a direct hack of her simpler short sword which remained firmly at her side.

The responsibility of preserving their mission and protecting her dear ones had broken her moral codes of avoiding bloodshed. She'd always make exceptions when those beloved to her were threatened. And nothing about the snarling feline gave Tea "harmless" vibes; Especially with the break in the skies overhead as tendrils roll forth from the darkness.

[ L. K ] The beasts both Pame and Jursol had tangled with were not nearly as formidable as they had hoped to have been. In fact this was due to the fact that probably both the Kaldorei and Zandalari were both highly proficient in their hand to hand combats. And Jursol was a cheater, she had raptors.

Verzatea on the other hand was not as skilled; having given up her sword play at the expense for her skill in her witchcraft. Choosing the wand over the sword was in fact a great benefit for her; but in this case she was not nearly as honed in as the other assassins.

As such, when the beast on four legs was struck by the ballet like Confessor, it lashed out and wailed. Its body would snarl and shriek as it felt its haunches cut; and this only angered it more. The beast would twist on his back and swipe at the lower half of the Sindoreis legs, likely striking with his long claws against her outer left thigh.

But this was its only attack. Marseille was nearby and would hurl his tomahawk toward the beast striking it in the back of the head with a great deal of force. There was a thick thud followed by a splattering noise as the bone of the beasts skull met the forged steel of the Troll axe.

The blood burst from its shattered skull and sprayed across the gown of the Confessor. With deadly accuracy he would strike it down before anyone else would be injured. His slender lanky body rose upward as he took several long strides over to where Verzatea was; his fingers equally gaunt would curl around the wooden handle of his Amani axe and pry it from the split open brain cavity of the devourer.

He turned the blade and wiped it against his pant leg as he peered toward the Confessor.

"Are you alright?"

He'd ask softly, sheathing his blade and looking her over.

[ V . D ] The scratch was enough to tear into the thick fabric of her dress and allows an open in her only armor-- Among the direct hit it would cause the felines claws to dig and scratch across the woman's leg.

This would certainly bring her to her knee with the sheer force. Of course before she registered the strike of Mars's tomahawk, Teas instinct to survive had her poising the swords in a defensive manner-- which honestly could have been a fatal mistake with little ability to protect herself from a side swipe if the beast was smart.

The scenarios that could have unfolded from that was enough to momentarily paralyze Tea once she registered the abomination was dead. It could have been her instead of the creature if she wasn't careful. Shakily her arms lower, her brows twitching as they pinch together, eyes lifting to inspect Mars before slowly rising to her feet.

"I'll certainly need to practice a bit more, when we return home,"

She murmurs, shaken certainly.

Pame shoved the beast off the tree branches, sending it straight to the forest floor with a heavy thunk. Instantly the woman returns to watching the forest canopy and floor for any further threats.

[ L. K ] Marseille nodded his head at Verzatea; the two of them never truly getting along since day one, but they had tried, he had tried. And despite that fact; he would never let her fall in battle, she was still his ally.

Lazarius on the other hand was still struggling; even though the pain had come to a relative end, his brow was still sweating, his body shaking and his eyes bleeding a bit of his blackened ichor.

Clearly this was a strike to cripple him; an effort to cause those around him more trouble with the attack so that he could not help them. Perhaps a way to get them to be killed before getting to their destination?

He lay in the wet grass writhing slightly when Marseille arrived to his side.

"Master..."

The Shaldorei had said as he knelt beside him, his knees muddy and worn as his hands came to rest on Lazarius stomach and chest. Lazarius peered toward the old elf and nodded, he was fine; didn't need to be coddled and would use the relief of his Shade to help him sit.

Marseille gave a look toward Pame and sharply whistled. A whistle that the two of them shared when hunting and tracking. Something she would know and he would as well meant retreat to my position. The two of them becoming almost completely in sync over the months of their training.

[ V . D ] The sharp cry of a hawk in the distance was only challenged by the whoosh of a sudden wind carrying through the dense trees in a magnificent echo leaves trees rustling from a strong force. The kaldorei leapt from the branches and fell from her canopy; Joining the team once more, on ground level.

With the dirt beneath the woman's boots, and a sense of calm despite the storms threatening their smooth journey, Pame lowers her hood. With her face now exposed, the maiden was able to express her general disappointment, but overall she wasn't too bent out of shape of all that had transpired.

Verzatea limped slightly-- not out of pain, but general shock and acknowledgement of how close a call this could have been. It was astounding. But it was in the past and there was plenty of travel with a multitude of possible hostile encounters that awaited this journey. They needed to keep steady and focus.

But then again... Teas worry swelled as she focuses in on those around her. First the peers toward the girls, both Jursol and Pame, reviewing them closely for wounds before nodding in delight at their superb states.

"Lazarius?"

She cranes her neck to get a look of him whilst drawing closer after sheathing her short sword before fixing her remaining sword to fit around her wrist into a bracelet again,

"We need to move, dear. If you require something to tame the pain I can help you, on the condition you can genuinely say you are well enough to continue only then we shall "

To be continued in “In Mind of Misery, Manipulation, Part 4″

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