Post by Behelich
Reference Intended.
Warning! Reader discretion is advised.A small fountain of sparkles was raised every time the flaming hooves of Caran landed heavily on the stones that emerged from the ground every so often, incinerating the grass around. Mordanna paid this little to no attention - after spending a good ten minutes adjusting to the thought he would be riding a mount that not only was literally on fire, but also sported scales, horns and demon-forged armor, and then realizing that the flames simply could not burn the ringbearer, the death knight had better thoughts to think. A death gate took him across the sea, and now all that divided the elf from his destination was a pleasant - by his undeath's standarts - ride on the relatively well looked after road. Mordanna did not know whether to thank or to scold his enemy for choosing a secluded village somewhere between Darkshore and Moonglade. Just when he was beyond hearing of any settlements and began questioning his route, an echo of an anguished cry came to him. Grinning behind his visor, the death knight dug his kneels into Caran's sides, causing him - or her, or it, Mordanna had no idea, but somewhy preferred to think of his steed as 'he' - to let out a cone of flame from his maw before dashing forward.
Soon enough, the scenery began to change. Here and there, thick pulsing vines appeared, their density increasing steadily and quickly. The plants native to these parts seemed to be driven out by their counter-parts from age long forgotten. And worst of all, the whole place seemed alive - the road was gone, replaced by a thick green carpet that Caran's hooves easily scorched through only to repair the holes seconds after the dreadsteed rode away. Even though the sun was reaching the apex point, darkness stirred in front of Mordanna, concieved by entwined branches above him. After Caran's casually snorting at several smaller vines that lashed out at him, causing their subsequent incineration, Mordanna reluctantly dismissed his steed and unsheathed the runeblade, immediately earning a comment.
"
I don't like this place."
"I know. Too much life... Volatile, chao-"
"
I actually meant there's nothing to eat here. Blech! Why did you have to do it?" Narathel complained as Mordanna cleaved a particularly annoying vine in half. "
I'm totally catching indigestion."
"Patience, Narathel. You know they'll send us to butcher some Azures sooner or later," Mordanna said, stomping on an over-grown vermin. He paused for several seconds and added, "And since when do you have a stomach?"
"
You don't want to see me vomiting."
"Come to think of it, I want. Whoever in their right mind looks at it will go insane, which will simplify the task of killing them."
"
Mother said the druid is insane already. But, you're the boss, go on, make me choke on these green- hey, that was sarcasm!" the sword yelled as Mordanna brought it down on an overgrown venus flytrap that tried to grab the elf's leg.
"
I'm a runeblade, a vessel of destruction, a bane of heroes, a terror of the living - NOT A LAWNMOWER."
"Think of it as a part-time job," the death knight shrugged. He wanted to add something else, but a cloud of yellowish-green gas that came down on him interjected.
"Can't see a thing... And it's good that my lungs don't work anymore since-" the rest of the phrase was horribly muffled, since what looked like a three-jawed maw tried to swallow the elf, falling on him from above through the gas. Fortunately for him, its size only allowed it to grab Mordanna's head, shoulders and chest, leaving his arms free. A nanosecond before a similar maw closed its grasp on Narathel, the death knight swung his weapon in a wide arc, cutting off all nearby enemies in one swing. With the carnivorous buds lying in front of him, Mordanna brought his hand to his helmet only to realise that the plants' gastric juice made it almost a millimeter thinner in some places.
"This is way more interesting than I thought," the elf said thoughtfully.
"
YA THINK? If you get yourself killed and leave me in this place..."
"Then I'll miss Unholy Unknowns next Saturday, and that would be a terrible thing, since Nybross the Harbinger of Pain is making so much progress, but he needs all support he can get."
"
You were there only once, and said they are pathetic!"
"Un-death is pathetic in general," Mordanna replied dryly. Another cry of torment thundered in his ears, this time close enough for its source to be tracked without too much trouble. "Thanks, druid. When I find you, I'll try to kill you fast," the elf smiled, raising Narathel above him and beginning to spin it a la gyrocopter's propeller, then breaking into a run.
"
Oh well... LAWNMOWER MODE ACTIVATED!"
Several minutes and several dozen hungry plants later the death knight made it to a ridge overlooking the actual village - or whatever remained of it. One thing Mordanna noticed first was a pile of corpses, all beaten to a bloody pulp. Judging by the numbers, almost two thirds of the settlement's population were there - and apparently, the bizzare looking hair-covered humanoids with vines growing out of them that were idling around were the remaining third. In the middle of them towered an eight foot tall night elf, covered head to toe in thick green hair with only a tip of his crooked nose emerging from the growth. The only thing he was wearing was a simple leather kilt, and it looked like it had been in use for years. His right arm resembled that of a keeper of the grove, being twisted and gnarled, as well as having a long thorn-bearing withe.
"Another one will rise... Children! Fetch! Bring! Prepare!" Eryn Dreamwalker screeched, raising his arms commandingly. Two humanoids grabbed one of the corpses and carried it to a large tree that grew nearby. Mordanna looked at the tree intently and realised that three thickets of branches on its trunk were grown on purpose as they closed around the corpse's wrists and ankles, crucifying him. The druid walked up to him - her, actually, a dark troll in late teens - and pressed his hand against her face.
The troll's eyes opened.
On the edge of his hearing, Mordanna barely recognized weak sobs coming from her, "Kill... me..." but the druid shook his head and took a step back, as if marveling at his work. Afterwards, he quickly bent in half, grabbing one of the numerous rats that were scurrying at his legs, and reached out to the troll's stomach with his malformed hand. Slowly and precisely Eryn ripped her abdomen up, shoved the rat inside and pressed the left hand against the wound, while the vine coming from his right slipped over the troll's skin before violently bursting into her left armpit, going for the heart. Only now did Mordanna realise the magnitude of the cries he had heard earlier, and in other case he would probably wonder how did the troll manage to let out a shout so strong - but not now, not looking at this, something completely alien, and yet strangely familiar.
Soon enough, the ritual was over and what had once been a troll teenager looked up at Eryn and said, "IamyourstocommandDreamwalker."
The latter smiled and hugged her, and that was when the death knight finally understood why had he thought he had seen this already.
"You bastard!" the elf roared, charging at the druid.
Post by Behelich
Writer's comment
New year, new ideas, new character?
I thought this would be the part when Mordanna fights Eryn, but then I realised the villain needs some fleshing out, to make his demise more appealing to the audience.
If the said audience likes the Unholy Unknows idea, then maybe I will bring Nybross as a recurring character.
I'll have to admit, when I write Narathel's lines, I'm just fooling around - but come on, you like him, don't you?
List of the previous parts
The random ones
- Blood Rites
- Blood Boil
- Blood Ties
- Blood Freeze
- Blood Fall
The ones that follow a single plotline (with flashbacks!)
- Quest: General Sardakaun
- Under Stars Non-Existant
- This Is My Runeblade...
- Servant, Not A Toy
Post by Behelich
LAWNMOWER MODE, ACTIVATE!Iaminlovekeepwritingplease.
I couldn't resist.
Damn you Alu, you have made me want a Narathel-lawnmower, and Christmas is over.
Anyhow keep up the good work. And I found it interesting how the druid seems to essentially be doing necromancy, correct me if I am wrong, using druidic magics. Either way he is turning them into mindless slaves/servants.
*Is now awaiting moar Bleeding Tales*
In a nutshell, the similarity to necromancy is what drove Mordanna bezerk and made him view this as personal. The mechanic employed, however, was entirely different.
At first, Eryn puts his victims into a coma indistinguishable from death, so as not to have trouble with them. When the ritual is done, the victim's mind is replaced by that of a rat, and magically enhanced to better fit Eryn's purposes. They're not mindless, they're just not much smarter than a vermin.
I like it.
/bow
Heh, lawnmowers...
And your link was wrong, its ok I got the right
one.
It was not wrong, Hell, while I like the song, I thought that instrumental version fits the soundtrack better. Anyhow, thanks for the link.
And I'm upset no one has noticed Unholy Unknowns...