Twokinds ARCHIVE Forums

It was unthinkable, what had happened.

Asves could imagine, being countless miles up, further than any bird or dragon had dared- to where one could see the spherical shape of the world- and could see, even there, the tiny light of Calmarin burning.

He remembered how everyone believed the war would be over so quickly. They were only tribal. Easily spotted. Let's see them disguise themselves as men.

They didn't have to. Their numbers were so superior, their unity so mesmerizing that they moved as a single wave of spears, tomahawks, bows and tridents.

The small white pony Asves rode on was not war-trained by any means, and the sight of fire seemed to spook it. But Elena was loyal to the end, and would not disobey her master's command.

"I regret we may both go to our death, Elena." He stroked the mare's mane gently. She neighed in response, and stomped the ground, not with fear, Asves sensed, but with the determination of a race-horse.

Asves sighed. He should have been a Soaring Leaf. Large Hazard pay, plenty of the foul creatures to set to burning, and he would never, ever have to see anything like this.

A single word, and the horse sent its front hooves high into the air, then galloped towards the inferno that had once been Calmarin.

When he saw towards the decimated gate, two Keidran -One a jackal, one a tiger- with Gae Bolga's- long, toothed ranseurs meant to give horrible exit wounds once drawn from the enemy- raised their weapons and held them firmly, intending to impale the pony.

Asves was not a particularly good rider, but he saw them from afar. He pulled the horse up a far ways away.

The Keidran, not expecting the rider to come and impale himself anyway, got out of their set position and charged, their wicked weapons kept high at their sides.

The human's two blades were not unsheathed until the Keidran's blows seemed impossibly close to the skin, impossible to block.

They came out as steely blurs, stopping the toothed weapons as surely as plate armor.

Then the attack began. Asves knew he was at a disadvantage- he could not attack both enemies at a time, or he would only wear himself out trying to get out of the long reach. Instead he set himself to parrying the blows, intent on tiring his opponents as they struck with their heavy headed weapons. But he did realize something- he was falling prey to their tactics, slowly, as one worked himself behind, to the point where he could not face one without turning his back toward the other. So he set himself to spinning with each parry, Confession parrying one fighter, Redemption the other.

Then something happened with one of them. A strange halt, even if only for a split of a split second, in their movement. It was a coordinated move. He knew it would be only logical the death blow would come from behind.

The one in front of him came up with the butt of his Gae Bolga. He responded with a dodge, a powerful backflip which saved his life from a backstab that would have torn his stomach out. He missed both weapons by mere centimeters, then, as he landed behind the attacker who was behind him, he scissored the Keidran's head off.

The second attacked with his heart, not his head. He screamed and gave a predictable thrust.

Asves' two blades caught the toothed spear long before it hit its target, and, corkscrewing his body to take the spearhead to the ground harmlessly and his body up to the jackal Keidran, Asves kicked the thing in mid-air.

It went to the ground hard, still conscious, but hardly able to put up a fight.

Asves pointed his blade at the thing's neck, and it stared him straight in the eyes, unafraid of death. It was not hatred that moved it, Asves knew- it was determiantion. duty. Asves imagined the same look upon his face -however different the faces were- if he knew his fate would be at the hands of an enemy.

There was a slight delay, then Asves holstered his blades, picking up the two Gae Bolga's and putting them on Elena's back.

The Keidran stood up, uneasily. Asves realized that he had earned the thing's respect- and realized that it had earned his.

"Cannot go back. Dishonor."

Asves responded in the Keidran tongue. "You need not die here."

Realizing Asves spoke the same tongue, the Keidran responded in his native tongue, unhaltingly and fluently. He realized, even though the Keidran spoke the human language haltingly, he spoke his own more fluently than most others did. "I must! Death in war- what greater fate is there?"

"There are many more, I would say," Asves said, shrugging slightly.

"You are a human! A water-fat human! You would never understand!" It took its Gae Bolga from its resting place on the horse, not turning it to Asves, but turning it around to cut itself open to death.

Asves was again the faster, disarming the Keidran and hitting it -hard- with the butt end of the spear.

If it was found unconscious, he would find dishonor in his own kin, and if the troops found him...

Asves would not let that happen. He put the Keidran on his horse, and looked to the burning town.

One extra refugee would not be too well noticed.

Gallivan stood at the edge of the woods his eyes narrowed from the site of yet another Keidran massacre. He watched as the quaint buildings of a once proud turned to ash. He had smelled the smoke from deep in the woods had had come to investigate but already it was too late. The damage irreparable the humans too numerous to fight. His green eyes turned cold as steal as an intense hatred filled him to the brim. He had often traded with the people of Calmarin he new some of them by first name. Now however they were likely dead. It looked as though the soldiers had eased their onslaught and decided to let the fire do the rest of their work. It was his policy to stay out of town affairs, these things no longer concerned him he was not considered to be one of them an longer and so this was not his problem. Duty however was a hard stone to swallow and he could not ignore the fact that he once was responsible for safeguarding the lives of others. Gallivan looked to the ground and swallowed. He reached down an unbuckled the leather hatchet sheaths and removed both of them staying close to the ground he moved like the wind staying close to the edge of the forest he planned on entering to a little known gap in the out wall a small gate that sat right on the river. He hope that if there were still any survivors he could get them out through there.

Running as fast as he could, Tetsuya had finally arrived at Calmarin only to find that the town had been attacked. The wind carried the scent of multiple Keidrans. " I'm too late" he said still running towards the town. As he reached back gate he caught the scent of another Keidran still inside the town and stopped. Deciding it was better to enter the town caustiously, he walk through the gate and began his for any survivers.

Strolling along one of the little used paths, Slade too caught the smell of burning wood on the breeze. Making a rough guess, he follwed his nose to the ruins of a small village.
"Humans." he muttered comtemptuously. Shaking his club free and drawing his knife, he entered through the smouldering front gates, "Hello?" he called out in broken Keidran.

Creeping slowly, trying to avoid detection, Tetsuya peered around the corner of a collasped building, but didn't see anything down the street. keeping up his search for survivers he heard a voice that sounded like Keidran speech. Making sure to keep out of sight, he ran in the direction of the voice, keeping a hand on his undrawn sword.

Asves hid the unconscious Keidran under a wad of blankets far from the burned city, then returned to see who he could help.

He heard a word. "Hello." in Keidran. But with a human accent.

He didn't like the idea of that. He ducked down, turning to face the noise's source.

He saw the human now, hiding behind an abandoned wagon, club in one hand and dagger in another.

He had heard the legends of Slade Canda, but never expected to meet him face to face. A traitor to his people, more beast than any keidran who ever walked the earth.

He considered his position for a moment. He was willing to save the keidran, but ready to kill a human...? Whose side was he on?

It didn't matter. The keidran was going to be a house servant. Just a normal house servant. And he would continue to be so until the war was past and gone. And the human was a traitor. The legends of Slade Canda depicted slaughter of women and children, merciless hatred.

It was not hard for Asves Al'Thaerron to believe them, whether they were true or not.

He stepped openly, willing to face this one in the fiery streets.

"Hello," he said, with almost equal fluency in the Keidran tongue. "My name is Asves Al'Thaerron, son of Karos Al'Thaerron. I have heard who you are- I can tell from your weapons and your hand. You are Slade Canda, slaughterer and betrayer. Allow me to make my business short. I am here to kill you."

Confession and Redemption were drawn, tips up in reverse grip, and nothing but vengeance on Asves' mind.

Destruction. It was spreading everywhere. Years of toil, generations of existence, all of it was being consumed over what seemed to be nothing.

Yash slowly passed through the city at ground level, gazing upon the destruction that was set forth. In his current state, he was visible to no one. He wanted to investigate what life was left, what actions they took, and what reactions they made. And so he did.

Out in the far distance, behind several demolished buildings, and standing at the front gates, a human stood out in the open. His life force made him stand out like a light in the darkness. Soon, the life force of even more beings appeared at different distances and directions.

A fight?

Yash heard a voice call out.

"Hello?"

And then, a response.

"My name is Asves Al'Thaerron, son of Karos Al'Thaerron. I have heard who you are- I can tell from your weapons and your hand. You are Slade Canda, slaughterer and betrayer. Allow me to make my business short. I am here to kill you."

Correct he was. Yash lifted in to the air and passed through building and ground alike, until he reached his destination. There, in the midst of a raging blaze near the two life forms who spoke, stood Yash. He made himself visible, but he blended in with the fire quite well. Those who's eyesights were keen enough would spot him.

Yash watched as weapons were drawn, and facial expressions changed.

"Those low down sons-of...I'm going to rip 'em all to shreds!" Darrell snarled, slowly unsheathing a long, somewhat rusted iron longsword from a scabbard at his hip.
Ryan stared at his comrade incredulously, jaw agape. "What...what are you doing?!" he finally managed to blurt out.
Darrell cast a baleful glare at Ryan, then returned his gaze to the half-dozen figures that were making their way across the open meadow that was laid before the pair of concealed mounted scouts.
"Listen, rookie, I don't know about you, but THAT," he uttered in a low voice, gesturing towards the large pillars of smoke that were lazily curling up into the sky, "was MY hometown. How do I know these...these monsters haven't slain my kin? My wife? My children? Besides, even if these ones had no hand in the sacking, traitorous dogs only deserve death."
Sensing the fierce rage that was boiling within it's master, Darrell's mount whickered nevously, ears laid back.

"But Captain Everett said we were only to observe and—"
"Captain Everett is so full of crap his eyes are brown" Darrell interrupted Ryan with a derisive snort. Raising his voice to a dangerous growl, he continued, "Sergeant Darrell is the one in charge here; you WILL follow me, and you WILL engage the enemy!"
With that, he jabbed the heels of his boots into his horse and rode off at full-speed towards the vague outlines of the Keidran raiders.
Dumbfounded, Ryan could only follow suit. Prompting his steed into a gallop with a much more humane kick, he chased after Darrell.

Thoughts, doubts, and fears all swirled within his head like a whirlwind. 'There's at least seven of them, and two of us! How the hell are we supposed to come out of this as victors? I don't want to die on my very first assignment!'
Ryan's mouth turned dry, and his heart raced as they neared the now plainly visible and alert Keidrans. All of them carried carried some sort of gruesome looking weapon, and three of them held either pikes or halberds, which he understood posed a dire threat towards all cavalry.
'Perhaps...perhaps I should just let this dunderhead get himself impaled alone. Maybe I should...
Ryan quickly banished the thought; he knew he couldn't let Darrell face all of them alone, it would be no better than murder. If he was going to die, he wasn't going to die a coward.
As Ryan notched a bolt into his crossbow and took aim at the lead pike-beast, fear and doubt turned to grim determination.

Now just reaching the gate where voice came from, Tetsuya stopped again behind another collasped building. He peered around the corner and saw two humans about to fight. He recognized Slade Canda from the legends he had heard. His blood boiling at the mere sight of Slade made him want to fight. Before he could fight Slade though he had to make sure that there were survivers. He quickly looked around and saw noone in sight. Tetsuya stood up and stepped out into the open before he yelled "Slade. You have two challengers now". As he said this he drew his sword and pointed it towards Slade. "Prepare to die."

Mirku looked around him, the streets were on fire. His opponent looked at him with a look that could kill. The keidran was a huge wolf keidran, wielding a giant tomahawk. Mirku and him exchanged blows once more, his arms were weary. His claymore was heavy, but he fought on. His heart was full of hatred.

He parried again, he slipped in his own blood. His opponent hacked away at him again. He managed to stand up straight and fend off the blow. He returned a mighty blow that cut his opponent arms, he growled and put on of his hand on the wound. Mirku took this opportunity to jump five beet backwards. He took his bottle of spirits and poured it on his wounds, a stinging pain was felt as the alcohol disinfected the wounds.

The brute charged him and attacked all out, Mirku barely dodged it and trusted his claymore into the chest of his opponent. A solid, killing blow that made his opponent fall down on him. The weight of the thing would've crippled him if he didn't pull out at that last second. He looked at some of his men flee the scene as six more Keidran came charging in, they were wearing war paint and yelling some tribal war song. "Rally, God damnit rally!" Mirku yelled as he charged the troop and dealt a swift dead to the first. The few men that stayed with him struggled to fend off the fierce attackers.

Gallivan swept out of the woods and stayed low to the river bank the distance was not far but he knew that he might be spotted. He closed the distance toward the city with amazing speed but stopped before he reached his destination, four human soldiers had been posted at the gate and were loosing their crossbow bolts at several Keidran that were attempting to get the gate opened.

Rage filled his every fiber as he watched these soldiers mercilessly firing upon women and children. Before he knew what he was doing he was running head long toward the backs of the four soldiers. With all his might he hurled his hatchets at two standing furthest apart. The hatchets struck simultaneously into the backs of the two soldiers who immediate crumpled forward carried by the weight of the strike. It was only a moment before the two remaining soldiers realized what was going on, but still it was a moment too late. Gallivan was airborne and as one of the soldiers turned he collided with him tackling him to the floor. The other of the soldiers quickly reacted and tried to fire but Gallivan had accounted for just that grappling the other soldier and flipping over him as the bolt intended for his back struck the human shield neck. The remaining soldier quickly abandoned his crossbow and went to draw his sword but Gallivan was already upon him with the sword of the other soldier the red foxes blade was swift and quickly parted the solders hand from his wrist as had just grasped the hilt of his sword. He screamed out as his severed hand hit the ground. Gallivan reacted quickly and pierced the shocked soldier’s chest. He dropped the sword and retrieved his hatches not taking any extra time to clean them off.

The red fox rushed toward the gate and heaved it open. The were dead, or dieing he stifled the emotions rising in him and lowered down to a woman who was badly bleeding and suffering her throat open and seeping blood into the river. He held her head smoothing her hair from her head and then snapped her neck to end her misery. He looked back up to the burring town and silently waked into the smoke hoping there were still survivors.

Walking down the desolate streets slowly, The cloak-clad figure of the fearsome "Daggertail" mercenary slowly set the buildings aflame with his rings. He knew he would not be attacked by the party that had hired him, as they had alerted each other to his presence and that he was working for them. For the moment. He agreed to burn the town down, but he had said nothing about killing its residents. After this, he would not take another job for quite a while. They were paying him a bountiful sum, after all, and he would live on it for a number of years.


He rounded a corner, and looked over a balcony to a fight scene. His sensitive ears carried to him the voices. One challenged another. A strange being appeared between them. A third combatant? Interesting. Soon after, a fourth stepped out and drew a blade on the initial fighter.


Daggertail leaned up against the balcony amidst the blaze, intending to watch this interesting fight.



((Yes, he is currently working for the keidran. A bonus of being in it only for the money: You get a lot of interesting storylines.))

Suddenly seeing himself threatened by two others, one human, another Keidran, Slade did the only sensible thign he could think of. Moving slowly he stood up from behind the ruined cart he faced the human first, "You I would gladly kill."
<You,> he added turning to the Keidran, <I no fight with. I just look for survivors. This human attack, I nothing to do with.>
Then as a gesture of good will, he pointed the dagger at the one who called himself Tetsuya Kintame and dropped it, while lightly spinning the club in his other hand, "I see you've heard my reputation. Want to test it?"

<Test it. Don't consider me so low. I work for humans. That is why I challenge you. I will stop you from killing anymore innocent humans.> Tetsuya spoke angrily in Keidran. <I will kill you today.> He then ran to the side of the other human, who he had no clue he was. "Whats your name sir?" Tetsuya asked him, still pointing his sword at Slade.

Daggertail was disappointed. It would seem that there was only going to be a one-on-one match. Not that he wanted to see more bloodshed, but he would rather get a gauge on their abilities, should he himself run across them in such a manner. Nevertheless, he still had work to do, so he left his perch and began setting more buildings aflame, avoiding contact with the main opposition so that he could avoid killing them. Unfortunately, he was not all successful. They had seen him by this point, and his reputation would carry them into a hostile rage against him. Meeting a few of them, he had to dispose of them in such a manner that he cared not to view that scene again.

There was blood everywhere where the fight occurred in the aftermath, and the chunks of the six guards who attacked him lay scattered about everywhere.