Smoke

[CroWWing]

There was a plume of smoke. Black, opaque smoke. It curled and wafted it's way skyward till it formed a cloud that appeared to go no where.
Hanging like a set of inky, dark wings..

Origins of that signaling smoke were yet to be revealed. Crow. Clad in her battle gear of course, not the dress uniform that she used so often - this set of armor was crated by her own hand. Well used, well cared for and the marks of previous battles were worn upon the breastplate with a certain amount of pride.

It was quite busy in the depths of her Castle. It looked like what the Monks of this day and age would call hell. Fire's burned in pits, plus from an eyes glance, men labored to create weapons of war. Hammer hit anvil in a staccato of doom and she was overseer to it all.

It was simply put startling to see all of this activity in the bowels of the earth, then again her kind was quite use to being underground.

There was a man behind her, standing off and away in the shadows and he spoke to her in a quiet voice.. "What do you think she will do?" Booted feet carried him closer as he spoke. Dark haired man that had a dark eyed stare. Raven winged, black eyed devil he appeared to be and she turned in a bothered way - as if she had been yanked back to the here and now from her thoughts.. "Hopefully the woman will have some good sense and see my side of the argument. I do hate dealing with underlings. Undertaker and that blind gypsy person are underlings." Quiet. Save for the mind numbing drone of the 'smith work. Ting, ding, it resonated to mingle with the fires that burned non stop. Live thing that fire . Gibbering and corvorting to mock and rebuke.

" Shame she has proved herself to be a coward already. That is in our favor." Again she spoke, musing to herself mostly. Using the dark haired, yet to be named man as a sounding board. Gauntleted hand curled around the railing, metal scraping against the iron work there. It might of sparked some, then again she would not of noticed.

"This is going well. Let us tend to the other business." A glance back to the man and the near floor trailing braid of her hair flip-flopped like an aggrieved cats tail. Swishing behind her as they began the sometimes tiring climb upward.

Her gauntlet had been thrown down, now it was up to the challenged one to either take it up, or not.

Still, the black smoke billowed in the sky. Ebony beacon.

[CroWWing]

* He was there. Here lately he was always there, that raven haired black eyed man. He seemed to be her shadow, so to speak and now he was in his war like garb.

" That meeting went badly." He said while they stood on a railed in ledge.. " Yes, I saw that. Undertaker was angry. For several reasons and his commentary irritated me." She spoke her words in that ever cool way of hers - as if she were out and about and speaking of the weather.

" Have you had any word?" Again he spoke and he knew just as well as she did the answer to his query. Beneath them it looked like Dante's Inferno with
its levels and stairs going down and down into the earth. Still creatures labored and still that droning metronome of hammer to anvil raged.

" No word. We will prepare with our first plans. This will be the first wave." A gesture from her, gauntleted hand. Cruel looking thing that waved in a gesture of announcement to their right. It was a line of men and what appeared to be demoniacs. Assembly line. There were being handed the heavy Cotton padding of shirt and breeches that was usually worn underneath armor. Next station offered a plain bastard sword and of course it's scabbard. On and on it went, offering each willing to go to battle the necessary gear to do so. It was elegantly impressive.

" Well." he said.. " At this rate it wont take long." She was silent as she looked to the rock and earthen wall that shadowed their left. Silent for what seemed like long minutes.. "Yes. Lets hope it is not to bloody. Then again if it is, all the better. Our clan could use a good purging."

Quiet while the roar of the pits mingled in hot air that was thick with sounds of anvil and hammer. Perhaps this -was- what hell looked like. " Are you ready?" She commented in an idle fashion.. cutting pale eyes at the man as she started for the stairs that would take at least her up and away to the main part of the castle.

" Yes." he said simply. "Good." She retorted.. "There are more on the way."
Such a cryptic conversation.

All smoke and fire.


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Time had passed, perhaps a day by her calculations. Dark haired man was not there for a change. He was off being busy elsewhere - in fact he was leading the "first wave".

It had begun, there was no turning back. That adversary had been silent the entire time and so, she kept her word. As she always did. Stomp of booted feet and cadence of marching songs had started.

Her banners snapped and whipped about in the wind, bloody red cloth with the signet of her house emblazoned in bright Praetorian blue. Crown, rose and dragons head, all speared and intertwined with blades. Swords that shimmered as the cloth undulated and spun around on the pike.

Still the smoke hovered, like wings and seemed to be the home for some evil icon that kept watch over it all. First wave had been deployed. Good, thought she while stepping away from the window placed so conveniently in her upstairs suites of rooms. It would be dark soon. Almost time for the smoke to clear and all to be revealed.