Dark Forms

[Madel_H]

In the dark of the night, three men had gathered outside the door of the Broken Dagger. Garbed all in black, nothing could be ssen of them save their eyes, which shone with a pale yellow light. Hushed whispers passed 'tween them, as well as hisses and growls. Once, a passerby glanced up at the sound of said hissing. The poor farmer never saw daylight again. The corpse would not be found, save by those who walked the realms of the shadows. After talking for some time, two of the men promptly stepped around the corner of the inn. A sickening sound was heard, of organs and bones rearranging. A flap of leathery wings, also, and the third man walked into the dagger, calling for some wine. Pritchard nodded, but kept a wary eye on the oddly dressed man. He may be old, and a bit thick-headed, but he can always spy trouble. This man had no intention of bring attention to himself just yet, and after he had taken the wine, he headed back out the door. Stepping into the shadows, and a brief transformation occured. He would be back.

A new threat has come to Myrken...

[Madel_H]

Perched in a tree across the way from the inn, one of the fell men of the dark watched patrons come and go for near an hour before he spied the one he wanted. A young woman, beautiful and buxom, hustling out of the Dagger and towards the stables. Yellow eyes gleamed with lust as they waited for her to enter the shadows of the building. With an sinister smile the creature dropped from the topmost branches, spreading leathery wings as it neared the ground, swooping forward with incredible speed. None would no what had happened until a cry for help came from the stables. Neighing and whinnying erupted and a loud scream/hiss filled the air, drowning out the sounds of the horses. The corpse was left for all to see, the neck torn out and the entrails spread across the stable floor.

The creature prepared to leave, sliding out the stable door. A barn hand had other ideas, however, and came running at it with a shovel. I don't know what you are, but you gone an' done somethin' wrong! Swing of the shovel. A single clawed hand held up, stopped the shovel in mid-air. Claws scraping against the metal with another smile. Wrong. Indeed. Other hand snaked forward in the blink of an eye, grabbing the back of the head. Thud, whump. Brains splatted all over the wall. Now, it could leave.

[Madel_H]

A gruesome scene it was. Blood and brains splattered all over the outside, intestines strewn about the inside. It was enough to make one sick. Several men were about, cleaning up the mess, carrying the two bodies away to be disposed of properly. Among the crowd of onlookers, one man stood without saying a word. Lost in the midst of the crowd, he stared at his own handiwork. Gone were the leather wings and the yellow eyes, replaced by the clear blue eyes and delicate frame of a young farmer. As others murmured about what it was that caused these deaths, he turned and slipped into the woods. Away from the hubbub of the crowd, he was able to take on his true form. After a few moments of stretching his wings, it was back to the farm boy form and into the inn.

[Madel_H]

He watched the gypsy mercenary with earnest, yellow eyes peering from the shadows of the rafters. He would wait, wait until she was all alone, until no help could come. Then he could strike, hard and fast.

He had let her see him for what he was, shown her the truth behind the facade of a simple farmer. Sine would not let this one escape, no sir. Not with all the fiery spirit she had in her. He would suck her dry, if he must, to obtain that attitude, that power.

He would wait, and then he would strike...

[Madel_H]

And he would have, too, had the call not come from his own shadowy realms. With an annoyed snarl, the fell man left the inn by means of the shadows, wisking himself away to lands that never received the kiss of the sun.

Once there, he walked the roads of darkness, through the city of shadow, up the black steps that led to a castle of darkest obsidian. Within the massive doors, the creature would find its masters, those hideous deformities that called themselves Sine. So the smaller, weaker creature, though in its own right strong, found its way to the grandoise room that housed his masters.

New orders for a silent killer...

[Madel_H]

The creature stalked out of the fortress, spreading its wings as it reached the shadows cast by the black sun low under-foot. The dark world in which it resided shifted and changed instanty and constantly, forcing the Sine to take flight. As it reached the portal to acess the true-realms, it voiced the disgust at the orders it had been given.

Once through to the skies over Myrken, the black beast carried out its mission. Diving and swooping over over cattle fields, occasionally digging its long black claws into a cows neck and breaking its spine.

They're gonna think I'm some sort of stupid beast, the way I'm being forced to slaughter livestock instead of people. With the first rays of Sol, the beast dipped its wings and soared off towards the forest itself, leaving every animal in the field lying dead.

From a farmhouse on the edge of the field, a small boy watched. After the creature had gone, he ran to his father, telling him everything.

Farmer Johnson emerged from his front door to view the havoc that had been bestowed upon his quaint life. With wide eyes and a hung jaw, he sprinted to Myrkentown to tell what he had seen.

[Madel_H]

For near a month they had attacked, swarming on the unsuspecting, attacking in groups. They had been beaten back twice now, both times at the inn, remarkably enough. Twice had the black Sine been destroyed by the patrons of the Broken Dagger. Now though, it would be different.

What was once humanoid, though black and twisted, was now changed drastically. In place of arms and legs were tree-trunk sized limbs, each ending in three foot claws. The wings were larger to make up for the increased body mass, almost the size of the Dagger itself. The serpentine neck had elongated, giving the Sine a wide reach with its massive jaws. The only good thing about it was that now there was only one.

And now it turned against its masters, slaughtered them right there on their shiny thrones. It had a new master now: the urge to kill those reckless fools that had so befouled him.

[Madel_H]

The ranger stood on the porch of the inn, sword held out against the large, black, dragon-like Sine. To himself he thought, Damn that thing's grown. It roared at him, the sound like ice forming into words. "YOU! I'm going to kill you!" Madel braced himself, sword now held in both hands as he stepped down off the porch, making a wide arc around the Sine. He was ready for it, just let him come, let him attack -Swap- like lightning the creature's head snapped forward, its maw open wide to encompass the ranger. Before he knew what happened, he was in the beast's mouth staring down the long black tunnel of its throat. He could feel himself being lifted upwards until suddenly he was back in the bright light, floating high above the rooftop of the Broken Dagger. He had been tossed up, and below him Sine waited with its mouth opened wide, a clear path straight down into the beast's belly. He had no time to react before he was once again in its throat, but this time gravity would pull him down into the acids stored in its stomach. With a jerk he stopped. His long overcoat had caught one of the teeth lining Sine's mouth, and he was dangled over the unending darkness. His sword was in an akward position to stab at its insides, so instead he used his knees to wedge himself against the back of Sine's throat. Fortunate, too, for at that moment the hem of his coat ripped ad would have deposited him into the darkness. Outside, Sine ranted and raved, tossed his head to and fro to dislodge Madel. With its massive wings spread wide, it gave a single push to lift itself higher into the air. Still hacking air violently it flew towards that portal that would take him back to his own shadowy realm.

Madel was a long way from home.