Brought to Justice

[EjA]

- Gentle breeze fled through the forest of Myrken during the early morning hours. He felt it not. His eyes were sewn shut by the darkness which encircled his form. It seemd, as such, to be a massive vine, unyielding to his great strength.
- Crystal clear blood flowed from a thousand wounds, the pricks of thorns growing slowly into flesh. To move was to cause pain, and it is this he avoided at all cost. Calm acceptance. What else did he have? Nothing.
- The Lord he served he cursed with every last breath, but he wouldn't release his servitude from his heart. Hating.. and yet.. loving his God all at once. It is for this that they could not corrupt him.
- The memories of children dying haunt his mind. They were not yet trained but Ithitra let them die anyhow. No, was that the way? Hardly. Laughter in the distance finally brought his eyes to open, but he saw not features.. only a single blurred color. Crimson.
- Oh, he knew his fate could not bend to this, but it was, for he had been forsaken. Betrayed by that which he would always serve. To care.. to care was to die, he saw this now. If only he had seen it before..
- "Oh, Michael." The voice sounded so sweet within his ears that at first he thought it was someone of his .. past. But that past was gone, and his eyes slowly began to focus. Silence even as he drew a breath into pierced lungs. The pain, the blinding light.. it was all so intense. "Look what you've accomplished. You were named after one of the greatest and you threw that away.. for what? No. I know you don't remember."
- "Go to.."
- "Ah-ah. We don't want to make a scene, now do we?"
- "Sahkhal.. I swear.."
- "Don't swear. It's what got you into this mess in the first place. You've lost your allies. They don't care about you any longer, Michael. You could join us. We have a home ready for you."
- Cold gray eyes just grow more so. "I'll never join you." His voice sounded strong, despite the release of air within, and crystal clear blood flicking up over his lips. He struggled against the bonds of vine only to have thorns drive more deeply into his body. "Kill me." It sounded .. almost as if he were begging to die.
- "No, Michael. I don't think so. We need you to get to them." Sahkhal's own violet eyes glittered impishly as he stepped upto the captive angel, an angel whose wings he had once more removed the night before. Once more, twisted crimson appendages left upon a porch floor. Why? A sign, a message. To whom?
- "They will come for me and you." The protest left his lips before finally the pain overwhelmed the mind and Michael fell into an unconscious state. He looked.. almost serene.
- "You will join us, Michael. You see. She doesn't care what happens to you. She only cared about her child." He grinned slowly, "And what better revenge for me to cause... but to take you into our ranks?" Silently he turned and was gone, leaving the angel there to the torment the thorns would impress upon he...

[EjA]

- "Which way, Josh?" A soft voice rose up upon the cool breeze. Three young men stand grouped, one with black hair and obviously youngest, one with copper hair and middle height between the two, plus one with brilliant red hair the color of the rising sun - this last with a build like a young swordsman as the others appear more lithe almost skeletal in ways, a wizard and an empath.
-All three stand upon a path which branches into three directions, the looks of young noblemen.. The breeze which previously was rustling through the leaves has gone leavng a stiffling heat settling upon the group.
- "We should split up." The oldest of the three says, his dark blue eyes looking down the path which seems to have become darker than the others.
- "Yea, but, Auric, if we stay together nothing can harm us."
- "I know, Josh," He speaks quietly to the copper haired, "But, if we stay together then there's no way we'll ever find him."
- "Mike.. it's your vote." Josh turns his almost albino features to the youngest and waits quietly the answer as a deep breath he draws.
- "Uhm.." Mike looks up to the other two with wide eyes, there is fear written within that gaze. If only he'd told his mother what they were doing. "Uhm.. I think we should split up.. Aur's right if we split up then we can find him faster."
- Josh sighs, his eyes closing for a moment before he shrugs and nods to Auric. "You're the boss." But he almost flinches as Auric takes off at a run down the darkest path. A soft grumble which becomes even more pronounced as the youngest takes off down the exact opposite. His eyes close and he blinks thoughtfully, only to begin trudging toward his own fate.

- Auric slows within moments of his first burst of speed. Steps calm yet wary carry him down the path. But things seem changed, trees already stripped of leaves. It's as if the depths of winter have come to this haven of summer. The heat has become almost stiffling, even for him. -Twenty perhaps thirty steps further on he walks before turning around. His eyes widen, more than a little fear writing within their blue embrace. The clearing is gone, he can't see anything of his companions or even the trees they left behind. Gods. Turning back the youth makes to take a step forward only to falter and look down. What he thought was a root moments before seems to have taken on an almost flame red hue.
- Kneeling down with slow, precise movements he reaches out and touches upon the object. Cold to the touch, and yet oddly warm at the same time. It doesn't take him long to trace the outlines of a scale. 'What the..' he questions himself. Pushing back to his feet the lad steps over the tail and continues off at a sudden run.
- If he hadn't seen it, Auric probably wouldn't have believed it. The 'root' moves as he steps over it, and a stench like fetid breath, rotting flesh, and sulpher rises up into the air. Their histories have described this, but he hopes it is something else.
- A wicked blade forms almost instantly into his hand, if it reacted out of fear, who knows, but it's there. The rustling of the trees grows more loud before one falls and crashes down next to him. Jumping out of the way of this deadfall just in time, Aurics' eyes raise to the sight of horror before him.
- Its eyes burn yellow, flames flickering within deepset sockets. A dragon like head is set upon a long sinuous neck which is connected to an almost.. human body. The beast is muscular, if covered entirely in thick scale. Long arms and fingers end in great claws and talons. It's there that the similarities end. The body tapers off into a long flowing tail, which wraps around the bases of several trees in its length.
- The fear rushes into Aurics' face as the beast roars its triumph. A Basha, he knows these but not a weakness. Gods, how he'd hoped never to face something like this. But the holy sword is raised and with a muffled chant armor of light begins to form upon his flesh.

- Mike, the youngest member of the party, has passed beyond the threshold. His dark gray eyes keeping vigilent search for anything that may try to get in his way. There is, of course, a knot in his stomach, a deep rooted fear that they will fail in the end. But, it's not only that, he has no powers save those to heal, how could he survive?
- It didn't seem to matter, atleast not in that moment. They had to find Michael, they had to find their teacher. His breathing deepening the lad hurries on, becoming almost unmindful of the things that might very well be laying in wait.
- Rich garments are soon torn and twisted by groping branches, but he doesn't care. Or, he wouldn't until something moves in his path. A slow blink, eyes of gray focusing as best they can before he crouches in wait. What's this? Why? Shallow his breathing has become, but he remains unmindful. There.. it's right.. and eyes open wide as the earth explodes beneath him...

- Josh went at a run, his form glistening with sweat by the time he made it to the first clearing. Fear ran through his body like some sort of drug, but he wasn't worried. Or, that's what he told himself. His eyes cast around once before he simply flops at the base of a tree.
- So far so good, nothing in sight. A smile flickers upon his lips and arms rise behind his head. So they may have been wrong, maybe Michael wasn't in this forest. Auric wasn't known for his intelligence, that's why he wasn't a mage.
- Others could say the same, but Josh doesn't mind. His fingers twine and he spends the moment trying to find his breath. Rather, he would have had there not a sparkle appeared in his vision.
- In an instant the lad is on his feet and moving, spells lifting unbidden to his lips, testing the magics. Dark, forbidding magics they prove to be. However, he sees her, a young goddess as far as he can tell.
- Forward the lad moves, eyes focusing in to get a better look. There is a brief moment where he stops and blinks. She'd seen him, and eyes opened wide. She was.. walking towards him.
- "Hello.." To him the voice was that of the heavenly songs themselves. She was so beautiful, so her hair, golden her eyes a gentle sky blue. If this forest was so evil how could someone like this be here?
- "Good morning." Joshua responds in an almost stutter, "You know there are things out here which would like to get someone like you alone, right?" Her giggle causes the lad to blush and kick at the dirt. But when he looks back up, he sees she's closed more distance than he'd thought possible.
- "More things than just you?" Her words catching him once more by surprise. With a few steps back he shrugs and clasps his wrists behind his back.
- "Y-Yea I suppose. Uhm.. can I help you?"
- Her grin, then, does cause him to brighten himself a moment. "Yes. You can. You can wash my back." The girl smiles still even as she turns and begins walking away.
- This leaves Joshua only to blink, "Really...?" Curious and yet now somewhat wary as he beginst to follow along behind.

[EjA]

- Twisted life flickering through the trees. He could feel their essense, their very power, but this was brushed aside. The behemoth creature before him taking a great deal of his concentration. As it lunges he dives, the sword in his right hand flashing right and left.
- Only does he leave grooves deep within the iron like scale of the Basha, demondragon. Sweat beading upon dark brows as the man flicks this way and that. Blood finally splatters, though when pain surges through his body it's only then realized that the blood is his own.
- Deep breaths sucked in through open maw the lad screams a warcry. He'd given his life for his tutor, this now he knows. Rushing in beneath firey claw, his blade plants deep into the belly of the beast.
- No time for celebration is had as one of those massive clawed hands wraps around his form and pulls him up and away. Failure, his eyes holding the guilt that that portrays. But the beast pauses suddenly, its head tilting back with a roar of pain before a shudder works its way through its form. Flames explode from within its maw, rising into the air as a column of hatred.
- Auric grunts as he squirms within the embrace of the appendage. His strength finally giving way as the beast loses its own. One claw pushed aside, another follows, and he's climbing out to drop to the ground. A moments pause is taken before he leaps into action, running out of the way of the beast as it falls.
- Only when it has hit the ground does he turn and look upon it. Shallow breaths wrack his form and he just stares. How could he have killed it? It couldn't be that easy. But he notices only then a black spear rising into the air, a weapon that may very well have belonged to a God for all its mighty appearance.
- Brows furrow calmly and the lad is stepping back toward the Basha. Its spirit he sees writhing from within. Hurry! A voice as if in his mind speaking causing him to run to the creatures side. Scale he begins ripping off as the cohesion of the flesh dissolves.
- He thrusts a hand into the hole left behind, capturing the 'spirit'. "By the will of Ithitra.. let your power be mine." Words whispered and the black spirit begins to gray slowly before as if to crumble. The flesh of Aurics hand begins to sizzle and burn, darkening and splitting allowing blood to flow.
- The lad doesn't seem to mind as his eyes have unfocused and a scream of pain rips finally through his chest. To the ground he falls then, unconscious but far from dead.
- "We should take him." A black robed figure steps quietly from the forestry. Red eyes burn deeply within the confines of the darkness.
- "No. Leave it." The companion speaks in the same dry toned voice, "The Master wishes it to succeed."
- "Yes." Heads bow and they turn, disappearing quickly back into the darkness of the foliage.

- "What's your name?" Joshua's soft voice flickered through the stillness. The lake was cool, the water beautifully comforting. Gentle breezes stirred the surface ever so lightly, rustling the leaves of the trees over head. A myriad of sundrops, like diamonds upon the earth, shone betwixt and between landing on the sheet of water.
- His gaze was upon the girl, a beautiful creature by any other name. Her hair a soft golden brown, her flesh tanned to perfection. The fact that she could have been an angel wasn't lost upon him. The lad didn't stop either, his hands roaming across her back, lathering soap in thick swathes.
- "Kubi." Her voice struck against his ears like a thousand bells, a million voices of heaven. "Kubi Masara."
- "Kubi." He breathes softly. A sage nod and he smiles to himself brightly. "Well, Kubi, you know there are bad things roaming the forest, right?"
- "I know, but this is the only place I feel safe."
- Her response sounded only so natural to his ears that he seemed to ignore any warning bells it may have set off. "Do me a favor and becareful, alright?"
- "I will." The solemn tone convinced him, though he tried his best to not watch as she bathed. Mmph. His eyes blatantly roamed over her form, a sixteen year old man with all the hormones that age came with, as she turned. It didn't even register to him until a moment later when he looked to her eyes and saw them wide.
- With a piercing shriek she backpedals, head tilted upward. Joshua follows her gaze, spinning in the water. Not a word did he manage to release before the thing was upon him. Its head like a twisted parody of a man lashing down to crush his skull. The sound of breaking bone and the girls' shrieks were the last things he ever heard.
- Two figures upon the shoreline watch the carnage, both covered in black cloaks, eyes of fire burning in the depths. "Should we help it?" The first asks in such a familiar tone.
- "The Master wishes it not."
- Their 'eyes' turn to watch the fleeing girl, it is moments before the first speaks again. "Of course not." Water tinges to the color of blood.

- Mike's eyes opened with the sound of a deep groan. It took him a moment to realize that it had been his own voice. A quick blink as he tried to focus his eyes, though he soon gave up with a spark of despair. Hands extended up to inspect his head. Nothing wrong that wouldn't heal, though the fingers did come away dotted with crimson.
- A grunt of dissatisfaction, and the boy pushed up to his feet. Eyes re-opened, exploring as best he could in the pseudo-darkness. There, above, he saw light, but how far is the question. He decided against testing, figuring that he may only injure hidden wings.
- Looking back the lad found he was standing in a crossway with a path open behind, and one to either side. It seemed the ground had wished to swallow him into the abyss. Atleast, that was his take on it. Without hesitating the boy spun, eyes darting between the three. Which to take?
- A moments thought and he tasted the air, his tongue darting out like a snake as if he had something to prove of his tracking abilities. That way. A sage nod. Michael burst into a quick jog in moments, following his instinct, but he keept his empathic senses spread out, searching for traps and other such things.
- "Dangit, Mike, mum's gunna kill you." Words whispered softely to himself as he looked around the area. The tunnel seemed to continue on forever, though in time he found a brilliant light flickering to one end. With his breathing quickened the lad hurried forward, maxing into a run. A skid, however, brought him to a dead stop as the tunnel suddenly ended.
- The mouth emptied out in the side of a cliff, a glowing sky above and a forest below. How could this be? That's.. Myrken? The lad blinked quietly watching the vast expanse of forestry, and in the distance he could feel the tavern of the Broken Dagger. "How..." the single word echoed back into the tunnel as the lad scanned the horizon.

[EjA]

- Auric awakened with a start, his eyes momentarilly clouded by the pain he felt. But, within, he could feel something moving as well. It wasn't anything living, a feel of new strength. His hands extend down, pushing him slowly into a sitting position, and quietly he breathes. A glance to the side, the monster he previously killed no longer existing.
- This is disturbing, atleast to him, what could have happened to it? Perhaps without its spirit the thing shriveled and died. No worries. He then pushes slowly to his feet. There, a moment, he wavers and shakes his head. Gods, this could get annoying. But, soon, a twist of his form and the lad looks about the clearing where he lays. The forest seems changed.
- Indeed, now, rather than just a single path there, his path branches off into dozens. Eyes close and the lad holds up his right hand. Which one. Using a trick he was taught by the very man he had come to rescue, the boy expands his awareness, seeking down the edges of all the paths.
- They all seem to end, but one he recieves a sort of mental tug. It's down this path that he begins stepping. Onto it, and down several feet before his eyes open. The forest is changed entirely. Branches once covered in leaves are now lain broken and bare. The scent of destruction lays heavily upon the land, but there he sees it. Michael.. is that.. A smile rises to his lips and the lad runs forward only to hit an invisible barrier surrounding his teacher.