Post by UlrichAcheronNacht on Apr 22, 2013 21:08:07 GMT -5
Another story from Creative Writing class.
[Drakengard Stylee]
The man's grip tightened around his long and thick sword, he pulled the reins on his horse tight – the animal stopped moving forwards and waited for a signal to move. He sniffed the air, enjoying the aroma of the open air, as always. Through his eye, he watched the Knights of the Seal as they began stationing their troops outside of the temple, in preparation to invade it. His fingertips traced the hilt anxiously, waiting for the enemy to give him the opening he needed. Five years, he'd been waiting for this day. For five years, Angelus was dead. Despite how irritable and arrogant she was, Angelus had been a very close friend; until she was turned into one of the Seals.
Grimacing, he slid down from the horse and began walking towards the knights; he remained in the remnants of the foliage: trees and bushes, so he could keep himself obscured from their perspective. With his black cloak wrapped around himself, he continued with his hasty pace, making sure not to trod on too many leaves or twigs to ensure his concealment. The knights weren't fast and the man knew he had plenty of time to do what he had to. The sword he clasped in his hand looked unwieldy, as if it'd be difficult to swing and parry with.
Leaves crunched under his steps, but the sound of crushing leaves was more subtle than the sound of fifty knights stomping around in their battle-gear. Maybe they were expecting him, that wouldn't be surprising to the man. He licked his lips, mentally preparing himself to step out and face his foes, not that he really needed it. His eye flitted down for a moment, to catch the sight of the pact-mark on his tongue. The pact was made a long time ago, to a man that didn't know his fate – the fate of aimless wandering after countless months of warring. Nobody thanked him for giving up Angelus. Nobody thanked him for stomping the Empire out of existence, or single-handedly overthrowing armies in countless battles, with only his red dragon – and pact-mate – for assistance.
The man's mind flashed back as he ran along the grassy field, heading towards the knights. One exclaimed something as he released his cloak and let it billow behind him. He remembered the largest battle he fought in, he killed thousands of men with the very sword in his hands. And now, he was going to kill again. How many years had passed? The first knight squealed like a pig as the man drove his blade through the break in the mail under the arm and straight through the ribcage. With his lungs and heart punctured, his squeals came to an abrupt halt, before he released a death rattle from his limp body. The first kill brought back macabre satisfaction to the man.
“The One-Eyed Man!” Another called out, “It's him!”
One-Eye's lips pulled into a grin as he wrenched his weapon free. He ducked under the swing of another knight and pressed his hand to the knight's face before a fireball fired out from his palm; the second victim cried out in agony as his face immolated; all of the flesh was stripped, leaving the skull bare and blackened. More and more men charged after One-Eye as he cut them down. Blood jutted through the air, when it wasn't clasping onto his blood-coated blade; the blood was accompanied by fireballs that burned the knights with more effectiveness than it normally would, due to the heavy metal armour they wore. One-Eye felt like everything was moving so slowly with the adrenaline pumping through his veins; the swings of the knights around him consistently hit air, while each time One-Eye swung his sword, another man went down with a horrid shriek.
Time flew past before One-Eye realized it, he was surrounded by a large pile of corpses; he stepped off of the pile and towards the temple. They stood, staring at him unblinkingly and full of fear. As the air swept to his nostrils, he smelled the aroma of the battlefield: the blood, the iron, the burnt flesh, the fear, and most of all, the death. The last one had a distinct scent, despite the fact they'd been dead for a short amount of time.
Over the years, the warrior Caim turned into the One-Eyed Man; a fierce warrior feared by the Knights of the Seal. Caim's goal was to break the seals to bring his pact-mate back to life. After the seals were originally broken, Angelus offered to be one of the new Seals; in doing so, she prevented armageddon from occurring and saved humanity from an awful fate at the hands of the “Gods.” However, Caim had to take the girl with him and show her the horrors that she fabricated by siding with the “Gods.” Being the vicious girl that she was, when he was occupied with feeling some of the pain emitting from Angelus' seal, she took a small knife, stabbed him in the eye, and ran away. Since then, he'd had it covered with a black eyepatch; it worked rather well and he didn't exactly want anything collecting in his eye socket. After that day, he became known as the One-Eyed Man, for all others that had known him were either missing or dead.
Now, One-Eye stood in front of an old temple. Supposedly, the Seal awaited his arrival, but he was skeptical about this sort of thing, as he always was. A little birdie had told him this bit of information and the little birdie wasn't necessarily always right with what it claimed to hear. One-Eye blinked his eye and took the blade with his right hand once more. Towering high above One-Eye, the ceiling and upper parts of the walls were swathed in various portraits of this-or-that.
The pictures looked like they told a story; the story was the accomplishments of several young men riding dragons. Dragon-riders battling monsters, humans, and dragons. One-Eye missed being Caim, but now he was someone else; he was to be feared by the Knights of the Seal, he planned on exploiting their weakness and bringing the entire organization to its knees – it was a disgrace to the Union that had been in place prior to the forming of the Knights of the Seal.
A woman's laugh echoed through the temple – it sounded like it was coming from ahead.
Another voice started speaking, “We've been waiting for you.” One-Eye didn't answer, instead he clutched his sword even tighter and continued forwards. The air smelled stagnant, lingering in his nostrils. If he hadn't been so used to the stench of death, he might've vomited. It smelled like it hadn't been opened in years; that gave the stench plenty of time to linger and intensify.
Did he hear a child's screams, or was it just his imagination?
“So, what brings you, of all people, here?” This was a third voice, one unlike the previous one or the laugh. But the voices sounded eerily familiar.
Inquiries went unanswered as One-Eye trodded through the main hall. Along the way, he saw a mirror and One-Eye paused to look at himself, despite what was going on around him; he hadn't seen his reflection in many-a-day. Now, he saw an older man with one eye, burning with the flames of anger. Shards of glass rocketed through the air as the mirror shattered; One-Eye pulled his gloved hand back and scowled; the glove had managed to prevent glass shards from impaling his fist.
“You should answer Undine, or I'll get mighty pissed,” The first voice said.
There was the woman's laugh again. Several skeletal hands reached out from behind a corridor's corner, in an attempt to grab for One-Eye himself. Hastily, he stepped back and aimed his palm at the oncoming figures; they were skeletons draped in a luminescent purple robe. Five large fireballs, each about the size of a pig, flew into the corridor with the “Gods” in it; they weren't the all-powerful Gods that the people talked about, no they were merely powerful spirits. Spirits draped in bone and cloth – both of which scattered every-which-way after the fireballs impacted them. The robes were mere ashes on the ground, incinerated from fireballs' heat, but the bones were also charred. Bones crumbled under One-Eye's boots as he crushed them under his steps.
“Oh, the children!~” The woman sang, “How I love them!~”
Arioch, Undine, and Salamander.
One-Eye tightened the grip on his sword and ran forwards, taking hold of it with his other hand.
The long hall reached a dead-end, with only a turn to the right, he turned and barged through the only door left. Something told him that they were in this room. Breaking off its hinges, the door fell to the ground; presenting One-Eye a macabre image.
Countless children lay on the ground, butchered by the elven woman sitting in them all. Many of the children had large bite marks taken out of their bloody carcasses, on the edges of the room, there were no children, but Knights of the Seal, roasted to death within their armor. Arioch's face was soaked in blood as she gnawed on the innards of a live boy with relish; his screams were full of agony. Behind her, a pair of orbs revolved around one another; one was comprised of water, the other crafted from flame – Undine and Salamander. One-Eye didn't hesitate to lunge at her; she was a danger to all, her existence was no longer required. It didn't matter if her pact-mates would die with her, but her madness had to be quelled.
Back, during the days of the war between the Empire and the Union, Caim had traveling companions to help him on his quest. Among those companions was a mad elf woman named Arioch; after Angelus had been sealed, Caim hadn't seen any of his companions since – they mysteriously just up and left. During their travels, though, Arioch had tried to devour him when she initially met Caim, but managed to be held back. Later, they found a place where the Empire was tossing children's bodies into the ocean and she dived into the bloody waters with the goal of gorging herself. Regardless, he had found one of them and she wasn't fighting the Empire anymore; her insanity insisted that she be killed.
One-Eye's blade ground against the one Arioch had raised. Her long, black hair fell into her face, covering the eyes smoldering with madness. As hers were full of madness, his were full of wrath. Sparks flew as the two swords ground against one another, but came to an abrupt halt – One-Eye's foot came up and struck her flat in the stomach, sending her sprawling. Regaining her composure, Arioch lifted her sword again, now ready. As she lunged, One-Eye stepped to the right – into the path of a jet of flame being released by Salamander. Luckily, it had only been his cloak, which he managed to quickly rip from his shoulders and toss it at Arioch.
She pushed it away with her blade, preoccupied as One-Eye stepped around the distraction, bringing his blade down on the back of her neck – just to be intercepted by a jet of water that blasted him off his feet. Landing with his head in the opened torso of a little girl, he rolled out of it instantly. Bits of flesh clung to his hair as he leaped to his feet, out of the way of Arioch's blade. It struck the child where his head had been, but he kicked the side of the blade with all of his strength. Considering Arioch's sword was thin and made to be quick, it shattered under his brute force; leaving her to hold a sword hilt as her arm was hacked off with a single, hefty stroke. Making her suffer wasn't on his list of priorities, so when Arioch fell to the ground, screaming, One-Eye lifted his sword and prepared to decapitate her. Undine and Salamander whirled around one another, howling.
The boy still cried out in pain, asking for death.
“Don't you dare kill her!” Undine's voice became shrill.
“Get away from her!” Salamander's voice became angry.
One-Eye couldn't answer, nor would he if he could. His sword bit through the back of her neck, right through the flesh, bone, and muscle in its way. When her head rolled onto the ground, the two madly-revolving orbs turned to ash. With Arioch dead, he had the time to continue traversing the temple. To no avail, he found nothing. Having wasted his time wandering through the various corridors, searching each and every room he could for a seal, a very miffed One-Eyed Man exited the temple.
Converging on the temple were two small units from the Knights of the Seal – probably only ten men or so. With a grin on his face, One-Eye let them approach so he could enter the carnage. Several fireballs glided through the air, exploding as they struck each mount and the detonation rippled the flames across the forms of each rider. The knights fell to the ground, screaming in agony as they roasted to death. Burning flesh was the only thing he could smell, but he had gotten used to it over the years; One-Eye couldn't count the number of people he burned to death or those that Caim had.
They were two different people; this was established not too long ago, when he cleaved Arioch's head from her shoulders without a problem. After she joined Caim and his companions, the thought never crossed his mind – not even when she was eating those dead children in the ocean. One-Eye wasn't too pleased with what he'd been through today, all for some killing. He made no progress in releasing Angelus from the Seal.
Days later, One-Eye sat in an inn, across from the little birdie. Brend was the little birdie; a small man, he was also quite lithe and it suited his job. He sold information, stolen goods, and was a reason for a good portion of the crime that occurred. The discussion between the two took a while, due to the fact that One-Eye had to write his responses on the parchment that Brend had brought. One-Eye was furious with him for wasting his time. Things grew intense between the two and moments later, Brend's body flew into the wall, the conflagration spread from the corpse to the inn; the customers began fleeing in fear, though One-Eye left to go find his own information. He was alone... Forever?
[Drakengard Stylee]
The man's grip tightened around his long and thick sword, he pulled the reins on his horse tight – the animal stopped moving forwards and waited for a signal to move. He sniffed the air, enjoying the aroma of the open air, as always. Through his eye, he watched the Knights of the Seal as they began stationing their troops outside of the temple, in preparation to invade it. His fingertips traced the hilt anxiously, waiting for the enemy to give him the opening he needed. Five years, he'd been waiting for this day. For five years, Angelus was dead. Despite how irritable and arrogant she was, Angelus had been a very close friend; until she was turned into one of the Seals.
Grimacing, he slid down from the horse and began walking towards the knights; he remained in the remnants of the foliage: trees and bushes, so he could keep himself obscured from their perspective. With his black cloak wrapped around himself, he continued with his hasty pace, making sure not to trod on too many leaves or twigs to ensure his concealment. The knights weren't fast and the man knew he had plenty of time to do what he had to. The sword he clasped in his hand looked unwieldy, as if it'd be difficult to swing and parry with.
Leaves crunched under his steps, but the sound of crushing leaves was more subtle than the sound of fifty knights stomping around in their battle-gear. Maybe they were expecting him, that wouldn't be surprising to the man. He licked his lips, mentally preparing himself to step out and face his foes, not that he really needed it. His eye flitted down for a moment, to catch the sight of the pact-mark on his tongue. The pact was made a long time ago, to a man that didn't know his fate – the fate of aimless wandering after countless months of warring. Nobody thanked him for giving up Angelus. Nobody thanked him for stomping the Empire out of existence, or single-handedly overthrowing armies in countless battles, with only his red dragon – and pact-mate – for assistance.
The man's mind flashed back as he ran along the grassy field, heading towards the knights. One exclaimed something as he released his cloak and let it billow behind him. He remembered the largest battle he fought in, he killed thousands of men with the very sword in his hands. And now, he was going to kill again. How many years had passed? The first knight squealed like a pig as the man drove his blade through the break in the mail under the arm and straight through the ribcage. With his lungs and heart punctured, his squeals came to an abrupt halt, before he released a death rattle from his limp body. The first kill brought back macabre satisfaction to the man.
“The One-Eyed Man!” Another called out, “It's him!”
One-Eye's lips pulled into a grin as he wrenched his weapon free. He ducked under the swing of another knight and pressed his hand to the knight's face before a fireball fired out from his palm; the second victim cried out in agony as his face immolated; all of the flesh was stripped, leaving the skull bare and blackened. More and more men charged after One-Eye as he cut them down. Blood jutted through the air, when it wasn't clasping onto his blood-coated blade; the blood was accompanied by fireballs that burned the knights with more effectiveness than it normally would, due to the heavy metal armour they wore. One-Eye felt like everything was moving so slowly with the adrenaline pumping through his veins; the swings of the knights around him consistently hit air, while each time One-Eye swung his sword, another man went down with a horrid shriek.
Time flew past before One-Eye realized it, he was surrounded by a large pile of corpses; he stepped off of the pile and towards the temple. They stood, staring at him unblinkingly and full of fear. As the air swept to his nostrils, he smelled the aroma of the battlefield: the blood, the iron, the burnt flesh, the fear, and most of all, the death. The last one had a distinct scent, despite the fact they'd been dead for a short amount of time.
Over the years, the warrior Caim turned into the One-Eyed Man; a fierce warrior feared by the Knights of the Seal. Caim's goal was to break the seals to bring his pact-mate back to life. After the seals were originally broken, Angelus offered to be one of the new Seals; in doing so, she prevented armageddon from occurring and saved humanity from an awful fate at the hands of the “Gods.” However, Caim had to take the girl with him and show her the horrors that she fabricated by siding with the “Gods.” Being the vicious girl that she was, when he was occupied with feeling some of the pain emitting from Angelus' seal, she took a small knife, stabbed him in the eye, and ran away. Since then, he'd had it covered with a black eyepatch; it worked rather well and he didn't exactly want anything collecting in his eye socket. After that day, he became known as the One-Eyed Man, for all others that had known him were either missing or dead.
Now, One-Eye stood in front of an old temple. Supposedly, the Seal awaited his arrival, but he was skeptical about this sort of thing, as he always was. A little birdie had told him this bit of information and the little birdie wasn't necessarily always right with what it claimed to hear. One-Eye blinked his eye and took the blade with his right hand once more. Towering high above One-Eye, the ceiling and upper parts of the walls were swathed in various portraits of this-or-that.
The pictures looked like they told a story; the story was the accomplishments of several young men riding dragons. Dragon-riders battling monsters, humans, and dragons. One-Eye missed being Caim, but now he was someone else; he was to be feared by the Knights of the Seal, he planned on exploiting their weakness and bringing the entire organization to its knees – it was a disgrace to the Union that had been in place prior to the forming of the Knights of the Seal.
A woman's laugh echoed through the temple – it sounded like it was coming from ahead.
Another voice started speaking, “We've been waiting for you.” One-Eye didn't answer, instead he clutched his sword even tighter and continued forwards. The air smelled stagnant, lingering in his nostrils. If he hadn't been so used to the stench of death, he might've vomited. It smelled like it hadn't been opened in years; that gave the stench plenty of time to linger and intensify.
Did he hear a child's screams, or was it just his imagination?
“So, what brings you, of all people, here?” This was a third voice, one unlike the previous one or the laugh. But the voices sounded eerily familiar.
Inquiries went unanswered as One-Eye trodded through the main hall. Along the way, he saw a mirror and One-Eye paused to look at himself, despite what was going on around him; he hadn't seen his reflection in many-a-day. Now, he saw an older man with one eye, burning with the flames of anger. Shards of glass rocketed through the air as the mirror shattered; One-Eye pulled his gloved hand back and scowled; the glove had managed to prevent glass shards from impaling his fist.
“You should answer Undine, or I'll get mighty pissed,” The first voice said.
There was the woman's laugh again. Several skeletal hands reached out from behind a corridor's corner, in an attempt to grab for One-Eye himself. Hastily, he stepped back and aimed his palm at the oncoming figures; they were skeletons draped in a luminescent purple robe. Five large fireballs, each about the size of a pig, flew into the corridor with the “Gods” in it; they weren't the all-powerful Gods that the people talked about, no they were merely powerful spirits. Spirits draped in bone and cloth – both of which scattered every-which-way after the fireballs impacted them. The robes were mere ashes on the ground, incinerated from fireballs' heat, but the bones were also charred. Bones crumbled under One-Eye's boots as he crushed them under his steps.
“Oh, the children!~” The woman sang, “How I love them!~”
Arioch, Undine, and Salamander.
One-Eye tightened the grip on his sword and ran forwards, taking hold of it with his other hand.
The long hall reached a dead-end, with only a turn to the right, he turned and barged through the only door left. Something told him that they were in this room. Breaking off its hinges, the door fell to the ground; presenting One-Eye a macabre image.
Countless children lay on the ground, butchered by the elven woman sitting in them all. Many of the children had large bite marks taken out of their bloody carcasses, on the edges of the room, there were no children, but Knights of the Seal, roasted to death within their armor. Arioch's face was soaked in blood as she gnawed on the innards of a live boy with relish; his screams were full of agony. Behind her, a pair of orbs revolved around one another; one was comprised of water, the other crafted from flame – Undine and Salamander. One-Eye didn't hesitate to lunge at her; she was a danger to all, her existence was no longer required. It didn't matter if her pact-mates would die with her, but her madness had to be quelled.
Back, during the days of the war between the Empire and the Union, Caim had traveling companions to help him on his quest. Among those companions was a mad elf woman named Arioch; after Angelus had been sealed, Caim hadn't seen any of his companions since – they mysteriously just up and left. During their travels, though, Arioch had tried to devour him when she initially met Caim, but managed to be held back. Later, they found a place where the Empire was tossing children's bodies into the ocean and she dived into the bloody waters with the goal of gorging herself. Regardless, he had found one of them and she wasn't fighting the Empire anymore; her insanity insisted that she be killed.
One-Eye's blade ground against the one Arioch had raised. Her long, black hair fell into her face, covering the eyes smoldering with madness. As hers were full of madness, his were full of wrath. Sparks flew as the two swords ground against one another, but came to an abrupt halt – One-Eye's foot came up and struck her flat in the stomach, sending her sprawling. Regaining her composure, Arioch lifted her sword again, now ready. As she lunged, One-Eye stepped to the right – into the path of a jet of flame being released by Salamander. Luckily, it had only been his cloak, which he managed to quickly rip from his shoulders and toss it at Arioch.
She pushed it away with her blade, preoccupied as One-Eye stepped around the distraction, bringing his blade down on the back of her neck – just to be intercepted by a jet of water that blasted him off his feet. Landing with his head in the opened torso of a little girl, he rolled out of it instantly. Bits of flesh clung to his hair as he leaped to his feet, out of the way of Arioch's blade. It struck the child where his head had been, but he kicked the side of the blade with all of his strength. Considering Arioch's sword was thin and made to be quick, it shattered under his brute force; leaving her to hold a sword hilt as her arm was hacked off with a single, hefty stroke. Making her suffer wasn't on his list of priorities, so when Arioch fell to the ground, screaming, One-Eye lifted his sword and prepared to decapitate her. Undine and Salamander whirled around one another, howling.
The boy still cried out in pain, asking for death.
“Don't you dare kill her!” Undine's voice became shrill.
“Get away from her!” Salamander's voice became angry.
One-Eye couldn't answer, nor would he if he could. His sword bit through the back of her neck, right through the flesh, bone, and muscle in its way. When her head rolled onto the ground, the two madly-revolving orbs turned to ash. With Arioch dead, he had the time to continue traversing the temple. To no avail, he found nothing. Having wasted his time wandering through the various corridors, searching each and every room he could for a seal, a very miffed One-Eyed Man exited the temple.
Converging on the temple were two small units from the Knights of the Seal – probably only ten men or so. With a grin on his face, One-Eye let them approach so he could enter the carnage. Several fireballs glided through the air, exploding as they struck each mount and the detonation rippled the flames across the forms of each rider. The knights fell to the ground, screaming in agony as they roasted to death. Burning flesh was the only thing he could smell, but he had gotten used to it over the years; One-Eye couldn't count the number of people he burned to death or those that Caim had.
They were two different people; this was established not too long ago, when he cleaved Arioch's head from her shoulders without a problem. After she joined Caim and his companions, the thought never crossed his mind – not even when she was eating those dead children in the ocean. One-Eye wasn't too pleased with what he'd been through today, all for some killing. He made no progress in releasing Angelus from the Seal.
Days later, One-Eye sat in an inn, across from the little birdie. Brend was the little birdie; a small man, he was also quite lithe and it suited his job. He sold information, stolen goods, and was a reason for a good portion of the crime that occurred. The discussion between the two took a while, due to the fact that One-Eye had to write his responses on the parchment that Brend had brought. One-Eye was furious with him for wasting his time. Things grew intense between the two and moments later, Brend's body flew into the wall, the conflagration spread from the corpse to the inn; the customers began fleeing in fear, though One-Eye left to go find his own information. He was alone... Forever?