private The Fall of Andalasia ~Book 1~

[Sekel 692]

@@RunsWithSquirlz

She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, or just the wooziness in her head, but Helena swears that she could see a fat man looking down at her. 'Why is there a fat man looking at me like that? This had better be a trick of the mind, otherwise...' Helena thought to herself and didn't finish the train of thought she got going. Moving her head from side to side, she frantically tried to search for anything that could get her out of this situation.

[Torrent505 370]

@@Alex Kennedy

 

Clarke just smiled at the maid, "Yes I'm sure you hear it every time, but how often often does it ring true? Listen to our words and you can tell that that they are true. My acquaintance is Jaiden Itz of Coppershine. Thee premier crimelord of both kingdoms and we have a delivery for him, one so important he'll burn down all of Ashcreek to find it. So important he'll shut down Coppershine port for a kingdom wide search... You know what that will do right? Coppershine is one of the main supply ports for a certain district of a certain far away land, a place that doesn't like when a single delivery is late. Mr. Hades will want to know why his luxuries are arriving and he'll find out, it will all lead back to here and you. You'll wish for the kindness of being fed to pigs. We are the pebble holding back a boulder of unstoppable horrors, you don't want to break us." It was all the truth... Maybe an exaggeration of the truth, but all of that could happen...

 

He looked over to Robert; bards could put magic in sounds, some could speak with a magical influence. Clarke didn't know if the bard could do something like that but it was worth a shot. "Robert quit joking around and tell them how important our mission is. Make them hear reason and how much of a mistake this would be." He hoped the bard would understand the stresses in his words.

 

******************************

 

Serafinno didn't struggle or fight back, he knew he was caught and any thing he did now would only make things worse. Instead he started breathing in, it was a compulsive action, he just breathed in and in and in. It wasn't a noticeable thing, he just stopped letting air out; it was an instinctual air dragons defense, storing air to be used later.

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

Madame came downstairs carrying Serrafinno and set him down, placing a crate over him.

 

"Hades? Him? What possible importance could you have that he would do such a thing? If we were to let you go, then im very sure my acquaintance would be very much sore about it. Especially since she has quite a distaste for Mr.Hades!" The Madame sneered.

 

Tulla could tell there was someone in her room and her alarms went off. Once again she strained against the braces, feebly calling out to Tugg.

[Flying Ace 142]

@@RunsWithSquirlz, @@Torrent505, @@Alex Kennedy,

Dresden didn't know what Clarke said was true or not but he trusted that Clarke was smart enough to get them out of this mess. "Well, whoever you're acquaintance is she seems like a nice piece of horse crap." Dresden said taunting Madam with a cocky smirk, "Will their be tea and biscuits there? A nice little slumber party?"

((Dresden likes to insult meanies))

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@RunsWithSquirlz,@@Torrent505,

 

Robert wouldn't have lasted this long living his kind of life if he couldn't take a hint. He wasn't entirely sure his magic would work- something about this place made him doubt that it would- but that wasn't going to stop him from trying, He poured every ounce of magic he could muster into his voice. "Please understand, miss, the fate of nations rests on our success. And naturally, with anything so important, we can't afford to tell you all the details. But we are indeed working with some very powerful allies. And I'm guessing by now you've recognized a certain person among us, and that should give you an idea of the kind of company we keep. It would be... unwise to keep us from completing our work."

[Sanctified Absence 126]

Flexing his hands to solidify the claim, Zaddion was sure that he was ready enough to get moving. He still didn't know exactly what the many maidens of the inn were planning on doing with this companions, but that train of thought didn't matter enough to waste time on right now. "I still feel a little off, but I'm ready to move, do you have your own plan or are we going in there half blind?"

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

@@Sanctified Absence,

@@RunsWithSquirlz,

 

"Personally..." Grunted a gravelly and rather grumpy sounding voice from a shadowy corner if the stable. "... I'd be far more content with carving our way out without endangering our souls..."

 

The Witch Hunter stepped forward - wincing slightly as he put weight on his left leg. His coat was dirtied and torn in several places, and a sickly red-black liquid stain was still damp, just around the base. Shadows caught under his tired eyes as he glared at Zaddion and the woman. In the far corner of the stable, a similar red stain marked where the hunter had hidden himself on his return.

 

"Desperate times call for... desperate measures, I suppose. I'm certainly in no state to fight any wars." He smirked grimly to himself. "So... time to show us what you can do, Mage. I might be able to buy you some time or cause a distraction, if that helps."

[Shadow Dancer 111]

I looked at what held me and tested the strength of the bonds but they were sturdy and would not break off anytime soon. I cursed myself for setting my paranoia aside, knowing I would not be here if I did not. I sighed knowing that I would have to wait until an opportunity presented itself for me to escape, hating having to be helpless I checked myself to notice most of my weapons were taken and I just had my cloths on me. 

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

Someone was taking her shackles off. A slave lord who had been passing through bought Tulla, and he liked to tame his purchases himself. Her limbs were free and she felt herself being pulled up to a sitting position. Tulla winced andnthe smell of his hot breath against her face and with a sloppy but solid swing, she punched him in the face.

 

Madame listened to Robert intently, coilong hair around her finger as she did so.

 

The woman shrunk behind Zaddion, clearly weary of Adrass and his kind "Anything will do. Madame used to work for a district lord in Ka'taan but was exiled to Illia lomg ago. She has been trying to get into Lady Valentines good graces ever since. Against an attack, they are hopelessly unprepared. This is why they chose here, where people barely travel. I will go and leave the back door open for you, easy entry and everyone will mostly be upstairs. "

 

She slunk off quickly, disappearing into the shadows.

[Sekel 692]

@@RunsWithSquirlz

Still feeling the wooziness in her head, Helena stopped looking around and focused her attention on the man that stood before her. "I got a question. Why are you just standing here, looking at me like that? It seems kind of weird and creepy, if you ask me." Helena said with a smirk. She didn't know what he was there for, and she didn't know why he was there. She turned her eyes to a corner of the room and found her ordinary clothes and weapons piled there. Giving a huff, she ended up glaring at the man.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@RunsWithSquirlz,

 

Robert saw that Madame was listening to him and thought that maybe he had a chance. He decided to push. "I understand, of course, if you don't entirely believe me. Perhaps... perhaps I might offer myself as collateral? I imagine there would be worse things than spending a night with you, and I assure you, my comrades won't betray you if it means endangering me. They couldn't possibly last long undercover without my help anyway." His words were only half true, if even that, but he did his best to sound sure of himself.

[Torrent505 370]

Once Serafinno was out of sight under the box he breathing changed again, it shift from just breathing in and skipping the exhale to a steady constant inhale. The young dragon was sucking in air like a silent vacuum and even though his lungs were full it didn't stop him; he just stored more and more and more air in him with his body naturally using air magic to compress the incoming air making his lungs very pressurized.

 

@Shadow Dancer

Lance was sitting and looking rather bored, he respected the Madame she owned him and had technically saved his life when he had made the mistake of entering Lady Valentines District in Ka'taan, but still her style of business didn't fit a warrior of flowing steel like himself. There was never enough struggle, he had to find fun where he could and tuned out the man the women had been fussing over as he spotted the assassin awakening; here was some fun to be had! The girls and him had been waiting for Indicus to a wake so they could kill him first.

 

Lance moved in his graceful gait to sudden be before Indicus, "I see you're awake big guy, did think I was going to let you ignore me again did you?" He winked at him and produced a long metal needle as thick as a tinkerers pencil, "As soon as I saw you avoiding the girls I knew their would be some penetration between us..." He drove the needle into Indicus' chest the strike was precise to avoid any vitals, "... one way or another that is!" He produced another three needles from his cloak, he carried nearly a hundred and planned to use every single one before he let this asshole die.

 

@@Alex Kennedy @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Flying Ace

Clarke felt his spirits rising, despite Dresden's childish insults the Madame seemed to be listening to Robert, they might actual just talk their way out of this! That was until the focus was stolen away from the conversation to the one male staff member becoming sadistic with some sickening twisted beliefs toward Indicus and stabbing him. Clarke could feel the murderous shift in the air... This was not good for negotiations.

 

He had to try and turn focus back to talking, his words were rush and desperate to be shared before the staff joined in tortures, "We don't matter to Mr. hades! But we mean everything to Jaiden and he matters to Hades. Killing us won't help Hades in the slightest, in fact it letting us live might hurt him if what we deliver makes Jaiden too confident and thinking he can leave Hades' service they might go to war with each other! Kill us and Jaiden in his rage will involve Hades, who will track the blame to here and then blame whoever your District Lord is and seek retribution! Think for a moment of the damage you will cause! You are doing no service to your Lord here!" He was panting at the end off it, (did the air seem a little thinner?) out of breath from the outburst but he hoped it had been convincing enough... It was all possibly true, though his focus had been more away from the route of greater good Robert had spoken of and more of personal and criminal well being.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Torrent505

[Shadow Dancer 111]

I seethed in pain by the needle entering my skin. Not saying anything I decided that I would have to get out soon before the punctures killed me or the pain removed my focus and energy, required for magic, I figured to use some way to test if there was anything protecting him from magick first. I used a weak bolt spell to hit my torcherer's arm the shadows hiding any bolt or spell I used.

@@Torrent505

Edited September 20, 2014 by Shadow Dancer

[Sanctified Absence 126]

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather we didn't end up fighting the lot of them." The Mage was curious and a tad suspicious as to why Adrass came to them now, it seemed too... Convenient. Zaddion shook aside his suspicion all the way to the back of his mind as he slowly made his way to a standing position, seems the effect was wearing off relatively quickly now. "I don't really intend to fight unless I have to at all, I had another use for Magick in mind," examining the Hunter a little he returned a smirk before pressing on, "you look bloody awful."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

@@Sanctified Absence,

 

"I nearly looked a lot worse. Getting slow." Adrass grumbled, shrugging slightly. "Don't worry though, I won't weigh you down. Still got enough left in me to hold a sword - I've no intention of just dropping dead any time soon."

 

He glanced around in the darkness, then back at the Mage. Whatever foul plan the Witch was brewing, it was likely the safest way to rescue the princess. Perhaps the ends would justify the means?

 

'Don't be a fool: you've put your trust in a Witch before, and look at how that ended...'

 

He blinked slowly, swaying a little but remaining upright as he shook his head to try and clear it. He needed rest as soon as this was over - there was no way he could do this himself, not in the state he was in. The Mage was the only way, as much as he loathed the very idea.

 

"Lead the way: I'll watch your back. If it all goes to shit, just say the word."

Edited September 22, 2014 by Cinderscribe

[Sanctified Absence 126]

"Understood," it seems they had formulated the closest thing one could consider to a plan with the small amount of time they were given, Zaddion still didn't exactly know what the so-called maidens were going to do to his companions, so there was no time to sit and wait to find out. It was rather fortuitous that they were under the cover of night already, it would be so much easier to manipulate what was already there than 'generate,' one's own tools."I'd imagine they've noticed I'm missing by now, so we'd best take as much a stealth oriented approach as we can," he whispered back to Adrass as he advanced towards the area that was moost likely the host to their entrance.

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

No, I cant stay here. I have somewhere to be. Someone to save. I have my Kingdom.

 

Thoughts pushed Whisper from her happy dream, bringing her to the surface. Slowly, slowly her view brightened and she lurched forward. A fat man sneered down at her and cupped her cheek. The cold chains bit against her delicate skin as she struggled. As the man pulled her forwars, she screamed and fought.

 

She called out for the first person she thought of in terror "CLARKE!!!"

 

The Madame coughed and turned away, feeling lightheaded. She motioned to the guards to begin thier torture. She looked between Clarke and Robert suspiciously "It's the young one, isn't it? The sweet girl...she's special, eh? Well then! Double the price for her de-flowering!!!" She clapped her hands and spun out of the room excitedly.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@RunsWithSquirlz,

 

Damn. It looked like there was no way they were all getting out of this safely. Well, he'd had a good run. Maybe it was time to settle down after all. "Wait!" He put every ounce of charm, both mundane and magical, into his words. "Just... listen to me. I understand that a group like ours is probably a pretty big prize for you, but... If you let them go, I'll stay here and serve you for the rest of my days. Willingly. I think you'll find I make a much better slave when you don't have to force me into it, and I have... a great many ways in which I can bring you pleasure. That has to be worth releasing a few prisoners, doesn't it?" 

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

She came back in amd cupped Roberts face, running h3r thumb along his cheek "You're handsome, yes. But im not stupid. I can hear the desperation behind those honeyed words of yours." She snapped her fingers and her girls placed three mirrors down, each for the girls.

 

"But your concern for them has warmed my heart. As a treat, you get to watch!" She flourished away.

 

Tulla shoved the man away and henatumbles, hitting his head on the dresser. She took the moment to unshackle herself and druggedly rolled off the bed. She grunted, the drug still disoriented her. The man interrupted her thoughts by charging around the side and grabbing her by the legs, dragging her forward. She fought and he caight the heel of her foot in the chin, with a following sweep she knocked the legs out from underneath him.

[Torrent505 370]

@@Shadow Dancer,

Lance's arm seemed to make the perfect rolling gesture at just the right time so that Indicus's magic missed him.  Lance's fist clenched a needle tighter as he stared at the bound man before him.  He leaned in close to scowl in Idicus's face, "Did you just try to attack me!?  You bastard, do you even know what I was?  I was a Flow Dancer, killers trained to sense the flow of the universe itself and move to avoid or change paths.  You think you could even touch me unless I wanted you to?  We don't even see the same world."  He took the needle in his hand and drove it into Indicus's left eye.  He smirked as he said, "And now you see even less of the same world."

 

@@RunsWithSquirlz, @@Alex Kennedy,  @@Flying Ace, 

Clarke was trying to come to terms with the fact that he was about to die, and that his death was only going to come after brutal torture.  Seeing the only man pop Indicus's eyeball helped him along that path to acceptance, so did the woman who stepped forward with the small wickedly curved blade.  He clenched his eyes shut and was surprised to find he only wished he could see Whisper one last time.  The pain of the blade designed to catch and tear against his cheek was excruciating, but suddenly the thumping and screeching from the other side of the room made it and everyone stop.  It was coming from the box Serafinno had been put in and suddenly the noise and stuggle in there stopped completely.  Clarke looked to Madame uncertainly and strangely furious that she had done something to Whisper's pet, "What did you do to him?!"

 

********************************************************

 

Serafinno could smell the blood from Indicus's wounds, he could taste Clarke, Robert and Dresden's fear and panic in the air, and upstairs he could hear Whisper scream; but none of that could stir him from the self defense instincts that being captured had triggered in him.  His nostrils continued mercilessly vacuuming in air and finally his body told him it had gathered enough; under the box in the fireproof sack he began to thrash as hard as he could and let out shrieks and cries as if he was one of the ones being throttled and tortured to death.  Then as suddenly as he had started he stopped going dead still and limp; he stopped breathing and even his heart stopped beating.  For all intents and purposes Finn was dead; still the dragons natural air magic kept the oxygen in his blood moving, forcing his blood to circulate from his pressurized lungs, but no one else could know that.

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Torrent505,@@RunsWithSquirlz, @@Alex Kennedy,

Dresden growled at the approaching torturer he tried to break free from his shackles but they held tightly to his skin and they even cut him off from his magic still that didn't stop him from thrashing about. When they put the mirror down Dresden caught a glance of Tulla kicking a mans chin in, when the box that held Finn stopped all of a sudden. "Finn?"

[Shadow Dancer 111]

@@Torrent505, I Cried out in pain and rage, unable to retaliate due to lack of focus a part of my mind said I should have driven a needle of his in his neck. I also recalled the name Flow Dancer and their training although it was not much. I also swore that I would find a way out of here and kill the bastard doing this to me. Once the pain started to temporarily receded due to the adrenaline pumping in me.

 

I looked at my captor half blind, and just laughed, it was cold and humorless blood and matter trickling out of my mouth and eye, "First some part of my God damn mind wants to kill me after a long talk because my will to live is linked to an assignment. Then you want to torture me because some petty childish fucking spite? Whats next the fucking women I refused want a piece of me. Your efforts are worthless, I was already broken long before you fucking came along, and I did it to myself even, so do your worse, I already am a damn shell of myself."

Edited October 4, 2014 by Shadow Dancer

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

@@Sanctified Absence,

 

At the sound of screaming, Adrass almost lost focus and charged blindly. Thankfully, he did not. He had decided to throw his lot in with the Witches plan and it was too late to change that decision.

 

Not that he would have achieving anything if he had charged - wounded and outnumbered, and had the scream been caused by an attack, he wouldn't close the distance in time anyway. It would be suicide, and unlikely to even kill the crowd before he fell.

 

"Whatever it is you're doing, Mage, do it quickly!" He hissed, eyes narrowed in anger, pain and frustration at his situation. "Give me something to kill while my arm still has the strength. If they've hurt the Princess or Mistress Tulla, they'll pay with more than their lives."

[Sanctified Absence 126]

"Agreed, it seems we don't have enough time to take it as slowly as I'd hoped." Zaddion crouched low and picked up the pace to his destination, his now fully-functional mental reflexes seeing that the very shadows around them changed ever so slightly to conceal them just that tiny bit better. He approached the back door at a speed quicker than he would've liked before but now there was no time... The woman he had met better have kept her end of the deal if she knew what was goo- the door opened with almost no resistance, excellent.

 

Up until now it was relatively easy to get around without being noticed, of course that is assuming there was anyone on the outside to begin with. In here the shadows were of a far weaker magnitude, so it was hard to bend them, even subtly without potentially disturbing onlookers. Still, he made best of what he had and pushed on towards the upper floors at a pace just slow enough for the Hunter to keep up without making noise, constantly vigilant for anything else that might move.

Edited October 5, 2014 by Sanctified Absence

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

Tulla desperately flung herself across the room. Her things were folded neatly on the dresser, with her weapons as promised. Probably as a taunt while the girls were ravaged hopelessly. She grabbed the sword Adrass had given her and swung just in time to cut a gash across the mans chest. He roared in anger and pain, slapping her acrossnthe room and sending Tulla into the bathroom.

 

He came after her but she was ready, as soon as he came into her view, Tulla thrust forward; sliding the blade into his gut and up through the ribcage.

 

Something cold brushed along Whispers thigh as she struggled; the rose. They had not seen the small gift Clarke had given her and she had fallen asleep with it underneath her pillow. She grabbed it and pointed, not really knowing what to expect and pulled the thorn trigger.

 

The Inn was mostly vacant, the screams being contained to the bedrooms. A few maids wandered about, cleaning after the party they had. Zaddion felt a small weight on his shoulder; his crow had glided in quietly through the door and now stared at him. It made no sound, as if it knew they needed stealth.

 

Madame approached the box "I didn't intend to kill it, I wanted to sell it. Did it suffocate? " she flipped the box over and looked down at Finn.