The Tale of Harau

Katsuo slowly crawled along the cliffs, keeping a keen eye on the wagon which he knew held alli. His hyrbrid body gave him exceptional senses. Just by her smell Katsuo knew she was in there. As he continued to crawl along, doing his best to hide from sight, he held a single imagine in his mind, a wall. From the moment he saw the wizard he knew how to defend his mind detection. However, if the situation came to a lethal situation, he knew he'd be outmatch for the wizard. His best bet was to kill him before he even knew what happen, and if that failed, he'd have to prey he could get close enough to kill him with a sword. Katsuo strung an arrow and aim, his breath steady as he kept a close eye on the wizard, waiting for the perfect time to shoot. " I cant miss, if I do this is going to be extremely difficult. " he whispered to himself. He waited until the wizard was in clear shot. When he believed he had a shot Katsuo quickly hopped up and fired the arrow towards him, it whistling though the air at high speeds as it shot towards the wizards heart. Katsuo held his breath, hoping it will connect.

Two things happened it would seem simultaneously the arrow simply was gone and Katsuo was blasted with a mental assault of horrific proportions, this was not some chump wizard...This was Azathoth the Archmage of Elderine. Even with mental defenses in place the keening whispers and subtle suggestions would begin to break through his defenses. They urged him to simply enclose himself in his wings (if he has them idk) and let himself plummet from the cliffs, This life is far too difficult far too hard, Peace and happiness lay a single drop away

~As quickly as it rose the energy faultered and fell away it was now the twins whose eyes burned with fire, Proving that the fang had not yet accepted Tarunda. Her words sounded noble to be sure, but the fang could see into her very heart, and it seemed according to the fang, this was a cold calculated move~

"The fang disagrees with you, Hand it over now, and hurry, if you truly mean what you say, the fang see's all, it will know of your deeds in saving Allistra, however as of now the fang does not deem you worthy.

Vari felt it before he heard anything. He was close, and it didnt take Katsuo's fall to warn him what an impressive amount of power they were up against. He actually took a quick sidestep and caught Kats before he crashed to the ground and set him down. "Be silent. I will make this quick." Vari burst out of the trees and smirked at the wagon. He had faced off with wizards before, and as it just so happened... "Azathoth... it's been a while. Remember how I snuck right under your nose to kill the Duke of Elderine? Oooo I bet that brings back bitter memories." He laughed gently and then glared. "You've been hurting my friends, and now I've come to make sure you dont do any more. You know my defenses are second to none and I only left you alive because it was easier to avoid all your guards and simply knock you out." He crackled a little behind his eyes, bristling as he waited for the first attack. His mental baracade was solid because he was focusing on one thing and one thing only. His friends needed him, and he was going to commit to his mission and prove those twins wrong. "Hand over the demoness and I wont see fit to end you today either."

Tarunda grunted and handed over the fang. "Is there any way you could tell me where to go from here? I want to help really." She nodded hurriedly as she looked around the cave. "Is there a way you could help me get there even? I know I'm fast, but I doubt I'm that fast. Please give me a little help here."

Katsuo grabbed his forehead after being sat back on the ground. Vivid images blurred through his mind at a furious pace. Images of his past, and what seemed to be what could be his future. He saw bodies, hundreds of them. Some of which he recongized. Pain sheered through Katsuo's head and he fell to the ground as he clawed at it, trying everything he could to get the images out. He was slowly losing his mind. It wouldnt be long before he was lost for good.

~Azathoth's brutal mental assault ceased and he cackled evily~ "Ah vari, yes that was unfortunate but you see, i know why you have come yet, you are in the wrong place your demoness is far northwest almost to Elderine by now."

"You see, I already knew that. This is merely an afterimage, you'd think you would have learned from last time." Vari smirked a little, he had already searched the whole caravan and bowed to the wizard. "But either way, this afterimage is still enough to kill you." He lunged forward and shoved a knife deep into the wizard's skull. "Enjoy your death."

Miles away the horse was still munching on grass, Vari sitting ontop of it as he rubbed his hands. "So... Elderine it is then." And with that, him and the horse both vanished, his skill as a shadowstepper seeming to increase every time he did it. Now it no longer hurt to jump the shar... horse.

~The true host transporting the drugged Demoness had reached Elderine, They took her straight to the castle dungeons all the while the complacent Allisstra saw different than reality, she believed herself to be in one of the finest rooms, and those stripping her nude were maids instead of dungeon guards. only when she was securley chained to one of the infamous Elderine torture tables was the antidote administered and she came back to reality~
"Hey what the hell...where am i? What the hell are you doing!" ~she exclaimed writhing and pulling hard against the restraints. The guards promptly let fly with a fist catching the helpless demoness square in the jaw~

"Calm down, let the bitch try and escape the Archmage enchanted these restraints himself no demon could escape them, much less a filthy halfbreed like herself"

~Allistra continued to growl and struggle but over the next hour it soon became clear the guards were right, she would not escape. She was further disheartened when she found out no magics could allow entry into elderine. Vari, and katsuo's descriptions were posted at all gates, and there was no hope of rescue.~

(please no fucking with this, you want in the city you have to fight your way in, no metagaming no god modding, you have to work to save her)

"Ah Elderine... I hate this place." Vari spoke gently as he looked over the sights. "Hm... guard seems a bit heavy today. Which means... time to think like an assassin." He smirked as he let his horse ride in with the dead body of the archmage, to distract the guards for far longer than he needed. Using the assassin's skill set open to him he quickly scaled the city wall and with a quick knife jab, chucked the guard at the top from his post and into the forest below. This was almost too easy.
Alli would be in one of the dungeons, and as long as he didnt use any magic, he would be completely undetectable as long as he kept his mental shields up. He had done this before to take out the Duke, all he had to do was use some clever manuvering to get down to the dungeon cells. Which would be in the castle of course.
After several minutes of expert sneaking, Vari had reached the back of the castle, which only had the wall guard protecting it and some archers at the towers. Easy fodder for him as he used his kusarigama to climb up the side of the smooth castle wall, taking out a few throwing knives and dispatching the guards at the wall before they could call for help, he climbed up until he reached a balcony, inside was one of the princess's chambers, something he should remember in the future if he ever felt like taking her hostage. But anyway.
The princess was in another chamber tonight, which ment the hallway outside was not guarded at all, making it very easy for Vari to creep down the stairs. All he had to do was keep going down, down, and down. And by the look of the sky outside, the sun was slowly setting. Shit it was nearly nightfall. He had to hurry. He saw guards posted outside a wooden door with an outward facing lock on the ground floor. "That's a bingo." he chuckled to himself as he took out a small round plaster ball, tossing it towards the guards. They looked at it suspiciously and then it exploded with a small pop, smoke billowed out, giving Vari time to run up to the guards, pulling out two throwing knives and stabbing them both in the throat. The lock on the door was easy to open simply because one of the guards had the key.
The air was damp now, he had made it, he could hear guards complaining in the distance and hurried down the stairs, masking his footfalls as much as he could on the stone stairway as he ran almost flat out down the hallway to the dungeons, peeking inside to get a feel for how many guards he would have to kill in there.

(There. Big ass wall of text that got him there. I've been playing too much Assassin's Creed for this not to happen.)

Tarunda arrived where the twins sent her easily, coming to Katsuo's help so that their characters had some meaning in the plotline to come. (Come on guys... seriously.)

Tarunda brought Katsuo back to the cave and sat him down infront of the twins. "Please, fix him."





(BLOODY FIX HIM SO WE CAN KICK SOME ASS TOO!)

~The twins looked to the raving and rambling hybrid~ "Azathoth's work..wonderfull... " Sage says softly laying a paw upon his head~
"To the wolf in you Katsuo i call, come forth back from the depths of despair. Let not a meager weasel wizard destroy your pride, To the dragon in you Katsuo i call, Come forth back from the depths of self hatred. Let not a meager weasel wizard destroy your honor. To both halves i call darkness aide me summon this poor soul back from the depths to which a wizard of dark heart and evil intent have sent him."
~sable now steps forward and repeats the mantra instead calling to the light, once her part had been said as well both speak as one their powers writhing and entwining visibly around katsuo it was erie to see light and dark dance and entwine and yet somehow beautiful as well. Suddenly the power sinks into katsuo and drives a blood red energy from him, the wizards power. It faded away into nothingness and the two twins collapse uncouncious, such a spell for them was rigorous and draining~

~Cell after cell inside the dungeon was empty. and yet cries of anguish screams of terror and ceaseless begging came from somewhere and echoed in the huge chambers beneath the castle~

((you wont find her yet hiro, i want the group as a whole to rescue her...in fact....I think i have an idea for my next post ~evil grin with diabolical hand-wringing and laugh))

Vari sprinted down the dungeon hallway, bursting through each room and suddenly getting an idea. It was time to stop being quiet. He took out a couple of roman candles from his distraction bag and lit them up, shooting noisy ass bright balls of fire all around the dungeon as he ran, he didnt even care that part of his ear was on fire, or his tail, right now he was more concerned with Alli's safety, and a distraction was something those guards really needed to hear.

Which cannot simply be voided because he can hear the screams and you already said they were in the dungeon below the castle, and he's been there before, he knows there's only one dungeon, so they have to hear it and they have to come try and stop him.

Even now he could hear the guards start shouting at eachother to go see what the hell all the racket was about. He grinned as he dropped the candles and let them continue to make noise, pulling out his kusarigama and twirling it as he kept running.

Tarunda grunted and snapped her fingers, a portal opened up to Vari from the cave, she dragged the reawakening Katsuo over through the portal to the dungeon and stood right where Vari was running, watching him run past and leaving Katsuo to get reaquainted with himself, and leaving the portal open. Her magic was different, it was foreign, it was like using the healing alchemy in the normal land when Father stops normal alchemy. It bypasses the rules of magic in this country.

(Sorry, but I really want to help Hiro. And I'm sick of being the one just kinda left out of the action because I cant move as fast as everyone else. So there, we're all here. Go to hell, and let us save the bitch already. So we can get on with the actual plot line)

... seriously, it's just been a two way post battle for the past couple pages, let me play already.

Katsuo slowly sat up and blinked a few times, his vision was extremely blurry, hell he was practically blind. He tried to shake it away but his vision remain blurry. He sniffed the air instead, it was damp, and very old. He could instantly tell he was in some dungean or other type of dark lonely tower. Katsuo slowly staggered to his feet and leaned onto the cold stone walls. " Damnit...I can smell Vari and that other girl. Guess all I can do is follow their scent for now...and god dammit my head hurts. " he grunted to himself as he began to walk down the hall blindly, his only guide was his sense of smell.

Vari stopped and waved to the other two as they stepped out of the portal, acknowleding that they have actually got there and making it impossible for them to have not gotten there. "Hey, at the end of the dungeon Alli is still tied up, but I fired off some roman candles so they guards would be distracted. So I doubt she's gonna get filled by molten metal anymore. So lets hurry and free her while the sun is still up outside." He laughed as he waited outside the door that had the guards inside, they came rushing out because of the sounds of the roman candles, Vari waited behind the door and moved behind the guards who went to get Tarunda and Katsuo, sending out his kusarigama and spinning it around all of them, then the blade on the end came close, Vari took a huge tug and it cut through all of their legs, pulling it back and wrapping it up before he headed inside to find Alli naked on a table.
He blushed for a second and smiled. "Hey Alli... I just have to say you have one great body. Oh and I'm here with Tarunda and Katsuo to rescue you. Dont worry, I know we'll be able to get you out of here before anything goes wrong."

(Or else.)

(not quite yet hero boy, still got 2 days left)

~The immage of allistra faded away revealing an empty cell, in truth she was far deeper below the castle in a place where no screams would ever be heard. bloodied and beaten several times already she cried to herself. left in darkness she tried again and again to summon any magic, but it was useless the restraints drained it away as she brought it forth. She had been violated most recently and still stunk of them, the acrid scent shaming her every second. How long had it been? she didnt really know pain and total blackness made time meaningless. Once again she heard the door open and yelped in agony as a candle flickered into life. The man she had grown to fear was standing there again.~ "P-please...no more i beg of you! I havent done anything to you...please!!!" ~she begs and only gets slapped. another pained yelp escaped her as hot wax from the candle was left to carelessly drip onto her body each drop causing a small convulsion.~

"Two nights untill our preparation is complete, then you will be part of something amazing, your left fang is part of a powerfull and ancient necklace, your death will reawaken it so it may rejoin the rest of the fangs." ~he taunted her again. the first taunt had been worse, he told her in graphic detail what would happen to her~
"Now i've brought you some visitors, they'd just love to 'play' " ~he sneers and turns on his heel to leave. Feral wolves, and male from what allistra could see were led into the subteranean cell and over to the helpless vixen. apparantly she was going to be raped again...and this time by feral animals. As the door slowly closed she let out a keening scream of terror....one that was powered by magic, for though her magic drained away as she summoned it, it could be used first, but it had to be simple...and so her magically enhanced scream keened throughout the city. its inhuman sound made all who hear it shiver in fear of whatever could make that sound....others more knowledgeable in pain knew it as an agonized and forlorn cry. but where was it comming from? Inside the castle glasses shattered, the wolves and guards within allistra's cell died instantly their heads simply exploding from the power of her scream the door blew off its hinges and the castle shook. her voice gave out several minutes later yet still the sound echoed and keened for a solid 10 minutes. the fang had awoken...to save its carrier.~

((there we go ^_^ now you should have an easy way to find her dungeon below the dungeon. follow the sound you have 10 minutes to find the passageway, heres a hint, blood will be splattered all over it from the exploding guards and wolves.))

"Ah that's better." Vari punched the wall and climbed up to the barred window to hear outside. "Sounds like across town. Excellent." He forgot all pretence of magic showing where he was and amplified his strength, ripping down the bars and climbing out the window as he called back to the other two. "Hurry, it sounds like she's across town. Book it and we still might make it in time."

Tarunda ran in and pulled Katsuo out of the dungeon, knowing he still couldn't see, she took his hand and ran towards the scream, letting Vari do whatever he wanted as long as he kept running or going on ahead.
"I'll take care of Kats until his vision comes back, come back to me if you get to her first and I'll open up a portal to the Dragon's Cache!" She called as she drew her sword, making her way through the crowded streets, certainly the guards would still be looking for them.

Vari nodded as he climbed up one of the buildings, running along the rooftops and picking off archers with his throwing knives, so that Katsuo and Tarunda didnt have to deal with them later when they made their way through.
"I hope they're gonna be okay, I need an escape plan for when this all goes south, as I'm sure it's going to."

Tarunda rolled her eyes and sliced through a guard as he ran forward to try and grab Katsuo. "I am so sick of being left behind. Vari's a fast runner sure, but so am I! Why do I keep getting stuck with the dead weight." She smirked a little. "No offense Katsuo, but you are pretty much useless right now."

(Sorry hun, but Alli didnt even meet you, it would be a problem if she tried to attack you out of fear instead of someone she knows.)

Vari dove from the top of a building and rolled onto the stone, narrowly avoiding an arrow that sped past his face, he got up, flipped off the archer, and smiled as the archer spontaniously combusted. "That's what I'm talking about. Real firepower." He smiled as he moved quickly through the streets now.

~allistra whimpered as she crawled off of the slab, she didnt know how but the shackles holding her had simply vanished...as she got to the edge she tried to lower herself off but instead thumped painfully to the ground. Upon attempting to stand she couldnt, she was too hurt and too weak to do anything but crawl, and crawl she did, right into the feet of the Archmage~

"Well now thats unfortunate for you, seems we dont need the ritual to awaken the fang after all looks like we can ju...." ~the archmage drops dead, the fangs power had speared into his body and burst his heart. Its carrier must be protected now. not asking questions allisstra continued to crawl from the hated chamber any guard who rushed towards her dropped dead and the bloody, humiliated demoness crawled onwards leaving a trail of blood and male and female bodily fluids from both fur and feral sources in her wake.~

Katsuo growled and pulled away from the tigress. " First off im not useless! I may not be able to see right now, but-- " Katsuo stopped as the air around him popped. Knowing instantly what it was, Katsuo ducked, dodging a guards attempted killing blow and immediately thrusted his own sword into the guards chest. " But I can still figure out where im going and how to fight. We cant just leave Allisstra behind, and Vari wont be able to get her out on his own. He's good but not that good. Now if you can open portals I want you to open one as close to Vari or Allisstra as you can. They still need out help..." he argued.

Tarunda nodded and closed her eyes, focusing hard as she opened up a portal. "I dont know anything about this Allisstra chick, so I took us a bit ahead of where Vari is, that way we'll join him just as he runs past. Ready?" She chuckled a little at Katsuo and rolled her eyes. "You're dead weight still dude."

Katsuo grunted. " Whatever, lets just go already..."