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Posted By: Mir Dec 07, 2004 - 09:09 am

The half-elf had seen this before, it was the summoning ritual used for their illusions. The spell was quite taxing for them, but effective. Rame had no idea what the men would be trying to summon right then though. He sat down to watch, wondering what was going on.

As the men continued to chant, a difference began to become apparent in their voices. The pitch rose slightly, and it almost sounded like their voices were echoing. The chant itself seemed to take on a darkness as the voices shifted to something that Rame was sure a human could not produce. The men opened their eyes and Rame’s jaw dropped. Their eyes were glowing red. The roughly drawn lines of the triangle began to glow red as well, and within the boundaries more intricate patterns began to appear. Each new spiral and strange runic shape seemed to tell a story of chaos and death. Slowly they began to merge, creating the illusion of a dark world.

The illusion suddenly burst from the triangle and the all the darkness became real. It coated the ground like thick oil and blocked out the sun.

Rame scrambled away from the darkness, but felt a chill as it passed under and around him. After it had passed, he froze, watching as something else began to materialize in the circle. Two glowing red eyes began to form. The moved a ways into the sky, stopping a little over six feet up. As Rame watched, a body began to form around the eyes. He almost stopped breathing when he recognized the basic body type. The men chanted louder and the form intensified, verifying Rame’s worst thoughts. It was indeed a Delvi, only this one was female, and somehow appeared even more sinister than the other one had. In an instant the form solidified into a corporeal body, and the form dropped to the ground in a crouch, looking around.

The female Delvi stood, reaching her full height of a little over five feet. She peered around for a while, apparently getting her bearings, then stepped forward and in a motion so fast that Rame couldn’t even see it, she decapitated one of the men. His head rolled a short distance, and then stopped. The other two kept blindly chanting as if nothing had happened, but the darkness lessened slightly.

She stepped out of the triangle and looked around, her hands falling to the pair of curved swords at her hip. Standing tall and proud, she turned her face to the darkened sky and raised her voice, “Ebon Razemaster, come and face me.”

She waited for a moment, but there was no response. She lowered her face and looked around again. Out of frustration, she kicked the head of the man across the campsite. It rolled within a foot of Rame’s feet and stopped, it dead eyes looking at him. He bit his lip to keep from screaming as the Delvi shouted again, “Come and meet me my mate; I desire your head and blood for my meal.”

The Delvi waited for a while. When no response came, she quickly moved over to Rame and grabbed him by the throat. As he tried to struggle, she lifted him off the ground, “I grow tired of your games Ebon Razemaster. If you are going to make me wait, I will need strength.” Slowly she reached down and took one of the curved swords from its sheath. She pressed the wicked, saw edged blade close to his throat and smiled, “You are only a small morsel, but young and quite innocent. You shall make a flavorful meal.”

Rame’s eyes widened in fear and he kicked out, knocking her other sword from its sheath. The dark elf looked at him closely, and a smile crept across her face, “You are one of the six. Even better.” She pressed the sword into his throat, drawing a small trickle of blood.

Suddenly the dark elf’s grip grew lax. She dropped to her knees, her left hand hanging by a mere strip of skin. The muscle and bone were both cleanly severed. Another Delvi stood over her, his scimitar and short sword drawn and dripping blood. He had evidently cleaved through her arm with a double blow.

The Delvi on her knees bared her teeth in a grin, “So you do live Ebon Razemaster, my mate.”

Ebon lunged, brining his arms out wide for a powerful strike, but leaving his chest exposed and vulnerable. The fresh white of the multitude of bandages covering his torso suddenly turned red as blood seeped from all of his wounds. The blood dripped through the bandages, trickling down his chest and back.

The female Delvi smiled as she stood. She proceeded to completely remove her injured arm, “You didn’t expect me to possess my magic still did you? I came at the expense of others, so my powers are all still intact.”

Ebon stumbled back slightly and reached down to feel the blood. He quickly pulled his hand away and snapped his blades back into their sheaths. He touched his right hand to his forehead, and then quickly placed his left hand on his right shoulder. Next he placed his right hand on his left shoulder. With amazing speed he dropped to one knee and bowed so that his chest touched the raised knee. He remained in that position, not looking up.

The female Delvi froze and snarled, “Stand up and face me you weakling; I will not be tainted by your crimes. You pathetic creature, you are worthless.”

With the Delvin seemingly distracted by each other, Rame slowly and carefully began to creep away. He took his eyes off the Delvin, more concerned with picking a path that would not take him through the fight or make too much noise.
From behind, the female Delvi sprung on him, her blade ripping a gash across several ribs. As Rame opened his mouth and screamed, Ebon leapt on the female. Before she could even get a weapon up in defense, Ebon had her throat sliced wide open. Blood gushed from the wound, but that didn’t seem to be enough for the other Delvi as he brought his other sword down, severing her head. It rolled a couple times and stopped, staring into the sky with a look of shocked hatred.

Rame quickly flung himself at the living Delvi’s feet. He cowered there for several moments, his knees tucked under him and his hands over his head. He waited, expecting to feel the deathblow that didn’t come. Finally he got the courage to raise his head and look at the Delvi. Ebon stood looking down at him, the scimitar poised in one hand and the short sword back in its sheath, one hand carefully laid on the hilt.

When Ebon made no aggressive moves, Rame slowly stood, and nearly crumpled under the horrible pain from the wound made by the female Delvi. He clutched at it and carefully inched towards the packs where the bandages were.

As he moved, he noticed that the sky was still darkened. Ebon turned away from the half-elf and towards where the men still chanted. He stalked over and examined them from several angels, taking in the triangle as well. Without so much as a glance at Rame, he slammed the hilt of his scimitar into their heads and watched as they crumpled, lifeless, to the ground. As they both ceased the chanting, the darkness lessened and began to fade.

Ebon sheathed his scimitar and began dragging the bodies into the triangle. He dragged a piece of charred wood out of the fire and began obliterating the lines of the triangle. As he did so, that last of the darkness faded from sight; but he wasn’t finished. He picked up both of the decapitated heads and threw them in too. He continued circling the camp, picking up every last trace of the battle and throwing it onto the pile. Rame kept a careful watch and began bandaging his wounds as Ebon threw the heads on and began removing his armour.

The half-elf watched as the Delvi struck the dead female’s blade against a stone. The fire caught quickly, and soon the bodies were burning in a triangle of flame. Ebon picked up his armour and tossed it in, and then began peeling off the blood soaked bandages; these he tossed in as well. Finally he fell into a crouch, watching as the inferno consumed all traces of what had happened.

Rame finished bandaging his chest and looked over to the Delvi. What he saw made him cringe, the wounds that he could see were indeed horrible, and appeared to still be leaking blood. Gashes crisscrossed the dark elf’s back, a deep gouge that showed part of his spine oozed blood, and a long saw-edged cut ran along his collarbone. The Delvi closed his eyes against the sun that again shone in the blue sky. Rame knew that if he wanted to, he could kill the Delvi right then. The Delvi seemed to know it as well, and didn’t seem concerned.

Rame slowly gathered himself and the remaining bandages. Ever so slowly he edged closer, afraid of the fire and dark elf, but too terrified of being alone to leave. As the half-elf got closer, he saw the muscles in Ebon’s back stiffen, and the Delvi reached for his sword, “If you’re going to leave, I suggest you do so now.”

Rame stopped dead, hesitated for a moment, and then continued forward. He was prepared to face his death if need be, but he could not leave. When he reached the dark elf’s side, Ebon slowly released his grip on the sword.

Carefully, Rame kneeled by the Delvi and with great tentativeness reached over to hand Ebon the bandages. The dark elf took them slowly, staring at them. He clasped his hands around them and turned to look at Rame. Rame quickly looked away, and moved back a little, leaving the other alone. He briefly looked into the fire, and then had to look away as he saw one of the decapitated heads staring back at him.

Rame watched the Delvi for as long as he could stand the silence, and was startled when the dark elf spoke, “Were the men your protectors?"

Posted By: Mir Dec 07, 2004 - 09:10 am

What can I say it's part two, hopefully I'll finish part three soon. Anyhow, please tell me what you think of it so far...the saga continues...

Mir

Posted By: Mir Jan 03, 2005 - 08:01 am

hmmmm...

Posted By: Xyster Feb 07, 2005 - 09:04 am

hmm...

Posted By: Bmat Feb 07, 2005 - 10:12 am

It became a little slow. I wonder if you could condense it down. There were two heads rolling around, for example. There were a couple typos- a comma needed before the first my mate.

Here is an example of where it could be condensed: Rame scrambled away from the darkness, but felt a chill as it passed under and around him. After it had passed,.. the after it had passed could be omitted.

You write well. I would enjoy the story more if there were less description and more action.

Posted By: Xyster Feb 07, 2005 - 10:52 am

Thanks. I'll take that into consideration.