The story of Veil.

[kai]

The Story of Veil

Little was left standing where the once proud city of Felirn stood long ago. The ruins were a mess. Deserted, run-down, and falling to pieces from the years of harsh weather and war. Veil thought it was hard to believe this was, sometime ago, a massive inhabited trade capital for the eastern parts. Veil had never planned to come here in the first place. That is, if it wasn't for Jarid's tendency to be forceful.

He insisted that Veil should seek out the ruins of Felirn, and find the ancient Kurak stone which was a great key to unlocking the secrets of fate. Going off on one of his usual rants, Veil was forced into listening: "This isn't a good idea." Veil pleaded, but to no use it was as Jarid stood firm by the cause. "You must understand, Veil, that this stone is very dangerous." Jarid explained. "For every moment that the stone of Kurak remains within those ruins, we risk losing it to the ever-advancing armies of Lor Malgoriand!"

Veil shuddered. "And what in the hell does this have to do with me?" Jarid paused, slightly surprised by the sudden impulse of Veil's words. "Everything." He spoke.

"Everything? Like what?" Veil continued, rather angry that Jarid was once again, seemingly trying to use Veil as if he were nothing more than a tool.

"Everything as in, saving Daragoth from certain chaos. Protecting the people that you care for from being destroyed. And most importantly, finally putting a stop to Lor Malgoriand's evil. That's what." Jarid was becoming consistently angry towards Veil, his dark blue hues changing into a more thunderous and clear shade.

Veil felt bitter and defeated, Jarid's words echoing through his mind like a nightmare. ".. the people that you care for.." Suddenly Veil reared out, angry towards Jarid. "You know my peoples were slain, how could you say something like that!?"

Jarid's expression shifted, grief flooding over the elder man's features as a frown crawled across his pale lips.
"Veil.. please.. I didn't mean it like that I - .."

"No! What do you know!? Nothing, that's what! I'm not some toy you can use to do your bidding and work!" Veil interrupted, unable to keep the brewing hatred clear of his voice.

It had been at least an hour since then, why Veil had came he still didn't know. Sighing, his legs carried him forward, the rest of his limp features following like a rag doll as he unwillingly continued. Veil was well aware, that Lor Malgoriand's Orcat soldiers must have arrived here already. But that didn't stop him.

Veil was tall, slender, and well built for an Elf. In fact, most people of Kray Eldorad said that Veil was something of perfection crafted specially by Felewyn herself. He wore light, fluted plate fragments, which covered only certain areas of Veil's body he deemed 'weak points'. (Those which he thought were weak, at least.) As for weaponry, he was not exactly armed as well as he could have been. A curved steel Zyshe, which was similar to a sickle, but rather than for tending crops, excelled at removing limbs.

He trained himself well with the arts of blade wielding, as well as the arts of hand-to-hand combat; known specially as Martial Arts. Though Veil had never really put his Martial Art's skills up to the test. He was also decent in magik and knew how to focus and balance himself in a battle. Having immense ammounts of strength, endurance, stamina, and focus, Veil was well above the average skill level of a warrior. But Veil never boasted himself.

"One hour." He groaned, his throat dry for the sweet and settle embrace of cool water, which was soon met. He drinked from a cold bottle of fine Elven water, settling his rasp throat and soothing his thirst. After he lowered the container, he'd place the cork back upon the top and hap-haphazardly lob it into his large pouch that hung from his shoulder. Taking a brief moment, his platnium orbs examined his surroundings throughouly.

"I can't believe this, it seems like I'm always the one who gets thrown off into these stupid duck-hunts by Jarid.. why doesn't he ever just go doing this himself?" Veil vented to himself. He had never really anyone else to speak to besides himself after all, besides Jarid. "'When I was young..' .. When you were young you weren't doing anything but bossing me around, dumb old man.. he tries to pretend like he did something important. Bah! Did something my ass, he can't even take down a practice dummy. I doubt he could when he was younger either."

The younger immature side of Veil was showing as he talked to himself as he stormed forward through the destroyed archway of a building, tangled vines and shrubbery strewn around the corners of the long hallway which lead directly to a corridor of chambers. Slowly Veil slipped around the corner of the wide path, only to be greeted by the cold embrace of a Ghoul.

The ugly beast startled Veil. It's long, lanky and decaying arms finding their way around the Elf, followed by the terrifying roar of defiance from the beast. No doubt this Ghoul had been expecting Veil, and it was prepared to shred him to pieces and share his corpse with it's allies. The shriek made him cringe, nearly going deaf by the horrid sound. Veil thrashed and struggled, the Ghoul's claws digging into his flesh as he attempted to break and escape the clutch of the monster.

Veil felt his shirt growing damp, the creature's grasp not breaking, but simply growing stronger as it's vice-like grip and razor sharp claws simply pierced and clamped away at his back. Veil felt dizzy, growing more urgent to escape the beast. How long had it been since the Ghoul had screamed for its allies? He knew he had to get away and fast. Slowly his hand moved towards the hilt of his Zyshe, nearly centimeters away as he continued to struggle with the ferocious undead.

His finger tips stroked and whisked violently to take grasp of Veil's Zyshe, the Ghoul unaware of this as it continued to merely rip and tear away at Veil's back. At last! His hand had tipped the weapon offset to an angle, his hand able to take hold and slide the weapon effortlessly upwards and straight for the Ghoul's arms in a sweeping motion. The monster had little time to react, taken off guard and by surprise as it's forearms were completely severed, falling to the earth below lifelessly.

Veil didn't hesitate, he quickly moved around a second time, the Zyshe slashed forward for the head of the Ghoul, Knowing that this was their weak spot. The horrid creature lashed out a screech of pain, only to quickly crumble backwards like a rag doll. Veil had split the creature's skull into two halves. The Ghoul's head was severed into two pieces horizontally.

The Elf thrashed backwards, throwing himself towards the exit of the ruins then, knowing that the Ghoul's back-up would be arriving any second now. Veil dared not turn back, fearing the sight of the dreadful fangs, the hideous snarl, and the terrifying claws which would shred Veil to the bone.

 

[The Valorous]

I have to write a mini-memoir for my history class so I haven't really had the time to look over the entire thing, but from what I've seen so far it looks pretty well-done. As with other stories, WRITE MOAR. Because we need more content in this section.

 

[elfstone222]

I like the idea of... me... having an epic adventure possibly involving a stone tied up with fate...

 

[kai]

Veil traced his pale digits along the wall before his head turned, eyes of a platnium shade scanning curiously throughout the thick smoke that was brought about from the massive boulder striking the center. The shrieks of the Ghouls' alerted the footmen of the Orcat, and they knew they had to react quickly, or suffer the cold death of from a "lowly undead" as they presumed all creatures of undeath.

Another rock flew into the courtyard and smashed into the building this time, crashign through the side and stirring up hell with its massive weight hitting the earth.

Drawing their swords, it wasn't much time before the first Ghoul leaped down from the rafters to attack. Bringing its' straight edged steel sword around, it was easily voided by the Ghoul, the strike having been evaded, the Ghoul then countered. A lean hand jolted forth, claws stained with a dark-vermilion lunged toward the center of the Orc. The warrior didn't even move.

The claws pierced and ruptured through the pauldron of the Orc's breastplate, but did little damage to the inside of the hearty warrior's flesh. The talons skimmed along his rough hide, the beast roaring from the attack in anger and slight pain, before cocking a heavy hand upward, and soon throwing down a heavy gauntlet, to smash against the Ghoul's cranium.

If Veil was closer, he could have heard the crack of the Ghoul's jaw striking the hard stone tile below, but his virile Elven ears allowed him to hear regardless of distance. And soon he heard the finishing strike from the Orc as well. Howling in pain from the strike of the Orc, the Ghoul soon tried to regain awareness of what was happening, but it was too late.

The warrior was not graceful whatsoever in the method of which he delivered the fatal wound, but it got the job done. The sharpened point of the sword slid forcefully through the Ghoul's Thoracic cavity, bursting through the beasts' sternum, cracking and destroying the hard bone, before piercing its Aorta artery.

The undead died instantly from this, and the Orc put a heavy foot down upon the creature's stomach, before pulling back and freeing its' blade from the Ghoul. The "schlink" of the flawless steel sword retreating from the rotting flesh of the Ghoul was melodic to the Orc. Veil watched every second of the fighting, and knew that the second Ghoul was soon to follow the first.

Storming forth, the Orcat wielding the heavy iron ax was ready to strike next. Unfortunately for this Orc, the Ghoul was much smarter than the last, and this Orc was a novice compared to the other soldiers. Pouncing forward gracefully, the beast roared and latched itself onto the Orc's torso.

Falling backward with the sudden load of weight, it wasn't long before the Ghoul began delivering flesh rending claw strikes to the face of the Orc.

Once, its long hollowed claws raked through the right cheek of the Orc, taking off 3 narrow strips of flesh perfectly.

Twice, its second strike followed for the opposite cheek, hewing effortlessly through the helpless Orc's features.

Third strike, this time for the right cheek, it meet again, screaming in pain, a pool of blood forming below the Orc's head, this time the claws weren't shy about slashing through the nose.

By the time the Orc's comrades freed their fallen ally, he was no longer indefinable by mere appearance. Still alive even after the merciless blows from the Ghoul, the Orc lifted to his feet, the front of his breastplate soaked in red. The two other Orcs took up a defensive stance in front of the first, the second readying his flail, beginning to swing the weapon for an attack.

The third, lifted his reinforced heater shield, and moved his steel swords' point outward, facing the Ghoul for a forward lunge, the shield adding to his offense as well as defense in case the Ghoul made an unsteady forward attack itself. Then, moving in sync, both Orcs moved forth, the first swaying and flinging the chained flail upward then down for a smashing attack. The Ghoul couldn't evade it, and simply tried to reduce the force of the blow by falling into it. The heavy iron ball smashed against the back of the undead, the spikes piercing into its back with the force as well.

The third Orc delivered the finisher at last, because of the monsters head being pointed outward, the warrior simply jolted forward and lunged, stabbing the steel point through the cranium of the beast. Puncturing the skull and entering its brain, the blade slid fully inward, before the Orc pulled back fastly, and lifted up the sword a final time. Swinging downward, the hilt of the fine weapon crashed against the back of the Ghouls' skull, before sending it face first into the earth below.

Standing victoriously, they sheathed their weapons and looked around for any other threats. They knew they'd have to deal with more, and began panning out. Despite the smoke clearing long ago, Veil was still not seen, but he knew he couldn't get out. Orcs stood firm at the exit of the gate, wielding spears and axes. The Elf was stuck inside with the soldiers, and he knew he had to fight his way out then.

Drawing his Zyshe slowly, Veil stood almost 200 feet away from the Orcat that scanned the courtyard. A hand elevated and faced the Orc who's face had been clawed off, knowing he was weakest. Without hesitating, he forced outward a blast of energy, the yellow aura flying at high speeds (approximately 100 feet per second, ironically) before the blast splashed and threw the warrior forward with the force.

The hot energy scorched him and exploded into a weak blob of plasma, causing the Orc to fall forward onto his front, dead at last. The other three Orcat immediately turned to see what had happened, before spotting Veil.

The Flail wielding Orc immediately shouted out in High Gundis, a language Veil could not understand, which was common amongst Orcat, and threw a finger up to point at Veil to his allies.

It had begun.

 

[kai]

The Orcat swarmed Veil, and urgently, the Elf took to evasive action by maneuvering through the gaps between each soldier, a weak spot in their defensive advance. One of the Orcs wildly swung his steel sword as Veil passed, narrowly evading the blow by ducking as it grazed. His leg came upward for a behind counter, swiftly turning and sending his heel into the back of the warrior.

Before long, the Orc was sent onto his knees with the impact, throwing him off center was enough for Veil to deliver the finishing swipe. In one sway, his arm circled and the blade of his Zyshe cleaved through the Orc's skull horizontally, completely severing his head into two halves. Recovering from the attack, Veil kicked the lifeless corpse of the now dead Orc to the earth below. A pool of blood soon formed around his head, secreting from the vicious wound Veil had inflicted upon him.

Looking around, Veil had more soldiers to deal with before he could react fast enough. A spear lunge came from behind, and having kin senses, he narrowly side stepped the piercing death that would have been given to him by the Pilum the Orc wielded. Throwing an arm backward, Veil's forearm smashed into the face of the attacker, his fluted plate vambraces crashing against the Orc's nose. Stumbling back in pain, the beast snarled, before another Orc stepped forward. Only to be knocked right back down.

Flinging his opposite arm back around, the curved Zyshe slid in an upward vertical angle, and cut gracefully into the Orcat's lower abdomen, trailing up to his sternum before withdrawing. Before the Orc had time to lower his weapon and parry Veil's attack, his intestines and insides had already spilled out onto the stone tiles below. Falling to his knees, he tried desperately to put back his organs, blood pouring and forming around the unwary soldier. Dazed and confused, he had no idea that Veil had already begun a second swift notion to kill him.

Sliding down the weapon, it crashed into his skull, and split his head into two halves as well, this time vertically, between his eyes. This Orc was soon dead as well from Veil's attack, and crumbled backward lifelessly with a groan.

Metal grinded with metal as Veil swung his Zyshe for the next warrior who tried to claim his life. His curved battle scythe scraping at the straight-edged steel short sword his opponent wielded. Scraping blades, Veil moved a knee upright, and smashed it into the Orc's lower groin. Stumbling to a kneel, the beast jerked upright quickly, and moved for a fast counter, the steel blade flinging upright and grazing Veil's shoulder. The sound of his plate armor colliding with the blade created a slight "clank" noise, and didn't even phase the adrenaline rushed Elf. His freehand cocked back, and a balled fist soon crashed into the cheek of the attacking Orcat, throwing him back off his balance with the strike.

Two more Orcs stepped forward in front of their weakened ally, and readied their weapons for Veil. Now breathing heavily, the virile but deadly juvenile Elf wiped his mouth free of blood, and coughed slightly. His platnium orbs never left the sight of his enemies, and he stood vicariously despite being out-numbered and out-matched.

"Foolish creature, do you really think that you can win this battle?! Look at you! Truly, you understand not that you're fighting a battle you could never win from the start!" One Orc snarled angrily, taking Veil by surprise. He didn't think Orc knew how to speak Praxic.

"Heh'.. you must not know me then.. I am Veil.." Grinning despite the situation, the Elf laughed, but held his defensive posture.

"I'm not going to give up without a fight, even if you manage to kill me, I'm not going down quietly." - Veil.

"Hah! The creature thinks he has a chance! This'll be fun to crush his pathetic inbred skull below my boot." - Orc 1.

"Silence Ku'ragh, leave this to me." - Orc Leader.

Bowing his head, the Orc withdrew and stepped back, and the leader stepped forth before Veil.

"You fight valiantly for an Elf, Veil. As good as some Orc." A few grumbles were heard from behind the speaking Orcat, but he simply hushed them with a wave of his hand.

"Truly you must be an intelligent enough to give in, even after you've inflicted such a.. devious wound to my numbers."

"So you're the leader huh? Heh', good to know. Maybe if I kill you, then they won't know what to do without you!" - Veil.

"Oh? Well you see, my soldiers are more than intelligent enough to know how to kill you even after the dust from my bones will be long since faded. And my blood run dry. Maybe you'll find out soon enough that you're trying to win something that was pointless from the start."

"You Orcs are all the same, all of you. Created by Torkalath for what? Destruction. You're worse than the Barbarics. You run free in Daragoth with your tribes, and attack the innocent. Why is that? Do you not see that your senseless acts of violence affect our peoples of Leann?" - Veil.

The Orc simply raised a brow and laughed heartily.

"Human, you must understand that are purpose of creation was to cause grief and stir chaos in the Mortal Plane. The world is divided, and always shall be. Their is two fates, balance and chaos. And the world cannot exist in one state without the other. We cannot exist in a world that is made solely of Balance, we must have chaos. This goes both ways. We hate you, we hate your people. We want nothing more than genocide of your pathetic little race of beings that live in the wild. Soon, you will realize that only the Orc are pure, and no other race!"

"Your homes will fall before axe and flame, and we will come destroying everything you hold sacred. Our peoples' destiny is to be great warriors, and I, their leader, Tur-Gurak, will lead them to glory. You see, Veil.. you're nothing more than an insolent little obstacle in our path. But soon, you'll be nothing more than a crushed worm at my foot."

Broadening his chest, the Orc spoke in a battle-hardened tone that was fearsome and bold. Veil knew that this Orc was, unlike the others, a Chief, or overseer of the forces the Orcat had. Something had to be done, and Veil was prepared to end the battle once and for all, even if he had to kill the Chief to do so.

"Alright Tur-Gurak, how about you let your weapon do the talking?"

 

[kai]

The first Orc shuffled forward, and fell into awaiting arms by Veil. The curved blade, swayed around and sliced into the flesh of the Orc's arm, cleaving through muscle, tissue, and scraping the bone. Roaring in pain, the monster sent its right arm around to bat away Veil, but was easily avoided by the Elf. Blood poured out from the open wound, and the first Orc stepped back, allowing its allies to fill in.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you're going to kill me, Tur-Gurak!" Veil shouted, laughing, his posture shifting somewhat, looking around, he examined each of his enemies. Only 4 Orcat left for him to slay, before he was home-free.
Another stormed forward, and was met with a sharp blow to the chest by Veil, sending his left palm to crash against the breastplate of his armor. The Orc fell back with this, and landed onto the ground, coughing a bit from the air being forced out of his lungs.

Taking up a formation before their fallen comrade, the Chief was next to attack, but had the most knowledge about what he was doing, and didn't at all fear stepping up to Veil. Twisting his upper torso, he prepped for his first attack toward Veil, the Elf watching intently, he didn't move, and held his ground, his guard up ready for what Gurak may have been ready to do.

The first sword swing was swift and slashed gracefully around toward Veil's left side, which wasn't vulnerable to the attack, but Veil knew he had to move regardless. It was a common attack, a simple chop at his form, which was targeted to inflict a wound at his flank. Shifting a bit over, he evaded the onward frontal strike, and soon found himself stepping backward to regain his stance. Gurak was experienced and moved his blade to sway with himself, and jolted for another frontal strike, this time, regaining posture and moving the sword's blade for his right flank now.

Veil gritted his teeth and had to pivot his foot to evade the attack, leaping backward slightly, he found himself out of the range of Gurak, which was good for the time being. Although angry, Gurak focused himself and jumped forward to follow after Veil, but found himself having to defend now rather than attack. Veil grinned and moved the Zyshe to bash against Gurak's front, the dull end of the curved weapon for his figure, which was a lunge.

 

[PBarnum]

Awesome story... And its RiP muahaha!

Haha jk... But not really.

 

[kai]

The iron Zyshe crashed against Gurak's front, and painfully, the Orc bent inward with the force of the strike. Coughing somewhat, he staggered backward, and clutched his abdomen, writhing in agony from the Oxygen being forced out of his lungs. The forward lunge was enough to put a dent into his armor, and soon Gurak fell to a kneel, breathing heavily.

Veil didn't move and kept his distance, watching, he simply grinned. "So that's it huh? One push and you're coughing for air? Pathetic." Mocking Gurak, Veil lost his defensive posture, and took up a regular stance. A sudden gust of wind blew by, causing Veil's auburn hair to flourish somewhat, everything seemed locked.

Coughing and hacking, Gurak was having slight muscle spasms, and clenched his gut, groaning, he moved to his feet before Veil, narrowing his hate-filled orbs at the Elf in disgust.

"You.. you're NOTHING! You hear me?! NOTHING! but a pathetic Elf! You're a disgrace, I'll have your head on a plate before I'll lose to YOU!" Screaming in anger, the Orc lifted to his feet, and grasped his sword, storming forward, his burst of speed took Veil by surprise. And it was enough for the Chief to inflict a few painful blows.

Smashing his forearm against Veil's chest, the young warrior staggered back and tried to regain his balance. Looking toward Gurak, he raised his guard, and readied his weapon to defend against the now frenzied Chief. Jolting forward, Gurak was prepared to strew the courtyard with Veil's blood, and sent his blade forth to impale the Elf's midsection.
The attack moved so fast that Veil had to use all of his speed to narrowly side step the attack, before Gurak swung back again, and moved the sword to slash at his side. Veil elevated his Zyshe and had met the blow mid-way, Steel crashing with Iron created a loud audible "phink!" as they collided.

Veil felt his footing shifting offset as Gurak's strength was so immense, it pushed all 160 pounds of the Elf over slightly, his footing sliding with the attack. Looking downward, he saw this, and by the time he had shifted to look back upward, he was met with a cold steel boot to his gut. Staggering back, Veil was thrown off by the kick, and Gurak took full advantage of this, by leaping forward and smashing the hilt of his short sword against Veil's neck. Being thrown by the attack, Veil flew a good 10 away feet in the air, parallel to the ground crashing and skipping back, before at last touching down one last time and sliding to a halt.

Things were quiet for a long moment, and Gurak laughed, clenching his fists angrily, he pounded a fist against his chest with pride. "Pathetic Elf! Did you really think you could win! Ahahahahaha!" Standing 10 feet away from Veil's position, he didn't move but watched.

Veil was idle for sometime, before motion finally over-took his exhausted frame. Elevating himself into a stance, he was first knelled, before moving to a limp upward stance, that was obviously struggling to stay up. He shuddered, his knees weak with pain. Blood trickled from the side of his mouth, before he wiped it away with his right hand. His Zyshe had somehow flew away from him, and was lost somewhere where he couldn't spot it. Veil was now defenseless, a mere play thing in the hands of an irate Orc chief. What was he to do?

Minutes seemed like days, before Veil spoke in a raspy unsteady voice: ".. F-Fool.. did you really think that'd kill me..?" Snickering slowly, he lifted his head upward, revealing his battered face, dirty and stained with blood. He managed a smile, despite the pain he was in.

"What?! You should be dead! There's no way! .." Gurak was shocked, watching in utter disbelief. He perked a brow and stood, becoming steadily angered. "Grnn'.. I'll be sure you don't get up next time.."

.. "There won't be a next time for you, coward.. oh no.. more like 5 minutes." Veil finally spoke, wiping his mouth one last time free of blood. His posture shifted, and the Elf moved each of his arms to his sides slamming them into place, he took in a deep breath, and screamed loudly. Hunching his form, he held the scream for every second as he drew in power from his surroundings. His aura became rapid and the energy around him was being drawn in, powering Veil's own inner-mana. Growing stronger, his strength began to rise. The earth and dust around Veil was beginning to become drawn up and kicked around. An eruption of his white inner energy was visible to all of the Orcat's eyes. They watched in horror, as Veil was growing stronger, and charging up. His mana flowed over his form like fire almost as he screamed still.

Gurak could do nothing but watch, shocked, he took a step back. "Agh'.. What is this magik!?" The ground began to crack and shake, the earth was being quaked and began faulting beneath their feet. Veil stared at Gurak and soon, his scream turned into a low laugh. Gurak knew something bad was about to happen.

"Now if you really want to test your strength Gurak, Then now's your chance!" Once Veil completed his sentence, he threw his arms outward and eliminated his stance, moving to an attacking posture that was ready to charge. With one fast pivot, the Elf exploded forward into a burst of speed. Energy flowed around his form as Veil glided along the ground so fast that smoke and dust was kicked up behind himself. Before Gurak could say one word, he was met with a terrible upper-cut to his jaw.

"Wha - ..." The force was so massive that it instantly shattered his jaw with the force of Veil's knuckles crashing against his mandible. Gurak's eyes rolled back into his head and in a silence, the large Orc fell backwards, lifelessly. The metallic crash of his armor striking the tile was the last thing heard, before the flash that was once Veil, was still visible in the stance he had once he had first inflicted the attack. His fist was still locked upward, and he breathed heavily, knowing he had won.

 

[kai]

Blood trickled down Veil's forehead, and shuffling a bit, the Elf turned his form, facing the last 3 live Orcat. They didn't move, nor speak, standing in shock from their Chief being slaughtered. The young warrior took one step forward, and announced: "Now hear me you inbreds, I'm through playing around, and if you want to live, then leave! Understand!?"

The Orc turned and ran off, departing from the Ancient temple. The Elf stood and watched as they left, appearing as mere dots soon in the distance. Veil gave a sigh and fell onto his backside, sitting with intent of regaining his energy. Everything grew cold, and the sun had already began to set in the horizon. Not knowing what to do, Veil sat and thought to himself, withdrawing his canteen, he poured some water over his head and hair, washing the dirt and blood free.

"It's been 2 hours.. I should have known that it was a dumb idea to come so late.." Grumbling to himself, he knew that late at night, the ruins of ancient buildings were no place to be. And sure enough, this was an area Veil didn't want to be at in the night time. Lifting to his feet, a few droplets of water fell from his thick auburn locks, and washed along his features down to his chin. He took to a few steps and looked forth to the temple. "So I guess I'm roughing it for the night it looks like.. great.."

Looking about the courtyard, he saw the slain corpses of the Ghoul and Orc laid a strewn from their earlier battle. Stepping into the entrance of the dank temple, Veil felt a shiver move down his spine knowing he was in the presence of evil. A lowly groan echoed throughout the temple suddenly, and Veil looked around nervously. "Damn it! I need to snap out of it.. there's nothing in here to worry about.."

The temple was cold, the stone kept the inside shiveringly refrigerated during the daytime, and Veil wasn't used to the temperatures. Exhaling, his warm breath was visible on the icy air, and he walked forth traveling deeper into the main hall of the elder holy grounds. "This must be where they held their gathers.."

Veil looked around and saw a large wooden table, easily 15 feet in length for feasting and celebrations. A bloody meat clever was stuck into the counter of it, and cob webs were in every corner and gap almost. "This place needs some cleaning.." Dragging a finger along the counter of the table, he felt the dust on his tip, and looked around, he noticed 3 skeletal corpses in the room with him, sensing something not quite right with them.

"This doesn't feel right.. something.. just.." His platniun eyes narrowed and scanned the dark walls, one skeletal corpse was propped against the western most wall, sitting and laying back, the person was stabbed and fell back, holding their wound and died trying to control the blood. The remains were dressed in what appeared to be ancient leather armor, and a cap was worn along the head of the skull. An Archer, Veil thought.

One of the corpses was thrown across the table, strewn onto the top by force, this man was also stabbed, and not as badly decayed as the other. Despite being mostly skeletal, the bones were a dark tan shade, and along the cranium of the skull, there were still strands of ash-tint hair. They wore nothing but a loin cloth along their pelvis. This must have been a peasant.

Another corpse was in the fire place, thrown in and burned alive. There was no trace of any armor or clothing on these remains, but Veil guessed it was most likely a peasant. The bones were charred black.

The last corpse was probably the most odd, sitting upright in a chair. It wore the armor of a higher-rank squire, or knight, and Veil knew that most likely, this must have been the leader of the grounds, or perhaps, the lord of the table at the time. His head was lowered, and Veil noticed he wore a crown atop his head. He was unable to tell how this one was slain.

Taking an unsteady step forward, he looked into the fire place nervously, kneeling, he saw the charred remains of the peasant, and felt a shiver move along his form. "These men were slain brutally.. who would have done this..?"

 

[kai]

Minutes seemed like days, and Veil wasn't planning on sleeping in a dull place like this. Cold air swept through the old dank and musty stone walls of the hall. Veil felt like the corpses were watching him. It figured too, the one corner he chose to sit in and wait out the night, the corpse on the opposite end of the wall in the corner, was faced right against him. The dark holes for its eyes seemed to stare through him. He didn't like it.

"It's just a corpse, Veil. Nothing's going to get you, there's nothing to worry about." He kept saying to himself repeatedly, trying to pound it into his head. But no matter how many times he said it, nothing made him feel better about the fact he was stuck in a room with numerous dead people. Holding in his lap the Gladius, he twirled the blade back and forth on its side, from side to side, the blade was fine and sharp, despite being so old and slightly rusted. His eyes examined the fine metal with curiosity, before looking back upward.

Nothing had moved, everything still in place. Despite being very creepy to Veil, it was rather boring, but he'd just have to deal with it, hour on hour for now. The Elf sat in the fetal position, crouched and looking around the stone walls, but then, something caught his sharp eyes..

The faint pulsation of the glowing yellow aura caught his eyes in the far distant corridor, and Veil immediately took to his feet.

"Oh no, not this time! You're not getting away!" The Elf leaped upward onto the table in a swift foot notion, and blasted forth with a burst of speed. His footwork was quick, and he planted his heel into the corpse upon the table's chest, smashing in the ribs, as he leapt off. His speed was fast as he lashed across the great table, and before he knew it, he was already 3/4 of the way there.

"Ha! Now I've got you!" Leaping up, he moved down and slid across the floor as he landed, his footwork slightly unsteady, he slammed his shoulder into the wall, before moving forth and chasing after the small glowing orb. The mysterious small light danced around the hall before slipping beyond the opposite hallway. Veil followed.

"You're not getting away you little bastard!" Veil yelled, grinning. He wanted to find out what the hell was going on, and he planned to. He leaped forth again, toward the junction leading to the next hall, and his heels clicked as he made impact with the floor, sliding across the stone tile, his torso faced the direction of the hall, before shifting his form to face outward completely. He continued running down the hall as fast as possible, but, he could no longer see the orb.

"Where did it.. go..?" He slid to a halt, the hall lead to no where but a cave in. The primitive temple had long since worked against itself it had seemed, from the many raids and attacks on the holy grounds. He couldn't see how any one could have escaped this way. "There's no way.. where did that little thing go..?!" Gritting his teeth angrily, he he huffed, his head shifting from left to right, down to up, there was no exit possible.

Turning his form around, he simply sighed, and walked back the way he came, mumbling frustratedly. By the time he had arrived back at the main hall, the corpses had somehow disappeared..

"What the.." Veil looked around nervously, the only corpse left in the room was the one strewn across the table. It's ribs caved in from Veil's body weight atop it. It's skull had rolled off it's spine as well, off the table and onto the floor below. The corpse against the wall had vanished, the one sitting in the main chair; gone. And the last, in the fire place, was no where to be found. "Something's not right here."

He shuffled from the door frame out into the open, and looked about, there was nothing in the hall, no trace of the corpses at all. He simply blinked, and walked over to the chair where the remains of the lord once sat. Placing a hand on the back neck rest of the great wooden chair, he forced it back and the chair came tumbling backward, crashing onto the floor. The old wooden framework shattered on impact with the stone, Veil wasn't surprised from the years of termite damage. A cloud of dust was kicked up from the chair as it broke, Veil coughed and hacked. "Damn chair.. must have been 700 years old or something.."

He muttered, then a voice echoed back in return: "More like 200 years old.. you should also leave this place.. now.." a dark monotone evil voice called through out the walls, and it startled Veil.

"Who's there!? Show yourself!" Veil looked around, his eyes narrowed for anywhere he may be able to spot the speaker. It was no surprise he couldn't. It spoke from an unknown location, and made its presence known.

"You disturb the malevolent spirits in our rest.. you destroy the sleeping remains and anger us. For your ignorance, you shall pay with your blood!" The voice roared from anger, and Veil felt the old walls quake around him. Dust and cob webs came a strewn and created a large cloud in the room. Veil covered his mouth and narrowed his eyes, trying not to inhale the years old dust. It blinded him and made everything hard to see. It wasn't long though before he saw the 3 stumbling skeletons pace into the door frame before his figure.

They were the same before in the room, somehow animated by Magik, they came directly towards Veil. Powered by an unknown force, they wanted to kill the one who had awakened them. But, they wouldn't. The first skeleton to fall was the lord, it wore a crown of tarnished metal with jewels and beauty, and was struck in the neck by Veil's gladius, and screeched lifelessly to the floor in a crumble of ancient bone and rag. It's skull was smacked off it's completely.

The second was the charred remains of the peasant, and it was simply kicked as hard as Veil possibly could in the ribs. It crashed backward and let out a horrid scream not natural to this realm. The bones fell apart, only held together by a weak magikal force, which was easily dealt with. The last was the Archer, it wielded a weapon unlike the others. A rusty small dagger, which it decided to take a forward lunge at Veil with. The Elf grinned and took a simple side step, the creature was ignorant to fighting arts, and was easily defeated by Veil smashing his forearm into the back of the Skeleton's skull.

It crashed forward onto its face upon the floor, lifeless, Veil lifted up his leg and stomped it into the ribs of the floored skeleton. Breaking all of its ribs, it simply screeched like the others in a soft tone, before falling silent.

His eyes looked around for any more, and Veil sighed.


"Too easy.." He laughed.

 

[kai]

After easily defeating the first 3 skeletons, Veil was greeted with an arrow zooming by his face at high speeds. It flashed by his eyes, the "fffff-vroom!" of the arrow whizzing by his head caused him to leap backward, and look directly down the dark corridor from which it came. Another arrow flew out and struck the wooden chair beside him, piercing and sticking into the old framework. The first arrow had ended up flying to the back of the room, and hitting the old stone work on the end, and broke on contact.

Veil swayed forward, swagging from left to right in a quick fashion as to avoid the arrow fire. Veil saw it, it was another Skeletal Archer, and he was nocking another arrow on his string to fire at Veil. But he was caught short. Effortlessly Veil smashed a fist into the Skeleton's chest, snapping right through the old maple of the bow and into the center of the undead. Simply falling back with the hard punch, the creature died, lifelessly striking the earth. Veil broke the bony sternum of the beast, and Veil slid to a halt with his previous momentum. Quickly the Elf turned a full 360 degrees, and arched his blade into a downward swing, meeting a surprise blade of another Skeletal Warrior.

Unlike the others, this Skeleton had seemed to be dressed in metallic ring mail armor, that was old and had some holes in the breast and side. The armor had leather trim that was ragged and old, and the creature wore no protective leggings, revealing the bony structure to its being. Upon its head was an old crusaders' helmet, trimmed with the fur of a bear, and two large horns protruded from the top cranium of each side which were bull horns. This Skeleton was stronger than the other, and wielded a large iron scimitar which had seen better days. Veil's gladius scrapped against the Skeleton's own blade, and the Veil was face to face with the monster as they struggled. The skeleton roared as they tested each other's strength, before at last Veil swiped up his blade and disarmed the Skeleton.

The undead stumbled backward somewhat as its weapon flew from its hands, hitting the eastern wall and clanking, before dropping down and hitting the floor with a solid "pink!" sound. Veil immediately swung his sword forth, and caught the creature in the head with a swift sword strike, severing the beast's skull into two halves and killing it. The Skeleton fell to the floor cold and the sound of it's metal armor made a soft clank upon impact. Veil breathed slowly, his eyes scanning around for anymore enemies.

 

[kai]

The warm wet sensation soon surprised Veil, and looking down, he placed a hand into his right side, and felt the warm feeling flow along his digits. Lifting his hand up curiously, his inquisitive platnium orbs saw the crimson red stained along his prints. Veil felt light headed, the room began spinning, what was going on? How had he been struck?

The room seemingly began to stretch and fade into the distance, and grew further outward, distorted, Veil's vision began fading darker and red. Veil fell to his knees in pain, and dropped the Gladius with a clanking sound, and screamed in pain toward the ceiling awfully he cried out. Blood poured and dripped onto the floor in a slight puddle, and stained his cloth shirt and fluted plate hauberk a darker red than it already was. Urging his figure to his feet, Veil stumbled slightly, his breathing heavy.

He couldn't, it was too much.

Veil collapsed and fell onto his back, seemingly in slow motion, the world moved so slow to Veil. He struck the earth with a hard force. There was a red circle around him widening with every second that passed. He tried to call for Jarid. He opened his mouth and did here a voice calling, but it was very far away.

And then he saw two people and knew that everything was going to be alright after all. They were watching him with a mixture of sadness and understanding... as though they had always expected this to happen but were still sorry that it had. There was a little color left in the room, but the two people were entirely black-and-white. The man was very handsome, dressed in fine Elven robes, with short close cut hair and a solid, serious face. He looked very much like Veil although he appeared to be in his early thirties. The woman standing next to him was smaller and much more vulnerable. She had long, fair hair as well and eyes that were filled with sadness. Veil had seen pictures of this woman and he was astonished to see her here.

His mother.

He tried to get up, but he couldn't move. He wanted to hold her hand, but his arms would no longer obey him. He wasn't breathing anymore, but he hadn't noticed. The man and the woman stepped forward out of the darkness. The man said nothing. He was trying to hide his emotions. But the woman leaned down and reached out. Only now did Veil realize that he had been looking for her all his life. She reached out and touched him, her fingers finding the exact spot where there was a small hole in his shirt.

No pain. Just a sense of tiredness and resignation.
Veil smiled and closed his eyes.

 

[Kindomtitan]

That was a NiCe StoRey

 

[kai]

So many dreams.. so many memories..

They flooded his mind like a storm of reoccurring nightmares.

His home in Avanti, all the Elven peoples.. even Veil's family.. and the death and destruction of all he loved.

Veil was only 8 when all of this happened. It was so very long ago to him. But he could remember it all, it played out in his mind everyday. He was lucky enough to take shelter in the sewer system, and avoid being killed like the rest of his proud people by the Darkward. From a small storm drain, he could see all of it. His people murdered.

He couldn't take it.

"Why.. why couldn't I save them..? It isn't fair.. I couldn't protect my people, or the ones that I loved.. it's not FAIR!"

Screaming out in his head, pain rushed through his veins, and he felt the sorrow throb in his body, and from that day forward; Veil made a vow.

"I will grow stronger.. I will train, and learn to fight.. I will teach myself the arts of magik, and I swear that I'll get revenge for my people; all of them.."

And from that day on, it was promised by himself he'd fight for his people. An Elf with a purpose of avenging his fallen loved ones. Day by day he trained, never stopping. Lifting heavy rocks to train his slender body to be more agile and physically stronger. Tying heavy stones to his legs and arms, then running around the city, growing more agile and faster with each day. His body ached and hurt so bad, but Veil had a cause to work for.

He spent other days reading the Magik scrolls in the Temple of Ailairium. A huge building of envious beauty, that where all of the scholars, sorcerers, poets, and elders spent their time studying. Growing more knowledgeable about fate, and magik of every kind. Expanding their knowledge, they wrote everything they knew on scrolls, and stored them in the library of thought. It contained over 3000 different pieces of text. Veil studied all of them.

By the time Veil was 23, he was now a man. Grown, 6'4" tall, crafted of muscle with a slender frame, he was much stronger than one may have expected. He had grown so very intelligent over the years, studying texts and expanding his insight. He had learned to fight unarmed, with swords, spears, staves, and daggers and even discovered the ability to cast sorceress magik.

Veil crafted his own armor and wore it proudly. Steel fluted plate armor, finished with a red tint, it had a single emblem set into the breast plate. The icon of a jaw less-skull, a sword smashing through the cranium and protruding from the bottom. The icon represented death mercilessly in any way possible. It meant Veil was out for vengeance.

It seemed so very long ago.. but Veil's visions were inadvertently cut short. His eyes slowly opening to the sight of a large being before his figure. The place he was in was indescribable in beauty. The long marble columns extending up to the roof graciously, the beautiful marble floors and walls, the finest red rugs covered the floor. And wonderful images were painted along the walls, icons of air and wind decorated the palace.

Where was he?

The mighty being before him said nothing, he sat in a large marble throne chair, his hair was as white as snow, his skin a delicate tan. He was the god of wind, Ermac.

Veil felt the air blowing around him, the palace was high above the clouds, invisible to the eyes of men. It was so very calming to Veil, but he couldn't take his eyes off the man before himself.

The god was handsome, like all gods and goddesses. But his features seemed child-like, he was as if he must have been in his twenties, even though he was as old as Leann itself. He spoke in a tone that was cool and calm, and seemed very mellowed out, despite being a god, someone with such authority and higher being and class. He spoke to Veil like he was an equal: "Arise, my son. You were wounded, but I have restored you to your prime. You have no need to thank me, Veil. For you are deserving of the grace I have blessed upon you. I have given you power as well, young Veil. The power over air. You now control and may manipulate freely, my element of the sky. You, Veil, are my new divine being. You are my avatar, the icon of my strength and freedom on the mortal plane. I have given you this gift free of charge."

It was as if he read Veil's mind. Everything he wanted to ask, was simply answered by the god in one simple go.
He couldn't speak regardless. Veil was hovering in the air, but he hadn't realized it all this time. A soft glowing column of white held him a partial statis field. It healed his wounds and gave him strength. He felt so very strong, unlike ever before.

Veil had not known what gift this god blessed him with, but he was thankful in every way. It turned out, he was now Veil, the avatar of wind.

His skin was now tannner than before, and his hair a glorious shade of white. His eyes turned a richer shade of platnium, and Veil looked like a god.

 

[kai]

A vast silence seemed to have fell upon Leann. The entire continent itself had seemingly became idle for that one moment. And Veil exploded down from the heavens into the mortal plane. Descending gracefully, Veil flew with grace and beauty, seemingly propelled by the air itself. He had became one with the sky. Veil now represented wind.

Landing directly in the center of a lowland flat. The entire mass was hilly or either simple grass field. Veil could see a heard of wild cow grazing. There was only 7 of them, but there was a single, large alpha-male Bull. Surely, if the beast saw the Elf walking on "it's" territory, he would be charged and gored. But he wasn't seen yet.

The large alpha-male was almost 400 lbs of pure muscle and anger, and it just so happens that Veil was wearing red, his fluted plate suit was sure to anger the large creature more than ever.

The Elf moved walked in a soft few forward foot paces, and it wasn't long before they had indeed saw Veil. He didn't care, why would he be worried of wild beasts? The Bull snorted, and smashed its hooves into the ground a few times. He was sending him a message. Veil didn't pay the monster any attention.

He was only 15 feet away from a creature that could break every bone in his body, and simply continued to walk forth. The bull charged. It stomped forward faster than most would expect a large beast of the sort to move, and made a line directly for Veil. It lowered its head, the two large pointed hooves aimed directly toward Veil's slender form.

Then, he moved. Dashing faster than the human eye could track, Veil "disappeared" only to reappear 3 feet away from where he originally was. The bull missed, and slid to a halt, confused at where the trespasser had gone to. Veil simply kept walking, out of range of the monster, although it soon tracked him, had lost interest as well. And resumed grazing with the herd.

By the time he had crossed over the large hill before himself, he had finally seen the vast distance of what awaited him. So very far away..

 

[kai]

It had been so long since Veil had been this far from his home. His brilliant hazel orbs slowly panned from left to right, browsing the vast eternity of land that seemingly had fell before him. The earth was without bounds it seemed, never ending, and forever. Daragoth was colossal to Veil, or so it seemed, rolling hills, towering mountains, flat plains, oceans, and kingdoms. It was going to be a very long walk, and he knew this. Longer than any walk that he'd have to take before, he took the first step; it wouldn't be his last. With a somewhat heavy feeling, it decided to push bad thoughts into the back of his head, ignoring them, it was all he could do.

His feet pushed him forward, slowly descending down the large hill mass. Then, it suddenly struck Veil; "it" being a heavy chunk of stone. It was flung from a sling, not even a proper bullet for the weapon it was propelled from, rather just a fragment of a large granite boulder. Veil groaned a bit in pain, holding his head a bit, it gave him a nice knot right on his forehead. Whoever had flung it was an accurate shot, and left the Elf dazed and in pain as well as confusion.

Another stone flew forth, but this time Veil had took to the right immediately, pivoting his figure to move from the thick rock, it continued to fly as it passed, and struck the earth roughly 17 feet from Veil, falling from gravity. Without warning, Veil moved his right hand up, and looking up, he saw the figure. One blast he sent out, focusing his energy into his palm, a blast of aura was released from his palm and seared toward the cloaked being.

It missed. The figure had somehow vanished, instant teleportation allowed them to avoid Veil's attack. The blast simply continued on it's former path, and hit a hill far off in the distance, an explosion of yellow energy as well as smoke being kicked up from the blast. A sudden surge of wind was also kicked up from the force of the explosion, and made the grass blow slightly.

Veil's brows lifted in confusion, but then he soon caught a fist to his right cheek, his head turning with the force of the blow. He could only clench his eyes tight in pain, before another fist struck his left cheek now, turning his head the opposite way this time. This process repeated, 6 more times his attacker struck Veil, right cheek to left one after another before he managed to kick himself backward and free himself from the range of the stranger. Trying to regain his balance, the figure moved directly after him, pivoting, pushing itself off from the earth with one foot.

It's leap attack was set right for Veil, a forward lunge that allowed a fist to extend for the center of Veil. This though, Veil managed to deflect, smashing his forearm down into the hand, he avoided it; grinning. Time for a counter, he thought to himself, and so he did. Twisting his frame, still holding the figure's right arm, Veil managed to turn and send his left foot for the side of the cloaked being's head.

Without warning it smashed against their skull, and Veil finished his full twist, but released the arm of the being soon after he made contact with his foot; sending them crashing into the earth below. Still in the air from his leap, he soon lost his momentum and landed, his feet sliding across the ground, he had to kneel and use his hands to try to stop himself from sliding more.

Everything was still, and Veil took to an upward normal stance, but still had his guard up, he looked toward the figure who was now still upon the earth, 10 feet infront of himself.

"Get up." Veil called. There was no answer. A slow breeze had blew through the still land, and the Elf only watched intensely at the grounded figure from his position; unsure if to advance or not.

 

[kai]

The figure was still stiff, everything seemed lost in silence. Veil did nothing but stare, and slowly prepared a martial arts stance for "just-in-case" measures. A long moment dragged by, before he finally realized the cloaked being wasn't going to be getting up any time soon, and walked over to the side of the idle corpse; dropping his guard. Big mistake.

The sword flew around so fast that Veil could hardly believe he even managed to narrowly lean back from the cold iron reach of the blade. The tip regardless had still grazed his right cheek, slashing it open with a very fine cut, blood dripping from the now open wound they had inflicted upon Veil. Regardless, he stepped back, eyes opening in utter surprise to the being's speed.

Twisting their frame, and leaping up to ready feet, the being was still cloaked, hidden from Veil's sight. The long gray cloak covered most of their frame, and the sword was being held with one hand at their side. Veil stared in awe before this being, a clear and skilled assassin. Standing face to face, it was a stalemate for now, that is at least until Veil slipped forth, and swung his left fist for their center.

With grace, they effortlessly smashed the pommel of the short sword against Veil's fist, causing the attack to be rendered worthless, but Veil was fast to recover. Twisting his torso up, his right elbow elevated for their chin. Not quite either. The being simply brought up their left hand, and caught Veil's forearm, stopping the attack. Gritting his teeth in anger, he struggled against the being, feet digging into the earth.

The more he pushed against the cloaked being, the more his feet gripped and dug into the earth. Realizing it was pointless, Veil pulled himself backward from range, sliding back roughly 4 feet; he took a few deep breaths. Too bad it was time for the counter of his enemy, and it was the perfect time for them. Standing upright, they gripped the hilt with both hands and stepped forward, twisting their frame, the blade slid down for Veil's shoulder.

"Agh!" Veil grunted in anger, pivoting back a bit, the cold iron slid roughly 2 centimeters from his torso, missing him diagonally. The blade came back around for a second attack, this time, a thrust. Lunging forward, the tip came forth for Veil's gut; he'd need a blessing to dodge this.

Veil didn't have time to move, and slid up both his hands, gripping the blade by the forte with much focus, it stopped the tip from piercing his center. But at the same time, the sharp edge cut into his fingers a bit, blood running down the iron of the blade. His chest lifted and fell for a split-second, but then he acted. His right hand removed from the sword, and giving him some leverage, he sent his fist for their mandible.

Crashing into the bony structure, this hit finally put them out of action. Veil knew this, seeing them fall limp and hit the earth with a lifeless plop. A bit of dirt was kicked up from their fall, and he still held the sword in his left hand. Throwing it aside, he took to a kneel by their side, moving his hand up to reveal the hood of the being to see who it was.

Fingers pushed back the silk material of the cloak, and revealed young beautiful features of an Human Female. Her skin was like velvet, soft to the touch, flawless, besides the large bruise on her cheek and a knot that was atop her forehead. Both of her eyes were closed tight, she had gentle blonde hair. He'd never seen this woman before, and wondered why he'd be getting attacked by her to begin with. Lifting his hands, Veil looked down and his gashed fingers, blood running down his palms through the fine cracks along his fingers. A deep exhale was given, he had won.. for now..

 

[kai]

Before Veil could even utter a word, the woman sprang to life. Eyelids opening, she had beautiful platinum orbs, but soon her arms wrapped around Veil's torso, and slung him onto his back. Being slammed into the earth knocked the breath from his lungs, and soon the woman was atop him before he could move, pinning him helplessly to the earth below. Gritting his teeth in anger, he stared up at her, and yelled:

"What the hell! Who are you, and what do you want?!" Veil was utterly surprised by her, and couldn't hold back the many questions that flooded his mind. Soon though, the point of her sword was against his jugular.

"Enough of your mouth. It'd be a shame if I had to kill such a perfect specimen of a man like yourself." She had at last spoke in a very confident voice, that had a malicious and flirtatious undertone to it. It was unknown to Veil if she may be a succubus, assassin, or tribal warrior.

His brow lifted in surprise, and finally he spoke: "Who are you?" he managed to speak.

"That is not important to you, bandit. You'll soon be dead once I take you in anyway." Yanking Veil over onto his back, she kept him pinned. She was very strong for a female, Veil thought. Struggling beneath her, he gritted his teeth and shouted: "BANDIT?! YOU THINK I'M A WHAT!?" Veil yelled angrily, but to no avail. She simply kept him on his back, and soon cuffed his hands within iron bracers linked together.

"There.. that should keep you nice and tight in place. I wouldn't want you running off before I get you to the camp and have you executed. That'd be a shame." The young beautiful female laughed, and soon took to a stand, pulling Veil up with her. His back was to her front, and she soon pushed the pommel of her sword against his spine, ordering him on. "GO!" she said, "Keep moving."

Veil did as he was told, for now at least. He knew that it'd be no struggle at all to break the cuffs, or take care of the woman once and for all. He simply played along, for now. Nightfall was coming on soon, and the two began to walk together. She spoke little, and when she did, it was telling Veil to stop, or continue walking, or move faster. It wasn't long at all before Veil was feeling quite drained, exhausted of his energy. Heavy breaths were all that he could make, his feet aching, weared down in his heavy plate armor. It had been nearly two hours, and no break yet. He began to wonder where on earth she'd be taking him.

Soon fed up, he could no longer walk, and stopped, stubbornly. "Keep moving, I said!" The woman screamed, but Veil did nothing but turn his head, refusing. "Not until you tell me what you want, or I get a break. Otherwise, I'm not moving from this spot." He replied. The woman lifted her sword, and elevated it above her head threateningly. "Something tells me you don't have the guts to do that.. you and I both know that.." Veil said, staring into her eyes intensely. A part of him knew she had "orders" and wouldn't be allowed to kill Veil. "Oh really?! WELL WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!" Suddenly the iron blade slid down, and Veil didn't even blink, it stopped 2 inches from his face. He snickered. "I thought so. Now why don't you just tell me what I want to hear, and I'll keep moving?" He spoke.

"Because, orders are orders. I am not allowed to speak of what is in store for you. Your fate, what lies ahead, and so forth. I'm given strict orders to not even SPEAK to you. I'm breaking the rules enough as it is. Don't make this harder than need be." Understandingly, Veil nodded, and continued walking. It was going to be a long night, he could already tell.

 

[kai]

Check out the first posts, I revised my writing and made corrections, as well as beefing up a few things with more details and fights!

Check it!

 

[kai]

Fire and brimstone. The two things Veil hated to smell. That's all he COULD smell infact. The air was thick and hazy, smoke hovering in the midnight air. The woman had made a fire to keep them warm, Veil thought it was stupid because of the fact a large glowing fire would only attract bandits. But then again, she may have been one. Who knows? Veil thought to himself.

Coughing quietly, she stared at him with intense platinum orbs from behind the dancing flames. "You got a staring problem or what?" Veil exclaimed, in his young cocky undertone. She simply laughed a bit at his words, lifting a finger to point at his features. "You should learn to respect me, boy. You fail to understand that I'm fully able to kill you faster than you can blink. So watch your tongue!"

Rolling his eyes, Veil's head lowered and he gave a dull groan, before lifting his visage to watch her again with narrowed orbs. "Are you seriously kidnapping me or something? I mean, what do you hope to achieve or get from holding me hostage? Honestly?" His wrists were getting rubbed raw from the tight iron bracers she fixed to him, his hands came up and held his head, Veil feeling tired from the long day he had. The woman cleared her throat and exclaimed loudly: "I told you once, I'll tell you again. Maybe you should try cleaning your ears; I'm not allowed to tell you what is in store for you."

"Pfft.. this is just stupid." Veil muttered, lowering his head once more. He decided he might as well try to sleep, since he'd only get dragged around more tomorrow. Before he could close his eyes though, the female sprang to life, on her feet, she looked fast from left to right. Veil only stared at her as if she was stupid. "What the hell is wrong with yo - "

"SHHH!" The woman shushed Veil, interrupting him. She looked very serious and stared off into the horizon. "Did you hear that boy?"

"Uh.. no.." Veil said, thinking she was crazy. The rustling was getting louder, and this time, Veil did hear it. "Oh.. that.. yeah I hear it. What is it?"

"I don't know." She stated, moving down her hand for the hilt of her sword. The rustling grew louder, and before she could draw her sword, 3 Wildfire Bandits leaped out for her.

Wildfire Bandits inhabited much of the Eastern regions of the Aluhandra desert, from the heart to the outskirts they patrol and look for anyone dumb enough to venture out and rob them blind. Needless to say, the Empire rarely sends out caravans through the Aluhandra directly, or even squadrons to disperse or capture the bandits. Most of the Wildfire members are young men, 17 all the way to 35. Very experienced and dangerous, they wear loose baggy clothing, boots, and a variety of other clothing to try to keep cool in the harsh climate of the desert.

Stepping forward, they surrounded the female, the first bandit was only 5'6", with short black hair and green eyes. He had an average build and looked very young to Veil, and cocky with an attitude. He held out a short steel sword that looked as if it had seen better days. The second bandit was 5'8" roughly, and very muscular. He held in one hand a leather round shield, and in the other, a morning star. He seemed much calm and collect, his hair was a dark auburn and spiked up medium length.

The last one was the leader, Veil could tell from his stance that he had more experience with combat than the others who stood in crude postures that lacked balance. Holding a short steel sword, the bandit wore a headband with the burning phoenix set into the center of it. The symbol of Wildfire. His hair was a dark brown, and he had a serious face unlike the others. His build was average, and only stood a height of 5'7". They easily intimidated the female in the center.

"Drop the weapon, and while you're at it, anything valuable you've got. Don't make this hard on yourself." The second bandit said, taking one step forward, he smiled. "Yeah, and we want our friends back too you witch!" The first echoed in a young arrogant voice, his hands tightning on the hilt of his sword, he moved forth as well.

"You won't be getting anything from me idiots, but a swift death!" Storming forward, the female slid her blade for the second bandit, he grinned. Sliding up his shield, her sword bounced off the hard leather, and quickly he swung his morning star for her side. Within the blink of an eye she moved back and dodged the attack, and vanished. They all stood momentarily confused, except the leader and Veil. They were experienced fighters and tracked her flash step movements.

"Novice! She's gonna get me killed.." Veil thought, watching in shock.

 

[kai]

Then, he moved. The bandit leader was incredibly fast, and dashing upward, he swung his own sword for "empty space" .. or so they all thought. Appearing suddenly, from her fast movements, she was surprised to see the leader had tracked her movements. The hard steel split open the flesh of her torso, sliding down her skin and gashing it open. Blood poured, and she fell back in pain. Knocked unconscious, Veil could do nothing but watch in shock. He wasn't going to be idle anymore. They all looked toward Veil after their first K.O., and knew he was to be second. Slamming his hands at his sides, Veil gritted his teeth and began to take in the energy around his form.

Groaning lowly, he absorbed more power from the air around him, and then, he broke the stance, having gained enough energy, he moved. Pushing off with one foot, he leaped toward the first, youngest bandit. Having no time to react to this, he took a step back, it was all he could do before Veil's fist crashed into his face and threw him onto his back. The sword he was wielding was quickly recovered by Veil as he slid to a halt with his former momentum, and after a second, he broke off and leapt for the second bandit.

"Ha! Fool! You really think I'm gonna fall for that?"

Lifting his morning star in response to this, he brought it down and swung for Veil as soon as he was in range. But Veil was too fast, and disappeared right as he had swung. Confused, the bandit opened his eyes wide. But then, Veil was back, and right behind him. Veil stabbed the sword as hard as he could through the bandit's back, and he yelled in pain and fury, dropping his morning star and shield and crumpling forward lifelessly. Drawing his blade out of the bandit, it was stained a crimson red and dripped slightly with blood. Veil turned, and looked into the last bandit's eyes seriously.

"You're next.." He turned and announced to the last bandit. Blood stained the front of his fluted plate hauberk a dark red, and his eyes were filled with hate. His new found powers made him feel incredible, and not a smirk crossed his lips despite loving his new strength. The bandit didn't move, and returned the stare evenly, his arms folded before his chest, his sword was sheathed at his side.

"Make your move, then." And so Veil did, leaping forth he drug the tip of the sword along the earth, leaving a fine cut along the ground as he stormed forward. The bandit didn't move not one bit, and when Veil stepped forth into slashing range and swung upward diagonally, he then vanished. Veil was an experienced warrior, and he wasn't going to fall for his tricks. He flash stepped too after the bandit, and they soon crashed into battle. The bandit and Veil hovered in the air, a volley of fists, knees, legs, elbows, forearms, and sword attacks being exchanged. One after another they each parried eachother's blows, having no avail to strike one another. They faced off, but only met evenly.

Breaking off from eachother, they flew a short distance from one another, and Veil gritted his teeth a bit, surprised by the skill of the bandit. They both descended from the air and landed, eyes still met. The bandit had his arms still before his chest, and a seemingly bored expression on his face. "Don't tell me that's all you've got. If it is, you better quit."

Veil narrowed his eyes a bit in anger, and moved to his attacking posture, pushing his dominant right foot back, it slid along the earth and gave him enough pivot so he could leap. The bandit anticipated this, and soon, he lowered himself a bit as well. "It's my turn." And putting one hand on the earth, the bandit readied himself also. Face to face, things were about to heat up. Oddly enough though, deep down, Veil enjoyed this.

Grinning, Veil began his attack. Using his might, he pushed off and took to a forward leap at the bandit. He did the same. Pushing himself forward, he glided along parallel to the earth, and they both soon met, Veil's fist moving for the bandit, and the bandit's fist for Veil's own form. They both collided and attempted to regain their balance, Veil was lucky enough to be first, and his knee slid upward and smashed against the bandit's chin. He had no time to react, and closed his eyes grunting in pain. He took little time to recover, and dashed backward, a trail of aura behind him; Veil followed.

The bandit dashed backward, Veil forward. Lifting his hand and swinging it around, he flung a blast of energy for Veil as he tried to gain some range, Veil easily lifted up his hand and deflected it. But he had to stop swooping so that he could swat it away. Now was the bandit's chance. Immediately he shifted from flying backwards, to forwards, exploding forward in a burst of speed, his fist caught Veil right in the face with massive force.

Crashing against his jaw, it sent Veil nearly 40 feet to the earth below, smashing into a mesa of rocks and earth, dust being kicked up and knocked about from the tremendous amount of force he hit the earth with. The bandit soon descended to the ground below, landing on a fine pillar of rock high above the ground and where Veil had hit; almost 15 feet away.

He simply watched the mesa, knowing Veil wasn't out of the fight yet. He could sense his power, and knew he'd be getting up soon. Possibly sooner than he had thought infact. Blue energy began to glow from the cracked and breaking mesa, and Veil screamed in anger, the rocks around him exploding and blasting away from his massive discharge of power. The entire mesa was destroyed and crumbled around him, leaving him in the center standing, his arms far out as he yelled into the air in rage. The bandit watched in surprise.

After freeing himself, Veil looked around to try to spot the bandit, and soon he did. High atop the pillar he stood, and Veil grinned, throwing both hands forth infront of himself, he focused his energy and placed one foot back to balance himself. And in a second, a sudden eruption of pure energy exploded from his palms in a stream of hot explosive plasma. The stream flew for the center of the pillar which he stood upon, and struck with immense force, and immediately exploded into a volley of small rocks and large chunks of boulder.

The bandit leaped right before the impact, and evaded the fall he would have took as the pillar crumbled to the earth. This threw him off though, as he was in the air and watching the column collapse, Veil made another attack. Flash stepping to infront of the bandit, he suddenly appeared, and hit the bandit with a downward strike. HARD.

The massive force of both his hands crashing into the skull of the bandit echoed and sent him face first into the ground below. He crashed into a crater of dust and rock, and even made a small shockwave from the impact. Veil was beginning to take the advantage, and he didn't want to lose that.

Taking to his feet, the bandit leader's clothes were ripped and torn from the battle that was ensuing, and he looked up into the air to spot Veil who still hovered above the earth 30 feet. His left eye wouldn't open and obey him anylonger, as well as his right arm. It felt numb, he knew it was broken by the Elf that smashed him into the ground. At the last moment when he was about to hit the earth, he put his right arm to his chest to lessen the fall, it broke on contact with the hard fall. The pain didn't phase the bandit, infact, he stood his ground, his chest lifting and falling from exhaustion.

Veil was idle in the air, watching from high above, his hand moved down a bit, and he grinned, knowing it'd be hard for him to dodge his attacks in his current state. A blue orb of energy bursted from Veil's palm, and flew toward the bandit at rapid speeds. In utter surprise and confusion, he threw up both his arms, it took all his might to move his broken arm, and his hands pushed against the tremendous force of the energy ball. The bandit struggled for nearly 4 seconds against the ball of magik, before being able to push it away, the mass of plasma flying off into the horizon, and into space.

Breathing heavier now, the bandit had really messed up his arm this time, blood pouring from his shoulder all the way down to his forearm. Blood trickled down from his forehead also, down his face in fine droplets. His vision was very blurry, everything seemed so stretched and far to him. Veil was but a dot in the horizon to him, and he climbed himself free of the crater and coughed a bit, looking upward.

Veil began to move again, dashing forward in a burst of speed, doing an arc before flying directly down toward the bandit in a beadline. He could do nothing in his current physical state, so it was up to him to think of something cunning; and use his mental power. Lowering himself to a crouch, the bandit put one hand upon the earth, and leapt back, using all his might, he narrowly avoided Veil's fist, which smashed into the hard earth and created a massive crater, throwing up rocks and debris from the force; a blow which would have finished the bandit.

Lifting up a bit from his attack to recover, Veil walked forward a bit, and grinned, knowing the bandit was but a play toy to him now. Throwing his hand forward, he shot a blast of weak energy for him in an arc. He couldn't move, and it blasted against his right arm, and sent him to the left a bit with the force, the explosion throwing him onto his back. He closed his eyes in pain, and rolled over onto his stomach. His left hand tried desperately to push his bodyweight up from the ground before Veil got to him.

It was too late. Veil kicked his foot into the side of the bandit, and groaning in pain, he rolled over onto his back. Before he could say a word, or open his eyes, Veil stabbed his sword tip directly into the bandit's chest. It was over. A pool of blood formed around the dead leader's body, and Veil examined the surroundings for anything else. There were only the bodies of the dead, all 3 bandits, and the girl's body, whom was unconscious still.

 

[kai]

I just wanted to say that this story is still being worked on, but due to a recent PC crash of the sorts, the files were lost on my old hard drive, which is indeed going to be recovered in time. So look forward to continuance on this story in the future.

as for now, a bit of a canon story:



Veil took a deep breath, and let the air exhale from his lungs. He was hot and sweaty from the battle, a single drop of blood ran down along his cheek, before his forearm elevated up to wipe it away. His head shifted from left to right, then Veil set his eyes on the fallen girl. No longer was he trapped, nor did Veil need to play along with her game any more. Turning his form, Veil took a step before he felt the chilling sinister laugh from one of the bandits. It was the second bandit whom Veil had stabbed through the chest with his sword. Blood ran down along the front of his figure, and coughing a bit, he only had one eye open, blood around his mouth from his intense coughing and pain.

"What are you laughing about?" Veil turned to face the final bandit, whom had somehow survived the vicious wound inflicted upon him.

"You.. isn't it obvious..? you don't get it.. do you? .. how ignorant you are." The bandit echoed, taking a step toward Veil, he was roughly 20 feet from him. He walked in heavy lumbering shuffles, his right leg numb and unable to obey him properly.

Veil spoke not a single word but stared the bandit down. "Fool! that girl you were with, she is a cultist. She rounds up 'victims' whom she can find, and then uses them in these sick experiments she conducts on them! I've seen the horror of her actions, and she's taken our friends and we've never saw them again since!" The bandit scowled in disgust, taking but yet one more step forth.

"We came here to catch the bitch, but you.. a captive to her, actually had the nerve to kill us who were pretty much trying to help YOUR sorry ass!" Coming to a halt, the bandit shifted a bit trying to stand upright, staring Veil in the face now from nearly 15 feet, he raised his good arm to face at Veil and point in anger. "You are the stupidest bastard I've ever seen!"

Veil finally spoke: "I guess YOU don't get it, do you? I don't care what she has planned for you or your friends, I was just buying my time for the right moment to escape. Your stories do not interest me, nor your pathetic insult to my being. Just go ahead and be glad you're still alive.. before I finish you."

"Coward.. you've got nerve.." Huffing from the severe pain, the bandit feel to his knee, clenching his chest in agony. "I swear I'd kill you if I could pull the strength."

"It's too bad you don't.. but I do." Veil's hand lifted, and a gigantic blast of red energy spewed from his palm in a wide field of loose flowing hot plasma. Looking to Veil in freight, the bandit's pupils constricted just before the hot flowing energy engulfed his figure and vaporized him. When the smoke and dust cleared from the power of the beam, a wide ditch was formed in the earth from the attack, and smoldering rocks fell around Veil from being kicked up by his finishing move.

 

[Tradion]

Didn't read to much of it, just kind of skimming, but came across the word Wildfire which sparked my interest. Just a note about the story and lore of the Wildfire Legion (assuming they are one and the same) is that Wildfire was a Group of Fallen Elves that shunned Felewyn and followed Torkalath, Or followed Nothing (Which is quite the opposite of what most Elves do). It was made up of 2 branches, the Melee Fighters and the Magicians (There wasn't any actual Magic at that point in the game if I recall correctly though, its been a couple years). Reaver Pryde was the Leader, Manofa1000names was the Head of the Melee group and I was the head of the Magicians Group. I don't recall the titles that were given to any of the said Positions though.

 

[kai]

When Veil at last had allowed his guard to drop, two more bandits stepped forward from behind him. They said nothing, Veil turned in surprise.

"Hello there." The first said, his fist sliding forward and smashing against Veil's mandible. He crumbled back and hit the dirt hard. Placing his hand on the ground, and recovering, Veil leaped backward, then suddenly the second bandit flashed beside him.

"I don't think so. Don't think you'll be getting away from us that easy." His arm moved forth and caught Veil by the chest, and with immense strength he picked up Veil and slammed him against the earth. A large shockwave was brought about, dust and rock flying from the force. The second bandit leaped back to regroup with his ally, standing at his left. They grinned, and waited.

It took a moment for Veil to get up, becoming tired from the damage he had taken. Coughing up some blood, he lifted to his feet and recovered once again. The first bandit smirked and shot his hand up, letting a burst of yellow energy fly from his palm toward Veil. The smoke and dust cleared only enough for Veil to barely jump up and avoid the thick blast of plasma that splashed and exploded against the earth from where he had leaped from. "That won't work, kid." The second bandit drew his ax, and quickly followed Veil.

Sliding his iron short sword up in defense, he prepared for any defense needed to throw off his attacker. "We'll see about that!" Sliding his sword down for his attacker's front, the bandit moved up and blocked the strike, only to swing around for the side of Veil, who narrowly flew backward to avoid the strike.

 

[kai]

"Heh.. too slow." The bandit snickered, and slowly lifted his ax, only to sling it directly down on Veil. The hard steel smashed against Veil's shoulder, hacking into the flesh and bone. Throwing his head back in pain, Veil pushed backward, clenching his shoulder tight. He soon slid to a halt not far from the second bandit.

"What's the matter? You're looking a little gruel." He laughed and pointed, hurling his ax up onto his shoulder to rest. Veil's red blood stained the blade and poured down the metal. "I hope that's really not it. I was expecting more of a.. challenge.." Grinning, the bandit vanished, appearing beside Veil. He flash stepped.

Having no time to defend himself, Veil felt the terrible pain of the bandit kneeing him in the gut, causing Veil to curl up in pain, coughing up blood. The bandit smirked, his knee far into Veil's gut, he soon resumed taunting the Elf. "Hah! Stupid bastard thought you'd get away from me!?" Veil's eyes looked up then at the bandit, and soon the pain in his features had faded, changing to a more serious; angry look. "No.. but you're not going to get away from me.." Veil's hands then seized around the bandit's knee, and began pressing with all his might.

"What the hell? Let me go you little.." The bandit yelled in pain, and threw his fist desperately against the side of Veil's head. It was to no use, and Veil focused his strength into his palms and continued to crush his knee slowly. "AGH! HELP ME! GET THIS KID OFF OF ME!" Bone grinded into bone, his joint being worked away from the scraping as finally Veil in a fit of rage, crushed the bandit's knee, shattering it. The bandit passed out from pain, and fell back. The first stood only a few feet away, struck in awe.

"Rudolph!" He yelled, throwing his hand to the hilt of his wakazashi. He drew the excellent curved short sword, and pushed one foot back, dashing at Veil in a burst of speed. Veil turned, and sent his leg up for the cheek of the bandit as he zeroed in. His foot smashed against the bandit's cheek, and threw him off to the right, smashing against the earth and rolling.
Before he could recover, Veil was right atop of him, kicking him again, hard in the chest. The bandit fell lifeless, and standing alone; Veil tried to catch his breath.