Freymere

Akuma strode through the streets of Freymere, her boot heels clacked on the cobblestone street as she made her way to the hall where her meeting was to take place. She tried to ignore the stares she received from the Ardaran citizens. Today she didn't have time to be stealthy and take her usual back alley pathways but she didn't want to fly overhead and cause a panic either. So she walked as quickly as possible and tried to blend in as much as she could, being a 6 foot tall demon in a city full of humans. She made her way into the building where her meeting was. It was large and well decorated, to her it looked more like a church than a meetinghouse but then again she had never really had an eye for decor. She pushed open the large oak doors that led to the central chamber and strode in just to find herself alone. She had expected this, she was early, just the way she liked it. Akuma scoped out the room and mapped every possible exit in her mind. The Ardarans were usually very civil but one could never tell when it came to war. In the center of the room there was a large, oval shaped table with many chairs surrounding it. She took a seat in what she thought was the most strategic position and left the head of the table open for her guest. Speaking of her guest she wondered how she was to address her. She couldn't just call her by her first name, humans were so touchy about titles. She eventually thought of a title that she hoped wouldn't be offensive and sat back to wait.

Lauryn walked down the street rather hastily hand on the hilt of her Rapier and her ornate golden colored circlet gleaming from the sunlight, behind her a small group of 8 men followed in an orderly formation of two lines of four. The citizen talked amongst themselves and some cheered and bowed as she passed them. She being humbled would occasionally wave to the onlookers. But she continued down towards the palace; a almost cathedral looking structure that was quite decorated and large. As she entered the building the gates shut behind her and the guards stood sentry making sure no one intruded or entered the palace.

Lauryn stood outside the door if the large room as she inhaled deeply gaining her composure, she then ran her hands down her clothing making sure it looked spic and span. She pulled her mantle over her left shoulders a put her right hand on the hilt of her rapier once more as she motioned for the guard to open the door and entered.

She looked to the round table looking to the chair that was larger and bulkier than the others; she sat down and observed the features and traits of the woman her height, appearance, anything she thought important. She sat silently looking at the woman with her a very calm and slightly welcoming expression waiting for the woman to say or do something.

Akuma sat there, silently for a moment or two. She should have bowed when the woman entered but she was more focused on charting new escape routes since her guest had brought armed guards with her. She had heard them coming from all the way down the street. Her guest seemed like a "no-nonsense" kind of person so she finally decided on a course of action. She stood removed her cloak and hood and bowed, spreading her wings as far as they would go given the limited space. "Good afternoon, Lady Auriol. My name is Akuma Sayako and I represent The Justicars. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me." She stood up straight, closed her wings and put her cloak back on; however she did leave her hood off. Akuma could feel Lady Auriol tense up when she realized Akuma was a demon but she continued to talk as if she hadn't noticed. "As you surely know the demon army grows stronger every day and if Pandemonium's Gate is not closed soon they will surely overrun this world." She began chanting a spell and then runes on her armor glowed faintly, dark magic swirled around her fingers and soon it enveloped the entire room. Suddenly they were no longer in a meeting room in Freymere, they were in the Demon's camp and the Gate could be seen not far off with more demons coming out of it every minute. "Do not be alarmed Lady Auriol this, all of this, is nothing more than an illusion." She passed her hand in front of a nearby demon and it went straight through him. "I have projected this illusion to give you a better idea of just what you're dealing with here. I realize that I myself am a demon but I assure I am nothing like my kin. You see I can actually control my blood lust." She pointed over to Pandemonium's Gate. "As you can see, my lady every day the demons grow in numbers and if we do not do something soon it will be too late to do anything at all."

Lauryn sat as she observed with a deep sense of disgust and disapproval as Akuma spread her wings, now her look of welcoming slightly faded instead turning to a stone set face nearly emotionless. She let the woman finish speaking then once she finished she sat thinking for a moment. She put her hands together and set them on the table. "The Justicar's sent a demon as a messenger to me?" She laughed slightly "It's a bit ironic to be honest". She looked down to her hands then back up to the woman "I know the demon threat is all too real, I spent the majority of my adult life fighting them. But in all respect my kinsmen have held the border since the invasion of the demons and our great walls have stood strong to many demon sieges."

She stood up and walked to a decorative glass window and put her hand on it as she looked out towards the land of Pandemonium
. "I do understand they are a danger but at this point Advara has remained safe and gods willing will remain safe, I can not afford to take immediate action against the creatures other than defend do to risk of invasion to Advara."

The Angel of Death was losing ground, quickly. She would have to say something to convince Lady Auriol that it was in her country's best interest to fight alongside their worst nemeses, and she'd have to say it soon. "I understand that you and your people have been able to hold your own for the time being but you must listen. I have walked among the demons in their camps and I have heard them speak. They expect their numbers to triple over the next three months. Now tell me, my lady can your forces handle that many demons coming at you all at once?" Her illusion of the demon camp faded as she spoke and they were once more in the great hall in Freymere. "Please remember that the Justicars are an order composed of both Advaran and Venteran soldiers. They saw that the only way to vanquish the demons was through cooperation, so why can't you see it too?"

She strode up and down the hall as she spoke, her voice growing more and more urgent, her wings spread wide. "[b]Have you ever heard the phrase the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well if it is true that makes the Venterans your friends and friends work together. Please, my lady I am certain that if you gave me your seal of approval I could surely get the Venteran leaders to join in an alliance and rid this land of the demons once and for all!/b]" When she had concluded her speech she closed her wings, slowly walked back to her seat and awaited an answer.

She sat down in her chair once more and set her hands under her chin. She sat deep in thought for a few moments and looked forward at the middle of the table as if fixated on something. She had come to her conclusion. "Currently the brunt of my armies are on the border of Ventera, as we expect an attack soon. If you can talk to someone of authority in that god forsaken mess of a nation, perhaps a chieftain or lord as there are many different ones all controlling their own armies and get them stop the encroachment of my border. If you can't then I will simply have to retaliate against Ventera and trust that my men will hold the Border of Pandemonium as I trust they can". Her eyes shifted now to The angel of death once more. "This is the only way I can support the Justicars without jeopardizing the Advara's security"

She now stood up and walked over to a different part of the room; a room full of boards with maps and a large rectangular table with a map of all of Aurelia and on it were little pieces that represented armies and the estimated amounts of enemy armies. She had forgotten about her guest and said. "I wish I didn't have to put you in a position like this but it is necessary, but if Ventera can be convinced you will have Advara's full support... so long as Ventera stays in check."

Akuma saw a glimmer of hope in a sea of despair and she grasped at it. If she could get the Venterans to move their men away from the Advaran border and towards the gate the humans could definitely overpower the demons that had come through the gate and find a way to stop more of them from coming through. She didn't smile, she hardly ever smiled but her eyes and her words showed her gratitude. "Thank you, Lady Auriol for giving the Justicars a chance, I am sure that we will be able to get the Venterans to move their forces away from your border and finally put an end to the demon invasion. I will return when I have the Venteran leaders' approval and we can all work out a plan of action."

Akuma put up her hood and returned her cloak to it's normal position over her wings. She now looked more like a tall human than a full-out demon. She bowed and exited the room, her heels making even more noise now that she had a job to do. As soon as she left the building she moved the cloak aside, spread her wings wide and took off. Ignoring the shouts of the guards below her she hovered over the city. She had heard that the Venteran leader Sergei Kottorov was in Freymere at the moment and if she could convince him now they would all be able to discuss how best to deal with the demons. She used her excellent eyesight to scan the streets in search of him. It didn't take her long to find him, he was accompanied by troupe of guards but they were nothing she couldn't handle. She dove towards him and hoped this meeting would go as well as her last one.

Having finished the small mindless business he foudn himself doing in Freymere he was set for home. Him and his troop walked through the back alleys as to not attract attention from the advaran guard the was on the occasional patrol. His mind was set on the borders. and the endless violence that came between them. The demons pressed strong and threatened to overwhelm, he didn't care much for the tribes in the north and was willing to have them hold the demons off for him for now. It was his own people he worried for they may be strong in number but the demons have proven relentless, constant raids on his own land have left some regions in ruin. He had the brunt of his forces mashed on the Advaran border because Advara decided to amass a host of troops. Now there is even more Bloodshed coming to his mind, it was then, that they turned down yet another alley that it appeared. At first it wasn't something he could make out, but when he heard the sudden outburst of "Demon!" by one of his guards his weapon was drawn, the troupe following by drawing theirs aswell. With The Angel of Death appearing infront of him he was combat ready, but disalarmed when she landed unarmed and almost 'peaceful'. "What is your business here!" He demanded with an almost Nordic accent. Two of his newest and more trigger happy guards rushed for the demon, one with blade in hand. the other unarmed. "Enough!" He shouted to them as they rushed her. the two of them stopping almost dead in their tracks. Sergei stood with sword in hands. Waiting for his reply.

She stood before the leader of the Venterans and his company of guards with her arms crossed behind her back. In her mind she smiled, the two that had rushed her had no idea how close they were to being dead. She slid the poison tipped dagger back into it's sheath in her armor and spread her arms wide, showing that she had no weapons in hand. She swept her cloak aside and bowed before the leader, spreading her wings as far as the alley would allow. "Good day Lord Kottorov, I trust you had a pleasant visit to Freymere." She stood up straight and removed her hood. "I apologize for my rude intrusion I believe you already know of me, I am the Angel of Death but you may call me Akuma Sayako. I had hoped to catch up with you before you left Advara because I need to discuss with you some very important matters concering you and your people and I have a proposal that can bring bring an end to your wars with the Advarans and with the demons. But here is not the place to discuss such things. Follow me and we may converse in a proper setting. She began to walk away towards the hall where her last meeting had taken place, confident that he would follow.

Lauryn Auriol
Setting: The night when she was confronted by Akuma, In the palace; her private chambers.The time Roughly Midnight.

Lauryn sat looking down from the large battlement of Freymere's fortified city walls. She looked upon a massive demonic army; the grotesque creatures coming in all shapes and sizes... they seemed as endless as the sea that often smashed against the docks and piers of her fair city. Yet her mind noticed the little and less important things around her...

Her eyes shifted to the horizon at which point she had a flashback of her looking at the beautiful yet seemingly endless expanses of green fertile land full of trees and teaming with wildlife. Now she looked with sadness in her heart as she saw the once fertile and vibrant place stained with blackness of corruption and watched as fire blazed intensely.
She then looked out towards the many cities that once dotted Advara's landscape, even from so very far away the sheer amount of smoke rolling of from the places were a clear give away that the once lively and populated places where no more, she knew in the back of her mind the foul creatures before her wouldn't have spared any of them. She then looked in the direction of Advara's mortal rivals. She knew that she couldn't see the country but she knew in the pit of her stomach that they country had to have fallen to the creatures.
Lastly her eyes shifted to her immediate surroundings of the her men and behind her the capital and its inhabitants. Behind her she saw the denizens of Freymere. They were all reacting to the realization there there doom was imminent in many ways. Some sat praying to the gods that they felt had abandoned them, while others panicked running around the city attempting to flee to the docks or lock themselves within the churches and their own homes. She noticed some of the inhabitants already dead, there corpses covered in sores and puss with looks of agony froze on there now cold, still bodies. She looked away from this as she could no longer stand to witness it. Her gaze now shifted to what remained of the once great armies of Advara. Men and women surrounded her, many were injured covered in cuts and bandages some hardly even to hold their weapons. Some lined the wall armed with bows and other projectiles and the greater amount behind the great gates below. She watched them all, and she could tell that they were scared and had lost all hope. What was there to be hopeful about though?

All of these things she observed had taken their toll on Lauryn, tears started to run down her cheek and she knew deep in her heart that on this day that she and all these innocents would die. She knew that there was no hope of victory against such odds. So she sobbed quietly not letting her men see her like this. Only one thing went through her mind though as she sobbed and prepared to face her imminent death.If only I had known... What could I have done to stop this!.

Then the ominous sound of thunder echoed and balls of fire rained from the sky; the demons shrieked and screamed hatefully as they charged the gate brandishing the weapons madly. Lauryn stood atop the wall blade in hand as she shouted "For Adava-" she stopped speaking and grew in a labored breath as she looked down blood running down her torso, a demons arrow had founds it way into her heart and she awoke from the terrible dream...

Before Akuma could even lead the Venterans to the hall she sensed that something was wrong. She could feel the souls of every living being and she kept a special watch over the demons' souls and their locations. Now she sensed a demon had left its camp near the Gate and was dangerously close to the Justicars' camp. The demon soul had encountered a human soul, most likely a Justicar and shortly after she could no longer feel the presence of that human. The demon was now even closer to the camp but it had nt made a move to enter it yet. Normally she would have ignored it. One demon against a whole camp of Justicars was hardly anything to get worked up over but this felt different somehow. This demon did not travel as a normal one would. A normal demon would tke the direct route to its target, killing anything it met along the way. This demon however always seemed to stay away from the direct path, it traveled erratically, almost like it was trying to avoid any living thing.

An alarm sounded in her head and she knew something was afoot. She had to get back to camp as soon as possible and deal with this demon herself. She sighed, her peace making mission would just have to wait. For now she had to save her own people and ensure their safety before she could try to stop these nations from destroying each other. She stopped walking and turned back to the Venterans, speaking quickly. "I'm terribly sorry but it seems that something has come up at the Justicar camp and I'm needed immediately. I beg your forgiveness and hope that we can organize a proper meeting sometime in the future." With a hasty apology and a hastier bow she spread her wings and took off towards the camp. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, this demon was going to be trouble, she could feel it. While she flew she kept her senses tuned to that one demon as it grew ever closer to her camp. She hoped she would make it in time to stop whatever the demon was planning from happening and save her people.