Snippet #2175657

Talazar

Talazar as fine with the boy's plan, as he'd completely ignored him as well. It seemed everyone was entirely focused on Kreon, everyone had a score to settle. The man brought his right arm up suddenly as another wave of coughing hit him, then frowned as he saw that his sleeve was covered in a sick, warm layering of his own blood. The boy's attacks had done damage, that was evident, and the close range didn't help, but he'd get his revenge later. With one final glance to Raiyn, Talazar simply scoffed.

Apparently his assumptions were right as he looked down on the two, the girl laying over the boy in a vain attempt to stop him, to recall him and get him to leave. That was probably for the best, because any longer and the boy would either die from loss of blood, overstress in battle or simply by Talazar's own hands. Talazar turned away now as the girl leaned down towards the boy, he knew what was happening behind him. The Princess then whispered again that they had to leave, and the man nodded. "Boy," he began. His voice was cracked and he found speaking was actually painful. He took a breath as he continued, "You've got skill enough to face me in combat and do more than survive, and that's granted you time to live. Cling to this time, go."

Walking forward now, Talazar didn't care about the boy or the Princess anymore, not until it was their time to die. The man approached Nira and looked down at her, his eyes showing how hard he was trying to hide his hurting behind a cold, hardened glare. The woman's fingers intruding through his torn cloak and touching his wounds caused a sudden pain to surge through his entire body, and he found himself collapsing forward into her, grabbing at the back of her shirt to support himself while a coughing fit ensued.

He felt terrible, especially in front of Kreon, in front of the other shades, simply falling apart like this. All his work he felt was being shattered in these few moments, the strong merciless killer beaten, bloodied, and brought down by terrible bloody coughs. For a moment after he finally gained control again he simply stood resting on the woman as her magic ceased his blood flow. He somehow couldn't help but feel as if this was familiar, and he knew exactly why. He had made sure that day though that something like this would never again happen, but it seemed even that was broken tonight.

"I'll kill him." Nira's voice finally registered in the man's mind. He'd drifted off a moment, just a second and he wasn't sure why. He was definitely off tonight, and he was hell bent on making sure everyone present would know his wrath, even in a state such as this. "Right after we kill this pathetic excuse for a Shade." Talazar smiled somewhat at the her last words, and nodded, though a bit awkwardly as his chin was resting on the woman's shoulder.

Finally he stood and pushed himself off Nira as if he'd just realized what he was doing. He looked at her angrily and brushed past her, fueled now with rage and a need to redeem himself after the show he'd just put on. The man flung out his right arm with the sword to push aside his cloak before finally he reached up and simply undid the single button that held it in place. He let it fall to the ground now to reveal his underclothes; a torn sleeveless shirt that clung to his body and showed easily the muscles beneath, tucked under his black pants that were secured by a belt embedded with dormant jewels. His boots came up to just beneath his calves, and around his neck the gold chain was painted over in places a dull crimson.

Talazar took a moment to look at the jewels along his waist before selecting one and placing it in the vacant spot in his scythe where his old one sat. The fact that it was missing was something to worry about, but not now. The man let the tiny rock shine a moment as he shut his eyes, harnessing the power of the air around him.

"Kreon," he said quietly as his eyes opened once more. He took a moment to situate a fire jewel into Raiyn's sword, then looked up at the man, a steely gaze locking directly onto him. "You shouldn't have intervened in my passing of judgment..."


Aelianus

Aelianus shot up, unsure of where he was, what had happened and why. As he looked around through blurry eyes and a jumbled mind, he began to allow things to register in his head, a clear picture painting itself before him. All around, black cloaks were massing and down the hill he could see the power swelling around Nira. The fact that so many shades had appeared and that Nira seemed to be using all her magic could only mean one plausible thing. Aelianus' eyes shot to the man who stood opposite her, and he immediately found himself backing up.

Why was Kreon here, what could possibly have happened that would call him? Aelianus wasn't sure, and he had plenty of questions. As he watched the scene unfold he just saw Talazar stumble away from the boy who then got more or less tackled by the Princess. He couldn't tell what was happening, but Talazar looked fairly beaten up. His cloak appeared to be torn and his chest glistened an unnatural red. Had the boy just beaten him? Talazar? That wasn't right, but he didn't question as suddenly the Princess and Raiyn came forward to meet up with Krisiana and Kiriko who stood to one side. The shades it seemed were focused entirely on Nira, Talazar and Kreon, so at least they were safe for the moment.

Aelianus stood now and quickly made his way over to the group. "Hurry," he said in a voice just above a whisper, "We've got to go unless you feel like being caught between a battle that'll probably leave this place littered with bodies and lingering spells." His eyes flicked back and forth now to the shades around the clearing, some of whom were watching them. "If we can get going before all hell breaks lose, we should be able to make it a fair distance and they'll lose our trail, but we have to go now."