Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2012 1:05:08 GMT -5
So, this was originally started by Itzal on another site. There are a few members here who were a part of it. J and I want to breathe life in it and to do that we need to post everything. J and I are fine just writing it ourselves, but your characters are left open for you to have control of. Just let of us know. Here comes the ten pages of posts.
~Friendly Moderator Alderan
O’achu walked through a small village. Chickens and small children ran around chasing the formers. His stomach growled, “It should be against the laws to be this hungry” He grumbled nearly collapsing from exhaustion. He fell on his face and lay on the ground for a few moments. His stomach growled again and he let out a whimper. Just then the smell of cooked beef wafted through the air. “Thank the gods.” He jolted from the ground and ran to the source of the smell. It looked like a small outdoor kitchen. ‘What can I do for you?” asked the cook. “Pleas what ever food you have.” O’achu threw down some coin on the counter. Within minuets a bowl of beef ramen was sitting before him. He rapidly started to gobble down his food. He let out a belch once he was done. “So, from the sword on your waist it looks like you’re a Gatherer.” The cook refilled the bowl and sat down next to him awaiting his respons.
O’achu thanked him for the bowel and shook his head indicating the man was right. The Gatherers were a group of people under the order of the Empire to find the Shards and protect the people of the empire from demons. Legend had it that once there was a great warrior monk who saved people from all kinds’ demons and monsters that inhabited these lands. He had an enchanted shield made of glass that could deflect the demons dark energy and use it against them. One day the monk fought the king demon, the battle lasted for days and finally ended when the king demon used it most powerful attack. The glass shield defeated the demon but in turn was shattered and pieces thrown all over the land and the monk killed. When the emperor heard this he tasked brave warriors with the task of finding the Shards of the mirror shield, this is how the Gatherers formed.“Seen any demons lately?”
O’achu shook his head yes as he gulped down the water in the bowel. He had been trained to be a Gatherer since he was born.“Yea but don’t worry I took care of them” Proudly he jumped up unsheathing his katana, relishing in the awes he got from the people around him. Just then a chill ran down his spine, there was a demon close by. He re sheathed the sword; bowed to the cook and quickly left the village in the direction he sensed the demon.
***
The light passed through the slits in his greathelm, directly into his eyes, as Edrich rode into the small village on his old destrier, his scratched and dented plate dully shinning in the late day sun. The old war-beast carried him along with a steady trot through the village as children and grown men alike stared in wonder at the battle weary man sitting atop the massive horse. Edrich was by no man's definition a small man, he stood nearly six and a half feet tall and weighed nearly three hundred pounds, but on his mount in his armour with his greatsword he was a menacing sight to be sure. The destrier's armour clinking with every pace, the people parted from his way.
They had been riding for nearly two days now, their supplies were running short. He would stock up and spend the night at the tavern he had decided. He rode up to the building that appeared to be the local alehouse and dismounted. He checked all every peice of the horses armour individually for any damage that would cause the beast discomfort for the ninth time since the battle. This result came up the same as the last eight, it was in acceptable condition untill he could make it back to his home town.
The second he walked through the door, his plate and chain making a small jingle with each and every step he took, all eyes turned to him and the roar that was quickly turned to a dull whisper. As he approached the bar people shifted seats and gave him a wide burth. He sat and removed his helm letting his brown hair fall around his head and all over his face, placing the helm on the bar infront of him. "Can I get you something, sir knight?" Piped in man behind the bar. His expression filled with nervous excitment.
Edrich rose his head and looked at the tavernmaster. "I am no knight, but I would appreceate if you would find someone to feed and stable my horse for the night, I will gladly pay. And bring me you house ale." Replied Edrich in a low, scratchy, voice.
The tavernmaster returned promptly with his drink. "My best lad is seeing to you mount right now, sir." Said the old man behind the counter. This man looked like he had seen his share of summers and had many stories to tell of them.
Edrich took a large drink from the cup infront of him. It felt good going down his throat. But then, at that point any drink going down his throat would have been good. He set the cup down and cleared the hair from his face. "Thank you." He looked around as he spoke. There were still wispers, but it was almost compleatly silent now. "Why is everyone so quiet here?" He asked in the same low, scratchy, voice as before.
The old man looked around then leaned in. "You are the most exciting thing to happen here in a long time. Well, you and the Gatherer that came through earlier. Now he was a strange fellow. He ate then ran off like he was in a hurry or somethin'. I reckon that he felt there was a demon near here."
"Great... A demon infested village, and I was hoping for a good nights sleep. The gods have seen fit to piss on me once again without the decency to call it rain." Edrich took another drink and gave a sigh. "Just give me a room then." He took one more huge mouthful and placed the cup on the bar. He placed a silver coin on the table beside his now empty cup.
The tavernmaster grabbed the piece and handed him a key and another cup. "Second door on your right at the top of the stairs. Sleep well. And have another on the house, you look like you could use it." Edrich grabbed the key and the cup in one hand and his greathelm in the other and gave a nod to the old man behind the bar as he headed up the stairs.
When he got to his room there were two apples and a pear on the table beside his bed. He set the cup and key on that table and the helm on the floor. He unstrapped his greatsword from his back and set it beside his helm. He didn't want to remove his armour because of the rumors of demons. He just sat on the side of his bed and ate the fruit and drank the ale he had brought up. Edrich shut and locked the door, lay his head down on the straw pillow, and promptly fell asleep. He would find this Gatherer and his demon tomorow.
***
Seventeen year old Eihei walked through the door into the house, carrying the crate of two chickens that he had bought at the markets. “Father?!” he called as he noticed that his father was not in the main room. He walked into the kitchen, and again was not met with his father. He set down the crate and walked into the next room. There was his dad, sitting in a chair, bottle of booze in his hand.
“Eihei...” his father said as he took another drink from his bottle. “You remember those stories Grandpa used to tell you as a boy?” his father asked as he leaned forward.
“About the Demons and the Gatherers and the enchanted shield?” Eihei asked, a glimmer in his eyes. His father seemed to ignore his question. He fumbled for something underneath him and handed Eihei a wrap of towels with something in it.
“Son, take this to the emperor as soon as you can, but if you don’t trust him with it than find another home for it. Regardless, guard it with your life.” His father tipped the bottle back and downed the rest of the liquid and then stood up, pushing Eihei back. He continued to push him back and eventually became forceful.
“Father, what are you doing?” he questioned as his dad pushed him into a closet.
“Shh.. Stay in here and be quiet,” his father said as he closed the door. Eihei was about to ask what his father was doing when the door into the house slammed open and three tall dark figures walked in, two much smaller people walking in being them.
“Where is it mage?” one of the taller men asked and once the man spoke, Eihei noticed the other features of him, those three were demons! But what did he mean mage? Although magic was common nowadays, Eihei’s family had always been void of it.
“I don’t know what you are talking about, demon,” Eihei’s father said, spitting with the last word as he turned to face the demon. The demon who had spoken nodded and the other two lunged at his father. He let out a laugh and spread his arm, fire coating both hands, and then threw them forward, both demons screaming and wailing as they disappeared in fire. The third demon stepped forward and with long black nails tore at his father’s throat. It wasn’t until then, as the claws made their way in slow-motion to his father’s throat, that the demons hands were blackened, as was most of it’s body.
“It’s here,” the demon said in a raspy voice as it turned to the other two men. “Where?”
“The man had a son,” one of the men said. The demon looked around the room, it’s nose smelling the scent of whatever it was there for.
“The closet!” the demon exclaimed and both of the men lunged at it. Just before they were able to open it, Eihei was able to pick up his father’s walking staff, hoping to use it like a bow staff. As the door opened he quickly jumped forward with staff in one hand. The staff collided with one of the man’s face and sent him to ground, a crack sounding from the staff. At first he thought he broke it, but then he realized that the staff had turned at a certain section, a bit at the top coming loose. He lifted his hand up and pulled on the part, a large blade coming out, the part of the staff that hung at the end a perfect handle. He knew this blade. “Demon Eater.” The blade had been covered in so much demon blood that it craved it. A realization hit him. His Grandfather had been the mage from the tales.
As his hands wrapped tight around the blade, he felt a new type of energy wash into his body. And he knew immediately what it was. Magic. His family hadn’t been void of magic, he had just inadvertently chosen not to use it. But no longer, the blade made sure of that. Fire leapt around its edges and in two easy swipes, the two men fell dead. He had been trained for this even though he had never realized it. It was no wonder his father made him go to his lessons all the time. He attempted to attack the demon but it easily blocked it away with its massive claws. Even after he was able to get past them and hack at its hide, it didn’t seem to feel. The fire on the blade disappeared on its own and the blade sunk through the demon’s neck, the demon disappearing in mist as the blade sailed through.
Eihei stared down at the cloth his father had given him after all had been said and done with and unwrapped it. There sat the glass shard his grandfather had told him about so many years ago. He packed his things and headed out, realizing it would be good to leave the forest.
***
Caitra dusted off her leather trousers as the sun began to set. She was unsure as to whether the village just beyond the line of trees she hid within would be welcoming to a creature such as herself. Filled with self-loathing, Caitra reluctantly turned her back on the village and made camp just out of eye-shot of the civilization. Climbing a tall tree, she wedged herself comfortably between branches. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than the hatred she would receive with humans. Being a bastard daughter of a demon, she was generally treated with disgust and mistrust from humans, despite taking up a sword and killing all demons she could for a solid 9 of her 18 years of existence. Gatherers and knights hunted for the Shards of the mirror shield, but Caitra only desired the death of the creatures of darkness.
She signed and unclenched her fists, pondering her long black nails. She didn’t know who her parents were, but if her dark nails and luminescent violet eyes were her father's, she imagined her pale skin and ringleted auburn hair were her mother's, she hoped. Ignoring the temptation to attempt to remember her mother, she swallowed a mouthful of bread and water from her pack, adjusted her two scimitars, and drifted into a light sleep, jerking awake when her blood surged, signifying the proximity of a fellow demon.
Caitra growled, doubly angry at the abomination since she was more tired than usual. If a demon was close, that meant the Gatherer she had seen in the village would be after it. Perhaps that was why he had run off so quickly? But how could she not have sensed it before now? “Ridiculous…” she muttered, and yawned. The lack of sleep must have affected her blood somehow. Caitra jumped down from the tree and set off in the general direction of the demon, making sure her scimitars were easily at hand.
***
Silently Shironen Daigotsu waited in in the bedroom his target hadnt arrived yet and this was making suspicious, but he heard movement outside in the hallway and smiled underneath his Mempo, readying his Ninja-to he waits in perfect silence as a woman wlaks into the room she is wearing only a robe and as she disrobes he catches a faint whiff of blood, thinking to himself she must be on her moons blood his target walks into the room as well he is already naked. As they lay down on the bed Shironen thinks its ironic that tonight they were going to consumate their love in blood but he would be ending it in the same way. He lashes out and before there is a noise the couple is lying dead their blood soaking into the mattress Shironen had already left. He was a 'gatherer' technically but he had to make money and he had no qualms about killing others for money. But demons were always the main thought on his mind he had been trained to kill them with ruthless efficiency and he had proved that you didnt need magic or powers to kill demons you just needed skill. He heard movement nearby and readied himself for the attack.....
***
Get it together rookie. The lieutenant pushed past, knocking him out of his daze. Coster was on the front line, and with shield and sword in hand he ordered the aim of the ballistae. Multiple other low-ranked battalion leaders yelled the same command, and the soldiers hurriedly pulled back the giant crossbow and attempted to angle it towards the top of the castle. Coster peered through his helm's constricting visor, and to make matters worse it was just beginning to rain. Even through his heavy helmet, the monster was clear. A spider demon, it was big enough to treat the decrepit castle like it's own playhouse.
He'd seen demons before during his time in the service, but this one was different. The size of it, the rage that emenated from it as it screeched at the crack of thunder. The way it scaled the castle in leaps and bounds, ripping the stone apart. He shivered in the rain, and noticed the huddle at the head of the line. The head of the royal army was there, along with the leader of his mercenary militia, Nyle. He could see they were arguing, the two could never talk in a civilized manner, being leaders of two "opposing" factions, they were never on good terms.
Nyle appeared to finally reach an agreement, and shouted over the thunder. They were to hold off the attack and that the royal army had planned on sending in a small squad to take down the monster. It was only by bargaining that Coster and a small team of other mercenaries were sent in with the Royal Army's squad. All together that were a group of about twenty men. Why would they send just us in? Why not just put this thing down from a safe distance? Nyle turned to the man beside Coster and suggested, with a slap to the back of his head, that he remain quiet.
The man shook himself and pushed forward behind the group. Progress to the castle roof was painfully slow and quiet, with only the occaisonal creaking of the floorboards to break the silence. An hour into the storm they had arrived at the roof, a plateau that rested just below the tallest spire, not long after they arrived the spider demon had noticed them, its jaws dripping a poison saliva from the tip of the tower onto the soldiers around Coster. They screamed as the acid burned through their steel armor and dissolved their flesh and bones.
Coster gazed up at it with Nyle beside him. Commander, we need to get out of here, we'll let the archers take care of this. Nyle ignored him and pushed him out of the way of a falling acid droplet. Nyle! What the hell are we doing here!?He screamed over blast of thunder and the screech of the spider. We can't fight this thing! Nyle wouldn't respond to his calls, he only waved forward a royal army alchemist. Something wasn't right here, he could feel it in his bones, there was no reason to fight this thing head-on. It was just plain foolish. A wave of power emenated from the alchemist as he pulled a single shard of glass inside his glove and pressed it to the tower base. His hands illuminated, and the air around them combusted, then all the energy in the vicinity transfered into the bricks, causing them to explode.
There was another screech from the spider as the spire leaned and cracked, finally toppling and falling backward. The spider however, dropped directly downward, crashing down on top of them. It rose quickly, flailing its legs in all directions, crushing, and tossing the soldiers off of the rooftop. Coster was thrown to the edge. He picked his head up and watched as Nyle was impaled by the sharp tip of the arachnids' leg. The weight of it pushed Nyle through the stone floor and down to the ground, hundreds of feet below.
Coster shook himself, grabbing a nearby spear and standing up. How am I supposed to fight this? The spider had hardly seemed to notice him, or maybe it saw him as such a meager threat that it had chosen to ignore him. He moved to the edge of the crumbling building slowly and saw his soldiers standing in awe. Fire the ballistae!!! He shouted over the storm. Fire!!! The army scrambled below, and the spider turned so that it's blood covered fangs were only feet away from Coster. "I'm dead.. I'm so dead. Might as well go out fighting." He thrusted the spear forward, pushing it into the spiders eye and watching it recoil slightly. It was a last ditch effort, surely, but there was no point in letting it eat him without so much as a scar to remember him by.
The spider's jaw slid open as it marched forward, it clamored forward and bit down, its fangs sunk into Coster's arm, crushing the joints of it and seperating flesh from bone. Coster's legs fell limp, he sink to thr ground screaming in agony as his right arm was torn clean off. He grasped the bits of flesh that hung from the edge of his collar bone. Blood sprayed onto the cold stone as he toppled, waiting for the spider to finish him off. He closed his eyes and waited, watching his life flash before him, a mere 18 year old. There was so much he had left to do. There was a thump, a screech, then nothing. He was sure he would die, maybe he was in such shock that the pain had left him. Maybe he was blissfully unaware of his own death. Tears streamed from his eyes, but he never felt the pain.
Thunder cracked in the sky, and his eyes slowly creaked open. The spears from the ballistae riddled the gigantic demons corpse. A glimmer near the spider's eyes drew his attention, it commanded him and drew him towards it. He stumbled just next to it, beginning to lose his grip on consciousness.
He reached down and grasped this power, a sliver of bright green glass. It was glowing with power, shining even through it's thick coat of warm blood. He slumped against the spiders white leg and stared at the shard. Blood sprayed from his wound again, and he rushed to put pressure on it. The shard began to glow, and that blinding light began to take form....
.............................................................
Coster's eyes burst open, sunshine blinded him as the scent of the forest floor flooded his senses. A shadow covered him, tall and husky. Steam blew from the demon's nostrils as it drew its hulking arms back over its head. His vision cleared as the minotaur swung its hammer downward. As if it had a mind of its own, Coster's right arm rose in a flash, catching the head of the maul and stopping it short. Coster smiled up at the minotaur, delivering a swift kick between the beast's legs and watching it recoil. He put a bit of effort into his grip and watched the metal head of the maul crumble to dust.
Coster jumped back to his feet and grabbed the beast's neck. Regardless of being half the size of the minotaur his arm contained enough power for him to fight one on one with it. Where's the shard!? The minotaur grabbed the man's arm but even with all of its strength it couldn't find an inch of freedom. Coster tightened his grip and felt muscle begin to tear. The beast continued to refuse to say a word, struggling until his head was torn completely off. Another demon killed without even a step in the right direction.. He sighed, fixing the dull brace on his right arm and tossing his cloak over it as he began walking towards the nearest town.
***
Eihei's journey had begun early that day. Working up at the first rays of sun, attempting to get a good start on his 'quest' as some might call it. The night before he had gotten a look at the shard, unfurling the ball of cloth given to him by his father he looked at the piece of glass. It was amazing that something so small could cause such a big strife. Then, just as he was about to put it away, he felt power resignate through it as it began to glow at an incredible brightness, moments before going out again followed by a loud boom in the distance, one that sounded of a large structure falling.
This morning, as he got up and began to pack up his things, the shard glowed again. But this time it was different, it wasn't an all out full-shard glowing. Only part of the shard glowed. And it seemed that as he moved the shard around in a circle, it glowed brighter at some points than at others. It was acting like a compass of sorts. Pointing him in a direction it wanted him to go. And so he followed it. That was when he came across the man who had fallen into a fight with the minotaur demon. His own shard was safely tucked away and he was just about to withdraw Demon Eater from its staff-like sheath when the man killed the minotaur. That was when the demon's words spoke to him. "Where is the shard?" Did this man also have a shard? "Why did the demon ask you of a shard?" Eihei asked as he walked over to the man.
***
Eihei looked at the man. Demons not as tough as they look... what shit was that. And that's what Eihei noticed something, this demon's body had stayed there, unlike the ones that had diapered into shadows. So demons were really different from each other. "Your arm moved so fast... it was like..." And that's when he got a good look at the man's arm. Something was different. It wasn't tan, not like the other one, and it almost looked like there was more muscle underneath the skin. "Anyways... I heard some loud crash last night, like a building falling. I came here expecting to find a castle but haven't found anything yet."
***
Coster was taken slightly aback. A castle? What'd he hear my dream? That's crazy. He thought to himself about it, he hadn't heard anything fall, certainly not a castle..Last night eh? You must've been dreaming, because I don't think there's a castle around here.
The boy was still staring at his arm, and probably the metal brace that wrapped around it. He hoped the kid would just forget about his arm and the questions he had. He rolled down his torn sleeve and covered his arm once again.
***
Eihei didn't know why, but he was still intrigued by the man's arm. Especially now that the man took time to cover it. As he looked at the man, he felt the shard power in his in as he touched it in his pocket. He didn't even remember putting his hand in his pocket, but now that he had, he felt something weird. It was glowing just a bit less than when the castle had fallen. "No, i wasn't dreaming. It was just over there," he said as he pointed down a valley to an open clearing.
***
As he looked down the valley it finally hit him. Where the castle was in his memory, the area was over grown and enshrouded by large green vines. The rubble of the castle was mostly gone by now, but.. It was years ago. Well this is new.. What do I say? Maybe there was something over there.. He scratched the back of his head trying to come up with something. Yeah, there was a castle back there years ago, you probably heard some of the demons around here, this forest is full of'em.
***
Caitra stayed frozen in the cover of the trees, only a few yards from the fallen corpse of the Minotaur and the Gatherers. Her scimitars were drawn and held were she had froze, about to jump in to aid the man. But he hadn't needed any help at all. Caitra quietly replaced her scimitars, and gazed at her own hands. A man who could kill demons with his own hands... Ruthless, with inhuman power. But he was not a monster. She narrowed her luminescent purple eyes and stood. He was to be avoided. Whoever or whatever had granted him that strength might have also heightened his awareness of demons. However, it would be interesting to find out how he had acquired such a powerful arm. The young Gatherer seemed to also be interested in it; maybe the strong man would succumb to peer pressure? They were speaking of a castle now, she had scouted the area earlier and discovered the collapsed pile of rubble. “There is definitely a castle down there, noble Gatherers.” She spoke with respect and her head bowed so as to hide her eyes, and tightened her gloves. “If it pleases you I could guide you to it?” she bowed to the strong man “I saw how you defeated the demon, and I would be greatly honored if you would accept even the smallest favor from me, Gatherer.”
***
Coster watched the maiden with wide eyes. The way she handled herself was impressive, graceful, and worst of all he hadn't even noticed her presence. If he was going to keep his power a secret he'd have to be more careful. I guess we could use an escort, but I'd at least like to learn your name milady. He bowed in a slightly out of character manner. I am Coster, and this is.. He motioned to the boy he was talking to. I'm sorry I don't even know your name. He laughed.
***
"My name is Eihei," he said as he looked at Coster. "An escort is good, but I know the way," he knew it was kind of rude and pushy, but it was the truth, the shard was telling him where to go. Walk ten paces forward, turn right, twenty paces forward, turn left, and so on. The others followed behind him, obviously interested by what he was doing. He made his way out into a clearing where the rubble of a castle remained. But... that made no sense... There was growth and moss over top of the rubble, hinting that the castle had fallen long ago. Was there another fallen castle in the distance and the shard was wrong?
Before he knew what had happened, his hand with the shard in it flew out of his pocket and into the air and began to glow immensely. That was when everything was revealed to him. The rubble around him began to build itself back up, turning back into the castle it once was. And then he relived everything that had happened two years before. The spider demon, the shard, the collapse. Then he saw the shard's true power. The man with the severed arm, taking the shard, and placing it to his shoulder and forming a new arm. He recognized that arm.
The shard stopped glowing and he came out of the 'flashback' memories and time colliding. "Th..that arm. Was that you?" Eihei asked, pointing at Coster, without realizing that the shard was still in his hand, or that the shard had been in his hand the whole time, revealing that he had it. He should have been exhausted from what he did, but using the shard gave him energy, gave him power, he felt great. But could Coster of been the man in that castle as it fell? And then a fourth person came in, wondering who had killed the minotaur. Gods, he could have been faster at putting the shard away.
***
The sun danced across his face as it broke through the shabby inn's shutters. Edrich rolled over and nearly fell onto the floor. His plate was not the most comfortable thing to sleep in, but this morning he felt well rested and ready to move on. He grabbed his greatsword and straped it to his waist. He reached down to pick up his helm when he saw feet under his door. There was someone listening for him...
He drew his sword and stood. As such a big man, it was barely two steps before he kicked the door with full force, sending it flying off the hinge. It blasted into a serving boy holding a flagon of ale and a small roasted bird. The boy, true to his position, didn't spill a drop of ale or let the fowl hit the floor as he was sent flying onto the floor. Edrich laughed as he grabbed the boy's arm and picked him up, sword still in hand. "You shouldn't creep outside of someones door so early in the morning, boy." He sheathed the greatsword and flipped the boy a gold coin.
The boy's eyes widened at the glimmer of gold in his hands. It was more than he would make in a year, Edrich suspected, but he had just kicked a door into him. The boy looked like he was going to say something when they heard the tavenmaster come running up the stairs. Edrich made a gesture to the boy, telling him to shove the coin in his pocket. The boy did just before they saw the wizened old man at the top of the stairs. His eyes fell upon the fallen door and the gigantic man looming over the boy, whom looked a little more battered than he did when the tavernmaster sent him up. "I'm sorry if the boy startled you good sir. I sent him up with a gift. Please forgive the boy." He gave a harsh look to the serving boy who looked rather happy with himself. He then set his eyes on the demolished door that lay infront of him. "I will have to ask for repair costs to my in however, if it doesn't inconvinience you any sir." The man asked hesitently, glancing between the greatsword at Edrich's waist and his eyes.
Edrich gave a small giggle and pulled out a small purse. He reached in and took out two gold pieces and twelve silver. "This should cover the door, the food, and the stabling fees. I thank you for you kindness sir, but I must be off." The old man smiled and dragged the boy down the stairs. The boy look backed and smiled at Edrich as he gave the boy a small wink. Edrich didn't spend much more time at the tavern. After devouring what he could only assume was some local variety of phesent and downing the flagon of ale he grabbed his greathelm and walked out. His horse was standing outside, armoured and saddled and ready to go.
He mounted his destrier charged out of the village. He hoped that he could catch up with the gatherer that was in the village yesterday, but he had his doubts. In the morning sun his armour glistened as he rode down the dirt path that lead in and out and through the village. It was shaping up to be a warm day, and with his greathelm on he could not see as well as he would have liked the road ahead.
What he did see however was three people standing around a dead minotaur. Edrich knew just how hard a minotaur could be to kill. They were tough bastards to kill, nearly as smart as a human, and bigger than most. It was back in his training when he fought his first. He had trained for four years under his master, a knight by the name of Sir Jon Korr. The knight had trained a special millitia to guard his lands and the lands of his liege lord. Sir Jon felt that it was the only fair test of ones metle to face a great beast or demon in single combat. Sir Jon had never like Edrich, he felt that Edrich had been relying on his size to his advantage too much. In his final test, Sir Jon forced Edrich to face a minotaur in single combat, unarmed and unarmoured.
That was the day that his peers started calling him Edrich the Beast. Edrich was not much smaller than a minotaur, but he was swifter. Edrich killed the monster after an hour of fighting, strength matching strength, untill Edrich snapped off one of the curving horns that decorated the beasts head and plunged it through it's heart. And just like that the battle was over. Sir Jon was shocked to see that Edrich walked out of the pit with mearly a cut on his arm. Edrich had snapped the other horn off of the monster's now lifeless skull and ornimented the sides of his helm with them.
As he rode into earshot of the group of people, or rather, the people and the half-demon, the shifted toward him. He stopped and dismounted to inspect the dead minotaur. It was not exactly a clean kill, but it was dead none the less. That alone was impressive. He stood and looked at each of them in turn, studying them. In his plate he stood nearly seven feet tall, towering over them all. "This is good work," he said to the group through his helm, "but who's kill?"
***
Coster looked hard at Eihei, knowing the shard had showed him everything. I have no idea what you're talking- His speech was cut short as an armored man dismounted his steed before them. "but who's kill?" He took a breath, as his heart skipped a beat, the damn kid knew it was him.. My kill, the gods granted me a lucky strike I guess. He laughed, trying to seem more tired and beaten than he was.
***
Caitra tilted her head and examined the Gatherer. Coster seemed to want to hide his strength, admirable in a man, usually humans wished to boast about single handedly defeating a powerful demon. Perhaps it would be better to befriend Coster and learn of his secrets, rather than reveal his arm to the others. "Good morning brave knight," she bowed "It is luck that the Gods have sent so many demon slayers to this part of the world!" she took in his heavy armor, and guessed that this human was also not one to mess with. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you, I am called Caitra." she played with the edge of her gloves as though shy.
***
"I am no knight, Caitra." He said to the demi-demon. His thoughts turned to the dead minotaur again. It was no ordinary decapitation, the head was torn of, no cutting at all. He turned back to the man who killed the demon. "Don't lie to me now, there was no luck involved. That was pure force." Edrich replied, there was something about the man infront of him, something different. He wasn't nearly as tired as he seemed, he could tell that even through the slits in his helm. He couldn't see much but he could still see that. He took off his helm to get a better view of them and the ruins around them. He placed the horned greathelm on the horse and moved his sweat covered shoulder lenght brown hair out of his eyes. He could feel imence power eminating from the two present humans. Power he had only felt from Sir Jon and his shard... There was more two them than meets the eyes apparently.
***
Pure force? Heh, surely you're mistaken sir, no human is that strong, and I certainly am not. He stretched a bit in the sun. This was the first time he'd ever been questioned like this, and also the first time someone had truly known his secret. He hoped this kid could keep a secret.
Regardless, it's nice to meet you, and you can call me Coster.. That's a nice set of armor you've got there. Hopefully changing the subject would work, if not he'd have to take some more drastic measures..
***
Edrich could tell that Coster was getting nervous, something a little touchy. The change of topic was not unexpected at this point. Without his helm, he could see much better, and more clearly, the people around him. "I'm glad you think so. It wasn't cheap, but it has served me well in the past, and I expect it will for a while yet." The big man said. It was something that he was very proud of, and something that he kept close at hand almost always. "I'm Edrich, but most people just call me The Beast. It's good to meet you, all of you." He turned to his destrier. "And this is Safeerin."
***
Caitra couldn't help but smile. This man was indeed a beast among men, however he was nothing compared to the beasts of demons. "It is a pleasure to meet you too, Edrich. And your stunning Safeerin." she winked, and then realized her mistake of drawing attention to her eyes. She turned suddenly and pointed out the acid burns on the rocks of the ruined castle "Must have been a very powerful demon....Just like that minotaur you battled Edrich, to have decorated your helm with it's horns. You are a very admirable man."
***
This woman was being strangely kind. There were few people who are so nice to strangers now. It was refreshing. "I may even tell you all the story one day if you're good." He added with a smile. He looked to each of them. They seemed an alright bunch of people. But he would keep his eyes on them for now. First impressions do lie. There were shards around, he knew that. He had spent many years looking for one, and he would find one. One that hadn't imprinted on someone yet, one with it's full power. "Does anyone know where the nearest town or castle is? One with a good blacksmith?"
***
Coster sighed, at least the heat was off from the Caitra and Edrich, but the first one he had met, Eihei, was a different story. I'm not from around here, but I did see smoke off in that direction. He pointed past the remnants of the castle to the north.
I'd be willing to bet there's a blacksmith there, and I was headed in that direction anyway.
***
It was settled then. He was headed north. If it had a smith than it was good enough for him. "Then what are we waiting for, onward and upward." He said as he looked at the downhill trail leading to the town. "... Or downward... Eh, I'm flexable." And he grabbed the reigns of his destrier and started to walk the path. He figured anyone who was heading in that direction would follow soon enough. If they did follow, he could try to judge their character and mayhap find out who had a shard.
***
Eihei sighed. He would be going north with the rest of them. There was no way around it. He needed to talk to Coster. He knew that was the man in the castle so long ago. Which meant he had a shard, or at least it was a part of him. But he wouldn't talk of that in front of the others. Coster hadn't pointed out to anyone that he himself carried a shard yet, so why would he go against the "Trust" they apparently had. No... he would talk to him about it in secret and privacy. It was then that he really looked at Edrich. That armor. The way he held himself. The way he spoke. That battle horse.... He was either one of those men who hunted demons for the sole reason of finding a shard for themselves, the magic theirs to master, or he was a Gatherer for the Emperor. Either way, he was a man he could not fully trust, especially now that he held a shard. "It seems that i too will be traveling there."
***
So we're all going in the same direction.. He sighed. I'll just have to ditch tonight I guess. He followed the armored brute from a distance and his stomach growled loudly. I hope there's an inn down there.His arms flopped at his sides, limp with hunger. If he had one weakness, hunger was it.
He rolled his arms around and looked at his temporary companions. The boy, only a few years younger than him, a gatherer obviously, and a newbie at that. Next was the woman, Caitra.. He looked her over without seeming too obvious. She kept her face hidden mostly, and there was something off about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Lastly, "The Beast." He said the name to himself and scoffed. Pretentious.. He sighed and continued mumbling to himself.
***
Eihei nodded his head in agreement as his stomach too growled. And then they were off, first "The Beast" leading in front, and then the woman, and then Eihei and Coster. Eihei leaned in to Coster and whispered so that the others couldn't hear. "I know. I know you were there at the castle. I know you were the knight who killed the demon. And I know about the arm. I know about the shard," the last part, he only mouthed, being overly cautious that the others knew nothing. It would be interesting to see this man's response.
***
Coster's mouth fell open. Ah fuck.. The others stared at him as he yelled it. The minotaur.. ripped.. my cloak.. He smiled awkwardly and palmed his face when they turned away.
As soon as they weren't looking at him he grabbed the boy's shirt with his braced arm, yanking him close. Keep your mouth shut until we get to town. He whispered with almost inhuman softness, yet his anger was clear.
***
Eihei smiled and shook his head and turned the top of his staff as Coster held his shirt. He slowly un-sheathed the sword to show him the shining blade and then put it back, capping it before the others saw. They might know of its history, hell, the beast probably already did. "Fine.. but we will talk then." He didn't know where the courage to pull something like that off came from. Something was happening to him....
***
Coster stared at the boy. He had balls to pull a sword, but it just made Coster all that much more angry.
The shard did something back there, he's seen everything. He sighed, there was nothing to do but kill him... He laughed to himself. Ok maybe that was a little too far. Just because someone found out doesn't mean the worst. This man wasn't the first and he certainly wouldn't be the last.
He stretched his braced arm once again, it was funny, the brace was such a heavy metal but he hardly noticed, he wondered how long it had been since he removed it..
***
Niles sipped from his mug and ale dripped down the dark, bearded chin of the imposing dark-skinned man. His eyes seemed almost to glow a tantalizing green that both amazed and frightened people crazy enough to look into them. In this small town, Niles was a legend. His two large, black-bladed falchions had created both fame and infamy for him. The people worshipped his talents in dispatching the demons that terrorized them, but his frightening looks spread rumors that he, himself, was actually a demon that was shunned from the others and killed his own kind in revenge. He was a freak and an outcast. Light leather armor that had been darkened over time by the black blood of demons crossed his chest and tiny golden hoops shined in his ears. His clean-shaven head seemed to shine with the flicker of the candles in his secluded corner. The other inhabitants of the inn always steered well clear of the table he basically had claimed, and the innkeeper always provided him with free food and drink, being that he had saved the man's life more than once.
Niles slurped down his last sip of ale before motioning for the waitress to get him another. He was growing bored of this monotonous lifestyle. He needed brotherhood, companionship. He was utterly alone, his closest friends also his greatest enemies-- the demons he dispatched
***
It wasn't all that far of a walk to the town. Occationally he would look behind him and see the three others following. The kid and Coster were in the back talking apparently, but about what, he didn't know. "I'm not too sure about these folks. Better keep our eyes on them, eh." Whispered to Safeeran. He hopped into his saddle and rode the rest of the way into the village. As they made their way to the edge of town people turned and stared. The dusty streets filled with curious eyes. The scent of a forge was not hard to follow as he made his way through the village. He tied up his warhorse outside and walked in, the scent of the forge reminding him of home.
"What can I do for you, good sir?" Asked a deep voice. Edrich turned to the smith. Here was a master of his trade, arms nearly as big as Edrich's and skin thickend from forge heat. His black hair wet with sweat.
It was nearly an hour later that he walked out of the smithy with a greatshield of such fine quality that he had barely believed possible from such a small town. It weighed nearly as much as the rest of his armour combined, standing nearly four and a half feet tall and two and a half feet wide it was a piece of metal that demanded respect. He saw the others at the edge of the village and walked up to meet them, shield strapped to his back. He looked even larger now than ever
***
Most of the trip to the inn had beeen done in silence. Part of this was because Eihei could not talk to Coster about what he wanted to with the others there. The other reason was probably do to the fact that he didn't really trust the others there. When they made it to the inn, he was felt with relief. As the others walked over to the bar, Eihei grabbed Coster's shirt and led him in a different direction. "I know it was you. I know it, and so do you. Why don't we stop with the dancing around and just face it?"
***
Coster sighed, staring at the boy in a starved haze. If it was me, what would you do? He sat back in a lounge chair in the corner of the inn. He didn't feel like talking and certainly didn't care what this man had to say to him. Most people don't make an attempt to annoy me when they figure it out.. If you were smart you'd leave it alone.
Coster had only come to this town on his way to the emperor's castle, there were much bigger fish to fry.
***
Caitra spent the short journey in silence. She occasionally demons would move into her range of sensing them, but otherwise the area around the village was very well cleared, surprisingly. A Gatherer must have recently swept the forest.
The village was full of people, but their stares made her uncomfortable. The sooner they left the better. But there was something else, something that made her blood quicken. She had felt it before, a man with glowing blue eyes who had infiltrated a village ripped apart the inhabitants. She had killed him and burned his body and blood. Her kind could not exist.
At the bar of the inn, Caitra glanced around at the villagers. It wasn’t hard to find who she was looking for. Her blood quickened as she saw him, alone at a table to himself in the corner of the room. Lightly armored, and sipping calmly at a mug. “A flagon of your best and a large steak.” She ordered the barkeep, then, remembering herself added “Please.” He shot her a strange look, but sped off to complete the order. Caitra loosened her gloves. The demon in the corner was being carefully avoided, but warily respected, curious. The barkeep returned with her food and drink, and Caitra thanked him before flicking her auburn hair out of her eyes and glancing about for a table. Conveniently, the inn was having a good day, and all tables were fully packed with friends and strangers sitting together. Smiling slightly, she navigated across the floor until she came to the demon. “May I join you, friend?” she asked quietly, and raised her head to reveal her luminescent violet eyes.
***
Niles was shocked when he heard a voice that was actually addressing him, especially since they just addressed him as friend. He peered up and met some gorgeously glowing purple eyes. The intensity of those eyes caused a chill to run up his spine, but he sensed something different. He could smell the blood of his twin brother on her weapon. The kill was not fresh, but a scent that he would never forget. His twin brother, Sethro, was nearly identical to him except the man had sported blue eyes. Niles hunted him for a very long time, his brother was a cold-hearted murderer, but one day, the trail had run dry. Niles never understood what happened and prayed for the day that the scent would return so he could remove that blight from the world.
Niles eyed his fellow half-demon and noticed her gloves, no doubt hiding her claws. Niles was born without those vicious claws, the only trait he retained were his glowing green eyes, and he was happy for that fact. Niles eyed her weapon and smiled respectfully. "We can cut the shit and just get to the part where you tell me why I smell my brother's blood on your weapon. That kill was mine." Niles coolly sipped his ale again, waiting for a reply from the demon.
***
Edrich was sitting at the bar, alone, sipping his drink. People tended to avoid him most of the time, due to his size he assumed. The huge shield strapped to his back felt comforting, it was almost natural to him to feel the weight of his armour and armaments, almost reassuring. He stood and looked around. The inn was full of chatty, happy, people. He saw the demoness talking with someone who looked suspiciously like another demi-demon. He slowly made his way over to that table, only bumping into, and knocking over, four people. Which in such a crowded place was very few for him. He grabbed someones mug from the table beside him and took a sip and sat down beside the demi-demons. The man whos ale he took looked like he was about to say something, but stopped when he saw the goliath of a man with his ale sit with the two half-demons. "No need to get hostile now." Said Edrich to the man with the green eyes. "I'm sure she was just doing what she felt was the right thing to do." Part of being as large as Edrich, was being uncomfortable in crowds. His stool was creeking and his shield pressed against the person directly behind him. He looked behind him to see that he was pinning a person their table. He shifted and released the person. "Sorry." He said to the man before he put his attention back to the two half-demons.
***
Niles eyed the man, the second person brave enough to approach him, and both on the same day. This was obviously no ordinary group of people, these travelers that just walked in. The man was enormous and extremely intimidating in his impressive suit of armor. Niles gave the man only a quick glance and returned to his mug, barely allowing his eyes to linger, letting the man know that he was by no means intimidated. Not hostility, rather I should thank the girl for dispatching him and give her the respect which is due to a being powerful enough to at least shed his blood, and since she is still alive, I assume also kill him. He was no small power, and I am greatly impressed. It is only that I wanted to be the man to dispatch my murderer of a brother. So you see, news of his death is bittersweet. Now, you are the first people I've spoken to in six months, what grants me the pleasure of finding not one, but two people, who don't shit their pants when they see me in such a small town? What are you doing here? Because there are no demons in the area, I've already killed any that are near today.
Niles picked up his gaze and alternated focus between the two, waiting for a response and begging for something to break the monotony.
***
He studied the man in front of him. He seemed to be honest enough, but bored as all hells. The crowd seemed constricting to Edrich, but he would cope. "Well, I can't speak for her," he said, gesturing to Caitra, "but I am making my way back to the capital. My buisness is my own." He took a drink from his stolen mug. "Nothing is so sweet as something that was free." After taking another drink he added. "So what's your story?"
***
"If it was you... Well I'd try to figure out what the hell it was that I came into inheritance of. Because out of everyone here, you'd seem the one to know the most," Eihei said, answering the man's question. There was something about this man. It felt like the man was relieved to talk of this. It did seem like never did. He looked again at the man's arm and felt the shard's power throb. "Well, that's probably due to the fact that those people are only around you because they are trying to figure out a way to take it from you. The only reason they haven't killed you being that they don't think they can get it once you are dead. Also, I'm assuming they don't typically have a shard themselves," as he finished, he turned towards a waitress who was walking by them and smiled at her as he called her over. He smiled, one to be nice, and the other reason because he couldn't stop himself after what he had said. It felt good to reply to someone with an air around him that hadn't been there before.
***
Coster sat up and stared at the man in front of him, easily showing his disbelief. The only reason they haven't killed me is because they can't. Believe it or not I can handle myself. He rose to his feet irritated. It's not smart to insult me when you hardly know how to use the shard for yourself.
It makes me wonder how the hell you came to posess one. He sighed and pushed him out of the way, placing enough coin on the bar for a meal and a room. He turned and walked to the stairs. You're not worth getting thrown out of here for. He laughed and walked to his room.
***
"How i came to possess a shard myself.... I've been wondering that for a day or two now,"Eihei mumbled as the man walked away. Then he heard the man's last comment. He was mocking him. Though he would accept the money for the room and food. But he would wait. Grabbing the money, he stood and made his way up the stairs and towards the room he saw Coster go in moments before. As he neared the door, he twisted the hilt of his sword and unsheathed Demon Eater. He kicked the door open and charged at Coster. "You've handled yourself before, but how about now?" Eihei swung his sword hard at Coster's head.
***
As it did with the minotaur Coster's arm whipped around at inhuman speed, allowing the sword to slam hard into the metal brace that wrapped around it. Coster looked up at Eihei, giving a chuckle as sparks shot from the point of contact. You just made the biggest mistake of your life. He threw the blade off to the right, taking a wooden rocking chair from behind him and smashing it over Eihei.
He laughed ad he took to his feet. This is just what I needed! Instead of taking a battle stance Coster swayed back and forth, a method of not only confusion, but a way to keep the blood flowing across his body. Let's do this.
***
The arrogant smile that had been on Eihei's face when he charged into the room was gone as his blade was knocked from his hand. It was amazing how strong Coster's arm was. As the man brought a chair down over his head, in an attempt to hit him, he rolled out of the way and towards his blade and picked it up. Quickly, he jumped to his feet and held the blade in a defensive position as Coster swayed back and forth, which was an odd sight to see. Just as he slowly moved the blade back and forth, flames erupted on its edges and he charged at the man yet again.
***
Coster spun, dodging the blade with an artful sway and locking into a powerful stance. He looked down to see his torn black garb, the middle of it burnt slightly. His eyes shot back to the blade.. It was on fire? When did that happen? Interesting.. Dodging that blade is hard enough without the flames in such a small room, but the length of it will be your downfall. He spoke in a strange tone, it was deadly, but it seemed he relished in the challenge.
Coster smirked and pulled back his fist, he threw it into the floor, directly on the board that Eihei's right foot stood on. Sure enough it threw him off balance, and Coster charged, throwing five of his super-charged punches in the time it would take to throw one for a normal person.
***
Eihei smiled a bit again as the man seemed taken aback by the flames that now coated Demon Eater. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little fire," he said jokingly as he began to swing the blade back and forth. As Coster punched the floor, Eihei's footing slipped and he was at the disadvantage as Coster charged him. That was not expected. He easily blocked the first four punches Coster made but there was no way he was going to block the fifth. There was no way around it, he was going to be hit and then Coster would win.
Coster's hand was stopped in mid-air as Eihei's free hand flew into the air and caught it, shard in hand, fingers wrapped around Coster's fist. Eihei went to pull his hand away but it was caught. For some reason the Shard would not come away from Coster's hand. But then it did. And fast. The two were thrown back by an almost soundless explosion, resonating from the shard and the man's hand. Eihei was thrown out of the room and down the stairs, a feat that not even Coster himself could of accomplished. Eihei tried to get up and then looked around at the people in the inn. At first he thought their stares were because the shard was revealed, but then noticed it was tight between his grasp and no one could see. They were just staring at a man who had been thrown down the stairs.
***
Coster pushed himself out of the hole in the back wall, shaking the dust off of himself and surveying the damage. What the hell caused that? It must have been his shard.. That's new... One thing stood out among the wreckage, the right sleeve that covered his arm had completely desintegrated. Bastard wrecked my cloak.. His voice was clearly filled with devastation. He took a deep breath, trying to cool himself off, but as he reached the door to the room he snapped.
Bastard!! He tore the wooden door from it's hinges, raising it with one arm and throwing it like a spear down the stairwell. It crashed against the ground, but Eihei had scrambled out of the way just in time.
He jumped down the steps, rage boiling in his eyes. Suddenly he could feel the eyes of the people on him, not that there was a point in hiding anymore..
***
Eihei barely moved out of the way as the door came flying down. Did the man really think it was his fault? That he had caused the explosion? Hell he was the one that had been thrown down the stairs... He flung his blade up as fast as he could as Coster slammed his fist down at him. There was a loud noise as Demon Eater met Coster's arm. But it wasnt the sound of blade slicing through flesh that one would expect. He looked up and was amazed that there was barely a scratch on the man's arm. "Let's stop this,"he said as he slowly pushed Coster a bit off of him. "We're obviously closely matched," he said as he looked to his blade and back to Coster's cloak, hinting at the blade emitting flames yet again.
***
Coster pulled his arm back, putting his left hand at the top of his right arm's brace. He contemplated taking the brace off. Closely matched.. He said the phrase again. That was a laugh. It made him even more eager to throw down with his full strength, he was already assuredly not staying here tonight. But hurting the innocent people here wasn't really his plan.
You attack me, and now you want to stop the fight?!
You're not getting a pardon that easily. He lunged forward, not attempting to hit Eihei, but moreso ounching his blade with deadly force, it was all Eihei could do to keep his stance up, and when he couldn't hold it any longer Coster let loose a flying punch straight for Eihei's stomach.
~Friendly Moderator Alderan
O’achu walked through a small village. Chickens and small children ran around chasing the formers. His stomach growled, “It should be against the laws to be this hungry” He grumbled nearly collapsing from exhaustion. He fell on his face and lay on the ground for a few moments. His stomach growled again and he let out a whimper. Just then the smell of cooked beef wafted through the air. “Thank the gods.” He jolted from the ground and ran to the source of the smell. It looked like a small outdoor kitchen. ‘What can I do for you?” asked the cook. “Pleas what ever food you have.” O’achu threw down some coin on the counter. Within minuets a bowl of beef ramen was sitting before him. He rapidly started to gobble down his food. He let out a belch once he was done. “So, from the sword on your waist it looks like you’re a Gatherer.” The cook refilled the bowl and sat down next to him awaiting his respons.
O’achu thanked him for the bowel and shook his head indicating the man was right. The Gatherers were a group of people under the order of the Empire to find the Shards and protect the people of the empire from demons. Legend had it that once there was a great warrior monk who saved people from all kinds’ demons and monsters that inhabited these lands. He had an enchanted shield made of glass that could deflect the demons dark energy and use it against them. One day the monk fought the king demon, the battle lasted for days and finally ended when the king demon used it most powerful attack. The glass shield defeated the demon but in turn was shattered and pieces thrown all over the land and the monk killed. When the emperor heard this he tasked brave warriors with the task of finding the Shards of the mirror shield, this is how the Gatherers formed.“Seen any demons lately?”
O’achu shook his head yes as he gulped down the water in the bowel. He had been trained to be a Gatherer since he was born.“Yea but don’t worry I took care of them” Proudly he jumped up unsheathing his katana, relishing in the awes he got from the people around him. Just then a chill ran down his spine, there was a demon close by. He re sheathed the sword; bowed to the cook and quickly left the village in the direction he sensed the demon.
***
The light passed through the slits in his greathelm, directly into his eyes, as Edrich rode into the small village on his old destrier, his scratched and dented plate dully shinning in the late day sun. The old war-beast carried him along with a steady trot through the village as children and grown men alike stared in wonder at the battle weary man sitting atop the massive horse. Edrich was by no man's definition a small man, he stood nearly six and a half feet tall and weighed nearly three hundred pounds, but on his mount in his armour with his greatsword he was a menacing sight to be sure. The destrier's armour clinking with every pace, the people parted from his way.
They had been riding for nearly two days now, their supplies were running short. He would stock up and spend the night at the tavern he had decided. He rode up to the building that appeared to be the local alehouse and dismounted. He checked all every peice of the horses armour individually for any damage that would cause the beast discomfort for the ninth time since the battle. This result came up the same as the last eight, it was in acceptable condition untill he could make it back to his home town.
The second he walked through the door, his plate and chain making a small jingle with each and every step he took, all eyes turned to him and the roar that was quickly turned to a dull whisper. As he approached the bar people shifted seats and gave him a wide burth. He sat and removed his helm letting his brown hair fall around his head and all over his face, placing the helm on the bar infront of him. "Can I get you something, sir knight?" Piped in man behind the bar. His expression filled with nervous excitment.
Edrich rose his head and looked at the tavernmaster. "I am no knight, but I would appreceate if you would find someone to feed and stable my horse for the night, I will gladly pay. And bring me you house ale." Replied Edrich in a low, scratchy, voice.
The tavernmaster returned promptly with his drink. "My best lad is seeing to you mount right now, sir." Said the old man behind the counter. This man looked like he had seen his share of summers and had many stories to tell of them.
Edrich took a large drink from the cup infront of him. It felt good going down his throat. But then, at that point any drink going down his throat would have been good. He set the cup down and cleared the hair from his face. "Thank you." He looked around as he spoke. There were still wispers, but it was almost compleatly silent now. "Why is everyone so quiet here?" He asked in the same low, scratchy, voice as before.
The old man looked around then leaned in. "You are the most exciting thing to happen here in a long time. Well, you and the Gatherer that came through earlier. Now he was a strange fellow. He ate then ran off like he was in a hurry or somethin'. I reckon that he felt there was a demon near here."
"Great... A demon infested village, and I was hoping for a good nights sleep. The gods have seen fit to piss on me once again without the decency to call it rain." Edrich took another drink and gave a sigh. "Just give me a room then." He took one more huge mouthful and placed the cup on the bar. He placed a silver coin on the table beside his now empty cup.
The tavernmaster grabbed the piece and handed him a key and another cup. "Second door on your right at the top of the stairs. Sleep well. And have another on the house, you look like you could use it." Edrich grabbed the key and the cup in one hand and his greathelm in the other and gave a nod to the old man behind the bar as he headed up the stairs.
When he got to his room there were two apples and a pear on the table beside his bed. He set the cup and key on that table and the helm on the floor. He unstrapped his greatsword from his back and set it beside his helm. He didn't want to remove his armour because of the rumors of demons. He just sat on the side of his bed and ate the fruit and drank the ale he had brought up. Edrich shut and locked the door, lay his head down on the straw pillow, and promptly fell asleep. He would find this Gatherer and his demon tomorow.
***
Seventeen year old Eihei walked through the door into the house, carrying the crate of two chickens that he had bought at the markets. “Father?!” he called as he noticed that his father was not in the main room. He walked into the kitchen, and again was not met with his father. He set down the crate and walked into the next room. There was his dad, sitting in a chair, bottle of booze in his hand.
“Eihei...” his father said as he took another drink from his bottle. “You remember those stories Grandpa used to tell you as a boy?” his father asked as he leaned forward.
“About the Demons and the Gatherers and the enchanted shield?” Eihei asked, a glimmer in his eyes. His father seemed to ignore his question. He fumbled for something underneath him and handed Eihei a wrap of towels with something in it.
“Son, take this to the emperor as soon as you can, but if you don’t trust him with it than find another home for it. Regardless, guard it with your life.” His father tipped the bottle back and downed the rest of the liquid and then stood up, pushing Eihei back. He continued to push him back and eventually became forceful.
“Father, what are you doing?” he questioned as his dad pushed him into a closet.
“Shh.. Stay in here and be quiet,” his father said as he closed the door. Eihei was about to ask what his father was doing when the door into the house slammed open and three tall dark figures walked in, two much smaller people walking in being them.
“Where is it mage?” one of the taller men asked and once the man spoke, Eihei noticed the other features of him, those three were demons! But what did he mean mage? Although magic was common nowadays, Eihei’s family had always been void of it.
“I don’t know what you are talking about, demon,” Eihei’s father said, spitting with the last word as he turned to face the demon. The demon who had spoken nodded and the other two lunged at his father. He let out a laugh and spread his arm, fire coating both hands, and then threw them forward, both demons screaming and wailing as they disappeared in fire. The third demon stepped forward and with long black nails tore at his father’s throat. It wasn’t until then, as the claws made their way in slow-motion to his father’s throat, that the demons hands were blackened, as was most of it’s body.
“It’s here,” the demon said in a raspy voice as it turned to the other two men. “Where?”
“The man had a son,” one of the men said. The demon looked around the room, it’s nose smelling the scent of whatever it was there for.
“The closet!” the demon exclaimed and both of the men lunged at it. Just before they were able to open it, Eihei was able to pick up his father’s walking staff, hoping to use it like a bow staff. As the door opened he quickly jumped forward with staff in one hand. The staff collided with one of the man’s face and sent him to ground, a crack sounding from the staff. At first he thought he broke it, but then he realized that the staff had turned at a certain section, a bit at the top coming loose. He lifted his hand up and pulled on the part, a large blade coming out, the part of the staff that hung at the end a perfect handle. He knew this blade. “Demon Eater.” The blade had been covered in so much demon blood that it craved it. A realization hit him. His Grandfather had been the mage from the tales.
As his hands wrapped tight around the blade, he felt a new type of energy wash into his body. And he knew immediately what it was. Magic. His family hadn’t been void of magic, he had just inadvertently chosen not to use it. But no longer, the blade made sure of that. Fire leapt around its edges and in two easy swipes, the two men fell dead. He had been trained for this even though he had never realized it. It was no wonder his father made him go to his lessons all the time. He attempted to attack the demon but it easily blocked it away with its massive claws. Even after he was able to get past them and hack at its hide, it didn’t seem to feel. The fire on the blade disappeared on its own and the blade sunk through the demon’s neck, the demon disappearing in mist as the blade sailed through.
Eihei stared down at the cloth his father had given him after all had been said and done with and unwrapped it. There sat the glass shard his grandfather had told him about so many years ago. He packed his things and headed out, realizing it would be good to leave the forest.
***
Caitra dusted off her leather trousers as the sun began to set. She was unsure as to whether the village just beyond the line of trees she hid within would be welcoming to a creature such as herself. Filled with self-loathing, Caitra reluctantly turned her back on the village and made camp just out of eye-shot of the civilization. Climbing a tall tree, she wedged herself comfortably between branches. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than the hatred she would receive with humans. Being a bastard daughter of a demon, she was generally treated with disgust and mistrust from humans, despite taking up a sword and killing all demons she could for a solid 9 of her 18 years of existence. Gatherers and knights hunted for the Shards of the mirror shield, but Caitra only desired the death of the creatures of darkness.
She signed and unclenched her fists, pondering her long black nails. She didn’t know who her parents were, but if her dark nails and luminescent violet eyes were her father's, she imagined her pale skin and ringleted auburn hair were her mother's, she hoped. Ignoring the temptation to attempt to remember her mother, she swallowed a mouthful of bread and water from her pack, adjusted her two scimitars, and drifted into a light sleep, jerking awake when her blood surged, signifying the proximity of a fellow demon.
Caitra growled, doubly angry at the abomination since she was more tired than usual. If a demon was close, that meant the Gatherer she had seen in the village would be after it. Perhaps that was why he had run off so quickly? But how could she not have sensed it before now? “Ridiculous…” she muttered, and yawned. The lack of sleep must have affected her blood somehow. Caitra jumped down from the tree and set off in the general direction of the demon, making sure her scimitars were easily at hand.
***
Silently Shironen Daigotsu waited in in the bedroom his target hadnt arrived yet and this was making suspicious, but he heard movement outside in the hallway and smiled underneath his Mempo, readying his Ninja-to he waits in perfect silence as a woman wlaks into the room she is wearing only a robe and as she disrobes he catches a faint whiff of blood, thinking to himself she must be on her moons blood his target walks into the room as well he is already naked. As they lay down on the bed Shironen thinks its ironic that tonight they were going to consumate their love in blood but he would be ending it in the same way. He lashes out and before there is a noise the couple is lying dead their blood soaking into the mattress Shironen had already left. He was a 'gatherer' technically but he had to make money and he had no qualms about killing others for money. But demons were always the main thought on his mind he had been trained to kill them with ruthless efficiency and he had proved that you didnt need magic or powers to kill demons you just needed skill. He heard movement nearby and readied himself for the attack.....
***
Get it together rookie. The lieutenant pushed past, knocking him out of his daze. Coster was on the front line, and with shield and sword in hand he ordered the aim of the ballistae. Multiple other low-ranked battalion leaders yelled the same command, and the soldiers hurriedly pulled back the giant crossbow and attempted to angle it towards the top of the castle. Coster peered through his helm's constricting visor, and to make matters worse it was just beginning to rain. Even through his heavy helmet, the monster was clear. A spider demon, it was big enough to treat the decrepit castle like it's own playhouse.
He'd seen demons before during his time in the service, but this one was different. The size of it, the rage that emenated from it as it screeched at the crack of thunder. The way it scaled the castle in leaps and bounds, ripping the stone apart. He shivered in the rain, and noticed the huddle at the head of the line. The head of the royal army was there, along with the leader of his mercenary militia, Nyle. He could see they were arguing, the two could never talk in a civilized manner, being leaders of two "opposing" factions, they were never on good terms.
Nyle appeared to finally reach an agreement, and shouted over the thunder. They were to hold off the attack and that the royal army had planned on sending in a small squad to take down the monster. It was only by bargaining that Coster and a small team of other mercenaries were sent in with the Royal Army's squad. All together that were a group of about twenty men. Why would they send just us in? Why not just put this thing down from a safe distance? Nyle turned to the man beside Coster and suggested, with a slap to the back of his head, that he remain quiet.
The man shook himself and pushed forward behind the group. Progress to the castle roof was painfully slow and quiet, with only the occaisonal creaking of the floorboards to break the silence. An hour into the storm they had arrived at the roof, a plateau that rested just below the tallest spire, not long after they arrived the spider demon had noticed them, its jaws dripping a poison saliva from the tip of the tower onto the soldiers around Coster. They screamed as the acid burned through their steel armor and dissolved their flesh and bones.
Coster gazed up at it with Nyle beside him. Commander, we need to get out of here, we'll let the archers take care of this. Nyle ignored him and pushed him out of the way of a falling acid droplet. Nyle! What the hell are we doing here!?He screamed over blast of thunder and the screech of the spider. We can't fight this thing! Nyle wouldn't respond to his calls, he only waved forward a royal army alchemist. Something wasn't right here, he could feel it in his bones, there was no reason to fight this thing head-on. It was just plain foolish. A wave of power emenated from the alchemist as he pulled a single shard of glass inside his glove and pressed it to the tower base. His hands illuminated, and the air around them combusted, then all the energy in the vicinity transfered into the bricks, causing them to explode.
There was another screech from the spider as the spire leaned and cracked, finally toppling and falling backward. The spider however, dropped directly downward, crashing down on top of them. It rose quickly, flailing its legs in all directions, crushing, and tossing the soldiers off of the rooftop. Coster was thrown to the edge. He picked his head up and watched as Nyle was impaled by the sharp tip of the arachnids' leg. The weight of it pushed Nyle through the stone floor and down to the ground, hundreds of feet below.
Coster shook himself, grabbing a nearby spear and standing up. How am I supposed to fight this? The spider had hardly seemed to notice him, or maybe it saw him as such a meager threat that it had chosen to ignore him. He moved to the edge of the crumbling building slowly and saw his soldiers standing in awe. Fire the ballistae!!! He shouted over the storm. Fire!!! The army scrambled below, and the spider turned so that it's blood covered fangs were only feet away from Coster. "I'm dead.. I'm so dead. Might as well go out fighting." He thrusted the spear forward, pushing it into the spiders eye and watching it recoil slightly. It was a last ditch effort, surely, but there was no point in letting it eat him without so much as a scar to remember him by.
The spider's jaw slid open as it marched forward, it clamored forward and bit down, its fangs sunk into Coster's arm, crushing the joints of it and seperating flesh from bone. Coster's legs fell limp, he sink to thr ground screaming in agony as his right arm was torn clean off. He grasped the bits of flesh that hung from the edge of his collar bone. Blood sprayed onto the cold stone as he toppled, waiting for the spider to finish him off. He closed his eyes and waited, watching his life flash before him, a mere 18 year old. There was so much he had left to do. There was a thump, a screech, then nothing. He was sure he would die, maybe he was in such shock that the pain had left him. Maybe he was blissfully unaware of his own death. Tears streamed from his eyes, but he never felt the pain.
Thunder cracked in the sky, and his eyes slowly creaked open. The spears from the ballistae riddled the gigantic demons corpse. A glimmer near the spider's eyes drew his attention, it commanded him and drew him towards it. He stumbled just next to it, beginning to lose his grip on consciousness.
He reached down and grasped this power, a sliver of bright green glass. It was glowing with power, shining even through it's thick coat of warm blood. He slumped against the spiders white leg and stared at the shard. Blood sprayed from his wound again, and he rushed to put pressure on it. The shard began to glow, and that blinding light began to take form....
.............................................................
Coster's eyes burst open, sunshine blinded him as the scent of the forest floor flooded his senses. A shadow covered him, tall and husky. Steam blew from the demon's nostrils as it drew its hulking arms back over its head. His vision cleared as the minotaur swung its hammer downward. As if it had a mind of its own, Coster's right arm rose in a flash, catching the head of the maul and stopping it short. Coster smiled up at the minotaur, delivering a swift kick between the beast's legs and watching it recoil. He put a bit of effort into his grip and watched the metal head of the maul crumble to dust.
Coster jumped back to his feet and grabbed the beast's neck. Regardless of being half the size of the minotaur his arm contained enough power for him to fight one on one with it. Where's the shard!? The minotaur grabbed the man's arm but even with all of its strength it couldn't find an inch of freedom. Coster tightened his grip and felt muscle begin to tear. The beast continued to refuse to say a word, struggling until his head was torn completely off. Another demon killed without even a step in the right direction.. He sighed, fixing the dull brace on his right arm and tossing his cloak over it as he began walking towards the nearest town.
***
Eihei's journey had begun early that day. Working up at the first rays of sun, attempting to get a good start on his 'quest' as some might call it. The night before he had gotten a look at the shard, unfurling the ball of cloth given to him by his father he looked at the piece of glass. It was amazing that something so small could cause such a big strife. Then, just as he was about to put it away, he felt power resignate through it as it began to glow at an incredible brightness, moments before going out again followed by a loud boom in the distance, one that sounded of a large structure falling.
This morning, as he got up and began to pack up his things, the shard glowed again. But this time it was different, it wasn't an all out full-shard glowing. Only part of the shard glowed. And it seemed that as he moved the shard around in a circle, it glowed brighter at some points than at others. It was acting like a compass of sorts. Pointing him in a direction it wanted him to go. And so he followed it. That was when he came across the man who had fallen into a fight with the minotaur demon. His own shard was safely tucked away and he was just about to withdraw Demon Eater from its staff-like sheath when the man killed the minotaur. That was when the demon's words spoke to him. "Where is the shard?" Did this man also have a shard? "Why did the demon ask you of a shard?" Eihei asked as he walked over to the man.
***
Eihei looked at the man. Demons not as tough as they look... what shit was that. And that's what Eihei noticed something, this demon's body had stayed there, unlike the ones that had diapered into shadows. So demons were really different from each other. "Your arm moved so fast... it was like..." And that's when he got a good look at the man's arm. Something was different. It wasn't tan, not like the other one, and it almost looked like there was more muscle underneath the skin. "Anyways... I heard some loud crash last night, like a building falling. I came here expecting to find a castle but haven't found anything yet."
***
Coster was taken slightly aback. A castle? What'd he hear my dream? That's crazy. He thought to himself about it, he hadn't heard anything fall, certainly not a castle..Last night eh? You must've been dreaming, because I don't think there's a castle around here.
The boy was still staring at his arm, and probably the metal brace that wrapped around it. He hoped the kid would just forget about his arm and the questions he had. He rolled down his torn sleeve and covered his arm once again.
***
Eihei didn't know why, but he was still intrigued by the man's arm. Especially now that the man took time to cover it. As he looked at the man, he felt the shard power in his in as he touched it in his pocket. He didn't even remember putting his hand in his pocket, but now that he had, he felt something weird. It was glowing just a bit less than when the castle had fallen. "No, i wasn't dreaming. It was just over there," he said as he pointed down a valley to an open clearing.
***
As he looked down the valley it finally hit him. Where the castle was in his memory, the area was over grown and enshrouded by large green vines. The rubble of the castle was mostly gone by now, but.. It was years ago. Well this is new.. What do I say? Maybe there was something over there.. He scratched the back of his head trying to come up with something. Yeah, there was a castle back there years ago, you probably heard some of the demons around here, this forest is full of'em.
***
Caitra stayed frozen in the cover of the trees, only a few yards from the fallen corpse of the Minotaur and the Gatherers. Her scimitars were drawn and held were she had froze, about to jump in to aid the man. But he hadn't needed any help at all. Caitra quietly replaced her scimitars, and gazed at her own hands. A man who could kill demons with his own hands... Ruthless, with inhuman power. But he was not a monster. She narrowed her luminescent purple eyes and stood. He was to be avoided. Whoever or whatever had granted him that strength might have also heightened his awareness of demons. However, it would be interesting to find out how he had acquired such a powerful arm. The young Gatherer seemed to also be interested in it; maybe the strong man would succumb to peer pressure? They were speaking of a castle now, she had scouted the area earlier and discovered the collapsed pile of rubble. “There is definitely a castle down there, noble Gatherers.” She spoke with respect and her head bowed so as to hide her eyes, and tightened her gloves. “If it pleases you I could guide you to it?” she bowed to the strong man “I saw how you defeated the demon, and I would be greatly honored if you would accept even the smallest favor from me, Gatherer.”
***
Coster watched the maiden with wide eyes. The way she handled herself was impressive, graceful, and worst of all he hadn't even noticed her presence. If he was going to keep his power a secret he'd have to be more careful. I guess we could use an escort, but I'd at least like to learn your name milady. He bowed in a slightly out of character manner. I am Coster, and this is.. He motioned to the boy he was talking to. I'm sorry I don't even know your name. He laughed.
***
"My name is Eihei," he said as he looked at Coster. "An escort is good, but I know the way," he knew it was kind of rude and pushy, but it was the truth, the shard was telling him where to go. Walk ten paces forward, turn right, twenty paces forward, turn left, and so on. The others followed behind him, obviously interested by what he was doing. He made his way out into a clearing where the rubble of a castle remained. But... that made no sense... There was growth and moss over top of the rubble, hinting that the castle had fallen long ago. Was there another fallen castle in the distance and the shard was wrong?
Before he knew what had happened, his hand with the shard in it flew out of his pocket and into the air and began to glow immensely. That was when everything was revealed to him. The rubble around him began to build itself back up, turning back into the castle it once was. And then he relived everything that had happened two years before. The spider demon, the shard, the collapse. Then he saw the shard's true power. The man with the severed arm, taking the shard, and placing it to his shoulder and forming a new arm. He recognized that arm.
The shard stopped glowing and he came out of the 'flashback' memories and time colliding. "Th..that arm. Was that you?" Eihei asked, pointing at Coster, without realizing that the shard was still in his hand, or that the shard had been in his hand the whole time, revealing that he had it. He should have been exhausted from what he did, but using the shard gave him energy, gave him power, he felt great. But could Coster of been the man in that castle as it fell? And then a fourth person came in, wondering who had killed the minotaur. Gods, he could have been faster at putting the shard away.
***
The sun danced across his face as it broke through the shabby inn's shutters. Edrich rolled over and nearly fell onto the floor. His plate was not the most comfortable thing to sleep in, but this morning he felt well rested and ready to move on. He grabbed his greatsword and straped it to his waist. He reached down to pick up his helm when he saw feet under his door. There was someone listening for him...
He drew his sword and stood. As such a big man, it was barely two steps before he kicked the door with full force, sending it flying off the hinge. It blasted into a serving boy holding a flagon of ale and a small roasted bird. The boy, true to his position, didn't spill a drop of ale or let the fowl hit the floor as he was sent flying onto the floor. Edrich laughed as he grabbed the boy's arm and picked him up, sword still in hand. "You shouldn't creep outside of someones door so early in the morning, boy." He sheathed the greatsword and flipped the boy a gold coin.
The boy's eyes widened at the glimmer of gold in his hands. It was more than he would make in a year, Edrich suspected, but he had just kicked a door into him. The boy looked like he was going to say something when they heard the tavenmaster come running up the stairs. Edrich made a gesture to the boy, telling him to shove the coin in his pocket. The boy did just before they saw the wizened old man at the top of the stairs. His eyes fell upon the fallen door and the gigantic man looming over the boy, whom looked a little more battered than he did when the tavernmaster sent him up. "I'm sorry if the boy startled you good sir. I sent him up with a gift. Please forgive the boy." He gave a harsh look to the serving boy who looked rather happy with himself. He then set his eyes on the demolished door that lay infront of him. "I will have to ask for repair costs to my in however, if it doesn't inconvinience you any sir." The man asked hesitently, glancing between the greatsword at Edrich's waist and his eyes.
Edrich gave a small giggle and pulled out a small purse. He reached in and took out two gold pieces and twelve silver. "This should cover the door, the food, and the stabling fees. I thank you for you kindness sir, but I must be off." The old man smiled and dragged the boy down the stairs. The boy look backed and smiled at Edrich as he gave the boy a small wink. Edrich didn't spend much more time at the tavern. After devouring what he could only assume was some local variety of phesent and downing the flagon of ale he grabbed his greathelm and walked out. His horse was standing outside, armoured and saddled and ready to go.
He mounted his destrier charged out of the village. He hoped that he could catch up with the gatherer that was in the village yesterday, but he had his doubts. In the morning sun his armour glistened as he rode down the dirt path that lead in and out and through the village. It was shaping up to be a warm day, and with his greathelm on he could not see as well as he would have liked the road ahead.
What he did see however was three people standing around a dead minotaur. Edrich knew just how hard a minotaur could be to kill. They were tough bastards to kill, nearly as smart as a human, and bigger than most. It was back in his training when he fought his first. He had trained for four years under his master, a knight by the name of Sir Jon Korr. The knight had trained a special millitia to guard his lands and the lands of his liege lord. Sir Jon felt that it was the only fair test of ones metle to face a great beast or demon in single combat. Sir Jon had never like Edrich, he felt that Edrich had been relying on his size to his advantage too much. In his final test, Sir Jon forced Edrich to face a minotaur in single combat, unarmed and unarmoured.
That was the day that his peers started calling him Edrich the Beast. Edrich was not much smaller than a minotaur, but he was swifter. Edrich killed the monster after an hour of fighting, strength matching strength, untill Edrich snapped off one of the curving horns that decorated the beasts head and plunged it through it's heart. And just like that the battle was over. Sir Jon was shocked to see that Edrich walked out of the pit with mearly a cut on his arm. Edrich had snapped the other horn off of the monster's now lifeless skull and ornimented the sides of his helm with them.
As he rode into earshot of the group of people, or rather, the people and the half-demon, the shifted toward him. He stopped and dismounted to inspect the dead minotaur. It was not exactly a clean kill, but it was dead none the less. That alone was impressive. He stood and looked at each of them in turn, studying them. In his plate he stood nearly seven feet tall, towering over them all. "This is good work," he said to the group through his helm, "but who's kill?"
***
Coster looked hard at Eihei, knowing the shard had showed him everything. I have no idea what you're talking- His speech was cut short as an armored man dismounted his steed before them. "but who's kill?" He took a breath, as his heart skipped a beat, the damn kid knew it was him.. My kill, the gods granted me a lucky strike I guess. He laughed, trying to seem more tired and beaten than he was.
***
Caitra tilted her head and examined the Gatherer. Coster seemed to want to hide his strength, admirable in a man, usually humans wished to boast about single handedly defeating a powerful demon. Perhaps it would be better to befriend Coster and learn of his secrets, rather than reveal his arm to the others. "Good morning brave knight," she bowed "It is luck that the Gods have sent so many demon slayers to this part of the world!" she took in his heavy armor, and guessed that this human was also not one to mess with. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you, I am called Caitra." she played with the edge of her gloves as though shy.
***
"I am no knight, Caitra." He said to the demi-demon. His thoughts turned to the dead minotaur again. It was no ordinary decapitation, the head was torn of, no cutting at all. He turned back to the man who killed the demon. "Don't lie to me now, there was no luck involved. That was pure force." Edrich replied, there was something about the man infront of him, something different. He wasn't nearly as tired as he seemed, he could tell that even through the slits in his helm. He couldn't see much but he could still see that. He took off his helm to get a better view of them and the ruins around them. He placed the horned greathelm on the horse and moved his sweat covered shoulder lenght brown hair out of his eyes. He could feel imence power eminating from the two present humans. Power he had only felt from Sir Jon and his shard... There was more two them than meets the eyes apparently.
***
Pure force? Heh, surely you're mistaken sir, no human is that strong, and I certainly am not. He stretched a bit in the sun. This was the first time he'd ever been questioned like this, and also the first time someone had truly known his secret. He hoped this kid could keep a secret.
Regardless, it's nice to meet you, and you can call me Coster.. That's a nice set of armor you've got there. Hopefully changing the subject would work, if not he'd have to take some more drastic measures..
***
Edrich could tell that Coster was getting nervous, something a little touchy. The change of topic was not unexpected at this point. Without his helm, he could see much better, and more clearly, the people around him. "I'm glad you think so. It wasn't cheap, but it has served me well in the past, and I expect it will for a while yet." The big man said. It was something that he was very proud of, and something that he kept close at hand almost always. "I'm Edrich, but most people just call me The Beast. It's good to meet you, all of you." He turned to his destrier. "And this is Safeerin."
***
Caitra couldn't help but smile. This man was indeed a beast among men, however he was nothing compared to the beasts of demons. "It is a pleasure to meet you too, Edrich. And your stunning Safeerin." she winked, and then realized her mistake of drawing attention to her eyes. She turned suddenly and pointed out the acid burns on the rocks of the ruined castle "Must have been a very powerful demon....Just like that minotaur you battled Edrich, to have decorated your helm with it's horns. You are a very admirable man."
***
This woman was being strangely kind. There were few people who are so nice to strangers now. It was refreshing. "I may even tell you all the story one day if you're good." He added with a smile. He looked to each of them. They seemed an alright bunch of people. But he would keep his eyes on them for now. First impressions do lie. There were shards around, he knew that. He had spent many years looking for one, and he would find one. One that hadn't imprinted on someone yet, one with it's full power. "Does anyone know where the nearest town or castle is? One with a good blacksmith?"
***
Coster sighed, at least the heat was off from the Caitra and Edrich, but the first one he had met, Eihei, was a different story. I'm not from around here, but I did see smoke off in that direction. He pointed past the remnants of the castle to the north.
I'd be willing to bet there's a blacksmith there, and I was headed in that direction anyway.
***
It was settled then. He was headed north. If it had a smith than it was good enough for him. "Then what are we waiting for, onward and upward." He said as he looked at the downhill trail leading to the town. "... Or downward... Eh, I'm flexable." And he grabbed the reigns of his destrier and started to walk the path. He figured anyone who was heading in that direction would follow soon enough. If they did follow, he could try to judge their character and mayhap find out who had a shard.
***
Eihei sighed. He would be going north with the rest of them. There was no way around it. He needed to talk to Coster. He knew that was the man in the castle so long ago. Which meant he had a shard, or at least it was a part of him. But he wouldn't talk of that in front of the others. Coster hadn't pointed out to anyone that he himself carried a shard yet, so why would he go against the "Trust" they apparently had. No... he would talk to him about it in secret and privacy. It was then that he really looked at Edrich. That armor. The way he held himself. The way he spoke. That battle horse.... He was either one of those men who hunted demons for the sole reason of finding a shard for themselves, the magic theirs to master, or he was a Gatherer for the Emperor. Either way, he was a man he could not fully trust, especially now that he held a shard. "It seems that i too will be traveling there."
***
So we're all going in the same direction.. He sighed. I'll just have to ditch tonight I guess. He followed the armored brute from a distance and his stomach growled loudly. I hope there's an inn down there.His arms flopped at his sides, limp with hunger. If he had one weakness, hunger was it.
He rolled his arms around and looked at his temporary companions. The boy, only a few years younger than him, a gatherer obviously, and a newbie at that. Next was the woman, Caitra.. He looked her over without seeming too obvious. She kept her face hidden mostly, and there was something off about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Lastly, "The Beast." He said the name to himself and scoffed. Pretentious.. He sighed and continued mumbling to himself.
***
Eihei nodded his head in agreement as his stomach too growled. And then they were off, first "The Beast" leading in front, and then the woman, and then Eihei and Coster. Eihei leaned in to Coster and whispered so that the others couldn't hear. "I know. I know you were there at the castle. I know you were the knight who killed the demon. And I know about the arm. I know about the shard," the last part, he only mouthed, being overly cautious that the others knew nothing. It would be interesting to see this man's response.
***
Coster's mouth fell open. Ah fuck.. The others stared at him as he yelled it. The minotaur.. ripped.. my cloak.. He smiled awkwardly and palmed his face when they turned away.
As soon as they weren't looking at him he grabbed the boy's shirt with his braced arm, yanking him close. Keep your mouth shut until we get to town. He whispered with almost inhuman softness, yet his anger was clear.
***
Eihei smiled and shook his head and turned the top of his staff as Coster held his shirt. He slowly un-sheathed the sword to show him the shining blade and then put it back, capping it before the others saw. They might know of its history, hell, the beast probably already did. "Fine.. but we will talk then." He didn't know where the courage to pull something like that off came from. Something was happening to him....
***
Coster stared at the boy. He had balls to pull a sword, but it just made Coster all that much more angry.
The shard did something back there, he's seen everything. He sighed, there was nothing to do but kill him... He laughed to himself. Ok maybe that was a little too far. Just because someone found out doesn't mean the worst. This man wasn't the first and he certainly wouldn't be the last.
He stretched his braced arm once again, it was funny, the brace was such a heavy metal but he hardly noticed, he wondered how long it had been since he removed it..
***
Niles sipped from his mug and ale dripped down the dark, bearded chin of the imposing dark-skinned man. His eyes seemed almost to glow a tantalizing green that both amazed and frightened people crazy enough to look into them. In this small town, Niles was a legend. His two large, black-bladed falchions had created both fame and infamy for him. The people worshipped his talents in dispatching the demons that terrorized them, but his frightening looks spread rumors that he, himself, was actually a demon that was shunned from the others and killed his own kind in revenge. He was a freak and an outcast. Light leather armor that had been darkened over time by the black blood of demons crossed his chest and tiny golden hoops shined in his ears. His clean-shaven head seemed to shine with the flicker of the candles in his secluded corner. The other inhabitants of the inn always steered well clear of the table he basically had claimed, and the innkeeper always provided him with free food and drink, being that he had saved the man's life more than once.
Niles slurped down his last sip of ale before motioning for the waitress to get him another. He was growing bored of this monotonous lifestyle. He needed brotherhood, companionship. He was utterly alone, his closest friends also his greatest enemies-- the demons he dispatched
***
It wasn't all that far of a walk to the town. Occationally he would look behind him and see the three others following. The kid and Coster were in the back talking apparently, but about what, he didn't know. "I'm not too sure about these folks. Better keep our eyes on them, eh." Whispered to Safeeran. He hopped into his saddle and rode the rest of the way into the village. As they made their way to the edge of town people turned and stared. The dusty streets filled with curious eyes. The scent of a forge was not hard to follow as he made his way through the village. He tied up his warhorse outside and walked in, the scent of the forge reminding him of home.
"What can I do for you, good sir?" Asked a deep voice. Edrich turned to the smith. Here was a master of his trade, arms nearly as big as Edrich's and skin thickend from forge heat. His black hair wet with sweat.
It was nearly an hour later that he walked out of the smithy with a greatshield of such fine quality that he had barely believed possible from such a small town. It weighed nearly as much as the rest of his armour combined, standing nearly four and a half feet tall and two and a half feet wide it was a piece of metal that demanded respect. He saw the others at the edge of the village and walked up to meet them, shield strapped to his back. He looked even larger now than ever
***
Most of the trip to the inn had beeen done in silence. Part of this was because Eihei could not talk to Coster about what he wanted to with the others there. The other reason was probably do to the fact that he didn't really trust the others there. When they made it to the inn, he was felt with relief. As the others walked over to the bar, Eihei grabbed Coster's shirt and led him in a different direction. "I know it was you. I know it, and so do you. Why don't we stop with the dancing around and just face it?"
***
Coster sighed, staring at the boy in a starved haze. If it was me, what would you do? He sat back in a lounge chair in the corner of the inn. He didn't feel like talking and certainly didn't care what this man had to say to him. Most people don't make an attempt to annoy me when they figure it out.. If you were smart you'd leave it alone.
Coster had only come to this town on his way to the emperor's castle, there were much bigger fish to fry.
***
Caitra spent the short journey in silence. She occasionally demons would move into her range of sensing them, but otherwise the area around the village was very well cleared, surprisingly. A Gatherer must have recently swept the forest.
The village was full of people, but their stares made her uncomfortable. The sooner they left the better. But there was something else, something that made her blood quicken. She had felt it before, a man with glowing blue eyes who had infiltrated a village ripped apart the inhabitants. She had killed him and burned his body and blood. Her kind could not exist.
At the bar of the inn, Caitra glanced around at the villagers. It wasn’t hard to find who she was looking for. Her blood quickened as she saw him, alone at a table to himself in the corner of the room. Lightly armored, and sipping calmly at a mug. “A flagon of your best and a large steak.” She ordered the barkeep, then, remembering herself added “Please.” He shot her a strange look, but sped off to complete the order. Caitra loosened her gloves. The demon in the corner was being carefully avoided, but warily respected, curious. The barkeep returned with her food and drink, and Caitra thanked him before flicking her auburn hair out of her eyes and glancing about for a table. Conveniently, the inn was having a good day, and all tables were fully packed with friends and strangers sitting together. Smiling slightly, she navigated across the floor until she came to the demon. “May I join you, friend?” she asked quietly, and raised her head to reveal her luminescent violet eyes.
***
Niles was shocked when he heard a voice that was actually addressing him, especially since they just addressed him as friend. He peered up and met some gorgeously glowing purple eyes. The intensity of those eyes caused a chill to run up his spine, but he sensed something different. He could smell the blood of his twin brother on her weapon. The kill was not fresh, but a scent that he would never forget. His twin brother, Sethro, was nearly identical to him except the man had sported blue eyes. Niles hunted him for a very long time, his brother was a cold-hearted murderer, but one day, the trail had run dry. Niles never understood what happened and prayed for the day that the scent would return so he could remove that blight from the world.
Niles eyed his fellow half-demon and noticed her gloves, no doubt hiding her claws. Niles was born without those vicious claws, the only trait he retained were his glowing green eyes, and he was happy for that fact. Niles eyed her weapon and smiled respectfully. "We can cut the shit and just get to the part where you tell me why I smell my brother's blood on your weapon. That kill was mine." Niles coolly sipped his ale again, waiting for a reply from the demon.
***
Edrich was sitting at the bar, alone, sipping his drink. People tended to avoid him most of the time, due to his size he assumed. The huge shield strapped to his back felt comforting, it was almost natural to him to feel the weight of his armour and armaments, almost reassuring. He stood and looked around. The inn was full of chatty, happy, people. He saw the demoness talking with someone who looked suspiciously like another demi-demon. He slowly made his way over to that table, only bumping into, and knocking over, four people. Which in such a crowded place was very few for him. He grabbed someones mug from the table beside him and took a sip and sat down beside the demi-demons. The man whos ale he took looked like he was about to say something, but stopped when he saw the goliath of a man with his ale sit with the two half-demons. "No need to get hostile now." Said Edrich to the man with the green eyes. "I'm sure she was just doing what she felt was the right thing to do." Part of being as large as Edrich, was being uncomfortable in crowds. His stool was creeking and his shield pressed against the person directly behind him. He looked behind him to see that he was pinning a person their table. He shifted and released the person. "Sorry." He said to the man before he put his attention back to the two half-demons.
***
Niles eyed the man, the second person brave enough to approach him, and both on the same day. This was obviously no ordinary group of people, these travelers that just walked in. The man was enormous and extremely intimidating in his impressive suit of armor. Niles gave the man only a quick glance and returned to his mug, barely allowing his eyes to linger, letting the man know that he was by no means intimidated. Not hostility, rather I should thank the girl for dispatching him and give her the respect which is due to a being powerful enough to at least shed his blood, and since she is still alive, I assume also kill him. He was no small power, and I am greatly impressed. It is only that I wanted to be the man to dispatch my murderer of a brother. So you see, news of his death is bittersweet. Now, you are the first people I've spoken to in six months, what grants me the pleasure of finding not one, but two people, who don't shit their pants when they see me in such a small town? What are you doing here? Because there are no demons in the area, I've already killed any that are near today.
Niles picked up his gaze and alternated focus between the two, waiting for a response and begging for something to break the monotony.
***
He studied the man in front of him. He seemed to be honest enough, but bored as all hells. The crowd seemed constricting to Edrich, but he would cope. "Well, I can't speak for her," he said, gesturing to Caitra, "but I am making my way back to the capital. My buisness is my own." He took a drink from his stolen mug. "Nothing is so sweet as something that was free." After taking another drink he added. "So what's your story?"
***
"If it was you... Well I'd try to figure out what the hell it was that I came into inheritance of. Because out of everyone here, you'd seem the one to know the most," Eihei said, answering the man's question. There was something about this man. It felt like the man was relieved to talk of this. It did seem like never did. He looked again at the man's arm and felt the shard's power throb. "Well, that's probably due to the fact that those people are only around you because they are trying to figure out a way to take it from you. The only reason they haven't killed you being that they don't think they can get it once you are dead. Also, I'm assuming they don't typically have a shard themselves," as he finished, he turned towards a waitress who was walking by them and smiled at her as he called her over. He smiled, one to be nice, and the other reason because he couldn't stop himself after what he had said. It felt good to reply to someone with an air around him that hadn't been there before.
***
Coster sat up and stared at the man in front of him, easily showing his disbelief. The only reason they haven't killed me is because they can't. Believe it or not I can handle myself. He rose to his feet irritated. It's not smart to insult me when you hardly know how to use the shard for yourself.
It makes me wonder how the hell you came to posess one. He sighed and pushed him out of the way, placing enough coin on the bar for a meal and a room. He turned and walked to the stairs. You're not worth getting thrown out of here for. He laughed and walked to his room.
***
"How i came to possess a shard myself.... I've been wondering that for a day or two now,"Eihei mumbled as the man walked away. Then he heard the man's last comment. He was mocking him. Though he would accept the money for the room and food. But he would wait. Grabbing the money, he stood and made his way up the stairs and towards the room he saw Coster go in moments before. As he neared the door, he twisted the hilt of his sword and unsheathed Demon Eater. He kicked the door open and charged at Coster. "You've handled yourself before, but how about now?" Eihei swung his sword hard at Coster's head.
***
As it did with the minotaur Coster's arm whipped around at inhuman speed, allowing the sword to slam hard into the metal brace that wrapped around it. Coster looked up at Eihei, giving a chuckle as sparks shot from the point of contact. You just made the biggest mistake of your life. He threw the blade off to the right, taking a wooden rocking chair from behind him and smashing it over Eihei.
He laughed ad he took to his feet. This is just what I needed! Instead of taking a battle stance Coster swayed back and forth, a method of not only confusion, but a way to keep the blood flowing across his body. Let's do this.
***
The arrogant smile that had been on Eihei's face when he charged into the room was gone as his blade was knocked from his hand. It was amazing how strong Coster's arm was. As the man brought a chair down over his head, in an attempt to hit him, he rolled out of the way and towards his blade and picked it up. Quickly, he jumped to his feet and held the blade in a defensive position as Coster swayed back and forth, which was an odd sight to see. Just as he slowly moved the blade back and forth, flames erupted on its edges and he charged at the man yet again.
***
Coster spun, dodging the blade with an artful sway and locking into a powerful stance. He looked down to see his torn black garb, the middle of it burnt slightly. His eyes shot back to the blade.. It was on fire? When did that happen? Interesting.. Dodging that blade is hard enough without the flames in such a small room, but the length of it will be your downfall. He spoke in a strange tone, it was deadly, but it seemed he relished in the challenge.
Coster smirked and pulled back his fist, he threw it into the floor, directly on the board that Eihei's right foot stood on. Sure enough it threw him off balance, and Coster charged, throwing five of his super-charged punches in the time it would take to throw one for a normal person.
***
Eihei smiled a bit again as the man seemed taken aback by the flames that now coated Demon Eater. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little fire," he said jokingly as he began to swing the blade back and forth. As Coster punched the floor, Eihei's footing slipped and he was at the disadvantage as Coster charged him. That was not expected. He easily blocked the first four punches Coster made but there was no way he was going to block the fifth. There was no way around it, he was going to be hit and then Coster would win.
Coster's hand was stopped in mid-air as Eihei's free hand flew into the air and caught it, shard in hand, fingers wrapped around Coster's fist. Eihei went to pull his hand away but it was caught. For some reason the Shard would not come away from Coster's hand. But then it did. And fast. The two were thrown back by an almost soundless explosion, resonating from the shard and the man's hand. Eihei was thrown out of the room and down the stairs, a feat that not even Coster himself could of accomplished. Eihei tried to get up and then looked around at the people in the inn. At first he thought their stares were because the shard was revealed, but then noticed it was tight between his grasp and no one could see. They were just staring at a man who had been thrown down the stairs.
***
Coster pushed himself out of the hole in the back wall, shaking the dust off of himself and surveying the damage. What the hell caused that? It must have been his shard.. That's new... One thing stood out among the wreckage, the right sleeve that covered his arm had completely desintegrated. Bastard wrecked my cloak.. His voice was clearly filled with devastation. He took a deep breath, trying to cool himself off, but as he reached the door to the room he snapped.
Bastard!! He tore the wooden door from it's hinges, raising it with one arm and throwing it like a spear down the stairwell. It crashed against the ground, but Eihei had scrambled out of the way just in time.
He jumped down the steps, rage boiling in his eyes. Suddenly he could feel the eyes of the people on him, not that there was a point in hiding anymore..
***
Eihei barely moved out of the way as the door came flying down. Did the man really think it was his fault? That he had caused the explosion? Hell he was the one that had been thrown down the stairs... He flung his blade up as fast as he could as Coster slammed his fist down at him. There was a loud noise as Demon Eater met Coster's arm. But it wasnt the sound of blade slicing through flesh that one would expect. He looked up and was amazed that there was barely a scratch on the man's arm. "Let's stop this,"he said as he slowly pushed Coster a bit off of him. "We're obviously closely matched," he said as he looked to his blade and back to Coster's cloak, hinting at the blade emitting flames yet again.
***
Coster pulled his arm back, putting his left hand at the top of his right arm's brace. He contemplated taking the brace off. Closely matched.. He said the phrase again. That was a laugh. It made him even more eager to throw down with his full strength, he was already assuredly not staying here tonight. But hurting the innocent people here wasn't really his plan.
You attack me, and now you want to stop the fight?!
You're not getting a pardon that easily. He lunged forward, not attempting to hit Eihei, but moreso ounching his blade with deadly force, it was all Eihei could do to keep his stance up, and when he couldn't hold it any longer Coster let loose a flying punch straight for Eihei's stomach.
and that kills me