7th of Ash, 4621
It was his third day as a slave, serving under the Veir known as Raphael... Some daravinic name to follow that Arkash didn't care to remember. Already, Arkash was skirting his duties to try and learn Necromancy from his master's laboratory. Alas, not only was the room itself protected with an exaggerated lock, but he believed the tools he sought to be locked in a safe in one of the cupboards beneath a worktop. There was no key to speak of; Arkash could easily break the safe open if that was the case. No, it was locked by some sort of combination dial, the likes of which he'd never seen before.
But before he could decide what to do with the safe if anything at all, he heard the presence of another beyond the door he'd broken into. The lab was on the lowest level of the fortress, what reason could anyone have for walking that far if not to use the lab? It had to be Raphael, there was no other possible outcome for the rath. He had nowhere to hide immediately, there weren't enough shadows to conceal himself in, he had to find somewhere to hide before the mage saw him.
Behind the door? No. Arkash had left the door unlocked in his haste to find the tools. It would be obvious to whoever tried the door that someone had entered without permission, and by extension, someone could still be in there. The rathor's eyes darted about the relatively empty room, looking for some nook or cranny to crawl into, somewhere that he could disappear... then he spied the ceiling. The door's frame stuck out a half-inch, and the ceiling was just a few feet above it... If he was strong enough, he could certainly hold himself up there on that half-inch ledge. He'd have to hold himself for however long it took until the visitor was gone, but what other choice did he have? It wasn't as though he could hide in the cupboard or under a table.
So, he ran at the wall and kicked off the first brick he could get his human toes wedged between, then reached for the doorframe at the top, His fingers caught it, but it was so little surface and so much weight that they immediately began to hurt under the strain. Arkash's teeth bared as he pulled himself at the fingers, willing the thin pieces of bone to not only support his weight but lift it. His skin stung as he curled his biceps, then pressed the toes of his open feet to the doorframe for leverage. The other stood firmly on the handle for balance, then kicked off with a jump that sought to land both feet on the lip of the doorframe... and succeded. At once, both his hands pressed to the ceiling and his feet pressed against the doorframe with a flex of his core. He effectively wedged himself up there, out of immediate sight.
His fingers were raw, throbbing heat and pain radiated about them, but he would need them again in the coming seconds. The locking mechanism clicked as the person on the other side locked the door, then tried the handle... there was a pause, Arkash could almost feel the confusion and gears turning in Raphael's head from the other side... That was if not for the massive strain building in his feet as he was forced to fully extend his arms and legs. He began to shake, he couldn't stay up there much longer.
Finally, the door clicked again, and the door swung open aggressively. Arkash looked down to see the glow of violet power, conjured somewhere in the doorway. As Raphael stepped into the room, Arkash realized that the glow was sourced at the captive mentalism in the mage's hands. Raphael had Mentalism? The rathor shut his eyes tight as Raphael's beating heart stepped further into the room. When he was just far enough away from the door for Arkash's maneuver, the rathor let the tension go, then dropped to the doorway.
Silently, his fingers caught his entire weight on that half-inch ledge, and he carried his weight through to swing for the wall across the hall before he let go, jumped off the wall at a diagonal angle, and propelled himself in the direction of the stairs.
He hit the ground and rolled with far more noise than he'd intended. By the time he was upright, he broke into a sprint for the stairway and heard Raphael's angry call behind him. "HEY!" the mage screamed after him, Arkash had been caught. A blast of force hit the ground just a few steps below him as he powered through and ran at full speed through the hall.
Arkash's heart was in his ears, thudding hard as the air of the tight space rushed around him in a sharp whistle that howled predominantly in his hearing. For the sharper turns, Arkash kicked off the walls and threw his whole body forward so that he didn't slow down. More lightning struck behind him. Raphael was chasing him, shooting lightning.
His only saving grace was that there were no Halamire in his way... That was until he heard the beating hearts ahead of him in a straight hall, just around the bend. He was pincered. He couldn't hide, there was nowhere to hide. Even if he could, Raphael would catch up and alert the guards, there would be a full lockdown. Then, he saw the windows to his left. Stained glass, not meant to be opened. Desperate times, desperate measures. Arkash began to assume his true form as he removed his burlap shirt and balled it around his clenched fist.
As he began his run for the window, Raphael turned the corner just in time to see him cross the short space. The Halamire were on the other end of the hall, drawing their weapons. "Halt!" Called a masculine voice to his right as Arkash leaped to the windowsill, and evaded another blast of force. Quickly, he punched through the glass, threw his weight around the frame to the outside as he stuffed his shirt into his venomous maw, and gripped the bricked wall outside. At the same time, that mentalism blast struck one of the Halamire that had cornered him, and Raphael's voice cursed, calling them idiots. "STOP THAT LIZARD!" he screamed. Arkash wouldn't let them. He climbed as quickly as he could, half-throwing his lithe form with every grip and every step. His claws were so much better than fingernails. Why did the creator of humans make them with fingernails? Useless things.
The adrenaline in his veins kept the pain at bay, at least for the time being. It was perhaps the only thing that allowed him to climb to the roof as quickly as he did after all. Another powerful blast of force shot across the horizon, aimed at the direction he'd headed. Raphael was relentless. More screaming came from the window he'd escaped through, and Arkash ran across the rooftop to the wrought iron trapdoor, complete with ladder, that led to the lower levels of the fortress. He threw it open carelessly, then dropped through the hatch without an effort to close the door. He'd made it some distance from the Veir, he could almost relax, but they would quickly catch up to him from where he was if they knew where he'd gone. Given Arkash's luck, he didn't doubt they'd find him in moments. So, he began to assume his humanoid form once more, then re-dressed in his shirt with a damp patch from his venomous drool. He spat hard, then quickly jogged to where he'd left Eira.
His venom was still fresh on his tongue when he arrived at the cobbled hall where he'd been cleaning the floor with the woman, breathing a little quickly. She looked up at once, then flexed a brow. "...I thought you said you were tired?" She asked when she saw his quickened breathing. "What are you running for?"
"I'm not," Arkash spoke before he took another breath of air. "I'm- those stairs kill me, haha..." he sighed. Eira's eyes seemed to flash with recognition before she smiled and nodded a little. "You'll get used to them," she offered with a certain kindness in her tone, then blinked and double-took as she looked at him. Arkash looked left and right then returned an inquisitive look. What was wrong? "You're bleeding," she explained with a nod toward his arm. Arkash looked to his burlap shirt, and he was indeed bleeding. A deep red mark was forming at his bicep. It must have been the glass. Fuck. Dammit all, he'd almost made it through without a scratch. How did he explain it? Before he could, the alarm bells of the fortress began to ring for all to hear. She looked to the direction of the sound, then returned her gaze to him. "...What did you do?"
Heavy breathing, a mess, bleeding and alarm bells were apparently enough to give away that he'd been up to no good. Had he taken too many risks? Was the game over? All too quickly, voices echoed from down the hall, more of Raphael's shouting. Arkash bared his teeth and quickly got back on his knees and collected his brush, starting to scrub again. "I swear I'll explain, just- Please cover for me, Eira. Please..." he pleaded and assumed as natural of a position as he could while hiding his wounded arm.
Just moments later, an exhausted Raphael and a group of Halamire rushed up the hall across from him, and Arkash exhaled through his nose. "YOU TWO!" the Master called. Arkash looked up but didn't turn his body in fear of exposing his wounded arm. The noble was running, closing the gap between them. Was he caught already? Eira looked too, but she glared daggers at him. "Have you seen a lizard?!" the Entente asked. "Black and beige scales, really fast..." the noble asked through his heavy breathing. Arkash smiled internally at the noble's struggle.
"...No, master," Arkash answered, then looked to Eira. She hadn't seen anything either, but she could easily rat him out for being suspicious.
She met his eyes, then looked to the lord. "No, my Veir. We've been here, scrubbing the floors, no one has come through."
"FUCK!" the Veir screamed in rage before he turned to the Halamire. "Shut down the fortress. No one comes in or out until we find that rath!!" With that, he turned back to the slaves. "There's some mess in the halls in the west wing. Clean them up when you're done here!" he roared, then ran off with the Halamire in tow.
Arkash sighed in relief, then looked back to the girl. She'd protected him. "Thank you, Thank you so much!" he called when the lord was out of earshot.
The other slave only shook her head, then began scrubbing the floor again afterward. "...You owe me quite the explanation, Derek." She spoke with some level of annoyance. "Not now, later. How bad is that wound? I can get you bandages."
Arkash's momentary relief was replaced with uncertainty... But it was fair, he did at least owe her an explanation. In tandem, he also began scrubbing through the floors again, performing his role as slave despite his untended wound. "It's not bad, I'll be fine." As thick as his blood was, it coagulate quickly. He wasn't worried, but he wasn't sure if that just made him more suspicious or not.
It was his third day as a slave, serving under the Veir known as Raphael... Some daravinic name to follow that Arkash didn't care to remember. Already, Arkash was skirting his duties to try and learn Necromancy from his master's laboratory. Alas, not only was the room itself protected with an exaggerated lock, but he believed the tools he sought to be locked in a safe in one of the cupboards beneath a worktop. There was no key to speak of; Arkash could easily break the safe open if that was the case. No, it was locked by some sort of combination dial, the likes of which he'd never seen before.
But before he could decide what to do with the safe if anything at all, he heard the presence of another beyond the door he'd broken into. The lab was on the lowest level of the fortress, what reason could anyone have for walking that far if not to use the lab? It had to be Raphael, there was no other possible outcome for the rath. He had nowhere to hide immediately, there weren't enough shadows to conceal himself in, he had to find somewhere to hide before the mage saw him.
Behind the door? No. Arkash had left the door unlocked in his haste to find the tools. It would be obvious to whoever tried the door that someone had entered without permission, and by extension, someone could still be in there. The rathor's eyes darted about the relatively empty room, looking for some nook or cranny to crawl into, somewhere that he could disappear... then he spied the ceiling. The door's frame stuck out a half-inch, and the ceiling was just a few feet above it... If he was strong enough, he could certainly hold himself up there on that half-inch ledge. He'd have to hold himself for however long it took until the visitor was gone, but what other choice did he have? It wasn't as though he could hide in the cupboard or under a table.
So, he ran at the wall and kicked off the first brick he could get his human toes wedged between, then reached for the doorframe at the top, His fingers caught it, but it was so little surface and so much weight that they immediately began to hurt under the strain. Arkash's teeth bared as he pulled himself at the fingers, willing the thin pieces of bone to not only support his weight but lift it. His skin stung as he curled his biceps, then pressed the toes of his open feet to the doorframe for leverage. The other stood firmly on the handle for balance, then kicked off with a jump that sought to land both feet on the lip of the doorframe... and succeded. At once, both his hands pressed to the ceiling and his feet pressed against the doorframe with a flex of his core. He effectively wedged himself up there, out of immediate sight.
His fingers were raw, throbbing heat and pain radiated about them, but he would need them again in the coming seconds. The locking mechanism clicked as the person on the other side locked the door, then tried the handle... there was a pause, Arkash could almost feel the confusion and gears turning in Raphael's head from the other side... That was if not for the massive strain building in his feet as he was forced to fully extend his arms and legs. He began to shake, he couldn't stay up there much longer.
Finally, the door clicked again, and the door swung open aggressively. Arkash looked down to see the glow of violet power, conjured somewhere in the doorway. As Raphael stepped into the room, Arkash realized that the glow was sourced at the captive mentalism in the mage's hands. Raphael had Mentalism? The rathor shut his eyes tight as Raphael's beating heart stepped further into the room. When he was just far enough away from the door for Arkash's maneuver, the rathor let the tension go, then dropped to the doorway.
Silently, his fingers caught his entire weight on that half-inch ledge, and he carried his weight through to swing for the wall across the hall before he let go, jumped off the wall at a diagonal angle, and propelled himself in the direction of the stairs.
He hit the ground and rolled with far more noise than he'd intended. By the time he was upright, he broke into a sprint for the stairway and heard Raphael's angry call behind him. "HEY!" the mage screamed after him, Arkash had been caught. A blast of force hit the ground just a few steps below him as he powered through and ran at full speed through the hall.
Arkash's heart was in his ears, thudding hard as the air of the tight space rushed around him in a sharp whistle that howled predominantly in his hearing. For the sharper turns, Arkash kicked off the walls and threw his whole body forward so that he didn't slow down. More lightning struck behind him. Raphael was chasing him, shooting lightning.
His only saving grace was that there were no Halamire in his way... That was until he heard the beating hearts ahead of him in a straight hall, just around the bend. He was pincered. He couldn't hide, there was nowhere to hide. Even if he could, Raphael would catch up and alert the guards, there would be a full lockdown. Then, he saw the windows to his left. Stained glass, not meant to be opened. Desperate times, desperate measures. Arkash began to assume his true form as he removed his burlap shirt and balled it around his clenched fist.
As he began his run for the window, Raphael turned the corner just in time to see him cross the short space. The Halamire were on the other end of the hall, drawing their weapons. "Halt!" Called a masculine voice to his right as Arkash leaped to the windowsill, and evaded another blast of force. Quickly, he punched through the glass, threw his weight around the frame to the outside as he stuffed his shirt into his venomous maw, and gripped the bricked wall outside. At the same time, that mentalism blast struck one of the Halamire that had cornered him, and Raphael's voice cursed, calling them idiots. "STOP THAT LIZARD!" he screamed. Arkash wouldn't let them. He climbed as quickly as he could, half-throwing his lithe form with every grip and every step. His claws were so much better than fingernails. Why did the creator of humans make them with fingernails? Useless things.
The adrenaline in his veins kept the pain at bay, at least for the time being. It was perhaps the only thing that allowed him to climb to the roof as quickly as he did after all. Another powerful blast of force shot across the horizon, aimed at the direction he'd headed. Raphael was relentless. More screaming came from the window he'd escaped through, and Arkash ran across the rooftop to the wrought iron trapdoor, complete with ladder, that led to the lower levels of the fortress. He threw it open carelessly, then dropped through the hatch without an effort to close the door. He'd made it some distance from the Veir, he could almost relax, but they would quickly catch up to him from where he was if they knew where he'd gone. Given Arkash's luck, he didn't doubt they'd find him in moments. So, he began to assume his humanoid form once more, then re-dressed in his shirt with a damp patch from his venomous drool. He spat hard, then quickly jogged to where he'd left Eira.
His venom was still fresh on his tongue when he arrived at the cobbled hall where he'd been cleaning the floor with the woman, breathing a little quickly. She looked up at once, then flexed a brow. "...I thought you said you were tired?" She asked when she saw his quickened breathing. "What are you running for?"
"I'm not," Arkash spoke before he took another breath of air. "I'm- those stairs kill me, haha..." he sighed. Eira's eyes seemed to flash with recognition before she smiled and nodded a little. "You'll get used to them," she offered with a certain kindness in her tone, then blinked and double-took as she looked at him. Arkash looked left and right then returned an inquisitive look. What was wrong? "You're bleeding," she explained with a nod toward his arm. Arkash looked to his burlap shirt, and he was indeed bleeding. A deep red mark was forming at his bicep. It must have been the glass. Fuck. Dammit all, he'd almost made it through without a scratch. How did he explain it? Before he could, the alarm bells of the fortress began to ring for all to hear. She looked to the direction of the sound, then returned her gaze to him. "...What did you do?"
Heavy breathing, a mess, bleeding and alarm bells were apparently enough to give away that he'd been up to no good. Had he taken too many risks? Was the game over? All too quickly, voices echoed from down the hall, more of Raphael's shouting. Arkash bared his teeth and quickly got back on his knees and collected his brush, starting to scrub again. "I swear I'll explain, just- Please cover for me, Eira. Please..." he pleaded and assumed as natural of a position as he could while hiding his wounded arm.
Just moments later, an exhausted Raphael and a group of Halamire rushed up the hall across from him, and Arkash exhaled through his nose. "YOU TWO!" the Master called. Arkash looked up but didn't turn his body in fear of exposing his wounded arm. The noble was running, closing the gap between them. Was he caught already? Eira looked too, but she glared daggers at him. "Have you seen a lizard?!" the Entente asked. "Black and beige scales, really fast..." the noble asked through his heavy breathing. Arkash smiled internally at the noble's struggle.
"...No, master," Arkash answered, then looked to Eira. She hadn't seen anything either, but she could easily rat him out for being suspicious.
She met his eyes, then looked to the lord. "No, my Veir. We've been here, scrubbing the floors, no one has come through."
"FUCK!" the Veir screamed in rage before he turned to the Halamire. "Shut down the fortress. No one comes in or out until we find that rath!!" With that, he turned back to the slaves. "There's some mess in the halls in the west wing. Clean them up when you're done here!" he roared, then ran off with the Halamire in tow.
Arkash sighed in relief, then looked back to the girl. She'd protected him. "Thank you, Thank you so much!" he called when the lord was out of earshot.
The other slave only shook her head, then began scrubbing the floor again afterward. "...You owe me quite the explanation, Derek." She spoke with some level of annoyance. "Not now, later. How bad is that wound? I can get you bandages."
Arkash's momentary relief was replaced with uncertainty... But it was fair, he did at least owe her an explanation. In tandem, he also began scrubbing through the floors again, performing his role as slave despite his untended wound. "It's not bad, I'll be fine." As thick as his blood was, it coagulate quickly. He wasn't worried, but he wasn't sure if that just made him more suspicious or not.
