71st of Ash, 4622
Another flash of light illuminated the cavern as Arkash, for the second time, skipped the cooldown on Sky Stealer's Arcanacrag. A bolt of lightning struck the Strigoi with another booming crack in the plate armor that covered its body. The beast screeched as it reeled from the blast. In the same motion, its tail swiped at him, and the Cardinal was hard-pressed to throw his body over the aimed strike.
On both feet, he landed with Sky Stealer in both hands. The metal was hot, shaking, and creaking as sheets of electricity flung from the barrel in all directions. "Go!" He screamed through the tears in his eyes "Get the fuck out of here!" He roared through the reptilian croak in his throat.
Asmodei did just that, the lumbering Velsign ran with her bloody arm slung over his shoulder.
Burning red eyes watched through a haze of tears as he carried off her mangled features, manic disbelief rampant in the faux knight.
As the winged man disappeared around the corner, Arkash returned his attention to the reeling Strigoi as it too soon recovered from the weight of Arkash's strike. The weapon, Arkash knew, couldn't take much more abuse. it would surely break if he shot the creature again. The state of the rifle wasn't his concern in those moments; the young Rath ran entirely on emotion as he raised his gun again, took aim, and activated the override with a flip of the lever.
The Artificed Machination thrummed in warning, the brass of the construct quaked and rumbled loose against its bolts as Arkash prepared another blast, stock-shouldered.
He breathed faster and squeezed his jaw together as he aimed at the Strigoi's head. He steeled himself, finger on the trigger as the Derelict's tyrant readied its bloodied scythes once more.
On that screech, that inhuman squall, it dove at him. Just a moment before Arkash could pull the trigger and detonate his weapon, a strong arm pulled him out of the way of the beast, and the scythes struck the empty ground.
Arkash staggered, eyes wild in rage as he set his gaze upon Izzy, with her hand on the scruff of his neck. "Fuck off!" He roared and ripped his clothing from her grip in defiance.
"Shut the fuck up, Ark!" she cried. "You can't stay! you need to help her!" She pleaded. "Az and I can't use Necromancy! It has to be you!"
Arkash was tense, caught between vengeance and his progenitor. he stood between Izzy and the beast as the creature began to yank its weapons from the grip of the rocky floor.
"There's a chance!" she called out. "You can save her! Please!" She cried, cheek wet with tears.
The untamed wrath of his glare softened a touch at that, then withdrew fully and broke to despair. Lips pressed firmly together, he nodded in agreement and wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve.
"Move!" She urged to great effect.
Arkash dove to the side, rolled across the ground, and fully evaded the strike of the Strigoi; the strike that had aimed to cut him in half. From the floor, Arkash bolted and took Izzy by the hand. His speed was superior, but he wouldn't run faster than she could. Her heart thrummed in her chest as he pulled her along the dark, decrepit hall of the Strigoi's lair.
It shrieked somewhere behind them, and the echo of its ungodly, warped voice chased them down the corridor.
Ahead of him, guided by the light of Shrivenflame was Asmodei. His heart sank as the shape of her limp arm came into view, and the sound of her slow-beating heart met his ears above the thud of his own, and the screech of the monster.
All at once, they were on the platform of the lift. Asmodei's stray tears had built to sobbing while he clutched what was left of her. Arkash too, stood frozen at the sound of the older man's cries.
Izzy cranked the lever in the middle of the platform, and just in time, she shoved Arkash back to his senses. Arkash's eyes snapped to her, then down the hall where the most movement could be seen. The strigoi, the monster, charged down the hall, features matted in gore.
Sky Stealer's pell rang, and Arkash raised the gun to take aim and pulled the trigger. Again, the recoil of the weapon flew back against his shoulder but the Strigoi was struck once more on the underbelly, and Izzy's pistol fire ricocheted off its armored plating. The gunfire slowed it enough that the beast was totally out of sight by the time it reached the elevator, and its wild thrashing could be heard beneath their feet.
Without regard, the ejected the loaded rounds and threw his gun to the floor. From his pocket, he drew his Grafting Needle. "Az..." Arkash spoke, eyes as soft as his voice. The Velsign's sobs hadn't ceased. How could they? "Asmodei..." he spoke a little louder. "I've gotta help her... Now."
Izzy ran up to the giant and took him by the gauntlet. He looked down at her, his features a mess of tears, snot, and blood. The smell was rich, the bleeding of a Cardinal's essence filled the chamber. Asmodei slowly turned around when he finally recognized the human, and Arkash was the next thing he set his eyes on, desperate hope in his gaze. In his arms, the upper half of Fayeth'd body. Her lower half was gone.
Her entrails dangled in a gory mess from where she'd been sundered, scraps of bone and jagged flesh swung freely. An excess of blood matted the knight's lower half; every inch of his plate armor was coated in thick red. "Please..." He begged. "You have to save her..." He whimpered.
It was horrific, to see her that way. She was the one that had gone against all her principles to save him, to make him her progeny. Fayeth, who'd pulled him from the gutter and made him what he was needed him at that moment more than over. "I'll save her," he swallowed. "I can do it." Her heart was still beating, and she was still bleeding... Albeit very shallowly.
Carefully, Arkash and Izzy pried her from the Velsign's arms and brought her to rest on the floor of the elevator. The full horror and extent of the trauma were revealed there; part of her skull was missing at the side, and her face was matted in blood. One of her eyes stayed open, and the blood vessels burst and darkened the sclera.
Arkash's heart stopped at the sight, and his hands shook as he fiddled with the Grafting Needle. "Fayeth," he said. "...Just, just hold on, okay? Don't..." he stammered over his words, shook his head, and directed his attention to the mess of gore beneath her ribs. Everything was gone, her liver, her stomach, her intestines, bladder, pancreas... But she was a Cardinal, she had the fortitude of a mountain and could surely survive long enough for Arkash to build her a new body, couldn't she?
He convinced himself it was so as he began to complete the circulation of her vessels with the needle. One by one, he joined her veins together in an attempt to keep what little blood she retained in her body. With a twist of the needle, the etheric thread set.
Asmodei began to bawl across from them while he watched. "Help him," Arkash said to Izzy while he worked, and didn't once lift his eyes from the complex weave of etheric thread. Izzy nodded and all but ran to the Velsign's aid.
Next, he began to weave a cover of skin over the base of her chest; a temporary shell for the elements of the badlands. When it was done, he twisted the needle and completed its construction. The exposed brain was also of major concern to the Necromancer, he began to weave the bone to complete her cranium once more.
By the time the elevator had stopped its ascent, all of Fayeth's open wounds had been closed and the circulation of her blood had been completed. To the Rath, that meant she was stable. "Alright..." He said. "I need my other tools to rebuild her, but I think she's... I think she's good." He looked up at Asmodei then. "Az, she's gonna make it," he swore.
But she didn't.
Fayeth Ela'Dalana died on the way to the compound in Asmodei's arms. He met them there a broken man, loosely clung to her cold body. A makeshift artery he'd crafted had shaken loose in transport, and she bled out quietly during the flight. They buried her remains closer to Sil Elaine under the cover of night and said their teary farewells. Asmodei, though he claimed not to blame Arkash, also said his farewell to her progeny and left to find his own purpose.
The following month was spent with Arkash training and honing his Dranoch abilities to destroy the Strigoi.
In time, it was slain. And the Derelict fell into the hands of Arkash and Izzy, who remained with him.
Another flash of light illuminated the cavern as Arkash, for the second time, skipped the cooldown on Sky Stealer's Arcanacrag. A bolt of lightning struck the Strigoi with another booming crack in the plate armor that covered its body. The beast screeched as it reeled from the blast. In the same motion, its tail swiped at him, and the Cardinal was hard-pressed to throw his body over the aimed strike.
On both feet, he landed with Sky Stealer in both hands. The metal was hot, shaking, and creaking as sheets of electricity flung from the barrel in all directions. "Go!" He screamed through the tears in his eyes "Get the fuck out of here!" He roared through the reptilian croak in his throat.
Asmodei did just that, the lumbering Velsign ran with her bloody arm slung over his shoulder.
Burning red eyes watched through a haze of tears as he carried off her mangled features, manic disbelief rampant in the faux knight.
As the winged man disappeared around the corner, Arkash returned his attention to the reeling Strigoi as it too soon recovered from the weight of Arkash's strike. The weapon, Arkash knew, couldn't take much more abuse. it would surely break if he shot the creature again. The state of the rifle wasn't his concern in those moments; the young Rath ran entirely on emotion as he raised his gun again, took aim, and activated the override with a flip of the lever.
The Artificed Machination thrummed in warning, the brass of the construct quaked and rumbled loose against its bolts as Arkash prepared another blast, stock-shouldered.
He breathed faster and squeezed his jaw together as he aimed at the Strigoi's head. He steeled himself, finger on the trigger as the Derelict's tyrant readied its bloodied scythes once more.
On that screech, that inhuman squall, it dove at him. Just a moment before Arkash could pull the trigger and detonate his weapon, a strong arm pulled him out of the way of the beast, and the scythes struck the empty ground.
Arkash staggered, eyes wild in rage as he set his gaze upon Izzy, with her hand on the scruff of his neck. "Fuck off!" He roared and ripped his clothing from her grip in defiance.
"Shut the fuck up, Ark!" she cried. "You can't stay! you need to help her!" She pleaded. "Az and I can't use Necromancy! It has to be you!"
Arkash was tense, caught between vengeance and his progenitor. he stood between Izzy and the beast as the creature began to yank its weapons from the grip of the rocky floor.
"There's a chance!" she called out. "You can save her! Please!" She cried, cheek wet with tears.
The untamed wrath of his glare softened a touch at that, then withdrew fully and broke to despair. Lips pressed firmly together, he nodded in agreement and wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve.
"Move!" She urged to great effect.
Arkash dove to the side, rolled across the ground, and fully evaded the strike of the Strigoi; the strike that had aimed to cut him in half. From the floor, Arkash bolted and took Izzy by the hand. His speed was superior, but he wouldn't run faster than she could. Her heart thrummed in her chest as he pulled her along the dark, decrepit hall of the Strigoi's lair.
It shrieked somewhere behind them, and the echo of its ungodly, warped voice chased them down the corridor.
Ahead of him, guided by the light of Shrivenflame was Asmodei. His heart sank as the shape of her limp arm came into view, and the sound of her slow-beating heart met his ears above the thud of his own, and the screech of the monster.
All at once, they were on the platform of the lift. Asmodei's stray tears had built to sobbing while he clutched what was left of her. Arkash too, stood frozen at the sound of the older man's cries.
Izzy cranked the lever in the middle of the platform, and just in time, she shoved Arkash back to his senses. Arkash's eyes snapped to her, then down the hall where the most movement could be seen. The strigoi, the monster, charged down the hall, features matted in gore.
Sky Stealer's pell rang, and Arkash raised the gun to take aim and pulled the trigger. Again, the recoil of the weapon flew back against his shoulder but the Strigoi was struck once more on the underbelly, and Izzy's pistol fire ricocheted off its armored plating. The gunfire slowed it enough that the beast was totally out of sight by the time it reached the elevator, and its wild thrashing could be heard beneath their feet.
Without regard, the ejected the loaded rounds and threw his gun to the floor. From his pocket, he drew his Grafting Needle. "Az..." Arkash spoke, eyes as soft as his voice. The Velsign's sobs hadn't ceased. How could they? "Asmodei..." he spoke a little louder. "I've gotta help her... Now."
Izzy ran up to the giant and took him by the gauntlet. He looked down at her, his features a mess of tears, snot, and blood. The smell was rich, the bleeding of a Cardinal's essence filled the chamber. Asmodei slowly turned around when he finally recognized the human, and Arkash was the next thing he set his eyes on, desperate hope in his gaze. In his arms, the upper half of Fayeth'd body. Her lower half was gone.
Her entrails dangled in a gory mess from where she'd been sundered, scraps of bone and jagged flesh swung freely. An excess of blood matted the knight's lower half; every inch of his plate armor was coated in thick red. "Please..." He begged. "You have to save her..." He whimpered.
It was horrific, to see her that way. She was the one that had gone against all her principles to save him, to make him her progeny. Fayeth, who'd pulled him from the gutter and made him what he was needed him at that moment more than over. "I'll save her," he swallowed. "I can do it." Her heart was still beating, and she was still bleeding... Albeit very shallowly.
Carefully, Arkash and Izzy pried her from the Velsign's arms and brought her to rest on the floor of the elevator. The full horror and extent of the trauma were revealed there; part of her skull was missing at the side, and her face was matted in blood. One of her eyes stayed open, and the blood vessels burst and darkened the sclera.
Arkash's heart stopped at the sight, and his hands shook as he fiddled with the Grafting Needle. "Fayeth," he said. "...Just, just hold on, okay? Don't..." he stammered over his words, shook his head, and directed his attention to the mess of gore beneath her ribs. Everything was gone, her liver, her stomach, her intestines, bladder, pancreas... But she was a Cardinal, she had the fortitude of a mountain and could surely survive long enough for Arkash to build her a new body, couldn't she?
He convinced himself it was so as he began to complete the circulation of her vessels with the needle. One by one, he joined her veins together in an attempt to keep what little blood she retained in her body. With a twist of the needle, the etheric thread set.
Asmodei began to bawl across from them while he watched. "Help him," Arkash said to Izzy while he worked, and didn't once lift his eyes from the complex weave of etheric thread. Izzy nodded and all but ran to the Velsign's aid.
Next, he began to weave a cover of skin over the base of her chest; a temporary shell for the elements of the badlands. When it was done, he twisted the needle and completed its construction. The exposed brain was also of major concern to the Necromancer, he began to weave the bone to complete her cranium once more.
By the time the elevator had stopped its ascent, all of Fayeth's open wounds had been closed and the circulation of her blood had been completed. To the Rath, that meant she was stable. "Alright..." He said. "I need my other tools to rebuild her, but I think she's... I think she's good." He looked up at Asmodei then. "Az, she's gonna make it," he swore.
But she didn't.
Fayeth Ela'Dalana died on the way to the compound in Asmodei's arms. He met them there a broken man, loosely clung to her cold body. A makeshift artery he'd crafted had shaken loose in transport, and she bled out quietly during the flight. They buried her remains closer to Sil Elaine under the cover of night and said their teary farewells. Asmodei, though he claimed not to blame Arkash, also said his farewell to her progeny and left to find his own purpose.
The following month was spent with Arkash training and honing his Dranoch abilities to destroy the Strigoi.
In time, it was slain. And the Derelict fell into the hands of Arkash and Izzy, who remained with him.
Image source.
