21st of Frost, 119th Year of the Age of Steel
Talon spun on his heel bringing up his sword to slash at the beast that was lunging at him. The sickening squeal of a wounded creature pierced his ears as he sliced off one of its claws. He wasted no time. Holding his shield up to deflect a sickening blow from one of its other club-like arms, Talon thrust his blade forward shoving his sword straight through the gut of the monstrosity thrashing at him. He grunted and yanked his blade to the side with all of his might partially severing the beast’s torso. Reaching across the flux, Talon grabbed the shinaegri’s skull and with a growl he crushed it with a loud crunch. When the creature fell to the ground, lifeless, its corrupted blood flowing across the rocks, Talon waited. He caught his breath as he stared at the beast. It did not move.
Satisfied, Talon wiped the gore from his blade before sheathing it. Taking out one of his illumite dragonshards he raised it over his head so that it could shed light into the caverns where he walked. The light was not terribly bright but it helped him see clearly enough. The bioluminescent lining across the edges of the cave walls aided in his ability to see. Talon was searching for something, something that he could not merely purchase in the markets of Kalzasi. How long it would take him to find it, he did not know. But he knew what to look for. Stepping forward into the dark, the Avialae pondered on the reasons that had brought him back into the Warrens after just having ventured into it with his brother and Alyssum.
Taelian.
The Siltori elf that seemed to always be on the edge of his thoughts as of late. For reasons both hurtful and for reasons that weren’t his own. The bond that he shared with Riven made it so that whenever his partner was near the elf, Talon could feel it to some degree as well. Snippets of Riven’s thoughts and a measure of his emotional and physical experiences occasionally filtered across the bond. It confused Talon. It made him feel a variety of things and he wasn’t entirely certain how to feel about all of them. From the bond with Riven, he knew how passionate the black winged Avialae was about the man. He knew that Riven felt respect and pride in Taelian’s abilities as a fighter, that there were moments of tenderness and of openness. It made it hard to feel anger or jealousy when Talon could so easily see how purely Riven felt for the other man.
Talon turned down a corridor leading deeper into the Warrens. The cavernous spaces helped to make it so that he did not feel cramped. But it also meant that there could be creatures lingering in places beyond his sight. He kept an ear open for sounds that would alert him to potential dangers. He kept his senses tuned to a shift in the atmosphere around him. With wings tucked firmly at his back, Talon continued his journey into the dark below.
Visiting the Warrens was always a fascinating and horrifying experience for Talon. He could not suppress the sense of dread and revulsion he felt for the creatures that dwelled there. He also could not hide the wonder he felt at some of mysteries presented in the ruins buried beneath the earth. That sense of wonder filled him as he approached what could only be described as a broken bridge stretching across a jagged underground ravine. The structure of the bridge was thus that it was quite obviously something that had been carved intentionally. Though weathered and worn by the ages, he could just barely make out intricate symbols on some of the edifices that stood at the edge of the bridge leading up to its walkway. The remains of what he could only guess were once proud statues lay scattered across the stone path, which was wide enough to fit a row of at least eight wagons side by side.
The Buried Empire, they called the First Deep. Looking across the bridge to stare at what was obviously the dilapidated remains of some town or city, Talon could see why. What had happened to the civilization that had dwelt beneath the earth? The carvings and buildings that were scattered across the First Deep were not Dwaven. Talon had seen Dwarven craftsmanship and there was a style present in the broken architecture in the First Deep that was definitely not made by Dwarven hands. While rivaling the feats of what he understood the Dwarves to be capable of, there was something eerie and twisted in the face of the buildings carved from the jagged stones of the Warrens. What Talon saw reminded him of something darker, something otherworldly, something unfathomable.
He pressed onward. As soon as the tip of his boot touched the weathered surface of the bridge, the ground began to rumble. Talon jumped back. The stones littering the bridge shifted. The sound of rocks dropping onto the earth, of stone grinding against stone gave him clear warning of what was amassing before him.
“Elemental.” Talon tucked away the illumite dragonshard as an earth elemental clambered its way into being before him. He kept his sword sheathed. It would do him no good against the hard stone of the elemental’s form but he brought up his shield. As the elemental completed assembling itself, its rocky face turned toward Talon. A green light, tinged with the purplish and black edge of corruption misted off of its form. Two glowing green and violet eyes fixed their gaze upon him and the elemental emit a roar. Talon wasn’t stupid, he immediately spread his wings and jumped into the air evading the elemental as it charged at him. He just barely managed to escape getting swiped out of the air as the clawed stony fingers of the elemental grazed the sole of one of his boots.
Talon glided over so that he was hovering over the ravine and out of the elemental’s reach. It turned to face him before lumbering over to one of the fallen statues. The elemental smashed its fists down upon the remnants of the statue breaking it into two chunks. Talon sighed. He knew exactly what was coming. The elemental hefted one of the hunks of rock up and then launched it at Talon. Not foolish enough to attempt to stop it, Talon dove out of the way by tucking his wings in close and swooping down toward the elemental. He expanded his wings flapping them to slow his momentum. The elemental swung one of its arms at him but Talon adjusted his fall angle and landed on its shoulder. He used that as a platform to leap back into the air, adding a bit of kinetic force to his jump in order to both propel himself skyward faster and to send the elemental off balance.
His maneuver was partially successful. He managed to narrowly dodge getting squashed by the elemental’s fist as it slammed its hand down on its own shoulder but it did not set the rocky creature off balance. Talon kept his shield up, deflecting bits of rock and debris that were flung off of the elemental’s form. He ascended higher into the air above the bridge. Talon opened his senses to the aether. He drew upon the power of Semblance peering into the fold of the elemental’s make-up.
“Damn!” Before he could get a clear focus on the rock giant, it chucked another hunk of stone at him. He dove out of the way once more then turned so that he could get a clear look at the elemental. It was lumbering across the bridge, clearly going for another large bit of stone to throw at him. Talon used that time to focus in on the elemental’s form. The first thing that stood out to him was rage. There was anger. There was agony. There was a screaming wrath that was so furious it made Talon jerk back at the force of it. He was stunned by how potent the elemental’s fury and pain was. It was mad with both hate and hurt, that much was abundantly clear as it was lashing out at anything and everything that came near it.
But as Talon focused in on its aura, he saw a collection of its aether that was much denser than the rest centered in its chest. The aura that Talon could see was littered with violet and black and green. Spots of decay and corruption that were eating away at the once proud elemental’s sanity. Talon felt a moment of pity for it before he was forced to break his concentration. He dropped low and landed upon the surface of the bridge, dodging another chunk of rock thrown at him. Almost as soon as he landed however, there was another one hurtling through the air toward him. Talon’s eyes went wide. He didn’t have time to dodge this one. Gathering his strength, Talon sent a blast of kinetic force across the flux where it slammed into the hunk of rock a mere foot from Talon himself. The rock exploded and Talon was sent flying back. He tucked his wings in close and rolled with the momentum so as to avoid injuring them.
When he finally came to a halt, he landed squarely on his front at the same end of the bridge that he’d first approached. He let out an oomph before picking himself up and shaking his head. Looking up, another rock was being lobbed into the air at him. Talon rolled to the side, scrambled to his feet then dove toward the ravine. He extended his wings, letting himself fall before gliding through the air current and following it back up, beneath the bridge and onto the opposite side. Flapping his wings he carried himself up higher, the whole way he began tugging the flow of the flux around him in tighter to his right hand. He curled his hand into a fist, pulling the strands of the flux into his fist more and more, tighter and tighter as he ascended until his hand was shaking with the force it was holding.
When Talon rose up, coming level with the surface of the bridge, the elemental was facing him. It spread its arms and roared. Talon didn’t want to miss his chance. He dove in close to the elemental. He brought up his hand, unfurled his fist, aimed for the elemental’s chest and released the blast of kinetic force he’d been holding onto. The blast connected with the elemental’s chest just as one of hands connected with Talon’s side. Talon let out a cry of pain as he was sent careening toward the ground of the bridge. He hit the flat stone of the bridge hard and bounced before rolling several feet. When he came to a stop, he was dazed for a moment before pulling himself to his knees. His side smarted but nothing was broken. His armor had served its purpose and his blast had most definitely sent the elemental stumbling back. Without those two things, he was certain it would have shattered a rib or two.
The elemental was picking itself back up after having been blasted off of its feet. There was a sizable dent in its chest. Wisps of green and purple mist were rising up out of the cracks like blood seeping from a wound.
“One more. One more, Talon.” He could do that. He hoped. Picking himself up, Talon took in a deep breath. He suppressed the urge to wince. He was definitely bruised along the ribs. Gathering the flux to him, Talon began winding it around his fist once more. As he did, he began sprinting toward the elemental. It was pulling itself back together. One of its massive fists pounded onto the surface of the bridge sending shockwaves across the earth. As Talon neared, its mouth opened emitting another roar, one of its arms swiped at him. He jumped forward, aiming for the ground, diving beneath the arm that swiped at him. He slid across the stone of the bridge coming right in front of the earth elemental. It turned its head toward him, raising the other arm to smash him. Talon didn’t wait.
Releasing the kinetic force that had built up he slammed it right into the elemental’s chest and watched as it exploded. Immediately, Talon rolled away from the hail of falling rock as the elemental was blasted to pieces. He extended a field of force around his body, repelling the flux from himself. He could feel rocks and stone pelting that small field as he darted away from the elemental. Turning, Talon watched as it crumbled. The rock and stone that made up its form falling not just back onto the bridge but into the ravine. Talon flopped down onto one of the large pieces of stone nearby. He rubbed his face and let out a heavy sigh. Bringing his pack around, he checked the contents. There was nothing breakable inside and aside from what looked like some smashed bread, they would be fine. He took out his waterskin, drank from it briefly, tore off a chunk of that bread then deposited both back into his pack.
Rising to his feet, Talon approached the remains of the earth elemental. He opened up his senses to the aether again. His rune of Semblance giving him the power to see beyond the mundane. The remains of the earth elemental were riddled with the black and violet corruption that Talon had first seen. But, there within the corpse of the fallen rock giant, Talon saw several auras that were wholly and fully green. They hummed softly in his senses, sending feelings of strength, solidarity and giving Talon a sense of growing things in his mind. He picked up two of these stones, inspecting them carefully for the corruption that he’d seen. When none was present that he could find, Talon deposited the two stones into his pack. Weaving the strength and purity of an earth elemental into Taelian’s sword would help. It was not why he’d entered the Warrens but it would be of great benefit.
Turning, Talon flexed his wings, put his pack back in place, checked to make sure he had everything and then continued his way into the Buried Empire of the First Deep.
