True Form (Reboot)

[Ninja_Onions]

Makos saw the emerald glint approach, his first reaction: survive. He ducked as the blade swooped where his head had been, the air itself being cut in twain with the force of the blow. "Dammit!" He exclaimed, his eardrums ringing as the reverb from the blades motion echoed in his helmet. He materialized his axe as he flapped his wings to push him back, creating space between him and the marble creature temporarily. "You know this guy?" He asked, almost cynically, before springing at the marble man to engage him in combat.

 

[Twizinator]

The cloaked figure wasted no time in launching another attack. Whatever blade lurked in its sleeve shot out at Sanz, cutting his cheek when he dodged. It stabbed into the wall behind him, and in the moment of stillness revealed itself to be a long metal razor whip. With a jerk of his arm the tip dislodged from the wall and the cloaked man flicked it at the half-breed, highly intent on slicing him to ribbons.


--------------


Unexpectedly, the creature responded to Makos' question. "She does not," it spoke calmly, no expression on its face, as it easily dodged and parried the axe with its gleaming blade. It's voice had an unidentifiable tone, and its aura was almost nonexistent. Or, actually, it would be more accurate to say that neither its voice or aura had any sort of set character about them, as if they couldn't decide what they wanted to 'sound' or 'feel' like.

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz clapped both of his hands together when the whip flew towards him. In that instant, a massive torrent of wind flew in every direction from him. The whip was immediately repulsed, as was its wielder, and everyone else in the immediate vicinity. The magic made no distinction between allies and enemies.


"Can we just CALM DOWN for two seconds?!"

 

[MrKnucklebones]

Vulcan was abruptly launched forward. He had been prepared for an attack but not from his own "ally." He turned the abrupt forward push into a roll coming up with a blade of solid flame forming in his hand like a sheet of paper burning in reverse. He raised the sword at their attacker and said in a low menacing voice "drop the whip and I won't fry your legs to bacon."

 

[Cyrionessa]

"...as apt I am to agree to frying people..." Astrild sighed. "Don't fry him. The Archangel might not like that." Two flame arrows were notched in her bow and they were sighted on the cloaked figure. "Who the hell are you?"


----


"....do you really think I have not felt you skulking around, though your aura is in such flux..." Nava closed her eyes and felt her blood burn with pain. A moment later, the red marks across her body fluxed into a deep gray and her skin grew hard as stone, rippling in the way that rocks sometimes do. When her eyes opened, they flickered with red.


"What the..." Mi'Kiri already had her axe at ready to go on the offensive but she was shocked by the sudden change. "Who the heck is this chick again?"

 

[Ninja_Onions]

Makos continued deflecting more blows than he was throwing. Blocking a heavy downward strike with the bar of his axe, he retorted. "She," He began, throwing the constructs swing off to continue, "used to be one of the angels revered generals. One of the," he paused, throwing a swing to intercept the constructs, causing each of their weapons to clang and bounce off each other, "seven who are high council in their capital. If I remember right, she used to be," he said, re-positioning himself within the close quarters, "the second strongest amongst them. And," He ducked, narrowly avoiding a mid-swipe, "as much as I love fighting stuff that doesn't feel pain apparently," he brought the axe down, catching it on the constructs blade, repelling it's swing from his body, "I would really appreciate some help."

 

[Twizinator]

The man stood, his cloak having been torn and twisted from Sanz's blast of wind. He'd been thrown into a wall, and shook off the impact as he rose to his feet. "Man, screw this!" he moaned as he tore off his cloak. "Damn thing's gettin' in my way."


Once the cover was removed, the man's true appearance was revealed. He was short, thin, and had beady black eyes. His light bluish-green skin contrasted his dark gray-green hair, which hung around his head like seaweed, long and straight. He was dressed lightly, wearing an orange vest, white shorts, and brown leather sandals. His wide and cruel smile revealed three rows of razor-sharp teeth.


"Who am I?" he snorted. "I'm the mother-f***er that's gonna tear your tits off, Dawn-b*tch!" He growled. With a flick of his wrist, the razor whip - his soulblade - appeared in his hand again, and lashed out at Astrild with vicious speed.


-------------


The construct spoke once more, this time as if reading off a dossier. "You are Makos, the son of the famed executioner Makaidos. Lineage: Draconic demon. Soulblade: Soulrender, Taker of Lives. Age: approximately 700 years. Strengths: melee combat with soulblade. Weaknesses: undetermined. Possibly of ranged and magical nature." It paused. "Order of Execution: Negative."


An emerald blade extended from its other wrist, catching Makos just off-guard enough to cause a shallow cut at his right lower thigh. Immediately after the construct spun and smashed both blades into Makos, hurling him into a wall with impressive force. "Mi'Kiri," it suddenly turned to the other demon. "Lineage: Rage demon. Soulblade: Ripper, Axe of the Damned. Age: approximately 250 years. Strengths: overpowering rage in melee combat. Weaknesses: no ranged potential, lacking mental fortitude, untested elemental weakness to water." It took a few steps toward her. "Order of Execution: Negative." It flew forward with a sudden burst of speed, kicking Mi'Kiri square in the solar plexus, causing her to double over. It then smashed its elbow into the base of her neck, dropping her to the ground and stunned for a moment.


"Nava Alustar," it turned to the woman. "Lineage: angelic, specifics unknown. Soulblade: Mishtai, Blades of Madness. Age: 500, perhaps. Strengths: Unknown. Weaknesses: Unknown. Will acquire data from ensuing combat. Order of Execution: Affirmative."


The construct lowered into a battle stance, preparing to attack Nava. "Primary objective: death of Nava Alustar. Secondary objective: death of Makos, Mi'Kiri. Witnesses undesirable. Should eliminate." It paused. "We will save them save for last. Primary objective is imperitive. Father's orders."

 

[Cyrionessa]

"....you silly, silly creature..." Astrild smirked. When the razor ship reached her location, she wasn't there anymore. She had appeared five feet to the left. Just a simple jump to her, but a little faster than the eye can track easily. "You really should learn...." She set loose the fire double shot and sensed the preparation of another swing. She suddenly appeared another five feet to the left. "That if you talk to a woman that way...." She fired another double shot, this one of light. Then she jumped again. The swing was aimed for the next five feet to the left. The guy suddenly would feel something massively hot near his neck. As he looked in front of him, a fire and light arrow were notched in a bow and they were dangerously close to his throat. Astrild's green eyes sparkled from behind them as her tone turned dark. "You'll get exactly what you deserve." She was paused for the moment, allowing the guy to realize that his options just became very, very limited. One wrong move and he would have two arrows inside of his throat.


----


Nava's eyes narrowed. "....no one's dying today...." Her body shook slightly as she understood the gravity of the situation. It was then that some sort of auto-pilot kicked in and everything changed. "...what do you say, girls?" Mishtai was in her hands now and the look in her eyes was crazed. "Should we have a little fun?" Without waiting for an answer from her blades, she clashed them together in front of her. Black sparks formed in shadow needles that flew towards the construct.


Test that and see what happens. Light Mishtai whispered in her mind.


No, run in while its occupied. Dark Mishtai argued.


"...why not both?" Nava's words meant nothing except to Mishtai within her mind. The instant that she shadow needles splintered onto the surface of the construct, Nava jumped.


Let us aid you, Nava. The two Mishtais said in tandem as a dark substance covered the blades. She was glad she had chosen the rock hard skin of a stone demon, along with its massive strength. An inhuman scream of war echoed throughout the tunnel as she whipped behind the construct and sliced at its back.


Mi'Kiri groaned on the ground. Why did they always choose sucker punches like that? Wasn't a straight forward fight a better test of strength? Then again, this was a construct. A mere construct had just leveled her. And that made her upset. Very, very upset.


"......RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA." Mi'Kiri was back on her feet and now attempting to bring Ripper down on top of the construct's head in order to split him in half. The change in the Nava woman was a little worrisome though. It didn't appear as if all her marbles were there.

 

[MControl]

Walking back to the tavern he left the angels at, Dystopics sipped at the tankard of rather fine mead he was carrying. Having seen a rather small, out-of-the-way specialty shop, he couldn't resist popping off for minute to taste what angels considered mead. That was one of the reasons he was even here after all was said and done. Looking at the tavern, he sees fireballs flying from behind it. "Seriously? I leave them alone for five minutes..." sighing despondently, he places a tight cover carefully over the mead, before placing it somewhere in his cloak. Closing his eyes, he stands for a moment, and as a cart passes by, he disappears from sight. The more observant, though, would see a sever darkening of shadows, which seemed to travel towards the back of the tavern.


---


Appearing behind Astrild, emerging as if from a pool of water made of un-light, he says, "Seriously, Five minutes. Five minutes alone," pausing for effect, his rather somber visage morphs to something else, "And you go off having fun without me." he looked as sad as a person could be while smiling, as he said, "I know you don't like me much, but did you even realize i wasn't here?"

 

[Ninja_Onions]

Makos shrugged off most of the blow, more winded than injured overall. Damn that thing hits hard. Although... Makos thought, realizing that both Mi'Kiri and Nava had joined into the fray, between three enemies and four weapons, it's going to be pretty difficult to block all of our attacks, consistently at least. Makos grinned a toothy grin behind his plate helmet, almost big enough to match the teeth etching on the outside of it. Unfair fights always were my favorite. He leapt up into a swing, aiming to hit the back of the construct that had moved past him.

 

[MrKnucklebones]

"ASTRILD DON'T!" Vulcan eyes widened as Astrild flashed in front of her opponent, her bow raised. For this guy to have been sent against them both on his own he couldn't be a lightweight, and Astrild's typical arrogance was about to get her killed. He instantly sent a burst of flame between them while conjuring a solid wall of flame directly behind the strange demon. Dashing forward with his blade raised he yelled " SANZ HIT HIM HIGH!"

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz had faced death a couple of times before in his life, but he always chose to escape from it. A full-on battle like this was not something he had a great deal of experience with. So when the older angel shouted at him to do something, Sanz was leaning against one of the alley walls, trying to keep his breath steady


"Hit him what now?"

 

[Twizinator]

Sanz's hesitation gave the shark-like man the opportunity he needed. He thrust his hands backwards at the wall of flame, launching torrents of water from his palms. immediately there was a loud *HISS* as the alleyway was filled with steam and mist. It was as if they were all suddenly trapped in a dense, hot cloud. Visibility was laughable. Unfortunately for the others, the shark man didn't really need to aim, and he didn't have to worry about friendly fire. His razor whip flailed wildly, striking randomly and rapidly all about. He was confident he would hit someone eventually due to his weapon's characteristics.


"Hahahahahahaha! Keel over for me would ya? I wanna get paid!" he laughed as his weapon tore the alleyway and its inhabitants to pieces. Sanz, Dystopics, Astrild, and Vulcan were all taking lashings from the weapon, and if they didn't do something soon it would cut them to ribbons in due time.


----------------


Despite being against three incredibly talented melee opponents, the construct was holding his own remarkably well. He would parry two of the weapons and dodge the other two, his marble body letting him shrug off most glancing blows. Still, chips and dents and cracks were starting to show. To the trio, the fruits of their labor were revealing that this thing was definitely not invincible.


"It would seem this fight is not in our favor," it mused calmly to itself, making a neutral statement while it fought for its 'life'. Breaking free of the fight, it disengaged back to the cavern's mouth. "No matter. We are not required to dispatch Nava Alustar immediately. There is still the disturbance in the Beastwild to investigate. We elect to handle that matter while we wait for Father to make a move himself." It looked Nava right in the eye. "We will return to kill you in due time." It was a statement void of emotion. It was not a threat, and it was said with no confidence or malice. It could have been stating the weather or time of day, such was the lack of tone. The construct's wings expanded and it launched into the sky, disappearing into the horizon quickly.

 

[Ninja_Onions]

"Damn. I hate it when they run. And seeing as it took all three of us to fight it, hell, just to survive it, that is not something I'm chasing off 'into the sunset' after. Nggh..." Makos winced slightly as he noticed the shallow cut on his lower leg. F*cker went right through my armor. Getting this fixed is going to be difficult in its own merit." He unlatched the back of the plate leg and tied some cloth around the cut to stop the bleeding, before replacing the leg piece. "That'll do until I can get it looked at. At least it will be a clean cut to mend, what with how sharp its blades were. Anyway..." Makos said, toward Nava and Mi'Kiri. "Like it or not archangel, you have a hit on you. And judging by the strength of that...thing...someone must really want you dead. And I'm talking 'off the face of this world' dead. Not even the executioners were that emotionless, no matter how hard we try." Makos shook his head slightly. "So your options started as hide here and wait to rot away, or go out and use your powers, and became stay here and die much sooner or leave and go out in a blaze of glory. Either way you put it, " Makos said, shrugging lightly, "death is looking for you. Whether or not you want to look it in the eyes when it finds you is your choice." He turned to look at Mi'Kiri. "We still have that mark that needs taken care of, and we are certainly not getting any closer standing around in this volcano cave." Makos turned and began to head towards the cave mouth, stretching his wings a bit as he walked. "This trip was a real eye opener, but we need to get going if we are going to get to Fort Apolan. Hopefully he is still hiding somewhere there. Better than having to scour the Wastelands for him." Makos finished, exiting the cave while removing his helmet, hooking it unceremoniously on his belt.

 

[Ixidor92]

Ow


Ow


OW


Sanz had his arms crossed over his face, with a thin barrier of wind just inches from his skin. It prevented the blade from piercing through his vital organs, but the numerous cuts on his skin were starting to really hurt. He winced as he felt something snap in his right wing . . . well dammit, that would take time to heal. In all this steam his eyes were useless--at least in the visual sense. Sanz grunted and opened his eyes, which lost their pupils and irises, becoming a blood red orb and solid emerald orb within his eye sockets. A fiery angelic spirit, shining like the sun. Another fiery angelic spirit, ancient and ever-burning. A murky shadow, that seemed to not care for the rules of the world. And there--a murky river, flowing like sewage. Sanz let out a yell as all the wind around his body was condensed into his fist and fired at the offender. It didn't sound like moving wind so much as a cannon going off. The steam immediately was sucked into the vacuum of the shot, displaying where it had been fired from and it was going quite well. Sanz heard a satisfying *thud* against the wall of the alley, along with cracking stone

 

[Twizinator]

The shark-like assailant was slumped against the wall, but stood a moment later, groaning in pain. "Stupid f**king MUTT!" he shouted at Sanz, insulting his mixed lineage. "You think you're hot shit with your wind magic. You wanna see REAL magic?!"


Practically all ambient water in the alley was condensed just in front of the man, rapidly taking shape. In seconds, a massive shark constructed entirely of water was looming down at the quartet. "THIS is magic, kiddos! Class dismissed!" he shouted smugly as the 'shark' surged forward, taking up almost the entire alleyway and crashing into three of its four targets, carrying them far down the alley and into an opposite wall.


One of them was unaffected due to quick thinking, however: Dystopics, with his great skill with both water and shadow, was able to phase through the shark as if it didn't exist. It simply passed through him, leaving him a little damp but no worse for wear. "The f**k?" the man said, confused. "Why ain't you carried off with my aqua shark? Who or what are you?!"

 

[MControl]

The, so far, normally relaxed and easy-going Dystopics stood, a foreign emotion plastered on to his face. Still as the surface of a tranquil pond, the air around him seemed to freeze, as if someone had broken some great taboo. Disgust evident in his voice, he spat out, "That, that was pathetic. That was no magic, that was the stumbling of a half-blind child!" As his face rearranged itself into a terrible, cruel grin, he spoke softly, though it carried to all on the unnatural stillness of the air, "Now, for some real MAGIC!" His arms were at his sides, slightly spread, as his hands seemed to grab hold of... something. As he pulled his arms up, a thick mist seemed to emerge from all around them, and as all the moisture was pulled from brick, stone, and road alike, older structures crumbled.


As all the moisture was pulled and collected from their surroundings, Dystopics' arms kept rising, and the mist began to spiral upwards into the heavens, a began forming a large, pendulous cloud over the alley. As the cloud grew though, so did the shadows. Eclipsing the sun, for them at least, Dystopics basked in the shadows. As the last of the mist rose up into the new cloud, it began to rain back down, as a light drizzle. As he watched his opponent, his grin grew sharper, as he could almost hear him scoff at this display. 'Oh just wait, its been a while since i've had to pull this out, but you've successfully pissed me off.' As the rain grew heavier, the shadows grew darker, and bystanders in the market behind them were amazed to see not just the rapid formation of a low-hanging raincloud, but the catalysis of rain across the city, Dystopics' one cloud sparking cloud formation and precipitation across the city.


Heaving on that meta-physical muscle that was his power over shadows, the temperature dropped rapidly, and instead of rain, snow began to fall. Thousands upon thousands of miniscule blades of ice, reinforced by water and shadow magics, began to funnel themselves towards the one back alley where Dyptopics was standing. Watching as the shark-thing realized what it had just seen; an individual created weather, caused on a whim a storm across the city. He just hoped he wouldn't catch on to the snowflakes slicing his skin as they fell before the main funnel arrived to grind him into dust. "This, Is magic", he said, arms raised to the sky, enjoying the opportunity to let go of his normal restraint on power. He'd have one hell of a hangover tomorrow, but if he was right about the would-be assassin, it would be more than worthwhile. Hell, he might even get a compliment from the angel woman he was following around.

 

[Twizinator]

Sekko Lizoya, otherwise known as Barracuda, was a coward.


He had only taken this job for the ridiculous paycheck upon success. That, and the fact that he enjoys killing. He had heard his targets were beneath his strength, but not to be taken lightly. He was tasked with assassinating a young and arrogant angel woman and a half-breed to whom combat was practically unknown. He had not signed up to combat THIS.


"Wh-what the...what the f*** are you?!" he exclaimed, retreating a step at a time. He could feel the tiny cut of each snowflake, and knew that if he didn't run now, he would die. Horribly. Screw the paycheck and screw his employer. Sekko wanted to live.


He turned on his heel and ran, as fast as he could through the alley, disappearing around a corner. While he was lacking in strength, he was pretty good at running away. Hopefully they wouldn't chase after him. He was heading West, planning to escape to the Wastelands.

 

[Cyrionessa]

Anger. Pulsing anger. That was all that was going through Astrild's head. The insolence, treating her like she could not handle herself. Hadn't she walked through the jaws of death before and came out unscathed? She may look like a light weight, but she could definitely handle herself. Vulcan's face suddenly found itself connected with an angry, feminine fist.


"Never. Stand. Between. Me. And. My. Prey. Again." Astrild immediately took off in pursuit of her quarry.


----


"Yeah. Let's take care of our mark." Mi'Kiri growled out angrily. "Sooner we get that done, the sooner I go level that piece of s***. Nothing hits me like that....AND WALKS AWAY!!!!" The last words came out in a roar of anger.


Nava arms shook as her eyes twitched between the two people. The enemy, where was he? Was he still here? Her mind was jumbled terribly right now. Who were these people? Were they her enemies? Allies?


They are more people to kill. Black Mishtai whispered.


If we kill too many, we draw more attention to ourselves. White Mishtai replied.


Kill them. They have seen us. Black Mishtai suggested.


Keep them alive, they may be useful. White Mishtai mused.


"...gaah..." Nava collapsed against the wall, Mishtai still in hand, curled up into the fetal position. Her entire body was shaking. "...kill...do not kill...kill...do not kill..."

 

[Ixidor92]

"Gah!"


A shout came from the back of the alley as a shockwave resonated from the source, followed by a lot of steam as the water evaporated. Both from the surrounding area, and off the body of the half-breed responsible


"Geez. Who exactly did you piss off?"

 

[Ninja_Onions]

"If only tempers could cut stone." Makos said as he began walking down the slope from the fiery mount behind him. "Whatever that thing was, it fought like a weapon more than a being." He continued, wincing slightly as his plate rubbed against the tender skin where he had been cut. "Rather see something like that cast into The Pits than walking around up here." He shook his head, realizing his rambling. "Archangel if you wish to sate you appetite for death then you should probably follow us." He said, looking out toward Fort Apolan. "Few bring as much death as the Executioners, especially so with one such as Mi'Kiri's reputation around." Makos chuckled slightly. "While not an Executioner, she definitely has the spirit of one." He continued down the shallow incline, favoring his leg slightly as he did.

 

[Twizinator]

In Falmire, the Maleficarum are preparing for the arrival of three Archangels to begin a discussion on the likelihood of war, how it could be prevented, and even why war could be beneficial.


"The angel representatives will be arriving shortly," Urutel said from his seat. He was dressed immaculately as usual, and his piercing gaze was not focused on either of his fellow demons.


"This little debate is pointless," the woman to Urutel's left said. She was Delaiah, the Archdemon of Greed, and the third seat of the Maleficarum. She was also a lamia: where most people had legs, she had a long serpent's body from the waist-down. Her green snake eyes were framed by a pair of stylish glasses, which she had the habit of adjusting whenever she finished speaking. Her bob of black hair matched her black leather jacket and gloves. A gleam from her neck showed off a gold necklace. "The angels want blood for what the blood demons did seven decades ago, and our people want to spill it as well. I fear that even if we elect for peace the common folk will march without us all the same," she said as her green-scaled tail twitched behind her.


"I am in agreement," the person to Urutel's right replied, its speech slow and measured, its deep voice carrying through the large hall they sat in. "As the second seat, I, Astaroth of Sloth, vote that we dispense of such pointless formalities and simply attack the pidgeons while they roost." Astaroth sat in a giant black legless throne, which floated just off the ground. His body was shrouded in a black cloak, though two pinpricks of white shone from beneath the hood.


Urutel shot his calm gaze to Astaroth for the barest of moments. "And as the FIRST seat, I say we will do no such thing. Are we demons so cowardly to resort to surprise attacks? No. If it comes to war, it will be formally acknowledged by both sides. We will eradicate them on equal grounds. We will crush them beneath our boots, and they will have no excuses upon our clear victory."


Astaroth chuckled. "Well spoken. You have too much pride for cloak-and-dagger, then? Ah, but of course you do. I almost forgot which Archdemon I was speaking to, Urutel."


A couple minutes passed in silence before the doors at the opposite end opened. Three angels strode in and took seats opposite the Archdemons. In the center, across from Urutel, sat Lezafold, his serious expression stoic as he sat in potential enemy territory. To his left, across from Astaroth, sat Mor, short and dwarf-like compared to the others. His beard twitched as he sized up the three demons before him. To the right, across from Delaiah, sat Jerusiel. He stood out, even among those gathered here. His robes, wings, and hair of pure white, skin like ivory, and a serene expression on his face with the barest of smiles on his lips. His eyes were white crosses against black sclera.


Urutel stood. "Welcome to Falmire, Archangels," he greeted. "Let this war council begin."

 

[MrKnucklebones]

Vulcan snorted, he'd taken blows from Jotun for years. Compared to one of their mighty blows Astrild's punch felt like a love tap. He took to the air flying out of the cloud of steam and yelled down at the halfbreed Sanz. "Sanz follow him from the air I'll cut him off!!" Vulcan took off on strong wings heading in the direction the demon was heading flying,fast and low in an attempt to get ahead.

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz shook himself slightly and took to the skies, trying to figure out where the bastard went. He closed his eyes and let his magical senses extend.


Water.


Nothing but water everywhere. And it didn't belong to that insipid shark. His magic flowed like sewage water. This was what the shade had done earlier. And it was covering the entire area like a dense fog. He knew it had been powerful, but to so utterly cover every other power like this . . . he shook his head and flew in the vague direction the shark had gone, hoping that his mundane senses would be enough


[dice]2004[/dice]

 

[Twizinator]

Barracuda ran, fast and far. He ran for what felt like forever. Fleeing West out of Fort Apolan, he raced across the open plains, hoping to outrun his former-prey-turned-predators. Unfortunately, they never let up. He could feel them behind him the entire time. Barracuda had a strong "aura sense," much like Sanz's ability. He could sense the four souls behind him in hot pursuit. In truth, he might have been able to handle the two angels and the mutt. That other man, though...


"Tch. I thought Blight was the only Archon around," he moaned to himself as he sprinted. "Nobody told me that guy was one and that I'd have to deal with him. F*** my life."


--------------


"Do you really think Barracuda can do it?"


"I would not have assigned him his task if I did not think him capable."


"But he's a coward, big brother. You know this."


"Yes. But he's more afraid of failing me than of failing his mission."


"If you say so..."


"Focus, Jezebel. We have more pressing concerns than the reliability of that minion," Izaya told his company, the medusa Jezebel, as they stepped over the fresh corpses of the High Council. "Namely, the collection of these souls. Be a good girl and make certain I am not disturbed - I don't want to miss a single soul for my next step."


"Okay, big brother," Jezebel said as she left Izaya to his work.


Once Jezebel was out of sight, Izaya summoned his soulblade to his hand - a dagger with a slightly curved blade. It appeared to be fashioned out of a single piece of yellowish bone. In the hilt was a dark green gem which began to softly glow. "Come to me, spirits of my slain," Izaya said with a smile. "I have plans for all of you."


---------------


This was getting ridiculous in Barracuda's mind. Surely they had to be getting tired?!


He had just made it into the Wastelands, and his stamina was starting to give. He had entered a veritable maze of stone, charred trees, and rubble, all of which barely rose six or seven feet high at the most. Though it offered decent cover on foot, it offered no sanctuary from the ones who could fly. Worse, since he was so focused on escaping this group, he wasn't aware of the new group he was headed towards - an Executioner, a rage demon, and a fallen Archangel...