L
LunarLavendula
Guest
Original poster
"I have done worse things in my time, beast. If that is all you wish for then it shall be done. Death is as familiar to me as the touch of a distant lover. We are kindred, Death and I. Like you it walks in my footsteps, uninvited but always near."
He stepped out into a small parting of trees and stretched his arms beside him, palms out. An unearthly shriek filled the air, as the barks of the trees ripped into gaping maws, disfigured faces without eyes nor mouth screaming for mercy. A black mist snaked out their woody lips, a fierce wind filling the air, stagnant and rancid.
"Observe." cried Raydon, his feet lifting off the ground, his hair whipping across his face, the black mist swirling round his palms and disappearing into them. From his back sprouted wings of midnight, though their fabric was not of feathers, but something unnatural and otherworldly.
"Even now death surrounds me; it is my tool and my servant. I feed off it for life is weak and fragile. You shall have your death, but I warn you - it multiplies in any place given room for it to grow. This is my warning, beast, for I know no limits."
He threw his arms down and the shrieking halted, the grass beneath his feel wilting in an ever-increasing circle around him. "Come, beast, let us make short work of this so I may return to my venture." And with that, he took flight, shadow in tow.
--
Illodran was off in his own thoughts, he turned his head slightly to look at her and she was staring at his forehead. Next thing he knew...
"oh, my, you are quite energetic, aren't you?" if Illodran was taken back, he didn't show it. She was right there, the vision of her face inches from his. He kept his expression steady, even though she was practically sitting on him, her hands inches from his face. Mercy... he thought, unaware he was holding his breath.
"Drats.. This is not Eloa as i had feared."[/COLOR] stated the Virago.
A long, slow exhale. Illodran turned his face away, a wry smile on his face. "ah, that explains it, you had me mistaken for someone else." Illodran hid his disappointment. Of course, there was no reason for her to approach him with such fervor otherwise. It was a case of mistaken identity, nothing more.
And, suddenly - perhaps he should of come to expect him by now - the pups were upon him, bounding around, sitting on him, yapping excitedly, talking of gods and returns and... he sighed. What he needed was a nice relaxing day off by the spring he had been dozing at this morning... Simpler times.
Still, these were his forests to protect, and the concerns of it's citizens were as important to him as the concerns of his people from his kingdom long ago.
Then she was at his face again, this time screaming, and this was more then he could deal with today.
"You call this a god? What could this creature possibly do?" She eyed."Unacceptable!
"Enough!" he stood, his voice was low and commanding, he had no reason to raise his voice. A prince had strength enough without needing to ever shout, except perhaps on the field of battle. He clenched and unclenched his hands, trying not to let his temper seep out. "You mock me. I came to visit you out of concern and curiosity. But do not think that because I am well-mannered that I am weak. I have been alive for far longer then you could possibly believe. I abhor violence, my dear, but never, never, imply that I am unskilled. "
He turned to the door. "Though perhaps I should take it as a compliment of my disposition. You would do well to learn to keep your anger to yourself, as well."
He could not stand to listen to her yatter on about how he needed her -her! - protection, his blood was beginning to boil, and he slipped outside into the cool air.
A scream. Crystal's voice? Illodran was running round the building, and stopped dead in his tracks to witness the scene ahead. A knight, by the looks, had defended her honour against a band of thugs. He would of been too late to come to her rescue. Illodran leaned back around the corner, out of sight from the pair, his hands clenched into fists.
Just what he'd been afraid of. To be watching the pups while Crystal was off by herself.
She could of been... could of been...
He whipped his head to the side, casting away the thought. No, the knight had saved her. A love interest, perhaps? ...
Really, it was none of his business.
He really should of stayed in the glen today.
--
The ruins were all but destroyed.
Plumes of black smoke rose into the air as Raydon cast the gargoyle in two. No one had been here to defend it, bar the elders, and they stood no chance against his unholy magic.
"Life always bows to death. It is the way of this world." he murmured to his companion. "Rest in peace, guardians. Frankly, you were weak and out of sorts. Had you grown placid in your years of peace? It is no matter."
He leaned back against a smoldering husk of a tree, his attention turning to his shadow.
"You showed me the shrine, beast, now who is it you want slain-?"
A pillar of blue light shot up into the sky, and Raydon's eyes grew wide, disbelief, hungry.
"There has been a development. Our bargain is on hold. But join me, beast, for I rarely go back on my word." He said coldly, his eyes drinking in the sky. His graze drifted down to the tree line, and he darted like a black arrow through the trees, seeking it's target with deadly accuracy.
The blue light ebbed away to nothing, the wind howled in his ears as if begging that he should go no further, tugging at his clothes, trying to push him back. He paid no head and suddenly the trees parted before him. Before him lay a girl of unearthly beauty, and Raydon couldn't help but hate her for that.
He hated how innocent - how benevolent, how pure, how heavenly - she looked, even in slumber. how she was the total antithesis of everything he knew about this bitter world, how she could not possibly have ever known the depths of darkness that plagued this world.
In the deepest, darkest, emptiness within his core, something black and evil writhed in utter revulsion at this creature of astounding light. It clawed at the chasm of his heart, it pumped a hatred through his veins as molten as the core of this world.
Raydon was searching for an angel, but he could not have conceived what one had looked like, and had fleetingly pondered once or twice if he had missed his chance.
Now he was sure. "Beast, I have found my angel." there was an icyness in his tone, the kind of coldness that threatened to burn.
He hated her. Hated hated hated her. He had no heart to hate her with, but he hated her anyway.
He walked forward, standing over her, peering down with soulless eyes. He reached out a hand, hesitated. For a fleeting moment, the smallest, smallest of moments, Raydon thought it unworthy of him to touch her.
The thought was strangled, killed and laid to rest.
He snaked an arm under her waist and another round her knees, holding her soft as silk.
"We will find the ruined castle and make it our own. Shadow, I have not forgotten our agreement. Join me, be of use to me, and you can become king of this broken world for all I care."
He stepped out into a small parting of trees and stretched his arms beside him, palms out. An unearthly shriek filled the air, as the barks of the trees ripped into gaping maws, disfigured faces without eyes nor mouth screaming for mercy. A black mist snaked out their woody lips, a fierce wind filling the air, stagnant and rancid.
"Observe." cried Raydon, his feet lifting off the ground, his hair whipping across his face, the black mist swirling round his palms and disappearing into them. From his back sprouted wings of midnight, though their fabric was not of feathers, but something unnatural and otherworldly.
"Even now death surrounds me; it is my tool and my servant. I feed off it for life is weak and fragile. You shall have your death, but I warn you - it multiplies in any place given room for it to grow. This is my warning, beast, for I know no limits."
He threw his arms down and the shrieking halted, the grass beneath his feel wilting in an ever-increasing circle around him. "Come, beast, let us make short work of this so I may return to my venture." And with that, he took flight, shadow in tow.
--
Illodran was off in his own thoughts, he turned his head slightly to look at her and she was staring at his forehead. Next thing he knew...
"oh, my, you are quite energetic, aren't you?" if Illodran was taken back, he didn't show it. She was right there, the vision of her face inches from his. He kept his expression steady, even though she was practically sitting on him, her hands inches from his face. Mercy... he thought, unaware he was holding his breath.
"Drats.. This is not Eloa as i had feared."[/COLOR] stated the Virago.
A long, slow exhale. Illodran turned his face away, a wry smile on his face. "ah, that explains it, you had me mistaken for someone else." Illodran hid his disappointment. Of course, there was no reason for her to approach him with such fervor otherwise. It was a case of mistaken identity, nothing more.
And, suddenly - perhaps he should of come to expect him by now - the pups were upon him, bounding around, sitting on him, yapping excitedly, talking of gods and returns and... he sighed. What he needed was a nice relaxing day off by the spring he had been dozing at this morning... Simpler times.
Still, these were his forests to protect, and the concerns of it's citizens were as important to him as the concerns of his people from his kingdom long ago.
Then she was at his face again, this time screaming, and this was more then he could deal with today.
"You call this a god? What could this creature possibly do?" She eyed."Unacceptable!
"Enough!" he stood, his voice was low and commanding, he had no reason to raise his voice. A prince had strength enough without needing to ever shout, except perhaps on the field of battle. He clenched and unclenched his hands, trying not to let his temper seep out. "You mock me. I came to visit you out of concern and curiosity. But do not think that because I am well-mannered that I am weak. I have been alive for far longer then you could possibly believe. I abhor violence, my dear, but never, never, imply that I am unskilled. "
He turned to the door. "Though perhaps I should take it as a compliment of my disposition. You would do well to learn to keep your anger to yourself, as well."
He could not stand to listen to her yatter on about how he needed her -her! - protection, his blood was beginning to boil, and he slipped outside into the cool air.
A scream. Crystal's voice? Illodran was running round the building, and stopped dead in his tracks to witness the scene ahead. A knight, by the looks, had defended her honour against a band of thugs. He would of been too late to come to her rescue. Illodran leaned back around the corner, out of sight from the pair, his hands clenched into fists.
Just what he'd been afraid of. To be watching the pups while Crystal was off by herself.
She could of been... could of been...
He whipped his head to the side, casting away the thought. No, the knight had saved her. A love interest, perhaps? ...
Really, it was none of his business.
He really should of stayed in the glen today.
--
The ruins were all but destroyed.
Plumes of black smoke rose into the air as Raydon cast the gargoyle in two. No one had been here to defend it, bar the elders, and they stood no chance against his unholy magic.
"Life always bows to death. It is the way of this world." he murmured to his companion. "Rest in peace, guardians. Frankly, you were weak and out of sorts. Had you grown placid in your years of peace? It is no matter."
He leaned back against a smoldering husk of a tree, his attention turning to his shadow.
"You showed me the shrine, beast, now who is it you want slain-?"
A pillar of blue light shot up into the sky, and Raydon's eyes grew wide, disbelief, hungry.
"There has been a development. Our bargain is on hold. But join me, beast, for I rarely go back on my word." He said coldly, his eyes drinking in the sky. His graze drifted down to the tree line, and he darted like a black arrow through the trees, seeking it's target with deadly accuracy.
The blue light ebbed away to nothing, the wind howled in his ears as if begging that he should go no further, tugging at his clothes, trying to push him back. He paid no head and suddenly the trees parted before him. Before him lay a girl of unearthly beauty, and Raydon couldn't help but hate her for that.
He hated how innocent - how benevolent, how pure, how heavenly - she looked, even in slumber. how she was the total antithesis of everything he knew about this bitter world, how she could not possibly have ever known the depths of darkness that plagued this world.
In the deepest, darkest, emptiness within his core, something black and evil writhed in utter revulsion at this creature of astounding light. It clawed at the chasm of his heart, it pumped a hatred through his veins as molten as the core of this world.
Raydon was searching for an angel, but he could not have conceived what one had looked like, and had fleetingly pondered once or twice if he had missed his chance.
Now he was sure. "Beast, I have found my angel." there was an icyness in his tone, the kind of coldness that threatened to burn.
He hated her. Hated hated hated her. He had no heart to hate her with, but he hated her anyway.
He walked forward, standing over her, peering down with soulless eyes. He reached out a hand, hesitated. For a fleeting moment, the smallest, smallest of moments, Raydon thought it unworthy of him to touch her.
The thought was strangled, killed and laid to rest.
He snaked an arm under her waist and another round her knees, holding her soft as silk.
"We will find the ruined castle and make it our own. Shadow, I have not forgotten our agreement. Join me, be of use to me, and you can become king of this broken world for all I care."