HELLFIRE

[rissa]

Cinzel Lora

HELLFIRE

@Mars Walker & @rissa || OOC

 

[Mars Walker]

Amaimon​

Her breaths were heavy, and her feet hit the ground hard with every running leap she took. Under her cloak, Amaimon carried something very special, a magical relic. When she was younger, she'd had the pleasure of seeing this particular relic up close and in action, and as a young child, it was an absolute marvel to see. it was called a Storyweaver, a simple contraption that held stories about the history of magic- accurate stories, at that. To Amaimon, that made this relic a desired cornerstone of magical history, for if she didn't live to tell stories about the time before the Ban, then this little contraption could.
Not only did this little thing hold stories, it could give physical manifestations of the stories it held, like holographs the stories would dance around the listeners, giving an in depth experience.

Amaimon's adrenaline coarsed through her veins as she ran through the streets on the outskirts of the city. She'd managed to sneak into the catacombs under the city with ease, but upon trying to exit with a bag of relics Amaimon had been spotted. The Storyweaver was the only relic she'd managed to not drop during the chase, and she would definitely put her life on the line for it. She looked over her shoulder briefly, gasping as an arrow whizzed by her face, leaving a small cut on her cheek. She turned her gaze ahead, finally finding the spot she'd entered the city through.

If Amaimon had been smart enough, she would have brought a horse. Unfortunately, there was no horse, and Amaimon was forced to rely on her unnatural dhampir-given speed. She ducked out of the city, breezing past a small group of people, and ran into the surrounding forest, clutching the Storyweaver to her chest. She slowed down to a jog when she felt safe, but just as she let her guard down, Amaimon was struck in the shoulder by an arrow, causing her to drop the relic. She hissed in pain as the metal arrowhead burned her skin, causing a slight rash to appear where the arrow had pierced her. She pulled the arrow out, and threw her cloak to the ground, only to be struck by another arrow that cause her skin to burn.

"Fuck-! You guys are getting smarter, using holy weaponry...!" She hissed, wincing as a third arrow struck her in the stomach.

Amaimon wasn't worried about the placement of her new injuries- if she could drink a bit of blood, the wounds would heal themselves.

But why bother? You would rather just die, wouldn't you? Your the only crusader against this madness. What's the point?

Amaimon's thought made her pause, and another arrow was fired into her thigh. She remained standing still, reaching for her claymore slowly, her eyes steadily gazing at the group of five King's Guards as they surrounded her, all on horseback. One of the guards carried a spear, two of them were archers, and the remaining two wielded swords and shields.

Just another year. Just wait another year, something new might happen.

Amaimon let an arrow strike her through the wrist, knocking her hand away from the hilt of her claymore. She was surprised when her wrist was jerked backwards by the arrow, looking to see that the weapon was attached to a long chain. it was a makeshift weapon- something she could see the guards thought would stop her.

"Halt, Dhampir! The King has tolerated more than enough of your unholy presence! You stand charged with murder, assault, thievery, and treason!" The largest of the guards spoke in a deep voice, glaring down at her as if she were the scum of the earth; And she didn't think he was wrong about that.

Amaimon gave a cocky smirk, grabbing the chained arrow with her other hand, and snapping it in half. She pulled the arrow from her wrist, blood dripping from her wounds. She pulled the other arrows from her body, "Well, I guess I plead guilty, I've definitely murdered a few people. It's been 250 years, who wouldn't have at least tried to get away with it at least once!" Amaimon suddenly gripped the two arrows that she had pulled from her body, throwing them with such strength and precision that they both struck the two archer guards in the throat, lodging between the space of their helmets and chest plates. The remaining three guards were taken aback by the sudden attack, and Amaimon used the split-second shocker to grab the Storyweaver and bolt once more, the guards giving chase.

She ran with a limp, suddenly slightly more determined to escape with her relic without killing too many more people.

Her escape was quickly thwarted when a spear sailed past her, slicing through her side as she narrowly dodged it, before lodging itself into the ground. preventing the spear from piercing her gut. She fell to the ground, gripping her side, the wound from the spear much worse than a small arrow wound. She grunted in pain, hissing as one of the guards ripped her claymore from its sheath while she was immobilized, holding it over her with a grin.

"Out of all the magical creatures there are, I think your kind is the lowest of the low. You are merely a bottomfeeder." He spoke condescendingly to Amaimon, throwing the claymore aside, and unsheathing his own weapon.

I suppose another year was too much to ask for?

​

 

[rissa]

calcifer lamoria

The King's Guard were surprisingly easy to surround. A sense of resentment coursed through his veins as he waited for the right moment to reveal itself. Half of his party were already off, fleeing to their camp in a roundabout manner with the relics the Dhampir hadn't managed to recover. Cal opted to stay, to keep track of the King's Guard and gods willing, recruit the Dhampir. They were sloppy, rushing heads first and toying the woman with arrows. It was distasteful, their enjoyment, but it gave him and his team time to get in place and wait for the right moment. When he spotted it, he whistled softly and dropped from his vantage point in the trees.

Rushing forward and retrieving the discarded claymore from the ground, Calcifer Lamoria used his momentum to deliver a hefty swing, one that sliced right through flesh and bone. The guard screamed and Calcifer swung again, this time taking pity on the man, ending his suffering with another blow that decapitated him.

"None must be allowed to get away," Calcifer called out in a secret tongue, "They mustn't give word that we and the girl escaped with the artifacts." He spared a momentary glance down, to the claymore, almost appreciatively, surprised at how well balanced the blade was in his grasp. Before handing it back to its owner, he motioned toward the body lying beside her. "Drink from him if you can, you need to heal before we set out."

His team made quick work of the rest of the King's Guard, all using a combination of outdated enchanted weapons and illegal magical artifacts. They worked in unison, as if they'd been fighting alongside each other for their entire lives, and when they were finished, made quick work of retrieving everything of value and discarding the bodies in a more-than-they-deserve manner.

Calcifer made rounds, checked with his scouts, and gave time for the Dhampir to do as she wished.

When they were nearly ready to head out once more, Calcifer made his way back to the woman they saved. Kneeling down a few paces away, Cal scratched at his beard thoughtfully before speaking. "Have you heard of the Sacred Sun? If not, then let me introduce you..." He finished pointedly, as if waiting for her to offer up a name.

 

[Mars Walker]

Amaimon​

Amaimon scrambled to her knees, thoroughly surprised at the scene unfolding before her. She gripped her bleeding side, watching curiously as her claymore allowed itself to be wielded by someone other than herself. Dazra'al the Demon Claymore hadn't ever done that before, and she made amental note to ask him about it once she was in a better position to do so.

The ambush ended as quickly as it had started. While the leader of the group made his rounds, Amaimon took her time to grab the body nearest to her and press her lips to the still warm skin, draining the body of the blood she so desperately needed to live. Once she finished, Amaimon's eyes were on the bearded man who handed her the sword back. She took it shakily, a few wisps of blue flame producing from the hilt as she grabbed it, a sign of Dazra'ak's displeasure with her. She closed her eyes and sighed, coughing up a bit of blood.
Amaimon sheathed the claymore as her wounds began to heal quickly, her body nourished by the fresh blood. Her cold and unwavering eyes settled on the bearded man before her, and she parted her still-bloodied lips to speak, her voice rough, and tired.

"Don't ever come save me again. I don't want help." She hissed, rubbing her side in annoyance as it healed. She was almost feeling a little embarrassed that this group of warriors had saved her from the brink of death.

At least something new happened?

It was the first positive thought she'd had in a while, and Amaimon sighed again, her eyes not having left the man, "No. I've not heard of the Sacred Sun. Sounds like a sissy parlor game group. You can call me Amaimon, Wielder of Dazra'ak the Demon Claymore, Master of Hellfire." She spoke, her tone almost sarcastic towards the end of her introduction.

Amaimon stood slowly, grunting a bit, "I'm gonna assume that you and your scouts are part of whatever the Sacred Sun is. I want my relics back. I will kill you for them, but I'd rather you not make me do that if I don't have to." She spoke, sounding a bit bored despite the sense of curiosity she felt towards the man and his people.

One thing was for sure; Amaimon wasn't going to get excited about anything until she knew she wouldn't have to murder them.

​

 

[rissa]

calcifer lamoria

"A bit too feisty for someone who was just about to die." Calcifer said with a scowl, his brows furrowed tightly, though whether it was due to anger or him being in deep thought was up for contestation. "If that's your wish, however, than so be it."

He scowled at her again as he rose from his kneeling position, wiping off a bit of bloodied dirt from his leather breeches. Cal sighed as he glanced around the small clearing and his eyes found the fresh tilled earth that had become the burial site of the King's Guardsmen. He'd hold the decision to act on his shoulders and he had no doubt he'd be reprimanded, but it was necessary. Even they would be able to say as much.

"The Sacred Sun is an organization in favor of bringing magic back to the kingdom." Calcifer explained rather tiredly, not even blinking an eye at the added insult. His eyes did perk up however, at the mention of her name and the weapon she wielded. "What makes you so sure we have your relics, Amaimon?" He hesitated, contemplating further. "You saw our skills just now, do you really think you'd be able to handle all of us… at once? Especially in the state you are in?"

Calcifer cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders before speaking again. "Let's say we did have them though… And we knew where more could be found… Would you be interested in a partnership?"

 

[Mars Walker]

Amaimon​

Amaimon rolled her eyes at the bearded man when he mentioned her being able to take all of them on at once. She was more than confident that she could do it. She didn't use magic often, but she hadn't needed to, because she had Dazra'ak. Perhaps she would have been rusty, but- No. Amaimon stopped her though process. She had no idea exactly what kind of power these folks wielded. If she were going to kill them, it'd be best to wait until a more opportune time arrived. And she had to admit, the way this man's team worked together was more fluid than water. They were good, and she knew it. It did piss her off that they didn't seem too keen on just handing her the relics. Her eyebrows lifted in a bit of shock at the mention of partnering up with the Sacred Sun.
"...It's true, I'm in a bit of a bad state. But who says I wasn't fully prepared to die, huh? Two hundred and fifty years is a long, long time to be alive." She muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose for a second, before looking back up at him, "Regardless of your basic magician tricks, they are my relics. But I guess if you fuckers are trying to save to world and bring back magic, it's alright if you keep them. I don't really care." She paused, frowning. She did care, very deeply. Amaimon took a couple steps closer to the bearded man, so that her face was merely inches from his, "I'll only partner up with your ragtag team if you tell me your name. And if I find that you're lying to me," Amaimon bared her fangs at him agressively, "Well, let's just put it simply, I'll rip your throats out." She hissed, taking a step back, her aggression laying low.
"Why do you want me anyways? I'm only one Dhampir. Nobody wants a Dhampir." Amaimon inquired, her eyebrows knitting together curiously.

​

 

[rissa]

calcifer lamoria

Cal could feel his own aggression rising as Amaimon bared her fangs, stopping within inches of his person to spew her threats. He bent down slightly, just before she stepped back and nearly growled out a retort of his own. "Don't threaten me if you can't make do, Amaimon. Just because we are human doesn't mean we can't defend ourselves-- against magic or the enhanced attributes of a Dhampir."

Scowling deeper, Cal pushed his aggression down and motioned towards his people, giving them the signal. They nodded in unison and began constructing a relic that Amaimon would probably recognize. Calcifer didn't know it's true name, but he was the one who found the relic and he was the one who unlocked it's secrets. Two of his men leveled out a patch of grass, while a woman fiddled with a few parts, making sure everything was lined up correctly.

"My name is Calcifer Lamoria," He said softly as he watched his team work. "You're not the only Dhampir the Sacred Sun has in its employ, Amaimon." He glanced into her frigid blue eyes, his verdant one's softening slightly as he finished. "And you aren't the only one who wishes for magic to return."

 

[Mars Walker]

Amaimon​

Calcifer. An interesting name. I like it.

Amaimon hadn't ever heard of a Calcifer, but she felt that it suited him best. She studied him, scrunching up her nose a little bit when he talked, "I know you lot can handle yourselves. You all smell like healthy, capable, delicious people." Amaimon grinned mischievously, her elongated canines peeking out." She spoke, watching for a moment as Calcifer's team began to assemble a relic. She glanced at him again, her eyes meeting his green ones, noticing that his softened a bit as he mentioned wanting magic to come back.

"Calcifer, my friend, it's not just that I want magic to come back. The world needs it to come back. There are many places in this kingdom that thrive off of the magic that some creatures produce. I would rather my homelands not be turned into a macal dead zone." Amaimon placed a hand over the tear in the clothing at her side. She'd only just bought the shirt, so it was rather annoying to have it damaged already.

Amaimon looked up at Calcifer's team as they moved to swiftly start assembling a relic. Amaimon had seen it before, and she took a few steps past Calcifer to look around at it, "Do you have all of the parts for this? I remember there being quite a few bits. And you've got to be very precise in rebuilding it, or the energy it harnesses can become unstable. I'd rather not be caught up in that mess, Calcifer Lamoria. And don't let me meet any of the other Dhampir's, my kind is full of depressed folk, and I don't need any more of that in my life. I've got one idiot to keep me company, and it is more than enough." She looked back to Calcifer briefly before speaking again, walking around the relic in a wide circle, inspecting it, and fixing a few spots to their proper positions, "Where in the world did you find this?" She asked, a small but genuine smile sneaking into her generally dull expression.
​

 

[rissa]

calcifer lamoria

"Azhir? Depressed? As if…" The woman who'd been assembling the relic shook her head with a laugh, but watched with sharp eyes as Amaimon tweaked and adjusted her placements of the mechanical parts. Glancing over at Calcifer, for it was he who usually finalized the touches, waited until he nodded and carefully dialed in their camp's location.

It whirled and wheezed, the center of the contraption already starting to glow as soon as the correct ley lines were set. Calcifer motioned for Amaimon, having finally digested what she spoke of earlier. "As you can see all of the parts are there and in tact. Took me a few years and a few scars to get it right, but I did eventually. As for where I found it…

"Well, it's a helluva' story, if I do say so myself." Cal said with a rather self-deprecating smile. "One that deserves to be told with a bit of winter ale and a slab of boar-"

His voice trailed off as his eyes were drawn towards the center of the relic. The undulating glow suddenly grew twice its size, nearly lighting up the entire clearing. Cal smiled softly at the burst of magic. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but after all these years he had his assumptions. The relic was a portal creator, one that he would say was powered by the magical energy surrounding the device.

It would take a few more minutes to fully charge, so Cal turned back to Amaimon, finishing his sentence as if nothing had happened."-which you'll be welcome to, of course." He motioned towards her blouse, "I can get someone to sew that up for you as well."

 

[Mars Walker]

Amaimon​

Amaimon gave Azhir an awkward look, wondering which of her parents was the vampire, and if they were as terrible as her father had been, "A seamstress would be wonderful. I spent a good deal of money to look fancy in this shirt, and I'd rather not have to throw it away quite yet."

She smiled broadly when the relic's core began to glow, a whirring and gentle pulsating sound coming from it, "Gods, this is fantastic! This is quite a good find, Calcifer! In the wrong hands, this device could do quite an astonishing amount of damage-" Amaimon twirled on her heel to face Calcifer, a serious expression taking place of her rarely seen happy one, "You do know what this beautiful piece of art can do, right? Do you even know what it's called?" Amaimon asked.

She gave no time for any responses, intead launching her educational speech, "This is what's called a Tesseract, it can be used to create portals. There used to be more, but I believe this is the only remaining one, as the rest of them were quickly destroyed before the King could get to them. As I said before, Tesseracts can be used for the wrong things- they can be used to change the coarse of an entire war, really. The Tesseracts are quite powerful, drawing from the energy of the Earth in order to power itself; That is why it can be dangerous if even one gadget is just a bit off. If the energy isn't balanced right, this contraption can cause an explosion. You have to be careful even when disassembling it. When there were more of these, they had Scholars constantly observing them, building them up more, and learning about how they could be used- they had to keep guards around them at all times. Gatekeepers, they were called. I used to be rather good friends with a Gatekeeper, once upon a time...." Amaimon's lips curved into a small smile as she gazed at the Tesseract, marveling at the genius beauty of it.

"I'm truly glad that it ended up in good hands." She finished, running a bloody hand through her wild hair, "And I would love to hear how you found it. I can always use a mug of winter ale."

​

 

[rissa]

calcifer lamoria

"No, I-" Calcifer trailed off with a bemused smile as he watched Amaimon. The Dhampir's entire demeanor shifted as she circled the relic, eyes lit with what could only be described as joy. He glanced at Atria with a knowing smile, nodding softly as she gathered her tools and whistled for Alystair and Mel.

Calcifer surveyed the trees as his team gathered just in time for the Tesseract to finish charging. The center of the core solidified and grew large enough for two people to enter together. "That's Mel and Alystair," Calcifer said to Amaimon as two hooded figures walked through the portal. "Scouts. You might find Mel interesting... And that's Atria, Azhir's twin, which you'll meet soon enough. Mevrik aaand Noam."

Calcifer nodded Amaimon forward when it was finally only the two of them left in the clearing. He felt lucky, for once... The woman was a trove of knowledge and with an alliance with someone like her, the Sacred Sun's capabilities would be increased tenfold. Not only was she powerful, but she had lived through countless decades and belonged to a select group of people who knew life before the Ban.

"The Tesseract is mine, though I grant the Sacred Sun to use it whenever they wish. After speaking with Morova, you will too. Huh, wait-- Guess that makes me a Gatekeeper, huh?" Calcifer chuckled at himself before starting forward. "C'mon, let's go get some ale."

 

[Mars Walker]

Amaimon​

Amaimon's smile stayed present during the introductions, and her cheeks grew slightly pink, realizing she'd mistaken Atria for Azhir. She'd simply smelled her Damphir blood and made an assumption. She gave an awkward smile to the other Dhampir, knowing that they must get that quite often, being twins. Amaimon then found herself wondering what could possibly interest her about Mel, but she pushed her curiosity back for a moment, stepping towards Cal, listening to him intently, her expression having returned to her usual serious demeanor.

"You are indeed technically considered a Gatekeeper, though I doubt you've been through the induction ceremony, considering almost all of the Gatekeepers were murdered... So technically not a Gatekeeper. Though I could help with that, if you're one for formalities," Amaimon moved her cloak slightly, revealing a very old antique-looking piece pinned to her shirt over her breast. It was a golden intricately hand-carved badge with a blue gem at it's center, and the design was reminiscent of the swooping arch-like construction of the Tesseract, "I was a Gatekeeper for a little while, many years ago. My...friend, he carved this. He carved one for each of the gatekeepers of that station." Amaimon spoke calmly, pulling the pin from her shirt to look at it, her fingers gently gliding over the tarnished surface.

She lifted her frigid eyes back up to Calcifer as he started forward, following behind him. A voice that was not Amaimon's slithered into Calcifer's mind, speaking very loudly, and very suddenly.

"Calcifer Lamoria, as much as I kinda like you, I think you're going to die very soon." it spoke in a deep, gravelly voice, like an omen from the lowest depths of Hell.​