Well I haven't minded being in the readers chair lately as this place has exploded with stories lol but here's another piece to keep mine going
Haha yea Aicanor his temper usually gets the best of him
Part 31
The sun cascaded the ocean with streaks of orange and red rays of light which pierced the scattered clouds throughout the sky. The hue from the light, covered the port with a glimmering shine that accented every building within the city.
Soretu admired the view as he stood upon a small stone balcony that moulded with the surrounding cliffs just below the Citadel of Dusk. He was alone for the moment, though his faithful hawk Sethai was nearby, and was once again forced to listen to Soretu's thoughts. Talking to the hawk had become almost a tradition over time and seemed to never fail in helping him find his balance after something drastic.
"I miss her Sethai... the sway of the sea and the breeze of the wind." He said with a long sigh as his left hand tapped the pommel of his longsword at his side. "Never thought such a thing could happen without an incident at sea. What was it all for and why am I even here." Soretu continued with a rising anger, yet stopped as swirls of grey smoke caught the coastal breeze and streaked past his view.
"Can never have any privacy with a mage about." Soretu grumbled and looked over at the smiling elf dressed in his usual black scale armour, which was littered with weaponry and brought awe with every glance. Daggers were strapped to his dark leather leggings and inside his long boots that reached just below the knee. Two swords and a number of pouches rested along his belt, while a quiver of dark feathered arrows protruded from his dark hooded cloak; and finally his black ebony bow was slung along his back.
The smile Velnos had come with soon faded, as he responded in a low tone and proceeded to pull something from his side pouch. "I can no longer tell you why we are here... because there is nothing to tell." He pulled out a long stem'd pipe and paused for a moment, while a small red flame appeared from the tip of his finger and began to burn the herbal plant inside.
"My sister Enori has yet to find a way to destroy the amulet, all we could find was some myth." Velnos paused to create a smoke ring that hung in the air for a brief moment before being taken by the breeze.
"A myth about a long dead Slaan priest, who had a gift of power from the old ones long ago to help change the world. He died in a battle... we think, it is all she could gather from some ancient scripts in the citadel. I guess losing contact with the lizards will hurt us more then we could ever imagine. "
"Well thank you for taking the wind from my sails... so what are our options I mean we could just throw it into the ocean." Soretu replied grimly as he handed some left over fish to Sethai.
"Never!" Velnos gasped with a startling ferocity that caused a flash of instinct, in which Soretu took a step back with a readied hand on the pommel of his longsword.
"We can never leave such power in the hands of chance, the amulet calls to darkness, always... And even in the sea there are darker beasts then we can imagine... No we must protect it." Velnos had become eerily calm within an instant, as he spoke between puffs from the simple brown pipe; yet he pressed on.
"We have lost too many resources... Brakist has hit us with new cunning, and all the evidence against the 'Royal Company' would have required inside knowledge... Toran and Althran are still missing." He handed the pipe to Soretu with a shake of his head." Here this will help calm your nerves, we may be trapped here Soretu, and without many options."
The sun had set in the horizon as Soretu noticed the light withering with time, though the pipe was a wonderful addition to the terrible news.
"Althran did not strike me as the one to betray us... though I have not met this prince Toran... What a mess." Soretu finished with a large puff from the pipe and returned it.
"Fear not." Velnos said with a hint of confidence, as he ran his hand through his long dark hair and turned back towards the entrance to the hall.
"Enori will return with new findings... We will think of something."
Soretu made to follow the 'Nagarathi' inside, and observed the plain room that had become their home.
A round table acted as the centrepiece with dark red oak chairs to match. And that is where the comforts stopped as the storage room and sleeping quarters were attached by slim halls... Clearly made as a last refuge in times of war.
A long horn blast sang in the night sky and seemed to be coming from the citadel above.
Not good, Soretu thought and recognised it as a prelude to war. Though with whom he could not say.
Calehir and Ada strode from the sleeping quarters and shared the same look of confusion with Sontas, whom had been in the storage room a moment earlier.
"That is a war horn." The prince said plainly as the four of them looked out towards the darkening sea, with just a fraction of the sun remaining.
"Someone is opening the south hatch!" Came a frantic voice that echoed through the room, Tywin joined them soon after.
"Good, Enori must be returning." Velnos responded in a weary tone.
* * *
Nothing could have prepared Norein for what she observed herself doing, though she knew it was not her in spirit... the unwanted violence was gruesome to watch.
The room was most definitely a tavern, though the bar keep would no longer entertain anymore patrons... Her spear was to blame for it. He laid upon the bar in a twisted position from her spear thrust only moments ago.
The two armoured sentinels laying amongst a broken table, were the first to go; as she had struck without warning. Her 'second head' seemed to have waited for most of the accompanying troops to be searching elsewhere throughout the city, and had cleverly waited for some privacy to question Enori.
The maiden was the worst part of the gruesome scene; her arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and a large gash in her right leg threatened to end her life. Her once beautiful features were distorted, while Norein was forced to watch the end of her spear strike the poor thing over and over again.
There were no more screams of torment or protest, just the occasional gurgle and spitting of blood.
Enori's dark straight long hair was now matted and twisted with blood and dirt... While Norein could do nothing but watch, like a horrible nightmare.
Noreins hands gripped Enori's tattered robes and brought her close to shout about telling her where Calehir and the others were. Though the light in Enori's eyes were dimming with every moment, she was most likely past the point of any useful recognition.
With a sigh she dropped her limply to the floor with a thud, and just in time to grasp her spear as the door to the tavern opened. Two more of the silver armoured sentinels entered the room with shock written across their faces.
Norein wasted no time as one tried to protest, her spear lunged forward with a thrust that clanged off the guards shield who was the closest of the two, yet it was the second who was the real target.
Her spear retracted in her grip for a split second and thrust out again, though this guard held his shield with the other arm and did not deflect the attack in time. The spear tip caught him between the helmet and his armor, nearly taking his head clean off.
The one collapsed as his colleague shouted in anger and came forward with a ferocious thrust from his own spear.
Though Norein had mastered the art long ago and she could feel the dark power using her abilities to an even higher level of intensity. A tear came to her eye.
Norein pointed her spear to the ceiling and glanced the attack off to the left, as she stepped forward with the butt of her spear streaking up and angled to the inside of his knee.
A wail of pain followed as his knee buckled and provided her the opening to grasp his helm with her right hand; and with a quick twist of her body, the guard came up into the air and over her hip with a crash onto the floor. His head hit first, and a snap could be heard as his body over rotated upon itself and became a crumpled heap on the floor.
Then an odd silence followed, apart from her own heavy breathing and a sluggish sound of something dragging across the floor.
Norein felt herself pause and look about the room for Enori... Who happened to be missing, though had not made it overly far.
Norein began to slowly follow the blood trail that passed through another door at the end of the tavern, that led to the Inn portion of the building. Which unfortunately was now empty due to the commotion of the coming attack, the city itself was in a panic of commotion and preparations.
She noticed her second head made no move to stop the crippled maiden on the floor, Norein was attempting to stay out of sight from the delusional Enori... Her heart sank as she realised the cunning.
She would lead Norein right to them if she could muster enough strength... Norein tried to scream as loud as she could, though all that came of it was a shake of her head.
After a few moments, Enori had made it into another room with her one arm'd crawl full of gurgles of pain. The room had a massive fireplace with a small table nearby... A dead end.
Norein felt her spear rise and pause briefly, as they seemed to notice Enori trying to reach upwards to one of the twined torch sconces on either side of the fireplace.
"Thank you, you have been most useful." Norein said in a dull tone, to which Enori slowly slumped back down to the floor... As Noreen's' spear had passed through her robes with little effort.
Her hand grasped the torch to which she attempted to turn and twist, with a small click the floor beside her began to shift.
"You first." She said aloud to no one in particular, as her foot shoved Enori's body down into the stairway.
A piercing horn blast echoed throughout the city, as Norein descended down the stairs and was confronted by an unsettling sight.
Calehir stood down the hall in long dark robes with his brown hair hanging loosely about his shoulders, Ada was also next to him in her golden breastplate with a white silk robe beneath.
Two dark armoured elves came up from behind them whom she recognised from Copher... The white and black haired brothers who had interrupted the meeting... And a human she did not know, Captain Soretu was even here.
Noreins good fortunes of being unsuccessful had finally come to an end and her friends would never look at her the same. They all shared disgusted and menacing glares towards her, she felt another tear stream down her face as she spoke.
"Looks like I have found you... The Druchii are here and shortly after... My master, to swipe away the darkness... Resistance is foolish."