A huge dragon soared above, and on its back clung a dark body. It was Vencrest Kianthis, a drow, seeking power, and wealth. Behind him was the hairy form of a lupine, named Trekella. She was made of chaotic energy and would help him in any fights, and obey him without any questions. She had proved useful already, and most likely would remain a valuable ally throughout her time as an ally. Vencrest pointed to a spot down below, bellowing in the sky towards Zekbel ", Down there!"
The dragon seemed to understand, for this symbol had now become a universal sign of landing in a certain location. The dragon glided on the wind, shifting its wings as it neared the location, braking slightly as he did so. He landed, causing a slight quake. Vencrest jumped down, Trekella soon following his actions. "Follow me you two," Vencrest told his two companions, gesturing for the two to follow him.
They all knew what they were going to do, there was no way they could avoid the fact. They had to kill the wandering group of elvish rangers, and claim the money they had been promised. Vencrest recalled what the slimy man had sniveled to him. "I want them dead!" The voice was still ringing in his ears. He wasn't sad necessarily, merely disappointed that he had to kill immortals.
He would complete the task though, there was no way around it. He was offered payment, and he wouldn't deny it. At least he could rid the world of some good while he was at it, and earn some pay. He pulled out the intricately drawn map, looking to find his location, and the location of the elves. "I want them dead." The voice still rang in his ears, almost pleasing him.
The dining hall was grimy, on the opposite end of the table was a bloated man. He wore fancy cloths, those of a noble, yet the were stained with blood from undercooked meat. He was obese, a glutton. Vencrest had just barely gotten in when the obese man exclaimed ", You're here, finally! Come in, come in." The man didn't stand, and only continued eating. After devouring a turkey leg, he continued ", Yes, I am Baron Norgeslin. I have a task for you. I can assume you are not going to the town guards with the information I am going to give you, correct?" Vencrest gave a sarcastic smirk, letting out a small laugh. "Good," the baron said, leaning in his chair. "I need you to kill a group of elvish rangers. They are strong, as you could imagine, for they have lived hundreds of years." Vencrest nodded, signaling the man to continue.
"I believe one of them is going to Yomenïampa to report to the elvish council that she is pregnant with my child, and strip me of my position. As you could see, I need her dead." Vencrest glared at him. "You deserve to die, but as long as there is pay, I do not care. I would have been better off without you telling me." The baron leaned back in his chair, his eyes squinted in anger ", Ah, well yes, get on with it, and kill them. I have others that will help you, I believe you know them. There names are Saeborn and Valerik. They should meet you there." A assistant handed him a map. "There location is marked, you should hurry," the baron gurgled, still chugging a beaker of wine. Vencrest turned swiftly, leaving the baron alone, heading towards the Salquedor Grasslands.
Vencrest returned to reality, glancing at his map for the locations of the elven rangers. They shouldn't be to far, according to the map. The would be resting, in a nearby patch of trees. Vencrest whispered to the two followers behind him ", Wait here, I'm going to see if there up ahead." With that, he crept forward until he reached a thicket of trees. He glanced in between the branches. Sure enough, there they were. 'Somethings not right here,' he thought to himself, confused.
It was only her. Why would the baron hire three people to kill her if she was by herself, and pregnant. Vencrest glanced around, looking for any signs of ambush. There was none, only the lone elf, preparing a small breakfast. He crept back to his two allies, murmuring in to them ", its only her, be prepared for an ambush of sorts. Until then, we'll wait for Valerik and Saeborn." Vencrest sat down, leaning on the back of his dragon, and Trekella did the same, waiting for the arrival of his allies.
(Sorry for the bad beginning, I know its kinda cliche. :xmasgrin: And sorry, I just now realized 'Why would a barbarian help her? So feel free to start any way you please, Hanzo.)
Valerik was in the streets of Lomedor, turning his back to the limp body. He wiped his face free of the blood, dragging his sleeve across his mouth in an attempt to clear his face of any signs of the crime he just committed. He turned towards the inn, walking calmly past the guards. He opened the creaky door, heading to the inn keeper. "One room," he asked, placing several coins in front of the bartender. He was hoping it was obvious he did not want to have any idle conversation.
The inn keeper understood, gruffly replying, "Ok, last room on the right." He threw him a key, which was attached to a dirty string. Valerik headed up the stairs, and unlocked the door to the room. He removed his sword off his side, and threw himself upon the bed. He fell into an uneasy slumber, waking early the next morning. He arose from his bed, rubbing his eyes. He grabbed his sword, returning it back to its original position at his side. He locked the door back up, heading down the stairs.
He gave the key to the bartender and began to walk away. "Stop," he told him, gesturing for him to come closer. "What?" Valerik demanded. "Ar, some guy came lookin' for ya," he told him crudely, "he was a messenger for that slimy baron Norgeslin. Appreantly, he 'as a task fer ya," he said. Valerik nodded, replying, "Where is the baron?" The inn keeper responded with, "He lives in the slums, ye'll know his house. Its the bigges' one ther," Valerik turned his back, heading to the slums of Lomedor.
Valerik walked past all the run down shacks and ramshackle houses. Immediately, he knew which one belonged to the baron. A mansion was placed in the center of the slums, sticking out from all the decrepit homes. Valerik opened the mighty doors, which led into a magnificent dining hall. In the center was a table, filled with a feast, but only one chair. The gluttonous baron was dining on a turkey leg when Valerik approached.
The man nearly fell back in his seat, drawing a sword. "Stand back!" he stuttered. Valerik laughed. Every mortal who hired Valerik acted like this. It was shamefully for most humans to hire a vampire. He sighed, ignoring the mans threats. "What do you want?" Valerik asked. "Find Vencrest and Saeborn! Kill my mistress and her unborn, illegitimate son!" he said, hurrying so the vampire could leave his house as soon as possible. He trying to throw a map Valerik's direction, only to have in flutter next to his chair.
Valerik walked up to the chair, leaning to to pick up the map. He smiled, seeing the man shake in fear of having a vampire so close to him. "You will pay well?" the mercenary asked. The baron only replied with a nod. Valerik exited the building, heading out of the gates of Lomedor. He wandered around the forest looking for his ash dragon, Akor. After two hours of searching, he found the dragon feasting on the corpse of a stray cow from a near by farm. Valerik allowed the dragon to finish eating, and then mounted him.
Akor, without a command, rose in the air, flying in the direction Valerik pointed. 'Squaldor Grasslands,' Valerik thought, 'Thats were I'll meet Vencrest and Saeborn. Akor flew across forests and lakes, reaching finally the huge expanse grass. Valerik flew across the endless sea of grass, the emerald plants moving with the wind in unison. Several thickets sprouted out of the ocean of green, popping out at Valerik. After a little more of flying, these trees became more and more frequent. At last, a dragon was attempting to hide in one of the thickets. 'Vencrest,' Valerik concluded.
Valerik's own dragon landed on the thicket, next to Vencrest. The vampire dismounted, and approached Vencrest. He attempted to stay quite, for his fellow mercenary was spying through the bushes. "Whats the situation," he whispered.
Walking through the city of Lomedor the demon passed a home completely burned to the ground. The house to the left of the now burned down home had been charred on the outside and was left with no roof. The straw roof of the home was completely gone due to the fire next door. Saeborn looked at the home trying to remember where he had seen it before. Sitting down on the edge of a dried up well in the middle of the road Saeborn had a flash back.
The demon remembered how his step father in the underworld had sent him to kill the family inside the now burnt down home. He also remembered setting fire to the home as he left the corpses inside to burn into ash. The wind had been blowing very hard that night. Not knowing or careing if anyone lived in the charred house Saeborn spread out his wings and flew inside the top story of the building through where the roof should of been. The room he landed in was fully furnished and very dusty. Wipeing the dust and soot from the roof off of the bed Saeborn laid down and started to doze off. Wakeing up to the scream of a woman as she walked into the room. The woman was followed by a man running into the room. Saeborn guessed that the two were the owners of the home. Quickly slipping out of the bed Saeborn withdrew his katana from its place on the demons side. Walking around the two frightened people he closed the door allowing no escape for the couple. Not in the mood for tortureing them Saeborn forced them into a corner. The woman droped to her knees in fear and the man did the same. The couple began begging for their lives to be spared. Feeling no mercy Saeborn took his katana and stabbed it through the womans heart. The demon took the white bed sheets from the large bed and started to clean his weapon from the womans blood. Putting the katana back in its place at his side the man started to cry. He walked over to the man and punched him in the jaw. As the mans head flung backwards there was a crack and the man fell dead on the ground. Saeborn spit on the mans corpse and flew out of the building to look for Kira. Flying over a patch of dense trees Saeborn saw the blue scales shineing in what little sun light there was left of the tireing day.
Landing gently onto the ground Saeborn found Kira snacking on the remains of a cooked hog. The dragon glanced at the demon and looked back to the hog and started to gorge the hog again. Saeborn said to her "[=color=orange]Kira I have found a place for us to stay the night. I am also in need of a helper to dispose of some bodies.[/color]". The dragon looked at Saeborn with a smirk on her face. She picked up the remains of the hog and walked over and droped it at the demons feet. Saeborn laughed and said to her "Yes you can take hog to where we will spend the night. Folow me to the place.". Saeborn spread his wings apart and lifted himself off the ground with the strong beats of his wings. Kira did the same and folowed him to the home and landed inside the top story after Saeborn. The man showed the dragon the bodies he had killed and told her to dispose of them in the dried up well. As she did so Saeborn took the bloody sheets and let them absorb the puddle of blood from the woman and the mans bodies. On the large bed was two matresses amd Saeborn put one on the ground next to the bed for what ever part of her body she could fit on it. As she returned she landed on the matress and took the hog and started to finish her dinner. Saeborn took his axe and his katana off of his side and laid it next to the side of the bed. He laid down and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning Saeborn woke from a good sleep. Trying to get up from the bed Saeborn was stuck becuase Kira had laid her large head across the demons legs. The drogon woke after Saeborn had struggled to move his legs. They both stood up shortly after. Saeborn took his weapons and put them back around his waist. Saeborn mounted on top of Kiras back and they took off. Landing in Lomedor square next to the bar Saeborn started walking twards it as Kira took off. When walking through the bars doors the demon was stopped by a man that pulled him to the side. The mans face was covered in a see through black cloth. His face was not visible but he took off the cloth and said to the demon "Are you the demon named Saeborn?". Saeborn noded in agreement. The man then said to him "There is a man inside the bar looking for you. He is going to show you a map for a mission he will give you.". After the man finished his sentence he wrapped his head with the cloth and walked away. Walking into the bar Saeborn noiced there was only one man inside. Walking forward twards the man Saeborn said to him "Are you the man looking for me?". The man nodded and then said to him "There is some one I need you to kill for me. There will be profit involved. You will have two others to assist you in this deed and I believe you know them. Their names are Vencrest and Valerik.". Hearing their names again made Saeborn smile nad he said to the man "I will do this for you gladly sir. Where do I meet my two friends?". The man then said "Here is a map of arda. The location of your friends and who I wish for you to kill is marked in red ink. This is my last copy of the map though so I will need you to go and memorize where you need to be.". The demon looked and studied the map and quickly hurried outside the bar. Above was Kira circleing in the sky. The demon signaled for her to return down to the ground and she landed with a loud thump. Saeborn mounted her and said "I have recived a mission from a man at the bar to go and kill someone with my two friends named Valerik and Vencrest. We need to go quickly to them. I will point you in their direction and we need to hurry.". Quickly Kira darted off of the ground and into the sky heading where Saeborn was pointing. Flying over the grassy hills and large ponds they soon found themselves over a large thicket of trees. Kira gently landed on the ground and Saeborn ran to find Valerik and Vencrest. When he found them he saw Vencrest looking at a woman prepareing a breakfast and Valerik was along his side.
Zenith Meria, the Archangel of Life, has been hired by a young woman to help her on her way between cities. He had been offered a large sum of gold to take up the job but Zenith refused the money and asked that it be used to help the children of Arda instead. The pair had been travelling together for awhile not and now had a camp set up in the grasslands where they were going to rest for a couple of day before continuing on. Now Zenith had offered to just teleport the woman to where she wanted to go buy she insisted that the pair travel on foot anyway. Even though they were on foot though Zenith had his dragon, Telsor, following them by air each time they walked farther. The dragon would land and sleep next to Zeniths tent each night in order to be closer to its master, which Zenith liked as he cared greatly for all of the animals he had in Ardas world.
While Zenith was setting himself up, by placing his armour on and such, the young woman that had hired him was making something for the pair to eat. Once he had finished putting on his equipment, excluding the helm of course, Zenith began to make his way over to the woman’s placement. He had his holy blade hanging on his left hand side ready to be used when needed as well as he beautiful mithril shield strapped tightly onto his left arm for defending purposes. While he was walking towards the woman Zenith seen a glint of golden light within the sky heading down towards him, it was none other than his golden harrier and the small bird seemed distressed. Only then did Zenith remember what he had told his harrier, she was only to come to him if the woman was in danger, if somewhat was watching her ready to attack!
Gritting his teeth together Zenith placed his helm upon his head and watched his armour deal together leaving no gaps at all within it. Slowly he walked towards the woman and said softly to her, “Go to my tent, stay in there till I say it is safe. Someone is here for you!” Her eyes widened but still she did what Zenith asked of her and headed off to safety while Zenith turned in the direction that his harrier had swept down from, hoping it was that direction that the threat was in, and said in a forceful tone, “Show yourself now! If you don’t then I will have to take matters into my own hands and rip you limb from limb with the help of my friend here!” With the last of these words said Telsor stepped up behind Zenith. The mighty ancient steel dragon ready to do as asked by Zenith and protect him, at the same time the dragon had appeared so did Zeniths Guardian Angel Elzareth who was also ready to help in anyway that he could. It was clear that Zenith had been prepared for an attack, but the question that needed answered was were the ones trying to attack ready for such a defence?
((OOC: Told you I would post ^_^;;; ))