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 Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 9:50 pm
Dead cantered through the fog, stopping in front of Maya. The steed gave Anarel a wary glance, snorting and pawing a little as if saying "Just try it, buddy, just try it!"
Maya laid a hand upon the beast's muzzle, as if telling it to relax. She turned back around to face Anarel, her dark hair falling over the violet and gold of her eyes. She seemed to study him for a long moment, her eyes trying to read his intentions.
Could he be a hunter? It was possible, she thought. Hunters who got off on killing elementals of any species. Though her element was barely there, it was in fact there. She noted his change of attitude, from nice and friendly to cold and stern. There was a high chance that he was a hunter, and trying to lure her into incapacity with a ruse.
"Why would somebody as you venture into the twilight wood to seek my assistance? I'm only one little witch."
She took a couple steps backwards, until she was sidled along Dead's side, one hand clenching his mane so if need be, she could easily jump astride the steed's back and make a run for it. She could defend herself against hunters but not when they come so close. She shook her lantern, and the blue faded back into a golden light, and the fog began to roll back in. Would be perfect to escape in, though she risked becoming lost in it.
The risk was too big to take. If he were a hunter or not, she did not feel safe. With a quick leap, she was upon Dead's back, and the beast reared and turned, darting off into the fog, its hooves heavy upon the ground, the soft glow of her lantern still somewhat visible even in the thickness of the cursed fog.
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:52 pm
((Fear my monster post! XD ))
"Maya! Wait! I do not mean you any harm!" He extended his arm outward as if to reach for her. He stepped forward slightly as the steed reared back and galloped off into the mist. It was too late.
"Tch..."
Anarel immediately leaped into the fog, using his elvish agility and speed to traverse the tangled wood of the Twilight. The fog thickened, but his gaze was locked onto the faint glow of Maya's lantern. The animal was fast, but it was no obstacle to Anarel in keeping within distance of Maya's lantern light.
He dodged every branch, bouncing from tree limb to tree limb, and occasionally landing to the ground to run on foot. His white, layered clothing billowed in the wind as he sprinted through the forest after Maya. The fog divided before him as he sped past. Anarel's peripheral vision blurred, only seeing a circumference of clear vision before him, with Maya dead center. He breathed heavily through his nose, and kept his lips tight.
The distance between us is growing. The horse is swift.
Anarel opened his lips slightly, and began to speak.
"...Sann...Rantgé émen aen téedsó foën urestpï indswí,..."
The words echoed ethereally from his lips, coming through at a slient whisper that was somehow amplified.
"...ótén rávërsëtá hïsté óodwó ërmeatedpó ybën vileth ogfën..."
He shouted the words now, continuing the incantation. The words were now coupled by whispers from unknown mouths, trailed by their own mysterious echoes.
"...Hétën bstäclëóth tändssï éfórebï emen, ymén peedsé síën áughtnó úffïciëntsë. Rantgá émen óúryë ïdaen!"
((LOTR, anyone? XD ))
The incantation was yelled with vigor now, erupting from deep within his chest and escaping his lips like lava flow. The echoes rang throughout the wood itself, vibrating with ghostly appeal.
There was a brief moment of silence and stillness, despite Anarel's steady pace. Slowly, his layered clothing began to take life, rising higher into the air as they billowed violently. Gusts of air began to gather underneath him, rushing across his belly and wrapping around his legs, ankles, and feet. The wind became violent now, seeming to concentrate a steady current of air in front of him. Anarel leaned onto the gust of wind, as if it were something that could be ridden.
Suddenly, he lifted his feet from the ground, the tips of his boots kicking dust into the air as he did. The violent gust of air was visible now, drawing leaves and fog into its body. The image of a horse's head bursted forth from the current, whipping its head back as it emerged. Whispy tendrils of fog lined its neck, creating a thick gray mane. Then the body, legs, hooves, and tail materialized -- gracefully cascading down the body of wind that Anarel was now riding. He was lifted higher into the air as the life and shape the wind took on became solid.
A magnificent steed of pure wind had risen from the gust of air. It now galloped frantically toward Maya without losing speed.
Anarel's speed now hastened as he rode the wind, drawing him closer and closer to Maya's horse, until he was only a few yards away. His eyes narrowed.
"Maya! Please!," He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Listen to my words! I mean no ill will toward you!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:28 pm
Glancing behind her, Maya's heart caught in her throat. She couldn't hear his words, the wind distorting them beyond recognition, mixed with the pounding of Dead's hooves tearing into the ground. She clenched dead's mane tighter urging the steed faster.
A tangled wall of branches came into view, and the horse skidded as it closed in on it, pivoting around and darting in a random direction, rounding a path's corner, and galloped straight into the thick of a bog.
Dead's heavy gallop came to a quick freeze as the murk sucked down its hooves and legs. "Dead, back up back up!" Maya gave a worried cry, more concerned for her steed. Its legs were too nimble and its body too heavy, and it thrashed too much, giving the murk of the bog the advantage.
Hearing the sound of Anarel's wind steed drawing closer, Maya grimaced. She slid off of Dead's back, into the thick bog, and moved slowly to the horse's front, pushing against its chest. She sank slower than the horse but with each second it became harder to move forward.
At last the steed found solid ground, lowering its head so Maya could grab onto its neck, and began to try to "pull" her from the bog, but the muck was proving to be an equal force, and Maya's arms were beginning to slip from the horse's neck.
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:58 pm
"Ïspersedä!" yelled Anarel.
And with that, the concentrated body of wind that made the horse violently exploded in different directions, releasing leaves, dirt and debris that had been sucked into it.
As the wind horse dissipated, Anarel was sent skidding on his feet toward the bog that threatened to devour Maya.
He quickly reached the edge of the bog, using the skidding force to reach further toward her, and firmly grasped her forearm with his hand.
"I've got you!"
Anarel began to pull as hard as he could, trying to free Maya from the sludgy substance.
He grabbed Dead's reigns, using it as leverage.
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Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 3:50 am
After so much resistance, the much lost the Maya tug-O-war and she slid forward out of it, onto the bank. She breathed heavily, then looked up at him, a flicker of wrath in her eyes. "Why did you save me if you mean to kill me? Wanted the joy of doing it yourself I presume?" Her eyes closed for a moment as she stood shakily, her lips moving as if she mumbled something silently.
The pressure around her momentarily changed, her clothes and hair floating upward a little, as if floating on water. The muck which clung to her legs and waist and clothes separated from her, floating up higher as well, before the pressure changed back and the sludge droppedto the ground at her feet, leaving her clean.
"Well?!" she awaited an answer.
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Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 10:55 pm
Watching the sludge fall to the ground, Anarel smiled slighty -- both in astonishment and in amusement. He scanned the bog, breathing heavy, but still smiling.
Suddenly, he plopped to the ground, exhausted.
"Fancy, fancy trick." he mumbled to himself. His eyes continued to scan the area before him before he spoke.
"Well, now that I saved you, 'O lantern girl of the Twilight, it must mean I wish not to kill you." Anarel put his arms behind him, leaning against them as his fingers weaved through the tall grass. The ground was slightly damp.
He stared at the odd looking plants that actually took root inside the muck of the bog.
"What you did, just a moment ago...," he then glanced to her, waving his finger at her entire body, "...a rare talent you posses."
There was another brief pause, before he spoke once more.
"Tell me...", he then turned to the surface of the bog, "...who taught you of such sorcery?"
Anarel's heart calmed slightly, but his breathing was still heavy.
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:04 am
"I'm an elemental, just a rare element. But it isn't very strong...I suppose its hereditary." She gazed down at him, noting his exhausted look. "Oh, thats right. You must have no energy at all by now. If you're not protected, the fog devours your stamina and strength, which is why hardly anybody makes it through these woods in the first place, no matter how strong they are."
She began fishing through her bag which was tied to dead's saddle, pulling out what looked to be a root of some sort. She snapped the end off of it and it oozed a dark red liquid, to which she handed him. "Eat it. If you lose more strength you're likely to pass out, and I'm not to keen on carrying you places."
She handed the thing to him, and paused in her actions as the remaining light in the forest disappeared, and the sound of things scurrying in the darkness could be hear, growling, foaming, frothing. "We shouldn't linger out here anymore. Since you've no place to go, you can come to my little house tonight."
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:49 am
Anarel stared at the root, noticing the red liquid oozing from it. Alchemist, sorceress, elemental -- he was not sure of what she was, if she was one thing, or all three. All he knew is that she was special.
He grabbed the root from her hand, bringing it closer to his eye to examine it. He did feel much more exhausted than he should have. It had been a while since he performed an invocation of that sort, but still, he should not have been that tired.
Anarel did not want to eat it, remembering her lantern trick, not to mention her craftiness, in the forest, the one that revealed himself of being neither lost soul nor demon. The root could've been poison, some sort of drug that would induce sleep or unconsciousness. Paralysis even. He was no alchemist, and could not identify the root she had given him, as no one who ventured into the Twilight lived to tell what sort of herbal remedies existed within its fog.
But he did not want to lose her trust, which he believes he had won, for now anyway. Anarel brought the root to his mouth, liquid-side first, and licked the red substance with his tongue for good measure. He did not welcome the taste, but began to chew on the root. Despite its toughness, he tentatively gnawed at it, using his saliva to soften it.
"Right, right...gravity," he said, trying to sound as nonchalant about the subject, but hoping she would take notice. He spoke between chews.
"Let us leave. You have been in this wood longer than I have, so you're the only one I can trust to lead me through it."
A stream of moonlight pierced through a small opening in the night clouds, striking the tip of Magni's top limb. For a brief moment, that tip of the longbow become visible, then vanished as the cloud moved and brought the moonlight to other areas of the bog.
His ears picked up the sound of a twig snapping far in the distance. Something rustled in the brush of the darkened bog. Something heavy and adequately large, too large for Anarel's liking. Whatever it was, its breathing was low, as if it were waiting.
He scanned the bog once more, still chewing.
"Make haste."
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:24 am
Maya nodded, turning her back to him for a moment. Her lips again moved as she chanted something silently, and her lantern changed into a different color, blue this time, and a soft, chime-like noise was emitted from it. A small line of light escaped from it and seemed like an ever-lasting thread as it disappeared into the trees.
"This way." Maya took up Dead's reins, tugging the steed along. The things rustling around made hissing noises as they ran away, disturbed by the sound the lantern made. "It keeps them away." maya mumbled, looking at where the noises came from. "They don't like the sound of Fae-song. It may sound beautiful to us, but it makes their ears bleed." she gave a slight chuckle.
Soon lantern-light could be seen in the trees before them, and as they drew near, a small house. There was a pond behind it, with a water wheel attached. The house had lanterns similar to Maya's at each corner and at the door, and one at the very top. This small area seemed different than the rest of the twilight wood. The flora here was green and not greyed, and there was almost a serentiy about it.
Maya slid dead's reins off and removed the saddle, letting the horse roam free, before opening her door. "Please, come inside."
Once inside, she set her lantern down and the light went out inside it. "Excuse the mess, I um..wasn't exactly expecting company." Books were scattered in places, jars of..questionable objects all over, strange objects one would only find in a den of one who practiced sorcery.
"So tell me, why did you seek me out? Its not like I am well-known."
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:31 pm
Anarel walked slowly through the front area of the house, looking around at all of the odd and fantastic knick knacks that lay around Maya's house. His boots made a dull thudding noise against the floor.
The house seemed like an entirely different dimension, as if they were not in the Twilight Wood any more. Anarel felt a slight sense of relief. The house was cozy.
He made note of the jars and books that were scattered across desks and shelves.
"Your house is quite welcoming. It's definitely something I would not expect to find in a place so treacherous," he said, taking care not to speak too loudly. The night time and the coziness of the home took quite an effect on him.
He carefully reached around and took Magni from his back, leaning it against a bookshelf and wall. The bow gave a dull thud as it hit the floor. Anarel flexed his shoulders, feeling the heaviness of the bow lift from him. It remained hidden from sight even, in the bright light of the surrounding lanterns.
Anarel heard her question, but was not so quick to provide an answer. He took in a deep breath. His eyes were fixated on a jar containing an odd number of things. He tried to think of something to say that would not sound insane or far fetched.
He cleared his throat, then looked to her. The lantern lights from outside placed a soft glow onto his face, highlighting his jawline.
"Maya. Tell me more about the Holy War, the one you mentioned when we first encountered each other."
By now, it had occurred to him that the Holy War she had mentioned was the one that took place multiple millenniums ago -- the very war that tore the world in two. Perhaps he was mistaken, but how many Holy Wars could there have been?
He decided to ease into the topic at hand. After all, conversation about utter destruction of the world, reckless gods, and living seals was something one should not be too direct with.
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:30 pm
A flick of her fingers and her stove lit, making a hissing sound as she moved a pot full of some type of porridge onto it. As it heated up, the aroma of satisfying spices and meal filled the atmosphere of the room.
"The holy war?" Maya mumbled the words as she stirred whatever she was concocting. "Bad people thought Telythia had a great treasure they were keeping from the rest of the world, because Telythia was so secluded. So they manipulated good people into thinking Telythia meant them harm, and they marched on Telythia, and telythian soldiers met them here to defend their city. They wouldn't stop killing each other, and even the Telythian soldiers would not show mercy when begged for it, so the goddess Frigg intervened and set a curse in their hearts and on this place of their demise. The curse set shadow over this place, and their spirits linger on, forever cursed."
She paused the story, pouring whatever she had concocted into a wooden bowl, handing it to him. "Eat, it'll make it easier to regain your energy." She sat down opposite of him, leaning back against her chair. "Anyways, lingering spirits usually attract other foul creatures, which also reside in this forest." she nodded at that fact.
She raised a finger to make a point. "And if you're wondering why a 'hermit' like me would know that, I don't actually live out here for long, only months at a time to collect ingredients." she sage-nodded again.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:12 am
Anarel's stomach growled as the aroma filled the house. It had been a while since he had something good to eat. It has also been a while since he had hunted game, so anything would taste good up to now.
He partly listened to the story she was describing. Anarel went into a daze as he watched the porridge pour into the wooden bowl. When she was done, his eyes darted to her then nodded, giving her a late reply.
"Oh yes, I see." He then looked to the porridge that was unexpectedly given to him. All inhibitions and precautions about the things she offered for him to consume now faded away. Hunger had overruled his common sense and judgment.
"Oh. Thank you." And with that, he tipped the bowl against his lips, drinking hastily the porridge she had prepared. The spices tantalized his pallet.
He set the bowl down on a table beside him, but not before running his finger around the rim of the bowl, catching the extra bits that still lingered, then licked his finger.
"That was most wonderful. I am indebted to you and your kindness." he said softly, feeling the food settle down in his stomach. She had taken him into her home and fed him. She had done enough on her part already. But, he still needed to know what she knew.
The story she had described to him had not been the answer he was looking for, although it was an interesting one at that, and he did value information that he did not know first hand.
He decided to push the matter of his intentions further. Cricket chirping from the outside could be heard.
"I am on a journey....of sorts," he glanced outside of a window, still talking as he did, "...to help a dear friend of mine." Anarel tried to make his explanation sound as normal as he possibly could. "I learned, from various sources, that valuable information could be obtained from a girl that dwelt within the Twilight."
He paused, then glanced to her. "Valuable information that could assist me in my journey."
Glancing back to the window, he then asked, "What is your knowledge of the various gods that govern Asgard? Are you familiar with them?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 5:42 pm
She gave a quaint smile, turning her head. "I don't know who told you I could help you, but..." maya paused, she seemed uncomfortable. "I only know the knowledge available in texts and scrolls borrowed from Telythia and Lockadia. "
Her eyes shifted to the left, as if she were thinking of something, or remembering it, but not saying it. Whatever the thought, it made her quite troubled indeed, as if she had suddenly remembered something very unpleasant.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:03 pm
Anarel cleared his throat. His interest in the happenings outside of her home lessened. He then turned to her, but continued to lean against the wall.
"I only know what I've learned through folklore and myths, but the finer details of the immortals, I am not so familiar."
He paused, noting the shift in her eyes. His lips parted, wanting to inquire about what she might have been thinking, but he needed to continue.
"The gods...are they truly infallible beings? Ones that are incapable of defeat?"
He then directed his gaze to the floor, "Or...perhaps, is there a way to kill a god?"
At that very moment, Anarel realized how impossible the task he had taken on, was. The despair, and the hopelessness that was not supposed to settle in, took hold of his very bones. He felt a sickening feeling in his gut. Anarel furrowed his brow, expressing his disdain.
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Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:58 am
"Of course gods can die. Its true for one of us to take on a god would be very foolish, but they can indeed die...and have died. When a god's body dies, their soul returns to yggdrasil. The difference between them and us is that they can choose whether to return to being a god, or become like us for a lifetime or two. And as such, some of us can also become like them. However...a god's soul cannot be harmed, the same way a mortal's soul cannot be harmed. They can be sealed, they can be changed, warped, softened, but a soul can never die."
After a pause, she turned her head away, gazing forlornly at a random area in the room. "You're...looking for Loki's tomb, aren't you?"
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