Let's Play a Game

[Namari Lovelle]

A guess was better than nothing, Namari had to admit. Though she wished they had a better idea of where they were going. Her mind drifted back to Aerin, and how he might be doing right now. Namari shivered.

They had to get to him soon. They had to.

The elven woman turned to follow Elle as she stepped forward, but froze up as she heard the growl. It echoed through the air, and sent shivers down her spine. She clenched her teeth, and slowly unsheathed her sword.
Was it the beast she saw earlier? She prayed not. In fact, Namari prayed that it was nothing at all.

The group was not lucky enough, however, for any of Namari’s prayers to be heard.

Walter slowly moved closer to the women, sword unsheathed and torch roaming the area. He was bent down slightly, looking ready for anything. But as he did not know what to expect, he was not.
Though he was happy he was at least right in that Elle did bring some sort of ammunition. Sort of.

Slowly something appeared from out of the shadows; just enough to see its face. It seemed to have no fur; nor anything else covering its body. It looked thin, bones outlined on its skin. Veins pushing out. Its teeth were long, thin and sharp, and bared at the group. Eyes a shiny red, with white in the center. It had a long snout, awkwardly shaped.

It gave out another low growl, before retreating back into the shadows. But it was not gone. The tapping of feet could be heard ever so slightly, as if it wanted them to hear it.

“What the hell is that thing?!” Namari whispered quickly, turning her back so that it was to Elle. Walter turned as well, not knowing anymore where the beast was. He gulped down a lump in his throat.
“I have no idea…but I’m pretty sure it’s hunting us,” he whispered back, continuing to move his torch. But it was no use; the light did not reach out far enough to see.

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle felt like her heart froze when the face of some...thing emerged from the shadows. It growled,eyes fixed on the three,before retreating to the shadows too quickly for the elf to draw back and let her arrow fly. She silently cursed to herself, hearing its footsteps as it moved about in the darkness. Namari and Walter quickly stood back to back with her, and Elle stared into the darkness, listening. They were being hunted now. Grand.

Elle quickly began to sort through what she saw from the creature. Assuming the creatures here obeyed the same general rules as the ones on her plane, then this creature should be able to be analyzed.

"It can go through walls, so it probably lives down here, in cavernous habitats," she said, speaking mostly to herself in a low voice."It hunts down here in the dark. It probably is either sensitive to the light, or is blind. Either way it probably has very developed hearing." If that was the case they probably wouldn't get far without having to battle it.or kill it.

She lifted her bow and drew her arrow, carefully scanning the darkness, waiting next sound. When she heard the creature move again she swung around and loosed her arrow, it whistling through the air into the shadows.

[Namari Lovelle]

Namari listened as Elle mumbled, taking in all of the information herself. She was no hunter, of course, so she needed all the information she could get.
The two heard Elle release her arrow; a slight yelp was heard, followed by loud growling and snarling.

I think we pissed it off, Walter thought to himself, gripping the sword in his hand so hard that his knuckles turned white.

There was silence; eerie silence, for just a moment. All that was heard was the breathing of the group, though Namari tried to slow her breathing down.

Suddenly Walter hit the ground, the beast on top of him. His torch went flying out of reach, and his sword skidded towards the women.
Walter let out a yell from pain; the beast, body just as lanky as its head, dug its thin sharp claws into his shoulders, and was snapping at his face. Walter was able to push the beast’s thin neck away so as not to allow it to bite at his face. The beast had an incision in its hint leg, from where Elle had hit it.

Namari quickly unhitched her dagger from her side and chucked it at the beast. It landed right in its side, though on an angle. Namari slightly cursed to herself.

It let out a cry, and Walter pushed it off with all his strength. The beast snarled as it ran back into the covers of the shadows, blade still attached. But its run could be heard, circling them now. Walter got up, and picked up his sword as he huffed in extreme frustration, back to the women.

“Don’t let it jump onto you,” Walter warned, “It’s a lot heavier than it looks.”

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle gasped when the creature suddenly leapt from the shadows and tackled Walter, the two hitting the floor. Elle conjured another arrow and shot it at the creature as it snapped its jaws at the demon knight. As attacked fell on the beast it retreated back into the shadows, circling them once more.

"Walter! Are you okay?" Elle asked, looking back at the knight. She looked around before conjuring an arrow. Damon it. Now what?

"Well what should we do now?" She wasn't sure if they had the time to deal with a creature, or if they had a choice to deal with it or not.

[Namari Lovelle]

“Fine, fine,” he grunted, but he was not entirely sure. For the most part his shoulders were fine. But he had fallen onto one of them funny. Did he manage to sprain it?
The Knight ignored it. Perhaps at a different time it would be best to bring it up. Now? Not now. Not when they all needed focus.

“I don’t think running is a good option,” he responded, as Namari seemed to look down, deep in thought.
“Not with our backs shown to it.”

“It shouldn’t be able to take too many more hits,” Namari stated, looking up as her eyes darted to and fro.
“If it comes back out we’ll circle it, and hit it with all we’ve got,” she stated, sighing.
After all, what else could they do? Perhaps that would be the best option they had.

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle looked at Namari as the queen spoke. Surround the beast and attack it to kill it. Good enough plan, especially considering the fact that none of them were prepared for a hell monster that could phase through walls. Now they just needed to end it. Quickly.

Elle lifted her bow, aiming in the dark until she had a more solid fix on the creatures location, then let her arrow fly. She immediately conjured arrow after arrow, shooting them into the dark, wishing she could see her target to better strike it.

"Come on you ugly bastard," she said, gritting her teeth. "Show me that face of yours."

[Namari Lovelle]

There was a howl, then it came running straight at them. Arrows were sticking out of the beast in every direction, as it seemed to not know where to go to avoid them. Slowly the arrows began to disappear. Now the beast bounced to and fro, missing most (not all) of the arrows being shot at it as it ran towards them.

Namari, the quickest on her feet, jumped forward, out of Elle’s line of fire. With one quick motion she sliced to the side, and the beast let out a yelp as it fell, its slide slashed open.

It fell to the ground, legs frantically moving as it attempted to stand up once more. Walter, closer to it, took his sword and lifted it up in the air. He winced, noting that yes, his shoulder was in fact dislocated, before bringing the tip of his sword down on its head.

The beast instantly went limp.

Namari panted as she walked over to it, ripping her dagger out from its side.
“Right. Best get going now. And that damn well be the last of them,” she stated. Now she was worried about Aerin. How long had it been? They had to get to him quickly.

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle stopped firing her arrows once Namari got close to the creature. She didn't want to accidentally kill the queen of Avaleur as well as her twins only love. Besides, the arrows seemed only to slow it down and piss it off. She watched at Namari made her strike, slicing into the beasts side and sending it over, where Walter delivered the final blow, killing the creature. Elle panted, lowering her bow. Well,that was exciting.

"Yeah. Who knows how time works in Atropos's mind, and hoe much we wasted here," she said, walking over to the creature. She looked at Walter a moment.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, noting that he had looked like he struggled a bit with the final blow. Before she could really get an answer, a distant scream of pain reached her ears, and effectively stunned her a moment. That scream...it sounded like...

"Aerin!?" Elle called, stepping around the creature. She waited, before hearing another one, and the sound of it brought tears to her eyes. She felt scared and angry. She began walking forward, leaving her torch that she dropped. As she reached the end of the light she lifted a hand, and burning ball of flame ignited above her palm, creating her torch. She paused as she saw two passage openings side by side, and she bit her lip, unsure of which to go into.

[Namari Lovelle]

Walter went a bit red as Elle asked if he was sure he was fine; an offhand lie while they were busy he could get away with. Otherwise... he was not so good at lying. He opened his mouth to respond, when he too heard the screams.

Namari put her hand to her mouth. They were close, and that was good. But Aerin...

Soon the two were following Elle, and the group came to a halt as they reached two paths.
Namari moved her head back and forth to try and see if she could hear an echo of some sort; but it seemed as if Aerin's screams came from both tunnels. She cursed silently to herself.

"Might as well go left," the demon muttered, "If it's not that route I'm sure we'll find out quick enough."
Surely that would not be the last of the screams; if they grew quiet they would know to go back.

Though it was not the greatest strategy; seeing as how it involved Aerin being tortured to even have an idea.

"Whichever way we should quicken our pace," Namari stated, looking at the two. A strained look on her face.
"We've wasted enough time, we need to find him fast."
Even if it had only been half an hour, Namari could not tell. And she did not want to find out.

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle looked between the two tunnels, feeling helpless. Walter suggested they go left,and worry that it was the wrong way ate away at her. But they had to choose. The knight was right, if they chose wrong they'd know it soon enough. But she didn't want to waste time. And splitting up was entirely too dangerous down here.

She hurried into the left side passage, palm held up to light the way. As she ran, she heard another scream, and it tore at her heart. But it also sounded closer. They were getting closer! Not long now until they found her brother, and maybe kill whoever was hurting him.

The passage began to turning, and as she made the turn Elle skidded to a halt, looking humbly at a dead end. But...wait, she heard Aerin get closer. Didn't she?

"Fuck!" She shouted, giving the stone wall a kick,as if it was the walls fault they chose wrong. She turned and started back the way they came. At least they didn't go too far out of their way. She stepped out of the passage, turned to enter the other one, and froze when she saw that the other one was gone. Only one passage stood before them, the one they came from.

[Namari Lovelle]

The screaming got louder and Namari quickened her pace, eager to pull her sword out on whoever was harming Aerin. But to her distress, the path was a dead end. She too was relieved when they did not get far; though the relief was short lived.

She slowed to a halt, eyerbrows furrowed as she noted that the other passage was no more.
"But...how?"

Walter scowled; thinking it was just an illusion, and out of frustration, he threw a ball of darkness at the wall. It hit the wall and dispersed, leaving no damage. Walter scowled once more, then grabbed his head. Now with a headache from his exhaustion of magic.

"It's not supposed to do that, it's not supposed to change when you're in it!" he said in frustration, rubbing at his temples.
"Maybe it's not the caves, but Atropos," Namari muttered, before sighing.

They were so close; or at least it felt like it. And now it seemed they could only move farther away from the sounds.

"Might as well see what the other end of this tunnel is," Namari stated, pointing down the way they came from and past the hole they entered it through.
The Queen began to move, passing the beast.
Walter looked over at Elle apologetically before moving that way as well, nearly kicking the beast in frustration.

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle stared at the spot that once had an opening, fighting back tears. She registered what was being said, but made no comment. She wondered if those screams had really been Aerin, or just a sick prank. There ceremonies screams now.

She looked at Namari as the queen pointed out another route,and she followed after the two, passing the creature they just ended.

"If I ever see that fucking mage who did this, I'll skin him alive," Elle said bitterly. Although she was aware that Atropos was a powerful mage, and the odds of carrying out such a threat were slim, but she felt better cursing the man.

[Namari Lovelle]

Despite knowing that even Walter and Elle put together probably would not be able to skin Atropos alive with his magic and his tricks, Walter nodded.
"I'll help you when you do."

The three wandered on to the other side of the hall. Turning this bent, surprise hit Namari.

This hall was larger than the others, and had lit torches on the walls down to the end. At the end it looked as if two huge doors were supposed to be there, but were removed.

Whatever it was, however, Walter felt like it was calling him. And because of that, Walter grew suspicious. Hesitant in moving forward.

"This at least looks a bit notable," Namari stated, looking at the group.
"Maybe this is the right way."
The Queen grew hopeful; but she knew that usually when she got hopeful in this situation, it turned out wrong.

She hoped that this time it was different.

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle walked in silence, musing. When she and Aerin were children, they had loved a certain story their mother told them often. From that story and their bond as twins, they sort of built a mental room that connected them together. They used this room to access each other and speak to each other. They played games where they'd carry out full conversations without speaking an actual word. After Aerin' s accident, Elle tried to contact her brother through this bond, to bring him out of his coma, but he hadn't been in that room. It scared her so badly she never tried again. Now she wondered if perhaps she should try again, after all these years.

She paused when the hall suddenly opened up and was lit with torches. She lowered her hand, extinguishing the fire magic, and loomed around. It certainly seemed like a room of importance.

"Guess this is the only way worth going at this point," she said, looking at Walter and Namari.

[Namari Lovelle]

The three slowly wandered to the end where the doors might have been. Soon they could see a circular room, passages going every way on the sides. In the center of the room was a pit that glowed many colours, illuminating the room.

Walter stiffened, holding his arm out so that the women would not pass.
"This, ladies, is the place all souls go," he murmured.

Namari raised her eyebrows and looked. To her amazement, the colours in the pit were all glowing balls. She thought that perhaps those were the souls.

"Don't get too close to the pit," he warned as he lowered his arm and stepped forward.
"Sometimes the souls try to drag people under, or so I hear."

Slowly Walter began walking along the side of the wall, towards the first tunnel to take a look. Namari looked at Elle a moment, before following Walter.

Before they could make it to the first tunnel a bright flash of light illuminated the room. Walter tensed, moving his sword so that it would point towards the pit. A small ball of light began to float above the pit, and towards them. And, even slower, it began to take form.

Walter did not know exactly how to defeat them from this soul, but before anyone bothered to attack, it took a human form.

She still glowed a golden colour, and seemed faded along the edges, but a young woman stood a few meters ahead of them. She had hair past her shoulders, a curly golden colour. Her skin fair, dress tidy. She raised her hands as if to make peace, before turning her peculiar eyes to look at Walter.

"I never expected to see you here," she stated, voice smooth as honey. Walter, now rather confused, furrowed his eyebrows.
"I'm sorry?" he stated, tilting his head.

The woman seemed surprise a moment, before she chuckled softly.
"I suppose I should not have expected you to remember me. Now tell me, what is it you seek here?"

Walter, still confused, opened his mouth to speak. But Namari quickly stated, "We're looking for a friend. He was kidnapped and brought here."
The woman looked at the Queen staring before nodding.
"Perhaps... I can help," she soothed, walking forward towards Walter.

"Hey, what are you..." he began, looking at the women in his party with uncertainty. But the woman passed his sword, and placed her slender hands on the sides of his head.

Suddenly Walter's eyes began to glow, as did hers. And as quickly as it had happened, it was gone.
"I see," the woman spoke, seeming to be unamused before she sighed.
"Such a dark world. Each day that passes I hope for a world where the truly good are not punished for being so. The man you search for is that way."

The woman pointed to the center tunnel, before smiling and turning back. Her eyes slightly sad looking.
"I pray I do not see you again for a very long time," she told Walter, before looking at the others.

"Stay safe, all of you."

And with that, she was just a tiny floating ball once more, which floated right back to the pit.

For a moment it was silent, before Namari slowly looked at Walter.
"Who was that?" she murmured. He continued to stare at the pit with a cunfused look before shaking his head.
"I have no idea."

For a moment he stared, before rubbing at his eyes.
"We don't have time for this lets just go," he mumbled, walking towards the middle tunnel.

And although he knew it could have been a trap, he did not think so. For some odd reason he trusted the woman, though he did not remember.
Namari gave Elle a quick glance once more before hurrying after the man.

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle followed the demon knight, keeping away from the pit of souls. She watched the pit, the lights and colors shifting, and then turned her attention to the many passages. How would they know which on to pick?

Elle nearly crashed into Walters back when he stopped, and she peered around him as an orb took human form. She blinked, immediately liking the presence of the soul, though she had no reason to. Maybe because her soft words sort of reminded her of her mother. And she just sort of oozed kindness.

The elf stood by as the figure took hold of Walter and actually gave them directions. She watched eyed as the woman became an orb again and float back. Elle looked to Walter, before she hurried into the tunnel. Well that was interesting. One of their better encounters really.

She walked quickly, hoping the soul was right, and gasped when she heard another scream from Aerin, this a lot closer. Her heart turned over in her chest and she bolted forward, seeing torch light ahead. She rounded a corner nd skidded to a stop, eyes wide. She came upon a chamber that was wide and well lit, packed with odds and ends and various tools. What caught her attention though was what was in the center.

A barbed gain hung from the ceiling, and tied up by his wrists was her brother, his arms up over his head, and he was on his knees. He was stripped completely, though not much of his flesh was very visible, since his body was riddled with woulda. Cuts, whip marks, bruises, burns, and blood covered nearly every inch of him. Surrounding him were three figures, and one held a bloodied dagger, the gaunt, humanoid creature having just sliced long, thin diamond shape into Aerins side, the top starting just below his ribcage and the bottom ending a little past his hip. Elle watched as another gripped the flesh there and peeled the skin off, a rain of blood falling to the already blood soaked floor and causing Aerin to scream behind his gag, which was there mostly to keep him from biting his tongue rather than silencing him.

The creature that pulled the flesh off her brother lifted the bloodied mess and greedily shoved it into its danged mouth. Elle conjured an arrow and aimed, shooting it into the creatures temple.

"Eat that, you sick bastard," she yelled, firing another arrow into it. The other two whirled and screeched in surprise, fangs bared.

[Namari Lovelle]

Walter continued to look behind them as they walked through the tunnel, truly wondering about the woman, before they heard a scream once more.

Neither hesitated with running with Elle, Namari's heart sinking. They were so close. But what would they find once they got there?

It was not just her heart that sank; once they saw the image before them, Namari's stomach dropped. She felt sick. Despite her many years with vicious battles, she had never seen such a horrific thing. But she gulped it down, raising her sword as Elle began to attack one of them.

Namari did not hesitate in running forward, sword in the air as she lunged at one of the beasts, giving it all she had.

Walter, against his better judgement not to use magic, used a different spell than previously. He conjured up more dark magic, but this time it was a dark spell that would explode on impact. He aimed for the other monster and shot straight at it's stomach, hoping that it would hit.

[Luella Vaettir]

The creature that Namari attacked stepped to the side, though the blow still fell, it was less fatal. Her strike hit it on the side,causing it to stagger over towards Elle, who drew her dagger and slashed it across the chest, making it stagger back to Namari.

The creature Walter aimed for had no chance. The magic struck it, sending it back a foot before the whole figure exploded, and dust rather than blood rained down around the room. Elle looked around, before stepping up to her chained brother, gripping the barbed chain and using her fire magic to break it loose.

Aerin fell over onto his side, panting and trembling. Elle got a better look at him now. All his fingernails and toenails were ripped out, the bottoms of his feet were burned, which would make walking out of here extremely painful, and he ore a thick, black collar on his neck. It had a familiar look to it, and she realized it was the same magic suppressing material that Walter had once been tied up with. That explained why Aerin hadn't used magic to free himself.

"Aerin, you'll be okay," Elle said, looking around for something to cover up his naked body. She spotted a robe nearby, and stood to grab it and throw it over his awful wounds.

[Namari Lovelle]

Walter staggered after using the spell, but smirked as it hit. At the very least it seemed as if his magic was almost back to normal. He leaned on the wall as he watched Elle move towards the robe.

Namari, frustrated that the beast had moved, was satisfied as it was hit by Elle. It came stumbling towards Namari, and this time it had no chance. She had thrust her blade into it, and it tumbled down.

With the beasts gone, she went to approach Aerin, sheathing her sword. Though she stopped before she got there; not only did his horrid wounds make her heart drop, but she did not think the man enjoyed the thought of Namari seeing him naked.

So instead she turned to Walter. She had noticed Aerin's burnt feet. And even without burnt feet, it would be truly difficult to get him out of here.

"Walter, do you think you could transfer all of us back to Avaleur?" she asked. Her voice soft. She was relieved, relieved that Aerin was alive. But she was also guilty; had they gotten there sooner. No, had they never left his side in the first place...

"I'm not sure," Walter murmured, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked at Aerin.
"I think I have more strength here, since this is where I come from. But that doesn't mean I can..." he sighed.

"I'll give it a shot. If not, I'll just carry him out."

Namari thought, turning to Elle for her opinion. The Queen was shaking, however, wishing to hold Aerin at that moment. Run her hand through his hair and tell him that he was safe, that they would not let anything happen to him.

Though that would be many things, one of those things being inappropriate.

[Luella Vaettir]

Elle removed the gag from Aerins mouth, and winced as he coughed blood. She pulled up his arms slowly, wincing as he groaned in pain, and she worked up pulling the barbed chain from his flesh.

"Elle...?" Aerin said, tears in his eyes.

"Right here. Walter and Namari came too. We're taking you home now," Elle said, trying not to cry. She freed him of the chain, and tucked the robe around him closer,it getting soaked in blood already. She looked to Walter a moment before back to Aerin.

"Just send Namari and Aerin back. We can get out of here and not drain you," she said softly, biting her lip before setting o work on freeing the collar, but it wouldn't come off.