The Bloody Village [Thamuz v. Anastasia]

[Ness]

Setting: A deserted village, to be described below

Combatants: Thamuz Delville and Anastasia Hollow

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The sun was just beginning to set. As it dipped closer to the horizon, it swelled in size and turned a dark, blood-red hue. Thamuz Delville, Knight Templar of the Holy Lodis Empire, regarded the sunset quietly, his thoughts restless.

A clear sky and a bloody sun. There will be blood spilled this day.

Thamuz did not actually put a lot of faith into omens, but the nature of the mission his unit was on was causing his mind to wander ever so slightly. To calm himself, he closed his eyes and recounted the details of the assignment that Lord Glendale had given him.

Reports have been coming in from villages on the fringes of the Empire. Disturbing reports...entire villages left ravaged and bloodied. No survivors have been found from the two villages affected so far. Rumors abound regarding the nature of the attacks...some say it a demon risen from hell itself to make war on Filarhh's people. Our objective is to find the true nature of these strange happenings.

Thamuz shivered in spite of the fact that this day had been quite warm. The rest of his unit, four knights of the Caliginous Order, were riding in front of Thamuz. They were coming up on a village that was close to the two razed ones, which they would use as a sort of base of operations. The men were joking with each other, excited about the prospect of a good night's sleep. Thamuz could scarcely blame them...it had certainly been a long journey. As they village came into sight, Thamuz rode ahead to speak to the elder of the village...but brought his horse up short as he caught a familiar scent in the air.

Blood.

Thamuz called a halt to the rest of the knights, whose pleasant demeanor had faded. They smelled it too, and a few of them had drawn their weapons.

"Wait here...I'll go take a quick look around."

Thamuz slowly rode into the streets and slowly took in the village with his sharp blue eyes. It was an unremarkable place. The roads were made of lightly crushed stone that shifted slightly under his horse's hooves. The road was fairly wide...several horses could walk the road side by side. The houses were arranged in neat rows but were unto themselves unexciting. The stench of blood had grown thicker here, and the smell brought another wave of unease over Thamuz. He quietly drew his Peridot Sword and waited.

He could not explain it, but he knew that the cause of this bloodshed was still nearby. He sat astride his horse, sword in hand, and simply waited.

Filarhh will bring my enemies to me. He always has.

Perhaps the omen he saw was more than an omen...

 

[Gaige]

A deep exhalation of breath sounded, the only sound of life that remained in this sleepy country village. She was in darkness, with the curtains drawn for the most part, but the window had been shattered, glass shrapnel raining down on the ground below, and allowing the wind that carried the scent of blood to disturb the curtains.

With the occasional flickers of light that illuminated the room, there could be seen a monstrously ravaged set of figures, at least three, one a child, draped over the beds, puncture wounds in their backs, their limbs and torsos burnt, faces incinerated beyond identification.

Well, she was done here. That was the last of the life she sensed in this area, snuffed out efficiently and brutally. Trotting out of the room, she pulled the door behind her, and it let out a loud creak before a dull thunk and sharp click signaled its closure.

Making her way down the stairs, she saw a fourth corpse slumped over against the doorway. A single, minuscule puncture wound in her chest was the only sign of injury, and her eyes were wide open; her death had been quick and painless, and her energy, her lifeblood, was the fuel for Anastasia's powers now.

The weak evening sunlight streamed through the door which remained open, and she stepped outside, inhaling deeply, her face softening in a half smile as the scent of blood and burnt flesh reached her nose, rather than the mundane aroma of fresh air and spring pollen. Yes, she lived for this demonic decadence, this cruel self indulgence.

However, there was something...more in the air. Something beyond her comprehension. Life? A visitor? No. It was the stench of something more. Something like...power.

Hmm. So she had an interloper in her delights, did she? Well, her recent indulgences had been rather dull, and judging how fast he was approaching, she wouldn't get away in a hurry. Her body was adapting to the influx of energy. She couldn't teleport just yet. The displacement of weight would scatter the adjusting energy.

Walking into the sunlight that would soon fade behind the horizon, Anastasia Hallows stared at her body now that it was bathed in light. Covered in blood, her clothes, seamlessly unripped and unwrinkled, stained a dull scarlet.

A steady drip, drip, drip sounded from her body as blood dripped from her hand to the ground as she staggered almost drunkenly through the devastated village.

Well, well, well. A man before her would seem to be the source of the scent of power. Yes. She wouldn't mistake it for anything else. She looked over the man with wide eyes. He was a little old...but rather grand. Impressive looking. Without speaking, she raised her bloodstained hand to her lips and sucked some off her hands, swilling it around her mouth like a fine wine before swallowing without a sound, keeping her hand to her mouth as she stared at the man who had just entered. Would he lead her to greater power?

 

[Ness]

Thamuz's eyes continued to slowly scan the village. His hand gripped the hilt of his sword involuntarily as he mentally prepared himself for what he might face...and suddenly, he saw her. It was as if she appeared out of thin air...one minute the village was deserted and the next, she was simply there.

She was a bit of a distance away, but close enough so that Thamuz could get a good look. The woman was tall and pale...there was no way that she could be a native of Lodis. His blue eyes were drawn to her scarlet ones and he matched her gaze for a few moments. He hardly took note of her red clothing until he realized that it wasn't red at all...the realization caused his eyes to widen slightly.

By the mercy of Filarhh, that's blood. Could she be the one responsible for this?

Thamuz decided that caution would serve him best here...he would not ride down an unarmed woman until he had the truth of the matter. If she was indeed the cause of this bloodshed...well, that was another matter entirely. Before he could speak to her, Thamuz heard the low whistle of a light breeze, but felt no wind. To the untrained ear, the noise meant nothing...but the signal from Vad was clear enough. Vad was a master archer, and was signaling that he had taken aim on the enemy and was ready to fire.

Thamuz sighed and made a subtle signal with his free hand. Knowing his men were in position was a mild reassurance...but still, he needed to know what had happened. Thamuz raised his voice and called out to the strange woman.

"I am Thamuz Delville, a Knight Templar of the Caliginous Order. In the name of Filarhh and his servant, Pope Saldian, I ask you...what has happened here?"

 

[Gaige]

Hmm. She could tell that this man had others with him. She could smell them from here. They probably weren't too big a threat, but if they had archers...well, an arrow in the throat was no fun at all.

He was asking her what happened here now. Well, perhaps if she could get the element of surprise over him, she could take the advantage. If not, she would be left wide open, and vulnerable to attack; the last thing she needed.

She turned her head away, placing it loosely in one of her palms as she mustered a choked voice. "Oh sir!" she cried. "W-we were going about our daily business as normal, when a man entered the town! He had fangs... and skin as pale as bone. He commanded fierce magic. T-the fire itself was under his command."

The time she was spending drudging up this sickening display of helplessness was also time for her to power up for magic. Those precious few seconds meant everything to one such as her, who relied on arcane means to glean the upper hand. Of course, if the man could sense the gathering of magic, he would have ample time to dodge and counterattack. She was counting on the hope that either he wasn't able to sense magic, or that his guard was down enough so that he couldn't.

Then, her high pitched mockery of a voice deepened to its natural tones for the first time in this little dialog. "They all went down so easily." She almost went into a reverie at the thought, but she was in a tense situation and couldn't afford to drop her guard; not even for a moment.

She removed her hand from her face and looked back at the man on horseback with an almost manic smile on her face. "Like mannequins!" Her hand shot out, a deep purple light glowing in her palms within a second before a volley of no less than five beams of darkness shot from her hand, twirling through the skies and leaving corrupted black trails in their wake as they shot towards Thamuz and his horse.