Ask Black Ruins

[Wodan]

“Well I hope that your one turns up before you catch something.” He replied with a smirk. There was a spout of a rather common disease which floated around the Academy for a time just as Wodan arrived, luckily the Firrerrian was able to steer clear of it, but if the Annfyn was as adventurous as he stated he may fall into the trap himself.

Wodan appreciated the sentiment that Carellion was trying to get across when it came down to his own loss. “I am sorry to hear that, she sounded like a great woman, to give her life for her child.” He replied not knowing what more to say, Wodan was constantly so self centred upon his own loss he rarely knew how to deal with others and felt awkward and slightly guilty about his lack of ability to give proper consoling to others.

Luckily Carellion moved the conversation on swiftly. “With what we have already seen out there, I would rather we take watches. I can take the first, I will wake you in a couple of hours.”

As long as Carellion didn’t argue Wodan would go about his watch, he filled the time with fiddling with his lightsaber and the small blaster he brought along. Taking each apart and putting them back together again. His watch went by pretty quiet and part of him regretted not getting some more sleep, but he would rather be tired than dead.

Standing up from his chair, he walked over and shook the Annfyn awake. “Your turn, it should be just under two hours too day break according to my Holo, wake me when it gets light.” With that the Firrerrian snuggled back down into the armchair and fell quickly asleep.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion laughed. “I’m not one of those who do that like a rabbit all the time. When I said that I like to experiment with different things, it’s because I don’t mind the gender or species of my partner. Besides, I’m selective and careful with my partners, only doing it safely.” after all, he was a noble. He wasn’t going to sleep with someone that could pass a disease to him.

“By the way, if someday you decide to try with a male, I will apply to help you.” he winked playfully at Wodan, while laughing some more. He spent so much time needing to act like a proper noble that he never had time to talk about such crude matters. It was a little freeing.

Of course, the mood of their conversation had died when they reached the topic about family. “She was. I’m sorry about your father and siblings.” like Wodan, Caerllion wasn’t good at comforting others. It was probably the best that he could say at the moment, believing that he could end up offending the Firrerreo if he tried to say anything else and ended up sounding too false.

“Good idea.” with the possibility of another of these things running around, they needed to be prepared for the possibility of being attacked during the night. “Wake me up when it’s my time.” Caerllion said, before turning to sleep. If Wodan was expecting his objection, none was going to come. The Annfyn was too tired to remain as the first in the watch.

After sleeping for some time, Caerllion woke up with Wodan shaking him. “Ok. Try to rest now. If something happens, I will wake you up.” he put on his boots and got up from the sofa. Walking close to the door, the Acolyte would remain in a position that he could see outside. He regretted not having placed a warning spell, it would have allowed the two to rest.

His time in the watch went uneventfully. When the sky started to get illuminated, the Annfyn decided that it was time to wake Wodan. While he was walking to shake the Firrerreo, Caerllion heard something strange outside. Over the sound of rain falling, there was some type of loud shrill and it was getting close.

“Wodan, wake up! I heard something outside.” Caerllion hurried to wake the Firrerreo up. “We need to see what is coming for us.”

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Wodan was falling, lightning bouncing from his body into the metallic sides of the tunnel. Wind rushed past his flailing cloak, wrapped in black he could see the perpetrators of his demise high above looking down at his death. Anger, rage and fury flowed through him like a river of lava burning him from the inside. With a violent scream he let out as much energy as he could to vaporise his enemies but he was too far down the tunnel, the shaft. His power just bounced across metal plates before it all turned to black.

Wodan woke with a start, as Caerllion hurriedly tried to wake the Firrerrian. “So be it…” He mumbled as he tried to get a grasp of his surroundings. Where was he? The run down house. Who was here? Caerllion. Why? He remembered. As he pulled himself out of the chair, what the Annyfn had said finally took hold, shit they were not alone. Quickly bending down he tightened the claps of his boots and made towards the half destroyed window to peer outside.

For a time he saw nothing, but the shrill scream continued to echo through the empty streets. Just as Wodan was about to move he spotted it, flying through the sky above the city. A horrid creature, a mixture of humanoid and animal that looked straight out of a nightmare. It let out another shrill scream as he flew over the top of their building. Wodan ducked down under the windowsill as its eyes glanced towards their building. “It will be difficult to try and avoid that.” Wodan said, peering back over the edge to see where it went. “We can either try and kill it or try and run?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

When Wodan woke up, Caerllion briefly stared at him in confusion. He had heard the Firrerreo’s mumbling and wondered why he did it. While it could be an answer to what he had said while trying to wake him up, his fellow Acolyte seemed to be still asleep to have heard it. No, the Annfyn believed that his reaction was due to something else.

For now, Caerllion decided to ignore it. They had something more important to deal with. However, the Annfyn would still ask about what happened later. He followed Wodan toward the window, arriving right on time to see the creature flying low over the city. It was another abomination, very similar to the last one that they killed. The only exception was that it had wings.
“I think that we should kill it. If we try to run away, this creature can see us and attack. The best would be to bring it down, so we can proceed with calmness.” Caerllion explained, while still watching the thing flying. For them to kill it, the two Acolytes would need to attract it to the ground.

“I have an idea. Wait here while I do it. I’ll call you when it’s your time to attack.” Caerllion said to Wodan, before he sneaked out of the building. He would use debris to hide from the creature, while trying to find a good place. Once he found it, a broken pillar that could still hide him while giving him a good sight of the thing in the sky, the Annfyn summoned the Darkness and created a large sphere of red energy.

Waiting for the creature to be in a good position, Caerllion send the sphere toward it with all his strength. Since the thing didn’t expect to be attacked, the Annfyn’s magical attack hit its target, bursting in flames as soon as it collided against the abomination’s back.

With a loud scream, the creature went down and crashed some meters away from the building where the two spent the night. While it was trying to get up, the Annfyn turned to Wodan. “Now! Go end it!” he screamed, already activating his lightsaber. With the thing on the floor, they could kill it more easily.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

The hatred, anger, rage and fury from his dream still lingered at the back of his mind as Caerllion darted out of the house looking to put his plan into action. Wodan expected that the Annfyn was going to tap into his Magick’s to do something to the creature. Whatever was going to happen next he would need to be quick so he left the heavy cloak in the building, he would come back for it if he survived. The primal emotions allowed him to easily flood his body with The Dark Side, enhancing every atom of his being with the mystic energy.

Wodan left the door open after Caerllion departed and positioned himself a little way inside so he could not be seen. Lightsaber in his right hand and blaster in his left he readied himself to pounce. At the signal from the Annfyn, Wodan leapt forward the strength of The Force pouring through him.

Turning the corner he spotted the downed creature about fifteen metres away from him, its wings were smoking from the Magick flames as it desperately tried to flap itself to safety. Gritting his teeth Wodan raised his blaster firing off a trio of shots to try and keep the creature from taking flight. Two shots clattered into the surrounding rubble, the frantic pace of the Sith shaking his aim, the third hit but only scraped across the underside of the wing. The creature let out another of its shrill screams, its beady eyes turning to face the approaching Sith.

Throwing the blaster to the side he took the saber in both hands as he neared the winged beast. Snarling with his fangs a grumble emanating from his throat, his eyes locked onto the creature's neck. It lashed out as soon as he was in range, the clawed talon at the end of its wing aimed for his head. At full sprint, Wodan dropped to his knees, sliding underneath the horrid appendage, his heavy duty trousers ripping as the skidded across the broken floor.

As the wing passed, he pushed himself up from the ground bringing his bright red saber up across the creature's body, cleaving clean through its neck removing head from torso in one clean swipe. With a squelch both the head and body collapsed to the floor beside him.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

While he left his hiding place, Caerllion was able to see Wodan moving out of the building. The Annfyn could feel how the Darkness seemed to be stronger on him. It was very different from what he felt when they fought together yesterday. The Acolyte wondered what caused this change.

Rather continuing to move toward the creature, Caerllion stayed watching the scene that unfold in front of him. Wodan had first used his blaster to stop the creature from flying away, making it scream in pain. The Annfyn never thought about using a blaster when fighting. After all, he already had a lightsaber and his magick. The use of such weapons seemed to be so uncivilized if compared with the use of the blade.

However, seeing how Wodan could fight so effectively using the blaster and then changing to the blaster, made Caerllion think that perhaps he should learn how to use this weapon. It could be a good tool in a future battle. Few enemies would expect a Force user to fight using it.

When Caerllion finally arrived near the creature, Wodan had already killed it. “It seems that we make a good team. This is the second time that we successfully killed one of these, although this time you made most of the work.” he said, smiling at the Firrerreo. While he could have made the killing blow, it was the Annfyn who brought the creature down with the magick. “I like how you used the blaster, few Sith fight using it. I think that I’ll also start doing it. Would you teach me?”

Then he turned to the corpse, stretching his hand to use the same spell from yesterday. The blue sparks revealed that it had the same origin. “I wonder if it was one of the inhabitants of the city.” the Annfyn was nearly certain that it was the case. It would explain why everyone disappeared. “We need to proceed with caution. Do you think that our long term presence here can end affecting us too?”

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

The Darkness continued to flow over the Firrerrian as he stood over the crumpled corpse of the creature. Slowly it began to disperse from his body and mind, but not before Caerllion approached. His mind still consumed with the dark thoughts of early, locked out the Annfyn’s early comments about them making a good team.

Stepping past his fellow Sith he moved towards the discarded blaster, using The Force to snap it to his hand once it was within vision, just as Caerllion asked to be taught. The feeling of the cold steel in his hand helped bring some clarity to his mind as some of the last of the darkness faded away. “Huh, yea of course.” He finally replied as he holstered the blaster and lightsaber. Turning to view the Annfyn and the corpse he saw the former once again use his magicks to identify the origin of the creature.

“I would guess so, though if they were a willing follower or unfortunate side effect I’m not sure.” Wodan replied, stepping back up next to his colleague and the beast. “Maybe, but I think we will be ok for a couple of days, these things have had years to turn into whatever this is. Plus I doubt any of them had their own personal strength in the Dark Side to be able to resist. Looks like all this training might pay off.”

The sun was just cresting the top of the buildings, shining a bright light down onto the three of them. “I would rather not spend another night here. Shall we?” As long as Caerllion didn’t protest or continue his experiments on the creature. Wodan would head back to the house, grab his cloak before continuing on further into the centre of the city. They were about three quarters of the way in as the buildings slowly began to get bigger and bigger.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Hadn’t gone unnoticed to Caerllion how Wodan seemed to be lost inside his own mind since he woke up this morning. The surge of Darkness that he felt coming from the Firrerreo during their fight seemed to be only another symptom of it. He wondered what was happening with him.

He also seemed lost when he answered the Annfyn’s question about teaching him how to use a blaster. Needing to deal with politicians since he was only fourteen years old made Caerllion good enough to read the body language of other people. Now the Firrerreo was an open book that screamed lack of attention.

“True. However, I still want to find this relic as fast as possible.” the Annfyn said, deciding to wait for a better moment to ask why the Firrerreo was inattentive. “I only hope that our training will be enough to do that.” he muttered, more as an attempt to reassure himself. Even if they were close enough to become Champions, the item that they came to retrieve was made by a Sith Lord. It would be oozing corruption like a waterfall.

“Of course, let’s go.” like Wodan, the Annfyn didn’t want to stay here any longer. Their fight could attract more of these things. While the Firrerreo walked to retrieve his cloak, Caerllion turned to look at the dead creature one more time. If he could replicate this effect, the Acolyte would be able to make a new type of biological weapon. They would only need to be more resistant.

Once Wodan returned, the two Acolytes resumed their walk toward the center of the city. The silence between them was starting to annoy Caerllion. He was also curious to know what was happening with the Firrerreo. “So, I noticed how you seemed to be lost after the fight ended. What happened? Does it have something to do with what you said when I woke you up?” the Annfyn asked, mentioning the ‘so be it’ that he heard the other saying.

“You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to, but we are friends and I care for you. You can’t go face the relic of an Ancient Sith Lord without being capable of thinking straight.” Caerllion’s concern was real. He feared that Wodan’s lack of attention could end with him getting killed or turned into one of these creatures.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

The city was eerily quiet as they continued their walk towards its centre. Only the sounds of the odd bird or scurrying rat broke the monotony of the click clack of their boots on the stone floor. It was slowly starting to put the Fierrian on edge, so much so he jumped in place when Carellion opened his mouth. His hand was resting over his pulsating heart as he looked over at the Annfyn a look of annoyance at startling him clear in his face.

The annoyance turned to confusion, what did he mean he seemed lost after the fight? He didn’t remember being lost, he remembered the beast crashing into the rubble. Wodan rushed towards it before striking it down with his saber, then Carellion turned up and started doing his Magick. “What do you mean lost?” He asked confusedly, also had he said something when he woke up. Probably he had a vivid nightmare most people would say something. “I mean I had one hell of a nightmare, some arseholes throwing me off a platform to my death. So I was probably just a bit tired.”

He reached out and patted the Annfyn on the shoulder. “Are you really concerned about me? Or do you just need a good diversion for your spooky spells.” He replied with a smirk waving his hands around in a over the top imitation of the Annfyn.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion raised an eyebrow when he saw Wodan jump. This reaction only justified why the Annfyn thought that the other Acolyte seemed to be lost inside his own mind. They were in the middle of a dangerous zone, with mutated creatures roaming free and prepared to make an ambush at any moment. The Firrerreo should be paying more attention to his surroundings.

“I mean, you seem a bit distracted since you woke up this morning.” he said, shrugging. “I think that it was because of this dream. I know how it’s to have nightmares.” the Annfyn frowned, while remembering the times that he dreamt about the moment that his mother died. He wouldn't judge the Firrerreo, when himself already had the same experience.

The Annfyn laughed when Wodan tried to mimic his magick with hand gestures. “First, I make spells more through words. The hand gestures are only for fun.” he whispered the last part, as if it was a secret.

Then, he placed his right hand at Firrerreo’s shoulder, a sincere smile appearing on his lips. “Second, you are my friend and I really care about you. After crossing two battlefields with you, I don’t want to see you dead. Even less being killed by those waste of alchemical experiments. You need to become a Champion first.” he smiled one last time, before letting go of Wodan's shoulder.

“By the way, I was thinking that we would be able to bring one of these things with us. While I would like to study one alive, I think that a corpse also works.” he was curious to learn how these things worked. “I’m studying about alchemy and thought that by studying these creatures I could learn a thing or two. An army of controllable mutated abominations could be very useful in a battle.”

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

If he had been distracted since he woke up, the Firrerrian hadn’t noticed. “Sorry. I must just be tired.” He replied, scratching the shadow of a beard which was appearing on his chin. Turning another corner he chuckled as Caerllion explained how his Magick was supposed to work. “So you purposefully make yourself look like an idiot then, when you don’t need to?” He goaded the Annfyn. “So I can die after I become a Champion?” Wodan replied, raising his eyebrow, a small smirk creeping across his face.

The thought of bringing one of those things back with him ran chills through the Firrerrian’s spine. “I mean I guess, though I don’t know how you are going to get it back to the ship?” They were a few hours hike away from their shuttle now and he didn’t like the thought of dragging either of those things back all that way. Especially if there were others about ready to attack them. “If you do, it's staying in your room.”

Caerllion’s comment about Alchemy did peak his interest slightly, Wodan had never had the chance to delve into any of the deeper and more mystical sides of the Sith. Not having any particular talent in any of the fields he had tried so far. “I guess that is what that blue Magick was about?” He asked as they passed next to another of the great open areas in the city. Instead of crossing straight through, Wodan chose to keep to the edges just in case another of those flying things was about.

“So are there any other weird and wonderful tricks I need to know about? Magick, Alchemy, STD’s.”

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

The Annfyn laughed when Wodan teased him. “Really? I always thought that it was cool and gave my spells more fluidity. Next time that I try to use magick, I’ll take your comment into consideration.” Caerllion would end continuing using his hands when doing it anyway. He had got used to it.

He faked being deep in thought about Wodan’s question. “You can’t die before giving me a hand with my experiments. The Firrerreo are so strong physically that I could use your help to test my creatures.” he said playfully, while elbowing his friend’s side. “Now being serious, try to not die so soon. Things will be boring without you around. Who are going to go on missions with me and make dumb jokes?”

“Good point.” bringing one of these things back to the ship would be a problem. They would need to carry it all the way back here. “Maybe if we can bring a part of them, it could be enough. The whole creature couldn’t be necessary for my studies.” it was a risk and his analyses could lack important data. However, it was what the logistics allowed at the moment.

“Yes. The Dark Side used in the creation of these things took this color when it was converted into energy.” he explained, while showing his hand to Wodan. Soon, red sparks appeared on it. “Different types of sorcery and magick can have different colors. Red for Korriban, green for the Dathomir, blue for Sith Alchemy and I think that white for whatever the Fallanassi do.”

The Annfyn rolled his eyes when Wodan mentioned STD’s. “I like to experiment with different things, but that doesn’t mean that I’m a depraved. Not all these things are made over the bed.” to be honest, he didn’t have that many encounters. “I like to experiment with new food and visit new places. My people prefer to live in the same routine.”

“I started following the Throne’s Workout Routine and I also know how to cook. I also know how to ride and have excellent skills as a diplomat. Oh, I also can pilot a ship. I can play a harp, but it isn’t something excellent.” he said, full of pride. “And you? What can you do?”

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

He gave him a ‘Yea not really’ look followed by a quick smirk at his jazz hand comments. Wodan enjoyed the little bit of banter between the two Acolyte’s it helped break the constant state of angst and violence that came with being a Sith. “I am incredibly strong, also good looking and a fantastic lover. Or so I’m told.” He joked back at the Annfyn as they continued walking through the dead city.

A part would be much easier, both of them had heads pretty similar in size to a normal humanoid so chucking one in a bag and bringing it home shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Wodan’s intrigue was piqued as Carellion went about explaining how his Magick worked and how the different colours represented differing attributes within the Force and the Dark Side.

“I can agree on the food front, after a few months on military rations. I want to explore every eatery I can. Though I doubt I will ever forget the taste of those things.” He replied, the thought of food brought a rumble in his stomach. They hadn’t eaten properly since they left the shuttle the evening before. Inside his cloak he found a couple supplement pouches, a thick yoghurt packed with all the essentials to get you through a few hours. Offering a pick of the two flavours to Caerllion, Wodan would have the others, ripping off the top and sucking/squeezing the cool liquid into his mouth as they continued to walk.

“No wonder Emryc can buy Morata corp if the entire galaxy is doing his workout routine.” He commented as he finished his yoghurt. What could he do, to be honest not as much as his esteemed Acolyte friend, Wodan had worked on a few things, but yet to find anything he excelled in. He could pilot a landspeeder, any aircraft needed autopilot less he turned into a ball of burning scrap, he was ok with a Saber but had no real world combat to show for it. He guessed he was an ok shot with a blaster, which was a little frowned upon by his fellow Sith so that wasn’t one to boast about too much.

“I have heard I am great at choosing vacation destinations.” He joked pointing at the surrounding landscape, trying to deflect the question away from his obvious defects as a Sith.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”I’m not sure about you being good looking.” he said playfully, before smirking at the Firrerreo. “Regarding you being a fantastic lover, I think that I would need to see it by myself. Besides, I could say the same about myself.” he winked at Wodan. The Annfyn was having so much fun with the constant teasing between the two.

Caerllion never had this type of interaction before, perhaps because he needed to spend most of his time acting like a proper noble. He felt envious of how Wodan could act this way all the time without fearing being judged by the rest of the nobility. The Annfyn wanted to have this type of freedom.

“Yeah, these military rations taste like shit.” only talking about it made the Acolyte remember when he tasted it during his participation on military campaigns. It was awful. “Thank you.” Caerllion said, while accepting the yogurt that Wodan offered to him. “Maybe our soldiers would be even more efficient if the food was a bit better. We could have already conquered the whole Galaxy by serving good food to our troops!” he joked, before sipping some of the yogurt.

“Probably, the guy has a shape that makes every person in the Galaxy envious. Everyone wants to know how he achieved it and would pay a good price for it. It’s really, I think that I’m already seeing some results.” while the Acolyte wasn’t a gym rat, he still wanted to change his slim build. “Maybe we could work up together. ” Caerllion poked the Firrerreo’s belly playfully. “You could use some of it.”

“I can really see that. Next time that you take me out on a trip, I expect that we are going to end up spending a nice day together in Hoth. Watching the snow during a long blizzard!” the Annfyn had noticed that the Firrerreo had avoided his question, but had decided to not press him for a direct answer. “Do you believe that I never went to Zeltros? I would like to see it someday, but I think that the constant parties can be annoying. I like to relax and see nature. Is there any planet that you would like to visit?”

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

“I knew you had kinks, but didn’t think you were a watcher dude.” He smirked back at the Annfyn, he was also enjoying the back and forth. It helped relax the tension within his mind, those dark thoughts now well and truly buried, at least for now.

He gave Caerllion a grumpy look as he poked Wodan’s stomach, yea it wasn’t a six pack, three percent body fat body, but he wasn’t fat and had at least a decent amount of muscle building up. Wodan didn’t quip back however, he would store that one away for later.

“It's a date and don’t forget your speedos.” He replied, giving the Annfyn a little punch in the arm as they stepped off the edge of the opening and back into the streets of the city. Was there a planet he wanted to visit? Most planet’s he wanted to go to, he just went when he could, it was one of the privileges of being amongst the Imperial Elite. The flexibility to go where he wished.

“Dathomir is one for sure.” He said, there was a couple of reasons he wanted to go there but he didn’t want to voice them, at least not right now to Caerllion.

Before their little chat could continue however the silence of the city was once again broken. To the north, towards the centre of the city came a guttural deep scream or cry Wodan couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. The Firrerrian quickly stepped to the side up against the walls of a nearby building as a second scream echoed across the city.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”Who said that I would only want to watch?” he smirked suggestively at Wodan. This constant teasing between the two seemed to have made the atmosphere around them less dreadful. The Annfyn could even ignore the fact that they were after a cursed Dark Side artifact and that at any moment an mutant abomination could jump over them.

Caerllion laughed with Wodan’s comment about Hoth. “If you want to use a speedo so much during a date, then maybe we could go to Zeltros together. Even the parties aren’t my thing, it still has some resorts with pools and rivers. We could meet some Zeltron there.” the Annfyn would love having a companion to visit the planet. Doing things alone all the time was boring.

“Interesting. I would like to visit Dathomir too.” he wondered if Wodan wanted to do it because of Arla or if he was interested in something else. In the Annfyn case, it was because of both. He liked the girl and her homeworld could teach him so much.

“We could also have a date here, but you would need to bring light clothes. I heard that Rancors can pursue prey for long distances.” Caerllion joked, already having fun in thinking how the two would need to run through several swamps to escape one of these animals. “It would be a good exercise! Maybe we could ask Arla to help with the Rancor.”

The Annfyn had barely finished talking when he heard a strange sound with his keen hearing. While it seemed like a scream, it didn’t seem something that a person would be able to. Soon the sound became louder and Caerllion followed Wodan toward a nearby wall, seeking to hide. Whatever was making this sound, it was getting close.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Whatever was creating that noise was moving and it was not happy. Another scream, or perhaps a wallow, it was less primal than the calls of the harpy-like creature from before, it was more human, there was sorrow in its cry. Wodan wasn’t sure if the human element was better or worse for the pair, turning to face Caerllion who was next to him. “I think we need to get eyes on.” He said before beginning to make his way towards the epicentre of the screams.

He immediately drew both his lightsaber and blaster, not knowing exactly how close the thing was and he did not want to be caught unaware. Crouching slightly to reduce his silhouette he moved as quickly as he dared across the broken empty city. The screams were becoming more and more frequent as well as getting closer with each passing moment.

It took them about ten minutes before Wodan stopped, they were close, perhaps too close. But it was too late to turn around, the Firrerrian spotted a nearby building, the door already fallen away and he made his way inside. The concrete staircase was perfect, no concern of creeping boards as he made his way up to the second floor. From here he could look down on the creature at hand.

What walked down the street bellowing in anguish was a creature which made everything before seem tame. It was twice as tall as Caerllion and almost as wide, its face had a mass of coral-like structures sticking from its grey skin. A giant cloak covered its body, but evident hanging around its neck was a chain holding a small fragment of a shattered crown. “I think we found our big bad.” He whispered to Caerllion.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion nodded in agreement. Their hiding place didn’t allow them to see what was making these sounds, but with its hearing the Annfyn could notice that it wasn’t flying. It was good, the Acolyte doubted that he would be capable of doing a repeat of his bullseye shot from early.

The Annfyn carefully walked with Wodan toward the source of the sound. Like his friend, he was already holding his lightsaber with his right hand, while the left hand was already covered with red energy. If a creature jumped at them while they were walking, the Acolyte wanted to be prepared to defend himself.

He followed Wodan through the staircase, staying close to him when the two reached the second floor. From there, the Annfyn could also see the creature that was responsible for the sounds. “I’m not sure, but there is something different on this one.” Caerllion could feel how its Dark presence was stronger than the others.

The Acolyte also noticed the crown fragment, from where came a strong and powerful Darkness. “I think that we also found the artifact.” he whispered, before pointing discreetly at the chain around the creature’s neck. “We only need to take it and leave this planet.” of course, the problem would be to take it from the thing.

“Perhaps we could attack it together this time. My binding spell could work again.” he suggested, without moving his eyes away from the creature. The Annfyn had the feeling that this one wasn’t going to be so easy to kill like the others. Something in the way that he walked reminded the Acolyte from a leader, rather than a mindless being.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

His eyes locked onto the fragment hanging from his neck, a voice deep down inside screamed out in anger. The dream of falling flashed back into his mind, Wodan grabbed hold of the window sill to stop himself from falling. As the creature walked past the building they were hiding in.

“Good plan. I will try to move to the other side of the street and attack from there. But get your spell ready just encase.” He replied in hushed tones, if Caerllion didn’t have any objections Wodan would holster his blaster and make ready to move.

Once Caerllion was in place to cast his ability Wodan slipped out of the window, using The Force to cushion his fall and reduce the sound he landed about five metres behind the creature. From their he darted over to the other side street, keeping his body close to the wall encase the creature turned. Slowly he advanced so he was about three meters behind then he gave a thumbs up with his saber hand and waited for Caerllion to strike.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”Right. Try to be careful here, I don’t want to see that pretty face of yours crushed.” he said playfully, trying to take a bit of the tension of the situation. Even if they were going to face this abomination, the Annfyn thought that being nervous wasn’t going to help in the fight. Besides, he also sincerely wanted his friend to be careful.

After Wodan got in position, Caerllion started to prepare his spell. He summoned the Dark Side toward his body and covered himself with it. Then, the Acolyte stretched his hands toward the creature, making the Darkness gather around its feet. Soon, the same chains made of red energy emerged, binding its arms and legs.

However, different from the others that they killed, this one was more resistant. It struggled against Caerllion’s spell, but this time the Annfyn could feel the tension on the chains being stronger. Soon, sweat had started to run down his forehead and his hands were shaking in an attempt to continue holding it.

If Wodan didn’t end it fast, the chains would one after the other and Caerllion’s spell would be broken. With the creature free, the two Sith would need to fight it directly.

@Braden