VG Rumble II

Adam

It was growing later and Adam was pacing by the fire, flexing his muscles, trying to test his strength. Enya was watching him from where she lay with a blanket about her shoulders, her face puckered in a heavy forwn. A typical healer. She didn't understand that a warrior couldn't afford to rest but oh... who was he kidding? That woman made a better warrior than him. He could see her. And Edgar. They were both standing at the edge of camp, right on the fringe of the fire's warm glow and looking out toward the portal.

Adam had thought of offering his own help at standing guard. It was probably the only thing he was useful in this state though he did feel marginally better. The ache in his side didn't burn quite so much and he could ewalk without limp or sound, silent in his Thief boots. Besides, he wasn't as stubborn as them. Adam could live with others looking out for him and watching his back. Those two... there was no trust. Cathy was fiercely independent. It had taken only these short hours in her presence to see that. She would trust no one to watch over her while she slept so... when did she sleep?

Edgar was almost the same. He was probably so convinced of his own strength and brilliance that he didn't think anyone else good enough to guard the group while they slept. He certainly didn't trust Adam. Not Adam the thief.

There was a sound, faint and barely heard by even Adam. It was coming from behind, at the other side of camp toward where the town used to be. Cathy and Edgar did not seem to have heard. It had reached only the thief's ears. He turned and walked quietly past Enya, bending to touch her gently with a hand. He didn't dare speak. He did the same for Reon who was slipping into slumber and then for the guards, each time pointing back toward the rubble. They seemed to understand. Quietly they were moving, bringing weapons out and trying to get the attention of Cathy and Edgar.

It happened suddenly. There wasn't time to prepare or further warning, in a loud, crashing snarl, the mosters were upon them. Adam cried out in shock as one of the skamps lunged at him and he only just brought one dagger up in time to block it. He left the other in its sheathe, his other hand was practically useless. Adam dodged back and was relieved by the sound of running feet as the sentrys moved in but they were all tired and the numbers were not in their favour.

(Just so you know, kitty, Adam won't be able to use two weapons at once until he reaches his next class, which is Twinblade. The Dual-weild skill is one of the first skills to buy on the tree, so it shouldn't take long to get it once he reaches his next class.)

Group B

The group made their way up the tower, meeting surprisingly little resistance along the way. They managed to avoid any battles along the way, choosing to sneak past any opposition they found. It was as though the enemy hadn't expected anyone to be crazy enough to enter the blazing portal into their world, let alone sneak into their headquarters.

They managed to make it up to the third floor without being detected. From what Adrian could tell from the catwalks in the middle of the tower, they had about two floors left to go before reaching the top. They came to a square room with benches in the center. There were two doors, one that obviously led to the next series of catwalks, and another going outside.

Kai looked around the room, checking to see whether they were alone or not. When he spotted no demons, he said, "Looks clear," before moving forward.

The others followed him, but Adrian stopped when a pebble landed on his head. He looked up and, to his horror, saw a giant blade suspended from the ceiling. It was starting to shake, as if readying to fall. And directly underneath it was Kai.

"Kai, look out!" Adrian shouted as he tackled his friend out of the way. The blade dropped, slamming into the ground where Kai had once stood. Thanks to Adrian, the only thing the blade managed to slice was the soles of their boots.

"That was close," Kai said as Adrian helped him back up. "Thanks."

The blade began to recede back up to the ceiling. Balaes and Ivellios took this chance to move to the other side before it had a chance to come down again. "Looks like the demons aren't completely unprepared for enemy insertions," Ivellios pointed out. "There may be more traps ahead, let's try to keep a closer eye on our surroundings."

Both Adrian and Kai nodded as they brushed themselves off. "So, which door should we take?" Adrian asked."

"Let's take the one that leads to the catwalks," Balaes said as he approached the door. "It'll obviously lead us closer to the top." He placed his hand on the cold hard surface, just like he had with all the other doors before. But this time it didn't budge.

"What's wrong, Balaes?" Adrian asked.

"The door won't open." He examined the door a little more closely, and that's when he found a small keyhole in the center. "I think we need a key to open this one," he told Adrian.

"I guess we have no choice if we want to proceed," Adrian said. He turned to the door that led outside. "Maybe we should try that door."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Balaes opened the door for everyone. On the other side was a narrow bridge that led to the smaller tower they had seen before. They crossed the bridge and entered the tower.

Once inside, Adrian signalled everyone to be quiet. "I hear something," he whispered. Voices could be heard further up.

"Let me out of here, you damn devil-spawn!" once voice shouted. It was obviously human, perhaps the soldier Menien that Raynold had told them about.

The next voice clearly belonged to a demon. It was raspy and resonated with something dark and unnatural. "Quiet, human! Or you'll end up like the rest of your friends!"

They moved quietly up the spiral ramp that ran up the wall of the entire tower until they came to the top. They poked their heads over the edge of the platform. A man was standing in a cage suspended just above the floor by a chain attached to the ceiling. He was stripped down to nothing but his pants, even his shoes were gone. In front of the cage stood a demon in red and black armor. It was the same type Adrian had seen on the first tower's main floor. Around the demon's neck was a key tied to a chain. It just might be the key they were looking for.

Adrian began to move up, he wanted to try and sneak up on the creature and make the first attack. It was obvious that they would have to fight this thing. He wanted every advantage he could get. But as he got closer he slipped on a rock and fell, hitting the ground with a loud thud. The demon turned to him and snarled. It brought out a mace before saying, "You should not be here, mortals! Your blood is forfeit, your flesh is mine!"

Group B

--Battle!!--

Fighters:

- Adrian
- Kai
- Ivellios
- Balaes


Enemies:

- Dremora Caitiff x1


Dremora Caitiff: A black skinned demon under the command of Mehrunes Dagon. Sports demonic red and black armor and carries a heavy mace.

(In case your wondering, this demon is just known as a Dremora. There are different ranks of Dremora, and Caitiff is one of them. Once Enya gets the Scan ability you'll learn more about it.)

(Okay, thanks.)

Kai ran forward when Adrian sprawled. If the demon had heard that, he was as good as dead...

It turned, a mace brandished. "You should not be here, mortals! Your blood is forfeit, your flesh is mine!" Its voice even sounded creepy. Kai still ran forward, drawing his sword and jumping in front of Adrian, who was scampering to his feet and reaching blindly for his weapon.

Kai barely moved fast enough to block the demon's attack at his head. Even then, the strike was strong enough to knock him sideways, staggering as he struggled to keep his footing against the offense.

Ivellios and Balaes were soon by his side, trying to surround the monster and attack its scarcely revealed black hide whatever chance they got. Kai held his ground until he was sure his friend was up and armed.

Balaes

The dark mage hung back a little behind the three warriors as Kai and Ivellios held their ground over Adrian. There was no way Balaes was going to get involved in close combat with that thing, he couldn't even handle a knife!

Already, though, he knew better than to let the demon speak again. His father had spoken to him of demons who resembled humans, and had said that many were mages. So Balaes reached back through the memories dredged up by this place and thought of the spells his father had taught him, the ones to use against a mage or a warrior to render them helpless.

He began to sing, just under his breath at first, but then the strength of his voice rose, augmented by the magic he was drawing from Oblivion itself. He focused his concentration on the demon, the notes flowing straight into it as motes of darkness floated from Balaes' mouth, drifting on the light breeze of the dark mage's singing and wrapping around the dremora.

But it seemed to be absorbing it with little or no effect. Balaes was starting to think he might have to rely more heavily on the realm's increased power. Surely it couldn't hurt, just for a little while?

Group B

Even though Balaes' spell was ineffective, the demon had definitely felt it. The creature pointed its free hand at the dark mage and spoke in an incomprehensible language. A bolt of white fire shot out of its hand, passed between Kai and Ivellios and over Adrian's head, and struck Balaes in the chest. It had happened so fast that none of them had seen it coming. The magic itself didn't cause any pain, but the force from the attack made him stagger.

Adrian was back on his feet now, and all three of them were working together to fight the Dremora. Balaes recovered his composure before trying to cast another spell, more powerful than the one before it. But as he tried to channel his energy, nothing happened. It was as though the dark magic inside of him was sitting just under his skin but couldn't find its way out. He started to say, 'Why isn't it working?' but froze when no words escaped his lips.

His heart sank when he realised what that demon's spell had just done. It was a curse that prevented Balaes from using any magic. He had been silenced.

--Balaes has been silenced. He cannot use any magic for the remainder of the fight.--
______________________________

Group A

Edgar and Cathy rushed into action as the next wave of demons march out of the Oblivion Gate. One of the Skamps had already made it to the others and was now fighting Adam. Ilum went to help the injured thief against the creature as the others charged toward the rest of the enemies.

Using her new found power, Enya cast a protective magical barrier around Captain Matius. It seemed as though she could only cast the spell on one person at a time. She then went back to where Adam and her father fought and started to do the same with them.

Raynold went for the second Skamp with Salvian, and Reon went for the two Flame Atronachs. Since Ilum was helping Adam, Reon was the only one on the battlefield who could use ice magic. But it would be a difficult fight since it was two against one.

Cathy went for the Frost Atronach with her fire magic, and Edgar went for the Storm one. He was about to shift into his werewolf form as he usually did when he remembered what he felt a few moments ago. The feel of the planet's pulse was still fresh in his mind. If he has begun to develop a control over the elements, now was the time to find out.

Edgar placed his hands on the ground as he had done before. He focused everything on that feint pulse as the Storm Atronach lumbered forward. Magic began to flow into his body from the ground through his fingertips. He took a deep breath and, with one strong heave, pushed the magic back into the ground.

The earth cracked and buckled in a straight wave toward the Storm Atronach. The path grew larger the further it went, until it reached its target. The ground shook where the Atronach stood as two large rocks jutted out on either side of it. Then the creature was pulled a few feet through the ground, sandwiched between the two rocks.

Balaes

A silencing spell. Of course, it made perfect sense - after all, what better way to remove a mage from a fight than to take away his magic? Balaes cursed himself for not doing the same to the demon first. But then, would it have even worked? Or would the Dremora's magic resistance have swallowed that up to? Well, if he ever lived to fight another one of these beasts, he would be sure to attempt to silence it before it could do the same to him.

For now, he would be damned before he gave up on the fight merely because he couldn't cast a spell and didn't have a weapon. There were still ways for him to contribute. He pondered throwing rocks at it, like he hadat the Skamp, but he was just as likely to hit Adrian, Kai or Ivellios as he was to hit the demon. And he knew that getting close enough to try and smash a rock over its head would almost certainly see him get killed by it.

He eyed the cage it had been in front of the demon, thinking. If he could get around their enemy, and somehow get the cage open, then he'd be able to free Menien. And if he did that, the demon would be outnumbered four to one, if there was a weapon lying around for Menien. Moreover, its fourth opponent would be behind it, rather than before it, giving the four warriors a significant advantage.

Of course, he needed to get around them, first. He started edging around the fight, back pressed against the wall, trying to prevent any attention being drawn to him.

Group B

The others fought on as Balaes snuck toward Menien's cage. As he approached Menien began to say something, but Balaes put a finger to his lips to signal for him to stay quiet. Menien understood and nodded.

Balaes went to work trying to unlock the cage, but it would prove to be difficult. The cage was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was comprised of one square shaped grate at the bottom and four long grates as walls. The top of each grate was connected to a chain which linked up with the other three to form the larger chain that kept it suspended from the ceiling. The ends of all the bars that comprised the cage were pointed, and sharp as a Deadroth's fangs.

There was no sixth grate to block off the top, so if the prisoner was careful he could simply climb out. But there was also an equally good chance he would skewer himself on the sharp bars in the process. All four sides of the cage were the same series of bars with no signs of a keyhole to open it. The only way Balaes could imagine how it could be opened is if the chains at the top were somehow disconnected, letting the walls of the cage fall on their own.

Balaes considered climbing up the cage and disconnecting the chains themselves, but he didn't have the means to do so. Since the Dremora had silenced him the only thing he could use was his wooden wand. He started to look around the room for any kind of switch. His eyes lingered on the battle for a few moments. Sweat was dripping off of everyone's faces as they fought. Adrian's shield was taking quite the beating, Balaes could already see cracks starting to form on the surface.

He continued his search around the room. He stopped when he noticed a large gear in the wall with a lever beside it. The chain connected to it ran up to the ceiling, wrapped around a wheel, and went down to the cage. If he could make the gear move the cage would settle on the floor and open on its own.


Adrian and the others fought on. The Dremora's strength seemed limitless, showing no signs of fatigue at all. Every second that the fight dragged on gave the enemy a better advantage. The rest of the demons they had encountered so far seemed like cannon fodder compared to this one, even with three people fighting it at once. They would have to end the fight soon, before everyone's energy dwindled down to nothing.

Adrian shouted at the top of his lungs before charging at the enemy. His battle cry seemed to startle the Dremora as its body froze for a moment. Adrian swung his sword at the demon's arm. The blade created a few sparks when it clashed against the creature's armor. It grunted in pain and staggered a bit, but quickly shrugged it off. The Dremora swung its mace at Adrian's sword to knock it away. It took all the strength he had to keep his sword from flying out of his grip. The demon lifted its weapon over its head to attack again. Adrian brought his shield up to block it. When the Dremora smashed its mace against the leather shield, not only did it break into several pieces, the force threw Adrian off his feet.

Cathy

Fire crackled in the palms of Cathy's hands as she hurled balls of it at the frost atronach. She had it backing up toward the town, away from where the others were fighting but knew that she'd need a stronger burst of strength to take on this beast. It was time to sleep, it was time to rest and slumber, nestled in the boughs of a protective red-wood tree. Cathy could feel her lids drooping from sheer exhaustion, even in the middle of a fight.

Seeming to sense this, the frost atronach rushed forwards but Cathy held her ground and met its advance with one of her own. As the creature's body touched her, she made her flesh excrete heat. She could feel it scrabbling at her body. It pushed her to the ground. Cathy snarled in a guttaral cry of pain. She mustered her strength and blasted fire into its depths, causing it to retreat.

Her legs felt weak and she could feel her reserves of magic sinking. Cathy scrabbled around for stones to throw and found a twig. It felt warm and rough, the colour of oak.

"Defend and protect me, noble oak," Cathy said fervently, feeling the power of the elements simmer inside. She has spent much of her life in these woods and they always aided her, helped and protected her. Cathy held the twig up, brandishing it like a wand and with a final, concentrated blast of fire, she stood up and advanced, melting the frost atronach into a puddle.

Balaes

The dark mage maneuvered around to the lever, looking at it for a long moment. It was large, and he had a feeling that he couldn't budge it. Maybe one of the others, and certainly the demon, but it didn't look designed to shift at the slightest touch.

Then again, the doors had, and they hadn't even had handles. Maybe it was just a matter of getting the machine to sense his magic. He gripped it and started trying to pull it, focusing his magic down towards it. The upside of the silencing spell was that there was no longer the pull of this world, it was simply his own magic now.

On the other hand, it was making it harder to trick the machines into thinking he was a demon. Eventually though, the lever started to budge, inch by edge allowing the chain to play out, Balaes grunting at the effort of sustaining his magic at this level. Sweat beaded on his forehead, but gradually, the edges of the cage were lowering.

As long as the others could hold out just a little longer, they'd have reinforcements soon.

(Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. Second semester is nearing its end and the crunch is really coming down on us, hard. As it is I'm not going home this weekend to visit my family because I need all the time I can get to work on my assignments. I'm even starting to suffer a little physically from the stress, my stomach starts to hurt whenever I think about the work I have to finish. But I'll try to keep this storybook going nonetheless. By the way AyumiGosu may not be posting this weekend, she's going on a trip with her school's band to Disney World I believe. Anyway, happy Easter everyone.)


Group A

Edgar thought he had defeated the Storm Atronach when it's body fell apart. However, the rocks that formed its body rolled out of the newly formed ditch and reformed before his eyes. Edgar leaped out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by one of its bolts of lightning. He ended up scraping his elbows against the ground when he landed.

When he scrambled to his feet he used his new spell to lift a nearby rock and fling it at the enemy. It hit the creature in the shoulder, the attack knocked off its arm and most of the left side of its chest. Edgar wanted to change into his werewolf form to finish it off, but knew if he touched the creature he would get electrified. All he could do was continue to through rocks at it.

Strangely enough, it seemed more effective than the spells the others had used on the last one. That's when he realized, lightning was weak against earth. The rocks he used to hit the Storm Atronach ground its energy, neutralizing it little by little. A strong enough hit would take it out in one go. He began to focus what strength he had left on a nearby boulder that was almost as tall as he was.

(I'd post again for Group B, but I have so much stuff to do that I can't sit down long enough to think of what to write without worrying about deadlines. Can somebody else post, just to keep everything going?)

(Can someone please post something? I know you guys probably can't think of something to post next, and you're all probably super busy with school work, but please just get your characters to do something. It doesn't even have to be a full post, just a paragraph to keep the storybook from dying and possibly give the next person some ideas for their next post.)