The Valley

[Madmal]

The valley is located between the desert and The Town. Is a nice place, if you like rocks, arid climate, and frecuent small sandstorms...looks like a good place to hide, though...

There's a fissure that leads to a river that goes all the way to the sea...so be carefull where you step on...

[Daedrous Avari]

[Is there a Desert thread too?]

[Madmal]

On the far side of the valley, a loud, hammering noise is heard; those who have keen ears may heard a voice:
Must...break...this...rock...

[yep...made by Lykan...]

[Daedrous Avari]

[Alright, just making sure.]

[Ultroloth]

A large Barghest with it's nose to the ground moves through the valley, and then stops suddenly. It raises it's head to the air and makes a long, drawn out, horrific howl.

[Daedrous Avari]

A drow is searching through a large pile of humans. "I'm hungry." He hears the barghest, grabs a limb and runs off.

[Ultroloth]

(( How does it hear the Barghest? It was there an hour ago... ))

[Daedrous Avari]

Ermm... No it wasn't?

[party1]

*BOOOOOMM!!!*
an explosion is heard, and debris fall around the place, as a columm of smoke fills the area

Yes...i think this will be enough...for now...

a hulking figure, wearing a golden cloack and carrying a cart full of iron ore gets from a corner a takes the path into the town...

[Krakatoa]

(( Thank god for entering these threads at will ))

An Elven creature sprints into view, wearing robes and a longsword on his hip. A shortbow clangs on his back against some sort of chain mail underneath his robe. He has a hood, but is not up. The robes are black, with red flakes at random. He turns at the road leadng to the town and, drawing a longsword, screams at the top of his voice:
"In the name of... well... me... HALT! You are under arrest, and if you do not stop moving immediately then I have legal backup to slice off your law-breaking head!"

[Flabbicus]

Rilik, sporting a new, fancy suit of armor, walks in from The Desert.

Let's see what these new boots do...

He hits them against the ground and moves in a blur.

(( Boots of Speed. ))

[Xerillum]

Paluvim and Salty, Paluvim in Giant form, enter the valley, and start picking away at rocks, filling burlap sacks with gold and silver. As they work, they stack the rocks up like a large wall. A legion of peasants then enter, skinning cows and making a large campsite on the flat spot Paluvim and Salty carved. with in hours, the large group begins to help mine the castle's stone.

The castle is finished, and Paluvim carries the large bags of precious metals to the town.

[Xerillum]

Xerillum looks at the large wall of rocks and earth, and casts Earth to Stone, solidifying it. He then runs in. Salty, make sure these men are trained for battle. Where's Paluvim? Fit some cannons on the walls. Come on, people! I want this place to be livable!

As Lord Xerillum speaks, the spellcasters transmute the cowskin shacks of the peasants into livable stone houses, while the peasants mine gold to fill up Xerillum's coffers. the many cannons of Salty's navy blow holes into the natural resivoir on the town's side to create an extension of the sea, while the sailors create a dock in it. within hours, the castle is completely self-sufficient.

[Madmal]

Mal reaches one of the highest peaks, and sits cross-ledged on the ground, while looking up to the dark sky....
Seems it has stopped now...but how the hell did i came up with this head-spinning...
he rubs his head
I'm feeling quite confused right now...
____________________________________

After expending some time meditating on the cliff, Mal gets up and heads back
Guess i should take an aspirin...

[Daedrous Avari]

((Go to the temple of Unicine.))

[AmberVael]

The mysterious gray elf moves through the valley with caution, looking around as if there were hidden enemies at every side. He instinctively places his hand on a long bladed sword as he strides through the pass. Though he moves with caution, there is a sort of arrogance in his stride as well, as if he was prepared for a fight but assured of victory if there was one.
Seeing no hiding enemies, the elf passes through the valley and enters the streets of town.

[Lykan]

Lykan dives behind a cliff as a flurry of musket balls blasts at him, making the rocks crack. He fumbles around in his posckets, pulling out a two red orbs, plants them in the cliff base, and laps away. The orbs explode, dislodging the cliff and causing a rockslide to slam into the battalion behind him. More shots folow him as he leaps around

damnit damnit damnit damnit damnit damnit damnit damnit!!!

[Mhina]

Mhina appears in a swirl of ice in between Lykan and those following him. Her eyes glow brightly, Stop. Now.

[Lykan]

Lykan stops turns, and his eyes widen

Mhina! No!

FIRE!

A volley of bullets streaktoward Mhina...

[Mhina]

Mhina holds out a hand, unphased by the bullets and freezing them in their path. She glares at those attacking. I did try to warn you... She sends a volley of her own ice bullets at the attackers.

[Lykan]

A rank of the soldiers fall, and a commander can be heard from somewhere within the battalion

Phalanx foreward! Ready the bombards! Move it!

warriors carrying large shields move to the front ranks, locking them together

Lykan runs back over to Mhina, summoning his soulblade

What are you doing here?

[Mhina]

Saving your ass...keep running. Mhina holds out her hand again and eerie clouds start to form over the heads of the soldiers.

[Lykan]

Lykan shakes hishead

No, I'm staying here and fighting. I'm not gonna leave you alone to fight an army!

The soldiers don't really notice the clouds. The front rank pulls away to releal three heavy cannons

FIRE!

Lykan growls and blasts a line of lightning at one of the bobmard opperators, but the next two fire, unleasihing grapeshots on the couple

[Mhina]

Mhina releases a hailstorm on the army with hail the size of tennis balls. She avoids the cannons by levitating into the air, bringing Lykan with her with a mere thought.

She looks to Lykan, You're insane, you know that? I can handle this. I wasn't the one running for my life thirty seconds ago.

[Lykan]

Almost half of fthe battalion falls to the hail. The commander barks at the remaning to raise their shields

Lykan sighs, his eyes glowing like suns

I'm not running anymore.

The shadows around his face grow more prominent, and wind begins to whip around him

I was saving this for a more dire situation... I guess this'll do.

A slight grin appears on his face

If you want to stay, let's give them hell. I'm not leaving you here, and that's that

Reload the bombards!

[Mhina]

If you wish to leave, just say so. I can get us out of here with a mere gesture...it just looked like a good time to get some practice in.

[Lykan]

Lykan shakes his head

They need to be kept away from the Town. It's Rom's army. I don't mind that your here... In fact, now I prefer it... Just garuntee me your not gonna die...

FIRE!

Another two grapeshots get fired, and Lykan growls. A wall of sand forms in front of both him and Mhina, causing the pullets to thump harmlessly off.

[Mhina]

Mhina runs a hand through her hair that seems to be more silver than it was before the battle began. I don't think they'll be able to harm me. For an army of Romulus' probable best...they seem rather weak. She raises her hands and ice stalagtites raise from the ground under the feet of the soldiers.

[Ares]

A silver bullet streaks out from the trees, aimed at the soilders.

[Lykan]

Lykan grins

They always put the weak ones at the front, they're called meat shields. Pitiful strategy, though.

Yellow energy gathers in Lykan's hands

Reload!

How 'bout no?

Lykan unleashes a nuke on the battalion, causing a greater majority of the remaining soldiers to crumble to dust. The remaining soldiers fall to the silver bullets raining from the trees...

[Mhina]

Mhina gets distracted by the bullets, curious.

[Ares]

"Sorry I was late...thought I'd try to help fix my past mistakes."

Ares jumps down from the trees and looks at Lykan.

[Mhina]

Mhina bows slightly, Forgive my earlier actions against you, Ares. I didn't really know who you were. And the only time I'd met you before was by voice only.

[Lykan]

Lykan's brow furrows, and he says nothing to the god of war. He looks down at the valley again, and all of a sudden the cliffs erupt in fire

What the hell?

[Ares]

Ares returns the bow.

"Forgive me of mine. I'd thought you were someone you were not...I was obviously wrong."

He turns to Lykan.

"What's going on?"

[Lykan]

Lykan lies flat on the ground, taking a modified mages cannon out of his pack

Guerillas.

[Mhina]

Mhina steps back, obviously uncomfortable around fire. She tries to put it out with her own powers of ice.

[Ares]

Ares helps Mhina put out any fire near the three of them.

"This is my fault. Lykan...I'm sorry this has happened. Mhina, I'm sorry you got thrown into this...."

[Lykan]

Lykan looks slightly annoyed

Let's just fix the damn problem.

Lykan looks through the scope of the mages cannon, scanning the cliffs

The fire is dowsed with Mhina's power

[Mhina]

Mhina looks around, trying to spot those attacking.

[Ares]

Ares draws his other six shooter, and looks around.

[Lykan]

The cliffs erupt in fire again, and Lykan moves the musket right and fires

One down, now where's the rest...

Rustling can be heard in the trees behind them, and rocks crack below to the right

[Mhina]

Mhina backs away from one patch of fire to find herself backed into another corner of fire. She casts another spell of ice, trying to destroy the fires.

They're keeping me busy for a reason...watch out.

[Ares]

Ares spins and fires two silver bullets into the trees behind them, aimed towards the rustling noises.

[Lykan]

Lykan nods to Mhina, Looking over the cliff to see another guerilla plantin red orbs at the base of the cliiff.

Not today!

He fires another shot directly downward, shattering the guerrilla's skull. Another guerilla falls out of the trees, bleeding from the chest. A spike blasts out of another tree at Ares, and another wave of fire washes over the group

Lykan flinches

Dammit, they're stalling....

[Mhina]

Mhina sends another wave of ice at the fire. Good...let them drag the rest of their group here...we'll dispose of the rest.

[Ares]

Ares growls as the spike embeds itself into his shoulder.

"It'll take more than that to take me down" he roars.

His guns ring out four more times, into the trees.

[Lykan]

The remaining guerrila falls from the trees

Why would they need to stall? They can't be retreating already...

[Mhina]

They could be bringing in someone stronger...I'd keep an eye out for Romulus...or even worse: the Remus that I fought.

[Ares]

"I'd be honored to keep helping you both."

[Lykan]

Lykan nods in agreement to Mhina's statement and looks over at Ares

Two of your sons are here. can you detect where they are?

[Ares]

Ares closes his eyes, and concentrates.

"Romulus is two miles north, and Deimos is four miles northwest of the wolf village..."

[Lykan]

Lykan's eyes widen

Dammit! He's gonna destroy the village!

[Mhina]

Mhina holds out a hand to Lykan, We can get there in no time.

[Lykan]

Lykan looks at Ares

Don't let Rom get through the valley!

He takes Mhina's hand

[Ares]

"My son is no match for me...I'll come help you two as soon as I can."

[Mhina]

Mhina and Lykan disappear in a flurry of ice.

[Ares]

Ares looks around.

[Lykan]

Warcries can be heard from the cliffs

Fire!

Over thirty bombards fire at Ares...

[Ares]

"Oh shi...."

Ares dives back into the trees, drawing his guns and firing silver bullets up towards where the fire is coming at him.

[Lykan]

The bombard shots rip through the trees, causing several to topple

Second rank foreward! First rank reload!

[Ares]

Ares runs out towards the sound of the yelling, moving at lightning speed.

[Lykan]

The voices come from the upermost cliffs...

FIRE!

Fifteen more cannons fire, unleashich red hot balls of led the size of bowling balls

[Ares]

Ares weaves around the incoming fire, finally catching one of the balls of lead. He struggle against its force for a few seconds, before throwing it back where it came from.

[Lykan]

One of the bombardiers screams as he's smacked be the ball, but the rest keep operating

First rank foreward! Second rank reload! Ready the backup artillery!

[Ares]

Ares forms a large ball of silver in his hand and throws it at the ranks above him.

[Lykan]

Another bombardier falls

Second rank FIRE!

Fourteen balls of lead streak at Ares again

[Ares]

Ares tries to dodge the attacks yet gets hit and knocked back. He retaliates by sending large blasts of ice back at his attackers.

[Lykan]

More of the bombadiers fall to the wave of ice

Backup artillery to the front lines! Ranks one and two set up shield walls!

Four groups of three soldiers roll what appears to be a box with five barrels and a crank attached to the front of the army, while the rest of the soldiers set up a phalanx around them. When the barrels point at Ares, The commander screams out again

Fire at will!

the soldiers begin to turn the crank, causing a series of shots to fire out at the war god

[Ah... I love gatling guns. ;D]

[BelkarsDagger]

[Ah... I love gatling guns. ;D]

((Agreed.))

[Ares]

Ares takes numerous hits, slowly walking towards the attackers.

[Lykan]

The barrage continues. The Phalanx holds tighter together as Ares approaches

[Ares]

Ares smirks as blood begins to soak through his shirt, and yet he still continues to press on. He holsters his guns, and swings a fist at the nearest attacker.

[Lykan]

The soldier falls to the blow, and the balls of lead continue to blast at Ares

[Ares]

Ares roars as he takes a hit to the chest. He dives at a group of soilders, swinging like a mad man.

[Lykan]

The soldiers fall, screaming as they ar knocked aside. The Phalanx pushes foreward, trying to keep Ares away from the guns...

[Ares]

Ares drops to the ground, swinging his leg around in an attempt to trip his opponents.

[Lykan]

Part of the phalanx falls. The guns continue firing...

[Ares]

"Where the hell is Rom in all of this..."

Ares roars again and rushes towards the guns.

[Lykan]

The guns continue to fire, and the Phalanx attempts to hold him back with no success....

[Ares]

Rushing the guns, taking numerous hits, Ares tries to knock them over.

[Lykan]

The first two guns topple over, but the last keep firing, in complete disregard for other troops...

[Ares]

Ares gets knocked back again, and rips the completely blood soaked shirt off. He rushes at the last gun and leaps towards it.

[Mhina]

(I see you found a way to get your shirt off [must be read in an English accent]

cookie for the reference)

[Ares]

((Damnit...I can hear it with accent so clearly in my head...))

[Lykan]

[I don't get it...]

The guns continue firing

[Ares]

((Galaxy Quest...although she already gave me a hint.))

Ares lands in front of the gun, and attempts to pick it up.

[Lykan]

The gun gets picked up, and the soldier falls to the ground, stunned...

[Ares]

Ares swings the gun with all his might, around in a circle, before finally releasing it.

[Lykan]

Soldiers are knocked in all directions, some even end up flying over the edge of the cliff...

Retreat!

The soldiers begin to run for it...

[Ares]

Ares grabs a soldier by the shirt collar (neck if there isn't a shirt) and pulls him close.

"Where's Rom?" he growls.

[Lykan]

The soldier gulps, and seems to bite down hard on something, spitting out his tongue several seconds later...

[Ares]

"Wrong answer"

Ares snaps the soldier's neck, throws him aside, closes his eyes, and concentrates, trying to find his sons.

[Lykan]

Rom appears to be a few miles north, looking down at him from the mountain cliffs...

[Ares]

Ares yells out.

"What's wrong son? Scared to fight me yourself?"

[Lykan]

Romulus makes an obscene gesture before retreating into the cliffs

[Ares]

Ares smirks and runs off after Romulus.

[Lykan]

Ares sees nothing in the cliffs beyond. Then something clicks behind Ares's head

Old men shouldn't play with guns.

[Ares]

"Neither should little kids..."

Ares ducks and kicks out behind him.

[Lykan]

[Time for the Kung-Fu God Gunfight!]

Rom rolls with the blow, firing his deagles at Ares's head

[Ares]

Ares ducks one shot, as the other grazes the side of his head. He turns and draws his six-shooters and fires them at Romulus.

[Lykan]

Rom takes the ubllet in the arm, grinning. he folds the barrels of each gun back, and blades pop out of each. A flurry of steel points fly at Ares...

[Ares]

"Oh shi.."

steel points embed themselves in Ares left arm. He roars, and aims at Rom.

"Fire"

He pulls the triggers to the guns, firing two balls of fire at his son.

[Lykan]

Rom is engulfed in flames. When the fire clears though, he seems unhramed

Wow, you're as stupid as you are old...

He slashes at Ares again

[Ares]

Ares jumps back.

"Just a little rusty..."

He smirks and holsters his left hand's six shooter.

"Ice"

He fires again, and a large ball of ice launches at Rom. Ares rushes his son from behind the ball of ice, and (wether the ice hits or not) swings his left fist at Rom's face.

[Lykan]

Rom spins under the ice ball, raises an arm to block the blow, and stabs wit the other...

[Ares]

Ares growls as the stab strikes true. He reaches back with his left hand and draws his sword, bringing it down at Rom.

[Lykan]

The blade bites deep into Rom's back, making him roar. He concentrates, and his blades glow white hot. He slashes again...

[Ares]

Ares leaps over Rom, holstering his other six shooter. As he lands behind his son, he turns and slashes at Rom, his blade turning to ice.

[Lykan]

Rom blocks and swings at his father's head again...

[Ares]

Ares brings his left arm up to block, and it gets cut deep.

"This ends tonight...son."

He roars and swings his ice sword with both hands, aimed at Rom's neck.

[Lykan]

Rom roars and goes to stab both blades into his father's heart, but is interrupted as Ares's sword cuts clean through his neck. Rom stands for a moment, wide eyed, mouthing something, then falls over, his head rolling away...

[Ares]

Ares falls to his knees for a second...before vanishing.

[Kreph]

Sounds of clashing blades and roars of some great beast can me heard in the valley. Below, a man in his late teens attempts to land a blow on a large, sinuous lizard with his katana, only to end up being smacked in the face by its tail

Ow!

The lizard then tackles the man, its claws sinking into his shoulders, breathing misty breath into his face

*sigh*... Fine, I yield.

The lizard-thing's dispozition suddenly brightens and it hops off of the man

I'm not letting you win next time though.

[Mhina]

Suzaku laughs brightly, her gold and red eyes sparkling happily. He is doing quite well...

[Kreph]

Kreph grins and gets up, sheathing the blade

Either that, or I'm getting worse. Yue!

The river dragon perks up and slithers toward the two. He smiles at Suzaku again

At least he listens... He is really smart.

Kreph pats Yue on the head, who lets out a happy sort of screeching sound, hopping around

[Mhina]

Suzaku rubs a hand on Yue's head lovingly. Well...he's not a western dragon...

[Kreph]

Yue makes a cooing sound, rubbing his head against the hand much as a cat would. Kreph sighs, smiling, and kisses Suzaku

Not every western dragon is dumb.

[Mhina]

Suzaku shrugs, Perhaps it's prejudice...seeing as half of me is Eastern...

[Kreph]

Kreph shrugs, leaning back on the ground

Hey, it's understandable... There are stupid western dragons, just not all of them are stupid. I was friends with a bronze once.

[Mhina]

Suzaku shrugs. That's a given...the metallic seem to be more intelligent...perhaps that is why they're less beligerent.

[Kreph]

Kreph nods

To bad some of the chromatics are smart too... I see those blues all the time in the desert... They're tricky little blighters.

[Mhina]

Suzaku nods, resting her head on his shoulder to stare up at the stars.

[Kreph]

Kreph smiles and shifts slightly to give her a more comfertable position. Yue tries to figure out what's so interesting about the sky, looking up in confusion

[Mhina]

Suzaku chuckles, patting Yue on the head as she rests against Kreph.

[Kreph]

Yue squawks and dives into the water, hunting for fish

Kreph sighs, cuddling closer to Suzaku

[Lykan]

Antony and Bridge head into the valley, and Antony sits down again

This good?

[Mhina]

Bridge looks around. Wow...

[Lykan]

Antony smiles

I thought you might like this.

[Mhina]

She kisses him. It's beautiful.

[Lykan]

Antony smiles

Not as much as you.

((puts another tally under the amount of times that line's been used))

[Mhina]

She leans into him, looking out over the valley. Thank you...for giving me another chance.

[Lykan]

Antony shakes his head

I'm the one who should be thanking you for that... I thought I had lost you that night when Loki came over.

[Mhina]

She smiles. No...he's just a friend. He was trying to make you look dumb for not choosing me over someone else...but he was trying to help.

[Lykan]

Antony nods, biting his lip

He's a good actor... So are you... I saw you both kissing.

[Mhina]

Bridge tenses. Actually...he wasn't acting. He said that he really would have liked a relationship...but that's the last time I saw him.

[Lykan]

Antony bites his lip and sighs

It would be hard to resist you... I'm amazed that I did...

[Mhina]

Bridge smiles. It's okay. Let's leave the past where it belongs.

[Lykan]

Antony smiles, and shifts back to human form, and hugs her

I love you...

[Mhina]

Bridge grins, blushing. I love you, too.

[Lykan]

He kisses her and looks around, sighing

[Mhina]

What's wrong?

[Lykan]

Antony shakes his head

Nothing... It's lovely here... I don't ever want to leave....

[Mhina]

Bridge grins and hugs him. Then we won't.

[Lykan]

Antony grins as well, hugging her back

[Lykan]

Antony wakes up, looks around the place where he and Bridge slept that night. Finding a giant scorpion, he spears it through the skull, and brings it back to where Bridge is sleeping