T A L O N
31 Ash 124
Continued from here.
The Warrens were home to innumerable curiosities. There were things beautiful, things mysterious, things wondrous. But it was also home to things that were horrifying, things that drove men mad at the mere sight of them. Talon beheld one of those things now. Were he not graced with the mantle of divinity, he very well might have fled from the terrible monstrosity that was taking shape before him. Whatever twisted experiment the Voidrillium Man had been conducting must have left a deeper taint that usual in the gravebound shamblers that had surrounded him. Exacerbated by the effects of his true divine form, Talon could only watch as a new nightmare took shape.
Corrupted flesh melted in the heat of his dawnfire only to pull back and congeal into a bulbous mass of writhing puss, slime, and charred skin. As more and more of the broken shamblers and their much larger counterparts fused together, a new abomination rose from the amalgamation. Pods of rotting black and purple flesh erupted from a central mound of undulating gore. The slimy muck began to solidify into a bulbous mass of sinew, bone, corrupted voidstone and flailing tendrils at the end of which were too many faces, with too many teeth, and too many eyes. Boney prominences jutted out at odd angles, forming spikes that could skewer a full grown man. As the horrific monstrosity finally took shape, it opened a cavernous maw filled with row after row of jagged teeth. It emit a terrifying roar that was echoed by the twisted mouths at the ends of each of its tendrils.
Talon did not flinch. He stared at the creature, anger burning inside of him. He called Semblance to his eyes, looking over the twisted horror with something close to revulsion. This, this terrible creature, was nothing more than the fetid remains of gravebound woven together out of pure malice and hate. He keyed his Semblance to observe the flow of energy across the creature’s muscle mass, aiding his physical sight by watching for cues that would help him predict the wretched thing’s next moves.
The creature lurched forward, massive fleshy tendrils surging ahead of its main body like rotting serpents slithering through the air. Talon enacted kinetic seeming, spreading his wings and weaving his own aether flux into that of a spot positioned just above the writhing tendrils. He narrowly missed being bitten in half by the monster’s primary mouth on his way upwards, forcing Talon to twist his body out of the way. He tucked his wings, spinning as he dove out of the way of yet another barrage of tendrils biting and snapping at him.
Gripping his sword, Talon partially dematerialized his pact blade, giving it a varnish of his dawnfire. Spreading his wings, Talon darted toward the mass of tendrils in front of him. As he sored through the air, he enacted duplicity, multiplying his pact blade by the dozens. Each of them flared to life around him, blazing with the silver-white light of the dawnfire that he commanded. With a flick of his thoughts, he morphed the edges of each of his blades causing them to become even sharper than they already were. He stared into the mouths of at least seven toothy tentacles that raced toward him. As they drew near, each of his burning blades zoomed forward, slicing into the trunks of the fleshy appendages. The sickening smell of burning, rotting flesh filled the air as the tendrils that had been racing toward him were cut clean off the writhing mass of horrid flesh. The heat of the dawnfire cauterized as each blade cut, leaving only a glowing trail of charred and burned flesh.
The monstrosity reared back in agony, roaring as it flailed the burned stumps of its tendrils. Talon did not wait for it to recover, he flapped his wings and dove forward toward the central mass. The beast caught sight of him flying toward him and its main pair of eyes along with the eyes on its remaining tendrils all glowed a deep violet. Through Semblance, Talon watched as destructive energy flowed through the monster. He had just enough time to bring up his kinetic and negation woven shield, transforming it into a Bulwark as numerous rays of voidrillium charged beams blasted toward him.
Talon was sent flying backwards as the eye rays slammed into his arcane bulwark. He landed on his feet, wings spread to help steady his impact. His boots connected with the solid ground and he activated their inherent Seeming ability allowing him to plant his feet firmly on the earth. He grit his teeth as the destructive power of the voidrillium pummeled his bulwark barrier forcing him to concentrate solely on withstanding the corrosive power of the voidstone that must have embedded itself into the monstrosity’s being. Talon let out a shout of unbridled rage as he reached forth into the aether flow of the wretched horror and inserted a negation Injunction to disrupt the creatures destructive power.
There was a horrible rending sound as the terrible energies of the voidrillium collided with his injunction and spiraled out of control. The creature and its remaining tendrils screamed in agony before cracks of voidstone power formed along the whole of its being. With an echoing roar, the creature exploded in a revolting spray of gore that splattered upon the walls of the cavern.
Slowly, Talon lowered his shield but kept his sword at the ready.
“Justice…” A rumbling voice filled the cavern. Talon’s gaze was drawn to the drip of the entrails lining the cavern walls. Arcs of violet energy were still flickering between different parts. Across the cavern, Talon saw the shadows begin moving.
“Don’t make me laugh.” Stepping into cavern was a figure clad in black armor. The arcs of destructive voidrillium energy leapt up from the residue of the dead creature, striking the armored figure’s form. They did not seem to notice as they continued walking forward. Talon narrowed his eyes but his vision was halted. Staring at the armored figure he saw only an empty black space devoid of any aetheric flow or form. Talon gripped his sword more tightly, bracing himself.
“You are not Justice. You are a fraud.” The black armored figure continued walking forward. As they did so, they reached up one gauntleted hand to grip the hilt of a sword upon their back. “You are not Light. You are a liar.”
“You do not bring Hope. You bring nothing but despair and false promises.” The violet arcs of energy shot forward out of the ground and struck the figure’s armor causing it to ignite in purple flames. Again, the figure did not seem to notice nor did they seem to care.
The figure drew their blade and Talon felt his blood go cold. He felt very real fear strike him and with it, a sudden pain in his chest. A pain born from an old wound, a wound inflicted long, long ago. Talon took an involuntary step back, eyes going wide with terror. The black armored warrior held the sword steady, a trail of smoke and ash falling from the charred blade.
“This is where your tyranny ends, Lightbringer.” There was a pause. He could almost feel the smile beneath the black helm the warrior wore. “I see you remember this blade, this sword.”
Talon’s eyes remained fixed on that blade. That sword, THE sword.
“Alah’Fin.”
Light’s End.
The sword that had killed Arcas.
Continued from here.
The Warrens were home to innumerable curiosities. There were things beautiful, things mysterious, things wondrous. But it was also home to things that were horrifying, things that drove men mad at the mere sight of them. Talon beheld one of those things now. Were he not graced with the mantle of divinity, he very well might have fled from the terrible monstrosity that was taking shape before him. Whatever twisted experiment the Voidrillium Man had been conducting must have left a deeper taint that usual in the gravebound shamblers that had surrounded him. Exacerbated by the effects of his true divine form, Talon could only watch as a new nightmare took shape.
Corrupted flesh melted in the heat of his dawnfire only to pull back and congeal into a bulbous mass of writhing puss, slime, and charred skin. As more and more of the broken shamblers and their much larger counterparts fused together, a new abomination rose from the amalgamation. Pods of rotting black and purple flesh erupted from a central mound of undulating gore. The slimy muck began to solidify into a bulbous mass of sinew, bone, corrupted voidstone and flailing tendrils at the end of which were too many faces, with too many teeth, and too many eyes. Boney prominences jutted out at odd angles, forming spikes that could skewer a full grown man. As the horrific monstrosity finally took shape, it opened a cavernous maw filled with row after row of jagged teeth. It emit a terrifying roar that was echoed by the twisted mouths at the ends of each of its tendrils.
Talon did not flinch. He stared at the creature, anger burning inside of him. He called Semblance to his eyes, looking over the twisted horror with something close to revulsion. This, this terrible creature, was nothing more than the fetid remains of gravebound woven together out of pure malice and hate. He keyed his Semblance to observe the flow of energy across the creature’s muscle mass, aiding his physical sight by watching for cues that would help him predict the wretched thing’s next moves.
The creature lurched forward, massive fleshy tendrils surging ahead of its main body like rotting serpents slithering through the air. Talon enacted kinetic seeming, spreading his wings and weaving his own aether flux into that of a spot positioned just above the writhing tendrils. He narrowly missed being bitten in half by the monster’s primary mouth on his way upwards, forcing Talon to twist his body out of the way. He tucked his wings, spinning as he dove out of the way of yet another barrage of tendrils biting and snapping at him.
Gripping his sword, Talon partially dematerialized his pact blade, giving it a varnish of his dawnfire. Spreading his wings, Talon darted toward the mass of tendrils in front of him. As he sored through the air, he enacted duplicity, multiplying his pact blade by the dozens. Each of them flared to life around him, blazing with the silver-white light of the dawnfire that he commanded. With a flick of his thoughts, he morphed the edges of each of his blades causing them to become even sharper than they already were. He stared into the mouths of at least seven toothy tentacles that raced toward him. As they drew near, each of his burning blades zoomed forward, slicing into the trunks of the fleshy appendages. The sickening smell of burning, rotting flesh filled the air as the tendrils that had been racing toward him were cut clean off the writhing mass of horrid flesh. The heat of the dawnfire cauterized as each blade cut, leaving only a glowing trail of charred and burned flesh.
The monstrosity reared back in agony, roaring as it flailed the burned stumps of its tendrils. Talon did not wait for it to recover, he flapped his wings and dove forward toward the central mass. The beast caught sight of him flying toward him and its main pair of eyes along with the eyes on its remaining tendrils all glowed a deep violet. Through Semblance, Talon watched as destructive energy flowed through the monster. He had just enough time to bring up his kinetic and negation woven shield, transforming it into a Bulwark as numerous rays of voidrillium charged beams blasted toward him.
Talon was sent flying backwards as the eye rays slammed into his arcane bulwark. He landed on his feet, wings spread to help steady his impact. His boots connected with the solid ground and he activated their inherent Seeming ability allowing him to plant his feet firmly on the earth. He grit his teeth as the destructive power of the voidrillium pummeled his bulwark barrier forcing him to concentrate solely on withstanding the corrosive power of the voidstone that must have embedded itself into the monstrosity’s being. Talon let out a shout of unbridled rage as he reached forth into the aether flow of the wretched horror and inserted a negation Injunction to disrupt the creatures destructive power.
There was a horrible rending sound as the terrible energies of the voidrillium collided with his injunction and spiraled out of control. The creature and its remaining tendrils screamed in agony before cracks of voidstone power formed along the whole of its being. With an echoing roar, the creature exploded in a revolting spray of gore that splattered upon the walls of the cavern.
Slowly, Talon lowered his shield but kept his sword at the ready.
“Justice…” A rumbling voice filled the cavern. Talon’s gaze was drawn to the drip of the entrails lining the cavern walls. Arcs of violet energy were still flickering between different parts. Across the cavern, Talon saw the shadows begin moving.
“Don’t make me laugh.” Stepping into cavern was a figure clad in black armor. The arcs of destructive voidrillium energy leapt up from the residue of the dead creature, striking the armored figure’s form. They did not seem to notice as they continued walking forward. Talon narrowed his eyes but his vision was halted. Staring at the armored figure he saw only an empty black space devoid of any aetheric flow or form. Talon gripped his sword more tightly, bracing himself.
“You are not Justice. You are a fraud.” The black armored figure continued walking forward. As they did so, they reached up one gauntleted hand to grip the hilt of a sword upon their back. “You are not Light. You are a liar.”
“You do not bring Hope. You bring nothing but despair and false promises.” The violet arcs of energy shot forward out of the ground and struck the figure’s armor causing it to ignite in purple flames. Again, the figure did not seem to notice nor did they seem to care.
The figure drew their blade and Talon felt his blood go cold. He felt very real fear strike him and with it, a sudden pain in his chest. A pain born from an old wound, a wound inflicted long, long ago. Talon took an involuntary step back, eyes going wide with terror. The black armored warrior held the sword steady, a trail of smoke and ash falling from the charred blade.
“This is where your tyranny ends, Lightbringer.” There was a pause. He could almost feel the smile beneath the black helm the warrior wore. “I see you remember this blade, this sword.”
Talon’s eyes remained fixed on that blade. That sword, THE sword.
“Alah’Fin.”
Light’s End.
The sword that had killed Arcas.