The Dark One and Viridus faced off for a few minutes, and then they clashed, Viridus' blade meeting The Dark One's partisan blade. Viridus was clearly stronger, forcing The Dark One back slowly but surely, the air began charging with dark energy, and small wisps of dark energy floated haphazardly around the two, melting the temple walls, roof, and floor around them where the wisps touched as the dark energy built up. They continued to struggle against each other, before finally breaking apart, Viridus forcing The Dark One to fall back. It was apparent that Viridus would slowly gain more of an advantage, but how would The Dark One keep up?... <span style='color:yellow'>I've waited so long for my revenge Dark One... You're MINE!</span> <span style='color:purple'>Not if I can help it... I helped defeat you so I could rule this world and rule it I shall!!!</span> The two clashed again, and again The Dark One began to be slowly forced back...
<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Arial'>Perhaps it was due to the strength of blow he had received. Perhaps it was due to the novelty of the situation. He didn't know. Whatever the cause of it, Vyja now felt as though his whole being had been wrapped in a blanket of warmth and dizziness. A blanket that had smothered the old Vyja, the sheltered Vyja, the cautious Vyja and had freed a much more reckless part of him, whose foolhardiness and bravery had up to then been kept under control. Yet for all the confusion that this new being brought to his mind, it also brought a strange sense of lucidity, so that all of Vyja focus was centered on his immediate goal was: To destroy the Virus. All other thoughts, for the moment, had been banished from his mind. <span style='color:goldenrod'>"Omkymwoajurla Mansukh, Mansukh Ompatsjyiurla !"</span> he heard himself scream as broke into a run behind Kien. Those were the first verses of the old Mansukhian Battle Chant that every Mansukhian was taught by heart as a nioti: Unconquerable Mansukh Mansukh Undestroyable O Mansukh-Mine Let all be awestruck By your Beauty divine. Vyja made for the altar and captured the Sacred Candelabra firmly in his paws. It was a nearly 2 meters long solid gold candle stick that was said to have been blessed by the holiest of priests against all evil. Then, using all his strength, he hurled the sacred contraption at the back of Viridus's head, increasing its speed with all his AeroKinesis skills. "Perhaps", he had thought, "If I send it hard enough he won't be able to deflect it. Unless he has eyes in the back of his head of course..."That thought sent a chilling shiver up his spine. </span></span>
Vyja almost scared her when he burst out like that. But then she had other things in her mind so she didn't really care much about it. She reached out a grey paw and took up her dagger. She was suddenly feeling a little angry. It was lucky that the gem inside the dagger hadn't shatter but Virus had got on her nerves. She squeezed the handle of the dagger, then lossened. Her eyes widdened in shock and surprise as the dagger glowed a bright yellow. That is impossible... she thought. The dagger was supposed to be out of its magic a long time ago. The magic had died when her father had died. She didn't expect that it would live again. Unsure of how to use the magic of the dagger, she tried to experiment it there and then. She waved it a little and a small beam of yellow subtance flew out and headed at Viridus. The same time that Vyja's candlestick was thrown. Kien jerked her head up and her eyes followed to where the beam was going to. She wondered what will happen.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>ooOOOOooo I like that, excellent posts fer both of ya! :D </td></tr></table> The Dark One suddenly sprung away, as if hit by lightning, leaving Viridus to slowly face the speeding projectiles. He raised his sword, and the candlestick and beam connected in midair right as he did so, sending a stream of light reflecting off the candlestick, off his sword, and right into his face. He collapsed heavily, and both beam and candlestick flew past, clanging on the wall behind. He remained motionless for a second, and then slowly stood up, revealing to everyone that the beam, now known as light energy, had scarred and twisted his face horribly, so that not a single strand of fur remained on his face. The horrible scarred knight roared and was suddenly charging towards Kien, towards the dagger that was still glowing. His face was now emitting a cloud of purple haze, and the heavily armored fiend seemed to vanish in and out of the slowly expanding cloud, which soon grew to cover most of the chamber up to the ceiling. Everywhere the vapour touched, the wall, ceiling, or floor began to sizzle and melt, and the burning room provided the perfect cover for the european monster, who suddenly lunged from the side and brought down his blade towards Kien's skull, the metal trailing wisps of dark energy as it plunged downwards...
<p align=justify><span style='font-family:Arial'><span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>Vyja smiled grimly, his face distorted in a grimace of concentration. His blow seemed to have had its effect. But the youth had no time to watch the foe as Viridus slowly stood up. Determined to reach the Sacred Candelabra and to use it once again against Viridus, Vyja tried to think up the best way to reach it without attracting too much attention. He was so absorbed in his plan that he was only brought back to reality when he heard Viridu's menacing roar. Too late. His eyes filled with horror as he watched the disaster unfold. <span style='color:goldenrod'>Kien! Watch out!</span> Quickly casting another immobility charm, he tried his best to delay the blow. The spell slowedit somewhat but Vyja's strength was wavering and he wasn't sure he could hold very long... <span style='color:violet'>Dark One! I beseech you ! Do something. Quick!</span> Distressed, Vyja felt his spell weakening rapidly. He began to feel the spell's powerful recoil as the last wiffs of magic drained out of his paws. The recoil hit him full blast, sending crashing into a nearby wall. Opening his eyes painfully, Vyja thought he was hallucinating. Instead of seeing the three other 'dragons fighting as he should have lying the spot he was, it was the blurry image of an empty and sunlit Temple he now saw. It was impossible. The Temple he had left was dark and filled with dark magic. What was going on? Yet, as he focused, Vyja thought he could make out the silhouette of the other 'dragons. Standing, up, he realised that what he had been looking at was in fact a translucent two-dimensional window like image. Beyond it, the battle raged on. <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>I think Vyja might have stumbled upon a window into the past. Perhaps the Temple's response to all the Dark Magic? What d'you think? </td></tr></table></span></span></p>
The magic of the dagger had distorted Viridus's face and now he was charging at her. She watched the scene unfold as if in slow motion. The creature roared and started to charge at her. The dark cloud that surrounded him seem to destroy the Temple inch by inch. In a moment, she lost sight of him and his sharp bladed sword. She didn't realized he had emerged until the last minute. The blade of the sword was about several inches above her head. She could feel it burning her fur, the dark energy it emitted. She could see in detail how vile and grotesque the creature's face was. Vyja's shout seemed like it was distances away. Znap That sound brought her to her senses. She moved out of the way, to the left, just as Vyja's spell recoiled Thanks to Vyja, Kien's skull would have been in half seconds ago. Znap And she looked down. The dagger was making the noise. It now not only glowed, but was now snapping with sharp shaped lightning. What caused it was the contrast of the dark energy from the european monster who was so close to Kien. She waved the dagger again, this time with more movement. A bigger beam than before flew out and headed the monster's way. <span style='color:skyblue'>I hope that damages your skull too.</span> she muttered. Distracted was she with trying to bring down Viridus, she didn't notice that Vyja had vanished into a wall. Would she survive without Vyja here? Or would she too, be pulled into where Vyja is? <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>*bounces on her chair* This is exciting. How far back in the past did Vyja go?</td></tr></table>
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Yiss Yiss, I like this rp, the time distortion thingy is excellent! One day I might become unlazy enough to try to make Viridus a real char har har... :D </td></tr></table> The Dark One gulped. <span style='color:purple'>What the hell do they want me to do? I can't match up to him... And now light energy and time distortion... I really don't like the looks of this...</span> He grunted and landed softly on the floor, before wading through the thick smoke, the acidlike cloud doing nothing to him as his body added to the smog. He crossed the distance in a matter of moments, as Viridus stalled in midair, held up by some unknown force as he slowly worked his blade down through the air inch by inch towards Kien. The Dark One then easily heaved his blade up between that of Viriduses, and shoved him back, with the help of the spell. Viridus snarled, yet retreated back into the purple smoke... A large armor clad figure stepped into the temple, suddenly darkening it considerably. Of course it was a past rendition of none other than Viridus himself. He began walking towards the altar, followed by a hobbling, sniveling anubi with black fure and pure white eyes. It wore long sweeping black robes and walked with a partisan, resembling The Dark One as an old man to a "T". Viridus halted at the altar, and drew a wicked, black bladed gleaming saw blade design sword. The old man halted a ways behind his master, the pupiless eyes shifting back and forth, as if something would attack him from anywhere at any time... <span style='color:yellow'>BY THE POWER OF MY ANCIENT BLADE OF ANOTHER WORLD I CALL FORTH THE POWER OF PLAGUE!</span> Viridus shouted the words, and then pointed his saw sword at the altar. the sword shifted for a moment, and then the air around the altar shifted, and the air around it was sucked into the gleaming red gem in the hilt of the blade, little drops of red color making the air seem to dance frenzily into it. Viridus said nothing more until all the red dotted air was absorbed, and then he walked out, followed by his sniveling servant... Viridus stalled at the door however, and glanced back over his shoulder, directly at Vyja, before stepping into the light and the temple brightened...
<p align= justify>Vyja started to panick as the time-window gradually faded and the Temple around him became clearer. <span style='color:goldenrod'>"No!" </span>He screamed, <span style='color:goldenrod'>"I must get back to the battle, I must help Kien and stop the Virus...".</span> Too late... The window suddenly disappeared with a loud bang, sending Vyja crashing into the very same wall he had come from. "Not again..." His head was throbbing now, as though his brain, fed up with all the confusion and the madness it had been through, refused to cooperate any longer. Cracking his eyes open weakly, Vyja was horrified as he looked up at the face he feared the most. "Is this a nightmare?" he wondered, staring blankly at a seemingly younger Viridus... This wasn't good. He should be doing something, stopping the Virus. But what could he do? He barely had the strength to think, let alone to get up and fight. And what was Viridus doing anyway? Was it even Viridus? Perhaps all of this was just a figment of his imagination. <span style='color:goldenrod'>"But I'm not going crazy... Am I?"</span> Vyja fainted shortly afterwards and was spared the pain of any further analysis of the situation. _____________________________ <span style='color:green'>"... you will have to take him home Venerable One. I'm afraid we can't keep him any longer. I mean, how can you even be sure he is the right 'dragon. For all you know he could be vagabond, or a foreigner with those strange clothes of his. I'm sorry, but you couldn't have brougth him at a worse time. You know how it is... Sick 'dragons all over! Kiom's dropping dead like flies! We could do with an extra bed and... Are you listening to me Venerable One?"</span> <span style='color:gray'> "... Shhh, Little One... Look, he is awaking. We mustn't startle him."</span> <span style='color:goldenrod'>"Where am I"</span> asked the youth groggily as he tried to sit up. Tugging warily at the white fabric, he observed his surroundings with wide and curious eyes. His bright blue eyes were met by an older, wiser brown set. An old Kiom with a gentle looking face and religious markings on his forehead was staring back at him. <span style='color:goldenrod'> "I need to get back to the battle! Where are they? Where is Kien, and the Dark One and Viridus and... Who are you?"</span> Vyja suddenly blurted to the Priest, recalling the previous night (or at least what he supposed to have been the previous night)'s events. His voice was panicky and his thoughts confused. <span style='color:gray'>"Shhh... Calm down, Little One. Your heart has known enough excitement already. They are far, far away. I have been studying you for days Little One and have tried to piece together the various bits informations you have sreamed and whispered in your feverish sleep. Yes days, you have been here for four nights and five days. Don't worry, Little One. Time works differently here. Your friends are probably still in battle... They will be joining us shortly. We have little time for long explanations I fear. Do you feel better? Do you think you can walk?" Vyja nodded. "Good, come with me then, I'll tell you everything on the way."</span> <span style='color:goldenrod'>"Where are we going Venerable One?"</span> <span style='color:gray'>"Why... To the Temple of course."</span> <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td> Vyja's gone back 5000 years as will be explained by the Priest later. </td></tr></table> </p>
BANG! That sound echoed in the Temple, bounced of some of it's still intact wall that hadn't yet been melted. Kien turned, away from Viridus and The Dark One. She was losing her strength. Then, remembering the loud bang, she turned toward where she thought she heard it. She saw the wall, which Vyja had fallen through, closing it's last bit of space. She even thought she had heard Vyja's voice. She walked over to it and felt the wall, now no longer a window. The wall is just a wall. She looked around and tried to spot Vyja. He was no where in sight. <span style='color:skyblue'>Vyja?</span> she called. He wasn't anywhere. The Temple had not much places to hide in or under. It was pretty easy to spot anybody. <span style='color:skyblue'>Vyja?</span> she called again, louder. But this time she knew, he was gone. It puzzled her alot to where he might had dissapeared. She hadn't much time or concentration to think. The energy from the dagger was slowly slipping her energy away. As she gets more tired, the dagger's glow slowly faded. She needed to find a place to hide and fast or she'd be killed by Viridus. Her eye lids began to shut. She sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. Must... stay... awake... <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>alright, next post, she's going to the past.</td></tr></table>
The Dark One laughed cruelly as Viridus hit the ground with a thud, and then again as he had trouble getting to his feet. Viriduses fur had grown back now, yet his face had stopped seeping dark energy, courtesy of Kien's earlier light energy attack. Viridus suddenly charged, and with a savage right hook, pounded The Dark One square in the jaw. The Dark One flew back, and was about to hit the wall savagely, when he flew right through, trailing dark energy all the way. With The Dark One's sudden dissappearance, which Viridus didn't pay much heed to, The Virus turned his gaze towards Kien, growling with hate. Soon he was striding towards kien with a look of pure joy on his face. <span style='color:yellow'>No one to save you now my dear...</span> Viridus said, and then a strange blade was flying through the air towards her, thrown underhand by Viridus, a shuriken...
<span style='color:goldenrod'>"... With all your due respect Venerable One, are you serious? The Temple was responsible for my coming here?"</span> <span style='color:gray'>"It would seem so Little One. The Temple was endangered and deemed it necessary to... Remove... The culprits."</span> <span style='color:goldenrod'>"But we're inn-"</span> <span style='color:gray'>"Innocent I know, Little One, that much is clear. No mortal like yourself could disrupt the Balance. Evil is at wor-"</span> <span style='color:goldenrod'>"But of what purpose was it to send us so far back in time?"</span> <span style='color:gray'>"That is the question Little-"</span> <span style='color:goldenrod'>"My name is Vyja"</span> interrupted the youth, annoyed at being called 'Little' for the enth time. <span style='color:gray'>"That is the question, Vyja, and we're about to find out. Look at the Temple yonder, what do you see?"</span> <span style='color:gray'>"Blue smoke, Venerable One. Does that mean..."</span> <span style='color:goldenrod'>"Another has come. We must make haste, lest others find them first."</span> ----- Coughing a little as he entered the Temple, Vyja's jaw dropped when the smoke finally cleared.
The dagger gave one last bright glow, shot sparks, and went off. Blinded by the sudden light, she tried to move out of harm's way. Wherever 'harm' might be. She stood up for a while and felt herself losing balance. A paw shot out to balance herself with the wall. But she didn't touch anything solid. She didn't even touch anything at all and she fell to the ground. She felt something slash at her shoulder as she fell. Funny, the ground feels cold. she thought. She opened her eyes and saw blue. Behind her she could see a window and Viridus with his sword beyond it. The window was slowly closing and she didn't want to stick around to know if Viridus managed to get through it. Quickly, she got up, picked her dagger, and made a run. She didn't want to be slashed to pieces. The bluish smoke by then was already clearing. Dizzy at the lack of oxygen and sudden time travel (though she don't know it yet) she tried to maintain her balance. Her brain working at figuring out where she was, what happened and so and so. She looked around and saw that the Temple was clean. Well, cleaner than where she came from. But that was impossible. Half the Temple was supposed to be melted like ice near fire. She flung herself unto one of the Temple pillar to keep herself from falling again. At the margin of her vision, she saw someone entering the Temple. <span style='color:skyblue'>Vyja? What...</span> was what she uttered before exhaustion finally caught up with her and she fainted.
No... His prey had escaped!? Not back there... He would stave off going back there all right... At least until he got some followers... Yes... He would rally some pendragons to his cause and then head back, maybe he could even find his past self as well... Yes... that was exactly what he would do... Then he would get revenge on them all... The traitor, and the other two... He would even get the traitor in the past, before he betrayed his former self... The Dark One hit the ground witha thud, his pure white eyes flailing around in surprise and anxiety. His dark energy supply had run out, but Talon remained in the back of his mind, meaning he was allowed to explore this place on his own... He stood up, leaning on the partisan for support, and then in a quick rush of purple haze, he used the rest of the dark energy to heal his broken jaw. It was then that Talon suddenly snapped to, and took control. For the first time since being fused to the boy, The Dark One was happy to freely give him power... <span style='color:orange'>All right, I need to know exactly where we are... And I'm sure we're going to need some medical supplies, everyone has probably taken a beating...</span> Talon said this quickly and surely, speaking to Vyja before rushing over to Kien in a flurry of black robes. He heaved her up, quickly tossing his partisan to the priest who entered behind Vyja. Then with a nervous glance towards the wall The Dark One had flown out of, he carried Kien towards the exit as fast as possible, as if expecting Viridus to charge out snarling and roaring at any moment... <span style='color:orange'>Lets Move!</span>
<span style='color:goldenrod'>"Kien!" </span>But Vyja's initial smile was soon replaced by a frown as he knealed by her side, appraising her wounds. Talon (or at least he was pretty sure it was Talon because the voice definitely didn't belong to the Dark One) was soon at his side and doing what he had not dared do. <span style='color:goldenrod'>"Be careful, I think she's hurt... I think she's been hit at the shoulder. Don't shake her too much." </span> Vyja didn't mean for his tone to be accusatory but he was pretty sure Kien hadn't been hit before he left. Scowling a little at his powerlessness, Vyja quickly followed Talon out of the Temple. The Priest was waiting for them at the exit, and made sign for them to stop. <span style='color:gray'>"Halt. We cannot take her to the Healers. There isn't the time and there wouldn't be place for her. Besides, young Vyja might pass for a civilian but an Anubi will stand out like a sore thumb. We will make for my private quarters. Follow me." </span> Without waiting for a response, the brittle-looking Kiom walked off, leaning heavily on his gold-incrusted staff. Vyja lingered behind, and as they walked he asked Talon questions half-heartedly. "Is Viridus defeated?" he asked, devoid of any hope.
There was a murmur of voices and she felt someone carry her. All the while she was drifting in and out of conciousness. It was lucky that the shuriken had gaze passed her but it had left a big, but not so deep, wound on her left shoulder. Blood was running down from her wound in a steady pace. She was losing blood. Funny how her mind hasn't stop thinking. I need to clean that wound and I need some bandages. I wonder if it needs some stitching? ... Hey that sounds like Talon. What is he doing here? There's a new voice. It must be Vyja's new friend... Why is everything so black?.. Making herself comfortable, she drifted off to sleep. <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Really short post. Couldn't think of what else to write since she's half awake. :P Sorreh!</td></tr></table>
Talon's first reaction was anger at the priest's comment, but within a milisecond he realised he was right, and was only speaking logically. After glancing down seriously at Kien's wound, he followed the priest, giving Vyja a quick response. <span style='color:orange'>Not even close.</span> He repeated it in his head, and he knew it sounded bleak, but the entire situation was. He felt plain horrible for bringing this down upon Kien and Vyja. If he had never come to pray, his partisan would have never reacted with the temple, and Viridus would have remained safely locked away in the gem... But he knew not to dwell on it.... He didn't have his brothers help, although he knew The Beast would be an invaluable ally right now, and he knew The Beast had some connection to the story as well... Yet another factor he had to force out of his mind for now. He moved the sleeve of his robe over and covered Kien's wound as he walked, making sure to absorb all the shock from his footsteps as to not jar her. He had seen shurikens before, in a museum, and even the ancient weapon carefully preserved looked lethally sharp... AHHHHHH Talon! stop thinking about these random things! Keep yourself focused man! kien is hurt! Viridus is still back in the temple! And you still don't know where you are! There he had done it, his mind was much clearer now. Once he had gotten Kien patched up he would sit and meditate about it all. Maybe the mental link would work... Wherever Xavier was... And Vyja, what was his connection to it all... He must be related to it through his ancestors as well. Anubi and Priest... All right... Where was he going...
Vyja just nodded, grimly unsurprised. <span style='color:goldenrod'>How is this ever going to work out? </span>He wondered sadly. His gaze lost itself in the beauty of the Temple's grounds. Everything seemed so familiar, yet everything was out of place. Trees he had known as a nioti weren't at their respective places. More shocking were the enormous Sacred Trees he had been brought to see countless times with his Aunty Geetha. They seemed so young and so frail, nothing like the massive immortal trunks that had awed him everytime he had been shown them. Vyjabaj was soon pulled out of his thoughts by an outlandish sight. What ressembled of flock of strange birds suddenly passed their group. The 'dragons were bent over some scroll or another, whispering to each other Lehi knew what, and huddled together, such that they ressembled an multiheaded monster. Their odd billowing black robes and triangular hats only reinforced this image. <span style='color:goldenrod'>"The Scribes!"</span> thought Vyja excitedly. How he wished he could speak to them, ask them for their advice. But he knew he couldn't, lest he draw attention to his friends. <span style='color:goldenrod'>"Perhaps,"</span> he mused, <span style='color:goldenrod'>"we will need their help at a later time." </span> The flock didn't seem to notice their presence, let alone Talon and the wounded 'dragon he was carrying. The Priest's cracked voice soon shook him out of his reverie. <span style='color:gray'>"We're here."</span> <span style='color:gray'>"Place her on the bed over there." </span>he told Talon, <span style='color:gray'>"And you"</span>, he added pointing to Vyja, <span style='color: gray'>"help me prepare the Healing Balms."</span>
Many pendragons of Mansukh had decided to visit the Temple that day. They brought in offerings, knelt down for hours, praying for only they know what. It was all silent except for the quiet murmuring of prayers and swishing of clothes as pendragons enter the building. "Our crops aren't growing well this year." A quiet voice said as it's owner, a grey coated farmer, entered the building with his companion. "It's so sudden as if the Gods had stopped them growing." "<span style='color:violet'>Don't be ridiculous, Nathan,</span>" said his older companion. "<span style='color:violet'>Don't easily blame it on the Gods. Maybe we haven't been taking care of our crops properly.</span>" "But all of the other farmers' harvest aren't going so well. This can't happen to all of us." Nathan commented. "<span style='color:violet'>Maybe their ground isn't so good as it used to be.</span>" "Jalo, your land has the best soil in the whole of Mansukh. And it has been used for generations. Yet your crops aren't growing well" And that seemed to end their conversation. They knelt down on the Temple floor and started to pray. "<span style='color:violet'>There's another strange phenomenon that has been happening.</span>" Jalo said after a while, disrupting the prayer peace. Some pendragons turned and scowled at the source of the disturbance. In a softer tone, Jalo said,"<span style='color:violet'>Many a 'dragons are dying. Didn't you notice the increase of patients and deaths at the Healers?</span>" Nathan's face looked grim. "I believe that Mansukh has been cursed. Mansukh needs more help than just praying." His companion said nothing. The scene changed and Kien found herself in an old sort of building, a room. There were 2 rows of beds and all of them were occupied. Their faces looked as if dark shadows haunt them. Their blank eyes stared up at her and their faces were frozen in a gloom or tortured expression. They were all dead...
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>ooOOOOoooo excellent post kutz... muahahahah. So is it about time Viridus crashed the party?</td></tr></table> Talon did as instructed, and then sat down with his legs crossed, immediately closing his eyes, clearing his mind, and attempting to open the link to his brother. It was like a broken radio. There was only white noise. He changed to meditating, pondering all the questions his mind had come to before on the journey. But his mind drew a blank. He got up and strode to the entrance, peeking out, he was just in time to see a billowing cloud of purple energy float out of the temple entrance in giant plumes of smoke. His first reaction was shock, quickly followed by fear. He rushed inside and turned to Vyja and the priest. <span style='color:orange'>The Temple! He's Here!</span> He gasped, before grabbing his partisan and dashing out towards the temple. He would hold off the Virus for as long as possible... while Kien was tended to, and everybody was evacuated. He might be host to a being of darkness, but he could use a light spell or two himself... <span style='color:yellow'>Ah... Home sweet home... But what is this?... The power of the plague has already been taken from the altar... So my past self must be already spreading diesease and destruction... Excellent... This time I will not fail... Not with two of me...</span> Viridus drew his sword, and slashed a giant X across the wall he had entered through. It was a signal to those meddling fools from the future... Keep away from here... Because there is no hope... You're trapped forever... Viridus then strode to the entrance, and sheathed his sword, before looking with a grin to the black robed scribes taht were huddled over their work. A few of them glanced up at him, at his purple acidic cloud, their mouths frozen open in shock, but the rest wouldn't have time to even move their heads an inch...
<span style='color:gray'>"Good, good."</span> The old priest smiled. <span style='color:gray'>"Now take it to her and be sure to be gentle. She should be feeling better in no time."</span> Silently nodding, Vyja complied and brought the bowl containing the mixture of crushed healing herbs and roots to Kien's side. Then, remembering the precise instructions he had been given by the Kiom, he gently washed her wound with a wet towel and bucket, hoping his friend was too deep in her sleep to feel any pain. He winced a little as he watched the once clean water turn gradually darker, gradually redder. Poor Kien. Once again, guilt began to make its way into his conscience. He proceeded to cover the wound with the paste. Then he bandaged her arm and shoulder as best he could. If all went well, the Healing Balms should soon take their effect and Kien could remove the cast shortly after she recovered. He had just about finished when Talon came back in, a look of urgency on his face. Tying the last knot around her shoulder, Vyja quickly got up. Talon had made it clear. The Anubi would try to fend off the Virus while the priest and him stayed to tend Kien. But he had done all he could for Kien, hadn't he? Frowning, Vyja turned to the older 'dragon for advice. As though reading his thoughts, the Priest nodded. <span style='color:gray'>"Go with him, Restless One. I will take care of her." </span> Placing a wooden glass of water by her bedside for when she woke up, Vyja gave Kien's sleeping form a final glance before heading off for the Temple. -------------- He had been the first to see him. To see the purple cloud that reeked so much evil he could feel it in his old bones. All his companions had been too engrossed in their discovery to notice until now, and the more concentrated were still staring at the scroll, oblivious of the imminent doom that awaited them all. Too bad for them. Quickly regaining his senses, the Scribe grabbed the piece of parchment from the two who had been holding it and who now stood dumbstruck and petrified. The scroll must not be destroyed, lest their discovery be lost! <span style='color:cornflowerblue'>"Ruuun!"</span> he screeched when his legs finally obeyed his brain. He tried to escape, the scroll tucked firmly under his arm. <span style='color:cornflowerblue'>Kill them. Not me. Not me. Please. Them. Not me. </span>
