Timestamp: Mia (Winter), 81380 32 Time: near dawn Arthus Novel scanned over the mob of mercenaries and miscreants before him, some were solid paid for mercenaries, others were drifters who just wanted to fight. Some where even just your average person, worked up into hating the Anubi which were the cause of all their problems, or so they thought anyway. Arthus didnÂ’t really care what they thought just so long as they did their job, to cleanse the unclean. Most of them though were his men, ardens who have fought with him on his crusade against them. They were fairly battle hardened and were armed with some serious gear, armour, guns, swords, you name it then probably one of them had it. And then their were his officers, his most skilled and talent fighters who shared his ideals most of all. Christiana Janti, the best marksmen and ice queen he had ever known. And also his most trusted friend, he could count on her for anything. Then their was Ivan the 3rd who was a tech geek gone mad, his battle suit was truly fearful and so was his nut case mind. In any case, he had assembled his force once more to rip the heart out of one of the main anubi main steadÂ’s now. His scouts had located a massive town with seemed to house some kind of temple. He would burn them all in the fire of purity and clean their ilk from the face of the planet, or die trying. His force had already taken out one village and half burned another. "Today my warriors we strike a powerful blow to the Anubi, no longer will they horde our riches and steal our food. They will no longer kill our family and friends, the desert is ours just as much as it is theirs. Tonight we get our vengeance." He bellowed to the crowd, mostly for the stupid peasants who needed it. They were ready.
Umeoral sat in front of the temple looking down upon the town. He knew something bad was going to happen today, but he didn't know what. He had warned the guards, but he did not believe that would be enough...Nekhalla was nearby as backup just in-case. Hathor did not believe him when it came to these things, and she couldn't be bothered right at this moment as she was in a meeting with Kaieta Ultima concerning matters of state. If it did get bad she would help knowing her, but he wished he knew what was coming. It was probably just a sand storm or something like the last time, but still he was nervous. Just then a peasant from the burned town came running up, he was dehydrated, tired, injured, and burned. Umeoral met him at the bottom of the temple, as the peasant collapsed into his arms. They spoke swiftly in Anubian to each other. <span style='color:red'>By Hathor's grace!! What happened to you good sire?!</span> <span style='color:green'>Invaders...Outsiders...At Kuja...Everything lost...heading this way.</span> <span style='color:red'>Thank you for the warning...Nekhalla!!! See what you can do for him, I must got prepare the city.</span> Nekhalla and her Cucu Dos took the peasant inside to have the temple priests heal him. Umeoral on the other hand made a mad dash around the walls of the city to warn the guards and to lock the four gates to the city. They couldn't get in thru the gates as he himself sealed them magically. He only hoped the walls were too tall for them, as the guards were so few these days, the plague had not only weakened the people, it had weakened the strength of them. The alarm bells sounded in the city, people made a mad dash for their houses. Hoping whatever it was would spare them. Umeoral decided he himself would meet them once he found out where their main pack was. <span style='color:red'>This is one of those times I wish Khoyfu and Kashiko were here...That would scare the the shit out of them...</span> He mumbled under his breath. Khoyfu definitely, but she had an agenda of her own...Which he could never figure out, and Kashiko was off training her apprentice. He just had to hope that Kaieta would side with them and Hathor could use her...He already knew what would happen when Kaieta and Hathor allied...Kaieta would be used as a weapon, Hathor knew how to do it. He cringed at the thought of what was about to happen here. He just had to hope it wouldn't come to that.
Food was always hard to come by in the desert. Especially when your diet was mostly carrion and the remains of others of your kind. There had been nothing to eat for days, and this particular fellow was ravenous. It was then he was somehow mixed into this angry group of Pendragons. He normally would have killed and eaten one right there at the level of hunger he was at, but the numbers far exceeded his. No matter how well he could fight, they would swamp and obliterate him, and he wasn’t stupid. And so he had joined them, after hearing plans to attack a settlement of Anubi. It wasn’t a bad deal. These foul racists were going to kill, and, well, if he dragged a corpse of somebody into a building to devour, nobody would be the wiser in the chaos. But before he could sit down and eat, he would have to help. And thus he had started mingling with the group. Some had heard of him before, others had no idea who he was, but after a series of conversations and barters, some involving debts owed in the future or jobs afterwards, he gained himself a lightweight suit of body armor, and a longish dagger and sheath to replace his dirty beige desert wear and unarmed self. He had nothing against the Anubi, of course, but a ‘dragon had to eat… He was currently positioned near the front of the group, in the foremost ranks. The speech made him yawn, but he took up the roar with the rest of them anyways, just to prove he was into it. Maybe one of his comrades would get stupid and wander off alone somewhere so he could lock his fangs around a throat without a struggle. In a mob of this size? Fat chance.
Icy fondness, is what one could have called Christiana Janti's gaze as she appraised the mob before her. It was the kind of look that clearly spelt out that while she approved their lust for murder and revenge, she nevertheless had an image to uphold. She was the Ice Queen. The Deadly Seductress. The Tender Poison. The Prickly Rose. She was all of these - All of these? Well, if not in reality then at least in her mind - and more: in fact, she was not only a skilled warrior, a ruthless strategist, and a beautiful specimen of the female race, she was also a little crazy, too. But Christiana liked to think of her "instable" temperament as a boon rather than a curse. For instance, this 'instability' took the form of random spurts of wanton blooshed during battle. One moment she would be her calm, impeccably composed and icy self, and the next she would be firing away, poisoned arrow after arrow, at an uncanny speed. She never missed. She would only stop occasionally to admire the beautiful writhing deaths of those whose blood had been corrupted by the poisoned arrowheads. At the moment though, Christiana was quite serene, if a little bored. A little blood was what she needed to keep her going. As she listened to Arthus' speech, one particular individual among the crowd caught her attention. He was yawning. She frowned at this, and then glared. She hadn't noticed him before, and even though she scarecely paid much notice to the underlings anyway, this particular 'dragon made her uneasy. She would be sure to keep an eye on him. The last thing their warriors needed was a troublemaker or a spy.
She had just arrived a few minutes before wounded peasants came in the village. The beige and rust colored thill could only watch with curiousity as two or three peasants came into the village to seek out healing. Her ears pricked as she overheard the Anubian conversation as one told another about invaders. So that was it. Yesterday, she had this sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that something wasn't right. That something big was going to happen to a home. She had asked Shadow, her companion and so called close friend, to come travel with her. She never expected him to come along since she was going to a desert. But instead of going to Pwa, where her birthplace was, she came here. Perhaps she was guided by her guardian or perhaps she had an Eye she never knew about. Eitherway, she was glad that she came. She could feel the anger in her rising as one of them shouted to the guards to shut the gate. Why would the other races do such a thing? Hurt the Anubis when they haven't done anything wrong. Whatever. She will be ready when they come, she thought as her paw gripped the hilt of her precious sword tighter. Stupid pendragons. Do they think that they can bring down the anubi race? She could make penance for abandoning her own village. She turned to look at Shadow, thinking that he would understand her situation. <span style='color:orangered'>He always would, right?</span>
Shadow still wondered what had brought them here, the smell of spilt blood was filling the nostrils of the Vampire as he wathed with a small longing at the wounded peasants running to the safety of the village - he heard the peasant speak to the guardian - and looked at Veaji with understanding, he would fight for her, and this city. Only yesterday she had suddenly announced something was going to happen to a home, and asking if he would come along, he heartily accepted, this time with a pack of blood for sustainence. Not that the people here had been most accepting of him, if it hadn't been for the trinket he recieved from the other village and his companion he would have been killed for sure. Sensing her anger he riled himself up for a fight, Drawing his beloved sword with his dead friends name engraved on the hilt along with his family who were killed in a situation similar to this - it was amazing what racisim could do to a 'dragon. Only this time he would be able to fight - and they would succeed. A slight nod showed he was with her in this - he wouldn't leave her side.
Nyx quietly watched from a corner. She understood loyalty and fighting to keep a race from becoming extinct but, what she didn't understand was why she was being called. She had been banished years ago. She had come, and she would help. She in vain hoped that perhaps, her father would be here. She watched as Anubi's started gathering, and a uneasy feeling started to arise in the pit of her stomach. She had no idea, what was going to happen.
Arthus stood their, a titian among Pendragons. His massive medieval type armour making him fearsomely tall and powerful. Adorned with his plates of enchanted metal and twisted steel, he considered himself Knight crusading against heir tyranny and butchery. They had killed his brother just because he wasnÂ’t an Anubi, he had been wandering in the desert and for that he had been executed. And when the body had turned up dead and mutilated on the border of the desert, he had sword a blood oath to avenge him with the blood of ever Anubi. And as he drew his massive two handed sword up high, glisten in the desert light, the orange rays of the sun hitting it. The runes encrusted on it to aid it against the Anubi, he pointed it in the direction of the town, the target. "Forward, to glorious justice and all the loot you can carry." He said with glee, and blood roar following his voice, from both him and a large portion of the crowd. The army beginning to move over the dunes, backpacks full of equipment. They were going to stop just of range of the city, then they would unleash their weapons and kill all to stood in their path. He did however, with visor still raised and his face exposed turn to Christiana as they marched. A large grin plastered to his face. "Well this is going to be our time, finally we can get them Christiana. Its all going to be worth it." He said to her quietly, not really wanting the whole forced to eavesdrop on him. He trusted her more than anyone else, she had suffered just as much as he had. And they had both had helped each other over come their loss and turn it into vengeance and justice for all. He personally loathed the racist beliefs of the Anubi, how they killed any trespassers in a public desert. He hated how they believed themselves to be better than average pendragon, even people who shared half Anubi blood were shunned by them. Yet although he hated them, he and his brother were actually half Anubi each. He never told anyone of course, but it was one of th reasons his brother had been attacked. They both had a more muddy brown fur, tan mixed with the brown pendragon blood. His features were more rounded too, less Jackal like and more feline. He hated them most of because he felt he was one yet to them, he was just a dirty half breed from a mongrel, low standing mother. His fist around his sword clenched, his knuckles turning white beneath his armour.
Umeoral watched as the dust of the attackers appeared on the horizon. He jumped from the top of the gate down to stand infront of it. He summoned his staff and waited stowicly for the attackers to arrive. <span style='color:blue'>Umeoral, Umeoral, always posing before the battle."</span> A familuar face appeared from the Shadows. <span style='color:red'>Perfect timing Kashiko as always.</span> <span style='color:blue'>You think I would miss this? You called for me didn't you? Well my apprentice is running the course I figured I could help you out.</span> <span style='color:red'>We just need to hold them long enough to let Hathor convince Kaieta of our alliance.</span> <span style='color:blue'>Should be easy enough. Nekhalla is here also right?</span> <span style='color:red'>Of course, why do you ask?</span> <span style='color:blue'>You never know when you will need an army of insane animals.</span> With that Kashiko did something she only did on very rare occasions. Straight thru her kimono appeared black tattered bat wings. Her claws extended along with her fangs. Umeoral got shivers just looking at her. He himself summoned his favorite creature: The Shadow Night Dragon. It's flame like black skin flickered in the light. It stood patiently awaiting first blood. <span style='color:blue'>Too bad its not night time, I could bring out my buddy.</span> <span style='color:red'>We want then to go away, not drive them insane Kashiko.</span> <span style='color:blue'>But whats the fun in that?</span> Umeoral rolled his eyes, Kashiko was painfully childish sometimes. He usually just ignored her, but now he need her to be on his side...He had a feeling the enemies coming had more of a history then he expected....
He let out a long hiss at that. The attackers were walking to the settlement. Did they not realize that the Anubi might figure out they were coming? And on top of that, it meant he would have to wait even longer to eat something. “I heard they have magic." “Like, spells and stuff?" “Fireballs, and they can shoot thunder out of their hands and stuff." “Don’t be stupid." Kala listened intently to the racists marching beside him. Originally he had thought they were going to ransack some tiny village, but if they had magic users, that usually meant Anubi higher ups, including the possibility of… “Priesssstssss." He had worked with and against the Anubi before, despite their hostile attitude towards outsiders. He had heard rumors of High priests and the religion they followed, but he had never seen what the mystical high priests or guardians could do. It was just a myth to him. There were several options here. The first would be to escape while he still could, go and hide out in the desert until it was all over, and then come back and forge for food among the dead. But that left him open to being caught by either side. After this, his mind drew a blank, he could be smart in the heat of the moment, but Kala wasn’t a brain surgeon. There seemed to be no other option… Then is struck him. It was possibly the stupidest thing to do at the moment, but somewhere in the reptiles mind it seemed brilliant. In a flash of yellowed fangs and dripping purple venom, he locked his jaws around the nearest pendragon’s throat, (which conveniently happened to be the speaker from before) and tore back, the curved fangs ripping the flesh and grinding the bone. The crusader fell dead almost instantly, and Kala placed a clawed foot on the fallen one’s chest. “Let that be a lezzon to anybodee who challenges me! He tried to steal my knife!" The most of them continued marching, but several nearby turned to face him, some not seeming to care too much, and some with horrified looks on their faces. What an idiot…
Christianna turned to face Arthus. She met his gaze with sardonic eyes. "You're right Arty, this is it. Those worthless niotis don't know what they're up against!" Her voice had an almost child-like quality to it, but her eyes betrayed the scars of past experience. The grudge that Christianna held against the Anubi had deeper roots than any in the mob could ever fathom. Only Arthus knew. She smiled sadly, and turned to face the mob again. What she saw made her blood boil. The arrow and the bow were in her paws in an instant. She didn't aim to kill, only to scare. "Hey, you! We don't need any gratuitous deaths on our side. Take your agressivity out on the Enemy. Is that clear?"she snarled. The arrow still quivered where it had landed, a mere inches away from its target.
Veaji did a little teleportation to the top of the gate. She hung on there and looked to where the sun was rising. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the mob. <span style='color:orangered'>Racist.</span> she muttered. She then teleported back down to the ground, right beside Shadow. <span style='color:orangered'>The crowd's not that big,</span> she said to Shadow. It was an understatement, of course. But a question was ringing in her head. She turned to her friend. <span style='color:orangered'>Why would they want to attack us?</span>
<span style='color:blue'>Same reason they attack vampires and weres, anubi are different.</span> He didn't really blink in surprise as she teleported to the gate and back again, HIs panther like pet was confused to no end however. Sniffing Veaji curiously when she returned. Shadow took this oppurtunity to draw his sword from its sheath, a ringing sound echoing around him. It suddenly lit up with a blue aura, as it tapped into his aura. <span style='color:blue'>nothing we can't handle... </span> he commented comfortingly to her, the panther mewing to agree.
Arthus didnÂ’t care for the overly hungry creature that had just ripped out the throat of one of the peasants who followed them, he was hardly going to kill it in retribution when a fight was about to start. He put his hand on Christianna arm and slowly but firmly lowered her bow, a soft smile on his face as he looked upon her in her angered state. "Let it be." He said softly, it made no differ ace. "Its time now anyway." He said as he brought the force to a halt, just out side of most gun ranges of the city. With a press of a button on his armour a mike popped up from his collar protector and stopped outside his mouth. He took a sharp inhale then started the whole thing in motion, their was no going back now. "Anubi of the desert, your unjust tyranny over the desert is at an end. We have come from far and wide to bring about your justice and their is no escape. You have showed us no mercy and now we show you just the same. See you in the afterlife, filth." Spitting the last word out into the mike, his voice booming over the sands and carrying in the wind. No remorse, no compassion, only hatred and pain. Now the mike disappeared again as he turned back to the people, ready for the orders of battle. "Forget the gate, it will be too well protected. Instead for those of you with wings fly, the rest of you scale the walls. We have a type of jump pack for you, it has limited fuel but it can carry you over the walls. Once inside kill all that you can and try to stay in groups, they have few defends but they are potent." Eying up the mob as he spoke. He could see the burring battle rage in most, the overconfidence would serve them well. Better then being fearful and confused. He raised his sword high, the mighty blade encrusted in Egyptian runes and more arcane ones yet all glinting in the sun. "For Honour and Vengeance" he cried, signalling the charge as a wave of battle cries and roars filled the horde. As one the ran for the walls, some already taking off and launching into the air, wings beating and the howl of the jump pack engines blasting them up and over, some preferring to land on the walls them selves and fight the defenders. Arthus landed with a thud on the ground, his blade already dripping in blood as it took of the head of someone on the wall as he passed. One fell stroke was all it took, his massive power claw lashed out while his sword sliced some poor villager. Laughing as he went, marching onwards towards the temple. The gun on the upper side of his claw ripped into more helpless people, the mad glint in his eye only getting stronger. At last, blood pay back... Another Anubi got in his way, only to be sliced in too. His bloody advance continuing.
Umoeral turned and faced Shadow and Veaji. <span style='color:red'>"It probly is more then you can handle actually...Stay as far behind me as you can and guard the gate...We need to hold them off until Our Lady sends out our newest weapon, anyone who gets past me, slaughter. Kashiko, cover my back. If either of you has a bow, get up top with the guards, we need as many archers as possible."</span> Kashiko at this point was already in the air, ripping apart the ones with wings, blood rained down like a red rain from hell. The archers started firing as fast as they could. The lower priest were destroying the lines used to climb the walls and crushing the packs as they tried to come up, many were dying. Umeoral set Night Dragon upon them. Chaos was below, they didn't have enough guards they had breached the walls. Umeoral quickly made his way inside using his mist form, reappearing infront of the temple. He then unleashed a series of powerful dark attacks. <span style='color:red'>"My lady please hurry..."</span> He muttered in Anubian under his breath. With that the sky darkened into a swirlling vortex of clouds, lightning struck down the invaders where they stood. Umeoral smiled, that was one of Nekhalla's tricks. She was standing behind him in her full armor, gold from head to toe, she smirked and drew her sword. <span style='color:purple'>You know, I almost feel sorry for them...I don't know how long I can keep up this spell, every minute drains away at my energy, so we better make it last...</span> Kashiko noticed the darkened sky and smiled, she pulled out a strange mask and then uttered something in a forgotten tonge, the mask turned into a creature, who then turned on a section of the mob, they screamed in terror slashing at each other, in utter fear. Kashiko smirked. <span style='color:blue'>Have fun my darling...</span> Umeoral stood ready infront of the doors to the temple, even if they wanted to get in, they couldn't without his help...and with what lay instore for them...they may not want to...
He realised his folly as the arrow slammed into the ground, and slunk back, vanishing further into the crowd as the horde itself grew in anger and intensity. Several slapped blades and weapons against themselves, the flats of swords and axes mingling with the chorus of the few modern weapons that existed. "Dey don't know who they're dealing wiv, do they? I'll eattem all when they kill emselves against the 'nubi, dats right Kala." His voice started slurring and his accent grew noticably, as the smell of a battle reached his face. A long serpentine tongue covered in saliva and purple venom flicked in and out several times, and then he was off. He quickly cleared the front ranks, ignoring the idea of jump packs entirely and charging forth towards the wall. Claws flexed, and in a single bound, he latched himself to the wall, almost ten feet straight up. There was a small slip up, but the claws dug into the sheer stone walls as if they were paper, and he was soon hurrying up the wall in no time. A quick peek over the wall confirmed that his allies had started attacking the wall further down, and the defenders had rushed to stop the flow of warriors, leaving Kala Nag all by his lonesome to creep stealthily over the wall and slide down the other side, leaving deep grooves in the rock where his claws latched on. A few more seconds, and he was gone, flitting through the buildings and monuments like a shadow at night. Oh, how he would feed tonight...
Christianna lowered her fiery gaze. She nodded bashfully, suddenly ashamed of her brazen impulse. That arrow should have been used in battle against the enemy. She had used it against her own camp instead. So foolish. Taking a long, deep and painful breath, the Ice Queen willed her scalding pent-up rage to cool in the thought of revenge. When she smiled back up to Arthus, her slender and defiant face, of which all emotion had been numbed, was betrayed only by the feverish glint in her eyes. It told of lust for battle, lust for blood, lust for Anubi anguish. The speech ended, she knew the time had come. Her heart beat was steady, as were her breaths. She was ready. And yet... She felt like something was missing. Like she had to do something before she went off into battle. A little at loss for what to do, Christianna sought out Arthus's gaze and held it a second. "I love you." she worded enigmatically before storming off into the chaos of war. Long thick tresses flew and fell in shiny cascades around her proud shoulders as she fired relentessly. Dazed, she heard the strangled cries of flailing Anubis who helplessly grasped at the arrow piercing their poisoned heart. Again and again, images of death throws festered in her mind, each time with a different face, a different pitch of voice. How many lives had she taken? She had lost count but knew that her arrow supply was running low. She would have to switch to the Daggers soon.
Veaji absently stroke Khumdap. She had taken a liking to Shadow's pet of one season. She was about to answer Shadow when a stranger turned around and talked to both of them. She frowned. Was she supposed to oblige? She look wishfully behind her, the way to the Temple. She wanted to defend that area. Why she felt that way was perhaps her history with priests. But she turned her head back to the stranger and nodded her head. She would oblige... for now. It was then when the gate burst open and only a few came in. They ran pass Umoeral and Veaji managed to shoot two in the head and slit one on the throat. She looked around for more but there was so little. She was sure she saw a pretty big group when she went up the gate. She went further down south, following the wall and found several more and slit all their throats with the sharp end of her precious sword. If all of them are this weak, she could kill the whole army in a matter of seconds. But she knew the stronger was yet to come.
Khumdap purred in response to the thills touch, her black tail swishing about in anticipation of a hunt. Shadow ordered a silent command to the cat - Protect Veaji. She would, after all she had been the alpha of her old pack. In a way Shadow and Veaji were dancing together, never bumping into each other, never choosing the same target. Shadow could smell the blood being spilled over the sands as he sliced into ones' side, taking off the arm with his forceful move. Blood even sprayed into his face as the enemy aimed a bloody stump at him. In his torrent of killing, he had lost sight of Veaji but soon caught sight of Khumdap running after her. He stayed for a moment near the gate before running of to his friend again. She was in the middle of cutting anothers' windpipe open when he reached her, the gasping whistling sound as her victim desperatly tried to breath made him wince with some sympathy for the what the thill had to endure. So far he had only killed males, females would cause hesitation. He chanced a brief smile before flicking out a small knife from his belt, Throwing it with apparent easeinto another racists' head, the coal coloured arden fell down instantly, he'd grab his knife later. Decidedly his sword vanished into the folds of magic when many more stumbled from the walls in floods, his hands would be quicker here. And with a single guesture he took two daggers from his belt that could be held with ease, firing his magic up into the blades for a more "heated" affair.
Nekhalla looked at Paush in pain. <span style='color:red'>My lady please hurry</span> Thought Paush, almost on cue, the huge doors to the temple swung open. Nekhalla collapsed, but the cloud just seemed to get bigger and more powerful. Out of the doors came a yellow dragon-like creature. It barely fit thru the doors of the temple, now the temple is serveral stories high, so this was a very impressive creature. It had all the markings of Kaieta Ultima, just it was larger and had a different body shape, it had harder edges to its body. It let out an earth-shattering roar, and moved out of the temple looking for prey. Paush grabbed Nekhalla and ran her into the temple and layed her down only to be met by Hathor. <span style='color:red'>My lady, thank you!</span> <span style='color:purple'>Don't thank me yet...I'm not done yet</span> Hathor smiled Paush looked up, she was in her full armor, her usually hidden wings were extended, and a horned headress was on her head. She dissappeared for a minute and then reappeared on top of the temple. She appeared almost as a Dark Angel to those on the ground, the Anubi that saw her, immidiatly started fighting harder...They would do her justice.
