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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 17, 2017 13:44:38 GMT
The sky above the palace was darker then he could recall seeing it. Although the timecaster had not often glimpsed the structure, in both its sprawling and towering qualities from the outside very often. But there was no mistaking the change. it was slight. But the air was heavy, he felt as he appeared from the time streams, past present and future bending to make way for him in his passage. The very concept of the chaos theory defining his movements as each step created its temporal echoes and ripples. Making it seem as if footsteps of distortion were approaching the inner chambers through the main doors before he himself became visible. The timecaster, Drake hybrid pushing his way out the timelines where they existed beyond the perception of the non-temporal races, his wings flowing with distortion before he shifted them away into the spike-like stumps that represented their placement on his body. Reality itself seeming to shred itself in semi-liquid tatters as he exited into the room. The rippling paradoxes of past and present coming dangerously close together before dissipating behind him, yet following his every move, each ripple of his greatcoat, every shift of his limbs, and snakelike movement of his tail sending off small waves of it.
He grunted slightly to himself, his tail shifting under his coat. As he made his way towards the chambers he usually frequented when meeting with the rest of nagas court. The message that he had received as he had observed the non-temporal beings had been one of urgency, informing him that the event he had been summoned for was "Something of massive importance" ...and he was not one to keep people waiting. But the air of the place seemed, off. Thinner.... Even the time streams seemed to be more agitated than usual. "Something" he thought to himself silently. "Something is building here... the elements are agitated. I wonder..." He thought silently. Before his train of thought was cut off by the sight of Echo in the chamber ahead.
"Well...” He thought to himself, as he approached the sound drake. "We know who it’s not...." Echo was sprawled across Naga's throne just as he was after the bald woman incident almost a year before, his legs crossed over one arm rest while his head rested on the other. His tail swayed lazily across the ground beside him, unable to actually touch the ground due to the size of the throne which was built for beings far larger than himself. A holo-screen floated over his head, illuminating the area with its glow. Brightly colored cartoons played on the floating screen as Echo watched with a sneer and the occasional giggle as the cartoon played out its antics.
The throne room had a rather sinister atmosphere to it on this particular visit. The massive room was poorly lit; even the torches were barely flickering as though something held them back from burning any brighter. A thick layer of mist rolled across the cold hard floor like a swarm of spirits as a sense of being watched cut through Shaw's mind from a source unknown to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Shaw could see something move in the shadows and quickly disappear behind one of the massive doors which lined the room.
Echo's red eye glanced over to Shaw as he arrived and quickly returned to his cartoons, not wanting to miss anything.
"Welcome back, coo coo clock. It's been a while..." Echo said to the time drake without taking his eyes off the screen. He chuckled as a cartoon rabbit tricked a hunter into shooting a duck.
The time drake paused as he regarded the sound drake sprawled lazily across the throne of the royal drakes. His size in relation to it almost humorous in how small it made him look. He couldn't help but grimace slightly to himself as he saw the utter lack of respect that Echo was showing towards the chamber, and as he walked forward towards the throne. He tilted his head on his neck to look upward at the cartoons playing on the holo-screen that hung in the air above him. The drake chuckling like an amused child. "Definitely not him..." He thought to himself, as he reached the middle of the chamber, his staff clenched in his hand. The ripple of the paradoxes that surrounded him going still as they radiated outward. His tail curling under his coat softly.
"Hello, Boom box..." he said in response to the sound drakes little jibe at him.” Maybe in your perspective, But that’s all time is.... “He said, half uninterested in the sound drake’s antics. “A matter of perspective. So, tell me..." He said, gesturing around the room, feeling the dark atmosphere and hostile overtone that the room had taken on. Noting the feel of the room and the sense that things were watching him beyond the corners of his eyes. With nothing showing up among the time streams but brief shadows of things that had once been, turning his head briefly as he spotted the moving thing.
"What's with the atmosphere? Is our ‘Second in command’ experimenting with his presentation of himself? Or is it the reason I was summoned here?" He said, raising his ridged eyebrow accusingly at the drake. Echo didn’t stop watching his cartoons to answer the time drake, instead taking a moment to laugh and reposition himself.
"It’s been like this all day. No clue why, myself... but whatever the cause, it seems to have gotten everyone on edge." Echo replied. A shadowy figure formed in the space beside him, quickly solidifying and taking form, revealing itself to be a female drake, Carmilla. She held a large metal bowl in her claw as she jumped up and sat down beside Echo on the massive throne.
"Got the popcorn...* she said to Echo with a smile without acknowledging Shaw as she held out the bowl. Echo grinned as he looked over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Thanks, love" He replied as he took a claw full of popcorn from the bowl and tossed it into his mouth.
Shaw only kept his brow raised as he watched the two drakes embrace each other on the throne. Had it been any other couple. What little morality he held would have thought that it would have been somewhat charming, even by the odd standards that the temporians weighed their relationships by. But the fact that it was the two particular drakes that sat before him left him feeling off, close to unease. Echo was on Naga’s dwindling good will and patience... while Carmilla always struck him as the draconian’s wild child, and if his own relations with one of the daughters of fear had taught him anything. It was that the draconian could still feel for their offspring.
He felt for the sound drake. Even more now than the few times he recalled that she had kissed him while posing as her father. A funny turn of events. But those thoughts lingered for less than a few seconds, Barely an instant for his perception, as his attention went back towards the palace’s atmosphere. The time drake taking a few paces as he looked around the chamber, Seeking out the time streams and seeing if any would reveal the aggressive buildup of dark energy that he could feel looming on the metaphorical horizon.
"Congratulations...” He said indirectly. "Strange to say, you two make a nice couple... Also... A few years, few months... “He said, taking a brief glimpse into their own timelines, looking at them without changing his expression, tapping his staff. “You’ll know what I mean... Have either of you at least attempted to find this darkness’s source?" He said, looking towards them. "Have you checked your fathers chambers Carmilla?" He asked, turning his head towards the two.
"HA!" Carmilla laughed out loud. "No one goes in there except for those stupid dogs!"
"And that freaky brother of yours..." Echo added as carmilla ran her claws lovingly through his hair.
"Well, you know how he is..." Carmilla followed.
The Time drake stopped as he read the time streams more in depth. Finding several of the streams of a deeply corrupted nature. A few unsettling timelines that seemed to exist almost separately from the rest of the time streams. And yet, felt familiar. The time drake taking a few mote steps, the paradoxes that formed with his movements rippling or distorting the air around him. The effect's largely overwhelmed by the atmosphere of darkness in the air.
"A drake that can speak to me when I receive a summons halfway seriously? Yes, that sounds right... Well, have you seen him today?" He asked. Pausing to rephrase the question. "Well, any more than you usually see of him?" His clawed fingers tapping on the staff he held.
"Nope...he was sent on some sort of mission from what I’ve been told. Orders straight from Vulcan and Gernot themselves." Echo replied with a mouthful of popcorn. Carmilla turned her head toward Shaw.
"Do you mind?" Carmilla said." This is the first break I've gotten from taking father's place in a long time. Jeez...not like we have to meet some other so called 'ultimate evil' again, Shaw. Sit down, enjoy the show." she said as another screen appeared in front of Shaw.
The Time drake leaned back slightly as the screen flicked into existence in front of him. It had an appearance of something hugely high tech, but among the drakes, he would not have been surprised if it was magical in nature. He looked at it for a moment or so, before narrowing his eyes at the holo-screen, giving a slight snort. "Such youthful ignorance..." He thought to himself as he turned his attention back towards them, smiling somewhat softly, as softly as he was willing to with them.
"Normally, I would..." He said to them. "But the Message I had received told me that the issue I came here for was urgent." He waved his claw across the screen, and it flicked momentarily of the last days of some long forgotten war. Gas spreading into rubble chocked streets while fleeing soldiers and civilians fell to their knees or lay sprawled on the ground, choking on the fumes. "Hmm. I'll guess right away that neither of you were the ones to send it to me?" he asked grinning slightly at the images as they flickered and shifted again, This time showing a collection of pirate puppets simply screaming with agonized voices for several solid seconds before fading again.
"Wasn’t me" they both said in unison. They turned to each other with smiles and rubbed their noses together affectionately.
The massive door on the far right of Shaw started to open. "It wazzzz I who summoned you, Shaw." Gernot answered Shaw as he emerged from the doorway. Limping closer and closer to the three drakes as fast as he could, the sound of metal against stone accompanied his steps.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 17, 2017 13:50:16 GMT
"Ah... Gernot." Said the time drake as he turned towards the sound of the door opening and the cybernetic drake announcing himself, giving a brief wave at the screen as he sent it away. "Finally some company that I can appreciate." He went on, pausing; he looked at the cyborg earth drake as he made his way towards the three of them in the center of the room. "Poor drake’s limbs sound like they won’t last him much longer." he thought to himself silently, as he took in the overall ragged looking movements of the Dr., The sound of metal scraping on stone telling him that there was damage that he still could not see.
"Forgive my saying so Gernot..." He went on. "But you look a little worse for wear... how are you holding out?”
Gernot moved closer to the trio, craning his head to the side to view Echo and Carmilla as they lounged on the massive throne before returning his gaze to Shaw, his hunched form only stopping a couple of yards between the two drakes and Shaw.
"Y-Y-Y-Yesszzz, Shaw. zhings are becoming more difficult vith each pazzzzzing day" Gernot replied with a mechanical stutter. He stopped himself to cough up a cloud of smoke and sparks before continuing to answer. “I do not see myself lasting much longer...in my current condition" He glanced over to Echo and Carmilla with a cold, angry glare.
"Thing-z-z-z have not been easy since zhe master's sudden dire state..."
As Gernot spoke Echo made robotic motions with his arms while sporting a wide-eyed blank stare, like that of an emotionless android. Carmilla stifled a laugh at Echo's joke.
The time drake paused, turning away from Gernot and scowling at the sound drake as he made the motions in a taunting way towards the cybernetic earth drake standing in front of him, tapping his staff on the ground in a series of short succession. Freezing the time streams around Echo mid motion, save for his eyes, Stopping his movement and silencing his physical taunt. "It is apparent that they aren’t..." He said, turning back to Gernot. "Now, now Echo. The big drakes are speaking over here... shut up." He continued, addressing the Dr.
"I'm sorry for your condition Dr..." He went on, stepping back slightly as the drake coughed up the sparks and smoke. "It looks painful... have the reports Ervo sent back been of any help to you? I would hate to see you keep going to ruin in front of me. Usually I enjoy it, but you..." He said motioning towards Gernot. "I like you... but back to the matter at hand, you sent for me?"
Gernot chuckled at what Shaw had done to Echo before replying. "I have summoned you, Shaw, because the time has finally come...do not fret for me...zhere are worse things in this world for you to worry about zhan me..." Gernot began to slowly turn back towards the door he had entered from. "Collect zhe two love birdzzzzz und follow me...we have no time to waste." he said as he began to limp his way out.
Echo's eyes darted about the room, unable to move his body in reaction. Carmilla was still laughing and enjoying the cartoon.
The time drake nodded to the earth drake, his head casting off small arcs of distorting paradoxes, taking a moment to chuckle with Gernot at the sound drake’s position. Responding once he heard what the Doctor. had said. "I've been aware of that for some time now Gernot... and very well." He said, half humorously as he turned and walked towards the throne where Echo and Carmilla were sitting, taking note of the sound drakes condition and how his eyes darted all around in their sockets. Not quite looking at him.
"How's that for a Cuckoo clock? Huh... C’mon, Echo... Let’s get going." He said, picking up the temporally frozen sound drake and slinging him over his shoulder, carrying him as he turned and started following Gernot towards the door, Calling out towards Carmilla as he did. "You too, Carmilla, put the cartoons on pause... I have a feeling this will be... a lasting moment for us... Man, Echo you’re heavy... you need to lose weight."
Echo remained silent while Carmilla growled in response to being told to stop enjoying the cartoon. Her body disintegrated, turning into a thick wisp of smoke, and reformed beside Shaw and Echo as Gernot led them into the poorly lit halls.
Shaw chuckled as she reformed next to them while he carried Echo over his shoulder, his staff stored away in his greatcoat for the time being, Turning his horned head on his neck to look at her. "So you and Echo… congratulations... you two will be a good couple. I could tell you your future if you want?" He jibed to her.
“You forget...I share my father's blood." Carmilla replied. "The draconian make predictions looked like the ramblings of a mad man...although..." She said as she looked over to Shaw. "I suppose in your case that wouldn’t make a difference."
Gernot led them deeper into the palace; the massive halls would have been too dark and labyrinthine to navigate through if not for the good fortune of having a knowledgeable guide.
The time drake chuckled. "Yes." he said as he hefted the frozen sound drake on his shoulder. "I suppose that it doesn’t..." He said, his steps Echoing slightly off of the walls as he followed Gernot as he led them deeper and deeper into the palace complex. Then he turned to face her again. "I guess that means you know already what to tell your father when the two of you take the next step? I shall attend the ceremony...." He said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Ha! I don’t think so. I’m too young to consider that so soon." Carmilla laughed.
Shaw shrugged, the gesture throwing off the distortions and, seemingly threatening to throw the still frozen sound drake off of his shoulders. "Didn't say it would be now. It's called a prediction for a reason, if I said it was going to happen now, I would have called it News." He chuckled. "Still, it is cute... Reminds me of my time with... never mind..." He said, pausing his words before addressing Gernot. "I hate to ask, but Echo, is, heavy, and I have a feeling if I let him move again he would be very loud and likely abrasive..... How close are we?"
Carmilla only rolled her eyes in response to Shaw and continued on in silence. The hall only seemed to go on with no end in sight. When Shaw looked ahead he could only see pitch black, an unnerving sense of being watched by unseen eyes came from further along. there was something hiding in this shadow, like a predator stalking its prey. while he could not see it, he could sense its presence. the only light which gave him any visual awareness of his surroundings was the feint glow of the drakes soulshards as they moved through the hall. the only sounds he could hear was the click of their nails on the stone floor.
"Ve are almost zhere. You can free him vonce we have arrived." Gernot replied with his rasping metallic voice..
The time drake chuckled. Hefting the motionless sound drake and shaking him roughly as a sign. "Hear that Boom box, We're almost there..." He said cheerfully. Although the surrounding area betrayed the sound of his voice. He could feel the things around them that he sensed looking at them from the darkness He leaned forward towards Gernot, letting the Sound drakes feet and tail drag a bit on the floor in order to do so. "Tell me Gernot, What are we to expect? I can’t look into the time streams here... They're Converging on sometime here... drawing them into it."
"I do not know." Gernot replied. Shaw could sense a new presence. Two more forms stood beyond the darkness, entities he could identify as flesh and blood, and waiting for them.
The glow soon revealed who it was Shaw could sense in the darkness. Vulcan and Dante stood silently in the dark hall, the two drakes standing patiently in front of a massive stone-like door covered in reliefs depicting bloody murders and warfare that seemed to move as though they were continuing in their own little worlds. these captured moments did little for Shaw’s imagination as to who this door belonged to.
"Welcome back, Shaw. It is good you could be here with us on this most glorious day!" Vulcan exclaimed his intimidating form and the shadows of the hall hid whether or not he was truly pleased that Shaw was present. Dante on the other hand remained silent and gave Shaw and the others a quiet nod of approval and acknowledgement.
The Time drake nodded in return as they reached where the two drakes were standing ahead of them. Looking up for a moment to take in the designs depicted upon the massive entranceway, lifting the sound drake to casually drop him somewhat on his feet in front of him. “Much appreciated General...." He said in thanks towards Vulcan. "I would appreciate the day better if i knew what made it such a glorious one." He said jovially as he held the sound drake upright with a clawed hand. The temporal pause having frozen him in a sitting position.
"I'm sure Echo here would like to know as well." He said, before releasing the temporal streams around the sound drake, the sudden awkwardness of Echo’s pose causing him to stumble forward. The time drake taking a half step back, the nails on his paws clicking on the stone.
Echo caught himself from falling completely over. Instead of reacting violently for Shaw's freezing him, he picked himself up, fixed his hair, and dusted himself off while looking at his surroundings. He gave Shaw a quick growl before replying. "You know what? There’s just no point in trying to kill you for that..." Echo grinned as he looked upon the door. "I won’t need to if what I think is about to happen actually happens..." He walked over to Carmilla and playfully bumped his nose against her own. She laughed and looked up at the massive door as well.
Vulcan gave a hearty laughed before replying to Shaw himself. "You shall see soon enough, Time drake." Vulcan looked over to Dante. The silver haired shadow drake avoided making eye contact; his own glowing golden eyes looked around the hall and the drakes that waited within it. His clawed hand was closed around something; a feint red glow broke past his fingers as though in defiance of being concealed from the others' sights.
The time drake looked at Echo as he caught himself. "That would be an interesting sight... Too bad sound has a maximum speed... “He said. The second part being more of a muse to himself rather than being directly aimed at Echo. But he raised his head slightly as he heard the drake mention what was to happen at the doors that were before them, cocking his head slightly as he looked first at Vulcan, then at Dante. Following the fire drake’s eyes to see what the shadow drake was doing. The Temporal paradoxes he cast off of himself rippling the air around his head as he did.
"Dante? What is that you have there? “He asked, before looking around the room. “What is it that you've yet to tell me?"
Dante remained silent despite Shaw's question. While Shaw was distracted by the luminous item Dante held so closely, Vulcan had made his way to the door and began to pull them open. Almost immediately, the group was engulfed by clouds of dust and their noses were assaulted by the rancid smell of decay, as though death itself awaited them inside.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 17, 2017 14:00:22 GMT
The time drake took a half step back as the wave of dust issued from the opening door, followed an instant later by the putrid smell that engulfed the group. Making him wince and scrunch up his nostrils with a disgusted huff. Raising a clawed hand to give a waving gesture in front of his muzzle to try and dispel the foul smell. "By Zeits sword! It smells like a mass grave in there..." He said with a disgusted tone to his voice. "And I know mass graves..." He said, looking around at the others around him.
Vulcan, Dante, and Gernot remained unphased by the blast of foul air, leaving the others behind to gag as they entered the room. Echo and Carmilla coughed and wheezed, trying to follow and fight past the smell of decaying flesh.
"Geez! It's dark in here! “Echo managed to gasp between coughs. “Someone! Turn on the light!" Vulcan waved his hand. Several torches ignited around the room, with bright blue flames, illuminating the grizzly sight which awaited them in the center of the room.
Dozens of corpses littered the floor, all in varied states of decay. Human seemed most common among the deceased but clearly the ones who brought these victims to their tomb had no prejudices amongst other races, Each corpse still wore different uniforms and clothing which could be used to loosely identify their origins, despite the various tears and damage they all bore. A union officer, a small child, a rauhdonian soldier, to name a few of the many victims which sat piled on the ground. Oddly enough, some of the fresher corpses appeared to have been partially eaten, and yet not a single drop of blood dared stain the cold stone floor.
In the center of the massive room, surrounded by the gruesome display, among the piles of corpses in a massive circular bed, lay Nagaetros himself, in his true form. Barely breathing through his large, fanged mouth, but still unchanged from the last time Shaw had entered this room over a year before. His large black form curled like that of a sleeping animal, his large clawed hands dangling off the edge of the bed. Despite his current state, he was still a terrifying sight to behold.
The Time drake took a few steps into the room, doing his best to ignore the stench that seemed to emanate from it in a rolling wave, assaulting his nostrils relentlessly. That was one thing he had to admit he could do without as a living creature once again, Much less unpleasant smells that he would end up having to endure. He looked up at the torches as the fire drake general ignited them, looking almost amused as he looked around the room at the bodies that lay on the floor, all races, all ages. There was no factor of discrimination that he could see in them.
He paused as he kneeled down, his hand outstretched over several of the bodies. the distortions that the time drake gave off seeming to flow over them as he red time timelines of the dead that lay around him. Seeing childhoods... life, love, anger, determination. A life’s story playing out for each one. varying in their lengths and fortune, military training for the union members, Complex hypereclidian engineering for a Tenebrean woman he found lying on her side not far away. They all ended the same, fear and anguish, their deaths had all been horrific. Whoever had gathered them here had clearly not been discriminating when they had done so, but for their numbers. it sounded appropriate.
He stopped looking over the timelines of the corpses, and rose to his feet as he caught sight of the draconian form of naga lying upon the massive round bed. Feeling the time streams as they seemed to be drawn into the blackness that defined his present in the temporal fabric of space and time, much like a black hole that radiated dread outward. "There’s something... different about him today" He said after a moment or so. "I can feel it. I think we all can.... What’s happening Vulcan?" He asked, turning towards the addressed fire drake general.
Vulcan did not answer. Echo and Carmilla look around the room in disgust. Dante remains silent, and Gernot merely waited. Something shifts among the pile of corpses closest to the bed; a large, shadowy mass begins to tear itself out from under the pile of bodies and bones. Not long after the first, another form begins to emerge from the pile. a set of golden eyes appear on each of the forms in the dimly lit room as they fully emerge and begin to approach the group of drakes. The forms became more visible the closer they got, revealing themselves to be 2 massive black dogs. Shuck and Grimm, Naga's loyal hounds.
"What have you done here, you disgusting beasts?" Carmilla asked the two with a hint of irritation. "This place is filthy!"
Shuck and Grimm stopped in unison, and like their movements, they spoke together as well.
"We tried to get kind master to eat. Make him well again" The answered in their quiet, guttural voices. "But he would not eat, nore chew. No bite. No gnaw. Only drink. And so we gave him drink and in return he gave us his food. Such a kind master."
The time drake stood back up as he finished peering into the time streams that he was looking into from the corpse at his feet, his distortions making the air ripple around him, portions of the corpses at his feet going to grey dust as they came into contact with his armored feet. A union officer that had disappeared at one of the many battles on Tau Volaris. He had seen the man’s time streams, and saw that the two Hounds were speaking the truth as he looked around the room. Many of the figures that lay dead around him had indeed suffered the fates that they had described.
"You two did well." He said to the two black canines. "You stayed by his side. I’m certain that in better situations he would be... ‘Happy’ to have such loyal caregivers." he said, giving the female drake his own irritated look at her comments. Shuck and Grimm had never disgusted him, although they did manage at times to unsettle him. But he put the thought to the back of his mind as he looked at the dormant figure on the bed.
"How is he doing?" he asked the two of them. "There is much more activity here... it’s permeating the palace itself... Have we seized the one that did this?" he asked curiously.
Shuck and Grimm's ears folded back at her mention, they growled and bared their fangs in anger. "Bald thief still hides. Hides behind chains and ice. Maybe kind master will give us her bones? We wish to crack and chew, and tear her in two." They smiled oh so unnaturally with their canine muzzles at the thought, only giving more evidence there was more to them than could be seen. Their ears perked up and they lifted their snouts to smell, they turned their attention to Dante who had been waiting patiently and silently in the back of the group.
"Master! Kind master!" they exclaimed as they bound to the young shadow drake happily. Dante stood, still holding his fist clenched tightly around an unknown object. With his other hand he patted the two on their heads.
Shaw could see a sudden, quick look of dread on Echo's face out the corner of his eye in response to their sudden outburst. As though he had just heard something nerve-rackingly terrible. But he remained silent.
The time drake looked at the two black hounds as they bounded across the bodies that practically paved the ground of the chamber they all stood in. smirking slightly, despite the general mood of the room and the time streams that surrounded them as he listened to them first growl at the female drakes words, then voicing their dislike at the bald one, The thought prompting him to frown himself. The figure was still enigmatic to him. He knew that someone was tailing his time streams, but she had hid herself well... he could find no trace of her. And if it hadn’t been for the draconians’ methods of communication, he might not have learned of her at all. Her strength was notable, he knew that. it would have had to have been if she did to naga what she did.
He watched them as they went up to the shadow drake at the rear of the group, noting how young Dante clenched his fist as he patted their heads. Knowing likely what it meant. Although it only rose his curiosity even more as to what was happening, taking note of Echo as he made his face, prompting him to turn his head in the sound drake’s direction, breaking his train of thought before he turned back to the shadow drake.
"Naga?" He asked. Not quite sure as of yet what to expect in response. "Are you joining us now?"
Dante looked to Shaw, then to Vulcan as the general just finished shutting the massive doors behind them. "Now" He had heard Vulcan say. Dante reached out his arm, Shaw heard something big move behind him.
The time drake turned, vaguely aware of the fact that the sound had come from the direction of the massive figure that had only previously been lying on the bed last he had checked….
The timelines were agitated now, converging... Something was occurring, he could tell.
Shaw watched as Naga rose on his claws, repositioning himself on his bed. His bones creaked and cracked as they were finally moved after a year of inactivity. with his claws wrapped around the sides of the bed like that of a massive gargoyle, Naga leaned forward and arched his long spiked cobra-like neck, which was retracted close to his throat like armor, looming over the corpses that littered the floor, bringing his massive head hovering just over the small group. His jaws uncomfortably close to their heads, his eyes remained closed the entire time, as though his body and not his mind were calling the shots in state not unlike sleep-walking. A thrumming, angry sounding hum emanated from his ruby-like soul shard on his chest which filled the room with a dull red light. Dante brought his closed fist closer to Naga's head, the tension in the air thickened as a sudden unease quickly began to fall on everyone present.
The Time drake took a step back as he watched the nearly monolithic form of the true body of naga begin to rouse itself slowly from the state that it had been in for the past year, with movements that to him, almost seemed like the body was operating on autopilot... . He had forgotten to a degree, just how intimidating the draconian’s true form was as he watched it rise and support itself on its own arms for the first time in what the drake must have perceived to be ages. He had a brief moment of thought, that if a mountain could awaken and pick itself up, it would look much like what he was seeing now. The thrumming sound the shadow drake’s massive soul shard was making prompting him to back up towards the group, stopping not far from them as he watched Dante bring his fist towards the shuttle sized head that hovered above it. The tension in the air almost physical in how heavy it was...
He lowered his ears, expecting something cataclysmic to occur. The time-streams so chaotic now that he couldn’t draw anything from them as they were pulled into the black void that represented the draconian shadow in the temporal realm.
Dante began to open his claw, revealing a small sliver of red crystal which glowed with just as much intensity as Naga's soul shard. As Dante presented the sliver to Naga, the sliver began to move to an upright position in his palm and rise into the air, quickly reaching eye level with the draconian where it then shot forward, embedding itself into Naga's forehead.
There was a long silence before anything else happened, a long silence quickly broken as Naga took a deep breath and exhaled a torrent of black fog which covered the ground and the corpses that littered it in shadow. After a few more quiet moments, Naga's eyes shot open and the whole room went dark. The silence was broken by an ear shattering roar.
"I"M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 17, 2017 14:02:57 GMT
Before Shaw could fully realize what was happening or even stumble in the sudden darkness he had found himself engulfed in, he realized he was off his feet, suspended high above the ground in the dark void which Naga had turned the room into in his sudden outburst. Something was constricting him, an invisible hand crushing his torso, his arms wrapped close to his body. He felt a sudden painful shock along his spine and the back of his skull as he was slammed violently against a shadow covered wall, a second thud beside him could be heard immediately after. In his daze he could hear whimpering coming from the source of the second sound. Dread forced its way into his mind driving his limbs painfully numb and lifeless. Another whimpering cry emanated from beside him. He knew now he was not alone in what was to come, but he could not see just who it was. A low, angry growl filled the room.
A dark red light began to shine from a few feet in front of him, finally bringing light into this dark void which Shaw had found himself. Although Shaw couldn’t say he was happy at the sight, knowing full well what it was. A star shaped soul-shard affixed and burning brightly on the torso of Nagaetros. Shaw could finally see, but what he saw was a sight no one would wish to behold. Naga's eyes, golden and uncaring, were glaring at him through the darkness like a predator does his prey, the light illuminating his many fangs as they were barred in a sinister, and angry smile. To his left, out of the corner of his eye, Shaw could make out the form of Echo, clutched tightly in the draconian's claws, just like he was. The sound drake struggled, but it did no good.
The Time drake cried out as he found himself lifted and slammed against the wall. The distortions he put out agitated as he looked up to see the soul shard glaring in front of him. Looking up a moment later to behold the eyes of the draconian looking down at him. He was in very real danger here, he thought to himself. The draconian had targeted both him, as well as the sound drake that he could see pinned next to him almost immediately. Not lashing out, not randomly attacking the others in the group. no. It had been aimed at the two of them, and that was every reason to fear. He could not die here, but there was much you could do without killing someone.
He struggled against the draconian’ grip. Looking up at where Naga’s face should have been in the darkness, before opening his mouth to speak. "N-Naga... what are you... Doing!?" He said between gasps.
" Something that shouldve been done a long time ago, Shaw Haust." Naga answered.
Echo managed to gasp out a few words.
"P-please! Master! I have been nothing but loyal to you! Please! Don’t do this!-"
"-Silence!" Naga roared and closed his fist tighter around the squirming sound drake causing him to scream in pain. Shaw could hear the feint crack of bones.
“Traitors! Lay-abouts! Plotting back-stabbers! Did you think I would not know!?" He roared at the both of them. "Did you think in the years’ worth of time you left me to rot that I was blind to your actions!? Your self-interests?! Your attempts to turn things to your favors?! How DARE you!" Naga slammed the two drakes against the wall again with another crack of bones against stone. "I am god of filth like you! You do not betray me! How dare you even attempt it! A whole year GONE. Wasted away because of your incompetence!"
"Please! Lord Naga! I don’t know what you're talking about!" Echo squeaked.
"HA! Of course you don’t!" Naga roared. "You side with the very whore who split my mind across dimensions for your own benefit! You work with her so that you may gain while she goes about, free of fear of capture, while making little 'arrangements' against me and my grand design! you invade my quarters and make yourself at home, using my body as a foot rest! You planned to leave me in that wretched state!" He squeezed Echo again, causing the sound drake to yelp.
"What? But Naga! i.... Haven't done any of that! i haven't betrayed you... I've made progressions loyally!!!" Shaw gasped as he heard Naga berate echo and himself on their actions. He grit and bared his teeth against the pain of his body being compressed as he heard the draconian mention just who echo had apparently sided with after the sound drake protested. Turning his head painfully to look at you sound drake.
"You... Miserable screeching Bastard!” He shouted hoarsely at the sound drake. His air still restricted. "You've been working for her?! the Flux member that’s caused all of this?! I swear... Echo... if we don't die here, I’ll slash your face open in your crib!!" He shouted.
"Then I have some bad news for you, Shaw!" Naga interjected. "This whole ordeal was brought upon us by you! That wretched witch sought your weaknesses! And what do you do when given both the means and authority to track her down? NOTHING! Where were you, 'timecaster'? 'temporian god of ruin'?" did you fear the little bald bitch?!? Why did you leave me to rot while you had all the ability to prevent this?!" Naga squeezed Shaw all the tighter. "you spent your time allying with Sotek! Shadowy lap-dog of that glowing angel knock-off! You seek power by marrying a daughter of Phobos! You watch behind a temporal veil while you plot for your own gain! Do not think I have not watched you particularly close, Shaw Haust! A year is a long time for a disembodied god!"
The Time drake Groaned as he felt the draconian tighten his grip. He already knew from the sound of bones creaking he had heard from the sound drake that the sound of creaking and cracking he could hear within his own body were very real. He coughed slightly, the air crushed out of his lungs. The Blood he tasted in his mouth telling him that pain was something he would now be able to feel in the flesh. drake or not. "T-the means to track her?” He managed to choke out. "Her?! You think it is so easy?!... gahh!" He cried out. "The one who put you in your state for so long?.. Such a "Witch" that could do a feat like that is not one that is stupid! Foolish.... yes but not stupid! She covered her tracks, I can’t see them, and we need a solid interaction with her!!" He said. "We've been looking! Our assets have grown! Sotek is no longer needed!! You were there for that discussion!!" He screamed, not directing it at the draconian, but rather screaming it out in mixed pain and frustration. Groaning again as he felt his chest being compressed again.
" Lies! Lies to save your own hide!" Naga growled. "In my disembodied state I could see from her own eyes! I know just how hard it was to track her as I dwelled within her thoughts! She was but a fleeing beast, cowering from her hunters in the time I occupied her mind! I could see every attempt to capture her by those who used the slivers I had given them, Shaw Haust! But not you! You were not among them! You coveted the slivers, using them for your own plotting! You had the means but hid them away, forgotten, while the others were left to their own resources! Time was not on their side!" Naga growled, barring his fangs which clicked together as he gnashed them. "Time was, however, on yours."
The time drake could only bear his teeth in a rictus of mixed pain and frustration as he found himself berated by the draconian for his inaction. His words, stung. To an extent they were right. Yet they were not without reason, He "Had" held chances to attack the woman directly, but he hadn't. Why hadn't he? He wondered to himself curiously. Then he recalled why. There had been other priorities, and it was a wonder to him why the draconian could not recall some of them. He had undermined the flux with his attack on Dorin. Had thrown them into chaos. He had forseen that they wouldn't be able to recover; they were a front that needed to be cleared for his forces to move freely. "You don’t know time..." He said in a choked gasp. "The flux needed to be compromised...." He said, pausing. "But your right... I did use them. I used them to make our objectives easier! If..... nnnngh! If it is what you want! Her blood will be our first priority!" He shouted in a hoarse choke.
Naga appeared to relax slightly after Shaw's words, a brief moment of cold, emotionless calm to the previous fury and rage. "Your actions against the flux are commendable to an extent, although premature and a serious risk. But her...She will suffer as no other had suffered before her, Shaw. I shall take everything from her that she has ever loved....and ever desired...." His moment of calm ended as fast as it began. "But it shall be by my hands! My power! Is that clear?!"
The Time drake took the slight release in the draconian’s grip to draw in a few breaths of air. His bones already working to reset themselves as his temporal infused body structure drew itself back to a prior period of time. He looked up at Naga’s face, his own skewed slightly in pain, closing his eyes and turning his head as the draconian yelled at him once again. "Premature?" he asked. "A serious risk? Any move against them would be a serious risk. That is temporal warfare, Naga... There will never be a mature moment to attack them. They won’t allow one. Dorin’s allowed herself to be stripped of power." he paused. "The entity has devoured one of their great shelters... when the time comes to drive the blade home. They won’t have enough to deflect it, it'll shatter anything that’s left of them..." He narrowed his eyes. "Understood, the woman is yours to do with whatever you will choose to do..."
"Very good..." Naga said as suddenly he tossed the two drakes high into the air, much to their surprise. As they fell back down Naga began to quickly revert to his smaller drake form. in one quick, fluid movement he caught the both of them by their necks in midair and slammed them back to the shadow concealed wall. Even though he was no longer in his true, monstrous form, he was still tall enough to leave the two suspended on the wall, their feet dangling helplessly under them, the pressure on their necks no different than that which was felt by the larger hands of his true form's on their whole body, effectively cutting off their air supply.
Naga flexed the cobra-like hood on his neck, his spines stretching out as far as they could as he twisted his head, the sounds of bones cracking could be heard. He rolled his shoulders which were covered by silver pauldrons, his robes were so dark they were almost invisible in the shadowy void save for the blood red accents which decorated his clothing and the silver and red armor which covered it. the dark background, the void which the 3 had been enclosed in before began to fade away, revealing the rest of the group just where they were left, the room while still dimly lit, was more welcoming than the darkness from which they had just returned from, even if the floor was littered with corpses.
Carmilla had a look of great concern washed over her face as she looked at Echo as he struggled to breath, looking nervously back and forth between him and her father as though unsure of what she should do. The others, however, remained calm and silent observers awaiting the next action from their master.
"It feels so good to be moving again..." Naga said to no one in particular as he popped his jaw and grinned. "Like a great weight has been removed from my shoulders...."
The Time drake gasped again as he felt himself thrown up, then fall down. His fall back down to the floor beneath him prompting him to position his legs and partially form his wings in an effort to catch himself. Only to feel his fall come to an abrupt halt as the draconian shifted down to size. He struggled a bit; his hands going up too grip at the shadow drakes arm as he felt his throat. He gritted his teeth and skewed his muzzled face as he, like the sound drake struggled to breathe. It was still something that he was getting used to. But he had found that having to breathe was not something that he had missed from his time as a calvara. It was something that he wanted now.
He looked around the room, taking note that the others were now visible. "T-that’s... Excellent to hear... But... There’s a bit, of a weight on my throat now..." He managed to choke out. His voice nearly silent from its lack of air.
"Yes, well, imagine a years’ worth of it!" Naga gave a snarling smile, pressing Shaw closer to the wall. Naga began to laugh, a sudden tonal change in the draconian which was unexpected to its core when considering what had occurred just moments before. "She...She did something to me!" He gasped between laughs. "She RELEASED something! Something is not right!" he laughed. "I-I feel....different now..."he chuckled. "Better than before...and yet...something is wrong!" "Something is missing....someone...." "I understand...” Shaw said his voice still choked from the shadow drakes pressing his throat with his hand. The sudden increase of pressure Naga gave on his throat cutting off the small amount of air that he managed to keep. The time drake’s hands going up to grip at the draconian’s arm.
He looked at Naga suddenly with an expression of surprise as the draconian began to laugh. The laughter being something that he had not come to expect from the drake in the least in the time that he had interacted with him before the event with the bald one had put him in his comatose state. It seemed totally out of place, wrong almost coming from the drakes face. he would have called it almost hilarious if it wasn't concerning to him that him and echo were the closest things at hand should these" Changes." Turn out to be dangerous.
Just what, "had" she done? He wondered to himself.
"it is of no concern now...."He chuckled. ”For the first time since my death....I feel free" He laughed. "and very...very....hungry...." Naga loosened his grip on the two drake's necks just enough to let them speak easier. a low, bestial growl escaping his fangs. Carmilla's eyes grew wide in terror from where she stood and the hounds' ears picked up as though hoping for scraps.
Shaw widened his eyes in mixed surprised and mingled fear and anger at the draconian’s words. The words that he spoke were certainly directed at him and the sound drake as he took the chance of slight relief in the draconian’s lessening of his grip on their throats, Taking a deep breath. He would not die here. That much he knew. But death could come to him a few times, physically speaking. His body could technically die... and that gave him reason to protest.
"Then Go hunt a few flux and union soldiers to quell your hunger...." he said. "Give their heads back to their commanders." "Why do that? When I’ve got two perfectly good examples right in my claws...." He grinned.
"P-please! My lord! My king! My god! please don’t let it end like this! I promise! I’ll never betray you ever again! I'll serve you as loyal as no other before! I will right my wrong; I’ll do as you command! Please!" Echo begged for his life, his eyes watering and his voice scratchy. Naga brought his head closer to the sound drake, his hood began to unfurl from his neck in a fearsome display. Before he could do anything else, a scream could be heard from behind them. "Father! Please! No!" Carmilla cried out. Naga stopped and turned to look at his daughter with a cold, golden, scrutinizing eye. His mouth in a sneer. He then turned back to the two drakes in his claws. "Then you can die." Naga said. Before Echo could speak, Naga had lunged forward, sinking his fangs deep into the sound drake's neck. Echo's eyes grew wide as he gasped for breath. He grabbed and kicked but his efforts were futile. Carmilla screamed in anguish as Echo's eyes bugged out from his skull, the color began to drain from his form as all the blood from his body was stolen from him. in less than a minute's time, Echo stopped moving, his limbs went limp. There was a snapping, tearing sound soon after, and his head fell to the ground with a soft thud. a look of terror still frozen on his face. Naga dropped the rest of Echo to the ground as he licked his jaws. Returning his attention to Shaw.
The time drake narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, a different response then the one that echo gave as he struggled in the shadow drakes claws, Turning his head slightly in acknowledgement of the protests of Carmilla. Responding with his own struggles, but surprisingly, with no fearful begging and sobbing that the sound drake had done. Grabbing the drakes arm and attempting to pull himself from the draconian’s grip. His own feet giving kicks of their own, some in attempts to push the draconian back . His eyes went wide with shock and disbelief as he watched the sound drake’s life drained away and the sick sound. One that he had heard himself countless times as he had done the same to those in his way. As the sound drake was decapitated.
He tiled his head down at the sight of Echo’s head on the ground, blood already pooling beneath it. Then brought his gaze back to Naga, his Face showing an expression of, not quite fear, but a mix of shock, rage, and utter disbelief. This was happening, he was very much going to die here. And he was angry at that fact.
"Well then...?" he said to the draconian. "Come on... if you’re keen on doing it! Then let’s have it!" He said his voice a choked gasp. His struggles not ebbing.
"Has Mammon delivered the child, Shaw?" Naga merely asked a playful grin on his face.
The time drake only gave a blank look in response. Listening to Naga talk had become something akin to listening to a crossed time stream. Sometimes one would be the defining line, while at other times; there would be another present in its place. He had never liked situations like that; they had always made him, slightly uneasy. Even for ruin, such things like that were not part of a natural order of things. He was hearing it here again. He paused as he looked at Naga, opening his mouth slightly as he looked at the hooded face of the drake.
"Soon... “He said after a moment of recalling the draconian of pride, and the deal he had made with him prior. “Yes... The child will be with us soon enough... the deal is in place."
"Very good!" Naga said, dropping Shaw to the ground and turning to the others.
"Vulcan!" He said.
"Yes, my Lord...." Vulcan was smiling, glancing over to the remains of Echo while Carmilla just sobbed. "Inform the church we are moving forward, their god is back. And tell them to begin the harvest. I am still hungry...."
"Yes, my Lord. It is an honor." Vulcan chuckled and hurried from the room. Gernot eyed the corpse as well, not with joy, but anticipation. he waited almost impatiently for Naga to order him to do something. Dante was as quiet as ever. Shuck and Grimm licked their jaws happily and waited for their own orders. The time drake grunted as he fell from the drakes grip, sliding down the wall onto his unsteady feet. He wasn’t ready for the drop, and his legs went out from under him, making him drop to his knees. His tail swishing aggressively as he struggled to regain both his breath and his footing as his airway was cleared, making him cough several times. It took him a few moments to get back to his feet slowly. Looking at the others around him as things seemingly went back to their old routines.
He looked at the body of echo next to him as he took his steps away from the remains of the sound drake, giving a passing glance at the drake doctor as he walked past.
"Expecting something Gernot?" He asked curiously.
The doctor remained silent and looked to Shaw with that same expression.
"And Shaw....?" Naga said, his back turned to the shaw. "You can always rely on me to keep my promises." With that, before Shaw could react, Naga swung around, his arm outstretched. With the roar of flames there was a sudden flash of blue, then black, then a moment soul burning, agonizing pain, and then there was nothing but silence.
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