[OPEN] i get the feeling that it's two against one

[deadelfwalking]

Date & Time: Jan 7 - 11
Location: Across the icy wilderness
Characters: Koltira, perhaps you
Summary: Maddened elf seeks large supply of blood, suffering
Warnings: gore; sadistic grossness


[There's something howling in the wilderness lately, and it's distinct from the wolves, from the yeti, from any other predator stalking the area around the city. This sound is a bestial keening, agonized and ragged, echoing and tortured. It's a sound of helpless madness, of uncontrollable rage, and its force lingers in the winter wind. Anyone who follows the howl, whether purposely or by accident, might come across a trail. Initially, they'll find animal corpses killed cleanly, with a single, precise cut. Caribou, at first, partially and purposefully skinned, as though harvested by a mindful hunter.

But the kills become progressively grisly as the trail continues -- mutilated bears, gutted arctic wolves. There's no sense of care in these later kills; the entrails are shredded, wrenched and twisted like wet rags. Blood spatters the snow in random, violent arcs. The animals' bodies are in strangely advanced stages of decay, and their semi-rotted flesh glows faintly green.

Or you may find no trail at all. You may find an animal's foreleg, snapped at each joint. You may find a crushed eyeball, smeared like jelly across the snow.

Or you may find no trace whatsoever. You may simply find someone near you, crouching, his white hair streaked red, his mouth dark and shining and wet. Grinding his teeth. Standing up. Advancing towards you, as the snow hisses, as the earth turns black and dead under his boots.]

Comments

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan staggers back, which wasn't in his plans, but he can work with it. He flings out one hand as he stumbles. There's a flash of light above Koltira's head, which resolves itself into the shape of a hammer. It hangs there, flickering briefly before dropping to strike.

Meanwhile, Bariyan's regained balance, and he lunges back towards Koltira with a wild swing. The range of both their weapons is similar. There's no use in maintaining distance.

It hasn't been that long since Bariyan last faced a death knight. The Lich King is still freshly dead in his memory, the march on the Citadel a thing of the very recent past. But it has been a while since Bariyan last fought a friend in earnest. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[The hammer comes down on Koltira as he parries Bariyan's strike, but it's an incomplete defense. He staggers back as the Light is only partially absorbed, and Byfrost's blade slides shakily along the sharp edge of Bariyan's axe. Gritting his teeth, Koltira calls darkness to him, and this energy radiates outwards in a dome -- severely diminishing all magic cast against him. Immediately following this, he calls for his ice-hardened chains to wrap around Bariyan's ankles -- to hold him in the anti-magic field.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan's trapped, good and proper. His eyes roll upwards to follow the formation of the dome as he yanks on one leg, which only seems to pull the chains in tighter. He grimaces. Then he heaves forwards to shove Koltira back, putting all his strength behind the push. ]

Dirty tactic.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira grabs Bariyan by the wrists and squeezes, snarling, his eyes wide and unfocused. He barely registers the insult; all he can think of right now is the hot breath Bariyan's exhaling and the soft warmth of his unarmored -- and therefore delicate -- body. The claws of Koltira's gauntlets prick Bariyan's skin, and plague magic swirls around his fingers, stealing quickly into the open cuts.]

[stonefaith]

Ghh--

[ Bariyan manages to keep his grip on his axe. But the pain causes his knees to buckle, and it drives him to divert all Light through his own veins to combat the plague.

He twists against Koltira as he heals himself. The motion's weak; he's preoccupied. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira holds him fast. He digs his nails in, cutting past skin, into muscle, aiming to scrape against bone. As Bariyan struggles, Koltira brings up his knee and slams it into the other man's stomach -- mindful, gleeful that his greaves are bladed, too.

The resistance is good, the choked sound better. But a scream is what he needs.]

[stonefaith]

[ Koltira gets his scream then, because having a sharp knee slammed into the gut is unpleasant enough without saronite armor on top.

But he also gets an explosion of Light. The magic fairly torpedoes off Bariyan, cracking out in every direction, dampened by the shell but seemingly endless. It's a steady torrent of attack. From behind it, Bariyan, snarling and choking, shoves forward again. This time with feeling.

The specific feeling is adrenaline. No armor, no protection; Koltira's knee has sunk far deeper into Bariyan than a knee has any right to be. Koltira's claws, too. Blood streams down Bariyan's wrists. There's the bone that Koltira's been digging for. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[The thrill of Bariyan's agony lasts only a moment -- then it's replaced with his own. The dome falls. The full force of the Light bears down on him, burning him from the inside out, searing him down to the dark, filthy essence of whatever magic holds him together. He collapses to his knees, howling in pain, clawing at his face. Screaming, too.]

[stonefaith]

[ The chains around his ankles crack apart once the dome falls and Bariyan's casting swings back to full power. Freed, Bariyan staggers back.

He sees Koltira on his knees and realizes that, for the moment, he has time. But there's no telling how much more Koltira will give. Bariyan's mind flashes uncertainly through his options. Does he strike while Koltira's down? Or does he heal himself?

Well-- he doesn't feel any of his guts trying to escape his stomach yet. Things should be able to hold themselves together for a few minutes more.

He snaps up straight, laughing through the pain. ]

Light help us all!

[ All that holy energy still running rampant snaps back into Bariyan's fists. From there he channels it into the axehead, before swinging his weapon up and coming down on Koltira like a vengeful god.

One with a bad aim, perhaps. He's not making for Koltira's face, but for his armored breast. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira lifts his head, growling, at this proclamation. His mind is a cacophony of rage and conflicting desires -- to attack, to run, to leap on Bariyan and tear him apart -- but what he knows most clearly is that there's an axe coming down on him, fast. He raises Byfrost above his head to block the strike, then pushes himself up and forwards. His voice is gravel, ragged and dark with anger.]

The Light can't do a bloody thing for me.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan slides back as Koltira heaves, but his hold on his weapon is strong and sure and he doesn't give any further than that. The grin remains fixed on his face. His eyes are slightly glassy. ]

Oh, no, it certainly can't -- not with that sort of attitude.

[ Bariyan twists on his feet and jams down on the haft. The axehead slides back over Byfrost and hooks up against Byfrost's edge with a shnk, locking their weapons together.

The ground, so recently defiled by Koltira's own magic, starts to shimmer with a friendlier glow. Holier. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Oh, that stings. Koltira grinds his teeth, but presses on, forward. Ice crystals form on his armor, his face; they glint brightly in his pale hair. Byfrost glows a virulent red as Koltira runs his tongue over his sharp canines, drawing some of his own blood. The spell travels along Bariyan's axe, as though infecting it, and touches whatever open wounds it can find -- boiling the veins beneath.]

[stonefaith]

[ That's unpleasant. Bariyan yelps and flinches in pain, and his strength flags for just a moment; he gives under the pressure, and their interlocked weapons sag towards Bariyan.

Koltira's the stronger of them, for sure. He's got advantages. Such as already being dead. Bariyan will have to flee, eventually; he's got a life to preserve and look after, pesky thing that it is. But -- Bariyan grimaces -- the longer he keeps Koltira here, the less time Koltira spends stalking after everything else.

A little longer, then.

Besides, Bariyan's vexed about how he hasn't managed to land one hit with his axe yet.

He diverts some of his energy towards the gashes in his stomach from earlier, sealing the deeper wounds, soothing the pain. The rest pours into the ground, consecrating it, combating the damage that Koltira's done. Combating Koltira himself. Light licks up against the other man's boots, shines out of the cracks, bright and blinding.

He grins madly up at Koltira. ]

Has anyone told you that you have beautiful eyes?

[deadelfwalking]

[Those eyes go wide -- both at the comment, and at the horrible agony of the Light seeping into the chinks of his armor. He falters, and Bariyan gains the upper hand, giving him a clear opening to strike. Sluggish from the holy energy pulsing into his body, Koltira only has time to growl out a response.]

No.

[stonefaith]

Gorgeous.

[ Bariyan moves in a blur. He disengages his weapon, swings it back, and lunges into the opening.

He rains blows down, drives forward, presses on. Each step he takes pours more holy light into the ground. He's practically shedding it; not particularly good, not particularly efficient use of the Light, but he's too caught up in the moment to reign himself back. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[The pain is terrible; overwhelming. Bariyan's axe strikes relentlessly against Koltira's breastplate, cracking it, breaking the skin beneath. As his blood flows, Koltira's senses blur, and his rage dulls any thought of restraint or escape. He slams Byfrost into the ground, and ice gathers to him; he leeches it from the soil, from the air. Then he directs it at his attacker -- meaning to encase him in a tomb.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan starts laughing when he land his first hit, and keeps laughing as he forces Koltira back. Finally.

He starts to go in for another blow when he sees Koltira slam Byfrost down -- but then he sees the ice coming for him, and he reels back. It hits his axe first, causing its head to dive a good few inches with the extra weight. It doesn't take Bariyan long to realize what Koltira's intent is. ]

Enough!

[ The ground dulls, energy draining away. Bariyan throws his arms up against the ice and a halo of light explodes outwards, encases him, turns the ice away. His shield.

Which -- Bariyan grimaces -- isn't going to last very long, given how he's wasted his energies in the past few minutes. Bad. Very bad. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Insensate with suffering and fury, Koltira hacks at the shield over and over, his face streaming with blood, his armor wet from the injuries Bariyan's inflicted on him. The assault produces more pain, more wounds -- he is striking against a wall of pure Light, after all -- but he doesn't stop. He cannot stop. Misery undercuts the horrible expression his face; misery, and abject despair.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan starts to speak, then shuts his mouth and falls silent. He merely watches Koltira, instead.

He cannot feel anything but pity for the man, for his pain, for his struggle, but Bariyan is not so self-sacrificial as to give him what he wants. Appeasement of that kind is wrong, anyhow; it would be indulgent of the very instincts that Koltira needs to quash. And whatever temporary peace that Koltira might gain from it would do him no good in the long run. It would only set him back.

But nor will it do either of them any good to see Koltira rip himself apart.

Bariyan frowns. His shield's life is almost up. He'll have to leave soon, if he wants to live.

Yet he steps forward, thrusting his axe out to sweep Koltira's blade aside. Then he lets go with one hand to reach for Koltira's face. ]

Enough.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira heaves, trembling violently, his eyes darting from Bariyan's hand to his face. He's uncertain, and his fingers flex against Byfrost's hilt as he tries to think, tries to form some kind of meaningful thought.

But there's just too much pain. It's electrified every part of him, a toxic mix of the residual Light and the suffering that's endemic to his awful body. He makes an incomprehensible noise in his throat. He doesn't move.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan stares and exhales, long and slow. And then winces. The adrenaline's gone. The pain and the cold and all the woes of his current situation are catching up to him, now. He's got to get out. He's got to get away. He can't best Koltira on his own.

He presses his palm -- warm from body heat, and blood -- against Koltira's cheek. ]

Control yourself, commander. I'll be back for you.

[ Then he shoves Koltira's blade away, and backs off. He throws up another shield; it's not nearly as potent as his first, but it's all he's got left in him. He's hoping it'll ward Koltira off enough to get a headstart on him. ]