Infernal Directive (II)

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[152] Nymaya: Prologue - Infernal Directive
Sun Mar 14 22:29:00 2010
To: all Crelius ( story line ) imm Necrucifer
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She burned again, as never before.

She saw herself upon a plain cot that served as a bed, held deep within a mountain cavern, her delusional and fevered cries resounding even in that dark place.

Your impact upon this tapestry was not to end so soon, I'm afraid.

"I did not ask...for your aid." She gasped through the fiery pain that had not diminished, even though she had returned to the altar.

A small, subsidiary issue. And it waved her concern away. Your soul
belongs to the Abyss now and I decided to intercede.

Against the weakness infusing her she clenched her fists but did not object.

"What do you want." The question was asked with considerable calm.

I want you to continue your quest. It remarked with infuriating evasiveness though she knew it was playing with her.

Instead of answering, she opened her eyes - and was beset with a sudden wash of terror. Its monstrous visage was before her; empty black eyes, grinning teeth and every nightmare that had ever afflicted her mind.

Its next words were not playful as they echoed down through to her very soul, ringing true and setting into motion a new directive.

I have seen a future that I dislike greatly and the one I wish to thwart will not expect this.

Her ears rang at the sound of the words and she half imagined they began to bleed. What happened next though tore a sharp cry from her that ended as abruptly as it started when the shadow passed directly through her - leaving behind an image that etched itself into her mind.

Someone awaits you in the Abyss. The whispery sound of the wind had returned, though it was a scream now and she knew who voiced it.

Should you fail, know that your eternal tormentor's name is Uvall and I will relish every instance of your agony.

---

She awoke to the sound of the wind whistling outside the eaves but in it, she detected a lingering ominous laughter.

Her heart beating a hard staccato, she slipped from bed to pad to the water basin but stopped abruptly when she saw her reflection. Ashen white made the blood across her throat stand out vividly. She didn't need to see the scars along her left arm to know they had bled as well.

Centuries of patience were set aside then as she dressed quickly and left to find Crelius. She couldn't wait any longer.

|end|

Infernal Directive (I)

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[151] Nymaya: Prologue - Infernal Directive
Sun Mar 14 22:17:51 2010
To: all Crelius ( story line ) imm Necrucifer
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It was in the wind.

The whisper that brushed through her hair, that soothed her senses and set the disquiet at deceptive ease. It was only then that she realized - she could hear nothing but that whisper.

The wind that had been gentle, carrying her through the depths of meditation and prayer, became something else. Something that resembled a thousand voices jumbled into one incoherent sound. She was becoming familiar with the sound of dissonance in its various forms.

She tilted her head back to gaze into the roiling shadows above. They moved with a live essence, as if someone had captured hundreds of uneasy souls and bound them above the altar.

You will join them one day

The dulcet tone moved through her like a shadow. It had an essence of its own and it recognized her. She was certain that she should have feared it, but she could not.

But you know that now. Its what you wanted, isn't it.

Not a question - a statement. She wasn't surprised.

Her limbs felt as light as feathers, it was hard to focus but centuries of merciless training of body and mind worked in her favor.

"Have you come to state the obvious" Her own whisper seemed to echo hollow in the dark of the church. "Or shall I call you Curious."

I come to collect a debt. It responded, failing to rise to her baited words.

A strange touch, emaciated fingers perhaps, trailed a tainted caress across the scar upon her throat and down her left arm, clearly outlining the individual scars that marred her. Her blue eyes shut as she fought back a shudder of revulsion.

While the cat is away, the devils will play

The whisper was so close to her ear that she might have jerked but she was bound before the shadows. A deep, sinuous laugh rolled over her then, forcing the shudder she had suppressed to slither up her spine. The emaciated touch settled upon her shoulders then, burning, and as the first serpentine tendrils of fear began to arise in her she realized - she was back in the Sands of Sorrow.

Fallen upon the ground, she gazed down upon her still form and saw for the first time just how close she had come to the mountains. She also saw what arose behind her and all the questions that had begun to plague her since that moment, all the things she could not remember, came back.

cont.

Starless Portent [II]

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[128] Nymaya: Starless Portent
Fri Mar 5 02:49:31 2010
To: RP New_Thalos All ( Crelius Anastormia ) Imm Necrucifer
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What had been no more than an insubstantial sense, more a "knowing" in her gut, became real before her and without preamble, she found a steel grip around her own throat before she felt her back impact the side of a wooden stall.

It might have been a flesh and blood creature or it might have been something else entirely but an instant's warning flashed through her and she held her hostile intentions at bay.

You do not yet understand that which you seek. It whispered, leaving a sense of curiosity and malice in the air between them.

Trying to study it through the deep shadows of her hood produced nothing and having had enough manhandling, she slashed out at it. Surprisingly, it retreated, appearing no more than a hunched figure in the dark.

You may find what you desire, though terror...will be your gift, elf. It breathed, and then; If you survive.

Dagger still to hand, she let herself lean against the solid stone wall while her free hand rubbed at her neck. The creature - whatever it was - faded into the shadows after its last mocking pronouncement and it was then she heard the thumping of mailed feet coming toward her. The sound redirected her focus and she looked up to see two harbor guards approaching quickly.

"Waliullah." The first to her said as she straightened, his eyes flicking to the bloodied blade in her hand and then to the body. "We heard a cry. Is all well?"

Nymaya glanced from the guard to the body lying still and cold now upon the ground, surrounded by a pool of blood. Crouching down, she wiped her blade clean upon the clothing of the would-have-been thief and nodded.

"I can handle myself, harbor guard." She said, and not as unkindly as a part of her wanted to. "But yes, all is well enough."

"Even a Wali should not wander alone through..." The second spoke though he trailed off at cold blue glance.

She didn't need to say more and she didn't intend to as she ended the interaction with a curt inclination of her head, sheathed her daggers and drew the hood of her cloak back over her brow. She left the two guards to the unwholesome business of disposing of the body while she exited the alley, her mind strangely calm in the wake of her encounter.

There was a sense of the familiar in what had happened this night, as if she'd lived through the moment before, and while the warning was not lost on her - it was the message behind the visit that spoke loudest. It was easy to assume she was on the right track even though it was clearly leading her down a road more terrible than any she had yet tread.

She almost found herself welcoming the challenge as it gave greater credence to the belief she held in her incoherent dreams, her blind striving and her need to find...what she was looking for.

She took a small measure of certainty from the belief that if she did, in fact, manage to survive what she was striving toward she would have something new to rival the edge of the dissonance that ran tainted through her soul. And if not - well, there weren't many left who would mourn the remnant and she doubted any of her mortal problems would follow through her demise.

Starless Portent

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[127] Nymaya: Starless Portent
Fri Mar 5 02:38:06 2010
To: RP New_Thalos All ( Crelius Anastormia ) Imm Necrucifer
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The Ishtar Harbor was a bustling mass of business and activity, even at the ungodly hour she found herself prowling its dirty, sandy paths.

Night was heavy on the world and clouds scudded past the moons and obscured the stars, making the alleys all the more opaque. She was struck by the scent of fish and brine, spice and alcohol. A unique mix that easily assailed the senses as she tread by on cat's feet, deftly dodging the various drunken sailors and avid merchants that littered the area.

The sound of the moored ships creaking and groaning softly at their berths was a constant in the background along with the gentle slap and rush of the river. It was almost soothing, could have been moreso if the faint disturbance of movement behind her were not a clear indication that she was being followed.

She did not recognize the cadence of whatever stalked behind but she knew with little doubt. Brief pauses, detours as she stopped to engage the odd guard in conversation. It did not rid her of her shadow. She found it curious if disquieting. She had been hunted before but this did not appear to be similar.

It was not overconfidence that left her feeling rather interested but caution took over when she found herself in a far more vacant section of the harbor, a place that hosted empty stalls, tents and a single decrepit tavern. The disreputable often had the most interesting rumors.

The alleys she found here were even more ominous than the ones in the main bulk of the harbor's market, if only for their depth of silence. It was easy to get lost amongst them. She wasn't worried about that as she paused to scan the way behind her, though the faint shifting of shadows and the low hanging mist drew her attention sharply. Down an alley directly across from where she stood.

The flash of steel glimmered briefly as she paused long enough to check the curved daggers along her forearms and then she let curiosity and instinct guide her into the close alley.

She was ready for the slender figure that darted at her when she reached the intersection at the back of the warehouses. Her left hand shot out to grasp and violently twist the wrist holding the dagger headed for her throat even as she pulled the form from its hiding spot. Wide, murderous green eyes met hers as her dagger snapped forward in her grasp to press into the pale throat.

There was only a moment to spare during which, she took immediate stock of her opponent. A thief, well armed but wearing little more than black rags and a few pieces of ragged leather armor. The half elven creature was pitiful but carried the scent of blood on his clothing. A sloppy killer.

She was almost disappointed but that faded away only moments later as a sudden jarring impact struck the half elf in her grasp from behind, spurring the youth onto the blade she held at his throat. The green eyes opened wider, as did his mouth, which began to fill with arterial blood. She let go of the half elf as he reached up to cover the wound, her gaze following not it but the shadows around.

cont.

Discordant Echo

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[ 75] Nymaya: Discordant Echo
Fri Feb 26 13:26:24 2010
To: All RP Imm Necrucifer ( Anastormia Telthian Crelius )
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She became aware of a sound.

Faint, like the breathing of someone as they slept, or of a predator as it stalked it prey.

Alert and awake now, she remained still in the black cushioned chair and settled to simply listen. Nothing moved. There was no sense of life, just the faint breath of sound - the awareness.

It grew in depth the longer she remained unmoving, became pronounced and certain. Familiar even. So familiar that a deep dread began to rise beside it. It was no physical manifestation. It was something she knew all too well. She had known this sensation for centuries and its resulting whisper for an eternity.

It wasn't calm and it wasn't comforting anymore.

It no longer reinforced any certainty in how she lived her life now, in the decisions she made that had managed to help keep her alive. She couldn't call on it to protect her, to guide her or even lend her much needed reassurance.

"...what brings you peace from it, Lady Kayen?"

And abruptly, it was no longer a gentle if ominous sound. It was a cacophony. Distorted and riding the precarious edge of agonizing. She knew how easy it would be to slip into it, to allow it reign over her sanity. She could understand how elves had fallen prey to madness in its wake.

Her hand blindly grasped for the hilt of the sword she knew she had propped up against the side of the chair before she'd sat down to doze, intent on grounding herself with its familiarity - but stopped abruptly when she realized it was gone.

Her eyes snapped open only to find equally familiar brown eyes gazing down at her. He'd lifted the scabbard in one hand while the other held to the side of the chair, allowing him to loom over her. He was so close she could see the detail in his iris's, feel his breath across her lips. But he was
dead...

'Don't let it rule you'

His mouth never moved but she heard his whisper.

'You were my purpose' She seemed to breathe the very words, all the while wondering if she had already lost her mind to the discord.

'I have faith in you' Stalwart and as certain as ever.

'It is a part of me' And she could feel despair wisp through her.

'Then accept it, understand it - seek to overcome it' There was indomitable strength there, a certainty that had carried her in the past. 'Live only to serve Him in all ways. I taught you well - the choice has always been yours how best to use it and to what purpose'

And then the feather light touch of his lips met hers gently after a breathless, timeless pause.

---

She awoke slowly, aware of a deep and empty calm. The sort of peace she had recently admitted to. Attempting to examine the feeling told her only that it was unlike anything she had ever experienced before; she had come to an acceptance in at least one aspect of her life.

She felt nothing more than certainty as she rose up from the self-same black cushioned chair in her dream, the Kayen manor yawning mostly empty around her, though she was beset with the haunting surety that she contained a tainted discord at her core, where once reigned the pure fiery song of her soul.

It was a disquieting realization but with a focused effort, she pushed it to the background of her thoughts and left the darkened parlor without a glance back.