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Post by Richter Abend on Apr 15, 2014 17:02:50 GMT -6
"Unfortunately, you're right" said Richter, shaking his head with a pained grimace and mild grief. He was hoping they could have found at least one survivor, but all they got was some kid adventurer a long way from home in his grandpa's armor. Not exactly a victory in the Ilian's book. "Let's just get away from this heat before any more walking corpses come after us. I'm sweating like a pig."
But as Richter turned to walk away, he noticed something peculiar, something a couple houses down. He wasn't quite sure what it was, since it was mostly obscured by the shed in front of it, but he could see it poking up from up over the roof. It looked like the end to some sort of pointed object and it was...moving? It couldn't be a zombie. No, much too tall. The Ilian took a few interested steps, following the object's movement as it bobbed up and down, before walking around the corner of the closest house into the main village road. Oh, but as he rounded that corner, by Barigan, he wished he hadn't.
He wasn't quite sure what it was at first. Was it a horse? No, it looked like a horse, but coming out of where its neck should be was the top half of a person, sporting a mane of wild, red hair and covered with leathery, grey skin. It's neck was so thick around it looked almost as if it didn't have one, and its arm and chest muscles were so large it looked as if they were going to burst right out of the creature's skin. In its hands it wielding a twisted, cruel looking lance that reminded Richter very much of a torture device. It didn't notice Richter at first, but the Ilian was too bewildered by what he was seeing to remember to move, and by the time he came to his senses, the massive creature had spotted him. As it noticed Richter, it's body noticeably stiffened, and it turned on its horse-like legs to face him, staring him down with the most entrancing, glowing purple eyes.
"Run..." Richter muttered as he began back-stepping. He looked towards Gabriel and the younger man. The creature bellowed a loud roar like a lion, causing Richter's gaze to snap back towards it. The beast was charging him. "RUN!"
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Post by Gabriel Zobek on Apr 16, 2014 1:02:27 GMT -6
Gabriel gave one last sigh and shake of his head. "No kidding." Though when he looked up, he saw Richter staring off into the distance. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, wondering if he had seen a survivor after all. The fair haired warrior stepped over as Richter himself started to.
"Richard? You see something? What is it?"
He looked past his compatriot after a moment more, starting to see something in the distance as well. It looked like it was emerging from below. Could... could it really be a survivor?
Gabriel's expression began to fall a moment later, having briefly picked up with some hope. What emerged was... was... what in Elimine's righteous name is that? It looked to be half man, half horse. And all strength and power judging from the upper half's muscular form and that vicious lance it held. Was it the leader of these undead? What is it?
The rather literal horseman began to turn to look at Richter and Gabriel. Those eyes it possessed captivated his gaze for a moment, his body starting to automatically back up from natural instinct. Everything in him screamed fright and even more importantly, flight.
"Run..."
He looked to Richter and back at the horseman. It was charging.
"RUN!"
Gabriel turned swiftly, nothing more needed to be said to him. He'd only brought his short-ranged weapons barring his chain whip, but he didn't even have half an idea on fighting this horrendous creature. The worst he'd ever seen were those skeletal and zombie creatures. Even some of those vicious hounds. But this was a whole new and terrifying beast.
"RUN, KID! RUN TO THE SOUTH!" He shouted immediately to the Bernese lad, somehow managing to dredge up their entry point from his memory in the panicked flight.
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Post by Orcleous on Apr 16, 2014 8:14:43 GMT -6
Well it seemed like this adventure was over thought Orcleous thought he wanted to make sure there was no more undead, but considering his last performance with them he decided it would be best to simply leave with the duo. Orcleous was skilled enough at fighting them, but there was no way he could handle more than one. If he tried to stay and eliminate any that remained he would more than likely cause his own death. It would be better for him to simply leave with Richard and Gariel and avoid the hassle. He did his part when he took down a few of them. He might need to at least warn travelers though of the village demise.
As the novice meditated on his next action he noticed that Richard was moving to investigate something. "Oh a survivor", spoke Orcleous with some surprise. He did not think anyone would survive this, but it seemed that he was wrong.
"Run"! The word hung in the air for a moment as Orcleous stared in Richard direction with confusion. He had though they found a survivor, but Richard was screaming run. Suddenly from around the corner came a galloping figure. Its body was covered in bulging muscles and it seemed to be a man horse. In its hand was a lance and in its eyes was no soul. A shock wave of fear ran down Orcleous spine as he stared at the beast. The swordsmen was only brought back to reality by Gabril's words.
"RUN, KID!"
Orcleous suddenly burst into life. The overwhelming fear caused the young man to flee. Like a broke back spineless coward Orcleous ran into a nearby street. The flames danced around him as he ran in horror.
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Post by Richter Abend on Apr 17, 2014 12:31:17 GMT -6
The horseman took little notice of the dark-skinned lad ducking into a side-street, instead choosing to focus on charging down the two red-armored warriors, bellowing all the while like a behemoth driven insane by its own existence. Richter's heart beat faster than a racehorse has he hoofed it as fast as he could away from the giant demon horse-thing, but try as he might, he just couldn't run fast enough to keep the beast from catching up. It would have been hard enough trying to outrun a horse, but this thing was faster than any horse he had seen, and it's ever louder earth-shaking gallops demonstrated a power far beyond what it's form alone would suggest. With the creature less than twenty meters away, Richter realized that he and Gabriel would need a new plan of action if they wanted to avoid getting trampled by the one beast stampede.
"Into the house, now!" Richter shouted, before jerking sharply to the left and practically diving into a currently flaming house. He scrambled to his feet, narrowly avoiding the creature's spear as the horseman kept charging onward like a runaway carriage, unable to turn as sharply as the much more limber humans that it was going after. His head jerking left and right, looking for an escape, the Ilian knew the juke wouldn't keep this thing off their backs for more than a couple seconds. "What do we do, what do we do?" Richter ran to the window. The horseman had come to a halt and was preparing to charge back in their direction. His stomach dropped. "We'll get run down in seconds if we try to leave. We have to fight this one!"
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Post by Gabriel Zobek on Apr 17, 2014 14:34:15 GMT -6
Richter began to overtake Gabriel in terms of speed, but at the end of the this chase, the result would still be obvious. They couldn't keep running, it'd just result in them being pierced by that wicked lance. But what could they-
"Into the house, now!"
The Etrurian quickly dove after the Ilian, not even having a second thought on the matter. Anything seemed better than staying in front of this monstrous horseman. Gabriel rolled through his dive into the burning house, landing on a knee and getting back up to his feet quickly as he strode over to the window. The beast turned, slowly but surely. And it was getting ready for another charge.
"What do we do, what do we do?"
Gabriel's mind raced, trying to think of something, anything to deal with this beast. The ordinary techniques wouldn't work on this beast. As Richter voiced his own concerns about fighting this thing, something clicked in Gabriel's mind. The ordinary techniques could work.
"Richter, do you think you can lure him down the street and back up? I've got my chain whip and I can trip him up, but I need time to setup my position." It was just the same as fighting a regular cavalier. Their whole offense could fall apart if you took them out at the horse's legs. "If we can take out the leg, we can get the drop on it and hopefully finish it off quick."
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Post by Orcleous on Apr 17, 2014 23:12:15 GMT -6
Breathing heavily Orcleous managed to catch his breath. The lad was surrounded by burning buildings and the ash of buildings that seemed to have already fallen. Orcleous looked around the corner an noticed that the monster was not there. It seemed as if it was not following him. "That is a relief", spoke Orcleous out loud. The novice took a moment to think back upon his situation. He had ran like a coward in front of the beast and had let the other two take the heat from the monster. A great feeling of shame began to roll over Orcleous as he began to muster up what little courage he had left.
"I need to get another look", spoke Orcleous to himself as he moved toward the corner of the street. The novice spit on his blade and shinned it with his shirt. He then held it around the corner to see what was going on with his reflection. From the view he could once again see the beast, his heart almost jumped out of his chest as he laid eyes on it, then he took notice that the duo was not there. He did not see any stains on the ground or fresh blood on the monsters weapon. "What is going on", spoke Orcleous to himself in a low hush tone. He had no intention of getting himself spotted by the beast.
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Post by Richter Abend on Apr 22, 2014 9:20:34 GMT -6
"Sounds like a plan," replied Richter, nodding to Gabriel. He turned back to the window, eyeing the horseman surreptitiously, before steeling himself, taking a deep breath, and darting out the door. Time to spring into action. The Ilian came to a stop in the road just outside the door before drawing his sword. His eyes locked squarely on the creature, he brandished his glossy black blade, the flames of the burning houses around him glinting devilishly across the steel of its flat. He smirked.
"Come on! Fight me you big horse...thing!" he shouted at the creature. It charged.
Richter thought he'd be prepared to run, but right as he went to lift his feet, his muscles tensed and locked up. He was stuck to the ground like a stone statue. It was one thing facing down a two-ton hell-beast of war, but actually doing it was another thing entirely. "Move!" he commanded himself. Nothing. "MOVE!"
With that second metal shout, Richter's feet kicked into high gear. He pivoted on his right heel, making a full 180 degree turn, and dashed off down the road as quick as he could. He could hear the beast behind him, it's every gallop like a series of rhythmic war drums. The Ilian needed to get just far enough down the road to give Gabriel time to set up his little gambit, then find a way to get the creature back down to the Etrurian without getting crushed. It sounded simple, but while running full speed away from a manhorse of hell that wanted nothing less than your complete destruction, it really didn't feel it.
"Hurry up!"
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Post by Gabriel Zobek on Apr 22, 2014 13:28:41 GMT -6
Gabriel moved closer to the doorway, starting to unstrap and unwind his chain whip. He looked out in time for Richter to start running down the street once more, horseman swiftly on his tail. The ex-solider began to twist his wrist, the chain picking up speed as it circled through the air. This monstrous creature was about as fast as a normal horse, perhaps a bit swifter due to it's twisted nature. The timing would be tricky, but this was their best chance in figuring out how to deal with the creature since neither was an archer.
He looked out the doorway once more briefly, spotting Richter up the street. There were more houses around for him to jump into and use the same distraction, but would it work this time? Their whole gambit was risky, but this thing would kill them one way or another if they didn't do it.
"Come on, Richter... Just bring him back now..."
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Post by Orcleous on Apr 23, 2014 4:11:26 GMT -6
Oh crap thought Orcleous as he looked around the corner. The horse monster seemed to be after the soldier. It chased behind the man with the speed of a horse and the furry of the undead. Orcleous was not sure if he could help in any way. The novice was not an archer nor was he strong. Still Orcleous had to do something. Finally coming to a decision the novice rushed through the street parallel to the one Richard was on. There was nothing he could do to help, but if Richard moved onto the other street Orcleous could try to help, or at least he thought in his mind. In truth Orcleous was more worried about staying alive, but his honor and pride demanded that he aid against the monster, or at the very least try. e
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Post by Richter Abend on Apr 29, 2014 12:32:07 GMT -6
As Richter neared the end of the road, he noticed the dark skinned adventurer boy sprinting in the road alongside him. So that’s where he’d gone. Was he trying to help, or was he just running in pure fear? The warrior guessed the latter, but...nevermind. Whatever he was doing, he was another body at which to direct the stampeding death behind Richter, which made him the most useful thing in the world right now.
“Heads up!” shouted the Ilian as he made a 90 degree turn towards the younger swordsman. Pivoting on a heel, he could hear the horseman behind him, roaring and snorting as its prey quickly slipped out from under its hooves. Richter gave a quick, sharp sigh of relief as he found himself face to face with the Bernese kid, but his satisfaction turned to surprise as he heard a loud crash behind him, and saw splintered wooden boards go flying over his head. Wheeling around to see the cause of the commotion, Richter saw the massive hairy bulk that was the horseman go charging through the nearest house, flailing its weapon as it did. Even randomly being swung, the wicked blade cleaved through the smouldering wreck like a scythe through a field of wheat, allowing the Ilian to realize that his feint only worked as long as the beast didn’t realize that it could plow right through any of these houses with ease, something it had just found out.
“Move!” Richter barked at his companion of circumstance. “Move!” He clapped the younger man on the back, prompting him to run as he broke into an all out sprint. The horseman was already recovering from its peel out and was rapidly gaining speed on the two of them. He vaulted through the window of the house in front of him, hoping he could slow down the horse-beast slightly, but the crunching, splintering sounds behind him told him otherwise. “Run to Gabriel! Just keep running!”
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Post by Orcleous on Apr 29, 2014 12:55:16 GMT -6
"Quick move", spoke Orcleous as he came face to face with Richter. Before he could say anything else the massive monster ripped through the building like it construction paper and began to charge down the street.
"Did that thing just rip through the building", shouted Orcleous with surprise and amazement. However the sight of it swinging its axe and charging towards them quickly turned his amazement to fear.
"Move", spoke the pink haired man as he clapped Orcleous back. Orcleous took off as fast as he could. The young man was starting to regret his decision to follow on the parallel street. He should have dipped out when he could, but no he had to go and do the right thing and help.
"Run to Gabriel", shouted the man, but Orcleous had no idea where Gabriel was, nor was it on his list of things to do. Gabriel stood no better chance than the two of them did against the beast. Instead Orcleous followed his instincts. He saw a burning house on his left leading back to the street that Richard had just came off of. Orcleous took the turn on his left and ran through the burning building. The smoke and heat was suffocating, but Orcleous got through. In his mind the monster would not dare run through such a building and even if it did the shock would cause the flaming wood to collapse and the beat would burn underneath the rubble, or at least in Orcleous mind that is.
"Man that was close", spoke Orcleous as he began to clear is lungs with fresh air.
"
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Post by Gabriel Zobek on Apr 29, 2014 13:20:27 GMT -6
Gabriel briefly looked down the street once more, the horseman cleaving through the houses like a hot knife through butter. It really just cemented the nature of this gambit even more in Gabriel's mind. The danger of the vile creature and the risk that their lives were presented with weren't small by any means. He winced slightly as he saw the lad from Bern with Richter, hoping he'd have just ran out of the burning village entirely. Still, he kept his swing ready, starting to approximate a good timing.
The monstrous horseman was about as fast as the average warhorse, but far more than twice as dangerous. He took in deep breathes, trying to keep his breathing level. The heat was starting to get to him once more, but too much was riding on the timing of his chain. He listened intently, the sounds of Richter & the kid running, as well as the thundering hooves of the horseman grew ever closer.
Orcleus dove into the house, Richter kept running, and Gabriel sprung into action. With a quick throw, his chain shot forth and the whole world seemed to slow to Gabriel for a moment as he watched his chain fly. It then picked up a sudden pace as it caught onto and wrapped around the foremost right leg of the creature.
"HRAAAAAH!" Gabriel pulled back with all of his strength, the chain painful in his grasp, but not near as painful and sudden as it was for the hairy beast. With all that strength pulling at it's leg, the horseman was thrown off kilter and fell to the ground with a loud and painful sounding thud, rolling a time or two.
"NOW! RICHTER! ATTACK IT!"
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Post by Richter Abend on Apr 29, 2014 15:49:20 GMT -6
As Gabriel pulled his chain taut, Richter leaped over the makeshift barrier like a gazelle, coming to a sliding stop as he hit the ground running. A satisfied, adrenaline-fueled smile tore across his face as he heard the horse-beast bellow and holler, tripping its way straight into the ground. Gabriel's gambit had worked! Yes! Flushed with success, the Ilian made a quick and complete turn and ran back over to the now flailing creature that was trying to right itself. As his Etrurian companion yelled for him to attack, Richter gripped his sword firmly in his hands hands and angled it directly downwards over the creature in preparation for what would hopefully be a finishing blow.
"GRAAAAAAGGHHH!" Richter roared, lifting his two-handed weapon up over his head. Still yelling, he paused for just a moment, just to make sure his aim was true, then plunged the magic-laced steel of his ebony blade into the horseman's side. The beast thundered in pain as the weapon pierced its flesh, releasing an ever louder cry from its gullet as a thick, black blood began oozing out of the wound that the pink-haired Ilian had newly created. But despite the intense pain it was clearly in, the creature was not dead. No longer holding onto its spear, it began swinging its powerful arms wildly at its assailant, arms which Richter just managed to avoid with a well-timed duck. Backing away from the downed monster, the Ilian dropped his sword before darting over to the horseman's gigantic lance, hoisting it up under his arm and balancing it on his hip. Even if his sword wasn't enough to kill this beast, its own weapon should be!
As the horseman began stumbling its way back into its feet, Richter leveled the gigantic lance towards it. He had no idea where the thing's heart was, or if it even had one, but he knew where a horse's vital organs were, so Richter figured that was the best place to strike. He took a few steps back to create some running distance between the two of them.
Richter took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the massive lance weighing on his arms. It would have been a wonder to Richter that anything could wield this effectively if not for the fact its owner was a muscle-bound monstrous hulk. The creature was slowly getting to its feet. He had a better shot at the creature's chest. Time to act! Breaking into a run, Richter roared once again, ready to drive the twisted hunk of metal he carried into this foul monster's hide!
But something went wrong.
Just as the he could feel the resistance of the horseman's flesh against the tip of his over-sized lance, Richter felt himself thrown off of his feet. One foot, two feet, three feet off the ground and still rising! At first it was almost like flying, but then the Ilian realized there was something powerful wrapped around his left leg, and it was lifting him into the air! He looked down at his leg, just fast enough to see a large hand gripped around his leg before his momentum changed for the worse. He was now going downwards, and fast. Richter tried to see who, or what, was grabbing him, but as he tried to turn his head, he felt himself slammed into the ground, and blacked out.
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Post by Gabriel Zobek on Apr 29, 2014 16:47:50 GMT -6
With Richter's quick action, the beast was struck a terrible blow, but it was not dead yet. Gabriel briefly wondered just what the hell Richter was doing when he dropped his sword (not to mention what that sword just did), but began to pick up on what Richter was going for when he picked up the lance. Taking a cue from Richter, Gabriel latched his chain to his belt once more after reeling it back in and dashed for the blade that Richter dropped, taking it in hand.
What he rose to however, was not Richter piercing the horseman. But an even larger and stronger beast that was lifting Richter high into the air before slamming him down with a sickening thud and crunch, the large spear falling away. The new arrival then began to look at Gabriel, a massive axe in it's other hand.
Was... Was it getting colder suddenly? He stared at the axe, it brimmed with frost, the air quite disproportionate to the blazing flames all around. All at once, Gabriel was brought from the realm of analysis into the realm of reality as a large fist collided with his head, the wounded horseman back up and swinging, even without that spear. Gabriel stumbled back, ebony blade gripped tight in his hand. There was something about this sword and if he was any judge from Richter's blow before, it certainly had an edge.
Ready for his foe this time, Gabriel ducked under the next punch, bringing his borrowed sword up in a vicious swing to slice into the flesh of the horseman, drawing out more of that black blood. He could feel the blade generating a sense of renewal within his body. But for the blow that he managed to strike, another meaty fist collided with his midsection and took not only his breath away, but also his footing, sending him falling to the ground.
The original horseman began to cry out in rage, lifting a hoof to stomp out Gabriel for good, but after a quick roll to avoid the hoof, Gabriel managed to get back on his feet once more. And what he saw before him struck terror once more. The larger horseman began to come up along the wounded one's side, it's vicious frost covered axe looking ready to cleave into Gabriel.
He briefly looked over to the ground, Richter was still there and not dead yet. He could only imagine what these vicious horsemen had in mind for the Ilian, but right now the Etrurian was almost assured that his time was wearing thin. He needed to think, but time was definitely not on his side for that.
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Post by Orcleous on Apr 29, 2014 17:12:15 GMT -6
As Orcleous caught his breath he heard the cry of the horse beast. He had no idea what happened nor did he really care. All he knew the advantage was theirs again . The swordsman was so excited that he almost rushed into the burning building he came out from, but a broken board falling off the side shocked him back to reality. "I better go around", spoke Orcleous to himself as he went around the nearly crumbling building and passed through a more stable looking one. As he was moving through he heard the sound of the horse monster bleeding, but then there was something else. He heard one of the warriors scream as if he was moving away from him and then came back. His scream however suddenly stopped which made Orcleous hear sink to the bottom of his stomach. "What is going on out there", spoke Orcleous as he came into the clearing of the street.
To the boy's great horror he saw the gigantic monster holding a massive axe. It was far larger than he was. Far larger than anybody he had ever seen. Where the heck did that thing come from thought Orcleous. He was sure it was not in the city when they first arrived. Orcleous was pulled back into reality when he heard Gabriel take a hit. The horse monster seemed to be moving again. The horsemen seem to have the crimson duo on the ropes.
Fear struck Orcleous heart as he looked on. That fear clamped down on his muscles and made him unable to move.
"One only truly lives when another tries to take that life away from them. It is in that moment that knows what life is and what it means to live. The more you fight the more you live." These words suddenly run inside Orcleous head. He remembered them as if it was yesterday. That orange haired man that have saved him during that battle. He told him to live he had to fight.
"This is not the time for cowering", spoke Orcleous to himself. "This is not the time to be afraid. This is the time to take up arms. If we don't kill these monsters here then they will attack somebody else. If I don't stand now then all is lost." Orcleous bit his lip till blood began to run down his face. The pain nullified the fear as the young swordsman mind began to work. "Hold on I still have it", spoke Orcleous as he reached into his bag. The swordsman pulled out The ugliest sweeter known to man. It was so ugly that Orcleous could hardly even look at it. He took great pleasure in sticking it into the nearby flames and watching it catch a blaze.
"Hey horse for brains", shouted Orcleous as he rushed out. With his silver blade in his right hand and a burning sweeter in his left the swordsman rushed forward. He tossed the burning sweeter onto the back of the bigger horseman and rushed up and sliced the tendon on the injured horseman's leg with his sword. It took all the courage in Orcleous body to run out. He prayed he made a difference and not simply charged to his death.
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