An Unexpected Friendship (Unfinished roleplay)

Location: Xell Unknown.

Reason unfinished - Member leaving.

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Tyra sat quietly, waiting for her father to come home. He left in the early morning to work in the mines, like he usually does, but this time he was late, and her mother was beginning to worry.

“Mommy? Where’s daddy?” Tyra asked while fidgeting with her favourite doll, a porcelain version of herself. “Why hasn’t he come home yet?”

“I’m not sure, dear.” she said as she glanced out the kitchen window, across the river to the mines. “I’m sure they asked for him to work a little over time,” she added trying to drain the doubt that clouded her thoughts. “He is a good worker after all.”

They sat a little longer, the silence enveloping them, leaving them alone, as if the silence itself had isolated them, separated them, set a large vast abyss between them. Tyra, slowly fell asleep, letting her wait fall against the ottoman.

It was then, that she awoke hours later, to her mom calling her, “Tyra! A Wake up! Be awake for your father! He’s coming!” Tyra looked up to see her mother’s outstretched hand. Her expression was of joy, of relief.

Tyra accepted her hand and she was lifted into her mothers arms. She walked over to the window of the kitchen, and could see their father climbing the river bank. The sun had set by this time and the entire valley was bathed in the beautiful, silver light of the moon.

He was nearing the house now and his expression could be easily discerned; it was full of hateful, anger, and yet cruel, bliss simultaneously.

When he mother saw this, her smile faded and she said, “I think daddy has had a bad day. Maybe you should wait in your room.” She put Tyra down softly and let her walk to her room.

She did so, but left the door open a little bit, so she could watch from there. After a few minutes he walked in the door and her mother was there to greet him.

“Hello honey, how was your day at work?”

He didn’t even stop to talk of his shoes or coat. “We have come for your child now…” he said, his voice merged with the voices of others. Tyra didn’t like this sound; it scared her.

Her mother gasped after he said this. “But I thought you were- were- destroyed?!” she said, horror flooding her expression.

“No. We were just waiting…” he said with the same cruel smile he wore when he was nearing the house. “Now get out of our way! We have come for the child!” He preceded towards Tyra…

Her mother stopped him dead in his tracks. “You can’t have her!” she said boldly.

“Yes we can …and we will. You know this was going to happen. No get out of our way!”

“NO!”

“Fine. Then you will die…” he said slowly. She began to run towards Tyra and as she did so, a dark red flare rose from her fathers hands and flew at her mother. There was a horrible scream, as painful to listen to as it was to experience the reason it was produced. The flare wrapped itself around her mother and she expanded painful then compressed into herself, bones could be heard crushing inward, until she was but a ball of living matter. It then burned and dissolved in a bright flash.

Tyra was horrified. What she had seen was to painful for any child to bear. She couldn’t cry, the tears just wouldn’t come out. All she could do was sit, clutch her doll and try to comprehend what had just happened.

Her father made a movement to pick her up. He lifted her up and carried her in her arms out the door, down the hillside and towards the mines…

Ru stepped along the deserted path, pondering the strange rumours he'd heard lately, rumors of either demonic cults or a curse. Whatever the matter, he didn't doubt that there was some truth.

The moonlight was barely enough to see by as he approached a human village from within the trees. Immediately, he felt there was something wrong. He slowed his stride, trying to observe everything. The vilage ahead had very few lights; not strange, as it was long past sundown. But it still felt wrong.

He picked up the sound of footsteps behind him; a glance backwards and he saw a man with a dark expression. He could feel.... something... radiating off of him. The man cast him not a glance as he passed and headed down towards the village.

Ru continued again slowly, wondering how much of the rumors had been true. Soon enough, he reached the place where the trees began to thin. He stopped there, looking around again. The night breeze carried the scent of fear, something he could only just identify when in his human form.

He hesitated to enter the village. Maybe I should just go around.... There's something wrong here. But no, something was also calling him inwards; the scent of fear again, this time very strong. It must have been near panic. There was someone in there that might need help, and he felt compelled to give it.

As he neared the first house, he heard a woman's scream. It was chilling; all of the hair on his body short enough to do so stood on end as if giving a standing ovation. He hurried towards the place the scream had come from, but it hadn't dragged on and Ru wasn't sure of it's origin.

Running deeper into the village, he tried to remember where it had come from but memory failed; it could have come from anywhere.
Then, another sound; a door opening. In the silence of a dead night, he could hear it perfectly. That was when it struck him; there were no sounds of animals. There's definitely something very wrong here......! He rushed towards the sound and saw the man he had passed earlier. He was carrying a small girl. Fear washed off of her in waves. Assuming the worse, Ru called out to the man.

"Hey you! Put the girl down!"

"This is none of your business," said her father, in unison with the voices. "Stay out of this!"

Tyra was coming to now, and she was tugging at her father's arm, "Daddy why did you do that -Why did you kill mommy?" She was crying now; tears poured down her cheeks readily.

Her dad stumbled in mid-stride. Determination and struggle was present on his face, and it could be discerned that was was trying to fight the demons off. "Tyra, I didn't mean to-" he was cut short and his facial expression returned to how it was before. "Mommy wasn't being a very nice lady, she had to be punished. She made a deal then broke it." His voice was intime to the demonic voices again, combining to make a horrible discord.

Tyra turned to the man who had just interfered. Crying even more now, "Please help..."

Range filled him as the girl, Tyra began crying. However, he hesitated as he heard the cascade of voices nearly swallowing the man's; how much of the rumors had been true. Whatever the truth is, I can handle it. I'm not going to let this continue.

"I'm making it my business," Ru said, bringing out his sword. "Now, one more chance. Put the girl down; I'm not going to hurt you if you just leave her alone. And I don't care about any deals made. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt a child and get away with it."

"We're weren't planning to hurt her," her father said, looking down on her. "She is one of ours, a Human we blessed long ago..."

Tyra flashed him another helpless look. She had no idea what was going on. She felt betrayed and alone. Her father had killed her mother, and was planning to use her some purpose she couldn't understand, and probably wouldn't want to understand.

"Now move out of my way!"

Ru glared at Tyra's father. Damn, looks like reasoning isn't going to work here.... What's more, this is sounding like those demon cult rumors weren't that far off the truth....

"Not gonna happen," he said, casting a feather spell on his sword to make it lighter and more easily maneuverable. (does that make sense?) Planting the sword into the ground with inhuman strength, he then charged, unarmed, at the two, hoping to throw the father off balence and take Tyra from him.

Tyra cringed when she saw the man charge at her and her father. She didn't want her dad dead as well...

"STOP!!!" she screamed and unleashed such a powerful manifestation of her feelings that it sent out a hell wave. It caused her father to drop her and fly back about ten feet. The wave then made it's way towards the other man, and would cause him to do as her father unless he did something about it.

In the meantime, Tyra was on the ground cringing in fear, and crying uncontrollably...

Ru cringed as the girl screamed and barely had time to brace himself for impact when he saw the girl's father fly backwards. The wave hit him and sent him back, although not as far as Tyra's dad. What the hell was that? Scrambling to get up and reach her before her father, Ru picked up his sword and walked up to the girl, passing her and standing between the only two other people on the deserted village road.

Pointing the sword at the man, he glared more intensely. "Just stay where you are." Then, he shot back at Tyra, who was crying. "It's all right, calm down. I'm trying to save you. You all right?"

Tyra couldn't manage the words. She was perfectly all right, except for the fact that they she had seen her mother die a horrible death. "She's not coming back is she?"

"No! She isn't," he father cut in hoarsely. "She made a deal and broke it; she was being a bad little girl..." he smiled saddistically. "So? Are we going to start this then," he finished off, this time saying it to the man.

Ru had no idea who they were talking about, but he assumed it would have been someone close to Tyra, a mother or sister. Oh, he's gonna pay.

"Unless you make the smart decision and stay where you are," Ru said, ending in a near growl. Then he waited, to see if this man would make the first move.

"We don't fear death" he smiled walking up to the man, fearlessly. "For us, it is eternal damnation, and if you kill us, our death will only be temporary. Besides, do what you will, we aren't the ones who feel the pain..." and again there was that smile, that cruel, careless smile.

Tyra's father sent out a hell wave, much more powerful then the one she sent out. It was an attempt to knock the man of balance so they could do their worst to him...

Ru braced himself for impact again when he saw the dust swept up by the man's hell wave. However, he'd been expecting something less forceful and it threw him back. He managed to stay on his feet, but it put him further from the man than he wanted.

Shooting earthen elemental magic down his sword, he slashed through the air and hit the ground with it. "Quake!" the ground rumbled as a shockwave was sent out and a fissure headed for the man. Then Ru charged, staying behind the wave of stone.

Tyra watched as her father charged at the man, dark red hellfire burning on his hands. When he came close enough to the man, he shoot it at him in random intervals to through him off.

However he didn't care much to the shockwave that was come towards him and it swept him back...

Ru kept on charging, avoiding the small burts of hellfire, deflecting them with his sword when he could not. The shockwave made this easier, of course, and fulfilled its purpose. The man was knocked backwards. Ru took his advantage now, close enough to strike; so he did.

"DADDY!!!" Tyra watched as he dad was slashed along the chest. Crying harder this time, she backed away toward the bas of a nearby tree.

The sword hit him in the chest, and as it did so he began to laugh. "We told you this once before, did what you will, it doesn't hurt us..." his laughter slowly faded as the demons left his body. He was cringing in pain and couldn't speak because he was pitting up blood.

The demons left through his orifices in long streams of billowing, black smoke. They then headed toward the man attempting to steal him for future purposes...

The strike had been a sure hit; the man lay on the ground, bleeding.

"DADDY!" Tyra shouted. The sound of her scream felt as if it had pierced Ru's very soul. Her... Father? Dammit, all I wanted to do was help... Why do I end up hurting people? The guilt hit him hard; he didn't notice the black smoke stretching out of the man's body like the arms of a sinuous beast.

He saw it reaching for him and took a step backwards. What is that? But he'd seen enough to guess its purpose; taking another step backwards, he turned his head to yell to Tyra.

"Don't let this stuff get you!" He could see her crying now, backed up against a tree.

Suddenly, Ru was falling. His foot had caught on a stone. He handed on hus backside and pushed himself up immediately. But not fast enough.

The smoke wound around his throat like a threatening caress. It smelled of death and fire smoke, mixed with another unpleasant smell Ru could only classify as burnt meat. Holding his breath, he waved it away with his hand in a frantic effort to get up. Before he could pull away from it, however, he was forced to take a breath in.

Immediately, he felt as if his lungs had been filled with soot; he began to cough, eyes watering. He dropped back down to the ground, trying to stop the smoke from entering him any further. Then he heard the voices that had been behind Tyra's father's echo in his head.

Breath! Breath and succumb to our will!

Ru felt a strange compulsion to do so. He almost had when he felt something else, something he was used to: the change. He could feel its fingers, cold as moonlight, begin to crawl against his skin. The voices spoke again.

Werewolf!

Ru grinned. So, whatever you are, you don't like werewolves, he thought to himself.
But then his smile was cut off; he felt the fingers of the smoke that had wrapped around him and gone inside him begin to constrict. The coughing had stopped, but only because all air movement within him had stopped. He gasped for breath, only to find there wasn't room for any. GET OUT OF MY BODY he screamed at it, within his head and forming the words with his lips. To accent this, he tried to push the change foreward.

The black smoke pulled back, snapped back, fearful. He took a deep breath of clean air and pushed the entirety of the change away before it could take hold. Glancing around, he couldn't see the black smoke; however, he supposed that it could be hiding in the shadows of night, waiting to get either of them.

Ru climbed off of the ground and walked towards Tyra. Crouching so his head would be level with hers, he asked her, "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine..." she said getting up. Truly she was unharmed, but she couldn't get the image or sound of her dying mother wipped from her head. "I wanna go home..." she said looking to him for a hug...

Ru pulled the girl into a comforting embrace, the tears on her cheeks still wet. He looked around. Surely someone would have heard the commotion and come to see what was going on.

He looked at Tyra. "Where is your mother?" He didn't want to mention her father; it was bad enough that he'd been the one to save her by killing her possessed dad (even though it had to be done).

"She died..." she said tearfully. "She's gone to a better place now..."

Tyra stopped crying and looked up to the face of the man she was hugging. "What about you?" she asked curiously. "What happened to your mother?"

He immediately regretted asking her about her mother. So she's alone, too....
Then she asked him about his mother.

"My mother....?" Immediately, the last memory of his mother played back in his head.

He stepped away from the bodies of his younger sister and brother; twins they had been. He could hear their voiced echo in his ears. Gaping at them, he couldn't believe what he'd done. His hand unconsciously went to the half-healed bite mark on his shoulder. Dammit... that werewolf....He heard his mother's voice behind him.

"You monster. How could you?"

The inital shock had passed enough to allow tears to form and fall. "I didn't mean..... I- it wasn't...." His speech stopped.

She glared at him coldly. "Just get out. You've done enough." Her voice was devoid of all of her usual caring tones.

"I -"

"Leave."

Tears began to well, but he forced them back. That was a long time ago..... I can't keep bringing that memory back.

"She's... she's dead, too."

"Then all we have left is each other," she smiled hopefully. Backing away from him, she grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

"So what do you we do now?" she asked looking around, a bit confused, ignoring the dead remains of her father...

Ru blinked. "You.... want to stay with me?"

She had grabbed his hand. The feel of it was so like that of his little sister that he almost began reminiscing agian. He stopped himself and smiled at Tyra. "All right, but I'm a complete stranger to you. Wouldn't you rather find a relative to stay with?"

"Nope. My mommy and daddy had no brothers or sisters, or even cousins... Maybe Grandma and Grandpa, but they live far away, on the other side of the continent..." she began rambling on about her family and how they never really see each other, and how once, her parents and grandparents had a huge argument. They never spoke since.


Ru was surprised to hear the small girl begin to ramble about her family. At least she has her mind off of the death of her parents... more or less... But she has no one.
Ru smiled at her.

"I guess if you want to stay with me, that's fine. My name is Ru." With those simple words, he felt better than he had in a long time.

Xyn-lea walked down the deserted path through the quiet forest. She had come to Xell trying to track own Ru; they had wandered apart again, as they ended up doing every so often. His latest escapade had lead her to an area of at least some population.

She could see the trees thinning out ahead; some sort of clearing, perhaps? Or had she reached one of the villages in the area.

A noise stopped her steps; it was an echo of a whisper, almost no sound at all; yet it hadn't come from nature, and neither had it come from inside her head. She stood very still, eyes scanning, ears listening. There was nothing; just shadows jumping as the clouds drifted over a large moon.

Convinced that the noise had meant nothing, she continued ahead until she saw a shadow flicker in a way that she knew was not from movement in the sky. She got the feeling that someone was staring at her behind her back, a feeling of being watched. She turned her head around compulsively. No one was on the path behind her. Relieved, and feeling a bit silly, she turned her head back.

A cloud of black smoke hovered menacingly in her path. What is that? Feeling she had best not approach it, she stepped backwards. It moved forewards.

She stopped her foot but now it seemed that the smoke was moving with the ferocity of a starving lion towards an easy prey. Xyn-lea turned around and began to run.

However, it is needless to say that smoke in the air, windy or not, can move faster than a person can run. Breathing hard, she was forced to inhale the shadowy smoke. Immediately, she began coughing and stumbled mid-stride.

She heard the hum of a thousand voices in unison, voicing nothing yet saying everything. Then it was gone.
What the hell just happened?
Standing back up and breathing deeply the fresh air, she continued walking back towards the clearing. Something told her that the smoke wouldn't be back.

Eventually, she reached the clearing and saw the houses scattered within it. Ru was up ahead, with a small girl holding his hand. I wonder who she is?

"Ru!" She called, trying to get his attention. She began to run towards him.

Then there were voices in unison again, mumbling into her ears. Though faded; Xyn-lea continued running towards him.

For a moment Tyra felt happy again, but instinctively, she knew something was wrong. She just couldn't shake the feeling of those demons.

However she began to understand why when she saw a girl running towards them. "Ru!" she called, and although she seemed perfectly fine, Tyra could hear a hint of those voices.

When she neared them, Tyra backed away and hid behind Ru. "Can we leave now? I don't trust her..."

Ru looked up when he heard a familiar voice. Xyn-lea was running towards him and Tyra.

Tyra hid behind him. "Can we leave now? I don't trust her...."

Ru smiled at Tyra. "Don't worry; you can trust her." He called back to Xyn-lea as she neared them, "Took you long enough to find me again." He was teasing her tenderly. "I missed you."

She reached them and smiled at his reply. There seemed to be something different about her.

"I was busy with a few jobs," she said nonchalantly. "Who's the little one?"

"Her names Tyra," he said, and gave a breif explenation of what had happened.

Xyn-lea leaned closer to Tyra, smiling. "Hello. Nice to meet you."

Ru blinked in surprise; that wasn't like Xyn-lea.

Tyra cringed behind Ru, "We have met before," she said boldly, trying to be a brave. "You are not fooling anybody..."

Ru looked back and forth between them. What?

"Nonsense," said Xyn-lea. "I've never met you before."

Ru thought he heard something in her voice then, something familiar but not something natural to her.

"Xyn-lea, are you all right?"

"Of course." She smiled. She's way too cheery..... It's not like her......... Something's wrong. Could it be....?

Ru put himself between her and Tyra. "You ran into that black smoke, didn't you?"

She stepped back, grinning evily. Dammit! She must have..... How the hell will I get her back to normal.

"Well," she said. "Now that you know, then why don't you just kill me? Otherwise, I'll take Tyra and leave."

He didn't move from his place between them. Dammit! What am I gonna do?

"Don't listen to her... er -them" Tyra said interpting Ru's train of thought. "There is another way..."

She glared at Xyn-lea, searching her face, looking for some sign; some weakness...

There is another way, come with us, and we will leave this girl... Tyra caught that thought from her, and knew that it wasn't one of her own.

She said again, this time more hopefully, "There is another way...

"Another way?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of Xyn-lea.

"Other than killing her. She can be exserseezed; exsasized; exser -we can take them out of her..." she said effortly. She then became confused and attempted to mouth the word, "exorcized"...

His eyes wandered to Xyn-lea. I hope she's right. If not..... I don't think I'll be able to....

Xyn-lea, the one's controlling her body, laughed. "Following the words of a small girl? Ha. Move out of the way, Ru."

"No, I won't."

She sighed and tried to go around Ru to get to Tyra. He grabbed her arm and swung her around, easily overpowering her. Shock showed on Xyn-lea's face as he pushed her to the ground and held her down.
"I'm not gonna hurt you if I don't have to," he said. "But just because I love her doesn't mean I'll just stand and let Tyra be kidnapped."

She pushed up against him, trying to get free. She was stronger than she looked, but Ru held her down firmly.

"I can't hold her down like this forever," he called back to Tyra, not looking away from Xyn-lea. "Can you find someone who can do.... whatever it is you said will get her back to normal?"

"unno..." she said hurriedly. "The priest perhaps, but he's missing... What do I do!? What do I do?!" Tyra was panicking now, she was scared and did not know what she should do...

"Dammit...." he muttered. He heard Tyra beginning to panic, and turned to look at her. "All right, don't worry Tyra. Just-"

Xyn-lea pushed him away; he rolled on the ground. She was up quickly, but Ru grabbed her leg before she could step away. She fell down, too.

"Not so fast," he said. Not letting go, he got up on his knees. However, almost faster than he could see, she had grabbed one of her small knives. She stabbed at him and Ru had to let go to get out of the way.

Getting up as fast as he could, he made the ground under her feet shift with a lower power version of the 'quake' he had used earlier. She was almost to Tyra by then. Xyn-lea stumbled backwards and Ru caught her. She turned around and the unexpected happened; pain.

She held one of her knives in her hand, the other end of it sticking inside of Ru's chest. Shit....

"Just because you're not willing to hurt me," she said, "doesn't mean I won't hurt you."

Ignoring it for the moment, wanting to get Tyra out of harm, he pulled Xyn-lea away.
"Tyra, go find somewhere safe. I might not be able to stop her...."

Without waiting to see if she did or not, Ru grabbed the knife and pulled it out. Blood rushed out of hte wound, but he quickly put his other hand through it and used a fast healing spell. It wouldn't be good enough for the long run, but it would be good enough for the moment.

He threw the knife to the ground.
"Go, Tyra."

Tyra took this to heart and ran for the trees. She had no idea what she was doing; where she was going but knew that she must act soon.

After a few minutes, she neared another clearing to find an old priest making his way down the path toward a small church. It was run down and falling into ruin.

But before the priest neared the foundation completely, Tyra cut him off. The old man jumped at first but began to smile after he recognized her as one of the village children.

"Hello Tyra, what are doing outside at this time of night? Where's your mother and father?"

Her expression faded from excited to deep melancholy and she answered slowly, "They died..."

"Oh my, we should talk about this. In the meantime stay with me little one, the dark forces are at work here... too many villagers have gone disappearing into those treacherous mines..." he looked off ito the distance at the mines. They glew a pale dark red that flickered a little.

The old priest began to walk into the ruined church when Tyra stopped him, "Father, I need your help."

The priest smiled again. "Oh my, you are full of a lot of surprises... well with what?"

"I need you to exorcise some Demons." The priests face seemed troubled after she said this.

"That is something a child should never say; never see. Well it can't be helped. Take me to them..."

"Okay, then let us leave" Tyra said, turning back from where she came, holding the hand of the old man, slowing to keep a fair pace for him.

But as they neared the edge of the clearing, the red glow from the caver brightened eeriely, and a cloud shadowed the moon's light, making the cave seem only more brighter.

"Tyyyyyyyyyyyyrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaa" moans could be heard from direction of the village. "Wwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaavvvvveee coooooooommmmmmmmmmmmme fooooooooooooooooor yooooooooooouuuu..." The moaning sounded like the call of the villages themselves, blended with a demonic undertone.

And from the other side of the clearing, eyes could be seen, their glow disturbing and piercing. "Father, let us walk faster, lest we fall prey to the villagers," she hastened her pace and strained all her senses, keeping a distance between herself and them.

They neared the clearing to find Ru and Xyn-lea still going at it, however Ru seemed a lot more tired then he was before. "Ru! I have found the Father!"

The old man walked foward boldly, however turned around again to see the villagers nearing the edge of the clearing. "We must get this done quickly..."

Ru charged after Xyn-lea. She'd attempted to go after Tyra, who had run away when Ru had first told her. He tackled her, bringing her to the ground. She struggled to get back up, but he held her down.

Then, after a bit longer fighting, the same stop-escape routine (too lazy to write that in.... you get the idea), he heard Tyra's voice.

"Ru! I have found the Father!"

He turned his head to look and Xyn-lea elbowed him in the stomach, stunning him. He grabbed her arm before she could get away, all the while trying to get the air back in his lungs.
The priest Tyra had been talking about neared the tangle of Ru and Xyn-lea. He told them it needed to be done quickly. That's an understatement, though Ru, looking at the approaching villagers.

He yanked her arm, pulling her closer, but it slipped and she turned, slashing at him with a knife (the woman never seemed to run out of the things!) He put his arm up instinctively and it cut deeply the whole length of his forearm. He cradled the arm, blood dripping down his hand, and began to heal it enough just to stop the bleeding.

"Quick, what do we need to do?"

"Hold her down!" the old man yelled above the moaning of the villagers. He then pulled an old rune inscripted cain from his cloak and carved holy symbols in a circle around them, attempting to beind the demon, render it immobile within her body.

After he did this, the villagers became wary, and kept themselves to the trees, not wanting to leave the safety of them until the exorcism was finished.

Ru grabbed her again as the priest began carving symbols into the ground. She was struggling harder to get away now, trying to almost claw it him with her hands in a panic. He held her tightly, more securely.

The priest had finished the circle of symbols and began to say something in a strange language. At first, this just intensified Xyn-lea's already hard to control panic, but then, suddenly, she went limp. Ru sighed and loosened his grip. However, this was what she had been waiting for. She pushed him away from her so forcefully that he literally flew to the ground outside of the circle. He almost ran back in to hold her down again before he realized that she wasn't leaving the area inside the symbols.

Ru looked around, and then noticed the villagers hiding in the trees. He looked over at Tyra, who seemed to be more worried about the Villagers than anything else. Then, while he was looking away, came three of Xyn-lea's needles. All three hit him in the chest, all within five inches of each other. Dammit....

He grabbed onto one, catching it with his thumbnail on the ridge where it would attach to a ring, and slowly pulled it out. Blood ame out of the small, round wound. He quickly put his hand to it, trying to heal it but he was already exhausted, both from fighting and from healing previously. He stopped the bleeding, but knew there was no way he could heal the other two.

He fell down on his knees and stayed there resting. At least they won't need my help holding her down any longer. He'd try to heal the others after resting.

The priest continued to read from his bible in the ancient language. She wriggled around in pain, and began to shout hateful curses in the same language.

He paused every so often to ask questions like, "Who are you?" or "What have you in store for our village?" He did get answers, although it took a lot more pain to get them. He was the only one who understood what she said, and seemed troubled from what he learned.

But as he did this Tyra rushed to Ru's side. He seemed fine (although he was stabbed in multiple places and he wasn't able to completely heal his other wounds), but she worried still; the villagers have were coming nearer, a little too close for comfort...

Ru looked away as Xyn-lea began spouting words in the same language as the priest, every word seemingly causing her pain. Tyra came over to him, looking worried.


“Don’t worry,” he said, trying to smile comfortingly. “As long as this gets done quickly, we’ll all be all right.” I hope…. Those villagers are getting pretty brave.

They had ventured a small ways out of the trees, and if things kept going, it looked as if they might attempt a rescue mission of sorts. If they did, he figured, he just might be able to stop them… but it would completely drain his energy and he wouldn’t be able to heal himself.

Xyn-lea’s answers to the priest’s questions got more intense, more filled with what could only be curses. Then, there was silence. Ru’s eyes wandered over to the circle, where the priest was observing Xyn-lea warily.

She was collapsed on the ground dead center in the circle. Black smoke drifted off her body in dead wisps. He looked at the priest.

“Is she……”

He shook his head. “I can’t be sure, but I think she’ll be all right.”

Ru got up shakily and rushed over to her. He shook her shoulder. “Xyn-lea? Can you hear me?”

She didn’t respond, but he could tell she was alive. For a moment, he forgot about the villagers. Then he heard their angry cries. They had left the trees entirely now, seeing that whatever demon had infested Xyn-lea was now dead. One of them dove for Tyra.

“Tyra! Watch out!”

Tyra screamed as she saw one of the villagers jump for her. As she did, she sent out a dark red wave of fire that knocked them back. It forced the demons out of the nearby ones, but only angered to further ones...

She backed up towards Ru keeping her back to him not willing to give the villagers a chance to pounce. She begged helplessly, "Don't kill them, but please end this..."

Ru glanced over to the priest, who had retreated towards he and Tyra. The villagers were surrounding them now.

"Can you do anything for them?" He asked the priest.

"I don't think so...." said the priest, breathing heavily. "Maybe one at a time, but never this many at once."

Shit........ This is really bad! He bent down and picked up Xyn-lea. "Can you carry Tyra? We need to get somewhere safer, and fast!"

The priest nodded and went to pick up Tyra.

Without waiting to see if the priest was following, Ru charged into the crowd. He shoved past them, trying to be careful not to let them catch him.

There weren't that many, but they'd resisted letting him through. He reached the edge and kept running until he was four or five houses into the village. That was when he turned to check on Tyra.....

The priest followed, relunctantly however. He had with him a holy amulet, which he wore at all times. It repelled the villagers for the most part.

He made it through the baracade but found no energy to run when he reached the other side. He set down Tyra had fell to the ground panting, "I'm honestly too old for this," he laughed. "What do we do now?"

Ru looked at the four of them. Tyra, a child; the priest, an old man; Xyn-lea, unconscious; Ru himself, injured.

"We need somewhere safe for the moment... One of these houses should do." Ru glanced around. The door to a house just around the corner was open and looked empty. "That one looks good."

The priest looked over to Tyra. "Sorry, dear, but I can't carry you. Even a child like you get's heavy for an old man like me."

Ru carried Xyn-lea into the house. It was very small; there was probably only one inhabitant. He laid Xyn-lea down lightly on the floor away from the door and sat down near her. She moved a little, eyelids twitching, but didn't awake. I hope this'll be good for now...

"You can tend to her for now, I'll buy us some time." Already the villagers were coming near, and those who were free, were inhabited again.

He began at once with the door. He pulled out a quill pen from his cloak and inscribed holy ruins on the door and dorr knob. He then moved to the window. He scratched one long symbol in both of them. He then found a seat and began to pray.

"What are you doing?" Tyra asked instantly.

"Praying for guidance, and help" he said simply. He turned to Xyn-lea "...And for the life of this young man's companion..."

Ru smiled at the priest. "Thanks," he said softly. He shifted, and the two needles still sticking out of him shifted and pain flared. Gotta get those things out...

He grabbed the first needle and pulled it out, and then the second. There was bleeding again, and he tried to heal as much as he could. The bleeding slowed, but didn't stop.
He looked over at the Father. "You know anything about healing magic?"

"Not much, but I suppose I could do something about it." He took a look, "Well I suppose if you kept the needles in it wouldn't be so bad, but there's no use dwelling on such problems."

He muttered some incantations under his breath and his eyes rolled back into his head. A light seemed to appear on his hands and he held it to Ru. It seemed to crawl into him then fade. The light was gone, and the old man fell to the ground. "I can not do that much more..." he said meekly. "Being old can be a burden." He helped himself up, and sat down in a chair. "So did it work?"

Ru felt the healing magic begin to close his wounds. It wasn't complete, but it was much better than he had been before.
"It did... Thanks..."
He leaned over to Xyn-lea, stroking her hair. Come on.... Wake up. You've been through worse.

Her eyelids twitched again.
They opened.
"Wh.... what's going on?" She asked weakly.
"You were possessed by demons. We're hiding from them now."
She looked at him, confused, then seemed to remember what had happened.
"Are you all right now?"
Ru nodded.
"Who are they?"
Ru was going to let them answer that.

"Well nothing really explains what they other than the fact that they are demons" the priest said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly. "Why they here, I do not know yet. But I believe they have come for Tyra." he gestured to her. "Does that about answer your question?"

Xyn-lea glanced at the little girl. Sucks being the one they want.... I know what you feel like. She was, of course, relating this to her own experince in being kidnapped. She sat up and looked around at her surroundings. Doesn't look like there's a way out....

"I guess it answers that question....." She said, nodding. "But how do we get rid of them? I mean, I don't see an exit and it's only a matter of time before they figure out where we are."

The statement threw Ru into thought. She was right; he should've thought of that.

"I'll go check if there's any other way out of this place. As for if we can get rid of them...... I don't know about that...."
Ru got up and walked the length of the room to a closed door. He turned the knob and peered in. There was a small window, nothing of an escape route though.

He turned around to inform them when his foot caught on something on the floor. He stumbled and turned to see what he'd tripped over. There was a handle for a small trap door. He grinned. Not an exit, but the next best thing....

"Hey, I think I found something interesting."

He knelt and opened the hatch. A dank, earthy smell drifted up into the air around them. The space within was pitch black.
"Anyone willing to check this out?"

Tyra dropped down into it, although those around her were hesistant to let her go first.

"It's small, very small. Maybe only small enough for you to just fit in, but it may be awkward." She began to walk forward, then turned around slowly. They just stood above her, doing nothing. "C'mon!" she demanded in fustration. "I'm not doing this alone!"

Ru dropped down behind her, his sharp eyes quickly adjusting to the shadowy surroundings. The earthen walls of the passage seemed about to crumble at any moment. However, when he hesitantly reached out to touch them, they were stony hard. He spotted the place Tyra had been talking about. About three feet in front of him, the small hole narrowed and the roof dropped, forming a passageway. Shadows hung thickly around it, too thickly for even Ru to see through.

"I think it might lead somewhere..." He poked his head through the hole in the floor. "You guys should take a look at this, too. It might be our ticket out of here."

Xyn-lea got up, slowly and tenderly, Ru observed, and walked over to the hole. She knelt down and looked it.
"I think you're right; I'm getting a bad feeling about it, though....But it's not like we can just get up and leave any other way."

Ru nodded and climbed out, glancing at the preist.

The preist shook his head. "I'll stay here. I'm too old for such risky adventures... After all, someone has to make sure that they don't follow you."

Tyra crawled forward and saw the trap close behind them. She found that her eyes adjusted quite quickly to the dark, an ability she thought she never possessed.

In front of them the tunnel grew and shrunk haphazardly. Roots, some new, some old, sprouted like brown tendrils from the ceiling. If not for them, this passageway probably would've caved in a while back.

The tunnel gradually grew more wider and then more deeper, allowing room for Ru and Xyn-lea to walk. As the tunnel neared its end, it began to curve, drop and steepen randomly; from this, Tyra lost all sense of direction.

The tunnel came to a quick halt after the last sharp turn and they were presented with their first problem; the tunnel broke off into two seperate directions. One led downwards, and smelt damp and moist. The other led upwards and smelt of rotting dead. Tyra stopped and looked to Ru and Xyn-lea, looked for some sign as to which course they should follow...

Ru got back into the hole when he saw Tyra continue foreward. Xyn-lea followed him, closing the trap door behind her. Immediately, all light was cut off, and where the dim light had been interfering with Ru's eyes adjusting, he was now able to see much better.
Xyn-lea impulsively grabbed his hand. He twitched, startled.
"Uh, I can't see anything.... You have good night vision; don't let me get too far behind."
"All right..." Ru said. He glanced ahead at Tyra, who seemed to see where she was going quite well. He followed her, almost getting stuck twice, until they came to the fork.

"Why'd we stop?" Asked Xyn-lea.
"You still can't see in the dark?" He heard her "hmph" and Ru shook his head, shaking the question away. "The tunnel splits," he explained.
He let go of her hand and walked to the split.

"I think we should go up," he said. "Up is a good general direction, and although it stinks, I think that this tunnel might come out near a graveyard. It should be our ticket out."

Xyn-lea walked closer to him, using the wall to assure her of her general direction. "What if you're wrong?"

"Well...... I might be, so I guess I should go check it out. What do you think?"

"No, don't go that way..." Tyra said instinctively. " She turned to the other tunnel. "Wait. We shouldn't go down this way either, although I am feeling like I should, feeling like I'm being pulled..." she held out her hands to the entrance of the tunnel, as if she could feel (or sense) this calling. "Maybe we should turn back?"

Ru looked at Tyra.
"Well, we can't go back.... so it's up or down." He considered, then changed his mind from earlier; for some reason, he had a feeling it was the right way.

"Just let me go ahead and look. I won't be long."
Not waiting for an answer, he turned and walked up the tunnel....

It began to get smaller as he went, but he got through the toughest part without getting stuck. Ru thought that he heard voices up ahead..........

------------------------

Xyn-lea stood in the dark with Tyra. She had no idea what direction was anywhere except that down was below her.... At least..... I think it's pretty safe to assume that....
She'd shared Tyra's bad feeling about both entrances from the fork, even though she couldn't see them at the moment. She called after Ru, but he seemed to have ignored her.

Tyra sat down and let the silence swallow them. She was able to keep her mind off the awkward silence but the length of time that Ru had been gone had grown too long (yes, I am aware how dirty that sounds ^^ ).

However, something was echoing its approach and Tyra did not like this. She could hear a scrapping, tapping followed by footsteps.

She cowered in the corner hoping for Ru to come back as quickly as he could, otherwise they would have to pick a tunnel.

Xyn-lea hadn't seen Tyra back into a little corner created by the rocky, soily passage, but she heard the same disturbing footsteps. That doesn't sound like the priest's footsteps, which only means.... She shut her eyes and concentrated on the noise. This wouldn't be the first time she fought with zero visibility, and although she didn't like it, she could handle it.
She patiently waited for the footsteps to get closer, and hoped that Ru would be back soon....

---------

Ru followed the dark passage until he saw the crimson flickering tint of firelight in the distance. That can't be good.... He thought. Quickly turning around, he went back to inform the others and check out the other passage way.

Tyra felt a rush of evil; a feeling she only felt when in the presence of demons. She looked ahead, trying to see what was advancing; it was getting closer. Tapping could be heard. Almost there... then hoarse, troubled breathing. The thing rounded the corner and came face to face with Xyn-lea -it was the old man.

"I tried to hold them off; got rid of most of them, but they knew of that tunnel. Tyra, young one, I think they followed you..." he said between hurried breaths. He was clutching his stomach, which was wounded by a poisoned dagger. "I'm sorry, but my time is up, I have fulfilled my purpose as I was meant to, but I must leave you with these last words; 'Take Heed; Do not let the gift they have given you lead to your undoing, it will damn you and those you curse to an eternity of misery and suffering.' Good-bye"

With those last words, he collapsed to the ground. Tyra ran over to him and cradled him in her arms, but it was too late, he had died.

She began to cry as the one of important people in her life had died. First her mother? Then her father? Then this man, who treated her as one of his apprentices? Who did she have left? None of the villagers, for the were in the keeping of the demons; trapped within themselves, suffering, unaware of what was truly happening. But she had to continue on. She knew she must stay with Ru. Unless she found someone else.

But that train of thought was interupted by the steady echo of footsteps in the distance. She knew what this meant. Either her and Xyn-lea wait for Ru to return or quickly follow him up the passage.

Xyn-lea didn't see what had happened, but gathered much from the dialogue and sounds. She placed a comforting hand on Tyra's shoulder. If Ru wasn't back soon.....

As if the very thought had summoned him, he came charging back. He was breathing heavy, as if he had been running.

"Quickly! The other passageway!" He hesitated movement as he saw the dead priest, but assumed what had happened and urged them down the other passage way. "Hurry!"

Xyn-lea would have, but didn't know which way it was. Ru must have gathered this because he took her hand and placed it on the wall. "That way."

She hurried ahead, turning back to Ru.
"What's chasing you?"
But light began to drift down the other passage way and she could see the panic on his face. She didn't want to know.

However, she felt that she might soon find out.

Tyra began to weep softly; she slammed her tiny fist into the ground, not expecting anything to happen. But the earth began to tremble and loose rocks began to fall.

She was jarred back into reality again by the tremor she had caused. It would kill her, Ru and Xyn-lea unless she left with them.

Tyra got up and began to run, just as the villagers rounded the last corner. They were slow to move to began with but once they had more room, they began to move quite quickly.

Cruel smiles were worn on all their faces. Although they were tired, they were driven by the iron will of the demons, by a purpose that Tyra was beginning to understand.

Tyra stopped to look, but when she saw what was following her, she knew she must go on. She soon caught up to Ru and Xyn-lea, but had touble keeping up with them.

As they continued the trembling faded, negated by demonic magics cast by those behind her. Fear grew inside of her, she called to Ru for help.

Ru waited for Tyra, despite how near the villagers were. As she punched the ground, the tunnel began to tremble. She didn't do that.... did she? disregarding the thought for the moment, he followed behind her as she went down the tunnel behind Xyn-lea.

The trembling began to subside and the demonic villagers were gaining on them. The three hurried as fast as they could through the tunnel that smelled of death. However, the upward slant which had been slight at the beginning of the tunnel was more noticeable now.

Darkness loomed ahead of them, the only light coming from the villagers. Ru glanced behind him just as one that was ahead of the others grabbed for a bit of his clothes. He turned and kicked the man into the others behind him, almost causing a domino effect.

---

Xyn-lea stopped, blocking Tyra, and looked behind.
"Hurry up, Ru!"

He looked back at her and she immediately knew what he was planning. Before she could say anything, he spoke.

"You carry Tyra and run; I can hold them back." He'd unsheathed his sword and planted it in the way of the tunnel, blocking the villagers. Temporarily.

"No, Ru!" As rare of an occurrence as it was, her voice wavered. "They have demonic powers; you can't guard against that for long."

"Nonsense;" he said, smiling. He was pushing the sword towards the villagers in an attempt to block their attacks. Luckily, this stretch of the tunnel was narrow. Xyn-lea hesitated, then grabbed Tyra's hand. She pushed all thought of emotions away; they would be back, for only Ru could touch her heart. But at the moment, they would get in the way.

"Don't use magic to collapse the tunnel." She said as she turned her back on him. "You've already met your limits for that; you won't make it out."

Not waiting for a reply, she ran.