The story of Veil.

[kai]

"Agh'.. you little prick.. that hurt.." Slowly lifting to his feet, the bandit was not finished quite yet. "You may have killed my friend, but I'm not going to let you get away that easily. Let's see what you can really do kid." Sliding his wakazashi infront of his form, he focused his energy around him slowly. "My brother Hulraith taught me a few moves before he took up being Jhaxavier's apprentice. Let's see if this works." Grinning, he pushed his free hand forward, and let a spark of red sinister energy begin charging into a large orb before his figure.

"I'm not quite sure what exactly the force is of this spell, but my brother told me to use it only as a last resort on scum like you! So I guess this is goodbye!" Laughing, Veil said nothing, standing crooked, blood running down his side and shoulder, roughly 30 feet away, he panted for air. "Hm'.. I've seen that move before.. and that name.. Hulraith.." A faint memory flashed through Veil's thoughts before he could recognize the blood elf that he had seen many of times in Avanti before it was destroyed. Hulraith was an average, stubborn, and angry young man with auburn hair who carried a sword. He never said much but came into the town rather frequently for unknown reasons.

"THIS IS IT! DIE!" Shouting toward Veil, he released the red orb that blasted toward him at fast speeds. Veil slid up his hand, and gritted his teeth, using his strength to block the forcing red energy. The orb smashed against his hands, the huge pulsing matter was seemingly only held solid by the force the bandit had used to create the magikal attack. Veil took a step forward, groaning in pain and anger, before at last he deflected and threw the blast back at the bandit.

Laughing from what he thought would kill Veil, his features soon turned to shock before the split second the bright red energy hit and splashed around his body, engulfing him in a massive bubble of hot explosive and unstable plasma that obliterated him. Nothing was left but a smoldering crater of flame and charred earth, the bandit wiped off the face of Daragoth by the fierce attack.

"Idiot.. he couldn't even dodge his own attack.. pft.." Veil took a deep breath.

 

[kai]

Bad news everyone! A big chunk of the story, as well as details and other picks are going to be left out because of the fact I wasn't able to salvage my old drive, but do not shun, for I will just make them up again as I go!

Thankfully I'm naturally an imaginative person, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

anywho:




Veil was exhausted. Blood ran down his fluted plate hauberk and stained the cold metal. Beads of sweat dripped from his brow, the immense heat practically cooking the elf inside his shell of steel. He shuffled forward at a lazy pace, heavy exhales leaving his red parted lips, a single trail of his crimson warm blood dribbled down the side of Veil's mouth. It would surely be an unwise thing to stay around these parts during the day, considering he was nearly in the center of the Aluhandra desert. A gruel and unforgiving barren land.

Many heroes had met their end here before, Veil sure didn't want to end up as any of the others. The thick plate of his boots clanked against his steps as he pushed on, the heat pulsating down on his brow. He could feel the cool perspiration drip down from his thick white locks, a soft breeze offered its blessing for a moment to Veil, before fading. He sighed.

"I can't believe I'm stuck out here.. could this get any worse..?" Collapsing onto his backside, he sat, and stared up into the blue skies, not a single cloud hovered above. Just the harsh beaming of the suns rays down on the earth, heating the sand as well as Veil, he felt as if he were trapped within an oven. Ultimately, knowing Veil's luck, it was about to get worse, a whole lot worse.

"There he is!"

"Get that bastard!"

"CHARGE!"

"I call his head!"

"He's mine!"

"Not if I get him first!"

Multiple voices echoed, a storm of roughly ten bandits rushed toward Veil, weapons readied. There was going to be more bloodshed.

"No.." A shallow, calm voice spoke, that eased the other bandits, stopping them in their tracks. They halted and lowered their weapons, a single man stepping forth with long auburn hair. He was quite young and handsome, roughly five-five. He had a short-steel sword sheathed at his side. "He's mine. He killed my brother, so I'm going to deal with him."

"Who the hell do you thi - " A bandit tried opposing him, but the leader had only lifted his hand and silenced him with a narrow blast of forcing energy that blew through his chest and killed him instantly. He fell back lifelessly in a pool of his own blood. Veil said nothing but watched. It was clear there was issues amongst the ranks of the bandits. No others were stupid enough to say anything to their leader.

"If anyone else wants to try and stop him, you'll have to deal with me first. Anyone? ... I thought so. Now.. you there, elf boy. You've killed a lot of my friends.. as well as my brother.." Taking a frontward step, the bandit continued: "You've got a lot of nerve coming out here, and even showing your face in my lands. I'm going to make you regret living when I'm done with you."

"Let me guess, Hulraith huh?" Veil said, lifting to his feet, offering a weak defensive posture, it was the best he could give from his many earlier battles.

"Yes that's right. You may have heard of me before, I have quite the reputation around these parts for killing worms like you. Typical.. 'hero' figures that think they can somehow kill a member of Wildfire and get away with it. Hah, what a joke." Hulraith spoke in a young, arrogant overtone that asserted his power over his peers. Like most bandits, he couldn't have been a day over twenty.

".. The main reason, though, is because you killed my brother. Virgil had a lot to live for, I was teaching him the true ways of being a bandit, he was my student.. and family. And you, elf.. you took him from me. For that, it's only fair that I take off your miserable little head and ram it on a spear in my den."

"I've no pity for your brother, you, or any bandits for that matter. You can cry me a river for all I care, I'll offer you no mercy just as I was offered none. Take your 'boo-hoos' elsewhere, kid." Veil narrowed his eyes, testing Hulraith. He didn't move or say a word after, just stood waiting..

".. We'll see about THAT!" Blasting forward, Hulraith was incredibly fast. A cloud of sand was kicked up from his leap forward at Veil, his fist clenching back, before sliding forward toward his jawline. It smashed against his mandible and sent him skyward, Hulraith taking nearly no time to recover, he simply grinned and blasted off upward in a burst of speed for another hit he could manage.

Veil was fast as well. Recovering from the blow, he jerked his head down and saw Hulraith closing in fast, and slid his hands down in an effort to knock him off his balance. A blast of energy shot from his palms, but Hulraith easily swooped left, avoiding the shower of hot atomic particles, and caught Veil from behind with an elbow into his mid-back.

Being forced slightly away from Hulraith, he made sure to hit Veil again, this time smashing him with both his fists in a heavy hammer-fist fashion, sending Veil plummeting to the earth below. This time, Veil knew he was in trouble, another hit could easily mean he'd be out of the fight for good, so focusing with all his might, he used his new powers over wind to steer himself into a recover, avoiding his collision with the earth below. He flew parallel to the ground, before lifting off upward to gain altitude.

Veil now had distance between himself and the bandit, but knew it wouldn't mean much if he couldn't keep fighting. Veil, not paying attention, suddenly came to a stop with his back crashing into a thick formation of rocks, closing his eyes and curling in pain. He soon fell to the earth below, hitting the sand and laying idle.

Hulraith laughed hysterically, making his descent from the air and standing twenty feet from Veil. "It seems perhaps you're more of a threat to yourself, than I am to you. Hahahaha!" Pointing at Veil, who laid in pain, slowly managed to lift himself to a kneel. "I give you credit, you just don't know when to say down hm..?"

 

[kai]

The bandit's foot pivoted forward toward Veil, than the earth began to rumble from below. The rocks shook threateningly at Hulraith, thick chunks of stone fracturing off and smashing into the sand below. Veil quickly felt himself rising into the air, the sand rolling off the back of a huge dread scorpion that he stood upon.

Unfortunately for Hulraith, he was faced directly eye to eye with the horrid creature which snapped angrily at him. Its massive black claws trying to pince him, which he narrowly avoided before taking off in a backward leap. The gigantic beast took after the bandit, stabbing its stinger down at Hulraith, who flew right to avoid the deadly barb.

 

[kai]

"I don't think that it's fair we can't even so much as help Hulraith." One bandit said to another, they had began conversation amongst one another as they waited for Hulraith to return.

"Yeah. What can you do though? It's not like we have any say so."

"I say we just kill him, who's to say we actually need him around anyway?"

Suddenly from off in the horizon, Hulraith came running over the large sand dunes in full speed, one bandit laughing and making a remark upon seeing him.

"Look who it is. Guess he got his ass kicked by that elf."

They all began laughing as Hulraith neared closer, another bandit speaking:

"What's the matter Hulraith? You couldn't handle that elf?" He spoke laughing. Hulraith sprinted right past them all.

"RUN!"

"What?"

"I SAID RUN YOU IDIOTS!" Hulraith continued storming off into the distance, the bandits looked at each other confused before the mighty dread scorpion crawled over the huge sand dune, and started for them. Its' massive claws swung down and crashed against the earth, kicking up sand and dust, the bandits scattered, shouting for their lives.

"We're gonna need to.. - " A bandit was cutoff, leaping to the right of the scorpion's tail which flicked angrily to impale him, landing and recovering a few feet away.

" .. Agh! We're gonna need to kill this damn.. thing!" He lifted up onto his feet, regaining his balance and sliding his sword forth, slashing it against one of the scorpion's legs. It did little to the hard exoskeleton of the gigantic beast, which now lifted its leg and smashed it down on the bandit, killing him instantly.

"There went Brandon." A bandit sighed, turning toward Hulraith. "Any bright ideas your 'mightiness'?"

"Yeah! You got us into this shit! Get us out of it!" Another yelled.

"I'm already ahead of you.." Hulraith said intently, focusing his hands forward.

 

[kai]

A blast of red energy shot from the palms of Hulraith heavenward, striking the giant black scorpion in a burst of hot particles that seemingly exploded against the creature's massive body, leaving not but a scratch.

"Figures." Hulraith muttered, leaping directly into the sky and landing on the back of the beast.

"Enough is enough, now you DIE!" Effortlessly he twirled his short-steel sword and twisted it perfectly in his hand before elegantly thrusting the tip downward into the scorpion's brain. The sharp metal had no trouble sliding through into the hard exoskeleton and piercing the monster's central cortex. It gave a loud screech before plunging downward and crashing into the sand, rocking the earth slightly as it hit.

Hopping down from the creature's back and smiling, Hulraith stood vicarious and proud of his kill.

"Good work!" A bandit cried, "Yeah, you did awesome." said another.

"Perhaps we should review the dead, role call?" Hulraith spoke seriously, the happiness fading from his features.

"Mirak and Neer are dead, .. I can't find Boruun; he is most likely buried amongst the sand somewhere."

"Hm'.. or perhaps the elf from before has captured him." Hulraith turned his head slowly, seemingly studying his surroundings. It was if as almost he could sense Veil, he knew he was there.

Knowing his cover was blown, Veil leaped from behind a sand dune, and shot his palm forward. "Surprised to see me?" he said with a snicker, before letting out a burst of wind to send back the bandits. Three of the remaining four were easily put on their backs by the intense force of the current, only Hulraith and his right-hand man stood the force. "That it?" the bandit still standing said, his hand reaching up behind his back to draw the large one-sided axe he had.

"I'm gonna enjoy this." He smirked, lowering the weapon to his side with a kneel, preparing to attack Veil. His feet finally came into contact with the soft desert sand, and then the bandit jerked forth in a burst of speed. Anticipating this, Veil slid up the lightweight steel short sword he had, and sent a diagonal slash for the oncoming bandit. His axe swung down and caught the strike midway, canceling both out, before the bandit raised his axe again and sent it horizontally now for Veil.

Taking a step right, he voided this, and now shot his leg to the center of the bandit who was recovering. The blow hit, and sent him into a bend with the force of the fluted plate legging smashing against his gut. He let out a grunt, the air from his lungs pushed out, and Veil raised his sword upward then..

With a grin, he knew he had him dead rites, and swung quick and painlessly, cleaving the bandit's head into halves. His body crumbled to the earth lifelessly, and blood spilled onto the sand. Veil's gaze then met Hulraith's, being the last two standing in the middle of the Aluhandra.

"You live like a coward, then you will die like one." he said, looking Hulraith directly in the eye. ".. and you my friend, are next to die." Veil stepped forward, the steel sword clenched at his side, stained with blood.

"Try me."

 

[kai]

A cold wind blew silently over the earth. A few delicate leaves fluttered past Veil's head, he dared not stir. 100 feet away, Hulraith stood parallel from him, his blade drawn. Neither Elf nor Human flinched, a silence seemed to have fell upon Daragoth as they sized each other up.

Hulraith, eager for blood yelled out: "What's a matter Elf? You look like you've seen a ghost - no joke intended about your hair, either." A grin peered across his lips as he teased, taking a pivot and lifting the tip of his sword to face Veil.

"Make your move, just know, that I won't hesitate to strike you down the second that you do." Threateningly he took a more defensive posture, his legs stiffening and steadying his short steel sword. Deep down Hulraith was unsure of the power that Veil may have, he could feel his fingers trembling upon the hilt, trying hard to balance the weapon. He could not put his finger on it why, but there was a strange presence about him, a almost divine or mystic force constantly pulsing around Veil.

He seemed pure of essence, impossible to be corrupt, Veil's white locks gently blew with the wind that had been steady for some time now. Hulraith noticed that.

He could not sense the powers however, of the strange being before himself. He did however realize he would be no match for whatever magik Veil may hold. "You mock me in your silence, Elf. What stillness is this you suffer? are you deaf?"

"I'm about as deaf as you are dumb, your idle words mean nothing to me. Now enough of this talk, how about you let that sword do the talking for you?"

Grinning a bit, Hulraith raised a brow curiously at the arrogant boy. "You're so eager to die." His smile turned wider, showing his teeth in anger, he threw a hand forward and shot a blast of energy for Veil. He didn't bother to move from the path of the fast traveling projectile; which flashed with a brilliant golden energy. The orb smashed against Veil's forearm, who easily batted away the magik-ball. It flew almost 25 feet away before crashing and exploding into one of the huge columns of sandstone that formed the face of a cliff. Chunks of boulder fell and collided against the earth, kicking up sand and shaking the ground.

Veil took his chance, and slipped his hand easily upward. A gust of wind fluttered from his graceful movements, sending millions of tiny sharp grains of sand into the eyes of Hulraith. He had no time to react before he found himself upon his knees, struggling to rub free the particles that found their way into his visage.

"You little - you're gonna pay for th.. " Before it was possible for him to finish his sentence, a leg had already collided into his side and threw him violently like a ragdoll 10 feet away. He smashed along the hard surface of the desert sand, that easily so small and fine could carve through his flesh or get stuck. Blood poured from his right shoulder as he stood up, visible through his clothing that was growing damp with his perspiration.

The harsh desert sun was cruel and unforgiving, even Veil felt the strain of the harsh rays beating down upon his bronzed iron armor. Hulraith coughed, and fell to his knee, struggling to stay up. "You.. nngh'.." He had trouble speaking, his throat was dry, but the bandit didn't realize. Infact, he had already lost 80% of his body's water running and over exerting himself for too long in the Aluhandra.

Hulraith, of all the bandits in Daragoth, forgot the one rule that any one traveling in the desert should know. Stay hydrated. It had been 5 hours without a drink in the hot desert sun, and he was beginning to feel the effects of heat stroke. Veil knew Hulraith had no chance of fighting in his current condition, thus why he never moved or attempted to kill him. He knew all along that he wouldn't ever need to lay a hand on Hulraith.

Collapsing onto his face, Hulraith's chest lifted and fell quicker, gasping for air or water to rasp his dry throat. Life slowly began slipping from his being, eyes never closing, his mouth wide, as if in horror, his face growing pale and lifeless, Hulraith was stiff.

 

[kai]

When Hulraith had awoken after 3 hours, he had forgotten where he was. His head was pulsing violently from a migraine, that was the least of his concerns. It was just a reminder of his near death experience from his earlier heat stroke he suffered. Groaning painfully, he rolled onto his side. He was in a small tent, and from the outside he could see the casted shadow of a single man sat beside a fire.

He attempted to speak, but words failed him. He didn't care much, he was exhausted, and instead chose to roll over onto his back. He had bandages across his chest, freshly wrapped and tended, his shoes were off as well. He wondered who had been so nice as to take him in after his endeavor. Closing his eyes, Hulraith began to sleep off the night, his pain too great to attempt to move.

Outside the tent, Veil quietly sat before the warm flames. He hadn't bothered to look back once at the tent to see movement, or stir in the slightest of worry that the bandit might awaken with a blood thirsty vengeance. He knew Hulraith wouldn't be able to lift a hand until morning, and by then Veil would be long gone. Grabbing Hulraith's short steel sword, he set it by the entrance of the tent, grabbed his gear, and set off.

The Aluhandra was dangerous, bandit or not, Veil allowed Hulraith his weapon; he knew he'd need it. Veil's tired feet carried him on, for he could not sleep. He had lost the will due to his current events. He recalled all that had happened, his earlier encounters with the Ghouls and the forgotten monastery, the battle against the Orc, the undead, and his failure to retrieve the stone of Kurak, which had been removed. Many thoughts flooded his mind as he walked on through the cold desert night, not stopping.

He heard the occasional howl of a far off coyote, or the dangerous scowl or scream of some nightly creature that lurked in the sands - awaiting prey or victim to feed upon nocturnally.

Due morning time, Hulraith would not awaken. His tent was ripped open savagely, but not just the tent itself. Hulraith was torn limb from limb in his sleep by a sand crawler, the creature had no trouble dispatching the sleeping man. There would have been a brief moment before he saw the beast, until it sank its teeth and claws into his abdomen and devoured his insides. Blood was splattered violently of the torn remains of the tent, and the fire had no doubt attracted the monster. A few feet away from the tent laid a short steel sword, a severed hand still clasping to the hilt..

 

[kai]

"I suppose it will be awhile before I reach the nearest town at this rate.." Veil muttered to himself as a bead of sweat ran down his tanned cheek. He stopped walking for a moment, only to look from left to right, scanning slowly for any sign of life or civilization in the horizon.

"Gah'.. this heat! I gotta get out of it.. at this rate I'm going to suffer the same fate as that blockhead.." He scornfully tore off the breast plate of his fluted steel hauberk, desperately trying to cool himself from the beaming desert sun. Inside of his thick armor, it was almost as hot as a furnace, the metal scorched Veil's fingertips as he removed the breast piece, dropping it into the sand below, and groaning in pain.

Armor was the least of his worries as he pried off the remaining steel leggings, and hard leather pads that insulated him in the already burning hot sun. He threw them to the earth as well, freeing himself from the slow grasp of being cooked alive.


(I know this one's kinda short but I'll add more onto it later, also: checkpoint. What's everybody think of the story so far? comments please. )