Post by Data Holder on Nov 7, 2014 22:18:16 GMT
Some disclaimers:
- You may vote only with one account, even if you possess several accounts. This will be enforced and abusers will be penalized.
- You may vote for 1 of the Art Entries.
- You may vote for 1 of the Lore Entries.
- You may vote for 2 of the Icon Entries per class (max: 4)
- We may request the winning icon entry to be modified based on how the class turns out, be it color scheme or shape. Vote for the design you prefer as the final version will look like that.
- Note that the winners of the Icon Contests will be considered the official icons.
Entries:
Art Contest
Lore Contest
Graphic Contest
Animist
1
2
3
4
5
6
Slinger
1
2
3
Slinger #4
- You may vote only with one account, even if you possess several accounts. This will be enforced and abusers will be penalized.
- You may vote for 1 of the Art Entries.
- You may vote for 1 of the Lore Entries.
- You may vote for 2 of the Icon Entries per class (max: 4)
- We may request the winning icon entry to be modified based on how the class turns out, be it color scheme or shape. Vote for the design you prefer as the final version will look like that.
- Note that the winners of the Icon Contests will be considered the official icons.
Halloween:
It isn't a surprise for this time of year to be filled with spooky and spoopy things.
1) Art Contest: Draw characters in a Halloween costume, be it a classic vampire costume or a cosplay from another series. Please include at least 1 RP character that isn't your own character in the picture! Any medium of art is accepted.
2) Short Story - Lore Contest: The Avon Valley has withstood the terrors of the Miasma, but sacrifices had to be made. Write a story about a platoon of Wardens coming face to face with this evil for the first time, or a poor Heretic being persecuted by the reputation of their class.
3) Graphic Contest: You may recall that we held a contest for player-designed classes. Because of the many entries we had, two classes were chosen and they should be added within the upcoming months. Much like the ones designed for Warden and Heretic, please design class icons for the Weapon Specialist Class Slinger and the Hybrid Class Animist. Three winners will be decided for each icon and the top winners of each class will be selected as their official icons.
It isn't a surprise for this time of year to be filled with spooky and spoopy things.
1) Art Contest: Draw characters in a Halloween costume, be it a classic vampire costume or a cosplay from another series. Please include at least 1 RP character that isn't your own character in the picture! Any medium of art is accepted.
2) Short Story - Lore Contest: The Avon Valley has withstood the terrors of the Miasma, but sacrifices had to be made. Write a story about a platoon of Wardens coming face to face with this evil for the first time, or a poor Heretic being persecuted by the reputation of their class.
3) Graphic Contest: You may recall that we held a contest for player-designed classes. Because of the many entries we had, two classes were chosen and they should be added within the upcoming months. Much like the ones designed for Warden and Heretic, please design class icons for the Weapon Specialist Class Slinger and the Hybrid Class Animist. Three winners will be decided for each icon and the top winners of each class will be selected as their official icons.
Entries:
Art Contest
{Spoiler}
{Spoiler}
Lore Contest
{Spoiler}The day was dark... Clouds hovered overhead, blocking out the light from the sun above as though attempting to strangle whatever life still remained in the valley... The grass was wilted, the trees mangled and the people equally twisted. Glancing over the landscape, the Warden could hardly believe his eyes... He had heard tell of this accursed land and its denizens, but could barely keep his stomach steady with the terrible atmosphere of the place. A small part of a group of four, though there were also four of these such groups...
A large platoon, suitable for a lower-level raid, so he assumed based on what he'd learned thus far about this strange world. It seemed fitting that such a large assembly would be called in to combat this newly risen plague of madness, though the Warden had some doubts as to whether the others might turn on him or not... A few already seemed to be shaking in their armor, if only barely. Actually, he himself had just noticed HE was shaking... This truly was unhallowed soil.
At the moment, the group was moving at a slow march towards a village they'd received a letter from, one which had called for their aid in quenching a stage three mass-infection... Even from outside the cobblestone walls that were just a little taller than the tallest of their men, ghostly moans, screeches and hushed voices could be heard within. As they neared the settlement they'd been sent to release from this scourge, they were ordered to slow to a halt and take a break before entering.
___________________________________________________________________________________
It had been four days since she'd arrived in this small settlement... And yet, the people of the land had already begun to become infected with her corruption, the miasma that slowly filled her body passed on to the poor people who had taken her in. Indeed, she was a Heretic. She could feel the miasma within her gut, within her mind, a sickeningly sweet black sludge that boiled and bubbled in both with an equal mix of pleasure and nausea.
She couldn't help but feel as though the further into this madness her mind was submerged, the less disgust she felt as that boiling sludge assaulted her with thoughts that she knew were not her own. They demanded she act, initially, in order to harm herself in others... But lately, it seemed to have taken on a more seductive approach, promising her new heights of pleasure should she merely make use of her tainted powers to spread her "gift".
At the cost of her humanity, perhaps, she gave in just this once... That was two days ago, though. At this point, she was now curled up into the fetal position, whimpering as the voices not only complimented and outright demeaned her at the same time, but she could swear she felt the sludge enveloping her flesh as well. It was like the miasma itself was now stroking her side, as though trying to comfort her... Even if the sensation sent chills up her spine and brought a hint of vomit to her throat's entry... And possible exit, if it persisted.
"JuST GiVe iN, DEaR... YoU're FInE, sEE? I'LL bE suRe to KEep YoU safe... LeT'S gO PlAy wItH tHe NeiGHbors." The voices hissed and groaned, mingling to form a cacophonous slurry of sound that made her mind crawl with terror. In an attempt to regain at least a smidgen of control over herself, the heretic pushed herself off of the floor. Or rather, she attempted to do so, only to find her grayed limbs and atrophied muscles too weak to support her weight. In the time she'd spent in the settlement, she'd isolated herself almost entirely, to prevent the spread of her madness... Unfortunately, it seemed to have merely delayed it.
"HeRE, DeaR... LeT uS HELp." The voices creaked, a large blackened palm slamming into the floor beside her head, causing her to let out a stifled cry before being forcefully lifted from the smooth wooden surface. A massive fleshy appendage held her aloft, balanced carefully as it then propped her up on her feet. It then pushed against the floor, moving her with a stumble towards the bedroom window.
"LeT'S gO PLaY OuTSIde, dEAr..." The voices slurred, her weakened form and dazed senses causing her to slump against, then fall through, the window. While it was lucky that it had swung out to allow this, it was rather unfortunate that she ended up landing face-down on the cobblestone, resulting in a sore face and a bloodied nose... She let out a whimper, tears rolling down her cheeks as the sinuous tendril attached to her spine lifted her to her feet once more. "Let's PlaY, Let'S PLaY... FiNd sOMeOne tO PLaY~!"
The voices laughed, the arm-like appendage then reaching out before her to tug her along, forcing her to stumble in the direction it seemed to desire her to go even as blood streaked from her nostrils down her lips and chin, falling to the cobble below with wet little "plap" sounds. Still crying, the Heretic then spotted movement out of the corner of her eyes, the muscular appendage seeming to sense this, turning her to face a small mob of twelve, armed with a few simple firearms, blades, pitchforks and torches... As they rushed her, her eyes went wide with fear, both for what she may do to them and what they might do to her.
___________________________________________________________________________________
After their brief respite, the Wardens were on the move once more. As they had stopped just outside the settlement, our hero had taken the time to snack on some supplements provided by his party, but he'd also scouted what he could from his current vantage point... Even though the only way he could see into the settlement itself was through the gap in the cobblestone walls that their path lead towards, the walls were painted with some rather disturbing artworks. Not only blood, but black sludge and other less-pleasant bodily fluids painted portions of the walls, a twisted tapestry of sorts decorating the outside walls, depicting the story of a wonderful being that had come bearing a boiling mass of black... At least, this was what he could glean from it before relinquishing his meal to the earth to take for sustenance instead. As the Wardens all stood and got back into order, he heard a rising cheer echo through the valley, a strange thing given all the platoon had seen thus far were nulls, beings too far gone into the madness to do much more than quiver on the ground... Well, that is aside from one or two more aggressive ones, most of which seemed to have once been Adventurers.
He wondered how the Wardens would handle them... A party of four had left them in order to take those special individuals back for study and purification, supposedly.
Entering the settlement, the Warden soon took notice of a small pillar of smoke that rose from the center of the seemingly empty place, though this smoky shaft was definitely growing thicker and thicker with each passing second. On the order of their platoon's commander, he and the other wardens rushed the center of the settlement. It was likely whatever this terrible evil they'd been called in to remove laid there...
___________________________________________________________________________________
"Waaaagh-ah-aaaagh!" She screamed, writhing in agony as heated coals crackled under her feet, her feet burning quickly, fully exposed the the growing flames beneath her. A single woman stood before her now, the last remaining survivor of the the madness, aside from herself, now... Though she was very certain she'd soon find herself reduced to a pile of cinders. The woman who had caught her stood stiff, staring at her intently as her flesh began to blacken and crack, blister and bubble.
The woman then gave a small twisted grin, her scraggly black hair draped over her eyes as she spoke. "You... You came here, knowing full well what you would do to us... And you have even gone so far as to take the lives of innocents with your powers directly when we tried to save you. Now..." They began to whisper, their grin widening to insane proportions, seeming to split their face in two as they bared their teeth. "Now you will feel the torment you deserve, Heretic. Let these flames lick at your very soul, to cleanse you of this wretched corruption in your last moments. Eheheh... Ahah... AHAHAHAHAHAH!" The cackled, their voice quickly rising to a mad laugh, saliva flying from their mouth as the heretic's consciousness began to fade, her breath stolen by the burning fires that slowly engulfed her vision.
"I... Am sorry..." She whispered, unable to cry any more due to the intense heat, her voice barely audible even to herself in the midst of the hissing of the flames around her.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Upon arriving at the scene, the Warden, our hero... Fell to his knees in shock. He and his platoon had heard some unholy creature's laughing from several yards back, but he'd never imagined he would find such a nightmarish scene at the epicenter of this cursed settlement. Each other Warden, it seemed, stoo with the same sense of dread and confusion as he, though he had been pushed to the forefront at some point before kneeling with his palms to his thighs. "This... Is madness." He whispered, bile rising to his throat, his stomach emptied long before, his dry heave hurting enough to cause him to keel over onto his side. Before the platoon stood a single fire... And a multitude of burning corpses within it. A small girl with sizzling black skin was tied to a post at the center, a satanic ring of the dead crackling below to heat the singing inferno that tore into her flesh so relentless, the bodies themselves seeming to have suffered much worse... Within that picture still framed within his mind, unlikely to ever vanish completely, he could see they had not just been burned, most had also suffered multiple compound fractures...
And yet, even as he lay on the ground, trying to rid his mind of this horrific scene, he heard someone whisper "Don't worry, I'll punish all of them... I'll cleanse them all~!", wrenching him from the ground to look from side to side with a gasp, a few of the Wardens near him jumping in response. Unable to discover the sight of this voice, he attributed it to himself losing a grip on his mind.
"I apologize. I... I think we should all head back and calm ourselves. There's nothing more to do here.... Right?" He declared, a single nod from each of the Wardens sealing the vote in one instant. As our hero rose, he let out a slow breath, then began the march in the opposite direction, back from whence they came...
A large platoon, suitable for a lower-level raid, so he assumed based on what he'd learned thus far about this strange world. It seemed fitting that such a large assembly would be called in to combat this newly risen plague of madness, though the Warden had some doubts as to whether the others might turn on him or not... A few already seemed to be shaking in their armor, if only barely. Actually, he himself had just noticed HE was shaking... This truly was unhallowed soil.
At the moment, the group was moving at a slow march towards a village they'd received a letter from, one which had called for their aid in quenching a stage three mass-infection... Even from outside the cobblestone walls that were just a little taller than the tallest of their men, ghostly moans, screeches and hushed voices could be heard within. As they neared the settlement they'd been sent to release from this scourge, they were ordered to slow to a halt and take a break before entering.
___________________________________________________________________________________
It had been four days since she'd arrived in this small settlement... And yet, the people of the land had already begun to become infected with her corruption, the miasma that slowly filled her body passed on to the poor people who had taken her in. Indeed, she was a Heretic. She could feel the miasma within her gut, within her mind, a sickeningly sweet black sludge that boiled and bubbled in both with an equal mix of pleasure and nausea.
She couldn't help but feel as though the further into this madness her mind was submerged, the less disgust she felt as that boiling sludge assaulted her with thoughts that she knew were not her own. They demanded she act, initially, in order to harm herself in others... But lately, it seemed to have taken on a more seductive approach, promising her new heights of pleasure should she merely make use of her tainted powers to spread her "gift".
At the cost of her humanity, perhaps, she gave in just this once... That was two days ago, though. At this point, she was now curled up into the fetal position, whimpering as the voices not only complimented and outright demeaned her at the same time, but she could swear she felt the sludge enveloping her flesh as well. It was like the miasma itself was now stroking her side, as though trying to comfort her... Even if the sensation sent chills up her spine and brought a hint of vomit to her throat's entry... And possible exit, if it persisted.
"JuST GiVe iN, DEaR... YoU're FInE, sEE? I'LL bE suRe to KEep YoU safe... LeT'S gO PlAy wItH tHe NeiGHbors." The voices hissed and groaned, mingling to form a cacophonous slurry of sound that made her mind crawl with terror. In an attempt to regain at least a smidgen of control over herself, the heretic pushed herself off of the floor. Or rather, she attempted to do so, only to find her grayed limbs and atrophied muscles too weak to support her weight. In the time she'd spent in the settlement, she'd isolated herself almost entirely, to prevent the spread of her madness... Unfortunately, it seemed to have merely delayed it.
"HeRE, DeaR... LeT uS HELp." The voices creaked, a large blackened palm slamming into the floor beside her head, causing her to let out a stifled cry before being forcefully lifted from the smooth wooden surface. A massive fleshy appendage held her aloft, balanced carefully as it then propped her up on her feet. It then pushed against the floor, moving her with a stumble towards the bedroom window.
"LeT'S gO PLaY OuTSIde, dEAr..." The voices slurred, her weakened form and dazed senses causing her to slump against, then fall through, the window. While it was lucky that it had swung out to allow this, it was rather unfortunate that she ended up landing face-down on the cobblestone, resulting in a sore face and a bloodied nose... She let out a whimper, tears rolling down her cheeks as the sinuous tendril attached to her spine lifted her to her feet once more. "Let's PlaY, Let'S PLaY... FiNd sOMeOne tO PLaY~!"
The voices laughed, the arm-like appendage then reaching out before her to tug her along, forcing her to stumble in the direction it seemed to desire her to go even as blood streaked from her nostrils down her lips and chin, falling to the cobble below with wet little "plap" sounds. Still crying, the Heretic then spotted movement out of the corner of her eyes, the muscular appendage seeming to sense this, turning her to face a small mob of twelve, armed with a few simple firearms, blades, pitchforks and torches... As they rushed her, her eyes went wide with fear, both for what she may do to them and what they might do to her.
___________________________________________________________________________________
After their brief respite, the Wardens were on the move once more. As they had stopped just outside the settlement, our hero had taken the time to snack on some supplements provided by his party, but he'd also scouted what he could from his current vantage point... Even though the only way he could see into the settlement itself was through the gap in the cobblestone walls that their path lead towards, the walls were painted with some rather disturbing artworks. Not only blood, but black sludge and other less-pleasant bodily fluids painted portions of the walls, a twisted tapestry of sorts decorating the outside walls, depicting the story of a wonderful being that had come bearing a boiling mass of black... At least, this was what he could glean from it before relinquishing his meal to the earth to take for sustenance instead. As the Wardens all stood and got back into order, he heard a rising cheer echo through the valley, a strange thing given all the platoon had seen thus far were nulls, beings too far gone into the madness to do much more than quiver on the ground... Well, that is aside from one or two more aggressive ones, most of which seemed to have once been Adventurers.
He wondered how the Wardens would handle them... A party of four had left them in order to take those special individuals back for study and purification, supposedly.
Entering the settlement, the Warden soon took notice of a small pillar of smoke that rose from the center of the seemingly empty place, though this smoky shaft was definitely growing thicker and thicker with each passing second. On the order of their platoon's commander, he and the other wardens rushed the center of the settlement. It was likely whatever this terrible evil they'd been called in to remove laid there...
___________________________________________________________________________________
"Waaaagh-ah-aaaagh!" She screamed, writhing in agony as heated coals crackled under her feet, her feet burning quickly, fully exposed the the growing flames beneath her. A single woman stood before her now, the last remaining survivor of the the madness, aside from herself, now... Though she was very certain she'd soon find herself reduced to a pile of cinders. The woman who had caught her stood stiff, staring at her intently as her flesh began to blacken and crack, blister and bubble.
The woman then gave a small twisted grin, her scraggly black hair draped over her eyes as she spoke. "You... You came here, knowing full well what you would do to us... And you have even gone so far as to take the lives of innocents with your powers directly when we tried to save you. Now..." They began to whisper, their grin widening to insane proportions, seeming to split their face in two as they bared their teeth. "Now you will feel the torment you deserve, Heretic. Let these flames lick at your very soul, to cleanse you of this wretched corruption in your last moments. Eheheh... Ahah... AHAHAHAHAHAH!" The cackled, their voice quickly rising to a mad laugh, saliva flying from their mouth as the heretic's consciousness began to fade, her breath stolen by the burning fires that slowly engulfed her vision.
"I... Am sorry..." She whispered, unable to cry any more due to the intense heat, her voice barely audible even to herself in the midst of the hissing of the flames around her.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Upon arriving at the scene, the Warden, our hero... Fell to his knees in shock. He and his platoon had heard some unholy creature's laughing from several yards back, but he'd never imagined he would find such a nightmarish scene at the epicenter of this cursed settlement. Each other Warden, it seemed, stoo with the same sense of dread and confusion as he, though he had been pushed to the forefront at some point before kneeling with his palms to his thighs. "This... Is madness." He whispered, bile rising to his throat, his stomach emptied long before, his dry heave hurting enough to cause him to keel over onto his side. Before the platoon stood a single fire... And a multitude of burning corpses within it. A small girl with sizzling black skin was tied to a post at the center, a satanic ring of the dead crackling below to heat the singing inferno that tore into her flesh so relentless, the bodies themselves seeming to have suffered much worse... Within that picture still framed within his mind, unlikely to ever vanish completely, he could see they had not just been burned, most had also suffered multiple compound fractures...
And yet, even as he lay on the ground, trying to rid his mind of this horrific scene, he heard someone whisper "Don't worry, I'll punish all of them... I'll cleanse them all~!", wrenching him from the ground to look from side to side with a gasp, a few of the Wardens near him jumping in response. Unable to discover the sight of this voice, he attributed it to himself losing a grip on his mind.
"I apologize. I... I think we should all head back and calm ourselves. There's nothing more to do here.... Right?" He declared, a single nod from each of the Wardens sealing the vote in one instant. As our hero rose, he let out a slow breath, then began the march in the opposite direction, back from whence they came...
{Spoiler}
“Look out!” The shout came from my right side, and I looked in time to see Danrial duck his head to avoid his skull being smashed into by a flying boulder. It was a terrifying sight and the sound of the massive object crashing into the ground, rolling, and then smashing into the trunk of a large tree, made my stomach twist. It made me freeze. Even from the distance I was at, the force of the impact on the ground caused a shower of dirt to rain down on where I was crouching. The little pellets felt like a shower of thick rain, and it made me grimace. When I looked to see who, or what, had thrown the rock; I was not surprised. Coming out from a huge mist which descended from the Mountains early in the morning, I could see a group of strange creatures. They were metal in nature but were able to move, and it frightened me as well as several of my men, but they fell just like everything else which we had fought before!
“Reddings! Take out that thrower!” My order echoed over the sounds of several rifle rounds echoing, but the man I shouted at did not answer. He was only ten feet from me, so I knew the noise was not the issue. No, he was cowering. His knees were tucked into his chest, his rifle was lying in the dirt, and his eyes were squeezed shut. At the sight, I frowned again, but not because he was trying to hide. No, he was doing what we all were thinking, but he actually had the balls to do it. He was taking the easy way out. I couldn’t be mad at him, because I too wanted to curl up into a ball and just wish it all went away.
However, I would not do such a thing, not now. The men I stood beside and in between were all looking at me. In between each shot, some glanced at me to check on what I was doing. Some ducked and cowered for a moment and I could feel their eyes on my skin. One, who I kept by my side, was practically staring at me as much as he possibly could. They looked to me for orders, and for courage because not even God could help us now. The enemy before us was strong and something which we had never thought would actually appear to contend us. Yet, it was here, and we were the only ones equipped well enough to stand a chance until the morning. With the beautiful city of Avon at my back and the moon now cresting over the mountain, marking hour 0200, cowering and curling into a ball for me was not an option. I had no choice but to stand and fight. If I didn’t, then this… cloud… would destroy Avon.
“REDDINGS!” My voice strained as I shouted over the volley of rounds again, but this time I didn’t just yell. I pulled my rifle to my shoulder, Lady Redwing I had named it, and aimed the rusted metal sights down towards the mechanical fiend which had dared to throw a rock at my boys. I took a breath, leveled my shot, and squeezed the trigger. The weapon of war in my hands bucked against my worn and battled-hardened shoulder, kicking into me. The muzzle of my rifle flickered as I used one of the techniques my teacher had taught me. The shot cracked the air on the opposing end of my weapon and the round bolted through the air. In a second, the projectile lodged itself into the leg of the fiend. It let out a wail as it was struck by the round.
“Take out that Mech!” I barked at the men near me and pointed at the creature I had just shot. At the sound of my order, several men looked over at me and then followed my finger. Within seconds, the metal body of the strange being was pummeled by half a dozen more shots. Its wounded cries ceased, and it fell to the ground, only to be swallowed up by the dark haze. I spat at the ground, and moved to my right towards my man who was cowering. As I neared it, my worst nightmare came to life.
Since it had arrived, the miasma was pouring out fiends and beasts of all kinds; trolls, Goblins, Wolves, Bears, Strange Machines, globs of material, and sometimes even humanoid things. At first, the sight of a mutant was frightening, but my men and I had grown accustomed to the sights and bringing them down was now easy. The wave of creatures was also continuous, and the field was littered with the bodies of the emerging targets. Yet, they were appearing just as quickly as we were dropping them, and their numbers were only increasing. A wolf would dive out and charge the line, drop, and be replaced by a Mechanized Beast and a Goblin. Upon killing the Goblin three more would step forth. Once we killed the Mech, a small collection of large snakes would steam forth and rush my men, forcing some to engage in close-quarters due to the speed of the beasts. Yet, we had been lucky. Until now.
Out from the mist, I could see it; a huge shadow of something which I could only guess was some kind of leader figure. It was a pure black mass within the purplish-mist, and its presence caused me to hesitate. My rifle became heavy in my hands, the cartridges on my waist and in the pack on my back became stones the weight of mountains. In all of my days, this was my first time ever seeing such a being, and it made me feel like I was worthless; like I was just some kind of annoying ant, but it wasn’t just me that felt that way. In my moment of fear, I could hear the sounds of the three dozen rifles fading; I wasn’t alone, and that was what brought me back.
“Don’t let up! Hold your ground!” My order fell on mainly deaf ears, but it was the sound of my rifle which stirred the life back into my boys. With it pulled to my shoulder, I pulled the trigger and stood tall. It bucked hard as I put everything I had into my shots, refusing to give in to the terrifying machine which lingered before me. My heart pounded in my chest and my jaw locked. I didn’t know what that thing was, but the pressure of just its figure was squeezing down on me. It was hard to breathe.
“Please… I want to go home. Mom, please. Come get me. Please, sister, make the bad things go away! I just want to go home! God, please bring me home! This is all fake. It’s a bad dream!” After I pulled the trigger twice more, I began to hear whispering down to my left. Thankfully, my platoon began to fire again, striking down the small mass which had built up. With that in my mind, I looked down to see that the culprit of the depressing whispers was Reddings. I grimaced at the sight of the boy; he was only seventeen and his father had forced him to join the army. However, he had given me everything he had, so I wouldn’t give up on him.
“Oi, Reddings.” I knelt down beside the boy and placed my hand on his shoulder. His eyes, filled with tears, looked to me as if he had already given up on life. He looked as if he was seeing me from some far off land. I shook him a few times and stared into those lifeless eyes for several seconds, repeating his name as I called to them…
“Reddings, Reddings, Reddings! REDDINGS!” I cried the name out over and over, my voice splitting and cracking from fatigue as the constant orders were catching up to me. After almost eight or nine times, the eyes finally blinked. Life returned, and the boy I had trained to be one of my finest looked at me with pure fear, as if he had woken up from one nightmare and was thrown into another, but this time he knew there was no escape. My hand was real, and the sounds of the rifles were too.
“You aren’t going home if you stay down in the dirt like that.” As I spoke, I grabbed the kid’s rifle and shoved it into his arms. Then, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him up out of his little hole and back into the fight.
“We all want to curl up, Reddings! But the Gods are with us tonight! Fight so we can all go home!” The boy continued to stare at me, even as I yelled at him those words of motivation. I didn’t know if they would work or not, but he wasn’t whispering anymore; he was watching me. With that in mind, I loaded another cartridge into my rifle and then pulled it to my shoulder. As I did, I watched a pack of three black wolves, morphed and mutated into large fanged demons, surge over the heads of two zombified human figures. Instantly upon their appearance, their bodies were bombarded with the munitions of my men. I narrowed my eyes at the lead dog, squeezed my hands on my weapon, and then pulled the trigger. The rifle bucked at me, but I held it firmly as my round ripped into the air. The wolf on the other end was struck between the eyes and they closed as it winced in pain. I pulled the trigger again, and the second round blew off the Wolf’s left ear. The third round struck true, blasting into the animal’s skull and ending its brain function.
The body slid into the dirt right in front of me, coming to a halt a few feet away.
“Get up, Reddings!” I looked down to my left, lowering my weapon as I gave it time to cool off, and saw the boy still staring at me. I grumbled and reached down again, grabbing him by the nape of his neck and lifted him to his feet. He was a few inches shorter than I was.
“Listen to me, son. I’m just as scared as you are, but god dammit if you don’t help me and your brothers’ fight, Avon is going to get wiped off the planet! That means your family will go away, the girl you like and want to impress will die, and you won’t be able to go home. Do you understand me?! Get your rifle, and fight! If you can’t, then go back to the town and hide in the god damn pit you came from!” Anger seethed through my lips as I yelled at the boy, but it seemed to make something tick in his head. Reddings looked down at his own rifle, and then looked towards Avon. Then, he looked back at me. I nodded to him, and he nodded back. Then, I watched as he pulled his own weapon to his shoulder. A moment, later, my newest addition returned to the fight.
“Captain!” The familiar voice of my Sergeant made me look right, and I saw him point straight ahead. As he did so, my ears were filled with the sound of a low, but explosive rumble. The noise caused the ground to shake, and I could feel the power behind it in my bones. The cause was a massive, crystalized, mutated tree which sat in the center of the black miasma; the silhouette I had seen earlier. My eyes narrowed and I watched as the creatures of the miasma began to crowd around the large object. It was as if they were taunting us.
“Focus fire! Take out that tree!” My voice strained once more, but as I finished, the Tree released a distorted roar. Its cry vibrated the air around my platoon and the air grew cold. Then, the world fell silent. I watched as a massive wash of blue and white swept outwards like an explosive wall. The wave was too quick, and I only had enough time to duck into the trench before the frozen particles swept over the air. Reddings, who was determined to continue to fight, remained standing. I watched as the snowy burst caused the man to freeze. By the time the white-wash was over, Reddings was nothing more but a white statue…
I stood up in the moment of peace and looked around me to get an assessment, and what I saw caused my heart to skip; one of my Sergeants was now frozen along with eight of my boys. A few others had been skimmed by the breeze, while almost everyone else was too terrified to stand. The only few which had recovered were myself, my remaining three Sergeants, and their team leaders. The rest refused to stand… but they all looked at me… Why me? Why was I the one who was put as the Captain of this platoon? A lowly fool like me, who had only been lucky and didn’t deserve to live, let alone lead a team of Avon’s finest, was not fit for a Captain… So why were they all looking at me?
“Damn it all…” I muttered and looked back towards the tree that was in front of me. No matter the reason, I was here, and I wasn’t going down without a fight. I raised my rifle to my shoulder and held it firmly in my hand.
“This is for Reddings…” I pulled the trigger, my muzzle flashing as the Tree began to rumble again.
My feet were heavy… So heavy… but I kept walking. My rifle was spent, my pistol jammed, and my sword was cracked. I had only two cartridges left, but they were useless. Everything else…? I had left it in the trench. It weighed me down and it was unnecessary to keep. The sun rose behind the mountain, but I didn’t care… The only thing I cared about was the man I held across my shoulders. I dragged him across the ground with the help of one of my underlings and followed behind three others. My last remaining Sergeant brought up the rear, protecting me, and four other wounded Wardens. The night had been long, but it was over… Avon, in the distance, opened its gates and a horde of Calvary and infantry men stormed out of it. They were late… neepers…
“Captain! It’s the Military!” One of my forwards shouted, his voice full of energy again. I spit on the ground in front of me and kept walking. My Sergeant scoffed behind us and the other men shook their heads.
“The battle is over, son… Who cares…?” The man who was helping me stated, and I agreed with him, but I didn’t say it. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and kept walking. I considered switching places with one of my boys so that I could talk to one of the leaders, but they were just as tired as I was. They had fought just as hard as I had, and I wasn’t about to make them do anything more than they were willing.
“Captain Berings!” A horseman who rode ahead of the small army shouted as he closed in, and my men slowly came to a stop as I made the motion to do so. We lowered our wounded and my two medical specialists tended to them to the best of their abilities. I motioned for water and waved my Sergeant to come with me. He nodded and quickly did so. The horse rider made his way to the side and dismounted his steed, running over to meet myself and my officer.
“Berings?” He asked, a stupid question.
“You’re lookin’ at him.” I retorted, placing the butt of my rifle into the ground firmly. The man hesitated, and seemed to look around me and to my men. My eyes became stern.
“Well?”
“Uh… O-Orders from General Revis. He says to return to the council room at once and that the rest will be taken care of by his men!” The words which came from the messenger made me want to shoot him in his freaking mouth. He was lucky my rifle didn’t work anymore.
“Tell Revis that he can go fu---“
“Captain.” My Sergeant cut me off and gave me a hard look. He shook his head and then nodded back to the boys. I frowned at them and sighed. Then, I looked back at the messenger; he probably wasn’t much older than Reddings.
“Tell Revis that I’ll be there shortly. I need to take care of my men first. Send the Queen my regards... and these.” I stuffed my Captain’s insignias into the messenger’s chest, forcing him to take them. With that, I turned away and returned to my boys. I whistled at them and motioned that it was time to move, and took my position underneath the arm of someone who had done more in one night then Revis ever had in his seventy years of living, and someone who had survived fighting the worst nightmare that Avon would never see… Yet, he was still so fragile…
“Damn it all.” I mumbled as we started to walk.
“Captain…” The whisper from my wounded underling was like a needle, but it was one I welcomed.
“What do you need, Westly?” I didn’t stop walking, but gave the man my full attention. He smiled at me, even though I knew he was hurting all over. His legs were covered in bandages and a small chunk of debris was lodged between two of his ribs.
“Thank you…” I frowned at the words and looked away.
“Don’t… I should be thanking you…”
And so should ever damn person who was living in Avon…
The Lone Battle for Avon
“Look out!” The shout came from my right side, and I looked in time to see Danrial duck his head to avoid his skull being smashed into by a flying boulder. It was a terrifying sight and the sound of the massive object crashing into the ground, rolling, and then smashing into the trunk of a large tree, made my stomach twist. It made me freeze. Even from the distance I was at, the force of the impact on the ground caused a shower of dirt to rain down on where I was crouching. The little pellets felt like a shower of thick rain, and it made me grimace. When I looked to see who, or what, had thrown the rock; I was not surprised. Coming out from a huge mist which descended from the Mountains early in the morning, I could see a group of strange creatures. They were metal in nature but were able to move, and it frightened me as well as several of my men, but they fell just like everything else which we had fought before!
“Reddings! Take out that thrower!” My order echoed over the sounds of several rifle rounds echoing, but the man I shouted at did not answer. He was only ten feet from me, so I knew the noise was not the issue. No, he was cowering. His knees were tucked into his chest, his rifle was lying in the dirt, and his eyes were squeezed shut. At the sight, I frowned again, but not because he was trying to hide. No, he was doing what we all were thinking, but he actually had the balls to do it. He was taking the easy way out. I couldn’t be mad at him, because I too wanted to curl up into a ball and just wish it all went away.
However, I would not do such a thing, not now. The men I stood beside and in between were all looking at me. In between each shot, some glanced at me to check on what I was doing. Some ducked and cowered for a moment and I could feel their eyes on my skin. One, who I kept by my side, was practically staring at me as much as he possibly could. They looked to me for orders, and for courage because not even God could help us now. The enemy before us was strong and something which we had never thought would actually appear to contend us. Yet, it was here, and we were the only ones equipped well enough to stand a chance until the morning. With the beautiful city of Avon at my back and the moon now cresting over the mountain, marking hour 0200, cowering and curling into a ball for me was not an option. I had no choice but to stand and fight. If I didn’t, then this… cloud… would destroy Avon.
“REDDINGS!” My voice strained as I shouted over the volley of rounds again, but this time I didn’t just yell. I pulled my rifle to my shoulder, Lady Redwing I had named it, and aimed the rusted metal sights down towards the mechanical fiend which had dared to throw a rock at my boys. I took a breath, leveled my shot, and squeezed the trigger. The weapon of war in my hands bucked against my worn and battled-hardened shoulder, kicking into me. The muzzle of my rifle flickered as I used one of the techniques my teacher had taught me. The shot cracked the air on the opposing end of my weapon and the round bolted through the air. In a second, the projectile lodged itself into the leg of the fiend. It let out a wail as it was struck by the round.
“Take out that Mech!” I barked at the men near me and pointed at the creature I had just shot. At the sound of my order, several men looked over at me and then followed my finger. Within seconds, the metal body of the strange being was pummeled by half a dozen more shots. Its wounded cries ceased, and it fell to the ground, only to be swallowed up by the dark haze. I spat at the ground, and moved to my right towards my man who was cowering. As I neared it, my worst nightmare came to life.
Since it had arrived, the miasma was pouring out fiends and beasts of all kinds; trolls, Goblins, Wolves, Bears, Strange Machines, globs of material, and sometimes even humanoid things. At first, the sight of a mutant was frightening, but my men and I had grown accustomed to the sights and bringing them down was now easy. The wave of creatures was also continuous, and the field was littered with the bodies of the emerging targets. Yet, they were appearing just as quickly as we were dropping them, and their numbers were only increasing. A wolf would dive out and charge the line, drop, and be replaced by a Mechanized Beast and a Goblin. Upon killing the Goblin three more would step forth. Once we killed the Mech, a small collection of large snakes would steam forth and rush my men, forcing some to engage in close-quarters due to the speed of the beasts. Yet, we had been lucky. Until now.
Out from the mist, I could see it; a huge shadow of something which I could only guess was some kind of leader figure. It was a pure black mass within the purplish-mist, and its presence caused me to hesitate. My rifle became heavy in my hands, the cartridges on my waist and in the pack on my back became stones the weight of mountains. In all of my days, this was my first time ever seeing such a being, and it made me feel like I was worthless; like I was just some kind of annoying ant, but it wasn’t just me that felt that way. In my moment of fear, I could hear the sounds of the three dozen rifles fading; I wasn’t alone, and that was what brought me back.
“Don’t let up! Hold your ground!” My order fell on mainly deaf ears, but it was the sound of my rifle which stirred the life back into my boys. With it pulled to my shoulder, I pulled the trigger and stood tall. It bucked hard as I put everything I had into my shots, refusing to give in to the terrifying machine which lingered before me. My heart pounded in my chest and my jaw locked. I didn’t know what that thing was, but the pressure of just its figure was squeezing down on me. It was hard to breathe.
“Please… I want to go home. Mom, please. Come get me. Please, sister, make the bad things go away! I just want to go home! God, please bring me home! This is all fake. It’s a bad dream!” After I pulled the trigger twice more, I began to hear whispering down to my left. Thankfully, my platoon began to fire again, striking down the small mass which had built up. With that in my mind, I looked down to see that the culprit of the depressing whispers was Reddings. I grimaced at the sight of the boy; he was only seventeen and his father had forced him to join the army. However, he had given me everything he had, so I wouldn’t give up on him.
“Oi, Reddings.” I knelt down beside the boy and placed my hand on his shoulder. His eyes, filled with tears, looked to me as if he had already given up on life. He looked as if he was seeing me from some far off land. I shook him a few times and stared into those lifeless eyes for several seconds, repeating his name as I called to them…
“Reddings, Reddings, Reddings! REDDINGS!” I cried the name out over and over, my voice splitting and cracking from fatigue as the constant orders were catching up to me. After almost eight or nine times, the eyes finally blinked. Life returned, and the boy I had trained to be one of my finest looked at me with pure fear, as if he had woken up from one nightmare and was thrown into another, but this time he knew there was no escape. My hand was real, and the sounds of the rifles were too.
“You aren’t going home if you stay down in the dirt like that.” As I spoke, I grabbed the kid’s rifle and shoved it into his arms. Then, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him up out of his little hole and back into the fight.
“We all want to curl up, Reddings! But the Gods are with us tonight! Fight so we can all go home!” The boy continued to stare at me, even as I yelled at him those words of motivation. I didn’t know if they would work or not, but he wasn’t whispering anymore; he was watching me. With that in mind, I loaded another cartridge into my rifle and then pulled it to my shoulder. As I did, I watched a pack of three black wolves, morphed and mutated into large fanged demons, surge over the heads of two zombified human figures. Instantly upon their appearance, their bodies were bombarded with the munitions of my men. I narrowed my eyes at the lead dog, squeezed my hands on my weapon, and then pulled the trigger. The rifle bucked at me, but I held it firmly as my round ripped into the air. The wolf on the other end was struck between the eyes and they closed as it winced in pain. I pulled the trigger again, and the second round blew off the Wolf’s left ear. The third round struck true, blasting into the animal’s skull and ending its brain function.
The body slid into the dirt right in front of me, coming to a halt a few feet away.
“Get up, Reddings!” I looked down to my left, lowering my weapon as I gave it time to cool off, and saw the boy still staring at me. I grumbled and reached down again, grabbing him by the nape of his neck and lifted him to his feet. He was a few inches shorter than I was.
“Listen to me, son. I’m just as scared as you are, but god dammit if you don’t help me and your brothers’ fight, Avon is going to get wiped off the planet! That means your family will go away, the girl you like and want to impress will die, and you won’t be able to go home. Do you understand me?! Get your rifle, and fight! If you can’t, then go back to the town and hide in the god damn pit you came from!” Anger seethed through my lips as I yelled at the boy, but it seemed to make something tick in his head. Reddings looked down at his own rifle, and then looked towards Avon. Then, he looked back at me. I nodded to him, and he nodded back. Then, I watched as he pulled his own weapon to his shoulder. A moment, later, my newest addition returned to the fight.
“Captain!” The familiar voice of my Sergeant made me look right, and I saw him point straight ahead. As he did so, my ears were filled with the sound of a low, but explosive rumble. The noise caused the ground to shake, and I could feel the power behind it in my bones. The cause was a massive, crystalized, mutated tree which sat in the center of the black miasma; the silhouette I had seen earlier. My eyes narrowed and I watched as the creatures of the miasma began to crowd around the large object. It was as if they were taunting us.
“Focus fire! Take out that tree!” My voice strained once more, but as I finished, the Tree released a distorted roar. Its cry vibrated the air around my platoon and the air grew cold. Then, the world fell silent. I watched as a massive wash of blue and white swept outwards like an explosive wall. The wave was too quick, and I only had enough time to duck into the trench before the frozen particles swept over the air. Reddings, who was determined to continue to fight, remained standing. I watched as the snowy burst caused the man to freeze. By the time the white-wash was over, Reddings was nothing more but a white statue…
I stood up in the moment of peace and looked around me to get an assessment, and what I saw caused my heart to skip; one of my Sergeants was now frozen along with eight of my boys. A few others had been skimmed by the breeze, while almost everyone else was too terrified to stand. The only few which had recovered were myself, my remaining three Sergeants, and their team leaders. The rest refused to stand… but they all looked at me… Why me? Why was I the one who was put as the Captain of this platoon? A lowly fool like me, who had only been lucky and didn’t deserve to live, let alone lead a team of Avon’s finest, was not fit for a Captain… So why were they all looking at me?
“Damn it all…” I muttered and looked back towards the tree that was in front of me. No matter the reason, I was here, and I wasn’t going down without a fight. I raised my rifle to my shoulder and held it firmly in my hand.
“This is for Reddings…” I pulled the trigger, my muzzle flashing as the Tree began to rumble again.
* * *
My feet were heavy… So heavy… but I kept walking. My rifle was spent, my pistol jammed, and my sword was cracked. I had only two cartridges left, but they were useless. Everything else…? I had left it in the trench. It weighed me down and it was unnecessary to keep. The sun rose behind the mountain, but I didn’t care… The only thing I cared about was the man I held across my shoulders. I dragged him across the ground with the help of one of my underlings and followed behind three others. My last remaining Sergeant brought up the rear, protecting me, and four other wounded Wardens. The night had been long, but it was over… Avon, in the distance, opened its gates and a horde of Calvary and infantry men stormed out of it. They were late… neepers…
“Captain! It’s the Military!” One of my forwards shouted, his voice full of energy again. I spit on the ground in front of me and kept walking. My Sergeant scoffed behind us and the other men shook their heads.
“The battle is over, son… Who cares…?” The man who was helping me stated, and I agreed with him, but I didn’t say it. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and kept walking. I considered switching places with one of my boys so that I could talk to one of the leaders, but they were just as tired as I was. They had fought just as hard as I had, and I wasn’t about to make them do anything more than they were willing.
“Captain Berings!” A horseman who rode ahead of the small army shouted as he closed in, and my men slowly came to a stop as I made the motion to do so. We lowered our wounded and my two medical specialists tended to them to the best of their abilities. I motioned for water and waved my Sergeant to come with me. He nodded and quickly did so. The horse rider made his way to the side and dismounted his steed, running over to meet myself and my officer.
“Berings?” He asked, a stupid question.
“You’re lookin’ at him.” I retorted, placing the butt of my rifle into the ground firmly. The man hesitated, and seemed to look around me and to my men. My eyes became stern.
“Well?”
“Uh… O-Orders from General Revis. He says to return to the council room at once and that the rest will be taken care of by his men!” The words which came from the messenger made me want to shoot him in his freaking mouth. He was lucky my rifle didn’t work anymore.
“Tell Revis that he can go fu---“
“Captain.” My Sergeant cut me off and gave me a hard look. He shook his head and then nodded back to the boys. I frowned at them and sighed. Then, I looked back at the messenger; he probably wasn’t much older than Reddings.
“Tell Revis that I’ll be there shortly. I need to take care of my men first. Send the Queen my regards... and these.” I stuffed my Captain’s insignias into the messenger’s chest, forcing him to take them. With that, I turned away and returned to my boys. I whistled at them and motioned that it was time to move, and took my position underneath the arm of someone who had done more in one night then Revis ever had in his seventy years of living, and someone who had survived fighting the worst nightmare that Avon would never see… Yet, he was still so fragile…
“Damn it all.” I mumbled as we started to walk.
“Captain…” The whisper from my wounded underling was like a needle, but it was one I welcomed.
“What do you need, Westly?” I didn’t stop walking, but gave the man my full attention. He smiled at me, even though I knew he was hurting all over. His legs were covered in bandages and a small chunk of debris was lodged between two of his ribs.
“Thank you…” I frowned at the words and looked away.
“Don’t… I should be thanking you…”
And so should ever damn person who was living in Avon…
{Spoiler}It was too early for anyone to be awake. Not a single creature stirred that morning when Godwin got up from his bed and prepped his gear. The armor was in good shape and as usual, he was ready to activate its Anti-Magic Plating. Being one of the two tanks of their team, he needed to take some of the worst hits during their encounters. But that day, taking hits from the heretics was not the only thing that weighed on his mind. Godwin put on his armor and activated the buff, and then he got his weapons and cartridges ready. His favourite, Rocket Punch, was utilized in almost every encounter that they had. He had practiced using it the previous night and his target had died almost instantly; Godwin had reveled at that sight and thought himself ready for the battle ahead. He was confident that the day would turn out well for his team once again, but something still weighed on his mind.
“I’ll be going now,” Godwin sighed as he walked into his kitchen.
He waited for a reply but none came, so he bent over to his wife who was at the dining table and kissed her forehead gently. Was she still angry at him for what happened yesterday? Godwin left without another word and closed the front door behind him. He had hoped to speak to her that morning but maybe that should be reserved for when he returned from their team’s mission. The neighborhood was quiet; it was way too early in the morning, as he thought. The milkman was the only other person on the street. He did his usual rounds and waved at Godwin as he passed by, and then both the milkman and the warden went on their way. An hour easily passed as Godwin made his way to an outpost, the place where their current mission would start.
“Hey,” he nodded at his team mate whose tag was B; Godwin himself was A, “So how was your weekend?”
Warden B was the other tank, Adelard. He lived on the other side of the Avon River and had seen more of the horrors brought about by the heretics, but no one really knew much about the dark casters. Due to the growing threat, teams of wardens had been dispatched to heretic-controlled areas to investigate. Adelard was in charge of maintaining the perimeter during their previous mission, while Godwin and one of the support wardens scouted ahead. Ever since that mission, A had caught B eyeing him suspiciously. Was he jealous because A was sent to scout while B just stayed behind? Godwin scoffed at the thought of this. They’d been team mates for five years... even if they had their petty fights, surely it would not be enough to break up the team.
A tap on his shoulder brought Godwin back to reality. He turned around to find Laurence’s familiar face grinning right at him. One of two support wardens, he was tagged as C and was Godwin’s partner in the field. Warden D, Adelard’s partner who went by the name Edric quietly checked and double-checked his equipment in the background... that guy had always been obsessive-compulsive, or so Godwin thought.
“Ready to kick some heretic’s butt?” Laurence excitedly asked the team’s main tank as he put his hand down and shifted his own armor slightly.
Godwin replied with a thumbs-up sign just as the team’s sniper, Simon, walked in with his usual array of artillery. He was a recent addition to the team and so he was not acquainted with anyone. Reserved, Warden E just went over to the corner where their quest was posted and he read it over a few times. Godwin eyed him, curious of the newbie; that is, until Laurence’s hand waved over his face.
“Oi, we’re going!” Warden C motioned to the entrance of the tent where Adelard and Edric waited.
They looked at the main tank Godwin, and then they looked over to where Simon stood, and then back at Godwin again. The two who were partners in the field mumbled to each other but they stopped talking as soon as Warden A was within earshot. Warden B merely nodded at the main tank and then the team was underway. The mission was to scout the area for any heretics and report their findings to the headquarters. It sounded simple enough but it was said to be more dangerous than the first scouting trip that Wardens A and C undertook before. Maybe that was why a fifth member was assigned to their team. As expected, Adelard acted indifferently towards Simon which was how he reacted too when Edric was just new to the team. Speaking of Edric, he was being more obnoxious than usual. The young man had the tendency to invade people’s personal space but when Godwin looked back, that Warden D walked right in front of Laurence and Simon which blocked them from the tanks’ sight. Maybe D stood for “douche”.
“Move a little to your right, will ya?” Warden A crossly said.
Adelard and his support looked at each other but they shrugged and Edric complied. Godwin was the main tank after all and so he was technically the leader of the team. So when he stopped walking, the rest of the team stopped as well. Up ahead, a thick and unnatural mist drifted between and above the trees. Adelard checked his buff Enhancer to make sure that it was activated, and Edric had his Scope on. Godwin sighed when he noticed Edric’s buff; they already had a sniper so he did not have to use that buff. Douche indeed.
“We’re going in!” Warden A instructed the team and slowly they stepped into the mist.
By default, they spread out with Wardens A and C going left and Wardens B and D going right; Warden E was left to cover their backs. The mist around the team grew thicker as they walked on and soon, the other members of the team were out of view. Godwin, who had made his way into the woods previously during the earlier scouting mission, chatted up his support Laurence.
“Say, what buff did you use for this mission?” he asked.
Focused on his surroundings, Godwin wasn’t quite sure if he missed Laurence’s answer so he turned to look if the latter was still within earshot. To his confusion, the warden found nothing but trees and the mist around him. It was morning but the forest was dark due to the mist, still there was enough light from the sun for him to make out any silhouettes nearby. The warden wanted to shout and call for his friend, but logic won out despite his initial panic. If there were dangerous targets nearby, they would home in on him the moment that he yelled out so Godwin used Telepathy instead.
“Retrace your steps and go back! This is an order!” Warden A used Telepathy to speak in the party chat as he turned and ran back to their starting point.
He was the only one there. Simon was not where he should be, and the other half of the team did not respond to his call. Godwin clutched his sword tightly; his heart beat faster and faster as minutes passed. He had to be patient... he had issued an order and the rest of his team ought to comply. There was nothing but an eerie silence around him until there came a sound of snapping twigs. A silhouette appeared in the mist and Godwin put up his shield just in case it was an enemy, but to his relief, Edric emerged from the darkness.
“Sub-tank’s right behind me...” Warden D said as he stopped right in front of Godwin; the support warden tried to catch his breath, “What happened? Did you run into heretics?”
“Laurence... Laurence is gone!” Warden A exclaimed.
“Ah, geez! We were wondering why you weren’t saying anything about it...” Edric let out a relieved laugh, “Don’t scare us like that. C’mon let’s scout together, you shouldn’t have separated from us... not without your support wa-”
Blood splattered onto Godwin’s face as a magitech blade ran through Edric’s chest. The support warden’s face distorted to one that had just been so shocked and pained, and when his limp body fell to the side, Simon’s face was revealed from behind him. The sniper’s face and arms were riddled with signs of corruption, and in his hand there was the bloodied blade. He grinned from ear to ear and stared right at Godwin.
“Y-you... why... did you kill Laurence too?!” Warden A put his shield up and pointed his own sword at the corrupted sniper warden, “S-stay back! Monster! MONSTER!”
As he took a few steps back, Godwin found himself stepping right on Edric’s blood. The other warden, apparently still alive, grabbed Warden A’s ankle and consequently made him lose his balance. Godwin fell right on his bottom; his medium shield crashed down to his side and his other hand let his blade fall to the ground. Simon closed on him with that wide grin on his face that, although corrupted, seemed so familiar. The last thing that Godwin saw before he blacked out was the bright red light of a Flaregun that flew from the top of the woods and into the dark sky.
A week later, Adelard and his young son visited the injured Edric in a warden’s hospital. Owing to the presence of a triage tent close to their outpost, the support warden’s life had been saved at that time. The sub-tank sat on a chair while his son looked out the window; Edric lay on his hospital bed as he read a newspaper article that a nurse handed to them. The two had been given a few months’ leave so that they could recover from their injuries but more importantly, to ensure that they were free of corruption of both mind and body. The news article read:
Warden found afflicted with Stage 3 Corruption... wife, young daughter and neighbors found murdered... body of his support-warden found in the woods... other support-warden... attacked but survived due to the intervention of one Adelard Smyth. Afflicted warden believed to have been infected... corrupted substance now named Miasma... investigations to be carried out on a supposed powerful heretic... Simon de Montfort.
“I’ll be going now,” Godwin sighed as he walked into his kitchen.
He waited for a reply but none came, so he bent over to his wife who was at the dining table and kissed her forehead gently. Was she still angry at him for what happened yesterday? Godwin left without another word and closed the front door behind him. He had hoped to speak to her that morning but maybe that should be reserved for when he returned from their team’s mission. The neighborhood was quiet; it was way too early in the morning, as he thought. The milkman was the only other person on the street. He did his usual rounds and waved at Godwin as he passed by, and then both the milkman and the warden went on their way. An hour easily passed as Godwin made his way to an outpost, the place where their current mission would start.
“Hey,” he nodded at his team mate whose tag was B; Godwin himself was A, “So how was your weekend?”
Warden B was the other tank, Adelard. He lived on the other side of the Avon River and had seen more of the horrors brought about by the heretics, but no one really knew much about the dark casters. Due to the growing threat, teams of wardens had been dispatched to heretic-controlled areas to investigate. Adelard was in charge of maintaining the perimeter during their previous mission, while Godwin and one of the support wardens scouted ahead. Ever since that mission, A had caught B eyeing him suspiciously. Was he jealous because A was sent to scout while B just stayed behind? Godwin scoffed at the thought of this. They’d been team mates for five years... even if they had their petty fights, surely it would not be enough to break up the team.
A tap on his shoulder brought Godwin back to reality. He turned around to find Laurence’s familiar face grinning right at him. One of two support wardens, he was tagged as C and was Godwin’s partner in the field. Warden D, Adelard’s partner who went by the name Edric quietly checked and double-checked his equipment in the background... that guy had always been obsessive-compulsive, or so Godwin thought.
“Ready to kick some heretic’s butt?” Laurence excitedly asked the team’s main tank as he put his hand down and shifted his own armor slightly.
Godwin replied with a thumbs-up sign just as the team’s sniper, Simon, walked in with his usual array of artillery. He was a recent addition to the team and so he was not acquainted with anyone. Reserved, Warden E just went over to the corner where their quest was posted and he read it over a few times. Godwin eyed him, curious of the newbie; that is, until Laurence’s hand waved over his face.
“Oi, we’re going!” Warden C motioned to the entrance of the tent where Adelard and Edric waited.
They looked at the main tank Godwin, and then they looked over to where Simon stood, and then back at Godwin again. The two who were partners in the field mumbled to each other but they stopped talking as soon as Warden A was within earshot. Warden B merely nodded at the main tank and then the team was underway. The mission was to scout the area for any heretics and report their findings to the headquarters. It sounded simple enough but it was said to be more dangerous than the first scouting trip that Wardens A and C undertook before. Maybe that was why a fifth member was assigned to their team. As expected, Adelard acted indifferently towards Simon which was how he reacted too when Edric was just new to the team. Speaking of Edric, he was being more obnoxious than usual. The young man had the tendency to invade people’s personal space but when Godwin looked back, that Warden D walked right in front of Laurence and Simon which blocked them from the tanks’ sight. Maybe D stood for “douche”.
“Move a little to your right, will ya?” Warden A crossly said.
Adelard and his support looked at each other but they shrugged and Edric complied. Godwin was the main tank after all and so he was technically the leader of the team. So when he stopped walking, the rest of the team stopped as well. Up ahead, a thick and unnatural mist drifted between and above the trees. Adelard checked his buff Enhancer to make sure that it was activated, and Edric had his Scope on. Godwin sighed when he noticed Edric’s buff; they already had a sniper so he did not have to use that buff. Douche indeed.
“We’re going in!” Warden A instructed the team and slowly they stepped into the mist.
By default, they spread out with Wardens A and C going left and Wardens B and D going right; Warden E was left to cover their backs. The mist around the team grew thicker as they walked on and soon, the other members of the team were out of view. Godwin, who had made his way into the woods previously during the earlier scouting mission, chatted up his support Laurence.
“Say, what buff did you use for this mission?” he asked.
Focused on his surroundings, Godwin wasn’t quite sure if he missed Laurence’s answer so he turned to look if the latter was still within earshot. To his confusion, the warden found nothing but trees and the mist around him. It was morning but the forest was dark due to the mist, still there was enough light from the sun for him to make out any silhouettes nearby. The warden wanted to shout and call for his friend, but logic won out despite his initial panic. If there were dangerous targets nearby, they would home in on him the moment that he yelled out so Godwin used Telepathy instead.
“Retrace your steps and go back! This is an order!” Warden A used Telepathy to speak in the party chat as he turned and ran back to their starting point.
He was the only one there. Simon was not where he should be, and the other half of the team did not respond to his call. Godwin clutched his sword tightly; his heart beat faster and faster as minutes passed. He had to be patient... he had issued an order and the rest of his team ought to comply. There was nothing but an eerie silence around him until there came a sound of snapping twigs. A silhouette appeared in the mist and Godwin put up his shield just in case it was an enemy, but to his relief, Edric emerged from the darkness.
“Sub-tank’s right behind me...” Warden D said as he stopped right in front of Godwin; the support warden tried to catch his breath, “What happened? Did you run into heretics?”
“Laurence... Laurence is gone!” Warden A exclaimed.
“Ah, geez! We were wondering why you weren’t saying anything about it...” Edric let out a relieved laugh, “Don’t scare us like that. C’mon let’s scout together, you shouldn’t have separated from us... not without your support wa-”
Blood splattered onto Godwin’s face as a magitech blade ran through Edric’s chest. The support warden’s face distorted to one that had just been so shocked and pained, and when his limp body fell to the side, Simon’s face was revealed from behind him. The sniper’s face and arms were riddled with signs of corruption, and in his hand there was the bloodied blade. He grinned from ear to ear and stared right at Godwin.
“Y-you... why... did you kill Laurence too?!” Warden A put his shield up and pointed his own sword at the corrupted sniper warden, “S-stay back! Monster! MONSTER!”
As he took a few steps back, Godwin found himself stepping right on Edric’s blood. The other warden, apparently still alive, grabbed Warden A’s ankle and consequently made him lose his balance. Godwin fell right on his bottom; his medium shield crashed down to his side and his other hand let his blade fall to the ground. Simon closed on him with that wide grin on his face that, although corrupted, seemed so familiar. The last thing that Godwin saw before he blacked out was the bright red light of a Flaregun that flew from the top of the woods and into the dark sky.
A week later, Adelard and his young son visited the injured Edric in a warden’s hospital. Owing to the presence of a triage tent close to their outpost, the support warden’s life had been saved at that time. The sub-tank sat on a chair while his son looked out the window; Edric lay on his hospital bed as he read a newspaper article that a nurse handed to them. The two had been given a few months’ leave so that they could recover from their injuries but more importantly, to ensure that they were free of corruption of both mind and body. The news article read:
Warden found afflicted with Stage 3 Corruption... wife, young daughter and neighbors found murdered... body of his support-warden found in the woods... other support-warden... attacked but survived due to the intervention of one Adelard Smyth. Afflicted warden believed to have been infected... corrupted substance now named Miasma... investigations to be carried out on a supposed powerful heretic... Simon de Montfort.
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Slinger #4
