Render Unto Death

[Riley Oran]

He hailed from a land of grim fairy-tales not meant for the ears of children within the folds of the Omniverse, long since left behind within it due to its newly modern age. The man was not always this force, this knight clad in black armor that had stepped unannounced into the realm of the Goddess, Twilight. He did not pretend to understand godly politics. He did not care. He had a task set before him, by the very aspect that had redeemed him so many years ago. An aspect of death whom saw graveyards as sacred, and the Undead as a mockery of life.

The former paladin strode into the plains, an unfamiliar area with tall grass spread throughout all he could see, and scattered trees and bushes periodically sprouted from within their embrace. This was nature, and as the sun shone on his face he instinctively flinched. Talis was not always able to roam freely in the sunlight. As a vampire, such things were lethal but under his new life, under the rule of Death, the sun was just a bitter reminder. His sword stood strapped tightly to his back while the black armor, dull and musty, still creaked as it moved from ages of rust. The rust did not make the armor weak as one might have expected, and had no effect on it's overall integrity.

Instead, his movements through the field were accompanied by that god awful creaking. Talis' ears were sharp yet hew as able to ignore the noise as though it were nothing. Several birds in the distance flew away from the unfamiliar noise while predators may have decided to draw closer, but vanished once it was discovered that their prey did not have a heartbeat. Though Talis' was animated by Death, his biological functions had long-since ceased. The Death Knight's thoughts were unfocused, admittedly, because according to the aspect of Death he was here to "inspect" the world.

Inspect what, exactly? That was never clarified. He was mere told that he was searching for something, and that he would know when he found it. The Death Knight could have heaved a sigh if breathing was relevant at this point. Awoken from a slumber of over a thousand years, only to search mindlessly though this world. You would think that if they had sent an inspector, they would have notified him off what he was doing. Instead he was blind, as they wanted him to be apparently. What he needed now was for something to be made manifest, a sign of some kind. He felt a very tiny pull in the distance, that was where he was headed.

[Ezrion]

"Twitch twitch, creak creak. Scurry little bunny, scurry. The creaking man cometh." A hand shot at the darting animal as it shot past the cackling man, who twitched in tandem with every word he spoke. He dangled upside down from a low hanging tree branch on the edge of the field, watching the steady trudging of the metal clad male. As blood rushed to the mans head his smile faltered, and he flipped from his spot, landing on one knee.

Rising to his feet the shirtless man looked around himself, not remembering how exactly he had gotten here, or why he was there. Shrugging Ezrion laid his hand against the bark of the tree, without thinking. The moment his bare palm touched the bark it began to peel back, a black rim spreading from around his hand. Suddenly a gaping mouth appeared, and engulfed his entire arm in one swift bite. The man merely blinked, and punched the tree directly above its mouth, blowing a hole through it.

The now dead tree fell off of Ezrion's arm. He shook the sap covered limb, trying in vain to remove the sticky substance. Snarling, and forgetting about the man slowly walking in his general direction, Ezrion began to try to remove it using his power. Releasing the tiniest amount of chaos energy into the sap proved effective, yet unexpected. As the sap absorbed the energy it expanded in size, before floating away, and popping like a balloon, directly over the creaking man. Covering his mouth with his hand, the Chaotic being giggled, and pointed at the other male. "Oops, creaky man covered in the sticky. Maybe needs a bath now."

Ezrion tilted his head to one side, and slowly walked towards the man. a rare moment of absolute control coming over him. The man seemed off in some manner. Ezrions eyes widened as he realized the man had no heartbate, no blood circulation, that his flesh was cold. "The dead walketh again, cower mortals, for the end is nigh."

[Riley Oran]

In the vast, distant emptiness of the plain it was not difficult to see the figure who hung from a tree in the distance. The individual moved like a man gripped in his own madness, acting what could only be whim. Moments later, a tree lay toppled and the man had sent a large bubble sailing through the air of some strange material, right towards Talis. Talis merely looked at it, not acknowledging the thing as anything more than just a freak occurrence. His eyes then resumed their forward nature, looking past the man and the fallen tree. Talis' target was far beyond this place, and it was not the man. 

Pop.

Sticky, vile rain fell upon him from the compromised mass above, covering him in tree sap from head to toe. His eyes burned and he knelt down, angrily clenching them shut so as to not rub them and make matters worse. He growled and snarled, baring his fangs, but the sap and his rusty armor combined were making movement difficult. Then, a voice came. He could still fresh blood and because of his situation he bore his fangs upwards towards the source of the voice, hissing. 

It was the second time the voice spoke that Talis became upset, standing against his sluggish arm, still growling. In truth, Talis wanted to throttle the man but it was forbidden. On top of that, he had an inspection to complete that he was instructed to finish quickly, and fighting with this being was not a prudent use of his time. He started to calm himself, to relax, and heaved a sigh. His eyes still burned, but they were open enough that he could see. Attempting to ignore the man, he simply carried onward.

[Ezrion]

Ezrions insane giggling doubled as he heard the hissing emitted by the other man, and he hopped from foot to foot in glee. He clutched at his sides in pain, nearly bending double at the waist, his forehead practically touching his knees. The giggling died in an instant, and his brow furrowed in concentration. He reached out his hand towards the man, but didn't actually touch him. He quickly pulled back his hand noticing the fangs, a slight pout on his face. "Creaky man now Kitty man, and Kitty man angry."

The lunatic jumped backwards, clapping his hands together once, and all the trace energies remaining within the sap responded to his control, instant pulling free from the armour clad male, pooling into a small ball, which slowly dissolved itself, until no trace of the sap remained. Ezrion grinned like a fool, and began to follow in the wake of Talis, though he didn't know his name yet. He followed at his heels like a faithful hound, skipping along in the wake of the vampiric warrior. There was no real reason for Ezrion to follow him in the way he was, but the chaotic being was bored, and this guy seemed like fun.

After a few meters Ezrion began to hum to himself, occasionally adding actual lyrics, words like death, evil, squirrel, and wood-chipper. However the man could not carry a beat, and his voice did not sound good when he sang. This did not dissuade him of course, he just sang through it, not even noticing his own pathetic mockery of music.

[Riley Oran]

As Talis stood up from the earth to press forward, all the sap on his armor and in his eyes was pulled free from him, leaving him mobile once more. He gave his armor a brief review by moving his arms and legs, clenching his fists, and after casting a backwards glance at the seemingly insane magic user pressed forward again.

Behind him, he heard the man following him. Over the creaking of his armor he would occasionally catch notes being hummed, or indistinguishable words. It was as though somebody was beating a large wolf to death with a violin, and it was slowly grating against Talis nerves as he plodded through the plain. He didn't walk for very long though, before his annoyance reached critical levels.

He spun on his heel, hair spinning in from the breeze as he cast a cold, unfeeling glare upon the fool that smiled behind him, bearing his fangs. "Why do you insist on grating my nerves, jester?" A hand reached slowly up towards the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly. "If you should choose to follow me further, you should make note to do so quietly as to not incite me to teach a lesson in etiquette."

[Ezrion]

Ezrion stopped skipping and humming when the man turned to face him. His lower lip stuck out into a slight pout, and his entire body drooped. However he didn't take offense at the fact that the man threatened him, nor that his hand clenched his sword. Ezrion dropped his head, and mumbled under his breath. "Sorry Creaky man. I stop singing now."

With that Ezrion raised his head again, smiling beatifically upon the undead man before him. He then noticed the sword in the mans clutches, and his facial expression changed in an instant, switching from the large smile to a feral snarl, his own hand reaching back to grasp the hilt of his sword over his shoulder. His eyes glowed with Chaotic power, barely suppressed. The Lunatic jumped backwards, watching the armoured man warily.

[Riley Oran]

Talis' unmoving gazed fixed itself onto the now apparently feral mad-man, whose hand gripped his sword while he spat snarls instead of words-- a vast improvement over the humming, in Talis' opinion. He examined the man who had slid back to a battle stance and his wary eyes, taking in the man's actions before coming to a conclusion. The grip that Talis' had around his sword loosened, and stared into the man's eyes. 

"I don't fear you. You're like an animal." Talis turned away from the man and simply resumed moving towards the energy he felt in the distance. It was a subtle pull, or maybe several subtle pulls, but they all beckoned him away from the mad man behind that wore little clothing. Still, his arm was tense and ready. His fingers twitched. There was a lingering concern about the man behind him and what he may do, and Talis' believed that he would be ready to counter.

[Ezrion]

Ezrion waited for the man to make the first move. However his mind didn't process the idea that the man wasn't looking for a fight, which caused him to only think about how best to blow him up. The thoughts provoked a giggle from the man, and he lost his battle ready pose for a moment, giving the other man the perfect opportunity, though the strike never came. It took a moment for the Lunatic to process this fact. Looking over at Talis he noticed the other had loosened the grip he had on his weapon.

Ezrion cocked his head to the side, his eyes meeting with the vampires, and the glint of chaos slid from them. A small smirk twitched his features, as the other spoke and turned his back to him, the words causing another brief moment of clarity. "You should never turn your back on a wild animal, it might bite." He stepped forward, reaching out his hand towards the man, a tendril of Chaotic power snaking towards him. Ezrions face split into a broad grin, as the Tendril, without touching the man, wrapped all around him, leaving space for him to move without touching it. IT became similar to a cocoon around the man, touching the ground and connecting over his head to form a sort of dome. If Talis was perceptive enough he might notice that the grass that touched the energy died, warped and corrupted by the chaos.

[Riley Oran]

The chaos energy wrapped around Talis, and he wouldn't give it enough time to erode much of anything. The moment he noticed it he reached for his sword with unreal reflexes, focusing magic through the blade and sending it out in a massive pulse, dispelling the energy around him with the "unholy" magics of Death itself. He brandished Mor towards Ezrion, and bore his fangs as his eyes locked onto the man.

"Animals that bite should be put down." He smashed the sword into the earth, and a violent shock-wave of energy ruptured from it, sailing towards Ezrion. He raised the blade from this as well and sent a second shock-wave barreling forward, the locket on his neck gleaming as his torso moved. The energy was Sin Energy, and Talis was of Death. This stranger who was little more than barely intelligent would know his wrath, and in crossing him had too crossed Death.

[Ezrion]

Ezrion chuckled with glee at the displayed power of this man, who so easily blasted through the meager attempt to cage him. On the other hand Ezrion was now in an actual fight! He bared his teeth in a smile, leaping and diving to the side to avoid the ground based shockwave. Rolling to his feet Ezrion drew his blade, landing with it brandished overhead, his other hand pointing towards Talis. Just then a secondary shockwave was launched at him, and Ezrion gripped his sword with both hands, and cross slashed it, parting the energy with his own, watching it pass harmlessly by.

The Lunatic cocked his head to the side, and reaching down to his belt grabbed his mask, placing it on his face. Suddenly he was moving, charging down the man before him. Chaos crackled along the blade, and at the last moment before he came within striking range Ezrion slashed the blade, power lashing from it like a whip, attempting to ensnare the man. Regardless of the success of this attack Ezrion flipped backwards, an orb of chaotic power forming in his free hand. However, he didn't do anything with it at the moment, merely waited.

[Riley Oran]

The first thing Talis noticed was the insane man was nimble, rolling from Talis' first attack as though it were a slow and unwieldy thing, and demonstrating the power of his sword by literally cutting though the second. The Death Knight stepped forward as the lunatic placed a mask upon his face, bracing himself for the next attack. He wasn't totally ready for the man's insane burst of speed, and in his haste estimated the sword would slash before he went to land an attack. 

Thus, he attempted to block a totally different attack than what was coming. The tendrils wrapped around Talis' armor and held him fast, but Talis channeled energy into his weapon and body and dispelled them. Where it had touched his armor, deterioration was somewhat evident but Talis did not notice this, his eyes too focused on the back flipping man. Instead, at the tip of Talis' sword electricity crackled and he pointed it at Ezrion as the black lightning ran down his blade like a rod. He trained it upon the man who had also called forth a ball, waiting to see what he would do.

[Ezrion]

Ezrion chuckled as his energy was once again dispelled, though this time not without leaving a mark. He grinned beneath his mask as he raised his hand, launching the orb straight at the other mans chest. He cackled as the energy orb flew, twirling his blade in front of himself. If the orb should hit it could be devastating, as it is prepared to explode on contact, corrupting anything within the explosive range.

The Lunatic began to dance on the spot, stabbing his blade into the ground, creating a small fissure to appear coming from either side of the blade. He hadn;t even noticed the crackling energy on the others blade, and even if he had he wouldn't have reacted. "Ha! I make Creaky man explode!"

[Riley Oran]

As the man fired his orb, so too did Talis launch his own ball of energy that crackled with unholy power. The orb flew forward and crashed into the other, oncoming orb and set it off in a violent explosions, sending a shock wave of wind out over where both of the men stood. Talis' hair whipped back in reposed as he shielded his red eyes with an arm from any dust or debris sent at them. With his other arm he thrust Mor into the ground, sending energy through the blade and towards the direction that the mad men had last been standing.

The dark energy writhed violently under the earth, tunneling to where the man stood. The disturbance to the earth was minimal as it moved and it's entry masked by the smoke. Once it was directly under the man the energy would burst from beneath him, sending him high into the air. From there, Talis would send a volley of dark balls sailing towards the man, hoping to use his entrapment in the air to his advantage. It was on thing to fight Talis' but another to fight physics.

[Ezrion]

Ezrion cackled manically as the twin orbs collided, exploding in midair. He tilted his head back, raising an arm slightly out of instinct, though the mask he wore protected his eyes from any debris. The Shockwave sent his own Chaotic power further than he had intended, crashing into the ground itself, creating small fissures, from which crawled deformed creatures. Ezrion crackled with power, and due to the devestation tot he ground around him, and his inability to see with his head tipped back to protect his eyes, he missed the attack sent his way.

As the crackling energy lifted him from the ground the Lunatic shrieked, thrashing his limbs. He spied the orbs rushing at him, and pointed at one. From his finger a beam of energy was fired, and it collided with the ball, nothing seemed to happen. Ezrion tilted his head, and suddenly it changed course, flying back at Talis himself. With a sudden burst of Chaos Ezrion broke free of his entrapment, and hit the ground, barely evading the remaining spheres as they past him by, with bare inches to spare.

[Riley Oran]

As the smoked settled and the volley was fired, Talis turned his eyes earthward, paying no heed to the man in the air for a precious couple seconds. His attention instead shifted onto the strange creatures that spawned from the ground, spitting as a single ball of unholy magic came back at him. In a deft motion he swung Mor up through the ball, forcing it to dissipate at the behest of his blade while the masked madman landed in the same area as the creatures did.

He cracked his neck. The man's magic was beyond what he had expected. Matching the power of Death? Turning back one of Talis attacks, even? His insanity, those creatures... they were all unnatural and Talis took offense to them. "You fight well, madman," Talis chided. "Such skill is wasted on one so weak as to be overtaken by his baser instincts. I might fear you if you weren't so pitiable." He readied his sword once again, unsure how the man would proceed.

[Ezrion]

Ezrion felt the tiny claws and legs of the creatures climbing over him. He scooped them into his arms, and cradled them there, smiling lightly. He tickled one of the elongated insects with his forefinger. He swayed on the spot, stepping closer to Talis himself. Suddenly, he was gone, standing next to Talis, throwing the abominations in his hands at the undead man. A viscous cackle left his mouth, and he mask was pushed back to the top of his head.

"You will learn to fear Chaos, for Chaos consumes all" as he spoke he slowly began to smile an unnatural smile, his mouth stretching and tearing so that it literally extended from the bottom of each of his ears. He Reached for the man, attempting to pull Talis into his embrace, his fingers arching with barely restrained chaotic power.

[Riley Oran]

The man suddenly vanished, and Talis' expression shifted into one of quite shock. A light gasp from his mouth, but a moment later the surprise became anger. Suddenly, the small things were on his back, and without pausing for a single moment a blast of unholy magic that like when he dispelled the chaotic tendrils from before exploded from his body to force the things off of his form. In the same moment he could smell the madman's blood behind him as it pumped through his veins, and he spun and fell low to deliver a crippling slash to his knees.

The pulse of energy would be too quick for the man to say anything or for his mouth to extend, the unholy soulblade would be going right for his legs. Most likely off-balance and in-range, the strike was all but certain to slice through the man's legs.

[Ezrion]

Ezrion watched his little pets explode from the unholy power of Death, and Ezrion didn't care, he hadn't expected them to be much of a threat. However he hadn't accounted for the power of the blast knocking him off balance, pushing him backwards. He flailed his arms trying to keep his balance when an odd sensation of parting occurred to him, and he keeled over backwards, literally cut off at the knees. Blackish blood leaked from the severed limbs, and his left foot tapped the ground impatiently. Ezrion gave Talis a hurt look, not one of pain, but one of emotional hurt.

Crawling over to the stumps still standing where he had been severed the Lunatic grasped his feet, and made them dance a bit, giggling slightly, before pulling himself into a seated position. Grimacing Ezrion awakened Chaos within himself, and small tendrils jabbed out of his tendons at the knees, knitting together the severed pieces, making them whole once more.

Ezrion huffed, and lost interest in the fight, fully removing his mask and hanging it at his side, turning from the male standing up and walking off. He stabbed his blade into the ground and sat down. He looked back over at Talis, and smiled innocently. He began to pluck strand of grass from the ground, watching them turn brown and wither in his hand.

[Riley Oran]

Talis' strike had been successful, severing the man's legs from his body and seemingly earning Talis' a victory. Despite his age, Talis had spent most of his time in slumber, protecting a graveyard in Assalia from those that would defile it. He had little experience fighting beings that weren't human. In fact, the only other creatures he had fought before were vampires. He had never been called to battle the wolves or anything of that kind. They were strong, but for the most part feral. Clever traps could contain them easily.

What he say unfold next was at first odd, and then a shock to the Death Knight. The man crawled over to his legs, dragging himself towards them as thought losing them was merely an inconvenient action. Talis had not been on the offensive thus far in this fight, and he did not intend to start now if it actually continued. However, until he observed the man reattaching his own legs, he did not believe it would. He stood ready for just a moment, staring at the man who turned away from him, and went over to play with blades of grass.

Talis huffed. His curiosity was roused, but he had a mission had decided to pursue it instead of lingering here longer with this man. He had a place to be, and intended to be there. He turned back towards the direction he was facing, correcting his orientation from his previous turn-about to face the mad man, and continued in that direction. He still sensed it in the distance, and that presence would serve as his north star.

[Ezrion]

Ezrion watched the armoured man walk away, not entirely sure if he should follow him or not. The Lunatic didn't feel welcomed in his company, and as such didn't particularly want to travel with this man. They had fun a few moments before, at least until that man had cut Ezrion's legs off. He wasn't angry, as it hadn't been much of an inconvenience, but he was still sulking. The man was a meanie in Ezrion's twisted mind, and he didn't associate with meanies.

Though the fact that this man so ponderously trekked on in one direction, never swaying from his path intrigued the insane individual, who could hardly ever focus on one thing long enough to finish it. So watching this man turn aside from a fight, turn aside from Ezrion himself, to continue onwards towards seemingly nothing wasn't something the chaotic man was used to seeing.

Ezrion picked his sword up from the ground, once more sheathing the blade in its scabbard on his back, stealthily approaching the man, following him. He kept low to the ground, so perplexed by the man that he couldn't help but follow him. Ezrion wanted to know what this man sought, wanted to feel a piece of his success, even if it were only a false sense of it. So he followed Talis, and if those reasons weren't good enough to explain his near undeniable curiosity, he was insane, and this was a good way to pass time.

[Riley Oran]

How long would the Death Knight walk towards his target? Until he reached it, of course. Talis' duty was inspection and though one might wonder why he entered the world so far away from what needed to be inspected, there was a dual purpose to this. The first was accidental: he truly had no idea where he was supposed to go when he breached into Tedranog, so he entered at a random location. From there, he decided it would be opportune to inspect as much of the world as a straight line allowed. In case he ever needed to return, he would have some idea of how to navigate this plain.

Behind him: a short skirmish, with a man who could reattach his legs. Talis had not encountered something of the sort before, and was genuinely bothered. Something that had not merely fallen before his blade? Preposterous. Impossible. Yet impossibility still crawled behind him like a starving vermin following a trail of crumbs to a greater source. Even low to the ground, the tall grass of the plain decayed at the man's touch, and if it hadn't decayed then merely shifted around him to indicate his presence. Despite his attempts at stealth, even if all that was ignored, the Vampire could smell his blood. The same blood he had shed sometime prior.

If he weren't a mad man, he would be a dangerous adversary, Talis continued to remind himself. Trudging through the field, Talis was quickly approaching a city.

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