Post by Venus on Jan 9, 2008 11:43:13 GMT -5
On alert, Venus descended down the concealed passage leading to the depths of the catacombs. Flaring her wings, the blue membranes glowing luminously in the half-light, she landed with a dusty thud.
As her clawed feet hit the ground, decrepit symbols lining the vaulted ceiling flared into vibrant life, casting a pale golden light to pool on the ground.
Venus smiled up at the roof.
'I'm surprised the spells are still working...'
She picked her way through the now-illuminated vaults and tombs, curious gold eyes glancing every so often at names long forgotten or never known.
She rounded a corner, and the light spell shuttered.
Venus felt a prickling edge its way up the back of her neck.
And the vaults fell into darkness.
The dragoness dropped into a guard position, allowing her senses to creep outwards, searching, scouring every corner for any kind of malicious presence.
Maybe it was just the light spell being so old that had caused it to stutter out.
Or maybe, as her instincts were telling her, it was something different. And not necessarily good.
Taking a deep breath to steady her jangling nerves, Venus continued the search, diverting her attention to the far corners of the catacombs.
She was so distracted that she didn't notice a pair of eyes slowly opening a few feet in front of her to reveal pitch black depths even darker than the blackness of the vault.
But she wasn't distracted enough not to notice when a set of claws dug into her shoulder and tore.
Roaring in surprise and pain, she reared back, immediately taking her weight off her throbbing right shoulder and dropping into a defensive movement.
"Who are you, and why are you trespassing on sacred ground?"
A single light spell flickered into life above the eyes, revealing the head of a dragon, raven feathers dangling from rents in hide, framing those eerie black eyes.
"My, my, I'm surprised you don't remember me, little Venus. I know it's been a while, but not that long really. I mean, I'm sure even you can remember back that far..."
His voice was mocking, and the glint in those black eyes wasn't entirely sane. Venus felt a thrill of fear. She had no idea at all who this dragon was, or what his purpose was, but there was something in his gaze that told her that he wouldn't hesistate to kill her.
And for some reason, she actually believed he could.
~Snap out of it, Venus!~
Isandre's voice dragged her back to the present, as those lethal serrated claws came at her again.
Darting away from the blow, the dragoness found herself trapped against the wall, and cursed internally.
More of the light spells activated, giving her a better view of her assailant. She couldn't take long to look though, because he was coming at her again and she had to dodge and run and fight back, at the same time finding out who this mad dragon was.
Multi-tasking had never been her strong point.
She considered calling for Leander, but she would be way out of range all the way down here. And what if there were others out there? Maybe Leander was fighting too.
Between cuts and stabs and blocks, Venus snarled.
"Why are you here? Why are you attacking me? Who are you?"
A snickering laugh accompanied a blow that ripped through a wing membrane, causing her to hiss loudly.
"I am here..." his voice was deadly-soft as he pushed away from her before she had the chance to strike, faster than her eyes could comprehend. "...for what your clan used to guard."
Venus paled.
"I am here..." Slash, block, dodge. "... to kill the ones I missed last time I tried to wipe out this clan."
Shock roiled through her. Did that mean.... that this dragon... was somehow responsible?
He smiled menacingly at the blank, empty look in her eyes.
"I am here..." His other set of claws cut across her face, and she angrily wiped away the blood from her eyes. "... to finish what I started. I killed your father little Venus. Now you will meet the very same fate."
His tail whipped around and caught her a stinging whiplash blow across the leg. She barely noticed.
Venus was a jumble of emotions.
Shock, anger, pain, confusion... all made their way through her fogged brain. She chose to hold on to a particular one through the haze of adrenaline, blood and fear.
~...Venus, don't listen to him! Stop, he's trying to make you angry! Get out now while you still can!~
Isandre's voice was cut off, speech drowned out as the searing red heat of rage settled over the eyes, heart and mind of the blue dragoness.
"You killed my family." Numb, empty.
He made no move to deny it. Instead, he smiled joyfully, took pride in it.
The red got just a little deeper.
"Yes."
Although she wasn't aware of it, Venus continued blocking the dragon's attacks as she spoke, devoid of emotion.
"You killed my friends."
He snickered, eyes gleaming with something she couldn't process. Interest? Excitement? Anticipation?
"Yes. I organized every single last move of that war. I was the master conductor, hiding behind others to make the sweetest music for my ears."
He drew forwards, and she felt a mind touch hers that was so dark it made her want to howl.
~The death screams of your clan!~
And through his mind, he showed her how truthful he was being. Every single word, from the soul.
Spark.
And she was flying, screaming, slashing, cutting, wild with rage at this unknown dragon who had killed her world and brought it crashing down in ruins around her.
Blocks were no longer of consequence. She took every hit meant for her and returned each one in kind. All lessons in fighting went out of the window, as the dragoness once known as the usually peaceable Venus went savage.
She ignored the bright blood dripping down her hide.
It was of no concern.
All she knew was rage.
Until...
A soundless scream of grief and pain, from somewhere deep inside her.
And then, everything went black.
As her clawed feet hit the ground, decrepit symbols lining the vaulted ceiling flared into vibrant life, casting a pale golden light to pool on the ground.
Venus smiled up at the roof.
'I'm surprised the spells are still working...'
She picked her way through the now-illuminated vaults and tombs, curious gold eyes glancing every so often at names long forgotten or never known.
She rounded a corner, and the light spell shuttered.
Venus felt a prickling edge its way up the back of her neck.
And the vaults fell into darkness.
The dragoness dropped into a guard position, allowing her senses to creep outwards, searching, scouring every corner for any kind of malicious presence.
Maybe it was just the light spell being so old that had caused it to stutter out.
Or maybe, as her instincts were telling her, it was something different. And not necessarily good.
Taking a deep breath to steady her jangling nerves, Venus continued the search, diverting her attention to the far corners of the catacombs.
She was so distracted that she didn't notice a pair of eyes slowly opening a few feet in front of her to reveal pitch black depths even darker than the blackness of the vault.
But she wasn't distracted enough not to notice when a set of claws dug into her shoulder and tore.
Roaring in surprise and pain, she reared back, immediately taking her weight off her throbbing right shoulder and dropping into a defensive movement.
"Who are you, and why are you trespassing on sacred ground?"
A single light spell flickered into life above the eyes, revealing the head of a dragon, raven feathers dangling from rents in hide, framing those eerie black eyes.
"My, my, I'm surprised you don't remember me, little Venus. I know it's been a while, but not that long really. I mean, I'm sure even you can remember back that far..."
His voice was mocking, and the glint in those black eyes wasn't entirely sane. Venus felt a thrill of fear. She had no idea at all who this dragon was, or what his purpose was, but there was something in his gaze that told her that he wouldn't hesistate to kill her.
And for some reason, she actually believed he could.
~Snap out of it, Venus!~
Isandre's voice dragged her back to the present, as those lethal serrated claws came at her again.
Darting away from the blow, the dragoness found herself trapped against the wall, and cursed internally.
More of the light spells activated, giving her a better view of her assailant. She couldn't take long to look though, because he was coming at her again and she had to dodge and run and fight back, at the same time finding out who this mad dragon was.
Multi-tasking had never been her strong point.
She considered calling for Leander, but she would be way out of range all the way down here. And what if there were others out there? Maybe Leander was fighting too.
Between cuts and stabs and blocks, Venus snarled.
"Why are you here? Why are you attacking me? Who are you?"
A snickering laugh accompanied a blow that ripped through a wing membrane, causing her to hiss loudly.
"I am here..." his voice was deadly-soft as he pushed away from her before she had the chance to strike, faster than her eyes could comprehend. "...for what your clan used to guard."
Venus paled.
"I am here..." Slash, block, dodge. "... to kill the ones I missed last time I tried to wipe out this clan."
Shock roiled through her. Did that mean.... that this dragon... was somehow responsible?
He smiled menacingly at the blank, empty look in her eyes.
"I am here..." His other set of claws cut across her face, and she angrily wiped away the blood from her eyes. "... to finish what I started. I killed your father little Venus. Now you will meet the very same fate."
His tail whipped around and caught her a stinging whiplash blow across the leg. She barely noticed.
Venus was a jumble of emotions.
Shock, anger, pain, confusion... all made their way through her fogged brain. She chose to hold on to a particular one through the haze of adrenaline, blood and fear.
~...Venus, don't listen to him! Stop, he's trying to make you angry! Get out now while you still can!~
Isandre's voice was cut off, speech drowned out as the searing red heat of rage settled over the eyes, heart and mind of the blue dragoness.
"You killed my family." Numb, empty.
He made no move to deny it. Instead, he smiled joyfully, took pride in it.
The red got just a little deeper.
"Yes."
Although she wasn't aware of it, Venus continued blocking the dragon's attacks as she spoke, devoid of emotion.
"You killed my friends."
He snickered, eyes gleaming with something she couldn't process. Interest? Excitement? Anticipation?
"Yes. I organized every single last move of that war. I was the master conductor, hiding behind others to make the sweetest music for my ears."
He drew forwards, and she felt a mind touch hers that was so dark it made her want to howl.
~The death screams of your clan!~
And through his mind, he showed her how truthful he was being. Every single word, from the soul.
Spark.
And she was flying, screaming, slashing, cutting, wild with rage at this unknown dragon who had killed her world and brought it crashing down in ruins around her.
Blocks were no longer of consequence. She took every hit meant for her and returned each one in kind. All lessons in fighting went out of the window, as the dragoness once known as the usually peaceable Venus went savage.
She ignored the bright blood dripping down her hide.
It was of no concern.
All she knew was rage.
Until...
A soundless scream of grief and pain, from somewhere deep inside her.
And then, everything went black.