Fable - Ask The Voice of the Damned

[Ein]

Ein glanced at the plant with a slight frown, watching as Trix seemed to...pet it?

He wasn't entirely sure what was going on there, but if she had a special relationship with this bit of foliage it was probably a good thing. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this thing was likely the cause of all of this, or connected to it at least.

Then suddenly he heard Zael yell.

The Dreadlord twisted his head, glancing upward into the sky and seeing the Initiate flying, shouting something about...finding the plant standing in front of Ein? "Idiots."

He said, rubbing at his face when Jaxan suddenly appeared at the edge of the square and Trix cried her warning to them. He glanced at the plant, lips thinning for a brief moment.

It was no threat to him, of course, but Ein wasn't about to volunteer that information. He had survived the Academy by showing as little of his magic as humanly possible, and it was a habit that still followed him even now.

"GET DOWN!" He called to Zael, then motioned for Jaxan to come over as well before he turned to Trix. "Can you trace it's roots?"

From the Rune they already knew the plant was likely everywhere, and if that was the source of the problem they would have to kill it. A simple enough task between all of them.

 

[Jaxan]

Zael was hollerin' like a mad man. Which was distractin' enough but Jax found himself caught up in another pickle real fast.

Trixi was holdin' up one hand and issuin' warnings about not hurtin' the vines and plantlife that seemed to be aggressive. He had to resist every urge to swing downwards with his axe at that news but by golly he managed. Sheathin' his weapon the dark-skinned student sauntered off near the other two initiates as Zael, presumably, started catchin' up.

"Why are these things doin' all this nonsense?" he asked right after Big Red requested a "trace its roots" or whatever that meant.

He knew from past ventures that Trixi was real good when it came to plantlife but it still made no real sense to him. He thought about mentionin' the letter they'd found but decided he'd wait until Zael caught up and they could, the four of 'em, have a real heart-to-heart about what had really happened here.

With any degree of luck they'd be quarantinin' this terrible place by sunrise.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Glancing around proved fruitful. There they all were. Gathered together. Heh, maybe the three of them combined might come close to matching Zael's contribution to this mission! Was there a way Zael could get extra marks? Had to be. Think about it. He single-handedly finds out what happened in Vel'Tyrus and destroys the menace? Jaxan could brush the dust off of Zael's left shoulder, Trix could get his right, and Ein could hand over his Second Level status. He oughta mention that. Yeah, he was gonna mention that.

Zael twirled around in the air to change his falling trajectory. Flipped around to reorient himself, facing now his comrades as he plummeted down, his red cape fluttering upward. As the broken ground around the well neared, Zael slowed his descent with five quick stutter-bursts of propelling flame from his back. His feet touched the ground and he slid to a stop, sword held out to one side.

He glanced over his shoulder to the other three. Trix said don't touch the plants. Easy enough. They could just fuckin burn em all. Ha, take that, poison magic Dreadlords. Fire was gonna dominate here. Not that it should be much of a surprise.

Zael looked to Ein in particular, hardly concerned with the living vines.

And he mentioned it. "They oughta promote me to Second Level and demote you. What do you think?"

A lip-biting, shit-eating grin followed.

Trix Ein Jaxan

 

[Trix]

Can you trace its roots?

Had he not read what their gifts were in the report? It hadn't been exactly hard to get a hold of; a little spray of Taerunium's Eye here, a drop of Pendiulm there and the guards had basically begged her to sit and read it in the officers chair. It had been quite enlightening. She suspected that the Guards had been keeping files on Dreadlords long before they had had an official reason to. But she at least had come into this knowing what her team's skillsets were. Two fire heads and a bloodmage. The muscle, the force and she the brains. Obviously.

She was about to retort when Zael opened his stupid mouth and winced.

This wasn't going to go well...

 

[Ein]

Ein slowly turned towards Zael. His expression was about as neutral as could be when he simply responded. "Why would they want a worse version of me?"

The Dreadlord turned back towards Trix.

"Trace it’s roots." He reiterated to the female Initiate, his tone stern.

The time for joking and teasing was over with. They were here to complete a mission, and now they had their first taste of what this was actually all about. These plants were the source of all this trouble, and so they would have to be dealt with.

 

[Jaxan]

Zael looked like a fuckin' loser as he soared through the air. Like one of Chasmine's little toys when Jaxan would toss 'em across the school grounds.

Then, blondie decided to hint he was somehow better than Big Red? After embarassin' himself like that? Boy was lucky he hadn't said somethin' degrading to Jax or he'd have spurs of bone pokin' outta his legs.

He wasn't exactly sure why ol' Red was askin' Trixi to trace a root but he didn't object to it. Worst case they could just start pullin' up some of them plants, he learned awhile back that was the quickest way to find the roots of a plant. Trixi had yelled at 'im a couple times for pullin' up whatever weird shit she grew in her garden back home.

Not 'is fault they looked tasty though.

"Can't we just go back now? Its obvious the townfolk were all turned into plants," or at least, it was obvious to him. Even if it weren't true they could all just insist that's what happened and recommend they level this place. No one had to find out.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"What they want..." Zael, with his free hand, framed his face with a thumb and forefinger to his jaw and chin, "...is a sexier version."

Alright, look, they could trade jests all day, a joust of jests if you will, but at the end of it Ein was still a fuckin beautiful man. Didn't matter if Zael was just a hair above, that didn't really cut Ein down at all. Maybe some other guys might have trouble admitting that, saying another man was beautiful, but not Zael. If the occasion came up, or if someone asked, and this could be concerning anyone (Proctor Du'vil included, heh) yeah, Zael'd tell em exactly what he thought.

That wasn't hot air, what he'd told Jaxan. Zael called it like it is.

Well, anyway, Ein and Zael weren't going to pretty these plants to death, so they all still had work to do. Zael gave his sword a downward flick, and the blade ignited as flames enwreathed it. The buildings around the square were crawling with those vines, each snaking about the stones of the structures like armies on the march.

Zael, his back still to the group, looked over once more. Said to Jaxan, now clearly engaged with the current happenings of their mission, "Go back? Hell, we just got here!"

And the fight was just about to get started, once Trix finally contributed. Looked like this wasn't going to be a fuck-ass mission after all--now that was an excellent surprise!

Trix Ein Jaxan

 

[Trix]

"Kress," Trix muttered under her breath at both Jax and Zael's comments and turned her attention back to the vine still gently exploring her skin. She'd have liked to have seen Ein put the latter initiate in his place but it seemed the older Dreadlord prescribed to the same boring philosophy of all the others; upholding the new Republic family values. How disappointing.

"They were not turned into plants," she explained in the same manner an adult would to a child. "The plants are where the poison is coming from. I can sense them in every single home in this town," a little scratch, maybe even inhaling the pollen of those flowers had done it. If the latter was true the three behind her might be in some danger of getting sick too.

The vine curled around her wrist like a doting pet.

"The roots go deep and wide, they easily cover most of the hillside and as for deep," she shrugged. "Easily 50 foot down."

 

[Ein]

He decided to ignore Zael. Getting into a pissing contest with the little tyke wouldn’t benefit him right now, and besides. There was always the trip home to rub his face into the nearest puddle of mud.

”No, we’re not going anywhere.” Ein said in a slight grunt of exasperation to Jaxan.

There was a reason he had been promoted to the Second upon Graduation, why he’d been narrowly denied the first. His success rate on missions was about as high as could be, a fact he was rather proud of.

He frowned for a brief moment, considering.

Glancing at the vine running over Trix’s arm. There was something…uneasy about that. ”Not until we burn out the last of this plant, and figure out where it came from.”

For a moment Ein thought. None of them had any sort of earthen magic, unfortunately. Trix could probably drag some of it out, maybe even kill it, but that didn’t wouldn’t stop the second half of their problem. ”Can you tell where it started?”

He asked Trix again, only a fool didn’t use a resource when at hand.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched as some of the other vines began to creep closer.

 

[Jaxan]

A big 'ol grimace took over sullen face and Jaxan glared down at blondie. "Sexier and dumber, I reckon," he shot at Zael with a dismissive grunt.

"Damn, that's amazin' Trixi, you can tell all that when they're so far down?" Trixi was, as per usual, the brains of any operation but he let 'imself wait for their leader to offer a big bold idea. He may not of liked Big Red much but at least the pretty boy seemed educated enough.

"Burn 'em?"

That was Big Red's genius move? Burn all them viral killer plants that caused an epidemic which induced mass vanishin' among the populace? Gods, Jax's brain was usin' too many of them fancy words reserved for folk like Trixi or Meredith. Was startin' to give himself a headache.

"She just told you where it started! Fifty feet below your ankles, aren't you payin' attention?" The two knuckleheads shoulda left all the thinkin' to Jaxan and Trixi. Or just Trixi, whatever.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Despite Jax's dubious attitude, Ein had the right idea. How about that? Guess it was true what they said: great minds really do think alike. This was just the sort of problem Zael particularly enjoyed, one that didn't need to be overcomplicated with some grandiose plan to solve. Straightforward. Simple. And the simplest solution, more often than not, was the correct one. Zael read that somewhere. Probably when one of the Proctors thought they could punish him by locking him in the Academy's library with a quota of books to read and dull reports to write.

And what was more simple than solving a horrendous gardening problem than by turning the whole damn thing to ash? Hell, their enemy was plants, for cryin out loud. Dumb, slow, flammable plants. A freshly-abducted child Initiate could've handled this, just give the little bastard a big enough lens and a cloudless sunny day.

"Slow down there, Jax," Zael said. "Just because it got fifty feet down don't mean it started there."

Trix was just starting to be useful with her goofy magic and Jax almost cut off her ankles, inadvertently or not. Weren't they supposed to be all buddy-buddy or something? Ah. Whatever. The crowd Trix and Jax mingled with was as stupidly cutthroat as it got.

Vines were creeping along the ground. Approaching Zael from the front. And Zael cracked his neck--time to get to work. His favorite part of any mission.

Zael swept his fiery sword in front of himself, the blade clearly shy of making contact with the vines. But the ground where the tip of the blade had been pointing started to turn into a bright red line, like iron fresh out of the forge.

A crescent-shaped Fire Wall erupted into being some two meters in front of Zael, the flames as tall as Zael himself. That oughta do it. And this bonfire was only just getting started.

Trix Ein Jaxan

 

[Trix]

"Burn them?" Trix rounded on Ein incredulously in the same second Zael brought up a fiery wall between him and the vines. Instead of retreating back, however, the vines seemed to split and simply circle round the wall. She could feel the plants anger as though it were her own and she couldn't exactly blame it when two dipshits were telling her their first idea of trying to cure the unique poison the plant produced was to get rid of it.

"We're not burning them," that was pretty final in her mind. Her words were punctuated by the crack of more earth. "Can't you see you're pissing them off? Maybe I should just let them hurt you," because for the past five minutes though the vines had been creeping closer, they would have listened to Trix to leave them be. Now though? With the threat of fire?

 

[Ein]

Ein felt something snap.

Patience.

It withered away in an instant, lips thinning as both Jax and Trix spoke out against him. Was this was the Revolution had brought? Disobedience, insubordination? He was so tired of it. So very fucking tired. Ein's shoulders squared. "Maybe you don't understand how this works."

The Pheonix did not look back at the fire Zael had sprouted behind him, though he could sense the heat.

He took a single step closer to Trix, and then his whole body seemed to flicker. In a dash of flame he closed the distance between the two of them. He grasped Trix by the scruff of her neck, wrenching her away from the vine and throwing her to the floor.

Then before the plant could lash out his fingers raised and a snap echoing outward.

The air around the Anirians seemed to turn into a haze for a brief moment, obscuring, shifting, and then suddenly a brilliant blue fire exploded outward. It caught instantly upon the plants that surrounded them, rushing over their flesh and burning them to ash within a breath.

Zael's own wall of flame seemed to flicker, and then grow larger as Ein stood over Trix. It surrounded them in a great circle.

"We're not here to discuss. We're not here to debate." He stared at the Initiate. "We're here to do as I say."

Ein didn't care about the new ways. He didn't care what the Proctors said or what the Republic had ordained. He had been brought up in the Old ways, and he would keep to them. "Understand, Initiates?"

He spoke to all of them, but stared at the plant girl.

 

[Jaxan]

Real quick everythin’ got real hot and Big Red seemed to lose his damn mind. Trixi was a member of House Umbra, not as prominent as the ‘great’ homes or whatever but noble all the same. And he was grabbin’ her by her neck like she was some kinda feline?

This revolution had really fucked with people’s heads. Forgettin’ their place and all that.

Jaxan stepped forward as his long juttin’ claws of bone sprang out of his wrists. Blood under his flesh started to heat up, turnin’ more and more acidic as he took each step closer despite the increasin’ temps Big Red was puttin’ out ‘round the group of students.

”Oi, I hear you, big man. You’re in charge Big Red,” he was usin’ his even keeled voice. Jax weren’t some big thinker but he knew how people ticked. Knew how folk like Ein thought, wantin’ to be in charge or whatever. ”But why dun you remove that grubby ‘and from Trix, eh?”

If the leader of their lil’ expedition wanted to keep pushin’ his luck Jax was already preparin’ himself to strike. Both with his weapons made ‘o bone and the blood in his veins that kept on growin’ with acidity.

He was pretty sure he couldn’t best Ein but he was positive he could at least scar that pretty ‘o face of ‘is. And maybe he could distract just long ‘nough for Trixi to work her magic.

Was gonna be difficult to retire to some noble house if he’d let one of their kids get man handled right in front of ‘is eyes.

 

[Zael Castomir]

For all the shit-talking he did, Zael knew flat out he couldn't win a fight against Ein. He talked back to some Proctors every now and then, told some harsh truths to others, disparaged others still. Know what happened? He got his ass kicked. Every time. Couldn't learn to get back up if you never got knocked down.

Jax, however, seemed to be looking for a worse whooping. And over what? Trix? That was the best he could do? Damn, what a tragedy. There were prettier girls to die over. Noel, Chasmine, hell, Davi was prettier than Trix and he was a guy. To top it off, there was some choice hearsay about Trix and her preferences--intel from the last brothel trip before the Republic ruined everything. Maybe hearsay was just hearsay, but it'd be the ultimate ironic cherry on that cake.

Ein had power that Zael aspired to--one day. Maybe not as hard a body as Zael, but magical power, yeah, Ein had it in spades. He burned away the creeping vines along the square, and he might do the same to Jax and Trix if they pissed him off enough.

Well, talk about having a front row seat. Zael was about it.

"Good luck. Work those arms," Zael said with a grin to Jax. There were some hellish combat exertions awaiting if he wanted them.

He turned his head forward again, drawing his parrying dagger in his free hand. His Fire Wall would burn itself out soon enough, and that was fine. Zael needed a different approach. These plants weren't as dumb as he anticipated. Good. Here he was thinking this was all going to be so disappointingly easy.

Swirling flame encased Zael's head in a helm of incinerating fire, effectively completing his suit of armor. Ah, it was so much better than using a mundane helm made of steel: he could see through the fire as if it wasn't there, it didn't feel all claustrophobic and (with some magical nuance) he could breathe easier, and (with the exception of fire/magic resistant stuff) it protected his beautiful face better.

Zael stood in a stance ready to fight, keeping a lookout for the re-emergence of more vines. Whatever was going on behind him with Trix, Jax, and Ein would likely be over quick. One way or another.

Trix Jaxan Ein

 

[Trix]

Trix didn't mind being shaken. She didn't mind being beaten in fights. It was a difference between her and Lillian that people presumed made her weaker but it didn't. Not in her mind. Losing meant you had something to learn still, that you could grow. When she stopped losing she would be forced to find another group to push her to her limits because that was who Trix was. So whilst Jax got upset and Zael all but fluttered his eye lashes at Ein like a love sick puppy, Trix merely brushed herself off and glanced up at all the pollen Ein had released into the air.

It settled over all of them that deadly, invasive toxin. So small that it would go unnoticed to those not attuned to the earth and to the plants as she was. At least it would go unnoticed until they begun to cough, or sneeze. to begin with it wouldn't be anything to comment, but over the next hour or so?

So instead of standing up she actually crossed her legs and reached into her pocket to pull out a battered book.

"What any of you say isn't going to matter soon," she sighed and flipped through the pages until she found a clean page. She might as well record their symptoms for science's sake. "I'll follow what happens to your bodies and let you know how the burning them out went after. If you survive."

 

[Ein]

Ein glanced at the Initiate, looking at the strange claws piercing from his skin. He let a second pass, a brief moment.

Trix spoke, her words vague, but Ein was smart enough to decipher them. He watched her, and a fury set into his chest. Lips thinned, anger rising in him. Is this was the Proctors put up with now? What they allowed to happen?

Had none of these children experienced the Academy? Had his old teachers gone soft on them?

Ignoring Trix as she opened her book, and instead looking at the boy approaching him with claws drawn. THe defiance of it brought rage to his chest. "There's easier ways to kill yourself."

The words preceded another haze in the air. There was no snap of finger this time, no warning. The fire simply ruptured from the air and burst forward in a wave. Instantly sweeping in a thick line above the waist, casting itself in a lash towards both Jax and Zael.

Hot enough to burn pollen and maim flesh.

In the same instance the Pheonix swept forward and kicked his boot out. His foot slammed down on Trix's face, fire blooming, hot enough to hurt, but not yet scar.

"We're done with these little quips and attitudes." Ein said, his voice ice. "You either help, or you die. Right here. Right now."

A lesson had to be taught, and he was going to teach it.

 

[Jaxan]

It was seemin' like maybe Big ol' Red was startin' to use his noggin' some. He took his 'ands off her at least and then Trixi went on about survivin' or somethin' while she cracked open that book of 'ers. Almost always had her nose buried in some kinda tome or-

Big Red still was yappin' his mouth but 'fore Jax could respond there was a mirage in the air. Flutterin' shapes in the wind or somethin' that preceded a more sinister sorta assault.

Fire.

One big 'ol wave of it. Thrown straight towards blondie and him. It fuckin' hurt. Almost instantly flesh boiled and bilstered somethin' fierce. An' Jax, the main character of this lil' tale, writhed in pain on the dirt of the abaonded village. "Fuckin' dickhead," he muttered up and under his breath, already his magic coursin' through tryin' to repair all the boiled and ruptured blood cells from Big Red's unprovoked and unnecessary assault.

Fuckin' kid thought he was a proctor. What an ass.

Course, Jax was a simple student of war. He mostly jus' punched stuff that people pointed to. He had no idea if that blaze was 'nough to burn out whatever infections or maladies these plants caused. And in the moment he didn' much care either as he clutched at a raw right arm that was slowly mendin' itself.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Zael walked a fine line.

He tested the fences at the Academy. He did what he wasn't supposed to and oftentimes he did it openly, right in front of the Proctors, right to the Proctors in some cases. He did these things, and he paid the price for them: torture, punishments, forced menial tasks, so on. What made it all worth it was that he kept his recalcitrant streak in check. He knew when to stop. When to get in line. What didn't kill you only made you stronger--and that was the key. What didn't kill you.

Back in the old days, there were Proctors who had come damn close to it. The only thing that stopped them, so Zael had surmised, was the acknowledged chance that this rebellious little shit of an Initiate before them could perhaps be salvaged, and that they couldn't kill or let perish every Initiate: Vel Anir needed to power its war machine somehow.

As the Fire Wave swept over him and he had to plant his feet to stabilize himself, as the air itself caught fire in a myriad of tiny violent flashes (Zael didn't yet know that this was, in fact, the pollen being incinerated), as Jax fell to the ground with scorching wounds, as Ein quite literally put his foot down by stomping on Trix's face, Zael recognized two things.

First, it was time to stop. It was time to get in line.

Second, he'd flatter Ein any day of the week. That was the level of fiery magical might that Zael aspired to achieve.

With the square cleared and no danger at present, Zael relaxed his stance and turned around to face his fellow Anirians. His Fire Helm parted open briefly in the front so that his face was revealed.

To Ein, the time for quips and attitude indeed over, he said, "Show me what to burn, and I'll burn it."

Trix Ein Jaxan

 

[Trix]

Trix might have been happy to learn by being put on her backside but she didn't get bullied. Not by students, and not by some fucker with a chip on his shoulder because he missed out on some cushy job.

"No," she said firmly, clenching her jaw against the burning sensation spreading over her face and probably broken nose. "If you're not planning on listening to common sense then sort it out on your own. Dreadlord."

 

[Ein]

Ein looked down at her in disgust. "I'll make sure your Proctors teach you your place."

His boot raised, and then he slammed it down on Trix's face.

Not hard enough to kill her, no flames to scorch her skill, but just enough to knock her into unconsciousness. He wasn't fool enough to kill her, not in this new world of the Republic. Zael might not have told, but Jaxan would certainly rat him out to the Guard.

Killing Trix would only cause him more trouble when they were done here. That was the last thing that Ein wanted.

His intention was to separate himself from the Guard, leave this life and place himself within another. "Carry her."

He said with a quick motion towards Jaxan.

"Zael." He addressed the other firebug. "Start a flame."

Ein had no idea how much stamina the other boy had, but it didn't much matter. "Keep it going, forward, burn everything you see."

From there they would simply have to work their way down.

Burn out the roots and see this city turned to ash so that it's plague did not spread to the rest of Vel Anir.

 

[Jaxan]

The Proctors an' the Guard truly were a buncha fuckin' idiots. How the 'ell had they decided on this lil' group of problem solvers?

Jax imagined the meetin' went somethin' like, "so um ya, loads of folk vanished from our border town what should we do?" And then, completely unprompted, the dumbest yokel in the room chimed in with a, "send two brain-damaged, egotistical, pyromaniacs to investigate!" Everyone else musta been mighty hungry or somethin' and they all nodded and took an early lunch. High fives all 'round boys.

Not that he could blame 'em, Jax hoped that'd be 'im one day. Noddin' in agreement to whatever it was that got him an early lunch.

But as much as Jaxan wanted to bitch 'n moan he couldn't. The bastard had fuckin' knocked her out cold, likely bruised that face of 'ers too. With whelps and scorch marks still dottin' his own ebony flesh the initiate nodded and stepped closer to Trixi. "Aye, try not to knock Zael out too, I dun wanna carry two of 'em."

He scooped the girl he'd been takin' orders from for the past seven or eight years up in his arms. Almost immediately he had stopped usin' his magic to mend his own flesh and started focusin' it on 'er. Mend a broken nose here, try to slow bloodflow to some of the swollen areas, all that fun shit.

Hopefully the psychopathic firestarters would be quick 'bout their business.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Jax was salty. He oughta be. With Trix down, nevermind these plants, simple arithmetic would become his greatest enemy. Ein relegated him to baggage duty and that suited Zael fine, just fine. Left more of these plants for Zael to flex his magical might upon.

Zael. Start a flame.

Straight to the point. Excellent. These plants made the biggest tactical error one could make: being flammable. Now Zael wasn't so good at mass destruction, but he had plenty of moves and spells at his disposal. Short-ranged or not, each was a specific tool for a specific sort of job. He just needed to adjust quick, if it became necessary.

"You got it," Zael said to Ein.

He strode over to the sinkhole in the town square. The vines that had come above ground had all been incinerated by Ein, but creeping along down in that darkness were more. Kinda like a den of snakes. Somewhere down there was probably the big, fucked-up heart of it all.

Time to go with a classic.

Zael swung his flaming sword down at the hole, and a large, flat, crescent-shaped wave of fire shot down into the slithering vines. He swung his sword again and again, sending Fire Arc after Fire Arc slamming down into the monstrous plants. The deep blackness of the depths was quickly illuminated with violent, flickering orange, and smoke billowed upward.

Once it was clear, the only thing left was to jump in.

Trix Ein Jaxan