Post by Killiak on Nov 17, 2023 13:12:11 GMT
{BGM: “The Void”}
The first rays of morning light broke over the horizon, pouring through the three peaks and into the valley below in which they’d set up camp for the night. Their fire had long since died, allowing the cool winter’s air to invade their space with ease—made worse as the winds chased the morning light. Thankfully they both had their furs to keep them warm, and the blizzard in which they’d passed through on the way some days past had been far worse. They must have been beyond the veil by now. Stormveil had kept would be adventurers and invaders alike from encroaching upon the Three Pillars for decades or more. Then there was Arka, curled up against him and resting her head on his chest, further keeping him warm. As he began to wake, Edward’s eyes would open to see Arka’s own, patiently waiting for him to waken. As he did, his instinct was to reach behind her ears and give her a good scratch, but for some reason his arm wouldn’t move—couldn’t move. Surprised, he looked down at his arm, trying to figure out what kept it from moving, only to find that it was missing entirely. Just as he started to yell, Arka vanished without a trace, and suddenly the Lord-Knight was all but alone…
The sound of chains clinking mixed with dirt shuffling under heavy, rhythmic footfalls were the first things Edward could make out as he woke from his dream. He had been chained to a wall on one side of a cell, with Uzuki chained to the opposing wall but allowed room to sit, stand, and walk as she pleased. His axe, Warmonger, remained firmly within his grasp, bound to his arm by some magical, unbreakable chain. The Dusk Orcs had tried their damnedest to remove it, but every attempt resulted in failure so they simply bound him to the wall, limbs stretched to just shy of their limits. As for Uzuki, she of course was more than capable of killing every one of them, had chosen to stick around instead, for one reason or another.
“You…”, Edward’s voice suddenly broke the silence, gruff and coarse as it was.
“About time you woke your ass up Sleeping Ugly. Have a nice dre—“, Uzuki replied, already making her usual dig and mocking him until she was cut off.
“…ruined…everything…”, Edward finished. He hadn’t moved an inch, and there was no telling he was even awake within the confines of his armor, but Uzuki could feel his gaze, nonetheless. The resentment, bordering pure hatred, for carrying out a decision made all her own, that to end the life of one he cared so deeply for. She’d been like a daughter to him, accompanying him not out of some oath or order, but because she had chosen to. She’d murdered her own daughter!
Now it was over…and despite his magicks, to resurrect the dead was…
The orcs finally made it to their cell, clanging their blades against the bars to try to wake him up once again. Uzuki looked up to see three of them this time, one of which bore markings that appeared more significant than the other two. A captain of some kind, she figured. In the days since their capture, she’d only seen the usual sentries.
“Is he awake yet, human?!”
Uzuki couldn’t help but laugh as she looked them over. “You know we’re both humans, right? Yes, I’m awake. How many times do I have to tell you idiots?!”
One of the lower ranking orcs that she’d seen in previous days snarled and smacked the bars with his sword again which only made her laugh more. This time however, Edward let out a disgruntled sigh, which made all three of them jump back into a ready position.
“Do you have to make so much damned noise??”, Edward asked, shaking his head and pulling on his bindings just enough to get their full attention.
The captain—or whatever he was—ordered the sentries to open their cell, to which they obliged and as they slowly entered, Uzuki stood to her feet. One of the orcs pointed their sword at her, warning her to stay put, while the other two approached the bound knight with caution, stopping a few feet in front of him. The captain looked him over as if to confirm what he had been told in the reports. From his blackened armor, massive stature, and the radiant axe bound to his singular arm, the reports appeared to be true…
“They call you Drok. They say you cut your way into our city. Stole from Chief!”, the captain snarled at him, searching for any excuse to execute him on the spot. It seemed like the captain didn’t fear Edward at all, and judging by his actions and what was said, the captain wasn’t there to witness the events in question.
Edward simply remained silent for the time being. He didn’t want to startle the orcs, as they weren’t the ones he was here for in the first place. The reason he had come to their city was to save Calibri and Kaneda, until he realized the two were fighting each other. Kaneda had been possessed by some entity dwelling inside him or something to that effect, and Calibri was doing everything she could in her weakened state to stop him. Edward and Arka’s rescue mission turned into him interrupting their battle before more damage was done, and he did just that. The battle was over, the spirit in charge of the boy relinquished its hold over him, and everything seemed to calm down—at least for a moment.
That was when she came back… Returned from the Jade Horizon, Uzuki had successfully passed her trials and retained her life. The simple fact she had returned told Edward everything he needed to know about the woman, but more importantly—he was forbidden to kill her. Despite having ascended above the mortal realm into the Kingdom of the Stars, Edward had fallen back to realm of man a long time ago now. He was still human after all that he had become. He wanted to punish Uzuki for what she had done, for destroying the progress he had made with guiding Calibri on the Path…
Now it was all for naught—Calibri was dead, receiving the ultimate punishment from her own mother for crimes she had yet to commit. Edward, furious to no end and already unstable due to the interference of this flying continent, had lost control entirely. He chose to execute Kaneda for much the same reason: fated to betray the Crew, Edward delivered the ultimate judgment. Transforming the Warmonger into its true form, he cleaved Kaneda from existence. The ancient axe, a gift from the Immortals themselves being one of the few weapons capable of killing one of their race and status, had the deceptively simple attribute of being able to cut through anything. This went far beyond the physical realm, and as such, Kaneda’s very existence had been the target of Edward’s wrath…
As for the Dusk Orcs and their place in this, they were merely innocent bystanders. These humans had invaded their lands, and while two of them had been captured, it was this one…this Drok that had killed so many. Brothers who had done nothing more than serve, do their duty to protect their home. It was time for him to be judged.
“I was only trying to prote—“, Edward started to explain, when he was cut off by the captain.
“Silence! You will stand trial for your crimes. First, surrender your weapon!”, the orc demanded, and Edward turned his head what little the chain allowed, looking at the Warmonger.
It continued to burn with radiant light the entire time he had been unconscious up through now. Bound to his arm, the orcs could have simply cut his arm off and been done with it, but the chief ordered them to merely bind him in chains and wait for him to awaken. At any rate, they would not allow him into the chief’s presence until he relinquished the axe. After all, it had left a devastating mark on their city that may very well be a permanent one…
Edward didn’t want any more trouble with these people. The Warmonger’s light faded into darkness, its numerous blades folded back into itself and the chains binding it to his arm retracted back into its haft. Once it was returned to its plain, unassuming form, the orcs immediately tried to wrestle it from the knight’s grasp. For several reasons, Edward wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Much of his power had returned to him—or at the very least, he was far less restricted than when they had arrived in this strange land. As such, he simply returned the axe to his legendary armory—a place no other could reach.
Naturally the orcs were surprised, the captain angry at the disobedience as the axe was what was ‘stolen’ from the chief. He shouted at Edward, demanding to know where it went. Edward just kept his mouth shut, he was to go to “trial” anyways, where he would presumably get to speak to the chief, so it was just easier to keep quiet and let the orcs take him. And they did, removing him from the wall and keeping his feet bound together with a chain just long enough to allow him to walk. Uzuki was likewise taken, as she followed Edward’s lead. Much as she wanted to give him a piece of her mind, now just wasn’t the time.
The first rays of morning light broke over the horizon, pouring through the three peaks and into the valley below in which they’d set up camp for the night. Their fire had long since died, allowing the cool winter’s air to invade their space with ease—made worse as the winds chased the morning light. Thankfully they both had their furs to keep them warm, and the blizzard in which they’d passed through on the way some days past had been far worse. They must have been beyond the veil by now. Stormveil had kept would be adventurers and invaders alike from encroaching upon the Three Pillars for decades or more. Then there was Arka, curled up against him and resting her head on his chest, further keeping him warm. As he began to wake, Edward’s eyes would open to see Arka’s own, patiently waiting for him to waken. As he did, his instinct was to reach behind her ears and give her a good scratch, but for some reason his arm wouldn’t move—couldn’t move. Surprised, he looked down at his arm, trying to figure out what kept it from moving, only to find that it was missing entirely. Just as he started to yell, Arka vanished without a trace, and suddenly the Lord-Knight was all but alone…
The sound of chains clinking mixed with dirt shuffling under heavy, rhythmic footfalls were the first things Edward could make out as he woke from his dream. He had been chained to a wall on one side of a cell, with Uzuki chained to the opposing wall but allowed room to sit, stand, and walk as she pleased. His axe, Warmonger, remained firmly within his grasp, bound to his arm by some magical, unbreakable chain. The Dusk Orcs had tried their damnedest to remove it, but every attempt resulted in failure so they simply bound him to the wall, limbs stretched to just shy of their limits. As for Uzuki, she of course was more than capable of killing every one of them, had chosen to stick around instead, for one reason or another.
“You…”, Edward’s voice suddenly broke the silence, gruff and coarse as it was.
“About time you woke your ass up Sleeping Ugly. Have a nice dre—“, Uzuki replied, already making her usual dig and mocking him until she was cut off.
“…ruined…everything…”, Edward finished. He hadn’t moved an inch, and there was no telling he was even awake within the confines of his armor, but Uzuki could feel his gaze, nonetheless. The resentment, bordering pure hatred, for carrying out a decision made all her own, that to end the life of one he cared so deeply for. She’d been like a daughter to him, accompanying him not out of some oath or order, but because she had chosen to. She’d murdered her own daughter!
Now it was over…and despite his magicks, to resurrect the dead was…
The orcs finally made it to their cell, clanging their blades against the bars to try to wake him up once again. Uzuki looked up to see three of them this time, one of which bore markings that appeared more significant than the other two. A captain of some kind, she figured. In the days since their capture, she’d only seen the usual sentries.
“Is he awake yet, human?!”
Uzuki couldn’t help but laugh as she looked them over. “You know we’re both humans, right? Yes, I’m awake. How many times do I have to tell you idiots?!”
One of the lower ranking orcs that she’d seen in previous days snarled and smacked the bars with his sword again which only made her laugh more. This time however, Edward let out a disgruntled sigh, which made all three of them jump back into a ready position.
“Do you have to make so much damned noise??”, Edward asked, shaking his head and pulling on his bindings just enough to get their full attention.
The captain—or whatever he was—ordered the sentries to open their cell, to which they obliged and as they slowly entered, Uzuki stood to her feet. One of the orcs pointed their sword at her, warning her to stay put, while the other two approached the bound knight with caution, stopping a few feet in front of him. The captain looked him over as if to confirm what he had been told in the reports. From his blackened armor, massive stature, and the radiant axe bound to his singular arm, the reports appeared to be true…
“They call you Drok. They say you cut your way into our city. Stole from Chief!”, the captain snarled at him, searching for any excuse to execute him on the spot. It seemed like the captain didn’t fear Edward at all, and judging by his actions and what was said, the captain wasn’t there to witness the events in question.
Edward simply remained silent for the time being. He didn’t want to startle the orcs, as they weren’t the ones he was here for in the first place. The reason he had come to their city was to save Calibri and Kaneda, until he realized the two were fighting each other. Kaneda had been possessed by some entity dwelling inside him or something to that effect, and Calibri was doing everything she could in her weakened state to stop him. Edward and Arka’s rescue mission turned into him interrupting their battle before more damage was done, and he did just that. The battle was over, the spirit in charge of the boy relinquished its hold over him, and everything seemed to calm down—at least for a moment.
That was when she came back… Returned from the Jade Horizon, Uzuki had successfully passed her trials and retained her life. The simple fact she had returned told Edward everything he needed to know about the woman, but more importantly—he was forbidden to kill her. Despite having ascended above the mortal realm into the Kingdom of the Stars, Edward had fallen back to realm of man a long time ago now. He was still human after all that he had become. He wanted to punish Uzuki for what she had done, for destroying the progress he had made with guiding Calibri on the Path…
Now it was all for naught—Calibri was dead, receiving the ultimate punishment from her own mother for crimes she had yet to commit. Edward, furious to no end and already unstable due to the interference of this flying continent, had lost control entirely. He chose to execute Kaneda for much the same reason: fated to betray the Crew, Edward delivered the ultimate judgment. Transforming the Warmonger into its true form, he cleaved Kaneda from existence. The ancient axe, a gift from the Immortals themselves being one of the few weapons capable of killing one of their race and status, had the deceptively simple attribute of being able to cut through anything. This went far beyond the physical realm, and as such, Kaneda’s very existence had been the target of Edward’s wrath…
As for the Dusk Orcs and their place in this, they were merely innocent bystanders. These humans had invaded their lands, and while two of them had been captured, it was this one…this Drok that had killed so many. Brothers who had done nothing more than serve, do their duty to protect their home. It was time for him to be judged.
“I was only trying to prote—“, Edward started to explain, when he was cut off by the captain.
“Silence! You will stand trial for your crimes. First, surrender your weapon!”, the orc demanded, and Edward turned his head what little the chain allowed, looking at the Warmonger.
It continued to burn with radiant light the entire time he had been unconscious up through now. Bound to his arm, the orcs could have simply cut his arm off and been done with it, but the chief ordered them to merely bind him in chains and wait for him to awaken. At any rate, they would not allow him into the chief’s presence until he relinquished the axe. After all, it had left a devastating mark on their city that may very well be a permanent one…
Edward didn’t want any more trouble with these people. The Warmonger’s light faded into darkness, its numerous blades folded back into itself and the chains binding it to his arm retracted back into its haft. Once it was returned to its plain, unassuming form, the orcs immediately tried to wrestle it from the knight’s grasp. For several reasons, Edward wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Much of his power had returned to him—or at the very least, he was far less restricted than when they had arrived in this strange land. As such, he simply returned the axe to his legendary armory—a place no other could reach.
Naturally the orcs were surprised, the captain angry at the disobedience as the axe was what was ‘stolen’ from the chief. He shouted at Edward, demanding to know where it went. Edward just kept his mouth shut, he was to go to “trial” anyways, where he would presumably get to speak to the chief, so it was just easier to keep quiet and let the orcs take him. And they did, removing him from the wall and keeping his feet bound together with a chain just long enough to allow him to walk. Uzuki was likewise taken, as she followed Edward’s lead. Much as she wanted to give him a piece of her mind, now just wasn’t the time.