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#Post#: 408600--------------------------------------------------
The rust will crack
By: Landon Yamato Date: June 13, 2017, 1:34 pm
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The pain rushed through every inch of his body like fire through
a house filled of gas. Nothing would move, nothing would
respond. What had happened? Where was he? What happened to his
family? The pain sharpened in his left lobe, his body went numb
as the memories flooded him. A young girl laughing happily. A
tall woman smiling peacefully while holding a bundle of
blankets, a small hand protruding out. A light murmur from
behind a door. Tears. Screams of agony... The bundle of blankets
blood stained, a young girl crushed, the tall woman hung...
His eyes shot open as he screamed in rage. What had happened to
the fond memories he held? Why was there something to tainted...
Darkness was all that answered him. Never ending darkness like
an abyss staring into his eyes. The soft sound of liquid
dripping, machinery ticking... Where was he?
'Daddy...' He tried to turn his head, to find the voice... His
body still wouldn't respond.
'Daddy... Mummy is crying..." The pain increased, the fire raged
on within his body, he chest pounding as his heart raced.
'Lil brother won't wake up...' He closed his eyes, begging the
voice to stop, begging the pain to end.
'Daddy... Why are you squeezing me... Daddy...Da...d...dy....'
The cracking of bones echoes around him as he shuddered with
fear. His body was now responding, he could feel the twitch in
his fingers... He could feel the hatred.
'Project Jackal... Steve if you still cling to that name... I
can end the pain. The suffering... I can bring back your
family... But first you must kill the man responsible for all of
this... He will be with you shortly... I'm sure you know how to
leave your cage... Otherwise they might have to die again...'
That voice was raspy, foul, like sandpaper soaked in honey, he
could feel the sweet sensation of what it promised but the
gritty truth behind it... But could he risk not doing it? He
looked into the darkness... His body burning up and with a swift
movement he felt the burning heat of the sun on his hand... He
recalled it, light poured through the hole before him as water
poured back out... Again and again he lunged forward breaking
down the wall of darkness before him until it fell to the
ground. The punctured hull of a cage built to keep him locked
away... The world red tainted red with his desire for blood, for
peace... He watched as a figure slowly approached...
#Post#: 408609--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Chrislee Date: June 13, 2017, 2:05 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Tap... Tap... Tap...
Each step echoed in the chamber around the cloaked figure as he
ventured deeper into the building. The sound bounced around and
mingled with the distant grumblings of machinery, and the steady
dripping of water on the concrete floor. Pulling his hood back,
the elven man looked around, flicking his hand as he dismissed
the light spell that had sustained him this far. Unlike the
twisting corridors, this room was lit up by sunlight, brought in
through the large, broken remains that had once been a large
window in the ceiling.
Gazing around him, Rahamet drank in the environment. Curious,
softly glowing green eyes soaked everything, a soft shade that
matched the loose robes he wore. Running his hand over his brown
hair, he tugged the braid it was carefully folded into out from
the back of the hood, shaking his head to make sure it was truly
free of the confines. With a deep breath, his eyes sank closed,
his senses shifting to focus on his hearing and sense of smell.
Musty... Old... But there was something more. Something
familiar, yet horribly foreboding about this place. He had felt
it when he first spotted it over the tree line. It was a place
of darkness that called to him, yet he had not even an inkling
as to why this was.
A dull THUD broke him from his musings. The sound was followed
by another, and then a third. One hand slipped to the slender
rapier at his side, resting on it's hilt as he cautiously moved
towards the source of the sound. It appeared to be coming from a
wall. After a moment though, the wall was no longer there,
replaced by a large hole, through which... someone stumbled
through, glaring at him. Standing a few yards away, Rahamet
appraised them slowly, an eyebrow arching upwards before his
lips curled into a smirk, one that seemed to never be far from
his face.
"Well, that's one way to enter a room. As for me, I prefer to
use a door. Sometimes a window, depending on if I'm feeling
really adventurous or not."
#Post#: 408768--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Landon Yamato Date: June 14, 2017, 12:23 am
---------------------------------------------------------
The man's mouth moved and sound echoed lightly through the
chamber they were in. It was dull and emotionless. Nonsense
about doors, windows and rooms... Pointless chatter to avoid the
darkness that would befall them both.
"What did this one have to do... Will killing him really bring
them back? Can I even risk not trying? He doesn't look weak
though... I'm just a man in agony... Can I really kill anyone?"
His mind raced trying to work out what he could do, how he could
even accomplish the task set before him. His body went numb and
what felt like fire poured through his veins again.
His gaze circled the room, taking everything in within an
instant. Broken glass on the floor, stone pillars surrounded the
room holding up what looks to be a higher terrace. Open window
in the ceiling. Weak wall cavity's, water pouring through more
sections like his was.... Though no sign of life in any of
them... But the glare of those who would have come before him
glared back... Not dead... nor alive... Stuck in stasis... like
he was?
His gaze fell back to the man in the room. Slowly his mind
slowed and the rage took over.
He lifted his right foot slowly, it was sluggish as he pushed
forward. As it stepped small clouds of dust rose around him. He
began to pick up momentum, from a crawl to a brisk walk, to a
mad sprint and to what felt like flying. it happened within just
a few steps, it happened in what felt like an eternity in his
mind, but an instant in reality. He stood there breathing on the
man before him... He was slightly taller than him. Thankfully
height never made someone harder to kill.
"I.....I..........Kill..." The words crawled out from his mouth
like a corpse rising from the dead, and with them said he swung
quickly with his right hand, a simple attempt to catch the man
before him off guard and leave an opening for what would come
next. "It's simple... Create a large opening of shock and pain
then kill... then...KILL!" His mind raced, the fire poured
within the instant. As his arm swung the sound of flesh being
torn apart flooded his ears, the pain soured through what nerves
he had left. The bones shifted, cracked and reforged, what was
once a simple arm was a blade twice the length, curved lightly,
thin but sharp. A strange green glow as it left a liquid trail
of the fire like blood which burnt the air around it.
This was no longer a simple swing to wound, but a message that
one of these two people die in this room.
#Post#: 408791--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Chrislee Date: June 14, 2017, 8:03 am
---------------------------------------------------------
"I.... I kill...
At that moment, Rahamet knew he had to react quickly. Already
the man was moving, faster than expected, closing the space
between them. A swing of his arm... his arm?
Time slowed to a crawl, or rather, it seemed that way. In truth,
his body was already reacting on instinct, honed from centuries
of training. First from the fae whose courts in their realm he
had been raised. For the capricious immortals, going from casual
conversation and debates to lashing out with mithral blades and
spells was as natural as throwing barbed words. These instincts
were further honed by his masters, whose rigid, draconic natures
taught him that the mastery of magic he had gained so far would
mean nothing if he wasn't physically able to react and defend
himself.
With his body already moving to defend against the strike, he
instead focused on what he had always considered his most
valuable assest: his wit. However, as clearly this man was in no
mood to bandy words with him, he focused his second-most (or
what more sensible people would say was his first-most): his
mind.
Three seconds.
What was he though? At first glance he had seemed to be a man.
But then again, Rahamet knew better than anyone that looks were
never to be trusted when it came to one's true nature. So, if he
wasn't a man...
Two seconds.
Rahamet's mind raced through all the various shifting races he
had encountered in his travels and training. He ruled out the
fae, the lack of conversation, trickery and guile in the man's
straight forward attack ruled out all but the assassin's of the
Eldest, and even they prefered to play with their prey.
One Second.
Dragons? No, too prideful, they would immediately shift to their
true form to cow their prey into submission, gloating before
going for a killing blow. Lycanthropes only shifted into
animals, and always the full body rather than parts. An
aberration, perhaps? Or... perhaps he was just a man. A
horrifically altered man driven insane by what had been done to
him.
Impact!
His rapier did what it was meant to, the flat of the blade
connecting with the blade-arm's edge, bending with the force of
the strike, but not breaking. His free arm pressed against the
other side of the blade, making sure the momentum of the swing
wouldn't carry the arm-blade past the curving rapier to strike
him in the hip or waist. He didn't stop the blade though.
Instead, he moved with it, allowing the force and momentum of
the blow to push him away.
He wasn't sure if the man had meant to hit that forcefully or if
the sudden shifting from flesh to steel had thrown him off, but
it seemed like the blow was much stronger than intended. The
blow sent pain spiking upwards through his arm. Still, it didn't
seem to be permanent damage.
All the same, he wasn't going to give the man a chance to
correct this. Words, filled with arcane power, spilled from his
lips as he skidded away. In an instant, his form shifted,
shrinking downwards, becoming more canine in shape. Where
Rahamet had crouched a moment before now stood a tan and cream
colored dog, roughly the size of a German Shepherd. Then, he
blinked.
Blink Dogs had been companions to elves and the fae for millenia
now, serving as companions just as much as regular dogs had to
mankind. Their innate ability for teleportation is what had
earned them the honor and their name both. As such, he was
familiar enough with them to take on their form and ability, at
the expense of one of his journeyman-level spells. Still, to
have to use such an advanced spell already... The first blink
took him a few yards away from the man, where he wagged his tail
playfully, giving a slight jump before blinking again, this time
reappearing at the entrance of the hallway he had walked through
to arrive at this room. There, he ran down it, giving the man an
idea of where to follow. A more sensible person wouldn't have
provided this, but the elf's curiosity was piqued. So, he ran,
letting the man give chase, before turning around a corner and
out of sight.
There were many secrets to arcane magic, just waiting to be
discovered. One such secret was employed now. It was not
something that could be found in a tome or written in a study.
This was something only a student of transmutation could
discover by closely interacting with and learning from those who
naturally shifted their forms, and Rahamet had grown up among
those to whom physical bodies were completely subjective to
whim. By expending from the length of the spell, his body
shifted again, shrinking even further. In a fraction of a
second, he became a spider. A tarantula, to be exact. Large, but
darkly colored, blending with the shadows that lay heavy over
the dark corridor. Skittering to the side, he wedged himself
against the corner of the wall and waited, holding perfectly
still, waiting for the man's next move.
#Post#: 408901--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Landon Yamato Date: June 15, 2017, 10:11 am
---------------------------------------------------------
He watched the clash of blades before the man was launched back
and changed form into what looked to be a strange mix of a corgi
forcibly mated with a pug. What was weirder about this is the
fact that with the blink of an eye, it blinked across the room.
"Typical... It's never simple..." He smiled softly as he smelt
the air while the dog fled down the corridor it came from.
"Still though... to be so ignorant..."
glancing down at his arm he saw the bones reform into what would
be considered a normal arm, the fire that ran through his veins
ceased to burn him from the inside... The same couldn't be said
for the smell of burning in the room.
The floor singed lightly with the trail of the fire like liquid
blood that the sword was dripping, it smelt like someone was
trying to start a poor bbq... He followed the spec's of burn
concrete while replaying the last few moments in his mind... The
clash of swords... the sudden stop... The liquid had a gap in
the floor... It sprayed forward towards the man... It Might not
have hurt him... he might not have noticed... But the smell of
burning fabric was rich. His eye's gleamed with joy as his face
contorted... His nose remodeled... The smell... Stronger than
ever. "Don't think you can run... I won't let you..."
He began to walk the following path, the smell almost visible
before him yet he felt blind... Following smells with his eyes
shut... it was like looking into another world... Looking
forward in time.
He could see the dog was gone... Something smaller... High... On
the wall...
As he approached the corner that the dog took he smirked and
swung his arm round again, his eyes tore open as he focused
where the scent was coming from, his eyes seemed almost
different. Cat like. His arm extended wildly like a whip
crashing through the air, his fingertips catching the opposite
wall as it hurtled towards it's position, deep scratch marks
left in it's wake before smoke began to pour out as the fire
like blood was left where ever his deformed limbs went.
"Can't run... Will find...Will kill...You...Will...Die!"
His mind flicked slightly with the past... The reason he ended
up in the wall... The experiments that had been performed... his
body ached... his heart raced... He wasn't always like this. He
used to be a peaceful person who cared for his family and worked
in the medical field... He was changed... injected... Mixed...
So many other species forced into his DNA... He was supposed to
be the cure for all illness and trauma... But it looks like he
would only be the start of more.
#Post#: 409241--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Chrislee Date: June 21, 2017, 7:39 am
---------------------------------------------------------
He had to admit, the man was faster than he anticipated. Already
he was in the hall and lashing out towards where he clung to the
wall. So, the mage did the only sensible option for a spider: he
jumped, all eight legs pushing him away from the wall, just as
the claws scraped over where he had been. Briefly, the spider
landed on the man's unnaturally stretched arm, before again he
jumped off again.
How, how had he been spotted so quickly? This set his mind
racing, until... he saw a glint. Once more he shifted, staying
small for now, taking on the form of a small owl, flapping past
the man's head, shifting mid flight again, becoming a falcon
for the sudden burst of speed incase the man snatched at him. He
was right!
The man's eyes were different. Well, they weren't, they were
still filled with bloodlust and edging on insanity, but the eyes
themselves were more predatory, like a cat! That must have been
how he had been spotted so quickly, even in the dark. If his
senses changed and adapted, then that would make simply hiding
much harder. Therefore, time to test his adaptating abilities!
Once more, Rahamet shifted, dropping to the ground behind the
man. This was the last shift of this spell, but it would be his
most crucial.
Facing away from the man as he turned to face Rahamet, he stood
on his front paws.
And sprayed!
15ccs is not an overly large ammount with most things. However,
when it gave you five to six uses of the horrifyingly noxious
spray of a skunk, suddenly it became quite a daunting amount,
especially given that skunks could fire these with surprising
accuracy within ten feet. And Rahamet was quite accurate.
Even if the man was lucky enough to have his eyes closed at the
time of the spray and avoid the irritants within the chemical
atrack that were potent enough to blind a bear, Rahamet's goal
was not to blind him. No, it was to cut off two of the other
senses, smell and taste.
Rolling forward, he willing dismissed his spell, reverting back
into his normal, elven form. As soon as he came out of the roll,
he slammed his hands down on the ground, shouting out the
Abyssal word for darkness. And all light within a 40 foot
radius, even through walls and floors, went out. Unlike the
normal Darkness spell though, this was Deeper Darkness, a
supernatural level of darkness that only the foulest demons of
hell could see through. Even Rahamet, the caster of the spell
was rendered sightless by it.
But he wasn't aiming for using his eyes. Instead, he cast his
second shifting spell, changing into a very special moth. One
that used echolocation both to navigate in the dark, but as a
defense. His hypothesis: if this man adapted to the current
conditions he faced, then with his sense of smell, and taste if
he adapted like a snake and tried tasting the air, was
overpowered by the spray of the skunk, which would linger on him
for a while yet. The darkness should suffice to deprive him of
sight, but even if his eyes adapted to that, the lingering
irritants should disuade him from opening them just yet. That
left his hearing. If he adapted those to the point of
echolocation, he'd completely overcome both obstacles. That was
where the Luna Moth's natural defenses came in. Through
echolocation, he'd see not one, but many moths around the room,
flickering in and out of existence, overlapping and fluttering
around each-other. The twin tails of the moth had evolved to
that point, twisting and distorting the sounds to throw off
their former natural predators, bats.
With this, Rahamet moved towards the man, preparing his next
spell, and his most audacious plans yet.
#Post#: 409243--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Landon Yamato Date: June 21, 2017, 10:41 am
---------------------------------------------------------
The small being jumped towards his arm, it's legs planted for a
moment before it leaped again and his eyes blazed with glee, the
small trail of burning followed the being as it leaped past him
transforming again, this time into a small owl. This felt almost
like a kindred spirit to him, though maybe that was a trace of
his DNA screaming out though behind him he could hear rapid
transformations again. Slowly he began to recoil his arm, he
could tell that the being wasn't dashing towards him for an
attack and most likely fleeing so he would entertain the
thought... He could see and smell it, there was no way he would
escape.
A sudden burst of stench filled the room blocking off the trail
behind him before it crashed into his back. He spun lightly to
stare at the creature, small, black and white, arse pointed
towards him. Was this a sort of venom? acid? maybe blood like
this... Though all it did was small... Obviously this was going
to be similar to his way of tracking his opponent... he smiled.
"He's not stupid... He's not smart..." He laughed and sprung
forward, his skin almost scale like before it tore off behind
him, he gleamed from eye to eye with a viscous smile as the
stench stayed back with his excess skin, his eyes like while his
body dripped fresh samples of the lava like blood. The being
transformed and rolled forward, though as it rose back to it's
feet he was in facing him, almost close enough to lick the
beings eyes.
'SLAM' his hands crashed into the ground... His mouth opened and
words began to spill out... This man was planning something
cunning but that was just what he wanted... he wanted to fight
properly... He wanted to do exactly as he was told so he could
have his family back. He sprung forward, knee launching forward
to knock the being backwards but the world went dark, he felt
his knee connect with something soft and fragile, almost like
fabric, though it wasn't the firm jaw he desired. He skidded to
a halt within the darkness and then turned to look at the
being... What ever he hit he was sure he would have torn the
fabric or the fire like blood would have burst clean through it.
'Your latest test will be against mobs...' The voice echoed
through the speaker... He felt his body tense. 'We have released
armed civilians in to the arena with you, each wants your head
so they can save theirs... Kill them all or know your death left
your son to be the next experiment!' His heart raced with fear
for what pain his son would go through, he couldn't let his
newborn son endure this pain... This anger.
"Please don't let them kill me... Please!" He begged the animal
like voices in his head and with a soothing itch he relaxed and
shifted. No one was going to harm him as everything took over,
his eyes wolf like, his arms lotus like, his legs almost like a
spider and his reflexes like a snake, he dashed forward tearing
all firearms from his enemies, removing their limbs, sliding
across patches of spilled blood, seeking each opponent before
they could move to fire, all that was left were the crazed
lunatics that wanted to go toe to toe with him, blades in hand,
some simple spears... he curled as they cracked against the
armour like hide... And then death all around... Each person
left standing nailed to the walls... He rose back to his height
and thanked those within him...
He shook his head. The darkness limited even his cat like
vision, blurs were all he could see... A single blur... But the
sound of multiple enemies approached... His whole body shifted
for a second before needles tore from his body, fire like blood
sprayed outward as he screamed in rage, the needles leaving
little to no room to dodge without harm, and even if something
did, the blood that sprayed with it would burn once more. He
didn't have to see to kill... He just needed his DNA.
The holes left from his body quickly filled, though if anything
could see him, they would see the intricate working of organs
that didn't belong... Bio-organic machinery working in sync with
the strange body that he had, the organs shifted, changed and
vanished depending on the DNA that demanded to be dominant...
This was what allowed him to forever shift forms between the
thousands of beasts he was mixed with... This was the potential
of Jackal... The being that was created to kill those that were
named gods...
#Post#: 409252--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Chrislee Date: June 21, 2017, 1:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
It hadn't been as clean a maneuver as he intended. The darkness
had provided some cover, but even then, just before he shifted
he felt the crashing impact of a knee connecting with his
shoulder as he started to rise. The acid crackled with just as
acrid a sound as it smelled, the proximity to his nose even
overwhelming the skunk spray that filled the hall around them.
Then the runes woven into his robe rippled with arcane energy
and the acid was gone, leaving a small hole burned through the
cloak to his shirt beneath. Potent enough to burn through the
protective warding, eh? Can't let that linger on me.
His plan to shift to the luna moth worked perfectly after that,
and he could pick up the tremors in the air of his opponent's
head thrashing this way and that, following the echo-figments of
his wing pattern. What he did not expect was for his opponent to
lash out, screaming as pins scattered through the hall.
Proximity was not his friend, though his size was. He narrowly
managed to avoid being skewered, but even then, a needle grazed
his wing, sending searing pain through him. Shifting back to his
normal form, he let the acid rest on his shirt instead of
against his skin, waiting for the magic to nullify it and be
nullified. Another hole to patch after this was over. If he let
this continue though, there might not be enough to repair!
Ahnker would never let him live that down. He could almost hear
his roaring laughter now.
Roaring...
Now there was an idea. Grinning, the mage shifted again, growing
larger as the new shape took hold. If his opponent ould have
seen him, the best way to describe the creature that now stood
before him would have been if a dragon had gotten drunk and let
a giant demonic toad share their bed, then this would
undoubtedly be the resulting offspring. Eleven feet long and
four feet high at the tips of his horns, the Bukavac was an
ambush predator, with a mean streak a mile long. Used to hunting
creatures on land from the murky depths of a deep enough pond or
lake, it didn't need to see it's prey to hone in on them. Not
that he intended to charge or bite like the creature normally
would, not with that acid.
Instead, with a sudden intake of breath that sounded like an
accordion filling with air, Rahamet roared! Far from the mundane
roar of a lion or bear, this roar sounded somewhere between a
toad's croak and a dragon's roar. The sheer force of the
blasting sound enough to create a physical shock-wave, one that
could batter apart smaller prey, deafening and stunning those
unlucky enough to survive, ready to be picked off by the hungry
predator. Further, the closed nature of the chamber worked to
his advantage, amplifying it as it reverberated and bounced off
the walls, redoubling upon itself as it surged towards his
target.
Even as the first roar was let loose, Rahamet didn't wait to see
if it worked or not, instead sucking in more air until his lungs
were full, ready to unleash a second roar as need be.
#Post#: 409253--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Landon Yamato Date: June 21, 2017, 2:54 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
He heard the faint tear of a wing and he knew it had worked, the
sound of a man sized being landing only proved that this being
new petty tricks and nothing of true science, though the
darkness was still consuming them both. Though as he did his
best to watch he noticed the burning spots began to expand
before growing... the smell growing weaker. And then it hit. The
sound struck first, it tore open his eardrums, made his eyes
water, the smell from the beasts breath hit next, foul, like
someone's wife hadn't washed downstairs since the day she gave
birth with popped blisters... Lastly the shock... He felt his
body get thrown backwards, he felt the sharp embrace of a wall
catch his arm as he tumbled backwards. Though as the sound
reverberated off the walls, echoed back and forth he felt
something perfect awaken. Not within him... Well... Not
completely...
Not dead... In stasis... Brain dead... No means to work on their
own... To think... To have a purpose...
But the smell of the acid... Their kin bleeding... The sound of
the roar... Awoken... They climbed out as one... They hunted as
many...
It began to crawl the passageway, never caught within the spell
it could see clearly... It lunged forward, it's arms like knives
aiming for the gut of the beast. // The three of them bolted
past their kin who stood back to it's feet. Two spraying acid
from their mouth, the 3rd spinning webs wildly to limit
movement. // It crashed through the ceiling, it's eyes hazed but
it's fangs sharp, claws at the ready like a beast. // They were
simple drones, nothing more than failed experiments, they
together their body cracked, twisted and deformed, they merged,
their flesh melding, tail swinging, wings beating, they poured
as one beast down the corridor behind the beast, fire like blood
and flames as dark as the abyssal's heart leaking from their
mouth // The hall where their kin awoke... Where the fight
began... The walls crumbled as 4 walked out... 3 male and 1
not... They looked and then marched, their eyes focused. The
female screamed, the note she hit piercing and blood curdling,
the men all launched, their arms long and wild cutting apart the
walls leaving traces of the strange acid in it's wake.
He began to rise back to his feet, his ears breaking apart and
reforming, hearing popped back into existence as his drone like
companions stormed past, his brain worked double... Memories of
hundreds of people... He wasn't in a solitary tomb... He was in
a bee-hive of a temple, he could feel and hear the temple shake
with his kin beginning to move... He would have his family
returned... one way or another.
#Post#: 409340--------------------------------------------------
Re: The rust will crack
By: Chrislee Date: July 5, 2017, 1:52 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Rahamet had barely released the first bellow when suddenly the
number of targets began to seemingly multiply exponentially.
Three were charging past the one who had been fighting with him,
having not been caught in the blast that had hit him, one was
coming up the passage from behind, and a fifth was crashing
through the ceiling. Even worse, these were not the only ones.
Already Rahamet could hear the screams and echoing foot-falls of
more approaching, how many he didn't know.
The second blast caught the four in front of him, just as harsh
as the first, both in impact and stench, meant more to buy him a
moment's time to avoid the two closer opponents by momentarily
incapacitating them. If these new beings were anywhere near as
resilient as the original, it wouldn't last long and he knew it.
Quickly, he pushed upwards with all six legs in an awkward
'hop'. His current size would make actually jumping in the
cramped hall impossible, but he wasn't aiming to jump in this
size.
Instead, he shifted as soon as his legs started to leave the
ground, into something much smaller, something much more agile:
A spider-monkey. The momentum from the strength of the larger
creatures legs carried him upwards quickly, out of the path of
the swinging blade-arms of the first creature and towards the
second, coming from the ceiling. Twisting, his feet extended, he
smashed them into the cheeks of the second. With his size, even
with the momentum, it wouldn't be enough to actually hurt it,
but hopefully the surprise would be enough, as he quickly pushed
off again, launching himself back towards the other four,
dispelling the darkness to see fully again.
This was rapidly proving to be unfavorable for him, and he knew
it. If he continued fighting here, he'd be overwhelmed, no
matter what form he took.
If he continued fighting here...
Inspiration struck him like a thunderbolt, bringing a grin to
his face before he shifted again. This form took a bit more
finesse and skill, shortening the already shorter spell.
Thankfully the spell was already powerful enough for him to use
it for this last form. In a second, he was smoke, barely more
substantial than air. In a manner of speaking, he was air, or
more accurately, an air elemental. A small one, not good for
combat to be sure, but fine for racing past opponents. After
all, it was hard to hurt the air.
In between the three he weaved, rushing past the original just
as the spell winked out. Already, another spell was spilling
from his lips. The words were not words though, but numbers.
Latitude, Longitude, a complex but precise set of coordinates to
a place he pictured in his mind. That river, within that jungle,
where he had spent so many decades, bound into the single
serpentine form that he at times felt more natural in than as
his true self. That would be perfect! His eyes, glowing as he
held off the last word, twisting his body around towards the
original opponent. Yanking his belt off, he swung it like a
whip, aiming for the man's arm, not in an attack, but entirely
to catch a hold of it.
With a grin, he looked at the man for a split second. "Decide
fast, you'll barely have a second to choose! But if you are
truly so intent on killing me, you'll have to come with me!"
With that, he shouted out the catalyst, the Elven word for
travel. Raw magic coursed through his body, tearing him apart by
the molecule before accelerating them across the world at the
speed of light, reassembling at the destination he had chosen.
Even as he said it, the molecules of the belt began to vanish to
the new point. The magic tugged at the man, urging him to join
Rahamet in the sudden departure. Ultimately though, if the man
didn't choose to let the magic pull him along, he'd be left here
in the ruins.
But Rahamet doubted he'd choose that.
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