He spat blood. Hunched over, finding difficulty in breathing, the man weakly clawed at the soil and leaves of the forest floor. Towering trees, heavily armoured with bark, littered the place of his temporary refuge. With great effort, the man pushed himself to sit and lean his back against one of the natural spires. Grunting in pain, a rough hand clasps the side of his torso, and crimson liquid slips through the cracks of his dirtied fingers. The soft night breeze carried along a frightening wail of death. With a bitter scowl, one formed from anger and pain, the man's lupine eyes focused into the gloom.
Nothing. Nothing at first.
A few moments passed in silence, before the gloom in the distance gave existence to a large whisp of pale red mist. Potent unfathomable energy began to swirl around an intangible object, which sinisterly shaped into the figure of a female humanoid. Pale skin materialized, garbed in ancient but twisted black armour, which covered her human-like form. Long, dark grey hair became discernible, dancing in the wind across her luminous, ghostly eyes. Wicked with sin, sickle in hand; she approached with deadly ambition towards the man slumped against the tree. Her movements were odd - lethargic but determined. The man muttered. "Corpori..."
-~-
"Wretched Undead. You will taint this land no longer." Althannor spoke strongly and directly. A frontal confrontation with the humanoid before him was risky, especially as Lamia Castle loomed behind. With no allies to accompany him, Althannor doubted the wisdom of his own actions. He knew, however, that to leave the Vampire Lord Nerva now, he would miss on the opportunity to strike him down when his more powerful allies returned from wherever they had gone.
"Not right now, Cleric. I have no time for this." With a frustrated gesture, Nerva Animadverto spoke quickly as he stared up at the blonde armoured man on the rise. With a thunderous crackle overhead, the man blessed by the heavens raised his arms to the darkened sky and called forth the power granted to him by his mysterious god. The liquid void overhead forcefully parts as a beam of radiant white light penetrates the cursed atmosphere, shining over Althannor.
But something Althannor never expected occurred.
Suddenly and without remorse, a divine energy also covers the Vampire Lord in an instant. Not something from the heavens, but something dark, supernatural, a shade of crimson. The nameless energy acted. With black intent, it jumped to the man on the rise. Reacting against Althannor, the force seared him across his flesh, striking him senseless, scorching the earth. It was painful, violent, but quick. The Undead Hunter was defeated, for now.
As his soul parted from his body and ascended once again to be judged, he looked down. "What are you…?"
-~-
"Why do you approach? Is it death you seek, parasite?" Three tall genderless Rakshasa-like creatures spoke in unison, their voices a audible blur of male and female. Dressed in exotic desert style garb, littered with large, beautiful gemstones of all types on their comparatively rough leather boots and gauntlets. A soft, perpetual blue personal aura surrounded each one as if blessed by the divine. As they stood proudly around the elvish-like woman, their unsheathed ruby scimitars gleamed in the mysterious glow of the above; The Void and it's desolation.
The elvish woman hissed softly. "I know your role in all of this. The Keeper no longer dwells within his own consciousness. And now that you are here, you will fall; for all those that remain under these darkened skies, will perish." Ænima Animadverto spoke calmly as much as she could, for if the Avatar decided to attack her now, her ability to triumph was in question. Even under her own domain, the Elder began to regret deciding to converse with the Avatar alone. "What you seek is no longer here. Your journey is all for naught." The three Rakshasa Raja spoke in unison once again. "Aah, The Contingency Vessel... It will please the mistress to have such divinity for herself." With a flash of intense purple energy, the three were gone, leaving Ænima alone amidst the cold, barren Void.
_________________ "No motion has she now, no force; She neither hears nor sees; Rolled round in earth's diurnal course, With rocks, and stones, and trees."
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