Lord of Azure Flame Final Chapter: Victory or Death

[Phoenix]

Preservation

"You will learn for yourselves, but the situation has already changed," Raphael answered Morgan, not seeing any point in arguing. "I may be able to preserve you long enough to defeat him, but you must be swift once the confrontation begins ... and do not heed his words; this is the final hour and he is in as desperate a position as all of you."

"I didn't really want to try attacking him with a completely normal weapon anyway," Viveka noted. If holding off droves of lesser demons was their job then she was thankful for it, as long as they won and didn't lose anyone else.

[-Cynthia-]

"I did not plan on engaging with diplomacy with the Lord of Azure Flame regardless. If we are to be swift, then let us be swift. Where do we go to end this?" Morgan asked Raphael pointedly.

I would usually try to seek out a peaceful solution- but I don't think one can negotiate with demons, Charlotte thought, focusing her mind on the upcoming battle, trying to block out everything else.

"We've killed demons before and we can do it again," Tristan said, trying to sound more confident than he necessarily was.

So...if I screw up the demon king becomes a totally unstoppable force? No pressure or anything... Chase thought to himself.

[Phoenix]

The Altar

"There," Raphael pointed them to the alter, that same one he'd intentionally cut them off from with his spectacular entrance only moments earlier. "His body is in a different part of this tomb. You must release his spirit from the seal before you can destroy him."

"... why?" Lev asked, becoming a little suspicious all of a sudden.

"His body is safe, deep underground. It is surrounded by hellfire, as well as lesser demons. If you break the seal binding his spirit, he will return to the surface to start his war against mankind in earnest. Then you will be able to confront him at less of a disadvantage."

[-Cynthia-]

"Then we shall break the seal then," Morgan said, striding off towards the altar.

All this seal ever did was delay the inevitable- I suppose I can't fault the heroes for doing it if they had no other options, but we are still cleaning up their messes, Charlotte thought to herself.

We're actually breaking the seal and letting the demon king free? Not that I don't trust this light spirit person it just seems...odd, Tristan worried.

Am I supposed to just shoot the seal or something? I guess I'll follow Morgan's lead... Chase thought to himself, going down to the altar as well.

[scorri]

Reika grinned almost savagely. "Good. Lets do this and get this damn thing over with so that I can get away from all you losers and get on with my life."

Tiria glanced back at Beau and Raemond, an almost sorrowful look on her face. Closing her eyes, she turned back around and followed after Morgan. She still had the sword out and the crimson light from it was still running up and down her arm.

Adena gulped and clutched her staff close to her chest. Here it was. The final moment. She started to follow after the group and then stopped. Her legs were shaking so much that she feared if she continued she would end up falling down. Taking a deep breath, she took a second to calm down slightly and then set off after them again.

[Mercakete]

Tas was pretty nervous. Though he figured the light spirit knew what he was talking about and he was glad to hear they would be getting help, he wasn't so sure that freeing this dangerous creature was such a good idea. He was beginning to worry about the fight just ahead. How would he know what to do? What if he froze? What if someone actually died?

Raemond didn't see any need to reply to Morgan's retort, so the only response she got was his listening. His focus quickly became devoted to listening to what they had to do to destroy the demon king. Then, people began moving again. "Beau, let's go talk to Raphael."

Beau caught Tiria's glance, but attempted to ignore her. As Raemond had told him before, she needed to get this crimson business resolved before they spoke again. He was still frustrated with her and he figured catching each other's eye at this point was beyond a waste of time. No, they would talk afterwards. When Raemond spoke to him, a glance up told the young duke that indeed, Raemond still had his eyes closed and so was relying on him to guide him. Though he was somewhat irritated at Raemond's wording -- it was borderline commanding in spite of the monk's tone -- it did align with his own desires. So, the two approached the glowing individual.

Raemond spoke first. "Raphael, you say that the crimson weapons can damage the demon king and that the lady's light can as well. Does that mean that you and I can damage him as well? As I said, I have training in demonslaying. If I cannot harm this particular one, I would prefer to know it ahead of time."

As much as Beau wanted to ask his own questions, he had to admit Raemond's was far more pressing. So, for now, he stayed quiet. That doesn't mean he wasn't studying the spirit and the light about him as well as he could without being intrusive.

[Phoenix]

The Seal

Raphael shook his head. "He is vunerable to the light the Goddess has granted us, but not in this state," he held out his glowing palm. "Her power must ride on the wings of evil itself to reach and obliterate him. Hence, the crimson weapons. Were there any other way to destroy him, I would have explored that route as many times as my body would allow."

"Hmph," Iso felt that was a little much, trying to go at destroying the demon king alone. Sure, this group wasn't completely reliable, but ... but nothing, really, he changed his mind. Raphael likely didn't even know they were coming, and was probably just monitoring or containing the situation for as long as possible. He supposed he would have done the same in the spirit's shoes, and kept all options on the table instead of relying on humans or crimson weapons. With that settled, Iso turned to follow the others around Raphael and toward the seal.

It was just floating there above a decorative piece. "I doubt it'll take nine or more of us to break this thing, or even a crimson weapon for that matter, but since I don't know anything about this seal, this place, or even this situation for certain ..." Iso paused to look Morgan in the eye, "do you have any ideas?"

[Mercakete]

Raemond nodded in understanding. It was too bad, but he was glad for the information; he wouldn't waste time trying to attack the lord of azure flame. "Thank you."

Seeing his chance, Beau spoke up next, smiling casually. "Raphael, how long will you remain available after this, do you suppose? I would very much appreciate any insights into light magic you may have. As is apparent, you are far more adept in it than I."

Raemond frowned in Beau's direction. The young duke was an opportunist, he understood, but at the same time this was a light spirit. They didn't typically concern themselves with humans... Aside from that, he was certainly being presumptuous. Either Beau didn't really understand just how big a threat Oraisunyou -- and their tiny sect of himself, Beau, and Raechel referred to the lord of azure flame -- was, or he was simply planning for the future's best case scenario. Knowing Beau, either was a feasible explanation.

[-Cynthia-]

"Well I was thinking we could-" Morgan began before being cut off by a loud twang as Chase inadvertently fired an arrow into the seal above the altar. She turned slowly to look at the archer with moderate disapproval.

"Uh, s-sorry, little on edge here," Chase explained, blushing.

"Well perhaps that did it," Morgan said, figuring that it would be obvious whether the seal was broken or not...

[Phoenix]

After All This

"I had planned on finding a place in which to rest if this conflict ever came to an end, however, I hadn't anticipated the situation escalating so quickly. Whether or not we succeed here, I must soon be off to try and aid the Goddess, as well as find any and all who would help me in doing so."

Now Ya've Gone and Done It

Iso wasn't so convinced the shot had worked until its shot induced rotation began to slow down. It was clear that Chase had more or less hit the mark, and some unknown force was all that was keeping the seal from being split in two. That force seemed to be yielding to the arrow embedded in the seal, as the seal itself was ever so slowly beginning to split apart as an intense yellow light engulfed it. "Okay, I think that did it ..."

"Stand back from it," Raphael cautioned with an outstretched arm.

[-Cynthia-]

"Aid the Goddess how?" Charlotte asked of Raphael out of curiosity. Her devotion to the lady was an important priority but so was the restoration of Jerdon...

Morgan moved several more feet away from the altar and looked at it in anticipation. Chase moved all the way back towards Raphael, he had no idea what was going to happen next...

[scorri]

Tiria slowly backed up until she was what she considered a safe distance from the seal. She stared at the seal, anticipation tying her stomach up in knots. She shifted slightly, her arm and a good chunk of her torso glowing red at this point. Soon. Soon I will have my revenge on the creator of the demon that killed my uncle. I need this. He must die.

Reika simply yawned and remained in her position towards the back of the group. She just wanted to get away from this group, and if that meant killing some super powerful demon, so be it. She let the solid weight of the Crimson Knives settle into her hands and grinned. This should be fun. Hopefully none of the useless members of the group got in her way.

Edited March 26, 2014 by scorri

[Phoenix]

Fracture

"The Goddess must be freed from-" Raphael cut his answer short as an overwhelming amount of demonic energy rushed from the broken seal. Just as the ground began to shake and dust began to trickle from the ceiling, Raphael yelled, "Get away from there at once!"

The seal soon broke apart into tiny red hot fragments and the quake they had been enduring became even more intense. "How long is this supposed to last?!" Iso called out just before losing his balance and catching himself on all fours. His irises took on their occasional red glow again and he could tell with his face so close to the dirt, that redness reflecting back up at him. He had almost gotten numb to the Lord's presence, but now it was so intense that he could almost pinpoint the source. It was much farther away than he'd expected, far beyond the room they were in, probably on the other side of the ruins themselves.

"There is no time to escape this place," Raphael firmly stated, "... and there is only one opportunity remaining, now. Prepare yourselves." Suddenly the walls behind the altar began to crack in numerous places until pieces began to break away. On the other side of the large room they were in seemed to be nothing but fire. Iso was worried the demon king would simply heat the place up until they all died before they would even have chance to fight back, similar to what the Zaftran empress had tried on him and Ixion.

The violent shaking became even more violent and more intense as other walls began to come down and fall into the earth. Susann reared in sheer panic, nearly throwing Viveka to the ground, but the pegasus rider reacted quickly and secured herself by hugging her spooked steed's neck. (All this just from him waking up?! Did we ever stand a chance at all ...? He's bringing the whole tomb down with us inside, isn't he?) That definitely seemed to be the case, as even the walkway was starting to glow with red and yellow cracks as fire and air split the ground.

Conrad quickly scanned the area, not looking for an escape route, but a place to rally the group. They were too spread out and if the ground kept splitting apart like this, most of them would be separated, which would be detrimental. Their only chance of putting up a strong fight here was to stay together, and for that they needed a large enough patch of ground to stand on. The area furthest from the crumbling altar seemed to be the safest, though the damage was steadily creeping toward that area too. For now though, it would do. "Fall back to the opposite wall! Fall back before the floor gives out," he instructed, quickly guiding Thunderbolt in that direction.

Lev offered Morgan a hand up while keeping an eye out for any cracks forming near them. He wasn't worried about the ground giving out since he was on a wyvern, but he was worried about hot gas and fire spewing out from them and cooking Krinkov alive. "You might have to fight from up here if he lose too much ground," he warned. Even though he was more than happy to fly her around during battle, he felt a little bad that he might have to in order for her to be able to move around much.

Irina made sure Damian was aboard before heading to the back with Conrad, but along the way, she saw something horrific. The first piece of the floor finally yielded to the chaos and fell into the fiery light beneath them. Several meters of flooring disappeared instantly and left an enormous ray of light beaming up to the ceiling in its place. Immediately afterward, a piece of the ceiling fell and broke apart at the edge of the sundering. "This whole place is coming apart. How are we supposed to fight in here?"

A Little Faith

"He must be awake," Ixion concluded as he caught himself against a wall. Until then, he'd fared quite well against the violent shaking of the ground, but the terrain in that narrow passage was finally getting the best of him. His companion hadn't lost her footing yet, but unlike him, she actually looked unsure about being in the middle of all this. "Miranda ..."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" She averted her fierce blue gaze and tried not to react to the incredible energy she was feeling.

"... despite your lack of enthusiasm, I know that Miranda won that struggle, not Shanice," Ixion explained, sparing her a cold glance as he pressed forward.

"Perhaps neither won."

"Then the person I'm speaking to right now would be little more than a demon, a puppet of the Lord of this tomb, one subject to his will. It isn't all that unlikely, but I doubt that is who you've become."

The woman's gaze became something between a frown and a glare. "Have you ever considered that maybe this is exactly what he wants? For us to show up and-" "Yes," Ixion cut her off, "but as long as he's dead, and his ambitions die with him, it doesn't matter. As long as Miranda is the only thing left in the ashes, then the Lord can at least get that much out of this."

The Lord of Azure Flame

Eventually, after several minutes of continuous tremors, the forward part of the room fell into a sea of flames. There was no telling what the earth below the flooring was like, or how long it would withstand such overwhelming heat. Everything around them was on slowly crumbling into the fire, and far out in the distance sat an enormous figure, half stone, and half fire. Of all the flames in this ever expanding hell they'd found themselves in, these flames were the only ones that were blue. The giant was seated on a mountain of rocks and seemed as if it'd fallen onto it long ago. As far as anyone could tell, this was their target, the physical body of the Lord of Azure Flame. With the seal broken, body and soul were now one and the same. This was the Lord of Azure Flame, a colossal tyrant, set ablaze in azure fire and capable of commanding all the demons of the world ... and he was a quarter of a mile off in the distance, separated from them by a sea of flames. This was not good.

Any confidence Irina and Viveka had left went up in smoke as the flames and tremors began to slowly subside and the demon king came into clear view of everyone. "What are we going to do?! We can't even get to him like this?" Irina asked.

"He'll come to you soon enough," Raphael answered ominously. He was certain he could buy them some time, but that was all. If the battle provided no clue as to how the crimson weapons could destroy him, the Lord would win sooner or later ....

"Do we really want that?" Iso quietly asked, not really wanting an answer really. As he got to his feet, he tried to hurry over toward the rest of the group, hoping not to be dropped into the fire by a misstep. Twice on his way over the ground collapsed beneath him just before he was off of it, causing him to crash onto his knee, but he made it without any other problems.

"THERE ... YOU ARE," came the Lord's booming voice. One of his hands began to rise up off of the mountain, reaching out toward them. At the same time, his head began to stir, and lava began to flow from that spot as it rose up. It took another second or two, but a small heatwave rushed by them all as the Lord began to move.

Iso wasn't sure why he bothered, the Lord was too far away for any weapon they had to reach, but instinct took over and he readied a fire spell. Eventually, they would have to attack, whether they knew how to best go about it or not, he reasoned, so best to have it ready. Once his spell was ready, the Lord's fingers spread apart, and all the nearby fire began to change its hue to match his own. The change spread out at incredible speed, and even Iso's spell was changed to an azure one, as were the color of his eyes. Fortunately, he still had control of his magic, but the shock of seeing the change caused him to release the spell and the flames dispersed in seconds.

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan was not expecting a tremor and so fell backwards, luckily landing on her rear end. She accepted Lev's hand up and got onto Krinkov. "I cannot have you focused on me the entire battle, I need you to assist any Crimson Weapon wielders in danger," she instructed him, trying to analyze the situation. We must figure out how to use the Crimson Weapons here and quickly... she thought to herself, finding the reduced visibility infuriating in this instance.

Chase managed to stop himself from falling and was able to make out a giant stone figure booming at them. That must be the demon king- well better get started, he thought to himself, drawing back Zephyrtwine and firing an arrow at the figure. The arrow lacked the distance to reach the target and the sea of flames didn't help either. I guess I'll just shoot him until Morgan or General Jackson say something...

Charlotte dropped to her knees to stabilize herself during the blast, but managed to pick herself up unharmed. She decided to stick near Raphael for the time being, proximity to a servant of the Goddess was comforting and seemed like a wise move.

Seeing Susann rear in panic, Bellerophon reacted similarly but even more violently, sending the unprepared Septimian prince hurtling to the ground. Tristan was injured by the fall, although it didn't feel like he broke anything. Cannot spend battle for humanity...on ground, he thought to himself, picking his body off the ground and managing to remount his pegasus.

[Mercakete]

Beau wondered if Raphael had to leave right away once this was all over. Charlotte voiced something Raemond was wondering, but from the sound of things, something else important was happening. His attention was divided by this. Beau wasn't sure whether to pay attention to the breaking of the seal or the light spirit either, and likewise, split his attention. Raphael warned the group to get away from the seal. The pair of light users figured they were already far enough away and if that changed, they would move then.

The light spirit's answer to Charlotte -- which had a curious beginning -- was interrupted by a quake. More urgently, he commanded them to get further away from the broken seal. There was also suddenly a massive flooding of demonic energy that suddenly overwhelmed Raemond. With a gasp, the monk gripped his head and fell to his knees, curling up.

"Raemond!" The monk's sudden reflex alarmed the young duke, who swiftly fell to his own knees while he whipped out his staff. He had no idea what was wrong, but maybe it was something a staff could heal. The situation around them was quickly becoming worse, though. Walls cracked loudly, splintering and crumbling. The damage to the structure above them was becoming increasingly unstable. The ground was now splitting and hissing with heated air and fire. They weren't safe there. Either Raemond would have to recover quickly or Beau would have to carry him to safety. Neither seemed likely and the monk still wasn't responding to anything going on around them. All at once, there was one person who seemed to be the obvious choice, both for his proximity and his very nature. Maybe he could heal Raemond better than Beau could and if not that, surely he was strong enough to carry him to safety. "Raphael! Help!"

Raphael's eyes widened slightly in surprise at Raemond's condition, realizing that his condition wouldn't improve on its own, not with the Lord being reawakened so close by. "I'll try to shield his mind, but we must not linger too long," he explained, kneeling down and placing his hand on Raemond's head. Raphael briefly closed his eyes and a light began to shine, obscuring the space between his palm and Raemond's hair. When the light vanished, Raphael opened his eyes again and stood up. "I've dulled his ability to sense demonic energy. It is temporary, but it is all I can do with the little time we have."

Beau was fascinated, relieved, worried, and amazed all at once when the light spirit explained what he'd done for Raemond. He nodded as Raphael stated his last sentence, then half-sighed, "Thank you."

As Beau spoke his thanks, Raemond found his mind fading back into awareness. His breath became heavier, but only somewhat, as he slowly moved his hands away from his head and his eyes darted around, confused. He was a little stunned, but definitely recovering. When he saw this, Beau gripped the man's arm, immediately gaining his attention. "Come on, Raemond. We have to get to the back of the room -- now."

The monk nodded as his mind continued to sort its self out, then stood up and, along with Beau, hurried along with the mass retreat to safer ground.

The earthquake had made Namid and Tas worried. When the building began to collapse and the shaking intensify (not to mention the ground splitting) it was all Tas could do to keep Namid from completely darting back the way they'd come. Task in-mind and scared half to death, the courier flew over to Tiria and held out his hand. "Ride with me!"

Edited April 2, 2014 by Mercakete

[scorri]

Hearing Tas call out to her, she blinked and held out the hand not holding a sword. The arm wasn't red yet, but the way she was glaring at the Lord indicated that if she didn't get her emotions under control soon, the sword would have a fighting shot at taking control of her. "Thank you. I wonder where..." She was interrupted as the Lord burst out. As he changed his flames blue, the red glow surrounding her turned blue as well. Glaring at the behemoth in front of them, she snapped, "Lets finish this."

Adena stared at the Lord, shaking in fear. "I... Alex, how... we're not supposed to fight this, right?"

Reika fell into a crouch. Flipping one dagger, she swapped her grip on it and grinned. "Lets do this. Finally I get to stab something."

Edited April 2, 2014 by scorri

[Mercakete]

Tas grabbed onto her arm and with Namid's help (he turned somewhat sideways) helped Tiria mount Namid behind him. They quickly flew to the designated safer-than-most-other-places-in-the-vicinity zone and though the wyvern wanted to keep going, Tas managed to keep them hovering with the others. The reason for the hovering was simple: it was a lot quicker in case they had to fly away or in case the ground gave out under them. Of course, like Lev, he was worried about Namid's wings and belly getting burned by the hot air and flames. There was still airspace above them he could retreat to, but there was only so much of it and it was a little precarious.

Raemond and Beau managed to get to the back of the room as well and Raemond had mostly recovered his wits. Looking back, the destruction seemed to be subsiding but what remained was quite the sight. There was a large sea of fire and at the end of it was a massive demon. There was some light speculation about how they were actually supposed to attack him, as that was probably the one they were after and there was a fair expanse of fire in the way. As the demon's voice boomed out towards them and his form began to stir, the monk flinched. He didn't feel any different from before, though. The demonic presence was strong, but...not overwhelming? As he thought about it, he began to gain an understanding of what probably happened: he'd been overwhelmed earlier and now something had altered his demon-sensing. That was just as well since it was more of a handicap here than anything else.

Something unexpected happened then, however. The fire all of the crimsons began turning azure... "Is he gaining control over them?" Raemond wondered aloud in alarm. If he consumes their light, he will be unstoppable! The alarm turned into a solemn frustration. We should have destroyed them while we had the chance... Why risk this? Why didn't we instead aid Ziatani? She could have used her great light to destroy him... Why must humans always try to take matters into their own hands? And what about what Raphael was talking about earlier? Freeing the lady of light? What does she need freeing from?

Raemond forced the thoughts away. His ability to sense demons was rather useless at the moment, but he still had his other senses available to him. He needed to keep alert in case they were attacked by any other demons. Beau simply watched as things progressed. There were plenty of allies to hide behind if danger appeared and for now, he was curious. Tas, meanwhile, felt a shiver slip down his spine. What...is this? It's not natural...

Edited April 2, 2014 by Mercakete

[Phoenix]

He Approaches

"COME TO ME," came the booming voice of the Lord as he reached out toward them.

"I don't like this," Iso said. As far as he could tell, they didn't have an attack strategy beyond Chase's ... and that didn't seem to be working anymore. The demon king could just stay put and splash lava on them until they were all dead and then take the weapons, but he seemed to be about ready to cross that ocean of fire and take them with his bare hands, which he hoped worked to their advantage, but right now ... he just didn't see how it could beyond giving them a chance to fight back before being crushed and burned. "Morgan? Plan? Anything?"

"There are more demons coming. They'll be here soon," Raphael warned them.

The Lord of Azure Flame rose to his feet, which were submerged in fire up the the knees and took a step forward. As he did, the whole place began shaking again and debris from the tomb rained down. With an outstretched hand, he said, "OFFER YOURSELVES ..."

[Mercakete]

It was a little unsettling to not be able to sense the demons' approach, but Raemond figured this was for the best. After all, with all the energy being put off by the giant before them, their scents would've been masked anyway. As Raemond readied his tome and magic, he told the young duke, "Beau, stay near me and for the love of Ziatani, if you need to rush off somewhere, let me know first."

Beau already had his staff out and simply looked to Raemond with a superior air. "I'm not announcing my movements to anyone. Hold off the demons while I do my own work."

Tas' instincts were quite in agreement with Namid's at that point: get the heck out of there while you still could. There was something holding him there, though. It was like some form of tether that wouldn't allow him to flee. People are relying on me here. I can't let them down... "A-are you ready?" he asked Tiria, "Did you want to fight from your feet or in the air with me?" Oh goodness, I think I'm going to faint...

[-Cynthia-]

"Hold your ground!" Morgan instructed everyone for the time being. Offering themselves to the Lord of Azure Flame was obviously a bad plan and they couldn't easily advance forward. But how to defeat him? I need more time to think of something... cursing silently that the stress of the situation was hindering her thought process.

Charlotte looked around her anxiously, expecting gargoyles and hellhounds and whatever else to come popping out of the walls at any moment.

Bellerophon reared up for a charge at the large hostile looking thing while Tristan desperately attempted to rein him in. "This is- not a fight we can win by just charging at it," he said, trying to convince his pegasus while pulling back hard.

"General, cover me when he gets closer to us. I'm going to start shooting once he's in range," Chase said to Conrad, deciding on his own plan. They didn't seem to have a better one at the moment...

[eclipse]

Arlene took note of Tristan's words, but remained silent. Midori shifted from foot to foot. The older woman cast a worried glance at the younger one. This isn't the time to bolt, Midori. . .

[Phoenix]

Building Bridges

Chase had a seemingly limitless number of arrows at his disposal, but the same couldn't be said for his stamina. "Save your strength, Chase," Conrad insisted, though his own axe was ready if by some miracle the Lord presented a target they could reach on foot. He glanced at the ground to make sure the fissures hadn't reached them just yet, and then return his attention to the lumbering colossus stomping toward them.

"OFFER YOURSELVES," the Lord repeated, taking another step, and shaking up everything around him in the process. The shaking intensified, as if the tomb had finally had enough and was about to collapse under its own weight, but what happened instead was far from a total collapse. As they looked out at the Lord approaching them, massive rocks, some bathed in cooling magma, and others free of any such hazards came together to form a small field of broken terrain. More were on the way, but for now, anyone with enough skill could take their chances if they wanted to. Iso was not willing to take such a risk, though. They'd be walking right into his hands if they did, almost literally, he noted, as the hand began to descend to a point just a few meters above the edge of the debris field. "COME. OFFER YOURSELVES TO ME," he beckoned.

"Don't approach him yet," Raphael advised. "Study him, look for something we can use. We only have one chance to defeat him."

"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME," the Lord countered in a slow, booming retort. "NOW THAT THE SEAL IS BROKEN, HUMANITY CAN REST."

"You mean 'die'," Raphael hissed.

[-Cynthia-]

Chase stopped shooting at the demon king for now at Conrad's advice, although he still kept his bow pointed at the huge figure- not that it seemed like an arrow would kill this thing but it was more comforting than nothing.

Morgan used her demon sensing ability taught by Miranda, trying to block out the large obvious presence and see if there was anything that could help them.

"His body...is merely rock, that should not be difficult to destroy. But there is an invisible barrier surrounding him- it is the barrier that gives him his power," she said almost to herself as she attempted to learn more.

Rest? Is that how he sees it- killing us all will free us somehow? How strange... Charlotte thought to herself.

[Inactive Account]

The stay in Asura the night before had bolstered Kelas' resolve-- as the group had been surrounded by people to whom she felt she belonged, her sense of what she was fighting before became clearer and clearer. Not just herself, not just her brother, friends, Isotov-- her people were going to fight, and she would not leave them behind in this.

They'd outfitted her and Amari with armor, traditional, lightweight stuff that she could actually fight in. Arrin was wearing some too, looking almost unfamiliar out of his usual academy mage's robes. He hadn't talked much on the way out to the Tomb, and Kelas hadn't asked-- if he wanted to be left alone, she wasn't going to break his focus.

As they traveled, she saw flares in the sky-- there were two guardians of the Tomb, the sand outside and the shadow inside, one of the administrators in Asura had explained. The sand demon had apparently beset Asura in an attempt to divert the group's attention, but they pressed on. Kelas knew that the city had been built to withstand such an attack, so she attempted to keep her mind quiet.

She could hardly pay attention to the gods' emissary outside the Tomb; the aura of the place already had the mounts on edge, and she busied herself quieting them, knowing his message was not for her. Arrin remained quiet; he was certain his own thoughts on the matter would be overruled, probably by wiser minds than his.

Arrin's fear grew as they entered the tomb, until he was nearly dangerous to touch; his hair had fluffed up with static, and he was occasionally sparking. Meanwhile Kelas' focus had distilled into rage. This wasn't just the Enemy of all things they were about to face down; this creature had scattered her people, and the weapons made in response to it had ruined the lives of people she cared about. Courage, in this instance, was what was happening because she was angrier than she was afraid.

Both siblings stayed put through the quake, shaking, awaiting the signal.

ooc: this was not as good as i had hoped but i have to post something or it will never get posted

[Phoenix]

Face Off

Raphael's gaze wandered to Morgan for a moment, then returned to the demon towering above them. The troops hadn't arrived just yet, so they probably had a few more seconds to stall him before he tried anything more direct. "It is not the humans that will perish, but you and all of your offspring," Raphael threatened. "You were foolish to ever believe the outcome to your aggression would be any different."

The whole complex--rather, what was left of it--shook violently as the Lord loosed an enraged wail. "HUMANITY WILL DESTROY ITSELF. HER PATIENCE IS SPAT ON, HER BLESSINGS, SQUANDERED. EMBRACE THE DEATHS YOU SO DESPERATELY DESIRE AND BE REPLACED BY MY SERVANTS."

"R-replaced?" Viveka echoed in disbelief. Her confusion only worsened as she tried to figure out what their foe meant.

"He must mean the demons," Conrad grunted. So that's what this was all about. The war between humanity and the demons was to establish a world solely for the latter. As far as the Lord of Azure Flame was concerned, humanity's time had come and gone. What surprised Conrad though, was that he was speaking as if this was what humanity wanted too, which was just plain false. "Death isn't what we desire, but peace."

"PEACE ... COMES THROUGH DEATH." The Lord withdrew his hand and began to curl up, the tension throughout his body becoming incredibly intense. "YOUR DEATHS!" The Lord released all of that energy at once and disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. Half a second later, the sound of the explosion reached them along with another heatwave and the light vanished, revealing what looked like a meteor shower. The Lord's body had shed its outer shell of rock and lava to reveal a giant, with colorless gray skin, thousands of runes marking its body, and an unknowable face.

Iso stared in horror as the rocks rained past them and he caught his first glimpse of the Lord's face. He was glaring at himself. "What the hell?!" Iso nearly panicked as the giant Isotov's azure eyes bored into him.

What Irina saw was completely different from her brother, a simple pair of indistinct glowing eyes and an incredibly wide mouth lined with hundreds of teeth. Lev saw the same thing and wasn't surprised the Lord had such an ugly face hidden behind all that earth.

Conrad's grip on the Earthshaker loosened and his whole arm began to tremble when he saw the Lord wearing his face and glaring down at them. "Captain, what do you see?" he asked Viveka, trying desperately to remain calm. There was something so unsettling about seeing his own face when locking eyes with the king of demons that he had nearly lost his composure completely.

"It's just a ... h-hideous face," Viveka replied, trying not to look at the monster any longer than necessary.

(I knew it. I'm not being singled out here. It must only be affecting the crimson wielders,) he thought to himself, noting Iso's significantly more frightened response. (The crimson weapons themselves must have something to do with it. No matter. We have to fight, regardless of whose face he's wearing.) Conrad's resolve came back and his grip on the Earthshaker tightened in response. "Why don't you come down here so we can show you another path to PEACE?!" he raised up his axe into a ready position.

As the words were still leaving Conrad's lips, the Lord began to step forward, raising his arm as if to grab the whole group at once. The ruins began to shake again and the floating platforms began to multiply. Finally, the long stable ground the group had been relying on began to break apart. Whatever had been supporting it was clearly gone. Nikita and Krinkov didn't even have time to react before sliding down onto a large platform, their passengers toppling down helplessly with them. The drop was short, and lessened by a short slide, but Irina still fell off of her wyvern and had to pick herself up in the chaos.

Lev tried his best to keep Morgan from falling but nearly fell himself, and the landing was worse than Irina's despite staying aboard. Krinkov shook off the sudden fall and hissed at the demon he knew was causing it, along with all the other ridiculousness happening around here.

As the ground broke up underneath them, Iso found himself falling straight down for a moment, and then being half buried under rubble once he hit solid ground again. He couldn't imagine the mounts getting through that too well, but perhaps they'd just be luckier than him. As he rose from the rubble, he found himself at the edge of one of the rocky platforms and could see the sea of azure flames below them. (How are we going to do this? If he decides to drop these platforms ... or we land the killing blow ... what then? Do we just fall to our deaths when these rocks fall? The fliers can't carry even half of us, and this place is still falling apart.)

Susann had been standing in one of the worst places when the platform finally collapsed beneath them, and faced a drop straight down into the sea of flames. Fortunately, the rising heat made it incredibly easy for her to get lift, even from a straight drop, and after a short swoop, she was flying. Viveka was relieved that she'd recovered so quickly, but wasn't sure exactly how it happened. Susann had never been able to recover from straight drops so quickly and she didn't expect as much here.

Conrad and Thunderbolt had a sudden fall, like the others, but the latter didn't break anything thanks to one bit of ground breaking apart directly atop a floating platform and only forcing them to endure a sideways tumble. Conrad didn't see himself riding Thunderbolt during this battle anyway, but he was glad the warhorse had managed. He rose his axe again, ready for battle, and began scanning the area for the nearest platforms. They were going to have to use these blasted things to get to the Lord ... and that was exactly what he wanted.

When he looked up, he saw Raphael floating above them and engulfed in light. Where they had fallen, he had simply remained, floating like an illusion.