Shattered Lines: The Expansion IC

[Pockets]

12/21/2012 12:12 p.m PST.

Joc

As he made his way across the rocky ground toward Aegis his steps were quick, short, almost angry in his stride. It was happening, already it was happening. He had prayed, hoped that it wouldn't happen within his lifetime but here he was, only 495 years old, not even middle aged yet and it was happening. The ground creaked and rumbled ominously beneath his claws as he leaped from rock to rock, climbing rapidly up the barren terrain.

"My Lord Aegis," he roared as he leaped the last gap and landed on the large rocky platform before Aegis. "Has it begun already?"

"Already?" Aegis asked. His voice, the massive timber of it and the force of his expelled breath would have knocked most flying off the cliffs but Joc dug his claws into the rocky beneath him and hung on tenaciously. The tone of Aegis' word was bewildered and almost amused. "You say already as if it has been just a short span of time, young one. For one such as I the passage of time between creating the barrier to now is rather short. But to you... it has been hundreds of your lifespan from then till now."

There was a pause and Joc sighed silently, waiting expectantly for Aegis to continue. "But... to answer your question. Yes. It has begun." There was a stir of air, a gentle breeze and two small Gems floated through the air to land in Joc's outstretched hand. One was silver, streaked through with black lines, and the other was the same blue as his scales. The ground beneath him began to rumble and shake violently. Lightning split the sky and thunder rumbled so loudly that it seemed to press on his ears like a heavy cloth, blotting out all other sounds save for the roaring of the sky above.

Knowing only what he needed to do Joc met Aegis eye and crushed the blue gem between thumb and finger. In a glimmer of light he vanished just as a bolt of lightning as thick as he was struck the ground right where he had been standing.

He reappered in a forest, where he couldn't say but based on the warmth of the night air he was somewhere in the southern hemisphere. Even his Draconian eyes had trouble piercing the veil of darkness but his ears had no such difficulty. In the distance the screeching caws of birds taking flight in terror, animals leaped and bounded through the woods, the roaring cries of predators mixed with the harried hoofbeats and foots steps of their usual prey. Chaos reigned throughout the woods and for a moment he wondered why Aegis would have sent him there. That was when a weight suddenly landed on his back, arms snaking around his neck and he froze as a glint of light reflected off the razor sharp edge of the dagger that was suddenly pressed against his neck.

"What are you doing here?" a voice suddenly hissed in his ear. "Any what have you done to cause such chaos?"

----------

Mithnal Irden

She liked her forest. She was away from those simpering fools that knew nothing of her or her past. It was probably best that they didn't know actually. She hummed quietly, a distant melody that always haunted her in the night. Her camp was small, a tiny fire burning before her. Her clothing was dark. Greys and blacks with a shock of silver hair rolling in cascading waves down her back until it stopped at her waist. The streaks of black in it fit her mood.

She had a small pack with her basic supplies and extra clothing rolled tightly around each other. Oddest of all though was a small basinet, too small for an actual child to reside in and roughly made of twigs and leaves woven together that sat near to the fire, but not too near. She stretched out one leg and tapped her foot gently against it, setting it to rocking back and forth as she continued to hum.

The tune was a lullaby. One that she had once sung to...

She stopped that train of thought, squashing it violently beneath a mental tidal wave of violence and hatred.

There was a glimmer of light in the distance and she flung out one hand. The fire suddenly extinguished itself completely and utterly, even the embers beneath went dark in an instant and she stalked silently through the forest as the ground began to rumble beneath her feet. A roaring sound began somewhere in the distance as the animals throughout the forest began to screech and scream, running panicked through the woods.

She crept quietly through the woods in search of the source of the light. When she finally found it she was not expecting what she discovered. A Dragon Kin, a Noréht be damned Dragon Kin was standing in the middle of her forest. The Shendryl Wilds were composed of several different islands and she had claimed this, the smallest of them as her own.

She snuck silently up behind him as he looked around, seeming almost bewildered by his surroundings. Before he could notice her she leaped, landing on his back with such force that he staggered forward to avoid falling and then froze when he finally noticed the dagger she had pulled from her belt and held pressed against his scaly through.

"What are you doing here," she hissed. "And what have you done to cause such chaos."

The Kin growled, low in his throat. "I have done nothing," he snarled. "The Expansion has begun. We will soon be finding ourselves up to our necks in humans." He reached up and grasped at her wrist with one hand, at the same time reaching over his shoulder to grab hold of her cloak. Leaning forward with a grunt he threw her over his head and away.

Mithnal spun in midair, landing lightly on her feet, dagger held out before her in one hand as she drew her short sword with the other. Angry red runes ran up the length of the curved blade, pulsing in time with the rapid beating of her heart as she fixed him with a baleful glare.

His eyes had widened, jaw dropping open as he got his first look at her. "A Fallen," he gasped. "Why would Aegis send me to one of the Fallen?" He opened his hand and looked down at the black and silver stone he still held in his palm. "Black and Silver," he muttered and looked up again at her hair.

His pind spun rapidly, going over all the possibilities and everytime he came to one possible conclusion. "Here." He thrust his open hand out, showing her the gem. "This is meant to go to you. Crush it in your hand and it will transport you and anyone holding onto you to where you are needed. Aegis wishes to speak to you, but there are others we each must gather. Each time you crush this gem it will bring you to a new location and the person before you must either come with you to Aegis or perish where they are with the expansion."

When she didn't reach for the gem, simply staring at him with distrust and rage gleaming in her eyes he sighed and let it fall to the ground. Take it if you wish. If not stay here to die when the tidal wave arrives and swallows these islands.

With that he held up his own gem, crushed it in his hand and vanished in a flash of light.

[1DVSguy]

Cog

Rome, Italy
December 21, 2012

Cog was dreaming.

He saw himself standing alone on top of a hill. Rain came down in droves and pattered onto the his gleaming bronze colored plating. A shield was strapped to his left arm. A ornately decorated Hand and a Half sword rested in the palm of his right hand. Both items were held loosely at his side. Storm clouds battled for domination of the steel grey sky, flinging troops at each other that produced the crash and boom of thunder and lightning as they fought...

As the Storm inched closer and closer to where Cog stood, he got the feeling that there were people behind him. But he could not move his head to look behind him. He slowly brought his shield up and settled into a combat stance, as if stopping the Storm's advance. He got the sense that he had to protect the people behind him... at all costs...

He did not know why... but a smile of relief appeared on his metallic lips....

***

Cog's eyelids slowly slid open.

"Where am I?" He groaned, his deep metallic voice reverberating around the small, dark, chamber. His speech was stilted and slow, as if it came from one still learning how to speak. He was on a crumbling stone pedestal in a kneeling position in the center of a circular chamber. Four doors led off in different directions and figures wrapped in cloth were lined in nooks in the walls.

He held a Shield in his left hand, and a hand and a half sword in his right. Just like in his dreams, except the sword and shield were of a different design and were both corroded and worn. The Hand and a Half sword broken leaving only about 2 feet of rusted metal attached to the hilt.

He groaned and stood up slowly. His body was covered in a fine layer of dust and dirt, through the filth however, strange green runes were beginning to glow, giving the dark room a soft emerald hue. He sheathed his sword into a battered leather sheathe at his side, and slung his shield onto his back. As he did so he watched his hands, fascinated by the gleaming bronze palm shaped like an armored gauntlet.

What am I? He though silently. Then an even scarier thought entered his head, Who am I?

The idea that he did not even know his own name, scared Cog and he took a step off the pedestal. He stumbled and crashed into the ground with a CLONK! He cried out, then slowly picked himself up and dusted himself. He took a few stiff, tentative steps towards one of the figures laying in the nooks.

Lifting the layer of cloth that covered it's face, Cog was horrified to discover a human face, skeletal and plagued by rot and decay. He took a few steps back and looked around with realization. This was no room... it was a tomb!

He had to get out of here! Cog chose a passage way and started to run, stopping only to take a look back at the stone pedestal with wonder. Who could have left him there?

He then turned and continued to run... seeking to get away from the corpses...

***

He emerged out of the catacombs, into a busy street. He had passed more corpses then he could count. They made Cog sad for some reason. He did not know them, but he felt as if he had failed them in some way.

He grunted as he pulled his way out of a manhole. He was in the middle of a street and humans sat in cafes lining the road. They froze as soon as Cog had poked his head out of the manhole, mouths frozen in mid conversation and mid bite. A single feminine voice screamed out, "MONSTRO! MONSTRO!"

And with that... all hell broke loose.

"Si tratta di un robot!"

"Siamo sotto attacco! "

"E 'il cinese!"

Voice clamored for attention as the humans dove for cover, screaming and overturning tables, spilling their drinks and meals onto the white table clothes.

At the far end of the cafe, two uniformed men bolted up from their coffee and pointed their guns at Cog, "Polizia! Metti le mani dietro la testa!"

Cog backed away and slowly put up both hands in a defensive gesture, "Please! I mean you no harm!" He yelled desperately, trying to calm the humans.

"Sta per raggiungere la sua arma! SPARAGLI! SPARAGLI!"

The two men opened fire with their guns, sending bullets whizzing toward Cog as he turned and ran. The bullets thudded into the shield on his back, easily piercing through and hitting Cog in the back. He grunted as he was hit one... two... three... four times but continued running.

He looked back, the two uniformed men were running after him, firing with their hand guns. One of the men was shouting into what appeared to be a small black box on his shoulder. Unfortunately as his head was turned, a car wagon hit Cog sending him flying over the hood and onto the windshield. He groaned as he rolled off the car and stood up, shaking his head to get rid of all the broken glass. What trickery is this? A horseless wagon???

Inside the car, a young woman opened her mouth to scream. Cog held up his hands in apology as he ran off, "I'm sorry!" He called out over his shoulder. He continued to run as cars swerved and squealed around him. Angry Italian drivers honked their horns, made rude gestures, or shouted profanity out the window as they narrowly avoided colliding with Cog.

Cog didn't care however, and only focused on putting one iron clad foot in front of the other...

[Orion86]

Mikey

"Hey Mikey! What do you want for Breakfast man? Rolo is heading down to the cafe! And get this, the tight bastard is buying!" bellowed Jimmy,

Mikey looked up from behind the bonnet of the old rover that he was trying to fix. It was still early in the morning but the working day started early for the mechanics of the 'Roland Auto store and Garage',

"Oh hell I think hell must have frozen over if that tight fisted old codger is putting his hand in his pockets. Tell 'im to get me a bacon butty with extra brown sauce and a cup of builders."

It was only seven in the morning but Mikey had already been up for two hours and been at work since six. It was along day but Roland was fair to his mechanics and always paid them on time. Which was somewhat uncommon for mechanics in London during a recession. Mikey was feeling pumped up, he had had a good weekend racing and was looking forward to the start of the new moto cross season. He had been working on hard on his new bike, sinking a large amount of his free money into it. It might not have turned out to be his career, but he had managed to get a couple of sponsorship deals from local merchants. That meant he could afford some of the more pricey items that a competitive moto cross bike needed to have, and after his little accident at the end of the previous season, he needed all the cash he could get his hands on.

As he worked he heard the radio in the background playing his favourite song,

"Hey Jimmy turn it up I love this song!"

Mikey bounced his head to the tune and then his ears pricked as the song came to an end,

"...And that was Olly Murs with his latest hit. The time is 07:14 and next we will be bringing you last weeks interview with Olly..." Suddenly the radio cut out and Mikey looked up again. It had fallen from its shelf and smashed onto the floor. Mikey was about to shout at Jimmy for being careless when he noticed that everything was falling off its shelf. It was an earthquake, an actual earthquake in England. He had heard about them on the news but had always thought it could never happen in England, something about plates but he couldn't remember what. He heard screaming and then the world went black as something struck him on the back of the head...

------------------------------------------------------

Karl

"No one can ever put anything back in its right bloody place! They think it is funny to move me books and scrolls! Well I will make them pay, no one messes with my systems and gets away with it"

Karl grumbled as he tried to balance several scrolls and books. The weight was not the problem it was their overall dimensions that made movement difficult. He had spent most of the day trying to find information on the lesser spotted wyrm but some fool had refilled it under dragons and not wyrms. It was the sort of mistake that he had been trying to weed out of the library but was having little success; He was beginning to to think that people were doing it deliberately so as to annoy him.

Getting back to his desk he placed the books down and began to get back to work. He had been writing a paper on the wyrms, their mating habits and how they differed from the draconic cousins. Karl hoped that it was this paper that would get him recognized by the University and that that would then lead to promotion in the library. Once he was chief librarian he would be able to make some real changes. As it was he had been a scribe first class for nearly 30 years and it was looking like he would have to have wait another 30 unless he did something.

"Pass me over for promotion will they, I will show them. With this paper I will blow Sven's works out of the water."

It was a source of great annoyance that Sven Gobberson was made a Librarian 3rd class, even though he had only been a Scribe 1st class for 10 years. The ranking system was simple it had three main ranks, Binder, Scribe and Librarian and within them three classes. The highest rank available was Chief Librarian and this individual was selected by election from the ranks of Librarian 1st class. Karl was pondering what life would be like if he were chief when several books fell off their shelves and onto his head,

"What the bloody hell....."

[Pascal]

12/21/12 2:00 PM, EST. Washington, D.C.


beep. Beep. BEEP. BBEEEPPP. BBBBBEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP

“God Dammit!” Jackie cursed and hit the snooze button again. “Just five more minutes… Or hours… Or days.” She muttered, burying her head back into the pillow. The sound stopped, and Jackie breathed a sigh of relief. She shifted positions slightly, determined to get back to that perfectly comfortable spot she had abandoned moments before to vanquish the cacophony of noise that was her alarm. She had almost found it too, when:

beep. Beep. BEEP. BBEEEPPP. BBBBBEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP

The sound began again, causing her to curse once more, as if that would stop the alarm from sounding any longer. It didn’t, the alarm beeping as if to defy the fact that she had specifically pressed the snooze button. “Damn you, Deedee.” She muttered, sitting up and pushing her long blonde hair off of her face long enough to focus on the buttons. She found the off button, but only because she had pulled it from the socket only to find that the emergency batteries had somehow found their way back inside of the contraption. No doubt that was also Deedee’s doing.

As if on cue, Diedre walked by the room and called out, “If you don’t get your butt in the shower I will and use up all the hot water,” She called.

Scrambling out of bed, Jackie didn’t bother with finding clothes. “I’m already on my way!” She yelled, and then did the mad dash from her bedroom to the hall bathroom. Though Jackie didn’t bring home any boys from work last night, she couldn’t be confident that there wasn’t her sleaze bag landlord, or some handyman, or even less plausible, that Deidre had brought home some boy. In any case, Jackie turned the shower knob all the way to the left. The apartment had a pretty awful water heater, and it would last a few minutes before needing and hour to become bearable again.

Jackie was not a morning person.


~~

2:25pm EST

Pulling her hair up into a ponytail, Deidre relaxed a bit when she heard the shower finally turn off. She was beginning to suspect that Jackie had simply fallen asleep there instead. She didn’t know what she would do if her roommate started to do that. As it was, she had already gotten her an alarm clock that was “accidentally” mis-wired so that the snooze button was faulty and only got louder after a few moments. Then she made sure that the batteries were in the clock. Today they had similar hours, and Deidre could be a living alarm clock, reminding Jackie incessantly and annoyingly to wake up. However, most days they did not have that luxury. Jackie was on her last strike, and if she was late again, she would be fired. Sometimes Deidre thought that she deserved it, but then she realized with losing half of the rest was far more important than Jackie suffering for being grumpy in the morning.

A few minutes later, Jackie wandered into the kitchen, pulling her hair up as well. She saw that Deidre’s hair was wet as well. “How did you…?” She asked, her voice trailing off. Surely her roommate had said something about taking a shower. Jackie’s confusion turned to feigned anger, her eyes narrowing a bit. “Oh you bitch.” She pushed past Deirdre to get some coffee, and Deidre just shook her head.

Of course Deidre had said that she was going to use the last of the hot water even though she had already taken a shower. It was the only way to get Jackie up. A smirk crept across Deidre’s face, which only annoyed Jackie more. “Next time, that isn’t going to work.” She said, shaking her head. Deidre didn’t answer her. ‘What time did you get up?” Jackie asked.

“Noon.”

“So you already went for a run?”

Deidre shook her head. “Why not?” Jackie asked her.

“I was waiting for you.”

“But now we don’t have time.” Jackie had a point. Their shift started at 3:30, which meant that they had to be there for the staff meeting at 3:15 to go over specials and get their uniforms checked. It was a waste of time, really. They just liked to have an excuse to size up the ladies. Most of them weren’t total dicks, and they fired the guy who took new hires to the back and actually felt them up, so Deidre and Jackie didn’t complain. Besides, they got the hours they needed, and when the front of the house was slow, Deidre, at least, usually picked up shifts in the back of the house.

“Not if we run there instead of taking the bus.” Deidre retorted. She had already mapped out the root. If they kept a steady pace, they could make it there in about 35 minutes, 45 if they took two water breaks, or if her estimation about the crosswalks was off.

“When do we have to leave?” Jackie asked, resigning to Deidre’s plan because she knew that Deidre had already planned it out and would hold to the stupid resolution.

Glancing at the clock before she answered, Deidre did some quick mental math. 2:28pm. “2 minutes.” She said casually, and took another sip of the coffee.

“Dammit!” Jackie cursed again and scrambled to get her things ready. They left a minute late, but Deidre thought that she could make up the lost time. She complained the entire time that Deidre was heartless, and that it wasn’t even the new year. She complained that she needed an inhaler, that she was going to be all sweaty when they got to work, and that her work clothes were going to get wrinkly. Deidre just laughed, and got ahead so Jackie had to catch up or waste her energy yelling.


~~

3:11:35pm

“Holy shit. I cannot believe that we made it.” Jackie said, bent over and taking long drinks from their water bottle. Deidre nodded, not quite ready to talk yet. “Told you we could do it.” She said finally.

“Now we just have to get inside before pre-shift meeting.” Deirdre said. “And get cleaned up, and changed. And get clocked in.” She said, looking down at her watch.

“Way to burst that bubble..” Jackie said. She suddenly felt a bit of movement, and leaned against the wall. “Woah, I think I am having a heart attack or something.” She said.

Deirdre shook her head. “No, it’s not just you.” She looked down, “I think it is an earthquake.” She continued. The shaking subsided for a moment, and then got much worse. “Come on!” Deidre grabbed Jackie’s hand and ran from the buildings. They needed to get away from anything that could fall, and right now, everything looked like it could fall. The noise of the pavement and buildings tearing was deafening. Deidre didn’t even hear the next few curses that escaped Jackie’s mouth.

“What the-?” Jackie looked down at the ground, where the pavement was splitting. Jackie had stopped to look at what was apparently grass beneath the pavement, and it looked like it was rising up out of the ground. Deidre pulled harder, and the pair kept running, joining a few people in their right minds who had abandoned their cars to try to find a safer spot as well.

[Mr Odin]

A lone truck and its driver sat tucked off the road, bathed in the falling midday snow of the Pennsylvania winter.

“Dispatch, this is unit 61… radio check, over.”

A moment of subtle static was echoing within the cab of a dark green F250 that sat idling atop a high hill on Beaver Dam road in Somerset, Pennsylvania. The truck was off the road, sitting where the gravel shoulder met a ditch separating shoulder from cattle pasture; it was a spot that provided a wide view of an open field below. The truck, marked with the seal of the PA Game Commission, was unit 61 out of the southwest office, on its fifth hour of a ten hour shift that started at 7am on Dec 21, 2012. Inside the cab Conservation Officer JD Maddox sat waiting for a reply from the person on the other end of the radio.

“Unit 61, this is dispatch… solid copy… things all quiet?” The voice on the other end of the radio filled the inside of the patrol truck and JD Maddox smiled thinking that even over the radio, she sounded cute. JD unclipped the transmitter of the radio from the dash of the truck and keyed the mike. “Dispatch – 61, about as much as can be expected. So how about my offer for lunch… you up for it after turnover, how copy?” A short moment of silence followed, then;

“61 – Dispatch, I have a call for you… its Human Resources, some business about harassment, you want to take that over the radio now or on your cell later, over.” JD rolled his eyes; he knew what was going to follow a retort like that. In quick sequence the other three Conservation Officers on patrol in range of the southwest regions radio traffic piped in, the radio exploded with men making sounds of a plane crashing and burning, loud drawn out “oh’s” and one over enunciated “daaaammmmn”. After the din was over the radio died out and JD keyed his mike again. “Having fun Carrie?” He shot back to the dispatch station. Dispatch was being operated by a rather attractive, blonde, thirty three-year-old transfer named Carrie that JD had been seeing for close to a year now. JD was shaking his head, watching the field below when the reply came back. “Don't worry 61, I’ll see you after the changeover, and you’re buying.”

Just as he was about to make another comment a white ford ranger stopped alongside the field that JD was watching. He watched the truck for a moment, reaching over into the passenger seat and lifting a pair of binoculars to his eyes. JD watched as the truck sat there when a small group of deer moved out into the field to graze, he watched as the trucks window came down, and he watched as a high powered rifle barrel was poked out of the trucks cab, and rested on the window frame. JD, tossed the binoculars back into the passenger seat and ripped his truck off the shoulder and out onto the road. “Dispatch this is 61, I’ve got a single 10-37, west of my last radio check, moving to investigate, over”

“Roger 61, Dispatch out” was the only reply.

JD heard the report of a high caliber rifle as he was turning off of Beaver Dam road and onto Sarver road and as soon as he made the trip down Sarver road he saw that the poachers had already begun to drag the illegally harvested deer out of the field and towards the truck. JD approached the truck trying to cover the distance before the poachers loaded up the carcase and took off. He did not flash his light bar yet, hoping to gain the crucial few seconds needed to avoid turning this situation into a high speed chase on back roads. Poachers, the old ones at least, wouldn’t bolt right away if they thought the truck was someone they knew or someone who wouldn’t care or question what they were doing. As it stood JD didn’t know how many people were there and what kind of weapons they had so charging in half-cocked was foolish. About a quarter mile out he could see one person out of the truck, smoking… at three hundred yards he saw that another person in the bed of a small ranger that was parked on the side of the road, field dressing the deer. At 150 yards he could see no one else in the cab or around the truck so he hit his light bar and sped up.

Red and blue light painted the snow covered woods that surrounded the road and field where the two trucks came together. As his truck came to a halt JD was already gearing it to park and opening the door, feet dropping out of the cab, his left hand keyed his mike as he spoke "Dispatch this is 61 on scene, keep this channel open, 61 out", his right hand easily found the grip of his holstered sidearm. JD kept the bulk of his body behind his open door, between him and the two subjects. The smoking man was turning toward JD, a natural reaction but he had a rifle slung over his shoulder and that was an issue. JD hoped the sudden nature of his approach the, flashing of his vehicle lights, and his inherent command presence would cause some confusion in the poachers and allow JD to take the initiative in this situation.

“State Game Commission!” JD shouted, “turn away from me and slowly un-sling the rifle and set it on the ground.” It was then that the sky exploded.

***

Lying on his back in the snow JD tried to piece together what he had seen before he had lost consciousness. The sky had exploded. That was the only expression that came to his mind at the moment, the sky had collapsed and then exploded. Just as he had arrived on scene the sky seemed to turn black and collapse in on itself, like it was a ball of paper, a darkening midday sky painted upon it, being wadded up by an unseen hand. The Sun flashed out of existence, clouds seemed to fall to the ground, while others ran like pools of sap. Cracks and rends opened in the sky but JD could not remember what he saw beyond them, and then it exploded. From a single point in the sky, one JD could not remember, light leapt forth in every direction, as if one million Aurora Borealis were being violently born into a collapsing sky unable to contain them. Tornados that seemed to be comprised entirely of lightning burst from the angular cracks that he had seen in the crumbling sky, arcs of white hot light... thousands at once, ripped through the air and seared molten glass channels into the ground.

Below the detonating sky the earth shook as JD had never felt it shake, even when he lived in California. The shaking turned to violent churning and then the ground shattered around the two trucks. JD had the sensation of falling, that sinking in the stomach and popping of the ears that accompanied quick unexpected drops in altitude. The sensation consumed him even though he could see his feet planted firmly on the ground. He saw spires of stone shoot out from the woods and fields, rocks the size of cars and jagged flaming debris rained down on the people below, trees were ripped, roots and all, into the air and turned into flaming spears by the jagged arcs of light crisscrossing the sky. The hill JD had been overlooking the field from exploded with the sound of an artillery detonation and fiery lava began pouring from its open and wounded side. JD was thrown from his feet when the blast wave of the hill hit the trucks and shortly after balls of molten rock mixed with flaming debris and arcs of light rained around the two trucks. Desperate for cover, JD rolled under his truck. He looked out towards the other truck, one man was missing, the other was doing the same as JD and that was one of the last things JD saw.

Flaming trees and rocks had crashed into the small white ranger and half a heartbeat later a column of lighting struck the truck, which detonated in a massive explosion that sent both JD and his truck into the air. JD remembered the explosion, remembered the force of it, the heat of it, and the searing pain followed by an immediate numb cold that he had felt before in Fallujah, he knew he had been hit by shrapnel. JD remembered feeling weightless, knew he was in the air, knew the ground below him was ripping apart and then slamming together again like some mix of the Grand Canyon and a bear trap, he knew bolts of lightning flashed around him as he fell, and finally he knew it would hurt, really hurt, when he hit the ground… and then black.

***

Now he was lying on his back in the snow, the sky had gone calm but there were stars he had never seen before and they filled the sky. There had to be billions upon billions of stars he was not used to seeing, some familiar ones to be sure but there were so many new ones. He wiggled his toes in his boots and his fingers in his gloves, those still worked.

He rolled his head to the left, letting his cheek sink into the snow, off in the distance there was a mountain range. They reminded him of a trip to Denver he had once taken, but he wasn’t in Denver he was in Somerset. He rolled his head back to the sky and took a deep breath, he had to force his mind to work… he had to stay calm. JD bent his left knee and then his right, rolled his ankles around, and lifted his legs at the hip while still on his back. No problems yet he thought.

Rolling his face to the right he looked at some of the trees that were growing by a brook about 25 yards away. The trees were odd, JD couldn’t place them, they looked nothing like any tree he had ever seen and they were growing. Right before his eyes they were growing, he had just watched them grow no less than three feet. He looked back to the sky and concluded he must have hit his head.

JD moved his arms, hands first, then elbows, and then shoulders. His right was good... the left was not, JD had discovered the reason for the shock like nausea he felt as he was lying there.

Sitting up slowly and painfully JD examined his left shoulder. A deep gash bisected it from front to back, two to two and a half inches deep, the bones of his clavicle and scapula were clearly visible and chipped, pieces of tissue hung from the font of the wound. His fingers moved which meant there was no real nerve damage but his shirt and the snow around him was thick with blood, his head was light, he was fighting shock. Slowly and painfully JD fashioned a sling and compress from the fabric of his shirt, which was torn enough that it was easier to remove. JD bound the arm as best he could with one hand and his teeth… it was sloppy work, he needed help. Just after doing so he fell bodily onto a nearby rock, exhausted, fighting shock, and mentally lost, nothing was making sense.

That’s when he saw movement between the trees that were now nearly twenty feet tall and growing. It was something small and quick, but it had looked like a person, moved like someone, someone hunched over and hurt.
“Hello” JD called out.

[Pockets]

Mithnal

When the Dragon Kin vanished she continued to stand quietly for a few moments, glaring at the glimmering gem he had dropped as the roaring rushing sound of water grew ever louder and closer. For a moment she was tempted to leave the gem but she realized that the Kind had been right. The shaking and rumbling of the ground had cause a tidal wave, and she could feel by the changes in air pressure that it was comnig right for the islands of the Shendryl Wilds.

She sheathed her sword and her dagger and with an angry growl scooped up the gem and ran through the glom of night for her campsite. Grabbing her gear she held out her hand over the basinet and with a quick focus of her will it burst into flames. Not the cheerful life giving flame one would expect but a dirty, muddy looking fire. The red and orange were streaked through with black and an odor of rotten flesh permeated the air as the basinet set to burning.

She watched it as she crushed the gem in her hand and a moment later it was lost to her sight amidst a glittering flash of brilliant white light.*

When next she could see she found herself standing ankle deep in a soft white powder that blanketed the land around her and her breath steamed in the air before her so cold was it. She shivered violently as the cold assaulted her body but quickly looked around her. Lightning flashed *above in a constantly shifting, intricate web of light, so rapidly that the area was lit with a nauseating strobe-like effect. Steel grey and purple clouds hung low and ponderous above, as if the weight of the heavens pressed down upon them.*

The smell of smoke reached her nose and she turned to find a wreck of twisted metal, small bits of flames still licking about it. Harsh odors assaulted her senses, sharp, tart, smells that she did not recognize and could not place a name to. She could name what she saw lying in the snow nearby though. A man. At least she was reasonably sure it was a man. His ears were rounded and he looked dazed, lying on his back in the snow.

A few moments later he sat up and almost casually inspected the rather serious injury to his shoulder. Mithanl felt a stirring of respect at that. The injury was not minor but he didn't scream or cry or become useless in a fit of pain and terror. He simply inspected the injury and took stock of his condition. Worthy of a Wild Elf.

He was facing away from her, and as far as she could didn't realize that he was there. There were trees that she didn't recognize, short stunted looking things, but all around vegetation that she was familiar with began appearing seemingly out of nothing, the ground stretching away before them. Bits of ice blue flashed by which she realized beleatedly were frozen over pools and streams as the land stretched out like a carpet unrolling off into the distance.*

Far away a truly massive range of mountains apeared, climbing higher and higher into the sky until their snow capped peaks became lost in the clouds.*

At the same time as the injured... person... Mithnal noticed the movement that caught his attention. Hunched over, moving close to the ground, swiftly yet eerily silently through the dense vegetation that was still expanding even as they watched. She realized quickly what it was and stepped over to stand above the injured man. She drew her sword in with her right hand and held her left out before her, palm facing outward. The runes etched into the blade pulsed with energy and light, their angry red glow lightly illuminating some of their surroundings.*

"Goblins," she snarled. Where there was one there were always more. Vicious and tenacious Goblins liked to swarm their prey, like ants blanketing a larger insect in their territory they would harry and nip at their chosen victim until it succumbed and then they would feed.

----------

Joc

When next he appeared he was standing on a strange black surface. Colored lines marred it and there was a small step up to a lighter colored flat stone surface with seams at regular intervals on either end. People, humans Tiamat save us, there are Humans, he thought, ran screaming wildly in all directions as the black ground buckled and cracked from the constant rumbling and shaking. The noise was deafening, a steady ominous roar punctuated by the occasional explosion from somewhere in the distance as well as the constant screaming and wailing of terrified or injured humans.

Before him there was a building, shuddering and shaking and something told him to enter. The magic within the gem directing him to where he was needed.*He went to enter the building as grass began to sprout up from within the cracks in the black road but something stopped him. Strange he thought. If not in the building than... near the building?

He looked around and finally caught sight of two young women they were just recovering somewhat apparently from the violent shaking of the ground and had come to the conclusion, by his observations, that being somewhere else would probably be a good idea.

As they started to run he interposed himself directly between them. The armored breastplate he wore gleamed in the afternoon light, reflecting sparks from strange black cables running from wooden posts down the avenue as well as lightning flashing in the darkening sky above. At nearly 8 feet in height and covered head to toe in glossy blue scales Joc knew he would probably terrify these simple humans but he didn't have time to approach carefully.

"Deidre," he called. He refused to use the ridiculous nickname Lord Aegis had informed him that she used at times. "Jackie. I have a few words that you need to hear, and your very lives may depend upon the answers you give." He had no idea his wording sounded very much like a threat, nor would he have cared if it had. He was here to deliver a message. If they chose to ignore it they would die and that had nothing to do with him. He rested his left hand naturally on the hilt of the hand and a half sword that hung from his sword belt in a simple sheathe.

Around him some of the other humans realized that he was standing there and gaped in astonishment at him, others ran all the harder away, screaming about monsters. Joc sighed. It was going to be a long Expansion.

[1DVSguy]

(Continued from this post!)

Cog

Cog had never been more afraid in his life.

Police chased after him in their cars and motorcycles. Lights alternating between red and blue as their sirens cut through the air. The only way Cog had kept ahead of them was by climbing onto a nearby building and running on top of the rooftops. He leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Grunting each time he clambered up the smooth surface of a tiled roof, or each time when he landed a bit too hard, sending cracks snaking out onto the surface.

Above him a helicopter followed his every movement. Letters on the side read, "CNN." Cog looked up behind him every so often to keep track of the strange flying vehicle. It looked familiar somehow, like something out of a drawing?

Below him, the sirens grew louder. They were catching up to him! Cog turned abruptly to the left and leaped off a building. More cracks appeared in the ground as he landed with a grunt. He rolled to minimize the damage and sprang up again.

He was in a sort of circular plaza. A majestic fountain sat in the middle of the plaza with an ancient Egyptian obelisk standing proudly in the center of it. On top of the Obelisk, an emblem with a Dove with an olive branch decorated the tip. Surrounding the Obelisk were statues of ancient river gods, basking in the water that rushed out from beneath their feet.

It was a beautiful piece of architecture, but unfortunately, Cog couldn't stop to appreciate it. The police had caught up to him and had cut him off. Cog stopped and turned to run back to where he had come from, but again, his passage was blocked by more cars and motorcycles. Uniformed men began to get out of their vehicles, simultaneously drawing their weapons while slamming the doors behind them. Heavily armored trucks pulled up as well, and men clad in black and bullet proof vests, armed with automatic weapons, poured out of them.

Cog backed away from them and put his back to the fountain. He was surrounded.

"Polizia! Polizia! Prendi giù per terra!"

They were all shouting at him at once, using their hiding behind their vehicles and using them as cover. Above him in the sky, it had begun to rain. The sky had turned steel grey, blanketing the sun and grumbles of thunder could be heard distantly. A storm was coming, just like in Cog's dream.

He drew his Shield and shouted, "Stop! Please!"

It was the wrong action to do however. As soon as Cog's hand moved, the Police panicked and opened fire. A hailstorm of bullets tore through Cog's shield, reducing it to useless Swiss cheese. He stumbled back as bullets ricocheted off his metal skin, throwing his hands up in desperation as if to ward off incoming attacks, he bellowed in pain and frustration. Suddenly, from his out stretched palm came a bright and sudden flash of green. It solidified into something akin to translucent green metal. Cog and the police looked on in bewilderment as incoming bullets were suddenly deflected as they hit the Shield spell that Cog had accidentally cast.

The Shield started to fade away and Cog, taking advantage of the police's surprise, sprang up and sprinted toward the police line. He gathered his energy and jumped, flying high above the human's upturned faces and the expressions of amazement as Cog cleared their heads by feet.

He landed and started to run as the men behind him shouted and scrambled to get back in their vehicles. He ran for his life as the news chopper shadowed him from above.

The weather was getting increasingly chaotic. Wind whipped through the streets and rain came down in sheets. Lightning crackled through the dark menacing clouds over head. Suddenly a BOOM! sounded above the chaos and a bolt of lightning streaked towards the Earth as if thrown by Jupiter himself. The javelin of electricity hit the helicopter, causing an explosion to tear through it's rotors. It started to burn and smoke as it fell towards the streets below.

Cog skidded to a halt and watched in horror as it fell. It crashed into the street, bursting into an inferno of flames and twisted metal. The blades on top of the helicopter whirled off and sliced through a lamp post before impaling itself in a nearby store window. As if of it's own accord, his feet started to sprint towards the where the helicopter lay smoking on the ground. He tore off the door to the cockpit and threw it to the side. Inside lay three humans, a pilot, cameraman, and a reporter. Cog pulled the unconscious humans from the burning chopper and carried them to the side walk one by one. As he carried the last human, the reporter, the chopper exploded behind him and he shielded the humans from the heat and shrapnel with his body. He set down the last human and her eyes fluttered open, "Who...?"

But the police had rounded the corner, and Cog taking his cue, had already bounded off.

Why did he save the humans? Cog, wasn't too sure himself. He was certain however, that he could not bare to let those humans die as a result from his inaction.

***

The weather only got worse from there. Great gusts of wind formed into black funnels and tore through Rome. The ground shook, and the sky had grown pitch black and lightning streaked toward the ground like mortar rounds. The police had long ago given up the chase, deciding to help with the natural disasters instead of giving chase to a lone living automaton.

People screamed and scattered in terror as they struggled to seek shelter from the weather. A few of them shirked away from the strange metal man running among them, but most ignored him. Fearing mother nature more than Cog.

Cog stopped as he came upon a familiar sight. "Grazie la macchina!" He exclaimed in Italian, and started to move towards the shelter of one of mankind's greatest achievements.

The Colosseum.

[Mr Odin]

JD’s head jerked up and he forced his eyes to scan the surroundings. The blood loss and shock had caused his senses to fade, his wits to dull, and he had allowed his head to dip until his chin rested on his chest. He had no idea how long he had drifted but now he looked out at a landscape that still seemed fluid, still moved and undulated but much less violently then it had before. The crashing bolts of lightning were confined to the sky now, which he thought was a good sign. JD also thought they looked like flashing veins of light, veins that cast a brilliant pulsing glow onto the world below. His vision was clear, surprisingly so; in spite of all he had been through he found he could pick out an amazing amount of detail in everything around him even in the poor twitchy light. He heard things too, trees creaking, a far off brook flowing, creatures moving, all things he had no ability to hear before; his hearing had never been that great after Iraq. JD shook his head to clear his racing mind and that’s when the brilliance of the image faded, he lost the clarity of his sight, the purity of sound, and the world dulled into the murky flashing chaos he had remembered before he drifted off… and then the pain in his shoulder flared.

The earlier shock, adrenaline, and endorphins were leeching out of his system. Now that his body was calming down the pain was quickly replacing those biological coping mechanisms. The jerking of his head had caused the muscles in his neck to flex; his shoulder responded next, igniting in pain. JD bent forward on the rock he was sitting on and clamped his teeth together sucking in his breath through clenched teeth to stifle the sensation exploding in his shoulder. When the worst had passed he straightened back up and slid the left side of his parka, which had covered his slung shoulder, off his back and looked at the wound again while keeping his right arm in the jacket. What he saw he didn’t understand. He had expected blood and gristle when he began peeling off the sloppy compress with his right hand. The blood was still there, thick and dry, but JD could no longer see the chipped bone that had marked his clavicle and scapula. In its place a ropey looking substance was threading its way over the wound. There was not much of it but it was a deep green color, almost black, and it covered his wound and raw muscle tissue like it had been vacuum pressed into the savage hole left by the shrapnel. All along the black green tissue were brighter sections of green patches roughly the size of JD’s fingernail and the color of a spring fern. The pain of the wound had changed along with the color of the tissue. No longer did the pain feel like electric fire, the pain was almost acidic now, like a river of hydrogen peroxide flowed just under the dark mat. JD replaced the compress deciding that he must be hallucinating, must be seeing things.

“Damn” he growled as another flicker of movement off in the growing vegetation caught his attention. JD cursed himself for being so careless, something or someone was still out there.

“Hello… who’s there”, he saw the shadow stop and then lope off into cover, moving around JD’s position to the left. His eyes widened, he couldn’t figured out the way it moved, part of his mind told him it bounded like an animal, another part knew it was bipedal and had crept along the tree line. JD had no idea what moved like that but he had studied enough predatory animals and spent enough time in the woods hunting to know one thing about the way whatever that shadow was moved… it was stalking, it was hunting. JD eyed the tree line and disregarding his wound, began to move his hand down to the holster on his right hip. Just as his hand touched the Glock, palm wrapping around the grip, index finger tapping the release a voice came from close behind him and his heart leapt up into his throat.

Where the energy came from JD didn’t know, probably adrenaline again, but he leapt up from the rock at the sound of the voice. He tried to get his feet under him as he turned to face whoever had just spoken but his head was light and the snow was slick. His feet came out from under him as he rose up turning to his left to face the speaker and consequently, he began to fall. Thankfully he had been turning to the left so it was his right shoulder that hit the ground sending up a cloud of white powdery snow. His booted feet scrambled on the ground, pushing his body a few feet away before he finally found purchase and was able to stand. The Glock was out of its holster and leveled evenly on the chest of the person, the woman that had slipped up behind him. JD’s breath came in ragged deep gasps, causing his voice to waver when he spoke, the impact had still jarred his left shoulder and the adrenaline was running thick in his veins. The pain and confusion in his voice was apparent, his eyes on the blade the woman held.
“Easy with that… that… that sword, just who are you and what did you say?”

He faced off with the blade wielding women for what seemed like minutes but in reality were likely only a few heartbeats. He kept the pistols sights leveled center mass on her chest while his mind tried to put together what he was looking at. What he was seeing reminded him of things he had heard of or seen in fiction novels and movies. Why someone would be outside costumed like that, dressed like that, in those odd garments, with a weapon like that, and no protection from the winter was beyond him. In the handful of moments he was sizing his new subject up JD noticed that she barely took note of him, that she was looking off to the tree line that was behind him, watching something… then he heard it.

Running, something was running up behind him. JD turned quickly and came face to face with a twisted leaping shadow. It barley looked more than three feet tall and was wiry thin. Its skin, where it showed through dirt caked rags, was as pale as the snow all around them and its face was filled with a crooked stunted nose, a small feral looking mouth, and massive sickly looking eyes. “Goblins” he thought, noticing the rotten looking wooden spear it wielded. That is what she has said, goblins, but it was too late now, and it was too close.

The twisted creature drove the spear point into JD’s shoulder wound; the pain was earth shattering, JD was sure he heard his bones snap over his own roar of rage and pain. The momentum the creature maintained throughout the attack had brought it crashing into JD and he fell hard on his back with the goblin standing on his chest, its massive eyes looking at a broken spear shaft with something that seemed like confusion. JD simply reacted, there was no training to it, no finesse, no practiced ease he simply brought his right hand to his chest, pressed the pistol forward three inches from the goblins chest, pulled the trigger, and kept pulling the trigger until the world went silent. The report of the weapon crashed in time with the lightning above. Thirteen hollow point rounds screamed out from the barrel of the gun, the first struck the Goblin in the chest as did the second and third, mushrooming against soft flesh and shattering bone. The recoil of the pistol lifted his aim with each shot after the third. The path of the bullets riddled the goblin’s chest first, and then punched through its throat, before ripping through its shocked face. The last five rounds sailed over its head into the night as the dead goblin collapsed on top of JD.

For a moment all was silent, all was still. Then JD used his good arm to slide the body of the goblin off of him and then he sat up looking at the empty pistol, its slide locked back to the rear, the barrel exhaling a faint whiff of gunpowder smoke. Weakly he stood, pistol in hand, jacket hanging off his right arm, the goblins rotten spear had hit the dark green covering that stretched over his wound and the tip now lay broken at JD’s feet. The pain was intense but the wound was no worse, it seemed that whatever covered his wound had protected it. JD tried to process what had just happened. His mind could not comprehend what he was seeing; his thought processes reeled at the world around him, his sanity balked at what was occurring. Overcome with pain, confusion, exhaustion, and shock JD fell to a knee his grip failing, the empty pistol falling, as he used his good hand to brace his body weight. He looked up at the woman the battle for his sanity clearly visible in his eyes.

“What… is…” His breathing was rough, the words came out in gasps “…going on?”

[Pockets]

Mithnal

When the Goblin leaped at him she sighed, fully expecting the weak human to perish beneath its makeshift spear. She was surprised when instead he fought back with the strange weapon he pulled from his belt. She could only assume it was a weapon. It barked, several loud cracking noises as fire and smoke spat from the end and whatever it did sent the Goblin tumbling away in a spray of greenish blood.

She ignored the item and the man entirely and stepped over to inspect the goblin corpse. The deformed, bulbous eyes stared blankly at the lightning above and the wound was grave. She had never seen anything like it as she crouch low in the snow. Her sword pulsed and she turned her head sharply at the warning.

With a snarling scream another of the deformed creatures dove from the deepening shadows at her and her hand came up, neatly bisecting the creature with the razor sharp edge of her sword. She swayed, letting her body move as it would and avoid the blood that erupted from the torn carcass as the two haves flew past on either side of her to land with muffled thumps in the soft snow.

More snarling could be hear and she back up, keeping her sword held out before her and the injured man behind her. "If you can still use your weapon," she said over her shoulder. "Do so." Her voice was calm and even, no sense of urgency or fear in her tone. If he could, he would. If he couldn't she would just have to fight harder. Half a dozen more of the disgusting creatures poured from the underbrush, grunting and shrieking in their native tongue and she stepped to meet them. A swift kick sent one of them flying a good dozen paces to the side and she moved her sword to block a low sweep at her legs from a cheap looking sword.

She grunted and spun swiftly, moving around the Goblin until she stood behind it and her sword came down, point first. Blood gouted from its mouth as the blade pierced the back of his neck and severed his spine and windpipe, a foot of steel erupting from the front of his throat.

Giving the creature no more thought she turned, wrenching the blade so hard that it tore through the side of its neck, nearly severing the head entirely and her sword blocked strikes from two more as the body struck the ground. She struck out with both hands, her sword neatly lopping off the head of the creature to her right and as she held her palm out toward the one on her left there was a rushing sound and flames burst into existence, turning the Goblin into a walking torch.

She kicked it aside and turned to face the last two as the goblin burned alive, shrieking in agony. The final two looked at her or a moment before they turned and ran into the surrounding foliage. Goblins didn't like to fight when the odds weren't in their favor. Mithnal sighed and sheathed her sword after carefully cleaning the blade free of their loathsome blood and turned back to the man.

"How bad are your injures?" she asked. "If you can move we should be-" She cut off, startled as a weight suddenly landed on her back and tiny claws started tearing at her skin. Noréht she cursed in her head. I forgot about the one I kicked away!

[Pascal]

Skidding to a stop as the blue dragon…thing, stepped in front of them, Jackie screamed. Even with the screams of the people around, Jackie was screaming something specific. The word from her mouth, at the top of her lungs, was “ALIEN!!!!!!” That attracted quite a bit of attention, and now the rest of the people knew one thing for sure, wherever they were running, it was going to be away from the giant, blue, armored…alien as Jackie had so eloquently argued.

Deidre jabbed her hard in the arm. Even if this…creature thing was an alien, it certainly wouldn’t be helpful to piss it off her with high pitch yelling. “Shut up!” She said in a hushed tone, allowing Joc to speak. He knew their names. The thought echoed in Deidre’s head, and no doubt in Jackie’s too. Deidre all but forgot about the complete chaos and destruction that was going on around them.

The restaurant was torn into two behind them, a large mountain rising up out of its center. The sky flickered and then an array of new clouds appeared, turbulent. There was a roar of thunder, and in a few parts of the street, it began to pour, but only in a few. Most of the people had abandoned the streets, deciding that they were safer in buildings, or perhaps they had found large open areas instead.

Though Deidre opened her mouth to speak, Jackie chimed in yet again, “Are you insane? Do you want to sit down and have a goddamn cup of tea? Look around, you…alien thing you!” She yelled.

“He’s a dragon…thing… I think” Deidre interrupted her, though her voice got softer as she spoke, less confident in what she was saying after the words began to leave her mouth. Sure, in her head it sounded like a good idea to say that, but there was an 8 ft tall armored and armed thing in front of them, and for all she knew, he might be offended by that remark. Of the two, Deidre was obviously calmer. Even though Jackie had some sort of self-defense classes before, Deidre could relate to the freakish appearance that he had. Granted, she had no idea why he was dressed that way, but she imagined that no matter what he was wearing, he would look outlandish and terrifying—then again, the blade certainly didn’t help either.

A hill had risen up behind them, blocking the view of the street that lay beyond. However, what Deidre and the rest of the group didn’t know was that there was even more of a sense of panic on that side of the hill. As a matter of a fact, there was a car that was driving up that side of the hill, and was about to launch itself over the hill. Deidre recognized the voice first, shushing the group for a moment, and then realizing what the sound was and where it was coming from. She pulled on Jackie’s arm, “We have to get out of the street.” She yelled back at both of them. She figured that the other would follow, since he certainly seemed interested on speaking to them.

Before they had gotten to a point of relative safety, the car appeared over the hill, and was completely airborne. Looking up, they could have seen the tires continue to spin. When the car hit the ground, it also managed to hit a tree that had been growing out of the ground. The smoke and fire that resulted engulfed the car, and though Deidre wished that she was the valiant sort who would have rushed in and found a way to save them, she wasn’t. She shivered and turned her attention back to her companions, distress evident on her face as the occupants of the car were surely dead by now.

Jackie had a point; they couldn’t exactly sit down and drink some tea and discuss whatever it is that he needed. In all of the panic and chaos, Deidre couldn’t remember the rest of what he said. She knew that he needed them…to ask them something, and that was about it.

“We have to get out of here, Deedee.” Jackie said, interrupting her thoughts. Jackie looked at Deidre like a lost puppy, clutching her arm, and using her for protection against Joc. “Can you get us someplace safe?” It was a leap of faith, but generally people who were armed were either thugs or protectors of some sort, depending on which side of the battle they were on. In this case, if Joc was their enemy, and he wanted them dead, surely he could have done so by now. Jackie looked at her friend as if she was insane, and the thought had crossed both of their minds that she was. Deidre’s request was sincere though. If he could get them someplace safe, then they could answer his questions, or listen to his words, or whatever it was that he wanted.