Dredge cacklled gleefully. "Ha! Lost your form," Dredge spat at his feet. "Good. May you walk the world in misery. It would be a kindness to kill you."

An explosion from far in the distance, followed by a brief tremor that shook the trees, woke the girl from her unusually pleasant reverie, and had her instinctively brandishing a dagger ready to strike at an attacker who wasn’t even there.

“Bloody hells!”

Her heart beat in rapid successions as she leapt to her feet and stood on the thick, strong branch of the massive Tualang tree for a better view of the landscape. Past the blanketed treetops and beyond, a large cloud of black smoke rose above like a shadow over the area, obscuring much of the moonlight that washed onto the surface. The night became even darker then, and S’varkas knew the events transpiring just under two kilometers from her location would be the catalyst her father spoke of so many times before.

“I need to warn them! Wait! No I need to investigate to ensure this isn’t another false entry.”

The momentary thought of her last “warning” never failed to make it’s way into her head, as she once thought the demonic portal had flooded the land with legions of supernatural creatures, which turned out to be nothing in the end. It was something her father, the ruler of the human citadel, had looked down upon considering the amount of time and resources he’d wasted.

S’varkas slung her quarterstaff on her back and quickly descended the tall tree, her bare feet landing on the soft cool ground next to a rather large and remarkable construct made of various metals, miscellaneous gears, hoses, other scrapped parts. The machine stood approximately twenty feet tall, with an exceptionally wide torso and large cannon-sized arms, both made to crush and obliterate. It didn’t move until the girl’s voice command enabled it, and the machine sprang to life, walking forward on two smaller, less bulky legs.


“Ok, let’s find out if we truly have company…”

-"I laugh at the irony that is this existence..." There was the shaking in the distance, but the knight ignored it.

-"To bind such a powerful entity as me requires vast power or a very complex ritual, to find out that someone managed to do it and then forget such a simple part as to where the bound one would appear is an affront to my existence." The knight laughed once more, this time higher.

It was apparent it loathed its existence, it also seemed to care nothing of what was going on in the distance.

-"I hope my summoner needed me to defend some pitiful village, that i was their last hope. I hope they all perished in tears."

Are these...Are these Tremors? Viggo moved away from the two and slowly walked up to a tree. Kneeling at the base he noticed that they seemed to come in a similar manner. They are getting more intense. This is something, something quite large Whipping around and hurrying back to the others he announced ,"We need to find a vantage point and hide. Something quite large is on it's way here."

S’varkas kept in the shadows cast by the canopy of trees and brush, watching as the magically imbued iron giant slashed and stomped its way through the thick vines, fallen dead trees, embedded boulders, and just about any other obstacle that was within its range. Twice the machine stopped, however, as one of it’s servos and pistons misfired and needed a quick calibration before continuing its intended course.

“Shit, I really need to repair you properly when we return.”

She mumbled and shook her head in disappointment, realizing that she’d had this beast for several years, and even the magic within can only do so much before it’s parts begin to decay from the dense moisture that the region can produce on it’s hottest days. Daylight was still hours away, however, and she had to get back soon before she was discovered yet again that she'd snuck out after the city-wide curfew went into effect. But she had to find out what was-

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by several smaller nocturnal creatures running toward her direction, and past both her and the golem, without even an acknowledgement of their presence.

“Something has them rattled for sure, yeah?” She said, speaking to herself mostly, considering the metal golem understood little of her language save for a few commands in the old arcane tongue.

Sticking close to the thick brush, she continued trudging through the damp ground, careful not to hit a sinkhole or quicksand, which would be more than a bitch to get out of. A flick of her wrist and a whispered incantation created a shroud around her, which blended her body and scent with the surrounding plant life, creating a camouflage of sorts. This was sufficient for scouting and keeping distant enough from the prying eyes of most animals and strangers alike.

Dredge was still focused on the demon before him. He rubbed a grubby hand across his face as he prowled around the interloper in a circle. He allowed the other Vampire to do the talking - Dredge was more of a scrapper then a talker. Still, the moonlight glinted off the blade that had indented in the tree nearby, and soon enough Dredge wandered over to inspect it.

Another sickening sounds reverberates through the jungle, a plume of acrid smoke rising some distance to the north. Something catches on the breeze - a scent of rotten flesh, perhaps - but then the night steals it away as quickly as it came.

"What are you looking at my kin?" Viggo asked Dredge who seemed to be examining something. Where did the tremors go? He started examining intently. I couldn't of lost them that easily, could I? They aren't already upon us are they? Slowly backing toward the direction of Dredge he looked to the Demon, "Were you feeling those tremors too Demon?"

-"I noticed the tremors." The deamon noted, being silent for a while.
Viggo and Dredge's silence demanded more.

-"Do they matter? Do they command my hand? No, i wait... Wait until what will happen next." The knight gazed towards the source of the tremors, but still stood in its statuesque pose.

Fear and worrying was apparently not what it did for a living, or whatever deamons did.

Fer’ualtha

Her voice whispered the ancient command, signaling the golem to cease its course and stand guard in the meantime. S’varkas climbed the towering nearby tree, knotted with crisscrossing vines that travelled the length of the trunk, making it perfect for ease of ascension. Her eyes followed the small woodland creatures still running from the direction of what could be a whole lot of something.

Or, perhaps nothing?

“You'll be considered the City imbecile if you muck this one up.” She verbally reprimanded herself, continuing the climb to the highest branch, snorting slightly at the thought. “And then what? Cast out by your own people for lack of valid discernment between what's good and evil?”

She'd spent most of her life playing the good daughter, the loyal and honorable one whose concerns always fell on the welfare of her community and her father's wishes. Everything else seemed to matter very little, except now she sensed things were changing, and even her father's well hidden fears were beginning to surface each day of his rule.

S’varkas narrowed her eyes, trying to focus into the distant ground movement. Her sight was fading more often, especially at night, and it seemed that each time she would augment her vision with magic, her human sight would become slightly less sharp. It was a concern, nonetheless, but one that would have to wait. Two figures, no three? Humanoids? One of which appears to be…smoldering as he walked? She rubbed her eyes, hoping that they were playing tricks on her, but the scene still remained the same.

“Have the demon hordes begun their approach?”

She whispered, fear welling up inside her for the first time in a long time.

“Is this the beginning of the end?”

It was an eerie stillness now. Tensions were high still with the three strangers becoming acquainted. However, he couldn't keep his mind off of those tremors just stopping. Viggo continued to press his sense outward as far as he could reach. Woodland creatures scurrying on the ground, leaves dying and falling to the earth, and yet no sign of something to out of the ordinary. Kneeling down he tried to take in any stray movement that may come to pass. He would be damned if a mistake happened on his watch. Not after he lost his eyes...not after he lost... he stopped thinking so dark. No this loss in site was his fuel that kept him fighting every day. He would use every ounce of energy to make sure no one came upon them.

As Dredge touched the dagger, the knights head snapped violently to stare upon him, but acted no more.
When he tossed it to Viggo, the knights head snapped once more, now changing its posture to witness the actions of the two better.

The daggers pentagrams lit up momentarily as Dredge let go of it, the sickening black ash slowly poured from its inside and swirled gently as Viggo held it in his hand.

The knight knew not why, but felt that the dagger was important somehow, that it had to do with the binding.
A rumble was heard from the growing cloud in the distance.

Viggo held the dagger in his hand. A slight amount of power of some kind oozed out of the dagger. He could feel it emanating from the blade. At the time the dagger was touched he noticed a quick creak of metal coming from the Daemon. Leaning his head toward the direction of the "knight" he asked, "This of some importance to you hellspawn?"

The question had barely escaped his lips when the eruption occurred. Shooting straight up his body went ridged. "That answer can come later Daemon. What is happening in the distance?" He asked Dredge. Was this tied to the tremors I felt earlier? Was it in fact an earthquake of somekind? No, this seemed to be something much worse

The sudden blast lit up the night sky brighter than she’d ever seen, causing her to shield her eyes from the piercing sting of the light.

“Wha..?” She half-exclaimed, watching as what appeared to be a wave of fire ravaged the jungle further up ahead and the heat -even from that distance- could be felt on her bare skin.

“Shit!”

S’varkas stumbled down the tree, doing her best not to fall the entire way, but managed to gain a few seconds by catching the hanging vines and swinging to a more stable branch. She quickly hit the ground running and yelled out to the guardian machine.

“Ter’shulos! Move dammit, now!”

The golem, acknowledging the initial ancient command word, turned itself to face the direction of her master, and with it’s mighty legs pumping pistons and spinning gears, lumbered once again through the thick jungle at a speed no faster that a fast walk. She didn’t dare to look back, as it would most likely cause a fear far worse than she was feeling, but she also worried about the iron machine. It wasn’t built for speed or agility, but strength and resilience. It’s metal makeup combined with the infused magical properties, should protect it from high heat, but S’varkas didn’t know what sort of evil the fire was birthed from, and it may well swallow up everything in it’s path.

The girl looked ahead at the treeline to get her bearings, and realized that one of the underground storage facilities was close by, as long as she could make it to the hatch in time...

She couldn’t remember the last time her legs had carried her so quickly through the dense jungle, and yet fear of one’s life had an amazing ability to push the boundaries of the physique, human or otherwise. S’varkas almost felt as though she could glide along the surface like a hawk with it’s wings spread strong and wide. Thankfully, however, it wasn’t necessary since the underground entryway she so desperately searched for was within range and a brief smile crossed her lips. As much as she hesitated to look back, her curiosity finally won out as she turned her head for a moment to glance behind and saw only the massive conflagration as it continued to swallow up vegetation. No sign of the iron golem.

“Son of a-”

Just as she was about to return attention to the path ahead, her bare foot caught the edge of a raised root, causing her to stumble, roll, and slide to a stop within a meter of the metal hatch leading down to safety. S’varkas, ignoring the pain on her foot and leg, quickly shuffled and crawled over toward the magically sealed door that lay parallel with the ground, and recited the incantation to unlock the hatch. Her words first came out in a rushed and garbled sequence had no effect, and on the second try, finally succeeded as the hatch raised up and the girl slipped into the depths of the storage bunker.

-"You should consider safety, i've heard vampires don't really take the flame very well." The knight said with a strong alien voice to Dredge, finishing off with a hummed chuckle.

The flame was getting closer by the second, fire was seen climbing across the canopies just one or two trees away.
If it was forced into this existence, it could at least keep it short and interesting.

The imprints of cinder that had drifted on the breeze began to take form more fully. Where each tree had been touched handprints began to take form - all different sizes and types. One some, flickers of flame danced forth, catching the forest further alight.
There was no doubt about it now - this was a full scale forest fire, in a jungle.

The beast bellowed and grew larger still, plumes of fire smouldering in it's breath. Finally the smoke around it parted enough to show the creature:



Despite his burning hatred of the demon - in fact all demons - Dredge had to acknowledge in this case, the Knight was right. His piercing eyes regarded the creature in the distance as if weighing up his chances, and he came to the same conclusion.

Not to mention, the fire was spreading like... well, wildfire. No doubt this location would be totally surrounded in only a few minutes.
"I'm leaving." Dredge stated blandly, dropping to a crouch. "Brother - I am sure you can smell the ash on the wind. We're in danger."

The ash now inhabited his lungs. Viggo now understood the trouble has in with the others. Stashing the dagger in between his belt and the back of his pants he responded to Dredge, "I follow your lead brother." What new hell that had been thrown into now had an adventure to spring upon them. This would not be and end that Viggo would want. "Let's make haste," Viggo stated as he got to his feet.

-"Ahhh, i remember your kind." The knight proclaimed as the massive fire spewing behemoth roared into the night.

-"A lesser deamon, 3rd circle if i recall correctly. Usually brought forth when in a siege. Yees..... i have commanded your kind." The knight boomed out to the massive monster. The cinder spewing behemoth responded with a roar in return that shook the canopies.

The knight stretched out its arms to its sides, with the blade in its right hand, still pointing down.
-"Ha ha haa!! I see you have noticed my predicament, do it, laugh at my weakness, take your chance to rise in the hierarchy! What power you would gain if you slay one above thee? HA HA HAA!!!" The knight began to take a step forth, but somehow something forced it to stop, like a wind gripping its leg refusing to let it go forth.

It did not understand, why was it impossible to close with the behemoth? It tried to turn to look at the others, that went fine.
-"I see how this works now." The knight let out, not much higher than a whisper.

-"Another time." The knight yelled to the behemoth, then walked to Viggo and Dredge with casual steps.

-"Why are you two still here, weakling mortals stand no chance against a deamon like this." It asked the two vampires while pointing at the now closing fiery behemoth behind with its right thumb.

“Okay. Now what?”

She sat silent for a few moments, listening as the whooshing sound of the blazing inferno seemed to dissipate and was replaced by a distant guttural roar that echoed through the sky and shook the ground. S’varkas repeated a few breathing exercising, first in through her nose and exhaling through her mouth, hoping to slow her racing heart and calm her nerves enough to climb out. She’d never considered herself one to cower away from anything, but this was different. This was literal hell coming for a visit.

Her arm pushed up on the hatch above her head, and as she peeked out through the small opening, her eyes widened with fear and awe by the spectacle around her. Most of the trees, once standing tall, thick, and strong, were reduced to nothing but blackened hollowed shells. Lush vegetation that fed not only the wildlife but the people of the region had turned to ash, swept away by the warm sulfuric breeze blowing through. She widened the opening more, and looked in all directions for her machine, the golem of metal and magic, but she caught no sign of him anywhere in the destruction. Her countenance fell at that moment, and hopelessness weighted heavily, knowing there was nothing she could have done to save the construct.

The roar came again off in the distance, this time louder and more vibrant. S’varkas climbed out of the bunker fully, and stood to see the large horned four-legged beast that could easily be the size of a mountain had she been closer. But from her vantage point, it was enough to worry about.

“That is one big dog.” She mumbled, staring at the behemoth with wonderment, as such a creature had never made it through the portal in her lifetime, and now she’d wished it never did.

“How many are there though?”
The ash floating around lessened visibility, making it that much more difficult to gauge if any other creatures had made it through. Her better judgement gave way to curiosity, and the girl found herself quickly heading toward the area where the beast was, trying to stay close to what was left of the tree trunks and large boulders. As the cloud of ash and dust began to clear a bit, she saw the three figures standing before the great beast of fire and brimstone.

“So, I suppose you are the ones who summoned this…thing” She whispered to herself, before casting the spell in which to camouflage her presence.