Catacombs
Ssarak, Tyrael, & Naga
The Ridge Hounds were hardly that much of an issue to Tyrael, but his divided attention prevented him from killing them as quickly as he could have. Two of them jumped onto his back, clawing into his shoulders, another trying to bite his hand. Another went for his neck, but that one didn’t go far when Tyrael reached out and throttled it’s neck. When Ssarak mentioned “people”, the demon couldn’t believe it. No one lives in the Ravine except demons, monsters, psychopaths… And the naga. He knew they were attacked and their homes destroyed, but he couldn’t believe they were here.
”They’re going to take it all away. If Mar knows they’re here, she’ll relapse back to the way she was. Lyn will never be accepted by them. They never trust you again. You were suppose to protect her and their purity, but you failed them. They will hate you. And what about you? What will you do?”Spoke the voices in Tyrael’s head. Just a few words about the various insecurities that’s been haunting his mind, now surfaced due to the appearance of other naga. He wasn’t going to let Xyden’s incident be repeated. He needed to protect his family, and the college. Even if it means wiping out the rest of the naga.
”Nerg… No! This cannot be happening!” Tyrael grabbed one of the Ridge Hounds on his hand, slamming him into the wall. The other two kept trying to bite into his back, but Tyrael slammed his back into the wall, crushing them.
”They should not be here. They cannot be here! Ssarak! Attack them!” Tyrael’s body was enveloped by a demonic aura. His left arm started to warp and twisted, turning into a
long, claw tipped arm.
”Leave no survivors.”Dealing with the two remaining ridge hounds had not been an exceptionally difficult task for Ssarak by any means. They were like pests, being most effective in swarms. The pair of beasts did decide to attack him after he allowed his doppelganger to dissipate, but the first he blocked with his shield, while the second he impaled mid-leap on his sword. He followed through with a shield bash against the last creature’s skull around the time that Tyrael shouted out his orders.
Immediately, Ssarak recoiled back in disbelief. For a moment, he wondered if he had heard the Demonmancer’s order clearly, but the aura around his body, and the general rage he was demonstrating, caused that hope to quickly diminish. Now that he had a moment to concentrate, he was able to look down the corridor to see the outlines of the people he had sensed. He could not glean any details, but their silhouettes were familiar. He had heard of the attacks on them which had essentially destroyed their civilization. Until this point, he did not even know if there were any survivors beyond Mar. In working with Mar, he had heard her describe what they were like, and while their ways were not particularly appealing to Ssarak, he was not about to eradicate a group of innocents, especially a group who could be the last of their kind.
”Attack them? The Naga? Are you mad? We need to help them! Their thoughts are not hostile towards us, and more than that, they could very well be the last of their kind. At the very least, we need to question them. They know what happened to Mesa Gaan.” Ssarak protested. For as much as he could have spoken about the morals of killing them, he decided to insert a practical reason not to attack them, as he did not expect a moral argument to be particularly effective on Tyrael, of all people.
Lyamis jerked and twisted his weapon, his tail delivered a sharp smack to the Malice’s middle causing her to rear back. Her body tilted giving him just enough leeway to send her backward and gain some distance between him and her. The male glared at her stumbling corpse, knowing her soul no longer was among the living, yet the body refused to completely die. They weren’t going to make it if they were bound to become their own worst enemy thought Mar’s brother.
The Malice easily crumbled to the ground then shambled her way up, her tail nearly bitten to pieces with chunks and more taken off. She hissed gaining another from him, as his fangs were exposed in warning, and then raised his spear to plunge it into her middle and into the floor. It only hit the side and several inches off center, enough to hold the Naga for a limited time.
The male knew he had to get the matriarch out of here, her survival would help the Naga and prevent them from dying out in a matter of days. Lyamis shouted to the others, his authority held only because the matriarch trusted him above the others, as he gave orders merely because not all the Naga could see him clearly. “Make a tight circle, do not let any Hound through. Cover your partner and protect the Matriarch with your lives. If you feel Malice start then rush forward and break the line, taking as many as you can.”
Tyrael turned to Ssarak, throwing his claw at him and drag Ssarak closer. Despite being nearly as big as Tyrael and weighed down by his equipment, the demon professor had no issue pulling Ssarak towards him as if he was a small child.
”They are not the naga! They all died! Wiped out by the Yarosmere! Mar… And Lyn… They’re the only ones left. These things… They are from the Ravine. Monsters preying on my thoughts. Trying to lower my guard. But I will not allow them to harm anyone, nor to haunt my memories any longer.” Tyrael pushed Ssarak away before turning back towards the Nagas. His body began to grow elongated barbs, his features becoming even more demonic than they did before. his eyes grew from small beady dots to something more spider like. He started to grow horns, and he notably got bigger.
”Fight, or stay out of my way. And if you interfere… I will kill you.” Tyrael’s voice notably shifted when he spoke that last sentence. There was an echo, as if there was another voice speaking at the same time. It wouldn’t take Ssarak much of a leap in logic to think that perhaps Tyrael was channeling one of his demons. It would certainly explain his mutations. Dropping his knife, Tyrael took out his Dragon Tooth and dropped the rest of his supplies. he was going to get ready to charge at the nagas when one came at him. Specifically, a
different maliced naga.
This one was male, and instead of spears, it seemed to have claw-like weapons in his hand. Vicious claws, which could have torn Tyrael apart if he hadn’t entered his demon state to layer more armor on his body. The naga slammed Tyrael into the wall and pinned his arms, trying to bite Tyrael’s face off. But he managed to get his feet in between himself and his attacker and kicked the naga down the tunnel it came, but it quickly came up and got ready for another pounce. Tyrael too readied himself, waiting for the naga to come into range so he can stab it through the chest with his giant Dragon’s Tooth.
Ssarak growled reflexively when he was pulled close to Tyrael. His words actually seemed to be legitimately mad, or at least paranoid. Although, it was more than just his words themselves that caused Ssarak concern, it was the
way he spoke, particularly at the end. His voice carried with it an insidious echo, and he was overall much more aggressive than Ssarak had come to expect even for him. Being that he was a fallen, Ssarak’s thoughts naturally went to the demon he was bound to, or at the very least, the demons he controlled with his magic. If Tyrael had come under the influence of a demon, then he was truly dangerous.
Tyrael had to turn away from Ssarak to face down the approaching Naga, so Ssarak backed into the shadows and instead sent forward a doppelganger to be the one to continue confronting him, as it would allow him more options. Ssarak was fortunate that he had taken the time to help Mar over the past few months, as it meant he had learned more about her, and the Naga in general. He recognized the signs of malice, so he knew that the Naga Tyrael was fighting was already, for all intents and purposes, dead. As such, there was no need for him to attempt to protect it.
”The only monster here is the one inside you, Tyrael!” Ssarak, or rather, his doppelganger, shouted.
”It is the demon dictating your thoughts. These Naga, I can hear their thoughts clearly. The mind is my domain, and I understand it clearly enough to know that they are genuine.”Pausing a moment, Ssarak searched through the Nagas’ thoughts, listening for anything identifying in their minds.
”Amaryllis, the Matriarch, Lyamis...” He began, his eyes widening slightly upon the last name. It was one he recognized, one that Mar had told to him. If his memory served him correctly, he was Mar’s brother.
”Those are names and titles I hear in their minds. Lyamis, Mar’s brother. He is among them. Would you kill Mar’s family? If you are so afraid that the Ravine is playing tricks on you, let me take the risk. I will talk to them myself. If they kill me, then you can go ahead and kill them. For a master Demonmancer like yourself, it should be trivial, even without me.”Tyrael bashed at the naga, his blows heavy and crushing, but meant little to the implacable monster he was facing. But while his blows didn’t seem to be able to do much than batter and crush it’s bones, the naga at least wasn’t able to get a good hit off of Tyrael. he made sure to avoid it’s tail and stay out of the range of its claws. The doppelganger also served as a decent distraction, dividing the maliced naga’s attention between himself and the figment of illusion.
That being said Tyrael was growing ever more angry at Ssarak. He was
trying to reason with Tyrael, but frankly reason was the last thing on his mind. For starters Tyrael was more focused on his fight against the naga, so trying to process his words took some time. Secondly Tyrael got the basic jist that he thinks the naga down the tunnel were in fact the survivors. He even said names that Tyrael recognized. The Matriarch, Mar’s brother, other hunters that Tyrael had the tenuous pleasure of working with. For a moment Tyrael thought perhaps they weren’t monsters from the ravine. But his demons told him otherwise.
”All the more reason they must be killed. If they are not monsters, then they are naga. Remember Xyden. He would have killed Mar was she not protected by the gods themselves. You know the nagas stubbornness. They will bring harm to her, and all your loved ones. They are your enemies. And so is that Eysire. He conspires against you, from the very beginning. It was because of him that Mar has changed too drastically.””Argh! Shut up!” Tyrael swing his hand at the Naga and Ssarak’s doppelganger, and mid swing it elongated into a claw. He narrowly missed the doppelganger but managed to grab the maliced naga’s claw with his own, removing one weapon from its repertoire for now. Tyrael swung his Dragon Tooth at the Naga’s head, but it raised its claw to defend itself. Then it used its tail to keep hold of the Dragon’s tooth, putting each other in a stalemate.
”You think you know the naga?! They are ignorant creatures who will kill you for your weakness! Leave then, and die by their hands!” Tyrael’s maw grew larger than usual and he sprouted wicked fangs. The maliced naga did the same, and it looked like they were going to try to close the distance and bite each other to death.
Ssarak growled quietly to himself at Tyrael’s continued aggression, but he had given an answer that was something approaching a “yes.” At the very least, Tyrael was distracted with the maliced Naga, which could give him time to get the surviving Naga to safety.
”Fine, I will go ahead. Just do not attack until they kill me.” He growled back at Tyrael. Stepping out of the shadows, Ssarak grabbed one of the fairy fire torches from the wall and quickly shoved it into his scabbard before taking off running, along with his doppelganger, down the corridor towards the Naga. He had to help them quickly if they were to survive.
As he drew closer, Ssarak could see more clearly the situation the Naga were in. They were backed against the wall, fighting both ridge hounds and a maliced Naga. Immediately, Ssarak directed his doppelganger to “attack” the dead Naga and attempt to guide it both away from the survivors, and in the direction of Tyrael. If Tyrael decided he was going to attack regardless of how the Naga reacted, then it might help to keep him occupied. As for the surviving Naga, Ssarak decided to prove his allegiance first through action. Given that he was approaching from behind the ridge hounds, he had an angle from which to flank them, and slice his way through as many as possible to thin their opposition.
”We need to leave, quickly! From the direction I came, that is the way to the College, but that corridor is not safe. We need to find an alternate path around.” Ssarak shouted. Given the situation, he expected they would be willing to forego proper introductions at the moment.
The first Naga Ssarak encountered was another female, who reared from being slightly startled, her age clearly among the more recent introduced to the tribe and seemed ready to strike. It was at Lyamis’ shout did she resist coiling her tail about the Esyire and trying to crush his bones. Thankfully, Lyamis had heard the shout, leaving the Malice behind, as he slithered over. Several others were quickly hacking whatever ridge hounds were in the creature’s way to pieces with energy effective movement and strikes, creating numerous yelps when they fell.
The Naga made a brief gap in their circle to allow their savior in, then quickly closed it off.
Lyamis knew information was needed, but their time was growing short and any wasted would only murder more of his tribe mates. “if you do, lead the way and we’ll follow.”
Ssarak nodded, then looked down the corridor in the opposite direction from Tyrael.
”We need to go that way. If I remember correctly, these catacombs are like a grid. We should be able to find a path to either side, then loop back around to the entrance. Now, we need to cut through these hounds. I can take the lead, just keep them off my back.”With all of his armor, Ssarak could serve as a defensive front against the hounds, while the Naga could cut down the ones that attempted to flank him. With his shield raised in front of him, he started his march forward, goring any of the hounds he could on his blade and trusting the Naga behind him to keep them from overwhelming him.
Lyamis looked to his brothers and sisters, their eyes met for a split second then all them fanned out. The Matriarch was in the center while the other Naga created a protective circle, Ssarak left to lead the way. He already proven he could handle himself while their weapons were at the ready and abruptly slashed out. They stabbed and sliced, causing a few ridge hounds to crumble then fall into a heap. Their corpses quickly snatched by their previous allies then devoured in a gluttonous way.
For a while, they ducked and weaved to the decided on hallway as more Ridge hounds fell and more took their place. The path seemed to stretch on for a long time as minutes seemed to crawl by at a snail’s pace. After a bit, there sounds of others coming from ahead. Figure struggling the same way and fashion to outlast the Ridge hounds, their own light flickering with shadows. Lyamis was the first to speak up, his head tilted to Ssarak then to the lights, indicating if he knew who was the source.
Lyamis heard the sounds before Ssarak did, but he could still see them in the torchlight ahead of them. He could not see in enough detail to know who it was yet, but it was certainly another group of the students who had come along for the mission.
”There are others down here with us, fighting against the ridge hounds. They could use our help, and could help us in return.”
