TheMushroomLord
Xaltwind
Crawkid
Tlstiffl
LupusIntus
Noctis
Expendable
Shadow Daedalus
DragonOC
wintersoldierIt wasn't that Malia didn't dream. It was more that she didn't really sleep. A busy girl, Malia always was. After all, you can't run an empire out of your pocket without knowing every little detail about every lord and lady you had 'recruited'. Every little dark secret, bloody detail, childish giggle, she knew it all and she was sure to keep it all up to date every single day. Needing information on a bastard child? She had you covered. She could give you their name, age, location, and where they would probably be in the next few days. Someone important was suddenly killed, she knew all the details. Who, what, when, and why, assuming it wasn't her own doing, of course. She had rats in every alleyway, some quite literally. She had critters carrying notes and letters far and wide. Your average worker was paid handsomely for any interesting information they could provide and they were willing and waiting to do so in a snap of a finger. It's the little people that run the show, the forgotten few. The servants, the nannies, the guards. They know all the secrets and everything that goes on inside their workplace. They gossip too! Nothing gets past them and it was those people she had the best relationships with. Malia had a lot of money and she was more than willing to spread it around if it meant she could get more later down the road. She had the infrastructure by the root hairs! And then that stupid assassin showed up.
Those bastards did their due diligence too! They hired the man in the morning and he attacked her that evening, giving no chance for rumors or gossip to spread. She had heard that some lords went to meet a rather unscrupulous man but she hadn't the time to dig into him before he was kicking down her bedroom door. Of course, she had expected to eventually have to deal with such a situation, so she had a plan set into place for when someone broke into her home. When the door met the ground, she had a long chain of jewels in her hand and was dragging her hands along it as magic flowed from her hands into each jewel along the way. One after another, the jewels dissolved, their particles condensing into large dogs that formed directly in front of her. She got about half way through her little chain when suddenly her magic just stopped. She felt a tingling on her skin that she had never felt before and looked down at her hand as she tried to summon up her magic. Nothing. She looked to the assassin who held up a glinting crystal the size of his forearm, one she had never seen before. He grinned viciously at her as he tucked it into his back pocket. She sneered for a moment before she looked down at the pack of canines before her. Six, six large dogs would just have to do. She raised her hand and gave a snap. The dogs attacked and the battle began.
It was a bloody battle. The man had no choice but to focus on the pack of dogs as they all went after him together. While he was busy, she got to work on getting her more powerful stones out, resting a black one on the top of her desk as she dug in her drawers for more mundane weapons to use on this man. It's obvious that the crystal he had shown her somehow stopped her magic and if she wanted to win this battle against him, she would have to find a way to break it and fast. The man was hacking her dogs apart one at a time. They were getting their attacks in, thankfully but he seemed to be ignoring them for the most part.
Finally she pulled a long knife from her desk, brandishing it in front of her as the man cut down her last dog. He was panting and bleeding heavily in some areas but his leather armor seemed to shield him from the bulk of the dog strikes. He did, however, favor one leg over the other and she noticed how there was a split above his right eye that kept dripping blood down into his brow and eye, blinding him for a moment before he fiercely wiped it away. She could use that to her advantage. If she could time it right, she could strike the moment when he was blinded and get the crystal or a fatal blow. However, she didn't much trust her own sword fighting skills. She would much rather let her beasts do the work for her.
Not a single word was spoken between them as they clashed in the center of her home. Her swordplay was clumsy at best but she was bright and looked for any chance that would give her an advantage. It was when her knife met his sword and he sent her sliding off and to the side did she realize just how much trouble she truly was in. She stumbled, trying to keep her footing as he came up to her side, sending a knee into her stomach and doubling her over. Her knife clattered to the ground and she knew she was in trouble. Her eyes darted about wildly for a solution. Spotting his ravaged leg in sight, she sent a swift kick to the wound. The man finally let out a yell, perhaps because he wasn't expecting a woman such as herself to fight like a street urchin. He recoiled back from her, bouncing on one leg as he steadied himself into a more appropriate stance, favoring that leg even more now.
She straightened, giving him a wild grin at the sight of him on the defensive for once before she reached down to grab her knife once more. Never the one to miss a chance to brag in any way, she raised her free hand and signaled for him to come at her. He sneered at her before the two clashed once more. He was enraged now, it seemed. His strikes were far less controlled but with far more power to them than before. She found herself on the defensive, trying to block one blow after another, the sword cutting into her skin in some glancing blows. She had to find a way out of this mess or else his sword would find a more permanent place within her body and she would find herself dead. She peered up at his face and saw it then, the trickle of blood as it formed the drop she most desperately needed.
It was as if time slowed. She watched as that drop of blood formed and then dropped from his brow into his eye, causing him to blink fiercely. In the same moment, his blade came down upon her in an overhead swing that had such force behind it, her own strength was not nearly enough to keep it from crashing down on her. Her knife clattered to the ground and the assassin's blade found purchase in her shoulder. She tried to ignore the pain as she reached around him and grabbed the crystal out from his back pocket, adrenaline the only thing keeping her on her feet at that moment. Pain seared through her body but she kept moving, had to keep moving. The man pulled out a small knife from somewhere she did not see and embedded it into her midsection, deep within her gut before giving it a sickening twist.
She sent a kick to his midsection, sending the man reeling as she stumbled back towards her desk. She had to keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. She had a small window to work with and it was only getting smaller. She threw his crystal on the ground and stomped on it, feeling a wave of relief as the tingling sensation finally ended when the crystal shattered under her heel. Without a moment's hesitation, she grabbed the black jewel from off her desk and pulsed magic into it. The jewel dissolved but didn't condense into anything physical like the dogs before. Instead, the shadows in the room seemed to rumble with a deep growl. She smiled as she watched the assassin's eyes grow wide with realization. She threw her hand out and her magic rose her door off the ground and slammed it into place in its frame. Her smile grew vicious as flashed her teeth at him in a predatory grin. “Welcome to my home. Thank you for visiting. I hope you had a wonderful stay.”
His screams echoed through the streets that night.
By the time the guards had found Malia, she was half dead, bleeding out from her wounds with a shadow beast curled around her. It took her transforming her beast back into a jewel for the guards to finally get her out of the house and to someone who could heal her. The assassin was nowhere to be seen. Malia had said he had simply run away but seeing as there were no open windows and they had to break down her door to get to her, they doubted her story but fearing ending up in the shadow beast's stomach, they didn't question it.
Now Malia was dreaming, a pleasant dream that made no particular sense to anyone except Malia. Flowers, with bright colors and smiling faces. That was, until she heard a voice, not one particularly directed at her but one that was so powerful, it commanded respect and she listened. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she lightly groaned to herself. She liked that dream. She wanted to go back to it but no matter how much she tried to close her eyes and go back to sleep, her body refused to listen. You have woken. It wove around her like a spell, trapping her in an awakened state and refusing to allow her to sleep once again. She let out a loud huff as she finally relented and opened her eyes completely, gazing upon the accursed woman before her. Her form was still blurry and unfocused, like her eyes refused to acknowledge her presence but Malia was stubborn and refused to accept any outcome that wasn't in her favor. She struggled against the magic that bound her but she had no strength to her. Her body felt like it was made of lead and kept her locked in place, even as she sneered at the woman.
Then a gravelly voice cut through the silence and Malia's eyes shot off to her right, where she saw a large orc not too far from her. He was speaking with the woman, it seemed but she told him to be patient. Oh silly, silly woman. Malia was not one known for patience.
“Oy! Where are we? What do you want with us? Answer me or I'll feed you to my rats!”
Those bastards did their due diligence too! They hired the man in the morning and he attacked her that evening, giving no chance for rumors or gossip to spread. She had heard that some lords went to meet a rather unscrupulous man but she hadn't the time to dig into him before he was kicking down her bedroom door. Of course, she had expected to eventually have to deal with such a situation, so she had a plan set into place for when someone broke into her home. When the door met the ground, she had a long chain of jewels in her hand and was dragging her hands along it as magic flowed from her hands into each jewel along the way. One after another, the jewels dissolved, their particles condensing into large dogs that formed directly in front of her. She got about half way through her little chain when suddenly her magic just stopped. She felt a tingling on her skin that she had never felt before and looked down at her hand as she tried to summon up her magic. Nothing. She looked to the assassin who held up a glinting crystal the size of his forearm, one she had never seen before. He grinned viciously at her as he tucked it into his back pocket. She sneered for a moment before she looked down at the pack of canines before her. Six, six large dogs would just have to do. She raised her hand and gave a snap. The dogs attacked and the battle began.
It was a bloody battle. The man had no choice but to focus on the pack of dogs as they all went after him together. While he was busy, she got to work on getting her more powerful stones out, resting a black one on the top of her desk as she dug in her drawers for more mundane weapons to use on this man. It's obvious that the crystal he had shown her somehow stopped her magic and if she wanted to win this battle against him, she would have to find a way to break it and fast. The man was hacking her dogs apart one at a time. They were getting their attacks in, thankfully but he seemed to be ignoring them for the most part.
Finally she pulled a long knife from her desk, brandishing it in front of her as the man cut down her last dog. He was panting and bleeding heavily in some areas but his leather armor seemed to shield him from the bulk of the dog strikes. He did, however, favor one leg over the other and she noticed how there was a split above his right eye that kept dripping blood down into his brow and eye, blinding him for a moment before he fiercely wiped it away. She could use that to her advantage. If she could time it right, she could strike the moment when he was blinded and get the crystal or a fatal blow. However, she didn't much trust her own sword fighting skills. She would much rather let her beasts do the work for her.
Not a single word was spoken between them as they clashed in the center of her home. Her swordplay was clumsy at best but she was bright and looked for any chance that would give her an advantage. It was when her knife met his sword and he sent her sliding off and to the side did she realize just how much trouble she truly was in. She stumbled, trying to keep her footing as he came up to her side, sending a knee into her stomach and doubling her over. Her knife clattered to the ground and she knew she was in trouble. Her eyes darted about wildly for a solution. Spotting his ravaged leg in sight, she sent a swift kick to the wound. The man finally let out a yell, perhaps because he wasn't expecting a woman such as herself to fight like a street urchin. He recoiled back from her, bouncing on one leg as he steadied himself into a more appropriate stance, favoring that leg even more now.
She straightened, giving him a wild grin at the sight of him on the defensive for once before she reached down to grab her knife once more. Never the one to miss a chance to brag in any way, she raised her free hand and signaled for him to come at her. He sneered at her before the two clashed once more. He was enraged now, it seemed. His strikes were far less controlled but with far more power to them than before. She found herself on the defensive, trying to block one blow after another, the sword cutting into her skin in some glancing blows. She had to find a way out of this mess or else his sword would find a more permanent place within her body and she would find herself dead. She peered up at his face and saw it then, the trickle of blood as it formed the drop she most desperately needed.
It was as if time slowed. She watched as that drop of blood formed and then dropped from his brow into his eye, causing him to blink fiercely. In the same moment, his blade came down upon her in an overhead swing that had such force behind it, her own strength was not nearly enough to keep it from crashing down on her. Her knife clattered to the ground and the assassin's blade found purchase in her shoulder. She tried to ignore the pain as she reached around him and grabbed the crystal out from his back pocket, adrenaline the only thing keeping her on her feet at that moment. Pain seared through her body but she kept moving, had to keep moving. The man pulled out a small knife from somewhere she did not see and embedded it into her midsection, deep within her gut before giving it a sickening twist.
She sent a kick to his midsection, sending the man reeling as she stumbled back towards her desk. She had to keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. She had a small window to work with and it was only getting smaller. She threw his crystal on the ground and stomped on it, feeling a wave of relief as the tingling sensation finally ended when the crystal shattered under her heel. Without a moment's hesitation, she grabbed the black jewel from off her desk and pulsed magic into it. The jewel dissolved but didn't condense into anything physical like the dogs before. Instead, the shadows in the room seemed to rumble with a deep growl. She smiled as she watched the assassin's eyes grow wide with realization. She threw her hand out and her magic rose her door off the ground and slammed it into place in its frame. Her smile grew vicious as flashed her teeth at him in a predatory grin. “Welcome to my home. Thank you for visiting. I hope you had a wonderful stay.”
His screams echoed through the streets that night.
By the time the guards had found Malia, she was half dead, bleeding out from her wounds with a shadow beast curled around her. It took her transforming her beast back into a jewel for the guards to finally get her out of the house and to someone who could heal her. The assassin was nowhere to be seen. Malia had said he had simply run away but seeing as there were no open windows and they had to break down her door to get to her, they doubted her story but fearing ending up in the shadow beast's stomach, they didn't question it.
Now Malia was dreaming, a pleasant dream that made no particular sense to anyone except Malia. Flowers, with bright colors and smiling faces. That was, until she heard a voice, not one particularly directed at her but one that was so powerful, it commanded respect and she listened. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she lightly groaned to herself. She liked that dream. She wanted to go back to it but no matter how much she tried to close her eyes and go back to sleep, her body refused to listen. You have woken. It wove around her like a spell, trapping her in an awakened state and refusing to allow her to sleep once again. She let out a loud huff as she finally relented and opened her eyes completely, gazing upon the accursed woman before her. Her form was still blurry and unfocused, like her eyes refused to acknowledge her presence but Malia was stubborn and refused to accept any outcome that wasn't in her favor. She struggled against the magic that bound her but she had no strength to her. Her body felt like it was made of lead and kept her locked in place, even as she sneered at the woman.
Then a gravelly voice cut through the silence and Malia's eyes shot off to her right, where she saw a large orc not too far from her. He was speaking with the woman, it seemed but she told him to be patient. Oh silly, silly woman. Malia was not one known for patience.
“Oy! Where are we? What do you want with us? Answer me or I'll feed you to my rats!”
