Time: Midnight-ish
Location: The River Fork Between Orc Landing and Illuminata Kingdom
Interaction with: Elthrael
@Dezuel, Kenia
@Tae, Bowyn
@Helo, and "Vaeril"
@AlivefallingConfusion. That was the perfect word to describe Darius' initial reaction to waking up in his bed… in the middle of a forest… again? This had to be some kind of dream, but it seemed too much like that night. The cool breeze between the trees and the earthy smell of the forest was too vivid. What was this?
"Hmm." Darius sat himself up and took a moment to admire his long lost bed and thought about how he had parted with it and never saw it again. The natural sounds of the forest filled the air, but he didn't pay them too much attention this time around. The chirping of birds, the buzzing of insects, and even the uneven rustling of trees behind him...
It was the continued rustling that snapped Darius out of his nostalgia and remember what came after the rustling in the trees. He reached down to grab his sneakers to slip on and sprung forward from the bed.
Not this again! He thought as he turned towards the trees where he knew the cave troll would come from. Like before, the large figure was attempting to navigate through the trees whilst making a sharp sniffing sound.
Bye! Darius wasted no time running in the opposite direction as fast as he could. He already knew the drill.
He ran through bushes and branches and even when he heard the loud crash of his bed, he continued on. The sound of the creature rapidly breaking through the forest was heard just like before, but this time Darius had a greater gap in distance from the creature.
Despite feeling fearful, he knew exactly where he was going. Straight to Skar. He just needed to reach her so things would play out just like before. That or he would run until he woke up from this dream.
Darius gasped as he broke through the treeline and into an open plain that he greeted with a smile.
Only a matter of time.He covered quite a distance before he heard the creature break through the treeline. He glanced over his shoulder to see the troll.
"Yup, same thing.""Now where is she? Skar?! I should see her by now." Darius' eyes filled with concern as the orc was nowhere to be found.
"What the hell is going on?" Darius was perplexed. Skar should have shown up already. He finally looked back at the cave troll who had finally closed the distance. Wasting no time, It swung a strong palm at Darius.
Everything went black.
When he opened his eyes once more, a shocked expression took hold.
Confusion. That was the perfect word to describe Darius' initial reaction to waking up in his bed… in the middle of a forest… again? This had to be some kind of dream, but it seemed too much like that night. The cool breeze between the trees and the earthy smell of the forest was still so vivid. What was this?
The rustling started, and he placed his shoes on again. This time there were no distractions. Darius simply ran. He pushed through to the clearing. And again Skar had not shown. And again the troll caught up to him. This time he was snatched up with the troll's hands clasped around his body. Darius screamed in agony and his bones crunched from the strength of the monster. The pain did not stop as he coughed up blood and felts himself shrink and fold under the pressure. Again, everything went black.
He opened his eyes again. On his bed. In the middle of the forest… Darius ran again, but this time he forgot his sneakers. It was too late now, he had to keep going. Then he stepped on a sharp rock.
"Fuck!" Darius waled. He hobbled through the forest, but he was nowhere near fast enough to outrun the troll. It grabbed him by the head and forcefully smashed his skull against a tree. Again, everything went black.
Do you no tire of dying to this creature? You cannot outrun it. Skar will not come to slay it.Darius awoke in the bed again.
"Malgormuun… You can't keep me here!" Darius shouted into the sky as he got off of the bed.
I can and I will until you show me you can fight… that you can do what needs to be done. If you cannot slay this troll, how will you ever hope to kill her? Fight Darius! Kill!Darius breathed heavily as the troll came through the trees. He gathered water in front of himself before shooting a blast of it at the creature. Like a powerful firehose, the pressure caused the troll to stumble back some before it shifted to the side. It gripped his head.
CRUNCHHe woke up again, in his bed. He gritted his teeth as frustration took hold of him. He wanted this to end, but it would not cease. He would continue to relive a nightmarish version of this night over and over again without end. When he ran, he was caught. When he fought back, he was defeated. And it all ended in death. Sometimes it was painful, while other times it was so quick he only felt the initial twinge of pain. He just sat there, scowling at the ground in front of him feeling both anger and defeat. The rustling in the trees and the sharp sniffing became louder as the troll approached. Darius didn't budge. He didn't care anymore.
"Huuuman... Huuuman…" The troll spoke, unlike previous times. Its rough unpleasant voice sent a jolt through Darius, which only pissed him off more as it seemed like Malgormuun was baiting him.
"I refuse to play this fucking game! Fuck you! Fuck this troll! Fuck this bed! I just can't…" Darius shouted as he hopped off of the bed and faced the direction of the troll.
Huuuman… Huuumansss… thissss is my promise to you. I will do... whatever it is in my power... to get you home and safe. Thissss is not a war you assssked for... Anyone elsssse with bloodied palmsss should also treat them with this respect... Putting another race in danger in chasing our hope makes us as evil as the dark elves. Force no one against their will. Choose better.Darius' distraught face went neutral as he stared coldly at the troll who finally emerged through the brush, stepping on his bed and crushing it as it did. Despite his calmer exterior, he was filled with the same fury as when he had first heard Risa spout those words at the ball. Darius' left arm began to morph as a black substance seeped from his very pores just as the troll reached out to snatch him.
"NO!" Darius roared as he jumped backward to dodge the troll outstretched hand before swiping downward with sharp serrated claws, removing segments of the troll's fingers. It recoiled its reached out hand and looked at its remaining digits as it cried out in pain. Unfortunately for the troll, its cry had become nothing but gurgling as a sphere of water surrounded its head. It whipped its head around and even swiped at the water that was like a deadly mask that would eventually drown it. Distracted, the creature hadn't paid much attention to Darius' movements… sharp pain from the rear of its ankles was accompanied with two audible pops. Both tendons were cut.
The troll fell to his knees and then caught itself from falling face first with the hand lacking most of its digits. The blood spilled onto the forest floor. The other hand was used to swat the water from his face while it also attempted to consume the water as well. Anything to keep from drowning so miserably.
"This is what you wanted! Right?!" Darius had circled around the hulking beast, both his hands were large sharp claws with blood dripping from them.
"Right?!" He slashed at the back of its arm that was being used to hold itself up. The troll's body fell on his limp arm.
"Are you choosing better this time?! Huh?! After so many of us died already?!" Darius rounded the troll's body until it could see him as it drowned to death.
"How's that Malgormuun?! How's that Risa?! How's that for better!" Darius yelled as Malgormuun could be heard laughing.
Yes, better! This is not who you are Darius, but this is who you must be! Again Darius! DO IT AGAIN! Fight! Kill! Don't hold back… Don't… hold back...As his voice faded, so did the scene. Everything went to black.
He woke up again, in his bed…
------
A silent night for most was a night of unhinged violence for the man who opened his eyes. Relief filled him as he finally did not see the night sky, his bed, the troll, or even…
her.
As he sat up and looked around at the others, he was surprised to be the only one awake so early with how long his nightmare seemed to be. What Malgormuun put him through felt like days. It had been on the cusp of torture until he succeeded the first time. It became easier to strike first and feel the warm blood hit his skin. Sadly, killing the troll was not the endgame.
Darius pointed a finger to his open mouth and shot fresh water into it. He swished the liquid around, gargled, and then spit it out on the ground. The splatter of the liquid on the ground caused him to wince as he remembered the first time Malgormuun made Risa appear before him instead of the troll. He had spit blood from his mouth in a similar fashion when she entangled him in vines and caused enormous thorns to jut out of them...
Next in his morning routine, he washed his face by cupping his hands together and generating water before splashing it onto it. He took a breath and started walking a few feet from the camp to warm up his body for the day. Again, he thought of his nightmare. Risa's twisted smile haunting him.
The troll had been easy. It was a monster. Looked like one. Behaved like one too. It had a humanoid body, but it lacked enough humanity that Darius did not mourn it every time he slew it. He did not hesitate to deal the final blow. Risa… Risa was different. She was kind and soft-spoken. She was delicate and gentle. The first time she appeared, they actually shared a dance within the wilderness with all the critters of the woods watching as a delighted audience while the songbirds sang a melody. Even within a dream, it seemed unbelievable. It was like a ballroom within the forest. She claimed sharing the dance was the only way the dream would end. She had promised… and kept promising many things. Happiness. Home. Peace. But sadly… very sadly, at the conclusion of the dance, when the audience vanished, and the melody ceased, she killed him. A warm and friendly smile was plastered on her sweet face. It was as if she was gifting him his own death. As if he should appreciate her fatal gesture.
He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air as he started making circles with his arms. First forward, then back. He felt stiff from how lousy the ground was in comfort. Comfort... That was far out of reach for him as he thought of how he had killed the fae princess for the first time.
She pleaded with him not to. She begged for mercy. For compassion. Something she had done previously that allowed her to kill him. Both fauna and flora were her murder weapons, but her delicate voice was perhaps the deadliest. He gripped her throat to silence her, then turned away slightly as he dug claws into her throat and snatched what he could out. He did see her die that first time, but he was sure she did. He did not want to do it. He had to...
He started performing lunges and eventually moved on to pushups, and then burpees. He normally went for a run when he was this bothered, but it was not only unsafe, but even that would remind him of the nightmare. Instead he moved onto his magic, surrounding both his hands in their own membranes of water. He then focused on condensing the water, making it tighter around his hands and appearing as a thinner layer. He relaxed his arms before causing the membranes to pull his hands outward and manipulated the membranes to make circles with his arms once more.
He tried to appear fine, but he was clearly disturbed.
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