Round Robin 1.3: The Saga Continues Again

[DerVVulfman]

2)

Thrashing his arms forward, Kreiger failed to strike his quarry. Daniel slipped under the dead man’s attack with ease. The more he fought Kreiger, the easier it was to see his simplistic attacks. The man only knew how to swing his arms to strike.

Yet, he never got tired.

Daniel dodged another attempted blow and another. Giving Marcus some time, he backed into another wall. For once, he had time to notice his surroundings. It was a fairly large room or cavern carved out of stone, and was becoming very familiar.

Kreiger swung his fist directly at the half-elf’s skull only for Daniel to slip under the blow. The sound of stone against flesh resounded again, as well as a distinct cracking sound. Slipping out of the big man’s range, Daniel saw the bloody stump that was Kreiger’s fist.

“What the?”

The fact that no blood ran from his fist wasn’t what astonished Daniel. That his fist was no longer there and a brownish gray stump at the end of his forearm... was.

Even with the limp, Kreiger quickly sprang after Daniel again, ignoring anything but his prey. Daniel quickly ducked and slipped towards the wall again. Looking down, he saw the lump of flesh that was formerly Kreiger’s hand. Skin and muscle started rotting away from the fingers revealing the red-stained bone underneath. Looking at the thing that turned around to glare at him again, he caught sight of the gaping hole Robin made in the man’s stomach. The flesh around his wound peeling apart as his skin started flaking off.

“He’s rotting away”, Daniel gasped.

[kalier]

3)

For some inexplicable reason, Balthus had been silent for quite some time. Robin didn't quite trust this new development, but now was her chance to act. Somehow, she had to get away from Tiberius without letting him discover that she was herself at the moment. Maybe if she could get away from him, Balthus would leave her alone. She knew that this was probably just a desperate thought, but it was the only one she had.

But how was she going to get away from Tiberius? That was a dilema that she hadn't come up with a solution yet. It would have to be very clever, and she was beginning to think that she'd all run out of cleverness.

Tiberius was busy pacing restlessly. Apparently waiting was not one of his better points. "So, what now?" Tiberius demanded impatiently. "We just going to sit here all day and wait for them to come to us?"

She turned away from Tiberius, snapping in response. "Then do something! If you don't want to wait, go after them!"

"What?!" Tiberius sounded as though he thought her insane.

"If you're in such a hurry, then go find them yourself." Tiberius didn't to be in such a hurry now. "Afraid?" She sneered, whirling around to face him. "Think the half-breed and the old man might just be too much for you?"

Tiberius scowled at her. "Yes, My Lord!" He turned on his heel, and headed towards the last known place that Daniel and Marcus had been. Suddenly, he whirled around. "Coming?" He demanded.

"No." She answered with a chilling smile. "Unlike you, I know how to be patient."

[Mea]

1)

Robin watched, a prisoner behind her own eyes, as the old man scurried off. She could sense something on the edge of Balthus' psyche.

What are you planning for him?

Be quiet, Balthus' thoughts snapped back at her with an almost physical force.

There's something you're not telling him.

It's none of your concern.

None of my... You're using my body and you say it's none of my concern?!

Stupid girl, I said BE QUIET!

An even stronger force drove her back into the darkness of their shared mind, but not before she caught a brief glimpse of the Balthus' intentions.

Oh gods... I've got to get control again. He can't be allowed... not that.

* * *

"Daniel! Careful!"

The half-elf snapped out of his horror-induced trance in time to avoid Kriger's latest onslaught.

"He's rotting away!" Daniel called to Marcus.

"But not fast enough! Watch yourself!"

It as now or never. Daniel feigned left then darted right as Krieger lurched in his initial direction and shot past the walking corpse and broke into a run towards Marcus and the crystal caverns beyond. Marcus took off beside him and to Daniel's surprise was easily keeping up. Krieger was already in pursuit in a heavy lurching jog.

There were no branches or side paths and Daniel worried that they may be running to a dead end.

Luckily...

"Ladder!"

"I see it, lad!"

"Safe?"

"Gotta be better than here!"

Daniel reached the crystal lattice first and climbed swiftly with Marcus close behind. As soon as they both reached the top, the older man turned and brought the blunt end of the spear down against the faceted ladder which shattered to bits with the blow, turning the top rungs into shards of crystal.

Daniel cried out and doubled over, hands to his ears.

"Daniel!"

"It's screaming," the boy gasped. "So loud..."

"Screaming?" Marcus looked around, then down at the shattered ladder. "DAMN! Sorry lad. Was trying to slow our friend down... Come on! Up! Need to keep moving!"

The boy was vaguely aware of being hauled to his feet and half carried, half drug down the passage. The sound slowly died back down to the ever-present whispers and Daniel started to recover his senses and footing again. He pulled away and shook his head to clear it.

"You okay?" Marcus asked. There was that concern again; Daniel still couldn't get used to it, but he nodded anyway.

"What is this place?" the boy asked.

Marcus hesitated. "I'm not really sure, but according to Balthus' notes, it's a hall of souls. 'Life captured in crystal' he called it. Said only those with the 'gift' could sense what he found. I think I finally understand a little of what he meant."

"Is that why-"

"When I broke the ladder, yes. Sorry Daniel. I didn't know."

"Will it stop Krieger?"

"Maybe not, but it should slow him down. The magic's already burning through him fast. One of those two, whichever one cast the spell, they was sloppy."

[DerVVulfman]

2)

The path ahead of them was finally clear. Both Daniel and Marcus sped their way down the crystalline passage. Daniel’s goal was clear. Find Robin at all costs. As to Marcus, he was still unsure.

If the old man wanted him dead, he could have left him to face Kreiger in the cavern below. He could have stabbed him as he climbed his way up. The old man had many chances to eliminate him and yet he didn’t. What he didn’t trust was his intentions towards Robin.

He better not touch her.

Twisting around, angling in bizarre directions, the passage was void of anything except the light from the crystal walls and the faint shriek that unnerved the half-elf. Every fifty or so feet they had to turn sharply as the latticework passage turned sharply upon them. Every fifty or so feet the cry grew louder.

Then as suddenly as Daniel turned around another corner, everything went to black.

Marcus nearly stumbled over the crumpled figure of the half-elf as he turned to face...

* * *

“Mom? Mom, I’m home!”

The woman at the stove turned around hearing the voice of the young girl entering the small hovel they called a house. She set the knife down on the counter and quickly followed the voice of her daugher.

“Hi, hon. Did you find the arrach root?” she replied.

“Danny found them.” the young girl said. “Found a whole bunch.”

“Him again?” The woman with chestnut hair asked, almost accusingly. “You keep getting him to do your chores for you, don’t you.” She said teasingly.

“Mom. It’s not like that.”

“Sure it is.” She said with a smile. “You two have been together for years. It’s only natural. You’re just turning into -”

The girl stomped her foot. “Stop it, mom.” she barked.

The woman giggled at her daughter’s distress.

Handing the basket to her mom, she looked up and asked “Mom? What’re you doing with all these roots anyway?”

The girl’s mother was silent for a moment while she kept on smiling. “Robin, has anything strange happened recently?”

“No.”

“Nothing like hearing someone outside or anything?” her mother pressed.

“N-n-no,” Robin muttered.

“Uh-huh,” Robin’s mother wasn’t convinced. “Hon, I think it’s about time.”

“Time for what?”

Clasping her teenage daughter’s hand with her own, Robin’s mother slipped her silver ring onto the young girl’s finger. “Time to protect you from your past.”

[kalier]

3)

"Tiberius." Marcus growled. "What did you do to the boy?"

Tiberius shrugged, glancing down at the prone figure of the boy. "I didn't do anything to him. He collapsed all on his very own."

Clearly, Tiberius was telling the truth, but Marcus didn't trust him. "What are you and Balthus planning?"

"You'll be dead long before you can figure that out." Tiberius sneered. "Balthus told me how much of a traitor you are."

"And you trust Balthus?" Marcus asked incredulously. "Look, Tiberius. He's just using you. I can't imagine what he's after, but you're just a means to an end. That's all. When you've outlived your usefulness, he'll kill you."

Tiberius grinned. "Not if I kill him first. Trapped in that weak little girl's body, his strength and power will not be at its maximum. I may follow his orders for now, but I'll get what I deserve."

"And what is that?" Marcus demanded. "Power? Eternal life? Whatever it is, is it really worth the price of your soul?"

"Unlike you, Marcus, I'm not too concerned about my soul. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I don't have one."

* * *

The ring! Robin is wearing the ring... Daniel remembered seeing it on her finger. The same one that Robin's mother had given her. He wasn't sure why he'd dream of that day, or what happened to Robin afterwards, but he was pretty sure that it was a true dream.

The ring was supposed to protect her? It hadn't done so up to this point. Protect her from what? Balthus? Maybe...but there seemed to be more to it than that. At the moment, his brain was too fuzzy to figure it out.

The screams of the souls trapped in the crystals were so loud and insistent that he could barely hear Marcus and Tiberius. He knew the old man was in trouble, but he couldn't get his brain and body to respond. He was stuck there, lying on the ground. Move, you useless piece of meat! He told his body in frustration. Pick yourself up! You can't do anything for them. They've been dead a very long time.

[Mea]

1)

It was no good, the souls around him were too overwhelming making it almost impossible to think.

He tried anyway, tried to block out all the sound and focus. The ring, why had he remembered the ring?

It wasn't the same one that he saw on Robin's finger when Balthus completely took over; that one was gold and had some kind of stone set in it. The one in his vision was a simple silver band, like a woman's wedding ring. Did Robin still have it? Could she have lost it? He fought to remember something, anything as the spiritual assault continued.

There was a string, Robin always wore it around her neck, always hidden under her clothes. Could that be it?

His head felt like it was being torn apart from the outside. He could feel a maelstrom of fear and anger and sorrow and loss growing stronger to the point where he could almost make out words.

Someone or something was coming.

* * *

"Always figured you for a soulless bastard," Marcus remarked, shifting his grip a little on his only weapon. "Nice to see you agree with me for once."

"And only once."

"And Balthus is just going to roll over and die at your feet? Ha! You're even more dense that I thought."

"Unlike you, traitor, I won't let him read my thoughts. He'll never suspect a thing until it is far too late."

"You sound sure of yourself."

"The boy isn't doing well is he," Tiberius oozed. "Pity, I had hoped to study him further. Looks like he won't even last the hour."

For a mere moment, Marcus' gaze flickered over to the fallen half-elf.

Tiberius' eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "So, you have a soft spot for the boy? You surprise me Marcus again. What could possibly mean to you."

Marcus shrugged. "He means one less corpse in this place. Not like you'd understand, Tiberius. You said yourself, you have no soul."

"True," the old man said and drew his hands and the crossbow they held from behind his back. "I don't." He quickly aimed, not at the Guardian, but at Daniel's helpless body on the floor, and pulled the trigger.

[DerVVulfman]

2)

Those who found themselves on the opposite end of a crossbow learned firsthand how destructive a weapon it was. At point blank range, the impact of it’s bolt is even more so, able to lodge themselves within or even pierce through the strongest oak.

Daniel was helpless as Tiberius let loose the trigger. Instantly, the crossbow bolt produced a sharp crack as it struck. With the tip buried, the bolt was firmly lodged.

Marcus was dumbstruck as he took a step back, almost stumbling. He looked at Tiberius who he found was as bewildered as he.

“How can you miss?”

Tiberius glanced upwards after he heard Marcus’s perplexed voice, only to find Marcus taking quick advantage of the situation. The blunt end of his spear made contact with his rival’s head. And just as suddenly as it was for Tiberius, darkness followed.

[kalier]

3)

Marcus knealed beside Daniel in concern, lifting his upper body carefully. "Can you hear me, boy?" He asked quietly.

Daniel's eyes lifted wearily. "I'm sorry. The screams are just so loud. I don't know how long..."

"Don't worry. I think I can stop the din. At least for a little while. Long enough for us to get out of here."

"How?"

Marcus smiled. "Elves are part of nature, and even corrupted nature such as this can affect them." The words seemed directed at himself rather than Daniel. "But you are also half human, which will help us here."

He placed a hand on Daniel's head. "Close your eyes, Daniel. Relax. I'm not going to harm you."

Daniel closed his eyes, and immediately felt a warm sensation flowing through his skull. The feeling was pleasant and soothing, and soon the screams of the souls locked in the crystals was diminishing. He could still hear them, but they were so soft now that he could almost forget about them.

"That should do it." Marcus told him. "Feel better, Daniel?"

"Yes. What'd you do?" He was able to sit up on his own, although his head felt rather light.

Marcus stood up, nearly stumbling in exhaustion. "It's always good to know a little something about everything." He said cryptically with a wink.

[Mea]

1)

Daniel found himself staring at the man's ears. They were the rounded shape of humanity, not the tell-tale tapered point of elven blood he half expected to see.

"But what-" Daniel began.

"Can you stand up?" Marcus asked before he could finish. He was still leaning heavily on the spear, but he was starting to look less drained.

"Marcus?"

"Hm?"

"What... Who are you?" Daniel asked bluntly.

"He is nothing more than a tired, useless, guilt-driven fool," a female voice replied, dripping with venom. "A member of an order that should have died out years ago. Isn't that right Guardian Marcus?"

The two turned to see Robin approaching them, still dressed in the red robes and armor from before and Balthus still obviously in charge. In her left hand she carried Marcus' metal staff and in her right...

Daniel scrambled to his feet and started to rush forward, only to be pulled back by Marcus' heavy hand. "Take a good look," he heard Marcus murmur. "That's what Balthus had you hunting for."

It was a large, squat crystal about a foot across. Inside, a fluid like whirlpool of dark midnight-purple mists and eldritch energies swirled as if alive - even as Daniel stared at it, he thought he could make out shapes or maybe faces both human and inhuman flow across the facets. The crystal was set with thin patterns of gold and other metals along the edges of its many faces.

Around him, Daniel could hear the turmoil of souls grow louder and more frenzied. They're afraid of it, he thought. That thing, it hurts them.

Robin-now-Balthus stopped next to Tiberius' prone form, the old man's head bleeding from Marcus' blow. "Ah Tiberius... Such incompetence. Can't even do the simplest of tasks. And to think, you sought to usurp me, as if I wouldn't know."

She gave the man a solid kick.

"Robin!" The words slipped out before Daniel quite realized it. Maybe he could get through to her...

The girl's eyes flashed at the half-elf coldly. "Your Robin is no more. This body is mine and mine alone, I've made sure of that."

The words hit him like a club. Daniel felt himself grow numb. Robin can't be gone. She can't. Her body is standing right there, but.. she can't be gone!

He felt detached, almost floating as the world moved around him, so much so he was barely aware of Marcus darting past him, spear ready to attack. All he could think of was his best friend was gone.

Lost forever.

Dead.

...Danny?

It was a soft, familiar voice inside Daniel's head. The same one Robin had teased him with before, only more urgent and uncertain.

She's not gone, he thought. Gods, Robin IS still in there!

Oh crap!

"MARCUS, STOP!!"

[DerVVulfman]

2)

But it was too late. Marcus plunged the wooden shaft through her chest with not even an ounce of resistance. It wasn't only that the chainmail shirt she wore under the robes merely gave way. The spear disappeared into her flesh as if she was but air.

It took Marcus only a second to realize the truth. Letting go of the spear, it fell to the floor as the shaft slid down and through her body as if through mist. No wound appeared on Robin's chest. None at all.

She smiled. "Fool. You think I would succumb to mere toys after all the years I have spent on this wreched world?" Stroking the top of the crystal like a pet cat, she glared at Marcus. "Your time is at an end, Guardian. Our time is coming."

Then, like a mist, she faded away.

Marcus then found the back of his head against the side of the crystalline wall. "You son of a bitch!" the half-elf screamed at the old man.

"You want to kill me, boy? Do you?", he snarled back. "Well, you just may have, and the whole damn world."