[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]::As DK settled upon the surface of the long-dead planet Meis, he couldn't help but smile to himself. Once, long ago, this planet functioned as the center of a vast interstellar civilisation. A race of techno-vikings once known as the Valari. For eons they wracked the galaxies, plundering, raping, pillaging, and taking whatever they wanted. When they returned victorious, they would come here to pray to their savage ***s. The entire planet had been a place of worship, cluttered with vast alabaster citadels and majestically marbled chapels, where the ancient barbarians prayed. Long ago, they were the scourge of the cosmos.
But not now, much to DK's amusement.
He'd given them time, and he'd given them opportunity to mend their evil ways, time to come to ***. But they had not seen the light, they had not heeded his commands. So he'd decimated them, down to the last. He'd scoured the free galaxies clean of any Valari presence once and for all. His first stroke had been against Meis itself, leveling the holy planet in one fell stroke. It had been one of his most prominent acts as an Aegis. One he was most proud of. Now the planet was utterly abandoned, leaving only the ruins of those once vast and majestic citadels to tell the story of the Valari.
It was here he'd buried Rapture, the malicious techno weapon made for an Aegis. So frightful was it's destructive power that Coren had bade the UAC discontinue research on the project. Coren himself had taken the prototype for safekeeping. And here it was buried, deep within the surface of Meis.
Coren would come here every few months, to ensure that none had dared disturb the sleeping beast. He made sure it would never again rise from the soil to terrorize the cosmos. This had been some years ago, and he'd kept his word even to this day.
But...
Something had changed about Meis. He sensed the presence of another. By his judgement, it had to be another Class A-1 superbieng like himself. As he reached out with his senses, a slow smile crept up his cheeks, and achuckle rumbled in his stomach. He knew. He knew exactly who was approaching. This would be an invigorating day indeed.:: [/COLOR]
"Are you smiling because of him; the one in the distance?" Sar inquired with child-like curiosity.
Coren's gaze didn't waver, even despite the fact that the human had appeared without detection; so close, in fact, that his warm breath easily hung above the A-1 class Inquisitor's neck. A moment of silence passed before Sar realized that the man clothed as an Aegis would not respond. "You know that he will not venture this way, no?" Coren's ear perked slightly, "You will have to seek him out, that is, if your goal is of mortal conquest.
"That man has other arrangements. 'tis a shame, too, I'd have enjoyed watching the two of you."
"You know him?"
Sar broke away from the Aegis, their souls no longer adjacent to one another. "We've history. It's interesting how the lives of immortals intertwine, no? I'm curious as to how ours has yet to intersect until now, however. Are you new among us? Or have we been parallel for this long?"
Coren didn't respond yet again, as if caught in thought. Sar sneered to himself under a cold sigh. Coren's thoughts were almost visible, Sar had encountered them enough in these past years to know them by heart: A human knowing of immortal affairs? His body unwounded by the powerful aura that permeates this world? and among those with a sixth or seventh sense, such as Coren, why does he feel like just a mere human despite all this?
Sar's voice clove the silence like spear through flesh. "Valari is what they called themselves, hmm?" his feet explored the ground beneath, body moving at a keen pace as he circled Coren but also the surrounding ruins, "They remind me of a time in my land; I just so happened to be reared then. A time of war, hate-less murder, and pride. The strength of one's self is what determined who lived and who died, anything less was dishonor.
"I find it interesting that you killed them all. It makes me curious as to why you didn't do the same so many years ago to my kind... especially with the power you wield." Coren's eyes dilated slightly, and now his attention had been snared with the steel claws of an owl, "but maybe you weren't an Aegis back then, eh?"
Sar smiled to himself, and his hand slid to the hilt of Tyrfing. "Heed no insult, Aegis. I merely had to get your attention, that's all. You can't feel me, after all; I'm different than Nido."
Coren's body turned to Sar, and the red-headed one's pace came to a halt. "Sar Cathan is my name. Remember it as the man who took your life, or the one you slew on this day. Either course of action would give my soul pleasure."
And without so much as time for a flicker of flame, Tyrfing's hilt crushed into Coren's sternum, and his skull ricocheted to the back of his neck by force of fist; the momentum carrying him off his feet and into the air.
[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]::I knew I would regret letting him, whoever he is, stand so close to me! The Aegis thought to himself as he rolled in midair, head over heels, landing lightly a few yards away. The blow had been enough to upend him, but his bones were coimprised of sterner stuff than would be affected by such a weak attack. No sooner had his feet touched the dusty ground than his hand flew to the leather wrapped handle of his age-old Aethon weapon, the immense silver sword known as Absolution. From his back he slung the blade to it's rightful place in the air between himself and his attacker, and with preturnatural strength, shoved himself once again into the air, spinning to unleash a fierce horizontal slash, which clanged heavily against his opponent's ready defensive parry.
Rather than push the assault, the Aegis continued his spin, crouching and sweepiing his heel into Sar's ankles, upending him. Coren, still spinning, leapt again into the air, sending his other foot with all the force of a hurricane into his opponent's chest. Though Coren's face was some feet away, he could feel the rush of air plowed from his opponents lungs as it swept past his cheek. Not even a whimper accompanied Sars' forced breath as he tumbled through the air.::[/COLOR]
Coren's horizontal strike lashed out like a fang, but with merely a small side-step, Sar's fist thrust down onto the blade's midsection, and vaulted it away. Coren wasn't through, however, as his legs continued with his spiral and swept under Sar. There was no time to even consider a counter before a foot was plunged into Sar's chest, knocking the wind directly out of him. His body vaulted backward, teeth grit, but he didn't go far at all.
His foot caught Meis at an awkward angle, but it gave just enough to work with. Still out-stretched from the kick, Sar's fist gnarled around Coren's ankle, and with a quick snap, hurled him just a few meters above Sar.
Invisible to the eye, unknowable by the touch, but Coren felt it swell, and he knew now that his opponent, this Sar, was of at least A-1 class. He could feel Sar's soul permeate the body in this one key moment.
Catching his complete balance, Sar lowered his arm to the ground, and the essence of his very soul poured from his fist.
Coren's arc peaked, and Sar's fist cried with power, just before the two collided. The blow struck Coren directly at the center, though shielded by both wrists and Absolution at the front-line, a sickening crack lit the surrounding area as the sound-barrier was crushed. Air was pushed away from the collision for only a chronometer as the two forces shook under their own fortitude; and then Coren flew. At an unimaginable speed, his body rocketed through the sky, and what seemed neigh two seconds, he was able to stop his ascent... just short of four kilometers above Mei.
And in his wake, four screeching waves of bladed energy hurled themselves at him with primal fury.
[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]::Propelled with blinding speed by his mysterious opponent into deep black sky, twin whisps of white energy gushed from Coren's shoulderblades as he lashed out with spirit, his very soul grasping the air around him and bringing his ascent to an almost instant halt. Arms and legs outstretched and he grunted with the passing of inertia. His vision swung to his opponent just in time to see projectiles of fierce, sharpened energy rocketing toward him. Anger filled the White Angels chest as he calculated the perfect moment to swing Absolution into and through these projectiles, slicing them in half. They began to disperse almost instantly, but their speed had been such that the remnants of the attack, while missing their central mark, burrowed their way through his shoulders and legs like a dozen needles. Coren roared, not so much becasue of the pain as from the vast red rage that boiled within him.::
"You are now living your final moments, cur! Enjoy them!"
:With that, Coren, seemingly treading upon the thin air beneath his feet, leapt at his opponent with renewed speed, the infinite energies of his very soul filtering through his arm in a raging torrent, gathering within Absolution's silver blade, which glowed bright white in reaction. Coren's mad roar filled the air as Absolution glowed with all the intensity of a star, ripping through the very air as he advanced. A dumbfounded Sar, blinded by the light, turned his face from the veritable comet barreling down upon him so as not to burn his eyes. He would have to think quickly indeed. What to do? What to...::
::In half an instant, Coren's strike came to ground, exploding violently in all directions for several yards, unleashing a torrent of pure destructive force beyond most means of conventional measure. The massive blast could have been seen from orbit, and as the dust began to clear, it revealed a crater nearly a kilometer in width, with the White Angel at its center, out of breath, and scanning his surroundings, trying to discern whether his opponent had managed to distance himself, or had merely been vaporised by the blast. As Coren concentrating on slowing his heart rate and calming his thoughts, the latter seemed highly unlikely.::[/COLOR]
Amidst the chaos, Tyrfing howled.
The blinding light clove into two, encircling Sar in a blanket of warmth. Before him he held Tyrfing; from its nose, the edge of Sar's soul focused to a blade. The explosion burned slightly, even the strength of Sar unable to flatten all the heat, but it was merely a nuance and nothing else.
The weapon held firm, its shriek drowned out by the vast inferno's eruption, but still it stood strong. And just as soon as it had begun, the power dispatched itself into the barren plains.
Before him, a crater had bore its way into the soil of Meis with Coren at the center; leaving his scar on this planet once more. The soil beneath Sar suddenly gave way, Tyrfing's cry protecting only the immediate before, above and below, which created a small, yet unstable plateau beneath him. Acquiescing, the soil tilled like grain.
Sar's feet hit the ground at a run, his eyes still teary, blurred and burning... but it didn't matter a moment; the crater would take him straight to Coren.
He didn't see it. His neck twisted inward like a coiling spring, and his sternum collapsed into his lungs, forcing the breath from them. Even then, it took him too long to realize it was Sar already upon him, and a second knee smashed into his skull at a sideways arc, distancing him as he rag dolled up the steep incline he'd created. It wouldn't be Sar's fist that collided with Absolution this time, however.
Coren's palm hit the ground and he vaulted himself into an awkward stand, still sliding. He had zero time to adjust himself. Absolution forced back into his owners center as Tyrfing pushed away from his, their blades singing the song of battle.
Catching himself, Coren found solid ground. Forcing Sar back, he reciprocated a blow, the two swords dancing to their own melody of joy. They broke from one another as their blades rang out, and just as suddenly, slammed into one another with a second torrent of power, both now on equal standings.
Parrying, dodging, weaving, striking, gnashing; they hurled their very souls at one another in unrelenting volleys, weapons like extensions of themselves in primordial warfare. And then an upper-hand was taken.
The ground slipped under Coren's foot, and with a single downward stroke, Sar's blade slammed into Coren's in a forceful deadlock. The two stood steady, glaring at one another; faces neigh two inches from another, blades ebbing towards their respective foe's throat.
Sar sneered to himself.
Placing his left hand behind Tyfing's edge, his eyes widened and out roared a battle cry that shook Coren to the core. Immediately, energy swarmed to the edge of Tyrfing, surrounding the blade and forcing its way around Absolution.
Too close... too close to block!
Outward erupted another razor blade of power, this time inside of Absolution's reach. But now, the blade was ten fold as strong. It struck Coren in the chest, spiking him into the earth; energy razor crushing him still, driving him deeper, cutting deeper, he could feel the blood trickle down his chest while the cold air flushed under his now-singed clothing.
Now the question was: Will he be crushed, or will he crush it?
[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]::It was indeed a dead-lock.::
::Coren found himself in a very common position considering the circumstances of his existance. A powerful, energized assault intent on slicing him in two, and an Angelic body much more durable than his opponents would guess. Nevertheless, this saw-blade of white-hot energy pressed with such inertia that he could feel the ground beneath him beginning to buckle. Something had to give. And Coren knew just what. Long had he known the effects of showing his enemies his true prowess, however, this opponent, upon seeing his next trick might just give enough pause for Coren to press a true advantage. There was little left to consider, and even less time to do it.::
::With a heaving yell, Coren dropped the energetic defenses of his body and let Sar's spinning projectile slice cleanly through his chest and abdomen, taking with it his armor and slicing his coat cleanly in two. A scream of pain just managed to preface the resounding boom as Sar's disk of energy exploded, having served it's pourpose. Dust shot from where Coren lay in a tall, thin collumn. And then silence hung thick in the air as the wind carried it to parts unknown.::
::Sar looked on, unhappy and at the same time uneasy reguarding this quiet moment. Had that really been it? He'd displayed such bravado before! How often it seemed the men with the loudest voices had the weakest sword arms. What a sh...::
::It was then that Coren's countenance materialized in the clearing debris, his black leather armor cloven upside his chest, and blood leaking in a vibrant crimson torrent down his pants onto the ground. Sar could see his opponent's chest heaving in ragged gasps. Then, Coren did something unexpected, unconscionable.::
::A breathy, pathetic laugh boiled from him, growing until it sounded as the feral howling of a starving wolf. Like a scream intended for eternity. Then finally Coren hunched over, his vertibrae cracking and grinding upon one another as he doubled over, then raised hiself right in a snapping motion, flingin blood before and behind him. He screamed, the very groung itself trembling at the sound, and Sar though he could see his sternum. Was it, mending itself? Is bones creaked and popped as they welded themselves back in place, and blood oozed from the still gaping wound, along with clear slimy film, which, one would guess, could be a by-product of his internal organs melding back together.::
:Sar shuffled into position to leap to the attack, and found himself blown back by the concussive shockwave as Coren found his true voice once more, and roared for the Heavens to hear.::
"Yes, bring me the pain, how I have longed to feel alive again! Such a pity this ends so soon!"
::With that, Coren hefted Absolution into position, and leapt to the assault. In an instant, Coren's knee barreled into Sar's soft abdomen. He would have flown into thin air with the impact, but Coren's hand closed tightly around his throat, bringing him face to face with the ancient Aegis Templar. A vicious smile crossed his lips as he drew back Absolution, and let fly it's pommel violently into Sar's face, crushing flesh and bone alike.::
::One...two...three...four...in all Coren's fury he'd neglected to keep count, merely watching closely Sar's face as it began to crumple, a satisfying sight indeed. With a hoot of raucus laughter Coren withdrew the pommel, and surveyed the devastation with glee for a short moment, before tossing Sar lightly into the air. As Sar slowly ascended, Coren gripped Absolution in both hands, letting the infinite energies of his immortal soul funnel into the silver blade. It glistened with light and unearthly heat as Coren watched Sar fall into position, at which time he let the blade fly, simultaneously aiming a horizontal slice into Sar's throat and releasing the condensed energy. The blinding white flash obscured Coren's view of how accurate his aim for Sar's throat had been, and regrettably as it subsided, he couldn't quite make out the orientation of Sar's injuries as he tumbled away, but nevertheless Coren felt heartily satisfied. Let the cut miss, let this man stand again so he could commence to knocking him back down. Let the pain ring in his ears. Let the blood flow::[/COLOR]
Sar's mind immediately dulled, the fog of velocity and trauma completely bewildering. His body hit Meis flank first as he rebounded, the feeling of his arm skidding against its rough soil tingling at the breadth of his finger tips, no more than a tickle as it tore flesh. It skipped, vaulting back into the air like a rag doll tossed from a speeding vehicle, head thrown back with a snap.
His vision was blurred, seeing only the sky roll by, edges darkened as mortality crept its way into the heart. But he was far away at that time, physically present but thoughts long escaped. Distant and silent, a muted chaos of choice. A great turmoil always ravaged his soul, the difference between life and death, a breath-siphoning force so powerful that it required everything within him. The culmination of chaos to order, indecision: determination.
A decision that needed to be made, not for himself, no death is what he utterly longed for. But letting another win, suicide, was an unacceptable term. The life of another, to spare it, is the ultimate act of good... and the weakness of humanity. No power can be drawn when there are reservations. The shackles must be shed.
A second collision, the mass of Sar's body hitting the ground again, rotating, blood hurled off of him in crescent discus, wetting Meis with his life.
And as Sar's flailing form left the ground again, Coren felt a swell within his opponent clad in black. Minute, subtle and nearly negligible, it churned. But even in his blood lust, Coren felt something amiss; a feeling few had ever experienced, a vision overwhelming his eyes; massive door stood sealed, teal mist forcing its way from beneath, vigorously condensing, oozing and swallowing the floor.
It pulsated. It even seemed to breath the air from the atmosphere, drawing the very oxygen from Coren's lungs, their reserve gone dry and inable to draw in. His body shivered, a primordial reaction to something he had no recollection of... fear his mind couldn't experience. No words, no cognition, only anticipation; rabid anticipation.
The gates buckled, a gigant force slamming into them from opposite Coren, seal shattering to jagged shards of metal, flood gates ripped completely off their hinges, and a tidal wave left in their wake; an ocean ready to swallow him whole. This was it, the cause of anticipation. And the real beginning of this conflict.
With an inaudible snap, something felt deep within the soul of both men, Coren was caught under a torrent of energy heavier than lead, Sar releasing the entirety of his soul into the atmosphere around. His conviction was found.
Sar's body didn't hit Meis a third time, instead his palm made traction as it jutted into the dirt with enough force to stop his body's inertia instantly. And with Tyrfing still in hand, gripped tightly even after it had blocked Coren's massive strike, buffering between being a corpse and breathing, he coiled it into his arm. Snapping his wrist as his lower torso landed on the ground, boots digging into Meis, he hurled the singing blade at Coren.
But unlike before, Coren's eyes couldn't follow. Tyrfing struck Absolution, and Sar struck Coren, particles of soul ripping out of Coren's chest and discharging into the air in what seemed like vaulted blades of ice. Lodged below the rib cage, fist sunk deep into flesh, Coren's body molded around the massive strike, his organs displaced and left lung shredded as shrapnel tore him away from gravity's pull.
Tyrfing fell as Coren ascended, time itself seeming to crawl between each action. The blade's hilt slid easily into Sar's open hand, even after rebounding; and with a pivot, Sar brought its fang down at a reverse-arc, its tip submerging in Coren's exposed shoulder, deeply gouging through muscle and nearly cleaving the bone, sliding down and tearing through his exposed chest, leaving an enormous wound from shoulder to lower ribcage.
Blood erupted from the wound, coloring Sar's already bloodied face and torso crimson. Stifling the blood, Sar planted a kick square in Coren's chest, hurling him like he had been hurled only a minute ago.
post is comin soon lunny, i promise..just have had a lot on my mind and forcing it brings nothing worthwhile. i'll have somethin up soon though, i swear.