splendor. - Printable Version

Somewhere in the distance, Emuh's laughter--short, sharp and crowing, in baleful cackles--echoed.

The grey beast came swiftly back to its feet--and then rocked back, roaring as the fungus crawled up over its form. It was a horrific screeching sound, not the pain of it but how alien it was: the ripping sound of claws on metal, yet emanating from its chest.

Fungus bloomed up, splitting flesh as it sprouted, sending the creature into a frenzied rage; it turned, snapping at its own flanks, snarling.

It then whipped back around to face Aure--and charged for him.

2/3

something sniffing — striding footsteps, ever louder — auré, shrieking.

damask's breath came shallower and shallower, eyes wide, head craning this way and that as she strained to see through the shadows half-obscuring the scene. silhouettes clashed in the distance, and her father's was alarmingly still, fallen from midair, crumbling to his knees. the obvious: he's not okay. she gulped, shifted, shook with the tension of pinning herself in place. behind the threshold. where she belonged.

this is his, can't interfere — he's got to do it himself, and even if you could, it's just like emuh said, you're weak, unworthy, you'd be torn apart, so stay where you are and watch, that's all you can do — but maybe, maybe ...

with effort, she forced down a deeper respiration and stirred at her stone. it sparked bright between her murmuring heart and fluttering lungs, and the horror came to life in pulsing, gushing red. auré was hurt. worse off than the beast that ravaged him. less blood, but far less mobility; exhaustion was dragging him down. no, no, it wasn't supposed to be like this — ! panic began to swell in her chest. "dad, please," she hissed under her breath. "fight. fight. fight." a shudder died in her spine, held back with everything she had. keep it together — be strong — he needs you.

As the beast leapt, the fungus took root.

Gray hide glinted as it twisted midair, aborting its predatory leap mid-stride and instead crashing down atop the fungal floor. Another pained screech, like two voices in one, erupted from it; and then the beast turned tail and ran, fungus blooming up along its hide.

...And then, everything faded. The room grew light; the catacombs retreated, the very ground contorting beneath Aure's feet. In an instant the Lessers were nowhere to be seen, and there was no sign of where the predator might have even gone.

Instead, Emuh thudded down heavily, wings spread, talons scraping over now-bare, brown rock. "GOOD. SLOPPY--BUT YOU ARE ALIVE. YOUR MAGIC IS STRONG. ARE YOU READY?" it then demanded, without explaining what Aure ought to be ready for. Without asking after his wounds, or whether he'd even survive.

It seemed to just... assume.

3/3

"MORE? YES. WHY ELSE WOULD YOU BE HERE?" Emuh cackled, an unpleasant, grating sound. The black owl-beast rocked back, spreading its wings, engulfing Aure in its shadow. And then came a surge of magicka so powerful as to be searing: a burning sensation, swelling Aure's chest, body, roaring through him and filling him until it felt as though he must burst.

The pressure was intense, almost too much to bear, and when the rush of his own heartbeat in his ears at last dimmed down, he would feel... drained. As though his magicka had been taken from him.

And yet...

...And yet there was something new, now. New... knowledge, granted to him, lurking at the edge of his consciousness and waiting to be grasped. And new potential, a perfect unity with his element ready to be unlocked, requiring nothing but practice and exploration--and time--to achieve.

Aure had Transcended.

"NOW GET OUT," Emuh barked at them both, folding his wings back against his sides.