The Ash Cycle

[Marko]

As the half-elf sought to pick the most ripe flowers his sense were alarmed by the gnarling of a forest beast.

[Marko]

[MT]

Meaning, there's something behind Chirando.

[/MT]

[Marko]

[Sorry for the late reply, life's so damn cute when it throws boulders on your path. . Right, where were we, ....oh yeah.]

The beasts hard breathing became louder and louder as it came closer to the half-elf. The leaves under its feet cracked and bended, enought to make Chirando know the exact distance it had towards him.

But, it stopped... Chirando plucked another flower when a loud unearthly howl burst from behind, crossing and zig-zagging between the trees, the sound reached every part of the ancient forrest.

[Marko]

A wierd abomination presented itself in front of the half-elf. A first glance it looked as a normal wild boar, brown fur, half a human high. But out of it's back a razor sharp red stone extended from a cauterized wound. Out of it mounth, blooded saliva dripped on the leafed ground. It's eyes injected with a crazied look, it breathed arhytmically as it stood there observing Chirando.

[Marko]

The boars eyes opened, becoming perfext circles, in a scared glare. As if the wild animal, for just a moment came to realise its real situation. The boar took a step back ratteling the twigs and leaves under it's hooves.

The shard tought otherwise. With a short red pulse within the shard, the eyes of the animal again showed unbrideled hate a dementia. It entire body was lowered and ready for action.

[Marko]

Chirando's hand motion made the boar, at first, give out only gnalrs and hisses, taking one more step back as Chirando made his target the shard. You could see that the boar as holding back as the full force of it's dementia didn't surface all the way. For a moment a emphaty connection was made between the forest creature and the forest dweller but as the shard pulsed again, Chirando had to pull back, as his mind was filled with images of utter fright and terror.

The boar toassed it's head from side to side, in a fight with itself. And then the shard pulsed again. The boars eyes became fixated on the stunned half-elf. The beast was still, it didn't have anymore conflicts bothering it's primal conscience, for the concience was all but erased by the shard loddged in it's back. Now, the animals gaze was cold and evil. An evil of a purity that hasn't been seen in ages even by the most dedicated and hard working witch hunters and inquisitors.

This evil, infested the muscular body of the boar. It flowed freely from the shard to every part of the body. It came closer, but slowly, to the half-elf. Observing trough the eyes of the animal the agony emanating from the half-elf. If it had a voice, the evil, would laugh with the sadistic joy of a thousand devils from the deepests pits.

Nearer and nearer it came ... the evil was lucky to find an elf, even if it was a hafling. For the connection between Chirando and nature was still strong and it could paralyze the forest dweler trough that tie.

The horrific images began to disspear as Chirando struggled to banish the evil from his head. In the end he was succesfull, if for but a moment, to free his mind and spirit...

[Marko]

The spell worked. Encasing the animal in a thick layer of ice spreading all over the forest floor near the boar. But you could see the shard glowing ravenously behind the layer of ice. It slowed it down, but it did not for a minute stop it.

The half-elf raced, moved to urgency to help his new friend. Juming, when needed, over bolders and tree trucks covered in moss. Breaking twigs without a second tought. He must get there quick.

The dwarf was starteled as the half-elf used the bed of leaves to break his speed and stop. When he did a pile of leaves was under his feet and behind them two clear lines of exposed dirt.

"What in Wotans mug are you racing for, young one?" - the dwarf asked taken out of his element, still gripping his battle axe.

"There's a boar out there, with a shard of a gem, stuck in ... I sensed a strong evil within it..." - said the half-elf deprived of air and gasping for it.

"Gem shard you say..." - the dwarf was not in a hurry - "Yes I heard a gnarl in the distance... but did you by chance say .... gem... shard...."- not waiting for an answer he continued, asking- "How big is it?" - his dwarven gem seeking nature got the better of him.

[Marko]

"No young one!" - the dwarf affirmed in a strong voice flavored with his dwarven accent of the Imperial tongue - "Give the flowers here" - he extended his arm and opened his hands, looking with demanding eyes at the half-elf. The elf surrendered the flowers. The dwarf placed them on the ground and looked in his leather bag, pulling out a empty potion flask, a small knife, a bunddle of leaves tide with a old rope, a patch of skin from... some-thing and two pouches of what seamed to be more ingredients to a future potion.

The dwarf used the knife to reduce all the ingredience into small bits and pieces and poured them all into the empty flask, moving the glass bubble in an attempt to homogenize the concotion. When Alric considered enough circleing was enough to make the ingredients fuse together he stopped, but began to look all round him. Finally he looked up at the half-elf:

"Do you, by chance, know of any....fire spells?"

[Marko]

"No. Not as extreme as that." - said the dwarf with a little humor in his voice - "I need to boil the ingredients into the potion." - he looked left and right - "I can start a fire right here. But it would take too much time to boil this." - he pointed at the flask - "That's why I'm asking on your mana weaving skills, for if the evil is of the purest kind...then that ice sheet won't hold him for long."

As if orchetrated by an invisible ominpotent story-weaver, at the moment the dwarf placed his concerns about the urgency of the situation, in the distance the ice broke and again the blood chilling gnarl thundered by them from the distance.

[Marko]

"Just don't burn my hand, young one." - the dwarf said a little worried holding the flask in his right hand extended towards Chirando. Or perhaps he was worried that the gnarl in the distance would make its presence felt near them.

[Marko]

The potion was almost done. But with the edge of his eye Chirando could see the boar gaining ground, the shard pulsing an ominous red.

[Marko]

"Patience." - replied the dwarf lowering his head. Doing that, he mumbled a number of unrecognizable words in a soft and dim voice.

In the meantime, the boar, charged across the forestscape, sending leaves up into the air behind it. The shard sailed into the air firmly fixed into the animals back. Still pulsing with vigor making the boar go beyond, and more, above its natural limits of strenght and endurance.

The dwarfs mumblings became stronger and understandable. For what Chirando had learned, Alric spoke in the High Imperial toungue and not in the Vulgar Imperial Chirando had taught himself traveling towards the imperial borders.

That, perhaps, became secondary to the half-elf, for the boar was now close to make out the features of its face quite clearly. Foam surrounded the edge of its mouth. The eye lids fully opened and the eyes filled with equal amounts of crazziness and evil. It tossed its head side to side from time to time as if trying to displace something from the head, but with no succes.

[Marko]

The dwarfs chanting was reaching it climax. Word after word the fervor increased. Small sparks of mana transpired from his arm rising trought the cloth and clading. Dancing chaotically in the air, but clsong to a central point within the potion flask. They hovered like a cloud around the flask.

As more sparks gathered inside the flask, Alric bursts in High Imperial:

"Positum vestri curatio complectus in meus manuum" - tossing his head backwards and making the sparks charge into a small spot in the center of the flask then exploding in a flash of pure light. The sparks were gone and most of Alrics mental coherence, but the flask glowed in in muffled blue light. Alric moved his head in circles still mubbling. Not in high imperial, nor vulgar not even trader talk, he sounded as if he had lost all control to his cheek and tounge muscles. Knitting words from imperial, dwarven and some exotic orcish cursing words, He watched the flask with drooping and half open eyes, but determined to consume the right amount of liquid. At least that was the general impression Chirando got as his eyes reajusted from the brilliant flash.

Chirados' heart must have been filled with horror when the presence of the boar was reconfirmed. But teriffing to him was that the animal was closer than anyone had anticipated. More so, the forest beasts target was not the half elf, but the injured dwarf laying down, resting upon a tree trunk trying, in a dazzilying display of extreme slow movement, to drink the potion and thus restoring some of his health.

The beast was a few inches removed from the ground as it had jumped on top of a boulder formation and from there it charged onto its unsuspecting vicitm.

[Marko]

The boar was knocked back from the magical atempt of the half elf. The leaves didn't even settle, when the boar sprang back. Now, it targeted Chirando. But the animal was too close to even start a spell not to mention finishing it.

Alrics lips had touched the flask, held rather flimsy by his exaused hands. The blue liquid sliped slowly into his mounth and then slowly flowing down the troath.

[Marko]

In the whirlwind of attack and defence, throwing leaves into the air, Chirando spotted an opening in the boars tactic. With this opening the half-elf could reach with his swoard and strike fast and hard upon the evil looking shard.

This move had it's risks, while Chirando was flinging himself at the rear of the boar, the animal could very easily choose to toss itself at the dwarf in an attempt to shorten the mountain dwelers life.

And also there was the issue of stamina, while the forest dweller did a good job in keeping the boar busy, the animal did have - with the help of the shard - an inexhaustable store of strenght. And so if the status-quo was indeed kept, eventually Chirando would fail, his body would fail him. One way or the other, the half-ewlf had to act, for the dwarf needed more rest until he could also rise to fight and defend himself.