Cafe Nightshade

[hybirdx]

Zerro sighed as he rid the blood that splattered on him, then walked up to Ben "well I'm done..." Ben gave him a confused look, "you do not look too happy about the kills you've had made, how so?" Zerro sighed "Its just that..... The more I kill.... The more I become that, that thing!"

"What thing?" Zerro gave him a sharp look on his face "A demon wolf Ben"

 

[Zircon]

Tony

The tunnel exuded a rank smell and the walls oozed an unidentifiable slime. Surprisingly, the algae that grew on the walls gave off an eerie phosphorous light. The tunnel began to shrink in size as I ran along. Soon, the sound of a frustrated Daemon, unable to pursue, could be heard. Trying to breathe in the rancid air was difficult, and the exertion of the flight made matters worse. I was glad that my shoes were the finest hand-made ones, or they would gave given up a long while ago.

Then I saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. This Carnival was not what it seemed, so why the bright light at the end of the tunnel should be any different. I slowed my pace, when the last of the echoes died. The haft of my axe was exuding gentle and calming warmth. Much like the lull before the storm of battle. The Angel of the Axe had not spoken to me for a while. But her presence had flitted in and out. That much I knew for certain. This knowledge gave me strength.

I made the first steps into another central vestibule. Almost an exact replica like the last one, except this one was smaller and had only one other exit. I made the first hesitant steps out from the tunnel. The patterns on floor were slightly glowing and the ceiling was brightly lit by an unknown source. There were no visible light fixtures anywhere. This fact alone would unnerve anyone.

I was not very surprised when a pair of glowing red eyes emerged from the far end tunnel. These eyes turned to belong to a saber-toothed tiger. There was intelligence in those eyes, as it warily circled. The eight-inch canine teeth were dripping with saliva as it anticipated an easy meal. The short stout legs silently padded around the room, as I matched its movement with my back against the wall.

A blink from either one of us would end this lethal game. Sweating profusely in this cold and damp vestibule, I waited for its first move. It was a gamble of the highest order. But I had a slight advantage. That was I have Discovery Channel on cable. The last program I saw was about the re-construction of the Saber-Toothed. It had a fascinating experiment by scientists and paleontologists on how those long, serrated-edged canines work. The Saber-Toothed was about the size of a cougar, but it could take down an animal 3 times its size. Its arched spine was like a coiled spring, enabling it to leap and strike at lightning speed.

These ‘facts’ were what I was banking on. For the Saber-Toothed to leap high and aim my jugular, while I twist out of the way and slice it in half. At least that was the plan going through my mind. Hopefully the Saber-Toothed followed my plan, and not come out something new on its own.

And then the Saber-Toothed leapt high in the air, covering the short distance in less than a blink of an eye. I twisted ever so slightly, and swung my axe with all my strength…

 

[hybirdx]

"What?"

"I'll explain later" As Zerro stoped talking he saw an wolf, praticly at his prime hungerly looking at Genia. She was about to kill it when Zerro yelled "Don't touch him!" as he Knelt down, the wolf took it as a threat "Come on boy over here!" Amazingly the wolf walked over to zerro without any fear, just an whimper, afraid that Zerro would do the same thing he done to the elephants "easy there, I won't hurt you...."

Zerro put his hand out to the wolf, who tool a small wiff, then licked his hand "good boy..."

 

[misterK]

Zolt

"Perhaps I can discourage the hyena from making a meal of us?" Genia says.

"I'll deal with the bears then" Zolt replies and walks forward towards the two enormous beasts. They look at him with baleful eyes, unmoving, but as soon as he walks up to them, the biggest of the two jumps forward, swinging a massive paw. Zolt doesn't move and the bear pushes a startled growl as his paw doesn't meet any resistance, swishing through Zolt as through thin air.

Zolt smiles and shakes his head at the bear. "Tsk, tsk, maybe you would like some solidity?" The other bear jumps on him with its maw opened wide, and closes it over Zolt's head. The crunch as the bear's jaw and teeth break under the strain is very loud and the bear pushes a long howl of agony.

"Enough playing," Zolt says to himself and he dissipates into a dark mist, sifting through the nearest bear's nostrils and inside him. A moment later the bear yelps with pain and startlement as Zolt's hand carves its way through its belly, ripping it open in ine smooth swipe.

The second bear doesn't have time to react as Zolt slaps him once on the head. The slap resonates like thunder and the bear's massive head implodes with a sickening crunch as the lifeless animal collapses to the ground.

 

[Zircon]

Tony

The crunch of metal against bone resounded in the room. The blue-glowing edge of the axe cleaved through the Saber-Toothed like it was paper. The spray of its blood hit me fully in the face, temporarily blinding me. The long canine teeth tore a chuck out of my shoulder as the cat’s momentum took it further that I had anticipated. But my senses told me that whenever I got out of here, I should make a donation to those scientists and paleontologists, and to the Discovery Channel.

My undershirt was red by the time all the blood had been wiped off my face. I bandaged my shoulder carefully, thankful that no major artery or vein was punctured. My left arm would be fairly useless, but I was grateful for the apparent weightlessness of the axe. My good arm would be able to swing it effectively still. I hoped that the smell of fresh blood on me would not attract any more wild creatures. Nevertheless, that was too much to hope for in ‘This’ particular place. So I readied myself for the next encounter, which should be around the next corner. And true enough, a few small creatures with deep jet-black eyes emerged.

It looked like a large, very large mice. When it came into full view, I revised my first observation. These were small marsupials. And if I’m not mistaken, these were Tasmanian Devils. These were vicious little buggers, the only marsupials that were carnivores. But strangely enough, underneath its stout short front limbs were flaps of skin. This meant that these buggers could ‘fly’ like flying foxes. And the sharp claws with protruding and serrated edges meant that they could also climb and run up walls.

Knowing all these, thanks again to the Discovery Channel; I knew that I was grossly outmatched. Right now, there were five of them against me. There was no way of knowing how many were in the tunnels. I could probably handle two of them at once, but not five flying, and vertically enabled, carnivores. On TV, tigers, bears, hyenas and enraged elephants looked more dangerous. But looks can be deceiving. In this central room and the tight tunnels, these small ‘modified’ creatures held the advantage. They could move with speed and ferocity, and could attack from the air. No doubt, they were attracted by the smell of blood. Even if someone would have come to my aid, the tight quarter also meant that we had to look out for each other, as well as the creatures. Especially with the long blade that the Ninja possessed.

It seemed that I was pinned down between the proverbial rock and a hard place. The tunnel which I came through contained the Daemon, although I wasn’t too sure about that since I have not heard its roar for a while. I just hoped the flare that I left behind was still lit, or I’m in deeper trouble than I’ve ever been in before. In front of me, I was facing five presumably starving Tasmanian Devils. Both routes left much to be desired.

Then three of the Tasmanian Devils scurried up the smooth granite dome. The other two split up and advanced on
both sides of me. I was faced with the decision of which one of the five will attack first, or will the entire pack attack all at once. I did not remember if these were pack animals or solitary hunters, since these were extinct out in the real world. Blood was starting to form rivulets down my left arm, as the crude bandages became soaked. The logical move would be to protect my left side. I believed that side to be the aim of the first foray. When I’m pre-occupied with fending off an attack from the injured side, I would leave my back open for the killing bite. However, I made the gambit of exposing my injured side to the first attack.

The attack came almost simultaneously from five corners of the Dome…

 

[princessa]

genia

genia stares at the hyena intently, oblivious to the bloodshed around her.

psst!

startled, she hears a dark metallic shriek distorted by a long windy distance through convoluted tunnels and glances around quickly before turning her gaze back on the evil animal.

screeeech...

genia closes her eyes and observes though her magical sight. flickers of red flame emanate from the walls and glow under the skin of the evil creatures. the strange wave of sound is the screaming of tormented souls begging for release and testing their ability to take over her body.

ssss... hello, little girl...

her hands convulse as the soul of a doomed necromancer slides into her mind. he laughs cruelly at her inexperience and starts whispering a spell.

"il mio diavolo, invito l'alimentazione..."

genia screams mentally as her body begins to gesture through the spell. lightening strikes upon the hyena and darkens its life force. the power drains from the animal and rushes into her mind. the creature then explodes into a puddle of blood and gore. disgusted by the violent killing and enraged from the unwilling possession, genia tries to focus the stolen power on herself to destroy the necromancer occupying her mind.

"no, no, no. you can't do that, little child. farewell." he departs, leaving the whispers of his manical laugh in her mind.

she trembles at the close call and knows that until her unused powers are trained, possession is a possibility that could happen again. calming herself gradually, genia checks for the other party members and notes the wolf trotting at zerro's side.

"are we done?" she wonders and peers into the darkness.

 

[chewbacca71]

Benjamin

"Yes Genia it looks like we have defeated our enemies once again. Now we need to press on, I think I hear the sounds of battle in this right hand offshot of the tunnel. Follow me. " Benjamin goes into the offshot, moving fast to make up for lost time.

 

[hybirdx]

"Man......" Zerro ran after Ben but stopped in his tracks. Turning around seeing that the wolf didn't budge "Come on!" As Zerro turned around thew wolf quickly followed

 

[princessa]

genia

although exhausted from the mental struggle, genia runs after benjamin towards the sounds of another battle. she wonders if more evil glowy eyed creatures awaited them or another enemy.

leap!

an oversized mouse flys into view and exposes vicious carnivorous teeth. light glints off sharp serrated claws. abruptly, it turns and hops away.

"after it!" genia screams and points.

a bit of a partially known spell comes to her mind from her encounter with the necromancer's soul.

"la fiamma di fuoco..."

a ball of flame mixed with cool blue and angry orange color bursts from her fingertips at the creature. the orange flame consumes the mouse and incinerates its corporeal being. the blue fire feeds upon the newly freed life force and combines with the death energies to return to the spellcaster. a fresh wave of magic crashes upon genia and dissipates her exhaustion. she feels refreshed but also horrified by the results of the spell.

 

[hybirdx]

As zerro followed the others, he decided that he should go ahead of them, for their safety 'I can't belive I'm actualy risking my life after all these years!'

********

After a few twist and turns Zerro came to a holt, seeing tony in trouble "nice predicament you got yourself into pal!" Zerro shut humself out so he couldn't hear tonys pissed of foul mouth, and also prepairing for the new spell he learned "Tony! lisen to me very carefuly! Don't think of anything more evil than killing got it?"

as he saw tony nod, Zerro began to chant "Yomi, nata, kamon, sin shin hayatae Kuberose!" the whole place went black for a split second then, as the carvern light up again, all the beast were gone "If you want to see what happened to your little play mates look at the orb" Zerro tossed an small green orb to Tony, "Come on the others are waiting for us"

 

[chewbacca71]

Benjamin

Ben follows Zerro at a run. He rounds the turn and sees him showing something to Tony. Ben looks and sees that Tony has a lot of cuts and bruises and is covered in blood. Ben looks at the Gem that Zerro has. "What the hell is that for? Are you ok Tony? "

 

[hybirdx]

"fist things first Ben..." As Zerro aproched Tony, his hand started to emit an strange glow "This is going to hurt just a bit," Zerro put his hand on Tony and carfuly let the glow go "You'll be in full health in about a hour, now for the orb." He put the orb on the ground and chanted a spell, which made the constantly shaking orb to stop moving "There, now they can't get out...."

'I just hope the others won't try to open it,'

"Come on, lets go."

"What about the orb?"

"Forget the orb"

 

[misterK]

Zolt

Sliding along the tunnels, reveling in the shadows flickering along the walls and ceiling, Zolt enters the cavern after Benjamin just as Zerro casts a spell on Tony. He nods his head to the latter, noticing the fresh wounds on his body and wondering what happened to him to put him in such a state.

Just as he goes to speak Zolt stops and sharply turns towards one of the corridors. His face pales even more as the scent of the creature coming through the corridor reaches him and his heart fills with dread.

"Hello Zolt," comes a chilling voice out of the shadows covering the tunnel entrance, "hello my son."

The shadows dissipate revealing a man of average height, his skin deathly white, his face framed by short black hair and red eyes peering at the group from under heavy eyebrows. The temperature of the room drops suddenly as the newcomer approaches the group, ignoring all but Zolt, fixing his blood-red eyes on him.

"So, my son, the time of our reunion has come to pass it would seem." A sneer deforms his features as he keeps on advancing on Zolt who appears to be frozen into place. "The last time I saw you," he continues deceptively mildly, "you tried to kill me." He smiles then as he stops right in front of his creation. "I made you. I created you. And you tried to kill me?!? You ungrateful wretch! YOU PITIFUL UNGRATEFUL SCUM!!!" The roar of his voice is deafening and he lunges forward with his hand, fingers extended, towards Zolt's throat.

But Zolt doesn't wait for the hand to make contact. He blinks one, as if to shake away the surprise and fear and melts into the shadows just as the hand whistles over his head, missing him by a hair width.

The room then resounds with the voice of Zolt addressing his companions: "leave this place. Run! There is nothing you can do against him. Run! I shall catch up with you later."

Zolt's father keeps on ignoring the others, his head upturned, sniffing the air. "Where did you hide? Where are you my precious one? Come to your daddy. Come on and die!" And he launches himself into the shadows of the room, grabbing hold of Zolt just as he emerges from the sanctuary of darkness.

 

[hybirdx]

"THE HELL!?!" As Zerro and the others emerged from the emerged from the cavern, Zolt all of a suuden makes a dash ahead of them. As Zerro was about to make a turn Zolt called out "Leave this place! RUN!" Zerro hesitated to turn, only to remember what his grandfather once said "Listen to your alais Taedo, some have their own battles that only they can fight"

"good luck Zolt..." with that Zerro ran Back to the cavern where he left the ball, 'maybe I can use it as a weapon, OH SHIT!!!'

"Genia, NO!"

 

[chewbacca71]

Benjamin

Benjamin looks over at Zolt. "No my friend, I will not run from a battle. Maybe I can help distract him so you can get in a killing blow. I will not leave you to your own devices. " Benjamin watches in horror as Zolt's father pulled him seemingly out of thin air. Benjamin is worried about the strength of Zolt's father, but is determined to do what he can. He lowers his shoulder and runs directly into Zolt's father, causing him to drop Zolt to the floor.

Ben then gathers some of his pyschic energy and sends a energy ball at Zolt's father. It hits him , but has little effect. Ben is running out of ideas fast. He lashes out with his right arm and makes enough contact to push the creature back. He gets inbetween the two fighters, trying to help out his friend.

 

[princessa]

genia

deep in thought, genia follows behind the others slowly. the necromancy is emerging more often and her best efforts at control no longer keep the power confined.

crash!

genia looks up as she stumbles over something that rolls a few feet and hits the wall. she walks over and picks up a small green orb. the object glows in the dim corridor and golden runes cover the surface. a sensation of voracious life emanates from its center. gently shaking it, there is no sound or movement within. genia turns it over and finds a slight indentation on the bottom of the ball. she traces a finger over the edges of the button.

"hmm, why not?" she thinks and presses it.

seconds too late, a voice yells out, "genia, NO!"

 

[hybirdx]

As Genia pressed the button, the light that glowed in the middle grew more, and more, and more "Damnit!" Zerro ran to Genia but it was too late, she was sucked in the Orb right before his eyes
"Damn! Damn, damn, damn!!!!!!

Zerro walked up to the orb "there is only one way I know that can get her out.... That means I have to go in there" Slowly, he picked up the green ball "Youi kyo yan, makaty...... Nukall!!!" After a few seconds the orb shook, then rumbled "Here we go!" Zerro was sucked in quickly into the uknown world

 

[misterK]

Zolt's Father

"How dare you attack Elkrom!?" The dark creature bellows. He looks at Benjamin as he places himself between him and his prey. A malicious glint sparkles in his eyes and a vicious grin appears on his lips.

"My, my, my, what have we here?" He looks Ben up and down, as if evaluating cattle. "A little vampire? Well then 'O Ancient One'," he sneers, "come and show me what you've got."

 

[misterK]

Zolt

"Benjamin! Don't!" Too late Zolt sees Benjamin throw himself at his father, pushing him out of the way, then gather a ball of psychic energy to throw it at the momentarily disoriented creature.

'There is nothing he can do,' Zolt tries to think desperately of a way to defeat his father before his friend gets hurt.

He watches in horrified fascination as Elkrom taunts Benjamin and knows the vampire cannot see the aura of maleficia surrounding the hated figure of his father. 'If he attacks, he will suffer,' Zolt thinks to himself before gathering around him a cloak of negative energy, drawing in the forces of the cosmos and hurling himself towards his father, hoping his improvised protection will absorb most of the shock.

 

[chewbacca71]

Benjamin

"Taunts from a ragged bag of claw and putridesence? You are nothing compared to the power of a vampire. I will wipe the floor with your hollowed out corpse. "

 

[Zircon]

Tony

‘Thank you Zerro. The bleeding has stopped I believe. Yeah, I’m alright now, thanks for your concern Benjamin.’

Then Zolt was confronted with ‘Elkrom’. And all ‘hell’ broke loose again. Man, tonight had been anything but dull.

Ben had the misguided notion of assisting Zolt, but in the confined space, the best way to help him is to give him the breathing room to bring forth his full potential. I knew that Zolt was powerful, but this Elkrom was an unknown. And this time, we were definitely up to our eyeballs in troubles.

When Genia disappeared into the orb, an old Kris Kristoferson saying emerged from my mind: Never sleep with a woman crazier than you. Although I was not sleeping with her per se, but this adventure had made us all strange bedfellows.

I felt my strength returning, and I had the misguided notion of joining the fray too. Zolt was a friend, and so was Ben. I couldn’t just tucked my tail and run. The psychic energy from Ben had temporarily disoriented Elkrom, and Zolt took this opportunity to hurl himself in. This was also my opening.

The 3 feet long haft of the axe gave me enough reach to slice without being too close. I went for the legs, perceiving that that was the most vulnerable area. I was right. That move had further disoriented Elkrom, because now there were 3 fronts to deal with. We had to find his weak spot. Even the most powerful had a weakness, and this Elkrom was no different. We had to find the center of his power, his personal soul keep, and then hope for a lucky strike. For each beings soul keep was the most protected area, but it was also at the most unlikely place.

The problem now was that this Elkrom may have traded his soul and kept it somewhere else. Then we only have to destroy his physical being. This was a turning out to be one hell of a fight. And Genia and Zerro were on their own for the time being…

 

[hybirdx]

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!" WHAM! Zerro must have been falling for at least 15 minutes. "Ow..... I wonder if this place has some type of gravity pull and push? I would have died in that fall in normal gravity...." Zerro whistled to see if the wolf followed him, soon enough it appeared "hey boy, come on, lets go."

Zerro searched the area he had fell from, seeing nothing there, he looked on ward. 'lets see... there are two ways, the left one seems to be well lit, wile the other I can hear voices. There not Genia's, but there are so many voices...... So what should we do?" The made an small grunt, then made its way to the left.

"Hey if you find her, give me an howl ok?" The wolf nodded then left "Ok, here we go..."

 

[princessa]

genia

float, float, float. i can fly! flap, flap. wait, i don't have wings. i don't even have a body. body? what? it's dark in here. maybe i should open my eyes. eyes? blink, blink. oh! it's green and glowy in here. where's here? where am i? what am i doing? voices. i hear voices. wait, is that me? am i hearing myself? me, me, me, me. all me.

 

[princessa]

genia

more time passes. time? what is time in here? whereever here might be. i'm bored. there's nothing except the green glowy light. i wanna play. play, play, play. hmm. i know!

zing!

a fireball flares and casts an orange tint on the green light for a moment.

psst!

a bolt of lightning strikes and dissipates in the eerie glow as well.

sniff, sniff.

smoke? why am i smelling smoke? uh oh...

 

[hybirdx]

"Shit.... Those voices....The're... They're getting stronger." Zerro tried to find where one of the voices are comming from, but when he got close FWEET!!! the path disappeard 'Damn! It seems that only one is real... so, which one? eny miny mini moe, catch a girl by the toe if she hollors, don't let her go.... eny miny mini moe!' Zerro quickly jolted to the one in front of him "Smoke? oh man..... GENIA!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!"