Scion: Seeds of Glory IC

[Armphid]

There was something in Brigitte's face when she looked at him that made Evan's heart crack. There was shock there and under it all a sliver of fear and of hurt. He might have saved one or both their lives, but the effort had come at a cost. He'd betrayed her trust to do it; it was in her eyes. Evan looked helplessly back and bowed his head as she turned to address Crystal.

God, he felt so tired right now. A weariness that had nothing to do with physical exertion or fatigue seemed to settle on him like a vast unseen weight. He lifted a hand to rub his forehead; was there anything good he couldn't ruin? Brigitte moved off into the woods and he made no movement to stop her. Without even looking he could tell she did not want him, or anyone to follow her. She needed a few moments. So did he.

He didn't want them though.

"All right," he said softly, "let's take a minute to get ourselves under control." Evan didn't stop though. "Since I'm the coolest head right now, I'm going to go ahead and take point." He was sure the two women could keep up and actually easily catch him if needed. "I'll stay in sight and signal if I see anything."

With that, Evan strode up the path they'd come on, thinking back to the map now fixed in his perfect memory. He walked the first few yards, picking up speed before he broke into a jog that moved faster into a steady run.

It was a purposeful, terrain eating pace rather than a flat out sprint of escape. He wanted to cover the distance and still keep an eye out, as much as he might want to run into danger and away from the sudden explosion of their nascent little Band. But for now he'd hold strong and keep it together; lives were on the line.

And if he were really lucky, he'd die a worthy death before he watched one of his comrades kill the other.

 

[cats]

Crystal

IC: My bow was already across my back when Evan spoke, but I still found myself pulling my gloves off and storing them in my pocket. Funny I didn't realize I considered them weapons so.

Insulted her... their pantheon. Did I? The trouble with heated emotions is they always seem to muddle ones mind and memory. It took a few moments to clear my mind, and Evan was already on the move. I did not want to split the party, so why am I standing here allowing it to split? I need to move.

I take a decent pace and start off after Evan. We must not be separated. I take a moment and focus strictly on what I said to her. 'You guys seem eager to get to fight in a volcano, is there some sort of Aesir story I don't know about. Because I am far less happy about fighting an enemy with the high ground.' Was that it? Well that was definitely the start because she followed it with 'And you! We may seem...' No don't get riled up again, focus only on what you said.

The next batch of dialogue came to mind. I threatened her, to show she was mortal. The eager trip to Valhalla, perhaps that was the comment.

'Don't worry there will certainly be blood between us once our work here is done. Only that can solve the insults you've laid down tonight.' There certainly will, but I don't need to kill her to prove a point, but I must act against her. The blood of my kind never rests until avenged. Still I have no need to kill her, I wonder if she sees it the same way? No with how she drew her sword so eagerly she probably doesn't.

Still she raises a good point, and I am glad Evan was there to set are differences apart. I must be sure I did not truly insult her pantheon. I will have to talk to Evan.

My head is much cooler now. I sprint only for a few moments before catching up to Evan. "I am sorry if I, insulted your pantheon. It was no intention of mine and I thank you for your compromise."

 

[Kinkerhell]

Brigitte waits until she hears the others take off, first Evan's footfalls then Crystal's softer, almost silent tread. She gives them another twenty seconds of lead, then sets off after them, quietly cursing herself.

How could she be so stupid? How could she be so weak? Sure, Crystal is a grade-A, class one pain in the ass and she'd said some things that would require satisfaction, but there was no reason to attempt to murder her!

And Evan, poor, sweet Evan. Brigitte has put him through a lot tonight, coming totally unglued not once, but twice. Brigitte grimaces. She hates crying in front of people, and fears showing weakness, but that sudden mental assault caught her so flat-footed, left her feeling so helpless, that she couldn't help it. Brigitte bites her lip in consternation. He probably feels awful about invading her mind. Now that she's working with clear head, Brigitte can admit that it was the only thing to do at the time, or she was going to downsize their band by a third, and they needed Crystal right now.

As Brigitte runs, loping after the others, she can feel Gram's weight across her back. Normally its a comforting sensation, knowing that she really does have the biggest stick in the valley, but now it feels cold, almost ominous. Gram was called the "Sword of Grief" for a reason, and its bearer could never refuse a heroic task, no matter how stupid or dangerous. Did the implied challenge of Crystal's words qualify? Was that what caused all of Brigitte's reason, sanity, and pragmatism to fly out the window?

Was Gram going to kill her, as it had every bearer before her?

Brigitte shades her head and looks forward. Just barely at the edge of her visual range, she can see Evan rolling along. Trying to put it out of her mind, Brigitte continues to run, an easy graceful glide through the underbrush, but she can't get rid of the nagging feeling that she had done, or was about to do, something terrible.

 

[Armphid]

The run actually was helping quite a bit. It might have been the action and the chemicals that surged through his blood as it flowed into divinely enhanced muscle, flexing and contracting as he hopped or leaped over large branches or fallen trees. His legs and arms swung and moved in a steady, perfect rhythm, his breathing fast and regular.

Doing something helped a lot. Evan was a social guy; he liked talking and working things out, thinking things through. But sometimes there was nothing that substituted for just taking action.

It was mildly disturbing how quickly his emotions swung sometimes. But then he was in tune with others and when they were upset, it could flow into him. And he was something of a dramatic personality anyway, he'd admit that.

Evan glanced back to see Crystal behind him and gaining, and past her was the black wrapped alabaster form of Brigitte. Damn but she looked amazing running through the woods like that; such grace in every move. He tried to catch her eye and raised a hand in a wave, offering a small, apologetic smile. There was a lot he wanted to say with that but a wave and smile can only be so eloquent. When they got out of this, he'd take the time to talk to her.

Assuming she and Crystal didn't immediately kill one another. Though he privately suspected how such a fight would end up, he wasn't sure there would be a winner. Other than the Titans.

As if summoned by his thoughts, the Scion of Artemis ghosted up to him. Evan tilted his head as they ran, listening and then sighed. "I'm not the one you need to apologize too. Yeah, you did kind of insult me by insinuating our pantheon was stupid and suicidal, but I think you didn't quite mean it as it sounded. You say a lot of things that are insulting to me because you don't know anything about people and I've learned to brush that off. But as far as she knows, you meant every word and implication."

He was telling himself that, anyway. He knew just how incredibly clueless she was about social interaction. That whole mess on the ship had showed him that, as well as her repeated spilling of other people's private information. "But whether you meant that or not, you directly threatened Brigitte's life twice. Most people take that kind of thing seriously."

He sighed again, "Just keep your distance from her until we're done here, okay? Don't talk to her or try to apologize or anything beyond communication for our mission. We have people to save and that's why we're taking the direct route. We don't need to jeopardize them more because we can't get along."

They were covering the distance well; divine speed and endurance made light of such travels. The mountain loomed ahead of them; towering and grim looking in the wet dark. Smoke rose from the peak, clear in his night eyes as it curled upward to fade into thin dispersion. It was remarkable how much space you could cover by running like this, most people just couldn't keep it up for more than a few minutes. But he was sure that all three of them could run this way for hours. "Keep your eyes peeled. We're getting close."

 

[HookerBoots]

As you all approach the volcano, there is, indeed, smoke curling from the top of the mountain. No glow seems to emanate from it, however, which is a good sign - it doesn't seem like it will be boiling over with lava in the near future. The volcano looms to your right, a massive black shadow in the darkness; in front, the ground has started to slope downwards, fewer rocks and more tall grasses and shrubs.

The valley is slightly to the left, and looking into it, there are fewer growing things down there. There is smoke rising in five thin streams from the valley, one of them thicker than the others, and pooling in a thin haze over the depression. Overhead, an albatross cries and circles for a moment before heading off towards the ocean. From the valley, a gutteral sound, and then another answering it, as though they were having a conversation - whatever they are.

 

[cats]

Crystal

IC: "You are wise. Or at least your council is." I smile at Evan and sprint ahead but it isn't long before we can here sounds of well... I have no clue emanating from a small hole in the ground. I wait for the others which takes nearly no time at all.

"So I vote we go in force since sneaking failed last time."

 

[Armphid]

Evan slowed to a jog to swerve behind the tall grasses that sprouted and ran way down into the deepening gloom of the valley. He went into as quiet a slide as he could behind them, ending up in a kneeling crouch. "Now that's interesting."

Smoke in the valley could mean any number of things. But almost all of them pointed to human, or at least sentient, action. It could potentially be lava vents from the volcano steaming, sure, but then there were the voices. If they were voices. It had certainly seemed like a call and a response in low, guttural voices.

Whatever it was, just in case, taking cover behind the grass seemed wise. Crystal might be right; going in hard and strong was fairly appealing right now as opposed to more skulking about but there was no reason to give their position away if they were enemies.

He looked back for Brigitte, waving to attract her notice, though he was sure she would have seen him anyway. No cover on that side of the grass, after all. "What do you make of this?" he whispered as she drew near. "I hate to detour from our chosen path but that...looks like we may have enemies closer at hand, or the hostages."

 

[Kinkerhell]

Brigitte drew up beside Evan and dropped down, sitting on her heels. She didn't immediately respond, instead listening for a moment, but she couldn't make out what the voices in the valley were saying, or even if they were human. She pursed her lips, thinking.

"I don't know. Looks like we have three options. One is to just detour around them and hope that there's not a mix of monsters and hostages down there. Its not exactly a hero's way to hope like that, though." She shrugs. "The second is that we could make a lot of noise, do something flashy and distracting and see if they'll come out to play. Again, though, that doesn't really seem our style."

Brigitte smiled thinly. "The option I favor, on the other hand, is simple. Lets blow in there like a kansas tornado, kill every monster we can get our hands on, and drive the rest of them ahead of us to the volcano. Downsides; we may get beat up in this fight, and whatever's at the volcano will see us coming. Upsides; bunch of dead monsters, and if we can get them moving fast and scared, we can use them as pathfinders, blazing a trail so we know where its safe to step. I don't want to walk into the titanspawn equivalent of a landmine or a deadfall, do you?"

 

[Armphid]

He waited for the pale and lethal beauty to speak, his own eyes trained on the valley; hoping to catch some movement or further sign of who or what lay below. Once her melodious voice began, however, his fertile earth eyes turned to her.

Her analysis of the situation was sound, as far as he knew. Evan was more than willing to acknowledge Brigitte as far more experienced than him when it came to battle and fighting. Plus, it was...engaging to see her purse her lips, give that tiny head shake she probably didn't even know she made, and then that thin, anticipatory smile.

God damn. But he really needed to focus on the task at hand.

"We're all agreed then," he said after a few moments pause. "I actually hadn't thought about watching where they went to avoid traps but it's smart thinking." As he had when confronting the mind reader at the weather station, Evan unzipped his jacket and shrugged it from his shoulders. "I'm all for some straight-up ass kicking without giving anyone the chance to put a whammy on us. I tried to play it clever last time and it burned us."

He pulled his t-shirt up and over his head, laying it down on top of his jacket. Hopefully he could come back for those. Not that he cared greatly about them but he just didn't want to be leave trash out in the wilds like the stereotypical city dweller. He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, then his neck, stretching out the muscles there.

He did a few more basic stretches and then stood up, his right hand moving to the rune tattoo on his left shoulder. "Asch." Blood welled and the haft of his god-given weapon emerged from his shoulder; Evan taking a firm grip before pulling the massive chopper from his shoulder, red running down the blade, the haft, and his own arm before it ceased. "All right then. Let's go introduce ourselves."

He had a similar expression to the reckless smile he'd worn heading off to meet the unknown titanspawn in the woods, save that the corners of his mouth were pulled wider, more tooth showing, the smile becoming almost a snarl as he strode boldly through the grass towards the closest rising spire of smoke.

 

[HookerBoots]

Crystal nods, pulling her bow from her back and stringing it easily. "I'll drop in after you both, take my shots when they're facing you." She yanks an arrow from the quiver, placing it to the string lightly. She slips back a little, circling around through the low shrubs with smooth motions, barely rustling a leaf as she passes.

As Evan strides forward into the valley, there is a momentary scramble of claws and shoes on the rocky ground, a few shouts. Sitting around a fire just outside of a cave mouth are four humanoid figures - one like the monster that had taken the shape of the researcher, two apparent humans, and one beast that looks like a scorpion with a human face where the stinger should be.

(JB: Evan = 2+7+3+10+10 = 5 successes
Crystal = 2+2+8+2+1+9+2 = 2 + 1 Epic = 3 successes
Human 1 = 5+9+6+7 = 2 successes.
Human 2 = 1+2+8+2 = 1 success.
Amanojaku = 8+4+5+6+1 = 1 success
Scorpface = 5+8+7+7+5+5+7 = 4 successes
Brigitte = 1+1+8+7+10+7 = 5 + 1 Epic = 6 successes.

Brigitte goes first, then Evan, then Crystal. Then bad guys! These guys are surprised - DVs are lowered.)

 

[Armphid]

"Don't get up, we'll let ourselves in!" Evan leaped high, swinging the vicious runic axe in both hands over his head. His legs curled back, almost meeting the head of the wicked weapon as he flew past the startled looking humans and the horrific scorpion beast.

His target had been clear the moment he had clear sight of it. The red skinned, horned shape shifting mind reader. The utter violation and helplessness he had felt as the other one had read him and used him, turned him against his comrades and broken Brigitte's heart welled up in him again. But now he did not feel sadness or despair but fury; scorching and vicious rage.

He brought his weapon down, snapping his entire body into the motion. The amanajaku raised an arm to shield itself on instinct and then shrieked as the bitter blade cleaved skin and muscle, splinted bone to flinders, ripping through the defensive limb and burying itself deep in the thing's chest.

Evan landed and ripped the axe free, "What am I thinking of now, you craven little bastard?"

 

[Kinkerhell]

Brigitte follows Evan into the valley, smiling despite herself. His cocksure, almost reckless approach was infectious, and Brigitte's blood sang in anticipation of the battle to come. Striding into the depression behind the other Aesir-spawn, Brigitte draws Gram once more and shifts her blade to a high guard, Gram's point going straight up past her ear.

Once down in the valley proper, Brigitte is hyper-alert, scanning for enemies. They're not hard to find. There is one of those red-skinned beasties they fought earlier, and an abomination, a scorpion with a human face in place of its stinger. Brigitte doesn't actually stop to think once she catches sight of them, she merely reacts.

Surging forward, Brigitte darts at the Scorpion-thing. Behind her, she can hear the crunch of the ground followed by a startling silence, as Evan moves, presumably in a leap. Sure enough, he flies past her, blazing toward the red-skinned monster like a vengeful comet. Brigitte's feet are moving with sure swiftness, carrying her toward the scorpion.

Suddenly, she is upon it, and she moves to the left, drawing up in its dexter side. Planting her feet, she rotates her shoulders and moves Gram in a deosil circle, its blade flashing down behind her. Snapping her hips, the brings the blade through the rotation into a brutal upward chop. The blade smashes into the scorpion's claw, shattering chitin and parting flesh as though it were made of tissue. The now-orphaned claw falls free and Gram bites deeply into two of the creature's legs before Brigitte tears it free, and the battle is on.

 

[HookerBoots]

From the other side of the valley, Crystal takes aim at the group of monsters, picking her target. There were two humans, or so they seemed, and 2 others. The scorpion-beast was dangerous-looking, but the red-skinned beast caught her eye. It was like the other one, the one that had tried to trick them before. Her eyes narrowed, and she pointed the bow directly at it.

Putting all of her power behind the shot, Crystal loosed her arrow, watching as it flew into through the smoke-darkened night, parting the tendrils of smoke that still rose from the campfire. As it always did, time seemed to slow while the shaft traveled through the air. In reality, she quickly pulled out another arrow and had it nocked before the first had passed through the questionable screen of smoke, but it seemed like the whole process took forever.

Until the meaty sound of the bladed shaft hitting and embedding itself into flesh. The monster crumpled to the ground, the fletching on the arrow spasming in time with the creature's last heartbeats. By the time it had hit the ground, the grey-and-black feathers had ceased their movement completely. Like a whisper in the night, Crystal slipped back and around again, aiming her next shot at the scorpion-being.

The man-faced scorpion hisses angrily at Brigitte, turning with horrible speed to face her. The human head on the end of the tail lashes forward, mouth opening to expose wickedly pointed teeth that seem to drip some sort of green liquid.

While the supernatural beings fight, the two normal humans have dropped to the ground, and seem to the scuttling out of the way, hiding behind rocks and under whatever shrubbery they can find to keep themselves out of the path of blades and arrows.

 

[Armphid]

Evan's savage grin grew as an arrow seemed to suddenly sprout from the chest of the mind reading titanspawn; the beast looking down at it in confusion for a heartbeat before it toppled backwards and crashed unmoving to the hard stone. "You're right," he laughed, "That's exactly what I was thinking of."

Brigitte had the hideous scorpion faced thing handled so he should really deal with the cowering humans. Though he was tempted to just watch her. Lord, but that girl looked damn good fighting. Or doing anything else, really, but the danger element made her even sexier in battle.

But sadly, war ogling would have to wait.

Evan moved out to where he was sure both humans could see him. "Get out here now." He used the same power now that he'd used on his comrades earlier; sending a divine compulsion to obey his order. His tone was stern but not angry. The smart thing to do would be to strike their heads off in case they were more shape shifters...but he couldn't do it. They might have been hostages, though they seemed to be more chummy with the monsters than he liked, and because of that, he had to give them a chance.

Freya's son watched them carefully, trying as best he could to read them. "You've just seen what we can do, and you know you wouldn't have a prayer against us. It looks to me like you were working with the corpses over there, which means I don't see much reason for you not to join them." He rested the haft of his axe on his right shoulder, "Unless you give me some pretty convincing ones right now."

 

[Kinkerhell]

Brigitte's blood is really singing now. The scorpion-thing's tail lashes at her face, the monster apparently undaunted by the grievous wound and loss of a limb the her last strike had inflicted. The tail-face's mouth opens, revealing a double row of shark-like teeth. Brigitte arches her body backward, throwing her head back, and the bite catches nothing but air, the jaws snapping shut like a steel trap.

Brigitte straightens and readies Gram once more, the blade pointed straight behind her. Then she feints to the right, and the tail lashes again. Stepping left, Brigitte swings Gram in a flat horizontal arc, stepping through. The blade catches the tail just above the base, severing it cleanly. Brigitte continues her step and pivots on the balls of her feet, letting Gram's momentum carry the blade all the way around into a thrust. She slams the point in between two chitin plates and throws her weight behind it. The creature's armor is split cleanly, and the last two feet of Gram's blade disappears into the thing, which lets out an unearthy, chittering scream, the falls still and silent.

Withdrawing her blade, Brigitte turns and strides up beside Evan just as he calls out to the two mortals. Idly, Brigitte reaches into her jacket and pulls out a bit of rag, which she uses to clean the gore from her precious blade while the two Scions wait for their response.

 

[HookerBoots]

The two humans stop shaking long enough to look up at Evan and Brigitte in terror. Their eyes dart to where Crystal emerges from the brush, bow still drawn. "W-w-we don't know . . . n-n-n-nothing," one of them stammers, then jumps as the other, a woman, elbows him in the ribs.

"Shut up, idiot!" She sits up, her hands spread. "Please, don't kill us. We were with them, yeah. But we weren't involved or anything with what they're doing!"

Crystal eyes them both suspiciously, her fingers moving over the bow string and the arrow nocked there. "I don't know how true that is," she says slowly.

The woman gives her a nasty look. "Okay, I maybe overheard a few things." She shrugs a little. "It's nothing important, but they're inside there, planning some sort of ritual. I think I heard them say something about infusing someone with the essence of fire, or some such." The man glares at her. "What? I hear things, sometimes!"

 

[Armphid]

Evan could usually tell when people were lying. Now it was possible that these two were fantastic liars and had him completely fooled, but he'd bet against it. They were certainly sincere in their desire to not be killed. "That's a start but not enough. If you were with those," he gestured at the dead titanspawn, "and the rest then you've seen some bad things happen to the researchers and eco-tourists and done shit about it. And that's worthy of a Blood Eagle to my people."

He let the axe fall from his shoulder and swing back and forth in front of him a few times. "Talk. Tell me about the researchers and what happened to them, where they are if they're still alive. How many titanspawn and what kinds? Who or what is the leader?"

"Give me that and you might get out of here just missing your hands." He glared down at the cowering pair as hard as he could, "Give me a lot more and you might even get out in one piece."

 

[HookerBoots]

The man and woman both blanched at the large axe swinging back and forth in front of them. They glanced at each other, and the woman sighed heavily. "All right, look. The researchers got grabbed and taken into the volcano," she gestures at a fissure in the rocks behind them, "maybe 12 hours ago?"

The guy swallows hard and nods. "Yeah, I think they got taken to the center? I don't know, they don't tell us a lot." His hands shake as he scrubs them through his hair. "I don't know if they're still alive, I don't think the ritual's started yet, and the Servants wouldn't kill them before they knew if it would work."

There is a moment of silence, and they both look at each other again. The woman starts talking again, more slowly. "There are about 10 more of us inside, but there are 5 Servants - what you call Titanspawn, I think, inside." She swallows hard. "The leader is called Harald Mountainburner, and he is," her eyes shine with admiration and something else - uncomfortably, you realize she might be in love with this being, "the most incredible man ever."

With a snort, the man shakes his head. "He's a giant, Lerissa. A fire giant. You couldn't even come within arm's length, he'd crisp you." With an eyeroll, he looks back at Evan and the others. "The others are . . . two more of the Scorpios, one of the Horned Lords, and two Pyriads - like nymphs, but in lava. Is that enough? Can we," one of his hands grasps the other arm's wrist, "keep our hands?"

 

[Armphid]

Evan wanted to strike the man down and the woman too. Whether they knew it or not, they were willing working for forces that would drown all the world in fire and burn every living man, woman, and child to ash. But he'd also told them that if they talked, he'd harm them less.

He felt an almost physical weight, knowing this decision was largely his, and that the others would honor it. If he let them go, they might do more evil. But to do anything now would be in cold blood...yet they'd helped the titanspawn of their own will? They had to know this might happen. Or did they?

God, why couldn't any part of this be easy?

"Strip. Give your clothes to her," he gestured to Crystal. "Then go that way," he pointed with the axe away from the valley and the meteorological station, out into the forest. "It's on you to survive at that point, on your own wits and strength. We won't follow you, living or dying will be on you." He paused and then went on, "We have your clothes and magical links to you from them, your hair, your scent."

Evan's voice grew colder and fiercer, the young actor pouring all of his talent into making this as convincing as possible. "Should you ever, EVER, link up with or work for monsters again against humanity, we will know it. We will come for you. And you will beg us for death before we're finished with you."

They were trembling as they undressed, Evan letting them get down to their underclothes before he growled, "Enough. Run." They stared a moment, "Run now!"

They broke and bolted, running away through the darkness of the valley and soon were lost to sight. Evan sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I hope I don't regret doing that." Then he took a deep breath, "Sounds like we've got a ritual to disrupt and people to save." He turned back towards the fissure the woman had indicated and strode towards it, "Let's make a legend for ourselves."

 

[HookerBoots]

"Evan, wait!" Crystal called, trotting up behind him. "I'm better at sneaking than either of you - let me go ahead." She tugs on a pair of leather gloves and nocks another arrow, keeping the bow at the ready as she slips inside of the fissure. "Follow behind, and I'll call if I need help."

The archer vanishes into the cavern, moving on silent feet. The night outside in the valley is quiet, just the sounds of the ocean and the wildlife on the island breaking the silence. After a few seconds that seem to take an eternity, one of Crystal's leather-clad hands slips out of the fissure, beckoning to Evan and Brigitte.

 

[Armphid]

Evan was used to hands beckoning him into bed rooms (or dressing rooms, or sets, or any number of places really), not monster infested volcanoes. He took a deep breath and stalked in after the slender huntress, shifting his axe and holding it vertically to slip inside.

The fissure widened after perhaps seven feet or so and then opened out into a roundish, smooth sided chamber that felt all the world like an anteroom. It was dark but not completely, a faint ruddy glow coming from beyond the room he and Crystal were in now. He moved forward to give Brigitte room to slide into the area and moved to the passage on the other side.

That glow worried him a little; it was all too easy to imagine a flow of magma ahead of them, possibly slowing but inevitable pouring their way. If he got thrown or knocked into it, he could probably withstand the heat for a while but the weight of the liquid stone had a real danger of pulling him under.

Drowning in magma was not in his top ten ways to die. Not even in the top twenty, actually.

Still, it didn't look like they'd been noticed yet. With luck they could creep up and throw at least that horned mind reader into the magma before the real fight started. Assuming they weren't walking into a trap.

Evan looked back at the girls and grinned, then crept forward again. Careful and slow, trying to use cover as best he could.

 

[Kinkerhell]

Brigitte stalks forward, following Evan like a pale shadow, never far behind him. Once inside the tunnel, Brigitte's professional paranoia takes over. Something isn't right here. Brigitte looks warily around, getting the sense that there's something waiting, just out of sight, but sees nothing. She immediately begins assessing conditions, exits, fire lanes.

Ten seconds later, she decides that this situation sucks.

The tunnel is too narrow for her to really get going, not when swinging around a five foot sword, and in a confined space like this, a gunshot would be deafeningly loud. Unless they wan't to abandon the researchers to their fates, it looks like the only way is forward, probably straight into a trap.

Brigitte presses even closer to Evan, wishing she'd brought her short blade, but its still back in the forest. Damn, this just keeps getting worse and worse. Ahead, the fitful glow of the next chamber beckons, a sullen red-orange that could be molten rock, torchlight, or something more eldritch. Brigitte stops and taps Evan on the shoulder, then points at Crystal and moves two fingers in a walking motion, then points at her eyes, then finally at the entrance to the next chamber.

 

[HookerBoots]

Crystal nods and slips forward, poking her head into the next room. There was a creepy feeling here, like someone or something watching. It wasn't very pleasant, knowing you were sneaking into somewhere filled with monsters and having the sensation of being watched. It would be different if that feeling didn't usually turn out to be validated.

The next room is larger, far wider and longer as well, the illumination coming from a sheet of lava pouring down along one wall. It is warmer in there as well, at least 20 degrees hotter than the anteroom. There is one guard, a regular human, drowsing against the far wall next to a doorway that seems to lead downward.

Crystal pulls her head back into the room and holds up one finger, then mimes falling asleep. She shrugs and tucks the bow behind her back, slipping back into the room again. He barely stirs as she approaches, one small fist balling up as she comes closer. Just before she's close enough to tough, his eyes open dreamily and he blinks. His mouth opens to yell and alarm, but too slowly. Crystal punches him, hitting his jaw, and he collapses in a heap. She catches him and eases him to the floor of the cave, checking his pulse.

Sure that he's still alive, Crystal turns around and gestures for Evan and Brigitte to come inside. As they come in, she ties his hands and feet using scraps of his own clothing, and gags him the same way.

 

[Armphid]

The guard was rolled, none too gentle, off to one side of the chamber, away from the curtain of lava that fell into the ruddy glow coming from beneath. Evan smiled at Crystal, "Nice right hook you've got. We should hit Vegas after this and roll the heavyweight champ."

Assuming there was an after this, of course. Though even being Aesir, he shouldn't be so negative.

The ramp that the unconscious man had been guarding turned into a surprisingly well hewn and level staircase that curled down in a tight spiral. For the first part of the descent, it was contained in the stony walls, though heat could be felt even through the rock. After about fifteen feet going down, the walls suddenly fell away though the staircase continued down another twenty feet or so. Below them was a wide, deep chamber with a ceiling that rose further beyond the immediate vision the scions had. The sheet of magma from the room above pours down far closer to the stair than is necessarily comfortable; falling into a glowing, molten pool below.

The pool was roughly oval in shape, perhaps sixteen feet on length and it's width varying from five to twelve feet, and no way to tell how deep it may be. The magma pours steadily into it, the pool slowly creeping wider to those whose eyes were sharp enough to see the stone at the edge slowly succumbing and melting into it.

Movement in the pool drew Evan's eyes as he came to the bottom of the stair, Crystal just ahead of him and moving left, and Brigitte coming behind. He blinked as a pair of figures turned from where they were swimming and reclining by the pool and let out a breath that became an appreciative murmur, "Taking hot a bit too far...but I don't know if I mind." They had seen the group on the stair and moved to the edge of the pool but no further, making no moves, just watching.

The shapes were clearly female and just as clearly nude. Their bodies were lush and shapely with large, high, pert gravity defying breasts and toned stomachs, round hips sweetly ample asses that led into long, supple legs. Between their legs was a bare vagina, smooth and slightly engorged, somehow seeming a bit slick and wet despite their scorching environment. They were slightly smaller than average, perhaps a few inches over five feet in height. Their skin was the same orange-red as the magma they seemed to move through with ease, their eyes only demarcated by the structure of their faces and the fact that the burning color was brighter there, as though they were a direct opening into the heart of some inner furnace. Their ears were half again as large as a human's and pointed sharply, above each ear was a long horn that curved up and slightly back, each perhaps measuring two feet in length. Other than the horns, their heads were bare, as were their whole bodies, not a hair or even eyelash to be seen.

They smiled as the god blooded heroes came to a halt before their pool, their teeth incongruously white, the only part of them that was not the vibrant orange-red color of magma.

Evan felt his body responding to their lushness, to their profound yet alien beauty, biting back a groan as his manhood swelled and stiffened in his jeans. Trap, trap, remember that they're as dangerous as the fire giant, maybe more. "Well, ladies," he whispered, hoping his words would reach the ears of his companions but not the pyriads, "I'm not sure how to proceed here, they don't seem to be hostile...openly, anyway."

 

[Kinkerhell]

Brigitte blinks as the magma naiads...pyriads? Maiads? Lava nymphs? Anyway, as the two titanspawn turn and smile at the heroes. Brigitte is suddenly thankful that she's categorically immune to flames as her eyes rove over the magma-hued women. They have bodies built for bedrooms, and just enough exotic with the horns and coloring to appeal to even such a jaded soul as Brigitte. The recling one rises with a sinuous, suggestive motion, one hand trailing between her legs, one fingertip just barely dipping inside her before traveling up her body. She tweaks both her nipples and bites her lip as her hands trail over her breasts reaching up to stretch, her back arching, her chest thrown out.

Brigitte's nipples tighten, hard enough to cut glass under her jacket, and its suddenly hard to breathe. Gods above and below, that was amazing to watch. She shakes herself. They're here to do a job, not get fucked senseless by two...beautiful...willing...goddamnit! Focus! Brigitte takes a deep breath and forces herself to think. She recognizes them as greek, she thinks. They're not actively hostile, or they'd have attacked already. So, what? Gatekeepers, maybe, or natives to the volcano?

Brigitte steps forward, and her voice doesn't betray her thoughts. In simple and slightly broken greek, she greets the two "women." "We are not here to harming you." She says. "We seek the others of this place. They have taking peoples, and we are wanting to free them." Now the ticklish part.

"What can I given you to let us pass?"