Hel Boys

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==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Hel’s protective seal over the ruins of the dungeon had held…surprisingly. Despite the world getting torn up around them the rebels had been able to make a reasonably comfortable camp both above and below the old dungeon. Anything outside of that area was still as deadly as a snake bite yet some, like Seasick still risked it and made adventures for themselves. Others like Grey and Treepelt remained safe inside and helped keep the rebellion running smoothly in King Haddock’s absence for recovery. Of course, the world was never one to give this particular camp a break, especially in this hostile time, and the world…was about to pitch another stone at them yet again. 
The rebels were working above ground, when suddenly they heard a rumbling in the distance. It was not the normal, earth shaking tremors that fighting gods caused. This was…smaller, and causing a large cloud of dust to make its way towards the encampment. 
Lady Grey was busy doing some of her own work under the dungeon when one of the guards came running up to her. The Lady couldn’t help but notice how frightened and confused he looked. 
“Lady Grey! Thank Hel! You need to come outside, ma’am,” he said as he stopped to catch his breath. 
“Why? What’s wrong?” she asked. 
“There’s something approaching us,” the guard replied. “I’m not sure what it is, but it’s something that you have to see for yourself.” 
Without hesitation, Grey and her dragon, Shadow followed the guard outside. When she got out, she gasped when she saw it: a huge cloud of dust coming straight toward them. Shadow growled at it as Grey stared in confusion and readied her sword…just in case. 
“What…is that thing?” she asked. 
Suddenly they all erupted from the treeline, five above average whispering deaths ripping across the field and into the dungeon area. A strange, droning horn blared and the shrikes and excited yells of the riders could be heard. 
They stood on the backs of the whispering deaths, shirtless, and shaking their arms in the air. They were covered in white war paint, and all together seemed to embody the very definition of insane mad men.
They sped into the camp, the dragons pulled themselves out of the ground and began circling around Grey and the other spectators.       
Tree was alerted by one of the guards that something strange had been approaching the camp, and angry apprehension clawed within her as she bolted for the surface, holding the paw of her son, Liam. She sensed Nalaagura up ahead and nearly collided with her body, jerking to an abrupt halt. “Did you–”
Yes. Dragons approaching, Whispering Deaths.
Tree nodded stiffly. “Take Liam and watch, this could end pretty badly.”
The tall, lean porcelain figure scooped the little squirming boy into her arms as Tree continued onward, tail waving like a fluffy banner as she emerged from the entrance of the dungeon, patting her side for her dagger and squinting into the sunlight. She saw a mound of churning earth snaking through the trees, stirring up dust and dead leaves and approaching Lady Grey. The half-cat hung back, staying within the shadows and narrowing her eyes, looking to see where she could help. The demon attempted to calm the protesting toddler as she too made her way closer to the surface, casting her consciousness about to get a sense of the threat while alerting as many people as she could about the dragons.
The Lady glared as the dragons circled around her, Shadow, and other spectators. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nala and Tree with baby Liam. 
“Gods-dammit,” she said to herself. She and Shadow looked at each other and nodded. Both the girl and dragon knew what they had to do. Grey quickly jumped on Shadow as she growled at the dragons. “Come on, girl, let’s take care of these guys.”
Shadow eyed one Whispering Death and fired a plasma blast. 
The dragon jerked violently to dodge the blast and the men around them howled with excitement, laughing loudly. The dragons came to a stop and all the men hopped off, shifting from foot to foot, leering grins on their faces. “Oi oi oi!” A raspy voice called. “Hoooooooold!” 
A young man jumped down from his dragon. His whole body saved for his head was covered in black paint, his face was painted white, and eyes smudged with black. Small animal teeth hung from his lower lip as if they were a row of fangs. His paint was washed out and smeared, as if he had been submerged in water before riding over. His hair was cut oddly in long sections, as if he had octopus tentacles attached to his scalp. 
He grinned widely as he walked forward, his eyes roaming around the area. “Ey…” he said, holding up a talon clad arm to calm the other riders. “Sister.”  
Grey furrowed her eyebrows together and looked at Shadow, who looked up at her in return. She then looked up at the man in front of her. Shadow tensed in case the man chose to attack her rider. 
“Excuse me?” she asked suspiciously. 
“Siiiiister!” The man called again, spreading his arms and tilting his head back. The men around him gave another course of war like cries. He rolled his neck, popping it loudly. “You…are a sister.” he darted forward, hopping up onto a large rock and pointing at Tree. “As are you!” he turned, pointing at another rebel. “And you!” he sighed, jumping down and striding up to where Liam was being held. “And thiiiiis ehehehehe, this is a little….little…brother.” 
Liam hissed and scrambled up further into the Warden’s arms, growling in a very upset, feline way. “Go ‘way!” he squeaked. “No brother!”
Nala’s eyes flared and she held him close, red staining her normally violet essence. Tree marched over and got in his face, baring her teeth. “You leave my son alone. What do you want?” Her claws extended at her sides and her tail lashed from side to side. She was done with lunatics threatening their home.
“Give me a fucking break,” Fiendal said to himself as he walked over to the commotion, kicking up dirt on his way over, then made it so that everyone could see him. “What's going on?” he said as he looked around, making sure that everyone could see him. He quickly reworded his sentence as he saw the child. “If I have to strangle someone, I will,” he warned.
“Strangling….? Children…?” the strange man said, hunching over as he turned to look at Fiendal. He walked over to him. “You…are sick.” he grinned, and then stepped forward, hugging him around the middle and hoisting him into the air before setting him down again. “Funny guy brother!” he yelled in his face, and then marched back to the middle of the circle. “We all could use people such as yourselves.” he turned, looking at Grey. “After all….we’re all on the same side. And that’s why we’re here.”
He spread his arms, turning in a circle. “To let all of you join our ranks, to make it one big happy brotherhood!” 
Grey furrowed her eyebrows together as she stepped off Shadow. 
“Same side?” she asked. “You mean…you fight for the goddess of Helheim in Ragnarok?”
“We?” the man said, placing his hands on his chest. “We were for our great lady long before Ragnarok, sister…” He licked his lips. “My name is Razial al Jereido. And these are my Hel boys.” He tilted his chin up. “Tell me…who was in charge here?”
“You’re looking at her,” Grey said, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m Lady Grey Bergman of the United Revolutionaries, second-in-command to King Haddock of the Wilderwest.”
“Fantastic!” Razial said, baring his teeth almost like a wolf. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down there,” she said. “You can’t just barge in here demanding to talk to the King like that. He’s not…exactly well. Whatever you need to say to him, you can to me, and maybe I’ll take you to him as long as the three of us are together.”
Razial eyed her for a second, and then clicked his fingers, twirling a finger in the air. “Booooooys!” he called. “I am going to meet the head brother of this place. Now…all these people here are our new brothers and sisters, treat them as you would family, and I will be right back.” He put an arm around Grey’s shoulders, stretching an arm out. “Shall we go?”
Fiendal took the man's arm off of Lady Grey and faced towards him, saying “You might consider us siblings, but we hardly know you, and so far your actions have been rude and invasive. Nobody here trusts you so far and you’re acting as if we were raised together.” He cocked his head to one side and put his hand up. “If I see a hint of violence, I'm going to turn your clothes against you.” He turned to face where the group was headed. “Anyway, let's go.”
“Fiendal, I appreciate you trying to help,” Lady Grey said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder, “but it’s okay. I don’t think they’ll harm us.” She quickly took him aside making sure Razial didn’t hear anything. “But just in case, I am going to need you to stay close by while we talk to King Haddock. This way if anything happens, Stonegit and I will have some back up. Sound good?”
“Since you are concerned though,” Razial cut in. “My boys will keep a no contact position on things until I have things sorted out with the older brother of this place.” He clapped his hands twice, jerking his head towards the bunker and tugging on a bit of Grey’s hair. “Les go.”
Grey raised an eyebrow as she quickly and gently pushed Razial’s hand away from her hair. She had to admit that she wasn’t liking how touchy-feely this guy was getting with them…especially her. 
“Fine, let’s go,” she said. “Nala, keep an eye on these guys. If anything happens, alert me and Haddock immediately. Shadow, come with me, girl.” 
The Night Fury quickly trotted over to her best friend wary of the stranger next to her. “Follow me,” Grey then said to Razial. 
From around a corner, nonchalantly leaning against the wall but for one hand on the hilt of his greatsword, Mrindhal watched and listened.  
A whole gang of these men, all with dragons, overly cheerful, tribal in garb.  Calling everyone brothers and sisters?  Wanting to meet with the head brother?
He already didn’t like them.  They were too loud.
Worst yet, they were from the outside.  There were a lot of them.  
Mrindhal really didn’t want to have to find another place to hide.  He had grown accustomed to the Grounded Dungeon, and he was the safest he’d ever been since that night.  But these men reminded him too much of bounty hunters.  Were they?  What did they want?
Might have to go somewhere else, he resigned himself, but he quietly followed as inconspicuously as a seven foot man with horns and a dragon tail could, still watching.
Razial stopped mid stride when he and Grey passed Mrindhal, turning his head to look at him. He rubbed his chin, a metal band was clamped tightly around his wrist and sharp animal claws were attached to it, forming a crude melee weapon. It was obvious the man was sizing the half breed up. 
“I will see if the King is seeing anyone today,” one of the guards said upon seeing their approach, walking away. 
Razial didn’t seem to hear him though. “You look tough,” he said to Mrindhal. 
Mrindhal simply nodded, scowling green eyes never leaving Razial.  He did his best to maintain an intimidating aura, drawing a little bit of power to aid him.
Please don’t recognize me please don’t recognize me please don’t recognize me please don’t recognize me please don’t recognize me oh gods he does doesn’t he.
He unconsciously willed the dark into his blood and his skin, leaving a slight black and red sheen to his scales.  Just in case they planned to gut him.  His hand never left the hilt of his greatsword.
Razial got closer, leaning forward and stretching his neck out. He held that position for a second, and then he leaned back, giving a wolfish grin. “Yera fine chap,” he said.
“Grey,” Stonegit’s voice interrupted the talk. He was standing in front of the door that led to the King, and moved his head a little to motion the Lady over. “A word?”
The Lady turned to Shadow and gestured her head toward Razial. “Keep an eye on him, girl,” she said. She then turned to Stonegit. “What’s up?” she whispered. 
“Listen close,” Stonegit whispered seriously. “If I’m correct these guys are an old sect of hel worshippers known as ‘creepers.’ They’re a group that offered sacrifices and trials in honor of the goddess. Only they started this before Hel’s true nature was revealed.” He bit his lip. “They’re insane, they think Hel is some form of god of chaos, a spirit that thrives on violence and death. They have a long history of barbaric raids and only men have been seen in their ranks so please, please keep an eye on the women of this camp.” He breathed a sigh. “I don’t know what they’ll do if they are turned away, and we certainly don’t know what they’ll do if they find out our position and viewpoint of Hel.”
Grey’s eyes widened as she listened to Stonegit’s explanation. Sacrifices…violence….death…? This was just getting better and better, wasn’t it? The fact that they were only made up of men would explain why the leader wanted to speak with Haddock and not with her. 
“Okay,” she said. “I have the Warden keeping an eye on the group outside. She can alert both me and Haddock if something happens, but we’ll take some safety measures after we talk things over.”
Outside, the Hel boys had made a fire and were standing around it in a circle. They played on their strange droning instruments and took turns spitting flames from their lips, using a flaming stick and a mouthful of strong alcohol.
A young boy, no more than sixteen, walked up to Tree, holding up a small tooth earring. “Every brother ought to have a mark of the tribe, don’tcha think?” he stuck his arm out. “Here…give it to him.” 
Tree’s ears flicked even further backwards. “Let’s get one thing straight here. We have our...tribe...and you have yours. Just because you worship Hel does not unite us.” Inwardly she was rather unnerved, more so than she would have been if they had shown outright hostility. She looked off a distance to where Nala was watching Liam while she watched the strange tribal members. Giving him a hard look, she moved over to the Warden and mumbled within her thoughts, Switch with me. I don’t trust these men.
Very well. Liam reached out for Nala and fell back on his rear as she stood and prowled near the tribal strangers, watching them with her sharp red eyes. Tree picked up her son and looked to the dark entrance of the dungeon. Stay safe, Grey.
Category:EU
Category:Events
Category:Razial
Category:Grey Bergman
Category:The Warden
Category:Treepelt Halfpaw
Category:Liam Arnason
Category:Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss