Temple Gate

"Temple Gate" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Like a screech loud enough to blind someone, @demon-in-the-dungeon Nala’s mind erupted with a disturbance as her mental sensors past over the islands west of the Hiligan camp.
White noise still keening in her ears, she heard hear the sound of breathing in her ears and behind her skull. There was a long, steady inhale.
Come get me…
It was a spell, a spell to send a simple message matched with someone knowing her awareness would detect the disturbance. Something seriously wrong had happened in a previously unassuming area. 
demon-in-the-dungeon 
On the west side of one of the lower peaks of Haligan, a statue-still figure suddenly turned its expressionless face to the dawning sky, startling several nearby birds, and it rose to its feet and began sprinting down the mountainside. Her bounding strides were massive enough to be considered fatal jumps at some point in the vertical climb downwards, but she landed deftly and continued towards the village. In Haligan proper, several intense mental spikes drove outwards towards the leaders, alerting them with an impression of what she had felt and where she was headed.
Liam shot to his feet from Kendra’s side as Nala’s huge demon form sprinted at an ungodly speed through Haligan, leaving a trail and spray of dust and gravel in her wake. He mentally tried to flag her down but she was completely closed off from him, which shook him. Kendra jumped up beside him as well, her eyes huge. He knew she sensed the same thing.
Liam moved just as quickly up to Lila, grabbing her arm in a panic. “What’s happening?” he demanded. “Where the Hel is she going?”
hubwalker1 
Having heard what she had the half-breed knew exactly what Nala was doing. “Nala, stop. Now.” She commanded firmly.
demon-in-the-dungeon 
I won’t. She did not pause, and Liam stared after her disappearing form in a frenzy.
hubwalker1 
She frowns and uses her flames to propel herself in front of the demon. “If you do this, you’ll be the one putting this island in danger Nalaagura.” She said, trying to get her to think, or at the very least pause.
demon-in-the-dungeon 
Nala took a running leap to shame most deer and cleared Lila easily, continuing without looking back. Gritting his teeth, Liam grabbed Kendra’s hand and the two of them began running for the dragon stables, both hearts beating from anticipation and fear.
hubwalker1 
Lila growls and preforms another boosted leap. “So you just don’t care that your stupid actions are going to kill us all? That this is exactly what he wants you to do? That every time you’ve met him force for force you’ve failed and he’s the one that’s triumphed. All you care about is your vendetta? Is that what you’re saying right now?”
demon-in-the-dungeon 
An extreme wave of force blasted out in front of Nala, pushing Lila a distance back as she continued her charge forward, eyes burning. A slight projection of red energy glistened on her mask in the shape of an open-fanged growl. You are a coward who would brand me a reckless fool, she thundered, for the entire island to hear, because you won’t stand to see me fail again. I have a duty to fulfill. The scarlet jaws opened wider. G̶̛et̢.́ ̴̢O̷̡̡u̷̡t.̷͘ ̛͝O̶͝f̛͝. ̴̢M͞ý.̨͡ W͝a̕y҉.͜͏
She severed their mental connection and raced past the commander of the new rebellion, headed directly for the signal she picked up on.
hubwalker1 
Lila plants her feet, grits her teeth, looks her in the eye and says. “No.” She slowly draws her sword and flies past her once more, scraping her blade against her porcelain shoulder. “If you want me out of your way, you’ll have to kill me. Because I will not let you throw away all of our lives for your pride.”
demon-in-the-dungeon 
The white demon body reached out and snatched Lila’s sword arm and twisted so that it brought her down to the ground, digging in a heel and turning completely around. It grabbed Lila by each arm and pinned her to the ground, placing a knee on her chest, and locked up like a statue. Her burning essence dwindled to a smolder and she fell silent. But behind her, a quick swath of energy could be seen leaving her body and streaking into the edge of town.
hubwalker1 
She struggles in vain to get the Colossus off of her. Seeing the fleshy parts of her body she gets an idea and wreaths her body in flames, pushing herself to get hotter and hotter, the blue flames returning to her as the muscles begin to crackle and snap as they’re burnt away. Before too long she manages to free herself. She looks after where she had gone and curses. She glances down to her blade as it caught the rays of the sun. She lifts it to her eyes as her reflection stares back at her.
“If you won’t listen to words Aunt Nala, perhaps you’ll listen to actions.” She said as she turns the blade on hers, the tip pressed against her stomach. She takes a deep breath as she looks up towards the horizon. “My heart for Haligan.” She says as she drives the sword through her abdomen.
demon-in-the-dungeon 
NO!!!
The demon froze in a boiling sphere in the center of the forest, raging with sudden fear and reluctance to move forward. With a stream of curses, she turned her presence towards Haligan.
“Warden, stop.”
She whirled. A hooded figure stood between three trees, gazing darkly at her. It occurred to her that she hadn’t seen him since his disappearance several months back, and she immediately lashed out at him. It glanced harmlessly off his mind. “You can’t go,” Milae said in a low voice.
She gives me no choice, the Warden snarled.
“She dooms herself and her home. Rhenco will be on Haligan within the hour if someone does not rise to his challenge.”
Rhyll uf’t ci'lag, she spat at him, her essence twisting and flying back towards the village with an angry glow. Milae raised his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly to the left, acknowledging an invisible presence there.
“What was that?”
“I am not at liberty to translate that for you.”
“Wonderful.” He glared after her. “As usual, I am left to clean up her messes.”
He lifted his arms, which were glistening with blood, and vanished.
The alchemic circle glowed and thrummed in the dimly lit room. Rhenco walked around them idly as he made sure they were properly maintained. So much of his power was solely focused on his regeneration, it took him quite a bit of time to make anything else, specifically in the realm of his less refined sorcery. The transmutation that had allowed him to displace and replace earth from his hotel to Sven’s house had been such a mess to pull off this was the first time he had been able to do anything else on a larger scale. 
A circle of suppression and fog…now broken…my the demon must have been surprised when this suddenly pinged off. Otherwise she would have noticed days ago… No doubt all of this will attract Milae…Milae…
Rhenco closed his eyes, his feet sloshing as he walked back across the room, a smaller incantation circle on a pillar. It pulsed periodically as if sending out a frequency, and he leaned in towards it. “Who else is coming?” He whispered in a low voice, and then touched the circle with a thumb. 
“I love you…”
The words were caught up in the circles pulse, and carried out over the town, rippling over the ocean, and across the ears of those who were intent on finding this place.
@lbigreyhound13 @demon-in-the-dungeon 
foresight-botgd
Milae pressed a hoof to his mouth and took a deep breath, trying to keep his rolling stomach calm. This was all going so, so wrong. It was moving too fast. He could only find one other instance of this event in the surrounding timelines, but without warning, everything had stilled. Milae later found out it was because Rhenco had dropped dead in his hideout as though a god had struck him down, with no markings, no indication as to the cause. 
Thus, his efforts had been useless. He had no information.
He craned his long neck around the tree and gripped his naginata, heart thundering. He was hoping the same thing would happen again in this timeline, but he couldn’t count on that. He had to scout the area, and he had to do it very carefully. 
He began to creep forward, out of the treeline.
moe-lazyeye
At the edge of the trees, and down a steep ravine, was the town of Temple Gate. It’s ramshackle structure was less because of it being old, but more because the whole town had been crafted with unskilled hands with whatever scrap wood and metals the population had gotten its hands on. A thick river wound its way below the town, and a large steeple like structure rose high above the rest of the roofs. 
And it was still…eerily…still. 
The low light of the setting sun cast odd shadows off the buildings, and gave the whole place a reddish hue. Milae could see only snippets of movement here and there from the corners of the houses, or the crop lines of the fields. It was hard to tell if it were people peeking out to look around, or animals just passing through too quickly to be detected. 
However, there was at least one fairly stationary figure, a man at the base of the river, crouched down as if trying to fish something out of the water… 
foresight-botgd
Milae eyed the village buildings before turning aside and looking out at the river, planting the butt of his staff in the soil and lifting his chin. 
“You there. Identify yourself, and tell me where Rhenco is.”
moe-lazyeye
The man jumped and looked at him with wide eyes, and then hurried to wade into the river as if to get some distance from him. “Keep back from me!” He said as he waved his hands at him, and Milae could see that he was covered in bruises and scratch marks. “I don’t know who that is! And I won’t fall for any tricks!”
foresight-botgd
Milae gritted his flat teeth. “Then what are you doing here? Chief Grey didn’t authorize this town; you’d best move on before she comes to interrogate you.”
moe-lazyeye
“Doing here? Authorized town?” The man’s eyes flickered. “You aren’t like the others aren’t you?” He gave a quick glance up at the setting sun and then began to flounder through the river to get to the town. “It’s almost night, you’ll want to get out of here. But if you still have to find someone in town, I’d come my way…I know a safe way through…” 
foresight-botgd
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Milae said harshly. “Tell me what’s going on here, or I will become much less friendly with you and everyone on this island.”
moe-lazyeye
The man shook his head as he continued to hurry away from him. “Risk the others if you want! I’m getting in doors!”
foresight-botgd
Almost night…indoors…
Milae scowled in his direction and hefted his weapon again, moving forward only far enough to inspect the river to see if anything was amiss where the man had been. It sounded like he needed to wait for sunset if he was to truly grasp the situation at hand.
moe-lazyeye
Deep inside the town…
Rhenco’s eyes rolled back front ways and his hands drew away from a glowing sigil that wavered idly in a puddle of blood. So first you burn me and now you do this? The demon is supposed to be here…
He stood up and glanced at the glyph on the pillar. He concerned sending another message, maybe this one to Grey. The stag missing. The guard unresponsive. The first of my three promises ended with me barely harming someone I dont even care about…now my second promise is being inhibited as well…
His head suddenly tilted as he heard a nose. Rhenco turned around easily and took note of his surroundings.
The sunken floor of the room was very gradually filling with more blood, the heads from a line of cattle corpses slowly draining into the pool from where their horns had been forcefully ripped from their heads. The clink of hanging chains and old farming equipment could be heard as a gentle wind blew through an open window.
Rhenco began to walk past a stone crafted chair at the end of the pit, and towards the back of the building. “Is someone there?” He asked plainly.
moe-lazyeye
His long fingers pulled open a basement door and he stepped down into an old slaughter room. An opened pig, that had been abandoned in the middle of its processing, was gently nudged aside. He paused, and let his fingernails graze down its side. “Oh Farris how I miss you…”
He blinked as he heard a noise again and stepped closer to the back of the room. He could feel…a connection…It was Milae…he was close…and there was something…here…something he could sense. His breath caught.
“Oh of course…you’ve been here and done this already haven’t you Milae? Or at least you’ve tried…” he turned his head towards East, as if somehow knowing that was direction Milae was coming from. “But we’re connected now aren’t we? Which means…maybe I get an advantage too…”
His eyes closed, and he drew the sigil he used to teleport himself, only slightly altered. He wouldn’t be able to replicate the one he used to take Sven, that was too precise. This…this was a gamble.
The portal opened on his side…and opend somewhere else on the other side. Rhenco’s fingers flexed. “Who…is…here!” His arm shot through, grabbing whatever or whoever came within reach, and hauled back with all his might.
foresight-botgd
“GAH!”
A thickly-built half-breed came stumbling through the portal and landed on his face, immediately scrabbling upright and smearing away the filth and blood staining the bristly hairs across most of his face. His piglike nose flared and he tried wrenching out of the grip he suddenly found himself in, roaring in disbelief and shock. “Get off me!” he snarled. “What in the name of Odin’s shit-stained pants do you think you’re doing!?” The boar’s amber brown eyes locked with Rhenco’s.
moe-lazyeye
In the lowlight of the room, the boar was able to just register the glint and level of liflessness in his attackers eyes. Then there was a rattling snap as the upstairs sigils and projection glyphs broke, and Rhenco was on him.
The man’s hands grabbed at the half breed as his legs entangled with his, the pair of them falling harshly to the ground. Rhenco slickly pulled out his knife and pressed it to his neck as he simultaneously grabbed one of his tusks and pulled upwards on it to lock the boar against the blade.
Bhaem snorted and the whites of his eyes showed as he tilted his head back, trying to struggle out from underneath him. "Jeez! What's your deal!?" The smell in the place he had just gotten dragged into made him feel incredibly sick, and filled him with dread. The air was hot and cloying and sticky, and his skin was crawling with unease. He wanted out.
Mar 4, 2020
There was a clatter from above, and the muffled sound of people struggling could be heard. It was an awful kind of struggle though, as if both people were simultaneously victimizing each other. Rhenco, however, didn’t even seem to notice the shrieking from outside. He leaned in closer to get a better look at Bhaem, keeping him in place with the knife. Eventually he breathed in a long, thin stream of air, and moved to that he pulled them both up and into a standing position.
The sound of someone choking could be heard outside as Bhaem got a better look around the room. Off to the side of the abandoned butcher station, were several pens with bound humans inside of them. They were all very, very quiet as they huddled in the corners on a thin spread of straw. Rhenco tilted his head. “Let’s go upstairs.” 
Mar 4, 2020
The half-breed took about two seconds to sum up the situation in his head before looking back at Rhenco. "How about let's not," he stated, trying to step backwards and look for an opening to dart and escape.
Mar 4, 2020
Rhenco kept a hold of his tusk, and the knife bit the side of his neck lightly. "You're safer here..." he said in a low voice. His other hand came around to grab his arm, his thumb pressing into the underside of his wrist. "Come upstairs..." he said again, the tension in the room like a taunt cable about to snap.
Mar 4, 2020
After a moment of thick silence, Bhaem relaxed his stance, indicating that he would allow himself to be led, but he still wore a determined grimace across his mouth, baring his tusks. “Fine.”
Mar 4, 2020
Rhenco tipped his head just enough to show he acknowledged his words, and then guided him towards the stairs.
As they began to ascend, the bare upper torso of a man crashed through the ground level window, and blood flecked the broken glass as trails began to make their way down the rough wood of the wall. The man howled as the sounds of thrashing and cutting could be heard from outside to the other half of his body. After several moments of struggle, the man was pushed rest of the way through, and a second naked body clawed it's way in as well, shredding itself on the glass as it did so.
"By the way, what's your name?" Rhenco asked as the fiasco ensued behind them.
Mar 4, 2020
“Fucking Aesir, move faster,” Bhaem muttered, trying to pick up the pace. “Does it matter? I’m getting out of here.”
Mar 4, 2020
Teeth clamped around the flesh of the struggling man, and the room filled with a piercing shriek.
"Oh no..." Rhenco murmured in a low voice, his fingers coming up to almost experimentally pinch at one of his tusks. "...no you're not..." he tapped the flat of the knife on the front of the boars hips, and then leaned up back towards the stairs. "Come on..."
Mar 4, 2020
“Whose side are you on?” he demanded, still following, but certainly unwillingly. “The factions? The Wilderwest? The South? What are you looking for? What do you want? Surely we can come to an agreement.”
Mar 4, 2020
Rhenco walked with him up stairs and calmly closed the doors. The captured humans below huddled in their pen corners and some began to bury themselves under matted straw. The two men where still fighting by the time the latch swung shut. Bhaem took note of the livestock corpses and the center facing chair. All my other sigils are broken...days of preparation cut short...hopefully the gamble is worth it.
He glanced back at him. “My side is my own...and I think we can come to an agreement. Because what I want right now is for two people to visit me, to play a very, old, game. The demon...and Milae.” 
Mar 4, 2020
Bhaem widened his eyes and slowed a bit, pulling against the knife’s grip again. “I-I don’t--Milae is gone, probably dead. He deserted. I haven’t seen him in years, I don’t know anything, I swear!” His talk of demons was less shocking than hearing about his runaway friend from his old squadron days, before Bhaem had gone on the run himself.
Mar 4, 2020
Rhenco dropped the knife and grabbed either side of his head, his thumbnails pressing into his forehead lightly as he stared into Bhaem's eyes. His actions were manic, but his expressions and gaze void of energy, or even life. It was a clash of imagery that induced headaches. "Oh he's not dead..." Rhenco almost whispered. "He's going to come here...you dont have to know anything Aesir...you're all I could want for this."
Mar 4, 2020
“E-enough. Get off. You’re just straight up insane.” Bhaem pushed at Rhenco and tried to swerve around him again. “Just tell me where you yanked me to, and I’ll be on my way back home.”
Mar 4, 2020
A chain snagged around Bhaem's neck from behind, and Rhenco yanked him back, and lashed him to the heavy chair by a metal bolt. The knife was grabbed back up and he moved around to face him. As he spoke Bhaem felt as though his head were filling with a fog. "I yanked to the place that will make Milae squirm..."
Rhenco's eyebrows moved a little as the door was shoved open, and Milae's form pushed his way through. The two starred at one another for a moment, and then the goat half breed charged over.
Setting Bhaem's chain so it was secure, Rhenco got, and in a flash, plunged his knife into Milae's neck. They staggered there for a moment, and fell back into the sunken pool. Rhenco's arm came back and gave several vicious strokes, before he used a sawing motion to take off the half breeds head.
He breathed in a slow stream of air through his nose. "Let's see how many times we get to do that..."
Mar 4, 2020
Bhaem thrashed against his sudden restraints in hysteric shock, his eyes locked to the bleeding corpse of his friend...the first time he’d seen him in years. Now he was...the boar had to gulp down his nausea, and his eyes watered with the sudden smell and the surge of dreadful emotion in his gut. The goat’s eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling as blood pulsed across the floor, soaking it in crimson.
“What’d you do!?” he choked, pulling against the chains until they broke his skin. “What the fuck did you do, you monster!?”
Mar 4, 2020
Rhenco lifted the head and idly tossed it down into the pool. The door cracked open again, Milae's silloute outlined in the frame. The sorcerer remained still, hardly noticing the boars calls, and calmly lifted the knife again, as the time jumper once again rushed into the room...
Mar 8, 2020
Meanwhile...on the edge of town...
Shadow and Grey landed on the ground with the former Warden trying their hardest not to be spotted. The Chief looked around and could see for the most part that no one appeared to have spotted them. 
“We can continue on foot from here,” Grey said aloud to Nala and Shadow. “We can avoid being spotted that way, and we don’t know if Rhenco got new recruits.”
Mar 10, 2020
Continue as you wish. The Warden had no such need of physical secrecy. I will search for Rhenco, but it will be dangerous. Be ready to run if you need to. Do not let yourself walk into any traps. She slowly spread out her mental probes, looking for any sign of their enemy.
Mar 10, 2020
The area around her lit up with small blips and pings of movement. Upon taking a glance, they could see a few people peering at them through the tall weeds and shrubbery around them. Upon seeing their glances, the people backed away to disappear back into the darkened corners of the woods.   
A pale hand reached around a large rock, and another set of eyes poked up to steel a look. Eerily though the people did not seem apprehensive in their looking and retreating, merely observant...
Mar 10, 2020
“Stay close, Shadow,” Grey whispered to her dragon as they continued on foot through the town. The Chief eyed the buildings and the tall weeds, and she couldn’t help but shake this feeling...in her gut. She felt eyes on them, and it made the hairs on her arms stand up. “Uh...Nala...you...uh...sensing anything or something? I have a feeling we’re being watched.” The Chief slowly placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. 
Shadow sniffed the air and suddenly was on high alert as her eyes narrowed into slits. She wasn’t sure if they were about to be attacked, but she looked around...watching and listening. She had to be ready to protect Grey. 
As they walked, two of the people peering out at them slowly made their way back out of the wood, and began to follow them silently. An old windmill creaked in the night air and the sounds of crackling fireplaces and the distant river could be heard. 
A group of hunched figures huddled around a fire as they idly stirred a small pot over a pile of coals. Their withered faces shot sideways glances at the group, seemingly unperturbed at the sight of a dragon and chief alike. Stranger still, Nala could swear they could sense her, as their eyes jittered around as if looking at the area around Grey. As they began to pass, they caught the image of a grizzly pile of human remains off to the side of the group.
They continued to sitr the stew…
Just then, one of the villagers stepped up boldly from around a corner, and grabbed Grey by the upper thigh.     
@lbigreyhound13 @demon-in-the-dungeon
lbigreyhound13
Grey screamed feeling a hand grab her thigh, and without giving it much thought, she turned grabbing the stranger’s arm turning them around and pinning the arm to the back forcing them to the ground on their face. She placed her knee on the stranger’s back glaring as Shadow growled at Grey’s captive. 
“You have a lot of nerve touching a Chief like that, buddy,” Grey said through gritted teeth. “You’re lucky my husband’s not here.”
moe-lazyeye
The man grunted and shifted oddly on the ground, and the other man seated in front of the fire stopped stirring the pot in front of him, and casually walked away from the scene.
“Sorry…sorry…” The man on the ground hissed in the dirt. “I just like you…I think you’re neat…I ahhhrg-! AHHHHHHH-!” 
The man suddenly thrashed violently as a large wood ax was brought down on his leg. The other man from the fire let his hands slip away from the shaft, and bent down to pick up the amputated limb. And as the man on the ground screamed, the others peering at them seemed to become agitated, and began to close in on them, then glint of fishing knifes and sickles in their hands. 
lbigreyhound13
The Chief stared at the man holding the limb in absolute horror, and it finally took Shadow growling at the approaching strangers and edging closer to her for her to snap out of it. Grey quickly stood up and unsheathed her sword ready to fight if needed. 
“Alright, let’s take it easy here, people,” she quickly said as she placed a hand on her beloved Night Fury. “We’re just passing through, and I got a little startled. You didn’t need to cut his leg off.”
demon-in-the-dungeon
BACK.
Nala dug into the minds of each of the people approaching and froze them in place, releasing a hot wave of anger to sway them from closing in on Grey.
Where is your leader? she demanded, ignoring the display of violence that had just occurred, but noting that it happened. Where is Rhenco?
moe-lazyeye
The vile sensation of sweet rotted fruit and oil filled Nala’s senses as she touched the minds of the people around her. She recognized it, she had sensed and felt the suffocating feeling before.
“Its a demon…” a villager murmured as the ex wielding man walked away to sit next to the fire with his newly acquired leg, and held it experimentally over the flames.
The villager crained his neck up, his eyes rolling into his head as if trying to see the Warden in his mind. “I want the demon I want her!” he swung the sickle recklessly, the blade carving across his own arm.
The other surrounding them surged forward. Some swinging their weapons, some making grabs as Shadow and Grey, while others collided into one another, and fell to the ground with clawing nails and slicing blades.
demon-in-the-dungeon
Fear quickly seized the Warden.
Grey, they’re infected with Red Card! Run!
lbigreyhound13
“DAMN IT!!” Grey shouted at the top of her lungs as soon as she heard Nala’s warning. She turned to run, but there was barely any opening in between the villagers. She and Shadow were surrounded. 
However, the Night Fury had other ideas, and as soon as it became clear, they had nowhere to run, she took off into the air grabbing Grey with her forelegs before suddenly flying into the air a few feet above the crowd. 
The Chief breathed a sigh of relief as she angled herself to look up at Shadow. “Thanks, girl,” she said. 
Shadow crooned in response.
moe-lazyeye
Almost immediately arrows from primitive bows were fired up in their direction. They missed, the but threat was still present.
Below Grey caught a glimpse of the wide spread effects of the card. Fires were dotted all around the town. All of them were contained, and all of them had illuminated bodies nearby. People struggling with one another could be seen in the alleyways, and there were already several forms, hung and cut open in trees.
A man opened a door from inside a shack and looked around frantically. He saw Grey, and motioned with his hands. “You’re not like the others!” He called. “Quick! Come inside, I have a place they cant get into!”
lbigreyhound13
Grey quickly looked around again before turning back to the man looking up at her as Shadow slowly floated to the ground away from the infected. It was absolute chaos, and perhaps, this man was their only sanctuary. 
“Let me get my friend!” Grey quickly replied. She turned to the demon. “Nala, over here! Let’s go inside!” She then turned to the Night Fury. “Let’s get inside, girl.”
Both the Chief and the Night Fury quickly ran inside the shack.
demon-in-the-dungeon
Nala made sure they were mentally guarded and immediately turned her full attention on the man, infiltrating him to inspect him thoroughly for any sign of betrayal or sickness. Explain who you are, and what this place is, she growled, getting sick of having no answers.
moe-lazyeye
Nala felt the red card in the man’s mind right away, and a strange ping that seemingly linked it to the large, barn like structure near the center of the town.
The man seemed to sense this as well as he glanced back at Grey and Shadow, who had entered his home. He shook his head and began to close the door. “We stay away from the barn. You should go there, we’ll stay here and be safe.”
lbigreyhound13
That was enough to make Grey feel confused and uneasy. This man was so willing to allow Shadow and her enter his home as refuge, but…why wouldn’t he allow the Warden to enter? Perhaps, there was a possibility… With that thought, she furrowed her eyebrows together in a glare at the man.
“Sir, I’m not trying to impose,” she said as Shadow let out a low growl, “but I think one of my best friends should be allowed to come in here…where we can all be safe.”
moe-lazyeye
The man kept the door closed and looked back at her with wide eyes. “Your friends a demon…invisible…she’ll be fine. You…you can hide in the basement, they can’t get in there even if they break down the door.”
He panted heavily, sweat dotting his brow. He shook his head. “I shouldn’t…I shouldn’t do it…” he stammered.
lbigreyhound13
Grey’s brown eyes dotted to the sweat on his forehead and his heavy breathing. She took a step back as Shadow growled at the man and wrapped her tail around Grey getting into a defensive stance. The longer they were in here the more trapped she felt, and she was hoping Nala would try to find a way in. 
“D-Do what?” she asked the man. “W-What are you talking about?”
demon-in-the-dungeon
Hold on. Nala was squinting, stretching as far as she could to discern what the man was indicating about the barn, hoping it would hold a clue to Rhenco’s location. Grey, you should stay put while I investigate, but keep him at swordpoint. He is also infected, but…different. Of course the cursed Red Card had to be at the center of all this.
moe-lazyeye
As the Warden let her essence investigate, she could feel him, Rhenco himself in the center barn.
The man looked at Grey, his eyes wavering. “I want a friend. I don’t know though…I anyways…” he gave a small, almost sniffling cough as he pointed towards a basement hatch on the floor, and Grey could see that although his hands had been rinsed in water, blood was still under his finger nails. “I can’t help myself…I just end up liking them too much and…”
Grey could smell decay from under the floor…
lbigreyhound13
Her nostrils flared as the smell reached her nose, and she immediately wanted to throw up. However, she managed to will herself to avoid thinking about that and focused on the man in front of her as she held her sword to her chest. Her heart pounded as the pieces to this man’s puzzle slowly came together, and it did not paint a pretty picture. Wanting a friend…and the smell of decay…
“Shadow,” Grey said to her Night Fury and gestured to the hatch on the floor. 
The Night Fury sniffed and followed the horrid odor to the hatch, and she used one of her claws to lift the hatch slightly. 
moe-lazyeye
In the basement the Night Fury and rider could see a table with scattered dice, battered old cards, and stacks of paper, some drawings, others hand made maps, others still lyrics and what seemed to be story writings. Off to the left of this though were several covered bodies, for each one the blood stains on the sheet were in the same spots. Two long strips that pooled away from the victims arms. 
The man swallowed and gripped his arms as he continued to shake his head. “I try…so many different things…but it always ends like that….” He gave a gasp and gripped his head. “Ow oh gods! Why did Jarrod die? Why isn’t Milae here yet? I miss my family!” 
@moe-lazyeye @demon-in-the-dungeon
When Grey saw the cards and the drawings, she felt herself relax a little…until she laid her eyes on the covered bodies, and then her heart dropped. It was pounding in her chest. Whatever twisted operation Rhenco had in that hotel at Mount Massive…it was being continued here in Temple Gate. That was the only explanation. 
She turned back to the man as he cried out his woes, and as much as Grey wanted to comfort him, she couldn’t afford to go near him…for fear of the Red Card. Jarrod was the doctor Sven killed, so she wasn’t about to expose her son to the danger of one of Rhenco’s prisoners knowing. “Did Rhenco put you up to this?” Grey asked. 
Mar 12, 2020
The man paced for a moment and then stalked across the room to grab an old checker board. A bloodied rock crashed through the window as the sounds of another fight could be heard outside. “We should do something. We should play a game so I don’t…” His fingers twitched as he began to set up the board. “Scratch…” He finished. 
The pieces clicked lightly on the table as he placed them, and he glanced at Grey. “No…” He finally answered. “No…he came here…and I think he put something in the well, because everyone started acting funny during our afternoon break from the fields. We all got some water and then…” 
He dropped a few pieces and got down on the floor, fumbling with them. “I-I think I’m different you know. I know I’m sick…I can feel his thoughts in my head.” He met her eyes. “He said…he wanted to hurt one person, then a lot of people, and then everyone…apparently we are the ‘a lot of people’ part.” 
Mar 12, 2020
Grey visibly relaxed and lowered her sword…just a little hearing the man’s story. “The Red Card…” she said. “He must’ve used the Red Card to infect everyone and dumped it into the well.” Then another thought crossed her mind. “What makes you so different from the rest of them?”
Mar 12, 2020
The man’s eyes darted rapidly. “I know whats going on…” He said as he fidgeted in his seat. “I know what its making me want to do…it makes it easier to trick people, to act normal…to get them in here.” He bit his knuckle. “And I don’t know why I have his deeper thoughts, or his feelings…I guess that’s just the way its affecting me.”
He met Grey’s eyes. “You should go downstairs…”
Mar 12, 2020
Her heart pounded again. Something did not feel right with that request…not after what she and Shadow just saw. “Why?” she asked narrowing her brown eyes. 
Mar 12, 2020
“Because…” The man began, a waver in his voice as he walked over towards her, and his hand reached out to grab a fist full of nails from off a counter. “Anything less than this feels insulting to him, when I’m done trying everything else, I can’t help but want to do this!” 
Eyes wild with what looked like fear, the man bolted towards Grey, the sharp points of the nails set between his fingers aimed towards her as he threw a fist.
Mar 12, 2020
The Chief gasped as the man bolted towards her…with nails in between his fingers, and with cat-like reflexes, she swung her sword to defend herself and Shadow. 
Mar 12, 2020
The man howled as the metal caught his hand, knocking his arm to the side and leaving a gash. He staggered into the corner of the room as he held his injury. “Ow! Gods above, it hurts!” He pressed the back of his head into the corner, and thunked it against the wall as he squeezed his eyes shut. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean to…” He waved a hand towards a cabinet. “Please…there are bandages…” 
Mar 12, 2020
The Chief breathed heavily at the sight still holding her sword. She thought back to the first time she fought and killed in Ragnorak, and how distraught she was after the fact. That wasn’t the case this time. She needed to defend herself and Shadow, but that didn’t stop the small pang of guilt seeing the stranger holding his wound asking for her help. 
“Watch him, girl,” she said to Shadow.
Shadow growled at the stranger trying not to get too close as Grey slowly moved toward the cabinet and opened it grabbing the bandages and tossing them so that they landed at the man’s feet. 
Mar 12, 2020
The man glanced at the bandages, and then back up at Grey. His eyes rested on Shadow, who was preventing him from any sudden movements, and he lowered his head. His fingers idly pushed around the bandages, and his body settled further into the corner. 
“He’s in the central barn…I think he wants you both to go see him there…”
He didn’t bother to say anything more after that, or move…
Mar 12, 2020
“You better not follow us,” she said to the man glaring at him. She then turned to Shadow who was still glaring at the man. “Shadow, let’s go. We have to find Nala. She might’ve found Rhenco. Slowly walk out, and I’ll be right behind you.”
Shadow growled in affirmation as she slowly made her way toward the door with Grey close behind. Neither one of them taking their eyes off the man until Grey opened the door allowing them to exit the house.
“Come on, let’s get to the barn,” she said as she mounted Shadow.
Mar 13, 2020
“Chief Grey, wait.”
Milae quickly walked out the door as though he’d been in the house the entire time, pulling a strip of tightly-knit cloth out of the bag on his belt and pulling it over the lower half of his face. His hooves tidily tied it at the back of his neck and his ears flopped over the taut cloth. The half-breed looked up at the Chief seriously. “I’m coming with you,” he said, his voice slightly muffled.
Mar 13, 2020
The Chief smiled at the half-breed. While she wanted to ask him where he came from, she knew it wasn’t the time to worry about that. Rhenco was in their midst, and this village was full of people infected with Red Card. They had other matters to worry about. 
“Well, then, come on, Milae,” she said, “let’s drive this madman out of town.”
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Events
Category:Act I
Category:Yun Milae
Category:Rhenco
Category:The Warden
Category:Kendra Arnason
Category:Liam Arnason
Category:Lila Ericson
Category:Grey Bergman
Category:Shadow
Category:Bhaem