xinoehp512

Only one hand, though. The other escaped to seek revenge. I did too.

Reylf pulled out enough chrysts to pay for his meal, noticing with alarm how empty his purse was. He'd have to find some way to earn more money soon. He turned as a man with a shardblade walked in, followed by a woman. He eyed them appraisingly, then smiled. Never too early to start making friends. "Hello," he said. "My name's Reylf. What's yours?"

Reylf nodded. "Sure." A name of a drink came to him. "Could I have some orange juice with that?"

2 floors up, in the staff room... The phone rang. "I'll get it!" cried Terim. Kera smiled to herself as he leaped up to get the phone. She had only been here for a week or so, but she had already gotten to know many of her colleagues. Terim was always so energetic, in everything he did. "Hey! Kera!" he cried. She looked up. "What?" "It's for you. Some guy in room 13's badly hurt. His name's Nekorb. Mira requested your help." She frowned. "Why would she ask me? I'm out of spells, and I'm not very good at Regrowth." He spoke into the receiver. "She says she out of spells." More chatter on the line. "Oh? Really?" He turned back to her. "Remember that dude you healed when you first got here? It's him." Kera froze. Then she shoved her chair back and ran out of the room and down to room 13.

Reylf thought for a moment. "Pie sounds good." He didn't actually know what that was, but something told him he liked it. He examined the sheet of green paper on the counter for a few moments. Interesting.

Once everyone had gotten safely inside, Kodeka closed the hole behind them. The few shadow birds left were leaderless, but it didn't hurt to be careful. Then he pulled upwards, lifting free of the corpse of the island. With him rose as much land as he could carry. The islands he had created would not remain bare for long. Below, the island began to sink, the sea rushing in behind. Only a few minutes later, it was gone.

Sounds good.

Look at all those circles...

Yelled got away before anyone noticed.

@Archer@Voidus Kodeka pulled with all his might, but it wasn't enough. He was just too inexperienced in using the power. And Nogard still hadn't woken up. Without him, he had no way to communicate with the people in the cavern. Unless... Kodeka hesitantly reached out and touched Nogard through the connection. There was no response. He prodded again, holding on to the thread and begging him to wake up. There was still no response, but the realization began to dawn on Kodeka that he didn't need to wait. Nogard was out; there was nothing stopping him from stepping in, using Nogard's mouth to tell the others what to do. One of the others was a Windrunner; she could take things from there. After a moment of indecision, he decided to act. It was better than having them die. He thought a silent apology to Nogard as he reached in and took control. "Windrunner," he said through Nogard's mouth. "My name is Kodeka. I'm Nogard's friend, and I am here to rescue you. Can you Lash the three of you and the last gemheart up? I can take care of it from there." The Windrunner immediately sprang into action, lashing upwards Nogard, the other lady, the gemheart, and even the bag that he belatedly realized must contain the other male that had been with them. They fell upwards, into the hole that he had opened in his gemheart cavern just for this purpose.

Kodeka hovered over the island worriedly. He could already see it beginning to sink. If Nogard and his friends didn't get out of there - fast - they were all going to drown. Nogard needed to wake up soon. He made a decision. After a brief moment of mental preparation, he sank down into the hole above the cavern where the gemheart had previously resided. Then, he pushed out his connection, fusing himself to the remnants of the island. It wouldn't work for long, but he thought that he could keep the island from sinking. It would be draining, though; luckily, all the people below needed to do was fly straight up. He could take it from there.

@Sorana Some of the assistants wheeled Nekorb into one of the rooms set off of the main one.

Rekaerb bowed and gestured at the boat. "I think I can help you." ~~~~~~~ Neil. A gritted his teeth as the small boat roared through the swirling tunnel of water. Would this journey ever end? Daa must have sensed his discomfort. "Calm down, Neil." The small plate on the floor of the boat vibrated as the seon spoke through it. "We're almost there." As he finished his words, light appeared up ahead. The light grew bigger as the boat raced towards it. The boat shot through the hole and raced up the side of the whirlpool. Neil held on for dear life as the tiny seacraft crested the lip and sailed into the oddly smooth waters beyond. At that point, the motor kicked in. Neil relaxed as the boat moved quietly towards the edge of the lake where the docks were. He was glad that was over.

I'll sign up as Dedne.

Rotcennoc knelt on the ground. He saw darkness begin to spread throughout the glove, unstoppable now that he was no longer keeping it in check. He felt the power bearing down on him, an oppressive force that sought to break his soul, consuming and destroying him utterly, killing him beyond any hope of resurrection. He knew that power well. Even before he'd killed his first island, he'd felt it, a hidden shadow in the heart of his home, so different from the connections he saw from people to other people or the island. He didn't know then what it was; he could barely even sense it in the energy that composed the majority of the island's power. He'd been far more interested at first in the connecting power, childishly shunning the other as "evil". During his Initiation, he had worked up the courage to ask the island how he might control the power, entranced by the possibility that the ability would grant. Dezino had declined to answer the question, saying he was too young, but suggested that one day, perhaps, an answer could be given. Rotcennoc had left the cave less than satisfied, but there was nothing he could do but wait. So he waited. Three years had passed by in what seemed like a flash, now. He had hunted, and fished, and helped build, and many other things. He had been good at them, too; although he wasn’t quite as strong as the others physically, none could match him in intellect. This quality earned him the respect -but not the friendship- of his peers. Then, one day a small boat had landed. Many moments after that had been pivotal. He marked this one, though, as the one that had shifted his path, changing it from what it had been to what it had become. Many times after the fact he had wondered what would have happened if things had been just a tiny bit different. What If the boat had never landed? What if, instead, the young woman on the boat and her infant brother had fallen prey to those who had hunted them? Or drowned in the sea before reaching their island? Or had died while his mother nursed them back to health? What if, when they had recovered, they had left the island instead of staying with his family? What if he hadn’t fallen in love with her? What if she hadn’t reciprocated? What if, three years after their marriage, the hunters hadn’t finally caught up? What if the island had let him touch the power then, as he desperately cried for help? What if he’d been able to save her? The what-if’s weighed on him heavily. Could he have changed any of them, knowing what he know knew? Would he have? Surely, his cause now was worth more than any simple life on an island. And he knew that if any of those what-if’s had gone the other way, that’s what he would have got, even if Dezino had let him touch the power eventually. By the time he had left, he had realized that unless he grasped the power himself, he would never truly wield it. And so he had formed an alliance with the shadow-birds, taking down one of the other islands. Then, he had set his birds loose upon the island he had once called home, wearing it down until he could kill it, steal the gemheart, and add it to his glove. Everyone he had once known had died in that disaster. The only survivors besides him were his allies, the birds; a baby island produced by Dezino only a day earlier; and his six-year old brother-in-law. He had left the boy in the Pass of Dreams, trusting that the reputation of the pass would keep him from danger until he could return. He had set a small portion of his birds to chase the island across the North sea past the Wall, attracting the attention of two Alleycanes. He had taken the rest of his birds to hide out in the cavern of Royeta, whose desire to fly once more had made her desperate enough to accept anything he offered. Things had worked perfectly. Kodeka had come back, as predicted. The alleycanes had fallen for the bait, as predicted. Royeta had been strong enough to force him to create the new gemhearts through Nogard, as predicted. What he hadn’t predicted was Nogard’s companions. He had begged the island to chase them away, kill them, anything. He’d even gotten her to poison one and almost drown another. But both had survived, and both had accompanied him to the cave anyways. Of course, that had been a mere distraction to him at first, just one more thing he had to deal with. He hadn’t expected just how much trouble they could cause. If it hadn’t been for them, he would have gotten all three gemhearts in his possesion. Nogard would never have been able to steal any away from him, not when he was drowning in pain. He would have stolen the power of the gemhearts, incorporating them into his glove, and turned on Royeta. After that, nothing could have stopped him. He would have moved from island to island, killing them and stealing their power. With that sort of power, he could do anything. He could erase mountains. Change seas. Even warp the very fabric of space and time itself! He would have been a god. And he would have acted as he thought a god should, making a world without pain or suffering, healing whatever he saw broken. He had been so close. But Nogard and his friends had stopped him. Because of them, his plan had failed. In what was supposed to be his moment of greatest triumph, he was lying on the floor, helpless, as the shadow slowly took over him. He felt Damaya pull at the glove and felt a sudden surge of hope. Might removing the glove stem the tide of darkness? It was worth a try. But the glove was fused to his hand; he would have to break the bond somehow. An idea came to him. Could he reroute the shadow back into the glove? With weakened will he reached out with his mind and gave a nudge. With a sudden crack, the glove shattered and gave way, falling off in Damaya’s hands. Rotcennoc stared at the place where it had been and his heart sank. On his forearm remained specks of shiny black gemstone, melted into the skin. The shadow had not faded. He would not be free. Rotcennoc closed his eyes. There was only one thing left that he could do. He could let the power take him, but guide it so that all it destroyed was spatial location. It would take him away from here, sending him to somewhere random. It would hopefully offload the tremendous power that weighed on him. With time, perhaps, he could even earn back his glory. But it would be painful. Agonizingly painful. The mere thought almost broke his will entirely. If he refused it, though, he would die. His work would be left unfinished. All he had paid would have been paid for nothing. And when put like that, it was no decision at all. With resignation, he said a silent farewell to the island. Then he reached out and nudged the shadow again, letting it shear through him, sending him into the darkness. Space twisted, pulling inwards, erasing him from reality. There was a dark flash.Then all was still. ~~~~~~~ High above, Kate gathered the last of her power into one last strike. It wasn’t much compared to what she’d had. But it was enough. She felt a tug, more powerful than ever, and tied it to the cloud, ready to release only moments after she let it go. The last of her resistance spent, Kate fell, the pull of the gemheart too strong. But she fell satisfied, knowing that she and her brother would be avenged. Far below in the cave, Nogard felt his gemheart awaken. And then the lightning struck. ~~~~~~~ Royeta felt the bolt hit her gemheart, flooding it with power. Time seemed to slow as the power enhanced the speed and depth of her thoughts. For the first time in a long, long while, she saw clearly. What she had been doing was wrong. What she had let Rotcennoc do was even worse. The visitors had unstabilized her, it was true. But what she had done in her own mad longing to achieve the sky again had been unforgivable. And she would die for it. She could already feel the structure of her gemheart beginning to give way. Every island gemheart had some shadow in it, and the lightning would stress those impurities, forcing open cracks. Once the cracks had formed, power would rush out through it in a massive explosion. She could only hope that those in the cavern would not be too badly hurt. As the flaws began to expand, she finished a few last things she could do. She cut herself off from the island itself to prevent collapse upon her death. She prepared one last unlikely hope. Then she sent a message to Nogard, including everything that she knew about what had led her to this moment, including what she knew about Rotcennoc. Hopefully he would understand. Her last tasks performed, Royeta relaxed, feeling the cracks give way. Goodbye, she whispered as the gemheart exploded. ~~~~~~~ Nogard blinked a few times. Had Rotcennoc just vanished? In his arms the gemheart awoke suddenly. He looked down at it, stunned. Without warning, a blinding flash and a deafening crack split the cavern. The gemheart exploded, throwing him backwards into a stalagmite. He slid to the floor, stunned. With the explosion came a flood of information that made his head spin even more. What had happened? What was going on? What… Nogard! The voice echoed in his mind. Are you there? Nogard breathed out a sigh of relief. Kodeka. He opened his mind to the island, sharing the message from Royeta. Then, energy spent, he closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

Rotcennoc began to chuckle. Gradually he began to laugh harder, a bitter crazed sound. Nogard glanced at him uneasily. Rotcennoc didn't even have a weapon; he was no match for three Radiants. Wasn't he? The man stopped abruptly, still kneeling, chest heaving as he panted for breath. "You fool." He jerked suddenly, glove flashing weakly for a brief second. "You have no idea what you've done, do you?" He tried to pull himself to his feet, but failed, collapsing to his knees again. With alarm, Nogard noticed that the irises of his eyes had turned a deep black. Even deeper, somehow, than the pupil it surrounded. Nogard felt uneasy. What did that mean? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. @#Voidapple @Sorana @Archer

Reylf walked up to the counter. "What do you have to eat? I'm starving."

Very irrelevant. So Irrelevant, in fact, that...