"They're too strong for me." Rhalen shouted back. "The demon has more control over them than I do."

OOC: Just so you know, I haven't abandoned this thread; I just had a family emergency (sort of) and couldn't get to a computer very often. But now I'm back home with more access to the Internet.

IC: Kravyn poked his head out of the flames of a small hearth fire, examining the immediate area. There was a family sitting at the table eating dinner and a dog lying calmly in the corner. The demon gathered his will and, using the ring on his finger, used flames to burn the internal organs of all of the occupants of the house, including the dog. The result of this was near instantaneous death and flames spurting out of their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

The demon stepped out of the fire, brushing a bit of soot off of his coat. Kravyn slipped out of the door, being careful not to be noticed. Not careful enough, it turned out, as a villager shouted and pointed in his direction. The demon preformed the same technique on that man as he had on the family to shut him up, but it was too late, the entire village knew he was here. So Kravyn went to his redundancy plan, he always had one...or two...or three. This one comprised of erecting a ring of fire around the village and closing the circle tighter and tighter until everything beside him was consumed in flame.

So that is what he did, and ignoring the screaming and pleas for mercy from the doomed villagers, Kravyn walked towards the decaying forest. He had chosen his village to come to because of its closeness to Garland, one of his fellow demons. He strode into to forest, head held high. The corruption had just started to spread to this side of the forest, and didn't prove to be a problem to Kravyn, any branches that touched him burned to a crisp. Thought his ring, he knew that his opposite, the good ring bearer knew he was about. It was probably the burning of the nearby village that tipped his opposite off, he thought.

As he reached the location where Garland was holding his palms to the main corrupted tree, Kravyn spoke. "Having some trouble, are we?" he had a small, evil smile on his face as he spoke.

_________________
Four Gods wait on the windowsill,
Where once eight Gods did war and will,
And if the Gods themselves may die,
What does that say for you and I?

Now, three Gods wait on the windowsill
Where one God's blood was lately spilled
While black tongues lap at the spreading pool
And build the strength they need to rule.

Right before Kravyn spoke, Turwaithiel half-whispered, half-cursed,

"Kravyn!"

Turwaithiel could feel her element going through him, only he was using it for evil, not for good, as she did. She also felt jumpy because she could feel flames burning wood nearby. She turned suddenly as she heard the voice and then a tree tried to wipe around her neck. She dodge it barely, but she earned herself a bloody cut across her left cheek. Blood dripped down her face as she growled,

"You have no business here, demon."

_________________


Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Elarinya desperately evaded one attack, one ducking the grasp of another branch. "We seem to have two options." she called back, hissing in pain as one branch hit her on the shoulder. "We find another path, or we can try fight. But if we choose the latter, some of the forest may be lost at our hand." With that she urged her mare to one side in the attempt to avoid a low-swinging branch. "Or we may be killed in the process." she muttered under her breath as both rider and animal barely avoided another attack.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Cylinn left her black horse away from harm and moved into the fight. She willed herself to be invisible for a time before showing herself. She was facing the small group now. She dodged a swinging branch and moved to face the person she was most anxious to see.
"Hello Rhalen." She said coldly. A branch swung from somewhere nearby. It was about to collide with her but she blocked it with a flick of her hand. Her eyes stared piercingly at the man before her.

_________________
<center>

[font=Times New Roman]
Hello, I'm Amoniel
[/font]</center>

Rhalen turned at a familiar voice behind him. "Cylinn." he whispered. Loosing his concentration, the ring's power drained from him and the trees renewed their attacks. He quickly regained control, though, and kept holding back the branches as well as he could.

He kept his eyes on the woman in front of him. "What...what are you doing here?" he asked, lost for anything else to say.

"Them." She said simply nodding to the thickening, decaying forest, "It's the work of demons as you well have figured out. Times are changing, my alliances lie with them. You'd be better off giving up, it is a matter of time before the Elements are wiped out." Cylinn gazed fiercely at him. She didn't entirely trust the demons but still, she held the gift and she was alligned with the bad side of the Elements.

_________________
<center>

[font=Times New Roman]
Hello, I'm Amoniel
[/font]</center>

Kravyn's smile widened, "So you remember me! How quaint." A branch lashed towards his back but as it came within a foot of him, it encountered a fiery shield. Kravyn didn't even flinch as more branches came at him from every which way, "As for my not having business here, wouldn't you call a gathering of peoples opposed to myself and others like me is.... what was the word you used? Oh, yes, bad for business as you so artfully put it."

Then he turned his attention to Elarinya, "If you would be finding another path, I'd suggest you hurry. And don't think of going back, that way is blocked to all...except Turwaithiel. But she would never leave you to die on your own as I would, which is why you and yours must submit to our rule. We will sacrifice each other in furtherance of our goals while you will not. That is why you cannot win."

As he spoke, he poured his will into the ring on his right forefinger, causing a wall of flames to burst into existence along the path behind the good ring bearers and at the same time releasing control over the flames at the village he had emerged from as they were no longer necessary. He noticed another evil ring bearer-was her name Celinn or something like that?-talking with one of the good ring bearers whose name he did not care to know. Kravyn once again smiled at Turwaithiel, showing rows of pointy teeth, "So now you have a choice, run to fight another day but leave your friends to die, or stick with them and hope you can magic a way out of this hopeless situation. Decisions, decisions. Which will you decide? Only you truly know, but I'm sure I can guess." He paused, "Well, what is it?"

_________________
Four Gods wait on the windowsill,
Where once eight Gods did war and will,
And if the Gods themselves may die,
What does that say for you and I?

Now, three Gods wait on the windowsill
Where one God's blood was lately spilled
While black tongues lap at the spreading pool
And build the strength they need to rule.

Like a whip a mental message slashed trough the tree`s and into the mind of Garland`s counterpart ring bearer who was trying desperately to hold off the tree`s.

How long can you hold on? How long can your friends last? Is this the end? Will evil triumph over good? Would that be right? Is it right for me to die here? Who is behind all this?

The message rang to the mind of Rhalen and there was a chuckle that only Rhalen could hear as he tried to stop the tree`s. Garland added more pressure into his relentless attack, but sent yet another message trough to Rhalen.

Kneel to death and I will make it swift

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Elarinya growled in anger as a wall of fire formed behind them, trapping the group between the woods and a barrier of flame. She could feel the heat against her back, yet she refused to cower before the demon's might. "Turwaithiel, if you need to-then go! Do not worry about us. It will do the quest no good if we all perish!"

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

((Gah, okay, what has happened the last few days?))

_________________

(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

((the ringbearers have left the cabin, and we're currently under attack by a few evil ringbearers.))

"I won't give up." Rhalen said to Cylinn. "I never will."
Before he could say anything else, Garland's message pressed into his mind. Gritting his teeth with effort, Rhalen kept holding back the trees as best he could while he answered the demon.

<i>I will never kneel to death.</i> Still battling the voice, he shifted his attention to the wall of fire behind the ringbearers. The trees may be beyond his control, but if he could smother the flames...

Slash-slash went both of Tlenes's scimitars in rapid succession, slicing the grasping tree branch. The bough snapped off with an inhuman groan and dropped onto the ground, oozing green ichor. His idiot horse was going mad - how he hated horses! Another branch raked across the mount's forelegs, sending it buckling. He cursed and painfully picked himself up off the ground.

Then the darkness truly stirred. The demons rise again from the netherplane... There were three of them - two male, one female. He could more sense than see the auras of their elements - flame, spirit, earth. The air trembled with the force of their power. At the same time, a wall of flames effectively blocked all retreat.

But Tlenes's fellow Bearers weren't preparing to fight. They were resisting, certainly, but attack? Fury, crimson and searing, swept over him. This was his moment! This was his chance for vengeance! And still his allies protested about the safety of their precious trees?

We are every bit as powerful as they! he raged through their mental link. Burn the trees! Blind their eyes! Tame the fire! In the corner of his eye he caught sight of the enemy Earth Bearer, pouring corruption into the trees. With a swift word, his Ring of Shadow flared. Suddenly he found himself behind Garland. He dropped darkness around the demon's head and brandished his scimitar, preparing to run him through.

_________________

Cylinn glared at Rhalen and with a filck of her robes she was invisible and storming toward Garland.
"They won't give up, not yet anyway." She hissed at him. Her impaitence for the good ring bearers was mounting, "Even a demon like yourself can see that."
She glared at him and then changed her focus to Kravyn. He was destroying the forest, not something Cylinn was fond of.
"We should end it soon, or leave."

_________________
<center>

[font=Times New Roman]
Hello, I'm Amoniel
[/font]</center>

Garland was more aware of his surrounding s that he revealed and he spinned to his side, out of the darkness and with a quick move he detached his mighty two handed mace that had been tied to his back. He smirked as he hit the mace into the ground and it started to splinter, creating a wave of deadly spikes towards the darkness where the ring bearer had just rushed into.

The demon well knew that this wasn`t over by a long shot, but was amused and actually happy that they showed more courage or at least this one. Garland placed his other hand against another tree once more corrupting the forest, but now he was more aware of what happened around him and he had his trusty mace at hand.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Elarinya dodged another attack by the rampaging woods. There is no other choice. If we do not fight back, we will be slain. “Forgive me.” she muttered to herself as she drew the power of her ring into her being. Calling upon the light plane, she formed her power into her palm and released a potent beam against an attacking tree, felling it in a single stroke.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!