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Ana Meken

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I told her this, just as I had told her before when we first met years ago, when we had first arrived in Pollniveach. Still curious as to why she brought it up again...

She told me they didn't care about me. They left me on the streets, with no thought for if I died or was found by a family to take me in, that they left me in a life that would see no end of torture. Living out in the desert with little money to our name, the only goal being to make enough for food the next day. They do nothing to protect me, to guide me out of harm's way, they don't even want to let me know them. Only my fake family ever went out of their way for me, to defend me, to feed me, to guide me. But they aren't here right now, she explained, with a rising tone.

“Zakera, what's gotten into you?” I said, confused.

“Why don't you tell me that, Apmeken?” Her voice echoed as if multiple people were saying it at once.

I gasped, it's all I could do. Something was very, very wrong...

Her eyes glowed bright red, as the sands around me shifted, and a sandstorm began forming around us. Zakera started floating in midair.

“Zakera? What's happening...? Is this some new magic trick?” I said, in a ditch effort to make myself believe for a second that she might just be playfully joking with me.

“What's happening is I'm doing your parents a favor, by getting rid of you. They felt you a waste of a life, so I'll happily oblige and take your soul! Hahahahaha.... This would have been over earlier...If your foolish sister didn't intervene. You can have her to blame for your end being slow and painful, rather than the quick and discreet one I presented before.”

She paused.

23-Jan-2014 07:38:00 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:08:15 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“But alas, she's out of the way now, isn't she?”

“So you were behind the statuette theft! Olivia didn't steal it, you framed her to get her in jail so she wouldn't be here to save me this time.”

“Smart, wasn't it? Olivia was such an easy girl to frame...but don't worry, the rest of your 'family' will be taken care of soon enough. It would be such a shame if someone told Osman where they lived while you were away in Nardah...”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing...

“Why, Zakera? Why? I trusted you. You were my best friend. Why are you doing this? Why now...and not back when I first got here?”

“Oh, will you quit calling me Zakera already? She's gone. I was only first aware of your presence here in the desert when you came to me asking for advice on how to get to Nardah, as Jesmona. Zakera was a perfect little host for this, wouldn't you agree? It fooled all of you anyway. I couldn't just ignore a soul like yours wandering around, I wanted it, and now here it is, all for the taking.”

“No! Zakera...!”

I fell on my knees now, sobbing...Only just barely keeping myself up in the strong gusts of wind. I couldn't accept the fate of everyone I loved.

“You can call me Amascut, the Devourer.”

“So you're behind all of this...Why do you want my soul, Amascut? What's so special about it? Why me?”

“Oh come on, you haven't figured it out yet? You really are like your mother after all then, dull-witted...Naive. Well, I guess you'll never live to know. I grow bored of answering your petty questions.”

I couldn't lift my head up to see what was going on...The realization of the fate I had brought upon my best friend, and my sister...was too much to bear. All I heard was the sandstorm and Amascut's evil laughing as some lightning-like sound was growing louder and louder...

Soon the sound stopped for a second, and I could hear a large blast. I closed my eyes, expecting never to open them again. Feeling that would be better, because of what I caused.

But something disagreed.

23-Jan-2014 07:39:32 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:08:41 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

There was a flash of bright light, so bright that even with my eyes closed I could see it, or at least sense it, it was hard to tell the difference. All the sound went quiet, even Amascut's laughing was drowned out in some ghostly light tone.

I opened my eyes to look up and saw everything in greyscale. Everything was moving slow motion. I felt a very strange feeling...A very familiar feeling...

Among it, I could hear voices, one sounded familiar...But I couldn't quite place who it belonged to, it sounded different...

The other sounded like my own, but with the same echo that Amascut's voice had.

“You said you wouldn't intervene, that you would let everything go it's natural course.” The voice like mine said.

“You're right, I did. I can see where things are heading...It's already fallen off the natural course, I need to fix it. It would change too many things in the future for it to end this way...It will be the last time, I promise.” The other responded.

“But how will you do that?”

“I don't need to change much, just tweak some things here and there...Something that would make 'sense'...You should see where this is going. What else could save her now?*

*...But I can't. Not then, anyway.”

23-Jan-2014 07:39:39 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:09:03 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Nonsense, and I don't mean that literally. That doesn't mean you can't help her. You can still feel her presence, her pain, her sorrow. You are her, and she is you... Go to her now, she needs your help, lend her what power you have left, only for a short time. It should be enough.”

“Very well, I will do what I can.”

Then a spectral figure appeared next to me. In front of the incoming blast of magic, still moving in slow motion. It walked into me, and I could feel a sudden revitalization, a boost of strength, of speed...Of magic. But most of all, I felt a purpose. A will to continue. To fight.

Time returned to its regular pace, and the color around me returned to normal. I instantly remembered, and realized that I needed to do something fast if I wanted to survive.

I let flow all of the energy in myself through my hands to see what I could do, and a magical beam sprang from them, against the one Amascut aimed at me. They met at the middle. She was caught off guard by the sudden counter attack that she didn't have time to use more force, and my beam quickly swallowed hers and shot it back at her. Knocking her out of the sky onto the ground.

23-Jan-2014 07:39:46 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:09:17 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I walked forward to her, full of anger and passion. The power was intoxicating, my every movement felt more firm, and the sandstorm didn't phase me.

She stood up and took a moment to understand what happened.

“So...It seems maybe she does care. No matter, I've dealt with her before. I question her compassion for saving such a petty and useless life when it would put herself at such risk. What makes her think she could defeat me this time, in a weakened state, if she couldn't before? Her power will be wasted, and then I will be even more powerful from taking it from-”

I didn't let her finish, and instead swung my scimitar at her as hard as I could. It didn't leave a visible scratch, but it did look like it hurt her as she stumbled back. I just had to keep ignoring the fact that she looked like Zakera.

“Well, aren't you a feisty one. Maybe this will be a bit of fun after all...”

Suddenly, ethereal scimitars appeared in her hands. She lunged forward with an insane speed and aimed for my heart, but I got my blades up in time to counter it. It turned into a power instance, and we flurried our blades at each other, clashing at each strike, while moving around the edges of the sandstorm.

She must have grown bored of toying with me. She disappeared and reappeared behind me and shot me back with a blast of magic unexpectedly. While I was down and getting up, she summoned a portal above us to fling out debris into the winds of the sandstorm.

The battlefield just got a lot more dangerous. Giant rocks, cacti and even camels were coming out of the portal, flying around in a circular motion as the winds picked them up, and I had to keep my eyes on them and keep my footwork moving to dodge them.

During the distraction, Amascut was as well sending blasts of magic my way. I could do nothing but evade the attacks...And somehow I managed to do just that. Backflips, forward rolls and running all over, nothing managed to hit me. I was as agile as a monkey would be.

23-Jan-2014 07:40:31 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:09:47 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

But even then I would get worn out fast...I needed to find a way to shut the portal to even get close enough to harm her.

When I got a good look at the portal directly, I noticed an orb on the other side of it that seemed to be responsible for attracting the debris. I tried shooting magic at it, and while it destroyed the debris coming out of it for a short time, it wasn't small enough to go through it.

Then I remembered my bow.

I tried pulling back and aiming for it, but I didn't have enough time if I had to keep dodging everything. I needed to create a distraction for Amascut, and keep the debris at a slow pace coming through the portal. While she was more powerful than me, she wasn't as agile. If I did something unpredictable, it might catch her off guard and make her focus more on her weakness, rather than her advantage. Having to move out of the way for giant obstacles took time, but smaller ones might be more manageable whilst aiming the bow...

I unclasped the blades from my belt, and...as dangerous as an idea this was, I trusted my skill. I threw the blades like a boomerang, into the sandstorm in such a way to make them fly back. I was right – it confused Amascut for a short time and made her stop casting magic at me and keep away from them. I shot the most recent debris with a magic blast, tearing it apart into smaller bits to add to the chaos. Then equipped my bow whilst skillfully keeping away from the swords and smaller debris, and shot an arrow straight through the portal into the orb, smashing it as I had hoped for. The portal faded away.

I skillfully grabbed the hilt of the swords as they came back around my way from the sandstorm, and lunged with them at the still-confused Amascut. We had another power instance. I knew I wouldn't be able to win it directly, but I had a goal in mind this time, and it didn't involve overpowering her.

23-Jan-2014 07:40:43 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:10:11 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

With another flurry of sword clashing, she once again flashed behind me to try and catch me off guard, but that was silly of her to do that again, for I was prepared for it this time. I ducked and rolled underneath her, and sprang my legs back up, launching her deep into the winds of the sandstorm.

Landing back on my feet, I turned around to see her swirling away in her own creation.

“No! You can't do this to me! I am a goddess! I will not be defeated by a human...I can't be!”

I took out my blades again, and tossed them into the winds, which essentially turned it into a blender of destruction for anything inside it...

But those alone weren't enough.

I charged up another beam aimed at the storm, similar to the one she was creating at the beginning, with every ounce of power that was given to me...and it was over.

The blast sent her flying, far away...I don't know where, and I didn't care to know. She was gone.

The sandstorm dissipated, and the air returned to normal. I stood there in awe of all that happened. From the sky, the only thing that was left of Amascut was Zakera's red vest she always wore, it fell down beside me.

The world turned grey and slow once more, and the spectral being that went inside me stepped out. I looked at it, and it looked back at me. I tried to say something, but it didn't seem to hear me. It faded away with a smile on its face, and then I heard those familiar voices again.

“So you promise not to intervene anymore? This was it?”

23-Jan-2014 07:41:03 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:10:30 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“I promise. Her destiny is her own now, she is free to do whatever she chooses...Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be around to give advice at times.”

“So long as you don't control her life.”

“I'm not allowed to be the one to decide what she should do.”

The world returned to normal, and I felt the power dissipating from me. I collapsed, clutching Zakera's vest, and cried myself to sleep from the weariness of the battle.

When I woke up, I found myself in Nardah again with Abigail and Kerner looking over me, happily surprised to see I was still alive. They had seen the sandstorm from the town and knew something bad was happening, so went out to make sure me and Zakera were all right. Obviously the question they first asked after I was awake was what happened to her, and why she wasn't with me...

It took awhile to get the words out between sobs, but the mention of Amascut seemed to bring them to the conclusion before I said it.

Zakera had been the nicest person I knew in my life. She was always open-minded and accepting to everyone. She never forced her ideals on someone, and let them come to what they felt was right on their own. They too, were surprised about the outcome of Olivia's trial, and the events that happened in the temple were suspicious, but they didn't come to the conclusion fast enough.

23-Jan-2014 07:42:19 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:10:49 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Amascut was cursed by her followers when she betrayed them, in a way that she was never able to show her true form again, and instead had to possess hosts to continue her destruction directly. Though her hosts never last forever and she needs to find new ones every once in awhile. Zakera was the unfortunate choice of hers this time, but she was not the first, nor the last, to suffer the same fate. By the time people realize it's happened, it's too late.

They were surprised I survived an encounter with her directly, and of course, questioned me about it. All I could say was that someone didn't want me dead, because that was all I really knew.

Indeed, they've heard of tales of people chosen by the gods to do great deeds in the future, and protect them in occasions that would otherwise have meant their death. It was the only explanation they could give. I still felt unsettled by the idea...But there was really nothing else that could explain how I survived.

They told me to keep Zakera's vest as something to remember her by. While they were her parents, they had other things to remind them of her. I hesitated, but eventually accepted it. I would wear it all the time, so that there would always be a part of her with me on my journeys.

But in the middle of conversing with them I was given a sharp reminder that my family was in danger, and Olivia is innocent, and in jail because of what Amascut did to frame her. I told them about how it was really her that set it up and that I need to get her out of jail regardless if the mayor doesn't believe me, but they only gave me a sad look in return, and said nothing. It wasn't a good sign.

I ran down the stairs of the museum and onto the streets as fast as I could over to the jail, but when I got there I couldn't see her in any of the cells, so I ran up to the mayor and yelled at him asking where she was.

23-Jan-2014 07:43:06 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:11:11 by Ana Meken

Ana Meken

Posts: 138 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I was too late.

While I left town with Zakera...she was hung. Apparently... it was the fate they decided for thieves of that caliber in the town...

I explained to them, still yelling, all that happened, about how she was innocent, about Amascut framing us, to separate us. They could tell by the sheer emotion in my voice that I wasn't lying, or at least something wasn't right about the accusation. They were deeply sorry for the misunderstanding and tried to make me feel better...but nothing could help me accept the death of my own sister when she was innocent of a crime blamed to her, when I was tricked and manipulated by the devourer into putting her into that situation.

Nothing could...

They offered me parting gifts to make up for it, but I was so angry I just kicked it away and ran out of town, unprepared for anything, and ran all the way back home without sleeping. All the way back to Pollniveach. It might have been too late for my sister, but I needed to save the rest of my family.

I got there in just over a day – or at least from what I could guess, the sun only went down once, the anger kept me moving, and I couldn't sleep with it all in my mind. By the time I got back home I was a wreck of insomnia and weariness, and dehydration, but it didn't matter.

But, when I got home, it just got worse.

23-Jan-2014 07:43:12 - Last edited on 07-Feb-2014 05:11:30 by Ana Meken

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