RuneScape Forum Archive | ||...Agony...||

Infinity A8

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Natalie's combat skills were an utter mystery. Until now she'd never revealed how she fought or what with. Now it was only apparent that she used a dagger, still leaving her skills untested. Though she'd been given a change of clothes by Jaden, Natalie required the particular jumper she wore to conceal her dagger. The sleeve had a pair of loops sewn into it, allowing the dagger to be held.
Georgia didn't change either, deciding it to just be a waste of time.
The group neared the bridge that arched over the River Lum when Jaden in front stopped.
"What is it?" inquired Robert.
"You feel it?" he asked, waving his hand seemingly at the air around them.
Robert's expression darkened and to strode to Jaden's position. As he feared, the air around them seemed to heat as if they were standing before a great flame. The rest of the group advanced forward and they too felt the temperate phenomenon. As their vision passed over the bridge everything appeared distorted, just as Georgia had described it.
"What's going on?" Veronica queried. She had been asleep when the heat was first reported, so Georgia explained to her what had happened.
"We have to see how far this thing stretches and how deep we can go into it," Robert proclaimed. "Georgia, how far could you go into the heat to the south?"
"Only a few steps."
"Right. We'll see where it borders. Stay close everyone."
The heat became unbearable if they stepped onto the bridge, indicating that the Lum was uncrossable. The Barbarian Village was also inaccessible which left the wilderness border and the monastery.
"Veronica..." Tristan tugged on her arm which he and his brother had clung to for the past few minutes.
"Yes?"
"The sky..."
He pointed upwards to the rapidly darkening heavens, the sun dipping down over the horizon. Veronica immediately alerted the rest of the group.
"We have to hurry then," Jaden declared. "Quickly, let's check the Monastery."

29-Nov-2008 09:03:07 - Last edited on 11-May-2009 12:16:24 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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The party broke into a jog, eager to escape the town. They hurried around the shambles, Veronica doing so with her eyes closed. It wasn't long before they reached the western section of Edgeville, just past their former houses.
The Monastery lay just beyond, crumbled like every other building in the town. Even the holiest building in Misthalin had not been spared from the unknown force's violent wrath. Blood pooled down from the second floor of the building and drowned the assortment of flowers out front.
"Can I open my eyes yet?" Veronica asked, unsure of why everyone had stopped.
"No, we're at the Monastery," Robert responded. "It's just like the rest of the town."
"Oh..."
Jaden began to issue orders. "Someone take a look inside, see how far we c-"
"I'll do it!" Georgia interjected, running off inside the Monastery without another seconds thought. No one made another sound until Georgia returned moments later, a bored expression scrawled over her face.
"It gets hot when you try to leave," she reported. "Wasn't even anything interesting inside..."
Though her statement was made with little emotion, everyone reacted as if she'd given the most devastating news of their lives. Essentially it was, for it meant that there was but one way out of Edgeville.
"That means the only way out of here is The Wilderness." Robert announced grimly.
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire? Sounds fun!" the ever confident Georgia remarked.
"Please be serious Georgia," Robert groaned. "It's getting darker by the minute. Soon night will fall so we need to decide now; do we stay here or do we go through The Wilderness?"
"Here." said Veronica.
"The Wilderness." stated Jaden.
"We don't know what's out there," Veronica reasoned. "It could be better or it could be much worse than staying here but I'm going to bet on it being worse."
"How can you say that when you haven't even seen what state the town is in?" Jaden argued.

29-Nov-2008 09:03:16 - Last edited on 13-May-2009 11:15:34 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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"Everything and everyone is gone and there's blood everywhere. How can you possibly want to stay here instead of somewhere that could be better?"
"It's not safe."
"Neither is it here."
"We'll hold a vote then."
Jaden groaned. Votes against him never worked. Tristan and Edward would always side with Veronica, Robert would go with the most sensible choice and Georgia would go with the most enjoyable sounding. Natalie seemed to take a random side each time, as if she didn't care. Regardless, the votes were carried out and Veronica emerged victorious. Natalie had favoured her this time leaving Georgia and Jaden the only ones to vote for The Wilderness.
"Then it's decided. We'll sleep in the general store tonight with someone standing guard for an hour each. In the morning we'll set about searching for a way out," Robert turned to Veronica. "Even if it means going through The Wilderness."
"Um..." Edward began to protest but was soothed by Robert.
"Don't worry, you and Tristan won't be on sentry duty. Sleep as long as you like."
"How shall we decide who takes what shifts and for how long?" Veronica asked.
"Right now I'd estimate it to be six o'clock. If we go to sleep in two hours time, we can have one person doing a guard shift every two hours. Any volunteers for the fir-"
"I'll do it! I'm wide awake and stuff, so I'm the best choice!" exclaimed Georgia.
It was agreed that Georgia would take the first watch, followed by Veronica, then Jaden, then Natalie & finally Robert. They then decided they would spend the remaining two hours they had awake in the general store, discussing their circumstance and trading theories and ideas. Time flew and eventually the Tele brothers fell into peaceful slumber. The rest of the group was coaxed into following and bade goodnight to Georgia.
It was three and a half hours before Veronica would take over. The alert and eager Georgia enjoyed the watch too much to give it up so soon. She was so excited she simply couldn't sleep.

29-Nov-2008 09:03:18 - Last edited on 06-Jun-2009 12:00:33 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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~Chapter XIII~
"WAKE UP!"
No one was entirely sure who had screamed but such information was insignificant. The entire group woke from their slumber and into a nightmare.
Before anyone could think, the remaining walls of the general store began to topple over at an amazing speed.
"Earth Blast!" Robert cast the spell on impulse, directing both of his hands at each falling wall. A large blob of earth fired from each of Robert's outstretched hands simultaneously and slammed into the heavy, wooden walls. They split into several chunks and scattered wildly away from the children.
"What the hell was that?" cried Georgia, who already had her sword drawn.
"Georgia! behind you!" Jaden yelled whilst fumbling through his pockets for some runes. Georgia spun, blade following with the intention of slicing their assailant in two. That wouldn't be necessary, however. Georgia's sword cleaved through empty air even though her target had initially been in its path. That's when she got the first look at Edgeville'* monster.
It was barely the same size as Tristan, human in shape and appearance. Its skin had long decayed and peeled off however, which left it a rotting cloak of tissue. It lacked eyes and didn't have any arms. It appeared that whoever removed the arms had done it perfectly; they had been disconnected so cleanly it looked as if they simply popped off. What also differentiated this being from a normal human was that it had willingly detached its torso from its legs as Georgia swung her sword.
"What th-" exclaimed Georgia, before the whereabouts of the thing's arms became apparent. They had crawled around by themselves and latched themselves onto Georgia's legs while she was distracted. They attempted to claw her apart and slashed with their supernaturally strong nails.
"Get off!" Georgia slashed strongly and with such precision that it cut straight through the wrist of the arm on her left leg. She barely missed slicing her foot open in doing so.

29-Nov-2008 09:03:18 - Last edited on 20-May-2009 12:22:54 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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The other arm released its hold almost instantaneously after seeing Georgia gearing up to strike and scurried away. It had managed to dig deeply into Georgia's leg though and the **** bled madly.
Before she could regain her focus, the hand that was still gripping her leg tightened its hold. Georgia growled in anger and prepared to strike again, even if it cost her a portion of her shin. Jaden intervened before she could though, knocking the hand off with a Wind Bolt.
"Let's get out of here! Come on, move!" Jaden commanded, hauling Georgia away by the hand when she attempted to face the creature before them. It had reattached itself back to its legs and the arm that had attacked Georgia stuck into the joint on the right side of the creature. Robert had already managed to sneak the group out of what was left of the general store and towards the Monastery where they planned to hide.
"Wait! The eyes!" Georgia pointed towards the slowly illuminating sky of dawn. Hovering not far above them were a set of disembodied eyes, following the group's every movements.
"Damn it, Robert! It can see you!" Jaden cried whilst beckoning towards them. Robert was almost around the hill that divided Edgeville and the Monastery when he saw.
"It can detach its body parts but use them as if they were still connected," he theorised. "I've never heard of such a creature, but it seems to be the thing that haunts Edgeville!"
"It sounds like it," Veronica murmured, trying desperately not to look at anything but her feet. "We've often woken to floating eyes or had claw marks on us. An arm would be much easier to sneak into a house than-"
"It didn't sneak in," Natalie interjected. "It can teleport short distances."
"How d-"
It was in front of her, manifesting in a burst of shadows. It was if it had appeared out of a puff of black smoke, like a magician. It lunged towards Veronica and Natalie with its single arm, aiming to swipe both of their heads off.

29-Nov-2008 09:03:27 - Last edited on 21-May-2009 08:05:39 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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But before it even got close to its targets, its arm from the elbow down suddenly vanished. Veronica was confused, thinking it to be a trick but when she saw the dagger that had appeared in Natalie's hand she guessed what had happened.
Without giving it a chance to think, Natalie attacked again this time towards the creature's throat. Its head jumped off of the neck as Natalie jammed her knife in so deeply her entire hand followed. She wrenched her hand and blade from the creatures throat and proceeded to kick it in the chest, knocking it to the ground. The head rolled towards its shredded neck and attempted to reattach itself, only to find that it was no longer the correct shape to sustain its size and weight.
"This thing couldn't have destroyed our town," Tristan proclaimed. "It's not much stronger than an ordinary zombie."
"I wouldn't be too sure," Robert explained. "It can teleport, so there's no telling what other dark powers it could possess. Stay back, close to Veronica. Okay?"
Tristan and Edward gladly obliged as Veronica led them back to a safe distance. There was a mountain on the far west of Edgeville. No one had managed to climb it and now wasn't the time to even attempt. Essentially, the group was trapped even if the strange heat wasn't in effect.
As the Tele brothers took their position behind Veronica, the creature's body began to stir. Veronica drew her bow and notched an arrow in one rapid motion and aimed it at the grotesque being. By that time Jaden had arrived with Georgia stumbling along behind him. Her right leg was in bad shape and fighting would be difficult for her.
"Georgia, get over here, quick!" cried Edward who was waving around his first-aid kit to get attention. Georgia didn't want to be left out of the fight so trudged over as best she could, sidestepping the creature by at least two metres. The head ignored her as it was still trying to fit onto its neck which was beginning to quiver strangely.

29-Nov-2008 09:03:29 - Last edited on 21-May-2009 08:06:19 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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To everyone's surprise the flesh of the neck spontaneously regenerated, as did both of the arms. In a flash, it leapt up from the ground and swung at Robert who was standing the closest. He stepped back to avoid the blow when it suddenly flickered in and out of sight before vanishing all together. Robert didn't have time to fathom what had happened and dived forward instinctively. The creature's arm managed to administer a shallow cut to the back of his neck as it materialised behind him.
A mithril tipped arrow ripped through the chest of the being. Another burst through its right arm before it realised the danger and teleported in front of Veronica. It hadn't thought about the consequence of such an action though and had both of its arms severed in an instant by Georgia as it tried to strike. She may be down a limb but with Tristan to lean on she had no problem swinging her blade around. The creature went for a headbutt, only to smack into the flat of Georgia's sword, while Veronica fired an arrow through its left leg leaving it stumbling back in a daze. It collapsed and landed on its side in a heap. Georgia strode over and made a swing for its head only to have it teleport away between the two groups.
Every time Georgia was still Edward would tend to her leg, disinfecting it and wrapping it in bandages. He was shivering madly and close to breaking into tears but held himself together as he worked. Tristan had it worse. He had to get up close with the creature as Georgia fought, acting as her disabled leg.
The creature yanked out the arrow embedded in its arm and moaned eerily as it repaired its wounds.
"There's no way this thing could've destroyed our town the way we're going," Jaden said. "Sure, it can regenerate and teleport but we've definitely got the upper hand. How the hell did it manage to defeat everyone else in the town?"
"Stay on guard," Robert commanded. "I'd say its luring us into false security. It-"

29-Nov-2008 09:06:02 - Last edited on 21-May-2009 08:27:20 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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If Natalie had reacted a second slower, Robert would have been pierced by the arm that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere behind them. She noticed it lunging towards him and impaled it swiftly with her knife.
"What the-where did that come from?" Jaden exclaimed. He looked back at the creature in the middle and realised that it still had both of its arms attached.
"Jaden!"
He whirled around to see a chunk of the general store hurtling towards him. He ducked, avoiding the flying building block by mere centimetres. He scrambled to his feet to see if it had gone and hit Veronica and her group but was greeted with a far more troubling sight. The creature had caught the entire chunk with one hand and held it as if it were no heavier than paper.
"There's more of them." Natalie pointed to the town, which Robert and Jaden directed their attention to.
"Oh. That-that explains it." Robert stammered.
"Crap." Jaden cursed and backed off from the incoming threat.
Piling out from Edgeville, seemingly out of every crack and crevice were literally hundreds of rotten limbs all moving of their own accord. All moving towards the group.
"Where the hell were they hi-" Georgia began to exclaim but Tristan gave a yelp of surprise and motioned for her to duck. As she did, a wave of arms surged over her head and onto the ground beside her where they wriggled and writhed. Another swarm of legs charged towards her from the Monastery.
"They can teleport as well!" Robert concluded.
"What do we do?" Veronica called. "There's no way we can take them all!"
"This was your damn idea to stay here!" Jaden retorted angrily. "You think of something!"
As he finished, six or seven disturbing beings materialised before him. They were a conjoined pair of legs with arms sticking out of the top of them. They moved with blinding speed towards him and attempted to slash at his throat. Jaden reacted by seizing one of the attacking creature's arms and flinging it into two of the other monsters.

29-Nov-2008 09:06:04 - Last edited on 21-May-2009 12:49:01 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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The advancing army from Edgeville suddenly began vanishing and reappearing around the group. They scattered themselves randomly and wasted no time in wildly stampeding towards the children. The body of the creature remained motionless in the centre of the outbreaking chaos, seemingly focusing on what was happening.
Georgia slashed furiously at the creatures around her, disregarding all of her skills in favour of blind swings at the mass of swarming limbs. She diced them with ease but the sheer amount of them steadily began to overwhelm her. Veronica faced a greater problem as she had no melee weapon. Robert was able to defend himself at close range with magic but Veronica could do no such thing with a bow. The creatures seemed to notice this and primarily targeted her, forcing her back towards the mountain.
"Someone, help!" she cried fearfully, desperately launching arrows at anything that got too close. Suddenly Natalie was by her side and ripping through the waves of limbs as if they were mouldy peaches.
"We need to flee." she stated, grabbing Veronica by the shoulder and preparing to run to the north.
"Wait, we can't!" Veronica protested. "It's probably worse in there! 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire'!"
"We have no other option. Fighting isn't possible," Natalie retreated back a few paces as the amount of enemies increased. "These creatures are what desecrated our entire town and its inhabitants. If an entire town couldn't stop them how can we possibly hope to?"
An arm latched onto Natalie's leg and clawed mercilessly, eliciting a shriek of pain from her. Veronica hastily slammed her foot upon the foul creature and fired an arrow randomly into the air. Natalie had collapsed to her knees from the wound which put her out of the fight.
"Veronica!" the cry came from Edward, who had abandoned Georgia's leg to scream and cry and shake. "I wanna get out of here!"

29-Nov-2008 09:06:10 - Last edited on 06-Jun-2009 12:06:44 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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Without warning Edward bolted. He lashed out at any creature that got too close and dived over the Wilderness Border as he reached it.
"Edward!" Veronica exclaimed. She moved to reclaim him but a blast of fire before her halted her advance.
"Veronica," Robert was literally dragging an injured Jaden behind him whilst blasting his way through the wave of creatures. Jaden's legs were covered in blood and his left arm hung limply to his side but he still used his right to cast as many spells as he could muster.
Robert continued. "We have to go, there's no way we can survive at this rate!"
"But-"
"No buts!" Jaden interjected as he blew away an incoming wave. "Edward had already gone and if we're not quick we'll lose him! Grab Natalie and come on!"
Before Veronica could even turn around, Natalie had seized her by the shoulder and shoved her past the two boys and before the ditch. She lost her balance and managed a clumsy leap over the trench before landing flat on her face. She was up again in an instant and after Edward like all of hell was after her.
Natalie limped through the crowd, her knife ablaze with movement before her. A pair of conjoined arms gripped onto each of Natalie's legs and tripped her up. She didn't have a chance to retaliate and would have lost her legs if Jaden hadn't set the creatures aflame.
"Quick! You first!" he cried. Natalie hastily jumped to her feet and vaulted over the ditch gracefully, as if she didn't have a massive gouge running down her leg.
Robert scorched his was towards the ditch with Jaden in tow, who had managed to stabilise himself on one leg and hopped awkwardly. Robert had hardly been injured and bounded over the trench with no difficulty. Jaden was pulled over when he reached the other side.
"Georgia!" Robert cried. "We're going! Hurry!"
Georgia seemed to be enjoying herself. She no longer required Tristan to lean on and was shredding through the onslaught with a smile and a well-bloodied blade.

29-Nov-2008 09:06:13 - Last edited on 30-May-2009 12:15:35 by Infinity A8

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