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Dantalian

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Orcris took a moment to look around; he was in what appeared to be a desert; red dust covered the ground, and there were few plants in sight. But unlike a desert, the land he was in was cold, and covered in mist which obscured most of Orcris' surroundings. Thankfully, the mists did not cover the sky as well, and thus the land was thoroughly bathed in the silver light of a moon several times larger than that of Gielinor.

"This mist is going to make it hard to find them," Orcris mumbled to himself.

"Shall I take that to mean you've become separated from your group?" asked a voice that Orcris recognized. Smiling to himself, the half elf unsheathed his sword and turned to the direction the voice had come from.

"Hello again, Seth," Orcris greeted, "It's a surprise to see you here."

"Isn't it though?" asked the swordsman, "I'm clearly not the type to be in this place. But, unfortunately, events have conspired against me."

"It must be fate," said Orcris, "I think I'll settle the score I have with you over our duel in the Threads of Fate's temple."

"This really isn't the time for such things," sighed Seth, "But you're not the type to accept that, are you?"

"Sorry," said Orcris, "But no. I've much improved, and am eager to see how I match up with you."

"Is that so?" asked Seth, now unsheathing his sword. "Well, I suppose it will pass time until the twins arrive, so why not?"

"Just what I wanted to hear," said Orcris. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

12-Feb-2010 08:26:55

Dantalian

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The half elf broke into a sprint, agilely moving across the open terrain. Seth could clearly see that Orcris' speed had improved greatly from last time, and knew that it wasn't simply a result of training; no since Seth had broken the Soul Eater sword Orcris had been using, there was no way that the half elf could be trained to nearly double his speed as Orcris had done. In addition, the look on his face was different from last time; when Orcris had fought Seth in the Ananke's Temple, he had inadvertently let out a sense of being unsure of himself, of his own capabilities, likely because he questioned whether he was fighting with his own strength or that of the soul eater. Now that the soul eater had been destroyed, Orcris knew at the very least, whatever the outcome of the battle, everything he did was done with his own strength, and that seemed to give him a sense of pride which served as the source of his power; in other words, the soul eater, despite its many benefits, had been a handicap.

When Orcris reached striking distance, he suddenly struck his left foot against the ground, lunging himself to his right, and slashing at Seth's left side. Because of his immense skill, Seth was able to quickly bring his sword in defense of his side, barely blocking Orcris' attack before it connected. Despite this, the force of the attack was so great that it would have knocked the sword out of a normal soldier's hand, and even Seth found his hand throbbing after Orcris' attack. But before Seth had time to even readjust his grip, Orcris had already used the recoil from his own attack to spin around, bringing his sword to Seth's back. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

12-Feb-2010 08:27:37

Dantalian

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Once again, Seth managed to parry Orcris' attack just in time, however, a moment later, there was a sharp pain at the joint behind Seth's kneecap and he found himself falling to the ground. Apparently, when Orcris' blade had been blocked by Seth the second time, he kept his lower body moving, sending the force of his spin into Seth's joint with what was effectively a well placed roundhouse kick.

However, Orcris hadn't stopped moving when he connected his kick to Seth's leg, instead he had once again used the recoil of his attack to spin around, this time bringing his left leg to Seth's chest. Seth felt the air in his lungs get knocked out of him as Orcris second kick connected, and a moment later dropped his sword and had the wind knocked out of him again as his back slammed against the ground.

Orcris took advantage of Seth's precarious position to lunge his sword at Seth's neck. Yet, as he was about to connect with his latest attack, he found himself looking at the sky with a strong pain in his chin. Seth had kicked the ground, forcing himself into a flip, during which he had landed a strong kick on Orcris' chin, and thereby forcing Orcris' head to pivot back. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

12-Feb-2010 08:28:34

Dantalian

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As Orcris was trying to recover, a strong blow landed on his Adam's Apple,causing him to choke and stumble back, dropping his sword in the process. Even before Orcris had finished stumbling, a strong flurry of blows began to strike his chest, face, neck and gut. Stunned as he was, the half elf found it difficult to block this pummeling, and soon found himself nearly blacking out. As a last resort, Orcris withdrew a dragon dagger and lunged at Seth with it; unfortunately, the warrior saw it coming, and with a quick strike to Orcris' wrist disarmed the half elf, and to make matters worse, managed to pick up the dagger himself and bring it to Orcris' neck.

At that moment, Orcris was sure he had died, but to his surprise, Seth didn't cut into his neck, but instead dropped the dagger and broke into a smile.

"Satisfied?" asked Seth.

"You're really an idiot," replied Orcris, "I could take up that dagger right now and gut you with it."

"But you won't," replied Seth, "Because you're honorable, and beside that, you have no reason to fight me right now. By the way, you would have won that fight if you hadn't let your guard down for that moment when you were about to finish me."

"I'll have to remember that for the next time we fight," sighed Orcris, gathering his sword and dagger.

"I don't think there will be a next time," commented Seth.

"What do you mean?" asked Orcris.

"Call it a hunch," Seth replied, "Something may happen that puts us on the same side though."

"That would be an interesting event," Orcris mused, "But I don't see it happening... By the way, Seth, you apparently know why I'm here, but where is here, and what are YOU doing here?"

"We're in Niflheim," replied Seth, "The land of darkness, and like you, I'm here to pick some people up. Although they weren't sent here by a trap. Rather-"

Seth was cut off as a girl with dark green hair tackled him to the ground. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

12-Feb-2010 08:29:05

Dantalian

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Orcris instinctively moved to help, but found that Seth looked more flustered than in danger. Upon further examination, Orcris realized why; the girl wasn't attacking Seth per se, but rather had undone his belt and seemed to be trying to... remove his pants?

A moment later, a stick slammed against the girl's head, and Orcris found that a second girl, identical to the first except that her hair had been tied in a pony tail, had appeared and struck the first girl with the aforementioned stick.

"Aw, sis, what was that for?" asked the first girl.

"Hekate, what by all things sacred to Zaros do you think your doing?" demanded the second.

"Enjoying my husband for the first time in three months?" suggested the first girl.

At this answer, the second girl began twitching.

"What?" asked Hekate, "Do you have something against married couples having fun?"

This questioned earned Hekate another whack on the head by the stick her sister was holding.

"I don't care what you and Seth do," replied Hekate's sister, "It's the location that bothers me! If your going to do THAT do it in a locked room or something! Certainly, don't do it in front of other people!"

"Who else is here?" asked Hekate, looking around. When she saw Orcris, she shrugged and said, "Okay, but I'm sure he doesn't mind."

"Don't I get a say in this?" asked Seth, who was still being pinned to the ground by Hekate.

"You do mind do you dear?" asked Hekate.

"Actually... I do," said Seth.

"Ah, darn it," grumbled Hekate, getting off Seth, "Tonight though?"

"Of course," replied Seth.

"You making dinner?" asked Hekate.

"Sure," answered Seth.

"Alright," commented Hekate, "So dinner, and directly after that, we go to our room... Heh, we won't sleep all night long."

Orcris noted that Seth had begun to sweat profusely.

"Um," said Seth, "Hekate, either I can make dinner, or I can stay up all night. If I need to do the latter, I'll need to rest instead of making dinner." "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

12-Feb-2010 08:30:21

Dantalian

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"Fine," muttered Hekate, "I'll make dinner tonight then."

"I was afraid you'd say that," mumbled Seth. Apparently remembering Orcris was there, Seth turned to him and asked, "Er, I'm guessing you'd like an explanation?"

Orcris crossed his arms and nodded. "That would make this much less confusing," he agreed, "And maybe I'll be able to figure out what in the nine hells is going on."

"I'll explain then!" exclaimed Hekate, "I am Hekate Numatenma, Seth's wife, and this is my sister Usha."

"I gathered the 'wife' part," commented Orcris, "Although I didn't know Seth was married. Also, judging by your sister's exclamation, I take it she is a Zarosian, are you?"

"Yep," said Hekate, "In fact, my entire family has been loyal to Zaros, up to about... two hundred-something generations ago."

"And you're married to the leader of the cult of light?" Orcris confirmed.

"Indeed," said Hekate, "However, my family and I didn't know he was leader of the cult of light until after we were engaged. You should have seen my demon hag of a grandma when she found about; she did an entire about face from hating Seth, and hating me for loving him, and gave her full approval for our wedding."

"Wait," said Orcris, "So that means you can influence the cult of light? Can't you get them on our side?"

Hekate paused for a moment, then turned to Seth, and smiling in a rather creepy way asked, "Dear, have your followers been hindering Lord Zaros?"

"Maybe... a little?" suggested Seth, sounding entirely unsure of himself.

"You are going to fix that when we get back to Gielinor, right?" asked Hekate.

"Um, yes?" said Seth.

"Good," said Hekate, "Because otherwise..." Here Hekate began to whisper, and Orcris, noting that Seth was both clearly flustered AND sweating realized it wasn't something he wanted to hear, and thus made a point of ignoring it.

"Actually, I have a question," said Hekate, after she had finished threatening her husband, "Has the cult of darkness been helping Lord Zaros?" "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

12-Feb-2010 08:31:37

Dantalian

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"Um, not really," replied Orcris, "But with the exception of Aquaregis, they haven't really done anything to hinder us either..."

"Of course, Aquaregis," grumbled Hekate, "Sis, you really should convince Liam to fire him."

"Liam?" asked Orcris.

"Liam Nidhogg," explained Hekate, "He's the real leader of the cult of darkness, although Aquaregis is his right hand man. Incidentally, Liam is also Usha's fiance, and as obedient as he is to her, I guess that means Usha is the real leader of the cult of darkness..."

"So, between the two of you, Lord Zaros has control of both the cults of light and darkness?" asked Orcris.

"It would be more precise to say that now that we're heading back to Gielinor, Lord Zaros has the capability to control both cults," said Usha, "Liam is only really opposed to Zamorak and Guthix. Unless I ask him to do otherwise, the cult of darkness will likely act as observers to whatever goes on."

"I see," said Orcris, "Well, it's nice to meet the two of you... now, I'm afraid I have to go find my group, and bring them back to Gielinor."

"Your group?" asked Hekate.

Orcris opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as a scream pierced the air.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Possibly your group?" suggested Usha, "Only it looks like something found them before you, and their aren't many friendly things out here in Niflheim's wasteland."

"Sorry," said Orcris, "I have to go help them."

"We'll come to," said Usha, "We can fight as well, and besides that, even if you rescue them you'll be hard pressed to get your group home. My sister and I can help with that."

"In that case," said Orcris, "Your help will be appreciated. Now let's go."

With this, the Zarosians and Seth began running in the direction of the scream. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

12-Feb-2010 08:32:27

Dantalian

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

For those of you who have read the Monolith, you may be wondering about this so; Yes, those are the same twins who appear in the Monolith.

Now, some of you may have another question; if Seth and Hekate are married, why is Hekate's last name the same as her sister's?

In answer to that you would need a bit of knowledge about the culture the Numatenma clan is from. In said culture, if a man of an unimportant family (as in a non-prominent family, like Seth's) marries a member of a very prominent family, it is common for him to take his wife's surname.

Remember as well, that Seth's real name has not been disclosed, but now you know that whatever it is, his surname is Numatenma. (Unless of course, Seth is actually from a more prominent family than I care to inform you about, and Hekate is just saying Numatenma is her surname... but more likely I'm just giving you red herrings right now, so feel free to ignore this stuff in parentheses.) "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

12-Feb-2010 08:40:20

Orcris

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Now that's a good fight scene. I do not really know why but I'm always impressed when a writer includes the fact that when swords clash, especially between stronger people, there is going to be an effect of impact. I haven't seen many writers actually do this, you can definitely write a fight scene better than most authors that have published books with the same kind of fight scenes.

I was thoroughly enjoying the adds up until the part where Seth was almost depantsed. Sometimes this story just reminds me of an anime like that, all this cool stuff happens and then something happens for a character to like fall on their face because they are just like "WHAT THE!?". In this case that would have been Orcris.

I also find it interesting that you seem to be much more focused on certain characters rather than switching from person to person ever add or so. I can't particularly judge whether it is good or bad because I thought it was just fine before, but it is your preference. The difference I'm feeling is before it created much more suspense, whereas now the characters are feeling much more lifelike. I guess now that I write it out that it was a good choice, lifelike characters is a great deal more important that a little extra suspense.

~Orcris~
~Est sularis oth mithas~
~Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality~
~Who I am is not important, my message is~

12-Feb-2010 15:19:19

Dantalian

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Thank you for the compliment, although, I'm a little bit confused, do you mean you didn't like the rest of the add after Hekate tried to depants Seth, or that it was just a "What the heck?!" type of moment.

...Ah, Hekate, she's really going to make this story interesting (and there will likely be more times she does something bizarre like in this add.)

Also, I meant to mention this before, but as far as Aquaregis being an interesting character... Seth and Liam's past is even more interesting, although they might not know it right now.

Hm, that should be enough hints as to where the story is going for now (I know, it's vague, but you're pretty good at guessing, so if I said any more you'd probably figure out a lot of it before long.)

I do wonder though, is anyone besides you, Orcris, and maybe Prefix reading this anymore? Ah, I remember the good old days when I could crank out three adds a day, and had a multitude of readers... has it really been five years since then? Wow, how time flies, makes you feel sentimental.

...Completely unrelated to all the aforementioned stuff, as I'm writing this, I'm listening to my iTunes... well, as I was finishing up this post, the song "Zaros stirs" began playing... how strange. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

13-Feb-2010 18:57:58

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