Board Thread:The Company/@comment-24866242-20140705011408/@comment-24930445-20140705043747

Beginning of the End

Axin had stopped just inside the door to what Kat now considered the temple room. His crouch told those following that he had found the source of trouble they had been searching for.

“Lantis. I should have guessed. Interesting you have the Monster with you. I’d ask if you feel a kinship with it, but *it* isn’t a coward.” Axin growled, his voice carrying to let the others know who was in the room. “Let her go, Lantis.”

Kat glanced at Ry, falling into the sign language he had taught her years ago. From the looks of it to the others, they seemed to be arguing, snarling at each other until Kat broke it off and stepped past him into the room.

“Ah. Perfect! The Wiveni were interested in Joslynne. I can hand them that bitch instead!” Lantis grinned wickedly at Kat.

Lantis and Darrak were on the other side on the room, Jos held tightly in the monster’s arms, her neck barely seen under the massive hand that wrapped around her there. With her hands behind her back, Kat passed the info on to Ry who whispered to the group exact numbers and positions.

“Katrylle. Hands please? I’m sure you know by now blasters will not work here, but I wrote your file. Knives were always your forte, correct?” He was still a smug bastard, but she had spent a few years while he was on Vextis learning how to antagonize him and she was damn good at it.

“Mmm.. y’ know how I prefer long, stiff things wi’ a bite to long range. Up close and personal, remember Lantis? Y’ were party ta several moments I shared with Ry…” She smiled wickedly, strolling without a care in the world to the right of the door, though she did bring her hands out to show them empty, the heavy crossbow strapped across her back in clear view. “Ohh.. that’s right. Use to git yer knickers in a twist and leave. Shame.”

Lantis bristled, his thin face snarling at the memories of all the times he had to leave important meetings because this tart had entered the room and strutted her ass to distract Ryax from the work at hand.

Axin must have realized what she was doing. Standing, he began moving away from her to his left, splitting their focus.

“I’m assumin y’know wha’s gonna happen when tha’ thing finishes, aye?” Kat traced a finger along the stone wall as she continued to move towards the far corner.

“He knows.” Kat stopped arching an eyebrow as the thing that once was Darrak spoke, his voice as metallic as his body.

It took her a moment to fight the terror the monster instilled in her, but she eventually put one foot in front of the other and continued her stroll.

“And did y’tell him he’ll be as much a slave as th’ rest o’ us? Nae, wait… “ She laughed suddenly. “Y’told him he’d be in charge dinnae ye?! Oh tha’s good. A bit cliche’, but good. Y’always were tha’ thick headed, Lantis. I bet they said they’d let ya keep her fer yerself too, huh?” She tossed a nod in Jos’s direction, only just noticing the death glare she was receiving from the other woman.

“Oh, hi Jos. Bet ya nae figured Axin an’ I would git together, eh?” She smirked as the death glare darkened. “Thanks fer free run o’ yer ship, by the way.”

Jos jerked, struggling to get free from Darrak, the desire to murder clear in her eye. She stopped instantly, however, when Darrak’s fingers tightened on her throat, her eye going wide as her face began to redden.

“Oooh.. oops. Bit tight there, Jos? Bet tha’s worse than bein’ bled, eh? At least I went ta sleep afore I died” Kat smirked.

“NO! You promised her to me! She’s to be mine!” Lantis laid his hand on Darrak’s arm, though there was no force involved.

Slowly, the man thing turned his head, dropping his electronic gaze to look at the hand on his arm. Lantis twitched, but, the hand remained. A moment later, the great gulping gasp of air filling Jos’s lungs echoed through the room. It was only then that Lantis removed his hand.

“The time comes.” Darrak said. “You are too late.”

Kat laughed. “Nah.. jist in time, I reckon.” She glanced up casually as if checking for the proper signs. What she saw was a Vextis shuttle followed by a fighter cross over the open roof and she smiled.

Lantis followed her gaze up and scowled. “By all means, bring more people. The Wiveni will want them all. Even a ship in orbit can’t do anything. The device will defend us from their weapons. You’ve lost!”

Axin continued circling to the left, taking advantage of Lantis’s hatred and distraction. He was within fifteen meters of his prey when Darrak held Joslynne aloft in his direction by her neck, her legs kicking as she held on to his wrist. It didn’t have the effect Darrak must have hoped for. Axin launched himself at the monster, his claws out.

Kat took the distraction Axin caused and drew Tomlinson’s knife. She had known from the instant she had held it that the balance was perfect and she launched it at Lantis, catching him in the thigh.

Lantis screamed when the blade embedded itself in his femur and dropped him instantly. Once he was disabled Kat turned her attention to the larger threat. Darrak. She slid the great crossbow around from her back.

Ben and Sandy rushed past Ryax at this point, crossbows at the ready, leveling them at Darrak after barely a moment to assess the situation, but Axin was already on him.

Ry’s “What the fuck?!” came from the hallway just as a huge red tiger barrelled through the door, racing towards the fight. As Axin punched and clawed at the man-monster’s head, the tiger’s teeth sank into the metal that was Darrak’s arm, shaking it with fury in an attempt to get him to release Joslynne. The arm came away clean, dropping to the floor along with the woman it had held.

Without hesitation, Mack grabbed Jos’s shirt collar in his teeth and dragged her away from the fight, the woman kicking and screaming the entire way.

“Shut up, bitch! He’s savin yer sorry arse!” Kat had the great crossbow on her shoulder, her focus down the sight trained on Darrak. Like Ben and Sandy, she didn’t have a shot because of Axin’s attack. Ryax had raced into the room, following the tiger, but veered off to back his wife.

Darrak roared and with his remaining arm ripped Axin away from his chest and hurled him across the room towards Kat’s friends. Ben and Sandy ducked and loosed at the same time, their bolts striking Darrak center mass. Kat fired with them, catching Darrak in the neck, the heavier bolt burying itself to the fletching and coming out the other side.

Darrak barely seemed to notice and turned his attention to the closest targets. Kat and Ryax. She knew she wouldn’t be able to reload before he reached them. This was the curse of crossbows, slow reloads, so she merely dropped the weapon and waited, her body relaxed. Those who watched could see the soft smile playing about her lips. “Kat?” Ry’s hand gripped her arm, but she didn’t notice.

“Kat! No!” She never heard the heard yelling directed at her. He sole focus was the giant.

“Poď, ty idiot. Pozrime sa, čo máš? Bol chcel, aby to po veľmi dlhú dobu. (Come on you mother fucker. Lets see what you got? Been wanting to do this for a very long time.) As he drew near, her body lowered further into a crouch, but she never moved away. To all watching, it seemed as if she had a death wish. Ry, knowing she was in it for the duration, released her arm and crouched with her, preparing for the upcoming fight.

That was when something caught Ben’s eye. A greenish glow shone faintly from beneath her shirt at her chest. He knew he had recognized the language she had spoken. He had heard it from her before and he now worried that she was in Volenyn’s grip once again. “Shit. Ryax, get her out of there!”

He was too late. One step closer and Kat launched herself at the monster, landing most of the way up Darrak's massive chest. Her legs locked around his body as she began rabbit punching his face, breaking his nose before ripping one of his mechanical eyes from its socket. His remaining arm came up, wrapping his hand around her waist, trying to tug her free.

At that moment the glow under her shirt began to spread, enveloping her in a blinding aura, obscuring her from sight. It clung to his prosthetic arm and began climbing up his wrist. When it reached the human flesh of his shoulder it suddenly snapped in place around him, enveloping him in the same blinding glow.

The others in the room had to shield their eyes from the intense light that enveloped them both, but they could hear Darrak begin to scream a moment later. “'''NO! Darrak sorry! No hurt!'''”

The man who rode Kat’s mind, controlling her body had no pity for the thing before him. He mirrored Kat’s own feelings for Darrak and, together, they jerked the heavy bolt from the monster’s neck then drove it into the space that had once held his left eye, ending his tormented screams forever.

Kat rode the body to the floor, rolling away at the last moment and coming to a stand over it. Breathing heavily, she simply stood, looking down at what had been her life’s torment. The reason she had lost family so many years ago. The reason she had another now. And she felt nothing. The hand on her shoulder meant nothing at the moment as the man in her mind considered the body at her feet.

“Spánok v pekle, ty hajzel. (Sleep in hell, you bastard.)”

Behind her, Ben called out. “Kat, something’s happening!”

She glanced over her shoulder at him and realized her view of him was partially obscured. The air over the device between them was hazy, almost blurred. Air from above them began to rush down into the chamber, catching her hair and whipping it around. Ash and dust came with it and she had to shield her eye though she made no move to reach the others. Slowly, she looked up then frowned.

“Zlez dolu! Portál sa otvára! Wiverni sa blíži! (Get down! The portal is opening! The Wiverni are coming!)” Instead of running, however, she slowly made her way to the center of the room where the pedestal had once stood, shaking off the hand that tried to restrain her. Once in position, her arms lifted up and out.

“Matka Vykupiteľa, počuje naše prosby. Chráňte nás pred cur, ktorí hľadajú našu skazu’ (Mother Redeemer, hear our pleas. Protect us from the cur who seek our destruction)”

Sandra ran back into the hallway but found it empty. “Where did they go?” she asked Ben, frantically.

“We’re here!” Jarrid yelled. He was running ahead of Jack and an unfamiliar man. They had the pedestal secured to a grav cart and were pushing it ahead of them as fast as they could move.

“Get it in here!” Ben yelled over the gale. “We’re running out of time!”

As they rounded the corner the cart ripped itself from their grip and continued unimpeded into the room as if the wind, strong enough to make the men lean into it, didn’t exist.

Kat didn’t seem to notice, maintaining her position, her voice growing in its sing song prayer. “Matka Vykupiteľa, počuje naše prosby. Chráňte nás pred cur, ktorí hľadajú našu skazu’ (Mother Redeemer, hear our pleas. Protect us from the cur who seek our destruction)”

The cart flipped end over end and slammed into the cube in the center of the room. There was a bright flash and a sense of rushing forward as the two artifacts fused into one, and then they were gone. The haze in the room was clear and the wind stopped.

In their place was a giant, twice the size of Darrak. The Wiveni had arrived.