Egress Unveiled Event: The Forgotten
Prompt 1: Draw or write your Reosean taking part in the varying crimes and pranks that the Forgotten may hold. This could be stealing building materials, pranking another Haedian, or perhaps causing a distraction to allow for others to run in!
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3453 Words
By FourDayz and Renya06
Somos was so perplexed by Frosty’s philosophy that he almost missed the warning. He tilted his ears forward and focused.
“More of those guys?” Somos guessed. “They sound upset. Sounds like something we should avoid.”
They rounded a bend and another cavern opened up before them. Inside, a group of those cave dwelling reoseans scrambled about, collecting their things and grabbing long pikes tipped sharpened green crystal.
“Oh, we definitely should avoid whatever this is.”
But it was too late. One was pointing a dexterous finger towards them, shouting for the others in a series of clicks and chirps.
“Sorry to spring this on you boys, but, like I said, I have a job for you.” A familiar voice echoed behind them, Somos whipped around to see two glowing orbs in the dark. “If you would be so kind as to take care of those traitors for us, that would be great. But don’t worry, we’ll see each other again soon enough. We just need time to collect our things.” The glow of her eyes faded and her voice grew faint as she seemed to disappear into the tunnel walls.
He almost felt like denying her request out of spite, but since he had no intention of talking it out with the incoming party, he would have no choice but to fight them. Which might very well have been her plan all along. He may have underestimated her cunning this time, but it wouldn't happen again.
In the meantime, he had some fools to put back in their place, "Come on, Rat, where's your fighting spirit gone? We don't need to avoid them. They need to learn to avoid us." With that, he slammed a paw to the ground, a flurry of deadly frozen spires erupting before them. He could hear the newcomers let out startled gasps, but their sinewy bodies avoided the worst of it with surprising agility. Their quick footsteps echoed through the cave as they moved swiftly and gracefully, dodging the obstacles in their path.
'No matter', he thought, they couldn't escape him forever. He just had to take it to the next level. A menacing smirk grew on his face as he let the cold of his core spread across his body, chilling the air around him.
The temperature in the tunnel suddenly dropped.
“Oh come on! You couldn’t wait until I jumped in?”
Somos dashed forward, weaving around the spikes and threw himself at the first opponent that had made it to the tunnel mouth. He batted the pike out of his face and they both crashed to the ground, ice shattering under them. Somos neatly rolled to his paws before deftly dodging a pike stabbed in his direction. Another swung their pike downwards, forcing him to jump back. Now they were out in the open, Somos could dodge and weave between them and use the environment as best he could. Their lithe bodies kept up pretty well but they couldn’t rush him all at once without hitting a teammate. His only advantage in this fight.
These guys are pretty accustomed to fighting. Somos noted as he snapped at a cave dweller who slithered too close for his liking. They had begun to spread out. Not the easiest situation to get out of. That conniving woman better be grateful for this!
He had the attention of quite a few of them but two more were running up to Frosty.
Lucky them.
He eyed the two fighters that were nearing his position, calculating his next move.
If brute force wouldn't work- he let the frost he'd been building up onto the cave floor, making it as slippery as a lake in winter. Their agility was commendable, but without solid ground to stand on, they slipped and tripped. Easy prey for the grinning Frost Devil as he exhaled gusts of bitterly cold air that froze his victims on the spot. Ice began creeping up their legs until they were encased in solid blocks.
His power's lure was starting to rear its ugly head, and he could feel the numbness creeping along the edges of his thought.
Not now!
He wrestled control back long enough to send another wave of frosted air toward the rest of their attackers, narrowly avoiding hitting Somos as well. With the ground frozen beneath their paws, his 'ally' should be able to dispatch them without issue.
He hoped so at least, as he stopped his onslaught and used all of his concentration on not losing control.
Somos clambered over some stalagmites, avoiding the white cloud that travelled quickly over the floor and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good work.”
Somos nearly attacked the person behind him, only to find it was that woman again and this time, she brought a few friends. They slipped down from a hole in the ceiling and rushed to the equipment in the middle of the cavern.
“A little too late for help now,” Somos commented.
“Oh, we’re not here to help,” she explained. “Just collecting a few things and sending a message to another clan. By the way, you’re not done.” She pointed a claw behind him where one of the creatures reached the foot of the stalagmite and began climbing.
“Troall!” They screamed. Their long claws digging into the rock and pulling themselves up after having cleared the ice. “It was you! We should’ve known better!”
“Indeed, you really should have.” Troall sighed dramatically before going to help her crew.
Somos considering leaving but then he’d have two angry “clans” to deal with. Better the devil he knew.
“Shit! I want a good reward for this! Better blow my mind with it!” He shouted to Troall.
“Finish the job and you have my word.” She turned to help the others tie the equipment to their backs and carry them out of the cave. Somos jumped off his perch, and tackled the one just beneath him.
Somos had run off to higher grounds and didn't seem to be in any hurry to end his part of the melee, busy as he was conversing with this so-called Troall. He wasn't paying enough attention to what they were saying, though he did catch something about a reward. He'd have to inquire about it later.
As he reluctantly prepared to finish off the stragglers, he saw one of them head toward Somos' perch while the rest began breathing fire onto the floor, melting his hard work. That could be a problem. He was lucky he'd taken those two off guard then, but the leftovers wouldn't roll over and let him do the same trick twice. By its very nature, his element would've been at a disadvantage.
If they were on equal footing, that is.
All he had to do was overwhelm them, though part of him knew that continuing this fight was dangerous. The other part -the other him, the one that was colder than the Roenden glaciers, the one whose whispers in his ears had gotten louder and louder as time went on-, didn't want any of these creatures to think that they had a chance at besting him.
He was stronger. Stronger than them. Stronger than anything.
All he had to do was let go of the illusion of control.
It sounded so tempting.
Why not just give in?
Why not, indeed.
He let go.
Eyes aglow, they stepped forward, the air around them freezing in mesmerizing specks of snow that slowly began to spiral in an all too familiar fashion.
'Spread' they thought, 'All belongs to the Cold'
A blast of cold air threw Somos and the cave dweller back. A cold that seemed to seep to their very core and wrest all movement from them. They couldn’t help but watch as a wall of ever shifting white expanded out from the tunnel mouth to the rest of the cavern. One by one, each member of the opposing clan stiffened as the wall over took them. Their bodies overcome with frost. Their eyes blue.
Somos looked over at Troall and her group. They had gathered whatever they needed. The last few were climbing up the hole. Troall stood and watched as the storm unfolded before her.
“No!” Somos screamed. He bent his stiff joints and willed himself to move to her. “You need to GO! GET OUT!”
The ferocity in his voice must have been what did it. Troall snapped out of the trance and rushed to help the last few then turned to him.
“I can stop it!” Somos shouted with a firm nod. He couldn’t hear the call yet but he didn’t have much time. He wasn’t sure if he could resist it as he did before. He would try anyways.
She must have seen the uncertainty in his face. With one “paw”, she grabbed him by the straps running across his chest and shoulders. The other reached up and grabbed another “paw” reaching down from the darkness to pull them up.
“Hey! No! Let me go!” There wasn’t much he could do. The cold sapped his strength and halted most of his movements. He could only watch as the storm claimed the last cave dweller. It continued to expand seeking more victims to embrace. At its centre, a pair sightless blue eyes watched him go.