Tears for Evil

Part 2: New friends, New deaths

Nyx and Za'nex had been the first pair to traverse outside of Alkia's pocket realm. They appeared in a highland plains area with no end in sight. It seemed desolate at first but they eventually came across travelers who gave them information about the land they currently resided in. Whether it was fear or kindness that prompted them to answer the pairs questions was wholly unknown.

One, an older woman who nearly fell to her knees at the sight of them, told of a settlement just five miles North of their current position. That's where they were heading now at breakneck speed. Nyx surprisingly broke the silence on the way there. He was a man of few words but curiosity nipped at him. " You said you don't pray to a god. What else could you possibly pray to?" He asked. The question caught Za'nex off guard and his slithering slowed slightly.

"Something more. Something better. Older than any god, deity or sad excuse for a creature that associates itself with such titles. I am it's chosen and it has graced me with its power. That is why I must return home. Its influence is still here but hazy." He finished. Za'nex looked as if he was experiencing a small high talking about his savior, his antennae twitching happily. "So you don't know what it is? Got it." he commented to himself. "I need not know, only believe. And I think that's the "Settlement" the old one told us about. We stop here, I smell something off." The two came to a stop in front of a large Stonemetal fortification.

Even from the distance they were at they could tell it was huge, easily the size of a large village. The walls spanned up 50 feet and the front held two pairs of gates over a mote with no bottom to speak of. The only way over the void was a path of floating rocks that fell away the moment they got over the hill. The call of a horn sounded and over the expanse in front of them soldiers of Stonemetal animated from the ground, their faces featureless. Their paldurians and knee guards gleamed in the light, their broad shoulders put even the most physically fit men to shame. They stood taller than any man by a head but were still dwarfed by Nyx and Za'nex who stood at 10 '8 and 7 ft respectively.

"I think they know we're here. Plan?" He asked as he turned to Nyx. "They sent earth constructs to fight a geo user..." He walked forward, stretching his arm across his chest. "I guess I'll have a bit of a warmup, using my powers would be a little too easy." he smiled. "I guess I'll go see if this place has any actual humans. There has to be a leader somewhere." Za'nex replied. He whispered an incomprehensible prayer and slowly started to fade from view. Soon only nyx was left, his victims at the ready.

He tensed his legs on the side of the hill, crouching down. Energy collected inside him and in one swift motion he was sent flying hundreds of feet above the center of the group. The archers and mages fired everything at him the moment he slowed. The arrows broke against him and the magic exploded against his form. They continued to pelt him at full force, clouding the sky in smoke and ash. They held no soul or mercy for the living being, only a directive to carry out their objective. A plume trail descended down towards their center but they never ceased firing, not until it impacted the ground.

The shockwave unearthed the ground underneath them sending ripples and waves in all directions. Even as they flew they still tried firing to no avail. Bodies crashed against the earth and broke but new ones soon took their place. One of the soldiers, a warrior, charged forth through the flying rocks narrowly avoiding the debris. He pelveted through the flying bodies of his comrades and cleaved the ones he couldn't avoid with his spear. The smoke was thick but he could hear the enemy, only a hundred more feet and he'd reach his goal.

A hand made its way into his face, displacing stone as its fingers dug past what would have been his inner nostril had he been made of flesh. It tore down viciously, removing everything to its chin. It tried to swing its spear to the left but the man simply blocked by raising his arm. A sudden stab to the neck released his head from his body, ending his service. More soldier charged in while the remnants of ranged attacked fired with renewed effort.