The wind pushed hard across the Undrazi Mountains between Noclase and Alkyra. It bowed the bamboo forests, spraying snow in front of its wave, racing its icy hands towards the deserts of Jentala and Venzar, but it is never allowed to chill those deserts. The wind still had to keep trying, it knew no other way. Zondrrrah stood at the base of Mount Selnia, his white fur covered ears straining to listen to the message on the winds. His wide snow-shoe sized feet splayed over the snow, giving him balance and spreading his weight evenly. Zondrrrah was of the snow leopard clan of Alkrya, a country populated by felines. He was not an elder of the clan, nor one that said much in times of council. He like others around the world was a watcher. Not acting in the world so much as reporting on events and their impact. The wind like the world was changing, so too must the watchers. His slayer was still alive, unlike so many others that had fallen to the demons. Forty there had been, only 5 remained that they can confirm. The gates are opening, the demons pouring forth and the slayers must find the keys to close them again. They will start here with the Alkyran Sword.
Zondrrrah closed his eyes, feeling the frost starting to form on the fur beneath his nose. It felt good to be in the cold. It is where he was born. "And so it begins, slayers."
January 13th 2002 - Storm and Jen's house at 1pm.
Queeset stepped off of the boat onto the beaches of Zilar. The hot mist streamed into his armor’s nostril holes. By the time that the scent of home reached his nose filtered and forced into his lungs, it would be cleansed of the smells of home and it would be the antiseptic smell that he had long become used too. His armor was his second skin, without it he would die. With it he was just as strong as in his days of glory, but fate and demons had changed the balance and he wouldn’t live long without the help of his suit of armor. Queeset was born a Zil, a race of dog-headed creatures that inhabited the island of Zilar. He was short for his race but still over 6 feet, but he felt tiny again as he passed the women of his race, some standing in at over 8 foot but most just over a foot taller than he.
Sometimes he hoped he would see his love again, but he released her from her betrothal to him, the day that the armor became master. Mock combat broke into the streets as was the playful nature of his people, fighting was never serious, unless it was with demons. Then his race never gave quarter.
He swept he royal blue cloak back around him and headed for home. He had to report to the watcher council, what was left of it, and find out what is student, the slayer was doing. Probably up to his elbows in trouble again. Not unlike Zanakht to have caused some trouble, at least I hope he was patrolling as he was supposed to be. Time is getting short and they had to leave for Alkrya tomorrow if they were to make the rendezvous with the other watchers and their slayers. But he had information that they needed, he would send a letter on first to the remaining watchers. It was so far better than he thought but spring would make it much worse but Zilar would probably be spared the fate of the Demon hordes for a time but they would find a way to them sooner or later.
Zondrrrah,
The gate as you suspected is in Pukmetz. It looks to be the Gehenna Gate from the demons that are coming from it. I am unsure if they are slow to emerge because of the winter cold that has gripped this arctic country or if they haven’t discovered the rift on their side. If it is the former, come spring we will have a horde pouring through that gate if it is the latter then who opened the gate? Only time will tell us at this point. Zanakht and I will arrive at the appointed time and place, but in case we run into trouble that others of our kind have died of. I hope that this note finds you well.
Queeset
January 4th, 2002
Lornorith stepped back from the large creature. Six foot long, 4 foot at the shoulder, four legged creature. It was already dead, took a misstep into a volcanic vent, when the ash vented. Couple of thousand degrees kills just about anything not born of Kiamana and this was definitely not born here. The thing had a nose big enough to track someone from the other side of the world. This had to be what was tracking the other slayers, but was it killing the slayers as well. Lornorith knew that it would take more than just one of these creatures to kill some of the more experienced slayers. This was something the slayer killed whilst having breakfast. Lornorith pondered this as she stepped over a small lava flow. Its heat felt nice against her feet. She stepped inside her metal and rock house, pulled a metal book from her extensive shelves and with delicate hands flipped through the book searching for a creature that looked like the one outside.
A moment later she found it.
Lornorith clapped the book shut with a bang. “Aeridrayeth, pack quickly we are leaving now. We don’t want to be late to the slayer gathering.” Lornorith cast a glance out her window, nothing yet but soon.
Xon stood before the watchers building in Kribdala. She wanted to see with her own eyes, the violence that was played out here. Where ever she looked over the white marble building, red blood streaked the marble. Her people had guarded the building since the watchers were formed but there had never been a reason to guard the building. The Dalite race was a peaceful one, but now blue bodies littered the courtyard. Odd that very few of the attackers were present. Those that had witnessed the attack, said they were cloaked creatures, with large dogs that had attacked. The stayed to the shadows, as if the sunlight bothered them. Upon the death of one of the attackers, the body was torn apart by the dogs and the chunks consumed. The dogs fed upon their own dead but left the Dalites uneaten.
Xon walked through the courtyard, stepping over bodies, parts and mostly blood. She recognized a great number of her colleagues but many were beyond her recognition. She passed through the doors into the great halls. More of the same. She walked into the library, larger than any library in the world. Large enough to contain most of the libraries of the world in just this one room and there were three of them here. Oddly nothing was disturbed in any of them. The books all neatly shelved, a scant few scattered on the tables. She walked, searching for any clue of what happened to the elders.
She found them, higher in the towers, there conditions worse than the rest. Torn apart, limb from limb. She only recognized the bits of the elders by the robes they wore.
Stopping by the body of Tinzon, the elder leader of the watchers, she lifted his head, but was not expecting it to come apart from the body. She shuddered, the amulet of Tinzon, fell from the severed neck, it was the ceremonial amulet of the position of his office. She gently set down the blue head of Tinzon and pulled the amulet from his blood. It was a round circle of gold suspended on a gold chain. Plain and simple but elegant. She grasped it and was about to put it into her pocket, when it spoke.
"We have been betrayed." It was Tinzon's voice that came from the amulet.
Xon looked at the amulet, gestured toward and watched as the glowing magic disappeared from the amulet. A parting message from Tinzon, nice of him to be so cryptic. Who betrayed them and why?
She had heard of the deaths of other slayers and Zondrrrah had warned of possible attack. It was this warning that she heeded and hid her slayer away for the time being. Zondrrrah had spoken of a meeting to bring the last of the slayers together. They were all the youngest of the slayers, why wait on them to the last? But bringing them together, now they were all in the same place. Zondrrrah spoke of the gates being opened and the slayers needing to find the keys. With Tinzon dead there would have to be another leader chosen between them as to who will head the order. She had originally declined the offer for her slayer to participate, but now, what choice did she really have. This was the slayer's destiny and she would have to fulfill a part of it. Her slayer will play his part. And was it possible that Zondrrrah was the betrayer? She needed to know, but she would be wary.
She looked again at the dead bodies, anger foremost in her mind. Her race was dedicated to healing and peace, but if she found whoever did this to her people. She would be anything but peaceful.
Angelius (It had to be done :))flew high over his homeland of Boreus. Angelius wasn’t really his name but it was a series of steps in the wind that was his name, but the mouthers (That’s what the Ariels call people that needed to vocalize) called him. He was chosen to be a watcher, to watch the one that would be the slayer, to help them to grow, make them understand what it was to be a slayer. Now the problem was how to keep his slayer from becoming one of the hunted. Creatures came not long ago, he found in the mouthers books, the knowledge of the creatures. They at first were but a joke only dangerous to those that landed on the ground. They snapped furiously and helplessly at the Ariels as they taunted them. But more had come and these had wings. A battle came to the air. The Yugoloths as they were called, seemed to prefer the night, by bright day they would try to stick to the shadows. Always did they seem to appear whenever the slayer was about, he soon learned that it was the slayer they were after. Even the powers of the Ariel didn’t seem to stop them. When touched they were still as violent as before, nothing seemed to affect them. His people were not killers, relying on powers and flight to get them out of harm’s way. Now the killing was real and this fight needed to be taken away from here. Angelius flew over the known boundaries of his country and soared high into over others. He wondered if he would ever return to his home or if it was possible to ever again go home. Two sets of wings flew that day over foreign lands, Angelius and his slayer were leaving, to a meeting with Zondrrrah, hoping that their people would be left alone.
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