Trench 2: Right Flank

[Arlene Sainz]

It had been a good few hours since everyone had finally left the trenches to fight thanks to the DADA professor, by Cierra's count. Of course, Cierra's count wasn't exactly reliable right now, as she was almost collapsing from the fighting. But it was a good estimate!

The first bit had been fun. Wielding the power of fire gave Cierra a huge advantage over a lot of the tiny demons swarming them. There were the few dark ones who didn't seem to be affected by it, but she just avoided them in general and she was fine. She even saved two people from certain death.

And then...it wasn't so easy. Then, Cierra had to work and fight to the absolute limits of her abilities just to survive, let alone cause any damage. And she was definitely feeling the aftereffects now.

How on earth did Arlene expect to fight this hard and still have energy left over to help Karia? Oh god. They were all going to die.

She was surprised by a powerful voice cutting through her mind. She thought it was Arlene for a single wild moment, but then recognized Ziltik's tones. And the content of his message caused her to frown and look out to sea, identifying the ship he was talking about.

"Oh yay, fun. Demon leader wants to come and play." A slow smile crept across Cierra's face, and despite all of her injuries and the fact that she could barely stand, she made her slow and painful way down to the shore, fighting demons as she went. One way or another, this was going to end soon.

[Vissiand Morgale]

Vissiand slashed and slashed at everything around him. He rampaged through the trench, then called out for two vampire warriors near him.
"Blackfangs! To me, to me! Rally now, to fight ashkahn! Hold your ground men!" The two nearest to him came rushing, and they were joined by five more. The eight of them formed a line, and as the demons were regrouping, shot eight beams of magic into the ranks, sending them all scurrying.

* * *

The ship with the Emblem of Fire sailed up to the shore. The front of the hull opened up into a ramp, allowing troops to poor out of the ship. Ashkahn walked out slowly, taking in the lay of the land.

He was mostly humanoid, but argueably nothing liek any human. He stood up on two bulky legs which ended in hooves. His skin was all red, except for green glowing tatoos that seemed to dance around his entire body. He only wore armor on his legs, and nothing covered his bare chest. His face was shrouded in darkness, but two yellow balls of light glowed ominously from the shadow. Two massive horns spouted out from the top of his head, curling forward, deadly and sharp. His black hair fell behind him, down to his lower waist. He had two bulky arms and two bulky hands, like any normal human.
In each hand he carried a double-bladed sword, curved and sharp. These were the weapons forged by the darkest of the dark, passed down into the hands of Ashkahn.
They were the Demon Lord's blades, and they were feared throughout the world of evil. Even though his face was not visible, he was grinning, and walked slowly onto the beach.

His time had come.

[Arlene Sainz]

Cierra felt very strangely as though she were a character in a movie, moving methodically in slow motion down to the water's edge. When she wasn't desperately trying to beat off an attacking demon with what little strength she had left, she was keeping her eyes on the approaching ship. She watched as the ramp descended, watched as another entire army of demons came pouring out onto the sand, closely followed by... something very evil.

Cierra did not need Vissiand to tell her that this being was Ashkhan. Unless Ashkhan turned out to be some tiny imp, this huge powerful thing was most definitely him.

Why the hell did she not have a gun when she actually wanted one?

Getting to Ashkhan, unfortunately, meant getting through tons of demons that had disembarked from the ship along with him. Cierra gritted her teeth, forcing herself to ignore the pain - just like she did at the pass - and focus on what was important.

Why she was so intent on going after the leader of the demon invasion when she had next to no strength and no weapons was anyone's guess. Cierra probably didn't really know herself.

[Vissiand Morgale]

Vissiand gaped in horror. He had entered the battle...they were all doomed. There was no turning back. He looked into the sky, and just when all hope seemed lost he noticed something.
The sun was setting. Night was coming. Demons drew their strength from the fear of their enemies.
Vampires drew their strength from the night. From the moon.

"Come on, men!" Vissiand cried, "Dying is the day worth living for!"

* * *

The first thing that caught Ashkahn's attention was a girl burning up all his troops. One fighter, holding her own. He snapped his fingers in her direction, and his guard of demons charged towards her. The pests must all die.

[Arlene Sainz]

Cierra still really wanted that gun. Very badly. But she was surviving, and somewhere deep inside, she was enjoying this. It was fun in a twisted sort of way. Take away the pain, the jets of differently-colored blood, the death, the imminent danger, and you ended up with a fun sort of pastime where everything was trying to kill you.

Using even a little bit of her natural fire-producing abilities was really starting to drain her energy. Cierra fell back from one fight gasping, scrambling to regain her footing. She was just starting to get the feeling that maybe battling her way down here hadn't been the best of ideas, but it was too late to turn back now, and no way in an iced-over hell was she going to call for help. She was not going to get anyone else killed because of something she did.

More demons kept flying at her, as if they were attracted to her somehow. Cierra only barely had time to wonder why they were all coming at her before she was once again fighting for her life.

She was much too weak to hold up for long, and she knew it.

[Vissiand Morgale]

Ashkahn gave the orders. The dropships were summoned. Several dark blue metal rectangular hulls appeared frm underwater, and the front of them slid opened. Hundreds of dark humans stormed out, all under Ashkahn's spell. They swarmed the beaches, all armed to kill, stopping at nothing. These servants knew no emotion. They were Ashkahn's berserker unit.

[Aries Valor]

Aries saw the berserker units and he dicided to keep back a little. "Vissiand, be careful. Berserkers are known to have HEAVY AXES that deal ALOT of damage!" Aries warned. He saw some of them coming. "Carpe retractum!" Aries yelled. Out of his wand came a orange looking hand that grasped the handle of an axe from the berserker and smashed the axe on the groud. "BOMBARDA!" bang 'One down, many to go...'

[Arlene Sainz]

The flames that had only a few minutes ago been lethal, burning arm extensions were now barely deserving of concern. Cierra gave up on the ability completely, wanting to conserve her energy for getting the heck out of there and back to the healing trench. She really didn't want to admit it, but she needed help. She couldn't keep on fighting like this. Barely holding up with some blunt sword she'd found strewn into the surf, Cierra slashed and moved back, away from the onslaught.

She didn't get very far.

She was no longer thinking logically, and no longer checking and re-checking everything around her. Stupid, stupid mistake. In one prolonged moment of distraction, a large demon that she couldn't identify managed to get behind her. Cierra spun around, swinging the sword in a wide, desparate arc around her body and mustering up the strength needed to summon a measly flame and hurl it at her enemy.

She felt... cold. Her body was numb and weak much too suddenly. Ever so slowly, Cierra looked down. An impossible amount of red blood was staining the sand at her feet, outlining a really long sharp claw slicing clean through her stomach.

She'd spun right into the sharp point of the demon's huge talon.

There was no pain. Cierra's thoughts were suddenly crystal clear and racing very fast. How could she be so stupid?... How could it end here, now? The demon's leering face swam up at her out of a growing darkness around the edges of her vision. All she felt was a strange emptiness in her chest, and her limbs going limp as the energy left them.

Freezing cold was rushing up at her and she crumpled onto the ground like a rag doll. Her eyes glazed over, blood covering the entire front half of her body. Her heart still beat faintly, and Cierra could still partway feel the atmosphere closing in around her, but she was as good as dead, and somewhere in the deep recesses of her sluggish brain, she knew it.

[Selena Tiber]

Arden's wand flashed back and forth, trying to beat back the warlock. He dodged surse after curse, growing steadily more exhausted. He felt like he was moving through quicksand, and indeed, he was. Whole he'd been focusing on one wand, the warlock had pulled out another and sent him waste deep into a sticky, swirling pool of sand.

"Aw, bugger. Y'know, sir, that is not very friendly. We were just having a jolly old razzle and you had to go and ruin it! It's it just like you chaps to do someitnhg like that. Well, I guess I'll have to end this quicker thean I'd hoped."

Arden aimed his wand and screamed "AVADA KEDAVRA!" At the top of his lungs. The green beam of light hardly went an inch before disappearing. Duck, Arden thought, only the d was actually an f. He wasn't old enough to do that yet, nor did he really have the confidence. The warlock decided to have a little fun with his victim and a red streak shot out to send a shock through Arden's left arm. He screamed in agony, though the old man had made a mistake. The energy from the shock, though painful, was enough to propel Arden out of the sand pit and up onto the edge of the trench. He thrust his wand into the warlock's face and grinned.

"Drop the wand." Not only did he not do what he was asked, but he tried one last curse, before Arden pulled out a dagger and plunghed it into his chest. "Told ye to drop it, mate. Not my fault you're a dirty blaggard." Then he ran off into the depths of the fight.

It was hard going for a long while. He was tripping over rocks, dead body parts, weapons, and gods knew what else. It was dizzying trying to keep everyone in scope, and he almost stabbed his own leg at one point. Arden hurried forward, his lei bouncing rapidly off his beating chest. He was about to kill some small, irritating thing when he saw Cierra in a state of terror. Trying to get back to the trench, she'd been caught by a hell of a demon.

"OI!" He shouted. "You there! Let her get back to the trench before I cut off sometihng important." It, like the warlock, didn't listen, and the next thing he knew, she was impaled on the stupid thing's claw. Great

"Cierra!" Arden dodged around a coupld horned-things that were about to shalsh him, and ignored the stinging pain in his back that was unmistakably the result of said dodge. He knew he wasn't very strong, but he picked up Cierra, and slung her over his shoulder, knees bucking with the weight. "Bugger this." He forced himself to move, and ran. It wasn't as fast as usual, but he was holding Cierra with one arm while fighting off a load of weapon-weilding loonies. The demon was following in hot pursuit but he had to stop. It was all just too much. He was tired, in ridgid pain, and desperate to get her to the trench, which he knew he'd never make. So Arden stumbled to his feet to face his last demon.

[Lyall Ordin]

Everything was a blur of images, sound, thoughts, fatigue. He had gotten a few short breaks, but it felt like he had never stopped, had been fighting continuously since the beginning. He barely even noticed Ziltik's mental roar; he was too preoccupied, too tired - and besides, what did a demon lord matter if they couldn't kill the weaker demons first? So he ignored the massive ship of the demons' leader and concentrated on the battle immediately before himself.

Lyall had long abandoned his bow - that had been left behind in the trenches, at Trevelyan's call to arms - and was now locked in combat with one of the dark human berserkers (though Lyall hardly cared what it was he was fighting, just that he was fighting it). He noted, with a sort of grim amusement, that even a mindless creature of hell could still get confused when dueling a lefty. He dodged a particularly wild swing that left the berserker's torso exposed. Lyall took the opportunity to kick it in the stomach (he was going to thank Karia for teaching him this one) and run his sword through its chest. Judging by the way it collapsed and stopped moving, he had probably hit something important.

Through the battle-induced mental haze, Lyall heard someone shouting a name. Cierra? One of the twins...? He looked up to see Arden running straight towards a rather large, wickedly-clawed demon--

--at whose feet lay a still form, covered in blood.

Lyall took off after Arden, who clearly wasn't strong enough to get the girl to safety without getting himself killed. He reached the two of them just as Arden dropped Cierra to the ground and got up to face the demon.

Lyall hastily parried the demon's first swipe, nearly losing hold of his sword because of the sheer force of the strike. He staggered, but managed to regain proper grip and footing before the next attack.

"Farnsworth, get her to the healers," he ordered, keeping his eyes on the demon. Lyall knew he had caught it off-guard the first time, but it wouldn't happen again. "I'll cover you."

[Aries Valor]

Aries was still trying to fend off the berserkers. "BOMBARDA!" Aries yelled and 5 more of them were gone. -pants-"We are going to need a miricle to win this war. We have to get animal reinforcments!" Aries said in a tired tone. He went to the chest again to see if there was a horn to blow into for the help he needed. He sat down for a little bit. "Aguamenti" He pointed his wand into a canteen that was empty and drank deep. "AHH...That hits the spot!"

[Selena Tiber]

Arden hesitated for a moment, thinking about arguing and making Lyall take Cierra while he fought the stanic eyes that bared down on him. But with the discription in mind and the fact that Arlene's twin was about to bleed to death in front of him, Arden swallowed his pride and willed his tired limbs to haul her back onto his shoulders.

"Gods. You oughta lay off the butter beer a little, sweetheart," He said, before almost hitting himself. This was not the time. He parried a little goblin's rapier before punting the thing off to be impaled by one of its brethren's spears. The little squeak it made and the shock on its face almost made him laugh. Almost.

Finally he got the weight balanced and pushed his way through the onslaught to where he imagined the healing trench to be. Arden could feel Cierra's life slipping away and quickened his pace. It seemed as though it took forever to get to the side of the trench. He didn't make it. He slumped down onto the ground, exhausted, knowing he needed to get Cierra help, but unable to continue carrying her. He'd just have to fight until someone else came to grab her. He'd have to be a meat shield. Wonderful.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on him and Arden could have his himself. Cierra had been setting people aflame when she got impaled. HE WAS A FIRE PLAYER FOR GODS SAKES! He could use fire as a weapon! Gods, no wonder everyone calls me an idiot. It's as if I wore knickers thismorning instead of boxers, he thought, exasperated with himself.

Gushing flame through his fingertips, Arden felt a new burst of energy. He could do this. He could get to the end of this. Setting fire to a couple orcs and yet another goblin, Arden's confidence soared. Until he felt a tug on his neck. Looking down at the lei that now lay sadly tattered and ripped in the dust, he chanced a glance upwards at the source of the hot breathe gusting on his face. To Arden's complete dismay, it was yet another gruesome demon with a foul temper. The buggers would just not leave him alone.

"I say, old chap, have you ever heard of toothpaste? Or Altoids. Those are quite nice for any moment when your breath smells like fresh waste in the morning. Of course, I've never quite experienced this...erm, strength of morning breath myself, but by the looks of those teeth, I'll bet it's a regular occurence for you." The monster roared in his face.

"My point exactly. And you know, if your hungry, you ask politely. Didn't your mum ever teach you not to scream? My, my, what ever shall we do? And now you've gone and got spit in my hair. Tut tut, sir. How rude." The demon was not only not appreciating the jokes, but he seemed rather agitated by them and took a mightly swipe at Arden, slicing a bit of skin from his cheek.

"Oh, now, that is just low! Why'd you have to do that to the side that is good for taking pictures on, eh? Well, of course you realize, this means war. I wish it didn't have to be like this, chappy. Ah, well. Can't always have the coin flip in your direction, now can you? No, don't suppose you can. Anyways, EULALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He screamed, before rushing head on at the monster. It had seemed confused by the conversation with himself, but was now completely aware. Arden had half a mind to tell the thing to bring it, but there was no need.The monster brought it. Gods knew, he brought it. This did not make Arden a happy camper at all.

[Vissiand Morgale]

Vissiand was bearing down on the constant hords with everything he had left. There was no stopping his blades--everything and anything that got in his way he cut up, the orc to his left, the wraith dead ahead, Cierra to the right--

His eyes locked on to her body, limp and bleeding. He was a vampire, deviod of emotion, he had been through so many battles, how come he could not stomach this?

It's my fault, I know. If it weren't for me the demons would have never come here.
No! They had chosen to fight along side me! They chose this battle!!!
But Arlene...I swore to her...that no one would get hurt...and now that promise is broken.
I can't! I can't give up! There has to be some way...

Vissiand was at war with himself. He had no optoins left. Cierra was dying, his friend was dying, he felt something creep up his spine for the first time...
Emotion. Whether it was love of his friends or hatred of the demons or himself, he felt something. His rage grew beyond anything tolerable by human standards. He let out a scream of agony.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A scream which unfortunately drew the attention of all the surrounding demons.

[Arlene Sainz]

Death wasn't nearly the fantastic and dramatic thing Hollywood movies had portrayed it to be. One moment you were alive and kicking and the next ... dead. Gone. Nothing noble or sacrificial about it.

And prolonging the death only prolonged the chasm that opened up and swallowed you whole.

Cierra fought to keep her grip on life, fought a furious mental battle to remain alive and sane. It was a battle she was destined to lose and had been losing from the start. She was aware for a few short moments that there was no more ground underneath her, but she no longer had the mental power to realize what that meant or what she could do about it. And a few seconds later, she couldn't feel anything solid anymore.

There came a moment when Cierra felt one last burst of energy, one last fierce will to live. She struggled up from the overwhelming darkness to act on it, but it was over before it started. All she managed to catch was a fleeting glimpse of red, a massive spasm of lightning, unbearable pain around her midsection, and several yelling voices. One stood out from the rest, oddly familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

And then she was sinking back down into darkness, a strange sort of surreal feeling envoloping her. Cierra was past the point of no return, of being saved, and for once, she didn't care. She wasn't thinking. She wasn't feeling anything. She was nearly dead.

[Vissiand Morgale]

Vissiand was in pure rage. Whether through friendship with Cierra and Arlene, or anger at Ashkahn, he had been pushed to his limit. There was no going back. No more options left. There was nothing he could do to save her. He, Morgale, the prince of all vampires, was helpless.

“I AM PRINCE VISSIAND!!!!!!!!!”

And then something happened. He wasn’t sure why, in fact he was barely conscious of anything at the time, but something inside him clicked, unlocked, and unleashed.
His hair shot up and turned white. His eyes averted to red, seeing heat. His fangs grew, his wings shot out, his muscles grew bigger, and every physical aspect of him was increased. And all the magic, all the dark energy swirling around him erupted outward in a single shockwave.
A blast that knocked back every approaching orc.
He stopped screaming. He lowered his head in the direction of Ashkahn. He opened his eyes.
He stood there, with all of his magic and energy swirling around him. Te demon lord turned to face him. And at that moment Kithandre, Ziltik, Vissiand, and Ashkahn all realized it.

He was now an ascended vampire.