"No!!!! Alex!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! No, no, nonononono! Why?!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Her voice reverberated the walls first as humanoid changing into a draconic roar. It was so loud it managed to pass through the barriers, cracking the stone floor and continued down through every hall. The deadly sound carried out of the Citadel and across the frozen lake cracking the ice with their aftershock waves ... then further still as it became fainter, fainter still as it moved across the frozen tundra. No one could hear it, but something stirred beneath the frozen wasteland. Something had just been awakened.....
((Excerpt above Continued from Time Alone))

Dragons ... Cry? Not a normal thing to be sure.

She lay across the broken floor, a small puddle of tears literally collected beneath her snout. Her body was in the shape of her dragon form, but reduced to fit within the confines of the room, only about twice her normal humanoid size. Sha?uri had Icer to thank for that, teaching her how to reduce her form ? considering it just saved Sha?uri from a whole lot of pain, not that it would do her much good in her situation. And what was her situation?

Insanity plagued, spurred by a number of things. Locked within the Citadel and left in the middle of the Arctic Circle on Exodii planet ? left there all alone with no perceivable way out. The room was reinforced both physically and ethereally by physical, technological and magical means developed solely by the Citadel forces specifically to counter act upon her kind. She couldn?t shift through the walls, couldn?t teleport out, couldn?t physically break through or melt her way out. It was by Sha?uri?s own order that these had been done long ago, although not specifically for this but generally for her kind? and now her orders had come to unforeseen fruition trapping herself by her own deeds.

Her room was actually big enough? like a small house? with a holographic room off of there. She could program the room to be anything.. another room, a house, a garden or even a whole world. She could literally survive for decades where she was, using the holo imager and replicators to feed her mind and body?. Except her mind was broken, or perhaps her heart was just ill? or both. In any case, Alex, her own son? her own flesh and blood? had left her there ? alone.

There was no way for real sunlight to enter, no glimpse of any moons, no way of telling the passage of time except for the clock on the wall or the computer.. what limited access she had... virtually none except for functions within her quarters. Yet Sha?uri paid it no attention. She?d laid there for hours, days maybe for all she knew. Her hunger ate at her conscious like a gnawing termite to wood. Still, she ignored it. Her mind was preoccupied by the actions of her son.

And why didn?t Lyndra stop him? Why hadn?t the other Citadel members stopped him? Didn?t they know something was terribly wrong? What was wrong with her? Where was her family? Where was Triv? Where was Bri? Where was anybody?? Her thoughts cluttered and grasped?

Hope? I HAVE NONE!!! Where?s my Isabel? They took her away! They made her go away! How do I get out? Factors of ten against the mighty gates can?t withstand the psions blast yet the walls held, cracked, still hold a horrid breath encased. Light shines darkness within. There?s no seeing, no telling, no feeling? no center. It?s gone.. all gone. Alone.. Triv... Gone, just gone. Galen you did this, too, only worse. You left... walked from the alter ? cursed wretch, for love? Loath! Hatred! Betrayal! LIAR!! Even now you deny me with your wretched Citadel!!! Derokis!! You started this? never showed to claim us at the alter while your son, your flesh and blood, grew within my womb. You abandoned him? you abandoned me. Father! Guilty of the same!!! I?m your daughter.. your flesh, blood.. and I get nothing but talk.. silence around still!!?Mother! Wretched thing you?ve let me be.. oh what does it matter!? In the end we ALL answer to no one except to each thier own? I AM.


Futile exasperation lifted her snout with a snort. Her thoughts were her own and not blasted beyond the confines of the Citadel. How many times had she thought these things? Many times.. too many.. and nothing ever came of it.

The clack of claws echoed off the walls as she moved to the other side of the room. She set her head upon her bed while her body laid down beside it. Thinking? thinking deeply ? weeping?. Always weeping ? lack of feeling... no sense of diety around her, even Corellon was gone from her.. the Silence tearing away at her heart.

A long time passed that she stayed this way... shifting slowly back to her humanoid form. Her body laid against the side of the bed rocked gently into her insanity... All the while whispering.. Repeating...

"Alone... Nowhere... Nothing.....Gone..."

((... WARNING Note: Some of the content in this thread may be unsuitable for some readers... beyond the PG-13, more like R rated, or Not Safe For Work - whatever. Graphic imagery, language and sexual content are all possible. You've been warned. Also, please do not post to thread without prior permission from me or Chaos. This is basically a closed thread. Thank you!))

The Citadel no doubt once harbored darker secrets then the current owner, who was curled up on the floor, knew about. The very walls seemed to respond to the mist, almost welcoming this shard of black essence into itself, letting it seep in through the mortar, past the stone, in through the air ducts and even into the electrical systems. It seemed to beckon it in further, to the very core of the Citadel of Mysteries. It might even feel like a homecoming?

"Gone...Nothing...Nowhere...But you are not alone."

?Alone? ??

Her repeat of words faltered hearing another voice speaking simultaneously. The rocking stopped before the sinister voice spoke the third word. Wild sapphires glanced darkly back towards the console, sniffing the air for something. She could smell the essence ? the darkness that it was. Her gaze was not an uncertain one as it might?ve expected, but one of suspected knowing.

?Apparently, not any more. Have you come only to state the obvious??

Silence.

Sha?uri wasn?t the usual flavor of dragon, as the mist would?ve gathered from her dragon form. She wasn?t a black, or a red, she wasn?t a bronze or platinum, not even an opal.... She was all of them and none of them. She was a rare and ancient breed. Sha?uri was a Soul Dragon, a Guardian of souls. There were times when she sensed the death of others, even separating herself so that part of her essence could take a soul to where they would belong in the afterlife. Souls and essences were not normally hidden things to her.

Still, even though she could smell the essence of something there, something? somewhere? she didn?t know exactly what it was or what it wanted. She was pretty sure that it wasn?t going to be pleasant, as most dark things are not. Yet she seemed apathetic, perhaps.. yes.. she did wonder if she had imagined the scent. It was silent again, and so she relaxed and laid her head on the side of the bed again.

Only a few moments passed when she became aware of it. That echo? faint in the background crawling up through the hallways and meandering here and there? it slowly came to her attention, growing louder as if something moved closer ... then softer as it seemed to move away? coming and going.. going and coming. And as such, played with her senses. She was alone. For the first time in her life, Sha?uri had no one to rely on, no one that would back her up.. no one to turn to for anything. She?d been abandoned ... and denied. But what if they came back? Is that what she heard? It made sense to her?

?Alex!!! Did you come back to gloat?!? She spat.

Her movement was swift, rising in one fluid motion to dash to the doorway. She banged on the door.

?I?m down here!! Right where you left me!! Come on!!! Come see Momma!? she baited loudly with an almost sing song voice.

?Come watch the monkey! Monkey see monkey do! Monkey gonna make pooh outta you!? a crazed cackle escaped her.

"You know what Alex? I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!!"

Anger boiled again. She smacked the door and glanced at the clock?.her gaze narrowed at the time.

?Ten after six.. what?s the significance of that? Frakkin thing's broke anyway...?

Jumping up, she smacked the clock off the wall.

?Who cares?!?

It was better without it, which showed with her sigh. Then she banged on the door a few more times before falling suddenly and exceptionally quiet, just listening, watching, glancing all around...

Eyes widened and she stepped away from the door. They flickered quickly towards the voices. She backed up and stepped on the shards from the clock, embedding a large piece into her bare foot. She noticed that pain and hopped back, leaning against the wall as she brought a foot up to rest on her knee.

The shards on the floor caught her attention briefly and they zoomed into focus. A myriad of eyes all shifted in unison to look at her. She blinked looked at her foot. That shard had an eye, too. Slender digits grasped it and plucked it from her foot, flinging it down at the rest while blood oozed, even squirted from the wound.

Opening her mouth wide, she performed a partial transformation shifting her head, neck and upper body into her dragon. Then she breathed fire at the shards, causing them to literally melt down to a puddle of goo.

Her foot was still bleeding, but no longer squirting. She leaned down closer while her form transformed back to her humanoid half elven self. Once again her mouth opened extending a tender tongue. Then she licked the blood while her wound seemed to seal itself. She slowly stood once again, sucking remnants of blood from her lip.

"Get out NOW....Shauri. We are waiting for you. We have made a horrible mistake and you are in danger, come to us!"

Widened eyes instantly shifted her gaze to the door again. An incredulous look was given.

"Stop it Alex! Lyndra you are just as guilty!" but the next voices took her by suprise. "Grandpa? Aph? No.. Grandpa is gone, missing.. Aph is .. she's dead. Wait... that's not my mother. And that's not Bryce. You're not my son. ... no, Bri? Wait... Is that you Bri? I can't feel .. Why? ... Oh.. clever... very clever but not going to work. You're nOt REAL!!!"

Just then the door snapped open. Snapped? She knew that sound all too well, yet that is not the sound the door was supposed to make when opening. It was more of a whoosh or swish or something as they slid open. This.. no, was not right. So what was on the other side?

It was a feeling more then a sound that made her dart her gaze behind her to the rest of her room. The darkness was creeping in. Her first instinct was to call on Corellon, bringing forth his light to chase away the darkness. The silent prayer was made and the stance was given, lifting her hand as if to raise the light. But nothing came.. nothing. It sank in then.. that not only was she not feeling her God, she was truly abandoned. His power was no longer hers. She only had herself.

Fear stepped in for the first time in a long time... true fear she had not felt since the time when she truly was mortal. Was she mortal again? She glanced at her foot and knew. No.. she wasn't mortal again. Yet that didn't change the fact that this darkness was creeping ever closer.

Suddenly she had an image of Galen in her mind, holding that cornerstone of Castle Woodshadow. He moved through the halls of the Citadel, winding his way from one passage to the next, slipping into hidden passages until he came into the core of the place. Mallet upon stone as he literally jammed the piece into something... what was it? some piece of machinery.. pounding and stomping on it.... bashing it..

"Galen no... Oh no.. can it be?... Throne of bones.."

She turned to see the darkness creeping upon her too close. Large sapphire hues shifted swiftly to the door. She had to get to the core. She would fight it ... for now. Instantly she sprang into a run moving swiftly to pass through the door. She was ready to fight whatever was on the other side....

It was like jumping through time? She could feel the realities shift. Her run came to a sudden stop just a few paces beyond the door. The child she assumed she knew who it was, running as he was down the hallway of the Citadel. She expected it to be her second child, Bryce.. Triv's child. He was as rambunctious as his father. Bryce had actually grown up in the Citadel when it was Galen's home back in Dar Oma. Yet as the light hit his hair, she realized the coppery red hues shimmered there instead. It clearly wasn't Bryce.

"Alex? What are you doing here?" She whispered and continued to take slow steps.

"Hey there!, slow down little guy!" A voice familiar and loud called after the child.

Her steps were abruptly stopped, surprised by the voice. It was so clear to her who it was. She was shocked and couldn't say anything as the exceptionally tall figure stooped over her son, hair and eyes so much like her own. The lightsaber hung at his side. Her shock deepened as her own father conspired against her. She always wondered why he was never around much, but she always thought it was because he was so busy... dealing with the multiverse as the Gods will do.... Who was she compared to that?

"I guess I never really could compare ..." she whispered as the resolve faded from her leaving her visage twisted with betrayal.

Tears brimmed within her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. Desperately she wanted to hold her son, and make it all go away.. make it right again. She knelt as the child ran towards her, arms opened to catch him. But his form faded from her just as he reached her. He hadn?t seemed to notice her anyway.

"Alex..." The audible cry echoed in the hallway as she was denied when he faded. "Ah! No!"

Her eyes closed tightly, fighting off the emotions, fighting the urge to question her own father.

"I am real, you are real. we are all are real. The secrets, the memories the things you could never know had always...conspired against you. Real."

"It's not real! Pyriathin may be a God of Balance, but he would not betray his own daughter!!! Lies!!! Lies!!!"

Even so, a part of her questioned it. A part of her was loosing the fight.

Spinning around, she ran into the now closed door. Shock resounded from her visage as she backed away to look at it as if it didn't belong there, even glared at it as if it didn't belong.

"Fine... let's walk a bit more."

Turning around, she found herself moving down a different corridor. She heard the wind and felt the cold, or perhaps it was just her imagination associating the cold to the air. The last she knew, she was somewhere in the middle of the northern Arctic Circle in the middle of winter. Stepping outside would surely freeze a normal person in a matter of seconds. She was barefoot, tight fitting leather pants and a loose white tank top on, no sleeves. Goosebumps danced across her arms, all over her whole body, and she paused to invoke a warming spell against the cold. The Arcane was not denied her.

"At least that works... thanks Mom.", Smirk.

"Come with me into the blood drenched black, join us here." The voice would sound like it came from the outside, but it might have come from inside her own head too, it sounded a lot like her own voice this time.

Blink. Furrowed brows framed her sapphire hues with marked confusion as she looked around, then down at herself briefly before looking around again. She hadn't said that, had she? She was sure her mouth hadn't opened with those words. That's when she noticed the form hanging in the darkness....

Instantly as the meal was consumed. Everything shifted to normal, or what normal might have been alone in that dark place. She would have recognized everything now, and it was quiet. No weird unnatural noises or anything that would indicate anything had ever happened at all. It was odd, like waking up from a horrible dream. The hunger she had felt before was gone though, even though there was no sign of blood, or residue from the recent act.

Was any of it real or was it all inside of her head, it was a honest question that may have had no answer. That hunger may have been put to rest, but it was replaced by something else. "You are simply beautiful, from the inside." The voice was inside her head, inside her entire body echoing inside her bones. The voice was mixed with her own, and something wicked. Something new.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name isn't and never was...Kern. You can call me...Bob." There was a laughing then that was like thunder rattling inside of her skull. Then something caressed against her side, like somebody was touching her. But, it was from the inside and her skin pressed outwards, almost gently. "Why, why would they leave you here with me, what cruel fate." It screamed to her, at her...questioning her as if everybody would have known this would happen if she was left here alone, in the dark.

Was this place getting bigger, more intimidating then she knew it before, was it changing. Or was her vision being altered by some unseen force that may have taken over. Bob. What a silly name. So common, and unassuming. But then again what did names really mean? A title, a mere nothing in the big picture of the cosmic painting of this so called reality. It was yet another question. But now the darkness that infested the castle, had invaded her.

Could a dragon be dominated who knew. But now at least she wouldn't be alone anymore.

It was then, it seemed like mere seconds after the screaming voice died away that something sharp tore through her back, like a needle. No..a claw. Unexplained, it tore through the skin as if it wasn't even there. This blood didn't trickle. It sprayed out from the exit wound. She was a shapeshifter, the darkness knew that and her own body would make her own personal torture device, or maybe there was no darkness and this Bob entity was a emerging separate personality of her own creation. manifesting itself as a living version of her growing insanity.

That boney shard slid through her back, just to the left of her spine hitting every nerve along the way. Playing her nerves like a guitar, each inch was another surge of burning pain. It was nothing. This pain was nothing. Despite running down the entire length of her back. It seemed to take forever, the flesh would cut so slowly down. The entire process would have taken less then three minutes. Just an introduction, a mere beginning.

Every cell would be infected by this malign presence, every nerve ending.


The entire building lit up, and the computer started to repeat over and over "Ten after Six, Ten after Six" Faster..and faster. It was the screen closest to her, the speaker with it. Had it been there before, or was it one of those things you just never noticed before? But now that was where it was at. The situation of the numbers still meant nothing, to her anyways.

Now the place hadn't seemed so dark and lonely anymore. It was lit up like it was meant to be, but something was still wrong. Still..missing? What kind of fiend was this? Fear didn't seem to be its objective, at least for now. But it was more interested in manipulation, control. Perhaps what a dragon feared most was to be dominated, the loss of freedom. Or perhaps this was truly all in her head after all.

That claw, that thing she had forcefully grabbed would not be an arm. The "claw" would slowly get forced out. She would quickly find out though, that this blade that tore through skin was nothing more then an extended rib bone. It was part of her. There was no arm in there at all. "Hate you, despise you. And for what? Did you make a mistake. Did you do something bad. Maybe..maybe it is time to show them all what you can really do, If only they could see you now. Tearing out your own insides." The voice echoed to her inside her head. But really, it was pretty easy to see that the truth and the mental pain and anguish was more then any physical pain in the end. But that wasn't for lack of trying.

Her blood spilled out on to the floor. Tendrils of flesh would be pulled out and slowly try to go back inside the would. Self mutilation would have been good enough, but as if responding to her challenge. Those same insides would come to life and spring up on their own, out of her hands and into the air before her eyes.

The blood dripping and congealing there would flash for a second. It would have easy to miss, the blood changed into thousands of blades and hooks made out of bone. Impossibly so in fact as they decided on their own to slither back towards her in a rapid fashion. Quickly strands of flesh wrapped around her arms, thighs and throat. Those hooks and blades sliced their way back inside, through the skin the hard way. It wouldn't take long before they began to pull tighter, as if not to lose any amount of a grip, it began to act like a saw.

The blood would come, but it would not act normally and flow to the ground. "I tasted good, have you ever tasted yourself? Let's see how well you taste." It screamed at her like a parent scolding a child in a harsh manner. She may have been laughing but now that blood was flowing upwards, all of it towards her mouth.

Those tendrils around her thighs threatened to saw down to the bone, to remove her legs entirely. But they were also snaking their way down, creating one, continuous spiral cut down the length of each leg. Of course the skin would attempt to close, and it would close for mere seconds, just long enough for the wound to be remade over and over again. Each time would be akin to something like a continuous paper cut, and with the blood flowing up the wounds, it felt like liquid flames crawling up her body endlessly.

It was needless to say that her clothing, was becoming less and less as those blades cut through it like wet paper. Of course, this was no pretty sight as the woman was being tormented by her own body in ways no living thing should ever have to experience. Bloody tendrils covering her legs and arms, slowly creeping down to the ends of them, healing and breaking open over and over again, and the blood that flowed upwards washed over her tongue. Self mutilation was one thing. Eating yourself alive was another story all together.

But again. Insanity had no limits, and this Bob character could have just been something fighting for dominance her whole life, and just now had time to come out. "If they could only see you now. They would have not only exiled you, but found away to destroy you, tear you to pieces...murder you. How's it feel to be the freakish thing?" The wall infront of her changed into a mirror, and she could see her self for the first time in this state. "This is what they want to do. We could get along, work together. Or we could see just how much more suffering they want you to go through." The voice said calmly, even reassuringly.

"Now, tell me what it is you REALLY want. Tell me what you need. Revenge, hate...power? True power?" Then all went silent again, and her own blood waited at her lips, covering her neck. Teasing her. Something had lifted to her mouth, but it would not enter. Not yet.

This was still only a beginning. And in silence between the tearing of flesh and the sucking sound of the blood being pressed up something would not allow the shock to set in. Something would not allow the pain to subside and it normally would in any other situation. Sleep and the oblivion of passing out would not come. Her only company was the mysterious voice, and now her twisted, bloody reflection on the wall before her.

"How much longer do you want to stay here. How much longer do you want to exist as the rejected member of the so called family who left you here..with me..The choice is entirely up to you." And those flesh straps on her legs and arms just continued to tighten as the seconds passed ever so slowly now. "But personally I like to torture miserable lizards who won't admit when they are wrong, so please. Continue to fight until there is nothing left of you to fight with. Fight for people who don't care about you, who left you here and forgot about you. Yes. Because you know they deserve it so much. Believe your own lies for as long as you can hold on to everything you used to be, everything they tried to lock up here like a monster, like an abomination unfit to live and just couldn't figure out how to kill you." It ranted in her head, her voice and his. It was harder to tell the two apart now. But was still possible.

And still, she was alone with the monster within struggling to escape, not in body, but in mind and soul. Something was in there that had always been there, just dormant. They locked her in here, and she was paying the price for their cruelty a thousand times over. It wasn't fair, and it wasn't right. They were the only ones to blame for this hell and she would come to know it, eventually.

Then at her pleading and begging, it all stopped. Nothing was as it was three seconds ago. "Do you know my purpose here. It isn't because I like it here or I wanted you. No. Not at all, how arrogant of you to think I would come here just for little old you. No. I was..awakened." There he was beside her fallen form, anybody who had ever seen him would not recognize him now. He was regal, almost like a dark prince that been gone from his castle for far too long. Dressed a black suit that had no labels on it. It was flawless in its design.

"Come on. Stand up already. I know better then to believe one such as you could be unsettled by such a small display of power like that. What is pain to an immortal being like you and me. Nothing compared to the reality of your situation." He acted as if nothing happened, nothing at all and he took two steps away from her, not a sound was made from him other then his voice.

"Truth of the matter is I don't even want to be here as much as you do. We are both...if you will prisoners in this place. Both hated for just being what we are. We have more in common then you may realize." He said, but didn't look at her then. "The only purpose I have here is to show you the truth. You see it now, don't you?" He laughed under what should have been his breath.

"Authority over nothing is easy to gain. This is what you have become. It doesn't matter what you used to be or where you have been, or what your cosmic role was. Now you are just that. Nothing. Welcome to the rest of your life."

He ran his finger across the wall and on, like a screen images began to appear, random images of violence and pain. Torture and death from all over the very planet they were on. "You see. I have to thank you. Since your little emotional outbursts. I have been busy all over this world. Seeking out the desperate and vengeful. Already their desires are being granted, deepest angers and wishes granted. Power corrupts feeble minds. And because of you...I have been able to do what I really wanted to do." He laughed, and even though the images could have been an illusion, somethings were beginning to look familiar to her.

"I kinda figured you would be the heroic type anyways. And personally heroes are highly over rated and masochistic if you ask me. Like yourself you figured this was all about you, as I expected you would. Kinda like a mouse in a maze. I am like a sickness of evil, right now you could..let me spread throughout your body and your little planet here and let me simply..destroy everything. Or, since I like you. We can make a deal. No soul required, as they are basically useless to me in the long run anyways. Interested."


"The clock is ticking though."


And indeed somewhere, there had been a clock silently ticking away. Bob's blue eyes and pale skin seemed to reflect an unseen source of light. He stood there, with no motion, or even sign of life. So he was real after all. At least there would be some answers. Was this the face of true evil. It sure didn't look like it. Was the previous events just a demonstration, or something that was bound to happen if things went bad. Bob's natural pure negative energy was enough to darken any soul if exposed long enough. It was pure psychic radiation that had been known to even give happy gods a case of the destructive urges from time to time.

Even though there was nothing good about him, he was good at pretending there might have been something remotely human about him, or even sensible and trustworthy. For all the carnage had been erased, all the blood was gone like it was never even there. A rest for the weary, or maybe even a way out was being offered. He waited there in silence. He had responded to her request, showing himself.

"Different, me. I suppose that would be because I have no reason to even pretend to be less then I am," That came with a smirk as she touched him. No spark or anything was there. His flesh felt soft and more to the point, alive.

"I know you are nothing, and this world right along with you. However. Since I am awakened and here now. I say we change that. And here comes the said deal I mentioned just a moment ago. But first let me explain why I would offer anything to a dragon of any kind."

He took a step to the side and the wall with the images exploded into flames, they twisted and writhed against one another in a maddening battle only for a moment. Then it all turned black, back to the way it was before. all of this even started.

"Although I don't care about this world, what happens to it will effect others in time. Think of the spreading evil, as if it were a virus with no reasonable cure. Evil can be defeated in a few ways. Honor, selfless acts, and sacrifice. Well once infected, it becomes near impossible. Enemies gaining an edge over other enemies, and then the escalation begins," He said with a smile.

"I don't mind the conflict, but it will spread off world and, the time isn't right for world destruction on a massive scale yet. This is where you come in. Now, I..me..the main me..here..Is here. With you. The ones spreading the darkness are like little robots, demons with only one mission. To awaken with me and destroy everything one way or another. Not too bright I admit, but at the time I thought it was fool proof. Then you happened." He laughed at that. Plans of his activated by a imprisoned and helpless dragon. Odd if there was a meaning for it.

"I want you to stop the evil. And I will give you, yes..you. Three options for doing it. The first one is to remotely activate all the weapons and target them in the area, killing everybody infected with the madness, it would stop the spread and save the world. The longer you wait the more blood you will have to shed. The second option is to seal off the world, the entire planet covered with a mystic barrier that, will save the surrounding planets and eventually everything that is, but it will destroy you, for the power needed is conveniently equal to your life force. I will help you out, a deal is a deal right?"

Then he sighed and leaned against the wall. "Option one and two seem rather violent though. Being me and my infinite wisdom abounding everywhere. I decided that you can be the great savior of your world. I can send all of the darkness and put it inside of you. And it there it will remain, under two conditions. One, it will be under your control. You will be able to harness it's destructive power to your ends. Second, it remains with you. Nothing or nobody will ever get to remove it. If they do the world will fall back into chaos almost instantly...if they can remove it, that is. It will constantly grow in strength inside of you. Echoing against itself constantly."

"What do you think. They locked you up in here. Your own family did, friends, everyone. For no real reason. With this power, this planet will be yours to command, and more importantly this will give you the chance at what you want most. Revenge against them. This despair you feel now, its hate. It's destruction and unrelenting fury smashing against the insides of your skull. Believe me I know that feeling well."

"Or you can stay here and lose your mind, and yourself in the process with me, forever. You are not going to get any better the longer you stay in here. We both know that. It is time to start taking what you want...like you said everything must answer to their actions. When do they pay?"


"So, what is it going to be. Stay here and rot..or..not rot and lose your mind. Or save the world, take command..and get revenge?" He asked and finally after all those spoken words. Blinked. and paused for a moment.

"Oh, before you start speaking of "The right thing" I have to ask, how is that soul delivering job of yours going since you've been locked up in here. How many souls are lost, how many dark fiends are finding their way into the worlds of the happy go lucky heavens, and how many saints are being roasted on the fires of the hells? I wonder just how that is all going with out you? The longer you stay here, well...I suppose I don't need to tell you what you already know. I am sure you can feel it in your own flesh that something is horribly wrong already and it's only going to get worse from here on out. I can promise you that."


He held out his hand to hers, in a simple of sealing a pact in a meeting."Do we have a deal?"

His hand was taken, the deal made so easily. "The lesser of three evils, you would think so, wouldn't you?" Then he released her hand. "I am surprised for one who knows so much about everything, you failed to ask what I got in return. Seldom do people remember I don't grant wishes, I make deals. And in return for this. I will have to think of something in the near future." He smiled and placed his hand against the wall.

That barrier was made for the dragon, however it had no sway over him and his power. Entering and exiting was easy, and that wall began to crack open all the way through. He was not using any kind of energy to do this, just strength alone. It was not long before those icy winds could be felt coming through the opening, and not longer after that the entire wall fell outwards.

He said nothing. But in the distance glowing forms of energy, of all colors, was flowing towards them, and her. "Just as I expected it.." Said to himself only seconds before the rainbow of darkness screamed through the opening just as he stepped to the side. All of the planet's unleashed horror would have been thought to look differently.

The various wavelengths of energy would fly over the entirety of her body, but instead of simply moving against the wall behind her, it would stop there and be absorbed into her body. All that power was nearly unlimited in the sense of where it came from, and to think this potential existed on every single world.

"So how's it feel. What you expected or worse? Keep in mind that if you get the urge to devour small children from time to time that is perfectly normal." He laughed at that as he watched the light continue to flow.

How long was it? Days...hours...months? Just how much evil was here to be absorbed. Finally though, it stopped and the process was over. It was simple. "So, what do you think of yourself now that you not only have me inside you, but countless acts of violence too? Well. Regardless of what you think, we will be in touch much more often from here on out." He said as he walked to the new opening.

"Oh, by the way, I will work on my wake up routine too, and the next time I torture you, you might actually like it by then." He smiled."Any questions, or do you know what you have to do? Or would you like some guidance in the fine art of revenge?" He waited for her then to answer.

He just smiled as he listened to her. It was so perfect, all of it. "Indeed, the deal is over with. Each of us got what they wanted. You have the means to an end, and I have everything back on schedule, wonderful." He nodded after it was all said and done. He watched her every move, when she stole his line. It was perfect.

"Now all is completed. This planet will know a horror beyond one that I could give it. It lives inside of you now. Growing and just waiting to be unleashed. What you do with it is totally up to you. Suggestions, I don't think you need any. It is only a matter of time before this wretched situation becomes something more to your liking."

He was about ready to return to his frozen slumber once more. But he couldn't help to feel as if he would be leaving behind a great chance at something. Then she spoke up, the children eating urge line was more then enough to recall his actions then and perhaps stick around somewhat longer.

"What do you do with that urge, My suggestion would be to give into it. As for being nothing, this world still believes you are. Still locked up here, helpless. I would suggest that you either leave here...or make it your fortress...or destroy it completely. This world is now what ever you want it to be. So I would make it something to remember, because you are going to be here for a very long time...until the appointed time of the schedule is up, of course."

He overlooked the bleak, dead scene from the hole in the wall then. And in the distance a vast chunk of ice shifted, and rose up out of its place. Something was stirring and moving around it it's sleep it would seem. Then he looked back at her.

"Or, we could start a campaign..of expansion. I never did like Rhydin and with all this new energy, I highly doubt that sitting still will be an option for long. As even now in your mind those nasty thoughts and urges are coming up, to impale everybody you knew responsible for this on a stick for the world to see...or something much worse. I am sure you are creative enough to think of something worse then this. I know I can. But first thing is first. It's time to go do something." He looked at his wrist and there was a watch there.

"Just as I had planned it. Ten minutes after six. See, I still have some talent left in this old mind of mine. Just not as much as I used to have." He laughed revealing for the first and only time, razor sharp teeth for brief seconds.

"So, what do you want to do first. I would suggest breakfast, but then again that is just me. Is there a northern village somewhere around here? Perhaps a isolated temple of some kind? Either way, it is time to start, the world will never see you coming. This is your game though. I can be content to simply stand in the background. No sense in stealing any of the spotlight, not a fan of the light so much."

He took one step outside then, standing on the air as if it had been solid, despite the wind howling around him nothing on his body moved. He was a living statue and it gave away his status as not your typical being, in fact he hardly noticed the weather of all. "I may learn to like you, even if you are a dragon, maybe you can be the first real one I've seen in along time around these parts."

Bob had hoped he had created a monster who would be able to connect with the emotion of fear and inspire terror in all beings, and someone who could crush the spirits of all people, or perhaps a false queen of light, here to "save" the people and inspire them to act against their unseen enemies. Only time would tell how it would go. And Bob just anticipated either route, or perhaps something different.

"Like this place, then we keep it. Modify it and see what secrets we can pull out of this place to make more accessible to you and less to others, all in good time though. Who says you only need to have one castle. This whole planet is filled with places that would work, and could be built upon to fit the needs you have."

He shook his head for a second then. "Caught. Sometimes the best way to get inside the strong hold of the enemy, is to get caught. Then melt them from the inside. If they catch you they underestimate your true power. But that's boring. We won't be caught." Said with a odd air of confidence. "As for ruling the world..well..yeah. It's a good start."


"Island in the shape of the letter Z in the middle of a lake shaped like a square? Sounds like a keyhole to me. A massive one, but one all the same. In the beginning days sometimes ancient ones would entrap forces with in the planets they thought would remain dead, or unpopulated realms. Trouble was that billions of years would go by and life would show up and be totally unaware of such forces. Until one day the realm was completely torn to pieces by some foolish mortal trying to figure out what it meant." He stopped then. "Or it could just be an oddity that means nothing, who knows."

"Making our own food. That sounds like alot of work, not to mention a waste of useful potential soldiers. Although tempting I think I have something a little more filling and useful. My senses tell me that the dragon race here on this world, is dying out. And I know why. It is because they lost their edge and this system no longer needs the race to exist, basically dead weight."

"Now I think they are trying to repopulate somewhere far away from here. Not sure where. If the balance of the system says that the weaklings must die, who are we to disagree with that? I say we go and eat them instead. Parent and child alike. Dragon Leather Jackets. It would be what humans call..epic! That is unless you have reservations about eating your own kind..." He said coldly then and looked to the sky.

"But really. Are you still one of them? I mean already you have proven yourself stronger then any of them. So who knows. As for attracting attention. We can both turn into anything we want. So nobody would think it was you, and me..well they have never heard of me. If you want to work from the bottom up, we use stealth. If you just want to crush them all right now..no..I actually kinda like the thought of ruining an entire world. Imagine it if everything began to fall apart and nobody knew why. There are so many ways we can go with this, its disturbing to think how easy it would be to take over a world."


"Tortured, me? I was trapped under ice for who knows how long. Ninety percent of me, the real me is still trapped on countless worlds, waiting. Of course those pesky ancient gods made it difficult to detect myself, warped reality and all that. It's complicated." He then eyed her and waited for her to decide if she wanted lizard, or humanoid flesh for breakfast. Then he thought she would most likely need a change of clothes, but said nothing for the moment. Bob sometimes forgot that he was not really human, stopping for breath, moving and emotion sometimes escaped him and when he got started on a subject, there was seemingly no stopping him.

It was annoying sometimes, but it was just the way he had always been since he was not alive as people would normally understand.

"You look good in that. I must say. However, I have only theories when it comes to the loyalty of children for an army. If you have ever been to the six-hundredth and thirty seventh earth realm, you'd know that most of the time instead of living up to being what you expected, they turn out to be emo, or defiant. But never what you wanted them to be. It makes you wonder what the point was to begin with." He had his own experiences with stuff like that.

"It's always annoying to be expected to care so much. And look at what yours did to you? If you want more of the same treatment I am sure we can find heroes everywhere more then willing to do it for you. And leave all the emotional baggage at the door too, maybe save for some celebrations."

He shook his head, he didn't smoke. It wasn't like him to do something like that. It was something he could never really understand. Mortals always wishing to live, while they were killing themselves with those things so slowly. It made no sense, so Bob always offered to do the job himself. He wouldn't even pretend to be a slave to a stick, even if it was supposedly fashionable. "No, thanks."

"The multiverse is only one. There are several multiverses, in the realm known as the Omniverse. Each realm is a living thing. Each universe is comparable to a cell in the body, the connected multiverse made from each universe makes up, a kind of organ, and all of those are connected to form the realm known as the Omniverse." He hoped that made some kind of sense. "When the ancient ones decided to do me in, all of them..they scattered my shards and life energies throughout the entire omniverse, in hopes it would never reassemble. But in effect they had done something far worse. They created realm, with in a realm. My purpose in this realm..I am a virus that does not need it's host to continue on."

"My awareness is here in this realm, my main physical body is..basically comatose. A safety feature introduced by them as well. So the realm of the abyss exists, and people can go to it, but it's just a reactionary place. All of the true power is with me. Instead of being a destroyer of realms, I am a mere destroyer of worlds, life, civilization, light..gods..you know. The small stuff." He sighed at that, almost seeming sad.

"So yes. I am spread out all over the multiverse, this and every other one. The shadow that must be cast as soon as the light falls upon any object, there I am, kinda." Lost in thought? Maybe.

"Food it is. Lets get out of here." He took her hand at once. "Your world, your choice."

He had listened to her, and agreed. There had been no real reason to destroy this world, or for the moment at least, any other world. It was far too interesting to torment, and slowly erode the systems of the world that had been established, to upset the imagined balance created by the minds of those of the cosmic and the mundane.

"Of course I wouldn't deny you the thing you wanted the most, why would I, of all beings wish to cast a limit on anything you wanted to do in searching for your revenge," he said with a smile, then continued on, "Yeah, this place will do nicely." As it came into view there. A quiet little place on a shore. Don't people ever learn that by living directly next to water is always asking for trouble he thought. A lesson needed to be taught once more, an example made.


It was not long before the man in black was upon the ground. The moment he had set foot, the brightening sky of the morning, died. Everything in the sky turned into a inky color of black, the stars gleamed violently with a deep red light. Heaven seemed now to be bleeding, and the sky in agony. The people just waking up for their daily routine would not be unaware of this dreadful shift in their reality. Panic came swift to the simple ones, the supernatural nature of this would be enough to send even the most courage filled people, a shot of fear through their bodies.

The screaming started nearest the ocean, as the water churned and boiled. Something lay beneath the water, stirred by the horror above, something ancient even to this battered and torn world. It rose from the ocean, the likeness of a great sea serpent. It's eyes gleamed with yellow hate, it screamed with a passion for murder, and its snake form rose eighty feet into the air. It was nothing more then a dragon with out arms or wings, a sea serpent.

Regardless if they had seen things like this before, this one was horribly different. It tapped into that primal instinct to fight, or flee. And people often taken completely by surprise tend to flee. That was the point all along though. For the people screaming traveled like flames on a dry prairie, others woke and joined into the frenzy to escape into the safety of the inland terrain.

The people would be unknowingly running directly to Shauri and Bob. He knew this. "You see. Good people work hard. Diabolical ones like us, well we use our minds with more efficiency then most give us credit for." He said as the thunder of echoing footsteps approached them. Anybody not living in the village, an outsider would witness this event and see a mob of villagers running away from nothing, in sheer terror of the unknown threat.

It was a illusion, created on a whim to create terror in the mind, more importantly the heart. It was soon before the villagers would come into sight of the pair. The forerunners of the mob stopped in their tracks. There they would see a powerful woman, well, they thought it was some kind of savior at first anyway. Dressed in black scaled armor of the likes most had never seen before, twin blades and looking different then any hero they ever heard of, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and some guy standing next to her. Nothing special about him though, sidekicks were often mostly ignored.

It was understood that the monster behind them was more then willing to destroy them all. It had a voice that said so it it's own terrifying way and eyes to match. Running at that time seemed to be the only option, nobody would have blamed them from doing anything different. The pair in front of them seemed to be one of those cosmic events called a miracle in some people's minds. Heroes to save the day against a horrible monster. It was all in the workings of true balance. It had to be.

Bob had planned on this, he waited a few seconds longer for more of them to show up. Knowing where they all were and when they were in range. "Divided they fall, united they become breakfast." A silver cage tore through the ground and in mere seconds trapped them all. Immediately hands burst through the holes of the magical prison. Bob walked up to a pair of arms and almost in an act of kindness interlocked his fingers with a teenage girl. She was scared, crying.

Bob jerked his hands back and with a small display of his strength, he tore both of the arms off, out of the sockets with the sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bones to accompany it. Blood sprayed everywhere over the people she was standing next to and this just added to the confusion inside the cage. He tossed one of the arms to Shauri, and two seconds after it left his hand. He took a chunk out of that arm with those teeth of his. Blood flowed to the ground as he swallowed the flesh that was still alive. "Not too bad. How's yours?" He asked, and somehow his voice was able to be heard over all the screaming and moaning of agony just behind him.

The stragglers she found along the way, she teleported into the cage. Babies and toddlers went into the pit. She soon found herself wandering down the main road of town. Already it was like a ghost town. Doors hanging open, some off their hinges... a basket of laundry trailing from the door towards the direction they'd been running... even a baby's toys were strewn along the ground. All was silent save for the distant screams of those in the cage... and.. wait.. what was that?

It was faint but she was able to hear its muffled cry. Sha'uri moved a little faster down the road, picking up the sound as she went. She moved all the way through town to the other side, a place along the shore where the illusionary monster had not been. The sound got louder and she could tell it was a woman in the throws of... child birth... a soul about to part from its mother.

Something stirred within her, that voice so faint screamed louder from within her conscious. No!

The small house beckoned to her, a mist formed in her vision creating a trail that Sha'uri began to follow. but it didn't go into the house, it moved her round to the other side and to a storm shelter in the ground. It was almost hidden beside a row of bushes if it weren't for the doors painted a bright red. Ironic, she thought.

No!, that voice again inside her head.. or maybe it was in whatever was left of her heart. It didn't matter. The "Ahhhh's!" of the woman in labor coincided with the No's, drowning out the sensation of feeling that it tried to resurrect. Sha'uri threw open wide the shelter doors and stepped down the stairway. Oddly, she was hungry again, but it wasn't flesh she was after. There was something about this woman, or this baby, that drew her along this misty trail and towards them.

However, the moment Sha'uri moved into the room below.. something slammed her up against the wall. Invisible force blindsided her. It took her a moment to realize the woman was a Force user.

No! the voice within Sha'uri screemed again. Sha could almost hear it, but it was like a mile away.

"Please... don't hurt my baby..." the woman struggled against keeping Sha'uri there at the wall and dealing with the pain of another contraction. Her breathing was in gasps from the effort.

No!

"Why would I do that? The monster is gone now. I came to get you and your baby." Smoothly put, deceptively convincing. Yet the woman saw through it. Sha'uri studied the woman closer, watching the mist move, or was she moving it herself? It seemed to move over the woman's body, yet it was invisible to others. The fear was strong, so were the contractions.

"You lie! You wreak of their deaths! I smell it! The evil, it clings to you like the stench of fish to a sailor! Yet it isn't too late! Don't do this... please!" The woman was breaking down quickly, desperate, faced with the vision of her own death. It was worse then anything she had ever imagined, yet she had to try and dissuade what she had seen it to be in hopes of keeping it from happening. ?Please! Don?t hurt my baby!?.

No! No!!!

Sha'uri laughed darkly, a slow demonic laugh.. "I don't know what you're talking about. But I can't stand the suffering, I'll admit. Let me help you.." Oddly, no sooner then she said this and the woman seemed to break the hold. Had Sha'uri done something to do that? No... or had she.

Sha'uri had been remembering the Labor pains she'd went through with her children... or should have. Bryce, her second, was the closest one she'd come to actually going through labor. But she'd been gone then, a magical duplicate acting as surrogate mother gave birth to him. She'd felt it, though. Isabel was never born and Alex... who betrayed her... it had been her own mother within her body that gave birth to him. Perhaps that explained much.

The woman screamed piercingly as the mist gripped her, psionics forcing the labor faster. Sha'uri was suddenly overwhelmed by an urge and before she knew it she was kneeling down by the woman, a hand held over her heart as if poised to snatch it from her chest. Amethyst hues alight with an inner evil darkness....

Noooo!!!!! that voice in her conscious was screaming louder, and yet.. Fading all the same boxed up and shoved down a tunnel. Sha'uri couldn't hear it any longer, obsessed by the essence of the woman, the power and strength was neurotic, seductive, far more fulfilling then just the flesh alone ... and she was absorbing it into herself. Sha'uri was eating the woman's soul... the heart crushed against the cage as the consumption came to its climax.

From a distance, one could hear the cry of a baby being born and the death of that child at the same time? his soul consumed by something this world had never experienced before.

Sha?uri was no longer the Deliverer.. but the Devourer of Souls.

Sha'uri left the dead woman were she lay, and picked up the baby to wrap it up in a blanket. Whatever voice had been screaming in her head was gone, or at least subdued. She wasn't sure what that was all about, but the silence helped her to focus more calmly. She left the woman in the shelter and went back to Bob with the dead baby in her arms.

"For you, Bob... Sorry it's dead, but I had a ... terrible craving that needed to be satiated, an interesting phenomena that was. I had not expected it." She was pretty sure she didn't have to tell him anything because she made no attempt to hide it from him.

She looked at the now empty cage and smiled. "I should've kept one of those strapping young lads, though ... I've got an itch that needs to be scratched." Sigh. "Oh well, perhaps I'll make a run into RhyDin.. it's practically full of hores and escorts of all kinds. Wanna come?"

She had an evil, seductive smile.

She laughed.

"Don't worry. I have no plans to step in anyone's way. However, if something happened to Bri, I have to try and help. But um..."

she eyed him a moment. There was something she wanted to ask him but.... she seemed to change her mind, getting the feeling he didn't want to know of her sexual exploits. She shook her head and centered a portal towards Ravensheart grounds. She masked her aura to a neutral tone.

"After you."

"Noted."

She would remember his warning. It had been soem time since she stepped foot in RhyDin but she was sure some things hadn't changed. She did have plans, and she wasn't going to let anyone try to ruin them as they did so often.

"S'why I need you there to watch over me. I can admit when I need it."

She grinned and stepped through after him.

The portal closed.

((editing to add a link where they go Here: Strike to the Heart ))

The portal opened up near the southern road leading from RhyDin. She was about five miles out. The walk would do her good while she tried to learn more about this thing she could do. Omnipotent? It must've been for Sharalis to just not take it on right then and there, and kick Sha'uri right out of Exodii. Did Sha'uri sense fear in her mother? Indeed, she sensed it more by the Major God's actions then anything else. But of course she did. The goddess wouldn't be ignorant of the revenge Sha'uri wanted on Alex and Lyndra... or even the Goddess herself.


If ye think I'm gonna idly sit by an let ye just dO that.. ye're more insane then I thought. D'Shara's voice was still in Sha'uri's head.

Please stop... get out of RhyDin. We shouldn't be here. Go back to Exodii. I know Mom would help if you only ask it. It was her own good side chiming in with a plea.

"Hey, a girl's gotta eat, no? Live and Let live? Leave me alone.."

She strode closer to the road but didn't get far along it before the voices began to rage their mental battle on her. She held her head from the proverbial pain the voices seemed to induce within her. Her hunger increased as she tried to quell those voices, but it was no good... they got stronger and stronger...

"Ahhhh!"

Sha'uri ran from the road and dashed through the forest. All around her the night animals gave protest to their interruption. Their growls and calls drew her attention to them, and her hunger increased. She was on the hunt and quickly snatched a fox in her hands. It snapped at her but she held him by the back of the neck firmly. Its life energy was soon drained. Though it was not the same effect as a sentient's energy... it was something to remember to help sustain this hunger that was eating away at her. Her upper half shifted into dragon form and the fox was devoured in 3.5 chews. Swallow.

Reforming back to her half elven form, Sha'uri moved back to the road. She was closer to RhyDin, about three miles away. Two men on horseback were riding away from the city. Both men were dressed in dark clothing. One horse was a dark chestnut brown with black mane and tail, the other horse was tan and cream. There was something noticeable about the rider.... his clothing was of exceptional quality, as was the saddle. She pulled her cloak closer round her, pulling the hood over her face even though it was still before the sunrise. Sha'uri struggled to let them pass without attacking them... but pass they did and without incident. They hardly took notice that she was even there at all.

By the time she got about a mile away from the city, those voices were tormenting her again.


Victim 1 .... Wrong Place at the Wrong Time.

The noise in her head got to her and she held her head, as if that would make them quiet. It, of course, didn't help. Sha'uri crouched there by the road, whimpering quietly. It hurt for her to utter any sound, the pain shooting through her head had her rocking back and forth while she shifted down to her knees. She rocked and whimpered.. for hours it seemed. She never heard the man ride up and stop his horse, never heard his footsteps come closer, didn't hear his voice call to her.

"Lady, are you hurt? Can I help you? Please... I won't hurt you. It's not safe here..." It was a mistake he never knew was coming.

His hand gently touched her shoulder and the next thing he knew, she swung back, grabbed his arm and yanked him to the ground. He was no slouch with the sword and his was out in self defense.. in response to her self defense.. and they were both defending themselves abruptly.

Yet for all his expertise, he was no match for this one. She got him pinned down with his sword stuck in her abdomen clear up to the hilt as she pulled herself atop him to do so. Her breathing increased, sniffing in his scent and his essence while her blood flowed on him. His soul was quickly sucked into her as she devoured it, watching the life ebb from his eyes and his body. It was exhilarating and repulsive to her at the same time. As he died, her wounds were healed.

"It's not safe here either." she replied coldly, with little remorse. After all, he attacked her. "Pity... you're a handsome one. You should've kept the sword put away. Sorry."

Dealing with the body was simple... she ate part of him, the best parts of course, and dumped the rest in the sea for the sharks via a teleport spell. His sword, however...and the entire area, were magically cleaned of all blood and placed in the horse's saddlebags. She recognized it now. This had been the one that had passed by earlier. There was something shady yet honorable about the man.


Pointing the horse in the opposite direction of RhyDin, she slapped its backside casting a fear spell on the animal... and watched it ride hard and fast away from town. Then she sighed, though it was with some relief. The voices in her head had subsided.....


Victims 2, 3, and 4..... You Asked For It.

So her steps took her off the road and towards the shoreline. There were no tracks to follow for her steps were magically protected from leaving any. She walked along the beach briskly moving through the sand.

Coming up to a firepit with three people around it not a half mile from the south edge of the docks, she paused to take note of the area and what they were doing. There were no houses straggling from the docks along the shoreline there.... simply the rocky shore in this half mile stretch. And the ones at the firepit had a basket of kittens, which they were hog tying one at a time and torturing over the fire until they were cooked.

"This could be interesting.."

They're torturing kittens! part of her was very disgusted. Someone should stop 'em. D'Shara chimed in.

"Indeed."

For once, they were in agreement that this shouldn't be allowed to continue, though perhaps not in the same way. One wanted the kittens rescued, the other wanted to kick their arse for hurting them ... and Sha'uri was again thinking about how hungry she was.

She really had no choice but to walk past them close enough that they would see her.... that is if she relied on mundane means. Well if it would get their attentions... and it did.

"Hey! Who's that?" one asked.

"Oi.. we's gots company." the other chimed in as he stuffed the hog tied kitten back in the covered basket and shut the lid tightly.

"You there!" the third one called to Sha'uri. "What's a person like ye doin in a place like this? Don't ye know it's a bit dangerous out here among the rocks?"

The three of them laughed while Sha'uri simply moved in closer, pulling back her hood to reveal her femininity. They were like moths to a flame.... cat calls, whistles and converging in around her from all three sides.

"I am sure I can take care of myself. You three, on the other hand, are in a world of trouble if you don't leave those kittens alone."

"Oh yeah, whad'ya gonna do about it, hmm?"

They boxed her in and began pushing her between them.

"I suggest you leave me alone, unless you really are begging to get it. I'm really nice though. I won't make you beg... just ask for it, and you'll get it."Her demeanor seemed calm as she smiled devilishly seductive.

That's all it took.. the three men turned crude, rude and grabby on her. It was all the excuse Sha'uri needed.

"And that would be asking...."

It wasn't long before the three men were soul sucked, half eaten and dumped out into the sea for the sharks... the blood and gore magically cleaned up and the tracks wiped clean. She did, however, pick up the basket of kittens. There were four left in there.


Victim 5 ...... Wrath.

Moving along the docks, she headed east into the city. The trek from the portal had taken her a little over an hour so far. It was almost dawn, she could see the red lining beginning to form along the horizon. Pausing by the Orphanage, she left the kittens at the front door. By then, she had untied them though kept them secured from escaping. They were too young to be on their own... barely weaned from their mother.

She really was going to go find Bob at this point. Something within her knew he called to her, though there were no words.. just a bond of some kind. She headed towards the northern end of town, heading towards the bridge near her beach house. On her way something caught her attention... a cry, a plead... whimpering muffled, perhaps by a hand. Street activity was increasing slightly as it does every day before the dawn. She picked up her pace and followed the voice. Something felt familiar about the tone, the demeanor. It was something Sha'uri could relate to. Somewhere a young woman was being raped.

There, under the bridge is where the sound echoed. Though it was not loud and most would not notice, she did. She was swift, silent and invisible as she approached. But she was too late. Everything was silent when she arrived under the bridge and back within the beams. The man was pulling up his pants, wiping off his blade. The girl's throat was sliced ear to ear and her clothes torn. She, a human, couldn't have been more the 18.

Wrath was swift.. wrath was sweet to Sha'uri. She surprised him and he dropped the knife. Then she teleported him over the sea with her shifted into her dragon form from the neck up and tortured him there, until dawn broke. She never ate him, merely nibbled off small chunks of his extremities and dropping them into the water, drawing in sharks for miles. Then she devoured his soul, bit off his head and let the rest fall into the water.

She spit the head out into her claw and turned herself invisible. Then moved back to town, to the bridge where it took place. His head was dropped into the water.


Recently, a handful of bodies had been found over the past few days as the tide rolled in higher then normal, washing them in from either the sea or the river that runs between north and south RhyDin. All of the bodies had been torn, shredded and partially eaten. RhyDin police would later reveal the bodies were of individuals known to live in the southern part of RhyDin, mostly from the West End. Forensics indicated all the bodies were killed around the same time, within hours of each other.. and all had teeth and claw marks that matched giving the impression that they were all killed by the same thing. It has not been determined who or what did it, though some have speculated the possibilities. All victims were also suspected or known criminals. No more information has been released.

----- RhyDin News reporting.