((posted with permission thanks to Cain's player. This is a part of the Corruption for the Scarred storylines for Chained Inn boards))
It was Number One who was out on the field, searching with a few of her newly acquired lackeys for other strays to recruit into the ranks. War was going to begin soon, per Travanix's orders. Her target wouldn't need too many powerful ones, just enough to draw a distraction. Quantity not quality was the name of the game for her tonight.
The forest outside of RhyDin is where she lurked, moving through the brush in search of old and forgotten graves. There were enough of those and some with underground paths, some that lead down into the catacomb beneath the city itself. Right now, she was about two miles south of town from the city graveyards. The night was calm, clear and warm, the last of Indian Summer before the Autumn rolled into bloom. The leaves were already changing and some fallen upon the ground. She spied a clump of brush along the side of a hill where an opening was barely visible, even by her own draconic sight.
The clone of Sha'uri signaled to some of the human lackeys to follow her there. She approached cautiously, listening with keen hearing and probing inside with her senses in search of anything living or undead... anything at all inside the hole.
Only the dank fetid stench of decay came from the portal into darkness. No movements or sound, just that forbidding miasma and the cold chill of something from beyond this world that wished to be left alone. An energy so subtle many had mistaken it for their own heightened senses was fused into this place. And yet despite this, to those with any form of power would feel an ingeniously subtle pull at their curiosity to investigate. Something inspiring their sense of adventure and discovery.
A dark brow rose as she pulled back some of the foliage with her sword. Her gaze narrowed and for a moment she started to back away until something caressed her senses in such a way that she was sure something was down there trying not to be found..
"Boys... this way..." she replied and took all ten of her men with her down the spider web infested pathway. Six of the men went before her and the rest were behind as they made their way in. They wandered for some time down the pathways lit only by the magical light She had ignited on the swords of those in front and in back. She kept track of their path down so that she could find her way back up again.
Nothing changed in that coaxing lullaby as the group traversed unused paths long covered in dust and scat. Who knows how far in they were before a faint light appeared ahead, and with it a soft singing, the voice perfect, but strong.
"Now the dark begins to rise/ Save your breath. It's far from over./ Leave the lost and dead behind, now's your chance to run for cover/ I don't want to change the world. I just want to leave it colder./ Light the fuse and burn it all/ Take the path that leads to nowhere."
The closer to the sound they came the more any would feel a pull, but not in their hearts or mind. No, this coaxing came to their loins, a rising desire to give in to repressed curiosities. This sensation perhaps overwhelming if left unsated for any males.
She heard the voice before the others did, which alone was enough to lure her closer. The old clich? that music sooths the savage beast was definitely true in her case, not to mention the curiosity it aroused in her senses not unlike the effects she began to feel from the men around her. At the point in their journey when the men looked at her too long, lust edged the intensity of their gazes. A grin formed as she commanded.
"Stay, boys... play with each other. I can handle this on my own."
Leaving them to their own means, she moved ahead at a faster pace. Curiosity burned through her to meet what was so far down there. She needed no light to see where she was going; Even in total darkness she could feel everything around her with her senses. Pressing onward, she headed for the source of that voice. As she entered the lighted area, she could also hear the men coming down the path behind her anyway. She was too aroused to care at this point. She moved ahead and into that light....
"All is lost again/ But I'm not giving in/ I will not bow. I will not break. I will shut the world away/ I will not fall. I will not fade/ I will take your breath away." The lyrical seduction spreading out with that diabolical deterrent. Where many set up defenses against attacks or mind manipulation, emotions were something all together unexpected. "Now the dark is taking over!/ Show me where forever dies!/ Take the fall, and run to heaven/ All is lost again. But I'm not giving in!/ I will not bow. I will not break. I will shut the world away./ I will not fall. I will not fade. I will take your breath away./ And I'll survive/ Paranoid./ I have lost the will to change./ And I am not proud. Cold blooded fake./ I will shut the world away"
The light was a room of earthen walls and low stone tables upon each is the still body of three pale women. Their faces upturned in perfect slumber of death. His voice where it passes over them seems to make hearts that no longer need blood pump beneath lifeless breasts. Back to the door as of yet, the figure was tall, but slender. A lean muscular male body with hair a honey-chestnut brow cascading low upon his shoulders. The lustful aura was nearly intoxicating to the lesser beings at this point.
Arousal was something she welcomed nowadays, ever since the fall of Number Three, the rest of the copies and the original shared what had once been hers to wield ... the power of seduction. She welcomed the sensation but was far from overwhelmed by it. She could feel it in the loins of the men around her, who by now had caught up with her, surrounded her and were touching her and themselves. She could tell they were almost to the point of being uncontrolled as she looked upon the one who's voice moved the hearts of the women before him. She was curious what he would do at their presence.
He seemed to not notice them at all. It gave her a moment to study him, feel the taint roll off of him and from his song. It was with reluctance that she spoke up not wanting to interrupt but the men were near uncontrollable. Her voice was sultry and low, wooing empathic vibes of arousal. It was naturally so at this stage.
"Nice wooing of the dead, so much that it has inspired me and my men. What to do ... what to do with all this attention, all this emotion building up." Her smile formed a devilish lure.
"Arise!"
That one word dark, almost demonic as the women opened their eyes and sat up. Pale bodies bare as the day upon which they were born. The shifting movement near spreading their legs invitingly as he turned to regard their guests. Oh yes he'd known they were coming, but few made it this far, and so an audience had been granted.
"I will not bow/ I will not break/ I will shut the world away/ I will not fall/ I will not fade/ I will take your breath away./ And I'll survive/ Paranoid/ I have lost the will to change./ And I'm not proud. / Cold blooded fake/ I will shut the world away."
His face as it regarded her was something perhaps unexpected for the locale. Eyes of a breath-taking blue looked out from a strong, powerful face. Cheek bones high and defiant setting an ethereal appearance about him so contrasting with everything. A lift of his hand would set the desires of the men soaring as if to see just how far they would go before this strange woman would play her hand. His clothing, another oddity, where spurred boots clashed with a bared chest adorned in a red vest. Simple black jeans covered his legs, pulled over the boots and their silver-tips.
It was as if the women were there for the men. Who was she to deny them. She lifted a hand to point to the women. "Go play, boys... Who am I to stand in the way of anyone's... satisfaction."
The men were able to look where she pointed. It was the last bit of control she could keep on them, pushing them to either their ultimate pleasures.. or Death. Perhaps both. Either way, between her push and the other man's magic allure, the men didn't stand a chance and she knew it. They were all too eager to take advantage of the women... with or without their souls. It was only their bodies they wanted.
Sha rolled her head enough to crack her neck as she watched the men leave her. Her gaze shifted to the one with song. The alluring smile remained but in her gaze was a devilish lurk for battle readiness.
"So what do you think you have in store for me?" Was it invitation or challenge... perhaps it was both.
A faint smile at these words, his song having come to an end and another begins.
"I was walkin down the street when out the corner of my eye I saw this pretty little thing approachin' me/ She said I never seen a man who looked so alone and couldja use a little comp-any/ And if ya pay the right price your evening could be nice and you can go wishin me on my way/ I said you're such a sweet young thing why ya do this to yourself?/ And this is what she said...."
It wasn't speed, it wasn't teleportation, he was just suddenly there behind her in a place that would make bringing that sword to bare foolish and magic wouldn't come without some injury.
"There ain't no rest for the wicked./ Money don't grow on trees/ I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed/ ain't nothin in this world for free./ I know I can't slow down, I can't slow down/ I can't hold back though you know I wish I could./ There ain't no rest for the wicked, until we close our eyes for good." He'd been behind them the whole way and only just then let it be known.
She didn't move, didn't even flinch as he suddenly appeared behind her. Yet out of nowhere it seemed a long thin draconic tail suddenly grew so swiftly it only appeared to just appear from her and swipe at him as if swatting a fly away. It was no weak frail thing but held the force and strength of a full grown dragon. Her voice took on a melodic flow.
"Shame on you, sneaking up on a woman like that... darlin don't ya know, can't ya feel the taint in me? Back off or I'll take you on, I'll take on anyone... up to you how.. Pleasure or pain?" Her gaze shifted as did she while turning to face him now.
As she turned no one was there, her swiping tail hadn't even made contact with anything substantial. Turned from her men a collective groan would come from them all, their eyes suddenly blank and staring at nothing where they lay in crumpled heaps, the women previously being ravaged nowhere to be seen, and standing center stage of the room, laughing gently stood the true Singer of Songs. "Ain't no rest for the wicked...."
Her gaze shifted again to the sound of the voice, this time searching beyond the illusions obviously playing in the room. She actually laughed and put her sword away, sliding it back into its scabbard.
"Very good." she gave a golf clap as she faced the real one this time. "Now I'll have to replace them. You might do nicely ... for all ten."
It may have gone unnoticed within the apparitions, but in this one his eyes held a faint swirling as though they drifted between the present and some far off place in the depths of his mind. Madness in truest form where her words brought forth bubbled laughter. Like a puppet getting its strings cut he half-collapsed, half-lay upon one of the stone tables, eyes watching the women in some clinical way when his mind focused on the present. Perhaps considering, but the next move was potentially hers.
Her gaze narrowed upon the strange one, studying him closely, feeling him for his soul as she would do anything else. The look in his eyes and the way he laughed was a definite give away.
"He's nae right in the head." she all but whispered. It occurred to her his potential and she wondered how wasted it was down here so far below the surface as if he'd been hiding from the world. Perhaps he hadn't been, but she was sure she had never come across him before. A smile formed again as she slowly began to walk that direction.
Her tones resumed normal conversational levels. "What is a talent like you doing down here hiding all alone for? Don't you get lonely? or bored?"
Even though she sounded at ease, she could still have both her swords in her hands with just a thought. Her amethyst hues carefully watched him while she cautiously approached with slow steps. The draconic tail swayed gently with her moves.
Still laughing that lure of lust would be a gale as it swirled around him unchecked and yet nothing about him even appeared aroused. Eyes close briefly and with that motion the aura dies and when he opens them a great intelligence resides behind vibrant blue. Sitting up, they track her movements, completely unfazed by seeing that tail.
"Perhaps you're not asking the right questions..." voice of silk rolls from him in the remaining effects of that lustful storm previously conjured. "What does the surface have to offer me that I must seek it out?"
She almost closed her eyes all the way as that gust rolled in on her senses. Her steps came to a halt almost within arms reach of him and she watched him keenly for a moment. The taint in him was unmistakable. Amethyst hues caught with vibrant blues.
"War.. blood... revenge if you want. Those of us who've been repressed are rising to conquer the city... together ... each in our own separate way or banning with a few others, but all for the same goal. I can tell you're the kind that has talents... I have talents... perhaps we could help each other put them to use up there. Why not come play?"
"Ahh but conquering a city is for those that are stuck upon the tangible. And none have attempted to repress me yet. " A hand seemed to stretch impossibly long where it lifted an arm of one of her downed men, the nail upon that hand puncturing flesh to redden it with blood. Eyes still upon the woman, he suckled upon his thumb, tasting the crimson. "You'll have to try better Lady Shauri"
"What would you want?" It was simple and straight forward as she watched him taste the man's blood with no emotion about it.
"Powers interest me..." He slowly lifted his legs from the table, still watching her. "Within any beings blood lives the entirety of their existence. Where they've been, what they've done, who they are and what they can do." Eyes looked from the man to her before he was suddenly that man, armor and all. Even his scent and presence changing to reflect the dead man, a perfect illusion, life-force included. "What they can do, so then can I."
Surprise caught her up in a burst of laughter, more out of being impressed then anything else. "That's so awesome! Do you know how long it took me to research a spell just to duplicate on myself just like what you did with that man? And you do it naturally, except to yourself." The last brought a slight frown to her visage.
"Well, there is something of the soul that seems missing, though. Something I did accomplish. Just with me, though. I wonder if that would work for others..." She was more or less thinking out loud, shifting her gaze slightly to the side.
Her gaze snapped back to him. "Well, I think I did say something about blood. There will be a lot of it spilt, a lot of it going around.. and... your loss if you don't play. Just think of all the blood you could consume to your advantage. Can't do it from down here now can you."
He shook his head, standing up and with it he was suddenly her, standing toe to toe a perfect mirror. "The blood gives me their memories and knowledge. I don't need that to assume their shape." He just shook his head.
"You haven't even enticed me yet woman, you'll need to do better." Almost subconsciously the Shauri-mirror caressed her own breast as if feeling the weight and gauging it.
"And all blood that runs in the streets comes down here. Everything discarded from the above world finds its way into these earthen walls. One being?s discarded secrets, my treasures to dig up and give back to the light. Your powers may be fun...." a slightly predatory gleam in the mirror's eyes before letting that groping hand fall away.
"Hmm.... you're like a danger to everyone but you. Is that why you're down here?" her tones suddenly lacked humor or the luster of intrigue that it held a moment before.
At her words he actually laughed and returned to his true form. "A danger you say? I do believe that would depend on the person no? You do not consider me a threat else I highly doubt you'd still be remaining so civil. No doubt we'd be adding some new tunnels to this ancient maze." He was certainly amused now. His body misted as he quite literally walked through her, body a vapor of water and air. On the other side he solidified, hands clasped behind his back. "I am down here because there have not been any above worth my attention of late. None who's powers have seemed worthy to add to my own."
"Actually... we would be totally obliterating these tunnels and the city above would collapse upon itself." the thought had her grinning again. Other thoughts had her thinking. "I could give you mine." She baited him. Indeed she could and he would be the first to spread the abysmal powers to.
"Tell me, what would you do with such gifts?"
"Meet my maker..." an edge lay in the way he said it perhaps indicating it would not be a friendly greeting, this too may hint that there was another like him somewhere in the world. Two such beings with an obvious amount of terrifying potential would send most screaming, or running for their axes. "I don't see you giving me your gifts without a catch. There is always a hidden clause within the fine print...."
"You're right, there is always a catch. With great power comes great responsibility. I could use you in this war over the city.. before you meet your maker." Her words had a double edge in them, or so it would seem. Something in her gaze flared sparking a flame within amethyst hues. The flames were amethyst at first until it swirled with a multitude of colors. And as he stared into her eyes he got the feeling of something deeper within them, something powerful beyond the realm, something dark.... something like an endless void ... something like the Abyss, if he was familiar with it at all.
Partially intrigued he raised a slender brow at the sensation However he focused upon her words. "Actually you're wrong on that. Responsibility does not come with power. Sorry Peter." He walked slow circle around her now, eyes gauging. "I help you stir up some trouble....and you give me access to your powers, while tempting me with the possibility of others. Obvious gains. Clear drawbacks..." a knowing smile gracing his lips as he passed in front of her. "Though you've aroused my curiosity as one such as you seems beyond the mindless destruction the young and mortal crave...."
"Oh? is that why I let you do to my own men what you did?" her smile widened.
"Let me?" it was his turn to snicker. "You didn't know what was down here when you stopped at the entrance above, even told your men to stay farther back at the first onset of my little test. Really now, you looked smarter than to play such trivial games." He danced her dance just smiling away as though completely oblivious to her coaxing. Behind her once again he stopped, hands coming to rest lightly upon her shoulders, nearly kneading. "You see a weapon that can't be passed over. You need me more than I do you at this juncture. Submit an offer of...substance, Lady Shauri."
She was willing to let him believe all that and chuckled along with his snicker. True, she hadn't known what she would find when she first started down. But the taste of his voice and the feel of the power within it gave her clear indication of some of the potential. She had miscalculated her men's ability to withstand its lure, but it wasn't like she couldn't have transported them out of there at any time she had wanted to. She had wanted to test what she was up against, and it worked. She was also willing to let him believe he had the upper hand.
Her voice purred laced with submission. "You may be right. But before I submit... can I not at least know your name first? After all, you've already got me at a disadvantage. You already know mine...." Amethyst hues turned to regard him with an almost innocent plea in them.
He smiled at those words, not believing them for an instant. They were both posturing and knew it; each coaxing the other to believe the untrue. He knew nothing of this woman, but played the arrogant enigma. She kept herself back. It was a game of intrigue they played.
"Is a name truly that important?" Cain asked.
One blip of sapphire flashed in the flames of her eyes before it was swallowed up by amethyst. The plea was dropped from her gaze as her amethyst hues locked with his gaze. The expression sobered breaking up the oh-so-innocent look matching with the serious snap of her tones.
"Unless you want to lose yourself forever, yes .. it is." There was no bluff in her now. It almost seemed a serious warning. It was as if she were trying to protect him from what he was about to partake of. But why? Indeed why. Her next words would spell it out clearly for him.
"You are right. I need you for this war. But I think you need me too for your own personal one with your maker. I think I'm right about that if I caught the tonal inflection correctly. If you want to continue that, you have to remain aware of who you are. Without me knowing your name, you will be lost.... absorbed into the depths of the Abyss."
There, she'd given him the truth about the power on the magical energy she now housed.
"Now... Do you accept this as the truth? Just tell me your name and it will be a deal. My blood will be yours to consume." While she spoke, she turned slowly to face him.
His arms crossed over his chest after a moment, facial features matching her own. "Now was that so hard?" A bit of humor in his words to ease matters a little. Leaning forward a little Cain gauged her response visible though he'd decided to help her some time ago. "Deal, Shauri. You may call me Cain." And as a gesture of good faith that lustful aura spiked full force with the two of them at its epicenter.
It was Number One who was out on the field, searching with a few of her newly acquired lackeys for other strays to recruit into the ranks. War was going to begin soon, per Travanix's orders. Her target wouldn't need too many powerful ones, just enough to draw a distraction. Quantity not quality was the name of the game for her tonight.
The forest outside of RhyDin is where she lurked, moving through the brush in search of old and forgotten graves. There were enough of those and some with underground paths, some that lead down into the catacomb beneath the city itself. Right now, she was about two miles south of town from the city graveyards. The night was calm, clear and warm, the last of Indian Summer before the Autumn rolled into bloom. The leaves were already changing and some fallen upon the ground. She spied a clump of brush along the side of a hill where an opening was barely visible, even by her own draconic sight.
The clone of Sha'uri signaled to some of the human lackeys to follow her there. She approached cautiously, listening with keen hearing and probing inside with her senses in search of anything living or undead... anything at all inside the hole.
Only the dank fetid stench of decay came from the portal into darkness. No movements or sound, just that forbidding miasma and the cold chill of something from beyond this world that wished to be left alone. An energy so subtle many had mistaken it for their own heightened senses was fused into this place. And yet despite this, to those with any form of power would feel an ingeniously subtle pull at their curiosity to investigate. Something inspiring their sense of adventure and discovery.
A dark brow rose as she pulled back some of the foliage with her sword. Her gaze narrowed and for a moment she started to back away until something caressed her senses in such a way that she was sure something was down there trying not to be found..
"Boys... this way..." she replied and took all ten of her men with her down the spider web infested pathway. Six of the men went before her and the rest were behind as they made their way in. They wandered for some time down the pathways lit only by the magical light She had ignited on the swords of those in front and in back. She kept track of their path down so that she could find her way back up again.
Nothing changed in that coaxing lullaby as the group traversed unused paths long covered in dust and scat. Who knows how far in they were before a faint light appeared ahead, and with it a soft singing, the voice perfect, but strong.
"Now the dark begins to rise/ Save your breath. It's far from over./ Leave the lost and dead behind, now's your chance to run for cover/ I don't want to change the world. I just want to leave it colder./ Light the fuse and burn it all/ Take the path that leads to nowhere."
The closer to the sound they came the more any would feel a pull, but not in their hearts or mind. No, this coaxing came to their loins, a rising desire to give in to repressed curiosities. This sensation perhaps overwhelming if left unsated for any males.
She heard the voice before the others did, which alone was enough to lure her closer. The old clich? that music sooths the savage beast was definitely true in her case, not to mention the curiosity it aroused in her senses not unlike the effects she began to feel from the men around her. At the point in their journey when the men looked at her too long, lust edged the intensity of their gazes. A grin formed as she commanded.
"Stay, boys... play with each other. I can handle this on my own."
Leaving them to their own means, she moved ahead at a faster pace. Curiosity burned through her to meet what was so far down there. She needed no light to see where she was going; Even in total darkness she could feel everything around her with her senses. Pressing onward, she headed for the source of that voice. As she entered the lighted area, she could also hear the men coming down the path behind her anyway. She was too aroused to care at this point. She moved ahead and into that light....
"All is lost again/ But I'm not giving in/ I will not bow. I will not break. I will shut the world away/ I will not fall. I will not fade/ I will take your breath away." The lyrical seduction spreading out with that diabolical deterrent. Where many set up defenses against attacks or mind manipulation, emotions were something all together unexpected. "Now the dark is taking over!/ Show me where forever dies!/ Take the fall, and run to heaven/ All is lost again. But I'm not giving in!/ I will not bow. I will not break. I will shut the world away./ I will not fall. I will not fade. I will take your breath away./ And I'll survive/ Paranoid./ I have lost the will to change./ And I am not proud. Cold blooded fake./ I will shut the world away"
The light was a room of earthen walls and low stone tables upon each is the still body of three pale women. Their faces upturned in perfect slumber of death. His voice where it passes over them seems to make hearts that no longer need blood pump beneath lifeless breasts. Back to the door as of yet, the figure was tall, but slender. A lean muscular male body with hair a honey-chestnut brow cascading low upon his shoulders. The lustful aura was nearly intoxicating to the lesser beings at this point.
Arousal was something she welcomed nowadays, ever since the fall of Number Three, the rest of the copies and the original shared what had once been hers to wield ... the power of seduction. She welcomed the sensation but was far from overwhelmed by it. She could feel it in the loins of the men around her, who by now had caught up with her, surrounded her and were touching her and themselves. She could tell they were almost to the point of being uncontrolled as she looked upon the one who's voice moved the hearts of the women before him. She was curious what he would do at their presence.
He seemed to not notice them at all. It gave her a moment to study him, feel the taint roll off of him and from his song. It was with reluctance that she spoke up not wanting to interrupt but the men were near uncontrollable. Her voice was sultry and low, wooing empathic vibes of arousal. It was naturally so at this stage.
"Nice wooing of the dead, so much that it has inspired me and my men. What to do ... what to do with all this attention, all this emotion building up." Her smile formed a devilish lure.
"Arise!"
That one word dark, almost demonic as the women opened their eyes and sat up. Pale bodies bare as the day upon which they were born. The shifting movement near spreading their legs invitingly as he turned to regard their guests. Oh yes he'd known they were coming, but few made it this far, and so an audience had been granted.
"I will not bow/ I will not break/ I will shut the world away/ I will not fall/ I will not fade/ I will take your breath away./ And I'll survive/ Paranoid/ I have lost the will to change./ And I'm not proud. / Cold blooded fake/ I will shut the world away."
His face as it regarded her was something perhaps unexpected for the locale. Eyes of a breath-taking blue looked out from a strong, powerful face. Cheek bones high and defiant setting an ethereal appearance about him so contrasting with everything. A lift of his hand would set the desires of the men soaring as if to see just how far they would go before this strange woman would play her hand. His clothing, another oddity, where spurred boots clashed with a bared chest adorned in a red vest. Simple black jeans covered his legs, pulled over the boots and their silver-tips.
It was as if the women were there for the men. Who was she to deny them. She lifted a hand to point to the women. "Go play, boys... Who am I to stand in the way of anyone's... satisfaction."
The men were able to look where she pointed. It was the last bit of control she could keep on them, pushing them to either their ultimate pleasures.. or Death. Perhaps both. Either way, between her push and the other man's magic allure, the men didn't stand a chance and she knew it. They were all too eager to take advantage of the women... with or without their souls. It was only their bodies they wanted.
Sha rolled her head enough to crack her neck as she watched the men leave her. Her gaze shifted to the one with song. The alluring smile remained but in her gaze was a devilish lurk for battle readiness.
"So what do you think you have in store for me?" Was it invitation or challenge... perhaps it was both.
A faint smile at these words, his song having come to an end and another begins.
"I was walkin down the street when out the corner of my eye I saw this pretty little thing approachin' me/ She said I never seen a man who looked so alone and couldja use a little comp-any/ And if ya pay the right price your evening could be nice and you can go wishin me on my way/ I said you're such a sweet young thing why ya do this to yourself?/ And this is what she said...."
It wasn't speed, it wasn't teleportation, he was just suddenly there behind her in a place that would make bringing that sword to bare foolish and magic wouldn't come without some injury.
"There ain't no rest for the wicked./ Money don't grow on trees/ I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed/ ain't nothin in this world for free./ I know I can't slow down, I can't slow down/ I can't hold back though you know I wish I could./ There ain't no rest for the wicked, until we close our eyes for good." He'd been behind them the whole way and only just then let it be known.
She didn't move, didn't even flinch as he suddenly appeared behind her. Yet out of nowhere it seemed a long thin draconic tail suddenly grew so swiftly it only appeared to just appear from her and swipe at him as if swatting a fly away. It was no weak frail thing but held the force and strength of a full grown dragon. Her voice took on a melodic flow.
"Shame on you, sneaking up on a woman like that... darlin don't ya know, can't ya feel the taint in me? Back off or I'll take you on, I'll take on anyone... up to you how.. Pleasure or pain?" Her gaze shifted as did she while turning to face him now.
As she turned no one was there, her swiping tail hadn't even made contact with anything substantial. Turned from her men a collective groan would come from them all, their eyes suddenly blank and staring at nothing where they lay in crumpled heaps, the women previously being ravaged nowhere to be seen, and standing center stage of the room, laughing gently stood the true Singer of Songs. "Ain't no rest for the wicked...."
Her gaze shifted again to the sound of the voice, this time searching beyond the illusions obviously playing in the room. She actually laughed and put her sword away, sliding it back into its scabbard.
"Very good." she gave a golf clap as she faced the real one this time. "Now I'll have to replace them. You might do nicely ... for all ten."
It may have gone unnoticed within the apparitions, but in this one his eyes held a faint swirling as though they drifted between the present and some far off place in the depths of his mind. Madness in truest form where her words brought forth bubbled laughter. Like a puppet getting its strings cut he half-collapsed, half-lay upon one of the stone tables, eyes watching the women in some clinical way when his mind focused on the present. Perhaps considering, but the next move was potentially hers.
Her gaze narrowed upon the strange one, studying him closely, feeling him for his soul as she would do anything else. The look in his eyes and the way he laughed was a definite give away.
"He's nae right in the head." she all but whispered. It occurred to her his potential and she wondered how wasted it was down here so far below the surface as if he'd been hiding from the world. Perhaps he hadn't been, but she was sure she had never come across him before. A smile formed again as she slowly began to walk that direction.
Her tones resumed normal conversational levels. "What is a talent like you doing down here hiding all alone for? Don't you get lonely? or bored?"
Even though she sounded at ease, she could still have both her swords in her hands with just a thought. Her amethyst hues carefully watched him while she cautiously approached with slow steps. The draconic tail swayed gently with her moves.
Still laughing that lure of lust would be a gale as it swirled around him unchecked and yet nothing about him even appeared aroused. Eyes close briefly and with that motion the aura dies and when he opens them a great intelligence resides behind vibrant blue. Sitting up, they track her movements, completely unfazed by seeing that tail.
"Perhaps you're not asking the right questions..." voice of silk rolls from him in the remaining effects of that lustful storm previously conjured. "What does the surface have to offer me that I must seek it out?"
She almost closed her eyes all the way as that gust rolled in on her senses. Her steps came to a halt almost within arms reach of him and she watched him keenly for a moment. The taint in him was unmistakable. Amethyst hues caught with vibrant blues.
"War.. blood... revenge if you want. Those of us who've been repressed are rising to conquer the city... together ... each in our own separate way or banning with a few others, but all for the same goal. I can tell you're the kind that has talents... I have talents... perhaps we could help each other put them to use up there. Why not come play?"
"Ahh but conquering a city is for those that are stuck upon the tangible. And none have attempted to repress me yet. " A hand seemed to stretch impossibly long where it lifted an arm of one of her downed men, the nail upon that hand puncturing flesh to redden it with blood. Eyes still upon the woman, he suckled upon his thumb, tasting the crimson. "You'll have to try better Lady Shauri"
"What would you want?" It was simple and straight forward as she watched him taste the man's blood with no emotion about it.
"Powers interest me..." He slowly lifted his legs from the table, still watching her. "Within any beings blood lives the entirety of their existence. Where they've been, what they've done, who they are and what they can do." Eyes looked from the man to her before he was suddenly that man, armor and all. Even his scent and presence changing to reflect the dead man, a perfect illusion, life-force included. "What they can do, so then can I."
Surprise caught her up in a burst of laughter, more out of being impressed then anything else. "That's so awesome! Do you know how long it took me to research a spell just to duplicate on myself just like what you did with that man? And you do it naturally, except to yourself." The last brought a slight frown to her visage.
"Well, there is something of the soul that seems missing, though. Something I did accomplish. Just with me, though. I wonder if that would work for others..." She was more or less thinking out loud, shifting her gaze slightly to the side.
Her gaze snapped back to him. "Well, I think I did say something about blood. There will be a lot of it spilt, a lot of it going around.. and... your loss if you don't play. Just think of all the blood you could consume to your advantage. Can't do it from down here now can you."
He shook his head, standing up and with it he was suddenly her, standing toe to toe a perfect mirror. "The blood gives me their memories and knowledge. I don't need that to assume their shape." He just shook his head.
"You haven't even enticed me yet woman, you'll need to do better." Almost subconsciously the Shauri-mirror caressed her own breast as if feeling the weight and gauging it.
"And all blood that runs in the streets comes down here. Everything discarded from the above world finds its way into these earthen walls. One being?s discarded secrets, my treasures to dig up and give back to the light. Your powers may be fun...." a slightly predatory gleam in the mirror's eyes before letting that groping hand fall away.
"Hmm.... you're like a danger to everyone but you. Is that why you're down here?" her tones suddenly lacked humor or the luster of intrigue that it held a moment before.
At her words he actually laughed and returned to his true form. "A danger you say? I do believe that would depend on the person no? You do not consider me a threat else I highly doubt you'd still be remaining so civil. No doubt we'd be adding some new tunnels to this ancient maze." He was certainly amused now. His body misted as he quite literally walked through her, body a vapor of water and air. On the other side he solidified, hands clasped behind his back. "I am down here because there have not been any above worth my attention of late. None who's powers have seemed worthy to add to my own."
"Actually... we would be totally obliterating these tunnels and the city above would collapse upon itself." the thought had her grinning again. Other thoughts had her thinking. "I could give you mine." She baited him. Indeed she could and he would be the first to spread the abysmal powers to.
"Tell me, what would you do with such gifts?"
"Meet my maker..." an edge lay in the way he said it perhaps indicating it would not be a friendly greeting, this too may hint that there was another like him somewhere in the world. Two such beings with an obvious amount of terrifying potential would send most screaming, or running for their axes. "I don't see you giving me your gifts without a catch. There is always a hidden clause within the fine print...."
"You're right, there is always a catch. With great power comes great responsibility. I could use you in this war over the city.. before you meet your maker." Her words had a double edge in them, or so it would seem. Something in her gaze flared sparking a flame within amethyst hues. The flames were amethyst at first until it swirled with a multitude of colors. And as he stared into her eyes he got the feeling of something deeper within them, something powerful beyond the realm, something dark.... something like an endless void ... something like the Abyss, if he was familiar with it at all.
Partially intrigued he raised a slender brow at the sensation However he focused upon her words. "Actually you're wrong on that. Responsibility does not come with power. Sorry Peter." He walked slow circle around her now, eyes gauging. "I help you stir up some trouble....and you give me access to your powers, while tempting me with the possibility of others. Obvious gains. Clear drawbacks..." a knowing smile gracing his lips as he passed in front of her. "Though you've aroused my curiosity as one such as you seems beyond the mindless destruction the young and mortal crave...."
"Oh? is that why I let you do to my own men what you did?" her smile widened.
"Let me?" it was his turn to snicker. "You didn't know what was down here when you stopped at the entrance above, even told your men to stay farther back at the first onset of my little test. Really now, you looked smarter than to play such trivial games." He danced her dance just smiling away as though completely oblivious to her coaxing. Behind her once again he stopped, hands coming to rest lightly upon her shoulders, nearly kneading. "You see a weapon that can't be passed over. You need me more than I do you at this juncture. Submit an offer of...substance, Lady Shauri."
She was willing to let him believe all that and chuckled along with his snicker. True, she hadn't known what she would find when she first started down. But the taste of his voice and the feel of the power within it gave her clear indication of some of the potential. She had miscalculated her men's ability to withstand its lure, but it wasn't like she couldn't have transported them out of there at any time she had wanted to. She had wanted to test what she was up against, and it worked. She was also willing to let him believe he had the upper hand.
Her voice purred laced with submission. "You may be right. But before I submit... can I not at least know your name first? After all, you've already got me at a disadvantage. You already know mine...." Amethyst hues turned to regard him with an almost innocent plea in them.
He smiled at those words, not believing them for an instant. They were both posturing and knew it; each coaxing the other to believe the untrue. He knew nothing of this woman, but played the arrogant enigma. She kept herself back. It was a game of intrigue they played.
"Is a name truly that important?" Cain asked.
One blip of sapphire flashed in the flames of her eyes before it was swallowed up by amethyst. The plea was dropped from her gaze as her amethyst hues locked with his gaze. The expression sobered breaking up the oh-so-innocent look matching with the serious snap of her tones.
"Unless you want to lose yourself forever, yes .. it is." There was no bluff in her now. It almost seemed a serious warning. It was as if she were trying to protect him from what he was about to partake of. But why? Indeed why. Her next words would spell it out clearly for him.
"You are right. I need you for this war. But I think you need me too for your own personal one with your maker. I think I'm right about that if I caught the tonal inflection correctly. If you want to continue that, you have to remain aware of who you are. Without me knowing your name, you will be lost.... absorbed into the depths of the Abyss."
There, she'd given him the truth about the power on the magical energy she now housed.
"Now... Do you accept this as the truth? Just tell me your name and it will be a deal. My blood will be yours to consume." While she spoke, she turned slowly to face him.
His arms crossed over his chest after a moment, facial features matching her own. "Now was that so hard?" A bit of humor in his words to ease matters a little. Leaning forward a little Cain gauged her response visible though he'd decided to help her some time ago. "Deal, Shauri. You may call me Cain." And as a gesture of good faith that lustful aura spiked full force with the two of them at its epicenter.