Soul's Keep

Kiyas laid quietly on his bed, listening. His eyes were closed tight, seemingly in an imitation of sleep, though those who knew him would say it was to maximize his other senses. He was the youngest recruit there, yes; however, he had known much strife, and with it, came much strength.

His grandfather had been a young boy of ten or eleven years when his parents marched off to be slaughtered by the Order's wizards. He grew up idolizing combat, and promised that he would become strong, as not to leave his own children in the way his parents left him. This was in vain, however, as his own daughter was killed, alongside her husband, in a particularly suspicious accident, leaving behind Kiyas, their own ten-year-old son. Seeing a boy who was as alone and confused as he was, the grandfather took him in, and trained him on a strict regimen every day since his twelfth birthday.

For six years, Kiyas had fallen asleep every day at ten o'clock and woken up at four the next morning. Every day, Kiyas had spent the time from four until six exercising and training his body until it became a weapon of its own. Every day, Kiyas had spent the time from seven in the morning until eight at night studying, taking brief breaks for lunch and dinner, learning the ways of magic and how to change the flow of energy around him. He had taken to Fire rather well -- something about the effort of it, the attempt to control that which would not be controlled, appealed to him. With such a mentality, it was no surprise that he had chosen to join the military after the death of his grandfather, to try and use what he had learned to make something of himself.

He was, apparently, not allowed out of his dorm until six, however, and with a bodily clock so used to a ten-to-four sleep schedule, he could not fall asleep; in fact, he could do nothing but lay there, in his bed, waiting for something interesting to happen, which it did.

A loud crash, followed by a knight bursting open the door and barking some instructions, finally gave Kiyas the excuse he needed. He swung out of bed, throwing his chest plate and cape on over the black wool attire he had been sleeping in. He preferred a lighter armor style -- mobility was important to him, as was vision, so a helmet or leg guards would detract from his combat. He needed his right hand to wield his gauntlet, the source of his magic, and preferred to have a hand free for security reasons.

Strapping on a pair of brown leather sandals before clicking his hand into his gauntlet, feeling the familiar weight and warmth of the bronze-and-ruby apparatus on his hand, he used his free hand to wipe his pale-blonde hair out of his hazel eyes before turning to look at the other recruits.

(A/N: @[member="Soul Assassin"] Tell me if there's anything wrong with the post, and I'll change it.)

 

On the ladies side of the dorm, Quinn was just about to get herself dressed up. The brunette awoke from the loud crash which immediately activated all her senses. That noise sufficed to set her on alert, as she looked around the room.

It was to say that her clansmen of archers brought her up in mastering the senses, and hearing was a key one, next to the sense of sight.

The door bursted open to have a knight giving commands and relaying about possible attacks.

"What's happened this time...?" she murmured as she grudgingly took her armour. Red and gold were flashy colours, she mused, it defeated the need for stealth a bowman needs. However, she left the thought be as she dressed up and reached for her bow and quiver of arrows.

 

Deep in the dormitory of the Kyone Fort slept the Bear of Tibor. A skilled warrior to his allies, a barbarous brute to his enemies and a good man to those that knew him best, this man's name was Orion Huss. Since his family had fled into exile following the fall of the Kingdom of Tibor to marauding undead knights and wizards, Huss had been born into a harsh nomadic life as a refugee. It had been a blessing when the island state of Kyone had allowed his family to settle in the land. Repaying his debt to the country, Huss joined the Kyone military to put his particular set of skills to good use and in the hope that one day he will get a chance to lead the crusade to liberate his ancestral from the undead abominations that plagued the land.
The picturesque landscape of Tibor as described by the elders in his family clan and the soothing melodies that the bard had played earlier at the tavern were sweet dreams indeed.
''THE FORT IS UNDER ATTACK, GET YOUR ARMOUR AND GATHER YOUR WEAPONS!''
The warrior bolted upright from his peaceful slumber. ''argh duty calls'' Removing his bed coverings and sliding in his feet in his pair of boots, he quickly as a drunkard the dazed brute equipped his chainmail halberk, steel Cuirass, gauntlets and [SIZE=10.5pt]spangenhelm[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]. [/SIZE]
'Oh wait Crap I was scheduled for guard duty hours ago' the red haired brute face palmed himself before he turned to his comrades with his best poker face hoping that none of them called him out on his blunder and told the commander about this.

 

Kiyas ran ito the tower, just barely evading the knight who sought to decapitate him before moving on to Orion. Upon arriving with Quinn, he focused, channeling his essence, the very fabric of his soul, into the ruby orb cemented into his gauntlet. He felt the energy build and build inside the gem, quickly approaching a certain threshold. This was a large spell, or, rather, an intense upscale of a small one, so it would take something from him to execute it perfectly -- a piece of his life. It was why his hair was basically white despite his young age -- when he had been born, and for most of his childhood, it was a sandy blonde. One too many large spells had taken the color from his hair, but a perfectionist like Kiyas would have viewed every occasion as worth it, preparing him for a moment like this.

He whipped his hand, the one in the gauntlet, out as fast as he could, hearing a joint in his shoulder pop due to the strain. The gem in the orb glowed a vibrant magenta, sending clouds of light out along the walls of the tower. Suddenly, the ground around it was set alight, spewing white-hot flames into the sky that no being could cross. It was the Ring of Fire spell, executed on a level a human, even a skilled one, would have to be deluded to attempt.

Kiyas fell to his knees, coughing, and numbly noted the blood he had just spewed from his mouth. Grasping his stomach, he slowly stood, supporting himself against the inner wall of the tower with his gauntlet. Slowly limping up the stairs, he reached the tower's roof, and quietly leaned over, feeling strength flow back into him as his body compensated for what he lost.

A few enemies had made it past the Ring, likely by sprinting in just before it was cast. He was weakened from the previous ring, and though he could recover quickly, he was not in the best shape to use magic right then -- but he had to try. Summoning what he could, he cast two weak Dragon's Shots, though both fizzled out into little more than harmless sparks by the time they reached a place where they could to some damage. He swore, and sat back, waiting for his soul to scar over and give him enough magical strength to do something about the current situation.

EDIT: Rolled a "yes" on the Ring of Fire and "no's" on both of the Dragon's Shots, if that was unclear.

 

(Shots fired in order using the generator. three times out of three I got Yes. I did not rig this!!!)

Following the flame wizard, Quinn was momentarily amazed at the display of magic, though at the cost of his life energy.

Peeking through the window as she ran up the stairs, she attempted a shot. The arrow darted into the gap between an enemy knight's helmet and chest armour. That should do for now.

Quickly moving on, she arrived at the top of the tower. Observing all the carnage and identifying some Dragon Bender Knights, she attempted a shot. An arrow landed at the Dragon Bender Knight's armour, though he seemed just annoyed.

Gingerly, Quinn loaded another arrow to the same spot. It landed nicely into the same knight, even though it just further sparked his anger.

 

Colbert shook his head at his friend's plan. "What are ya, crazy? There's no way that'll work."

"Pffft, coward," she retorted, winking at him as she prepared to use the healing spell he had made up to fix his bad eye sight. "It'll work. If not, well... it'll work!"

Colbert rolled his eyes before closing them as instructed, trying to hide his nervousness at how quickly she had avoided naming what could happen if it went wrong. He wasn't sure what his friend did, but he felt... something. "Oh no."

"What?" He opened his eyes and was startled by what he saw. Everything was crystal clear, and his ability to see things greatly enhanced. Almost like he had eyes like a hawk...

Colbert was suddenly awoken by yelling, something about the castle being under attack. He jumped out of bed, searching for his armor. He sighed, realizing he has misplaced it yet again. After much searching around his room, he found it and donned it on. Sheathing his dagger, Colbert exited his room.

@[member="The Royal Aegis"]
Please let me know if i did anything wrong!

 

Quinn smiled as her shots met her target. But it quickly diminished when her comrade pointed out Estelle's actions over Orion. The poor sod.

Loading arrows, she fired towards another enemy soldier, which lodged into his armour.

Another, she aimed and casted her shot, but it completely missed. The knights below seemed to be aware about raining arrows, it seems.

Gritting her teeth, she braced for another upcoming enemy. Preparing some room for movement, she released the bowstring, her arrow taking a plunge into the enemy soldier's chest armour. Whether it'll stay there long enough, she had to see.

(Order of fired shots according to generator: Yes, No, Yes)

 

Lerskull was in a rush. He was halfway through rosining his bowstring listening to two people bicker. Lerskull confused why there yelling at each other and not wanting to either interrupt them or to get involved in this argument rosins his longbow as quickly as he can. As soon as it was rosined he grabbed a quiver full of miscellaneous colors of arrows. Soon after Lerskull dashes out of the dorms and over in a haphazardly kind of way, tripping through the hallway every couple of steps. When he finally arrives he goes and shouts "Hey guys I fixed my bowstring! Who is the target!?"

 

Kiyas stood up, feeling his power return to him. Spells of that level were like surgery, he reflected -- not particularly dangerous if done right, but they left notable scars nonetheless. These musings were quickly disrupted, however, when Kiyas saw the two knights he had been requested to destroy. The first was charging him. broadsword in hand, presumably hoping to distract him while the second found an arrow to fire in one of the many corpses that had been strewn across the battlefield. The young wizard had a strategy in mind already, and his eyes sparked with flame as he plotted his course.

Nimbly sidestepping the first knight, Kiyas watched as the foe staggered, trying to adjust for the sheer mass of the blade. It was not his weapon, Kiyas noted, musing that an experienced combatant would likely know how to adjust for all of his weapon's disadvantages. He had likely picked it up from a fallen soldier, having lost his own weapon in the heat of battle. The knight turned, using the massive sword as a lever, and charged once again. Instead of trying to sidestep him as he had before, Kiyas instead decided to crouch, allowing the blade to sail over his head, before standing quickly, and wrapping his non-gauntleted hand around the knight and pulling him down brutally, dislocating the knight's elbow and forcing him into a kneeling position. Having put the knight completely at his mercy, he only needed place the palm of his gauntlet on the knight's helmet to incinerate the foe completely.

An arrow whizzed by Kiyas's head, grazing his cheek and leaving a shallow cut. Kiyas dodged a second, and noted that the second knight had found not just one arrow, but an entire quiver. Channeling a magical current through his gauntlet into the air around him, Kiyas needed only think, and the next three arrows stopped short of him, suspended in air. With a brief period of concentration and a flick of the wrist, the arrows ignited and returned to their sender, embedding in the ground near his feet.

Suddenly, the arrows detonated, causing an explosion that engulfed and destroyed the night. Blocking his eyes with his hand to shield them from the explosion, Kiyas turned once it had subsided, and chose to head to the top of the tower.

 

"Huh can't argue with this logic I guess?" Lerskull confused runs for a staircase, until he looks out the window and sees the courtyard as Dragonbinder Knights flood in and lobs a volley of arrows from his longbow in frustration. After about multitude of arrows were loosed Lerskull continued to head for the nearest tower in hopes nothing bad happens to him.

 

The woman stopped firing once she casted her last shot, and found Orion killed at the hands of an enemy warrior. Despite having little regard towards him, he was her comrade, and his death should be honoured at least. She then turned to Kiyas, who made his way to the top of the tower. As her superior Lukas made his greeting, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a woman make her way to the centre of said tower. From the looks of it, she could have attempted to make a shot at her, however, after a certain voice in her head, she was convinced otherwise, although she still doubted much of the truth in said voice.

She fired a few arrows towards any enemy that got near the tower. Apparently Kiyas' spells had singed part of the ground, possibly the charred remains were the knight he last faced. The Dragonbinder Knights were greatly increasing in number. As she remained in the tower, she made a move towards the tower staircase, checking for any enemy Knights, stationing herself there to look out for Knights that made their way up the tower.

 

Kiyas looked over to an adjacent tower and saw it overrun by Dragonbinders. He cursed under his breath. In his haste to secure this tower, he had forgotten about the other ones.

He quickly started trying to formulate a plan in his mind. In the time it would take him to run down the stairs, the tower would be overrun. Jumping from the tower was inadmissible, even with his magic -- there simply no way to do it without, at minimum, two broken legs. He could call out to Quinn, but he doubted she could make enough shots from this distance for it to be worthwhile.

He was left with one option, and it wasn't a good one. Summoning a Dragon Shot at that distance was not admissible, even for a master sorcerer, but he had no choice. They couldn't let any more of the towers fall. It simply was not an option.

Channelling all the magic he could straight upwards, he felt it begin to cluster and distort itself within the clouds. It fought against his will, wanting to expand, become fire, but he couldn't let it -- not just yet. He forced it forwards, and outwards, pushing it as far as it could go. He gave one last push inwards, contracting it as much as he could, before letting it rip.

A ball of fire, glowing white-hot, crashed down into the tower. Several Dragonbinders were killed in the resulting explosion, but not enough. There were still more than enough to take down the tower.

Kiyas swore loudly, and summoned another. This one was much smaller than before, but felt as if it took much more effort. When he tried to let it ignite, it wouldn't do so at first, requiring a second burst of magic that caused the orb in his gauntlet to crack. It wasn't a deep crack, nor was it enough to cause structural damage to the orb, but it was clearly visible along the center of the orb. When he let it go and it crashed into the tower, killing only one or two Dragonbinders, before fizzling out. He was exhausting himself, draining himself of his powers, and yet he knew he couldn't stop. He wouldn't let himself.

 

Quinn approached Lukas and Rose in time to hear her orders. As such, she was able to understand what she said. While on her way down she picked up some stray arrows, some on the floor, some lodged in people's body parts. Most were soaked with blood and water from the flood. But Quinn didn't care. The more arrows, the better. In addition, the tips were still in good condition.

Satisfied with her reaping, she went back to her room to gather a few items. Some extra clothes, extra arrows, a small package of food and a bottle of water, and she was good.

However, something peeked from under the bed. Picking it up, she found a pendant made from reeds and a stone carved into the shape of a hunting bird. It reminded her of what her father once said to her.

"My little chick. One day, you will be strong, like this hunting bird. Soar far and wide, but do remember us back home from time to time. Use your gift and purpose to serve well then you shall prosper."

She smiled in remembrance, and kept the pendant close to her heart, Setting off for the fort gates. She found Rose to be there already, as she arrived, giving the latter a nod of acknowledgement.

 

Lerskull still in shock and awe of whatever just happen there he still doesn't even understand it himself but he hesitantly goes down the tower and goes back to the barracks and grabs the rest of his large stockpile and goes pack them in a large sac along with a suit of clothes and an old rusty bottle filled with water. Satisfied with his ability to pack overly light decides to finally head down and sees Rose and Quinn and waved over the head and as obnoxiously as possible. "hey you two whatchu up too?"