CRASH…..
In enclosed areas that are met with battle there is a smell in the air that is unique. One can only call it the Smell Of Death as all who are unfortunate enough to breath in this necrotic aroma are immediately gripped by an all consuming desire to preserves ones skin.
Silence…
This smell has been known to incite panic and insanity in many first time front liners. It has also been known to sharpen the instincts of veteran warriors who know how to use fear to their advantage.
CRASH….
There are also those that live for the smell…
Silence…
That breathe deeply the spirit and very essence of the battle. There are those who's very souls are made up of the stuff…
CRASH…
A scream sounded in the night loud and piercing, a scream as if a mother had witnessed the coming doom of her child seconds before it arrived but seconds too late.
Voices shouted in earnest now… Booted foot falls came sporadically echoing the remains of the cathedral courtyard.
The survivors, if you could call people not yet dead survivors, tried to pull their wounded from the crumbled walls and ash covered ground. The all consuming desire for self preservation pounded in the minds of the able bodied men, just like the hammering falls of the Chaos-GI's massive rock mallets.
One blue robed man was curled into the corner of the south western section of the courtyard delirious with fear and grief for his dead brethren, muttering endlessly with tears streaming down his ash covered face. "He left us… he brought us to DIE… HE LEFT US!!…" The bloodied remains of a blue robed comrade rested in his arms, staining his robes, and punctuating his hysterics.
Another scream pierced the darkness of Gravity's mind… louder this time, but the sound was not a sound that could be heard with ears… the sound emanated from within his mind… meaning only one thing… Vaoan.
Prophet…
The Chaos-GI…
Vaoan…
PROPHET!!...
The images came rushing back to his unconscious mind in a rush of color and an explosion of anger…
The tight hold over his rage was momentarily forgotten as Gravity burst from the ground with a scream of unbridled fury making even the terrified survivors turn away from the earth monstrosity to look upon the awakened Ragewalker .
Gravity began to advance toward the Chaos-Gi, with swords in hand. He walked toward the monster as others ran from the stone pounding madness that stood crushing everything that moved. Some screamed just to have the air smashed from their bodies by a giant rock mallet. Precious few turned their backs to flee and lived to move beyond the reach of the beast.
Gravity moved slowly, deliberately, each step sending surge after surge of nearly uncontrollable rage coursing through his veins. The fire in his eyes grew brighter and more intense as he crossed the battle torn court yard.
Many may have mistook Gravity's building anger for the death and destruction that circled around area. That he may actually hate the monster that killed them… that Gravity may have felt bad for the dead and the dying, that some how the screams of the suffering, and catastrophic loss of life, and the betrayal that Prophet incited amongst the Tribal Refuge had some how worked its way into his Chaotic heart. One man who was lucky enough to have escaped the wrath of the Chaos-GI with working limbs ran toward what he thought would be his only hope. Falling at the feet of Gravity, blocking his way to the elemental, dressed in bloodied brown leather grieves that marked him a member of Vaoan's tribe, he clung to the ends of Gravity's now black colored duster, screaming in the native tongue of his tribe. "Please Fallen, help me… help us!" His cries fell to unintelligible whimpers as Gravity attempted to brush passed the pathetic soldier. "You… Must… You Have To… You Love Her…." He said desperately clinging to his savior. Bringing up the emotion that nearly ruined his tortured existence caused a brief lapse in Gravity's control and he let slip a tremor of focused red energy that exploded into the frightened, begging soldier…. "Fools all…" Gravity mused and how his swords laughed and cackled in their disembodied voices watching as the body of the soldier was blasted, twitching and jerking into the copse of trees that stood in the center of the courtyard. The swords loved the reckless indifference to life that Gravity had worked so hard to quell. No others asked for help, no others dared move between Gravity and the Chaos-GI, and all remembered that Gravity was not there to help them, was never there to help them, and the question remained… what cause did Gravity have TOO help them? After their betrayal of Gravity and Vaoan into the hands of Prophet… why would an uncaring being take pity on his betrayers? Gravity cocked a half smile as he read the understanding in the eyes of the near by survivors. Several who were on their way to plead their lives to the Rage Walker, stopped and turned aside after witnessing the wrath Gravity injected into the now crippled soldier.
"The smell is of blood and of bile, of sweat and of grief, of tears from those begging for peace. Breathe in its aroma and transform it to fear, instinctually knowing the reaper stands near…."
~an old Atlantian Proverb~
