The Sacrifice - A medieval fantasy RP

[Frundette]

Urir met her eyes briefly, but didn't trust himself to say anything. Not that there was really anything to say. He had no special knowledge or wisdom to impart to the girl, only a wish that she would succeed at the task he could not do himself. And so he took hold of the short length of chain between the shackles and led her from the "guest" chamber and down the hall toward Dulirn's study.

The short man pushed the door open slowly, revealing a dim room lined floor to ceiling with shelves filled with books of all colors and sizes. In the center of the slate floor was a 5 pointed star etched inside a perfect circle. The circle was outlined with unlit candles and in the center was a length of chain secured to the floor.

Dulirn looked up from his book as Urir began pulling Marlo into the room and toward the center of the circle. "Lady Marlo," he greeted, the unhinged edge to his voice. "I want you know that tonight.... tonight you will be part of something grand." He stood and walked toward the pair. "My crowning achievement thus far. The world will learn the name of Dulirn and will be in awe of his power and greatness."

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

The bread which she had eaten so quickly felt like a heavy lump of dough at the bottom of her stomach, and she wished she hadn't eaten it. She could feel the cold knife in her boot as she walked, rubbing up against her leg, and she stole a quick glance down towards the floor to make sure it was still hidden from view. The room which Urir led her to smelled like burned candles and someone else that she couldn't put her finger on. The door threw up a small amount of dust as it opened, and she fought the urge to sneeze. The room was so dark and quiet, she was almost afraid to break the silence until Dulirn spoke.

She looked quickly at his figure, standing in the shadows with the book, surprised to see him there. His presence in the room had gone unknown to her until now. His words, though deathly quiet in the still room, felt loud in her head. She followed Urir willingly, knowing that any resistance would likely only worsen her situation, but turned her head to watch him. Her eyes narrowed in anger at the wizard. "You're a mad-man," she hissed through gritted teeth. "You'll never get away with this."

 

[Frundette]

"Do you remember, Urir, our guest last evening? He said the same thing." Dulirn laughed at her threat and locked eyes with her again. "Did you know him, Lady Marlo? A rather strong young man. I believe he went by Aetius," he paused only momentarily to see if there was any reaction before continuing. "Oh how he begged and pleaded to be spared before the demon consumed him."

As Dulirn spoke, Urir picked up the length of chain upon the floor, bringing it up between Marlo's arms, over the shorter length of chain holding her shackles, then secured it back to the floor, leaving her just enough slack to stand in the center of the circle with her arms down in front of her.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Marlo's expression hardened and froze, and her steely gaze widened at his mention of the demon. "You couldn't have... no... it can't be true." Her eyes dropped from him to the floor as she hung her head in dismay, her brown hair bouncing untamed around her shoulders as it had previously fallen out of it's clasp. "You lie..." She whispered venomously, clenching her hands into tight fists. "You're a filthy liar!" The chains rattled loudly as she strained against them, breaking the silence. She threw herself at Dulirn, the chains binding her to the floor being the only thing which kept her from practically leaping at his throat.

 

[Frundette]

"Dear Lady Marlo, I never lie," he said, quite seriously. Dulirn couldn't help but smile a wicked grin as her reaction was just what he was hoping for. The fire demon would be drawn to her fear and her rage. It was also drawn to pain... The wizard produced a small knife and made a shallow cut down the woman's arm.

"Urir! We are ready to begin! Light the flames!" he commanded.

Urir fought to keep his hands from shaking as he started lighting the candles around the circle. Did the woman even know the shackle around her left wrist was unlocked? Momentarily panicked at the thought, he actually knocked over one of the candles and hurriedly righted it again, his hands now noticeably unsteady.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Marlo recoiled and sucked in a quick, short breath of pain as the thin knife pierced her skin. A small trickle of blood began pooling at the base of the wound, then proceeded to slowly seep down her arm towards her elbow. She drew her gaze away from Dulirn and looked desperately at Urir for some kind of reassuring smile or nod, anything to relieve the fear which was spreading like wildfire through her head. How could she, a freelance hunter from nowhere, defeat a wizard as powerful as her host. It was hopeless. Impossible.

The knife in her boot shifted as she stepped back into the center of the five pointed star, and reminded her that she wasn't the only one trapped under the wizard's dark magic. The short man in the wide brimmed hat lighting the candles, Urir, was also counting on her. If she failed, the risks he had taken to even give her a chance would be in vain. With that in mind, she took a deep steadying breath and tried to focus on the task which had been given to her. Remembering Urir's slip up, hours before, she glanced down at the shackle binding her left wrist and twisted it slightly to verify that it was indeed unlocked. Without actually unlocking herself, she mentally planned to release her left hand, and then use her right to grab the weapon in her boot and kill Dulirn. It was theoretically quite simple, all she needed was for the wizard to turn his back long enough for her to execute the plan. Easy peasy... right?

 

[Frundette]

Urir lit the last candle, keeping his face carefully hidden behind his wide brimmed hat from both Marlo, lest she see his fear and doubts, and Dulirn, lest he perceive guilt there and grow suspicious. Once finished, the short man-ish creature stepped back toward the wall of books where studied the floor intensely.

The mad wizard stood just outside the circle, looking at Marlo and then at the candles. He took a few slow, deep breaths, preparing and centering himself for the magic he was about to cast. Then, slowly and quiet at first, then growing louder, he began to recite the ancient spell in a language foreign to Marlo's ears.

The candles flickered and their flames grew several inches taller and the temperature in the room seemed to rise a few degrees. Slowly, the flames began to merge and twist themselves, growing into something almost lifelike before the girl's eyes...

Still reciting, Dulirn brought his hands up, experimenting with his control over the being, and the fire demon rose toward the ceiling.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Marlo watched the flames flicker and grow before her eyes and felt her knees grow wobbly and weak. Unconsciously she took several steps backwards until the chain binding her to the floor grew taunt and forced her to stop. As the demon continued to rise in front of her, she wriggled her wrist and worked the left shackle loose enough that it was only resting gently on top of her wrist, instead of cupping around the bottom as it would if it had been locked. Since Dulirn was still looking towards the demon and herself, she refrained from looking down at her hands in case he grew suspicious of the activity. She hoped that the demon would keep him busy enough that he wouldn't be looking close enough at her wrists to notice the anomaly. Against the will of her body, she dragged her eyes from the demon to watch Dulirn for a moment to gauge when the right moment would be to make her move.

 

[Frundette]

Dulirn focused his full attention on the fire demon, small beads of sweat forming on his forehead as the demon lunged toward the mad wizard, but was able to reach him, seeming to pull against some invisible restraint. The wizard's mouth turned into a twisted smile and he pointed toward Urir. The demon flew in the direction of the small man, fiery claws outstretched toward Urir.

Urir's pale face seemed to lose all color and he cowered visibly, pushing himself back against the book case and pulling his wrinkled hands up over his large hat. But once again, the demon was stopped short by some invisible force. The wizard's smile turned into a maniacal laugh.

 

[ChickenRadio]

Zanis sat in a tree outside of the castle. The young elven girl had brown hair and brown eyes. She was tall lean and very fast. She was the best hunter and had a very keen eye. Her only weakness (Or so it seemed to be her only weakness) Was a white cat she adored named Sahara. She and Sahara got along well and Zanis was always sad when she was without her friend. Her elven heritage gave her a little magic that she used to track and levitate things but other then that she was like a normal human.

Zanis and Sahara lived in a village close to the castle and the mayor had been becoming suspious of what was happening at the castle and demanded a daily patrol and stake out. Zanis had been put on the stake out and was now hiding in a tree with Sahara next to her.