Escape from Mount Celestia

[LichKnight]

Escape From Mount Celestia

A Plunge Into The Unknown


An explosion in the distance, then a second slightly closer, and then a third even closer. The whole eastern district of Maerimydra came alive in a sudden rage. It was now or never;

"Go! Get inside!"

Kron was the first to jump through the strange pyramid-like portal that the enemy had somehow constructed in a place where it should be impossible. He knew Vaszayne followed, but was uncertain about the rest... And uncertain of what happened next. It felt like time and space did not move as it should - It felt like he was floating through nothingness.
A sinking feeling in his stomach as the nothingness turned into a cloudy sky full of silvery stars. Gravity took hold of him and pulled him downwards with alarming speed - He could barely keep his eye open beneath the helmet as he plummeted towards the ground, through the clouds.

But he did not scream.

Mesmerized by the beauty of it all and despite falling to his death, he could not shake this feeling as if it would be all right. As if something was watching him. Kron could see mountains now - Time was running out, and yet he felt calm.

"Forgive me Trisstyrr.." The plummeting warrior muttered underneath his breath.

His descent slowed down. The warrior found himself floating down in a slow and steady pace for the rest of the way. He reached out to touch one of the clouds, disappointed that his hand simply went through. At last, his feet found the ground beneath. A comfortable landing after all.
The Drow had no idea where he was, it was unlike anything he had ever seen, but one thing was certain – He did not belong here. His armor, right gauntlet and cloak had suffered a bit of damage from all the acid he had been exposed to in the Duergar tunnels - All of his equipment would need a thorough cleaning, and repairing, once he found his way home. /If/ he could find his way home...
Wherever he was, Kron was still miles upon miles above ground. Clouds surrounded the mountain peak he found himself at and he couldn't help but wonder if this mountain was floating in the air. With barely enough time to gather himself, the sounds of horns blaring in the distance were heard.


The horns of war.


A Moment Of Reflection


Cursing underneath his breath, Kron quickly crouched down behind a large rock. He called out to his allies with a hiss-like whisper;

"Vaszayne?... Nyloth? Talabrina??" But no reply came.

Was the horns because of him or was there about to be a battle somewhere? It didn't matter. He had to find a way home. A frown as he did a quick inventory check to see how he was doing with supplies. Much had been spent during the fighting in the Duergar tunnels, as infested as they were, it was not a surprise.
As the wind carried some of the clouds away, it was revealed to him that this was, in fact, not the mountain peak. Kron craned his neck to look upwards, and as far as the eye could see, the mountain stretched upwards in what appeared to be infinitely. Below the white mountain cliffs he had landed on, far below, was water. An ocean surrounded the mountain sides, but the color of it was... Different. It reminded Kron of blood.

It was night, but no moon was seen. A sea of beautiful silvery stars illuminated the sky and mountain alike and the sight of it all reminded the Drow of his first night upon the surface, back when the Black Archers had ambushed him, taken his sister and had him follow them up through the Upperdark half-dead.

The horns of war forgotten momentarily, as the warrior took it all in. His pursuit of his sister had led him to all of this – To Rin, the elf that tried to make Kron one of their own. Made him the Obsidian Wolf, To the one he now loyally serves, Trisstyrr, to Maerimydra and beyond... To here. His thoughts kept returning to Rin, his hand fiddled with his wolf pin almost subconsciously.

"The world is harsh and cruel, and you must be equally so. Trust in yourself always, and only in others when you must..." He muttered out the words underneath his breath.

He wondered what might have happened if he had remained with the surfacers. Would they have given him the recognition he so desperately seeks?
The answer was no. Kron clenched his hands and jaw for a brief moment. There was no recognition for his service in the war against the Lich Vezzil. He had been on the frontline at nearly every major battle fighting ferociously, and what had that yielded him? A mark. Banishment. No, he belonged at Trisstyrr's side... And if she wills it... Perhaps Kron can become a 'hero' to his people, one cycle.

Save his sister, save Maerimydra... For the glory of Alerae.



The Descent


The warrior snapped out of it, annoyed over his own sentimentality. It was time to move. Enough time had been wasted here, though he was no wiser as to where he was.
There was a steep pathway leading down. The horns he heard came from that direction as well, but where else could he go? Determined, yet careful, Kron made his way down the pathway. A bit of rock and pebbles fell off of the edge every now and then when the warrior planted his armored feet in the dirt. If anyone was below, they would no doubt notice him.

Another blaring of horns echoed throughout the mountain cliffs. This time it was much closer than before. Dangerously close. Kron had almost made it to the next embankment, he just had to hug the mountain wall and step carefully to reach it. One mistake here and he would find himself falling once again.
A cloud drifted in and swallowed the warrior. It was hard to see anything, but he was only a few feet away from solid ground now. His non-mutilated ear twitched, his eye widened slightly, as he heard something. There were at least five shadowy figures on the embankment he was headed towards, but it was hard to make out what or who they were through the cloud. He held his breath and hugged the wall even tighter than before, if that was even possible.

"Dread mother, if you can hear me..." And then Kron was no longer engulfed in the cloud.

It was a patrol of six creatures he had never seen before. Muscular, reddish skin and the head of a dog. Armed with greatswords and spears from what he could see. The one at the front locked eyes with Kron, and then the horn blared again.  

"Vith!" The Drow cursed out loud through gritted teeth. No choice but to leap down from the mountain wall – Just barely avoiding a greatsword swinging towards his torso with great strength, the blade hitting nothing but rock as the Drow fell further below them.

Kron hit the steep mountain wall further down, too steep to walk upon. He crashed into it hard with his left shoulder first and a crack was heard underneath the armor, but he didn't notice any pain - Not with so much adrenaline in him. With no control over himself, the Drow kept tumbling down the hill with dangerous speed, slamming into a few rocks sticking up here and there. His armor took a severe beating, and without it he would most likely have been dead already.
Left shoulder was likely dislocated, he thought to himself. Weakly he pushed himself up from the ground. It hurt -everywhere-, but at least he had made some distance between himself and those strange creatures. He had lost his helmet somewhere along the way, much to his dismay. The sound of chimes could be heard from somewhere below, which he found odd. All he could see was the waves crashing into the mountain side.

Six brief lights suddenly appeared around him. They had found Kron. Tracking him somehow.



From The Sky And Into The Sea


The Drow tilted his head just enough to avoid the swing of a greatsword meant to decapitate him. Kron quickly drew his blade and brought it up just in time to clash with a second sword. His blade was powerful. Ancient. It was forged of blood, among other things, and now it would feast on more.

Forgotten about his injured shoulder in the heat of the moment, Kron attempted to reach for his shield, but it was no use. A stabbing pain. He would have to make due with one arm, it seemed.
Kron moved with surprising speed in that armor of his. He moved well, but it was a losing battle. Ducking under a spear aimed for his neck while parrying another blade, Kron kicked a third with a heavy boot to the chest. Twisting out of the way and along the wood of the spear, he managed to direct it into the thigh of one of their own while bringing his own sword into the stomach of another - Deep into the flesh. It let out a thunderous roar of pain, but now he was open to attack.

A spear caught his right calf, a blade luckily grazed off of his pauldron. Another managed to cut through the armor on his back, but the wound was not deep. Still, the Weaponmaster danced through them - A dance of blades, and was now with his back towards the edge of the cliff.

Once more he parried, but at this point he was exhausted, wounded and outnumbered. He was going to die here, but not without taking some of them with him, he thought. A side-step to avoid a powerful downwards swing of a greatsword and then the spear caught him again. A grazing wound to his left side, but this time he locked it in place with his left arm and broke the tip off by slamming his right elbow down on the wood, and with one last desperate swing of his blade, Kron managed to catch one of the spear wielders in the neck.

A large red hand grabbed at Kron. The creature managed to get hold of the right side of his throat and neck. The hand glowed and an unfathomable searing heat burned at Krons flesh. He screamed out in pain and pushed the two backwards - His eye widened as his feet suddenly could find no solid ground. The two fell backwards over the edge and down towards the sea below.

In desperation and rage, Kron hacked and slashed away at the creature he was falling with, but it did not take long before he crashed into the sea... And then everything went black.



A Way Out

"I thought we were the same!" A fading voice of Abigail.

"You would not rob me of my warrior, would you?" A fading voice of Trisstyrr.

"-WE- are your family, Kron!" A fading voice of Rin.

"You are no longer in her web, Kron.." A fading voice of Eina.

"A united front, Champion." A fading voice of Yllabella

A vivid vision, or was it a dream? Of spiders slowly eating away at Kron. Both of his eyes opened wide, and so did his mouth.

"WAKE UP!" A large spider crawled out of his mouth... And then he woke up.

A lifeless body of an armored Drow was slowly sinking further and further below in the red sea, but then he opened his eye and in panic reached for his throat, only to find he was able to breathe. A creature watched Kron as he gasped for air.
It was hard to see what it was in the darkness of the sea, but it appeared to have the upper body of that of an elf, but the rest resembled something like an octopus. It held out a hand in a non-threatening way. Even if it was hostile, Kron had little fight left in him. The creature seemed fascinated by him - It studied the Drow with its eyes, and carefully with its hand if allowed. He flinched at first, but otherwise there was no objection.

The strange creature pointed somewhere below Kron. A faint red light could be seen at the bottom - It was Huan'eisliesen, a blade believed to be from the Fourth Crown War that had found its way to Kron's hand. A sinister red energy lashed out at the water surrounding it - One would normally stay clear of such light, but this time it served the warrior as a beacon.
There was a barely visible crystal a few feet next to his sword that was embedded in the sand. Two ruined statues, but it was hard to make out what they resembled. The creature pointed again and Kron understood. The sword was reclaimed, and then carefully he placed a hand on top of the crystal...

There was a rush and then he fell out the door with a tidal wave of water following him. It was the World Serpent.

"... Almost there ..."



Almost there.

[LichKnight]

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