Xylien's Travels: Escape from the Scarlet Cathedral

((xylien's travels during my recent absence))

Ah, war, The warrior thought to herself, will it ever end? She just wanted to get back home, back to the Grin, back to.... "No time to be thinking of that, Xy," she said, shaking herself out of her daydream. Xylien resumed watching the group of scarlet robed man huddle around the campfire. "Fools, thinking a campfire is worth getting soaked?" The rain was atrocious, and once again Xylien was thankful she was hidden from it by the tree she was in.

Wet as it may be, these men need to die and the rain just isn't killing them quick enough. Shifting her position, she unhooked Sulthraze from the makeshift hook she'd made on the tree. Death awaits you a voice said in her mind, "That, my friend, is the understatement of the day," she replied, and jumped.

The undead fighter dropped out of the trees with a roar, bringing the giant sword down on top of the first human's head. The blow should have cut him straight down the middle, but the blade stopped half an inch away from his skin. "sh-ugh" white-hot pain overloaded her senses for a moment as a spell hit her. Damn was all she could think before something hit her, and everything went black.

The undead warrior staggered from when the staff hit her, but caught it self mid fall and launched itself back to it's feet. "Come here, palladin," it said, reaching out, the sword laying forgotten in the grass, "let's play."

((to be continued when I've had more sleep))

This is why I fight,

The undead tore through the palladin's shield like so much tissue paper, her hand cupped into a spike that pierced the man's heart.

This is what you did to me.

Spinning past the falling corpse, the woman swept up the sword from the ground and sliced the next man in two. continueing the spin, she brought the sword up, then crashing back down upon the third man's head, decapitating him in an instant.

She straightened, holding her head. Exhaustion swept through her as her sight returned.

I'm insane, aren't I?

"Yeah" she answer herself, "your body is constantly screaming in pain, you've seen enough bloodshed for two lives, who would blame you for going crazy?"

I would.

She shook herself again, disturbed by her own conversation. "I've been away too long, time to head back somewhere I can stabilize." with that, she grabbed the red robed men's provitions and headed out, headed home.

((done, ok, so it was the very end of her travels, and ignore the title of the first one, I thought I was going somewhere different with it and I can't change the title to match it.))

Never fails, I always end up surrounded when I decide to leave.

The warrior glanced about, counting, calculating, and coming to a definite conclusion: I'm in trouble.

Xylien set her hands on her hips, wishing once more that fate would get bored of laughing at her all the time. There were a score of soldiers surrounding her, and by her calculations she would be able to defeat... only twelve.

"Prepare to die, beast." Taunted one of the soldiers.

"What? No pleasantries, no call for surrender, just 'prepare to die'?" Xylien asked incredulously, "and what's with the 'beast' comment? I'm not THAT ugly, am I?"

"Silence you!"

"That's a little better, at least you're recognizing me as a person. But I have a name, you know." She shook her head and turned in a slow circle, "My name is Xylien Ayve. I'd ask you to remember it, but seeing as you're all going to die anyway, there's not much point." Inwardly she wished she was as confident as she sounded.

Slowly, the warrior drew her sword, pointing it at the surrounding foes as she continued her turn, "All right then," she said, "who's first?" The answer came in the form of footsteps behind her. Wordlessly, she stopped her spin, planting her feet and bending backwards. The attacker was locked into her burning gaze, keeping him from seeing her sword as it spun inches over her chest and straight back into his. Never could have pulled THAT off when I was alive, She noted. With a jerk she straightened, pulling her sword around to deflect another attacker. This left her off-balance, with her sword too low to recover quickly. Instead, she used her momentum to spin around, lashing out and catching the man in the jaw with the back of her armored fist. As the second of twenty dropped to the ground, the rest decided that it was their turn to attack.

Xylien continued her spin, switching from one leg to the other as she moved. Her sword wove it wave around her, first in one hand, now in the other. the tip never strayed too far away from her, as it was always needed to parry attacks she couldn't dodge. Can't keep this up forever, got to thin the numbers, or I'll die. At that moment she spotted it, the point of her sword flashing out to dig into her enemies heart. at the same time, she swung her leg out, catching a fourth man in the side of the head and knocking him into the fifth, taking them out of the fight while they disentangled themselves. Xyien payed for her maneuver, though, and nearly screamed as the point of a sword slid through her cheek. She stopped the spin and backed away, bringing her sword into a guard stance as she pushed past the pain. "A touch a touch I do confess," she said, nodding to the one who had hurt her. that was nearly the end of me right there, she thought, pulling her shield off her back.

"Right then," She said, "lets begin again, shall we?"

((props if you get the reference in the penultimate (second to last) thing she says))

The sound of steel striking steel rang out as xylien caught a high swing with her shield. Forgoing style for brutal efficiency, xylien stepped in and shove upwards with her left hand, crushing the man's jaw with the rim on her shield. Six, she thought, fourteen more. Turning to the next man, she quickly caught his attack with her sword, disarming him with a flick of her wrist. The next moment she'd run him through, pulled back, and moved on. People came at her from both sides, one falling to her sword before he could start his attack and the other was deflected by her shield. Spinning quickly, the warrior flicked the tip of her sword through the remaining man's windpipe, effectively condemning him to die of suffocation. As opponent number seven stumbled back, holding his neck, the rest decided once more to press forward as a mob, Xylien managed to block two attacks before the swordsman who had cut her earlier managed to cut the straps holding her shield to her arm. Xylien lept backwards, kicking the metal hunk as it fell and knowing she was going to regret it later. Even as she felt her foot protest in pain, the shield popped up into the nearest man's face, stunning him. Xylien ignored her foot as she reached for the ax loop on her belt.

It was empty.

Xylien made a quick scan of the battlefield, and found it laying on the other side of her attackers. Must have been while I was showing off. A sword slice cut off her thoughts, forcing her farther away from where her other weapon lay. once again she was attacked from both sides at once. Xylien kicked up her heel, a practiced move that sent the kunai hidden in her boot up to shoulder hight. She caught it by the loop, spinning it in her hand and allowing the wire to wrap around her fingers. Never tried this before, hope all that practise pays off. she blocked the right attacker as she threw the kunai into the left attacker's chest. Turning, Xylien yanked on the wire, pulling the kunai-turned-rope dart over her shoulder and into the other man. backing up to give herself room, Xylien continued in this fashion, the kunai whirling around her as her sword cut anything within range.

Within moments, only eight remained.

A flash of light slammed into Xy's chest, disrupting the fluidity of her movements and causing her to stumble. The warrior threw herself against a tree to avoid a fatal fall, and allowed herself to recover briefly. Quickly spinning the wire around her hand, Xylien deftly plucked the kunai out of the air, and turned to face her attackers. While seven of them were approaching slowly, the eighth was standing in the back, his eyes fixed on her and his mouth going a mile a minute.

Smart man, She thought, he refrained from casting until I had thinned the numbers enough for him to have a clean line of sight, while hiding amid the crowd to keep me from realizing what he was. Xylien looked the priests eye and nodded her admiration of the man's forethought, then threw herself to the side, rolling to her feet in time to be showered with splinters as the tree she'd been leaning against exploded. First things first, she thought, and drove forward. Letting out some of her wire, she spun the kunai rapidly behind her as she charged toward the spell caster. Suddenly, every single one of her nerves flared at once, filling her world with pain.

At that moment, everything slowed to a crawl.

Xylien's brought her her sword in a low sweep meant to bite into the nearest man's calf, and ended up taking it off at the knee. The man screamed and pitched forward as the Forsaken revearsed her stroke, taking the man's head off. The kunai flashed in the sun as it cut into the second would-be interceptor's windpipe, causing him to gurgle and clutch his throat as blood filled his lungs. The pain finally subsided, the flurry of action lasted maybe five seconds in all, but the damage was done.

And Xy was ticked.

As time returned to normal speed, Xylien sent the kunai into another man's chest. The man grabbed the weapon by reflex, but the action caused the wire to snap with a light pinging noise. The grinner's blade slid between the man's ribs and out again as she ran past. Two more exchanges resulted in two more fallen opponents and only one more person who could intercept her. Xylien pulled her right arm back and let fly, sending her sword spinning through the air. Thus disarmed, Xylien simply dropped her shoulder and rammed into the final man's chest, forcibly driving the wind out of him. The sickening sound of steel striking flesh told her that her sword had found it's mark. Suddenly, something hit the back of her head. She reeled away, trying to regain her balance, but she was hit again, and again, before finally dropping to the ground in a heap.

Seventeen, I'll take that, she thought, then succumbed to the inviting darkness.

Xylien woke all at once, it's too early, the inquisitors aren't here for another two hours or so. It had been three weeks since she was captured, three long grueling weeks of torture at the hands of the Scarlet inquisitors. They'd ceased asking for information, and were simply passing the time.

"Who's there?" she asked. There was a low laugh, harsh and cruel. "It doesn't matter who's here, bit-" "before you go on," she said, pushing herself off the floor, "allow me warn you that the last person who tried to rape me was..." the undead smiled and licked her lips, "well, those were his bones you passed on the way in."

Of course, that had never dissuaded them before, so why would it work now? The bigger man walked forward and reached for her, only to retract his arm seconds later with his elbow bent the wrong direction. "I DID warn you," she reminded him, "now get out of here." He left, only to be replaced 5 minutes later by a smaller, more effeminate, man. Well, elf anyway.

Medorian was the doctor in charge of making sure the people the inquisitors torture survive until the next session, Though Xylien noted that the priest didn't seem to share the crusade's zeal, at least, not as strongly. Still, Xylien didn't completely trust him, "What is it, doc? Don't tell me, that buffoon told you I was the offending party and you believed him?" "I don't believe him one bit," The Blood Elf replied, a hint of a smile on his face, "Just figured you'd still be awake, and thought I'd return something of yours." Xylien reached out and gingerly took the item from his hand, careful not to make any threatening movements lest the good doctor decide to smite her. "Where did you get this?" she asked, turning the Kunai over in her hand. "The barracks, nobody thinks to question a medic when something goes missing."

Xylien looked up and started forward, "I've got a weapon, so I'm finally ready to get out of here, so don't try to stop me." She nearly struck him when she felt his hand on her shoulder, in that moment, the weariness dropped away from her and her useless left arm, all the ligaments had been severed leaving it hanging by the bone and nerves, began to repair itself. She turned and eyed the elf, "I figured you too cowardly to do something like this." "After a while, you become disillusioned to the propaganda and the rhetoric," came the reply as Medorian pushed past her, "that, and you've got connections that can protect me once I get out of here."

The matter-of-fact way he spoke brought a smile the the grinner's face, "alright then," she said, "lead on."

The other undead in the pit kept well away from Xylien as she stalked out of her personal cell, they had seen the bones of one of their own, and had seen another one leave having suddenly gained the ability to scratch his left shoulder with his left hand. The two hurried out the entrance, Medorian was allowed out, and Xylien simply walked through, leaving only minor bloodstains on the guard's clothing.

They made their way to the armory, where Medorian managed to bluff his way in and return with Xylien's weapons, armor, and even tabard. The smooth progress was not to last for long.

"You! traitor!!" shouted a patrolling guard. "Pat! run!" Xylien snapped as she bolted for the entrance to the compound. To her surprise, Medorian kept right up along with her. The two sprinted out the door, Xylien slashing to her right and Medorian simply spinning past the doorman on the left. The two proceeded to race down the pathway, a large number of guards in tow.

Finally, then reached the rocky side of the cliff, where Xylien jumped off without hesitation, "down we gooooo!" Medorian followed her example, muttering a sing word as he went over. Xylien crashed and rolled on the ground, then scrambled up and kept running, Medorian hit with a thud, or, almost did, He scrambled to his feet and ran, not even having the breath knocked out of him. "darn you and your shield," Xylien said, "you could have sent one my way!"

"No, I couldn't have," Medorian pointed out calmly, "you didn't warn me you were going to jump and by the time I caught up you had already landed."