[youtube]DqdyyxdZ4cQ[/youtube]
"You fool!" Jin bellowed as torrent of raw, primal aether spewed forth from the device Jin'li had left behind. The device, once a reservoir of untold power and possibility, now lay slashed in twain as its stores of writhing power escaped with the sounds of countless screams. The female miqo'te staggered back as Hojo Zuginoch advanced upon her with his blazing axe clenched in his iron fists. A roar ripped from his maw as he surged forward like a primordial titan, each of his foot falls sounding like the bellows of thunder.
The aged woman brought what remained of her stores of arcane energy against the golden warrior with a tremendous crash. The walls of the cave cracked from the blast but on the massive male came, his own powers consuming the black aether.
"No!" Jin shrieked in disbelief as her black eyes grew wide as the massive axe swung and her head left her shoulders. The ancient woman, mother of terrors and bomb makers, had a look of indignant defiance as her head rolled across the ground.
Jin's corpse fell to the earth as black flames began to devour her flesh. Then the body exploded. The earth trembled as parts of the roof began to fall free.Â
Hojo and his allies fled for the stairs as the entire complex seemed on the verge of collapse as the sundered artifact twisted the physical world.
More stones fell and then it was over.
Silence.
A mound of stones had filled the stairs that led towards the surface. Somewhere up those stairs, Hojo, A'tune, Renald, and the other witch hunters were bathing in the sun, feeling free of the horrors their hunt had brought upon them. Jin was ended, the 'Urn' her son had left behind was sundered, and the power it had held was gone. It seemed the world was better.
But they were deceived.
In the blackness of the chamber, a mound of blond hair climbed from its hiding place. Crate, peering into the total darkness with unnatural sight and seeing what now remained, gave a small smile as he sauntered over to Jin's skull and picked it up.
He shoved his hand into the head and used several fingers to make Jin's jaw flap.
"You never were 'ahead' of the situation, where you?" Crate giggled impishly.
"I never was." Crate mimicked Jin's voice, making the mouth move with his fingers.
"And that's why my betrayal was so sweet." Crate licked his lips. "That oaf found you cause I wanted him too. The power is mine, Jin. It was always mine. Like I'd let you use it. You'd just destroy the Empire with it. But me...well..."
Crate used his free hand to pull open his robe and reveal a black phylactery glowing a sick green. It had been busy absorbing the power released by the urn during the fight between Jin and Hojo, both of whom thought Crate had died when Ranald had shot Crate off a cliff over a moon ago.
"I have better plans." Crate's lips twisted into a cold sneer. "The -best- plans. The...what was it you and your brat always said? Oh yes...the -kindest- plans." Crate brought the dead lips to his own. He kissed them tenderly before he drop-kicked the kicked and watched as it bounced and rolled away with wet, striking noises on the stones.Â
"Whelp, I've done enough damage to -this- fish stand." Crate said loudly, dusting his hands off as he looked around. "I better make like a tree and leaf." Crate snapped his fingers and then was gone.
"You fool!" Jin bellowed as torrent of raw, primal aether spewed forth from the device Jin'li had left behind. The device, once a reservoir of untold power and possibility, now lay slashed in twain as its stores of writhing power escaped with the sounds of countless screams. The female miqo'te staggered back as Hojo Zuginoch advanced upon her with his blazing axe clenched in his iron fists. A roar ripped from his maw as he surged forward like a primordial titan, each of his foot falls sounding like the bellows of thunder.
The aged woman brought what remained of her stores of arcane energy against the golden warrior with a tremendous crash. The walls of the cave cracked from the blast but on the massive male came, his own powers consuming the black aether.
"No!" Jin shrieked in disbelief as her black eyes grew wide as the massive axe swung and her head left her shoulders. The ancient woman, mother of terrors and bomb makers, had a look of indignant defiance as her head rolled across the ground.
Jin's corpse fell to the earth as black flames began to devour her flesh. Then the body exploded. The earth trembled as parts of the roof began to fall free.Â
Hojo and his allies fled for the stairs as the entire complex seemed on the verge of collapse as the sundered artifact twisted the physical world.
More stones fell and then it was over.
Silence.
A mound of stones had filled the stairs that led towards the surface. Somewhere up those stairs, Hojo, A'tune, Renald, and the other witch hunters were bathing in the sun, feeling free of the horrors their hunt had brought upon them. Jin was ended, the 'Urn' her son had left behind was sundered, and the power it had held was gone. It seemed the world was better.
But they were deceived.
In the blackness of the chamber, a mound of blond hair climbed from its hiding place. Crate, peering into the total darkness with unnatural sight and seeing what now remained, gave a small smile as he sauntered over to Jin's skull and picked it up.
He shoved his hand into the head and used several fingers to make Jin's jaw flap.
"You never were 'ahead' of the situation, where you?" Crate giggled impishly.
"I never was." Crate mimicked Jin's voice, making the mouth move with his fingers.
"And that's why my betrayal was so sweet." Crate licked his lips. "That oaf found you cause I wanted him too. The power is mine, Jin. It was always mine. Like I'd let you use it. You'd just destroy the Empire with it. But me...well..."
Crate used his free hand to pull open his robe and reveal a black phylactery glowing a sick green. It had been busy absorbing the power released by the urn during the fight between Jin and Hojo, both of whom thought Crate had died when Ranald had shot Crate off a cliff over a moon ago.
"I have better plans." Crate's lips twisted into a cold sneer. "The -best- plans. The...what was it you and your brat always said? Oh yes...the -kindest- plans." Crate brought the dead lips to his own. He kissed them tenderly before he drop-kicked the kicked and watched as it bounced and rolled away with wet, striking noises on the stones.Â
"Whelp, I've done enough damage to -this- fish stand." Crate said loudly, dusting his hands off as he looked around. "I better make like a tree and leaf." Crate snapped his fingers and then was gone.
-End of the 'Urn' Arc-
(As always, a thanks to all who played a part on this set and dealt with my schedule
)
(As always, a thanks to all who played a part on this set and dealt with my schedule
)