Breathless (Book One)

[Riverdane]

Riverdane puts the cigarette up to his lips distractedly. He is peering ahead into the gloom. One hand removes a box of matches from his pocket. The other hand digs out a match. He absentmindedly strikes it against the pad. Lifts the match to the tip of the cigarette. Inhales...nothing.

Bah.

He lets go of the match, and watches it float to the "ceiling" of Kedge Keep. Dumbass. Trying to light up underwater.

He is totally alone in the upside down lobby of doomed Kedge....the keep that slipped off the edge of the cliff of Dagnor's Cauldron and tumbled half intact into the waters below. The wizards and mages were clamouring for their pieces for their epics that were hidden in these submerged passages, and with the geometry of Kedge reversed, he thought it a good idea to do a little exploring before leading the Alliance here. Before heading into the waters, he had mustered his magic together to cast a spell that let him breathe the water as if air. How odd the feeling of water filling his lungs, processed out, like a water pump within him. He would never get used to that feeling.

It is deathly quiet in the murky depths...a flicker of his fingers and his eyes begin to glow, violet light. The room illuminates with no light, his ultravision picking out shapes lit with eerie purple hues.

He is alone.

A secret pleasure, and a twinge of guilt. Silence cradled him like a babe. No one but Camille knew where he was....she had passed on his invitation to come, instead heading to the cleric guilds of Freeport to attend the teaching in how to raise the dead back to life. But nothing else was there to distract him. No reports from the guild. No requests from the Alliance. Not another voice, human or otherwise. Not even the sound of his breathing. Wrapped back in the womb, water invading his every pore.

With his left hand, he passes it in front of his face....his image shivers, and then, shimmers away....nothing to mark his presense...he is invisible.

And -BLINK- he reappears.

God I hate this spell.

Unlike his waterbreathing, which had a nice set duration, invisibility is the bane of casters everywhere. Unpredictable, tending to drop at the most inopportune times, it was almost not worth casting. But River was clueless to what lay before him, and this mission was for information best glimpsed from behind a sheild of anonimity. Tales of thinking, manevolent creatures living within Kedge had surfaced, and the bodies of adventures who went to investigate did not.

Again he passes his hand in front of his face, legs kicking slightly to keep him from sinking to the floor. And once again he disappears from view.

Swimming in and down into a hole in the floor, into a long descending tube, the interior of a broken column. He passes by swordfish, their snouts wicked sharp, and checks again to see if his invisibility is holding. Swinging a sword and sheild underwater requires twice the strength to get half the speed, and those fish would quickly slice him to ribbons. He swam silently past their glassy, unblinking eyes, down into the deep.

Another room, filled with rainbow colored fish, swimming in small schools. They dart past his face, oblivious to his presence.

Now a long hallway, silent, void of all sound. River kicks with his feet and propels forward.

Ah, now this is interesting....the stories were correct.

Swimming in the corner of the next room, he sees two....women....swimming around a huge shark. The shark made no move to attack the women, who are rabbing shells across the sharks dorsal area, scraping its skin down, cleaning it. The womens' hair is not hair at all, but flowing green seaweed, and from the waist down, the likeness to humanity ends and the body of a fish begins. Two mermaids, cleaning the scales of a shark. River gapes, treading water. He sees his hands absentmindedly reaching for his cigarettes.

Sees his hands.

He is visible.

"Oh shi...." he thinks, as the womens heads snap in his direction.

Immediately there is movement. The mermaid to the left swims straight at him, the shark and other mermaid breaking left and right. The mermaid rushing him is moving like an arrow, eyes lighting white. River yanks Reaver free of its scabbard.

Eyes pulse light.

River curses as white lighting shoots through his senses. The mermaid has sent a shock of power through him that would have knocked a lesser man unconscious.

"Bitch!" River gasps, swinging his sword in a wide arc. Reaver slices through her neck like a knife through butter. Red clouds billow from her neck as her head floats to the floor.

Blinded by the bloody clouds, River quickly loses his sense of direction....his legs kick wildly, head turning back and forth, trying to see through the blood......where are they dammit?

His answer is in two forms....he hears through the water a light female humming....the mermaid. And then another sound....a muffled buzzing. Growing louder, louder.

Suddenly tiny gnats are crawling into him, his mouth, his ears nostrils.....biting, stinging, invading him. The swarm settles into him.

And at the same time, from his left, the shark strikes.

Powerful jaws clamp his torso. River is hanging out of the shark's mouth like a ragdoll in the jaws of a dog. Only the god-forged strength of the Umbral armor he wears keeps that bite from chomping him into three pieces. Meanwhile, body screaming pain from the swarm within him, River waits for the pressure of the shark's jaws to split him open like a walnut.

Not today, fish.

River's hands begin to light with an unearthly glow.

River slaps both of his hands over the shark's eyes.

PULSE.

The shark's head explodes with a muzzled pop. Fish entrails, teeth, cartilidge float in every direction, as River, stinging, silently screaming floats to the floor....above him, somewhere in the blood, was the other mermaid.

And then, just like that, the swarm departs. River's interior is ravaged by tiny bites, but for now he is still whole. So the mermaid's spell had its limitations as well.

Kicking to propell himself from the wall, River realized how badly he was hurt. His grip on Reaver had gone when the shark had clamped him, and was impossible to find with the blood clouding the water. The swarm had ravaged his insides, and he barely had strength to tread water.

And then the mermaid was on his back, hands clawing at his eyes.

With reflexes battle trained, and the inhuman power of a shadowknight, River's hands fly over his head to lock around the throat of the mermaid.

And then River.....drinks.

The mermaid's eyes bulge as Riverdane draws her life force into his hands. His destroyed inside begins to mend, bruises fading, as he vampirically draws the life from the mermaid now clinging weakly to his back. She floats away from him as he lets go, tail spasming, as he takes the last her of her life into him.

Hmmmp, he thinks, who needs groups. Groups are for...

And then, time elapsed, River gasps as his water breathing spell ceases functioning, his eyes open in surprise as his body floats to the bottom of the room.

Alone.

Riverdane Wyldechylde dies in a watery grave.

There is only silence.

[Riverdane]

(Bumping, so old readers and new can refresh...it's time to take up the pen again)
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[Riverdane]

Wow, most of Breathless is missing it seems....adding it, and please Jenny, don't drive me batshit.
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[Riverdane]

Darkness....

Silence...

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Noise...

Laughing...

Howls...jeers...

....Screams....

LIGHT.

Riverdane's eyes snap open....last thought...I'm dead....last memory....drowning, pressure in lungs, explosive pain....

And now....laughter....

He stares upward at the ceiling....breathing slowly, effortlessly...the room is lit by torchlight, and something screams far off to his left, to end in a choked cry.

"Where the hell am I?" River murmurs to himself.

"Not quite..." comes a voice from his left, deeply resonant, a voice of male beauty, "But close."

River turns toward the voice. Though the voice may be beautiful, its owner was not. A bulbous, warty puss ridden elven face sat upon a thin, almost snakelike neck, attached to a bloated and misshapened humanoid form. The lips on this creature made a mockery of a smile.

"Welcome home, son." it said, opening its arms graciously.

Riverdane blinked. "Innoruuk?" he whispered, not moving.

"Call me Dad." Innoruuk smiled, motioning for an embrace. River swung up to sit on the edge of the bed he had been laying on, but made no move to approach the God of Hate. Innoruuk's lips twisted down into a frown at the rebuke. He peered at River through caked lids.

"You have your mother's eyes." he commented.

With a reflexive howl, River lept off the bed, hands glowing with blacklight. Hands landing splayed across Innoruuk's chest.

PULSE.

Innoruuk chuckled.

"Resisted." he said admonishingly, the grin back on his face. He wagged a fat black finger at Riverdane. "You should know better than to try that."

River stood very, very still, adreneline draining away from him, the shock that his harmtouch did not land registering on him.

"But since you seem to enjoy pain so much..." Innoruuk shrugged and waved his hand absently. Riverdane's body flew up in the air, and slammed down into the bed, spread eagle, air knocked out of him. Face up, he could not even turn his head an inch. He stared at the ceiling with wild eyes.

"NOW!" Innoruuk shouted, face suddenly inches from River's. "Let's talk about pain, shall we?....All the pain you've caused ME...in my heart." Innoruuk's breath in his face smelled of rotted fruit. River's eyes watered.

"Yes, HEART." Innoruuk spat, "I loved your mother...for a moment...in my own way. And when you were born, I loved you too. Watched you. Taught you in your sleep. Yet all you want to do is cause me pain." Innoruuks mottled fist suddenly swings up and down, hard, across River's left knee. Pain expodes as his kneecap shatters. River's scream blends with the howls from outside the bedchambers.

"PAIN! When I sent you the dreams to cut your stepfather's throat when you were twelve, and instead you curled yourself into a ball and cried yourself through the night."
With a quick twist on River's arm, he dislocates the shoulder. River biting down hard, biting his tongue, drawing blood in a salty rush. The world around him swims.
Innoruuk picks up the hand on River's good arm, rigid, frozen, and takes hold of the forefinger.

"PAIN!" Snap, he breaks River's forefinger. Spots before River's eyes. Innoruuk moves to the middle finger. "When given your choices of mates, you choose that bitch paladin Camille." SNAP, and he moves to the ring finger. "I present a world of eagar women to you, and you choose that which is opposite to all I tried to teach?" SNAP! and River grits his teeth, a low howl rising, animal-like from the back of his throat. Innoruuk moves to his pinky. "I gave you the world, and you gave me nothing but pain!" SNAP.

"I reject everything you stand for." River replied, spitting out blood, voice a hoarse croak. "Everything."

Innoruuk's laughter fills the room. "Everything?" he repeats, in amused disbelief. "My dear boy, how do you think you have the powers you have? Who do you think you got them from, Tunare? You have served me since you were born." Slow realization came across River's face, blood running in a trickle out of the corner of his mouth, pooling on the bed under his ear. A look of horror in his eyes.

"Every life tap you used, every harmtouch you delivered, every pet you summoned, every bit of power you ever leeched like a vampire from someone....all that power....you derived from me. And you asking for it, and recieving it....was your homage to me. You controlled the world with the powers I gave you.....and in return, my vampire son, you gave me what you had to barter with...."
Innoruuk took a brassbacked mirror from beside the bed and held it up in front of River's face

((Hair completely white))

while chuckling at the prone figure

((two sharp fangs over bloodless lips))

sprawled across the bed.

((completely red eyes))

"You gave me the only thing you could trade for your power...."

((blood dripping from the side of his mouth...drip...drip...drip...))

"....your soul."

The creature that was once Riverdane's Wyldechylde howls in horror from the bed, the sound making even the asylum-like screams from outside give pause.
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[Riverdane]

"My dear dear boy..." Innoruuk said softly, running his finger along Riverdane's cheek, smearing blood in a red streak, "Don't be upset....you're home now. And until I break you of your rather unpleasant desire to kill me, you will need to retain this form. Much easier to control you this way. Besides, I need to change your....perspective."

River's blood red eyes dart from the mirror to lock on Innoruuk.

"What have you done to me?" he croaked hoarsely.

"I have made you a forsaken revenant, a vampire, a true representation of the powers you took willingly from me. It is a powerful form....your broken knee, your hand, shoulder, what I have done to you would break a normal man....but in this form, you will be able to bear the pain. I show you what the power of Hate can do for your stamina."

And with that Innoruuk backed away from the bed, attention that had been riveted on Riverdane dissipated. "And now I fear I will be off." he said absently. "I will come check on you later, my boy, but right now Maestro and I have a little meeting with Mayong, your damned Alliance plans on hitting his castle this weekend and I have been requested to send backup. They won't even know what hit them when I am through with them." And then, in the blink of an eye, Innoruuk was gone.

River pulled himself painstakingly from the bed. Aye, it may add stamina to allow him to support his weight on his shattered knee, but the pain that shot up his leg made his eyes water. He limped to the door to his bed chambers and out into the hall, each step hell. Down through the gothic passageways he limped, passing the giggling and screaming vampire, spectres, skeletons and ghouls that inhabited the Plane of Hate. Passed the two spite golems guarding the entrance to Innoruuk's domain. Into the darkened streets, with the gambling halls, bars, and other buildings that made up the city that housed the God of Hate. Limping on a dead leg, pulling himself painfully, as he wandered aimlessly through the damned alleys.

Reaching for cigarettes, he found one, in a pocket of the clothing he wore. Matches as well......at least Innoruuk wasn't so cruel as to leave him without his habit. River leaned up against a wooden lamppost and struck the match. lifting it to the cigarette between his lips.

And suddenly, the flame winked out.

THUMP.

Having neatly sliced his match in two, a throwing star quivered in the wooden lamppole next to his face. Missed taking off his nose by an inch. River's head snapped to the side, making his dislocated shoulder scream.

There, in the alley, was a familiar face.

"Rocsalt!" River whispered, recognizing the monk.

Roc's face gauged no recognition, just turned down the alley and bolted.

"Roc!" River cried, limping after him. One of my people, here! River thought, maybe Roc can get me out of here...He began pulling himself down the alley, down the twisting turns....Roc was always one step ahead of him.

Around one corner, and suddenly a huge, diseased rat burst from the refuge on the street, and adds to the chase on Rocsalt's fleeting form. River desperately trying to follow, now following the rat following Rocsalt, further and further from the center of Hate.

Up a blind alley, and down...body tired from the chase, calling Roc's name and not recognizing the sounds coming from his own throat....Roc slowing down at corners, looking back nervously, almost waiting for them to catch up before turning and sprinting off again, always out of reach......River running, desperate for recognition, broken hand extended, as Roc leads him around another corner...

Suddenly...

BRIGHT torch light...

...a mass of people, faces he knows...

.....murmurs, chatting, comraderie....

"Incoming!" Roc calls out, as their heads turn toward him. "A foresaken revenant and add!"

Immediately weapons are drawn, as Riverdane stops in his tracks, looking at the faces, all friends....but there is no recognition in their eyes. Only bloodlust.

A booming female voice, military in tone, breaks through the sudden silence, as the rat continues after Rocsalt into their midst.

"Alright mates, the game is ON!" Kaguera commands. "Dene, ice that rat. The rest of you, assist Aaryn on the vamp! REMEMBER TO ASSIST!"

Aaryn, hulking barbarian warrior, long time friend, steps out of the crowd, bow raised. River's hands come up protectively, a bloody tear running down from one eye unchecked.

"Aaryn, no..." he whispers.

TWANG! and the arrow flies, plunging into River's hurt shoulder. He screams in pain as his senses overload and he smells his own blood....rich...thirsty...somewhere he hears Denellrona chanting in a language he did not understand, and hears the squeals of the rat halt. And then he sensed nothing, except the scent of blood.

"PLEASE ASSIST ME ON A FORSAKEN REVENANT." Aaryn calls, drawing his sword.

The crowd surges as one.

And a blood-frenzied Riverdane Wyldechylde steps forward to meet them.
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[Riverdane]

A red haze settles across Riverdane's vision...his senses raging for blood....in touch with all his knowledge, aware that he is who is is, and yet it something else....the beast within emerges, but with the cunning of Man...

His bloody eyes take in the scenario in front of him, Aaryn advancing, the others coming in behind in a wedge....Denellrona watching the rat, which stands mesmerized behind the crowd, on ice until they have finished with him. They would take him down easily, as he himself had led them to do many times before. But, those creatures whom they fought were predictable...if everyone did their job success was guarunteed....not this time tho. This time their prey knew their tricks.

River halted, a sharp tongue licking out over bloodless lips. This non-agressiveness stopped the crowd dead in their tracks.....never before had a being from Hate just stopped moving on its own.

"Lassie..." Kaguera said out of the corner of her mouth, near Denellrona's ear. "You mezz this one too?"

"No." Dene said, eyes never leaving the rat. "The vamp's not mezzed."

River smiled at the crowd, and pointed his finger in a sudden movement behind them. A sickly green smoke waft from his finger, toward Kaguera, toward Dene...and passed them. To curl around the head of the rat.

"Ummmm...." Dene said. "Is that what I think it..."

She was cut off explosive movement.

Aaryn's barbarian warcry as he leaps, swords swinging, in a flurry at Riverdane. The green cloud settling around the rat, and the rat's squeal of pain as the disease cloud begins eating off its patchy fur. Then the rat is all over Dene, sinking its teeth into her arm as it throws itself against her. She goes down in pain with the weight of the giant rat upon her. Bwael and Nizzre running to flank the vampire from the sides. Thadar focusing on Aaryn, Jemia watching Kaguera, the two clerics, he in a pale blue robe, she in battle plate, murmuring prayers to their gods to assist them in the battle.

"This rat is dotted!" Dene cries out, dodging her head to the side as the rat scrambles at her face. "The revenant dotted the rat!"

"What the hell??" Kaguera, exploded, yanking the rat off Dene and thowing it to the side. The rat hunches its muscles, and springs back at Kaguera.

"Mates!" she booms, "Aaryn, tank mez that revenant! The rest of you assist me on this rat!"

As a well oiled machine, the raiding party turned away from Aaryn and River, and began to butcher the rat in earnest. Aaryn continued to advance on Riverdane.

Hmm, now the warrior keeps me busy while the cleric lays minor heals until the rest of the group can assist, River thinks to himself. A useful ploy. Too bad tonight it's not going to work.

Aaryn has the look of the zealot in his eyes as he approaches Riverdane, a smile on his lips. He enjoys what he does. A barbarian warrior is almost as blood crazed as a forsaken revenant in the midst of battle.

"Come on, come on..." the warrior is murmuring, swords flashing in a figure eight pattern, one step at a time moving in towards River. River spots Thadar standing to Aaryn's left behind him. Registers it, stores it. And waits for the kick he knows Aaryn is going to start with.

Aaryn kicks on cue.

River is already waiting for it, and with his good arm catches the foot and shoves upward. Aaryn, completely unprepared, fall unceremoniously onto his rear end, and Riverdane leaps over him toward Thadar.

"Next time, priest," River spit out in a gutteral voice. "Wear a helm."

And with that River's fist smacks down onto Thadar's skull. Powered with the strength of the bloodlust and the power of Hate, Thadar crumples unconscious like a dropped rag doll.

"Now where were we?" River says, spinning toward Aaryn. Aaryn is pushing himself up in his heavy armor from the floor, one hand down on the ground, the other using the sword in it to propel himself to his feet.

"Ah, yes, tank mezzing." River hissed, "Now I'll show you how to mezz a tank."

Lightning fast River's hands grip Aaryn's wrist, lock, and yanks UP.

A horrible rending noise, of steel, bone and ripping flesh.

Aaryn stumbles to his feet, eyes crazed. Blood is bubbling on his lips...the rat is dying somewhere in the back ground, but Aaryn can only stare at the revenant, stumbling back a few feet as shock settles in, blinking absently.

In Riverdane's hands five feet away is Aaryn's arm.

Somewhere near him a rat squeals its death shrieks.

"Aaryn?" Brieah, barbarian shamaness of the warrior's clan calls from somewhere in the now hushed crowd. Aaryn is stumbling around like a drunk man, blood pumping from his arm, still swinging his other sword weakly toward River.

"Please....assist me...in the..." labored breath, sway to left, world going black. "taking down of..a...forsaken... forsaken..." spinnnnnnn.

Aaryn sinks to his knees and pitches forward.

"Brieah, get a regeneration on him NOW!" Kaguera yells, yanking her sword out of the dead rat. Brieah runs without a word to the fallen warrior, now twitching on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Under Hate's blue light he looked dead already.

"The rest of you, " Kaguera commands, rushing at Riverdane, "Assist me NOW.!"

"Crippling a forsaken revenant!" Dene calls, beginning a gesture with her hand, beginning to chant.

Kaguera swings at the vampire, who is already diving toward Dene before her chanting is even done. Two of Bwael's arows fly by, barely missing the revenant as it lurches toward the enchantress. What the hell, she thinks, cursing as her swords miss the vampire by an inch, since when do the mobs ANTICIPATE the spells?

"Can't cripple me...." River murmurs, closing in on Dene. "Someone beat you to it."

Dene back pedals, the proper movement of the spell lost.

More noise, from behind Kaguera. A patrolling lich seems to have found them, and was currently swinging its scythe at Nizzre's head.

"Down brother!" Bwael called, yanking Nizzre to the left. The scythe missed him by, close enough for Nizzre to hear its passing.

"We have adds in the back!" Kaguera called, eyes darting between Riverdane and the lich now swinging in the main midst of her raid. Dene was beginning to chant again. Kaguera made her decision.

"Take the lich,mates! Dene, ice the vamp. Zullie, watch her health!" And Kag turned from them to rush the lich.

"Mezzing a fors..." Dene began, and STARS! as the vampire swung Aaryn's armored arm into her face. Pain, instant through her as she fought consciousness, her nose shattered.

"Shut up." he said.

Zullie darting in from behind to get close enough to heal Dene. River's hands darting out for the iksar shaman as she runs by, hands gripping her tail. And swings with all the strength of the unholy, he pitches her into a stone wall of the alley. Bones crack, and Zullie slides unconscious to the ground.

"I can't get off a mezz!" Dene cries out, scrambling backward, as River advances.

"Nizzre!" Kaguera calls out, sword locked with the lich's scythe. "Keep the vamp busy, remember to TAUNT!"

Nizzre peels off towards Riverdane.

Dene, in a whisper....

"We can't taunt this thing." she realizes as the pain of the broken nose shoots through her brain...

"It's taunting US."
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[Riverdane]

...STUN...

The paladin opens with a stun, eyes preternaturally blue, and a wave of force pushes from Nizzre's sheild arm, an invisible barrier, knocking River senseless for a moment...the battle with the lich rages on, and River stands motionless looking at his old friend advancing toward him, sheild in a position to be used as a weapon, sword poised. More ground to cover for Nizzre to reach him, but he is momentarily dazed, as Nizzre begins to move forward, sword moving like a snake from side to side.

River's head clears, a low snarl rising in his throat... he coils to spring...

....STUN....

Again the blue light in Nizzre's eyes, again the crippling invisible force slams into Riverdane....the revenant blinks impotently, as the paladin comes closer....

"Haste, please, Dene." Nizzre asks cooly, sword arm swinging the sword in small circles. Denellrona nods wiping blood from her nose, murmuring her spell. Nizzre's swing speed triples, the sword now only a blur of motion.

River comes out of the stun, Nizzre a foot away...

.....STUN....

And again, River is motionless, helpless, unable to move, wracked by the force of the paladin's stun...

Nizzre close, close, arm cocked back to swing....

"Do it to it...." River whispers.

Hesitation.

Like an uncoiled cobra, River comes out of his stun. One hand snakes behind Nizzre's head. The other grips his sheild arm. With a flex of muscle, River smacks Nizzre's face into his sheild again....and again....and again....

"Stun ....stun.....STUN....." River laughs, bashing NIzzre's sheild into his own face over and over. Nizzre's hand releases the sword senselessly, and slumps to the ground against a building... River looms over him, bending down to pick up the paladin's holy blade...Denellrona is screaming something behind him, but he pays no attention, carried away in the murder he wishes to commit. With his good arm, he swings the sword up over his head.

THWUMP.

An arrow catches River mid palm, pinning it to the wall over his head. He turns away from Nizzre, sword clattering to the ground, stuck to the wall.

THWUMP.

Another arrow flies, catching the other hand, crucifying River, arms outstretched, prone, pinned to the wall like a butterfly. Bwael notches another arrow, as River howls.

THWUMP.

Arrow shatters bone as it pierces River's left ankle, fastening the leg to the building...

THWUMP.

The job is done, as another arrow catches River in the right knee, piercing it, holding the leg tight to the wall, as River screams like a wounded cat.....the pain...the blood spraying.

"You don't mess with my brother." Bwael says flatly, nocking another arrow, raising the bow to throat height.

Innoruuk's voice in River's ear ...

...."I'm not done with you yet, son...."...

Arrow flies....

River's body shimmers, and disappears....the arrow strikes wood...

Somewhere, in darkness, River senses he is moving, but sees nothing, as the sound of the battle begins to grow fainter to his ears....till only the sound of Kaguera's voice...

"It GATED..." he hears the warrior woman boom....

"CAMP NOW!"
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[Riverdane]

....Karnor's Castle....he is in Karnor's castle...he recognizes the sounds of constant seige around him...

"...Wanna beer?..." says a voice to his left and behind him.

River's bones feel stiff and strange. He turns his head to see who addressed him. His head turns to the left...

...and turns....

...and turns...

River is now looking quite literally over his left shoulder, backwards, at an old friend, Coall. Coall isn't even looking at him, rather, staring off over the moat with that look that all pullers have, searching for movement, preparing to attack at any moment if the circumstance is right.

"I was kidding about the beer." Coall says absently. "What good would it do you? Not like you have a liver to ruin."

River opens his mouth to speak, and no sound comes out.

"You start that laughing you always do, I'll bury you a second time." Coall says, tilting his beer up to his lips.

Agitation sets in, River begins pacing, trying to speak, nothing but silence.

Coall looks at him with disgust. "Pet sit down. You're driving me nuts."

Now River can speak, but he does not recognize his own voice.

"Sitting down, Master." And with a rattle of bones, River sits cross legged on the floor.

And stares, if he had eyes, at the pure white skeletal hands resting on pure white skeletal knees in abject horror.

Coall rambles on, having spent so much time in Karnors, talking to his summoned pet almost seems normal. Who says dog is man's best friend? Coall was here to kill dogs, and his best friend was the reanimated skeleton of a long dead human. He guessed everything was open to interpretation.

"I don't know why I even waste the bone chips on you sometimes..." Coall intones. "I mean, it's not like you're a necro pet..."

River is only half hearing him....all those years as a shadowknight, River knows the one use for a shadowknight's underpowered pet. With all his will he tries to unlock his stiffened joints, but he knows Coall's will is greater than his own. Will?....WHAT will?.....he was Coall's puppet.

"If you were a mage pet, hell, I'd just kick back with another beer and let you do all the work..."

Have to get OUT of here....River thinks...any moment, a named may pop within sight but not reach of Coall, and then, as they say, my goose is cooked. Still he sat there with an idiot grin on his skeletal face.

"Shaman pet, good too....beastmaster, hell, now THOSE have to be fun, a pet that melees as good as its master.....now THAT'S a pet...a little give, a little take, equal....hell, that's no pet, THAT'S a companion...."

With terror River sees the Drolvarg captain step into position on the upper turrent. Coall has tipped back the beer, is not looking up. Perhaps someone else will pull it before Coall notices. Keep rambling on brother, keep rambling on.

"I mean, hell, even a chanter pet can dish out the damage when needed, protects its master.... but me...?...my pet?"

Coall puts down the mug, and spots the captain standing amongst the other dogs. Coall no longer is looking at River. His eyes narrow down.

"My pet has one use only, thanks to something Riverdane showed me a while ago..."

Willwillwillwill....impotence.

"Pet kill...." Coall whispers. "Go fetch."

"Taunting A Drolvarg Captain" River says, springing mechanically to his feet. He marches into the castle.

pleasebadpathing, pleasebadpathing. A mantra in River's empty skull.

Not today.

Riverdane throws himself cackling onto the Drolvarg captain. With one swing of a powerful arm, the Captain disintigrates River's breastcage. As his head falls off and rolls into the corner, the world tips crazily as if watching from inside a spinning barrel. He sees the Captain peel off looking for the sender of the "pet missile".....the animated slave to the shadowknight...the pet with only one purpose, to suicide against its masters foes. And in one dizzying moment, River put all of the raids he ever lead into perspective...and all the friends he had ever marched like a puppet into the jaws of death. And all of them, the living, the wounded, the dead....followed him. Did they feel as he did, laying in pieces in some dank castle?

Alone.

Discarded.

Used.

Coall was busy, fighting, arms immersed in the guts of the Captain, locked in combat, but still he heard Coall's subconscious, disinterested thought.

"Pet get lost."

"As you wish, oh great one." River cackles dutifully...

...and all is black...
_________________

[Riverdane]

....LIGHT....

Riverdane finds himself back in the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed. Innoruuk is sitting close by in a comfortable looking chair, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Soooo...." Innoruuk purred softly. "Have you learned about pain yet, my son?"

River almost flinched at the sound of the word.

"Well...?" Innoruuk asks again, smiling at River's unease.

"Yes." River whispers.

"And have I taught you about hate?"

This time River's answer is quicker, more pointed. "Oh yes, that you have."

"Good!" Innoruuk smiles, clapping his hands together. "ONE more lesson! Now we will teach you about LOSS."

No more, please no more, River thought.

"Behold..." Innoruuk said, waving his hand through the air. Smoke billowed forth and solidified, and images started to form on it. Images River recognized.

"Lovely, isn't she...?" Innoruuk murmured, eyes fixed on the solid sphere of smoke.

There, in the smoke, was the room in Kedge where River had drowned. There was his body, there the pieces of shark and mermaid, there was his sword, Reaver, at the bottom of the room. And there, in the middle of it all, treading water, was his wife Camille.

"Noooooo...." escaped from River, his eyes locked on the image, the sound feral.

Camille looked angelic, legs kicking back and forth slowly, arm spread out to keep herself in place, blonde hair flowing out behind her in a golden tangle. And those eyes, gods those eyes, blue naturally but now, fixed upon River's body, beginning to light preternaturally blue. She looked like a vision from Marr himself.

"Ah, poor girl..." Innoruuk sighed, shaking his head. "The minute she heard you were missing, without a word she came here. Just had Grelin cast enduring breath on her and without a word came here. He was afraid to even follow her. She feels guilty you know."

Camille's eyes are two stars now, blinding with their light, her mouth begins to move silently and she begins to chant.

"There she was, sitting in a boring class on how to resurrect the dead, while you were drowning to death in Kedge. Only she knew where you were. And now, she's here. You would have been proud of how she tore apart the guardian swordfish. Hate hath no fury like that of a woman deprived of her man..."

Camille's chant reached its apex, and with a sharp motion locked both hands on either side of his corpse's head.

"Poor girl, she will wonder if she didn't pay attention when she cannot resurrect your corpse. Maybe she missed something in the teachings....but no...it's simply...your corpse is too old..."

The light flashes in Camille's eyes, growing larger, infusing her head like a halo, and passing down her arms to her hands and out her fingertips, to surround River's head then body.

"She will be destroyed this doesn't work...thinking it her fault you are gone...and without you, her reason for living will be gone."

Tears roll down River's face, as he sees the light surrounding his corpse wink out, and the corpse remain motionless. Tears rolling as he sees the stricken look on Camille's face. Her grasp weakens and River's body sinks to the floor. Slowly she begins to chant again, eyes lighting blue, but empty.

"What is she doing?" River whispers, her vacant look and silent moving lips frightening him in some primal way.

"Killing herself." Innoruuk says flatly. "She is chanting Annul Magic. She is going to strip the water breathing spell from herself and drown next to you. How romantic."

"STOP her!" River cried, turning to his father, panic invading every pore. "You can stop her, please, stop this!"

Camille's eyes begin to flash blue, building, brightening...

"I cannot, my poor son, but you can...."

"How?? Tell me how?" River cried, grasping at Innoruuk's silken tunic.

"I can send you there, with a short term enduring breath, to talk some sense to her." Innoruuk said quickly. "I can give you your life back."

The light growing brighter, escaping under blonde eyelashes....

"Yes do it, do it now!" River excalims, tears flowing freely. Time time running out of time

"BUT..." Innoruuk interjected. "BUT, you must give me something you own that I want."

Brighter....

"YES! Whatever I own you may HAVE!"

"So be it." Innoruuk said with a bright smile, and waved his hand in the air.

BLACK---RUSHING-----
FLYINGTHROUGHSPACEDIZZYWHIRLHURLINGTHROUGHTIME

PRESSURE--

River can feel the water pressing in on him from all sides. Hears the muffled chanting, turns.

Tries to turn.

Too weak.

Too weak, no power.

Opening his mouth to shout over Camille's muffled chanting.

And the chanting stops.

Slow roll, rolling his body sluggishly over onto its side.

To stare into the dead eyes of his wife....no longer blue....only grey.

"No...." with what strength he has left, curling his arms around Camille, pulling her limp form to him. toolatetoolatetoolate

"You were close, son." Innoruuks voice invades his mind. What is left of his mind at least.

"She is with Marr now..." River whispers.

"Oh no, my dear boy, " Innoruuk says, snapping River out of his mourning. "She's with ME now."

"What...?"

"You said anything you own I could have." Innoruuk's voice tsktsked. "Silly boy, Camille gave you her soul when she fell in love with you."

Nomorenomorenomore

"And now that soul is mine." Innoruuk finished. "Thank you for the new student."

nononononono

And then Innoruuk voice, slowly growing fainter and fainter, talking to someone else. "...and now, my dear daughter-in-law, what do you know about pain....?"

nonono

And then, there is only silence...
_________________

[Riverdane]

LIGHT

Air.

Inhale.

"Grelin."

Grelin looks up from his foraging among the rocks in the Cauldron. His eyes first register confusion as he see a dripping wet Riverdane waist deep in water, and then shock as he sees the form cradled in his arms.

"I....I cast Enduring Breath on her..." he managed.

River steps out of the water, Camille limp in his arms, and hands her to Grelin. His eyes are blank.

"To Emerald Jungle, please." he says, voice flat. Grelin is stumbling under the weight of the full armored woman, but begins to chant the evacuation spell anyway. He has only seen River like this a few times in their long history together, and knows when isn't a time to question River. When River is dead calm, he is often murderous. Best port and be out.

They shimmer and are gone.

Lush foliage, dense, dense enough to limit visability. Grelin stands there, Camille's body in his arms, waiting for leave, a word anything. River looks at him.

"Bring her back to the guildhouse" he says.

"Too late for a rez?" Grelin asks, already knowing the answer.

"Too late for a rez yes, but she is not to be buried. Get a caster to stasis the body, I want it kept exactly the way it is now."

"River, what are you going to do?" Grelin asks.

There is no reply, River is gone.

Through the jungle along a wall of rock River travels, his sword Reaver, retrieved from the murky depths of Kedge, cutting a path before him. His eyes narrowed to slits, his steps strong, a replaired and whole Riverdane stalks through the jungle, to the broken gates of Trakanon's Tooth.

Through the gates, following paths many have walked before, so much so that the way is almost visible through the broken grass and trodden earth. Into the ruined city that marks the entrance to Old Sebilis.

Before him a huge glowing red half sphere. River reaches into his armor, to pockets sewn and attacked to the inside. Pulls out an ancient idol, and touches it to the sphere. His image shimmers, and is gone.

A long ramp down.

An a lone woman and a lone man, her in a yellow robe, he in the purple and steel armor of a cleric, both with eyes intent. Both glance quickly to him, then eyes back to opening in the wall ahead of them.

"Hi, River." Jazzymusik smiles, fingers moving in anticipation at whatever she was waiting for through the door.

"River." Darkun acknowledges, preoccupied with whatever it was they were doing prior to River's entrance.

"Verdad here with his crew?" River asks.

"Yup." Darkun said, eyes starting to light with that blue light of a healer. "Here they come now."

Then the sound of laughter.

Growing louder, louder, male laughter, female laughter, a mix of elven and human, no words, just the pure sound of enjoyment.

Verdad, Fermaga, and Mezo pour into the room, running at breathtaking speed, chuckling and laughing like children in a park. Mezo's eye patch is askew, verdad's arm is bloody, and Fermaga's hair is a mess.

And then another sound.

Frogs.


Louder.

Louder.

LOUDER.

"Hi River!" Fermaga laughs.

"Hey Riv." Mezo adds.

"Get DOWN River." Verdad suggests.

And River dives to the ground with his arms over his head.

L O U D E R.

FROGLOKS....everywhere, pour into the room. Stepping onto River, swinging swords, clubs, staffs....

Dozens of them almost mindlessly defending their home, they pack the hall and keep coming.

Jazzy's chanting rises to a screech and

PULSE.

The frogs are hit by a pulse of air that knocks them senseless, all of them, standing there, stupidly blinking their huge froglok eyes. Blue light is shooting out of Darkun's hands eyes, infusing the battered wizards that brought this froglok parade. And the wizards begin to heals.

"One!" Fermaga cries out with glee.

"Two!" Mezo adds, hands begining to glow with red energy.

"Three!" Verdad shouts, hands up in the air.

"BOOM!" they cry together, laughing hysterically. River crawls into a ball in the corner, knowing what's next.

B O O M.

The entire room lights with crackling energy, as the three wizards send their lightning out in a wild spray of pulses and hellfire. Pieces of froglok splatter the walls, the ceiling, the floor....and River. Not one lived through it. The combined area blasts of the three wizards all but disintigrated them.

Jazzy adds to the laughter of the three wizards, all of them covered with frog guts. Even Darkun manages a smile as he wipes frog goo off his face.

"Finished?" River asks, straightening up.

"Yeah yeah yeah." Verdad says. "For a little bit at least. What's up, Riv, wanna pull for us?"

"A minute, Verd." River says, motioning him away from the others. They talk for a moment in hushed tones, while the ladies are picking frog guts out of their hair. Verdad's face goes from one of puzzled wonderment, to one of sorrow, and finally, of simple shock. He backs away from River slowly. River just stares at him, unblinking.

"You're serious?" Verdad asks.

"Dead serious." River replies.

A slow smile broke on Verdad's face.

"WOOOOOOOT!" Verdad laughed, spinning to his companions.

"Ladies and gentlemen, pack it up!" he exclaimed, laughter dancing in his eyes. "We are going to area THE PLANE OF HATE!"
_________________

[Riverdane]

Shimmer....

Flash...

A gloomy room....

"North wall to southwest camp?" Verdad asked in hushed tones, eyes darting around the port in area of Hate. So far no sign of wanderers, a good thing.

River's match throws sparks as it touches the cigarette in his mouth.

"I'm marching through the center."

"Oooook..." Verdad sighs, turning to his companions. "Darkun, Jazzy, set up in the South east corner. It's going to be tight but we'll pull them south along the east wall. Make sure you area on the ground, or we'll aggro the top floor..."

There was more but River filters it out, eyes narrowing to slits as they adjust to the gloom. Last time he had been here in Hate he was ghost, a spirit owned by Innoruuk. This time he was mortal. Weaker in form, yet stronger at the same time. His soul was his own.

The laughter begins, as Mezo begins to float on a gust of air. Fermaga has already levitated herself, and a bright flash of flame licks out from her feet, as her journeymen boots activate. Verdad passes his staff over his head, and his skin begins to shimmer with runes. He looks at River expectantly.

"Now?" he asks.

"Do it to it..." River murmurs.

"You heard the man...!" Verdad exclaims, "ROUND EM UP!" And with a grin, the three begin to whoop, disappearing around the corner into the streets of Hate.

River's blood begins to pound in his ears. Camille's soul was in here, somewhere. He would find her. Thump THUMP in his eardrums. A quick inhale....hold it, savor the rush. Exhale, and MARCH.

Through the streets, empty from the area group sweeping through...

Thump THUMP

Explosions from south east.....loud, continous...and the sprinkling of laughter throughout...

Thump THUMP

Into Hate Proper, near Maestro's organ, where that unholy conductor writes his concerts for the damned.....empty of movement...this eerie solitude making his heart beat yet faster..

Thump THUMP

Up the twisting staircase to the second floor of Hate...through the twisted architecture....past where that insane propoganda spewing Evangelist normally preaches.....nothing, no sign of life or unlife....

Thump THUMP

To Innoruuk's mansion.

Inhale

Ahhh, now he could hear it, sense it in his bones....this place was filled. He could hear the creak of armor on Innoruuk's elite, even through the door. He stubs out his cigarette, and with one armored foot, kicks open the door. Inside are 6 of Innoruuk's chosen, dark elven damned, the best of the worse.

"Do not lay a hand to sword, wretched creatures!" Riverdane bellowed in a voice full of ice. "I am Riverdane Wyldechylde, bastard son of Innooruuk, God of Hate. By the royalty of my tainted blood I command you to STAY your hand!"

All six just stared at him blankly, not moving a muscle. River blinked in surprise.

"Um, good..." he said warily. "You know who your dark prince is. You are wise to heed my command."

"Nice try, hero." Denellrona says dryly from his right, "They're mezzed."

"I knew that." River mumbles.

"Nice of you to join us, River," Kaguera states, pushing open the door with a crash. "Better late than never! Alright, mates, inside and set up along the walls. Aaryn sit this one out with that arm, Nizzre you're tanking. Clear this room!"

"I have business first." River says over his shoulder, pushing deeper into the house.

"Where are you going?" Kaguera asked, motioning more of the raid into the room.

"To kill Innoruuk." River replies, about to disappear through a door.

"Remember to consent." Rocsalt laughs, feigning in the middle of the room.

And with that River is gone.
_________________

[Riverdane]

...noise, as the battle commences behind him...

...a dark corridor...a stairway up....

....LIGHT....

"...Welcome back, son." Innoruuk drawled from his chair, misshapen head cocked to the side. "I've been waiting for you"

River's eyes take in the room around him, the lavishly furnished bedroom that Innoruuk had tortured him in. And there, on the bed, eyes closed, lay Camille, hair spread out on the pillow like a golden cloud. His heart ached, and he turned to face his father.

"What did you do to her?" he spat.

Innoruuk sighed. "Nothing." he said flatly. "Not for lack of trying, mind you. But she is...inaccessible. Marr has his hold on this one, the bastard. Touching her is like grasping hold of a lightning bolt. So, I fear, the lessons I taught you I can't quite share with her. Although, she does make a lovely porcelin doll, doesn't she?"

"Is she...." River began, blood draining out of his face.

"Sleeping." Innoruuk murmured. "So, my son, have you come to kill me?"

"Yes." River said plainly, drawing Reaver from its scabbard.

"Then let us begin." Innoruuk intoned.

...a FLURRY of movement....

And Innoruuk is behind him, foot raised. A kick to River's rear and River flies across the room to smash against the wall. His head spins.

"AH HAH!" Innoruuk chortled. "Thought you were going to get one over on your old man, huh?" As quick as lightning, Innoruuk was in front of River, delivering a chop across the face with his fist. River spun to face the wall, pain exploding in his head.

"While your people play with my minions outside, you have the GAUL to come in here and face me, unslowed, not tashed, with nothing but you and your sword? Have I not taught you ANYTHING?" With a flash of light from Innoruuk's hand, River flies out of control across the room to demolish a wooden rocking chair. Slowly he crawls to his feet. But Innoruuk is over him, hands a blur, pummelling River like a punching bag, connecting in his face, his chest, his sides.

"You were a POOR student!" Innoruuk cried, flailing at River with a malicious glee set in his eyes.

--CONNECT--

"You learned NOTHING!" A fist to his ribs...

--CONNECT--

"And on top of that....!" A swing to River's jaw...

--CONNECT--

"You were a LOUSY SON!" A flicker of his hand, and River sails across the room into the mirror, as it shatters around him, glass breaking.

River, bleeding from a hundred cuts, drenched in sweat, wracked with pain, climbs slowly to his feet. The world spun. Breathing labored. Clinging to the bedpost for support.

"You did....teach me one thing....father...." River gasped, almost inaudibly.

"Really now." Innoruuk said. "And what would that be?"

River slid to his feet, spent, a bleeding broken mass. He could hardly speak.

"You...taught me..." Inaudible whispers were all that followed, as River's breathing hitched.

"Taught you what? Louder, you worthless piece of flesh." Innoruuk asked, stepping in closer to hear River's whispers.

Suddenly, like an uncoiled spring, River leapt to his feet, hands burning with a black fire that threatened to suck the very light from the room.

"You taught me to HATE." River said, slapping both hands to either side of Innoruuk's head. Innoruuk's eyes flew open wide in surprise.

---------PULSE-------------
_________________

[Riverdane]

DARKNESS

--A muffled explosion--

--Kaguera's booming voice "They're following River! Innoruuk is summoning them, AFTER THEM!"--

--flashes of light before River's eyes...

...a young blonde paladin steps over a sand dune in Ro...

...a druid chewing quietly, nodding when asked to group in Lower Guk...

...two brothers chuckling quietly to each other as they look upon the blood red armored knight before them in City of Mist...

...looking down into a crib once occupied by beautiful twin boys, to find two baby ogres instead...

...sitting on a cloud in the Plane of Sky, before a council of the leaders of five guild, at the birth of the Alliance...

LIGHT

"By Rallos' bloody sword..." Kaguera murmured.

River stood motionless, splattered with blood, smoke wisping up from his fingers.

In front of him in a gory, crumpled pile, lay the headless body of Innoruuk.

Innoruuk's elite, as one, knelt before River, head bowed. River blinked in a daze.

"Permission to slay the land dwellers, milord!" one said, refusing to look up. River just stared at him.

The dark elf tilted his head up slightly. No one else moved.

"My Prince, permission to slay the land dwellers!" he repeated anxiously.

River looked at his friends, and then back to the dark elf.

"Permission denied." he said slowly.

"As you wish, milord." The dark elf went back to studying the ground.

"I am not your lord." River said softly.

"With all apologies, sire, you have killed your father and by blood rite, you are the new ascendant of Hate."

"I refuse." River replied, turning to Camille's body on the bed. He reached out to touch her cheek.

-------SHOCK--------

Pain flaired instantly through his hand, his arm, threatening to make his very eyes explode. A blue flash, and River withdrew his hand in screaming pain.

"You may not refuse." the Elite told him. "You cannot deny your blood."

River looked down at his burned hand, then back at Camille.

"How may I free her?" he asked.

"That would be beyond me, milord. You would have to ask the other gods."

"Wonderful," Kaguera muttered behind him. "My worst nightmare. River is a god."

This brought River out of his daze, attention on the living in the room.

"Nizzre..." he said.

"Don't even think I'm calling you 'milord'." Nizzre replied warningly.

"No no..." River said. "Razor's Edge....is yours to lead now."

"I will hold it while you sort this out." Nizzre said.

"Aye, " River said distractedly, glancing back at Camille's sleeping body. "That may be a long time. I just...don't know. In the meantime, stay away from Hate, or we may find each other looking at each other from across a battlefeild."

"Haven't we already?" Nizzre said quietly. Their eyes locked, and for a moment River saw himself in Nizzre's pupils, holding NIzzre's sword aloft, prepared to cut his friend in two. His shoulders sagged.

"Aye, so we have." River drew himself up straight, his voice strange. "Leave this place, all of you. Leave me to my thoughts, and my wife. I have a quest of epic proportions ahead of me. And before I start, I need to be...alone....with Camille."

"Porters, prepare to leave!" Nizzre exclaimed loudly. Verdad, Mezo, and Fermaga had joined them at some point, and they began gesturing in the midst of the crowd, and the room began to hum.

"Farewell my friend..." Nizzre said softly, looking at River as he knelt next to Camille's bed. Then the room lit with light, as groups began to port out.

River looked at Camille's body, the memory of that jolting shock the fresh in his mind.

"I learned all my lessons well, father." he whispered to himself. "I learned hate. I learned loss..."

He drew closer to Camille.

"And I learned pain."

The last thing Nizzre saw was Riverdane Wyldechylde, Prince of Hate, lean forward to kiss his wife's bright pink lips.

--END of Book 1--
_________________