Twilit Tears

Liiam sighed in annoyance at the note, thinking to himself, Does she think I'm'a moron? Had this figured out *months* ago . . . He shakes his head as he prepares to head on into Erinn's Rath castle to speak with the King again. He shook his head again, grumbling in annoyance, "At least she only sent it-" He cuts himself off as he sees several dozen owls fly towards Tara from the same direction, all carrying notes. He pauses to stare at them for a bit before he slumps over onto a battlement, letting out a growl. "Son of a-! Augh! That damn woman! Does'she *want* Fenrir's spies ta know that we know what'is goals are?" Without wasting any more time he transforms into a crow, flying for the throne room at top speed, hoping he wasn't too late.

<<Oh, if he's annoyed with that.. he's going to be even more mad when he finds out what Aura Did XD! For the record, she doesn't think he's a moron.. This is just what Koruhi told her.>>

Fenrir didn't need a spy to see the flock of owls descending on Tara - he was already there with his men making preparations for the attack. Considering the direction they were coming from though, it was somewhat unnerving. After a bit of consideration and massage to his temples, he sighed and called for one of his generals. A lycan, the only one among the soldiers, obediently approached and gave a snarl of concern when seeing the way the incubus was holding himself. "Has it gotten worse?" he asked.

"Just a migraine." Fenrir protested with a smirk, though it was clear in his appearance it was far from that. He was feverish and quite honestly should not have been marching. It had come not long after the Wanderers' attack and seemed to be getting worse the closer they came to Tara. Everyone thought it was a side-effect of the twilight shard; but he knew better. There was a feeling coming from town he hadn't felt in years, not the Shadow Realm. The thought made him grin sadistically though. He'd be rid of that feeling forever, soon enough as well. "What do you think about the 'weather'?"

The lycan looked toward the wall of southern Tara and the sky beyond it. The owls were already gone, but he'd seen enough. "The Tailteann attack force failed." he said. "We could still pincer the town with the army in the Shadow Realm, but that would compromise the shard..."

Fenrir nodded in agreement. "And we can't send them a message easily anyway."

"Didn't we expect this?"

"We did...and Erinn's performed just as expected. Soon we'll be able to end this twisted game; but...they're up to something now."

The lycan growled. He was already eager to spill blood for Requiem. The thought that there was something nasty waiting for them when they came near the walls only bolstered that resolve. It was a challenge, and one he wanted to meet. "Orders, Sire?"

Fenrir grimaced as his fever's pitch increased somewhat. "The children...I want what's left of the Black Dawn to stay back. And you with them, Ra'ish."

That took the Fomor for a loop. "Sire?"

"I want them moved back, and I want the remainder of the flying units to come with me."

"But you're dividing us? You aren't letting the you elites fight either?"

"I didn't say that." Despite his condition, Fenrir's lips cracked into a broad smile. "But a frontal assault is going to end too quickly. I want to hear their screams for as long as possible."

[[ Frankly, the messages dropping in weren't gonna change this either. ]]

---

They weren't going to let him fight. His condition had gotten so bad that he couldn't hold a sword for longer than five minutes. His constant refusal to see a doctor and a sudden stroke left him forced to bed-rest within the castle by the military and wife. How could he refuse a direct order from her? He did all he could in preparing people for the attack and all he could do was hope it was enough.

It was when he managed to get a moment alone that the owl came in through the open window to deliver the message. It flew off just as quickly, leaving him to read the delivery. His brows furrowed when coming to the signature at the end, and he read it over once more just to be sure. Suddenly, he heard footsteps of someone returning. With no other way to hide the letter, he cast a quick but potent firebolt on the paper to burn it to ashes.

Unfortunately, that just left him in deeper trouble since he was supposed to be resting. The smell of smoke and ash on the covers made it obvious he was up to no good. On top of that, it nearly brought on another attack. Assuming this ever ended, he wondered about the message and what to do when he was able to move again...

[[Hey, guys! GUESS WHAT!]]

Fenrir: YOU LOSE! BWAHAHAHAHA!

[[*PUNCH* No seriously.]]

Fenrir: NO, YOU SERIOUSLY DID!

[[*CURBSTOMP!!!* ANYWAY. Congrats to the guild, long story arc is finally over. All that's left now is for me to write up this epilogue, BUT FIRST! I wanted to say thankyou to all of you who took part in this, and I hope you enjoyed yourself, save for the final battle people. *hides from them and their wrath* X3]]

[[In any case, this is gonna take me a while to type up, so standby~]]

<<I can't wait to see the final write up. =D! I just hope it's made public that Fenrir was killed at the jump. :3>>

((. _. Wish I was there. Stupid SATs...))

Adhamh wrote:((. _. Wish I was there. Stupid SATs...))

(( Don't you meant seats? ))

((..No I meant SATs. I had mine this morning. Meaning, I couldn't stay up late to RP.))

[[ Its the Thanksgiving weekend and the best I could do was pop in for a whole 60 seconds to five minutes at a time to check out the chat box and my fishing failures ]]

A stray arrow during the clash at Tara gave Fenrir the opportunity needed to escape into the Shadow Realm. As he fell and his soul was released, there was no effort at all in Requiem's drawing it into the twilight shard. With their objective complete, the remaining forces fought to the bitter end, except for a lycan who seemed to vanish amidst the chaos with the remaining Dark Knights the army had with them.

The letters sent out to commanders in Tara were right - Fenrir's soul was indeed linked to the shard, seeking it, and it was in Rath Castle on the Shadow Realm's side. With the ritual for his resurrection and the "Endsong of Erinn" on the horizon, a final, all-or-nothing push was made by the soldiers of Tara, led by a handful of reknown heroes in the war, to put an end to Requiem's plan. The army's elite soldiers were waiting and managed to hold the forces at bay until Fenrir was revived; but it was all they could do as they eventually were forced back from the overwhelming odds. However, while Tara failed to stop his ressurection, it turned out the twilight shard had become extremely unstable and couldn't be activated right away. After bloody battle with Fenrir himself, the soldiers were able to disable him long enough to destroy the shard; but doing so resulted in problems with his soul as he was linked with it. Unable to control the others that had been stored within the shard or another that appeared to be linked with his, his body began to show volatile traits that the crystal was designed to contain and expel - -he- became a twilight shard. Fortunately, he wasn't built like one, and the blast was far less severe. The damage only ended up destroying a tower of Shadow Realm Rath's where the shard was being hidden, along with a portion of the castle's rear and the mountains in the immediate vicinity. A majority of the blast had been sent skyward though.

Despite thwarting Requiem's plan to reconstruct Erinn, Fenrir still seemed to find something amusing about it. Soldiers nearest to the blast that managed to escape recalled hearing emperor's laughter before his demise...

While his body was confirmed as destroyed along with his method of resurrection, mages reported that there was no trace of his soul, and attuned to the soulstream would learn that it never passed on. This information is currently being kept hidden from the general public while the search continues.

---

Instead of surrender, Requiem soldiers either fought to the death or until captured. A majority of the children in the Shadow Realm were taken into custody and held while efforts to return them to their old selves were made, which was easier said than done. Contrary to popular belief, there was no enchantment or brainwashing involved in the children's choices to don their armors. Requiem had merely shown them a "darker side" of Erinn; and for their own individual reasons, they were very displeased with it. Moreso with how the war ended. Many sacrificed things that could not be recovered in return for creating the world the army had envisioned before Fenrir slipped into insanity; and even though they were mislead much like the other soldiers, it was those ties to them that led most to refusing lighter sentences than their Fomorian allies.

Whatever happened with their lives in the future, none of them could see the world in the same light anymore; and several may have been unable to go back to their former lives at all.

---

It happened while the Requiem prisoners from Tailteann were being transported to Tara for trial. It would appear that they had something up their sleeves after all, or perhaps one of the many visitors Kurohi had was an accomplice in the escape. Whatever the case, a number of eight soldiers among those bound for Tara literally vanished into thin air when entering the region. Among their numbers were the succubus, three ogres, an alchemist, and three goblins. With the slack in their chains, the other prisoners attempted to take advantage of the opportunity; but were quickly subdued again.

Later reports say that the same fugitives had appeared in Tailteann's square, leading officers to assume a goddess feather was hidden among them. Due to the escort of prisoners and several soldiers being dispatched to see to the area's security, the guard in town was light enough at the moment to allow them an easier escape. While there was minor collateral damage solely caused by the ogres, and a few minor injuries given to whoever got in the fugitives' paths, there were no casualties.

It was decided that a bounty be placed on their heads. Given Kurohi's rank within Requiem and the chosen lot she escaped with, it was feared she may have started when Fenrir left off. While her entourage was marked "Dead or Alive", the succubus herself was marked for "Dead", and with a hefty reward.

---

In the Dunbarton and Emain Macha, the few Fomor were left of Requiem - a small number of wounded soldiers and workers that were left out of the later battles, had emerged from hiding to being reconstruction of the destroyed cities. Traitors to their own race, they had nowhere else they could go; but at the same time, they were overly cautious toward humans or anyone else that may have come through the area. Their own ideals shattered and a world to face that would most likely reject them more harshly than it had before - their lives would be far from easy; but if Requiem had taught them anything, it was how to turn feelings of despair, fear, and anger into strength.

---

Fears of the twilight shard in Rano's oceans finally surfaced. While there were no side effects to people or land animals, but a large number of fish in the area seem to have mutated into...something different. It happened shortly after news of Fenrir's death reached Qilla Base Camp. Along the beach, several marine creatures, similar to Sahagins in Rundal Dungeon, emerged from the ocean. Their appearances bear resemblance to sharks, sea breams, and for some odd reason, penguins. It's assumed they were part of a passing rookery that had few on the mutating fish in the area.

Despite the initial hostile raid on the camp's stores - and strangely at the time, only food and books were taken - the creatures returned a week later in a more peaceful manner and began communicating with the expeditionary team. It turned out they had only gone through with the initial attack out of a lingering primal instinct and the need to understand their language. Now more friendly, these creatures have become very curious about land, and have agreed to providing assistance for explorers in return for the same in their journeys further away from the sea.

They've taken a liking to the name given from a word they often end phrases or sentences with:

"Bloop."

---

He was back on his feet in a few days and feeling better. Too better, considering he was on what most physicians thought his deathbed just before the Battle of Tara began. The doctors didn't know what to make of it, and people that knew him well enough were a little startled to see his speech, personality, and health seemed to improve overnight. Yet he still never used "I" for his own identity unless quoting somebody else's words.

Then again, he was always an oddball. It was just that the sudden turn for the worst, given the circumstances at the time, had brought about a bit of a panic.

Once he was cleared, he disappeared from the castle. Whereabouts are currently unknown, but if asked, people would give responses from following after his wife, to reconstruction efforts, to searches for several "missing persons", to some rambling about "telling the truth"...

---

In the end, Requiem was defeated and its followers would never be able to create a similar threat to Erinn ever again, if any. The world was saved; but as many have said, "Nothing ever goes back to being the same." Fenrir lost the war; but as wars often go, there is still a scar left behind that never truly disappears. However it is handled is up to Erinn's people, within whom he's left what last shreds of faith he had.

Ending B

<< *Claps.* >>

((I was thinking of starting a thread on the storyboard for everyone's individual post war stories... Since this thread would get too crowded too quickly >.>))

[[Moved back to the Bulletins upon request, as well as this strangely being hidden from public view. O_o; Would unlist it as an announcement thread, but no clue how. SORRY. *fail moderator*]]

((Moderators don't have the power to select that sort of thing for some reason. o__O Which is really dumb and counter-intuitive for that role. xD; I made it a sticky, did you want it to be something else?))