Loner, Tall, Handsome, False III.
18th of September, 401st of NDE. Hvitnaforu Forest near Ang-Osomi.
Darkness blanketed over the vast woodland of Hvitnaforu, where a mix of birch and pine trees grew to the size of Jottnars blooming with eerie shaded leaves belonging to the shade collection of winter itself. Though it was a soft darkness thanks to the snow that already descended onto the vast forest spanning hundreds of kilometers around the large capital of the Heimrad.
Silence settled onto the forest surrounding a lone hamlet once occupied by a small communion of wood elves and soratanese folk, now there rotten carcasses laid under the feet of the four Seekers who where resting after a long battle which was not exactly part of the plan.
“I give it to them, moving around in this a lot better than in my usual getup.” Selindrae said as her two fingers pressed onto the metallic horns of the dragon head while channeling her mana into it. Its dark snow silvery jaws loosened a little, allowing her to adjust the necktie looping around the deep sapphire shaded neck of the aetherna satin blouse.
For the most part, the newly designed blouse’s were shaded for all ranks in snow silver, except for the cuffs, the collars, the veiling placket and the asymmetrical round hem which followed the rank’s color.
The corset vest itself remained the same in looks and purposes, though Selindrae herself freed the neck from under the tyranny of the blouse collars and stretched them out to tickle her soft, smooth jaw.
Over it, the angularly contoured short coat now was a fusion of two pieces. The upper area of shoulder and collar was a separate starched dragonid leather piece welted onto the angularly contoured torso with an asymmetrical hemline.
The collar itself was of open design with snow silvery aetherna satin lining which bathed the other two collars in a graceful glow even in low light places like the decrepit temple Selindrae and Unomnus were in. It unevenly circled around their necks in a stiff, asymmetrical rectangular shape while its wall rose with military discipline beaten into them while their surface had the refined smoothness of high grade processed metals, the luster and texture of lavish leather.
The frilled crescent ended shoulders themselves were now smooth surfaced with two rectangular straps sitting on them, pressed down by two small buttons at their ends, while on both sides of their forearms, patches of the Black Rose glued themselves to the dark, sleek surface. At the ends, straps looped around with two small buttons once more pressing them down.
Below it, the ring zipper poked out from the upper part of the veiling placket which itself ran down in a straight line in the center, its surface just like the blouse’s embroidered with a rosy pattern following harsh, northern elven contours. On either side of the chest area, asymmetrical lapels folded towards the sleek surface, on their surface the same snow silvery rosy embroidery gleamed with a graceful soft glow.
Only the slightly widened waist belt broke its path as it ran under it. A large winged northern dragon embroidered onto its smooth, leathery surface with its tail and head meeting at the front.
Under and above it, pockets enchanted with spatial inscriptions rested with the waist pockets themselves placed in a diagonal position.
Like with the blouse, the asymmetrical hem, the towering collar, were coated in a thin line of liquid palladium of snow silvery shade while the snow silvery stitching itself blended into the rest of the piece almost perfectly – one had to strain their eyes very hard to notice the lines.
“Almost makes me regret not joining the Order.” Selindrae blurted out to the surprise of Unomnus while Dhumrac and Vratislav buried the former villagers risen from their rest, and the unfortunate adventurers who joined them not out of their volition as the now vanquished oni necromancer laid dead under Selindrae’s shapely bottom.
“Why didn’t you?” Unomnus asked as she sat down onto the corpse of the oni necromancer who was a bit of a miscalculation as the last Kiri found on the settlement, it was simply deserted after a strange illness wiped out the residents in a month centuries before the Great War even.
Selindrae avoided Unomnus curious gaze while her sweet scent made her blush a little. “It’s a long story, but in a nutshell, after Mom died, I saw their camaraderie was… is nothing more than a show.” She said softly as she felt a welcoming hotness spread from her private area though with a bit of self-control she kept it in check.
“With the number they grow too, I feel that is expected. The sisterhood is no more.” Selindrae smiled nostalgically as she watched Unomnus pull the borrowed uniform she wore.
Then the door sprung open and Dhumrac called out to them. “Ladies, time is up.” The two looked at each other and nodded as they stood up and marched out while Selindrae breathed heavily as she felt anxious for the first time in a long time.
**
“Shit, what in the Stygian Realms was that?” Voranal, a caitfrith Vordriar yelled out loud as the truck came to a sudden halt and she and her partner in the back compartment flew into the wall separating them from the driver’s side.
Like most of her kin, Voranal had a tall, delicate built with a shimmering skin of a southern tone with her arms and legs covered in silken fur of a rich brownish gray shade. Her hair long and slicked to the right while on the left it was sheared down to her smooth skin. She adjusted the left side rearview mirror reflecting her captivating feline elven visage, and watched the darkened earthly road with foliage and snow on the side looking for any small blur in the darkness.
“Guess, we’ll have to find out.” Lusea a sraudornian with deep ebony black complexion, hazelnut shaded wavy crown around her head said as she grabbed her Khriss Type-VI rapid mana gun while Voranal opened the door.
Both clad in the segmented drauclar plates – a material made through arcane means with the weight of leather garments, the strength and durability of metal – over their torso with clawed gauntlets grown over their hands, over their trousers and knee-high combat boots where dagger sharp ends poked the air.
“Anything suspicious?” Lusea asked as she inspected the left side then turned to Halldiira, their dark elven driver and a fellow vordriar blessed with skin as dark and blue as the night sky above them, voluminous hair as glinting and white as the moon kissed snow bundled into a singular low tail running down the sleek back of her short coat.
“Definitely.” Voranal said as her feline nose and ears twitched as she felt the scent of magic permeating the air then looked under the truck and noticed a mine responsible for their sudden halt.
A soft groan escaped her as Aiga, the fourth member of their stunning entourage yanked her out of the way with telekinesis. Her long dark hair covering the left side of her alluring eastern visage had a singular bun twinkling atop as she crouched down and sprayed mana bullets into the dimly lit forest while she also grown her cover from the ground.
“And you said this would be another boring job.” Voranal said from behind her own conjured cover while loosening her necktie. Aiga offered her a slight grin before she peeked over her cover and watched as spheres of iridescent light banished the soft darkness of the night. “I guess I was wrong.”
A bewildered grumble came from the hoshigawan vordriar as Unomnus cancelled her invisibility while she swung with her arms. The earth shook under her feet for a millisecond before it suddenly sent her high in their air where a strong gust of wind pummeled her into the ground.
“Aiga!” Voranal yelled out as she showered Unomnus in a hail fire of blazed mana bullets. “Should worry about yourself.” Vratislav who appeared behind her with his club swinging at her said. Voranal quickly and with a feline grace dodged down then swept his legs before planting her feet into his stomach midair.
He rolled three times on the dirt ground before he stopped the momentum by planting his hand into the ground. A wall of thick, hardened earth rose in front of his handsome, closely-trimmed face followed by the roar of mana bullets exploding, destroying a good chunk of the wall.
“Thanks!” He said to Dhumrac who was still shrouded in a high grade spell conjured by a magicraft device. The tall dwarf nodded while eyeing the two other Vordriars aiming their weapons at Vratislav.
Vratislav took deep breaths while beating his own chest, stretching his arms out while his body was enveloped in a medium-grade ward. He broke out from behind the conjured wall, and rushed towards Voronal while pumping inscriptions and mana into his legs as his velocity gradually increased until he became a blur in the night.
“Huh?” His confidence shattered in a moment as he felt intruding inscriptions break his rising speed, evaporating his ward just as Voronal turned around after realizing of her incoming doom. “Gotcha!” She said as her mana channeled into her weapon and seven mana bullets flew out from its barrel accompanied by the warped, arcane screeching.
One passed through his right ear, and tore it to pieces. Another entered his right eyes and smashed his brain which scorched and melted at the same time. Two more pierced his lungs, depriving him of air in millisecond and filling it with agonizing flames. Another two exploded, severing his legs and destroying his prided spear between his legs, though at least his swift death saved him from the agony of this loss. The seventh missed him by only a little, though it did not matter to the macabre piece that was once the Handsome Vratislav whose prized beard also seared away.
Voranal offered a silent prayer to the Seeker, hoping he finds his path to the Halls of Dhauzroth. She let out relieved sigh knowing at least one less adversary to take care of. “Should not pray while the battle is still going.” Selindrae then appeared behind her and whispered.
Though Voranal could only look at her in surprise for a moment, as she felt a Selindrae’s cold hands press against her waist, then a jolt of lightning made her scream out loud before she collapsed down in front of the dark haired aelfrith.
“Shit. It’s just the two of us.” Lusea said as she pressed hard against the large tires, her Khriss Type-VI pressed against her shapely, medium sized breasts behind her sleek uniform with the scaled surfaced drauclar chest plate over it.
Her succulent dark lips pressed together as she leaned out from her cover while her deep silver pupils lit up with an eerie glow, revealing the unseen arcane footsteps left behind by Selindrae leading further into the forest on the other side.
A transparent light bluish bubble grew around her as she walked out while the stock pressed deep into her shoulder, bending the drauclar plate without creating a single crease or wrinkle in its hardened surface of combined metal and leather.
Then suddenly she felt a twinkle in the air from her right and turned only to witness a fist made out of earth plummet into her stomach, kicking the air out from her body. For a few moments she breathed heavily and quickly while down on her knees before a jolt of lightning coursed through her as she spread onto her side facing the nature framed night sky with a pair of mauve eyes looking down at her.
Halldiira on the other hand abandoned her magicraft gun for her sword as Unomnus charged at her with her metallic quarterstaff. She parried the first strike with her own sword conjured out of thin air in the heat of the moment. “I guess I’m the only one left.” She murmured to herself with a grin on her dark bluish thin lips while kicking her stunning assailant away.
Footsteps came from behind her as she positioned herself into a stance with her right feet forward, the tip of her blade pointed at Unomnus. “And I’ll guess I won’t be enough to take you all down.” She turned around and her crimson eyes surveyed Dhumrac and Selindrae both ready to take her down in a matter of seconds as she concluded before dropping her weapon down at the ground while raising her arms high up in the air.
“Be gentle if possible.”
**
The blindfolded Halldiira listened onto the harsh ripping of the black sealing tape which wounded across her pretty, dark lips and cheeks, circled around her waist and above chest while also binding her wrists together behind the lower loop while her thighs and ankles were left unbound for the time being as she sat with her back to the side of the truck while Voranal’s head slumped onto her left shoulder.
She remained awfully compliant – to Selindrae at least – while the rest of her unconscious comrades were bound and gagged in the same fashion by Dhumrac and Unomnus. While the two were in the process of securing Aiga, Selindrae stripped off the drauclar plate from Lusea.
“Come.” When Unomnus and Dhumrac finished binding and gagging Aiga, Unomnus walked up to Halldiira and grabbed her by the armpits, swiftly yanking her onto her feet. Then to save time, she swiftly leaned down and braced her arms around the dark elves bottom as she lifted her over her shoulder. Inside she dropped Halldiira down with little to no grace then secured her ankles and thighs.
Dhumrac meanwhile headed for Lusea who was deprived her of her extra protective armor, and kicked her over to the sides. Within a few minutes, the sraudornian laid in the dirt and snow all bound, a muffle scarf covering her closed lids. The tall dwarf used his yellowing teeth to rip a long strip off which reached down to the ground before he swiftly pressed it around Lusea’s head while she moaned as the tape tightened itself onto her hair and smooth exotic skin.
“There. Thanks.” Selindrae blurted out as Unomnus helped her place Voranal to the opposite corner to Halldiira in the back of the long and wide compartment. The two reached into their borrowed coats’ pockets and pulled out metallic syringes they injected into Halldiira’s and Voranals’ neck. The naelfrith with a soft whimper muffled by the gleaming dark strip pressing onto her lips and cheeks drifted into the lands of dreams with her head slumped into her collars.
The remaining two trussed up vordriars were loaded in quickly and placed against the wall, with both sliding down. Like the former two, they were too injected with strong sedatives before Selindrae and Unomnus left the back compartment while Dhumrac remained inside, anxious as they begin their journey to the last stop of the gig.