Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 5

"Thats it..." Circi points, her black eyes wide, "...thats him" she snarls.

Rain steps up next to Twilight, "You seem upset. Going into battle against a powerful foe in a negitive mindset is asking for a loss." She glances to the purple unicorn, "Whats on your mind?"

Twilight looks at the spectacle. Slowly, but surely, she facepalmed.

"And once again, common sense gets punished by sheer coincidence. Why, why do I even bother." she thought to herself

She looks back up and spoke. "Less quipping, more moving."

She spread her wings and headed there.

"I don't think he intended to kill us. That final attack was with sanity. I think he intended for you to take over." Ana steps forward and takes both of her hands in her own "he believes every Witcher is enslaving their Glystaria. I don't think he could even comprehend the relationship we have."

She smiles "That's why you need to take over. Show this bastard that even in this victory he still lost. I want you to have my body. The reason we chased him down was to learn who he was so we could break the curse plaguing Rakshata. We need to let the other's know and they only way to do that is for you to tell them"

"I want you to go on living. There is still so much to do and to explore. People to save. I bet you there are things that the Glystaria know that would massively improve the survival rate of the people on Nifelheim." She gently places one hand on the lower back of Rose's head and upper neck. The face of the two mere inches from each other at this point.

"but, it's up to you. Whatever happens I'm so glad that we met. I couldn't imagine my life any other way. Goodbye, and I love you"

Anastasia then pulls Rose in for one final kiss

Rain frowns, "Hm..." she flexes her wings a moment, "Lets go. We have no time to waste." She takes a deep breath looking back to Ursula, "We can do this." She gives a determined nod.

(Ana)


Holding still for a moment, Rose finally leaned back and smiled, as tears streamed down her cheeks

"I love you. I'll make that bastard pay, for what he's done to us."

She locked you in a tight hug and held close. You felt a sting of pain in your heart, the burning steel of the Witcher's blade and the world around you became growing smaller, more narrow, as darkness closed in.

But even as the world faded away, Rose's tears filled eyes and her mournful smile, was the only thing you could see, before a veil of darkness covered you, like a blanket.

Rain slowly steps up behind Johan. She rests a hand on his shoulder, "Johan." She gets his attention. She has beside her, a long rod of shimmering green metal, "I've been working on a project on my own for a bit. Its a little rough but with what little tools I had I did what I could." She closes her eyes, "There wont be cutting, or slashing. Every attack will be of your own thought, and your own skill. Its not just a weapon, its a part of you, An extention of your body. You should use it as such." She smiles, "Perhaps you'll find something within its activitys that you couldn't live without before."

Circi frowns at Rose, "are you going to be lurking in our shadow or are you sticking around?" She pauses, "Genuine Question."

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rose was leaning on the tree, alone, her arms crossed. You don't recall the last time you saw her, in her true form. Spectral leather armor, a transparent quiver and bow, over her back. She quietly watched you, fixing you with a firm frown.

As you slowly approached, she pulled out a Memory Orb out of her pocket, and begrudgingly tossed it at Viki. Viktoria heavily caught it in her palm, then looked back at Rose with a mixed expression.

"...what's on it?" Viktoria called.

"...We saw the Ancients true form." Rose quietly muttered "Without any disguises or corpses. There's not many of them, left alive. I'm sure if you dig through your libraries, you can match his likeness to his real name in your records. It should be enough to lift the Curse from Rakshata, once you translate the words." Rose said.

"Thank you." Viktoria said, but Rose scowled at you:

"...she died for this. Make it count."

"Tim was our scholar" Rogue comments, "No doubt our progress will be much reduced without him, but this will go some way to help."

Rain wrote: "Johan." She gets his attention. She has beside her, a long rod of shimmering green metal, "I've been working on a project on my own for a bit. Its a little rough but with what little tools I had I did what I could.

Johan looked at the staff and accepted it gingerly. Disassociating from his old sword, the staff lit aflame and dissipated, its particles flying into his chest. "...thank you" he gingerly smiled to you "I will cherish it and train with it daily."

Rogue wrote:"Tim was our scholar" Rogue comments, "No doubt our progress will be much reduced without him, but this will go some way to help."

Circi wrote:"are you going to be lurking in our shadow or are you sticking around?" She pauses, "Genuine Question."

"No. I'm done." Rose shook her head with a frown "...with Witchers, with parasites... all of it. I did right by Ana, giving you the orb, but that's it. I'm done with all this violence and war."

"...what are you going to do?" Kaylee quietly asked.

Rose sighed "...going to take some time for myself, to figure things out. See where I fit in the world. I'll travel, maybe... haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"...thank you for your help." Viktoria solemnly said "You didn't have to do this."

"Whatever." Rose turned around, showing her back to you. "I'll see you around I guess. Or not." She jumped down a hill and disappeared in the trees.



Viktoria watched the spot where she stood a moment ago, for several moments, then turned around and barked, her voice ringing loudly across the area "Alright, lets go! We don't have a moment to lose!"

She ran up and jumped atop one of the Griffons, in one fluid motion, the creature emitted a loud squawk in return, restlessly unfolding its wings. Viktoria extends her hand to you, to help you climb up. Even on all fours, the Griffon was extremely tall and climbing on its back unassisted looked difficult.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Viktoria watched the spot where she stood a moment ago, for several moments, then turned around and barked, her voice ringing loudly across the area "Alright, lets go! We don't have a moment to lose!"

She ran up and jumped atop one of the Griffons, in one fluid motion, the creature emitted a loud squawk in return, restlessly unfolding its wings. Viktoria extends her hand to you, to help you climb up. Even on all fours, the Griffon was extremely tall and climbing on its back unassisted looked difficult.

"Are you sure we should come with?" Rogue asks, "The griffons'll be lighter with just a mimimum crew, and Bastilla won't exactly be pleased to see us..."

"The Griffons can lift up to eight people, without slowing down," Viktoria replied "And Bastila can't arrest you, so long as you're traveling as part of my unit. You don't have to worry, I'll vouch for you."

Twilit gives a look in the direction of the parasite running out there, her gaze having a story, but one incomprehensible. She has been silent this whole time, keeping her words to herself.

When the griffins get ready, she spreads her wings and lifts herself on to the one with Victoria. Once landed, she slowly speaks.
"Do we have everything? A sketch of the curse, the memory orb, a plan to approach Bastilla?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"The Griffons can lift up to eight people, without slowing down," Viktoria replied "And Bastila can't arrest you, so long as you're traveling as part of my unit. You don't have to worry, I'll vouch for you."

"Well okay, but if I end up impaled on a stake next to her dining table, I'm blaming you" Rogue shrugs, and climbs on to the griffon.

Rain gets on with a couple flaps of her wings, "What could go wrong?" Rain says sarcasticly.

Circi quitely climbs apon the griffon. She sighs softly as she falls forward onto its back.

Circi is asleep.

Kaylee Brown wrote:  

//HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAAIIINNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!



 
               
             
                       
                     
                   

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Rogue Fire wrote:

Kaylee Brown wrote:  

//HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAAIIINNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!



 
               
             
                       
                     
                   

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

//Happy birthday Rain, you crazy kid//

"Mm." Viktoria nodded to Twilight, patting the pocket on her torso "I copied the words of the curse, onto a piece of paper, the best I could. Bastila should be able to translate them, as soon as we meet her."

She looked down "...there's no need for a plan to approach Bastila, she is my sister... she'll listen."


"Good luck." Ryuuken solemnly nodded, slowly stepping away from the Griffons, to avoid getting caught in their wing span.

"Wait, you're not coming?" Ursula called out in alarm.


"A king must remain in Rakshata. Especially now." Ryu deeply sighed "...the curse is still claiming lives and the people are ready to riot. If a king doesn't stay behind, we might not have a castle to go back to. I need to stay behind and keep the peace, maintain order."

He looked at Viki, then Twilight, then everyone present "...remember my words, okay? Don't take any unnecessary risks. There may come a time when you'll have to risk your life for something. If that time comes, only do it, if you feel its absolutely necessary... god speed."


Before you could properly reply, Ryu whistled and both Griffons lifted their massive wings and sent an unrelenting gust of wind to wash over the grove, before taking off, rising hundreds of meters into the air and turning East, toward an endless forest, that stretched on for hundreds of miles.



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Heavy storm clouds covered the skies, the whole journey to Sleipnir castle, but it never rained or snowed. A foreboding silence surrounded the forest, there were no animal sounds, no birds that usually chirped, or cracks of wood, as a cautious paw miss-stepped. Only the wind quietly howled.

You flew for 2 days straight, taking only a 4 hour stop to sleep at night. The Griffons that seemed so mighty and powerful, began to show sings of fatigue, towards the evening of the second day. But Viktoria pushed, her eyes permanently locked on the horizon.


And as the night of the second day began to set in, you saw the first silhouettes of Sleipnir Castle. It shined with a thousand green lights, so bright, they were visible for miles, sparkling and shining so beautifully in the distance.

It was only when you flew within 20 kilometers of the castle, you realized that something was very wrong.


It wasn't decorative lights that shined across the city streets, its buildings and towers, it was the gazers of Shimmer. The fountains of the glowing, green liquid, gushed out of the ravaged ground, flooding the streets of the city, washing away whole neighborhoods, spraying over the rooftops of buildings, leaving huge splashes on the sides of the towers, slowly and steadily dissolving everything that fell in its way.

The city was obliterated. The earth it stood on, was torn apart, bent out of shape, cratered in some places, rising up in others, in a series of miniature volcano's, as if an earthquake of unimaginable power, had ravaged the ground.

The hundreds of thousands of houses and huts in the city were left mangled, most of their walls and their rooftops collapsed, only very few stood intact and Shimmer flooded most streets of the city.


But what drew your attention were the Parasite Suppression Obelisks, the towering, rectangular structures that stood in a circle, around the city, evenly spaced. There were about 12 of them in total, and 3 had collapsed.
And through that hole in the perimeter, hundreds of thousands of tiny creatures swarmed in, glowing a sickly orange, transparent color. You have never seen anything like it. It was a horde.
You could no longer make out individual parasites. They numbered so many, they turned into a uniform, endless, thrashing wave, that spilled into the city and flooded its streets, even as the Shimmer continued to flow, swallowing humans and parasites alike.

The horde didn't stop, mindlessly rushing into the city and consuming everything in its path.



"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Viktoria released a gut wrenching shriek, as she stared at the city.












"Viktoria, look!" Kaylee barked, trying to shake the girl out of the stupor "Everyone!" Kaylee screamed harder, pointing to the right, where just outside the towering walls of the city, stood a makeshift stronghold, spraying gushes of fire and lighting onto the pushing parasite horde.

Deep trenches and walls of earth, hastily dug, sharpened logs, sticking outward like massive spears, surrounded what looked like a makeshift command post and foothold, where close to 50 small figures hastily mingled, some manned the perimeter, discharging massive projectiles of magic, upon the parasites that got close, others stood at the center, mingling under a large makeshift tent, the Sleipnir banner flying over it.


Taking the rains of the Griffon from Viktoria's paralyzed hands, Kaylee screamed out a battle cry and forced the Griffon to dive toward the encampment.

A series of Witchers immediately took firing positions on the ground and you saw a dozen Witcher bows lit up, aimed in your direction. A horrid feeling washed over you, as if you were submerged in cold water for a split second and you realized you have been Scanned.


Someone on the ground shrieked at the top of their lungs and the bowmen lowered their weapons, returning back to the perimeter of the camp.

A group of them cleared the way, as the two Griffons loudly and messily landed, continuing to run across the ground for a good few dozen meters, making the people on the ground, scatter in random directions, before you finally came to a stop.


No one paid much attention to you anymore. Witchers were running in every direction, bringing supplies to the perimeter and dragging the wounded away. You saw Witchers with faces covered in claw marks so deep, you couldn't recognize them, their arms or legs missing, their bodies covered in blood, shrieking, crying in agony.

The battle was raging on, the air filled with barking orders and barrages of magic. In this chaos, you spotted Bastila, under the tent, gathered over a map on the table. Clad in brown, heavy armor, she was screaming at the Witchers around her, barking in fury at the top of her lungs.


"--I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! THIS IS HAPPENING!" She shrieked at a veteran Witchers, who's face was riddled with scars. "THIS IS MY CITY! MY FUCKING CITY!!! MY PEOPLE DISSOLVING IN THERE!" She pointed at the dissolving towers behind her "I WON'T LET THIS BE FOR NOTHING!"

"This is suicide" The veteran Witcher grimly scowled "You will achieve nothing by-"


"YOU WANT TO PULL BACK! FINE!" Bastila roared, flipping over the table, sending the map and the small objects on it flying all over the ground "I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"

Rain marches up into the tent, "Bastila! We need you but we're also going to help in any way we can! We see the situation, and we are here to help. There doesn't appear to be time for ifs, or buts." Rain flips the table back over resting her hands on it, gazing seriously at bastile, "The city is lost, but we can still save as many citizens as possible. There seems to be an influx of open housing in Rakshata, we can house refugees there even if its not safe right now. To be blunt, People are turning to stone due to a curse in Rakshata. We need your aid to break the curse, We're here now though and saving as many lives as possible is our number one priority." She waves the party over, "Quickly now! The longer we dawdle the more people sink into the shimmer and become parasite kibble."

Twilight overseas the area, she's clearly horrified at the scene. She feels the contents of her stomach come up, but swallows it back down.

She goes to Bastilla, already, stifling a sigh at Rain's rapid assertion. "King Bastilla, I'm aware you wouldn't want to see the likes of us in a time like this, but your sister, Viki, is in need of your skills. Given the situation, you also need a lot of help, so we're not going to sit on on our thumbs."

She stood up. "What's the situation? What's the options? I just want to know how we can help as effectively as possible."

Kaylee Brown wrote:The battle was raging on, the air filled with barking orders and barrages of magic. In this chaos, you spotted Bastila, under the tent, gathered over a map on the table. Clad in brown, heavy armor, she was screaming at the Witchers around her, barking in fury at the top of her lungs.


"--I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! THIS IS HAPPENING!" She shrieked at a veteran Witchers, who's face was riddled with scars. "THIS IS MY CITY! MY FUCKING CITY!!! MY PEOPLE DISSOLVING IN THERE!" She pointed at the dissolving towers behind her "I WON'T LET THIS BE FOR NOTHING!"

"This is suicide" The veteran Witcher grimly scowled "You will achieve nothing by-"


"YOU WANT TO PULL BACK! FINE!" Bastila roared, flipping over the table, sending the map and the small objects on it flying all over the ground "I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"

Rogue hangs back slightly, so Bastila's wrath will be vented upon others rather than himself.

Bastila exhaled slowly, then looked grimly at the towers, covered in glowing green:

"...we are dealing, with the worst possible scenario." she looked at you:


"One of my high ranking scholars, believed there was a vulnerability, in the Parasite Suppression Obelisks, guarding our cities. He was researching the subject for months, trying to discern, if the parasites could circumvent the Suppression field.

One hour ago, I was sitting in my office in the high castle, when a messenger from the research laboratory came to me. He said my scholar found irrefutable evidence, that our Obelisks had a harrowing vulnerability, that every Castle Town was in danger.

Before I could even make it to his lab, I heard three explosions outside. As I looked out the window, I saw three Obelisks engulfed in smoke at their base, before they fell to the ground.


Then Kaznachey had walked through and unleashed a meteor storm on my city. Fire and rock rained from the sky. His bombardment penetrated the earth so deep, he nicked an underground river of Shimmer, that began to erupt and spill, all over the city.
The next second, a horde of parasites emerged from the forest and swarmed what was left."



"Wait, Kaznachey is here!?" Kaylee called in anxiety. "We didn't see him on our approach."


"Kaznachey retreated back to the forest line, as soon as he was done raining meteors on our city" Bastila scowled at the horizon "But do not be mistaken... he's here... on the sidelines... he's watching."



She looked back to you "I do not dare to expect survivors... those who lived through the hellfire from the skies and the Shimmer, are being devoured or infected by parasites. Without proper medicine and help from a Witcher, they will succumb to infection and become eaten from within."

Her expression turned horrid and grim "...the best thing I can do, is make their deaths mean something...

All of this, wasn't an accident. It wasn't an accident that our city was breached and obliterated, minutes after the Obelisks vulnerability was discovered... they're trying to bury the evidence... the evidence that shows exactly how a Parasite can demolish an Obelisk.


...that evidence still lies in the lab... I have to go there... I have to get it... even if its costs me my life."



"King Bastila, come to your senses!" one of her high ranking Witchers had barked "That lab could have been demolished and dissolved in the Shimmer ! You don't even know if the evidence survived the assault! Entering the city is sheer folly! Its not just suicide! Its a pointless crime! You have no right to throw your life away, when your people need you!"


"The hell is the matter with you!" Kaylee scowled "People could have survived inside! They could still be alive! You can't just leave them to die!"


"Do not talk down to me, Machine Folk." the high ranking Witcher muttered through gritted teeth. "You lived less than a year on this planet. You've no idea the sacrifices we had to make to survive. I'm not sending men into that meat-grinder, so they can die for nothing!" the old Witcher muttered through gritted teeth.


"...you claim to do this for humanities survival" Kaylee dangerously muttered "But all I see is a coward."


"How dare you!" The Witcher barked, unsheathing his blade. "I held the parasite border, before you were even born, girl!"


Bastila looked at Rogue, Twilight, Rain and Kaylee, then bitterly smirked to the Witcher "...its funny... I see more eye to eye with Machine Folk than you."


"King Bastila.." the Witcher began, but Bastila scowled, turned around and began marching to the edge of the stronghold, heading in the direction of a massive hole in the city wall "GENERAL BASTILA!" the Witcher screamed to her back "The city is flooded! You even lay eyes on the Shimmer, you will go mad! How do you expect to reach the lab, when the green death is flooding the streets?!"



"This is MY city" Bastila roared through gritted teeth, turning hear head back in a scowl "...I know every street corner... every district... I will die, before I let all this, be for nothing."

"GENERAL BASTILA!" The Witcher barked at the top of his lungs and his eyes widened, as Bastila scowled at him, pulled a long handkerchief from her pocket, tied it over her eyes and began walking forward, stepping through the broken wall of the city and disappearing behind the sickly green mist, that covered the area.

Twilight took a deep breath to let it all sink in. Then she spoke firmly. "We're not letting you go alone, Bastilla. We all need you."

She stepped outside and barked loudly. "ADAM! CIRCI! GET OVER HERE!"

She then turns around. "Okay, who's going into the shimmer there? Volunteers?"

As Twilight calls for Circi, the Sinner seems to be standing just outside the tents entryway. She brings a spider leg up and taps Twilights shoulder, "Right here." She crosses her arms, "This whole situation is a disgusting, hard to look at mess. Quite litterally." She states, "...anyway. what did you need?"

Rain furrows her brow at the veteran witcher, "Uh-huh. Funny. A group of Mechanica walks up and are willing to do more for Nifelhimes people then you are." She shakes her head, "Even if we cant save the town the LEAST you could do is do your job and go save lives. Otherwise, why the hell did you become a witcher?" She shakes her head, "I've been on the battlefield since your great, great, great, great, great, grandmother was dropped onto this forsaken planet." She huffs, "Whats she doing? Whats her plan. We need to know before she gets herself killed." She asks the witcher.