Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-3293219-20150906191937/@comment-3293219-20150909172000

As Talin drifted off the sleep, his mind began to wander, taking him back four hours, back to his battle with the Fire Demons.

Four Hours Earlier
Talin broke away from the group, chasing the fleeing Demon, who had seemingly broken ranks and fled the field.

He was most likely trying to report back to Tharn or maybe regroup with some others, maybe it was a trap? Either way, the Imperial wasn’t taking any chanced, in spite of his minor fractures, bruises and pulled muscles, he pushed on and sprinted after the creature, knowing that he’ll probably regret pushing himself later.

The Imperial kept up the pursuit, turning the corner behind a rock and fleeing off into a cavern towards Northpoint. However, as he emerged from behind the large boulder on the corner, he quickly found himself grinding to a halt as the Demon completely vanished from sight.

He blinked in disbelief, shaking his head to ensure that his injuries weren’t tricking his mind but he quickly realised that the Demon had definitely vanished, much to his confusion. The former Guard scanned the horizon with his eyes, though his view grew smaller and smaller as everything grew obscured by a strange fog, it wasn’t early morning… it seemed almost impossible to have fog at this time of day, yet there it was…

As the fog decreased his view, to a small ring, as if it was caging him at the center of the path, he began to get a sense of uneasiness. As if he was being observed…

Talin swiftly spun around, ready to face the creature observing him, finding himself ending up face to face with a silhouetted figure, which swiftly loomed over him, snatching his shoulders in its large, clawed hands and bringing him down to the ground. The Imperial landed on the ground, with a heavy thud, followed by the clatter of his armour but swiftly deflected the attack by cutting the creature’s hip with his sword, involuntarily and causing it to roll off, howling as it nursed its wounds.

After slowly rolling over, Talin readied his shield, getting it ready for some serious combat, these creatures were essentially killing machines, given his recent injuries, he knew that he’d be at a disadvantage as fighting this thing would be hard enough, even with a group, in his condition but on his own, he’d have to utilize his skill and expect the unexpected.

The Imperial noticed that the creature was slowly rising to its feet, giving off a soft growl and a snort as it readied itself for the up and coming battle. Talin didn’t want to give it the chance, he charged forward, with his sword raised, ready to bring it down on the creature’s skull.

However, against Talin’s expectations, the creature gasped as soon as the Imperial’s shadow was cast down on her, he looked up and raised his hands in panic.

“W-Wait, human!” The Creature begged, its voice was deep, its speech rather slurred but its words were clear as crystal. Talin ground to a halt, not expecting the creature to have the ability to speak at all, never mind request a parley. Somehow, Talin felt inclined to listen to it…

“I… I know your face… Imperial…”

“You were sent to kill me, I assumed that you’d be able to recognise me…”

The creature growled, as if Talin was frustrating him, shaking his head dozily as if he was rattling his brains to recall…

“T-Talin… Warhaft… I… R-Remember…” He paused, seemingly calming down as he thought on it, the memories flooding his mind, he could almost see himself as a human but it was like the image was obscured by fog.

“You were… An Imperial… You ‘’’are’’’ Imperial. Like I… used to be…”

The Imperial’s brow furrowed, though he didn’t seem angry, if anything he seemed sympathetic. If this creature was human and he could remember… It must be agonizing, he was amazed that the creature wasn’t completely insane.

“You know me?” Talin asked, he had a bad feeling but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions, in case he was right.

“Y-Yes… We wore the… armour... iron and leather, crimson trim, report to dormitory six…” The Creature paused, finding that he used up all of the fragments of his memory, though it seemed enough to reveal his identity.

“V-Veranus?” Talin whispered, slowly kneeling down in front of the creature, meeting it eye to eye as he tried to find any faint trace of humanity in it, however, even this had been warped beyond recognition.

The Mutant’s head slowly rose as their gaze met, his eyes trembled as if tears were building up behind them, finding himself both burdened and freed from the discovery of his former identity.

“Y-Yes…

I am…

I… W-Was Veranus.” ‘Veranus’ recalled, crossing his face as he did his best to remember himself as a human but even with his name, the image was so obscured to him that he couldn’t identify any of his former features.

Perhaps that was for the best, not knowing who he used to be, not knowing what he lost…

“What did Tharn do to you?” The Imperial asked, unable to hide the unease in his tone as he rested his sword on the ground, kneeling down to the beast’s level.

“Tharn...?” The Creature groaned, sounding incredibly confused by that name.

“The… Advisor?”

“Y-Yes… The Half-Breed, what did he do?”

“He… D-Did nothing… That I could see. It was the Emperor, he assembled us in a hall and had us all… transformed into monsters.”

“Veranus, the Emperor ‘’’is’’’ Tharn! He took the throne and arrested me and my people to keep us quiet about it. He sent you after us to kill us, so that we couldn’t stop him, he knows that we’re a threat.”

“Y-Yes… He told us that you were… enemies of the Empire. None of us questioned it, u-until now… Until I saw… You… I thought this part of me was… lost…”

“Veranus… None of us have seen the City in days, we need to know what’s going on. Anything that you can tell us could be crucial.”

“I… Know little… We were kept in the dark… It feels like I’ve always lived in the dark…”

Talin nodded, falling silent as he hung his head, not knowing what to do for his former comrade at this point, Talin knew nothing about this sort of magic but even he knew that such a thing would be difficult to undo, if it was possible at all. Even if it was possible, they wouldn’t have the Mage’s Guild as a resource as they were in league with Tharn, who else has the knowledge and the means to reverse the transformation?

“Veranus…

I’m…

I’m sorry that this happened to you, I wish I could’ve… been there, could’ve stopped this. I don’t even know what me and my people can do for you, I don’t think that any of them have ever seen anything like this before, let alone cured it.”

Veranus slowly hung his head and closed his eyes, nodding in acceptance, he knew that his fate was sealed from the second that he saw those orbs glow and if anything, all he sought now was an end to this retched existence, by any means necessary.

“I…

Feel…

Tharn’s hold on me.

It grows…

Stronger…

The more I resist, the harder it becomes to hold it off… I… Feel myself slipping, feel… compelled to do as he says.”

Talin quickly knelt down in front of the former Imperial, giving him a stern look as he did so, not wanting to lose another friend to this crisis.

Not today…

“Veranus, I know you, you’re… you’re a strong man, one of the best our unit had, I know that you can resist this. For a few days at least…”

“Days!? W-Warhaft… I will not even make it… through the night… I will either… become a slave… to the twisted… bastard who shaped me or lose my sanity entirely as my mind is destroyed.

I have… no choice… no chance at life…

I need… To… I need you to… End it…

End me… ”

Talin gently shook his head, finding that his arms were going weak as the responsibility felt like a ton on his shoulders, he’d never purposefully swung a sword at a friend before, especially not with the intentions of killing them.

He wasn’t sure about the necessity of it either, it was more than possible that there was a straight forward reversal to this process. Slaying this creature, here and now, could also be condemning Veranus, who could have been quite easily saved. But it was just as likely that Vernus couldn’t be saved and that sparing him would only prolong his suffering, like a cruel joke. He wasn’t even sure how accurate his description was but by this time tomorrow, Veranus could simply be a mindless slave to Tharn’s will or raving mad.

Either way, his fate seemed pretty much sealed… With only mere seconds to stew over it, Talin eventually came to his conclusion as both he and his friend looked up and met eye to eye, the Imperial took a tight hold of his sword in his hand, getting ready to use it as he slowly rose to his feet.

He slowly got into position, raising the weapon and hovering the blade just above the Demon’s head as he hung it, sighing heavily as he tightened his grip, feeling like he could just throw it to the floor at any moment.

Vernus or what was left of him, smiled a little as he hung his head, sighing heavily as he saw that his end was near…

“Thank you… Warhaft…”

Talin was somewhat saddened to hear this as he did not wish to be thanked for murdering his friend, times were beyond strange and never before had he longed to be back in the Imperial City, having his ear chewed off by a Sergeant or being belittled by his peers…

“I’m Sorry…” He whispered, driving the sword down.

Twelve Hours Later
Talin awoke as the morning light bled through the curtains, shining on his face and causing him to roll over, burying his face into his pillow. He didn’t want to get up, not just yet…

The Shirtless Imperial placed his arms under his pillow and wrapped it around his head, trying to return to the realm of dreams before he was forcibly pulled once again…