Post by Eliria Ariist on May 6, 2016 21:36:30 GMT
Sol's Jewel
"Revenge provides it's own executioner."
:☼:••:☼:••:☼:••:☼:••:☼:
Many champion's are reveled for the heroic deeds and other acts they have accomplished - though have you heard of the one and only true champion of The Empress of Ravens? No? Well many believe that the champion simply left the goddess' devote worshipers - but no.
They betrayed her.
:☼:
The champion was a half elf of all things.
With constant side-eye glances, and mutterings lost on the tongues of usurpers, the elf didn't really mind all that much. It's not like it was something she wasn't used to, after all. Her life was a simple one:
Get bounty.
Get criminal.
Get gold.
Get out.
Get criminal.
Get gold.
Get out.
Bounty hunting. It was what she's done her whole life, amast a few other jobs as long as gold was involved and it wasn't against her moral compass. She traveled far and wide, meeting new people, making interesting friends - perhaps a fling or two - though she never had any true purpose; which didn't seem like such a big deal to her immature mind back then.
That was until one fateful morning, she received word of her closest friend's sudden death. Murder, is what the letter recalled.
In a fit of rage - the elf began searching far and wide, determined to find the lout that had ended her closest friend's life so abruptly, though her cries of anguish was unmistakable as it was nearly impossible - the trail had completely run cold. In desperation, she begged all the gods for help though none would speak to her, until a whisper brushed against her ear one fateful night as she slept.
"Follow the Raven," it beckoned, "Come to my temple, and we shall seek the deceiver."
Thus, she did.
:☼:
The temple was in ruins, if you could even call it a temple. What looked like an old watchtower was now in shambles, ivy vines clinging to the bricks as if it was trying to keep the structure upright as raven's swarmed at the very top - their cries near deafening as the elf pushed the wooden door open, only to have it timber to the force of her push, hitting the cobble stone floor with a loud clatter - scattering dust and ravens about in mass hysteria.
Slowly walking up the hazardous stone steps, the whispers began to buzz loudly in the elf's ears, causing her to wince.
"He took him away from you."
"A liar."
"A cheat."
"Kin's own blood was spilled."
"Kin's own blood."
"Kin."
"A liar."
"A cheat."
"Kin's own blood was spilled."
"Kin's own blood."
"Kin."
"STOP." the elf begged as she stumbled, falling to her knees. A small, bronze statue of a hooded woman clutching a raven was the only thing to greet her, it's mantle covered in cobwebs and ivy vines as a small pan with a single coin gleamed at the base.
The whispering ceased, giving the elf a moment to absorb their surroundings as they examined the statue carefully.
It was Kaluwa, as she was the only god that was not shown by face - for no mortal truly knew how her face looked like.
"You," the elf swallowed thickly, "You're the one who will help me?"
"Poor Sheonna." A voice reverberated from the statue, the words sounded laden with a honey like sweetness, but would clutch the elf's attention like tar, "Losing the only friend you've ever, truly had."
Sheonna sat on her knees quietly, unsure of how to respond to a talking statue, instead deciding to listen to what the mysterious goddess had to say.
"So, you want to find the man who took your friend away from you, yes?" the statue goaded, "You want...vengeance?"
The elf nodded.
"What if I told you that the man had a bounty on his head?"
Sheonna's ears perked up on those words.
"A bounty? Then he's committed more than one crime, where is it?" she spat, unable to sit and listen to a statue any longer. She made a motion of standing when a loud cackle came from the bronze woman.
"Patience, child. Patience! You will not be able to find him on your own. He is too clever."
"What then?" Sheonna hissed, "You're wasting my time."
For a brief moment, the bounty hunter swore the statue was smirking.
"I can give you the tools necessary to find him, you just have to do a simple favor for me."
The half elf nodded vigorously.
"Kill him."
The elvish woman hesitated. Not once, did she ever had to take a life. Even while hunting, she would rather let a criminal go than risk death.
"Kill him," the statue repeated soothingly, "and I will give you unmeasurable power."
Sheonna took a deep breath, nodding - the hole that was in her heart burned with a new found determination.
"It shall be done."
"Good," the statue cooed, "Than I shall make you my champion!"
In a whirl of white, the half elf found herself suddenly cladded with new black leather armor, gilded with gold that gleamed brilliantly when hit with the light that was seeping into the old watch tower. She awed at the new scimitars that were given, and lastly - the falcon that landed on the head of the statue, it's golden eyes meeting the half-elf's own matching pair, showing a remarkable amount of intelligence that she never experienced within an animal.
"These are my gifts to you, my champion." the goddess revered, "Now go! Find the man that had made you restless, and spill his blood in the name of your god!"
An outburst of raven caws practically shook the watchtower, as Sheonna held her arm out, which the falcon took gracefully.
"Yes, my goddess."
:☼:
It took ten years to find him, and he wasn't anything that she expected.
He was an old man. Far more on the portly side and with a constant, sharkish grin on his face. Her sources spoke of him once being a jester before going mad. He used to have a beautiful family though they haven't been seen for quite some time, though she had an idea what had happened to them - much to her disgust.
He was the uncle of her closest friend, after all - and look what happened to him.
Though the most prominent thing now, is the sharkish ex-jester was now a simple spellsword, taking on his own contracts of assassination - which is exactly why she was going to show him no mercy.
"We're here." Sheonna murmured to her bird Mithral, who simply bobbed his head in response. They moved skillfully, weaving around the rows of tall wheat shoots without making a single noise, while the looming abandoned barn stayed within their peripheral vision.
"Care to get a better view?" she asked the bird, who without hesitation, took off to get an aerial point to find the man that she knew was hiding within the ruddy structure.
Sneaking over to the front door, Sheonna nimbly graced her fingers, sliding it open with ease. Though, it wasn't enough - as a sharkish grin was already standing right there, leering at her figure as if he planned to have her as his next meal.
"Long time no see, child." The man crooned, causing Sheonna to flinch, automatically grasping for her weapons in sheer muscle memory.
"Well, you found me." the man licked his lips, pulling out an odd dagger, with glowing runes carved in the blade's edge -
"So what are you going to do with me?"
:☼:
Breaths heaving, battle cries echoing - the blades singing as they hit each other again and again; the battle was long, tedious - nerve racking as it seemed each side was at their peak. Evenly matched, evenly skilled.
The man moved with a fluid grace despite his size, making Sheonna believe there is something else at play here, believing it had something to do with that blade. Every time she had a clear opening, he would always find a way parry with the dagger, which infuriated her the more she swung.
"What's the matter?!" He chidded, parrying yet another blow, "Can't hit a moving target?!"
Just as the old man contorted to avoid yet another slashing move, Sheonna kicked up some of the dust and dirt from the barn floor, causing him to swing widely as the dust particles instantly irritated his eyes.
He dropped the dagger, howling in fury, conjuring a magical blade just as Sheonna picked up his.
In one swift motion, they both swung. The magical blade embedded in Sheonna's thigh, just as the runic dagger sliced straight through the old man's throat.
Sheonna bit her lip to avoid screaming as the blade disintegrated as soon as the master's life essence left his body, causing her to ease herself down on the barn floor to recover.
After ten long years, the deed had been done, and so - the contract had been fulfilled. The burning in Sheonna's chest resided, only to crumble into a much more unwholesome feeling. She wasn't happy, she didn't feel just. She didn't even feel that she had succeeded in anything.
She just felt empty.
:☼:
"Congratulations, my child," a familiar whisper invaded Sheonna's mind, "You've won."
A hooded woman then appeared before her, as if rising from the ashes, a large smile gracing her face, which made her look almost alien in the moonlight peering through the cracks of the old barn's wood.
Sheonna nodded, breathing heavily.
"And now, I shall bestow you with what I owe. You must continue to save the voiceless. Go forth, and avenge all those that dare crush the weak and voiceless in my name!"
The woman held out her hand to help Sheonna up, her smile widening ever so larger, her fingers curling like raven talons.
Sheonna looked at the dagger within her hand, the red runes still glinting on the blade's well crafted surface, before tilting her chin up to the goddess.
"No."
Kaluwa laughed, "Excuse me?"
Sheonna's golden eyes were piercing, almost as if they were turning into a hot molten mess, ready to encase the goddess to make her into a statue of gold, instead of bronze.
"I said no."
The goddess' smile instantly disappeared - her hand retracting and contorting until one hook like talon was pointing straight at Sheonna - her voice sounding like many at once as she spoke:
"Then you will reap what you sow."
Suddenly, the goddess let out an blood curdling scream as the sounds of beating wings began to approach with ferocity
. Sheonna scrambled back to her feet, grabbing the dagger and barged through the barn doors - running for her life as a massive swarm of raven's plowed through the barn, through the wheat field, and practically turned the sky black.
:☼:
Since then, Kaluwa has never had a champion, unable to let go of the grudge she harbors for the half elf.
