Age of Warriors

[Dugan195]

Buckle looked at the arguing people and then back at Iniac, "I have decided that I am against killing or harming Iniac Carter while he is in this state. At least until the target of Artimus Finn is dead. Every Kingdom has decided to kill Artimus Finn so it is not an act of this war." When he was finished he walked back over to the others, "But what are we to do with him? We could leave him and hope for the best...or take him and hope that he is not hurt during the fights we are going to get into." Buckle said weighing the options mechanically in his head.

As the group was trying to decide what to do they heard the familiar unhumane scream in the distance that belonged only to the terror Rentus.He was close by and had apparently found something to kill. Buckle grabbed his weapon to ready himself to fight as Ethet started screaming. "Its' the monster. He is coming to get me. I haven't been a bad girl. I haven't been a bad girl." Ethet kept screaming over and over again as she ran off into the forest crying. Dalia went after Ethet in the forest but lost sight of her quickly.

Buckle walked up towards her as she returned, "Has our little friend disappeared?" Dalia nodded silently. "She is a legend, she should be able to handle herself, if she runs across those bandits atleast."



Ethet ran through the forest hopping of logs and roots in her way. Tears flowed down her face. "Why is thebad monster after me. Why!" Ethet said, suddenly she tripped over a root and fell to the ground. "Ow" she cried grabbing a knee that bruised up, "That hurt." She pouted and slowly made her way back to her feet.

"Ahhhhh is the little baby girl hurt?" A female voice said from behind her. Ethet spun around hoping to see Dalia, but the voice sounded wrong.

"Did the little butterfly hurt her wing?" Another female voice said quietly to her left. Once again Ethet spun that way only to see nothing in the trees. she started to whimper.

"Who's there she called out?"

A third voice responded, "The one's who want to pluck your little wings."

Ethet let out a yelp and started to gather a swarm of bugs around her. "Stay back. I am a legend of Kalbor I can kill whoever."

The second voice laughed, "Oh the little brat thinks she can kill us? Lets cut her ******** throat out."

The third voice started to laugh and agree with the second voice until the first one cut in,. "No they wouldn't have only sent her to come after us. There must be more. We should take her back to camp and...extract the information from her." The other two voices and laughed and agreed in unison as the three Juna Sisters, three beautiful but sadistic legends, stepped from the woods and surrounded Ethet.  

[Joa-Boo]

“That settles is. I am never having kids!” Crux shook his hands in the direction that Ethet ran off in as if to shake her from existence. She would have been useful in a fight if she was a bit older. At least that is what Crux thought.

“Well Buckle I could either sing him to sleep walk to my tune or Muez could pull his strings, either way we can keep Iniac with us.” Dalia suggested, remembering that Buckle had even spoke about Iniac. She was a bit distracted at the moment however to give it all of her thought. Rentus was close by and Ethet ran off. Things were not looking good for the group.

“Dalia do you want to go after her?” Crux asked. It was redundant because he could read it on her face. She wasn’t all of herself right now. Not with Ethet out there alone and Rentus screeching in the background.

“It would make me feel a tad bit better.” Dalia shook her head. “She couldn’t have gotten that far.”

“Muez you stay here with Buckle and take shelter. Try to stay hidden if Rentus comes around. Dalia and I will run after Ethet and see if we can bring her back.” Crux jumped to it and Dalia followed. The two were lost in the words within minutes, searching for their little fairy friend.

Muez attached his strings to Iniac and lifted the incapacitated zombie to its feet. The Iniac puppet gave a hardy laugh. “Myabe I can be used in place of that poor robotic puppet you destroyed and left to die in the worlderness.” Muez joked as he spoke through Iniac’s mouth.  

[Dugan195]

Buckle looked at him the humor rolling over him, "I do not understand. He is a person. You cannot hold control over him. Not when he is awake atleast." Buckle was a flat being when it came to anything besides machines, "was it really smart to allow them to go track down Ethet? She is a child of the woods, she can take care of herself. We should be hunting Artimus Finn. He is the real problem here. "



As the two made their way through the woods they heard a loud scream. Crux's first thought was that it was Rentus closing in on them, but after a second a feeling of dread fell over him. It wasn't Rentus screaming, it was the scream of a little girl and there was only one little girl in these woods....  

[Joa-Boo]

The scream was enough to give the two a direction. Out of fear of harm coming to Ethet, Dalia panicked. She lifted her flute and gave it another two quick blows that acted as sonar. It was a stretch due to the thickness of the forests but she hopped it would work.

“I don’t know if it worked or not but we should head that way anyway. Crux I hope this isn’t in vain!” Dalia said as she bit back at her lip. There was so much on the line right now it scared her. The two ran after the source of sound as fast as they could. Dalia continued to locate Etet and whatever her situation was with sonar.


“You have it all wrong Buckle. I control Iniac no more than any normal person could. He has no control of himself so I am lifting his leg just as anyone else would lift his leg right now. I just so happen to have an extended and more simple way of doing that with my strings.” Muez explained. The process of moving Iniac was very different from what he was trying to do with Buckle back when they were fighting. “Sorry I tried to highjack you earlier. I will be honest it was a stretch and I don’t think it would have worked anyway. No hard feelings?”  

[Dugan195]

Buckle looked at the Puppet Master in silence, "I believe you humans have an expression that is along the lines of forgive but don't forget?" Buckle said staring down the helpless man. Buckle turned towards the trees when he could feel the sensation of Dalia's sonar bouncing off his metal body. "It seems our friends might have a lead on the little one. I do hope they find here, I am quite fond of that little one." It was extremely unusual that Buckle referred to someone so casually, he almost always used formal names when referring to others.

As they talked they heard a shuffle in the woods. They thought it might be Ethet returning before the other two when they heard the sound of metal being drawn."Muez take Iniac's body and escape, both of your bodies are useless unfortunately. I will hold these bastards off." Buckle said as brass blades extended from his wrists.




As the two ran through the woods they got to the spot where Ethet had registered as being, but all they found was some signs of struggle in the ground and a piece of Ethet's dress.  

[Joa-Boo]

“Are you sure you will be alright,” Muez asked. The noise accumulating around them only meant a fight was about to launch. He wasn’t so sure leaving the robotic golem alone would be the best idea. “I will take Iniac to safety but I will not leave you alone. I’ll leave a few puppets behind to help you fight but they won’t be of much use until I have my full focus back here.” Muez told Buckle just before commanding the sleeping Iniac to move himself off to a secure location. Muez dropped a few boxes to the ground around Buckle. They would trigger once the enemy got close enough to Buckle. Muez ran off after the bear to find a hidden and safe location.

“We are too late.” Crux barely spoke. He didn’t like the thought of the poor little girl off somewhere being tortured by some sister witches. Just by looking at the torn piece of dress he could sense the fear she went through.

“I am hoping that is what is left of her after she went into bug form. If there is anything I know about Ethet, it is how difficult she is to catch. They would have had to immobilize her in order to capture her. That little girl can become a group of bugs at her whim. Ethet are you here girl. Come to Dalia, everything will be alright.” Dalia didn’t want to believe she was gone. A false apparition of Ethet appeared in Dalia’s mind. The sun shone brightly through her. Dalia smiled. She held her hand out toward her imagination.

“Dalia I don’t think it is safe in here. We should keep moving. I get a bad feeling that things are about to get really complicated.” Crux said in a rush. He exploded into his armored form and floored a wall of brush out of his way. “Let’s go!”  

[Dugan195]

Buckle moved slowly, scanning the tree lines, waiting for the bandits to come out. They were probably circling around him waiting for a complete ensnarement before they struck, "I warn you, I am a legend of Kalbor. I have killed men tenfold your strength. I will not fall easily." The only response he got was a couple of laughs from the woods. Then a musket rang out and whizzed into Buckle's left arm. The ball dented his armor, but didn't crack it. Buckle was no Crux, but he had great armor.

The bandits didn't waste any time rushing from the woods. There was about two score of them on him in no time. Buckle let out some a haze of steam that filled the immediate area and gave the bandits a hard time to see.They bumped into each other and tripped on the roots as they tried to get at the metal golem. The swings these men took were unskilled and sloppy, easily parried by Buckle's own blades. A second after his first parry red blood spilled down the front of his brass wrist blade and one of the bandits fell to the ground.




As Dalia and Crux moved through the woods they felt as if eyes were on them, but they never saw anyone or any trace of Ethet. Whoever had taken Ethet were good at moving stealthely through these woods. As they ran suddenly a pair of trees around them fell aimed right for them.  

[Joa-Boo]

Cryx was quick to grabbing Dalia and then lifting his shield arm upward to ward off the falling trees. The two massive twigs bounced against Crux’s shield and then to the side with neither a scratch of broken bone on either of them. Crux smiled brightly at Dalia. She smiled a thoughtful thank you back and then moved from his side to see if she could locate the disturbance that caused the trees to fall. Crux was as alert as he could be. His hands out and eyes closed, waiting for anything that could bring harm, ready to protect Dalia.

As Muez reached a good distance away from the commotion he turned to launch his puppets to assist Buckle. The four smaller boxes opened up and small human shaped puppets with swords and spears began swinging wildly at the bandits nearby.  

[Dugan195]

"Ohhh ******** dammit!" A young girl's voice called out from up in the trees. When the two looked up they saw a purple haired girl sitting on the branches up in the trees. The girl was none other than Margo Juna, the youngest of the sisters. "The Shield of the North is no fun, not even a scratch on you. Damn and that spazzy "Heart Warmer". God why couldn't it be someone fun like Gramps. You two are such sticks in the mud." She slide off the branch in front of the two and ran a hand over her exposed stomach, "Though I did hear that The Shield of the North has quite a big....bone" She giggled, "I wouldn't mind to help sheath that sword of yours." she said seductivly as she leaned on her giant four bladed scythe.



Buckle ducked in and out of bandit slashes as he stuck each one in turn. The puppets Muez had put down were making work of the bandits as well, but not nearly as quick as Buckle did, "Diverting your attention between four bodies lessens your senses and abilities Puppet Master. You should stick to one body like I do."  

[Joa-Boo]

“On the contrary Buckle. Killing them isn’t as important as keeping you safe. I am splitting them into more groups and distracting them more. Two units are never as good as 5 units.” Muez laughed as he pinned another kill on a few bandits. It was sloppy but better than anyone alive could pull off.


“You know you would be cute if you weren’t such a whore!” Crux yelled back at her. He was furious at Margo for dropping a tree on them.

“What did you do to her?” Dalia yelled. She was ready to launch a whole symphony of power at Margo if she flinched.  

[Dugan195]

Margo laughed, "Oh Crux whores charge money. I give it a way for free baby," Margo purred back running a hang over her crotch. After this she seemed to remember that Dalia was there, "Who? Oh the little b***h. Yeah my sister went to pluck her tiny little wings. I have always hated that little c**t, bubbling around all the time. This ot to mellow her out a bit" Margo started to walk through the forest with her sycthe on her shoulders humming, "I best be getting back to them if I want to get in on the action. Sorry about the tree darlings."


The bandits were no problem for the two. When they were done two score of corpse lay around the camp site. "It appears this wave is dead. How many men do you think Artimus Finn has acquired. I would actually assume quite a number if he has 5 legends with him. I doubt this will be the end of the bandits."  

[Joa-Boo]

“You are sick you hear me. I am glad we are out of the League because when I kill you, you won’t come back. I imagine the world would be a better place that way.” Dalia yelled. The furry burning in her eyes had a deep purple haze to it. Her pupils had glazed over and all the remained were purple flames of hatred. Call it motherly instincts, whatever it was; it was a scary amount of power rushing from her.

“Dalia…”

“Don’t you walk away from me!” Dalia yelled. She screeched through her flute, causing a dreadful combination of noise and effects, one of them seeking to root Margo. She was prepared to destroy her. Crux didn’t know what to do. He could imagine all of the the Juna sisters could have planned that would counter this so he armored up and readied to protect Dalia while she shredded the forests with her music.  

[Dugan195]

Margo laughed as she became rooted by the ground. "Pathetic Dalia really." Margo sliced into the ground digging her feet out and jumping into the trees, "My sythe can cut through almost anything. It's why I volunteered to stay behind. I want to see if I can cut Crux's armor with my piercing scythe's blades." Margo spun the dirt off of the scythe onto Dalia and laughed, "But I was hoping to catch him alone. I just think it is creepy the idea of the two of you old folks trying to corner such a little innocent girl in the woods like me," Margo said pouting. She laughed and turned away and jumped from branch to branch escaping them  

[Joa-Boo]

“Crux we have to follow her. They will pay for anything they do to poor Ethet. I can’t imagine how afraid she is right now. I will never be able to forgive myself if harm comes to her. We need to stop them!” Dalia yelled while already in a full sprint. Crux struggled to follow the more agile woman in front. Once Crux got up to speed he transformed into his armored self and could plow through the forest brush in front of him to catch up. Anything that got in his way he could either push aside or move straight through.

“Dalia let me lead. They will hear me coming when we get closer. You should veer off to one side and flank anything that we come across.” Crux suggested as he caught up to Dalia. "Oh and Dalia none of this is your fault. It will all be alright. You will see!"  

[Dugan195]

Margo jumped from tree to tree as she heard that Crux and Dalia starting to chase her. She laughed as she picked up speed, knowing she was was quicker and more agile than the two chasing her. "I'm gonna squash a little bug, a little bug, a little bug. I am gonna squash a little bug," She kept singing over and over as she lead the two on the chase. As the two ran through the woods Dalia tripped over a root and ended up in a net trap, pulling her high into the air. The net was razor wire and every time that Dalia moved it would cut into her skin making her drip blood in many places over her body.

Margo stopped jumping a little bit ahead of them and laughed, "And now little miss Heartwarmer is caught in one of our traps. What you gonna do Crux? Chase me down and save the little girl? Or are you going to go back for that woman? Little girls or full grown women, make your choice Crux," Margo laughed with a sexual overtone that disgusted Crux. Turning immediately Margo took off giving Crux no time to make his choice.


Off in the distance Muez and Buckle sat at the camp, they moved Iniac back to the site and were setting up camp. Buckle was lighting a fire as he looked over to Muez, "Where do you think the other's are? Do you think that Dalia and Curx are lost as well now?" The two had just been moving bodies and cleaning up as they waited, the two had been gone for a couple of hours now and it was getting into the afternoon.