Legacy of Kain: Torments from the Abyss

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel gave a half amused chuff. This kid really didn't beat around the bush, did she? She had better be careful or else Raziel might start liking her... although, he had to keep in mind that she was still an agent of Elder God and not some mere child; he mustn't let his guard down around her.

"Very well... but the reasons for my leaving are my own. I'm not Elder God's lackey, nor am yours, so don't get it in your head that you can order me around." Raziel said, uncrossing his arms as he started to walk, heading to the nearest conduit to the physical plain.  

[Scrab Demon]

"Fine. Whatever floats your boat." Anima shrugged. 'Paranoid little wraith, isn't he?' she thought, watching him walk away.

Once Raziel had turned away from her, she allowed herself a mischevious, evil little smile.

How the Elder God never figured it out in all this time was beyond her.

To make him move, she would have to use pure logic, rather than constantly nagging him. He obviously had some control issues, and would probably resist if he felt his actions weren't of his own decision.

It would be a bit harder to keep him on the correct path in the physical realm, but she'd manage just fine. Her skills were best suited for that plane, and she could probably use that to her advantage.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel didn't check behind him to see if Anima was following him, although he assumed she would. He still wondered what sort of powers she possessed if she thought she could manipulate him, but he also assumed he would find that out soon enough. And once in the physical realm, he found himself in the middle of a battle between Sarafan and demon.

Raziel wouldn't join in the fray, however; let them fight it out amongst themselves, he had just arrived and he wasn't interested in another trip back to the spectral realm. Whoever the victor was, it didn't matter, if they came after him, with their thinned numbers, they would be no match for the revitalized wraith.

As he watched that battle from the sidelines, he kept an eye open for Anima, wondering what the next step in her plans - Elder God's plans - for him were.  

[Scrab Demon]

Once she was sure that he had appeared in the physical realm, she started looking for her own passage. That was the only drawback to being alive, rather than a native of the spectral realm;the usual methods and conduits weren't sufficient.

In the physical realm, several sarafan and demons had suddenly dropped dead, convulsing.

One of the sarafan shakilly stood, and started lumbering away from the fray, his sword forgotten.

Once safely on the sidelines, he seemed to have a small conflict with himself, muttering crazilly.

He eventually started yelling inoherantly, before flinging up a shaking hand and violently ripping off his own face.

Blood was smattered everywhere as more pieces of flesh followed, screaming bloody murder, as he tore himself apart.

Eventually, Anima emerged from the now unrecognizable gore that once was the sarafan, tossing off the remains in disgust.

She reached behind her just in time to catch the departing soul, which was still screaming, and brought it towards her gaping maw.

Her eyes pooled black again, as she absorbed the maddend spirit. Finished with her feeding, she grinned in saisfaction. The more religious fanatics were always the most fun to play with.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel watched curiously as one Sarafan left the battle, standing not to far away from him. Raziel's expression went from confusion to horror as the man literally ripped himself apart from the outside in. Raziel had seen a fair amount of gore in his long lifetime and while he was pretty desensitized to it now, this made him cringe.

"Well that was--- disgusting... and completly unnecessary. Couldn't you have found a less conspicuous way to enter the physical realm? If you haven't noticed, now would not be a good time to draw attention to ourselves." Demons killed indiscriminately and Sarafan did so with extreme prejudice, so either way, if they were noticed, they were screwed.  

[Scrab Demon]

Anima cast him an annoyed glare, her shark-like eyes still blackened. "As a matter of fact, no. Unlike you, I still possess a living body, and require one to support me in this realm. Attempting to possess a corpse would be useless, and I can't just 'pull myself together' at any given moment either. As something made of living flesh, I can only inhabit living flesh." She explained impatiently, flicking off leftover bits of gore from her shoulder.

"Besides, I've done this before. Reaching into thier minds and directing thier attention elsewhere is a small matter."

She stepped out of the pile of entrails, shaking blood off of her boots. It would all be aborbed soon enough...  

[Celeste Tsuchi]

((sorry for my late entry, but was waiting for you to arrive. smile ))

The petition finished, the woman got up and retrieved her staff, then hurried over to where she last saw the Sarafan engaging in combat. But to her surprise, the fight had already been over, with all or most of the combatants perished. She was about to do the solemn task of burying the remains when screams caught her attention. Rushing toward the source, the brunette peered from behind a tree to witness a horrifying sight; one of the remaining Sarafan warriors seemed to nearly tear himself apart before there was a different look about him...something...unnatural.

Not only that, there seemed to be another entity there as well, an almost gangly youth with claws hands and what looked to be a tattered cloak. Just who where these beings? They didn't look like any demons she was familiar with, so she was unsure how to deal with this turn of events.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

(('salright))

"So does that mean you would have to kill yourself if you wished you return to the spectral realm?" Raziel couldn't help but ask. It would be useful information to know, if he ever needed her out of the way for a short time, all he would need to do was get to a secluded area with no people for her to inhabit and break her neck. He still had to wonder why Elder God had sent someone he could so easily dispatch to watch over him.

Raziel turned his attention back to the battlefield, the remaining forces of the Sarafan picking off the stragglers. "Looks like that battle is cooling down. We should get going while their distracted by the dead and the dying." Raziel said as he began to move along the tree line, but stopped when he got the sensation that they were being watched. "Be ready, we may have company..." He summoned his wraith blade.  

[Scrab Demon]

Anima chose to remain silent, unconsciously bringing a hand up to her neck, remembering all of those times...

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sudden hum of the wraith blade, and the possibility of a challenge.

Hissing softly, she bared her teeth in a fearsome snarl, senses alert. She expanded her energies, 'feeling' for any nearby intruders.

There...somewhere in the trees...

She slowly slipped toward Raziel, silently getting his attention and nodding in the direction of the presence.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel turned his fierce gaze to where Anima had gestured. "Show yourself." He demanded, taking a step forward, his reaver brandished and humming eagerly, always ready for another soul to feed its ravenous hunger.  

[Celeste Tsuchi]

Despite the fact that she hid behind one of the larger trees in the area, she could almost hear one of them speaking in a raspy voice, commanding her to show herself. Not moving a muscle except for her chest to breathe, Celeste noted that there was a humming sound, but what could it be from? Daring to peek around the corner while using the stone in her staff as a mirror of sorts, she could see that the gangly creature had some sort of weapon...wait, was that coming from his hand? Or did it swirl around it like some disembodied soul?

The other seemed just as vicious, if not more so. Knowing that she could not take on two of them at once without serious aid, The woman remained hidden in the trees, careful not to make another sound. Afraid? No, call it being overly cautious and knowing when not to step into a confrontation that would no doubt claim a person's life. Unlike the other Sarafan, who would have promptly charged in claiming that the 'evil demons needed to die', the priestess was different in the fact she was not violent (considering she lacked the strength to be a warrior), but her beliefs were so strong it was enough to begin teaching her in the ways of some important magics, mostly to aid and shield her comrades. But now that they were gone...how would she make it through this encounter alive?  

[Scrab Demon]

After a long, tense silence, Anima was getting suspicious.

She impatiently shifted her weight, quickly tiring of waiting.

Narrowing her eyes in irritation, she readied herself to pounce. If it wouldn't come out of hiding, she would flush it out herself.

"Show yourself, or I will drag you into the light myself!" She called. Once again, her smaller vocal cords failed to convey the necessary power to carry the threat, but she supposed she had gotten her point across.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel placed his hand on Anima's shoulder, holding her back. "Wait..."Now that he was close enough, he could tell by their smell that the one watching them was human - a scared one at that; after years of killing, fear was a very distinct smell to Raziel.

"Let's just keep going, they're no threat to us." He said, letting his hand slip off Anima's shoulder as he began to walk away. There was no need to attack someone that was cowering from them, regardless, he just wanted to be on his way, the sooner the better.  

[Celeste Tsuchi]

Even though her heart raced with the possibility of being discovered, Celeste's breathing remained calm, steady. I am not afraid. I just know when to stay back. She told herself, debating on letting herself be seen to avoid confrontation, but then the other voice spoke up...this one from the apparent wraith-like monster; his voice was raspy, as if something burned his throat. The two of them had turned to leave, signaling that it was safe to emerge.

Letting out a sigh of relief as she stepped back into the clearing, Celeste took a second look at the wraith-like being...he seemed familiar somehow, but from where? What was he? And that child-like entity he traveled with? A few whispered words and the stone in her staff began to glow like a candle's flame, grateful for the light in the growing darkness as the moon seemed to vanish into the clouds. Against her better judgement, the woman now called out, "You wanted to know who I was, then look and know. Why is it you and your minions have slain my Sarafan kin? All they want is a measure of peace in this world, and yet you seem to think this land is yours to claim and steal life from." Words were her weapon at this point in time, but as the woman kept her eyes on the two wayward beings, she couldn't help but feel that maybe it wasn't the best idea to be speaking with them...not without some protection.  

[Scrab Demon]

Anima had begrudgingly agreed with Raziel, following along behind him.

She kept close tabs on his behavior: The one who took offense to even the slightest implication that he was not in control, was just fine with a sidekick following him around.

She felt like she had almost crafted the strings to this puppet...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the emerging human.

"So it decided to come out after all..." She muttered.

"We are in no way associated with those brainless beasts." Anima addressed the human. "We aren't responsible for what they do."