[Game Thread] Prelude (Creation)

[Arion Wind]

With the airship controlling the skies, Echo makes a quick circle of the area to try and find some other way out. After fruitless searching however, he comes to the decision that safety in numbers might be his best bet. He flutters down to earth a short way from Halo and shifts back into his human form, catlike eyes glittering as plainly as the mark on his forehead.

Stepping forward slowly with his hands down and to his sides, he asks quietly, but pleadingly, "Please tell me you have a way out of here."

[The Fool]

By now, three more glyphs have lit up and the glow of the ring has intensified, filling the center of the ring with a wildly rippling sheen of essence. Next to the flaring animas of the Solar and the Infernal, it is little more than a faint flicker, but it is building in power.

Two massive bolts of necrotic essence hurtle towards the ruin, landing on either side of it with precision that says in no uncertain terms that the ship is now perfectly capable of hitting the ruin itself. A silken voice booms, so loud that the three Exalts can feel the vibrations in their bones.

"Did you truly think you could escape me, little one?" Whisper recognizes the voice. It is Eye and Seven Despairs himself.

As he speaks, a horde of ghostly corpses begin to emerge from the treeline, shambling towards the ruins in a horrific parody of a human gait. Their tattered bodies glow with sickly light, their chipped and rusted weapons screeching as they scrape along the hard roots that blanket the forest floor.

"There is so much I have planned for you, my dear. How ungracious of you to reject my hospitality!" The Deathlord's voice becomes increasingly agitated, his excitement creeping further into his voice until every word is a shriek. "Kill the Lunar and Infernal, my pets! But I want her ALIVE!"

The sixth glyph activates. The glow intensifies.

[jj_wolven]

Halo slowly backs up with his daiklaves still drawn, mentally activating his Essence Sight on his armor to make sure he sees all the enemies. This was the second Solar he had met since regaining a body and he was determined to do everything he could to save her from the Abyssals.

[Ehlana]

Whisper whips out her weapon again as the Lunar approaches, golden eyes wild and fearful and upset, emotions she has not until now displayed so openly despite the presence of the huge airship with it's deadly essence cannon. There's no aggression in the stance, no hint that she wants to hurt Echo. She's afraid of him, in a way that she's not afraid of simply dying. The Solar girl makes a sharp gesture with her free hand, like that of someone flinging something away and darts away from Echo, still looking for more pressure plates.

The loud voice from the sky hurts Whisper's ears and she jumps sideways like a startled cat. Once her first surprise is gone, she cocks her head to the side, looking up at the ship for a moment. What, -you- don't want me dead? That's a real change of pace! It does at least give her an idea though. Darting back towards the two males, she waves one hand emphatically to get their attention, points at them both, then points behind her sharply.

[jj_wolven]

Halo makes sure to keep himself between the Solar and the incoming horde, giving her at least a few feet of room intent on at least giving her a chance to escape. He keeps the Lunar in his periphery, not knowing if it is friend or foe.
I can survive a few of those shots, he thinks to himself, That would likely clear out a number of the creatures, but I have to delay them as much as possible.

He bounces slightly on his feet, the motion of restrained energy as he waits for the horde to arrive.

[Arion Wind]

Echo notes the look of apprehension on Whisper's face and has no desire to further alarm her. But he also has even less desire to be torn apart by some Abyssal's minions. After all, it would be downright embarrassing to escape the abyssal who's been hunting him for over a year by stumbling into some stranger's quarrel.

Not wanting to spook his new companions in the coming moments, Echo gestures towards himself and calls briefly to them, "Not an enemy. Just want to escape." Then, taking a chance on their good natures, he turns his back to them (Despite his weapon's protests) and shifts his form again, into that of a human-sized man with bestial, cat-like features. His now glowing body ready for battle, he stands tall in a regal posture and readies his scythe in a low position, ready to mow down any who come near the small group. {If I make out of this alive, I'll owe the Silver Lady quite an offering . . .}

[The Fool]

As the horde of hungry ghosts approach, the final glyph lights up. The swirling vortex inside the ring suddenly brightens, outshining even the animas of the flaring Exalted. The undead recoil, blinded by the light, several of them tumbling down the ruin as they stagger.

When the light dies down, the air surrounded by the standing circle has now transformed into what looks like a vertical pool of clear water. Through it, the three can blurrily make out a vast landscape of black steel, periodically lit up by flashes from unknown sources. Strange, shadowed shapes float in the sky. Here and there, what looks like smoke rises in columns.

A strange voice rings through the minds of the three Exalts. "Portal soon close. Hurry. Help us. Many die."

[Arion Wind]

{Stuck between two exalted that might kill me and and an army of ghosts that definitely will, a portal opens up to a blasted landscape of charred and twisted metal and begs for my aid. Why not?} Without any further thought, Echo turns and bolts through the standing portal, hoping against hope that nothing will shoot him as he goes -- or gut him when he arrives, for that matter.

[Ehlana]

Whisper is too used to being ignored to be particularly frustrated when both of the other Exalts do so. However, when the portal opens, she doesn't take chances with being ignored. The Lunar takes appropriate action, but the other one's still facing off against the airship like he plans to take it on. Wrapping both her arms around one of his, she tows him backwards towards the portal, fully intending to drag him if he won't cooperate.

I'd rather take my chances with what's through that portal than with whoever wants me "alive."

[jj_wolven]

Halo feels the pull on his arm, looking back initially to get her off his arm as much as find out what the flash was. When he sees the watery portal, his only hesitation is to mentally compare it to everywhere he has been in Malfeas. Now certain that it is not Malfeas, he sheathes one of the swords and transfers the other to his free hand. He gives in to the girl's pressure, even tightening down on her arm to make sure she doesn't fall behind as he rushes through the portal. His thought as he hits the portal head first is to turn and fight the abyssal army, but now with better advantage of a limitied entry.