No Elves in Sovngarde Book Two, NEIS continued Options

[King Of Beasts]

Erik! Do something!!!




To think that something so innocent looking could be so evil. Asta is truly terrifying.

[Colonel Mustard]

Ermahgerd! Er mah GEEEEEEEEERD!!!



Ahem. Sorry, had a moment there.

I love the job you're doing of depicting how overwhelming Kayla's bloodlust is in that conversation there; that alone was enough to really ramp up the drama and tension, then Asta arrived and oh my!

[mALX]

"Nisse."

The name slid off of my sister's lips like a serpant's tongue flicking from its mouth, tasting the fear in the air. She was uncowled, her raven hair lying in springy curls , her round face shone with a mask of innocence. Her arms were wide, welcoming, and she stepped forward towards me.

What a fantastic line this is! Awesome chapter !!!

[minque]

Nisse?? Now thats a shortname for Nils.....(In sweden)

I HAVE finally started reading yout work Liz! It's a good beginning...aaahhhhh

[Elisabeth Hollow]

I looked up Swedish names :] I loved that name. Most of the Nord names not in the game are Swedish.

[Grits]

"What are you going to do, Nisse? Burn me alive? Shove a firebolt down my gullet and watch me die in agony?"

Yep. Go for it!

You’re doing a fabulous job with creepy yet adorable Asta. Yikes. And she really knows how to push her sister’s buttons.

[Acadian]

Poor Kayla. She’s really caught between worlds. She has not embraced the undead, yet she cannot embrace the living - well, not without her teeth getting in the way.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

I would like to briefly thank everyone for reading my story as we start drawing to a close. I'm sorry for my weird behavior lately. Please enjoy this chapter.


Where we are: Asta showed up! GEHH!


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One of the wretched children threw a fireball at Erik's head, but bounced off a ward right before it struck him. Erik had fallen backwards in an attempt to dodge the fireball, and looked around wildly to see where the ward had come from. His answer came as a cowled vamp screamed in agony as it disintegrated before his eyes. Asta turned and let out an angry hiss, her fangs extended.

"Mage!" She spat. Marcurio's stony face held the resolve of a man who'd seen many battles. His eyes held uncertainty at his targets as he scanned the small gathering of childlike vampires. The fire in his hands waned.

"They're older than they look, Mar-CCKK" Erik's sentence was strangled from him as two small hands gripped his throat tightly. The vampire girl's eyes shone with amusement as Erik gasped for air, pushing away at her small form. She pulled out a dagger, her red eyes glinting with malicious intent.

A blast from a few feet away knocked them both over, knocking the girl and knocking Erik's sword from his belt. Smoke filled Erik's lungs as he lifted his head and saw one of the nearby houses on fire, Marcurio facing off with a little blonde vampire girl. She shot command spells at him, and he flicked them away with small wards, bouncing them off like they were cotton balls. Mjoll was nowhere to be seen as Erik scrambled for his sword. fire flickered and flashed behind him as he grabbed the sword, then cried out in pain as a small but heavy boot stomped on his hand.

Hello, Erik." Asta purred in a voice much too mature for her outward image. Her round face and large eyes gave her an innocent look, while the blood and gore around her mouth gave her a totally different look. She smiled aweetly at him, fluttering her lashes as she held out her hand. Erik yanked his hand from under her boot and crawled backwards. She advanced easily on him. Another boom sounded behind him as Marcurio deflected a particularly large fireball. The molten lava sunk under the waters of the canal, creating hot steam and broiling the water around it. Neither mages had broken a sweat yet, though Marcurio seemed content to simply deflect rather than attack.

"Why are you fighting me, Erik?" Asta murmured softly, the words laced curiousity and something darker. Erik found himself backed against the wall, his breathing ragged with...terror? Was he terrified of Asta?

His question was answered when she touched his cheek, her icy flesh leaving a burning sensation. He flinched, a cry escaping from his lips. She tutted and looked down at his abdomen, his gaze following. Stuck between two plates of metal was the dagger the girl had held in her hands. The blast had forced her onto him, sliding inot his gut at just the right angle.

"It doesn't have to be this way, you know." She murmured, leaning in closer. Erik's eyes flickered to his sword, then back to Asta's face. Or more specifically, her eyes. They were soft and dark, with depth uncharacteristic for a mere child. They crinkled in a genuine smile, her white teeth showing.

I can take the pain away. Her voice echoed in his head. The knife was removed, and a warm glow emitted from her hands as the wound closed.

"See? I'm not so bad." She purred again, touching his face with her warm hands.

Warm? Weren't they cold before?

Asta made a shushing noise, pouting her lips slightly as she rested a fingertip on his lips. he began to relax, the light of the fireballs warming her skin. He heard Marcurio yell something, but he didn't know what. It didn't matter to him. Asta leaned closer, exhaling cool breath onto his face.

"Don't fight it." She murmured softly. Erik's nose twitched, and he smelled the thick stench of death on her breath. He gulped and started to wriggle from her grasp, his will becoming stronger.

"No! Get off!" He put his hand on her chest to push her away, and her expression turned from disturbingly seductive and innocent to horrifyingly angry. Her face contorted with anger and her fangs poked out as her mouth twisted in a snarl. She grabbed a fistful of his red hair and yanked his neck to the side.

"I planned on being gentle," Her voice was now as thin as old papers rustling as the spell wore off. The gore reappeared on her face, and Erik could see blue veins in her cheeks and forehead. She looked like a red-eyed corpse with fangs.

"But I suppose you won't cooperate. Pity. I rather like men."

Erik cried out in pain as her fangs pierced his skin with no resistance. The smell of wood burning filled his lungs, and the sight of Marcurio's battle made his heart sink. The Breton was losing to the blonde child, and he didn't know it. His wards couldn't stop the smoke from filling his lungs, wracking his body with fits of coughing. Erik saw a small, dark form creep up behind Marcurio, a flash of metal in its hands. Erik closed his eyes and lost himself. They were all dead. There was no fighting it.

He exhaled, and did not inhale again.

This post has been edited by Elisabeth Hollow: Sep 28 2013, 03:58 AM

[mALX]

The scene with Asta and Erik was bone chilling! Your descriptions throughout the entire chapter were stunning! Amazing Write !!!!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH !!!!! OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! URK!!!!

AWESOME WRITE !!!!

[Grits]

Oh my gosh, the mage battle was awesome! But... Erik did not inhale again?! Nooo!

[Colonel Mustard]

You are so bloody good at fight scenes that it makes me a little jealous sometimes.

The entire exchange between Asta and Erik was brilliantly done, though; frightening, tense and disturbing in equal measure, and while the magical duel between Marcurio and Vampire Redshirt Kid was fun, that was definitely the highlight of the chapter.

And now I'm going to hold out in the hope that Erik didn't inhale simply because he didn't want to breath in the smoke. That's what I'm hoping for. No smoke.

[Acadian]

Not going well for the vampire hunters! Very nice job depicting Asta- she's one scary little thing.

[King Of Beasts]

Erik is dead?!?!

[Darkness Eternal]

Erik the slayer . . . slain!?

Points for the undead, loss for the hunters. A deadly child, Asta. Can't say I'll mourn for the man though. I will honestly say that you've improved in certain areas of you're writing. The battle scenes are great and the narrative is splendid! Good work, Liz.

[jack cloudy]

Well, one coingrubbing vamp down. Also, why am I suddenly thinking that the whole Riften thieves guild is made up of vampires or at least in league with them?

Go go Marcurio! No Erik!


Hmm, when Asta isn't caught flatfooted she really doesn't have trouble handling her sister. Overall, things are looking pretty bad.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

@ mALX-Thank you, ma'am!

Colonel Mustard- LMFAO at the redshirt kid! All of Asta's army is expendable to her, though she can't really afford to be so callous with her minions anymore, since the mortals are on to her, now, and keeping their girls locked up safe and tight.

@ Acadian-Yep.

DE-Thank you sir :]

jack cloudy- Nooo, they're not, they're just aware. Sometimes, when you're living underground, you have to live in harmony with the vermin ;]


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A ball of molten lava thudded dully against the ward Marcurio threw up. His attention was pulled momentarily from the blonde vampiress assaulting him as the raven-haired miniature bloodsucker sank her diseased fangs into Erik. He turned his attention back to his attacker, calculating how long it would take him to kill this one and turn his attention to Erik.

He took a step forward and summned a fire atronach. Why not? The city is already half cinders, he thought wryly. Instead of focusing its attack on the vampiress in front of him, it turned its attention towards him and held its hands up.

No!

He ducked and rolled, the moisture frm the melted snow seeping into his clothes. He heard a pained scream as a small figure was engulfed in flames...right behind where he was standing. Another building caught fire as an errant fireball from the atronach hit it, and Marcurio's lips thinned out as he thought.

He looked at the blonde vampire, now occupied with the raven-haired one as Erik lie on the ground, unmoving. Blood pulsed lazily from his neck, and Marcurio shot a long-ranged healing spell at him, sealing up the wound effectively enough. It wouldn't restore his blood, but it would keep him from bleeding out better than a bandage or a potion.

Both of the small vampires were dragging a woman away. An elf, by the looks of it. Marcurio had begun advancing, as did his atronach when the raven haired one looked at him. A crackle of lightening erupted from his fingertips, raising the hairs on his arms.

"Em-" The bolt shook the words right from the dark-haired vampire's mouth, and the blonde was hit as the lightening leapt from one body to the next. Unfortunately, the elf was also hit. Marcurio cursed the wayward bolt as the two vampires writhed on the ground. He was out of magick. He quickly uncorked a potion bottle and drank it, replenishing not all, but enough of his supply. When he tilted the bottle back down, they were gone, the elf woman lying on the ground.

She would have to wait. Marcurio ran to Erik and felt for a pulse. He sighed in relief as he felt a faint one. the air was clear around the elven woman, and soon Erik had clean air to breathe as Marcurio dragged him next to her. He then began to work on coaxing Erik to breathe, pressing on his sternum and breathing air into his lungs.

Erik gasped for air a few agonizing moments later, coughing and shaking. Marcurio poured a healing potion down his throat, making Erik cough even more.

"K-Kay-" He was cut off by a fit of coughing. Marcurio shushed him.

"Your throat and lungs are injured. Give the potion time to work before speaking." He looked over at the elven woman, who was unmoving, her eyes closed. he shook his head in regret.

"I could not save your friend. I am sorry."

Erik looked over, tears welling up. Marcurio had seen the look of despair before, but this had surpassed the expressions of broken heartedness he'd witnessed. The woman was unmoving, completely still. Her once golden skin was washed out. Erik spoke softly.

"She's not dead. Not all the way." He reached over and pulled out the dagger, still coughing a bit. Marcurio didn't miss the lingering fingertips on her lips, or the way he traced her jawline with his thumb.

"She would be ash if she was truly dead. I know that now. She's poisoned."

Marcurio's brow furrowed. Judging from the blue veins showing through her pale skin, she was clearly poisoned. But the poison had taken her very quickly. She was cold and lifeless, possibly from a blood-freezing potion. Clearly dead.

"I think you are mistaken, Sir Slayer." He began. "She-what in the name of Arkay are you doing?"

Erik had slid a knife across his wrist, and a lazy stream of blood trickled out. He held it to the dead woman's lips.

"Waking her up."

Marcurio looked at the woman, her pale, blue-veined skin, lifeless appearance. Ash... He took in a sharp breath quickly.

"This is most inadvisable, Erik. Reviving a vampiress with ones own blood is risky."

"She'd be alive."

"She is not alive, she's undead."

The woman stirred as the poison wore off and the blood touched her lips. Marcurio grabbed Erik's wrist. "Let me heal it. She'll drain you in a second, then turn on me."

Erik yanked his arm away. "No! She needs to feed!"

Marcurio let out an exasperated sound through his nose as he lit a quick healing spell and closed his hand around Erik's wrist. "Let her feed on one of the many criminals here! The city is in smoke, and the guards will be here any moment."

The elven woman opened her eyes, and Marcurio saw the red desperation in them as she immediately turned her attention to him. She let out a hiss as she licked the blood from her lips, wiping the stray droplets off and licking her fingers clean.

"Mage!" She snarled, leaping on him in an instant. Marcurio had a spell in his hand the second he hit the ground. Erik let out a startled yell, trying to pull her off of his hired hand. The woman's teeth bit into unyielding skin, her fangs scraping against what sounded like steel. She let out an angry, pitiful groan as she tried to claw at Marcurio's skin, screaming.

"I need blood! I need it now! Give it to me, you filthy wretch!" She turned on Erik when he pulled her off of him, twisting her form around and sinking her fangs into his neck. Erik let out a strangled yelp and attempted to push her off. His armor constricted him from pushing his knees against against her and kicking her off. She suddenly sat up, crying out in pain. She held her head and rolled off of him, writhing on the ground, screaming.

"Make it stop! Gods! My head!" She let out inarticulate yowls of pain as she writhed on the ground. Erik gasped for air and looked at Marcurio, a look of concentration on his face. His hands were out as if holding a ball in his hands, his fingers working. If he flicked his pinky, Kayla whimpered softly. If he pressed his thumb, her hands went to her eyes.

"Stop! You're hurting her!" Marcurio moved away when Erik tried to lower his hands.

"If I do not do this, I cannot placate her."

"I don't know what that means, just stop! She's in pain!"

"Were you not in pain a moment ago? Just hold on."

"What are you doing?"

"Experiment."

"No!" Erik pushed Marcurio's arms down. The spell broke, and the elven woman lay on the ground, sobbing. Her hands were clutched to her heaving chest.

"What were you doing to her?!" Erik demanded.

"Attempting to isolate the part of the brain that causes the vampiric thirst to become overwhelming, and destroy it."

Erik blinked at Marcurio. "Did it work?"

"Well, no, you interrupted me. We may have made her more aggressive, or possibly suicidal. We will tell once she recovers."

Erik carefully walked over to Kayla, and Marcurio readied a spell to harden their flesh. he would need to replenish his magick once he got back to the inn. A thought suddenly struck the mage. Erik was completely unconcerned for his female counterpart, the beautiful Nord, and completely enamored with this elven woman. While elven women were certainly of Marcurio's taste, he preffered that they did not suck his lifeblood. Why Erik was helping this one while he destroyed children vampires was lost on Marcurio. Long lost love or not.

The elven woman has passed out, and the city was now being subdued by mages, rather than allowed to burn. Waters rose from the canal to quell the burning buildings, and they were able to escape the city unnoticed.

[King Of Beasts]

Yay, new chapter !!



Erik is alive!!!



Oh no! Kayla is fine now, but what about Emelia?!

[Colonel Mustard]

Marcurio saves the day, hurrah! Just goes to show that, at the end of the day, it's the fireball-hurling wizard who can get everything done. Usually because they're the group's munchkin

So Erik is once again united with Kayla. I'm honestly not sure whether this is a good or a bad thing, especially when Mjoll gets involved, but it will almost certainly be entertaining to see.

Also, I loved the ending part when you were writing from Marcurio's POV; the writing there felt perfectly fitted to his character, and it worked really well.

[mALX]

@ Liz - You are really stunning me with your Marcurio portrayal, what an AWESOME addition to any team!

Oh Crap! Erik reviving the vampire with his blood - I just read something about this the other day, Kayla could become attached to him through the blood exchange or something!

Very cool scene, and Awesome Write!

[Grits]

This update from Marcurio’s POV is my favorite yet. Great battle!