[X] My Assistant

[The Metal Mallet]

Finally! After many delays, I got the first part of this duel done! Sorry it took so long and don't worry, the results post won't take nearly as long to write and will be much more action oriented; this is just a taste of what's to come!

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Mehrunes drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne, his face a mask of contemplation. The battles so far had been quite intriguing and spectacular to watch, but the Daedra lord felt that more competitors were needed. Perhaps something to spice things up a notch…

Mehrunes began to scan through the planes of Nirn and Oblivion, searching for the ideal competitors. He had seen battles from more rudimentary competitors and some of those who possessed unique skills, but for this battle, he wasn’t something truly wonderful. He wanted those who thought themselves invincible. The lesson of humility would be most excellent! Even if the loser believed it was simply a dream afters, it would be a dream that would haunt them forever. Doubt was a powerful weapon.

After a few moments he found two beings that intrigued him. One appeared to be touched by the Aedra in an extraordinary way, and the other being, though he appeared to look quite similar to a typical Altmer, was actually a being outside of this world and possessed abilities that were foreign to the Lord of Destruction.

“Let’s see how this alien fairs against one of the most powerful beings on Nirn…” Mehrunes mused aloud before using his immense power to remove the two beings from their respective worlds.

He placed the beings on opposite sides of a grand maze. The open battle ground with a maze surrounding them was beginning to bore him. Plus, the fact that neither appeared to be the overly stealthy type would make their progress through the maze amusing. Within the maze, Mehrunes also placed several of his minions, which consisted of lesser Dremoras and the odd Hunger. The ease that these beings should dispatch these creatures will make the encounter of the two warriors all the more entertaining.

“Let us being…” Mehrunes whispered, a menacing smile cracking his lips.



Luper Alkad awoke to find himself surrounding by the oddly familiar walls of a Daedric sanctuary. Bedecked in his wide assortment of enchanted weaponry and armour, he arose and scratched at his head.

“I don’t remember taking a nap in a Daedric ruin…” he then cursed, “If Azura is behind this, I swear…”

Before he could start his threat the ceiling above him lit up on fire and the visage of Mehrunes Dagon emerged from the roiling flames.

“One who is touched by both Aedra and Daedra, I have a mission to bestow upon you,” the booming voice began.

Luper sniggered, “Ah, Mehrunes! Did Azura put you up to this?”

“No! This is my own doing. I have needs of your assistance. A former general of mine has run amok in this maze, he has managed to protect himself from my powers so I brought you here to deal with him. Eliminate this threat, and you shall be returned to your world.”

“And if I don’t accept?”

“There is no option; the general has sensed that I brought you here and has all ready begun to hunt you down. There is no exit to this maze, so eventually you will be found and if you do not fight, you shall perish.”

Luper grumbled. “Why does this always happens to me? For once, I’d just like the gods to leave me alone!”

He looked up to Mehrunes fiery visage. “Well I better get this over and done with.” With that, he withdrew Chrysamere and began to head down the corridor.



Meanwhile at a different area in the maze, Marthyn of the High Naryyn arose to the same fiery visage of the Lord of Destruction. Though the odd change of location had stunned him, he did not let that register on his face.

Mehrunes related the same story to the Naryyn, who was glad to see that he still possessed his battle armour. So far, Marthyn had noticed that the locals could not fight very well against the Naryyn technology, so this task should be quite easy to achieve.

“No point in dallying,” Marthyn stated calmly as he began to make his way through the maze.



The head of the Hunger flopped to the floor before it and its body dissolved into nothingness. Luper sighed. So far he had only faced countless numbers of Dremora and Hungers, nothing that appeared to be of significance. He was beginning to think that the god was toying with him when he heard fighting going on on the other side of one of the walls. Thinking that such an instance was odd, Luper began to search for a way to get to that location.

Luper rounded the corner and found himself staring at an Altmer bedecked in the most ridiculous looking armour he had ever seen. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“How can you move in that stuff? It looks like it weighs a ton!”

An odd energetic beam shot out of the Altmer’s armour. Luper raised an eyebrow at that. What kind of conjury was this?

“I have no time to talk. You must be the one I’m looking for, so prepare to face defeat,” Marthyn said matter-of-factly before launching himself at the Redguard with speed that surprised him.

Luper managed to knock his attacker aside, but the collision managed to stagger the Nerevarine backwards a few steps. He couldn’t help but think about how heavily enchanted his opponents armour was to do that. The odd thing was that Luper couldn’t sense any enchantment on the equipment and given his status as a powerful mage, he felt a little embarrassed.

Marthyn dove in to attack once again, this time swinging his energy blades like a sword. Luper managed to parry these attacks with his claymore and each time the weapons collided energy cackled loudly. As their weapons locked onto each other, each vying to out muscle the other, a telekinetic wave knocked Luper backwards, momentarily putting him off balanced and Marthyn scored a hit with his energy blade. The Lord’s Mail absorbed the damage, but the force of the blow sent Luper hurtling away. Even though he landed roughly, Luper sprang to his feet, angry that he was caught with such an obvious tactic. Again, the odd sensation crossed his mind. He should’ve sensed that spell being cast, but he didn’t. Luper had no idea how this Altmer was capable of doing such a thing.

Marthyn was calmly making his way towards his opponent, confident in his abilities so far. He thought that one connection with his energy blade would’ve defeated this opponent but obviously his enemy wore amour similar to the “Daedric” sorts he had seen before. That was the only type of armour that could momentarily stand up to his weapon. Suddenly a ball of flame came hurtling his way. Marthyn threw up an arm across his face as the flame collided against his armour.

Luper cursed as his enemy appeared to be unharmed by his powerful fireball. The evidence that he even cast the spell was the small scorch marks on the odd armour. Luper then opted for a telekinetic blast of his own. This took the Altmer by surprise as he staggered from the blow. Luper performed the same tactic and lashed out with his sword, sending the Altmer flying down the hallway.

“Doesn’t feel nice does it!” Luper called out as he chased down his enemy.

[minque]

Hey, at least Rhys managed to defeat Simion. That's definitely worth something I think

And has Savlian all ready had his second fight? I forget. Was he the one that fought Serene?

She defeated Rhys, but didn´t kill her! If I remember correct....

[Lord Revan]

No, that was Rhys. Yeah, Rhys was the exception, if only by one match though.

[The Metal Mallet]

Well here it finally is. I once again apologize for the delay. I just really wanted to finish "Bloodlust" first I guess. And then I decided I wanted to go on a little break from writing... and you know how it goes. But anyway, here's a somewhat short, but reasonably sweet conclusion to this duel:


Marthyn was all ready on his feet once again by the time Luper reached him. Luper raised Chrysamere and prepared to attack but once again a jarring telekinetic wave crashed into him. This time though, Luper managed to recover quickly enough to block Marthyn’s attack. Backing away, Luper discovered another surprising aspect. The enchantment on Chrysamere had decreased without him even invoking the spells imbued within it. The Altmer noticed the expression on Luper’s face and chuckled softly.

“It won’t be long until that sword of yours breaks against mine. Then this will be over,” Marthyn said with confidence, readying his blade once again.

Luper brushed his doubt away. “Well then, it looks like I’ll just have to finish this sooner than you.”

The wide hallway allowed both combatants to stalk each other, each anticipating the move the other would make. Both were skilled combatants who had spent years fighting against innumerable opponents. They both knew what was at stake.

Luper feinted an attack and Marthyn went to counter the strike. Luper nimbly dodged the blow and landed a glancing blow on Marthyn’s shoulder. Luper backed away instantly. Marthyn’s repositioned and the circling began once more. This time Luper feinted twice before Marthyn attacked once again, meeting only air before he was struck again.

Frustration etched the Naryyn’s face. It appeared that the Redguard was toying with him. His armour would stop any attack though. If cannon fire could barely damage his armour how could a primitive sword? This time, Marthyn would be the first to attack.

Meanwhile, Luper was realizing just what Marthyn was thinking. His sword wasn’t going to damage that armour. He was going to have to attack at the Altmer’s exposed head. It’d be difficult give the quality of his opponent, but it was the only way he was going to survive.

Marthyn surged towards Luper, utilizing his suit’s enhanced speed. This caught Luper off guard but not unprepared. Luper was forced to block the barrage of strikes Marthyn sent upon him before he kicked Marthyn away. Luper’s weapon was nearly drained now and Luper sensed another barrage coming up.

Out of desperation Luper froze the floor just in front of Marthyn as he surged towards him. With the speed Marthyn was travelling the slip sent him flying into the nearby wall head first. He was just shaking the cobwebs out of his head in time to see the sword descending upon him.

Luper was forced to clean his blade on his sleeve as his opponent’s armour completely covered any clothing the mer might’ve been wearing. Luper knew it wasn’t the most honourable victory but when it was his life at stake, he’d rather take living over a sense of honour or pride.

“For a Daedra General, he didn’t exude much of an ‘I want to burn your children!’ vibe…” Luper muttered.

Just then Mehrunes appeared once again. “Oh bugger! I didn’t get here in time,” Mehrunes said sadly.

Luper raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Mehrunes’ face attempted to look innocent. “I was going to tell you that one of my minions dealt with that General I told you about.”

Luper’s jaw dropped. He gestured to the headless corpse. “Then who was that!?”

Mehrunes winced yet on the inside he was cackling with glee. “That was a stranger who I gave the same task as I gave to you. I guess I should’ve given you two a visual description of the General… Ohwell. You’re free to go.”

“Wait wait wait!” Luper started but suddenly darkness enveloped him.

[canis216]

Can't say I could ever picture Mehrunes Dagon saying "bugger"--so that was kind of funny, like he was trying to sound like he made a mistake but not quite succeeding. Which, I suppose, is exactly what happened.

Well done, and worth the wait. At least for me.

[jack cloudy]

It was a nice ending, I'd say. Even though he won, Luper feels like he's been had. And Mehrunes trying to act all innocent, hilarious!


Ok, I'm going to dig through the forum now and see if I can find the old program. I think we've still got one or two fights left to do.