Story - Unedited

Andromeda
Member
Member # 1949
posted November 15, 2001 07:32 PM
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Andromeda continued to gaze at the boy on the table, waiting for him to answer her question. " Never mind, I'm sure he'll come to his senses eventually. She brushed her fingertips along the aeteri crest to gently lift the boy in to one of the chairs until he regained concious thought. " So what are we to do ? We're in a strange world to conquer, to explore, or to simply admire ? Regardless, we need a leader who is unbiased by their alignment of the life-force , as I myself am too biased to be considered, may I suggest Paige ? " She spoke stongly and clearly as night fell on the terrace , and the stars began to shine through the window. Three moons glowed , radiant, against an inky black sky, resplendent as if glittering with millions of jewels.

Unknown
Member
Member # 1587
posted November 16, 2001 10:36 AM
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OOC-Pillow fight! I must get in there!-OOC

"...may I suggest Paige" Andromeda said.

Paige was stunned. She couldn't believe someone said that she should be the leader. Then again andromeda and the angel thing were both too much on one side of the jalan(whatever that was) and the other people weren't doing anything.

"I'll do it," Paige said firmly.

Ke'ak
Member
Member # 2005
posted November 16, 2001 10:53 AM
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"Where am I?" Kyle looked around in confusion at the three people standing around the table he had fallen on. "Where'd the frog go?" One minute I'm playing the game, next I'm dropped onto a table through some portal. Weird.

"I don't really know what I'm doing here. I was playing around with the Fantasy Game, and my frog got stuck in a trap, and then suddenly I'm falling through this weird colored place, and then I get dropped here." Kyle stood up, and rubbed the back of his head where he hit the table. "Who are you guys?"

Andromeda
Member
Member # 1949
posted November 16, 2001 04:26 PM
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" I'm Andromeda , but more impotantly , where do we want to explore ? We need to decide rationally what we are going to do. " Andromeda smiled at the newcomer and motioned toward the others to join in the conversation.

Unknown
Member
Member # 1587
posted November 16, 2001 06:37 PM
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Paige wandered around the room a bit. There were paintings on the wall of all shapes and sizes. She saw one that wasn't a painting.

"Look," she called to the others, "A map of this world. I wonder why the game put this in. It's never helped us before..."

Dragoon
Member
Member # 2001
posted November 16, 2001 09:23 PM
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OOC: *cries* You guys are going too fast! I can hardly comment on one event before something else has happened! And I'm confused by your made-up magic words! Aaaaugh! *has mental breakdown*

BIC: Dragoon frowned. Geez! What's the rush? he wondered. Not like the world's going to end, or anything, if we don't get out of here! Well, I suppose if the fantasy world was going to end, it would, despite all logic or anything we did to try to stop it.

Ignoring Andromeda and Paige, Dragoon held out a hand to the boy.

"Hi, my name's Dragoon! Are you okay? Where'd you come from?" he asked, firing out questions in rapid succession.

Andromeda
Member
Member # 1949
posted November 17, 2001 02:07 PM
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" I'm sorry if this seems rushed, but the more we stay in one place, the more likely danger is to find us. This game certainly has no particular reverence for life, so I wouldn't bet that it would see it fit to save you from your own demise. The sooner we get moving the better, we should try and find a way to take this map with us, maybe it will give us some clue as to why we're here. " Andromeda intoned as she pointed at the map. She noticed it's finely gilded borders , it's intricate and ornate etchings and engravings in finely polished wood that glistened in the light. It was beautiful, beautiful enough to catch attention. It must be important ..... somehow this all fits together.

angelo
Member
Member # 1260
posted November 17, 2001 06:58 PM
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"I'm sorry if this seems rushed, but the more we stay in one place, the more likely danger is to find us. This game certainly has no particular reverence for life, so I wouldn't bet that it would see it fit to save you from your own demise. The sooner we get moving the better, we should try and find a way to take this map with us, maybe it will give us some clue as to why we're here. "

"There is no reason to rush anything. Being rash is what got us here in the first place and is not what will get us out. Your hastiness is unnecessary, and counterproductive there is no way we will make it anywhere, any faster if we do not know where to go." Sway said with her usual calm curtness. She looked directly at Andromeda, though she her the loathsome look in her eyes indicated that she was looking through her.

Sway didn't regard Kyle at all, rather she was concentrating on the impressive painting before her. She had been looking at the map for a while now, not marveling at it's etchings and inscriptions and wondering why it seemed to radiate light; she was really trying to think of a way to steal it. But then Andromeda noticed it too and her babblings about jalan and Who-Fling-Kung came in and she was already trying to get them all out. She didn't like that and she didn't like her. Andromeda annoyed Sway for three reasons.

1. How did Andromeda know this and she did not? The fact that she knew this ticked her off.
2. Why did Andromeda think she was in charge and could nominate anyone? Who was she to speak at all?
3. Was there an off-button for this girl? The more she spoke the more Sway wanted to thread the bow and show her the Jalanistic qualities of a Dark arrow.

Of course there were more reasons, but mostly Sway wished she'd just shut up. The only reason she didn't just shut her up herself was the fact that she was interested in the voyage, though not necessarily interested in the people she was going on it with.

She fluttered her black wings so fast that they became transparent and hovered to the map with great effort. Even though her face didn't show it she knew the wings were not at all designed to fly. In fact flight was incredibly tiring, and the wings were only made to glide. Since there was nothing for her to jump off of close by to glide there faster she had to do it the hard way. Of course she could have just walked but she was barefoot and the floor was cold. And raising a lot of dust from the floor she landed in front of the painting.

She traced the map with her finger, a light traveled with her fingertip, she pressed her hand into the map and it went in. The sensation was mind numbing. A million memories raced though her head that she hadn't even had yet. Stories she would tell people she hadn't experienced. She let out a sharp breath and jerked her hand out sharply. She staggered, off guard, leaning away from the menacing picture that hung so innocently.
"That thing, the map, if you touch it... it tells a story." She managed incoherently. She shook her head to clear it, her mane of black and white hair swaying. "I saw us all together, fighting, and riding, saving people, saving ourselves, solving more of these weird puzzles, and.. and.." She had something important to say, it was at the tip of her tongue and in her uncharacteristic excitement she was unable to get it out. It felt as if she were reading a great book and someone had forcedly torn out the last chapter of it just at the end.

She looked disappointed, "I can't remember..." She said softly. She looked at the swirling map a long time, curiously. Then with a sudden decision she jumped on the table, pushed off it and threw herself at it.
And was gone.

ooc- it is moving a bit fast, you can have your character react or jump in also. The post isn't really done because the map isn't a portal into another World or anything, just a bit of a hint *wink*-ooc

Andromeda
Member
Member # 1949
posted November 17, 2001 07:22 PM
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Andromeda glanced at Sway's figure jumping through the map, and motioned for the others to follow her. They needed to stick together. I can't let her disrupt the aeteri - she must not triumph alone ! She glanced back toward the table to see the griffin and the serpent writhe in stuggle - yet neither was obviously prevailing. The crest swirled, a mass of glimmering scales and majestic feathers locked together eternally. The serpent's eyes glowed red, the griffin's gold as they faced each other, indefinetly intertwined in a circle of life and death. The energy of the life force in the room was almost palpable, and Andromeda felt the cool scales of the serpent tighten their grip on the finely preened feathers of the griffin. No ! The balance must be eternal ! She fixed her eyes on Sway's retreating back and threw herself through the map.

Unknown
Member
Member # 1587
posted November 17, 2001 08:08 PM
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Paige stood there watching as Andromeda and Sway jumped into the picture. Now she stood with the two others staring at the picture. Paige walked to it slowly and felt it with her hand. The picture glowed around her hand and she could feel something on the tips of her fingers. She put her other hand up to the picture and it felt the same way.

"I think it will be okay," paige said, more to herself then the other two people. She took a few steps back, ran forward, jumped, and flew threw the painting.

Dragoon
Member
Member # 2001
posted November 17, 2001 09:33 PM
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Dragoon whimpered as, one by one, his "companions" disappeared through the picture.
"Oh, this is bad!" he exclaimed to Kyle. "What do I do, what do I do?"
Go, whispered the voice inside his head, barely audible.
"What?!" Dragoon cried aloud.
Go!!! it screamed. Go, fool! Before you are left behind! The voice paused. And take the frog-boy with you. Dragoon didn't even stop to consider what the voice meant by calling Kyle "frog-boy." He simply grabbed Kyle by the wrist and ran full-throttle for the picture. It had begun to go shimmery around the edges, and those edges were rapidly closing in toward the center.
At the last second, Dragoon used his entire -- albeit small -- weight to whip Kyle around in front of him and through the portal. He then dove in after him.
Dragoon felt himself flying through the air, but his flight was abruptly halted as something closed around his foot. He heard something pop and felt a blinding pain as his body reached its zenith, then he was pulled into a downward arc by gravity. Dragoon almost expected to have his face crack into something solid, but instead he just swung through where his foot was trapped in the air. Eventually, his motion stopped, and, dangling upside-down barely two feet above the ground, Dragoon could finally look at the scenery: nothing but endless green grass above and blue sky below...and some weird, dancing, black dots that were slowly getting bigger and bigger.
Soon, Dragoon succumbed to the pain in his ankle, and the dancing, black dots swallowed him, taking him to the realm of unconsciousness.
As his muscles relaxed, Dragoon's foot slipped free of his shoe, and he landed painlessly on his head.

OOC: I'll edit this if you didn't actually want to go through the map, Ke'ak.
[This message has been edited by cuchulain (edited December 08, 2001).]

Andromeda
Member
Member # 1949
posted November 18, 2001 03:09 PM
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Andromeda gasped as she felt herself melt in to the gilded surface of the map, only to emerge seconds later in a large clearing. Ice dusted the grass and it crackled under her feet as she walked. The sky was a glowing blue, adorned with puffy white clouds. The clearing was surrounded with trees in the full splendor of fall colors , magnificent against the azure sky, they rose towards the heavens. In the center of the clearing stood a great temple of stone , adorned with griffins spouting fire and water and sparkling with abundant jewels. The steps leading up to it's door seemed to invite one inward. The building seemed to glow with the light side of aeteri , the rays of sunlight playing on the eaves of it's roof , the shining of the great marble slabs at it base , all contributed to give the effect of good. Andromeda felt at peace within this place , and she beckoned to Paige . " Do you think we should go in ? It seems safe to me , but you never know in this game .... "

[---- ooc I'll edit this one if nessacary --- ]

Unknown
Member
Member # 1587
posted November 18, 2001 03:32 PM
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"This game seems safe so far. The game doesn't seem as screwed up as it used to." Paige said, "Let's check this thing out. Maybe we'll learn something about this land and the map."

Paige walked slowly up the stairs to the temple. She felt relaxed by the atmospher of the temple and after a bit walked with out thinking about it. It was as if she was being drawn in by a mysterious force.

Dragoon
Member
Member # 2001
posted November 18, 2001 04:43 PM
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OOC: So are you guys not in the same area as me?

BIC: Dragoon's mind drifted, weightless, through star-studded blackness. He could sense a light breeze that felt as thought it tickled his bare skin, though he had left his body in another land. All was quiet except for the odd, distant cry of pain or ecstasy.
So, you have found my realm, little one, the familiar voice boomed in his mind. It was so much louder here, as though any barriers separating its raw power from his mind in other realms had suddenly disappeared.
Show me who you are, Dragoon begged.
Ha! the voice laughed sharply. There is nothing physical in the plane of the mind. Not even we spirits can cross that barrier.
Spirit? Dragoon thought feebly.
Aye, spirit. You'll know me in my true form soon enough, little holy warrior, my champion, bearer of the Brand of the Dragon. The voice spoke this almost gently, and Dragoon felt a lulling calm fall over his senses. All was peaceful.
A second later, his world was shattered. He felt something reach out to touch where his forehead would have been, and then he was overwhelmed with pain. His mind screamed in agony, and he thought he would pass into whatever was beyond conventional unconsciousness. He tried to wriggle away, but he had no corporeal form and was thus held fast by the terrible force.
I am going to die, Dragoon thought. However, just as he could stand the pain no more, it turned into something different entirely. It went suddenly from gut-wrenching agony to an indescribable euphoria. Dragoon felt as he never had before in his life. There could be no pleasure like this in the world.
As abruptly as it had all started, though, the feeling subsided. Dragoon felt like weeping.
There, the voice said finally, you are purged and branded.
Suddenly, Dragoon felt light-headed, and something peach-colored came swimming into view. It was his own hand, which had fallen across his eyes. The light filtering between his fingers was sending excruciating bursts of pain lancing through his head. He squeezed his eyelids shut.
"Andromeda?" he called, praying that they hadn't left him for dead. "Paige? Anybody? Help!"

[This message has been edited by Dragoon (edited November 19, 2001).]

Unknown
Member
Member # 1587
posted November 18, 2001 04:54 PM
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OOC-Um, I think that you're in the same area we are, you just blacked out. Or you're already in the temple somehow, I don't really care just as long as you meet us again before we meet GG-OOC

Ke'ak
Member
Member # 2005
posted November 19, 2001 03:55 PM
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Kyle was confused. He stood, dumbfounded by the others' reaction to the floating map. What am I supposed to do now? I guess I should just follow... He jumped toward the map, and was sucked inside.

He was here, and there, and everywhere, and no where. He tried to call out, but found that he had no voice. Instead, his mind called out and echoed through the abyss. Where am I? Where is everyone?

Suddenly a silver dagger appeared before him, spinning. A voice echoed, not his own. It was deep, and seemed unworldly.

"You have been accepted, young one." Kyle was confused.

What do you want from me?

"You are to be my symbol. I have searched through the beings that have roamed through here, and you are the one worthy. Take this symbol." The sword turned, and the blade aimed directly at him. "You shall be Blade - and you shall decide who is fit to survive."

The sword shot at him, and pierced through him. He should have been in pain. Instead he was angry. He was angry because he could not scream.
A voice pierced through the darkness, and suddenly he could see himself. He was in a temple. Four torches burned, two on each side of an immense throne. On it was a dragon, its long neck holding its head before a figure. Kyle recognized it as Dragoon, the boy whom he had seen when he landed on the table. He was in a heap on the floor, and the dragon seemed to be speaking to him. Dragoon suddenly began to speak.

"Andromeda? Paige? Anybody? Help!" Called Dragoon. I guess that's my cue. He picked up the sword that was laying beside him, and a voice echoed through his mind.

"Go, Blade. Destroy my enemy. And no other will be able to stand before you!" Kyle stood, and ran towards the dragon. Blade will now stand supreme! His mouth opened in a battle cry.

"I'm comin' Dragoon!" He called.

ooc - Drag, I think it would be cool to have the dragon control you, and for Dragoon and Kyle to fight each other. Paige and Andromeda can walk in during the middle of it. Just an idea. I don't know who's controlling Kyle, but I just figure that he's so full of bloodlust that he and Dragoon could get locked into battle. - ooc

[This message has been edited by Ke'ak (edited November 19, 2001).]

Andromeda
Member
Member # 1949
posted November 19, 2001 04:45 PM
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Andromeda heard Dragoon's cry of pain from outside the temple. She followed Paige inward toward him. She was walking toward him when she saw the frog-boy wield a sword in a rage mightier than any swordsman of normal powers could produce. She was intrigued , an outside force seemed to be controlling him. An outside force with malevolent tendencies ! You just don't go around looking daggers at random people - true hatred isn't so unbiased. The aeteri must be unbalanced in some way. She felt the urge to protect Dragoon , after all , he had been the first person she met in the game. She lowered herself on to the cool marble floor of the temple and began to use her powers as a Force-Weilder , she had to stop this evil. And then she saw it , the glow of ruset . His weapon was darkwrought and it showed in the blood red light emanating from it when seen with a Force-Weilder's eyes. The blood red rays cast an eerie glow on the marble beneath her feet as she tried to weild and shape the forces of light to her cause. She felt a build up of power , irhael in her mind , it coarsed through her veins with a burning intensity. She crafted a hold spell , much like the one she had used on Paige to aim at the boy , but hse added a new element. A spell of cleansing that would temporarily free him from the outside source that was manipulating him. She felt simori the release , and the boy was wrapped in threads of delicate golden light. She tuned toward Dragoon and tried to come to his aide. She glanced at the spell bound boy , hoping the life-force bonds suronding him would last long enough to help Dragoon. She leaned over his twisted form and rested her hand on the cool marble - she was too exhausted to cast a spell of awakening , so she simply tried to drag him to safety. A gentle breeze wafted through the temple cooling her brow and giving her new strength. She gazed in wonder at the walls of crystal , and at the great griffin emblem in the center of the temple. The griffin's eyes were two glowing diamonds , it's feet seemed to be pure ice, yet it's breath was engulfed in flames. It glowed with the strength of millions of living things , it was the sun , the moon , the stars. It was as if she could the universe in it's eyes , and as if she could touch the very fabric of existence. She was one with everything , yet alone in herself. For one instant she felt true jalan with a the light side of aeteri , and she felt whole. She held it in her gaze , and drew strength from it's might. She pulled Dragoon behind a pillar and whispered. " Are you okay ? Do you know why he's attacking you ? "

[This message has been edited by Andromeda (edited November 19, 2001).]

Ke'ak
Member
Member # 2005
posted November 19, 2001 04:56 PM
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ooc - Andro, I think you missed the point. Kyle isn't attacking Dragoon, he's attacking the dragon. He thinks the dragon's attacking Dragoon, so he's trying to save him. Just to let you know. - ooc

Dragoon
Member
Member # 2001
posted November 19, 2001 07:31 PM
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Dragoon lay on the ground, moaning, for a few moments. His hand strayed to his forehead, which had been on fire a moment ago. To his surprise, there was a deep furrow in his brow. It curved up from the bridge of his nose, branched out in two directions, then hooked around and stopped up near his hairline.
It must really have branded me, Dragoon thought. Suddenly, his ears perked at a distant sound.
"I'm comin', Dragoon!" It was Kyle. Thank godness someone was coming for him. Dragoon relaxed.
Run, the voice warned.
Relax,Dragoon told it. It's just Kyle.
Run, it said again. Dragoon could hear soft footsteps as Kyle ran across the field. He was shrieking at the top of his lungs, for some reason.
"Thanks for coming for me, Kyle," Dragoon said, rolling over in preparation for the task of standing up. He heard something whistle behind his head. He leaped up, spinning around to see Kyle holding a sword, its edge cutting into the ground where his head had been a moment before.
I told you, the voice said, almost laughing. Stupid boy...
Dragoon took one look at Kyle, whose eyes glinted with bloodlust, and quickly decided the best course of action.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!" he screamed, tearing back the way Kyle had come. Suddenly, he caught sight of Andromeda. "Helphelphelphelphelp!!!" he begged as he ran past her. In response, she cast a binding spell over Kyle. Dragoon skidded to a halt, heaving with exertion and terror.
"He tried to kill me!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Kyle.

[This message has been edited by cuchulain (edited December 08, 2001).]

Unknown
Member
Member # 1587
posted November 19, 2001 08:18 PM
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Paige ran up the steps and looked around. She saw Dragoon freaking out, Kyle on the ground in a binding spell and Andromeda looking somewhat tired.

"I missed all the fun." She said jokingly. "So what happened? Why is Kyle in the binding spell and what's wrong with Dragoon?"

Dragoon
Member
Member # 2001
posted November 19, 2001 08:45 PM
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Dragoon stared at Paige, his mind and heart racing.
"Did I not make myself clear?!" he shrieked on the verge of hysteria. "He tried to kill me!!!"

Unknown
Member
Member # 1587
posted November 19, 2001 08:53 PM
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"Hey, don't get mad at me," Paige said, "I just got here. why would he try and kill you?" Paige looked over at Andromeda, expecting her to know the answer.

that's stupid, Paige thought to her self, why did I look at andromeda as if she know's everything? I can't just rely on her every time I ask a question

angelo
Member
Member # 1260
posted November 20, 2001 06:41 AM
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Sway had jumped into that map first but oddly she had fallen out last. The ground was cold and she hated the crunch of it on her freezing feet. She shivered and wished she had on proper clothes to be traipsing around in a winter wonderland. Instead she looked like she had just come from an African safari. The cloth skirt and wrap around shirt were not cutting it so she quickly got over to some shelter. The breath of the Griffin was warm and she was unafraid to go near it.

Then she saw it.

Not the temple, the statues, the cream puffs of the sky, she didn't see any of that first as a major problem, just the weakness of the group as a whole. Here they were pulling swords and knives on each other for no reason. She laughed delighted, she knew she'd be able to control them all in time if they were so weak minded. All she had to do was find a more organized group of people to travel with, she knew she'd come across an opportunity soon.

In the meantime, though, she had to keep the little kiddies under control. And with a back hand shot she quickly laced a Water arrow and shot it with perfect precision, and all her might, into the top of the temple.
Water poured out of the arrow as if it'd been compressed behind a dam for years. A tide pool began and everyone was soaked, just as the water was about to reach her she pulled on the string and the arrow fell out, the water seized, and the waves subsided.

"Calm down before I have to turn the hose on you again. What is wrong with you people can't you be civil. Why are you acting so childishly? Why not act like you have some sense. Here we are in a place we do not know and all you want to do is sit around and stab each other. What idiots. How old are you? Three? That is an over estimation of intellect on my part, because at least a three year old could realize he was in a place he didn't know. And rather than kill himself over it, he would investigate it. So why do we not take a lesson from our three year old friend and be still for long enough to get this together?" Sway said with matter-of-fact disgust at the childishness of the group.

Sway walked around the perimeter of the Temple pulling at loose looking stones wondering whether there was a back way in. "I do not know if we should just go in. There could be some one waiting for us. Perhaps there is a back way. I am not sure of what is inside but I am sure our resident fairy mage has it all figured out." She said scornfully hooking her bow back onto her back.

Andromeda
Member
Member # 1949
posted November 20, 2001 09:03 AM
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" As you wish , although this matter will have to be revealed later. Where to you desire to explore ? Do you all wish to enter the inner sanctum of the temple ? " Andromeda's voice rang out in the cool marble halls of the temple as she fixed Kyle with a penetrating gaze. What was he doing ? She turned to face everyone as she waited for them to answer.

Ke'ak
Member
Member # 2005
posted November 20, 2001 11:13 AM
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Kyle could not move. He had been frozen in place, his sword raised above him. Why can't I break free?

"The binding spell," said the Swordmaster's voice. "Is a relatively easy bit of magic to undo. I will put the spell into your mind. However, you must not allow them to know that I am in control. If you do, you shall surely die."

I will not fail, Swordmaster. I am Blade, and I shall vanquish thine enemy. Kyle muttered the spell of unbinding, and he was free. He collapsed to the ground.

"What...what...what is this? Where am I? And why does my head hurt so much?"

ooc - Guys, don't try to figure out who "The Swordmaster" is yet. I'll let Kyle give you hints, and one of you can confront him later. For now, it needs to seem like he doesn't know he's being controlled. Thanx. - ooc