Heirot

Shea slipped the robe from her body and stepped into the deep pull of steaming water. On top of the water floated red rose petals and the room was filled with candles and ensence.

Shea laid back in the water, the oils soaking into her skin and making it smooth.

She closed her eyes, her mind wondering to what possibly could have been the hand before... and where was Praxis? Probably out bothering someone. Shea smiled at the thought of him being cruel.

Shea's eyes snapped open as she thought she felt a presence in the room with her. She sat up slightly and looked around, but saw nothing.

Shea shivered as a cold fleeing ran up the inside of her legs under the water as if hands were trailing up towards her hips. Her eyes narrowed as she was about to reach down and find out what it was. The icy hands moved up to the top of her legs then her hips and the grip tightened, pulling her down under the water with a splash.

She squirmed under the water, not screaming, but remaining calm to find out what it was. She looked into the oiled water, seeing no face, nor the hands that held her to the bottom of the marble tub.

When she began to run out of oxogen was when she panicked, fighting to get to the surface. Then the hands were gone and she stood up quickly, gasping for air.

She looked around wildly, moving hair from her face. She felt a cold hand and she turned around. There before her was the face of Adrian, and his body was dead looking and slightly decade.

(OOC: Okay, I'm being really bad with keeping up with threads, and have lost track of certain ones such as Dimerion, I'm just gonna kill him off. I'm pretty sure no comment has been made to him since my last post anyway, so it doesn't matter much.)

Dimerion ate the child with glee, blood splattering everywhere from the corpse. However, he ate a little too fast and ended up snagging a piece of bone up with some meat. Not noticing it, he swallowed the mouthful and proceeded to choke. With no one around, Dimerion's life soon ended, a victim of his last victim.

Praxis just barely dodged the slash.

The hooded figure exhaled slowly in a low hiss, "surrender to me...and I'll hold off on turning you in to Verin"

Praxis laughed, "surrender...to you, I seem to recall beating you last time we fought."

Shea looked at Aidren's body blandly. "Ew..." she said, sounding disgusted, but in truth it didn't bother her.

"How are you here and what do you want?" she asked him, standing there dripping with water.

Aidren said nothing, but his decade head turned and tilted to the side before he disappeared and the invisible force pulled her under the water again, holding her there until she couldn't breath. Seh jerked, trying to get her head above water, but she couldn't.

Still the Witch Queen didn't panic, that was until her lungs burned for air. Finally the force allowed her up, slinging her against the wall...

Death stood motionless, and Praxis stared into its empty hood. The calm was broken, as Death hurled his scythe violently towards him. Turning end over end, the blade flies towards Praxis's face. An small green explosion emanates from Praxis's hand deflecting the threat. Praxis noted something was amiss, and he turned around just in time to see Death slashing downwards with the scythe in hand. Rolling sideays to dodge the slash, the tip of the blade etched a bloody line across Praxis's face. Ignoring the searing pain, Praxis extended his fiery claws and slashed towards the hooded figure. A thought of satisfaction crossed Praxis's mind as he felt his hands make contact with the cloak, but his hopes dimmed as the cloak was empty except for a damp white mist. Suddenly a bony arm violently grabbed him from behind. Digging its fingers violently into Praxis's chest, his robe disintergrated under its touch. Pain was acompanied by an acrid smell as Praxis realized the bony fingers were rotting his flesh away. He heard a harsh whisper from behind his ear, "I...am...everywhere..."

Shea pushed herself off the floor, naked and dripping water. Her eyes glanced around warily, but if he was invisible she couldn't see him...

"Come out Adrian," Shea said soothingly, stepping towards a towel and wrapping it around herself.

Something knocked her to the side and at that moment she swung her hand around. A strange smoky ball flew in the direction of the force, and for an instant she could see the outline of Adrian's body.

She picked herself up and moved her hands around. The strange smoke came from up under the floor, filling the room until she could see his every movement.

"Come to momma," she said to him, with a grin.

Adrian's outline moved towards her and Shea through her hands up at him, a wall of some sort that was invisible it semed knock the ghost back.

"I'm not fool," she muttered, sending the ghost back. "I know that there is only one way out for you..."

She put down the wall. "Where is he?" Adrian took advantage and rushed towards her.

((OOC: All right, I've been waiting for Squeek to post because he's the leader of the group or whatever... ))

Grasping at the arm with eyes aflame, Praxis struglled against its grasp, but it was to no avail. Rapidly changing tactics, Praxis immediately shouted "Pennatas!," igniting his back with fiery wings but the hand and its owner disappeared into a damp, rapidly dissapating grey mist.

Praxis's face whinced as he looked down to find five gaping holes in the flesh above his heart, and a look of desperation followed as he realized he could not win this battle. His eyes scanned around looking for an escape route. Seeing the door suspicously unguarded, he made a break for it.

As he was about to cross the threshhold, Death reappeared from the shadows swinging his scythe, but anticipating this, Praxis dodged by disappearing into a pillar of green flame. With a fiery return to corporality, Praxis appeared behind Death, calws extended. To keep his enemy from launching another offensive, Praxis struck out with his claws. Anticipating his enemy to disappear again, Praxis was presently suprise to feel his claws hit bone. He followed through by wraping both arms around Death's waist. "I...have...you," Praxis exclaimed between breaths.

Slowly, the hooded head turned completely around, facing backwards. Praxis shivered as he felt the freezing breath of death on his face as it replied with a barely audible chuckle, "you have nothing...I've been toying with you the whole time."

She didn't exactly know how to despose of spirits, but she did know how to keep them trapped if only for a little while. Adrian was standing surounded by a clear cilinder that had a strange glowing aura around it.

"No where is he?" she asked.

"Some where in your palace," Adrian told her, his green eyes glaring at her. "With your lover."

Shea stepped towards the cilinder sheild. "Why would he want Praxis?"

Adrian said nothing. He only stared at Shea. To keep him from being to distracted by her naked form the queen grabbed a robe which was probably the most decent thing she owned and pulled it around her.

"He's in a place you do not know of and will not find." Adrian said after a moment, even he didn't know the exact name of it.

Shea eased closer and looked Adrian in the eyes, but they were dead and lifeless and convayed to her nothing that she could use against him. Shea closed her eyes and saught out Praxis. She had no use to use this power often, only when she was looking for someone and couldn't find them by common sence or tormenting someone. You can't torture ghosts.

She saw him, and the one she knew as the God of Death.... The only one she knew could bring Adrian back was him... She didn't recognize the way down to where he was... but she was sure that now she had the mental image she could teleport there with out any trouble at all.

Suddenly, Death's robe grew black tendrils which grew large and sourrounded Praxis in a globe of shadow. Reacting to this grave threat, Praxis began preparing a spell of his own. Moving his hand in an intricate pattern, Praxis shot flame from his fingertips into a bright ball centered in his motions. The globe started closing in on him, but Praxis continued to form his spell. Closing his eyes, Praxis meditated on his souroundings. Focusing all his energy on his arcane senses and the spell he was forming, Praxis inhaleld slowly. Just as the globe was about to touch him, he violently shouted, throwing his arms foward in a specific direction. A large, bright green beam shot out from his hands, colliding with the globe and stopping its contraction.

The two magics clashed, black energies mixed with green, contraction versus explosion. For what seemed like a milenia the two forces struggled with one another, but finally the green one won out. Bursting a hole in the murky darkness, the beam revealed the firgure of death standing with one bony arm exteneded towards Praxis, but the visage was quickly consumed by the beam's firery inferno. The beam streaked out, bursting through the stone walls of the cave, bursting through the many levels of the dungeoun and finally breaching a gaping hole in the surface. All of Arken could see the sky illuminated by a firery, green column.

Down in the depths of Arroes's foundation, Praxis releived to see the pinprick of moonlight in the shaft he just created, breathed a heavy sigh and nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Shea closed her eyes imagened the place where she had seen Praxis and her body faded away. Like usual she was engulfed in cold darkness, but it faded away and she appeared in the room where Praxis was fighting death.

At first she didn't know what to do, she just stood there looking at the green cilinder of light that disappeared.

A smile came to her face as she found it interesting to see Praxis's power.

Praxis smiled to himself. Sensing Shea's presence, he decided to boast a little. "Well...," he said as he groaned to to his feet, "its not every day you get to destroy a God's avatar." Yet something did not sit well in Praxis's mind. It seemed far too easy a victory, especially for battle he was expecting to lose. Realizing that it was Shea in the room, his thoughts suddenly moved to hoping she did not sense this self-doubt.

Shea looked at both of them. "What are you doing here Death?" she asked, her voice unusually calm for the situation. Strands of crimson red hair hung in front of her face and her robe was lose, falling off the shoulder on one side. It was the usual Shea.

Taking Shea by surprise, Death materialized behind her. Violently grabing her, Death turned his tall, hidden head down to audibly whisper in her ear, "How astute of you to notice my presance."

Noticing Shea being threatened, without thinking Praxis's eyes glowed and his firery claws extended, but he successfully held back the instinct to blindly lunge towards her assailant.

Death laughed, "this is quite a prize you have here Praxis.... her soul is strong. I'm suprised you haven't killed her for it yet. Why with one like hers, you would have the strength to challenge even me...again."

Praxis looked suspiciosly at death, paused for a second, and retorted, "I'm suprised a... wise god such as yourself would understand the simple concept of conserving resources."

Death brushed his hand a against Shea's, a small sizling sound emananted, as Death's flesh rotting magic started to penetrate her aura. Covorting slightly in a harsh chuckle to Praxis's reply, "Conserving resources, I find that hard to beleive when you've exhausted all your power. Beggars cannot be choosers...."

Shea growled when Death grabbed her, and she shivered at the feel of his cold breath on her skin. She didn't flinch when his hand come up to touch her, fearing nothing he could do to her.

"Death," she said calmly, though there was a clear aggitation in her voice. "Leave my palace before you get emberassed in front of an enemy..."

She looked out of the corner of her eyes to see into his hood, which was always in darkness.

"Or before you break bonds of alliance with my Father," she warned.

Her eyes looked back to Praxis, still questioning what Death could be talking about. It was then she noticed the tingle of something on her skin.

She quickly began to move, to jerk away from his grip.