Thread:Eureka Enderborn/@comment-26005135-20160819210238/@comment-26084195-20160825014955

The Rime General watched the battle on the glacier below, snarling with anger as he watched his highly trained army being assaulted on their own turf. All around, ice spells were slung this way and that, but they only seemed to slow down the Di'zok that had used some sort of illusion.

"The whole thing is insulting!" He thought to himself. "Di'zok scum infiltrating MY army!"

Then a lightning bolt descended and struck one of the Rime soldiers, and he realized that those two, that black stone giant and that Sarnak in shining armour were the same two that were rumored to be decimating Rime outposts all over!

"LEGIONS OF RIME! FORGET THE DI'ZOK, KILL THE GOLEM AND THE SARNAK!" He roared. Then he turned and stalked across the boat, looking down on the chained Iksar bard, who was now quaking in fear. "Keep playing, little Iksar. Play a song of victory, knowing that if it looks like I will lose this battle, I will have you executed before I leave."

She nodded, and put a shaking string to her instrument and began to play.

When the Rime General turned and stalked back to his post, her playing got stronger, it swept across the battlefield, and when it reached the ears of the golem Ironskin, he shrunk and transformed back into his original form. He searched for the source, and spotted the sorrowfully playing Iksar.

"Brother!" He called to Sky'ki, who stopped hacking and turned to look at his brother, who pointed to the bard.

The paladin looked to where his brother pointed, and saw the Iksar bard playing her song. The two of them locked eyes for just a moment.

Sky'ki snarled a bit. "Damn it. Brother! Cover me!"

Ironskin nodded and slid across the ice to meet his brother, holding his shield up between him and the Rime forces. An ice spell hit the shield and was redirected, forming a sort of half sphere of ice around them. Sky'ki sheathed his massive sword and instead whipped out his bow, and laid four arrows out next to him. He opened his jaws and released his flaming breath at the tips, which went alight. He knocked and fired the four arrows in rapid succession.

The Rime General watched four points of light trail through the sky, not realizing they were arrows until too late. He ducked beneath his buckler and waited for the arrows to hit.

He heard for successive thuds and hisses as the flaming arrows struck his ship and were extinguished. He turned to see the chains of the Iksar bard shattered and melting.

She smiled at him for a moment and burst into a musical frenzy, glowing musical notes zinging from her instrument as she danced about the boat.

(Here's the song, you can watch the video if you'd like but it's irrelevant to these occurrences. Just listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGCsyshUU-A )

"What? NO! Stop her!"

The General's warriors ran to try to stop the Iksar, but she was too fast and agile, and she danced her way around them. They seemed to be slowed by the power of her music.

Meanwhile, the music spread across the glacier with even greater volume. As the shining motes reached them, the attacking Di'zok suddenly felt an incredible surge in their courage and ferocity. They renewed their assault with shocking force and speed, fueled by the strength of the song.

The Jaukoehais looked at each other and grinned. "She's a Troubador!"

Sky'ki nodded, still smiling, and smashed through the ice dome, burning the Rime ranks with his flaming breath. Ironfur was right behind him, smashing people with his hammer.

All around, the battle began to rage in rhythm with the Troubador's song.

She paused her dance to a moment to watch her rescuers wreck their way through the Rime forces. Unfortunately, this gave her pursuers just the window they needed.

The Rime General slammed the butt of his axe ont the ship floor, and an ice cage sprang up around the troubador. Growling, he yelled at the sea serpents. "WE'RE RETURING TO VELIOUS! SET SAIL IMMEDIATELY!" He then walked over to the troubador's ice cage. She had lost her veil of fear and cowardice and stared up at him with defiance. "You have caused enough trouble for me, bard! Prepare to face the consequences of your actions!"

Sky'ki was the first to notice the fading of the music. He looked toward the vessel, and saw it turning, and the bard trapped in the ice cage. "Brother!"

Ironskin looked toward the vessel, which had turned and begun slowly sailing away. He nodded, grabbed his brother, and threw him at the ship.

Jaukoehai sailed through the air. He aimed himself at the two elite Rime guards at the edge of the boat. He flew into both of them, knocking them off of the edge and propelling himself backward and onto the ship. The two other Rime guards charged at him, but he spun and tripped them both up, shoving them off the edge after their kin.

The Rime General was a bit too busy to here the running and sliding and throwing, he was focusing a bit too much on relishing the moment right before the execution. As his axe descended toward the Iksar troubador's head, the cage suddenly shattered as a figure flashed with incredible speedand shoved her out of the way.

The Rime General looked up to see the Sarnak in white and gold armour standing there, still glowing a little bit with light from the blessing he cashed in to gain that burst of extra speed.

"You will not harm an innocent, Rime scumbag! Not an my watch." Sky'ki growled, reaching his glowing hand for his sword.

"An innocent? HAH! This is no innocent. She is an Iksar."

The Ronin drew his sword and glanced back at the troubador lying behind him. "Play your music, bard. Make me feel like it was worth saving you." He turned back to the Rime General. "Well, a duel then. For the Iksar's life."

The General grinned. "I accept."

Though he accepted, he was unprepared for the immediate and ferocious assault of the paladin. The Iksar leapt up and grabbed her instrument, resuming her song. The glowing notes all flew from her instrument and into Sky'ki, as he fought, swinging his sword with a speed that would seem impossible with such a big sword.

The Rime General raised his buckler and weathered the assault as best he could,but the assault drove him back. Realizing that the paladin was stronger than himself, he slammed the butt of his axe into the deck of the ship again, sending a wave of frost toward his opponent.

A freeze quickly began to creep up Jaukoehai's body. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

A circle of fire appeared around his feet, and began to send fireballs coursing up along his body, melting the ice as they travelled.

The General took a step back. "How did you do that? You are not a wizard!"

Jaukoehai held up his left hand, which of course did not have a glove (it's way too hard to make a gauntlet for a Sarnak). A small ring on his pointer finger was glowing. "The ring of Sarnak tradition. A fire burns within each of us. This just shows that on the outside."

He brought his sword swinging down, purple symbols traling behind it. He struck the deck, sending a wave of blue fire into the General.

He raised his shield, but not even his enchanted ice equipment was a match for the spirit roasting holy fire. His buckler melted, and he staggered back away from the fire. Sky'ki stalked menacingly through it, unaffected by the blue flames licking at his kneecaps.

The General swung his axe, but was stopped by a force he could not see. Jaukoehai's eyes had closed, an the symbol on his cloak began to glow with a golden light. When Jaukoehai's eyes opened, they glowed with the same light. He spoke, but his voice was overlaid with a resonating, ethereal voice.

"You have committed crimes against the people of Kunark, crimes which are varied in type and malicious in intent. The Tribunal has found you guilty of these crimes, and our Paragon will inact our will."

A golden gavel appeared before Jaukoehai, which struck the General on the head. He fell onto the floor, badly injured and stunned. Jaukoehai stopped glowing, and walked over, sword still in hand.

"The Tribunal has rendered their judgement. I, as the Paragon of Truth, will be your executioner."

As he spoke, a golden axe lodged itself in the General's head.

Startled, Jaukoehai looked up to see the troubador holding the end of that axe. She looked up and smiled at him. "You were taking too long, paladin."

Jaukoehai gived her an irritated look and sheathed his sword. She was immediately distracted by the sight of the receding Kunark coastline.

"Oh no! Quick, we have to turn this thing around!"

"Maybe you should play those animals one of your songs to get them to turn around. Where did that instrument of yours go?"

This time, she gave him the annoyed look, and showed him her golden axe. He noticed several magical strings going along the length of the weapon, and it shifted back into an isntrument. "This is the Ayonic Axe."

"The mythical weapon of Shorra the singer of the stars?"

"The one and the same. Now we've got to get off of this boat!"

Jaukoehai sighed. "I'm going to regret this." He scooped the far smaller Iksar woman up in his arm and leapt off the boat.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She screamed as they hurtled toward the frigid waters. She braced herself for falling into the water, but instead they... hit solid ground?

She opened her eyes and looked down. They were standing on a radiant disk of pure light. "Oh... you can do that?"

"You would be surprised what I can do."

"Well, can I at least ask my heroic rescuer's name?" The Iksar asked as they skimmed across the waves.

"I am Jaukoehai Sky'ki, though most know me as Ronin Sky'ki, and the other followers of the Tribunal know me as the Paragon of Truth."

"Wow. I'm just Kuza. Kuza Sathak."

"Well, Kuza Sathak, it's high time we return you to your people."

"Thanks, but I'd rather not. The Sathirian Empire is no longer safe for me. I think I'd like to travel the world a bit."

"I won't ask."

"My thanks."

"And that's about it!" Jaukoehai said to you two. "Me and the Di'zok had cleaned up the Rime soldiers by the time my brother returned with the rescued troubador. They all either ran or surrendered when their leader fled."