From Life into Legend }{ open

[laraine]

Raine nodded, and slowly closed her eyes. Almost instantly she fell asleep, breathing in swallow breaths. Her wound was slowly healing, and it had already stopped bleeding. However it was clear she had lost a lot of blood, and her face was ashen. As she slept, she dreamed, and her dream was anything but comforting.
A piece of her pink hair fell over her face, near her right eye. She made a slight noise in her dream and put a hand over her face, it slowly rested back down beside her.
It was a couple more hours before she opened her eyes, the blazing sun heating her body.
She yawned and tried to sit up. "Good Morning!" she chimed.

[deraj]

"Good Morning!"

Deraj couldn’t help but laugh at the difference a good night’s rest had for this poor girl. If it weren’t for the heaving of her breasts, he would have thought she died shortly after falling asleep.

“Good Morning. You slept well I assume? How do you feel about breakfast?”

[laraine]

Raine smiled. " I would love some thank you very much!" She managed to get to her feet and brushed the sand off his cloak. She reached out to hand it back to him. "Thanks for the cloak. I wish I could clean the blood off it. It seems like a very nice one. Unlike mine which is torn and stained."

She sat next to him, still feeling her wound, but it was more sore than anything now. "So what do we have for breakfast?"

[deraj]

He smiled. “If it would fit you, I would tell you to keep it. Don’t worry about the blood. I hope this doesn’t turn you off of breakfast but that is how it got to be so red in the first place.” He looked up to the sky and spied a very confused flock of geese. Thank you Fate. You never disappoint. And with that he lifted a hand to the sky and another lightning bolt flew from his hand. It struck a rather plump goose that was dragging behind. At least now the flock can get back to a more reasonable clime. Deraj let out another laugh and asked what she thought of cooked goose as it fell from the heavens.

[laraine]

"Don't worry. I'm used to blood. I had to in order to defeat demons after all." She said. She was looking around, then blinked as he asked her about cooked goose. Said goose suddenly fell to the ground in front of them and Raine couldn't help but grin. "Why not? I'm feeling spontaneous today! Besides, I haven't had meat in sometime it would be good to get some iron back in my system."

Soon the goose was ready to eat and Raine ate her portion carefully. She looked over at Deraj and decided to ask him. "By the way, we know why I was here in this barren wasteland, but what about you? What good reason could you have for coming to this place?"

[deraj]

Thankfully she hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t eating. Things were going pretty well until

“…but what about you? What good reason could you have for coming to this place?"

Think fast, Deraj. He kept his cool. One thing he had finally mastered over the centuries was to not betray his thoughts.

“Treasure hunting.” He pointed at his new diadem. I hope she doesn’t ask to see it. If she does, I bet it won’t come off. Huzzah for enchanted jewelry. Why was it so hard to make headgear that wasn’t cursed? Wasn’t a simple strap enough? Heaven forbid an evil overlord has to bother with taking off his shiny crown at the end of the day.


In an attempt to change the subject he asked, “So tell me more about these demons. How much longer do you expect we have until they send more?”

[laraine]

Raine suddenly stopped eating. She looked away, not meeting his gaze.
"Its hard to say, but since the demons that got away know where I am, not long." She closed her eyes. "They are probably on their way now." Her voice sounded hollow, almost as if she was uneasy. "Which is probably why I should get going soon. This place is dangerous now. " Her smile returned.

"They will be back, and with greater numbers. So you shouldn't stick around for too much longer. If they see you with me you'll be hunted too." Her smile seemed somewhat sad. She finished her food and stretched a bit. "Wow that was good!"

[deraj]

“Oh you don’t expect I would just let you run off without me now, do you? I can’t part ways with you now knowing that more will simply come after you.” He shook his head. “No, I’m coming with you. Etiquette be damned.”

[laraine]

Raine looked shocked at his response. "No you cant, its too dangerous. Humans are no match for them, you'll be killed. I can't let anyone else get hurt...not again.." The pain in her eyes was unmistakable.

"These demons are ruthless...they wont hesitate to kill anyone in their way..."

"That's right Laraine..." A voice said from behind them. Raine turned and came face to face with about ten demons. Leading them was a middle aged woman, she looked young and beautiful. She had the same color hair and Raine, only she had blazing red eyes. Raine took a step back, fear in her eyes.

[deraj]

Just as he was about to protest and reassure her, a group of about ten demons appeared from behind her. These old eyes need to keep up. How could I have missed them? No better way to reassure her than to demonstrate.

Deraj became as serious as death in an instant. He solemnly stepped between Raine and this small horde. He had inadvertently summoned a storm, which quickly blotted out the sun. Head slightly bowed, he looked up and spoke. “This is your last chance to leave this girl alone.” A strong wind began to pick up in the canyon.

The leader of the group could have been Raine’s sister. She appeared older but there was definitely a resemblance. If it came down to it would you kill this girls family in order to ensure her safety? Part of Deraj wanted to feel guilty that there would be no hesitation.

[laraine]

"Oh? So this is your new protector, huh Laraine?" The woman said. "How, cute." The woman seemed unfazed by his demonstration. "You are a idiot if you believe you alone can stop the Risk demon tribe. Why do you protect this girl you hardly know? This is our family's problem. It is no concern of yours outsider. You do not understand anything, this girl has to die." The woman said.

Raine closed her eyes, trying to block out her voice.

"You have no ties to this girl, is it because you feel sorry for her? A pathetic and lonely girl who is being hunted by her ruthless and evil family, right?" The woman continued.

[deraj]

“What offense has this poor creature committed? Her existence is obviously through no fault of her own. Leave her be or I shall not rest until I have slaughtered every last one of your tribe.” With every word, he pulled the energy toward himself. Soon he was engulfed in a dark smokeless flame. His eyes shone with a brilliance that would make even the stars jealous.

Suddenly the ground broke open around them and Deraj let out suppressed moan of pain. From the crevasse, poured a small battalion of the undead. Needless violence is good for one thing at least. One bears a golden eagle upon his shield while another carries the black serpent. Here they arise to serve a common goal. In death, all men are equal. It may take a while to recover from this but it is well worth it. I only hope I can stay conscious through this fight.
The thunder began to roll.

[laraine]

Raine and the demons seemed surprised to see the skeletons rise from the dead.

The woman looked disgusted. "What are you?" she asked Deraj. Then she closed her eyes. "Attack."

The demons all attacked the corpses. The woman herself went towards Deraj who was protecting Raine. "If you want to die so badly boy, then here!" From her hands pooled a black energy. It formed into the shape of a whip and she lashed it out towards the two.

[deraj]

"If you want to die so badly boy, then here!"

He couldn’t help but to laugh. Boy? As for dying “I’m afraid it’s a little late for that.” It was impressive to watch the whip form from the darkness that she summoned to herself. He was so overtaken with the dark grace of his foe’s attack and so accustomed to not fearing pain, he failed to move out of the way or merely grab the thing. It struck him hard on the face but as usual he felt nothing. Still dead. He wondered if his face would show the ripped flesh but thanks to the magics of the diadem, his youthful face showed no blemish. He thrust his hand outward and sent a ball of fire at the leader.

[laraine]

At that moment that she saw he showed no pain, she realized what he was. "You are.." She barely managed to dodge out of the way of the incoming fireball and took a couple steps back. She grit her teeth and glared at Deraj. "It seems that killing you will be a lot harder than I anticipated." She turned to Raine. "For now I'll leave you be. But I will return, and when I do. I will kill you." The demon woman and her minions suddenly vanished into thin air.

Raine blinked, unsure of what to make of this all. She looked up at Deraj. "Are you okay?!"