Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

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Savaj Vanguard
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Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

Post by Savaj Vanguard »

( ..Continued.. )

Savaj's body laid bare, broken, and battered in an empty void surrounded by nothing but darkness. Her face was flat on a platform of what felt like crystal before its cold surface woke her nerves. And when it did, pain cascaded through her tiny veins like white water. Every inch of her body, from her crown to her toenails burned as if she were marinated in a vat of acid. Her mahogany skin was coated in dried blood and lesions that irritated her pores like fleas.

Shock and adrenaline pinned her eyelids open as she writhed through the hovering shadows in agony. Her mind was still reeling from Kham/Vyrin's ambush and the castle of questions that predicated the assault.
"What’s upon your back is Michio in Origin. It’s a peace treaty written in the Ahlm tongue. The Michio language, when infused with Naten in this way, and many others, it alters the world around it. And in this case you’re DNA..

..The Anima arranged these peace talks among our people and yours, the Djou’Vik. Majestic draconian creatures who wanted nothing but peace and equality for all of The Mother’s children. She ambushed them, and abused our Anthem of Carbon infusion to apply a genetic curse to your people to force you to your life as human and never take the skies again.”
Every second brought fourth harsher memories from their encounter. She reached at her back for that malicious Michio rune torn into her skin, but her muscles failed her. She remembered reading Kham's mind and watching the their witch carve it into their scaly backs. The Icarus Pact. A curse that preyed on the Djou’vik’s curosity of pacisfism and mutualsim. Their want to coexist enabled their predators and allowed the once unapproachable creatures to be abused by misplaced trust.

Kham insisted it was the Prodigy that bound the Djou’vik to fleshy prisons and strangled their children with the chains.. but..
..Savaj’s body hit the floor with a soft thud. Maeel revealed herself slowly from the ground up with the flat of her hand extended having just chopped her in the back of the neck, knocking her unconscious. While her feet were bare underneath, the dark steel armor, a product of Michio and Goblin ingenuity shows its decadence and gleamed in the moonlight. The leg plates covering the shins were fashioned after the faces of the Khadar, horned, and jawed.
.. then those memories returned, fleeting remnants of the moment she'd been double crossed. After she was struck, Savvy reflexively released a telepathic pulse before her Naten supply was cutoff. It functioned akin to sonar; illustrating a detailed picture of what transpired as she drifted off. It was war tactic Kham taught her in the event needed she needed to convey information while under attack.

In warefare, he imprinted upon his faithful the importance of information, insisting it be more valuable than any cargo of artillery. And today she finally understood the sentiment.

She'd been betrayed. The ominious glimmer of Mael's armor haunted that thought and birthed a fiery rage that swallowed her void of confusion.

The realization furrowed her brows and irritated her injuries, but the catharthic storm of fury that tailed treachery numbed the lions share of her suffering. Who was that woman? She was massive, decked out in blackened plates that concealed more than her appearance, but the strength behind her attack echoed Michio.

She remembered Kham's face right before she passed out and his murderous grin scalded her further. Savaj opened her lips to scream or yell, but her mouth was stone dry. Scratchy, like she'd been gnawing on sand and swallowed glass.

The compound of sickening sensations were maddening but Savaj dug through her discomforts like she'd been trained to do. Through some breathy grunts, she mounted her weight on her elbows and crawled along the reflective ground until she could support her back against something, anything but these freezing tiles. She'd never been so cold. So weak. Her senses she was so proud of were scattered and barely responsive, but she pawed through her blurred scope of vision until her hands found a pillar to lean on.

Savvy's naten was depleted and every laborous movement tore open an old wound, but laying a hand on the stone column unearthed runic sigils along the floor that burned the encompassing shadows away like a torch. The column mirrored the symbol and lit up like a beam of fire, spreading it to the other eight that surrounded her and adorned the azure altar lost to the ruins of time in radiant amber light.

.. where the fuck am I?

"You truly don't remember.."

Savvy's eyes widened as she searched the expansive building for the sullen whisper but she couldn't help but she was distracted by its grandiose decour. Above her, a vast body of water flowed in intricate patterns that defied gravity and enticed the imagination. They splashed against the walls, which were painted into massive murals illustrated with fables that date back to the first Advent Year. Dead languages. Broken glyphs. But there was no sign of-

"It was my hand that carved the stone, but this sanctuary was your design.. Your home.."

The timber of the disembodied voice was low and deafening, like rolling thunder. But its tone was calm and heavy with sentiment.

"Our home.."

Finally Savaj's eyes were drawn to him. The hulking figure behind her who was resting his frame against the cold surface. His back leaning against one the blistering pillars. His presence was staggering, even while sitting, he was the most polarizing figure she'd ever seen. His skin was tough, darker than oak and covered in scars that brought character to his otherwise smooth face. His eyes were green, a reflection of the mothers beauty and his hair was coiled in locs that streamed over his boulder sized shoulders. Yh'keem was the second child of Akavjjr and the first one branded by the Michio's seal. The script mimicked the runic tapestry draw into Savaj's back, but Yh'keem's was drawn on his chest as if someone used a shard of glass to sculpt the symbols.

Savaj had to crane her neck to hold his glance once the giant of a man lifted himself to his feet. It seemed like he was just waiting for her to wake up but Savaj wasn't quite sure she had. In the depths of her subconscious, she'd seen his face before. That voice soaked in experience, even his scent of blood and soot. It was familiar. But not enough calm her apprehensions. He approached her like a sentinal, careful not to set her off but he could sense her anxieties racing to dramatic heights. She didn't recognize him, despite their unapparent history and, which forced him to stop in his tracks. He glared at Savvy, and she glared at him. He was offended, she was frightened..

...

...

Yh'keem took a step back and dropped back down upon the glistening platform, narrowing his glare at Savaj's suffering. He did nothing to stop it. He knew she needed to surmount this obilisk herself, but he struggled to conceal his discontent. Savaj was an individual he'd never met, but everything about her, from her stare to her scowl reminded him of his sister. It was bittersweet.

"You truly don't remember anything about us.."

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Savaj Vanguard
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Re: Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

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...

Savaj leered at Yh'keem with furrowed brows and shortened breath until his colossal visage slowly faded from existence, followed by the amber torches that shuddered the darkness and the pastel paintings decorating the high arching walls. She passed out from fatigue, dropping her defiant body to floor with a soft thud that elicited a small chuckle from Yh'keem. There were worlds of emotion he wanted to share with her beneath his fading grin, eons worth of knowledge he needed to relay. Questions. Demands. Apologies. He'd rehearsed this moment ever since he was burdened with this perilous quest. A fog of centuries spent fighting, hunting, and building only fueled the flames behind his mechanical drive. But now that he found her, where would he begin?

There was a giant schism where volumes of Djouvik history should have been been recorded and archived. But it was scattered to the ether following the Michio's betrayal. It'd be impossible for him to cover all of their culture and history in the short period of time they had together, but the ordeal Savaj endured warranted rest. So Yh'keem crossed his trunk sized legs and did just that. He closed his eyes and saddled his calloused palms on his thighs, taking a few deep breaths that slowly stablized Savaj's erratic gasps for air.

While she slumbered, Yh'keem psionically catalyzed her depleted Naten resorvoirs just enough to reignite her latent healing capabilities. Her cells responded to the intrusive mental stimulus with fervor, stitching up a different gash and abrasion with every tick or the proverbial clock. In a few flesh mending moments, Savaj's wounded body was returned to prime form. Save for the reddish brownish scum coating her skin, one could argue the young soldier looked healthier than ever before. Maybe even a bit taller. Still, Savaj slept and snored for about an hour before she moved another muscle and Yh'keem stood watch.

...

With her senses recovered, Savvy awoke to the cadence of crashing waves above her once again. The air was still saturated with droplets of the icy network of water floating above her but she couldn't feel the mind numbing cold anymore. Nor was she naked for that matter. She gave herself a swift inspection and noticed she'd been swaddled loosely in Yh'keem's battle torn pants, which swallowed her tiny body like a crimson blanket. They were called Hakma; threads sewn from the organic silk of the maneating Spider Lily, a prehistoric flower known for its eight mandible shaped trappings surrounding their petals and their silk webbing immune to the shifting elements. Their species was native only to Akavjjr and were practically extinct save for Yh'keem's own personal observatory of exotic flora.

"Can you stand?"

His voice, bold and deafening like a roaring flame, drew Savvy's focus to the center of the atrium where Yh'keem sat legs folded and his palms resting in his lap. His back was facing her, stretching on forever like a massive redwood. Without his trousers, she got a full visual of his inhuman physicality. He wore thigh high wrappings that covered his groin but Savaj kept her inquistive glare above his tattooed shoulders. Who was this man? Why was she helping her? And why couldn't she read his mind?

"Who are you?"

"Come.. we don't have much time. If you can move then--"

"Who.. the fuck are you?!"

She absolutely hated repeating herself.

"..can you not read my thoughts?"

Yh'keem said coyly, slipping those words over his shoulder as if they were a well kept secret. Savvy gritted her teeth in despute but she barely had the strength to do much else. How did he know she was vulnerable? Her apprehensions boiled over until they forced her to stand.

"What is this place?! Where is Kham!?"

Savaj belted from her gut with the fire and ferocity she'd known for, but Yh'keem took his time responding to her toothless boast. He heaved a heavy sigh that shook the foundations of the archaic palace before lifting himself to his feet and facing his kin. The man had to weigh several thousand tons judging from the sound of crumbling earth following his every moment. But Savaj stood unwavering.

"The Michio you speak of is dead.. what you saw was his killer wearing his skin. An imposter."

"..liar.."

Impossible.. no creature alive could harm a Mich-

"..one as one of his own, in fact.. a relic from the past I thought I buried-"

"Where is he!!?"

Rage and frustration elevated her idle threats into desperate pleas. Her piercing green eyes drilled holes through Yh'keem's stoic expression, searching for any crack in his fleshy armor. The dwarfing figure was covered in scars but none deep enough to convey a weak spot. He was less than a few yards away now, analyzing and studying Savvy's turmoil with a scowl of disgust curling his lips.

"You mourn him?"

The sudden realization wounded Yh'keem deeper than any weapon Savaj possessed in her arsenal. It was empathy that led them down this treacherous path so many years ago, and once again it pursed their natural instincts. Had she laid with him? The thought of their relationship, regardless of its intimacy made the daedric giant want to vomit. Instead he channeled those emotions into his hands, which tightened them into bludgeoning tools of warefare.

Savaj didn't need telepathy to infer the drastic shift in Yh'keem's temperamemt. His scowl brought fourth a crippling presence that she struggled to survive head on. His patronizing glare opened her mind to him like a blooming flower; her every memory, fear, and accomplishment. He plucked through them quickly and impetuously, desensitizing himself to Savaj's life of lies and deceit. In a fraction of a second he deciphered her complex relationship with the Michio and his cabal of assassins. And his heart shuttered to find that WeaponX, his prestigious alliance of cutthroat murders were children from shambled origins he typically and manipulated. Yh'keem's sympathy returned as he watched Kham break them like wild beasts before conditioned their minds and seducing their souls with promises of higher glory. He poisoned them, all the while staying poised and confident. Just like his ancestors, he was master of rhetoric and duplicity.

Yh'keem had seen enough.

"..if you or whoever killed Kham, then why am I still alive? What do you want?"

The ubiquitous force buckling her knees suddenly relented. After that, Savaj could feel her energy returning to her a massive rate. The euphoric sensation only lasted a moment, but her mouth fell open like a drop bridge. She was at full strength but before she could question what happened, Yh'keem's shimmering glare indicted him.

"..why did you-"

"No more questions.. you're not even listening.. Rip the truth from my mind. Show me what your oppressor has taught you."

For a psion, she was easily confused.. no wonder it was so simple for Vyrin and Kham to spoon feed her lies. She lacked any information about her past or heritage, so she hung unto any and every word that offered clarity. But he turned his nose up at her, his low growl filling the silent corners of the palace turned arena. Savaj's nerves were on pins and needles scaling Yh'keem's otherworldy volumes of power against her own. But with her Naten back at a hundred percent she wasn't going to be back down by anyone.

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Savaj Vanguard
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Re: Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

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Yh'keem closed his eyes and crossed his arms in anticipation of the impending mental assault but Savaj was hesitant. She felt baited. Cornered with the illusion of decision. No matter what she did, Yh'keem seemed to benefit in every way. He goaded her to peer into his mind and every instict she'd developed warned her it was a trap. But why'd go through so much trouble? Kham, or whoever she spoke to back at the Neovian hospitals, betrayed her.. there was no question about it. So naturally she was skeptical to the idea of new allies.

Still, Savaj took a moment to gather herself and theorized the many outcomes before committing to anything, starting with the obvious. If any of what he said was true, if Kham had truly been murdered by a vengeful ghost of his past and the man that stood before her was the avatar of her own, then it would beseech her to throw all reason to the wind. But he stood everything to gain by lying to her, hedging her into his mind to overpower with telepathy and manipulate her body for something depraved.

She immediately reflected on her recent assignmemt with Cross and their encounter with SILK- a certified mad scientist who aimed to harvest Savaj's DNA to complete his cosmic equation.

She had volumes of unnerving experiences to draw from but Yh'keem had already flipped through her darkest conflicts. Savaj endured her own saga of suffering so he could appreciate her doubt. He was shattering her reality and demanded she craft a new one from the shards, unfortunately however they were teetering on borrowed time. And every second she wasted chasing her tail would ultimately come back to bite them. To pity her now would deny her a future.

It was time he shattered the veil.

"You are afraid."

"I'm not afraid of shit-"

"It's not you're fault, the very emotion is just a tiny link in the chains the Michio bound us to. But I will show you how heavy these shackles are."

Yh'keem finally opened his eyes and they were burning like emerald stars. Savaj opened her lips to respond but every fiber of her being was possessed in his frigid glare. Her head jerked back and her eyes rolled into her skull. Yh'keem had established a telepathic link and through it Savaj could see Vescrutia as he did, billions of years ago before the time of man. Through his memories, she witnessed the planet in its primordial glory; the air was thick with toxic particulates, molten earth from divergent plates hadn't yet cooled into continents, and all sentient life still cowerd beneath the endless Sea.

Vescrutia was still just a sphere of molten clay waiting for the mothers first children to sculpt it. And Savaj watched the spectacle unfold through her minds eye. The Djouvik crawled from beneath the planet's igneous mantle and expedited evolution the second they took flight. They were beyond massive draconian celestials; three of them in total and Yh'keemwas the largest. It was the strength of their wings that divided the oceans into seperate bodies, carving canyons and mountains where there was nothing but water. They cooled the sea of fire boiling the terrain into flats of stone and from their naten catalyzed the roots of life. She watched it all transpire like cinema through Yh'keem's lenses. It was breathtaking.

But soon the moving pictures of the past rifled through the wonderment of creation and delved into the darkests hours of the endangered dragon Dhavani.

She saw a women of blackened skin and scarlet locs slit lines of peace along the Djouviks scales. Vyrin used her face to sweeten his cocktail of lies with the truth. She was known as The Omen amongst her own people, and she presided over the binding ritual when it was written. She watched as their wings were clipped and their jaws muzzled in the name of peace. Yh'keem never trusted them but Qhorr'm ached to be understood. To understand. And in response, he bore his chest in respect of his eldest sibling. The Michio marked him first and his kin followed suit. Their screams burned themselves into Savaj's psyche and quivered in the recesses of her mind.

..No more!! That's enough!!

If she could turn away from the visuals she could, but Yh'keem refused to coddle her further. These events continued in haunting detail.

She learned it was only then, in the shape of man, could the Djouvik offer anything but destruction to The Mother's lesser beings. It was the only treasure they salvaged from the Michio. Empathy. Before them, the Djouvik never pondered the gravitas of their existence and the burdened it placed on those born beneath their shadow. They'd been regarded as both gods and demons as split the skies unchecked, but the Michio took it upon themselves to upend the archaic food chain. Once bound to the Mother, the Devout orchestrated a strategy to remove the only living threat to them and their execution was picturesque.

First they were separated, cornered, and overwhelmed in number. Calculated strikes that occured at the same hour, all employed by the Michio's Breaker, First. Vyrin. He and his tools of warefare managed to kill the youngest of their pantheon and would have slain Yh'keem as well if not for his sister, the oldest of the three and easily the most powerful. Qhorr'm

The woman was a spitting image of Savaj. And Even in her human form, she fought like nothing the young woman had ever seen. Qhorr'm was able to overpower Vyrin's invincible armada and warp Yh'keem off world before they could claim his life. The battle lasted all of a few minutes and transpired within these walls.

"..no more.."

Savaj found herself back on her ass with her mouth in paw and her heart thumping against her breast. Yh'keem was standing in the same arm folded position, seeing as only a few seconds elapsed in real time. But her mind, body, and soul was still processing the traumatic history lesson.

"Adjust to reality before it burdens you.. there's still more for you to see."

".. that woman she.. Wh- why do we share so-- why did she look like me?!"

"Qhorr'm was my sister, the eldest root of our tiny legacy. And you are her reincarnation."
Last edited by Savaj Vanguard on Wed Nov 17, 2021 12:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

Post by Savaj Vanguard »

Before Savaj could share her laughably transfixed expression, Yh'keem's eyes coalesced into blinding emerald suns that plunged her into another psionic vision. Hopefully the final anchor he needed to drop before he completely jogged her memory.

It's high time you've returned.

His solemn words sought to unearthen the last of Savvy's ancestral bones by warping her mind eons into the past so that she could walk through every empirical detail of Qhorr'm's final moments.

--And there she was; dressed in trinkets and finer silks that resembled Yh'keem's garments but the woman was gushing pints of blood from unresponsive wounds all over the crystal platform Savaj had been standing on. The Djouvik was dying and Savvy was immediately tethered to that nerve blending pain Qhorr'm suffered. It hadn't been more than a few days following The Devout's preemptive assault on her home, during which she had been fatally wounded by the Michio's Breaker First and his Cenmatori. However, despite the magics that crippled her true power, Qhorr'm managed to erect a barrier powerful enough to ward the Michio infantry from Akavjjr forever.

Luckily, Yh'keem's was spared the fate of his siblings. Following the death of their brother Xol'n, Qhorr'm warped her remaining kin millions of light years across the cosmos in hopes that the most skilled of their pantheon would discover a way to dispell The Icarus Pact. But, with him gone, only the Oyube remained; huddled around their deity like ducklings to their swan. They shrouded Akavjjr in layers of defensive illusions and spatial enchantments while their god harbored the fleeting remnants of Naten she had left into an impetuous effort to preserve her race.

In an eloquent display of defiance, Qhorr'm liquidated herself into a massive void like pool of Naten that incubated a grand total of three hundred separate Djou'vik eggs.  What emerged from these eggs were the direct heirs of her Djouvik genetics, but were still bound to human form. They were known as the Dho'vah and the Oyube’ were tasked with molding the infants into fine and powerful psychics.

However, despite their large number, the only visage of their Djou’vik physiology were the incredibly dense Cerebral Matter.

Not one of the Dhovah bore the Icarus Pact, let alone the ability to draw out the true power Djou'vik possess. That was until the youngest, and most powerful of those daedric children bore family of their own. Savaj was this outlier mutation; everything down to the Michio script on her back resembled her billion year old doppelganger. And now, after what occurred in that Neovian hospital. After Vyrin and the Devout willingly loosened those biological shackles in a misfiring attempt to pinpoint the dying remnants of Akavjjr, they had made Savvy stronger than any of her ancestors. And Yh'keem emphasized this by shifting Savaj's astral reality once again.

In a violent flash, the visions of Qhorr'm were whipped into a peripheral blur until Savaj found herself back at the Neovian Hospital, just hours ago. And like a reoccurring nightmare, she was surrounded by a menacing pride of armored, blood thirsty Michio.
Samoosa flicked his wrists downward and the three glowing crystals jabbed themselves in Savaj’s neck, middle back and lower back simultaneously. He drew in a belly full of air and spoke in the tongue that moved heaven and earth. The ground quaked, and the hospital shivered by its very foundations, the grass in the room grew, to the height of weeds and lessened to mere brush. You could mistake it for Savaj’s psychic fervor but Samoosa was speaking the Ahlm Tongue. By the now glowing script on Savaj’s back, high lighting phrase by phrase, word by word he was speaking the icarus pact.

Vyrin's face was stoic he almost looked unimpressed, he was there when the pact was written, deep in the caves, hiding. Maeel however was just a girl at the time, no wonder she was stunned her eyes and mouth were both agape in paw. The power of speaking mere words did all this, and it was having catastrophic affects on the girls body. Savaj was obviously screaming, her mouth was open, her eyes were rolled to he back of her head but all was silenced by the voice of the Ahlm Tongue who’s quake and tremors drowned all things in its decibels.

Her insides and outsides morphed to freakish proportions. She grew horns, scales covered in visceral fluids, while her flesh hung from her like tattered clothHer bones and scales elongated, and retracted back into her body. Her fingernails that were the opaque color of humanity elongated and retracted back to normal or just fell off entirely as the lengthily phrase was spoken from her head grew two horns by the dripping of blood and puss upon the grassy floor.


The Devout must have knew the risks involved with weakening their greatest asset against certain oblivion. By suppressing the magics that bound her Djou'vik DNA, they allowed her body to evolve beyond their human sized prison and closer to her true nature. Even if only by fraction..

Despite that horrific,grotesque, morbid malformed mutation at her disposal, the only mortal features Savvy retained were aesthetic alone. Her bone density had magnified a hundred times their original mass to that of dwarfing colossus, yet she hadnt grown much taller. Yet, the skin on her body had adopted a unique biocellular matrix of keratin whose integrity and resilience mirrored Djou'vik scales but was soft to the touch like almond flesh. Even her organs, though analogous in superficial aspects, conducted an otherwise alien circulatory system compared to human anatomy.

And now, with her psyche merging with Qhorr'm's past experiences, Yh'keem released Savvy from his psionic grip and returned her mind to her physical body. He gave her some space to gather herself, but he could already tell from her worn disposition that Savaj had matured a few hundred years during this telepathic crucible.

"--they know where we are.."

She blurted out without warning, pushing herself from the crystal floor with a vibrant sense of urgency. It only now dawned on her that Vyrin and Samossa succeeded in scouring her mind for their whereabouts just before Yh'keem escorted her to safety. And knowing firsthand the work ethic of Michio ambition, Savvy was honestly shocked their weren't an armada of the blood thirsty clay demons throwing their bodies against the temple walls. But Yh'keem's negligent chuckle tossed her caution of the Michio to the wind.

"Michio cannot find us here."

He responded with a calming certainty that insinuated he knew something she didn't. She quirked her brow, and " How can you be so sure?" was tagged all over her skeptical expression. These were the same, crafty creatures whose aptitude in the arcane succeeded any and every other proverbial race on Vescrutia. Their wealth of wisdom and knowledge surmounted over millions of generations could drown countries without lifting a finger, or ignite a genocidal parade overnight. And recon was among their litany of innumerable talents. Savaj once watched Kham survey the mother from the of eyes of thousands of lesser organism born from its soils. It was both unnerving and intriguing, but Yh'keem's massive shoulders couldn't be bothered to shrug.

But beneath his taunting gaze, the auburn colassus was finding solace in what looked to be his sister awaking from her ethereal slumber. Just glancing at her he could see that her erratic breathing had stabilized dramatically. Her sputtering heart beat curbed its stampede. And even the green in her eyes pulsated a stronger hue.

Finally..

He mused to himself.

"Let me show you what I've learned during our time apart."

He said, slowly lifting his dwafing arms over his head and squaring his feet with his shoulders. The sound created from the otherworldly joules of Naten oscillating within his body pierced the vacuum of silence that followed their every word. The enormity of Qhorr'm's altar caused the sonic vibrations of Yh'keem's display to echo at deafening decibels. Loosened bricks were dislodged from their creases. Dust and ash began sifting through faults of the damage. But Savvy needn't cower away or shield herself from any collateral build up. The process was swift, and was triggered the instant Yh'keem clasped his hands together. Doing so imposed the exact opposite what Savvy anticipated.. nothing at all.

It took a moment for her to comprehend, but at first glance Savaj thought that perhaps Yh'keem was still priming his technique, but upon further inspection..

"What is this?"

Fear of the unknown dawned upon her like a silent storm and hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Her eyes had found that the bricks and debris tumbling from the walls of the withered temple had been frozen in space. She looked out and above to the mysterious currents of water orbiting around them and saw them stalled into hovering bodies of liquid. Even the echoes of their voices were gone.

"An illusion.."

She rationalized, yet she felt no invasive prescence within her. Awe and wonderment had Savvy theorizing hundreds of farfetched solutions but Yh'keem's disembodied voice would rally her imagination before too long.

"This is but.. a step.. further.. into the depths.. of our latent strength. Our true power."

Yh'keem said almost as if he had been struggling to breathe. But before long, the giant of a man crumbled to a knee, splintering the smooth crystal surface the two of them stood on.

"A state of focus I've achieved.. during my years off world.  The scholars who helped me develop it have died long ago, but from what they taught me, you must sharpen it tenfold."

Savvy struggled listening to his words while he writhed in pain. She motioned to help, but his icy glance forbade it. He rested on a knee and pressed on as briskly as he could.

"It is called Apothyosis, (translating roughly to "Severed Universe") and it is.. less than perfected. I rushed through the adolescent stages, but upon doing so, I've learned to merge my mind with the physical plane. And within this isolated realm, the muses of my huberis become sacrament."

Pride curled his face into smile he couldn't hide if he tried and balled his fist into a triumphant gavel that he slammed on into crystal floor. Filling the air with shimmering debris, and quaking the temples foundations with his seismic fervor.

"WITH THIS TOOL, WE WILL SHATTER THE CHAINS OF THE OATHBREAKER, AND WASTE THE WORLD OF CLAY THEY BUILT BENEATH US!!! NOT EVEN THE GODS OF SPACE NOR THE SANDS OF TIME CAN DENY US!!"

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Re: Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

Post by Savaj Vanguard »

Yh'keem allotted Savaj roughly four hours of rest following their latest breakthrough.

It was revealed that despite the Devout locating the well kept coordinates of Akavjjr, Yh'keem's new found ability had swallowed the entire continent in a pocket of distored time. Should the Michio have charted out some well calculated plan of attack, Savaj and Yh'keem would have aged to death by the time they broke through the dilated veil.

Unfortunately however, The Breaker First and his Cenmatori war dogs weren't the only comets snared in their orbit. And despite the discovery of Yh'keem's new psychic ability, time was still against them.

--

"Are you ready?"

Yh'keem's restive baritone echoed the walls of Savvy's mind while she indulged in the amineties of her personal chambers. An expansive and lavish bedroom she vaguely remembered assembling. She took her time scrubbing the blood and grime from her skin before ravaging the closest and wardrobes. But after she bathed and rested, the two of them agreed to reconvene at the outer gates of the temple.. Though it was clear Savvy was in no rush.

The last remaining bastian of Djouvik ancestry stood at the maw of a crashing waterfall, overlooked by sky scrapping mountains that once harbored the sleeping Oyube' giants. Yh'keem particularly favored meditating along the crest of the cascading falls, floating just above the rushing pools of white water and listening to their melodic timber.

Savaj descended from the massive castle above and landed gracfully just inches from her meditative sibling. She could still hear his guttural roars peeling the paint from the alter chamber following the grand reveal of his new ability, along with the vindictive creed he bellowed at the gods that be. Those words initially sparked vengeful pyres under her ass that yearned for its pound of flesh Vescrutia had owed the Djouvik, but now the dejected frown she carried conveyed an entirely different story. One fraught and stratified in sullen remorse.

She sat across from him, unbothered by cool waves crashing against her. Yh'keem took notice to her new garments; a white hakma/hitatare ensemble sewn from the same mystic silks that he wore. The outfit was originally tailored to fit Qhorr'ms delicate metrics, and though he figured the sleeves hung a bit loose on Savvy's leaner frame, he more so relished the sight of her dawning their cultural garbs.

"..all these years, and you've still no respect for the time of others."

He jested, for the first time in.. ever. Earnestly trying to soothe the tension between them. But Savaj simply soaked in silence.

"As selfish as ever it would seem--"

"..there is still time."

Until her pursed lips moved on their own.

"If you would stop being so stubborn and at least try to teach me what you learned. This seems rushed, weak.."

Her pleas would persist in earnest, but Yh'keem's gaze never averted from the greenish, purple vista drawn by the setting suns barely peeking over the horizon.  But he heaved a rumbling sigh as it seemed incessant drones of his sibling denied him his humble moment.

"The Michio bolster hundreds of warriors in their tow! And the horsemen approach with their own army of eldritch cruelties. You know how much stronger we would be together. You know that I am right!"

"..and more stubborn than I remember."

Savaj absolutely hated being ignored. The calming streams flowing around her began to vaporize in an impulsive exhibit of rage. And before she knew it, she'd erupted unto her feet dripping with water and literally steaming.

"You are not even listening--"

"Because this was never a subject for debate."

He retorted, biting off her sentence with cold indifference to her emotionally battered temperament. It was practically in his nature to sound condescending regardless of who his audience was. A minimal toll that came with the gift of a powerful, foreboding voice such as his.

Savvy didn't back down, but challenging his glare seemed to shave years from her lifetime. Across his lifetime he'd endured a  of years Pain and suffering withered his eyes into barren moons void of empathy, and coarse with wisdom. The volumes he had known and endured would crush Savaj beneath its magnitude. Yet her she was, damning his methods that took millions of years to develop, with less than a days consideration. She had always been more headstrong. Passionate to a fault. How else did he anticipate this scenario playing out?

"I was given a millenia to dissect every scenario you can theorize in these fleeting moments. There are more than fifteen trillion possibile routes I could have chosen from but only one of them resulted in your survival."

"Teh, so that's it- you've just given up then? Surrender to the chords of fates, belly up and all?"

"..."

"Coward."

The word fell from her lips slow and deliberate like stirred poison.

"What happened to that talk of shattering chains!?! Where is that fire vowed to lay waste to the oathbreakers?! What meaning would those hollow words hold if you decide to just die!"

She stabbed further, mocking the prideful creed Yh'keem boasted a few hours ago before he extrapolated on what he planned to do next.

Savvy was FLOORED to learn that the basis of Yh'keem's plan had been to, instead of attempting to train Savaj to perform the vaunted Severed Universe technique alongside him, that he would use it to merge what life he had left into her mind. The fusion would imprint the basis of the skill within her immediately, as well as volumes of Djouvik history that would otherwise be lost forever. However, the process would cost Yh'keem his life.

Both of their eyes narrowed into chargin daggers that mirrored the other's intensity. Savvy's venomous tone, coupled with her charged body language alluded she was ready to assert her vindication with force. Yet Yh'keem remained a model of restraint amidst her kindling wordchoice. He remained poised; hovering just above the watery surface with his right hand resting on his folded legs and his left hand positioned at his chest with both his index and middle finger extended toward the sky. The rest were curled into his palm. This mudra was the primordial Djouvik Seal of Power.

"..sit down."

He tenderly implored of his sister after focusing his breathing and closing his eyes. His calm was nearly enough to pacify Savvy's manic countenance.

Every fiber of her being scolded her to cut this olive branch at its root and demand Yh'keem honor her words by force. But rage hadn't been the true catalyst sparking this mania. Yh'keem had seen the tears spilling down her cheeks as she chastised him. He could hear the cadence in her voice breaking high inbetween those provocative jabs. He knew this wasn't her just lashing out. Savaj's heart was in mourning, and bitter insults were just embers of those volatile emotions. At his core, Yh'keem was touched by her sentiment. Flattered to feel that the love his sister harbored for him had transcend their lengthy lifetimes. But right now, at his moment, none of that mattered. And she knew this. Which was why Savvy, begrudgingly sat back down.

"I told you before. It took me centuries to learn the complexities of this technique. Even if I fed it to you telepathically, it would take years for you body to adjust to the crippling strain required to maintain it. Years we do not have."

"..."

"Before the Horsemen arrive, the Dhovah known as Mytus will be upon you not long after this process is complete. Once a psychic more powerful than any threat of your past and hailed pillar of the Second Astral Year, has been reduced to a souless cannibal. The weapon he wields forces him to devour the Naten and souls to survive. And our familiar scent has already coaxed his appetite, but your transformation should lend you the advantage."

"..."

"You mustn't rely on the technique against him; his psionic strength could shatter your focus and your mind--

"..I d- don't want to lose you, Yh'keem.. I've only just found you."

She stumbled, fighting through the lump of sorrow stuck in her throat. Her head was bowed in shame of her tears. The true nature of their relationship dawned on her before she could thoroughly cherish it in this lifetime. And the magnitude of his predetermined destiny shattered her.

"There is no other way."

It was then that Yh'keem's grizzled hand, large enough to pulverize diamond within in its grip, gently reached onto the back of his siblings neck so that he might lovingly bring her closer to nestle his head against hers.

"The fate of our legacy has always rested with you, sister. And you have rested long enough. It is time this new world felt the heat of The Sundering and be reminded of their true gods, once more."

Those words seemed to initiate the beginning of this sacred ritual and signaled the last few moments these two siblings would be able to hold each other's embrace. Yh'keem's began to fade away into shimmering orbs of green Naten that would passively diffuse into Savaj's body. It had taken all but a few seconds  for the transition to be done, however the young woman fainted from the extraordinary procedure.

Without Yh'keem alive, the psionic hold he utilized to revitalize the ruins of Akavjjr was relinquished. And in the following moments, Qhorr'ms temple began to crumble to the ground. The vast green pastures rich with a rainbows of flowers, insects and unique biologily began to return to that ghastly pale color of death. The island itself had started to crumble apart without Yh'keem's mind there to mimic the seismic intricacies that held it together. And Savaj's body was taken by the waterfall as debris from massive obelisk crumbled around her.

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Savaj Vanguard
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Re: Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

Post by Savaj Vanguard »

As the incredibly massive island of Akavjjr began to separate into remote clusters of ruin, a man shaped silhouette could be seen spying from behind the cloudy shroud of the night sky. 

A closer inspection revealed that vestige to belong to an ancient warrior of unnerving stature whose hulkish form rivaled that of Yh'keem's, if not scaling him by a few inches. He was a sculpture of brawn and war captured in human flesh. But physicality aside, the man managed a head of coiling silver, knotted into a lone tail trailing down his canyon sized back and a face covered by a beard of similar grey bristles that set him apart from the Djouvik's youthful appearance. His rippling, sand colored flesh was covered in scars, golden plates of armor and the boney remains of his pray repurposed into protective gear. And the weapon he gripped in his hand enveloped him in a crimson pyre of malignant energy, looking every bit like the emissary of death his reputation claimed him to be.

--This human was the youngest Dhovah to hatch from Qhorr'ms nest and was named Mytus by the meek benevolent village of Ishi who found and sheltered him in his young age. Their solemn, yet altruistic sensitivities groomed his deafening psionic might into a vector of conquest and compassion.

History had called him by many names that modern literature has reimagined into fables and fairy tales.

In his youth, said tales of this godlike Psion had thickened the air of Vescrutia. In a few years time the meek village of Ishi evolved into utopian kingdom, harking thousands to Mytus’ selfless acts of wonder and otherworldly abilities. And while this prestige bore challenge from every crevice of the planet, it also attracted the like minded warriors who admired his character.

As his legend grew, so did the Kingdom of Ishi. The people of Ishi took the surname, "Vanguard", the same name Savaj dawned to this day, as an homage to Mytus’ self given title. He defended his Kingdom against all caliber of opposition, whether it be magical, spiritual, alien, or demonic, the will of Mytus succeeded where others had failed. And when Vescrutia was threatened by The Heralds of Apocalypse upon the second Astral Year, he and twelve other powerful families bound together to preserved their world.

He'd been praised as "The Hero King" following this crusade against the throes of the Horsemen. And then worshipped as "The Great One", following his impossible victory over the Immortal Lich, Abaddon.

Notwithstanding this legend as a numen of battle, Mytus had been raised a magnanimous man of honor. And his  sanctified convictions sculpted this community of powerful psions and sorcerers into selfless crusaders dedicated to the preservation of Vescrutia and its inhabitants. The Kingdom of Ishii thrived  north of 20,000 years under his protection, but the price of that freedom came with a toll no proper ruler should have made.

Mytus’ powerful mind allowed him to age much slower than usual and he used that longevity to maintain harmony for majority of his reign, but his fear of The Horsemen's return goaded him into more occult avenues in search of immortality. He'd become paranoid, disillusioned by his powerful deteriorating mind and feared that in the event of his death that envoys empowered by the horsemen would swoop in and lay waste to his adoptive home.  This led to his discovery of the gargantuan weapon he was holding unto-- the Vernoqulum. An archaic artifact lost between time and space that forms an unbreakable tether with the wielder; giving them access to its eldritch wonders, but it needed to feed on the souls of other beings. It's primal appetite drove Mytus mad in his attempts to resist it, but he couldn't stop it from consuming every living being that resided in the Kingdom he had pledged several eons to protect. His body had become more or less a vessel for the antiquity's blood thirsty vocations. His conscious mind would watch in horror as his hands were forced to slay entire countries, eradicated aquatic biomes, and drained every natural reservoir of Naten he could. 

For the passed decade or so, Mytus had been able to sedate the malicious ghost by locking his mind and body within a perpetual state of meditation at the arid center of The Frozen Waste. It wasn't until Icarus Pact was weakened did the hunger of the weapon overpowered him. But this time, his fractured mind theorized that the potency of the Djouvik's soul may have been enough to sate the Vernoqulum for an eternity. This would relinquish the antiquities mind bending control before the heirs of Apocalypse made their return. An unprecedented opportunity he couldn't pass up.

----

Mytus was upon the Island in less than a day after Savaj's weakened seal released pharos of energies familiar only to their fabled, draconian homeland. But instead of the cathartic explosion expected after returning to one's native home after eons of separation, Mytus felt nothing watching its eroding remains be swallowed by the wrathful waves. Because of the ritual surrounding his birth, he retained no memories of his upbringing here, nor had he any withstanding knowledge of his Djou'vik heritage. The only thing behind his laden saffron eyes was the burden of purpose as they scoured the scattered ruins of Akavjjr for the source of the massive volumes of Naten that drew him here.

His mind pinpointed her location in seconds and with a wave of his hand, the cluster of islands obscuring his view began to move at his psionic will. One by one, the chains of this archipelago began to sink to the bottom of the ocean floor until Mytus could isolate the one hiding his prize. There, upon the last remaining remnant of the fractured supercontinent, he found her. A young woman by all appearances, unconscious in what he sensed to be a metamorphic psychological crucible. Even from this distance he could feel the scalding psionic pressure radiating from her tiny body and it was potent enough to lacerate flesh from the bone of lesser men.

He descended like a crimson meteor unto the island's fertile soil and landed near Savvy's resting body without disturbing a single blade of grass. And for a moment, he simply stood there admiring her appearance.

"..blood of my blood."

He recognized her scent first and discerned she had been born within the Kingdom of Ishi. The same kingdom he cultivated from the ground up before the Vernoqulum forced him to devour every recipient of his bloodline.

Yet here she was, by some miracle, a survivor of that genocidal event; a remnant of the world he made his home. Her ebony splendor, noir locs, and profound psionic prescence had all been proof of this. However, none of her delicate features could attest to the familiarity of her face.

He'd seen her before. He studied her face and staggered at latent memories it triggered. But he wouldn't hesitate further. He'd seek answers from The Vernoqulum about this impossibility when the deed was done.

"Forgive me."

Mytus honored her with remorse, but the voices of the Vernoqulum demanded action of him. Against his will, his meaty fingers tightened upon the gargantuan axe, igniting a chorus of ghastly wails to echo from its blade and into his mind. He could hold its will at bay no longer. It shattered his heart to steal the life of another creature, let alone one born within the borders of Ishi. But after all these years, Mytus managed to preserve his sanity by convincing himself that the ends justified these morbid means. The Third Astral Year was upon them and this child's sacrifice would sate the demon that haunted him, enabling him to defend Vescrutia from the maw of the Apocalypse once again.

"..but this must be done."

Nevertheless, his stoic expression wained just a bit as he lifted the malevolent weapon above his head and slammed its smoldering razored edge upon on Savaj's face. The weight behind his telekinetic swing generated terraforming quakes of power. Nearby trees were torn from their roots and the cascading waves were tossed into the stars. Yet Savvy remained unscathed.

The Hero King was stunned to find that his initial strike had barely carved a scar on the translucent, telekinetic forcefield that appeared around Savaj... while she was still asleep. But his transfixed expression didn't last long at all. He persisted with crimson pyres burning in his eyes, throwing monstrous swing after swing into her subconscious defenses until the construct gave way, but at that point Savvy was beginning to regain consciousness. She awoke suddenly to the ear piercing shockwaves created from Mytus' assault on her barrier and recoiled at the agonizing damage each blow dealt to her mind. Blocked or not, the pain was unbearable and made her acutely aware that this was the man her brother had warned about. And he was certainly wrath and fury, bound in human form. She could barely move a muscle beneath his violent barrage and her hastily forged shield began to chip like cheap glass. She gripped a handful of dirt forcing herself off the ground, but she could only manage to kneel while Mytus hauled off on her defenses. She needed to go on the offensive before it was too late. Mytus however was unrelenting, and after a notable shift in his stance he magnified the output of his onslaught tenfold.

Veins formed along Savvy's neck and head before her eyes swirled into white voids of fury..

"BÅĀĆĶK OØAAGĢHH!!!!"

Before she coalesced her rage into a beastial roar that nearly seperated Mytus' body from his skeleton with explosive, concussive force. The heat from her bowls ravaged his body in fourth degree burns while launching him several miles across the surface of the sea, but Mytus never lost his footing. The back of his heels shoveled canals into the sea as he used them to slow his momentum to a halt and righted his posture upon the waters surface. Upon which he noticed Savaj closing the distance at an alarming velocity.

...

She flew at him like a maddened demon gnashing wildly at the air, bissecting the sea into towering waves as she approached hypersonic speeds. Mytus wasn't in control of his body anymore, but he could feel his muscles swelling with  dark energies in retaliation. His scorched flesh mended instantly and he was swallowed in a veil of crimson fire that boiled waves that waded too close. Savaj's primal charge aimed to pierce directly through the center of Mytus' sternum like a jet fueled javelin, but the Hero King planned to parry her with mininal effort and optimal timing.

Once she was in range, the gold plates of armor along the dorsal end of Mytus' fist brought an end to Savvy's ballistic rush by crashing into her jaw with hellish telekinetic power. Blood spilled from her nose and mouth before her body was carried into the horizon by the invisible tidal wave.

"For the Mother's sake.. it must."

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Re: Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

Post by Savaj Vanguard »

Mytus' possessed body pursued his prey with rabid ferocity. His body cut through the storm like a jet fueled by psionic thrusters. His limbs were stiff as a board. The emerald windows to his old, worn soul were swallowed by the black holes of fury belonging to the demon controlling him. It didn't need any of tactics. It casted aside his eons of battle genius and knowledge. The crimson smoke spilling from his axe only needed his "human" body to wield it so that its will be done. And it's maddening hunger be sated.

His mouth opened far beyond his mandible joints as his jaw dropped near his chest, ripping his cheeks like cloth to unleash a dark melody nightmarish drones that mocked the tiny girl it hunted. Mytus watched from within, wounded by his convictions. He thought sacrificing her was the only way to regain control of his soul, the only way to ensure he'd be able to protect Vescrutia from coming apocalypse. He hadn't the slightest clue of their kinship or heritage. All he knew was that she possessed enough energy to sate the beast. And that the life of one could not out weigh the many.

But what returned his demonic boast unearthed something he hadn't felt in thousands of years. A feeling, or rather sensation he hadnt experienced since childhood. Fear. It paused Mytus's mighty body dead in its floating tracks but he rested those apprehensions in his grip, and pointef his axe toward the vector of the roar. Below him. Beneath the chaotic waters. And he could see it staring back at him through the shifting murk. Molten suns rushing toward the surface dragging behind them a gnashing colassus that could hardly be called a dragon.

When it emerged from the waters, the strength of its lungs quite literally flattened the surrounding islands into massive clouds of dust and sediment. But despite it's grotesque features, this was Savaj. She was simply using Yh'keem's final lessons and accessing her Djouvik abilities. Albeit, only a fraction of them.

Regardless, Savaj in all of her fleshy, skeletal, sinewy majesty, emerged from the sea at least seventy feet larger than she was before. Mytus was clearly taken aback by the otherness of her appearsnce. So much so that he was barely able to defend himself when her arm swatted him away like a fly. Her limbs were abnormal and unproportional, but moved faster than whips of lightning. And burned hot enough to rend the flesh from his bones by simply floating to close.

"Gyugh!!"

He recoiled as his body soared through and out of the night sky until gravity plunged him into another sector of the ocean, nearly three miles away. Heat had torn through his flesh and exposed his skeleton, which mirrored igneous stone at this point. But the crimson smog fuming from his cursed artifact swaddled him close and nurtured his lethal wounds. Wrapping him a bubble of a coagulating, sticky, red substance that literally lifted him from his watery grave and back to the oceans surface. Dying was no longer an option for him. The bubble cracked open and Mytus emerged at least three feet bigger and had been mutated by the demonic fervor flowing through him. His face was split by a network of crimson energy that flowed like a collection of thin rivers. His brown, sandstone skin had become the color of volcanic earth. He even had a few horns jutting out of his back and shoulders. He barely resembled the man beneath. The man that history had fabled as the Hero King. No, this- this was Abaddon. The monstrosity that traversed the realms to claim The Kingdom of Ishi and burn it to cinders as he promised so long ago. And today, Mytus could watch as the final remnant of his clan would be put to rest.

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Re: Akavjjr :: Djou'vik Ruins

Post by Savaj Vanguard »

[If Anyone Reads This, I'm sorry but I got Lazy. I will make the end of the story more compelling later]

The war of titans roared through the sea for hours until Mytus' body was torched under Savaj's unprecedented Djouvik might. In her new form, she was beyond reproach and ultimately devoured Mytus. After collecting herself and reverting back to her original form, she flew elsewhere. Taking the Vernoqulum with her.

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