View Full Version : Tavern Tales 21: Piece-Maker
BreakABone
10-28-2008, 08:22 PM
I decided to go a different direction with the assistance of Danny which means the other chapter was abruptly ended, but will continue.
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Dylflon discovered once he got past the rage and anger that was at the forefront of the Thearian army’s mind that there was not much else activity in the mind. As it were, their rage and anger consumed so much of their thoughts that the area Dylflon finally landed in was pitch black.
He knew that he could no longer depend on his powers to guide him in this tunnel of darkness so for the first time in his life he would need to depend on those skills that made him human.
The first order of business he felt was to find a wall or some structure to lend him guidance. He stretched out his arms and wandered around the hollow room hoping to make contact with something. After 5 minutes of blind wandering, Dylflon decided that this place was either void of structure or too large for the wall to really help.
He grew frustrated as he attempted to come up with a second course of action. He began to pace back and forth slowly not sure where he was going or how he would get there. Lost in his thoughts, he stretched a bit beyond his normal pacing range. When he did, he noticed an increase in the temperature of the room.
Of course, he thought to himself, if they used their powers there would be some signs or residual leftover. He stretched out his arms, one in front and one to the side of him, so that he could determine if there were any impending obstacles directly ahead of him or if he came close to a wall. With his arms outstretched, he began down the path following the heat signature.
He came to a fork in the road and he could feel the heat continue down both paths. Dylflon was back where he started without a clue. Then he heard a faint whimper down one of the corridors. He listened in closely maybe it was someone crying out for help, but as he focused his ears on the noise he realized it was less a voice… and more the sign of rushing water. He quickly raced down that path assured that he would locate Dyne when he reached the end.
The end of the tunnel came suddenly when Dylflon felt his feet get wet. He had apparently reached a stream of water. Probably leftover from overuse of Dyne’s powers.
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Dylflon followed the flow of water down to the end. He figured that Dyne would be at either the head or the bottom of this flow. When he reached what he dubbed the head, there were no signs of Dyne so he quickly turned around and rushed back down to the other side.
Before he reached the end of the path, he came across the first signs of life… or light for that matter he had seen since he entered the dark recesses of their minds. It was not a natural light though as he drew closer he could feel the heat that came off flames. He had located the headquarters of the Thear Trio and his pal, Dyne.
He raced to their location. He assumed he would be greeted as a liberator instead he was met with great hostility. The Thear Trio threw everything they could at him.
“What the hell is going on!” He shouted to everyone who could hear him.
“You have come to take this power away from us! We can not accept that. We have never felt so mighty before!” The Thear Trio spoke in an unholy tone in unison.
“Listen, I did not come to take any powers from anyone. I am only here to rescue my friend. Where is he?” Dylflon had just noticed that Dyne was not in sight.
“You mean the ungrateful one! He did not want to accept the powers that were bestowed upon him. The powers we all share so we had to tie him up for his own good.” There was very little that resembled human in their speech.
Dylflon was not sure how to react. He could turn this physical but he did not know how much his powers would allow. Thear’s realm seemed far surpass his own knowledge of the mind. The way they spoke offered him little hope in actual reasoning with them. He would have to find Dyne by the scratch of his teeth.
He charged forward, like he did everything else in this realm, blindly.
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thatmariolover
10-29-2008, 08:28 AM
That was good. You could definitely feel the directional change.
BreakABone
12-05-2008, 11:27 AM
I doubt anyone would bother to read this anymore, but I promised myself I would at least finish the first book.
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2
After Dylflon retreated behind the rocks, the three men holding up Bond, formed a tight circle.
“It feels weird to be on this side,” Typhoid observed while trying to make small talk. “Usually, I am on the side with the number advantage and some well laid out plan. What do we do here?”
Swan giggled softly to himself, “This will come back to haunt us one day, that I am sure, but when you are on this side. No amount of planning or numbers will help you. It’s all about your basic instinct to survive.”
“And the fact is when you don’t have a plan, there is little room for anything to go wrong so we can just keep acting.” Fox added to his friend’s point.
Typhoid loosened his grip on Bond, and let out a hearty laugh, “So you are telling me the reason you always bet us is because you luck out?” The thought had never occurred to him that they just winged it.
“In essence, that is what being a hero is about. 90% luck and 10% drive to do well.” Bond said still in pain, which he tried his best to hide.
“You heroes are fools, it’s a wonder some of you were so easy to take down.”
“That may well be your opinion, but for now you will have to do it our way.” Fox retorted.
“Which is what exactly?” Typhoid jokingly asked.
“Haven’t you been playing attention…” Swan broke rank and rushed towards Geo,” we hope for the best.”
Fox let go of Bond so that he could aid his friend as well. Typhoid turned to Bond, “I could kill you right now, and it would be one of the proudest moments for the Coalition, but it would mean nothing without my friend so consider yourself fortunate.”
Bond knew the threat was empty as he needed Bond just like he needed Fox and Swan on his side, but he humored him, “Well then, it shall be in my prayers tonight.”
“Now where do you want to go?”
Bond looked at Typhoid puzzled, “What do you mean?”
“You obviously are of no use to anyone with a leg you can barely walk on so where should I put you away from harm?”
Bond never felt more insulted in his life, “You think that I am going to send those brave souls out there to fight on their own without risking my own life? Sure, I may not be as mobile as they are, but I can guarantee you that I am still an important asset.”
“Sure sure… whatever you say gimpy.” Typhoid dropped Bond on the floor as he rushed over to deal damage to Raged, he still had a lot of animosity towards that one.
Bond crawled over to get a good shot. He took a deep breath and readied his gun.
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Give me some time to get back into the groove of writing this.
And hopefully, I don't make too many time mistakes as it has been like 6 weeks. :p
Fox 6
12-05-2008, 01:08 PM
Should wait till exam week is over for the school people.
thatmariolover
12-08-2008, 10:28 AM
Keep it coming, keep it coming, keep it coming. :D
BreakABone
12-10-2008, 12:19 AM
Should wait till exam week is over for the school people.
I want to, but I think since this is SO close to the end. That I will finish it. You folks can finish reading and I can begin planning for book 2.
3
Nighthawk stood frozen in terror now, he could not come up with a logical way to keep his mind from closing in on him. Too many thoughts raced through his mind, none of which he found especially useful.
Then he heard a sound that was different from his own voice enter into his mind. While he could not be certain, he knew the sound did not originate from the beach. No there was something familiar sounding about the voice.
Nighthawk allowed himself a second to be washed over by the sound. Then it dawned upon him, the voice… the voice so familiar was his brother, Bube. Silence descended upon Nighthawk again, and then Bube appeared.
“How are you here?” Nighthawk thought he knew the extent of his brother’s powers.
The image of Bube fizzled in and out of frame as he spoke, “I am not really here. I am a auditory projection.”
Nighthawk looked at his brother with a strange and confused look, “If you are an auditory projection… are you telling me that I am seeing sound?”
“Yes… and no. What you are seeing is me represented by sound waves, but due to our powers we can actually visualize sounds.”
Nighthawk found himself confused at Bube’s words again, “Our powers? I thought you were the only one with powers.”
“I thought… well… I guess you have to find out sometime. Do you remember a few years ago when we were messing around on dad’s new keyboard? Well, I guess when the fuse blew it charged our system… I’m not sure how it works exactly, but I thought your powers would have manifested itself by now.”
“So you know what my powers are?” Nighthawk grew excited.
“Not exactly… I have the ability to manipulate sounds in many different ways such as creating this projection. I can also use different musical samples to turn into physical representation… I will show you this someday, but you… you have some control over sound, but what.”
The two brothers began to think silently to themselves. With the appearance of his phantom brother, Nighthawk had not noticed that the area around him had stopped moving. There was a larger issue on his mind now.
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Dylflon leaned up against what he could only hope was a wall. He had been running around for what felt like an eternity and he still saw no signs of his friend nor had he found any light source.
If it was even possible, he felt that the area grew darker as the moments passed. He wondered to himself if it could have any significance to what was going on outside.
As he leaned against the wall, catching his breath, he could feel the moisture of the hot air around him. Had he somehow ran in a circle?
From the corner of his eyes, he could see a flicker of light as if it had fallen off of a flame. He was too tired to chase after it so he took his time hoping that it would continue to burn as he made his way towards it.
As he got closer, he could feel the temperature rising. It had to be well over a hundred at this point, oddly he did not feel himself sweating.
Of course, he could not sweat he was in the mind… but if that was the case why did he grow tired from running. This place was having a weird effect on him and his powers. He knew it was imperative that he find Dyne and get out of there as quickly as possible.
As he reached the source of the tiny flicker of light, his eyes slowly adjusted to the source. When they were good enough to see, his jaw hit the ground.
He rubbed his eyes and checked again. What he was seeing could not be right.
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Bare with me as I am still trying to remember where was taking some of these stories and where they are going now under the new direction.
BreakABone
12-13-2008, 06:53 PM
I am not sure what to think of this part so curious what feedback will be, if any.
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4
Bond’s eyes quickly jumped from likely target to likely target; his mind just as fast eliminated them based on the powers they had shown. Magus’ skin would be too tough to pierce, and Geo’s may not even be completely in the physical realm. He thought it might be best to target Raged or Dyne, but the bullet would likely burn up before it made impact on Raged.
This all took him mere seconds to deduce so he rolled once more to the direction of Dyne, he did not like this since his friends were helping, but they need to find some weakness.
He steadied his breathing as he took aim, and then let out a soft breath as he pulled the trigger. Bond saw the bullet speed out of the gun, and he watched as it spiraled towards its likely target, but he watched in horror as it was deflected off its path.
“What the hell do YOU think you are doing jackass!” Typhoid’s voice echoed with a sign of raged Bond had never heard before.
“Listen, I get it, he is your friend,” Bond attempted to explain this as civil as possible, he did not want to enrage Typhoid anymore as long as he was assisting them, “but we have to exploit any and all weaknesses we had. Based on my quick mental calculation, Dyne’s powers are the ones least likely to protect him from bullets.”
The fire in Typhoid’s eye died down just a little bit, “Okay, but as long as we are helping you DO NOT attack him, you get that?”
Bond had no option, but to nod his head in agreement, they would need all the manpower they could gather.
Typhoid did not take in the situation as readily as Bond, but he did have his own personal vendetta to settle, “What about ole flamer over there?” He pointed towards Raged.
“The heat he gives off would most likely burn the bullet before it made contact, it would be useless.”
Typhoid looked over at Raged then over to Bond then back to Raged, “What if I was able to buy you a small window of his body cooling off?”
“How do you pla…”
“Would it help or not!” Typhoid shouted back at Bond.
“Sure.” Bond hated having to hold his tongue. He could take him out right now for all the GAMES men and women he killed.
“Okay, it will be a VERY small window so be prepared for my signal.” Typhoid rushed over to Raged and began to run in a circle lifting up the sand as he did so.
Raged’s natural defense was to blast the articles away from him. He continued to do this until the onslaught stopped.
While he was distracted blasting sand particles, he never realized that he had built a glass funnel for Typhoid, who quickly rushed over to the mouth of the river and gather water quickly through the funnel.
The water poured out over Raged’s head. Of course, the boast from Thear’s power made it little more than a hassle, but his body did need to get adjusted to it.
And through the smoke that was emitted, Bond saw his golden opportunity. Once more, he steadied his breath as he took aim, and released as he pulled the trigger sending the bullet soaring through the sky towards its victim.
This time there was no deflection, and there was no fire to protect Raged. So the bullet cut right through his shoulder, Bond could not deliver the kill shot, but it would be something.
Raged let out a minor wail before he turned towards the trajectory of the bullet, and saw Bond lying on the beach defenseless.
Typhoid’s mind may not work as fast as Bond’s but he could plan ahead, and had anticipated Bond’s lack of ability to kill. So he grabbed the glass funnel that Raged had been so kind to fasten for him, and rushed in front of his fire blast using the funnel to direct it towards one of his counters.
The fire blasted Magus hard in the face, but more importantly it made his skin a bit more malleable.
Swan and Fox knew they would regret this later, but they had been making little headway against him so they took the one chance they were likely to get.
His body was still extremely hot from the fire, but it made it easier for Swan and Fox to land in some body blows which opened up other areas to attack. They had him reeling when they felt another blast of hot air sneak up behind them. They were able to roll out of the way just in time as the second blast nailed Magus once more.
As soon as the flame died down, they went back down on the offensively, but this was short lived as a blast of air knocked them on their butts this time. They were shortly joined by Typhoid and then Bond.
Apparently even in his advanced Thearian form, Geo was still a take charge leader.
Next time the four heard was a loud scream, a flash of something and then darkness.
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Almost done.
thatmariolover
12-14-2008, 08:43 PM
It's all coming together...
BreakABone
12-16-2008, 03:43 PM
Okay, I am going to say, but can't guarantee. Two more sections after this shall wrap up the first book.... I hope.
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5
The flicker of light now danced in Dylflon’s eye. It had a quality about it that made it both alluring and frightening.
He slapped himself hard across the face several times; he could not allow it to distract him. Before his eyes, he hoped that he was imaging this creature. A creature with bloodshot eyes that screamed out not in pain but in joy of making others suffer. A smile that was as sinister as it was warming.
The creature… the imagined creature Dylflon had to remind himself possessed what appeared to be traits from all of the Thearian soldiers. His hands danced with a glow of both fire and ice. His feet did not touch the ground as he gently glided around the room. Dylflon could not make it out, but he assumed his body was rock hard.
Dylflon stood hidden in the shadow wondering whether or not he should approach this being. After the hostile greetings, he received from the others he feared what would happen here. On the other hand, he had to find his friend and rescue him. He would not… could not be a failure.
So Dylflon took a second to muster all the courage in his body then he slowly crept towards this being of enormous power.
Without turning around, the creature spoke in a very satanic voice, “Who are you?”
The voice riveted in the chamber sending a cold shiver down Dylflon’s spine. The courage that was recently acquired snuck back into a locked vault in Dylflon’s head.
Now only his desire to save his friend spoke, all-be it in a timid voice, “My name is Dylflon, and I am searching for my friend Dyne.”
The creature sniffed out his icy hand with a gigantic blast of fire. Steam and smoke filled the room. The significance of the message was not lost on Dylflon. “Ahh! My precious water holder, I knew I should have packed a singular group, but then my powers would have manifested themselves too soon.”
A sneaking suspicion on the identity of this creature began to overtake Dylflon. “Let me put your mind to rest, I am indeed the original Thear or as close as you can get at the moment. You see while my true powers unlock when my four spirits converged, I can not return to my physical form until the final piece is found. And in order to do that, I will need to continue to use your friend as a host.”
Dylflon wanted to shout out that you can’t do that, but it would be wrong as he himself has forced people to do a lot of terrible things on his will. But this was different… it had to be different it was Dyne.
“Listen, what if we found you another host? Maybe one that’s stronger or faster or smarter? Anyone else?”
The wall behind Dyflon slowly creaked forward as Thear spoke, “Do you think me a fool! Do you not think I considered all options when looking to transfer my powers?! Do you not think I picked the candidates that were best suited for MY agenda! Your friend is a perfectly able host, and if you want to help him out you will assist my other 3 agents in tracking down the final piece to return me to my physical form.”
“And if I refuse?” Dylflon was finding his voice now.
“Ha ha ha ha! You won’t refuse. You care too much about your friend, but let’s entertain the thought for a second, I would crush you, and then I would crush your little friend out there.”
A small view to the outside world opened as Swan and Fox were tossed across the beach by Geo. “As a matter of fact, to show you I mean business.”
The scene moved too quickly for Dylflon to catch it all, but he faced Thear, “Okay you dirty bastard, I’m in!”
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GameMaster
12-16-2008, 06:47 PM
The Strange Gentleman should destroy NightHawk very soon. And I want him to be a part of Book 2.
Fyacin
12-18-2008, 10:20 PM
This is cool. I think the writing has improved too, more focused.
BreakABone
12-20-2008, 01:22 AM
This is cool. I think the writing has improved too, more focused.
I blame it on writing in Word now, and oddly enough... making it up as I go.
Before, I use to plan ahead. now I just kind of try and get a point across.
BreakABone
12-26-2008, 09:11 PM
A little late, but I was stuck on a section. This is the final section of book 1, and tells the fate of many characters.
I hope, it works out for people, and opens up some new avenues for book 2. Which will start sometime in the new year.
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6
Nighthawk had to break the silence before he went crazy in his own mind. “Remember that one time dad chased you already for changing the channel at the last second of that futbol game? He almost killed you!”
Bube’s face turned somber in an instant. “That’s not funny. What about when Ma’ tried to get you into a beauty pageant?” Bube shot back trying to get under his brother’s skin.
“You promised to never mention that again!” Nighthawk shot him a nasty look as he tried to hide his embarrassment of being reminded of that moment.
“Of course, I promised, but if you want to bring up moments like dad chasing me… be prepared for the payback.”
While Nighthawk did not want to admit it to himself, even the reminder of such a period in his life brought him great relief right now. As he looked around at the happy moments that popped up around him, he finally realized that with his own mind at ease, the membrane was no longer closing in on him.
“Well, that’s one problem out of the way.” Nighthawk informed his brother.
“I guess we can focus at the less serious issue at hand then…” Bube realized it was a touchy subject when dealing with powers. While he knew his brother would eventually manifest some, he did not want to rise any jealous inside of him. Though the thought of flying was pretty awesome, Bube knew his brother’s potential was much greater than that.
“Have you ever done anything or seen anything happen around you that you couldn’t quite explain?”
Nighthawk thought long and hard about the question, but no event really struck out as extraordinary to him. Had he lived such a boring life without his brother around?
Then a thought as bright as the sun landed into Bube’s head. “Okay, this is going to sound weird, but close your eyes and open your ears.”
- - - - -
At first Nighthawk saw or heard nothing, why should he, his mind was at complete rest. Then he saw a glint of red thunder past him, and then there was a flicker of blue and finally a gleam of gold.
The world around him began to come to life. Unlike the world he existed in or even the world that his mind conjured up, this world was unique upon itself.
Of what he could make of it, nothing appeared to be physical in this world, but it was not a mental construct either. Everything had a certain luster to it. Each object had a shine to it as if radiating gold.
As his focus deepened on the objects, he now realized they had a certain spring to them as if all dancing to similar songs.
One object in particular caught his interest, as he observed it intensely; he sung a lullaby to himself and found its maneuvers matched up flawlessly to the tune.
“Pretty cool isn’t it,” a voice, or an object, he was uncertain spoke.
“I guess… not quite sure… where we are.” Nighthawk responded and for the first time saw that he, himself, was only a wave… yeah that’s what everything looked like colored waves.
Nighthawk opened his eyes for a moment, and all that was before him disappeared. He was back on the mind plane with his musical representation of a brother in front of him.
“I know what I need to do now,” Nighthawk stood up eagerly.
- - - - -
Nighthawk returned to the scene at the beach just in time to see Typhoid and Bond tossed next to Fox and Swan.
His reactions were so swift, he hardly saw himself perform it.
He leaped in front of the 4 fallen men, and created a sound barrier to protect them from the scorching fire and crumbling rocks.
Soon the repeated beatings broke through, and buried the 5 men alive underneath.
- - - - -
The sun began to disappear behind the silhouette of a large metallic creature emerging from the bottom of the sea.
The creature settled above the rubble that now held the bodies of Typhoid, Fox, Swan, Bond and Nighthawk.
Dylflon teared up in the corner at the sight of his crushed friend. He had no option now, but to aid Thear in his battle. He turned inlands. He had no idea how he would get off this island, but he knew it was not through the water.
He began his long journey upwards.
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Ace’s eyes opened blinded by the bright light overhead. He quickly shut them and rolled out from underneath them. Forgetting to calculate the distance to the floor, Ace felt himself hit the ground hard.
He rubbed his backside as he pulled himself up from the floor. As he got his bearings, he saw glimmers of the room, and his mind danced with memories. These memories shook Ace, more so than the bullet he almost took. There was something strangely familiar about this room, but at the same time Ace could not place ever been here before.
He closed his eyes and a flood of images came into his head. He felt… no he knew he could navigate through this room without opening his eyes, but how. He gave his theory a trial run, and found that he easily maneuvered through the room without knocking anything over.
How was this all possible… before he could finish asking himself the question, he bumped into something that was not in his memory. He knew it was a new addition, but wanted to get a feel for it before he opened his eyes.
He could feel that it was wet, it was made of glass and felt tall as he could not reach the very top.
He opened his eyes and in great horror saw the image of the Canadian Coalition soldier staring back at him, but this one was different. It was all in the eyes… yes, the eyes showed signs of life unlike the ones that followed the Coalition around.
As Ace peered deep into the eyes, the figure turned towards him and whispered, “Help me!”
Startled, Ace stumbled backwards falling over a table behind him. As he made it to his feet, a voice called out from behind. “We have a lot to discuss.”
A fire that had not felt in years began to burn up inside of Ace, he would never forget that voice even when he laid buried six feet under.
He turned swiftly; ready to lash out, “Dad!”
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Thanks for reading.
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What I screwed up.
What I forgot.
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