User blog:MockingJester/Storm without, sorrow within

The woman walks off the wall, using her purple staff as a support, despite the fact that she looks like she could easily walk on her own. It features a large pink orb in the middle, swirling with power. The adventurer known as Malco grips on his own weapon, a sapphire spear with an emblem of a thunderbolt decorating it.

~MY, my, no need to be alarmed here. I just came to inform you those ruins are false.~

"Hmm...?" he simply mutters, his gaze hidden behind his helmet. A helmet plated with mithril featuring a face mask bearing semblance to a human face.

~Yes indeed~, she coos ~I want to test the strength of all men who dwell in these walls. Test their 'vigor'~

Wanting to hear no more, Malco brands his spear at her, a few meters separating them. It buzzes with lightning, prompting the woman to put a delicate finger on her cleavage, a seductive look glaring at him with obvious intents as to what test she was thinking about

"That weapon seems pretty strong. But, wouldn't you feel like taking hold of your 'other' spear? It would provide with such better duel between us, do you not agree?~

Malco says nothing, instead, he lets his spear buzzing more as it gathers lighting at the tip. More electricity sprays around it, burning tiny spots on the ground and the nearby pillars. The woman with a once seductive look in her eyes turned into a frown, scorned by the implicit refusal of the man.

"Fine them! I'll defeat you and make you see the folly of your rejection!" she ays with anger in her voice, making the walls tremble. Power leaks from her in a miasma fashion akin to a mist. Malco does not budge and grips his spear with a tighter hold. Combat was about to start as their auras began collapsing on each other.

The mage shoots out a few bolts of magic, pink like her orb. They spread out and point their sharp end toward Malco. He effortlessly swings his spear in a pendular motion, his tip of the spear shining with a reflective property, bouncing the bolts away from him. The mage looks at him with a nod of approval no less tainted with desire in her eyes "Not bad! Every warrior lured in these ruins have been unable to even survive this first salvo..."

Pandering as she was, it gave time for Malco to shoot out a few salvos of his own. Lightning seeps out from his spear, gathered by his energy, traveling the air like an unstable current, directing on a crash course with the dark mage. Centimeters before they could even hit her, a black field steps in from underneath her feet, hollowing the lightning before they could do any harm. Instead, they turned white and entered her body, especially by the uncovered bits of her attire.

"Hmm...your energy feels delectable...I can't wait to test out your raw power~, she says, licking her lips like someone who just ate something delicious. Malco made no illusion as to what she was mentioning and promptly jumped back, yet again to her slurry words "Those that survived this first attack of mine often were gifted in magic. Too bad their energy's taste was lacking in substance..."

Malco knows by the way she stands that simple attack would do no good. No, those would only help to encourage her taunts toward him. The way she looks at him, eyes full of desire...yet with something else hidden.

Her hands leisurely wandering all over her body, putting emphasis on her ample form...but depicting something not seen.

Her voice, speaking of the raw desire over her unwilling suitor...alas, with a shroud bending between the decibels.

Malco could sense something else about her, yet he paid no heed to those thoughts. With an imposing gesture, he slams the pole end of his spear on the ground, just as a loud thunderclap could be heard outside the ruins. The dark mage looks back at the exit, seeing the murky waters of the swamp assaulted by heavy rain drops, briefly hidden by a very nearby thunder striking from the heavens.


 * CRACK*

"Hmm, seems it's about to rain" she whispers with disinterest before promptly turning back at her 'suitor'. What she saw was most odd. Malco stood straight like a vigil, a hand clenched on his mithril armored chest  His other hand holding his spear, he lifts it slightly from the soil, before tapping on the ground once more.


 * CRACK*

Another thunderbolt descends, but right over the roof of the ruins. The dark mage soon widens her eyes, seeing a surge of power gathering as lightning on her adversary "You! You're the one making th-


 * CRACK*

A much louder and powerful bolt strike the roof of their ruins before a flurry of lighting proceeds to pour down on the collapsing place. "They say lightning never strike the same place twice. But you never believed that...did you?" he mutters to her, his voice almost hidden by the loud cacophony of the heavy clouds clamping down on their location like an army of horse riders storming the place.

The roof started showing signs of stress and threat to collapse as rubble begins to fall off. A grunt escapes her lips as she taps on the soil as well, bringing her protecting field up. More debris falls over their head as the roof finally cracks and pours down like an avalanche.

The smoke settles down with the roof open to the sky. Grey clouds populate the place with clamping thunder in between as Malco looks up to the heavens. For a moment he seems...away. His mind is fleeting, dormant perhaps. It wonders away as the winds occurring from this sudden shift in the weather blow off a peculiar tune.

But then, his sharp mind returns to the mage. Something is wrong! A surge of dark energy is amassing nearby. Having seen the work of dark matter more than he'd like to admit, he knew that sensation. A great spell was in the process of being cast.

He stares at her. Her eyes are now sharp with focus, a miasma heavily dense around her. A pentagram lingers under her feet once more, though this one is more elaborate. Taller, more complex. Seems she was done playing games.

Malco begins focusing as well, taking his spear in a low stance, facing behind him. His free hand's palm faces up. As such, the heavens begin churning the nearby clouds over his location. They begin to brew as his aura becomes dense, resonating with the same fractioning lightning overhead. And soon, it all crashes down on him. His mithril armor becomes charged up with immense power.

Of power, just as he had finished his gathering, so did the dark mage. Wasting no time, she filters all she have amassed throw a stained glass before her, resulting in a concentrated beam of demonic energy. One that causes the air around the spell to be stained with leftovers. Of course, this was not without opposition as Malco channeled his brand through his thunder spear, a draft of yellow and blue lightning seeping from his weapon.

The two conflicting forces clash, making the ground beneath them crack from the sheer pressure. None of the two would let up, their struggle pushing left and right, each threatening to overthrow the other. The two are focused, trying to overpower the other. And yet, this time, there was no spurning desire, no search for treasure. No, the air was strangely pungent with something else. A feeling too fleeting for either to decipher as their minds were busy on their spells.

However, as the struggle went on, the dark mage's spell began to falter. The look in her eyes shaped to something melancholic This puzzled Malco who kept his focus up. Eventually, he ended up overpowering her strain of magic. The lightning he spews out eats away at her beam of demon energy, shattering her arcane shield in pieces. The dark mage is pushed away to a nearby pillar. The contact violently blows away her hat, a huge sorcerer cap over her head. Her clothes receive all sort of cuts, exposing her body more than ever, somehow without completely giving away the form she so callously tried emphasizing to the mithril man.

The noise stops. Whatever storm gathering over their location had long stopped, leaving only the cloud pouring heavily their location with endless rain. The inside of the ruins was getting wet. Malco looks up yet again for a few seconds. His face is changed. Rain falls upon it, staining it. He seems...disappointed.

His eyes look around as if he was aware of his surrounding for the first time. Nothing but rubble. The chest, empty. The pillars, old and decaying more so thanks to his thunder. Then, his eyes turn to the downed woman.

"Hmpf!?" His gasp wakes her up from the concussion blast, looking at herself. No serious injury despite the flurry of lightning threatening o crash down on her earlier. Her hands are scratched but otherwise unharmed. With a second wind, she immediately gets up, facing him in the distance "You didn't kill me?" He looks back at her, glancing back at the empty chests and walks.

His pace is accelerated as he walks in the bog waters of the swamp to her astonishment over the fact that he was ignoring her. She watched him walking out, her eyes lowering with a more ambient regret. She closes them, thinking she would never this man again. But, as she slowly opens them once more, she could see his form standing still knee-deep in the bog water. His head was hunched down.

Curiosity got the better of her and with her damaged staff, she slowly walked toward him, only to be briefly stunned by the rain. Taking a hand to her head, she notices it is wet. Looking back, her hat lays inert over the gathering water. "I see..." Never the less, she continues through the bog water.

Splish, splash

Splish, splash

Almost beside him, the dark mage it met with shock by the man almost not noticing she was nearby. He swiftly pulls up his spear. She raises her hands in a surrendering manner "I wish you no harm, though I wouldn't mind if you were to claim something from me. You did win our duel, after all~ She winks at him.

Malco stares at her, unchanged. Her eyes lower a bit "I see. Well, can I at least see what map this is?" Malco is hesitant, though letting her look wouldn't do any harm. He cautiously hands it to her while keeping his spear pointed. The woman takes a long look at the map. Treasure sites, all marked with an X. Indication of a fruitless expedition.

"So, you are looking to satisfy your desire as well..." she says, handing back the map.

Malco nods "Yes...I am"

"And seeing all those X's on them mean that you were unsuccessful..."

Malco nods again "Yes. Either empty or would lead only to one of your kind. A monster..."

"I see. Well, I do apologize for misleading you" she says, holding one of her arm "I simply wished for someone strong enough to trigger my desire...but so far, no one was able to pull through. Either they were too compliant or had nothing to show the measure of their prowess..."

"Well, that's acceptable, I suppose. Though I need to go now. You have potential" he declares, his mask lingering with more lightning-like marks on its cheeks "I hope you find someone who will reveal your humble personality".

"But wait--

Malco already begins walking away. Alas, by the second step, the rain became heavier than before, picking up weight in the drops. The peculiar part was that all of it poured down on Malco as his mask had much more lightning-like marks. A hand reaches his.

"Well, it seems like you won't be able to go anywhere, what with unending rain. Perhaps would you accept to seek shelter at my home?"

"..."

Malco shakes his head, slowly taking his hand away from hers "I'll be fine. Don't you worry about--

Winds pushed him backward. Under the gaze of the astonished woman, he tries to continue his walk away, only for the rain and the wind to gain in intensity. He braves the storm, but ultimately fails to do so, as the fight ate away at most of his stamina. Her hand grasps his more thightly this time "Looks like you gave no choice~

Soon enough, they find themselves inside a house amidst the swamp. While the outside is nothing more than decaying wood, the inners are wholesomely different. They feel recent, luxurious with all the purple around. The inside is merely hidden what the outside. Malco stands just outside of the door, watching.

He looks up, the clouds pouring non-stop. Then, he looks at the dark mage. Her eyes are stuck on his mask. The expression of melancholy is still very present. Her lips open "Are...are you disappointed? Of the outcome?"

"What of it? I am simply staying around until the rain stops..."

"Maybe but..." she hesitates

"But...?"

The dark mage takes her hands around his cheeks. While this should have him recoil, something about the way she does it feels harmless. "Were you alone all this time?"

"Alone? When?".

"When you travelled. When uncovering those so-called treasure sites you sought so badly."

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well, could it be that gold was not what you were looking for?"

"No, impossible. I didn't brave the unconquered wastelands for the fun of it. Fortune is what I seek"

The dark mage shakes her head "I feel loneliness from you. Your mask seems to be an indication of that"

"My mask?" He looks at the watery reflect of the pond. The lightning-like marks are rather tears that have flown. Not from it, but his eyes. "Ohh..." he says, almost whimpering "...those tears"

The woman crouches next to him. She takes her hand on his her own face twisted in sorrow, the origing being the same aliment he suffered all those time. "It seems we are both lonely people".

"But...you rejected the others that came before me"

"I wanted someone...different of the classic men who came along. Each of them simply gave in when I teased them with my body..." her stare gets a bit cold "...I wanted nothing to do with any of them..."

"That's a first. Last I heard, monsters are usually picky when it comes to their mates" Malco says.

"You'd be surprised. We're not dying to simply get some random first comer to claim us. That's a myth".

"So it is..." he mutters, before noticing her hand over his "Your hand is warm".

"But your is cold" she responds, trying to undo the knots " Perhaps I can warm it?"

Malco offers no resistance as the sensation he felt earlier was not clear to him. Loneliness, brewed into sorrow. From the two of them as each sought something different. It was sbvious that what they looked for so long was each other.

The dark mage had unbndone his gauntlet, to a surprised Malco "You seem to know your way around armor".

"Most pretenders that came along were armored. When they so eagerly gave in, I often was the one to deknot their attire, in a feinted interest in their 'masculinity'."

"But you didn't go all the way..." he says, somehow knowing.

"No...I didn't. By the time I'd have taken away their stuff, I'd cast an illusion that would have me pretend to do as such", she says, holding his hand "A complex pigment. You must be from far".

Malco didn't say anything, letting her warmth seep in. This drags on for minutes as she was now slumbering on his chest with no resistance from either. They watched the rain drop as the sky progressively cleared up. Soon enough, her eyes were set an a greater prize.

"Can I...remove your mask?"

"S-sure" he says, pondering the prospect of her next action.

Slowly but surely, she undones the attachements around before removing it. Blues eyes and a small scar met her sight. Sorrow was now pungent with the way he looked at her. Her hands went to reach his face, equalizing his with her own loneliness "My poor man. How long have you been wandering by yourself?"

"Long enough", he mutters as his own finger caress her cheeks with sworn care. Soon, blush appeared on her otherwise pure snow face. With unsaid approval from the man she held, the dark mage found her rump to be sitting on his legs, her own covering his back. Sitting on his legs, face-to-face. His hand reached behind her lower back, giving further approval her action.

"I think I finally found some who will cure my loneliness~ she whispers close to his face.

"Only if you accompany me to rid me of mine" he responds, feeling the full weight of her vuloupus chest sticking to his muscular self.

"Of course~ she whispers even quieter, closing in for the kiss...