Iron and Blood

[Irienys]

It was mid day, but from they sky you wouldn't know. There were no clouds, only a heavy haze that smothered the landscape in a thick gray coat. It was through this filter that the sun lit the world. Nothing more than a dirty orb passing above the jagged earth its flickering second hand light only highlighting the ashen and soot covered landscape. From the soil great crumbling spires of rock jutted. Pointing blasphemous fingers at the sky, carving through the horizon with splinters of stone. It was here that Irienys stood, looking down over this hellish land. Her black lips curled as she regarded the vista with disdain. Given the choice she would avoid places like this entirely though she looked like she belonged. She turned her back on the broken view, her tongue passing over cracked and dry lips. It was dry here, almost like a desert, she hadn't seen a single plant since she had set foot on that gray dusty earth many miles back. She grabbed her water skin and took a gulp. Savoring the feeling as it soothed her.

Her eyes fell on the path that lay to her prize. Before her, on this hostile mountain a great maw had be burrowed into the earth itself. The once gray rock had been blasted by fire and tools, its face now scorched black by magic. Driven into the very rock itself, great shards of carved rock had been placed. Forced into the open mouth creating needle sharp teeth for the temple that lay beneath its surface. It was down at the nadir of this pit that the entrance lay. Two great double doors of stone, black as the earth around it, another mouth torn across its surface. As she watched she felt herself being drawn inexorable closer. It was as if the mountain itself was these peoples god, or an idol to it, an effigy crafted from an entire mountain.

She shook herself of the feeling, she ran her fingers through her hair. She just hoped that who ever, or what ever worshiped here was long dead. This land didn't look like it could even support insect life let along anything capable of building this. But assumptions lead to mistakes or worse. Her hand ran under the plate on her upper arm. She could still feel the scar tissue and muscle beneath knitting together slowly. Scowling she turned back to her task. Luckily this time she wouldn't have to deal with all this alone.

Magdalene should be here somewhere. If she didn't show then Irienys would have lost an opportunity with smuggling and some back up. There was nothing worse than a coward or a liar. She held Maggy in a slightly higher regard than that but she had yet to prove herself fully. The incident with the bandits could merely have been greed although that was what drove Irienys so she couldn't begrudge another for it.

Her eyes alighted on a figure. Slightly further down the slopping sides of the pit and waiting. Irienys had almost missed her against the backdrop. She smiled, well at least Mag had shown up. Slowly Irienys began to descend. Her boots dislodging great showers of dusty earth as she slipped down the mountains maw. Her feet began to move more unsteadily as she picked up speed down the slope. Gloved hand supporting her, pressing into the loose dusty rock as she left a trail of settling ash behind her. Skidding slowly to a halt she stopped a few meters short of Magdalene a small smile on her face as she neared.

Brushing the dust and ash from her armor and leather cloak she began to talk. "Didn't see you there mag, did the journey treat you well?" Shaking the last of the gray ash from her she looked down at the door. Barely forty meters from them now. She nodded at the stone barrier. "I can almost guarantee that theres treasure behind there but where theres treasure theres a fight. But hey, I know you can handle it." Grabbing one of her hammers she slung it over her shoulder. The reassuring weight in her hands gave her security. "Well... ya' got any ideas how to get through that bastard if its barred?"

[Magdalene]

Hooves thundered, heralding the movements of a sprinting shadow that left in its wake a dense cloud of the gray dust that surrounded it. Horses were revered in their power, the simplicity of their movements - in which, at full gallop, every touch on the ground was barely so, as if the creature was flying through the air. The grace of a crane slowly gliding over its watery abode, combined with the power of a leopard tearing into the throat of an antelope. The horse in its full glory was supposed to be all of those things.

Magdalene's leg abruptly cramped at the joint, jerking her full body forward and falling head-over-heels upon the sheer earth. The side of her painted face hit hard, skidding with the rest of her girth for some time before coming to a full stop. She was still for moments, her massive chest slowly rising and falling as her eyes turned toward the barren sky. Her leg was caught in a tangle with the rest of her limbs, and she struggled to adjust in order to free all four. The moment she pressed her hoof into the ground to push herself up once more, another spasm roared through her being; Mag was on the ground, her progress lost and a newfound pain keeping her full attention.

The sound of bones cracking was an unpleasant one, but the slave gatherer was beginning to grow used to it. Guess it wants to change again, she thought to herself in an almost offhanded and vaguely humorous manner. Magdalene's curse had been positively erratic all morning, shifting nearly every half-hour while completely ignoring the woman's emotional state. She had a sneaking suspicion that the chaotic effects of her curse had something to do with her geographical position - she had never been so far east before - but it seemed unrelated upon further pondering. Maybe it was a subconscious thing, she mused; either way, she was thankful that Irienys knew more or less about that fact. There would be no surprises or need to explain should the devil see Mag in such a state.

A limb snapped out of place, and Magdalene gave a deafening neigh of pain.

The fire-charred wrought stone spires rose in the distance; the slave gatherer grinned, knowing she had arrived at her destination. After pulling a lock of hair out of her eyes, Mag noticed by touch that half of her face was covered in gray dust. After quickly brushing the majority of it off, she continued forward. A week ago, Magdalene had been permitted by her coworkers to take a small break in order to "visit her family and take a load off after that gods-awful job." She had two more days left on said break. Only one day had been taken to visit family of any kind; her father, who was slowly awaiting his death in a small "paradise hut" situated along the shores of a small Asterionian oasis. He hadn't recognized her.

Treasure-hunting seemed far more enjoyable than spending more time with an old warrior that would have spontaneously died if he ever found out what his daughter actually did for a living. Grabbing one of the pointed stone outcroppings along the massive pit, Magdalene slung her weight over the edge and dropped down with a thud; she had completely ignored the steady incline that she could have simply walked down. She took a few moments to marvel at the massive doors that now loomed before her before catching a familiar voice.
"Didn't see you there Mag, did the journey treat you well?"
"A'course it did. Havin' some problems with the horse-thing though, I hope you don't mind."

Magdalene turned back to the doors, analyzing them while she listened to her friend. They didn't seem too heavy, and upon further inspection, were carved deeply with all kinds of twisting shapes and runes. Typical of an abandoned temple, probably. "I can almost guarantee that there's treasure behind there but where there's treasure there's a fight. But hey, I know you can handle it. Well... ya' got any ideas how to get through that bastard if its barred?"
She shrugged. "Bet it isn't that bad. Could prob'ly just bust it open myself." When Mag turned back to face Irienys, a large grin had formed on her face.

Soon enough, the slave gatherer was charging headlong toward the crack between the dual doors leading, presumably, to riches. A dull impact, then a loud sizzle; Magdalene instantly recoiled, roaring in pain between long strings of obscenities. The door had not budged a single inch, and the woman was left badly burned. Her injuries were worst on the side of her right forearm, where the flesh was severely seared. Every surface that touched the stone - all the way up her arm, ending at her shoulder - was burned to some extent. Mag bit her tongue to stop her screaming, nursing her wounded arm. After a few deep breaths, her eyes flicked to Irienys. "New... plan."

[Irienys]

The horse problem, it would have been mildly funny if it had happened to anyone else but the girl had an anger problem anyway, adding a curse that caused you to change shape with out warning and it was asking for trouble. Even Irienys didn't want to deal with Magdalene as a horse. "Yeah, that horse deal must be pretty harsh." She turned as Magdalene's grin spread over her face. That was a malevolent smile if ever she had seen one. Shaking her head she watched the small human accelerate to break neck speed. That was not going to end well. The doors looked far to heavy for even Irienys to break through like that and she was a full two foot taller and a great deal bigger.

Wincing she watched Mag fall back but it wasn't just a solid object, something had gone wrong. Irienys broke into a run after Maggy. Irienys wasn't exactly the nicest woman in town but she did care about her comrades, at least to some extent.
Dust began to spill out behind her as Irienys drew near her friend. She crouched down next to Mag, peering at the burns that had curled up Maggys arm. She winced as her friend writhed in pain. There was nothing she could do. Helping her up wouldn't do with those burns and on top of that she couldn't heal with magic or herb. Magdalene would have to walk it off. Magdalene began to speak, "New plan." Irienys laughed, die hard to the end.

She rose to her feet and cast around for a plan. She moved up to the door and ran her hand over the door. She recoiled. Even through the leather she could feel the heat. She hated these magic traps. She nodded. She may have the brawn but she could think her way around this stuff. The time spent raiding these temples had give her some ability to think around it. She turned and grabbed one of the sharp spires jutting from the earth. With some sliding she managed to rip the metal shard from the earth. Dragging it through the ashen soil she pulled the sharpened tooth next to door. Heaving it up she took a step back and lunged forwards jamming it into the split between the door. It stuck.

Grinning Irienys raised one of her hammers. Gripping it in two hands she brought it up ready for the swing. Aiming it carefully she hammered the metal splinter home. The door creaked but held, the gap between the doors was wider but it still wasn't moving. Growling slightly she grabbed the shard and wrenched it. The doors bulged as the leaver did its job. She grunted and threw her weight at it. The door gave way. One of the doors stayed in place, locked against the door as the other swung wide. "Thats how you do it." She grinned as she peered inside. "Up you get we got stuff to steal." She grabbed a torch from her pack and lit it with a fireball before stepping into the dark opening.

The flickering torchlight cast out the edge of the tunnel that stretched out before her. She began to hurry along down the corridor checking to see if Mag was following. She didn't check for traps, something she would normally deal with but after the door fiasco she took a guess that they wouldn't place trap after trap. She was lucky. She was soon out of the tight and embracing tunnel and out into a much lager space.

Carved straight out of the rock the workmanship was rough, magic had seared the stone once more and huge chunks of rock still lay around the chamber. Before Irienys stood a giant effigy. Built of strips of metal and sharpened wood, a huge hulking man, sitting down, with fires burning in the metal and wood skeleton. It filled the room with a great red glow. She scanned the statue. Her eyes drawn to the eyes glinting in the light. Two red orbs. Crystals, they showed up in the strangest of places. She nodded, they would grab these later, she didn't to scale that thing until she knew for sure everyone was dead here.

Speaking of the devil. Her eyes fell back to earth and sure enough, from beneath the statue a door had opened. A man stumbled forth, staff in hand, shouting in a language that she couldn't make head nor tail of. She scowled and dropped her torch, grabbing both hammers. This wasn't going to end will. Sure enough from the darkness behind the priest, temple guardians emerged. She would have picked the temple with people still in it wouldn't she, it was sods law. She spat to the side. Two great golems taller than a man but still not as high as her strode forwards. They were lithe and thin, they didn't seem slow by any stretch of the imagination. Time to play.

[Magdalene]

Still blinded by pain, Magdalene's witnessing of her demonic cohort's brilliant opening of the door was blurry, at best. The flesh running up her arm was almost blood red, and a winding welt had formed from within it; she was too busy mentally overcoming her pain to notice the peculiarity of such a thing existing. "Up you get, we got stuff to steal."
"Workin' on it," she shot back instantly with a scowl to no one in particular. During the pair's foray into the complex, Mag brought up the rear by a second or two, still cursing her brash actions. The burn would undoubtedly hinder her ability in combat; she would be restricted to fighting and defending with only one blade, and it was her naturally non-dominant one.

The walk through the tunnel felt longer than it truly was, as pain forced time to move at a crawl. Magdalene's eyes were fixed on the held torchlight before her. When the devil and slaver emerged into a much larger chamber, she soon snapped out of her slight trance and found herself staring up at the massive monolith that dominated the room and filled it with an eerie red glow. Irienys came to a sudden stop, and Magdalene did the same to the devil's immediate left.

There was a moment of awkward silence. The slaver briefly considered breaking the stillness with a question of what to do next, but found herself instead growling, "Irie!" A massive stone door, its existence previously ignored, pushed forth from the base of the statue at the center of the room. Mag's healthy arm shot toward the opposite hip's sword hilt, tearing it out of its sheathe with a resounding metallic scrape to accompany it.

"Shit."

Her expression hardened further at the sight of a man emerge from the abyss that had spilled forth, accompanied by a troupe of unusual creatures formed of living rock. In Magdalene's mind, there was no option to talk to them, establish diplomacy. She acted instantly, darting in the direction of the nearest golem; blade raised and brought down upon it, and the probability of it striking was almost guaranteed.

It didn't, noticing the blade and raising its arm to harmlessly parry faster than Mag was capable of blinking. In almost the same motion its other arm shot out in a hook, crashing into the slaver's burnt arm and sweeping her aside with such power that she was knocked violently to the ground. She held back a cry of pain as her side met the ground; it would have wasted time. Magdalene had heard of golems before - a few had become nuisances in rural Asterionian towns - but they were always purported to be slow and lumbering. These were even faster than her, who herself had a fighting style that favored speed and agility. If only she could use her second blade.

The golem was upon her instantly. She failed to parry a powerful vertical punch, instead resorting to rolling out of the way. Her weapon was wrenched from her grasp with the maneuver. Her breathing heavy and shallow and her thoughts fleeting and disorganized, it was obvious that fate was stacked against her. She refused to die. Magdalene would not die from simply a pair of mistakes. The golem continued with a second punch; she rolled the opposite way and regained her grip on the weapon. Pure adrenaline coursed through her veins, dulling the pain of her burns and quickening her reflexes slightly; it would certainly be the difference between life and death.

After wrenching her second sword from its sheathe and successfully knocking away a third strike, it was apparent to her that these creatures could not be easily harmed by standard blades. Irienys would surely have more success with her hammers, but Magdalene was restricted to keeping the attention of her current enemy for the time being. Still laying on her back the slaver pulled back both of her booted feet and shot them forward together, pushing back the unsuspecting golem's leg at the ankle and making it lose balance for a moment. The time she bought was precious, and she used it to leap to her feet.

She stumbled slightly and her muscles wavered from the beginnings of exhaustion, but she crossed her two blades and awaited the unnatural creature's next barrage.

[Irienys]

Her head span around as Magdalene's voice shot out. "I know, I'll try to cover you." As patronizing as it sounded Maggy took a hard hit from that door, Irienys certainly wouldn't be in perfect fighting condition after that. Scowling, she turned back to the golem's. Her moment of compassion had left her in a poor position. One was already bearing down on her. Her hands shot down to her belt but it was to late. A terrific clash rang through the hall as a stone fist slammed into her breast plate.

She was lifted from her feet from the blow, even a fighter of her size was no match in strength for these infernal constructs. She hit the flagon floor heavily, her breath was forced from her lungs. She shut her eyes tight and opened them again to a flood of light as she gasped for breath. Her hand pressed against the dent in her chest plate. She growled. She tried to struggle to her feet as the golem rounded on her. Half way up it was already upon her. She swore under her breath as it raised another heavy fist. She dived to the left, her armor clattering over the floor as she rolled.

There was no time to worry about the disorientation. She leaped to her feet and steadied herself. The golem span around and charged. Irienys grabbed her weapons and ripped them from her belt. She shifted her feet into a defensive stance, boots gripping as best they could on the smooth stone. Again a stone fist swung in at her. Her hammer flew forth, it was barely a conscious decision, more a reflex now.

The two weapons connected, fist hitting hammer. Stone against metal. In the dull light one could almost see the flash of sparks. The hammer recoiled but it had taken the sting from the scorpion. Another fist shot forward and her hammer met the blow. Damn these things were fast. She staggered back from the impact. Each blow was jarring her bones, she didn't know if she could keep it up for much longer.

She stumbled, on the back foot, moving away from the onslaught of the golems fists. Her eyes flashing between the fists as they battered her. Finally she missed one. It sped towards her unprotected face and connected. She fell sideways. Struggling to support herself as a great red welt appeared over her cheek she swore loudly through the pain. The priest stood, watching over the two adventurers as his constructs destroyed them. He chanted in a heathen verse never translated into the civil tongue. Irienys looked up at him as she struggled to her feet, hate burning in her eyes.

Taking her watchful gaze off the golem was a big mistake. A stone hand grabbed her back plate and flung her forwards. She flew three meters before hitting the stonework with a crash, one hammer skidded away from her. She spat blood and curses as she leaped to her feet. Now anger took her. Baring her blood stained teeth she rose up before the priest. From the folds of his robe he produced a dagger but there was no saving him now. Before the golem could reach her again she charged. The hammer slammed down with a huge force and the man crumpled, the frail flesh of man giving way before iron. She whirled around and was greeted with another fist crashing into her shoulder. She span to the side from the blow but maintained the momentum, slipping away from the stone assailant.

She glanced down, her hammer at her feet. There was no way these things were going to be destroyed by swords, something bigger was needed and Irienys had the only weapons. With her left arm in pain from the golem's last blow it would be useless in her hands anyway. Time to put it to work."Hey! Mag, heads up!" She shouted, her voice echoing around the hall.

She kicked a heavy boot forwards and sent the hammer spinning towards Magdalene. It stopped harmlessly against her feet and Irienys nodded. She turned back to the golem and for the fist time took the offense. She ran at the creature, raising her hammer in both hands, gritting her teeth at the spiking pain from her damaged shoulder. She brought the hammer down on the golem with all the force the giant demon could muster. The golem's out stretched arm tried to protect its had.

The hammer smashed through the creatures arm, dust, shards and splinters of rock exploding out from the impact. This time the golem staggered back, finally his arm had given way, only a stump from above the elbow remained, the rest scattered before the dueling pair. Irienys stood still for a second panting, hammer clutched between white knuckled fists, blood stained and sweating, hair spilling out like an angry beast, she spat blood and moved.