The Freedom Stone

Hundreds of beast-men poured from the ziggurat. They charged along the tiered walkways and stairs of the pyramid-temple, itself so massive that the top half of the structure was higher than the treetops. Vines and moss draped over the edges of the ancient buildings, but the walkways where the beast-men stampeded were clear. Anya stood with her sword held defensively, while Jalmar charged off toward the onrushing swarm. The enemy was eager to engage. Right fist out, Jalmar crashed through the front of the army as they stepped off the temple. Dozens of the savages scattered through the air as Jalmar punched through their ranks. He raised his fists over his head, then brought them down against the base of the ziggurat stairs. A shockwave burst from the strike, and rippled through the crowd. For a dozen feet around Jalmar the barbarians were hurled bodily away. Many of the creatures landed over fifty feet away, or impaled themselves into the stone of the temple wall. The gap around Jalmar filled quickly, but he struck out at the temple again and sent many more hurtling right after their fellows. Cracks began to form in the base of the ziggurat, but no one in the battle noticed.

The beast-men did not ignore Anya, even though most focused on Jalmar. She ran toward a nearby tree as four of the savages chased her, then swung around the trunk with her sword extended. In one smooth motion, Anya slashed her weapon through the throats of all four of her attackers. They fell back bleeding, and collapsed at her feet. Anya then looked back toward the temple, and to the next band of barbarians charging in her direction. She then picked up a handful of small stones, and began whipping them at the beast-men. Two of the stones caught barbarians in the head, while the rest struck the stomachs or chests of others. Anya grabbed more stones when she ran out, and continued chucking them forcibly at any savage that drew close enough. After a few moments, a rumble shook the ground where she stood. Jalmar had ripped a large stone block from the masonry of the temple, and pushed it against a group of the barbarians until it struck the wall with them between. Blood drenched the lower steps of the temple, and dripped down the walls near the base.

At the peak of the ziggurat, the leader of the beast-men appeared. She was scaled like a reptile, and with a long lizard-like snout. The leader wore no clothes, just her scales and a series of finely made silver tattoos that ran in swirls around her limbs and chest. On her feet were sharp claws, and the big toes of each foot ended with a scything talon as long as a man’s hand. She carried a knife with a curled blade in each hand, whose tips dripped of a thick blue fluid. Jalmar leapt up levels at a time up the ziggurat to reach the queen of these beast-men. On each floor he blasted more of the savages away with a shockwave strike. The beast-men on the second-highest tier drew bows and took aim at Jalmar as he worked his way up the temple face. Jalmar saw them and stopped his approach for a second. They fired, and he cast his arms wide and his chest forward. A colossal roar accompanied the surge of Jalmar’s golden aura just as the arrows struck. All the projectiles shattered off Jalmar’s skin like glass striking steel.

Jalmar dove straight up to the top of the temple, surrounded by his brilliant gold aura. The queen was about to speak, or scream, when Jalmar smashed his head against hers and knocked her to the stone floor. he lay motionless, and Jalmar turned to her minions. Each punch crushed one of the beast-men, and knocked it down the stairs that lead to the summit of the ziggurat where the queen lay. The leader was not nearly as defeated as Jalmar though however, and quickly rose and drove the tip of a dagger into Jalmar’s back. He shouted in pain, then snapped an elbow back into the queen’s face. Without giving her a chance to recover, Jalmar grabbed the beast-queen by her arm and hurled her straight up into the air. Then, he leapt up after her. When her ascent slowed enough for Jalmar to reach her in mid-air, he brought both fists down against her chest and stomach. This shot the queen fiercely downward until she hit the top of the temple and formed a crater in the stone with her landing. Jalmar landed next to her, and looked down at her partially crushed body. Somehow, he had the strange feeling he knew her; like someone known long ago but mostly forgotten. He dismissed the feeling, focusing instead of the searing pain of the poisoned dagger wound, and knelt over the queen. His fists fell like a waterfall against her head and chest until he was striking the temple through her corpse.

To ensure that the beast-men would not be a problem, Jalmar dove once again into the air high over the edifice. He descended with one foot extend beyond the other, and dropped all of his weight and strength into the building through that one limb. His aura burst forth as a silently roaring gold dragon of flame as he hit the building, then crashed through the roof. His decent continued, passing through floor after floor as though the stone construction were no more than paper. Jalmar reached the bottom of the temple, having left a hole straight from the top of the building directly through its center. Energy crackled in the air about him, and Jalmar braced himself. All the energy rippled about for a moment, then exploded outward. The explosion caught all the beast-men and ripped half apart while the other were blasted far off into the jungle. The entire structure blew apart, and stones rained down over the jungle in a ferocious downpour of shards. Jalmar stepped out of the smoking crater of the destroyed temple, singed but otherwise unharmed. Across the fields of dead barbarians he saw Anya looking out from behind a tree she used as cover, that bore several large stone fragments embedded in its bark. He walked back to her, past the slain horde.

Jalmar nodded off toward the north, “Let’s get going.”

Did he just kill his First-Age wife, or one of her descendants?

Anya might have competition, and I suspect Jalmar will be entirely oblivious to the vicious catfighting over him...like a manlier Tenchi Muyo.

Bladestorm wrote:

Did he just kill his First-Age wife, or one of her descendants?

Yes. First age spouse reincarnated.

Bladestorm wrote:

Anya might have competition, and I suspect Jalmar will be entirely oblivious to the vicious catfighting over him...like a manlier Tenchi Muyo.

Or, now that essence shard is up for grabs. Anyone could get it now.

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

Did he just kill his First-Age wife, or one of her descendants?

Yes. First age spouse reincarnated.

Bladestorm wrote:

Anya might have competition, and I suspect Jalmar will be entirely oblivious to the vicious catfighting over him...like a manlier Tenchi Muyo.

Or, now that essence shard is up for grabs. Anyone could get it now.

AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya!!!!

...did I mention Anya?

Bladestorm wrote:

...did I mention Anya?

I think you may have mentioned something like that.
It was pretty subtle though, I almost missed it.

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

...did I mention Anya?

I think you may have mentioned something like that.
It was pretty subtle though, I almost missed it.

Did someone say...


AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya
AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya
AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya

?

Valheru wrote:

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

...did I mention Anya? :D

I think you may have mentioned something like that.
It was pretty subtle though, I almost missed it.
:D

Did someone say...


AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya
AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya
AnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnyaAnya

?

DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF DONATE TO FSF

<^_^>

"It's teh Ahnya!"

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

...did I mention Anya?

I think you may have mentioned something like that.
It was pretty subtle though, I almost missed it.

*nods, Dawn Caste mark shining and a trail of devastation extending for several miles in the opposite direction* I am very subtle, yes!

I also reccomend that Anya get that Lunar Shard.

Bladestorm wrote:

I also reccomend that Anya get that Lunar Shard.

OH!
Okay... now I get it!
For a while there I didn't know what you were suggesting. That makes it a lot clearer.
^_^

Jalmar, Destroyer of Ziggurats.

Anya: "And remember, kids-"
Jalmar: "BUILD LESS ZIGGURATS!"

Legendary Mumbler wrote:

Jalmar, Destroyer of Ziggurats.
Anya: "And remember, kids-"
Jalmar: "BUILD LESS ZIGGURATS!"

Very true!
And in this case, less manse-ziggurats... they tend to explode.

Nizkateth wrote:

Legendary Mumbler wrote:

Jalmar, Destroyer of Ziggurats.
Anya: "And remember, kids-"
Jalmar: "BUILD LESS ZIGGURATS!"

Very true!
And in this case, less manse-ziggurats... they tend to explode.

...DO NOT MAKE ME THINK OF ARTHAS AND JALMAR AT SAME TIME KTHNXBI!

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

I also reccomend that Anya get that Lunar Shard.

OH!
Okay... now I get it!
For a while there I didn't know what you were suggesting. That makes it a lot clearer.
^_^

^_^

Bladestorm wrote:

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

...did I mention Anya?

I think you may have mentioned something like that.
It was pretty subtle though, I almost missed it.

*nods, Dawn Caste mark shining and a trail of devastation extending for several miles in the opposite direction* I am very subtle, yes!

I also reccomend that Anya get that Lunar Shard.

If you're going to pose as a Solar now, then you need to change your pic! ^.^

Valheru wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

...did I mention Anya?

I think you may have mentioned something like that.
It was pretty subtle though, I almost missed it.

*nods, Dawn Caste mark shining and a trail of devastation extending for several miles in the opposite direction* I am very subtle, yes!

I also reccomend that Anya get that Lunar Shard.

If you're going to pose as a Solar now, then you need to change your pic! ^.^

I got Redeemed! Now I don't make Shadowlands every time I have sex! ^_^

Plus, I don't have to kill all life anymore.

Bladestorm wrote:

Valheru wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

...did I mention Anya?

I think you may have mentioned something like that.
It was pretty subtle though, I almost missed it.

*nods, Dawn Caste mark shining and a trail of devastation extending for several miles in the opposite direction* I am very subtle, yes!

I also reccomend that Anya get that Lunar Shard.

If you're going to pose as a Solar now, then you need to change your pic! ^.^

I got Redeemed! Now I don't make Shadowlands every time I have sex! ^_^

Plus, I don't have to kill all life anymore.

You still need to change the pic. =P

Valheru wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

Valheru wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

Nizkateth wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

...did I mention Anya?

I think you may have mentioned something like that.
It was pretty subtle though, I almost missed it.

*nods, Dawn Caste mark shining and a trail of devastation extending for several miles in the opposite direction* I am very subtle, yes!

I also reccomend that Anya get that Lunar Shard.

If you're going to pose as a Solar now, then you need to change your pic! ^.^

I got Redeemed! Now I don't make Shadowlands every time I have sex! ^_^

Plus, I don't have to kill all life anymore.

You still need to change the pic. =P

True, I just need someone to draw an avatar for me now.

I can drink and make love and rescue scantily-clad damsels from dire peril! Plus, golden armor.

Bladestorm wrote:

True, I just need someone to draw an avatar for me now.

I can drink and make love and rescue scantily-clad damsels from dire peril! Plus, golden armor.

Yay for Golden armor!

Valheru wrote:

Bladestorm wrote:

True, I just need someone to draw an avatar for me now.

I can drink and make love and rescue scantily-clad damsels from dire peril! Plus, golden armor.

Yay for Golden armor!

...Now all I need is some damsels in dire peril. >_>

I have an anathema question. Now that you're golden evil instead of emo evil, can you go emo again? And then golden once more?

You could make an habit out of this redemption gig.


Oh, and clap to Niz for the lunar smashing. But this time I do have a tiny critic. You should had described the beastmen.

Darksoul wrote:

You should had described the beastmen.

I was beginning to, but I realized part way through that describing all the different types of beastmen in detail would have taken half the story on its own.

Well, maybe just hinted at them having different kind of snake like features, ot simply saying how much beast and how much men they were.

See you in the next chapter. *runs across Jalmar's story followed by Niz*

Darksoul wrote:

I have an anathema question. Now that you're golden evil instead of emo evil, can you go emo again? And then golden once more?

You could make an habit out of this redemption gig.


Oh, and clap to Niz for the lunar smashing. But this time I do have a tiny critic. You should had described the beastmen.

I could, but I don't want to annoy the Unconquered Sun too much. Once you've been Redeemed once, that's it, and if I got Corrupted now I would be on the Malfeans' shitlist for eternity. Besides the practical concerns, Redemption is a serious business. I chose to take my destiny back into my own hands and regain control of my life. I made the decision to stop being Lover's hound. Now, I can conquer the Realm and impregnate all of your precious Terrestrial women with my Anathema bloodline.