Fallen Lion

From Reydala

Music for the Entry - "Revealed Truth"

Dante sat in the combination inn/pub in a town whose name he hadn't bothered to remember. Aknier and Kaer shared a table, heads together, and seemed to be deeply engrossed in conversation. Seremela had disappeared, likely to do her nightly "meditation," and he had no idea where everyone else had gone. Fingers drumming on the table, the Jovenite stared at nothing in particular, and thought on his journey since leaving home.

(How long's it been, now? Must be close to 18 months...I wonder how Enna's doing? I wonder if anymore Dolls have been around, too?)

Thoughts of his wife caused the swordsman to recall their last conversation, before he'd left their little homestead to investigate.

(She said that it'd be best to make people underestimate me, that I should act dumber than I really am, that people say things around people that they don't respect that they wouldn't say in front of people they see as a threat. But of course, I didn't believe her, until I ran into that tiny village, and paid for it. Enna, once again, you were right.)

Dante's hand stopped its drumming, and instead formed a fist on the table.

(But I'm tired of acting like a self-serving fool. I'm sick of these people treating me like some kind of animal. Wren, Aelis, you two are my only friends. Everyone else, you hate and use me, because I'm just Dante, the thief who makes trouble. Dante, the idiot. Dante, who only cares about drinking and money and piracy and being a huge jerk just because he can.)

(No more.)

Dante stood, chair scuffing the floor and his hands went unconciously to the hilts of his katanas. Flourishing his imaginary, lost Captain's Cloak from the Shagohod and moving quietly, he made his way to the bedrooms, finding a small, quiet room in a corner of the building, as far away from where the rest of the party intended to bed down as he could.

(I am Shutat ab Llew, son of Vergil, the Lion of Joven. I sailed with pirates, inherited my Captain's name, launched a naval campaign against a servant of Hald, the Devil, and lost my eye in a duel to save the woman I love with a passion incomprehensible to those who would dare judge me to be worthless. I won't be mocked anymore.)

As the warrior sat in a corner of the room and made himself ready to sleep, the last thought he had before unconciousness was a dark one. (I'll show them I'm not to be underestimated.)

---Approximately Twelve Hours Later---

Having been mostly silent all morning (not even rising to Mentat's usual jabs), Dante lounged in a tunnel he'd just discovered, waiting for everyone else. The cavern was dark, dank, and had the unpleasant, sweet smell of rot and decay, likely due to the scattered bones all over the floor. Undoubtedly, they were the remains of whatever encountered...whatever that big, black blob was in the southeastern corner.

A loud clattering attracted Dante's attention, and his head swiveled in the direction of the crash. (That'd be Kaer. Triana, I hope he didn't...)

A cold feeling materialized in the pit of his stomach, as Dante slowly turned to look at the blob. His fears were made manifest; the blob HAD taken notice of the armored Moon Enforcer. Two options immediately came to Dante's mind: first, he could race down the tunnel and probably escape from whatever horror was making its way to the party. Second, he could be a Jovenite, and do what he can to cover the party's escape.

Springing to his feet, Dante drew his katanas and ran southward, bones cracking and crunching under his feet as he sprinted. Stealth was useless, now. When he got between his travel companions and the jet-black horror, he crouched, adopting a defensive stance he had known since he was a small child - Lion Cornered in the Mountain.

Intricate lines of purple snaked their way across his exposed arms and face, unknown to him, as he tossed a shout over his shoulder. "There's an underwater tunnel to the north! Get out of here!"

They argued, of course, doubting his ability to hold his own against the looming threat. Kaer was especially vociferous, committed to standing alongside the cyclopian swordsman. It was only after a threat swing of Dante's blade, and a reminder to Kaer of his duty as bodyguard before the heavily armored man would withdraw, with a warning that Dante must survive. The Jovenite nodded absently; he wouldn't deprive the group of another meat shield.

It didn't even occur to Dante that the group actually cared about his well-being.

Before Wren dashed away with the party, Dante unhooked his back parcel and gave it to his friend, containing Desteral's Sword, Ichi'Ban's Katana, and other assorted goodies. Solemnly, the monk withdrew as well, and Dante was alone.

Dante's eye began glowing red as he faced down his enemy, now within striking distance. "Well, beastie. Hungry? Come and get it!"

He threw himself into his attack, blades a whirl of steel, as he snarled a challenge. Instead wounding the creature, it merely absorbed his attack, and Dante looked with horror as one of his precious katanas was melted into a useless hilt. The blob surged forward, trying to suck the warrior in, as its acid burned into Dante's flesh and gear.

Except...

There was a thick, wet sucking sound as Dante was apparantly pulled out of the beast, into the tunnel. As he looked around confusedly, he saw Seremela. Of course. Her imperious demeanor burned its way into his conciousness, even as the blob had burnt away most of his equipment. The elven princess seemingly took no notice of the vivid, pulsating purple marks on his exposed flesh, and she tried to command him to follow.

(I'm no lapdog!)

Dropping his ruined sword onto the ground, Dante took his good one in both hands and ran back down the tunnel, leaping with a furious cry at the blob. He was vaguely aware of the party urging Seremela to go, that they had to stop the dragons. Finally, they were gone, and he was truly solitary in his struggle.

Once again, his blade seemingly evaporated in the monster's body, and the warrior landed, now defenseless. He faced the beast defiantly as he realized the inevitable.

(Looks like I won't be proving myself to anyone, after all. Just another dumbassed thing that Dante did.)

Dante dropped his second, now useless blade, and spread his arms wide, as though for an embrace. His glyphs pulsed and the blob obliged, once more pulling him into its depths. His mind raced during his final moments, as the acid burned through what remained of his gear, before working on his body.

Sitting in that little bar, where he first saw Enna, singing on stage. The crashing storm when he first boarded Shagohod. Impaling a shambling corpse on his blade. Setting fire to an entire town run amock with various horrors. Killing his first man. Sitting in prison. Nearly killing Seremela. Inviting Wren and Aelis to join his crew. Leaping off the sixth floor of a tower, to come face to face with a Dragon. Building a house with Enna. Recieving a gift of a lion pendant from his wife. Promising her he'd be back.

"ENNA!" Dante screamed, before the acid rushed into his mouth, down his throat, beginning to burn him from within, and all went black.