Hallo peeps!
I don't know most of you, and I'm sure none of you know who I am, so bear with me for a few seconds.

I just wanted to explain, I'm truly sorry it has been around half a year since I last went on these wonderful forums, but life is life, and school has been super stressful, along with everything else, and I've found that I have been struggling to find as much enjoyment in writing as I used to. However, that does not mean I haven't been working at all, I'm done with this story and Spiralstory (3 I think) is on its way.
Either way, I was chilling out when I accidentally hit a bookmark for the forum preferences, and realized that yesterday was my second "forum birthday", naturally, the first thing I thought was, "Sucks that I didn't hit that bookmark yesterday." and second was, "I gotta put Kradus up today!"

Keep in mind that Kradus was finished on October fourth, so I'm pretty sure you're all going to have to jump in your time-machines and go back to a time when mist energy was what stood between you and that next level.
Also, I want to apologize to Tev for not letting her complete her editing, but I couldn't pass up such a perfect opportunity, and any small weight off your chest should help! ^.^

Okay, here it is:

Kradus

Chapter 1:

I stared at my leg, or the absence of it, as if there was a chance that if I glared long enough, the stump might grow back into the muscled appendage it once was. But my efforts were in vain, and the cold of the season soon chilled my veins. The embers of what used to be a roaring fire provided little comfort. Briefly poking at it until surrendering this hopeless endeavor, I got up, grabbed my cane, and began towards the door. Passing a mirror, I doubled back, staring sorrowfully at my reflection.

My skin was loose and wrinkled, and deep bags settled under my eyes, which were half closed and glossed over, my gaze careless and zombie-like. The crimson glow within them was dull, it color masked and shrouded. White and grey hair stood upon my head like a matted mane, with a patchy beard to match. It was disheartening to see my self like this, for I was young. It was but handful of cycles ago when a handsome, proud and youthful face would be staring back with piercing, vibrant red eyes.

I continued to the outer hall of my tiny flat, grabbing a coat at the door and pulling it on before stepping out into the air. It was just after Winterfest, and workers were busy taking down decorations. A thin layer of snow coated the tile ground of Haven, sucking the heat out of my boots. I breathed in the crisp winter air, and hobbled over to one of the workers. I watched him take down strands of lights, whistling a merry tune. He had finished wrapping two up before he noticed me. His face started in confusion, and then he became a little slower, his happy song replaced with a nervous hum.

Now, I'd hate to admit it, but I enjoyed this man's discomfort. I felt as though I was releasing some of my pain and sadness upon him. As bad as I felt doing it, I couldn't help myself. Perhaps I was just a teensy bit evil. Come to think of it, I'd have been great as some sort of an agent of evil, a bandit...or maybe a gremlin. Thinking of such outlandish possibilities helped cheer me up a bit, and I decided to stop harassing the poor worker, who had simply become silent by now. I continued on, my cane clacking against the stone beneath the snow.

It wasn't too long before I had arrived at North Inn, and had shuffled into it's bar. It took about a second for someone to notice me, and two for everyone in the surrounding area to hush, an eerie silence settling over the three closest tables. It wasn't as though I was some celebrity, but the Inn was within a block of my home, and I was a deformed regular to the place. I glared at the tables with the same intensity that was otherwise reserved for my leg, and all the knights there suddenly became very busy with their food and drinks. I settled into a tiny table nearby, and took off the coat. Silence once more reigned, and I assumed that they were oogling at my side. It was strange, everyone was always more sympathetic of the wounds found there.

I waved over possibly the only man who truly knew me. I won't lie, he was weak...a coward, but generally a decent man. Perhaps when one is weakened physically, they like to be surrounded by weak minded men. However, as much as I'd like to think that last statement to be true, it was far more likely that I liked Argile because he realized that I was just another knight, not just some circus attraction.

"Ari, could'ja get something strong for me?" I wheezed. He began to object, but I claimed that my side was hurting again, and that a drink would soothe it. My true intentions however, were far more selfish. I yearned to dowse my heartache with a long night of drunken hilarity. Ari returned with news that deepened my frown.

"It seems that they're outta Blaze Pepper, and Battug says that he ain't making any of the special without it...claims it'd be an insult to his family or somethin'." Ari glanced back to where the bartender stood, cleaning glasses but still managing to look menacing. His giant hands could easily crush the mugs his scrubbed, or the skull of a disruptive customer.

"Just tell him to make something." I mumbled scornfully.

He looked up at me, and I saw fear past his anger. "You do it. A wine bottle to the head wouldn't make you any uglier." Realizing that the words had hit home a little too hard, he turned away. I scowled at the back of his head. Coming to the conclusion that he was ignoring me, I heaved my chair back and began to stand, a lengthy process that often required somebody's assistance. He was by my side in seconds, cursing me whilst supporting my bad side until I got to a point where my cane was of any use. "And just where do you think your going?" He said as though he was Barlamel catching one one of his students sneaking out of class.

"I dunno...maybe home..." He eyed me, confused.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I've never been better." Argile chuckled under his breathe, and I continued before he tried to look into my departure any farther. "Listen, I'll see you later." I hobbled out of the tiny building and once again hit the streets.

The snow must of frozen over in the gloom of the later hours, and I had some troubles navigating the thick ice. A troop of young soldiers stumbled out of the bar several paces behind me, and their rowdy song echoed through the otherwise silent night.

I began to turn and chastise them for being so...happy, when my mind traveled back to the days where Erake and I, stupid grins sitting upon our faces, would stumble out of taverns, singing some songs about Gremlin women and other ungentlemanly things.

I suddenly was jealous of them...why did I, of all people, have to abandon that life? I spun to do something that I'd later regret, but they had turned off and were heading down a side street. I frowned, then turned and limped onward.

Once inside my home, I hooked my coat upon a hat stand, cleaned my face halfheartedly, and slid into bed. I was nearly asleep when I realised that I had forgot part of the cycle...one of the daily rituals. Yelping in surprise, I flicked on the lights, fell out of bed, and crawled across the room to the dresser. Lucky, it was low enough to haul myself up and snatch the only item resting upon it. Flicking up the on switch, I tossed it back up on the bureau and made my way back to bed.

I opened my eyes to a world opposite of my own. Flames licked at my heels, and the heat of the room turned it into one huge, shimmering mirage. Ah, this was the arena...as I realized where I was, fear choked me, and I coughed as though that would clear my throat. A familiar, yet distant bark echoed through my brain. I whipped around, pulling with me my handgun, a great unwieldy thing. Sizing up what approached me, I steadied my hand cannon and took the shot.

It struck true, and the Wolver fell forward, discontinuing its existence. Two more crawled forward, and I repeated my actions, yet I had little time to prepare my shot. I reloaded, and wheeled around just a little too late to see a giant creature, its sinews writhing beneath its thick hide. I drew my sword, but the beast was on me before I could pull it from its scabbard. The thing grabbed my leg with its razor sharp teeth, but I managed to align my handgun with its head, and I dispatched it with a great amount of effort.

I fell, and realized that the creature had taken most of my leg with it to the afterlife. Clutching the open end of the wound, I fought back the darkness that surrounded my vision. Fumbling with a side pouch, I cursed. I had taken too many risks...I should have brought Erake with me, or a couple Health Caps. No...this wasn't my fault...Erake was busy...and look at what he had caused...and Kotric, it was he who proclaimed that I was near addicted to Capsules. This couldn't possibly be my fault...no, it wasn't...it-

I popped out the buckle of the holster that I kept my Handheld Radio in, and repeatedly jammed the call button, before the darkness slowly veiled my eyes, and I went to sleep.

I would wake up a different man.

I nearly jumped within the confines of my sheets, and my body spasmed in pain, fully waking me up. Glancing around the dark outlines of the furniture within my room, I wondered what had revived me. A voice bounced across the room, and though its origin was not made apparent, I immediately rolled out of bed. As I fell, I grabbed my cane, though it was thrown across the room as I realized its uselessness. The pain throughout my body became quite life-sapping, and I was forced to drag myself to the dresser, sweat stinging my eyes as the voice droned on.

Yanking myself up so that my eyes caught a glimpse of the walkie-talkie, I lost my grip and collapsed to the floor. However, upon hearing the tone of voice being emitted, I frowned, heaved myself up, and grabbed the radio. Falling with it in my hand, I shivered on the floor, twisting up the volume knob. Words quickly became loud enough to be clear.

It was a distress call...from Erake.

The words were garbled, but the idea was clear...fear, spirit crushing fear. From the message I picked up a few phrases: "No one left" was particularly disheartening, while "Golden Rook" would be quite helpful in the occasion that I went after him. And, well...that was the problem. Judging by the frequency, nobody but me, with a directly connected radio, would have received Erake's message. If I wanted to, I could leave him, and nobody would be the wiser. What if he was already dead? And judging by the "No one left, was it a good idea to go after him?

But no, this was different...this was Erake. I couldn't simply leave Erake...like he left me. Like he left...no. I had to go after Erake...It's what he'd had done if he knew what was happening when...I shook my head. I was going after Erake. It was only a matter of how.

I opened a cabinet. Inside were the two things that I would need for my adventu-bah, hardship. My broken safe held my meager savings...a couple chunks of crystal energy and a sack full of, judging by its weight, about a thousand crowns. In the upper section, my armor was hung. It was standard issue Spiralian gear, with a fur coat stuffed inside. There were two Cooling Cells strapped into the armpit areas which...I won't bore you, but it was the pinnacle of my crafting accomplishments. I heaved it on, and turned the cells off...it was cold enough in my home.

I then limp-tromped across the room, still fitting pieces of armor in place, and grabbed my Iron Slug and Calibur. I had both for distinct reasons. The Iron Slug because I loved it, and the Calibur because the Order literally shoved it in my face as though they had some excess of the damned things. Not that it wasn't wieldy or useful...a sword can be helpful, and it was quite versatile. Looking out the window, I saw that it was early...the Nightwatch was probably just about to shuffle into their dens before the sun came and blinded those cockroaches. I knocked open the door and staggered out into the street. Only then did I truly realize what I was doing. I turned to head back inside, but stopped myself mid-turn.

I was going after Erake.

Chapter 2:

The clacking of my cane echoed softly through the streets, a sad harmony of what could of been, what I could of achieved. I did not hang to such thoughts for long, Ignorance was the best painkiller, I had learned. Argile lived near enough to not by worth the shuttle fee, but far enough to kick the wind from my lungs and bring a dull throbbing pain to my remaining leg.

It takes the loss of a valuable item to truly understand its worth, and my leg was no exception to this rule. Now...I do understand that most of you are yawning to woes of my life, but try to imagine losing your leg, your job, home, title, your friends...or your family, as they were to me. Not only that, but your mobility, and your ability to simply walk for the sake of walking, or to simply jog someplace, to meet someone at a corner...try to imagine losing your life, and know that it is literally impossible to get it back.

Argile lived in a cottage outside one of the GeoKnight Research Centers... "Eastway", I think it was called. There were three more cabins of the same type, so it took me a little remembering to locate his home. I knocked my cane against his door three times, to no answer. Upon my second set of knocks a light flickered on in the back, casting a beam of dull yellow over the side yard.

The door swung open, the silhouette of a shrew like Knight painted on the dull yellow of the lamp-light. I put out my hand, and he asked me what in Vog's name I was doing at his house in the wee hours of the morning. I didn't answer this question, but instead pulled out my last crowns and energy, and gently dropped them into his palm. "Ari, this is important." I paused, trying to find something to say that would properly explain and justify my next actions. "Very important." He looked up at me with a look of tired, suppressed curiosity, his features sharper as my eyes adapted to the light of his room. "You need to take this money, and hire a few mercenaries. I know you're working on a low budget- and don't you dare spend a single crown outside of that there bag -but I need you to get some mercs that won't stab me in the back."

He looked at the money, then back at me. "Kradus...what exactly are you going to do with these mercenaries?" I told him of the distress call, and his face darkened a little. "And I'm guessing that you're going to need me to go with you-"

"No, Ari it's fine, all you need to do is get the mer-"

"-I suppose it's for the better, having someone with a little brains along for the-"

"Ari seerusly...you don't need to-"

"-I'll start packing my bags." He turned and walked back into his house.

I frowned, shook my head, left, and caught the next shuttle to The Arcade. Once inside the massive cave system I made my way to the nearest T1 Gate Map, and scanned the chart for the Golden Rook symbol. Originally, it didn't make much sense that Erake would be downed in a T1 zone, but my doubts were washed away and replaced by fears when I saw the Golden Rook. It was two levels down, just another floor, except for the small notice in red reading:Warning! Void Connection Elevator at this floor!

Technically, there's nothing wrong about the Void Shaft...in the textbooks it's just another paragraph about this or that landmark. And in the textbooks it has been deemed harmless and worthless. But for me...you just can't explain the feeling of mystery and shadow that chokes you when you enter the massive underground sinkhole that is "The Void". I took a nice deep breath, then contacted Argile through the Spiral Uplink.

He arrived with three Knights as his retinue, two of them wearing Bomber suits, while the third strutted about in decent officer wear, perhaps even a Lieutenant's armor. The Bombers approached first, extending hands gleefully, and shaking mine with painful strength. Greetings were carried out in a loud and informal way, thick accents masking their words.

One wore goggles and light armor, with bandoliers stocked with tens of bombs and grenades and fireworks, and some that were a mix of the three. I asked for his name, he responded heartily, "Ooh, well me name es Zachorah Reorik O'Briensson Jr., but me pops called me Reorik since I were a wee baby boy."

The other was more heavily dressed, with a closed helmet and full bomb-squad armor on. When asked, he roared that his name was Robeart Angus O'Briensson. I looked over them, and then asked, "So you're both bombers then?"

Reorik smiled, and Robeart's laugh rumbled through his closed helm. He flicked it open, his thick, wild, dark gray beard spilling out, and pulled a wide, similarly gray claymore from it's sheath on his back. "This 'ere es Gatebuster, me pop's sword, and 'es pop's before hem. Reorik was supposed tah get et, hem bein' da oldest in da family, but he took tah da bombs, and I took to da swords."

"Then why wear all this...padding?" That brought another laugh to Robeart's throat.

"Oh, well Reorik...'es eyes...dey just don't work da way dey used to...and so..well..." I glanced at Ari, who simply shrugged and pointed to the empty sack that once carried my crowns.

The third merc took this brief silence to step into view. and offer his hand. "Former Acting Lieutenant Vikkers, sir. I'd like to make clear the deal between your friend Argile and myself..that you will be covering all elevator costs for the duration of this expedition, and also that you'll repair any and all of my equipment after we have completed the necessary assignment. I also require that you respect my position as a former officer in the Spiral Order, and that you pay the required closing fee of 1,000 crowns if we face a force of over 4 enemies. Rations and drink that conform to Order requirements is also expected, as well as-" Robeart broke in.

"Okay wee get et, you want da tings." Vikkers contemptuously glanced at the huge chunk of Knight before him, then made as though to continue. I quickly stopped him by asking how he had came from being an Acting Lieutenant to merc.

He stopped, grimicing. Slowly he began speaking, picking his words carefully. "Spiral HQ doesn't know what's good for them...they give me recruits, and I give them back veterans, and they complain that I was working them 'too hard'. Of course, a few of my superiors got it in their tiny heads that I was unfit to lead, so I had or shut them upsomehow. Feron didn't like that, so he stripped me of my rank. However, I must say that even as a lowly Hired Blade I've seen men more fit to lead than ." He pointed at the leg. Ari saw that something was about to go down, and took a step back, distancing himself from me.

At this point I had enough of the whole charade. I took my good hand, wheeled around and punched the snob right on his grinning teeth. I heard a crack, and saw a small trickle of blood form at the corner of his mouth, now wide open in shock. To be honest, even I was surprised, that was something I'd barely think of doing even when I was younger. Vikker collected himself and glared that me with an intensity can burned my skin and chilled my bones. I frowned back.

"Never question my position as leader, Vikkers. Never." He mumbled about doubling his payment, and slinked off. The brothers backed off a bit as well. When both parties were out of earshot, I turned to Ari, speaking in an exasperated whisper. "Ari, I told you not to get mercenaries who would stab me in the back. Now I have one sharpening a dagger, and another prone to send a grenade my way." I paused, rubbing my temple as the pain crept back into my forehead. "Find the quickest route to the Golden Rook, we'll have to hurry if we want to get in and out of there in time to hit the energy surge."

Chapter 3:

The Void has a large elevator running down one side to the bottom floor, one that is disconnected from the main energy grid, and therefore relies completely on collected mist energy, or crystal energy, of which I had none. Even if each of us split the energy cost for the trip down, we would have to wait a good hour or so to gain the extra mist for the trip up, and Vikkers simply would not pay. That left us one choice, to take the "energy surge" up. The energy surge occurred once a cycle, when The Void connected to a new gate, sucking a huge amount of energy from the gate it connected with, to power something, though nobody really wanted to search The Void for such an object, and honestly nobody really wanted to find out what lurked deep in the Void, sucking out vast quantities of pure liquid energy. The important part, of course, was that this surge would flow through the elevator long enough for us to get out, and not sit there waiting for a solid day or two.

Getting to the entry point was easy enough, and the sheer excitement of being out dulled the pain quite a bit. The three mercs handled themselves pretty well, and Reorik put his bombs on target most of the time, though at points I found myself wishing that I had a Bomber Suit of my own. We got to the elevator, tabbed Vikkers, and went down without a hitch. It was a long, dark ride into The Void, flashlights slowly flicking on one by one to illuminate the descending platform.

I asked Ari for his main contribution, a handy lifesupport system with a connected heartrate sensor that we rigged to a radar extension used by Search and Rescue parties. It was a huge, heavy contraption, and I couldn't handle it and my cane at the same time, but it would be extremely useful. Flicking it on, I saw four blips appear on the radar screen, excluding a central blip that I assumed was myself. I handed the thing back to him as the lift ground to a halt, two nearby light popping on, displaying the bottom of The Void. If you were expecting us now to be attacked by a force of hostile Gremlins or the ghosts of dead Adventurers or whatever, you may now be disappointed, for all that greeted us now was deadly silence, and choking darkness. Before us lay a maze of crates, large supply boxes, of what they supplied was as unknown as how they had gotten there. The layout was different than what it was the last time I had been here, and that was as unsettling as the quiet that clung to us.

We got off and Ari simply pointed in a direction outwards. "You catching something out there?" A nod was what I received, and we headed out. I led, setting the slow place for all to follow, the clack of my cane and the rustle of armor the only sounds introduced to this silent world. It only took a few minutes for the quiet to start eating away at my soul, and Robeart saved me by roaring out a joke and sparking a loud conversation between him, Reorik, and I.

We were about a half hour in before Ari whispered, "Vikkers?" No answer came from behind. The troupe stopped, turning towards the empty spot Vikkers would have occupied were he there. "He's not on the scanner..." Ari frantically whispered, "One second there were five and then..." He looked around. "He isn't anywhere on this thing...it's just us and Erake here. Robeart drew Gatebuster and I pulled my gun, handing the Calibur to Ari, who took it halfheartedly.

"Maybe he went ahead...or took a wrong turn...or...Vogdamnit, I don't know!" I looked at the others, trying to find a good answer...a safe answer. Empty faces peered back. "We just gotta keep going...get to Erake...he'll know where Vikkers went..." I started forward, "We just gotta keep going...Vikkers was risky...foolish...he-" I looked back at my companions, each of them stock still. "We can't get out until the surge guys...we have to keep going...we just gotta keep going." I continued, the rest following slowly behind, weapons drawn. We constantly looked back at each other, making sure all of us were together. We kept it up for ten minutes, a huddle of scared men, shivering under a nonexistant cold wind. Ten minutes.

Then Reorik was gone. No noise, I just looked back at him, then turned, and suddenly Robeart was next to my ear. "He's gone." I looked back, and broke down into tears. I looked at Ari, and he stood, calm and eerily composed.

"How close are we...please, just-"

"Nearly there...it's okay Kradus, we're nearly there."

I was limp-running at that point, Robeart and Ari beside me, tears clouding my vision. Ari led now, weaving through the crates...the neverending crates. A grunt, a Robeart was gone, but I didn't care, because a saw a faint red glow...light, glorious light. And suddenly we were both sprinting...the leg didn't matter, the side didn't mater...because light. And we rounded the corner and came face to face with the blood bath. Five knights lay about, gashes and cuts, limbs and entrails upon the floor, a mess...a mess of blood and gore and death, oh so much death...and I wept, falling to the floor, cane thrown aside, Ari suddenly not at my side...what should have I expected...what did I think would be waiting. I saw him...Erake...so strong, so powerful, blood still seeping from old wounds, death hanging over him, but not on him. And above him was the Thing. I couldn't find where knight ended and monstrosity began...a strange birdman...spindly and twitchy.

It stood, watching, then took it's foot, jamming it into Erake's throat with a sickening crunch. "This one has suffered for far too long...but master knows best, oh he knows best." It approached, almost sad. "But so has this one...yesss, I can feel it, this one has suffered for far too long." It raised its foot above me, calm, sad eyes peering straight into my soul.

No Watcher...this one has use for us yet...he is perfect...oh, so much hate. Yes, you'll be the canvas for my final work of art...my masterpiece.