March of Mephisto

[Ishu]

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Dfq6vylRQ[/video]


War has broken out and two nations are colliding against each other. Each side has their noticeable strengths and just as noticeable weaknesses. During the night, the King has put together a troupe of guards and elite soldiers to take his daughter away to a safer place. He'd caught wind of a plot brewing; his enemies were planning to take down the castle in just a few hours.

Rushing up to his daughter's room, he makes sure she is ready to go, cloaked with a dark, thick fabric to keep her hidden in the night. Grabbing her arm and yelling to other guards in his castle, he brings her down the stairs and stops at the bottom as men run to and fro, "Acacia- be safe! I will come for you when the battle is over here!"

Father! She gave him a pleading look, trying to tell him that this plan was for naught, but he would not listen to her. He passed her on to two guards whom carefully carried her away to the barracks and soon to the stables. They helped her up onto a pure white Arabian adorned with golden jewelry. Her delicate hands gripped the reins and she followed after the men mounted on other steeds, the group rushing out of the castle through a path out the back, under ground and soon coming back up to the air.

They went through the forest for some time, no path visible on the ground. Soon, they veered out from the woods and collected onto a path, using it to travel to the other side of the country.

Breathing softly, she squeezed the reins in her hands, expecting her vision to begin to unfold before her.​

 

[Kolath]

Deep in the forest that the group just left men waited dark hoods and masks covering their faces. Each of them carried a bow and black shafted arrows. There was a soft hiss of wood being drawn from leather quivers and then the soft groan of the yew wood and heavy strings as they were both drawn tight.

Keen hawk-like eyes watched down the shaft of one of those arrows drawing a bead on the lead rider knowing that would be the strongest knight. Kiel was the general of the army that was attacking her father's castle, though unlike so many other leaders he took an active role in any battle. His skills with the bow and the sword were unmatched in his army or any other that they had ever faced.

The men with him were equally as skilled with the bow, they were his black cloaks, the elite of his army, if something needed done right they were the ones he sent, and he always went with them. they all waited for his signal to fire.
With the sudden twang hiss of a arrow leaping from a bow his arrow was off as were all the other dozen plus that were with him. Like shadows they all moved closing in with the group of knight already dozens of feet closer even as the first arrow hit.

Every arrow struck home in man or horse, the power behind them knocking many a man from his horse, dead or mortally wounded. Half of the protection detail was dead before they even realized they were under attack and only one or two had escaped being wounded. In moments more arrows flew from the moving shadows unhorsing more men and killing many of the remainder. The next attack wasn't ranged the shadows had moved close enough to strike with their short swords. The arrows had forced the knights to keep their shields up and so they hadn't seen the attackers till the swords were already thrusting under their shields up between the chinks in their armor killing them in a instant.
In just a few short moments the only people living were the shadows and the princess, who through all the fighting hadn't even come close to being hurt the arrows were that precisely aimed.

 

[Ishu]

Her vision took a sudden turn, all the men before her so quickly- it seemed like she had only blinked once and her entire unit of protection was dead or dying. After hearing the tearing of flesh and the cries of pain turn to groans and the breathing of healthy men, she swallowed hard. She was leaning forward against the neck of her horse, her hands laying flat on the sides of its neck as she kept herself from snaking her arms around it and choking it from her fright.

Her heart beat quickly as he chest tightened, her breathing becoming harsher as she blinked and pressed her face into the mane of her horse. In her vision, she did not see the soldiers dying. She saw them bringing her down the road and their group being ambushed- but she did not see death. Perhaps her vision had been shorter, or she could not finish it because her father had jerked her from her state.

She had planned to surrender herself to the group and request that they let her soldiers go- an even trade she thought. But now, her plan was ruined. She had nothing to bargain their lives for, seeing as they were all dead or close to, and she was going to be taken. She could not give herself to them. They would take her, and she had no choice.

Reaching down, slowly, she dropped the reins without a word and gently laced her hands around the neck of her horse. She was terrified, and it was obvious. The Oracle buried her face into the horses mane as she heard the rest of the dying soldiers groan their last breaths. One particular soldier, however, managed to get up and rushed at their leader. He did not want to go down without drawing even a drop of blood from their enemy.​

 

[Kolath]

The leader had stepped up to the mare that held the young princess smirking slightly. The plan had worked perfectly all the guards had fallen, his keen ears twitched slightly at the sound of the man behind him moving up his sword raised to take his life. The general was so quick that the only real mark of his having moved at all was the twirl of his cloak and the fact that the guard's body now ended at his shoulder as the head fell to the ground.

Kiel brushed a speck of dust from his sleeve and looked back up at the princess his hood falling back. His face became revealed to her in the midday sun. He was surprisingly young to command such respect from the men that he led. His hair was a deep brown shot through with copper highlights that seemed to almost set it on fire at times. His eyes were darker than any that she would have seen before, a deep purple almost looking totally black. He smiled showing a complete set of perfect white teeth. "Princess Acacia, I presume, it is an honor." His eyes held a glint of victory knowing in that moment that she was his in every way that he wanted her.

 

[Ishu]

Her eyes shut tight as she heard the dreadful sound of a mans decapitation. Swallowing hard, she sat up slowly and kept her hands on the sides of the horses' neck. Her eyes trailed over, following the poisonous voice of the man who led the group to capture her. Her eyes were faded in color and seemed to be a bit... off. In truth, she was blind. She was blind to the world that they saw, but she could see what they could not. She frowned sadly down at him, her body tensing as fear continued to pour into her body.

Acacia nodded when he mentioned her name, requesting confirmation of her identity. She did not want to be rude, even though he was capturing her and his intents were anything but pleasant. Her horse stepped sideways, away from him, and jerked it's head around while neighing nervously. The princess pet the horse and calmed it, patting it's side as it dug into the ground with one of its hooves.​

 

[Kolath]

The man smiled and came over to the side of the horse reaching up brushing his hand over the princess' cheek nodding slowly. "So the stories are true, Though you see things that no one else can the world around you is lost to your sight." He nodded and turned to the man that was coming up with the groups horses. "That is well enough as long as you can see what it is said you can."

He mounted taking the reins of her horse and starting off toward the camp holding her reins in his hand leading her horse. They went at a soft gait but still quick so that she wouldn't be in danger of falling from the saddle. A cheer went up from his men as he brought her into the camp knowing they had just won a major victory over this king. He stopped them in front of his pavilion before dismounting and coming back to help her off her horse not giving her an option as he lifted her from the saddle and lowered her to the ground letting their bodies press together as he did.

 

[Ishu]

As she blinked, a hand reached out and touched her face. She reacted very similarly to her horse, jerking her head up from being startled. However, she did not move far away as his fingertips still touched her fair skin. She said nothing and blinked, her gaze angled down towards the ground at her mounts feet. She swallowed and closed her eyes as he spoke of her blindness. Yes, she was blind to their world but she could see everything else they could not. This was why he had come for her and this was also why she knew her father was a fool for not listening to her. She told him this would happen.

Giving not a drop of a fight, she held onto the handle of her saddle, hips gently nudging forward as the animal beneath her hurried forward. He and his men were taking her back to their camp. She did not know if they would remain in place for long, if at all, and she did not intend to ask. Soon, they all came to a stop as men cheered all around her. Unfortunately, she felt they were not cheering for her or really even about her personally. Her capture was a victory, no matter ho you- oh!

The woman gasped softly as his hands reached up, grasping at her wide, soft hips and helping her down from her horse. She pushed down on the layers of her dress, preventing them from riding up and exposing her to anything with eyes. She tried to ignore the simple sensation of having someone elses' body press up against hers. She had never been so close to a person before and now, here she was, captured and suddenly thrown more experiences she had not had the pleasure of... experiencing.

Acacia turned to her horse, petting its' face to comfort it and even herself. She did not want to think about this man, this groups leader, or his men or even whomever it might be that he could serve. She wanted to escape, if even for a moment.​