Description: The dark messiah seeks out the matriarch leader of the Soul Bee race in Africa. She seems to have more than her fair share of houseguests though.
Well.. It was only a matter of time, really.
A specific part of Africa had always been in a private war of sorts with the Soul Bee race, unknownst to them Q-Bee had always been attracted to the myriad of colors, the unusual smokes and the very strange 'magics' that, for quite some time now' had kept them at a somehwat level playing field. This particular season, though, has been nothing short of hellish for the tribal natives- what once became casualties of eight or nine people, they were steadily wiped out by the twenties and thirties by the day.
This particular evening, however, she had fallen into quite the trap, and lead not only the remaining numbers of the combat-capable to her hive, but their allies as well that are much much more heavily armed.
Long story short -everything- is either on fire, slathered in oil or riddled by bullets. "... (Uh oh)." the Queen murmurs with a finger raised to her lips; crimsonish, glowing liquid trickles from her shoulders and lips as she holds up surprisingly well against the bullets- The fire? Well that is considerably more bothersome as told by the many burns upon her body. This is quite string, she thinks. No matter how many of these humans with their exploding sticks she manages to fend off, more continue to come and the hive only burns brighter! There were never this many before. The only logical conclusion, of course, is to simply keep trying to wipe them all out; perhaps she counted incorrectly. One the other hand she is feeling a little on the sleepy side..
Now, now, now. This simply will not do.
Jedah Dohma had been keeping his eyes upon the Soul Bee hive for quite some time. The leylines of chi energy had been of particular interest to the Dohma scion for quite some time -- its ebbs and flows had determined the rises and falls of human civilizations for millenia. And now... There are times where fate cannot and should not be allowed to have its way. The opportunity to strike is now.
The human troops are legion -- determined to exterminate the very existence of the Soul Bee race. And they will not gain that opportunity. From the blood of one of their many casualties erupts a tall figure. Easily seven feet in height, it would have been impossible for him to have been merely hiding beneath the fallen attacker -- and even if that were the case, it's unlikely that the human would have been dismembered so, limbs littering the battlefield as Lord Dohma makes his grisly appearance. The blood pools at his feet, spattering the sand in places. And Jedah hooks his thumbs upon his hips, the scythelike wings at his back allowing his feet to hover a foot above the pool of bubbling blood.
Eight blood sprites erupt from the pool. And as Jedah offers a dissatisfied sneer at the assembled humans, the sprites spread out in eight completely different directions, punching through the hearts of eight separate attackers as if their ribcages were no more resilient than paper bags.
Jedah's ribs heave, as he draws in exquisite pleasure from the murders. Buttons of his coat are loosened. And the blood sprites draw back through the gaping chest wounds, returning to Jedah -- and absorbing into his bared, monstrously-corded chest.
The tide begins to turn, as the attackers realize the Black Messiah is within their midst. But he seems... sated for the moment, with a condescending smile across his lips as he hovers towards the Queen of the Soul Bees.
"You seem to be in need of assistance," he says. The battle continues around him -- but the tide of humans is parting, as not a one of them wants to be standing next to the bloodweaver.
The sudden arrival comes as quite a surprise to the Queen and the remaining swarm. Save for the leader, they scatter away rather quickly and assume Jedah to be yet another threat and it's only due to his significant difference in presence that they decide to make a nuisance of themselves to the human troops instead.
The Queen stares at Jedah in an expression that could be considered awe in the way her head tilts and her jaw goes slack. Lucky for her the ambush of the next attackers are so loud that she doesen't even to look as her stinger extends an additional foot then fires off of her with such force that it easily impales the pair which, in turn, sends them upward and impaled against a tree several feet off the ground.
"(Yes, we are not winning yet)." she explains as her wings flutter and send her closer to the incredibly large man. The tallest she has ever seen! She raises her hand upward as she gets closer, as if making a declaration. "(If you help us win, you can have half!)" Beat. "(Also I will not eat you.)"
".., (Today.)"
Jedah smiles diplomatically in reply to the Queen. "Consider it done." He is smugly confident that his power is significantly greater than that of Q-Bee, however he does have a personal rule to avoid condescending /directly/ to potential allies, especially when they are considered a head of state.
The blood of the newly fallen still hot and sticky, the human soldiers begin to rationalize the situation. The Queen Bee and the Black Messiah have made a working arrangement -- and thus they are -both- enemies. The flamethrowers, the oil jets, the bullets -- all are aimed upon the singular new threat, the one least hampered by their previous efforts. The smug face of the Blood Weaver is bathed in flames.
But through it all, there are peals of laughter: the voices of thousands of souls blending together into an unholy chorus as the eight blood sprites rocket throughout the scores of the living. As the outstretched hands of the Black Messiah emerge from the flames, with tattered sleeves and charred, blackened skin, the punctures of the blood sprites add to the polyphonic laughter to create the most haunting melody of all: a massacre of the most exquisite kind.
The flames stop when the humans fall and the mounted flamethrowers aim to the sky -- their gunners' lifeless bodies slumped onto their respective control panels. Jedah's blackened body is drenched with blood, his long coat threadbare and useless.
The blood seeps, and pulses in the ensuing quietude, the distorting surface gleaming in the light. And when the blood ebbs back... Jedah's coat and flesh are renewed.
"I hope you understand," rings out Jedah's voice as he advances upon the leader, "the futility of your quest." The scythelike wings flutter... and then shimmer, as Jedah drops to his feet, taking long, languid steps.
The wing melts, accompanied by the sound of bones snapping. Jedah lazily stretches his hand overhead at a diagonal angle -- and the wing dissolves into blood, creeping up his arm. One moment, he had wings -- the next moment, a ludicrously long scythe towers overhead, a guillotine ready to crash down to behead the human leader's head.
But it waits, hangs.
"This is... not my call to make, is it...?" With the human army all but annihilated by the combined might of the Blood Weaver and the Soul Bee troops... how much longer could this conflict truly continue?
Following the agreeent, her face lights up. "(Very good!)" And so his word is taken as gospel, and the new alliance goes to town as the sun sets and the skies grow increasingly dark. Frankly, Q-Bee hasn't the slightest idea what Jedah is doing.. But what she can make of it is that while it is not very 'clean', it is surprisingly entertaining to observe between now and then. Jedah's laughter is joined by laughter of her own- She doesn't exactly get it, but it's a considerable boost to her morale and fighting spirit which, almost like magic, makes her fight as if she had not been fighting for who knows how many minutes.
Eventually, the situation has come to the point where the opposition of the Soul Bees is no longer a threat. The Queen only ends up appearing near Jedah again due to the capture leader's soul glows particularly bright to her. The bright ones tend to be particularly rich to the taste buds. From her there's really no sense of vengeance, and she simply tilts her head once more as she observes his horrified expression; so much so that he cannot even manage to utter a word. His face soaked his sweat, blood, and paint. "(If we let him go, then we will have a lot more tomorrow,)" she declares, "(That always works.)"
However after those words, a deep, lenghty growl emits from her belly. She seems to have briefly forgotten there is pretty much an entire buffet surrounding her, far too distracted by the leader. No one ever accused her of being a great long-term tactician. "(Never mind. I am hungry!)"
Jedah's ears do not -quite- pick up all the cadences of meaning from the Queen, but he can sense her fears, her desires and her passions. She was fearful -- her troops may not have noticed, but the Blood Weaver can sense these emotions. She was in favor of this agreement -- that much is patently clear. And she's showing indecision, as one would expect, as the violent conflict is brought to an unexpectedly hasty end in her favor.
"You will have more tomorrow regardless of your decision. Humans are notoriously persistent."
Sure sucks to be the guy cowering in front of the two right now, his fate being discussed as if he weren't even there.
Jedah pauses for just a moment longer, his red irises scanning over to the young queen's expression. He hopes to find the glimmer of leadership within her, the glint in her eye that signals her intent to kill him where he stands.
Jedah is patient. But that human has already soiled himself with fear as the towering Blood Weaver and the Soul Bee Queen attempt to decide which flavor their dessert will be.
Jedah hastens the decision. His scythe falls. The leader's right arm is cleaved cleanly off, the unstemmed blood flow splattering all across the deck of his control and command truck.
It's not enough to kill him immediately, but the blood loss alone will be enough for him to die in minutes without proper medical care. And with the reaper standing there, drawing the scythe back and resting it atop his shoulder, that is highly unlikely.
A levelheaded half-smile is turned towards the Queen. "Your Highness, please. Indulge yourself. My treat." The brightest soul of the army is now hers.
"(I see.)" the Queen replies despite looking so perplexed by Jedah's prediction that one could almost see a question mark flashing over her head. The logic isn't entirely clear to her but, more importantly, there is finally a shriek from the man as his arm is cleaved clean off. THat was his breaking point, as he proceeds to beg for his very life. Thankfully the Queen knows a trick about that one, as she calmly reaches inside of his maw, which muffles the sound. As for the permission to take the soul for herself, her expression lights up, clearly overjoyed by this gift of sorts, then wastes no time smothering the human against herself as she takes him down to the ground. Unintelligable buzzing comes from her as she does.. Something. It actually isn't clear if she's clawing him, biting him or even stinging him, but by the time she stands again, her humanoid skin is positively glowing, and the Leader at this point is nothing more than a dried, zombie-like husk with an expression of utter horror upon it.
The Queen performs a mid-air backflip, then circles about Jedah as she claps her hands. "(That was so good! I ate the whole thing, Tall Hero!)"
Jedah's eyes track Q-Bee as she moves in, bemused at her method of silencing the Leader. But when she delights in the manner in which she systematically leaches his soul out of his body, even Jedah is forced to take a step backwards. The human body is 60% water. And now that guy's body is 59% empty.
As his corporeal self is made of blood, this could be of some concern. For some other time, though, as his diplomatic introduction has already been made.
The bloody wisps hover over the battlefield, searching, scanning. No doubt the Bee Nation would want to feast as well, so Jedah is cautious to avoid picking -all- the good souls. How can he tell the brightest one? Well, there was a subordinate of his, once, who had considered himself to be a gourmand of souls. Among many things, this man left Jedah with a taste for the exquisite -- and the skills to realize which souls were the most delicious. Surely, the Queen has a similar perception.
His blood wisps move of their own accord. The Queen had said half... and as Jedah half-closes his eyes in concentration, he selects half.
It's hard to concentrate with the Queen doing her circular dance around him, though. So it takes a while for the blood wisps to divvy up the haul.
At which point, Jedah nods quietly to the queen. She ate the whole thing -- that ears a pleasant smile from the Blood Weaver. "Excellent. I... have a proposition for you..."
His selections complete, he splits his coat open again, baring his chest to the blood sprites swarming in with their take. Half of the men's souls seep into his flesh, their individual life essences distilled into little more than pulses of light that etch their way across his messianic form.
"... one which will make this feast look quite plain and ordinary in comparison." He isn't sure that 'sweetening the pot' is a turn of phrase that will translate well.
Perhaps the Queen should be doing a little more than celebrating the generous donation considering the hive is still burning, and the scent of burning oil reeks in the air but frankly the swarm (or what is left of it- which appears to about about 45 where there was once 100), has never seen this many bodies in one place before. Quite frankly the home can wait. (Actually it can't) The good number of them either stare in awe while holding their injuries or stare with great interest at Jedah who has, indeed, become their savior of the evening and, as such, show a very surprising display of patience as Jedah gathers his share in a manner they had never seen before.
Q-Bee's facial expression goes surprisingly blank as she stares at Jedahs chest and now has a much better look at what's going on in there. She raises a finger to her lower lip once more, silently pondering something while he speaks to her. "(That sounds extra delicious! Ok I will listen.)"
The knowledge that the hive is burning is probably enough of a sign that the Queen needs a little more... nudging, in light of the feasting potential present before her. A frown tugs at his lips. In one sense, he'd love it for the queen to let the rest of her flock burn. But in true immortal fashion, he's well-accustomed to playing a longer game -- and while fate has been altered, it likely will not if he does not act.
"Please, Your Highness..." he states cooly, with a hand outstretched to the Hive. "Let us prioritize, first." So much for not condescending to royalty.
His blood sprites fly out again. Though this time, they move as a single, unified swarm, rather than eight independent entities. And as they approach the hive, they meld together, forming three distinct arms: a blade, with three points.
"The leylines spoke of your demise today. The leylines predicted your hive would be lost. You have a chance to save it, Your Highness -- but only thanks to my intervention." Jedah's outstretched fingertips turn, ever so slightly -- and the three-tipped blade begins to turn. Faster, faster... until the slightly-turned blades begin to blow a strong gust of air at the flames. Not to stoke the flames, but to snuff them with a high-velocity stream of air, to starve them of oxygen. But it won't be enough -- Q-Bee will need to help.
"Save your swarm first. And then eat, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. And then... in one day's time, I will return."
His smile grows to sinister degrees. "Here, and then... we will discuss how we will share in many feasts, just as we have today... together."
If the Queen feels patronized, she most certainly doesn't look it. In fact the gesture toward the hive appears to make a lightbulb of sorts click in her head. Her head turns from right to left, but then focus upon the sprites once more. The way he speaks makes it absolutely 'clear' to her that not only was her hive in trouble (though she had already known that), but there was also no doubt that it was due to his help that she had nto only been granted victory, but a chance to access all that had happened and to learn from it. "(Yes! You are the Tall Hero! You use good words!)" she shouts once more, this time with both hands raised in the air. The intention of Jedah's blades are immedietly clear, as is her goal.
And so, Q-Bee flies a bit higher, and emits completely unintelligable buzzing and clicking. Like clockwork, the remaning soul-bees ignore the feast upon the floor then arrange themselves in perharps alarmingly organized 'V' positions. Several of them spin in circles, others summon swarms of larger bees, directed by their Queen to create a gust of their own, or lob large quantities of extremely thick, mud-like blobs atop patches of oil, working working and working into the night.
The queen is young, Jedah notes to himself. The flames still. The worker drones are bound to be exhausted from their efforts, both to stop the humans, and to extinguish the flames. But at long last -- the hive will be safe.
The blades return to the form of blood sprites, and swim back to Jedah's open hand. "Very well. Until tomorrow, then, Your Highness." Talking to an exhausted and famished matriarch rarely yields positive gains. And there is much to discuss.
Log created on 19:59:59 04/12/2015 by Jedah, and last modified on 08:54:41 05/15/2015.