2 CH1:R:Endings To New Beginnings.

# Raicer

[User: Default]

[Class Rank: Soldier]

[Strength: 15]

[Constitution: 14]

[Dexterity: 16]

[Intelligence: 14]

[Perception: 14]

[Stat Points: 0]

Raicer's Blood Status shows that he is still alive, he would not be seeing it if he was not, he suppose. Dripping sounds can be heard in the blankness of his mind.

Drip, plop, drip, plop, drip, plop.

Raicer's eyelashes flutter, opening his bruised sight into the red smoke of a war-torn battlefield, the aftermath; luckily it seems. Raicer was low in elevation because of his knelt form within a shallow pool of dark red blood, his vision is blurred with red trickles of blood streaming down from his forehead. Raicer blinks crusty flakes of dry blood, which was drying and drenching his eyelashes. He lifts his right arm, slightly groaning from the pain to rub the blood that is impairing his vision.

Raicer ganders around his person, a rapier on his side holster, his flintlock gone. Blood is splattered all over him, seeping into the cotton but due to the uniform being crimson red he can't tell if it's his blood or another. He examines his body internally, feeling a few bruises and a cut on the bicep of his left arm, not deep but rigid shallow cut which he can ignore for a while.

"Rai… Rai… are you awake, Rai…" A boy no near a man is lying beside him, latched on to his kneeling leg, lightly clutching his thigh with a bloodied left hand.

"Gully is that you…My eyes are blurry, oh god tell me it's you… Gul?" Raicer responds to his brother's soft cry.

"Rai… I thought you fell asleep… Urgh… After I saved your life so many times…" Gully faintly smiles, he tries to chortle out a laugh instead he cough a wallop of blood.

"Don't speak, you're injured… And I told you Gully. Don't mix up your dreams with reality." Raicer scolds rebuking his smiling pale brother. He then drags his right arm over to his brother and embraces him with a loving hug.

"Argh, not too tight brother. I'm still growing…" Gully faintly rebukes.

Raicer lifts his brother up gently, also lifting himself up from the ocean of red liquid beneath his sols.

"Whose puddle is that brother, doesn't seem to be mine?" Raicer sigh with bloody relief.

"Mine, don't tell mother…" Gully chortles faintly, coughing slightly.

Raicer shoulders tense up to Gully's chortling coughs. ' Damn it, why did I ask such a stupid question...'

"Don't talk brother, we will get you some help…" Raicer gently rebukes Gully, also rebuking himself for motivating his brother to reply. His brother's left shoulder has a vertical sword wound slash beneath his torn clothing; it looks deep, far too deep to survive from.

Raicer dragging Gully forward, he focuses on motions of his feet while gripping his brother's top half with all he's right can carry; Gully faintly steps beside him as they head to no direction, hoping for any motion of help. 'Forgive me, mother, forgive me father for leading little Gull into this godforsaken battlefield. I have to find somebody... anybody who can help us, anything will do.'

Raicer feels the shallow breaths of his brother lessen in thickness and sound. They stumble yet not yet falling on the bloody path they set, Raicer lifts his brother up slightly, so Gully can comfortably lean on his shoulders a bit more; Gully groans abruptly from the motion.

"Sss-sorry brother… I can't seem to get my footing." Raicer profusely apologize for the slight pain he caused him; he did not reply. 'Had he taken my advice or had my poor little brother fallen into his final sleep. Oh, gods, I hope it's not the latter.'

"Sshh…." Gully quietly and softly moans for silence. 'Is he trying to sleepwalk? Heh… figures my brother would laze around at a time like this.'

Raicer chortles to himself the idea of it, sleepwalking injured in a war-torn battlefield; only Gully would do something as bizarre. Gully's head lifts up slightly to Raicer's chortling, swaying his head to the right than to the left; glaring at Raicer.

"I was having a beautiful dream than you chortled your way into it. What is so goddamn funny?" Gully's faint glare intensify as Raicer try to hold his shit eating grin.

"I told you Gully, don't mix up your dreams with reality!" Raicer laughingly chided. Gully's eyes begin to shine of the once fond mirth, he tries to roughly chuckle a reply.

"Gully do not do this, don't mix up that. Sometimes I wonder why I keep you around if all you do is order me." Gully with sad laughing eyes said in exacerbation.

"Hey, I'm your captain, remember. Captain of the Red 98th Regiment of the Red. You shouldn't be scolding your superiors like that." Raicer intones with a tone of sarcasm ending his inflection with a tambour of authority.

"Ah brother, I'm going to miss these stupid talks we are always having… The more you talk the less funny you are getting..." Gully softly says.

They pause, Raicer holding his leaning brother onto him.

"I'm a Comedian, not a soldier, don't mix the latter. Besides this is gallows humor. Situations like this are the perfect time for my true self can truly flourish." Raicer strongly states and classify with a strong tambour in his voice.

A metal clap sharply pings the surrounding air, pinging them that they are not alone.

"Quite right, my boy. Quite right." A man abruptly calls out with a rich vocal tambour. A man plated silver with gold trims stands out amidst the dead, he is 100 paces in front the two brothers; blocking their forward trek. The man seems unblemished with the gore of the battle, shining in alabaster steel plate, he continues his pinging clap as the brothers scrutinize him from afar.

A red and gold emblem of a pentagon with a red burning heart emblazoned on the center brand what this man is, an Inquisitor of the Holy Order of The Eternal Heart. One of the four ruling orders of the Holy Rhoadian Empire, where they strictly follow the holy edicts of the Holy Pre-Exactor Pope, Radian the ever chosen; in our case… Their faction ally of this bloody contested civil war for the Regalian throne.

"I am Captain Raicer Lacea of the 98th Regiment of The Red who are serving under Baron Recrest of Registar. I request the benevolent service of the Rhaodian Empire that is mandated with the Baron and the Holy Pope's agreement in reinforcing us in the civil war." Raicer declares his alignment and plea to the clapping Rhaodian.

"Who is it Rai? A Rhaodian Knight? I can't really see him, brother, …and I feel so tried; I wish I had my glasses…" Gully laments for his eyepiece that he recently lost during the said battle.

Gully confounds Raicer sometimes, moaning for his lost eyepiece; though Raicer can't blame him, being born with low perception and finally now to afford glasses for his small vision. 'losing it would be one of my 'damn it' lists.'

The clinging clapping increase further in pacing resounding a mutters of rings. The plated inquisitor shows more excited than first encountering us. 'This man is unnervingly infuriating me.' Three similar garb men walk into this odd scene, they seem to resonate the excitement of the first inquisitor.

"By thy holy mother… men, thy earth haft bless us with one of our quarries who haft by fate shown itself to us in thy hallowed fields."

"By the by, Sir Raicer Lacea… is that man beside you Sir Rohan Reshant?" The man smugly inquires, his eyes are leering at the two brothers ending his clattering claps from further clinging. That sniveling upstart Lieutenant Rohan Reshant; why would inquisitors of the Holy Order of The Eternal Heart want with a braggart like him?

Friends in high places of the Rhaodian Empire looking out for him?

"I am no Sir, and no, this is my younger brother Gulcasa… even if he was Sir Rohan Reshant; what do you want of him?" Raicer declares as he gives a nod; gesturing to his younger brother.

"Oh, that saddens me to hear one of our quarries is not with us…no matter one is enough" The knightly man laments with sinister overtones. The three other inquisitors start to spread out around Raicer. They seem to pace themselves carefully to clarify their hostility clearly. I tense my shoulders, preparing myself for the upcoming battle.

"What is wrong? brother?" Gully murmur softly as he slowly loses strength and energy to stand any further.

"Lay your mind at ease Gul, rest here for a bit. Help has come." Raicer sorrowfully says to his befuddle brother.

He slowly lay his brother gently on the cold earth. Gully begins to slowly close his eyes, blissfully smiling and awaiting the aid of another.

A squelch can be heard from the side of Raicer, the reason that this is not aid, but the fifth inquisitor ready to execute him from behind. Raicer can't let on someone is stealthily heading towards him, he cast his direction at the inquisitor that hailed him.

'When I start a fight, I always have to start off with a surprise, to create any sense of confusion or motion; my gruff father drills.'

Raicer ganders down his person; his rapier is in its holster. He slowly yet carefully hover his right hand over the pommel, ready to launch it.

"Why are you doing this? Why does the Holy Order want with me and Rohan?" Raicer distractingly question.

Raicer pivots his feet for a back twist. The inquisitors are edging themselves closer to him, but the one that speaks stands there with not a care of the world, replies.

"Thy Regalian nobility and Marcian Nobility are infected and cursed by thy Ever Chosen and through his benevolence of mankind; our holiness decree to end thy infestation for thy mother so she can be once whole again." The inquisitor proclaims with eyes burning with fervor. The other devotees except for the one ready to strike Raicer behind intone.

"Thy decree by our holiness." They chant in reverence.

"Whatever your holiness decree, it has nothing to do with me. I am not a noble…" Raicer scoffs bristly with an inflection of anger.

Raicer concentrates on his hearing, to listen for any swish of steel motioning through the air towards himself.

"You are thy bastard of one…" The inquisitor riposte.

A flick of steel is heard from behind Raicer, slashing through the air. No time to wisecrack he surmise. He ducks slightly to avoid any strike from the back. He then pivots, clutching and drawing his rapier at the same motion. He twists than thrust.

The man, no the inquisitor surprised at Raicer motion at mid-swing stares at him in shock, as Raicer pierces through the man's neck with the point of his rapier. 'No time for me contemplate my decision to kill first. This is no man, he is an inquisitor of an order that is trying to kill me.'

The man drops his half sword, as Raicer pulls out his rapier out of the man's spluttering neck. Raicer turns towards the others that were enveloping him. They are frozen in their motion, flabbergasted on how quick and precise he murdered one of their fellows. 'A surprise for a surprise, that would be what my father would have said.'

The dead man's sword is lying on the left of him. He does not have his dagger, losing it during the battle; but there is half sword that was recently dropped, that Raicer could use as a left parry blade. Crouching on, resting his right knee on the dirt beside his brother; he searches and lifts the inquisitor's half sword with my left hand.

Bloodied rapier on Raicer's right hand, and the fallen inquisitor's half sword on his left. 'whatever might come of this… I will be ready.'

The first inquisitor collected his composure. He then sighs for the loss of one of his men.

"Quite impressive, young man. It seems you are a hard man to fell." The inquisitor calmly sneer. The silence was Raicer's response to him.

Raicer calmly strategizes a way to survive out of this situation. The rest of the inquisitor all tense up, preparing themselves for a battle instead of murdering a helpless prey. The first inquisitor drew out his half sword, as the rest follow with the same precise reverent motion.

"Thy heart haft is chosen, thy life hafts thy meaning… for thy curse will fall to our devotion. As is, as such." The first inquisitor intones, with the rest chanting forth.

Their steps are synced together as they pace, slowly walking towards Raicer in their half enveloping circle.'I need a way to fight and lead them away from my unconscious brother in case one of them have the idea of killing him in his slumber.'

Raicer turns to his left than the right. 'I have to lead them away from my brother and break this encirclement. Running towards one of them is my best option. If I manage to get past him, I'll be able to lure them away and face them in one direction as they come after me. This is probably the only option that is viable right about now.'

Raicer springs into action moving to the left, sprinting at full tilt at a surprised inquisitor chanting his dogma. The rest of the inquisitor react by running rather than then synchronize marching. 'Too late though, I'm nearly there; 15 paces away.'

The inquisitor is ready for Raicer though, with an on-guard stance, his half sword at his right side with its point reaching the sky. Raicer threw the inquisitor sword at him with his left injured arm from 10 paces away. The man is shocked at the stratagem, yet prepared to calmly move to parry with his half sword; not budging from his spot.

Raicer purposely stumble, diving into the ground in front then rolling towards the inquisitor closing their distance, the Inquisitor distracted by the sword hurling at him, He flings his sword in an arc to reflect the on the upcoming sword.

Cling!

As Raicer exit from his improvised roll, he redirects the angle of his rapier away from its rolling stance into a piercing thrust through the gut of the inquisitor; driving it within and underneath the Inquisitor's breastplate. The man was ready to counter attack with an overhead strike at Raicer rolling form, but he was too late. 'No time to pull out my rapier, no time on trying to get the sword that was recently dropped by the inquisitor.'

Raicer unclenches the handle of his rapier lodged inside the bell of the man, not tarrying and longer he then twist pass the kneeling form of the dying inquisitor; running past him. The other inquisitors nearly at his back, increased their pace after seeing their fellow fall to a fatal and excruciating wound.

Raicer sprints at full tilt away from the dying inquisitor. He turns his head back to check if he lured them away from his unconscious brother. 'No! God damn it, only two.' The one that hailed them first is slowly and steadily heading in the direction of my slumbering brother. 'I need to think quick.'

Raicer still running full tilt away from the two inquisitors. He hears a crunching noise, a sound of bone snapping and flesh being munched upon. The surprise of the sound nearly makes Raicer stumble; He turns his head forward.

A nearly hairless deformed man is crouching down near an half-eaten corpse. The size of the man is 7 feet, bigger than any man supposed to be; its flesh contorts as if something is wriggling inside of it. The deform eyes are pale and lifeless, it continues its grotesque munching while staring blankly at Raicer and the inquisitors on his tail.

Recognition shatters Raicer.

'Rohan... Rohan Reshant, No. Is it cannot be?' The deformed Rohan's dead eyes glare at Raicer's shaken ones; the creature stops it none lucid monotone feast of a decapitated arm. Sounds of clanging behind Raicer went still, the tension in the air intensifies by the inquisitors' presence.

"The second curse abomination is here!" A calm reaction from a gruff sounding inquisitor; a veteran Raicer interject from his calm statement and the inflection of his tone.

"Fuck me… They, are real? Sir! We got to report to Cell Inquisitor Rathgar." A shaky response from the other inquisitor behind Raicer replies.

"No time boy, we fight it and the other…" The gruff inquisitor grunts.

'Shit, is this real? Are they real? Rohan was a braggart, a snob, someone who thought that it was his position I took from him leading the 98th Regiment of the Red. Was the curse the inquisitors spouting dribble about true? That the nobility is cursed? Ah shit… am I cursed?'

'No time for deep philosophizing, my brother! I got to get to him out of here.' Raizer gawking at the fiend that was once known as Rohan; He then spun his whole body around and sprint back towards the flabbergasted inquisitors, staring at him with consternation. 'It's a funny life, the one they are chasing is running full tilt at them.'

The gruff inquisitor reacts by blocking Raicer path and swinging his half sword to the left side of Raicer. Raicer tries to twist to pivot away from the cut, but he miss-calculated how fast the gruff man was. A deep cut peels into Raicer's right side underneath his armpit. The lacerating stings him with a deep cut, he twists away to avoid further injuries away from the gruff inquisitor.

Blood trickles then gush out of Raicer's deep wound on his left side, the pain is excruciating. Raicer stumbles slightly but he still manages to keep his feet forward. His agility is now shattered because of the wound.

The gruff man does not turn to chase Raicer, instead, he focuses on Fiendish Rohan running on all fours at him. The other inquisitor eyes swivel meeting Raicer eyes, Raicer glimpsing the frightened expression that is plated on the inquisitors face. The Inquisitor then stares at the oncoming fiend that is stumbling its way towards them with a core desire to feast on their living souls.

"Fuck this!" The shaken inquisitor turns, exposing his back to his fellow and begins running full tilt away from that corrupted monster.

"Fucking coward! If I get out of this, I'll be hunting you down." The gruff Inquisitor barked at the fleeing inquisitor. The gruff man then valiantly face the approaching abomination.

"Thy heart haft chosen, thy life haft thy meaning, for thy curse will fall to our devotion. As is, as such." The gruff man quickly, and quietly pray. 'No time to stop, my brother might be dead if I tally any longer. Damn this damnable fucking wound, I got to get… to him.'

Raicer roving pace is halved by his bleeding exterior; trying to jog and stumble his way to where he last saw his unconscious brother and that first inquisitor. Raicer hears a muffled cry from behind him, a distance away he hopes as he tries to keep his declining pace.

'Hopefully, that inquisitor killed that monster, gods I hope so. Oddly enough I find this rather comical, running back and forth around the battlefield, getting chased by inquisitors than monsters; I should have been a god damn jester, ah the comedy of it all. Ah well, maybe in the next life…'

Raicer stumbles forward, finally at his intended destination.

The first inquisitor's swordpoint was beneath the neck of Raicer's unconscious brother. He tries to hold his scream, he is slightly out a breath. Raicer holding his sides halts his movement, clutching his wound to add pressure to try to halt further bleeding. The inquisitor motion himself before him, facing towards Raicer's shattered form.

"Quite thy valiant effort my boy." The man congratulates Raicer while pointing his half sword at his brother's neck.

"For a bunch of Holy Inquisitors, you all seem to act like a bunch of scumbags! And it's the, not Thy, haft, thus… You are not impressing anyone with the manner of your speech." Raicer spat out, riposting with a retort. 'This unnervingly stupid all this shit. This battlefield, nobles wanting to be king, braggarts turning into monsters, it's all stupidly satirical and I am so fucking tired of it.'

The inquisitor frowns at Raicer's rebuke and nods lifting his swordpoint away from Raicer's brother's neck. The unspeaking inquisitor starts to step to Raicer's direction, to his bleeding injured form.

The man haltingly froze, glaring directly behind Raicer; his face is contorted with disgust and holy antipathy to something behind Raicer, heading to their direction. Raicer turns to an injured loping Rohan running on all fours, crippling its way towards them at a surging pace.

Raicer stumbles back on how grotesque it was becoming, the semblances of Rohan are slowly gone. The monster's human flesh exterior is distorted by protruding bones, like a malformed reptile with bones spiking out from all extremities. The Inquisitor flourish his sword pointing to the sky, pressing the Rain-guard towards his lips.

"Thy heart haft chosen, thy life haft thy meaning for thy curse will fall to our devotion. As is, as such." The inquisitor with holy zealous mantras out. His steadfast demeanor comforts Raicer somewhat from the oncoming monster barreling its way towards them.

The inquisitor drops the point of his sword towards the ground with a right leg sword stance. As the monster approaches the inquisitor sprang into action, swiftly lifting his sword upwards fast and precise during his motion. 'He seems like a practiced man, a professional of his trade.'

During the monsters mid-motion run towards them, the inquisitor sword neatly cut the left arm of it as it was about to step on the ground to move the monster onwards. The monster trip, tackling the inquisitor with him.The inquisitor sword flicks pass the side of Raicer's face, unintentional hurling away from the pruned inquisitor with the monster trying feast on him.

A top of the Inquisitor the creature tries to bury its teeth in the face of the man but it is blocked by one of the man's metal gauntlets protecting the man exposed face. No matter though, the monster begins to chew and squeeze the man's gauntlet with its exposed teeth, metal screeches breaking under the intense pressure. 'The inquisitor won't be clapping his clanging gauntlets now.' Raicer darkly thought.

'The Inquisitor looks done for, without any aid he will surely succumb to thy monsters needs. Damn it now, why am monologuing like somebody is listening to my thoughts. I need to act quickly or we are all dead. I have no weapon, I need a weapon.'

Raicer ganders his surroundings, he sees a spear lodged into a soldiers' entrails 10 paces away.

'Fuck it.'

Raicer stumbles his way forward towards the spear, he pulls it out of the age-long corpse. He turns himself around, he pauses for the briefest of moments. 'This is the last stupidest thing I'll ever do, then I'm going to retire as a jester.'

Raicer with a burst of energy sprang forward clutching the spear with both his hands; shouting for all he was worth. He manages to pierce through the back torso of the monster, so got so deep that the spearhead clangs onto the breastplate of the surprised inquisitor.

The monster screams in pain, turning its glare towards Raicer. 'Those were not death cries of a dying monster, but righteous indignation for ruining its fun.'

Raicer startles back, the monsters right arm sway back and then forth, collide with his shoulder and pushing him into the air. Midair Raicer glimpses the direction he was about to land, near his brother. 'Oh god no, I'm going to land crushing my brother, what a fucking day.'

'Luckily I did not, I landed a few paces away from him, head first on the muck of course.' Raicer lifts himself up turning in the direction of the monster that is suddenly heading his way.

'Damn it, I wish it continued mowing that helpless inquisitor; ah well such is life.' Raicer ganders dirt around himself, trying to find anything that could be useful in this dire situation. An Inquisitor sword is buried hilt first into the ground at an arm's length beside him gleams his eye.

'Holy shit, thank you Mother Earth!' The monster increases its lumbering pace towards Raicer, ready to spring tackle him and devour his bleeding corpse. Raicer grips the pummel, and at the moment the monster sprang up, he pulls the sword out of the dirt as fast as he humanly could and decapitate the head from its body. The monster's body began to spasm, as it head is lodged off; falling and rolling few paces away.

The body spasm continues as it falls to the ground beside Raicer.

"It is done…" Raicer sigh with utter relief.

Raicer hears a motion near the inquisitor, he shakily peers up to see. The monstrous arm the inquisitor cut off is crawling itself towards the torso. Now Raicer is truly frightened, he scans back to the dislodged head; its twitching form is trying roll back to its torso.

'Fuck me.'

The wound of the arm begins to slowly crawl towards the torso; small flesh tentacles starting morphing out of the wound of the decapitated arm, they begin swaying back and forth as if it's waving at the torso.

"Is this thing going to fucking die already?" Raicer spat out in disgust. He shakily got himself up and away from the twitching body parts. The inquisitor coughs up blood, miraculously still alive. 'God must really love him, or hate him to prolong his pain.'

"Good job lad… Urgh… Now pierce the heart, it's the only way to kill an abomination, or it will re-attach itself and end us all for good." The man wheezes out.

Raicer sigh in frustration, the thought of getting close to that thing sickens him to the very core. With no choice, he walks back to the torso, placing the point of the sword near its twitching heart and shoves. The squirming wriggling parts suddenly cease, deflating from the delivered blow.

Raicer pulls out the sword.

"Good job lad… good job, you are quite the valiant sort to come back here to rescue your brother…" The dying inquisitor wheezes out.

"It was all for naught… I don't think I'll survive to see the dawn…" Raicer softly pants a reply.

The wound on his side is profusely bleeding, his head feels clouded as if he is falling into skies. Raicer scans around the area, looking for his unconscious brother. He is a few paces away from him. Moving his body forward, a slight stumble onwards to his brother. Raicer kneels beside Gully panting at the excursion it took out of him. He places his hand on his brother's sweaty brown hair, brushing it away from Gully's face. Gully opens his eyes at me.

"Brother is that you, I can't really see you anymore… Brother…" Gully breathes out to Raicer. His eyes are glassy, the boy, his brother is near to his final sleep.

Raicer tears up from the idea of losing his brother from the world, a world without his near-sighted brother.

"Go to sleep brother… Everything is going to be fine" Raicer lied. Tears unbidden begins to slide off his cheeks.

"The Boy won't make it. Be grateful lad… He won't see you become an abomination like that thing…" The inquisitor sighs out.

"I'll be going to the Mother now, I'll be waiting for you Lad…" The inquisitors gleam in his eyes fades as he lay there for his final time; embracing mother earth as his scriptures profess.

Raicer gaze his brother, Gully's heart beats feel empty and slow, he is dying and there is no way he can save his brother…

'And I? I will die than turn into a monster and most likely devour my dead brother's corpse…God damn it, fuck it all.'

Raicer glares around this godforsaken battlefield, at the broken inquisitor lying dead, embracing the earth; at the deform body, the decapitated head, and the lifeless arm. Raicer glares halted at the arm, looking back and forth to my loving brother and arm…

Realization stings his eyes, unbidden tears begin to flow out his eyes. Placing the sword underneath the armpit of his left arm, that was recently and shallowly cut. He was dying, he knew that. But he could give this last gift to his brother.

"You will not die, brother, over my dead body, you will not die…"