This barless Prison [ Offspring only]

[Nymphetamine]

Like a Thorn to the Holy Ones

He had forgotten the feeling. The lingering pulse within the depth of his soul that had been ripped from him so many years before.  The pulse so deeply rooted within him that the moment it had vanished had sent him into a frenzy. He had known so much of the dead, so much of the calling of bones that lay scattered across the lands as the vibrated within him. He had forgotten the intimate dance of their call and his awareness.  The day Beqanna had taken it away he had mourned the loss and it had taken him far too long to accept that it would not return. That was until it did. There was no other sign of change, not really it just settled over him, settled into him.

It was disquieting at first, the feel of it, but some things return naturally and for the once-made-again necromancer it was like coming home again. And with that feeling he knew where he must take it, the blood bay knew for whom he must use it. Offspring. His red eyed ruler had been ever so increasingly troubled. Drenched in sweat, scorching the earth, and mood swings made him unpredictable and sometimes difficult to work with. But Nymphetamine didn’t know the whole story, so he didn’t judge he just quietly fretted. But now he could help, now he could do something about it without having to have all of the insider knowledge. He didn’t have to be a counsel for the black draft cross, as last they spoke in depth Offspring made it clear they were not at that level. It had bothered the bay for some time, but he had put it aside, He couldn’t expect Offspring to be able to reach out when he didn’t think the towering draft could really reach himself. 

Nymphetamine moved through the fall, yet still unchanged, the land scape of Tephra’s rough foliage. Seasons in Tephra were all the same, hot and humid, fall had become just a time holder a reference to things old and done. He lean muscle moved him ever closer to the volcano, ever closer to the place where Offspring huddled against the volcano. Nymph didn’t know how the dark stallion could find such comfort in it but somehow he did. The bubbling red tar soothed his leader like a pacifier to a crying baby, and from that fire, Nymph hoped to calm his soul.  His hooved climbed the mountainous side of the molten pit, up into the smokey sky until he dared not go further. The sulfur was strong and the lava rivers growing too large to maneuver in the dense smoke. He may be invincible but he didn’t wish that kind of recovery on himself. Once he stilled his voice called for Offspring, ” Come Offspring, it is time we have some fun.”

The blood bay didn’t wait for Offspring to arrive before he reached out to the death around them. Allowing the strings to form from bone to mind, he pulled the corpses forward, of bear, and elk, and even of a horse. There were five in total, slowly sauntering up the mount, slowly gathering behind him, in a V formation. It would be an impressive sight, maybe even more dominating than he originally intended, but it would fit his end purpose. Nymph stood in the middle of the V a smirk upon his lips, and his hind leg cocked in relaxation the spitting image of brash.  Nymph, while not overly secretive of his abilities, in the ‘before’ days, he had never explicitly shown Offspring his abilities. The volcanic ruler may not have known though they had battled in some proximity to each other during the dessert raid and therefore he might have seen. Either way, he would have to gauge his reaction. ”It has been too long since either of us has blown off some much-needed steam, my friend.  So I asked some targets to come along…. They won’t do anything that I don’t want them to. It's a fun little ability I thought I wouldn’t have again after the Reckoning.”

His stood up straight then and walked forward away from the pointed crest of the formation, to stand beside Offspring, and to face his lifeless minions.  His face had also grown more serious. ” It’s time you let it out… that fire in your soul and you don’t even have to tell me a word.” Nymph took a step back then and to the side, opening up space for his friend to let loose, though if he actually did or not was up to him. The draft cross didn't have to tell him there was something wrong, Nymph was sure of it denial or no. and this was the best he could do to help since the leader wasn't keen on talking it out.

NYMPHETAMINE

[Offspring]

you can have my isolation,
you can have the hate that it brings.

  It was over.

  The love affair that had stirred a passionate emotion he long thought lost to him had come to an inevitable end, festering in the fervent, blistering flames of its demise. He had known it was coming for some time – his heart had not felt the same in so long, and he had been hesitant to admit it to himself, to admit it to her.

  Since waking from the furtive nightmare that had been his undoing (he could still taste the metallic, bitter blood against his tongue – he could still feel his flesh bubbling and blistering under the scalding hot fire that had attempted to take his life), he hadn’t been the same. A scalding hot fire stirred within him, melting away the ice that had once been a part of him, and with it, he had become increasingly isolated – progressively more reserved, withdrawing into himself with a flickering ember that longed to consume him.

  She had never known him, and he had never known her – the love she professed was built upon lie after lie, as was his own. Each had kept their own thoughts, their own needs close to their own heavily guarded hearts, and time had created an irreparable rift – a deep, impenetrable void. Neither had truly given any part of themselves to one another, and so the fragility of their love had faltered, with thick, inevitable fissures rising with every dawn that came and every dusk that went.

  He had been unfaithful, seeking affection and attention elsewhere, and she had been untrue, fearful of him, recoiling at his very touch as the flickering flame slowly became a raging inferno. It stirred anger and wrath from the depths of his wretched, wayward soul, and he felt powerless to overcome it – not for months, but for years. The memories of his torture and torment had been too much, and she could not bear the burden of his pain, and he had not trusted her for so long with it – and when he finally had, it was too little, too late. The damage had been done, as the trust had whittled away to dust, and the devotion declared burned away into ash.

  His heart ached, but he could not – he would not linger.
  Faithlessness.
  It had been their ruination.

  He is stirred from his heavy, darkening thoughts by the echo of a familiar voice calling to him – he is loath to answer it, for the warmth of the bubbling magma oozing from the surface of the fertile soil is all the company that he is willing and able to withstand, but eventually, he wrenches himself away from the intense heat and into the heart of the volcanic isle. It is not long until his dark eyes settle upon the source - the fading sunlight is flush against the blood bay of his skin, and soon his own gaze is settled upon his as his thick, muscular legs carry him towards him –

  – but he stops; stunned.

  His heart, quiet and steady before, is racing now, thundering raggedly within the confinement of its cage.
Before him, a formation of the undead – five in total, consumed by varying degrees of decay, controlled by one singular, solitary force. His gaze flickers to each, and finally to Nymphetamine, uncertainty written across the rigid lines of his face – a shadow of darkness lingering in the hollow beneath each eye.

  His explanation is concise, with humor laced with each word, and slowly, the hesitation fades away, and in place of his stoicism, a broad, faintly amused grin emerges – and with it, the burning flame he so often kept buried does too. Along the slope of his spine, a flickering ember rises, growing into a frenzied inferno as the melancholy he had felt mere moments ago waned, replaced with renewed energy.

  With a surge of momentum, the fire traverses the length of his thick, muscular legs, coiling on the ground and whirling into a broad, spinning orb of blistering fire, growing with each passing moment and rising before him. The sheer, obscene light of it highlights the heavy scarring across his cheek and neck, but its core reflects the inferno flickering inside of his eyes, and by sheer will and might, and a toss of his neck, the expanding fireball implodes, breaking away into five individual orbs of crackling fire, hurling towards the skeletons lying in wait – demolishing each of them into little else but ash and dust.

  And quietly, slowly, the embers sputter, before disappearing altogether.

  ”I did not realize you were so powerful, Nymphetamine.” he utters, glancing to him and observing him carefully, though soon the smile that had been present mere moments ago still tugs at the corner of his mouth. ”That was .. fun.”

you can have my absence of faith,
you can have my everything.

OFFSPRING

[Nymphetamine]

Like a Thorn to the Holy Ones

Nymph could feel the drain on his energy as he held them there, keeping 5 dead things standing, moving, and held together took more energy than many might think, but he wasn’t worn out, nor was he tired..just aware. The beasts silently chattered before him, their hollow eye sockets boring into his soul wanting more than he could give them. He had no auras to attach to them, he hadn’t been gifted that ability, so he just looked away, and watched the creases leave Offspring’s large head as he (if not for just a moment) relaxed. The Spanish lined ruler no longer had to conceal the fire within, no longer had to hold in whatever tormented him. And the flames along his spine flickered to life with that freedom. They grew as they licked the air and spread throughout him glowing from within as a lantern would its shade.

And then it happened, Nymph stood and watched as the flames cascaded from his glowing form and coil across the span before them toward the five before splitting and exploding. As their ashes floated to the ground, the pull of holding them upright was tethered, the slow drain on his own self fell away. The bay watched the embers flicker out it was a unique dance of red, black and gray, as he wondered if it was as helpful for the other towering stallion as he had hoped. But it wasn’t long before Offspring spoke and pulled him from his thoughts. ” Looks like we both learned something new about each other today. His lips pull into a smile that matched his companions, ”It was fun. But was it...helpful?”

Nymphetamine didn’t wish to pry or force the information out, but he would ask, and what would be shared would be shared. Their friendship might not be as easy, but it was important and worth the time. There was much to discuss business wise, the trip to Hayline, the pending visits to other kingdoms, initial thoughts on treaties and alliances...but it didn’t seem right. ”How about another target, maybe a moving one this time?” It was more of a rhetorical question, the look on Offspring’s face after the first time told the necromancer that he would be up for another target. So he sent out the tendrils of his mind and pulled two corpses. One a rabbit, the other a bird. He called them to move, the rabbit danced around them in evasive patterns, It didn’t just stay with them but it attempted to move around them using the full expanse of the space they had, Offspring would surely have to work for this one. The bird was similar but it darted in and out of the smoke that filled the air. Nymph grew still as he concentrated on the motions of the dead, his mouth a thin line of focus and determination. A large explosion was great, but since when did finesse not matter? ”You’ve got magnitude down, but what about precision?”

NYMPHETAMINE