TSC - Chapter 6: Reactions (2) - Insects

With no words spoken, the five men leapt at the priest thinking he was the easier target. He managed to dodge one or two thrusts but was caught on the shoulder and forearm by two of the blades. In retaliation he closed his eyes for a second before a gathering stampede of scuttling noises revealed itself be a horde of Scrap Beatles from the rubbish from the bottom of the city. They swarmed the the cracks in the floorboards and up the leg of one of the men untill he was covered entirely. He reacted with such violent horror that it made the Priest smile just a little, realising insects were most likely a phobia of his. The other man reached back for his blowgun and managed to impale a dart on the man next to the phobic.  Eryn dashed as quick as he could away from his attacker, igniting the flame wall that protected him. The brute that was after Eryn, swiftly caught on fire and while he was distracted, Eryn held onto the metal part of his rapier, channelling heat from his halo to his fingertips, causing the metal to burn in the man's hands. The attacker crumpled over in pain.  The thug that was next to him tutted at his comrades inability and charged at Eryn. He suffered similar inflictions to the companion. Another went to the Aeon priest only to be swarmed by half the population that had crawled over the priests first target. He followed his up with an attack from Sheba. She runt of a Rocira, whose wings had been purposefully clipped. Eryn was instantly distracted by this insect. In swarms the Ricora were known to signal devastation when arrive and cataclysmic events follow them before they move onwards. The fear and terror they incite had caused towns to become deserted before the swarm even crossed their paths.  

Sheba tried to use her clipped wings as would do in flight, flattening them down into razor edged blades. However the reaction of the attacker was so severe that he was already running around the room before it could slice at his legs. The man who was now finally half freed from his horror, fled before the Ricora would cause destruction. The last man who had up to now been unharmbed by the doorway went for man with the dart thrower. His sword gleamed from the shop window light as he cleaved down onto his victim but he escaped, barely. The burnt hands of the first man now started to painfully blister. He could not carry out his deed without help and seeing his comrades fall with little concern of his well being, left as well.  Eryn decided he had had enough and motioned for the other two get closer to the floor. He ripped off part of a crate and started to smoulder it in his hand, causing dense smoke to fill the room. This wood was a little more yellowish than he had first realised and the smoke itself took on wisps of toxicity, causing painful coughing and stinging of the eyes.

The man who had been running from Sheba took his leave as well, coughing violently before succumbing to the smoke himself and falling to the floor outside. Sheba lashed out at the attacker who had not believe in Eryn's fire and hacked into his arm with its wings. On his hands and knees the dart thrower had a perfect aim. A bolt flew under the cover of smoke and popped the eyeball on the man. His wounds, the smoke, the attacks and the final explosion of his optic nerve left him dead. The last man retreated as fast as he could, failure was an option, as long as lived to repot back. The man who had fallen outside the room  had propped himself up against the counter trying to regain his breath. He was quickly set upon by Eryn with a barrage of questions, his response was to top rub the tattoos on his fingers, the markings spreading from his finger tips across his skin and clothes till his entire body dissolved. He was of no use to Eryn but the other man was still alive as long as he didnt commit suicide.

The man had barrelled outside but had been caught into the tides of the crowds. He was soon swiftly followed by the three.  He too had also been targeted by the Scrap Beetles on his way out and were dripping off of him. This caused the more delicate shoppers to feint and scream but did not cause the horde to part. The man with the dart thrower tried to get line of sight, mentioning he could stop the man in his tracks if he had a clear view. The priest smiled and sent forth Sheba, who caused women to leap from its path, the more irrational to jump from the platforms in hopes of landing on the floors below and for some to take to machines and abilities that allowed them to scale the spires unaided by a stable foundation. The fleeing assailant was soon put into an intangible cell from which he could not escape, with his hands as directed by Eryn, left outside of the field. Sheba tried to strike her wings at him but they bounced off, to which she made a few unsatisfied chirping noises before scuttling up onto the shoulder of the priest. Eryn was now angry, fed up in part due to a distinct lack of cigarretes All he wanted to do was rest. It was time he found out more about the Rings.

He grabbed the assailants hands and burned the tattoos off of his skin. The pain was blinding any thoughts the man had; rendering him useless to Eryn's enquiries. He decided to take him to Mezzo's. A more fitting location for an interrogation. He broached the subject of these men with two he had just met. The Aeon Priest introduced himself and his associate as Eciton and Xera respectively. They regretted they did not inform Eryn sooner of this possibility. The research they had been working towards, in separate locations, had put them under a very real danger. After months of correspondence they were attacked by similar men and the fear caused the two to meet. They wanted to discuss why their research had  been threatening their lives. This only added to the complex puzzle that Eryn was slowly trying to piece together.