Where Sorrow grows...

[Anomaly]

Sizzling through the mist the beam of concentrated heat energy impacts with the glowing red eye in the center of the specter. The heat grows, distorting the air, sending waves of heat shimmering from the jeweled eye. The mist begins to melt away in an ever expanding sphere as the heat beam changes shape into a sphere that floats before the eye. This sphere of expanding heat grows even as the beam itself shrinks down to a point no larger than a candle flame that seems to burn with a focused intensity beyond its destructive power that came before. The air around it melts away into super heated plasma, and for a moment it is as if a miniature sun has blossomed on the battlefield.

The tendrils clamped in the snakes mouths writhe and change shape, slithering from their grasp and sliding back into the earth, reforming into the folds of the specters cloak. It moves about, almost curiously, inspecting the point of intense heat from side to side. After a moment it seems to turn its attention back to Nergal.

"Prove yourself that is all you...know...?"

It is the same echo of Nergal's words...yet it carries an unmistakable question. The crackling beneath the echo takes on a more distinctive tone...as if there is another, silent voice just on the edge of hearing. The apparition makes a gesture that could best be described as a nod. In that instant, the point of focused heat hurtles back to its source. Would the staff be able to handle its own powers magnified? Would its master?

[o0CrazyJackal0o]

Nergal looked up with his eyes narrowed, waiting for a reaction as the beam hurtled towards his enemy and grinned hopefully, expecting to see his foe evaporate before his eyes but part of him told him that it was not going to be so easy. He then gasped lightly as he saw his beam freeze and clowly start to concentrate itself into a small sun which was evaporating all of the mist nearby and now he could see much clearer, what had that thing done.

This does not look good, with the power increased like that, stopping it won't be easy.

He raised up his staff and growled as he heard the words of the strange eye and Nergal knew that soon he would have to act. Nergal gritted his teeth as the tiny sun get shot towards and readied himself, the power in that ball still held the essence of the skull's magic so consuming it would be an option, but so much heat at once would be pushing it, but risks were now no longer important as he grabbed the skull and ripped it from the staff.

Do your best Reaper, you still owe me.

He heaved back his right hand which clutched the skull and then threw it forward towards the tiny sun and stared on as the skull halted in the air and stared out towards the heat with it's own glowing deep red eyes. The skull began to glow a deathly red and the and began to disintigrate around it as the ball hurtled ever closer and suddenly was engulfed in the same aura that the skull was encased in, the skull then began to suck the energy back in and cracks begin to appear deep into the skull and once the energy was absorbed the skul crashed to the floor heavily and the glow faded away from it's eyes.

Nergal watched the skull strangely, almost with sadness and then looked once again to the eye, interest flickered through the deep silver eyes as he then spoke.

''Quite impressive oh misted one, but this battle has only just begun, but now may you introduce yourself or are you incapable of speech?''.

He then folded his arms and stared on, now awaiting for this creature to at least introduce itself or make it's attack

[Anomaly]

"Impressive..."

Floating gently towards Nergal, the mist flows back into the circle of diminishing heat, cooling the recumbent corpses. The soft sizzle of mist on baking stones mixes with the hiss of whispers that hovers just on the edge of hearing.

''This battle ... ...just begun..."
"Introduce ... ... ... ... ... ... ...?"
"incapable of speech."
"Incapable of..."
"Incapable...Nergal"
"N.rg.l"
"N..gal"
"N....l"
"NIL."

The voice that breaks through the whispers has a strange reverberation of its own. It's as if the word is only audible as a silence amid the know clamorous hissing that billows from its cloak. The creature, Nil, seems to pause for a moment in its approach. A massive arm suddenly explodes from beneath the robes, stretching over fifteen feet easily. An expanse of rotting flesh, held together by barbed wire and wriggling red worms, the arm bends inwards, and Nil seems to bow forwards. As quickly as the arm appears, it retreats, leaving behind nothing but the faint meaty stench of rotting flesh.

Nil makes no move to attack, but rather continues to regard Nergal with its single unblinking eye. The shape of the silver ankh around the eye becomes fluid, morphs, and twists into the shape of another eye set around the jewel with a tear drop. The tear drop melts into the outer 'eye', which then shifts into the appearance of a mouth lined with silver fangs, before shifting back to the form of an ankh. Then a sudden explosion of gravitational lightening roars from beneath the Holy Shadow cloak. Each bolt stabs into the ground, multiplying the natural gravity in the immediate area by a factor of ten.

"KNEEL."

[o0CrazyJackal0o]

Nergal watched curiously as the misted character now floated towards him, the five worms behind him all snarled with saliva and some other unknown liquid dripping from their teeth, their hunger now obvious as Nergal smacks the middle one on the head and they begin to calm, he would then listen as he heard what sounded like his own voice twisted into echo and seemed to be twisted into sentences to be played back to him.

This is very perculiar, reminds me of the leech I once fought, who would use my own power against me, but this creature seems to only echo my words back to me with it's own version.

He then hears the creature utter 'Nil' which he guesses to be the creatures name, he would then bow his head in understanding and quickly strapped his staff to his back and watched the creature for a reaction. He would not have to wait long as suddenly an arm exploded from the cloak and Nergal narrowed his eyes as he gripped something from under his cloak but stopped as the arm had already retracted. Such an arm meant that this thing was certainly no human.

Nergal would then stare at what he guessed to be the creatures face and blinked as another eye appeared and then melted away, forming into a mouth, this is no creature he has met before. He sensed that it was near and was greatly suprised when the creature seemed to stab into the ground and an invisible voice pushed down on his head and shoulder's as the same voice ordered him to kneel.

''How dare you, I won't ever kneel to the likes of you!''.

He braced his shoulders and stamped his feet hard into the ground, feeling his legs giving way and gritted his teeth in rage, suddenly the pupils of his eyes appeared and a silver aura began to flow around his body, suddenly he relaxed and stood normal once more, his left hand now glowing softly, the veins in the arm glowing a deep blue from under the cloth. Nergal looked at the creature now with a bored expression echoing every line of his aincent face, now looking much younger than before.

''You shall have to try harder than that my silent friend''.