by Capntastic » Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:25 am
The Exemplar found themself converting all of their potential energy into kinetic, trying to make the gap. A quick glance around had shown that he was neck and neck with the Ribcleaner and its riders, one of which was struggling to cling to the back of the beast. Touching off from the rune pillar with just enough power to get a definite lead, the armor clad warrior found their course intersecting with the lightbridge. A quick half turn allowed the jets of their footgear to course-correct and align them with the straight and narrow, and within fragments of a moment they were coming up on the rest of those hurrying to the worldship.
The Septumvirate zapped a shark, sending it spiralling deep into the lake in an erratic path, while The Pontifex ripped water from the gills of a number of the beasts mid-lunge, robbing them of their watery breathe, and perhaps more importantly, the momentum it held- they flopped back into the water. Others made it past the defensive attacks, smashing away even as Septumvirate multitasked on projecting more fields of lightforce to patch the bridge, it was clearly a losing battle. The shark's frenzy was reaching its peak.
The Bargainer's retreat was going well enough, avoiding the slick spots in the rapidly eroding bridge. The bridge's dilapidation was being hastened by the frenzying sharks headbutting it from below, fully visible through the shifting colors he tread upon- when something twinkled in the fore of his mind. The shark's minders were certainly struck out of the picture by whatever the Lawgiver was enacting. They knew their task, he was sure, and their fate. The beasts themselves, he knew, were fully capable of rational thought in their own way; and of course, with that came more savory abstract notions, what ifs, could bes. Silver, and with a ring of sharp 'crown' ridges, right below was a prime candidate even now circling at a shallow depth, preparing to strike again- almost certainly out of jealousy and desire, rather than duty.
At the head of the pack of assorted beings skittering across the lightbridge was The Attendant, still cradling the black artifact. He wove in and out of thin patches and cracks in the surface with unexpected agility for someone with such a non-imposing presence. He had just about made it to the Worldship. A few more steps and he would be making contact with a reinforced sandstone block that made up a crude 'docking bay'. He glanced back, and his view was not a pleasant one. The horizon lacked the white light of day or the dancing colors of night. The scene was wholly enveloped by the black disc- the absolute nothing- which meant the end of the world. The city below, just minutes ago alive with festivities, was now ashy and grey, its avenues clotted with petrified things. The fire still burned, and the smoke clung in the air without any motion. Somewhere at the center of it all was the Lawgiver, still motionless, though his work was being done. The Attendant's eyes snapped to more pressing matters. From his perspective, the light bridge extended as a line beneath his feet towards the horizon. On that line were a few dozen people of various sorts, mysteriously robed, clad in leathers and furs, naked, or near to it. They were the followers of the handful of movers and shakers also trying to escape this dying world. They dotted the path, hurrying along, as even now beasts from the water were thrashing away at their conveyance. Further down the line was the armor clad warrior who had refused to pay any respect to the world's end, which was a reasonable decision, and somewhat expected. The warrior was just now landing on the bridge and even catching up to some of the stragglers. And then, in mid air, above the line, was an enormous black and white beast with two ruffians holding on for life itself as it hurtled through the air and crashed down onto the bridge without a sound. The ribcleaner threw back its birdlike face and hissed steam triumphantly, and when it lowered its head, there was a third fellow atop it, though ruffian may not be the precise word. Surtr had used the beast's descent to leap up and secure his position on top of it.
Surtr's view of the lightbridge, from atop this magnificent creature, was much the same as the Attendant's, though in reverse. His galloping monster was quickly gaining on those hurrying across the bridge, exhaling steam. The Attendant was looking back, one foot on the Worldship's sandstone shore. And though the pure black sky was behind him, he knew it was there. The Lawgiver had shown him that firsthand.
(SURTR AND RIBCLEANER -> EXEMPLAR -> PONTIFEX AND CO -> SURTR'S BOYS -> SEPTUMVIRATE -> BARGAINER AND CO -> ERG -> ATTENDANT -> WORLDSHIP)
(SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS)