The Vale of Beauty

[Myn Donos]

High into the night sky, far into the darkness that persisted between the falling of the sun and its rising again, where normally only the moon and the stars existed, the flicker of orange and yellow shone brightly, clearly visible over plains and treetops for well over a mile. It was as if someone had set light to a beacon, one of those great fire pits that signaled emergencies, carrying the message of need across the land from village to village faster than any human on horseback ever could, and the dark figure standing watching the thick, acrid smoke curling from the flickering tongues of flames as they lifted into the dark knew that it wouldn't be long before this call was answered, and aide would arrive from the two nearest villages as quickly as horses would travel. When they arrived, that figure would have long since moved on, leaving only the gruesome, glorious scene that he surveyed now.

Flames towered higher than that figure stood, bathing the surrounding area in a warm, gentle glow, fueled by a pile of human bodies that had been stacked quite purposefully atop one another, and the strong stench of death accompanied the crackle and snap of the flames as they seared and consumed human flesh. All around that central blaze, the ruined buildings of a village burned slowly, almost lazily, the entire scene reflected in a cold, emotionless gaze, mirrored in the black pupils of eyes that burned with an inner fire of their own, snapping violently as they watched the scene that had been set up in tribute to that fiery angel that had given the dark figure his powers, the being known as the Living Death. Through these flames he sacrificed these bodies, this entire village, and he knew that she would be pleased.

Thick, heavy locks of raven hair fell down to partially obscure those eyes that burned with a flame of their own as the Avatar of the Living Death stood by for another moment before turning away from the destruction and death that he'd caused, this village only one in a string of destroyed villages along his path. All of them had been burned to the ground, their entire population robbed of life and stacked as these had been, each village and fire a signal to his Mistress, the Seraph Chaos Angel of Fire and Death, to keep her apprised of the progress that he was making on his path to the vale where the Beauty of the Aratar Clan had made her home. He had been appointed an errand there, and now he was to see his task fulfilled, this village the last before he would set foot upon the soil of that vale where he would find an ally of his Mistress so strong that even the demon god Erosis would not dare to approach.

Once he was sure that this message would be received, the Avatar's back was turned on the blazing heap of bodies and the ruins of the village was left behind as first one step and then another was taken, each step taking him further from the site of the massacre that had taken place. All of it behind him now, he looked forward, to the sight of Beauty's vale in the distance, and as he mentally prepared himself to come face to face with that perfect being once again, the physical body began to fade, flickering and distorting as the fires he had set flickered and snapped, until slowly he simply faded, the lines of his body breaking suddenly into the thin, curling lines of smoke that continued on, drifting through the air on a breeze that was not blowing, carrying towards that vale and Myn's ultimate destination. The remainder of the trip would not take long now.

~*~*~

The vale that the Avatar sought, the vale that he had long searched for, lay nestled in between three large mountain peaks, surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs, while one path remained open for travellers who were limited to more conventional modes of transportation than wings. It was through the forest that stretched along the mouth of the vale that Myn chose to travel, where his most potent abilities would serve him the best, should they be needed. These woods reaked of death, but they likely would pose no threat to him themselves, where a boulder falling atop his head would end his journey rather quickly... stones were, after all, not subject to the throes of death, nor the kiss of flame. The trees that even now surrounded him would fall prey to either, or both. Wood would burn, and plants and animals would die... as could be evidenced by the numerous skeletons that littered the forest floor around him.

Stopping for a moment, the dark figure of the Avatar crouched to inspect one of those piles of bones, eyes narrowing as he confirmed what he had suspected: all of them that were in plain sight had belonged to humans. He'd found no animal remains thus far, though he knew that there were plenty of beasts in these woods. Myn could field their life force, knew that they lingered nearby, though they did not approach. It seemed like they were waiting for something, and that thought put Myn on guard... normally, he would be given quite a wide berth by natural animals, rather than followed. It meant that they expected something, and that thought almost unnerved him. Almost. Were a force other than Beauty involved, it might actually have truly bothered him.

Where an ally of his Mistress was involved, it merely meant that he would have to be careful. Certainly he was not aware of all of his Mistress' allies, but those that he knew, the ones that he had encountered, were beings of amazing power. Her enemies were even more incredible, particularly the demon god that he trusted her even now to keep from him while he held the soul that belonged to the son of the Living Death, the most valuable thing that Myn had ever taken into his possession. It was the thing that his Mistress had sent him to carry to the Fallen, and the thing that Erosis sought him for. It was valuable, but troublesome, and Myn would be happily rid of it, soon.

Soon.

And so very soon...

The thought was the last thing that the Avatar had a chance to process as he stepped past the tree line and into what would officially be the vale... and nigh instantly he felt a weight crashing down upon his shoulders, powerful enough to drive even him to his knees, his hands shooting out to brace against the ground to keep from being forced entirely prone. Teeth gritted together with a grunt at the force of the weight, and Myn scowled viciously as he forced himself upright once more, and it did not take him long to discover that his powers would be of little use to him here... even an attempt to bolster his already incredible physical strength only brought more weight down upon him. This, he knew, was what the animals had been waiting for; any normal human, even a being of just slightly lesser power than Myn himself, would have been destroyed by what he'd just experienced.

Snarling, Myn forced himself forward, pushing through the barrier by sheer force of will and physical strength. For several feet he pressed onwards, until finally, rather unexpectedly, the weight seemed to lift, and he stumbled forward a couple of steps. With a quick blink of dark eyes as he scanned the horizon, Myn stood now fully within the Vale of Beauty, searching for a tower that was not difficult to find, even from here. Eyes narrowed upon that tower, and with a quick surging of his will he... went nowhere. He did not move, did not even flicker, and he frowned as he realized that his power to travel instantly from place to place would get him nowhere here, quite literally.

Yet one more thing stood between himself and the woman that he had come so far to see, and it was nothing but distance. Distance that he had no way to cover than by foot; with a soft sigh, Myn turned towards the tower and set foot to ground, taking off at a dead run at his destination, with a speed greater than any human could match.