#quick post before work

[thomstrainers]

i miss my beautiful wife

[charm-in-spades]

DΣᄃIMΛƬIӨП

Themes: Blood, War, Revenge, Death. | Mood: [♠]

The sky was at war with itself. That could be the only conclusion, looking up into the churning mass of obsidian and greys. These were the thoughts of a senior Decurio while overseeing the midnight patrol that evening.

If he peered up long enough into the swirling abyss, he could imagine its churning shapes instead as a mosh pit collision of combative front-lines while the thunderous booms and brilliant flashes became explosives detonating within the masses. The crooked lightning itself he saw as long and jagged shrapnel, while the rain fell as a million tiny payloads that would reshape the swampy landscape below.

The super-cell was a freak storm unlike any other that had not been anticipated by the vet, and its sudden appearance and continued growth set the Imperial on edge. His men were also nervous, and tittered anxiously amongst themselves. He was the leading rank, but like him, they were also seasoned soldiers so their behavior stood out to him as further reason for concern. There was something unnatural in the rain and the groan of the furious wind. It became apparent to the Decurio that they would need to return back to the castrum.

Visibility had been reduced to several fulms at best in the torrential downpour and even with the height gifted to him by the magitek sky armor he piloted, he could make out little of anything between the dark trees. He found his worries heightened by the irritable response of static over the communication lines when he tried to radio back to base and inform them of his decision. No response.

What the decurion did not realize was that return was no longer an option for them.

When he did, the realization came too late. Something slammed into the hull of his sky armor, causing it to teeter precariously. The head of an axe had embedded itself into the plate exterior, pinning one of his men to it's side and completely skewering another. The corpse hung loosely, like a marionette with its strings cut. The soldiers were confused at first, unsettled the next as the cadaver began to do an unnatural jig.

The axe had begun to tremble violently, vibrating against the armor it had lodged against before it seemed to wrench free from the body of steel and fling itself back into the night. They could see nothing in the dark, but when lightning flashed overhead, briefly illuminating an imposing shape at a distance they did not hesitate to open fire. The moment erupted in chaos.

It was not a pretty sight, and each flashing burst of gunfire and lightning revealed a scene more gruesome than the last as brief instances of darkness were punctuated by the screams of soldiers being cleaved in several parts. He had never witnessed such savagery, as a sanguine spray splattered across the outside of the protective glass shell that surrounded the cockpit.

The decurion could no longer see anything from within the confines of his vehicle which did not respond to any of his frenzied console commands. Flashing red emergency lights from within told him that its primary functions had been compromised and so he watched helplessly as his men dove for cover and fired at a figure that moved so seamlessly between them and the environment. There was a militaristic efficiency between each death and the next and by the sixth felling, those that were left had become desperate to avoid their own ends.

They gave ground quickly and retreated behind his machina until he could no longer view them. The officer heard the cry signaling explosive measures, and he saw the beeping canister soar through the sky towards the figure who had chased them back. He moved impossibly fast, his axe glinting against the thundering sky as it connected with the grenade and launched it back towards his vehicle. It landed between the legs of his Predator and the Decurion was helpless to escape the blast.

His world erupted in fire. The shake and boom of it deafened him while the groaning crunch of metal and screaming tinnitus pierced his skull. There was smoke in his lungs, the ground had become the sky and he could not feel his legs. Blind now in one eye, it took time to make sense of the battlezone around him. His men were still shouting, and he could not save them. Only watch them fall victim to what could only be described as a terrible force of nature.

The sloppy earth seemed to churn and shift as if a restless giant tossed and turned beneath its layers, and seemed to conform to the will of the unknown assailant. At least, it seemed that way to the Decurion, who could not trust his vision in entirety as at times it seemed soldiers were simply swallowed by the very ground they stood upon.

The mud became further saturated by the bloodshed, tears and the constant downpour as jagged pikes of rock and spears of lightning decimated the people he had once fought with and likely would now die with. The man, if he could even be called that, began to pulse and crackle like the sky itself, warping the environment around him in a magnetic polarization. The smell of ozone and charred bones permeated the air and made the officer nauseous. He did not consider himself a man with a weak stomach.

It was both methodical and destructive, the ways in which the Decurion’s people were dispatched. Some did not die immediately, and those soldiers were finished off with swift and savage blows from an axe. The brute collected his weapon from the husk of a soldier with little regard, and with his halved-vision the Imperial could see clearly the savage before him, and the seeping red that bled from his eyes in a wispy, crimson trail of mist. The Decurion might have been hallucinating, but he found himself asking,

“What are you?”

The beast turned its head.

𝚃o 𝙱e 𝙲ontinued...

[swamp-lemonade]

What if Crutchie... do a smile

[rslashrats]

[adelaide-ill-omens]

If you like mystery or crime fiction, or like Japanese fiction, or just want an enjoyable book to read, please do yourself a favor and pick up Keigo Higashino's "The Devotion of Suspect X." I just finished it and it was a wild, fun ride. Plus mixes the genre tradition of amateur detective with police detectives nicely. Actually both detectives, the criminal, and the other key character are all given roughly equal amounts to see their perspectives and such from, which is always welcome to see but can, if done poorly, hurt the whole mystery aspect central to the genre. It is not done poorly here, suffice to say

[cannabisexual]

*gives everyone who reads this a big hug and hopes you all had a wonderful day*

[sushisama]

Does anyone remember those I am loved buttons?

I used to really enjoy those. It was a big thing when I was in high school, and it was really only my group that wore them. Which made me smile, because mine was the group that needed it the most, the outcasts with the low self esteem. And it meant a lot when someone gave you one. They were making sure you felt loved, too. I'm thinking about bringing it back, maybe fandom-ing it up a bit. Maybe, maybe, hmmm.

[dr-lisa-cuddy-md]

Cuddy had been home for a few hours when she got the text from House. ‘Will be over at your place later.’   Seriously? It was almost nine at night. What the hell was later? Nine thirty? Ten? Eleven? She had actually been making an effort to go home at decent times. She was starting to think she might as well just stay like she always had. She wouldn't be seeing House till closer to midnight anyway. No she wasn't bitter at all.

She stared at the text for a while then decided to put off answering if she would even answer at all. Its not like he was waiting for her permission. She had told him to use his key whenever he liked. She had meant it. A part of starting this relationship was opening not only her heart but her home to him. She had done that, but if truth be told she was starting to feel a little like a whore. If she didn't ask him for dinner would she only be seeing him at night?

She brushed off that feeling and returned to her work. All of her papers lay spread out in front of her on the coffee table. She was sitting on the floor with her back supported against the couch. Maybe House not coming by till late was a good thing. She certainly wouldn't get any work done with him there. She smiled a little thinking of how he would probably annoy her until she set her undivided attention on him. No she didn't want that at all.

She shook her head and grabbed the remote to her stereo. She needed to concentrate, and thinking about this just wasn't going to do. She turned on the radio in an attempt to get a little white noise in the background. A relieved sigh left her lips when she heard the announcer blabbering on about one thing or another. She didn't even know what station it was, but the noise was welcome. It was welcome until the first song started to play. Not only was it a country song (she was not a fan, but her mother was) it also happened to be Garth Brooks 'Somewhere Other Than the Night'. Oh fantastic. As if she wasn't feeling bad enough. In a flash the radio was off.

She pushed through for another thirty minutes before finally giving up. She had gotten a lot accomplished before the text, so she consoled herself with that. She shot a quick 'K' back to House, better late then never, then retreated to her bedroom. Another night of trying to go to sleep early. He could let himself in then do as he pleased. At least this time if she woke up to noise she knew what to expect. That was a good thing she guessed.