Odrsjot

by Imploding Colon

Sky Pit of Vipers

"Aaugh!" Kera shrieked as she plummeted forward on slippery hooves. The entire prison cell was shaking as thunder rolled through the belly of the Lighting Bearer. Behind her, Zaid collapsed onto the floor while the lights overhead flickered in and out of being. "What in the crap was that?!"

"Beats me!" Zaid hissed as he pushed himself back up onto wobbling hooves. "Who the heck is flying this bucket of bolt?! Somebody should tell them to steer clear of roaming apocalypses!"

"That sounded like something hit us, though!" Kera squeaked. She suddenly gasped—pupils shrinking—as an intense wailing noise rang through the battleship, rattling from wall to wall.

Zaid blinked, his coat paling. "That certainly doesn't sound like any missile to me!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Kera helplessly yelled to the walls. "Rainbow Dash—"

The vessel rocked again. Kera flew back from the jolt. Zaid caught her, but it mattered little. Both fell to the floor as the lights flickered again, followed by the near-death of the force field in front of them.

---

Above deck, the situation was ten times as tense. Huge gaping holes had been blown into the hull of the ship. Enforcers ran left and right, telekinetically carrying buckets and canisters of flame retardant spray. The air below the oncoming assault was cluttered with shouts of paranoia.

Rainbow Dash witnessed it all from where she lay helplessly slumped against the deck of the ship. As her vision swam, she became aware of a change in pitch to the banshee screams high above.

"The... the shelling's stopped...!" Rainbow Dash sputtered.

Nightshade gazed up from where she cowered, trembling.

Zetta slumped to a stop, leaning against an empty cannister of fire extinguishing solution. "They're no longer bombarding us..." The mare's eyes traveled skyward and her jaw dropped. "Oh, blessed Spark... incoming!"

Everypony shot their gaze towards the heavens. Frightened eyes reflected an incoming wave of blue scales diving at the drifting, smoldering battleship from every angle. Giant airborne eels, manta rays, serpents, and hellbenders filled the sky, cascading around the beleaguered vessel with thick rippling muscles and razor-sharp fangs. The attackers twirled about in counter-clockwise formation, each beastly creature being ridden by a separate Xonan. Each equine warrior took turns pivoting in mid-flight and launching crossbolts at the ponies along the top deck.

Enforcers dropped by the dozen, either screaming from impaled limbs or gurgling for breath as they clutched at their wounded throats. Several others lined up across the top deck and returned fire. After a salvo of bursting manarifles, numerous Xonans fell off their mounts and fell bloodily to the valley below. Before the crew of the Lightning Bearer could afford a proper retaliation, though, the attacking formations split ways to allow a large serpent with gray scales to dive through. The elongated snout of the creature flew open with triple rows of shark teeth while simultaneously extending two razor sharp talons into the meaty surface of the ship.

From where Roarke clung to the ship's hull, she winced. Her exposed ears rang from hellish screams, and she craned her neck in time to see the gray serpent soaring past the ship's edge on streams of dark magic. The shredded ribbons of Ledomaritan victims dangled from its snout as the creature flew up into the air, climbed skyward, and swallowed its prey all the way down its throat before coming back for another approach. Atop its spined neck, a lone Xonan with thick blue armor perched, twisting and tugging at the reins. Without a word, the Searonese stowaway found a crack in the battered ship's armor and hid safely from sight.

Up above, Rainbow Dash was attempting to crawl across the top deck. She made her way towards Nigthshade, sweating profusely as she slithered past an increasingly thick curtain of fallen bodies. When the mare in question finally saw her, she glared at her forelimbs and hissed, "Toss it... toss the book..."

In response, Nightshade clutched the tome even tighter.

Rainbow frowned. "Friggin' let go of it! Throw it over the side!" She panted, panted, gulped, and stammered, "Look, the moment I get my strength back, I can kick a bunch of these freaks' butt, save Kera, and maybe even save you! Now will you just—Unngh!" Rainbow doubled over from an intense wave of dizziness. The air behind her billowed as several serpent-riders dove low, jumped clear off their mounts, and leapt onto the exposed surface of the top deck.

"Fas mul riel!" Xonan voices chanted amidst their vertical charge. Tattooed stallions and mares with glimmering bits of bone pale armor landed on metal hooves. "Hal mul saj rem! Rej dien, Ledomul!"

Several enforcers immediately ran up, firing mana rifles.

A few Xonans fell down, drowning in their own blood. The others twirled and spun with mesmerizing acrobatics. In mid lunge, the pale sheen of their armor slid off like white paint, materializing into eflugent tentacles with scales and claws. The offensive miasma converge, forming into four legged reptialian abominations that sprinted forward, trampling over several Ledomaritan defenders and biting the limbs off others along the flanks.

Soldiers ran up, their berets flying off as they screamed bloody murder and attacked the summoned creatures in droves. Their tasers slashed the glowing flesh to ribbons, but it was no victory. The creatures simply burst into white streams, with each ribbon materializing into a separate serpent that clung to the meaty flesh of the closest pony within sight.

In rapid succession, the Ledomaritans collapsed to the horrible onslaught of the attacking Xonans. More and more equines leapt down from their mounts, stomping across the deck as they sent their summons to do the dirty work.

Zetta crouched behind a crate not far from Rainbow Dash. She panted and panted as she fired a mana pistol at the approaching forces. She managed to put several bullts between the eyes of multiple, glowing creatures, but she ran out of ammo too soon. Three scaled monsters burst through a line of supply crates and hissed at her. Zetta fell to her haunches scooting backwards and flinching as the monsters dove--

"Hrrrnnngh!" Basso burst through the line, covered in scrapes and bruises. The huge stallion bucked the attacking creatures to pale dust. He stood before Zetta and spun around in time to meet the charge of three Xonan warriors. "Not nice!" Teeth gritting, the stallion slammed his hooves straight down, sending a shockwave through the top deck of the ship.

The Xonans fell back, grunting into their helmets at the unexpected show of force. High above, four more soldiers leapt off their diving mounts and pounced at Basso's figure. "Rem mul dien, Ledomul!"

Panting, Rainbow Dash flashed her eyes above. "Look out! Up top!"

Basso spun. He took a deep breath, fell back, took the brunt of the four stallions' dive, and kicked all of them clear off his body. The Xonans shrieked ineffectually as they flew several feet, pinballing off a mast and landing to the bloodied floor beyond.

Meanwhile, a slithering serpent glided in from the violent melee in the background and lunged at Basso's exposed neck. A wooden crate flew into its body, smashing it to an ashen pulp.

Basso turned around, watching as Zetta galloped up to his side, reduced to tossing several bits of wreckage at the attacking forces. "I'm all out of ammo! We're not going to last for long!"

"Where's the Prime Enforcer?!" Basso shouted, using his massive forelimb to block, then punch a reptilian creature in the face. "Where's Fortis?! Or Straker?!"

"I think it's just us now!" Zetta shouted. "We gotta abandon ship if we wanna stay alive!"

"With these nasty things flying about?!" Basso retorted. "How far do you think we'd even get?!"

Just as he said that, a heavy shadow glided overhead. The large gray serpent flew by with a shriek, then twirled as its heavily armored rider jumped off. The Xonan's blue figure glinted in the sunlight, twirled about, and landed with a heavy thudddd a dozen meters away. Basso and Zetta instantly locked eyes with the warrior.

Slowly, the stallion stood up, his armored figure steaming all over with dark magic. When he at last lifted his face, a pair of eyes strobed with menace. Before everypony's gaze, the stallion's blue armor floated off—plate by plate—reforming into a neatly arranged bastard sword hovering at his side. The weapon was easily twice the size of any full grown pony, and the Xonan's exposed tattoos glowed with ghostly brilliance as he trotted icily forward with the sword in tow. The warrior's nostrils flared, and a phantom voice echoed from his lips beneath a wildly billowing mane of silver hair.

"Resiul mennaren halukken thriul!" he hissed, pushing his trot into a thundering allop. "Hammen sarakul mal dien!"

A contingent of enforcers charged his flank, tasers sparkling madly.

"Hrrrrgh—Yaaaugh!" The warrior bellowed, swinging only once with the bastard sword.

Three enforcers turned into six, f lopping bloodily across the wooden deck.

Two soldiers fired pot shots from behind a stack of crates.

The Xonan blocked with his sword, spun, and slammed the heavy weapon straight down. "Raka dien, harra siul!" His blade sent a shockwave through the deck, splitting a deep chasm through the surface and knocking the ponies off their hooves and into a bed of flanking serpents.

Zetta panted, backtrotting. "B-Basso..."

"Rrrr-Raaaaaaaaugh!" The warrior came at full force, accompanied by hissing, transklucent lizards and half-snakes.

Basso backed up into a shattered mast. The thing teetered behind him. Thinking fast, he ducked low.

The stallion's blade flew deep into the vertical wooden structure.

With a splash of splinters, the tall object teetered. Basso stomped reptilian attackers to pulp as he spun around the far side of the pillar and through his muscular shoulder into it. "Hnnngh!" The mast fell forward, hinged on the warrior's huge sword.

Swiftly, in one breath, the warrior doubled back, spun around, and swung his blade into a lunging uppercut. He successfully split the mast down the middle so that its halves fell on either side of him. However, just as the wooden debris was settling—

Basso stomped forward, ending his charge with a swing of both hooves. "Haaaugh!"

The unsuspecting warrior took the blow to the face, falling back and sliding against a pile of shattered crates and bloody bodies. He slowly stood up, his glowing eyes thin and menacing.

Basso immediately gulped. "Oh jeez, I think I made a booboo..."

"Basso!" Zetta squeaked as she stood besides Rainbow Dash. "Let's get out of here! Come on!"

"You go on ahead!" Basso grinded his hooves, ignoring the sweat running down his muzzle as the Xonan slowly stood up. "I'll hold him off!"

"Basso, no!"

"Do it!" the stallion growled. "If I know I protected ponies who deserved to live, then that'll make this worth it!" He pointed towards the far deck. "Go!"

Zetta winced. In a flurry of limbs, she rushed over to Rainbow's side and swooped her up. "Madame! Madame Nightshade!" she exclaimed. "We gotta get out of here! Let's hurry!"

The Xonan was back on his hooves, angrily charging Basso. "Rrrrrgh-Yaaaugh!"

Panting, Nightshade scampered away with the other two, avoiding sprays of debris flying over their heads from the nearby fight.

Basso ducked every swing that he could, returning with savage bucks to the warrior's chest and flank. The two squared off—an even match in the middle of a sea of banshee-shrieking death. As Zetta and Rainbow Dash limped towards the far end of the Lightning Bearer, they swiftly realized how hopeless the situation was. The battle was coming to an end, with droves of surviving Ledomaritans squatting low on their knees while Xonan attackers towered over them, holding the equines hostage with rings of hissing serpents and other summoned beasts.

"Th-there's nowhere to go!" Zetta stammered.

Rainbow Dash gulped and said, "Toss us both over the side."

Zetta gave her a double-take. "Are you crazy?!"

"As soon as we put our distance between ourselves and that book Nightshade's got, I can fly us to safety!" Rainbow grunted.

"But what about Nightshade—?"

"Look, what about her?!" Rainbow growled. "I don't know you, girl, but you don't seem like a bad pony!" She glared at the mare carrying the lavender tome beside them. "Unlike some of us, I think you deserve a second chance! And so do my friends, cuz I'll be swinging back for them as soon as—"

Basso's bruised body fell through a stack of crates in front of them, sending wooden debris everywhere.

"Unnnngh..." The stallion went limp, his chest quivering in little spasms.

"Basso!" Zetta shrieked.

A loud shout filled the air, like a howling wolf's. Rainbow Dash looked behind them.

The warrior leaned against his battered blade, emptying the contents of his lungs in victory. When he lowered his gaze, he bore a sneer beneath his glowing eyes. "Havalun thriel dien, Ledomul." He licked his lips and flung a hoof straight forward. A silver strip of metal hanging from his neck pulsed. His tattoos strobed up through his forward body, culminating in a fountain of ghostly serpents leaping from his outstretched limb. The creatures flew their way directly at the surviving mares, biting and gnashing at the air with miniature dragonteeth.

"Oh, Spark!" Zetta shrieked. She fell straight to the floor, cowering—as did Nightshade.

Rainbow Dash didn't. In spite of her dizzied health, she stood resolutely before Zetta and the Madame. When the throng of serpents reached her body... they instantly dissolved. Rainbow Dash gasped, teetering backwards slightly as the floorboards in front of her were baptized with brittle ash and loose scales. The pendant around her neck glowed with ruby light.

The warrior's jaw fell. From a distance, several other Xonans gasped, watching in shock from where they held countless enforcers hostage.

"Mahjj lien thrul!"

"Kus hem laj trite!"

"Biin ruj thiul craj mett bliun..."

Rainbow Dash's eyes darted down to her pendant, watching as the ruby glow faded. Both elated and confused, she glanced back at the warrior.

Nostrils fuming, the warrior pivoted on his grip of the anchored sword and flung his other limb. "Haaaaugh!" A stream of pale energy materialized into three charging reptiles. They leapt as one at Rainbow Dash's figure.

The pegasus barely flinched this time. Before the monsters could make contact, they exploded against an invisible shield right in front of Rainbow Dash, dissolving to brittle bone dust in front of her. Once again, the pendant glowed, dimmed, and was calm.

"Basso..." Zetta stammered besides the stirring stallion. "Did... d-did you just see that...?"

"Nnngh... just five more minutes, Mommy..." Basso slumped back down with a delirious grin on his muzzle.

Meanwhile, the warrior spat against the floor. Frowning Rainbow Dash's way, he raised his hulking sword and began marching icily towards her.

Rainbow gulped, taking a dizzy step backwards.

Sneering, the Xonan warrior raised the massive blade high over his horn—

A manabolt flew into the hilt of his sword. He lost control of his telekinetic grip, and the flat end of the huge blade slammed into his backside. "Ooof!" He fell hard onto the floor, the glow completely leaving his face and exposing a pair of confused, blue eyes.

Rainbow Dash looked to the side. Madame Nightshade had just picked a manarifle up from a fallen soldier and was training the smoking barrel of the thing onto the warrior's prone figure.

"So brutish..." The mare grunted aside. "One day, we'll be done with this nonsense, but evidently that isn't today." As the warrior began to stir, she cocked the weapon and aimed it at his tattooed muzzle. "I wouldn't move if I were you, good sir. Now might be a good time to order your forces to fall back."

Rainbow's eyes glanced across the deck full of corpses, burning cannon holes, and surrendered enforcers. "Uhhhh... Really?" She squinted beyond the cloud of flying serpents as the three Xonan battleships drew near. "You really think that's gonna work?"

"I didn't see you coming up with a better plan," Nightshade grunted.

Rainbow gulped. "Good p-point..." Just then, a figure trotted up to their side.

Nightshade looked over, and she breathed with relief. "Lieutenant, good timing."

Straker shuffled up to the group. He stood over a dead body and picked up a rifle.

"We need to find Fortis and attempt negotiating a way out of this mess," Nightshade said. She once more squinted down her sight at the warrior. "I do believe I have their leader at a disadvantage. We might be able to use that as leverage so that we might—"

The hilt of Straker's manarifle flew violently across her shattered horn.

"Unngh!" Nightshade fell down in a meaty slump.

Rainbow winced while Zetta gasped behind her. "Lieutenant?!" the uniformed mare stammered.

Straker turned to glare at the enforcer. He turned over his shoulder and performed a sharp gesture. On cue, four Xonans marched up, dragging the battered body of Prime Enforcer Fortis. They dumped his body with a grunt onto the floor as more and more tattooed soldiers gathered around at the tail-end of the bloody battle.

Zetta stared, dumbfounded. Rainbow Dash watched silently while Nightshade stirred on the ground.

Slowly, the warrior trotted up. With each step he took, he dissolved the bastard sword, bit by bit. The plates floated back into place around his body, reforming dark blue armor brimming with dark magic. He towered above Fortis, fuming, then turned to gaze upon Straker with considerably more grace.

"Mazulen hrava tren sala thriul sen Ledomul, Dalen."

With a calm breath, Straker got on his knees and bowed low before the warrior. "Baj mek har dren vass kuun rahk, Zytharros Xon-Nagu'n. Mek Ledomul shren kar. Gress majj thriul, Xon-Nagu'n, Lasairfion."

The warrior nodded, then extended his hoof over Straker's horn. "Lasairfion samma lethielsen thiul sunna dien, Dalen." A pulse of energy formed between them. "Thiul Lasairfion, thiul Nagu'n, diennen 'Straker.'"

Translucent serpent figures rolled down from the warrior's limb, covering Straker's body from head to hoof. Then—poison drawn from a wound—Straker's entire coat color changed, peeling off his body to reveal a different colored fur beneath, segmented by glowing tattoos of elaborate design.

Zetta's ears drooped as she whimpered, "No flippin' way..."

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, eyeing the strip of pale metal hanging from the stallion's neck as his uniform also dissolved. "Way."

Once the tranformation was complete, the Xona stood up and bowed his head once more towards the warrior. He pivoted about, marching icily towards Rainbow Dash and Nightshade.

"Straker... how...?!" Zetta stammered. "Why...?"

"My name is Evv Sater Dalen, sworn servant to Kim Janzen Zytharros." the stallion hissed, his eyes glowing as serpents floated on either side of him. "Second Born to the glory of Nagu'n and her royal avatar, Princess Buch Tania Lasairfion." He came to a stop, glaring down at the huddled Ledomaritan masses. "And your heretical campaign ends today, you bastard foals of a corrupt queen!"

Comments

[Winree]

Oh my.

[Axan Zenith]

Oh hell.

[RoboRed]

Oh crap...

He licked his lips and flung a hoof straight forward. A silver strip of metal hanging from his neck pulsed.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, eyeing the strip of pale metal hanging from the stallion's neck as his uniform also dissolved. "Way."

Well...that damn well confirms it...and we also know which side Straker is on.

Also, it means that these are really, really not the good guys...

Typo:

Atop its spined neck, a lone Xonan with thick blue armor perched, twistin and tugging at the reins.

[Zaid ValRoa]

Well that happened.

So Straker, or should I say "Ew", was a Xonan spy.
I... I didn't saw that coming.
So now this leaves us with a battered Basso, a dizzy Dash, a stupefied Zetta, a raging Roarke, and a confused Kera and Zaid.
Next chapters will be amazing

[AppleTank]

Oh fsck me with the moon (continuing with the Oh "expletive" thing here), we got a Xonan here.
Cue threeway when Shell comes.

You know you want to.

[ButtEater9]

Figured Straker had something to do with the whole attack. Very awesome.

[FloydienSlip]

Well, that was unexpected.

[silvadel]

The sooner they can get off this beknighted continent the better.

[Future Regret]

Stupid Nightshade. Ugh...

[Tchernobog]

[SugarPesticide]

So Straker is not Straker. It's good to know that I can still be surprised by this story.

Although ... his name is Evv? Because I can't help but read that "Ew". As in "Ew, it's going to be messy when all these antagonists collide."

[durandana]

whoa hold on I left my xonan dictionary at home...

[Jorlem]

Well, I suppose this explains where Shell got all of the Chaos metal that Dash was kept in...

[Aqua Fortis]

Y'know, since I first heard about them in Eljunbyro, I thought, "These Xonans might be helpful to Rainbow Dash if she manages to make it across the front. The enemy of Dash's enemy is her friend, right?"

Frickin WRONG.

[Jorlem]

3418768
Remember:

29. The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less.

[Jade Curtiss]

Damn. What an intense chapter!

[That_one_guy]

"Shit just got real" doesn't even fucking describe it.

[Zeno]

3418675
I too thought this.
Also, Lasairfion's first name looks like "Butch"

[The 24th Pegasus]

Disappointed the Lightning Bearer went out with more of a whimper than a bang, but here's hoping that it resurfaces some day to do glorious combat against the Steel Wing! This had to just be a setback for the ship, after all, otherwise it wouldn't be fair to Shell and his battered crew.

So it looks like the captured just got captured again and the capturers are also captured. At least now we get to see some of Xona!

3418459
I'm hoping for more of a fourway with Dash's gang, the Lightning Bearer, Shell, the Xonans, and the Cultists. Okay, so maybe fiveway. I'm still holding out hope that we haven't seen the end of this glorious battleship yet.

Roarke needs to start blowing things up pretty soon. I'm sure that bloodlust is hard to keep controlled for so long, especially knowing that you missed out on a perfectly good fight.
24

[Jonathon Smythe]

Well, shit. Did not see this coming. Chaos metal strips creating wyverns/drakes in the control of Xona. Now the question is, is this a splinter group, or is Xona completely corrupt, all the way to royalty?

Shell ETA: 8 chapters.
Jury ETA: 35 chapters.

[dafiltafish]

Why the hell was he not told of the plan? Seriously? you would think that is something he would know about.

[The_K_Man]

So now we see why Ledomare is desperate to find a tech advantage against their enemy

[Lightning Bearer]

Well, that was damned intense. I guess I should've known that Straker would be a problem. It sounds one of those names - kind of like Slade - that seem to gravitate towards villainous types. We also get confirmation that these guys are allied with Lasairfion (to whom the sword n' armor guy [Zytharros] is apparently a general), as well as functional-confirmation that chaos strips are indeed involved. Now I'm just wondering what this Nagu'n thing is. Some kind of deity? Something related to the machine world? Something connected to the mysterious dark force mentioned several times now? All of the above?

Scariest of all, the Xonans are now in possession of a state of the art Ledomaritan battleship (they'd be stupid not to repair it and use it to their advantage).

All this new info and world-building and narrative hijinks are delicious.

A manabolt flew into the hilt of his sword. He lost control of his telekinetic grip, and the flat end of the huge blade slammed into his backside. "Ooof!"

Some things are the same in every language.

[Fishberry]

So, Straker is really a Xonan loyal to magical pony North Korea.

For a story filled with the unexpected, I...

Am moderately surprised, actually! Good job!

What a clusterfuck of a situation. How the blue blazes are RD's companions supposed to catch up with her NOW?

The only solution I can envision involves RD somehow negotiating with the Xonans for the safe passage of the NJ.

Mr Dalen (or is that Mr. Ev? Xonan names, how do they work?) and / or Kera may be key in accomplishing such negotiations.

... Or this is just a prelude to a gigantic clusterfuck of epic proportions.

We shall see!

[zaponator]

You know, I would say this will was part where he lets them go, seeing as there's really no reason for any of the Xonans to have a beef with Rainbow. Somehow I doubt it, though. The villains thusfar haven't exactly been known for using sound logic as a basis for attempting to murder Rainbow Dash. I wouldn't be surprised if his only problem with her was "She's here... so we should kill her."

[ponygrad]

The xonans must not have much more control over the spirits as the minotaurs if they're just using the strips.

[ForestFeather]

I really have no words for what in the world just happened, here. Other than, "Please, sir, I'd like some more!"

[bassofthe]

Basso was beaten? Crêpe. These Xonans are powerful.

Now, the Xonans have noticed Dash. This could become very interesting.

~Basso

[kajisora]

Xonan really reminds me of the dragon language in Elder Scrolls...
Yet their names seem to be part german.

Yayy spies behind enemy lines!
I wonder if they replaced the guy, or if "Straker" never really existed in the first place?

[The Casual Bro]

biggest plot twist I've seen yet.

[xXshaydXx]

shit just keeps getting worse.

[Nasty Mister Monket]

And then the Steel Wing's bow smashed into his face.

These blokes wear the chaos metal like a piece of clothing. I can infer they are going to be some seriously messed up people.

I didn't think the pendant would do that. It never did with the chaos creatures of Windthrow after all.
Maybe the Ordsjot rune is for drawing protective power from the book, rather than protecting from the book?

[Booster Spice]

Ok, now we find out just how that front line ship has been able to remain intact all this time, The Xonans have been feeding Nightshade to get her to bring the book back for them, which is at least two levels of intelligence above the average extremely competent movie villain. Which in themselves are very rare.

The only thing I got to say about the excessively powered, magicd, expert, backup master fighter nobility that just managed to take out Basso.

Pansy.

I so want to see that book remove the power of those chaos strips at some point, then for Basso to spank that toenails ass. Straight through the machine worlds wall. Course, it might take a while. Someones bound to have popcorn.

Im still confused as to why that book is interfereing with Dash, given she is guided towards it, or at least the flame, and absorbed the flame before from each time.

Wonder if Shell is going to fall down the machine world again, maybe when these guys finally get there?

[Lasairfion]

Ah hahahahaha

3418782 Damned right.

It also explains why the Ledomartitans are so focused on trying to get the flame to work for them: its power could look practically an antidote to the chaos strips in their mind. Pity that it's the other side of the wrong coin. Only harmony is the real opposite.

Interesting to wonder what would happen to their chaos strips and creatures if Dash removed the element and went Discord.

[Zytharros]

Excellent. So excellent. I was wondering when IT would happen.

Aww crap. If the Xonans decide to blow the ship, how are Kera and Ace Ventura the Cultist going to escape?

[Cynderfall]

So much blood...

[Nevlamas]

It's a bit strange - Rainbow didn't have that effect on the chaos creatures back in Wintergate.

I didn't quite follow the explanations concerning the construction of Xonan language discussed on the Jury, so I will comment this from an artistical point of view instead of a scientifical one: I absolutely love the Xonan melody and rhythm both. Probably on purpose, perhaps just by chance, you did not only make it sound like something organically grown from Old Norse or Germanic, but also made it move into the same direction as the Skyrim dragon language, which I consider one of the most beautiful adaptions of these already gorgeous languages.

Just listen to this shit. Which words says 'awesome' better than morokei?

"Rem mul dien, Ledomul!"

If this was a naturally grown Language, I'd now suspect that - since 'Ledomul' quite certainly means 'Ledomartian' - 'mul' in general means 'to be', 'to belong' or 'to be in relation with'. But knowing how it really is, I won't even try - so as long as Pilate didn't figure it out, no one will figure it out. It's as easy as that.

3419413 Stupid or fanatic?

3419749 No German there, sir. But as mentioned, Dovah and Xonan probably both stem from Germanic or Old Norse, so it's a close relative. Either a mother or an aunt.

[Swan Song]

3418449 Not just a spy... A PRINCE.

[Straker]

3418449 You guys MAY have a better chance with me than a Prime Enforcer. I may be one of the good guys...maybe XD

[dashie76]

IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!

Well, that was certainly something. The reveal of Straker's allegiance with Xona probably would've been more potent if we had gotten to know him a bit better first, though...Or maybe I'm just being crazy. These are my thoughts so far.

-MASH

[Vandratha]

[iloveportalz0r]

>She made her way towards Nigthshade
>She managed to put several bullts between the eyes
>Three enforcers turned into six, f lopping bloodily
>accompanied by hissing, transklucent lizards
>he spun around the far side of the pillar and through his muscular shoulder into it
>Zetta squeaked as she stood besides Rainbow Dash

2lazy to add green color from my tablet added green 2014/02/07. Haven't you found an editor yet?

[MellowMabari]

Well...huh. I don't even. Like, my ability to even has been temporarily disabled.

I don't even think I can formulate predictions right now. Time to roll with this crazy plot and see what happens, I suppose.

Also, it's hard to describe this chapter without using the word intense. And by intense I mean scary as hell. The Xonans are genuinely frightening, what with their weird warg magic. Dash should totally get a magic tattoo and summon herself something cool.

Onward!

[MellowMabari]

3703097

Pfft, like any editor could keep up with the update pace.

[Super Trampoline]

[YoshiFawful64]

Well. That just happened.
Maybe Dash could try talking her way out of this by pointing out that she, Kera, Roarke and Zaid aren't actually Ledomaritan? Zetta and Basso would still be screwed, though. Kera might be helpful here.

[whizzball1]

-Spirit

[remnants]

I did NOT see that one coming

[Deprecated Unicum]

Was wondering whether Straker contacted Shell or the Xonans with the soundstone, turns out it were the Xonans.

Xonan language, so confuus

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

It's interesting how I see this as partially a good thing.