A Destiny Discovered
PROLOGUE:
Kytitia Pyrrithia was a curious, active Saris kitten, of about thirteen years when she found that she possessed the Gift. She was an avid student of magic, and many knew her throughout Kion, for not only her magical prowess, but also the amount of mischief she got into when younger, and even then on occasion. At this stage in her young life, she studied as an apprentice to Kamilari, the Spiritist trainer of Kion.
Kamilari had taken Kytitia under her paw after a run-in with the local beetle ringleader, Gritus Maximus…
-x-End Prologue -x-
-x- Eight years ago -x-
The golden fingers of the sun stretched out across the desert sands of Kion, coating in an aura of golden hue. A young Saris white as snow and patterned in the manner of a snow leopard with vibrant green eyes prowled along the beach, she was about 4’ 4� at her age. She was play-hunting the local sand beetles, which did not take too kindly to a whack with an energetic paw.
Kytitia slunk across the sands, hiding even as she played. The reason behind this was that the local beetle ringleader, Gritus Maximus, was not fond of young Saris heckling his friends and would often attack any in sight quite viciously. Kytitia more than had her share of brushes with that one, though, he had never managed to kill her; she was too quick for him to catch once she sprinted off with her Saris agility.
She quietly stalked a beetle, which was in a small group of three, fortunately, the sand beetles were not overly aggressive unless provoked, save for Gritus, so they were quite fun to harass. With deft swiftness, Kytitia pounced and whacked the unfortunate beetle quite hard, which sent it skidding off in the sand amidst many clicks of agitation. The beetle quickly recovered its feet and then rushed at the Saris, quite upset. Kytitia pranced and bounced just out of reach of its rather painful mandibles, giggling and teasing it until it finally gave up out of frustration. The upset beetle quickly turned tail and sped off, leaving a sand cloud in its wake while Kytitia watched it, giggling that it had been unable to catch her. Her amusement, however, was short-lived as she suddenly felt a terrific clamp on her back left hind paw.
“EEEKKK!� She sprang about three feet into the air and landed just as far away from her tormentor; she quickly turned around to see a rather angry Gritus clacking its mandibles. Her paw was bleeding, but the beetle had not broken her paw. The beetle had massive jaws, did not manage to catch her with a full Mandible Crush attack.
She yelped and took off, “Owowowowowoww!�
Gritus pursued for a time, but decided to let her be after she made it past the shrine and halfway towards the portal pad. Once she made certain Gritus had run off, Kytitia sat down and gently licked her bleeding hind paw, not feeling quite so playful any more.
“Did you have another run-in with your friend Gritus today, Kytitia?� A warm voice called to her.
She paused in her licking and looked to see Kamilari, the local Spiritist Trainer of Kion standing a little distance away with an amused smile upon her features and retorted, “He’s NOT my friend! He is a big bully and he needs to be taught a lesson!�
Kamilari laughed and walked over to Kytitia, kneeling next to her to look at her wounded paw, “Here, let me take care of that for you, kitten.� Kamilari held Kytitia’s paw in her own as a soft purple light shone from it and Kytitia felt a warm feeling suffuse her and watched her wound close up in awe.
“Wow! What did you do?� The kitten asked the older Saris.
“Oh, a simple spell, to say the least, known as Self-Sacrificium. It lets me use some of my spirit to heal another of serious wounds, though, this isn’t too bad, to be honest.�
Kytitia looked astonished as she looked back at her paw, where Gritus had bit her and moved it around, not feeling any more pain, “That is amazing! Could you teach me how to do that?�
Kamilari smiled warmly, “Of course, kitten, would you like to become a Spiritist?�
“A Spiritist? What do they do?� She asked, puzzled.
“A Spiritist studies the magic of Blight and Spirit and can use those powers to weaken her enemies, as well as heal herself while she defends herself. She does this by attacking the spirit of a creature, using its spirit energy to also heal herself as needed.�
Kytitia listened wide-eyed and fascinated and it only took her a second to answer, “Yes! I do! Tell me more!�
Kamilari laughed and helped Kytitia up, “Then come with me, Kytitia, I shall tell you more about it at my home.�
The young Saris eagerly followed after Kamilari and soon enough they arrived at Kamilari’s home.
Kamilari offered Kytitia a seat, which she happily took, “A Spiritist has many abilities, kitten, but what sets us apart from so many others is that we learn the nuances of the spirit intimately. With our knowledge of spirit, we strike through any armor to directly tear away an enemy’s life force, restoring our own in the process. We also learn Blight intimately. What better way to weaken and drain your foe by weakening their attributes to protect yourself and make them more vulnerable? Because Life and Spirit intertwine so deeply, we also know how to make full use of any of the life spells of healing and the augmentation skills of a healer. Of course, we don’t learn anything about Life or Augmentation magic in this school, but we can use it as easily as the best healer, provided we study a bit of the art of Life.�
Kytitia listened, goggle-eyed at the enormity of a Spiritist’s abilities, she grew to like this increasingly with every passing moment, it seemed perfectly suited to her!
Kamilari paused for a moment with a smile and then reached into a small chest next to her to pull out a small training dagger and a spell. “While there is no requirement to join this remarkable school, kitten, there is a task I would ask of you to complete for me.�
Curious, Kytitia tilted her head, “What would that be Kamilari?�
Again, the trainer smiled, “Why, its your first major test of being a Spiritist. I’d like for you to kill Gritus Maximus for me and bring me back his carapace.�
Stunned, Kytitia blinked a few times, “WHAT? You cannot be serious! You saw what he did to my paw!�
“What better way to prove yourself than by slaying the very creature who wounded your paw?�
“But, but… he’s mean!�
Kamilari smiled again and tapped the rune spell in front of her, “With this spell, you will be able to strike through his defenses, he will be helpless to protect himself against that, even with his notorious Harden Shell ability.�
The young Saris blinked in surprise as she took the dagger and spell, which she studied for a time to make sure she had it memorized, but still, she was hesitant, “But… he’s so strong…�
Kamilari laughed again, “You are a Saris, kitten, AND a Spiritist, use your ingenuity to figure out how to defeat him, I’m sure you will succeed.�
Kytitia nodded lightly and then picked herself up, looking determined, “Okay, I’ll do it… just you watch… I’ll be back.�
With that, Kytitia scurried out of Kamilari’s house and went to find Gritus. She stealthily snuck past the shrine and slinked amongst the sand dunes, unseen by the beetles. It took her some time, but she eventually found Gritus lounging near the ocean surf and she felt her heart begin to race as she stalked the unwary beetle. When she got to about three feet away, she clutched her dagger and pounced upon him. She used her dagger to stab between his wings, which caused the beetle to screech in pain, but its wings suddenly clamped down as it tensed and tore Kytitia’s dagger from her paw, which flung her off his back.
“EEEEKKK!� She exclaimed as she tumbled about, but quickly regained her footing as the quite upset beetle raced at her, mandibles clacking dangerously. She staggered back, tried to remember the rune Kamilari had given her, and it quickly came to her. In a moment, a purple glow formed about her outstretched paws and a large purple ball shot forth, striking Gritus directly upon its back, enveloping it in a purple mist for a moment. Startled, the beetle screeched as Kytitia’s bolt struck true, hurting it badly, it dove at her and clamped her thigh viciously with its Mandible Crush.
Kytitia yelped in pain as she put both her paws about its head and tried to pull it off, at the same time unleashing another bolt into its body, which caused it to screech and let go, the power of the blast sending it tumbling away. She quickly backpedaled, limping a bit as her thigh bled.
“Owowowowwww! That hurts you big bully!� She backpedaled more to get a little bit more distance between the two of them and sent another spirit bolt into the notorious beetle, which was already speeding after her again; her bolt again struck true and flipped Gritus over onto his back, sending her dagger even deeper into it.
The sand beetle hissed and clacked its mandibles as it rushed Kytitia again before she could fire another bolt and then bit her left shin. It clamped on with another Mandible Crush and chewed on her for a few moments while she squealed in pain and attempted to pull him off once more, but failed and only managed to let him bite her other thigh this time.
“OW! You rotten beetle!� She tore Gritus from her thigh and through him away from her, but while it was in the air, she fired two more Spirit Bolts at it and sent it crashing to the ground. She was bleeding badly now and could feel herself weakening; she had to kill it soon, or it would chew her into minced kitty pie!
The beetle picked itself back up and rushed at her again, but she could also see it was weakening too and sent another spirit bolt into it, which caused it to screech again in pain, but it still continued its relentless pursuit of her. Kytitia backpedaled again, but tripped over a stone and fell to her bottom, which gave Gritus the chance to attack again, but this time, it jumped and bit onto her shoulder, ripping and tearing at it.
“AIEEEE!� Kytitia brought her free paw around and set her paw on its head and then blasted it with another spirit bolt, which sent the ruthless critter tumbling from her shoulder onto its back, legs twitching as it became still.
“You stupid beetle, that hurt!� She pulled her dagger from the dead beetle’s back and used it to carve its shell off its body, “This had better be worth it, or I’m going to carve Kamilari’s hide!�
Slowly, and painfully, she picked herself up and dragged her battered body back to Kamilari’s home, the carapace dragging behind her in her good arm. It was night time by the time she finally reached Kamilari’s house and she wasn’t in at all a good mood, she hurt badly and her skin and fur hung from her raggedly, where Gritus had bitten her.
A warm voice greeted her as she entered and she looked up to see Kamilari etching some rune of some sort upon a spell shard, “Oh my, kitten, you look like you had quite the tussle!�
Kytitia grumbled and with the last of her strength, hurled the carapace at Kamilari before tumbling to the ground, “You nearly got me killed!�
Kamilari quickly dodged the carapace and let it clatter to the ground, looking serious, “Perhaps, kitten, but it was a necessity… You see, in order for you to earn this spell shard, you have to prove yourself worthy of it to the conclave of Spiritists.� She leaned down and picked up the battered and worn carapace of Gritus, “This IS that proof and thus you have completed your trial to show us that you will go far in this school.� Kamilari set the carapace on her desk, picked up the spell shard, and walked over to Kytitia, who was now sitting on the ground, licking her wounds.
“Here, let me help you, kitten.� Kamilari again used her spell of Self-Sacrificium and instantly the many wounds on Kytitia’s body vanished, though where they had been still hurt a bit, “Now, Kytitia, since you have proven yourself to the conclave, you are entitled to this spell shard. It is known as Spiritist’s Edge, it will help make your spirit magic more powerful than it was before, study it for a time and when you learn it, let me know.� Kamilari set the spell shard into Kytitia’s paw and walked to her desk to observe the carapace of Gritus.
Kytitia studied the rune for some time, before she understood it. When she did, it felt as if a wave of knowledge and realization rushed through her all at once, she even felt stronger too!
“I get it! I understand it!� She seemed quite pleased when Kamilari looked up and passed a warm smile.
“Welcome, Spiritist Kytitia, you will go far in our school, of that I have no doubt. You should run along to your home now, your parents will be worried that you were out so late.�
With her bad mood dissolved, Kytitia happily skipped out the door and ran off, eager to tell her parents about her adventures of the day…
-x- A few days later –x-
It had been a few exciting days for Kytitia as she explored the extent of her powers, but there was still much she really didn’t know; her parents had replaced her training dagger with a lovely bronze dagger, bejeweled with turquoise, malachite, and garnet. Her mother had given her a more potent version of her training spirit spell and seemed quite pleased that Kytitia had joined the conclave of Spiritists. Studying as a mage-class was difficult and many others forsook the power of magic for a warrior, scout, or cleric class. Kytitia’s father was a warrior, and her mother was a cleric and neither of them had ever really been very thrilled by the knowledge that a mage never had much protection other than a few simple articles of clothing and so they had chosen classes where they would have better protection. Nevertheless, to see their daughter with such an aptitude for magic thrilled them to no end and they highly encouraged her to pursue her new school of study.
It was a beautiful day, a gentle, cooling breeze blew off the nearby ocean, and birds sang happily in the air. The sun was bright and warm and not a cloud marred the sky. Kytana and her mate, Kytalis, decided to take Kytitia out for a walk to explore the lands on the way to SSlanis, they had long instructed her that the SSlik and Saris were long standing allies and that the SSlik needed the Saris’ help. They had decided now that Kytitia had some skill with magic, that it would be a good time to go on an adventure, however brief. The Aegis on Lesser Aradoth had been quiescent recently and the two adults decided it would be a lovely day to visit their friends and allies, the SSlik.
“Come now, Kytitia, the day is a-wasting! Pick up those paws of yours and hop to it!� Kytalis called to their young daughter.
Kytalis was a handsome Saris, a bit on the taller side of the spectrum, about 5’ 8�, he had a deep gray fur coat and silver eyes; he was quite muscular and wore golden plate mail. He carried a large great sword strapped across his back. He bore many scars from his travels as a warrior, but wore them proudly, he was happy to tell the stories of each of his scars to someone who would listen. He had a warm and jovial demeanor with a bit of a battle-derived commanding aura about him.
Kytana, on the other paw, was lean, lithe, with a snow-white coat, and blue eyes. She was of average height, 5’ 5�. She wore silver chain mail and carried a fine bronze mace tucked into her belt and a medium shield strapped to her right arm. She did not bear any scars upon her beautiful fur coat, as she was a cleric and could heal herself rather well. She had a kind, gentle, encouraging demeanor about her with a special sort of sagacity that one could sense if they were close enough.
It did not take the Saris kitten long to hurry down the stairs carrying her small dagger with her; she did not wear anything, but then, she didn’t need to, she was, after all, a Saris endowed with a beautiful long, silken fur coat.
“Ah, there you are Kyten, glad to see how promptly you answered.� Her father chuckled warmly, calling her by his pet name for her, which was a pun on ‘kitten’, “Now how about you put that sharp dagger of yours in your pack and not run around with it?�
“But I want to feel like a real warrior! Just like you and mother!�
Kytana laughed, “Alright Kyten, but remember not to run with it, it isn’t the smartest idea to do so without a sheath for it.�
“Oh alright…� Kytitia looked over herself to see if she had a pocket or something nearby, but remembered that she wasn’t wearing anything, “Oh bother, okay, I’ll put it away…� She stored her knife in her knapsack and looked to her parents expectantly, “Can we go now?�
Kytalis nodded, “Now we are ready, come, let us go.�
Together, the Saris family left Kion by way of the East Gate; Kytitia leading the way as she happily pranced ahead and raced back and forth between the nearest object and her parents. The family walked on the road, not particularly concerned about any critters that they might encounter, after all, Kytalis and Kytana were decently traveled hunters, even if they weren’t experts at their schools of choice.
Kytitia walked along the edge of the road alongside the cliffs, marveling at how tall they were, but also feeling a bit ill. She had never been fond of heights and so dared not to venture too close to them normally, but as this was a special outing with her parents, she decided to be a bit more daring than she normally was, just to prove how brave she was to them, even though they were well aware of her fear of heights.
“Can you see me? I am scared of nothing any more! I can fight just like you!�
The two Saris adults laughed, “Yes, yes, you are Kyten, I suppose we have to look out for you!�
Kytitia beamed at the compliment and happily skipped her way back to her parents and linked her paws with theirs as they walked, enjoying the lovely day and mild weather. They walked for a few hours, but soon found that they had to stop, for seemingly as if out of no where, Aegis agents appeared, led by three skeletons, one that had an evil looking shield, another that had a wicked looking staff, and another that had a nasty looking horned bow. Not to mention, there was a horde of Aegis skeletons behind them.
Kytitia’s parents paused for just a moment, but quickly released Kytitia’s paws though; Kytalis was the one that spoke, “Kyten, these are three of the Aegis Lieutenants on Lesser Aradoth… Vekh, Borlak, and Khar…�
Kytitia’s parents drew their weapons and faced the Aegis agents, but oddly, the Aegis did not immediately attack, and amazingly Vekh, the leader spoke, pointing his sword towards Kytitia.
“Surrender the kitten.� It commanded in a clear voice, which sent chills down their spines.
Kytalis tensed up and glared to the Lieutenant, “What use do you have of the kitten? Kytitia, back off.�
“Such skill and power, is welcomed by the Aegis.� Vekh gestured and the Aegis fanned out around the Saris family, leaving them surrounded.
Though puzzled by the skeleton’s actions, Kytitia backed away from her parents, only for Lieutenant Khar to catch her and pin her against it.
“EEEEKKKK!� Kytitia’s dagger clattered to the ground as her paws were pinned to her sides, rendering her helpless, since she could not summon her spirit magic either while her arms were pinned.
Alarmed, her parents turned to see their daughter held tightly within Khar’s grasp and Kytalis brought his sword to bear against Vekh, “Let her go, vile filth!�
Vekh’s features twisted into a grotesquely warped grin
“Kill the spares. Let the kitten watch.�
At that, Khar quickly dragged carried Kytitia over to Vekh, standing a little behind it yet, letting her get a clear view of the carnage that was about to occur.
Kytitia squirmed in Khar’s grasp, but at sixteen seasons, he was far stronger than she was and she could not move in the least, despite her best efforts, “No! Let me go! Let me go! Mother, Father! Help me!�
Kytalis leaped at Vekh with a powerful Cleave strike, but the Aegis Lieutenant blocked it and struck back with Critical Strike, scoring a massive hit against Kytalis, which sent him tumbling back, a massive score in his chest plate, from which his crimson blood streamed forth. A white light shone around Kytana’s paws as she quickly cast her Revitalize II upon Kytalis, mending his wounds even as Vekh pounced and struck again with his own Cleave attack, crushing Kytalis to the ground.
“Kill the healer, then the warrior will fall.� Vekh ordered and Borlak drew an arrow, notched it, and sent it flying into Kytana, which collided solidly at her abdomen, lodging between the chain rings of her armor. She ignored it so she could cast her Improved Revitalize upon Kytalis, but an aegis warrior struck her with its own Cleave attack, which threw her off-balance and tore a deep rent in her armor.
Kytitia hissed, flexed her claws, and attempted to claw Khar, but it only held her tighter as it cast, with one arm, Mystic Blaze upon Kytana and then engulfed her father in flames even as Kytalis pushed himself up and struck at Vekh once more. Vekh parried the attack and swung its sword upward in a vicious arc across his abdomen, getting under the plates and deeply gashing him, which caused the Saris warrior to stagger for balance.
Kytana hissed in pain as the blaze burned her, but parried one skeleton attack and blocked another’s, but she could not avoid a mage’s Fiery Strike, which blasted her from her feet and sent her tumbling into the midst of more skeletons. She rose upon one knee and blocked yet another attack and then parried another, before casting Group Health, to mend her and Kytalis’ wounds.
She growled as she stood up and used her Smash ability to send another skeleton staggering and then struck with her Coordinated Strike, crushing it to the ground. As it was a lesser skeleton of the Lieutenants, it did not rise again, but that did not’ stop two more skeletons from unleashing a joint attack upon Kytana at the same time. Reflexively, she blocked one attack, but could not parry the other and suffered another tearing blow to her armor and sending her crashing to the ground.
Kytalis parried Vekh’s attack, struck with a terrific low slash, and cut it badly enough that three of its ribs broke and clattered to the ground amidst a hiss of anger from the creature. At that, Vekh summoned two more skeletal warriors, which hurriedly pounced upon him and struck with a Cleave and Critical Strike at the same time, while Vekh unleashed a Multi-Strike at the same moment. Kytalis parried the Cleave, but the Critical Strike broke through his guard and left him vulnerable to Vekh’s Multi-Strike. His armor split in half, clattered to the ground from the impact of the Critical Strike, and let Vekh’s hits score deeply into his flesh, bringing him to his knees. Vekh’s gaze scintillated with malice and he used his Coordinated Strike in conjunction with the other two skeletons’ Coordinated Strikes. Their blades pierced through Kytalis and he grunted as they pressed their weapons into him more deeply.
“Die, Saris.� Vekh spoke darkly, wrenched its sword around in Kytalis’ chest, and then cruelly wrenched it from him, leaving Kytalis to slide off the other skeletons’ blades to fall into a growing puddle of his own blood.
“Kytalis!� Kytana cried out as she saw him fall, even though she herself was upon the ground, quite wounded, and unable to act.
Vekh walked up to her, set its blade against her armor, manipulated it around until it entered through a damage part of it, grinning diabolically as its sword touched against Kytana’s chest.
Knowing her time was almost up, Kytana looked to her daughter, “Grow stronger, Kyten…We shall be there for you. We love you.� Vekh then pressed its sword deep into her chest, wrenched it around, and tore it from her body, leaving her to fall next to Kytalis.
“No! Father! Mother!� Kytitia cried as burning tears streamed from her eyes at the horror of what she just saw.
Vekh turned towards the kitten, grinning diabolically and then addressed Khar and his minions “Take the kitten to Lord Bar’akath.�
Thus, the Aegis captured Kytitia and held her prisoner in Lord Bar’akath’s fortress where they subjected her to torture. Kytitia did not understand why they did not just kill her on the spot with her parents and often wondered why they wanted her alive.
While Kytitia did not know, the Aegis did; they desired to add her skill and ability with magic to their retinue, but to turn her into one of them at such a young age would have impeded her growth, and thus they tried to break her will and convert her. While overtime, she would have eventually become a full-fledged Aegis, the time that she had while still of the Living Races, she would grow quickly skilled in the magics they wished her to learn.
All the while during her imprisonment, she stubbornly clung to the memory of her parents and resisted the Aegis’ attempts to subjugate her. Eventually, they grew tired of her stubbornness and decided to try to terrify her into joining their cause…
It happened one day that one of the Saris Marauders bodily picked her up under command of Bar’akath. It held her with one arm far above the ground of the tower and forced her to look down with its axe blade resting lightly upon the back of her neck, so if she were to try to look up, it would decapitate her.
Bar’akath stood with his arms crossed while the marauder shook Kytitia up and down quite vigorously, causing her to see the illusion of herself falling to the ground, terrifying her.
“AIEEE! No! Please, I am scared of heights! Do not drop me!�
“Do it, kitten, and swear your allegiance to me and the Aegis and we shall stop this.� Bar’akath intoned.
“No! I won’t do it!� Kytitia squeaked.
Undeterred, Bar’akath summoned one of his clerics and pointed to her right leg, “Break it, a cat cannot land on its paws if they are broken.� The undead agent swung its mace with a powerful Smash attack and all present could hear the bone break as Kytitia screamed in pain, her leg hanging uselessly beneath her.
“You have another chance, Saris, make your decision.� Bar’akath spoke darkly.
Through the pain, Kytitia remained stubborn and choked on her words, “You killed my parents! NO!�
Bar’akath gestured again and the cleric used it Smash attack on her other leg, making her yowl in agony. “Wrong answer, try again, kitten.�
Crying through the pain of her injuries Kytitia’s voice cracked and trembled, “N-n-no, y-you killed my p-parents.�
Bar’akath snorted, “Stubborn fool.� He gestured again as the marauder holding Kytitia jiggled her roughly, causing shooting pains to stab through her legs. Bar’akath did not stop there; he had his cleric break Kytitia’s right arm as well and she screeched liked a skinned cat.
With her consciousness spinning wildly about through a haze of red and stabbing pains, she could not find the strength to speak even though the Aegis pressed her.
Bar’akath smirked malevolently, as if reading her thoughts, “I like seeing your pain. Now answer, Saris.�
She blinked a few times, with tears streaming from her eyes, but shook her head.
“Fine then, silly fool.� Bar’akath gestured to the marauder, “Get rid of her, she’s useless.�
With a guttural growl, the marauder withdrew its axe and laughed hollowly. Without a word, the marauder hurled Kytitia from the tower top with great force.
Kytitia was lucid enough to see the earth falling to her at an incredible rate and squealed in terror, her worst fear had come true; she was going to die by falling from a high place.
The ground cut her scream short as her body cracked sickeningly upon the rocks below, lying in an ungodly twisted shape, blood pouring from her mouth, eyes, and nose. Without another word, Bar’akath turned away from the grisly sight, content that he did his job. Down below, the many other undead rushed over and mangled the corpse that was once Kytitia...
Originally Posted by Xoshara
