No Stars Over Bethlehem. [T-1 MP; Open Challenge.]

The endless expanse overhead was bloodshot and bleeding. Viciously cerise, no clouds to speak of, no Angels descending to give us hope. Just Fire. Forever --Fire. As if some Demon ascended from the bowels of Hell, sweeping a hand the size of God's Own Fist across the sky, leaving blasphemy and fire in the wake of his sickly, tainted ivory claws. Beneath that fire laid Exodus and Armageddon. The people of Eden fled in horror, choking in the superheated ash raining down upon them. They clutched their children to their bosom and ran, though there is not a single hopeful soul among them. They understood.



Patriots clutched their steel and magic almost as fanatically as those sobbing, wretched mothers. Those few, proud soldiers had no comprehension. They cannot accept the end of their own Eden, their own lives. Yet, one stands resolute..

His posture is drowning, he slumps as he watches Eden burn. No. Pride is my Voice --Duty is my crutch.., He stands tall, left hand resting against the gleaming pommel of his blade. The steel shines red, a malicious vermilion to mimic the carnage above and below. He stood on a tall rise, overlooking a once majestic valley. The woodlands shrouding him in cool shade would stand ardently, but eventually the inferno that eclipsed the valley below would render them, too, to ashes and sorrow.



Not every citizen of Eden fled without meaning...Not every citizen of paradise mirrored the same sadness. Nay, brigands --Human and otherwise-- swarmed the woods to his back. He heard them and heard purpose. He knew this band of vilest men --They were his goal, before the skies began to bleed ash. Indeed, he was Warden of this sector --A Patriot serving his Nation, bettering the lives of beggars and nobility alike.

Not ecclesiastical, the Warden non-the-less began to pray as he let his psionic capacity swell; Electrical impulses cascaded throughout the synapses of his anatomy and with the mastery of a practiced Psion, he willed them into fruition. Telekinetic potential began navigating the heels of his feet. He braced himself..

He turned, gray irises sweeping across the parameter of the forest with the accuracy of some predatorial bird,despite the tears he blinks back. The reassuring weight of his blade hanging at his left hip isn't as comforting as usual --His right hand crosses over, calloused fingers wrapping the longsword's red-linen wrapped handle tightly. His breathing was deep and rhythmic. He blinked twice as the sound of boots powering through the underbrush grew louder. The hoped to however many Gods existed that these thieves might suddenly find a chasm in their morale --Might throw down their weapons. Might weep for Eden as he longed to. Or maybe they would never breach the edge of the woods. Perhaps, perhaps.

The first three humanoids to cross from forest to high-rise stopped short. The man before them stood tall, a comfortable guess would be six feet. It was obvious the body beneath the brown-and-green woodsman garb was powerful --Tensed muscles, a grimace on his cloak-shadowed face. Two humans and a green-skinned titan --An orc, though one of the biggest the Warden had ever seen. His body shook, but whether in fear or anger or sorrow he couldn't decide. He took three steps forward, his left hand steadying the unadorned scabbard incasing his blade. The brigands tensed then. Whether this woodsman was confident or daft did not matter.

"What're ye', stupid? Even if you manage to cut us to ribbons, ye' got a good eighty more to deal with." The smallest of the three, predictably, had the largest mouth it seemed. The bigger human laid a hand on the scrawny speaker's shoulder. The Warden continued his path --Two more slow, steady paces.

"Who do ye' think yew are?!" The skinny man's words fumbled out of his mouth --An army of his brethren couldn't even solidify enough bravado within this mangy thief to keep his voice from shaking.

The Warden paused for a moment. A gust blew the hood of his cloak back --Blew the brown cape into a frenzy, scattered his shoulder-length ebon tresses. The familiar rasp of a blade leaving it's home was almost lost in the cacophony of shrieking wind. Behind the gathering tears brimming against his lower eyelids gleamed sublime vehemence. He gripped his freed sword with both white-knuckled hands.



Came the bellow of a man possessed --His legs shot downward; He accelerated into an almost unfathomable speed considering his previously slow progression. Seven more long-legged strides and he lept into the air. A brief ripple obscured the air beneath his airborne form --The telekinesis launched him towards the three men at a surreal velocity. His longsword cleaved through the shock-induced tension cording the tendons of the scrawny man's neck. A shade of deep red sprayed and a pair of heavy, almost wet thuds were swept away in the gusting winds, followed by the graceful landing of the Warden. The Orc readied his shouldered battle-axe, the other human standing in stunned terror, his eyes latched onto the separated head of his brother. Too slow the Orc stepped forward, swinging his axe clumsily in descent. Rather than block the heavy-handed strike, the Warden jumped backwards --More telekinesis aided his quick dodge. To the Orc's horror he couldn't manage the counter-inertia of his heavy axe --The blade sunk into the chest of the fallen thief. Stepping inward, the Warden neatly put the gleaming tip of his longsword through the Orc's eight-foot-elevated right eye. By then, the other human had snapped out of his stupor. His rusty shortsword snaked in towards the Warden's back as the Warden pulled his red-slathered longsword from the Orc's face. But he was in his element, his bloodlust was nirvana to him and bane to those near him; More psionic tangibility echoed from him. A single pulse of telekinesis sent the shortsword flying from the last thief's hands just before his throat was rent open by the twirling Warden's sword.

The Warden's buckskin boot pressed against the last-slewn thief's sternum as he bled out. He bent to clean his blade, but stopped short...He wasn't finished just yet.