MK: Curse of Steel

How long you planning this story anyway?

I've been planning this for quite a while actually, I started thinking of ideas for this shortly after I finished Tournament of the Wastes. I started writing Pitch Black because I thought the idea was more original but once I thought about what I could do with this the ideas just kept flowing. I wasn't as invested in Pitch Black as I am in this but I kept going with it because people seemed to like it and it was good writing practice. Unlike Pitch Black however I have a clear ending for this story in my mind, Pitch Black kinda began to unravel towards the end and I wasn't satisfied with the direction I took it.

But if you're asking how long I think the story will be I have no idea lol. Like I said, I have an ending in sight I just have no idea how long it will take to get there.
 
Then it'll be a run on story till the clear end

I can dig it. Wanna see how you develop Smoke and all
 
Great stuff, dude. Just remember to keep your tenses consistent. You switch from past to present tense a lot, which is grammatically incorrect.

Eg "Cigar smoke hung heavy..." then later you go on to say "The man speaks..." Where it should be "The man spoke."

If you write in the past tense, you should stay in the past tense for the most part, since the events are still being read like they are recalled.
 
Smoke took the first move dashing forward with a horizontal slice aimed towards Nightwolf's gut but his strike was reflected by the axe he held with his left hand and countered with his right. He felt the heat come off the hardened light as the shaman's swing came mere millimeters from Smoke's face. Their weapons clashed several more times with every other strike barely being avoided by the other. Deflecting an overhead strike Smoke responded with a flying kick to Nightwolf's face. The axes he held dissipated but he quickly reacted plucking Smoke out of the air and chokeslamming him onto the sand. Flat on his back and stunned for a moment the assassin flipped back up to his feet resuming the battle in seconds with several diagonal swings of his sword. One connected with Nightwolf's forearm, a strike forceful enough to sever the limb of any man cut into his skin but stopped in it's tracks by the shaman's bone. Nightwolf swung his arm forward sending the blade flying from Smoke's grasp and deep into the stone of the cave's wall. His entire body flashed green and Nightwolf propelled himself forward with incredible speed crashing his forehead against Smoke's sending him skidding backwards across the ground and down to his knees.
"That is the second time you've made me bleed. Perhaps I did underestimate you... slightly." Nightwolf flicked his arm splattering his blood to the earth. Smoke lifted his head to see the gash he just inflicted web itself shut before his eyes.
"What... are you?"
"I should ask you the same, but I'd wager that you don't even know yourself."
"Sh-shut up! I'm no monster... I'm..." Smoke propelled his fist into the sand, the thoughts of his nightmares filling his mind.
"Just because you are not of this realm does not make you a monster. Deny who you are and you will never be able to defeat someone like me."
"Not of this realm? W-what nonsense are you spouting now?!"
"It is a lot to take in especially for you people of Earthrealm, but basically there exist worlds parallel to this one, worlds vastly different from this one yet similar in many ways. One common factor is the existence of humans, and the existence of people who are more than man. People like me... and people like you."
"Just what the hell do you know about me?! You expect me to believe I'm from another world?!"
"Well no... you are from this realm, I could tell that much but... well... when I tried to read your aura something was blocking me."
"Read my aura? Does anything you say make any sense?!"
"I understand this all must sound strange to say the least, but it's an ability some of my people are born with, we are able to tap into the life energy of all living things it helps us connect with creatures of the wild and reveal the true nature of some men."
"Just who exactly are your people? Every damn answer you give just raises more questions."
"It's quite a story... I will tell it to you but I can't say it will provide you with the answers you seek, but it may help you understand the woman you hunt. Come, let's get you a drink lest you fall unconscious again." Nightwolf extended his hand meeting Smoke's and lifting him to his feet.

Nightwolf set out to hunt after seeing to Smoke and returned shortly to find the assassin polishing his blade with the bandanna that was around his neck earlier. The duo sat across from one another, the open flame in between them as Nightwolf prepared the freshly killed viper. Smoke sipped from his canteen observing as Nightwolf cut the skin from the snake using a dagger made of the same green energy as the axes he wielded in the fight before.
"Hmm? That necklace you're wearing, it was covered up by that cloth earlier..." The shaman eyed the pendant curiously as he set up the snake on the cooking spit over the flame.
"What of it? It's just a memento from an old friend."
"It may be, but it could also be the reason I was not able to read you aura earlier. May I?" He motioned towards the necklace and Smoke removed it placing it in the shaman's hand.
"The jewel is warm to the touch... yes it definitely has some type of power inside it. Could I... try to read your aura once more? Call it a hunch but this pendant may have been what blocked me earlier." Smoke took back the necklace placing it near his sword and followed Nightwolf away from the cave entrance sitting down on the sand close to him.
"I suppose I'll let you try, if it can give me some answers."
"It just might, you may want to prepare yourself. The process can put a strain on one's spirit if both participants are strong enough." Nightwolf placed his hand on the young Tomas' head and shut his eyes tightly. A pale blue beam of moonlight shined down from the sky and directly onto the mystic shaman.
"Please close your eyes and relax, it's taking a considerable amount of strength to tap into your aura." As he shut his eyes and breathed deeply the Lin Kuei calmed his nerves and felt a tingling sensation come over himself.

Opening his eyes he found himself peeking through a cluster of bushes cowering in fear, but for why he did not know. Thatch houses and trees set aflame around him with the echoes of screams and the smell of blood in the air, a small boy runs in his direction from the distance. Suddenly a dark haired woman descends from the sky landing in front of the child laughing madly as she grabbed him by his neck, and twisting his head slowly as he screamed out in pain. With a crunch the boy's head was completely backwards and his screams silenced. She then dragged her fingernail across his throat letting the blood spew from his neck and cover her face, draining down into her open mouth. Smoke felt a tear roll down his face as he watched her toss his lifeless body onto the ground which was littered with the corpses of many others like him.
"Ahhhh... the young ones really do taste the sweetest." Coming out of the hut closest to her was another woman this one blonde dragging a younger woman by her hair outside.
"Ah! My queen! I was just cleaning up the last of the trash, need a drink? I've already had my fill." The blonde presented the girl to the dark haired woman lifting her off the ground with a tight grip on her hair.
"I'm quite all right, just put her down so we can be done with this." He felt more and more tears cover his face and his stomach churned as the blonde smiled widely, her eyes lighting up a bright purple.
"Nylah! I won't let you!" The voice was not his but Smoke felt the words leave his mouth and rushed towards the women. Summoning an ethereal bow he pulled back and fired an arrow of light which flew forward piercing the dark haired woman's eye.
"My queen!" The blonde's face was shocked as the queen pulled the arrow from her eye, snapped it causing it to fade to nothingness.
"Little bastard! I thought I killed the last of you damned shamans, must have been masking his scent with that infernal magic." She leaped forward pouncing on top of Smoke holding both of his arms together with one hand and turning him to face the blonde and the girl.
"This little b tch has to mean something to you for you to do something that stupid... hehehe... Lamia, show him what happens to rabid dogs."
"Gladly!" She held the girl up in front of him and c cked her hand back.
"No!!" Smoke felt himself scream at the top of his lungs, sobbing wildly.
"Please, look away little one..." Smoke tried to shut his eyes but felt them pried open by the woman behind him as she whispered into his ear,
"Can't have that now can we?" The blonde plunged her hand through the girl's back ripping her heart through her chest displaying it to him like a trophy.
"No!! Nylah..." He whimpered as she removed her arm from the girls chest cavity, her warm blood spraying him, covering his face. The body dropped to the ground face down and motionless as she dropped the heart to ground, crushing it with a wet splat beneath her heel. Feeling the queen's grip loosen he dropped to his knees over the lifeless body with the sound of the two devils laughing over him. They laughed and laughed, but abruptly they stopped and Smoke felt an odd electricity fill the air.
"My lady... you feel that don't you?" Her voice quivered with fear as the great power approached faster.
"...." The dark queen stood stoic, scowling intensely.
"Wha... W-what does it mean?!" Smoke looked up from the girl he held tightly to see a tidal wave of blazing white light on the horizon.
"Lord Kain has failed us." The light washed over them and Smoke felt himself torn to shreds on a cellular level, the pain was unbearable but his eyes were fixated on the face of the girl he cradled a final tear fell to the ground as she and his own body faded into the sea of white as if they were ashes carried away by the winds.
 
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The strange dream faded and Smoke found himself once again surrounded by the arid desert. Feeling a warmth slither down his face he touched his fingertip to his upper lip and looked to see it dyed crimson. Wiping the blood away with his wrist he looked to Nightwolf who also had a dribble of blood coming down from his nose.
"You should have warned me..." The shaman clutched his chest and stood up wearily. Turning away from Smoke he let out a hacking and wet cough into his hand.
"Warn you? What happened?" Smoke moved closer noticing Nightwolf's hand, blood dripping from it.
"When we shamans read an aura we are essentially taking a piece of the other participant's soul within ourselves, for a short time. When I tried this with you, your soul reacted on it's own. Something inside you cut the ritual short, and could have very well killed me." Letting out another cough Nightwolf spit onto the ground clearing the excess blood from his mouth.
"It was just the word of an old swordsman, I was never even sure if I could fully believe his tales..." Smoke looked down to the ground grasping his amulet tightly.
"It doesn't matter now, if you truly are here to kill Lamia... I suppose I could use your help." Nightwolf kneeled down next to the oasis and lowered his hand into the crystal blue water. He cupped his hand and splashed his face before walking back over to the fire which still burned brightly.
"So... what exactly is this 'Lamia', And how is it you know her?" He leaned up against the cave, crossing his arms as Nightwolf finished cooking the snake over the campfire.
"There really is no simple answer to what she is... as for how I know her... she is a killer, she and her 'queen' took everything from me." Cutting the piece of meat in two he tossed one half over to Smoke. They ate quickly as the sun began to rise, flooding the desert with light.

Wiping his hands against eachother Nightwolf walked into the cave entrance signalling Smoke to follow him. The pure darkness of the cave was illuminated by a small green flame that floated behind Nightwolf.
"It's about time I told you what exactly were going to be dealing with here... Lamia is from a land known as Vaeternus, and a member of the clan called the Moroi. The Moroi are undead creatures, feeding off the blood of humans to survive." They reached an empty stone chamber at the end of the cave, the walls engraved with the motif of a dragon and a clawed hand of stone rising from the middle of the floor.
"Undead creatures? Feeding off human blood to survive..." Smoke spoke to himself, staring at the stone hand which appeared to have once clutched something tightly.
"Sounds familiar, yes? The Moroi were the inspiration for what the people of this realm call 'vampires'. They rely on the greed of men to invite them into this realm by creating imitation Portal Stones with their own blood and sending them to this realm with black magic. When the humans then try to pry the stone free, the Moroi who's blood was used is released onto Earthrealm." Nightwolf spoke coldly, seriously, and turned his back to Smoke to run his fingers across the engravings on the wall. Although Smoke found his words hard to believe, deep down he knew the shaman spoke the truth.
"So, say I believe you... do you have any plans to tell me how you know all this?" Nightwolf looked over his shoulder staring at Smoke momentarily before his gaze drifted to the bloodstains scattered across the ground.
"Vaeternus was home to more than just the Moroi. There was once a tribe of warriors that would assume the form of beasts to do battle with the Moroi, they were their mortal enemies, they were called the Vilkol. Although most of this tribe could assume the form of their inner beast, some were born with the influence of the beast being so powerful inside themselves that they were forbidden from transforming, and they were instead trained to harness their powers through magic. These members of the Vilkol became known as Shamans. Are the pieces starting to fit together?" Nightwolf bit into his thumb piercing the skin to let blood flow from it's end, and began to paint some strange symbols over each of the engraved walls.
"I guess I should have expected an answer like that from you. Just tell me how to find this vampire." Smoke said as Nightwolf gathered his energy forming an orb and placing it in the palm of the disembodied hand.
"Say you find her, what then? She is stronger, faster, and harder to kill than any mortal could hope to be." The orb pulses, crystallizing itself in the clutches of the stone. Nightwolf made his exit from the cave, Smoke lingered for a moment taking one final look at the chamber before following the Vilkol into the sunlight.

Smoke stepped out onto the sand using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun for a moment. His eyes readjusted to the light to see Nightwolf reaching in the saddle bags of his horse and pulling out an off white t-shirt which was worn and stained.
"Listen shaman, I've wasted too much time talking with you. I don't know if I can believe your tales ancient clans, but if you are telling the truth I need to know one thing. How do I find this creature, and how do I kill it?" Nightwolf glanced over his shoulder to silently acknowledge Smoke and then reached back into his bag pulling out a holster that he fastened to his hip.
"The answer to that is simpler than you'd think, cut off contact between the brain and heart by any means. When the Vilkol did battle against the Moroi the only way to survive was to be faster, to be stronger, but when mortals fought against them they only survived by exploiting a weakness that all Moroi and Vilkol were born with." He pulled a revolver from his holster removing one bullet from the chamber. "Silver. It slows the regeneration process to a crawl once it enters the bloodstream, it is how humans survived on Vaeternus before they were completely enslaved." The bullet was replaced and the handgun was reholstered as Nightwolf finished. "Get some rest Lin Kuei, we hunt at dusk." Tomas decided to listen to the shaman, and made himself as comfortable as possible leaning up against a wall of rock. His eyelids were quite heavy after the sleepless night he'd just had and he felt himself drift off quickly. He stared up at the Vilkol who held a tattered headband tight in his hand, a creature of the night, a wolf among sheep, a monster cursed with compassion. The Enenra smiled as his eyes closed fully, welcoming the nightmares that were ever so familiar to him.
 
okay i have been reading this for awhile and all i can say is


DAMMMIT THIS HAS GOT TO BE FINISHED!!!!!!

i love the little twists you put in there for the characters and you succeded in making nightwolf a more interesting character than he was in MK9 god im already worn out from so much typing but this makes me wanna go back to mine.

it's good to know fanfictions aren't dead here
 
okay i have been reading this for awhile and all i can say is


DAMMMIT THIS HAS GOT TO BE FINISHED!!!!!!

i love the little twists you put in there for the characters and you succeded in making nightwolf a more interesting character than he was in MK9 god im already worn out from so much typing but this makes me wanna go back to mine.

it's good to know fanfictions aren't dead here

I have every intention to finish it, this has sorta been like my pet project since I started thinking of ideas for it. In fact I've had so many ideas for this I might end up doing a spin off or something once I finish Smoke and the Lin Kuei's story.

Fun fact, I intended to put out this story arc in time for Halloween last freaking year and now if all goes well I'll have it finished by Halloween this year, funny how these things end up working out.
 
I wanted to say sorry for just now reading this update instead of when it first came out :oops:

Forgetting all of that, dynamite writing Wraith! This story continues with keeping the reader involved and more invested in the story.

Keep up the good work
 
I wanted to say sorry for just now reading this update instead of when it first came out :oops:

Forgetting all of that, dynamite writing Wraith! This story continues with keeping the reader involved and more invested in the story.

Keep up the good work

It's cool dude no need to apologize, we all got shit to do everyday. I don't expect people to read it as soon as it comes out, I'm just glad people get around to reading it at all y'know?

Anyways I'm starting work on the next part ASAP, something I had the idea to add recently I think you guys will find it interesting.
 
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