Uzak Gökten: Hell's Stomping Grounds

Uzak Gökten was known in Christian Mythology as the farthest place on earth from heaven. This mean't little to nothing to Ailill Hale. Old stories of what people believed without discerning proof simply to try and make their existences seem worthwhile were irrelevant. The stories even mean't nothing to him. If it weren't for the fact that this place may in fact may be of value to him. There was a level of magical energy slightly greater than the standard amount in this location. Ailill's extensive research had led him to believe there was something he could accomplish here. That was the very reason he had flown all the way out here from the Hale manor in Chicago in the first place. He had left without barely a goodbye to any member of his family that had been home at the time or any of the guests. He was surprised he had not received a call from anybody pondering where he had gone and what he was doing. Though his relatives rarely bothered with his activities they usually kept some tabs. Perhaps they had just grown used to it all.

Ever so closer he approached his destination. Ailill climbed a hill and from atop it he looked down upon the place he was here for. He looked over the area to examine it. Nothing special here based on visionary perception. Yet he could feel there was a reason to be here. Ailill strode forward and into the place. He stood in what was essentially the middle of the grounds and opened up his bag to take out some stuff. There were quite a few things he could try to do to see he could access the energies that presided here. A ritual perhaps. One that he had not done in years. He pulled out a book and flipped the pages until he found the one he was looking for. It would require several minutes of preparation in order to get things going. He got to work immediately. Certain objects were placed in specific locations as he got the necessities of the ritual in place bit by bit.

It was strange, but Vincent felt at home here. A random area in Turkey known as Uzak Gökten, which translates to "Far From Heaven". They were unholy grounds before Vince's heroic deeds he would do many-a-rituals here in order to restore his former demonic abilities. Now playing for the other team Vince figured he would patrol the area every so often in order to stop any humans from attempting to conjure spirits. Anyone of from misguided teens to malicious souls hellbent on bringing fourth the devil himself and wreaking havoc on all of existence. There were gates and signs all around the place warning travelers to go around or just avoid the are all together. It claimed to be a government testing facility, however with proper 'clearance' Vince was able to enter the premises and begin his watch.

At first he felt a faint presence of another individual, however the entire land was cursed so he figured it must have just been a feeling that people of this reality had from time to time. Walking more he came across a ledge with a steep decline. Just from looking at it Vince could tell the at the bottom of the hill was the lowest point on Earth, furthest place on the planet from 'Heaven'. He could feel the evil seeping from the cracks, he was sure that anyone would be able to feel such a ominous force with or without abilities. There were rocks and boulders on the basin of the crater making it difficult to see everything giving possibility to someone hiding. Vince slid down the sidewalls, making more noise than he probably should have, and casually walked through. Suddenly there was a surge of power, one he could tell had not come from the land. Vince quickly and subtly moved through the rocks protruding from the ground taking cover one after another as he approached the area from where he felt the energy. Now he cursed himself for not being more stealthy when he came down the slope.

Vince now hid behind a large rock where on the other side lay the conjurer, he peaked around the side of the rock ever so slightly to see what he might be dealing with. The man's back was turned, so at least he did not seem as if he knew of Vince's presence just yet. He did wonder however if this individual knew what he was dealing with, the tools that he had spread around him were powerful and not to be toyed with, even by the most powerful of mages. Vince moved back behind the rock after surveying his possible opponent. Whoever this man was he needed to be stopped before he did something that everyone would regret.
Vince transformed both of his arms, from the elbow's down, into the arms form his second form. They detached from his elbows connected with dozen of vein-like threads and swerved around the rock he was hiding behind coming from either side to attack the spell-caster. It was just a forward punch only aiming to harm and ensnare in order to further interrogate him to find out his purpose for being here. With the attack moving relatively quickly Vince was sure that this could be a quick wrap up since he had the element of surprise on his side...
Or so he thought...

While he was getting everything in place for the ritual he had planned to do here, Ailill heard a noise pass through his eardrums and registering a signal to be alert. A sound that seemed out of place. Ailill turned around to look and try to see what had caused it. He saw nothing at first. In every direction he scanned for a possible source. Nothing, as far as he could tell. Searching for something of magical nature was difficult. There inconsistencies of the energy passing through the air made his search results fuzzy. It had sounded like moving dirt and perhaps it was just that. The ground here was so rotted that it probably shifted often enough for such a noise to be made.

Turning back to his task at hand he grabbed a few more things out of the bag. Things he knew he would soon need and would be helpful nonetheless. He was now in a hurry. There was no desire within him to be here for very long. This wretched place was just unpleasant. If it wound up being a pointless trip he would wind up being deeply frustrated by it.

The process of getting the ritual started continued. Soon it would be finished. Once he would be able to get back to it that is. Preparations were interrupted by the sudden attack of an unknown figure. As this attack approached it was met with intense flames raging from the staff he was holding. Ailill turned around and fired an energy blast at the rock that these really long arms were emerging from. The rock cracked and in mere seconds shattered. Revealed now was the one that those arms were attached to. An unusual creature in terms of appearance. One should not judge a book by its cover however. Perhaps this thing was a guardian of these lands. Its behavior was unusual for one though. Most magical guardians tended to not even allow any trespassers into the grounds they were protecting at all, let alone get most of the preparations to a complicated ritual underway. "So, what are you supposed to be?" he asked it as right hand grasped the fire rod tightly as he positioned the flames into a wall around them both. His left hand tapped his pendant as he took a couple small steps backward towards the portion of the wall of flames behind him.

Vince's arms were caught up in a fire that had surrounded his target. He winced from the burns as his arms were retracted back to his body. He shook his hands and blew on them as if it would sooth the damage. Once again he felt things heating up and he sprung forward. The instant after he did, his hiding spot was reduced to dust by the intruder. The man creating the seals on the ground asked for Vince's identity after surrounding the both of them in a ring of fire. Looking at the situation he took a couple steps forward and noticed his new opponent touching the pendant around his neck and taking a couple of steps back.
"My name is Vincent, and I cannot allow you to complete whatever demonic ritual you plan on conducting. This land is dangerous beyond your knowing... If you do not stand down on your own, then I will have to remove you by force..."
From his charred arms more vein-like strings flowed from the area around his wrist. A few from each arm shot downward into the ground for one purpose of helping to hold him in place in case of another attack from this 'wizard' of sorts and as a preparatory step for his own attack. Vince did not know who this man was, or how he had even found out about this location, but he was determined to stop him right here. The damage that he would be able to cause with the power that had been building up for hundreds of thousands of years would be astronomical. He knew because he's used it be before. Being a former demon he knew what the earth would undergo, and not to mention the caster of the ritual. He would surely be doomed to damnation.

At the place where these forlorn grounds lay, Ailill had discovered the presence of somebody intent on interrupting his ritual. They had even attempted to attack him in order to prevent him from completing the preparations to said ritual. That attack had been prevented and the sorcerer was in control at the moment. He stared at the creature within the walls of fire that he had surrounded them both with. What a sight this figure that introduced itself as Vincent was. The name itself was unusual in that it was a common name for humans. He had expected something of greater regard. Perhaps this thing was not an actual guardian but just somebody dedicated to protecting these supposedly sacred grounds. Whatever this Vincent was it was still an individual that was interfering in his work. He would have to deal with it.

The surrounding flames would be the source of his next attack. They would also not be apart of his attack. The fires that were all around them edged forward towards Vincent all without actually moving. Though Vincent would not be able to see this for what it really was. These flames that quickly struck at him were merely an illusion cast by his pendant. The intense heat of the actual flames would cover the trick perfectly. Ailill's intent was that Vincent would not be able to discern reality from illusion and feel the flames burning through his skin and panic. This would lead him to being vulnerable to his next attack. He had the actual flames form a wall in front of him that he could still see through thanks to its positioning and while he was obscured from sight, pulled out his shuriken and prepared to toss them through both the real and fake flames directly at Vincent's torso. Whatever it was that inserting those strings into the ground would do for Vincent would be all for naught. Ailill had no desire nor intent of dealing with this thing for very long.

The flames around the two of them began to lick at Vincent's body causing much pain however the flames were not transferring to his body as your normal fire would. That had also unknowingly closed in on him, so he moved forward in oder to keep himself from receiving any further damage from the fire. He needed to get out from this blaze if he wanted to take the lead in this battle. Following the enclosing ring of fire, this man raised a wall of fire in front of him. Vince couldn't see his actions at this point, and he was hoping the same for his opponent.
The tendrils that Vince and dug into the ground earlier burst to the surface behind the warlock and attempted to ensnare him. If successful Vince hoped for a dispelling for the fire. He appeared to be a type of pyromancy-like abilities allowing for him to control fire. If he could catch him off guard with this attack, he could quite possibly lose his focus on the fire and it be sent away completely.
However if he was not so fortunate Vince would retract the benin-like strings and launch himself up and over the ring of fire landing only a few yards form the ring. He would dig more of his tentacles into the ground, mostly for insurance, as he waited for his opponents next move.
"What is your name? And what business do you have here conducting these rituals...?"
he asked wanting to at least get a little bit of information from his opponent. Maybe his intentions would open light towards his range of abilities. Controlling fire was a seemingly basic ability and Vince could almost be sure that there was more to it. He was adorned with a amulet and staff, and with his abilities being assumably of magical origin,Vince could deduce that one of the two items, if not both, were partial sources of his power. Maybe in order to stop this man those two objects must be removed from his person. It was a stretch, however Vince was confident in his abilities against this man. In addition, he was still only in his first form...

The effects of the illusion began to take effect. It would not last for very long however. This Vincent fellow did not panic from the thought and feeling of being burned away by the roaring flames. He instead advanced forward despite the pain showing upon his face. Ailill watched him through the flames in front of him as he prepared to defeat this person. He was about to toss the shuriken through the flames that would keep them hidden until the reached the interfering one. That's when he heard the ground crumble behind him. A powerful blast formed of mana energy launched itself forward and did away with these tendrils. Immediately after that he threw the shuriken at the man's chest.

As he threw them he saw the figure leap up into the air. Ailill had the upper parts of the flame wall lash out at him as he took off. He saw the individual land just outside the wall of flames. Ailill brought the shuriken back to his hand and cast some magic to keep himself safe from what was to come next. The battle over these grounds reached a temporary stopping point. It worked for him. "You sure do love to chat fella. Very well, I will answer your questions. My name is Ailill Hale, and I am here for purposes that are entirely my own. Any further questions now, or would you prefer to go back to fighting? Personally I would prefer if you just went away." he responded to the questions. Considering what he had just said he was definitely expecting this Vincent to lunge at him again. Probably using those strange tendrils again. Just in a different way perhaps. He would attempt to strike first however. Ailill sent forth the flames from the walls since he did not need them there anymore. All of the fires besides the ones immediately surrounding him flew forward and looped all around to make the trajectories seem erratic looking and therefore hard to determine.

His underground attack was done away with swiftly and figured he would need to be quicker and a little more subtle if he wanted to catch him with that trick. The man had blasted the attack away with a form of magic, losing the extremities was slightly painful, but was not anything that he wouldn't be able to deal with. As Vince flipped back over the wall of fires, his opponent raised the flames and caught his back severely burning him. He hit the ground hard and rolled a few times before popping back up to his feet. There were beads of sweat on his face from trying to subdue the pain. This man named himself as "Ailill Hale" and it seemed as if he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Vince. He seemed to plan on getting rid of him one way or another. Vince was on the verge of returning conversation when Hale launched forward the fire that had been surrounding them earlier. Their pattern of trajectory was far too sporadic for Vincent to calculate at the moment so he pushed himself backwards off of the ground, his back being parallel with it. And as he fell a white tail grew from his backside and cushioned the fall backwards. Though the new extremity did not stop there, he pushed off with it and launched himself up into the air and forward Ailill, over his fire based attacks.
Once over his opponent Vince's arm's detached at the elbows and shot downwards at Hale with the tendrils connecting his forearms back to his body. This attack aimed to grab firmly onto his neck with both hands, following the vein-like strings would powerfully ensnare the man after Vincent landed safely on the ground roughly 5 yards away from him. Though if his attack failed yet again, he would do his best to land away from the man and plot his next move. This opponent was not one to be underestimated, and, for his opponent's sake, he hoped that they would not do the same to him.

Streaming funnels of searing flames flew in a nondescript fashion towards the one who had interrupted the ritual's preparations. Being merciful was not something that Ailill Hale was any good at. He could not really qualify for such a title at all. These flames he sent towards the other one were designed simply to burn him to death quickly and be done with it. There was no time to waste on this combative situation. First the tendrils were disposed of and hopefully the rest of him would soon follow. It was not that Ailill was seeking to kill this person known as Vince. It was just that he was being forced to. He doubted highly that the individual would simply leave this place and let him be. So he would have to die, and these flames may soon ensure that.

They traversed through the air in an unpredictable fashion until they came down upon his foe. He had been hoping for more to be accomplished through this than a few minor burns that were barely dealt to the one whose form kept altering. This Vincent fellow leaped over the fires and was now airborne. More of this body changing stuff occurred as the man's arms came out at him. Ailill threw his shuriken into the air and directed them to attempt to cut straight through the tendrils and if successful carry on to the rest of the body. As soon as he threw them he sidestepped the hands and regathered the flames around him. This time he had something special planned. The first set of flames hid him from view while the second swerved around and proceeded to attack again. Meanwhile in hiding Ailill got his next move going. He prepared to cast a couple of spells and withdrew another weapon for himself. The shuriken were brought back to him and thrown forward again as the flames spread all about and converged on Vincent once again.

Things were not going to well for Vincent. Mid air his opponent had thrown shuriken in order to counter his advances, and he successfully did so by severing the tendrils that connected his arms. They flopped on the ground next to Ailill like a fish out of water for a short moment before falling still. Vince landed and stumbled backwards, now starting to break a sweat. Things weren't going so well. The tentacles flowing from the elbow region of his arm twisted and formed makeshift arms for the time being. There would be no time to delay, this opponent was powerful and he needed to at least get into his second form.
Ailill retrieved and threw the shuriken at Vince again, he narrowed his eyes and in doing so the sclera of his eye turned a dark red while his iris turned a contrasting green color. Vein-like strings separated themselves from the pseudo forearms and caught the shuriken in the circular opening in the middle of the weapon and threw them far away from their location, hoping he would not be able to easily retrieve them. Stitches began to weave themselves in and out on different sections of Vince's arm, over his mouth and on his body which at the time couldn't be seen. Next was the in coming fire. As his hard turned from blonde to dark brown more and more tendrils emerged from his body quickly encasing him in a protective sphere. He used this small pocket of time to complete his transformation allowing his arms to reform properly and giving him a moment to sneak more of the tendrils into the ground.

Vince felt the impact of the flames on his defense, it hurt but not as much as it had previously. The tentacles began to retract into his body revealing his new form and his healed body. The multitude of stitching on his body and the threads returning into the gaps between the medical work were the biggest difference, not to mention that he now had arms again. It was time to attack again. His arms bulged and contorted before they launched towards the mage with impressive speed aiming to grab and constrain him at any area Vince could get his demonic hands on. Meanwhile the tentacles that had buried underground out of sight emerged stealthily from the ground, this time in attempts to confiscate the rod which Ailill held hoping to temporarily suspend his control over this damaging fire. From his past actions Vince could judge that this man was controlling the fire via the staff, however it may just be an object to channel his power and not entirely be necessary. He just had to hope for the best.

A deadly procession of attacks that proved effective. The tendrils were ripped through and the arms dropped to the ground helpless. One less thing in this fellow's arsenal to deal with. How he would proceed to fight without his arms would be something to see. Ailill was willing to give this thing another chance to retreat and leave him be. The flames he had shot at it had already reached him however. He was also already casting some more spells. If he had to kill Vincent, then he would.

A two pronged attack drew steadily closer to his foe and prepared to do away with him. As they approached Ailill watched with intrigue as the fellow started to alter his very appearance. "No, he's changing forms. That explains things. Now, what is he?" he asked himself as he bore witness to this transformation. It was soon completed and with it he had survived the onslaught. With the changing of his physical form came a change to this confrontation. Vince was on the attack again after withstanding the damage done by the roaring flames that Ailill had sent at him. His determination in this instance would not be enough however. The mage was already a step or two ahead of him. The two spells he had cast ensured that what Vincent struck at with his newly formed arms and the new set of tendrils would merely be an illusion he had left behind. This would leave his opponent hopefully confunded by what he had just witnessed. His reaction time to it would be a short one to recover from. Ailill had cast a second spell that had rendered him unable to be seen. He now had snuck around the grasping arms and stood just behind Vincent to his right side. His dagger was now in his hand and he only became visible again as he attempted to plunge it into the upper right side shapeshifter's torso.

Vince saw that still yet this sorcerer had some tricks up his sleeve. At first Vince thought that he had been successful in the attacks he had thrown at this mage, however only moments later he witnessed the image fade away completely. He had missed, another one of Ailill's illusions it seemed. Another problem arose when Vincent's opponent was nowhere to be seen. He retracted all the tentacles back into his person and looked around calmly trying to see if he could pick out any slight movements. Vince became worried when he couldn't pick up anything and began looking around more frantically. Thinking that there was a sound behind him he spun around, however he was met with a sword wielded by the wizard. There was not enough time to properly avoid the attack so he tried to move his body in order to avoid vitals. The weapon made contact with his right side leaving a deep gash in his side.

Vince was forced to the ground and quickly recovered to his feet, however feel to a knee and holding his side trying to slow the bleeding. Breathing heavily, a couple of the tendrils came and laced the wound up. Though not being meant for medical purposes it still bled a little though he was still bleeding internally. Now being relatively close to this man, tentacles rocketed from his body aiming to ensnare his arms, legs, and to hopefully tear the sword away from his hands. It was a highly dangerous weapon being able to cut Vince in this form. However if would be unable to subdue his opponent soon then things would be over as he was continually losing blood. The pain was great enough to keep him down on one knee for the time being, though it was not completely unbearable though if not taken care of soon he may lose his life. Not something he intended on doing right now...

With a solid opening to attack provided for him by the momentary distraction that had come of his own illusion and the trap that it had set, Ailill Hale thrust his enchanted dagger into the vulnerable sides of this strange beast. He struck with the intent to harm, possibly maim, or even kill. This thing was simply not worth granting mercy for. The opportunity was far too great to even waste to begin with. It was time to attempt to end this ordeal. The blade pierced through the creature's right side just between a couple of ribs. Nothing too assured to kill him, but it left open the possibility. The wound was deep and gushing blood. This Vincent fellow would surely be forced to retreat if he desired to live on past this moment.

Vince went down due to the blow that his dagger had struck. Ailill did not simply cease with just a sharp blade strike. He held the dagger between his thumb and forefinger and used the remaining gaps between his finger to bring the shuriken back to him. Those he placed back into his satchel as he summoned forth far more flames than before. He had planned to strike with them, but he would first have to deal with the incoming tendrils. Ailill activated his barrier spell to block the tendrils as he brought the flames down upon this shapeshifter once more. As the flames descended down upon him Ailill grasped his dagger and swung it down upon the strange fellow once more. This time aiming for a more direct blow to his torso.

Vince cursed under his breath when he saw that his attack had yet again been nullified by a magical barrier. Noticing the reoccurring flames he put his hands on the ground and sent himself backwards by pushing off with his hands while they extended out. He landed on his feet and pulled his arms back however they both got caught in the fire while his left was heavily damaged by the dagger which this man had attacked with again. Once his arms were closer to his body, his legs extended upwards sending him back eve further. His extremities caught up with him in mid air as he flipped and landed soundly on the ground about 50 yards from Ailill. He was bleeding from his left arm and hand pretty badly while they were both scorched beyond use. Vince needed just a little bit more time so that he could build up the energy to transform. His transformation would be his saving grace.
He struggled in doing it, but Vince placed his hand on his side and applied as much pressure as he could in this situation in order to help slow the bleeding until he could transform again. But there was no telling what else this man would be capable of, it just seemed like it would be in his best interest for right now to put some distance between him and his opponent.
Vince used this small amount of time to take a short breather and gather his thoughts to refocus on the situation. He needed to try and get things back in his favor, and fast.

He had thought he had finally finished off the shapeshifting individual, or creature, or demon thing off. Ailill had attempted to plunge his dagger into the one known as Vince's heart and put an end to it. Unfortunately its habit of long jumping prevented that. That ability of his to jump like that was the only difficult thing about this guy so far. Other than that this fellow was not a significant threat. The thought of this Vince being dangerous felt like an absurdity. The only reason he was even fighting this meaningless creature was because he wanted to delve into any potential secrets this place may hold. Uzak Gökten could be home to a literal mine of information. It was not to be passed up on. 

His dagger may not have hit where he had aimed it, but it did not miss completely. It had struck his arm, but that shapeshifting ability made minor damage pretty much meaningless. Ailill was expecting another transformation at any moment due to how much damage he was currently doing to it. He lifted up the staff and brought the flames back to him to form a wall of them in front out and around him after Vince had gotten out of them. The flames had been effective so far. He had a few more ideas for them too. For now he would perform one of them. Ailill held the dagger tightly in his left hand as he prepared himself for this. The flames then flew forward again and spread out to limit escape opportunities. Within the flames was a blast of pure mana that was hidden from view. They quickly drew towards Vince at a very fast rate. This could do it if successful.