The Rise of Echo V: Revelations

The girl reappeared on the rocks before him, where she had lain until the lights from above had taken her.

And so the Harbringer brought her to, as he had taken pity on the creature, folded up with the strange attribute held closely in her arms.

He knew all too well where she had come from and what she was.

Perhaps he shouldn't...

But then again, Harbringers choose their beneficiaries without foretought or discrimination and the little girl would be no exception.

His instincts told him what her story was and what would come to be.

Although his kind often revealed a variety of things to the painfully unknowing souls of this world, it was crucial they never reveal too much...

Each soul has to follow the path laid out for them, laid out by Those Who Reside In The Stars.

This path is never fully set and often strayed from in small ways, yet information such as the Harbringers hold would prove too devastating. 

Not to mention the punishment that would follow...

Now, to show the girl just enough to ensure her survival without revealing her past...

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This will be the last part of Echo's Saga (and Vox's 'demise') for now.
Work and college are sucking up all of my time at the minute and I have little time for drawings, though I will try to post at least once a week!

The Rise of Echo IV: The Watch

They summoned the girl up to Their Court.

Amolgarm of Judgement and Time, residing on the left.

Alvarius of Death and Ending, residing on the right.

Alkorm of the Beginning and Creation in the middle.

As it always had been.

They had remained quiet during the ordeal.
They would remain quiet now.
But not before examining this peculiar being, this unusual creation, by a demon no less.

He had remarkable skills.

To place a broken down soul in that necromancer's body...

Alas, that former being had been locked away by that same demon.

The flow of souls to both Kingdoms had been restored.

Their brother would be pleased.

Oh, how he had hated for all those souls to slip from his chains.

The balance always restored itself.

There was no reason to interfere in the matters of the world, just like there never had been.

They would watch and they would rule.

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The Rise of Echo III: Release

He was done.

She would be left to fend for herself now, though he'd keep his eye on her.

Shhh, lovely little Echo.

His... little masterpiece.

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The Rise of Echo II: A Final Rest

Now then, some rest before being sent out into the great wide world.

What marvelous work he had done.

The body still needed a name.

...

Yes.

Yes, oh yes.

It would only be fitting, she was, after all, a shade of the body's former owner.

Dear little Echo, don't say a word...

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The Rise of Echo I: Invocation

The body's memories must be erased.

The dragonflies would lead the ritual as they always did.

It would be cleansed of Vox and be reborn.

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The Exile of Vox the Outcast V: Aftermath

And so he had expelled the necromancer's soul by taking out her heart.

He had locked her in the realm of mirrors, where no soul ever wandered.

She had made a pact with the twilight beings and thus had made it impossible for her essence, her body, to be destroyed.

Even without her black and barbed soul and heart it remained in the world, though she could no longer call it hers.

The nails that were driven into it by the twilight beings had been replaced by his own, so it could no longer serve its former master.

Special care should be taken to keep the body separate from the soul; although Vox was defeated she might still work her voodoo on some dim witted individual, persuading them to break her from her prison and reunite them.

He would never allow her to reclaim her former might.

No... That should never happen...

.............

The body seemed to be sentient.
... He would place the shade of a soul in it.

The Will-o-the-Wisps would have to keep an eye on her.

It would be better to put some spells in place and erase any memories of its former life, for now.

Just until the name Vox no longer instilled any recognition in the world.

Ah yes, he'd give it an amulet to keep it safe from Vox's influence.

The heart would be bound close to the body.
A dragonfly would look after that...

Yes, yes, yes, much work to do now....

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The Exile of Vox the Outcast IV: The Fall II

Yes...
The battle had been decided.

Of course the silly girl was defeated.

The dragonflies had worked their magic.

How luscious it was to hear the Twilight beings writhe in anguish.

How luscious indeed...

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The Exile of Vox the Outcast III: The Fall I

He saved his dragonflies for special occasions...

And this was a special occasion indeed.

Silently she had slithered her way to the plains of the East to meet his 'invitation'.

She stood staring at him from a distance.

Oh, you silly, silly little girl.

She had stirred the wrong tides.

Souls belonged to demons and Those Who Reside In The Stars, they were no matter for man or beast.

Loathe it though he may, the balance was their shared task and so it should remain.

Sneaky little snake.

She would soon learn.

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The Exile of Vox the Outcast II: Conspiracies

They were no match for Vox; she had blown apart their attacks like dust in the wind with the help of the twilight beings.

Their wails and moans filled his palace, their echoing pleas chasing through its corridors.

Oh my, oh my.

The Netherworld dwellers generally knew better than to trouble him with their worries.

As if he cared for their silly plans, their silly defeats.

Silly sullen sods.

The shameful girl needed taking care of, so much was obvious.

There would be a good amount of souls to be stolen from the selfish little witch...

So... enticing.

Surely, it was... Interesting.
Such an interesting soul.

Such an interesting addition to his collection...

Sure enough, for this one time he would help out his brethren.

Or so it would seem...

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The Exile of Vox the Outcast I: Demons Council

 Trouble stirred the Netherworld. 

A young necromancer had risen to power.

She had taken to stealing their precious souls.

But, though it aggravated many of those who called the Netherworld home, emperor Banharut hadn't so much as batted an eyelid.
He had tasked the lords with dealing with this minor inconvenience.

Or so it was to him, as even the lords were troubled by Vox' activities.

Her ruthless methods had the lower ranks cowering, already weakened by the lack of new souls.

The lords called together their generals and every other rank there was to be found beneath them.

The generals weren't too worried as they had their minions to carry out all the dirty work for them.

And so they decided it was the minions that would have to take care of this 'problem'.

Somehow, the minions were less pleased...

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The Reign of Vox the Outcast III

Hmmmmmmmm...

So strange... So strange...

Such a young child.... So willfull.... So full of selfish desire....

Such a pity...

She certainly would make a feisty Will-o-the-Wisp.

Yes, yes, yes, his ever shining companions had brought the little snake to his attention.

The scheming wench, stealing souls left and right as if it were nothing, wrecking the natural order of things.
Ah.... How he loathed the 'natural' order, but it was the way it was.

How unspeakable it was, silly selfish child, a mere human sneaking souls away from him.

To him they belonged, to Those Who Reside In The Stars.
They belonged even more to some lucky low life demon who managed to talk the owner into handing their soul over, more than they did to her.
She was sneaking souls not just from him, but from a steadily larger growing group of demons...

Shhhhhh.....

Oh, yes, yes, she would need some seeing to, some serious talking to, some serious.....

Some serious taking care of....

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P.S: Hey guys, my right hand has swollen up and makes it difficult to draw/paint, so there may be a delay in posts.
Thank you :)

The Reign of Vox the Outcast II

How exquisite it was to be feared.

As she sat amongst her trophies and treasures, Vox delighted in her powers.

She had found herself taking souls away straight from the hands of other beings who desired to use them.
Yes, now she could even summon them directly. The spirits of the dead flowed steadily into her control.

The pact she had made with the twilight beings had allowed her to reach her full potential.

She had even had to take out her heart on several occasions in order to subject more creatures of the twilight to her will.

Unfortunately she still needed them to contain all of the souls.
Alas, they stood no chance to her, and it could not be helped.
It certainly didn't sour the sweet taste of power.

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The Reign of Vox the Outcast I

Her soul was a cage, a ravenous storm of darkness locked inside it.

She had conquered the beings of the twilight.

They were inside her, feeding her powers and fuelling her need for more.

With their strength she had brought down the mightiest of beast these lands had to offer.

All bowed to her will, all trembled at the whisper of her name.

It was as it should be, the way she had foreseen it as a child.

But it wouldn't end here, there were greater things still to be achieved.

She had taken to collecting the souls of the wandering dead, those that hadn't been snatched away by those lowly demons.
Soon, she would be strong enough to steal them away from their laughable claws.
She'd surpass them, yes, even Alkorm and Those Who Reside In The Stars.
It was strange to think she had ever prayed to those beings, for now she would surely be greater than them.

SHE would decide who lived and died, SHE would reap each and every soul and SHE alone would rule over each and every pathetic being in the world.

SHE was the Twilight Queen.

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The Rise of Vox the Outcast IV

The day had come.

She had decided the Priestess could no longer teach her anything new. She no longer needed her.
As soon as she had rid herself of the old crone she could start on the real work.
The Alkoriam Priestess was taken care of swiftly by her tentacled minions, now more numerous than when she had first set foot in this temple.

The old woman had put up no resistance. She had merely let out a long sigh, as if she were tired and kept her eyes on her, with a look of utterly disgusting pity lingering in them.
Who cared.

She knew what she needed to know to make her plans bear the delicious fruits of success.

She would enlighten the world with her presence.

She'd call for those things that slept between the realms of the light and dark, and she would make their powers her own.
They'd have no choice but to agree to a pact with her.

They would help her gather those precious things she needed in order to become the greatest being in existence....

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The Rise of Vox the Outcast III

The Rise of Vox the Outcast III:

The Salkoriam Priestess had known she was trouble as soon as she realized the girl was headed her way.

Over the last few years that thought was only confirmed and not just that, it had grown into a cloud that now loomed over the lands, as the dark promise of what was to come.

She should have done something.

She should have given up her much beloved tranquility in the happenings of the world, and rid it of this wicked thing, like a bud nipped from a rose.

For wicked she was, from her cruel, glaring eyes to the barbed organ she dared call her heart.

She had summoned the poor creatures of the Wastes to do her bidding and keep the Priestess obedient.

She had had no choice; the world was set to burn, had she not begrudgingly taught this vile being the ways of her trade. Damned if she did, damned if she didn't.

That was what the girl had been after; to learn how to conjure, how to call forth those enigmas that lived in between light and darkness, how to use them for her own gain.
And it hadn't stopped there.

She had known about her deepest secret, the craft of necromancy.

She intended to steal away the souls of those who'd passed and increase her already unnatural strength.

She wanted power because she didn't know that power brought no happiness.

How had it come to this?

Forgive me Alkorm, for teaching the evil....



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The Rise of Vox the Outcast II

Alas, she had arrived.

The High Marshlands had nothing on her; the foul beasts that inhabited them cowered away in their pits and the few plants that called this home shrivelled as she walked by.

Of course, the Priestess already knew of her coming.

Very good, she wouldn't have to waste any time explaining her purpose.

The Priestess was widely known for being a voodoo queen, even respected by higher beings, so it was said.

Doubtlessly that was because she knew nearly all there was to be known, yet she remained a neutral entity, not meddling in the affairs of the word.
Instead she soothed those who came with questions, even those who longed for lost loved ones. She was honest in her response and never stirred a soul that ought to be left asleep, whether that be in the hands of demons or others.

Heh.

Neutral entity or not, Vox had one thing on her mind and she would claim it one way or another.
She intended to learn the art of voodoo and even necromancy, for she knew the Priestess possessed the skills for that too, although she never spoke of it.
She had picked up a little friend on the way; his highly poisonous tentacles would certainly help the Priestess make up her mind on whether or not she'd comply.

The critter had trembled like a leaf in the wind when she had ordered it to come along.
Oh yes, it wouldn't dare lay a tentacle on her or defy her commands.

Well now, time to go in.
After all, it's rude not to introduce yourself....

The Rise of Vox the Outcast I: The journey begins

She walked the lands.

Years ago, she had left the cruelty called 'home', leaving her father and mother with a present of the “love” that had accumulated over the course of her childhood.

So, through the lands she walked, taking in account all there was to know and all there was to gain, once she was ready to indulge in the greatness that was inevitable in her future.

She had known that as a child and by Alkorm, she knew it now as a young woman.

She had seen enough.

She knew every nook and cranny and the few secrets the world still held for her would reveal themselves readily, once she had finished with her preparations...

Her journey would now take her to the High Marhslands, where the Salkoriam Priestess dwelled.

She needed to learn....

The journey continues

Lovely wanderers,

Now the month of Halloween is drawing to a close, I've decided to take up a new project.

Some of you might be wondering who Echo is and where she came from and I'm excited to say I'm  starting to work on the story of her origins.

This will (hopefully) be a lengthy process; I intend to write out the whole background story and depict it frequently along the way.
It will shed some light on a few other characters as well, some of which I have yet to introduce.
This will expand and weave together this wonderfully strange world that I have created through Echo and thicken it out, so it's more than just a bunch of drawings thrown together.

I intend for the story to have its intricacies if I can find the cleverness needed for such things (I am no J.K. Rowling after all).
Because of that it will probably take me several months to hash out the ideas and then some more time to write and draw the actual story.
It's almost like maths to me; a giant tangled up ball of yarn where, if you're lucky, you have both ends and some sections you can free up, but getting it to make sense takes a long time.
I'm happy to say I have made a good start already with some drawings and a couple of episodes written.

So, over the next months I'll slowly start publishing these.
There will be posts unrelated to the story in between and 'story' posts may be infrequent depending on how the writing goes.

There will be a drawing coming up very soon that will introduce us to a new character and I'll take it from there on.
As said, posts will very likely be infrequent so please have some patience and enjoy the journey while you wait.

I'd also like to give a big thanks to everybody who visits, your interest is very much appreciated!

Ever wandering,
Laury

P.S: Give away, just leave a comment until the 30th!