"A Promise Kept..."The Training of Nyssa Damaskin

[Death Knight Soth]

Long month's had come and gone since the turning of Nyssa. The Death Knight had shown the promising apprentice many of the dark secret's of their kind, the Book of Sith Spell's was also introduced in Nyssa's training coupled with the innate abilities that the woman possessed as a Creature of the Damned. All her training hinged on the balance of theses disciplines...How to utilize them at the appropriate time was the difference between success or failure, life or ultimate death!...

Soth patiently showed his dark apprentice the art of saber making as well...In time Nyssa had crafted her own unique weapon, one that would be tested to it's fullest as the Dark Master summoned her to the Blood Pit. This night was the night Nyssa would have to call on what she had learned, studied...Perfection, refining one's skill's was what the Death Knight demanded of her and all of the understudies, anything less was unacceptable! Soth as a Master was known for his intense scrutiny, his way of training was to perfect the warrior into a killing machine, to teach them that there was always resourceful and limitless ways in combat to defeat any adversary regardless of size or strength...In his watchful eye's, a simple mistake, a careless stray thought could result in death...If Nyssa gave less then what Soth knew she was capable of...He would kill her without a second thought...It was the way's of the Sith!

"Ah, my apprentice..." Soth word's echoed in the large chamber of the Blood Pit as Nyssa entered. The Death Knight stood with his hands folded behind him as he studied the woman in black garb as she approached him...

"Tonight my apprentice, ...You will show me what the last few month's have taught you...You will leave nothing to spare...Your Magic, the weapon at your side....The Vampyre blood that run's through your vein's that quickens you...Theses element's will all be put to good use...I expect only the best from you Nyssa Damaskinos." Soth finished as he narrowed his blue piercing eye's at her...

[Nyssa Damaskinos]

The amber glow of fire lit up the rear folds of Nyssa’s overdress as she ambled through the Crimson Pit. Approaching her Master, her hands remained hidden behind her back, as if concealing something. Lithe flames danced around her fingertips as she heated the air and pushed the atoms at a rapid pace, creating friction. Upon introduction of the Sith Book of Spells, Nyssa had been fascinated with creating inferno, which wasn’t too surprising given her Master, an infatuated pyromaniac. How it moved and molded, burnt and destroyed had caught the young fledgling’s rapture and she had practiced hour after hour, perfecting the skill of calling the flame to her hand.

When she came within several feet of the Death Knight Soth, Nyssa halted her footing, her cloak quickly wrapping its hem around her body as if creating an immediate protective shield. In a wink, the fire fell from her fingertips, rapidly snuffed out with a thought. Her arms fell to her sides and she tilted her head up to look straight at Soth, knowing full well that he knew what tricks she hid up her sleeves. She could not hide such things from the Vampyre.

“You called, my Master?” Her words were hollow, her voice echoing, bouncing from each wall in the Blood Pit. It sounded almost foreign even to her, it not carrying the same animation it had several weeks before. In the past month her life had changed drastically, more so than it had her entire twenty-four years prior. The change was for the better, she knew. It had been her destiny from the start. And she was still testing her limits, finding out what exactly she was capable of and then as she took a quick gander at her surroundings, she realized she’d be doing just that today.

As Soth spoke, her eyes fixed on his, listening and soaking in every word that had to be said. Remaining motionless, she nodded once, comprehending precisely what he wanted. Nyssa wasn’t so sure about testing her new abilities on a Master Vampyre, but she knew if she didn’t, she would seem weak in his eyes and that was the last thing she wanted. Her father had left a legacy, one that she meant to keep alive through her own actions…

[Death Knight Soth]

The Death Knight studied the female Vampyre for long moment's before he approached her. Eternal eye's that bore through flesh and bone, to the mind and soul. What Nyssa's father left her was more then a legacy of a past she still sought out...There were hidden talent's, secret's that lay in wait, to be unraveled by the master that now seen them clearly.

"On guard,...My apprentice." Soth word's carried a certain steel in them as his twin saber's ignited to life. Soth narrowed his dark eye's at the young Vampyre as he brought the sickly green blade's into a paralleled position to his body, saluting her as a knight of old would before the battle commenced.

"Your strengths will be weighed and determined by your will to persevere...To achieve success no matter the cost, regardless of the price or the consequences that may follow...There is no failure,...There is only life and death,...Winning and loosing is but only a state of mind m'lady...Be not swayed by it's sentiment." Soth's word's echoed like smooth waves of ashen silk upon her open mind...

[Nyssa]

Nyssa fumbled around in the deep of her pockets of the robe until her hand fell around the cold steel cylinder that was a saber. The long handle felt outlandish in her hand for she had never been accustomed with one. It had been borrowed from Soth, not having one herself. She produced it, both hands gripping the textured piece. Her thumb ran up and down until it hit the button that would bring the blade to life. She flicked it and a brilliant orange sprang from the mouth, reaching up three feet. Nyssa looked at it, feeling and hearing the hum of the inner workings. Her eyes focused beyond it to that of Soth, who continued to stand there in all his glory. She brought the blade up, returning the solute.

“Teach me everything, Master…” the words spilled forth from her crimson lips as she took a stance befitting someone about to be assaulted.

[Lord Soth]

The Death Knight lips curled into a wicked smile as Nyssa's hungry words for knowledge caressed his ears. Theses were the exact word's he had wait patiently to hear from the young pupil.

“Teach me everything, Master…” Nyssa asked sincerely as her amber blade hissed to life, illuminating her pale countenance in hue's of flaming orange.

Soth stood poised as Nyssa took her stance not far from him. He studied her defensive posture and how she held the newly found Sith weapon before he spoke.

"Indeed Nyssa, I will teach you the darkest secret's of our order. Show you a path that will lead you to greatness,...And to power!" The last of the Death Knight word’s were almost a grunt as he lunged suddenly at the unwary woman...Soth’s emerald blades protested with a high pitched humming sound that indicated his rapid movement towards her. The lethal blades looped then spun to the right side of the Death Knight were they then came downwards towards Nyssa's head. If she was quick enough, she would thwart the overhead parry, nevertheless, Soth had one more blade to play with.

[Nyssa]

Nyssa wasn’t as ready as she had thought to be. As Soth came lurching at her, she stepped back a step, startled. His sabers spinning around made her almost nauseous as her eyes watched each move around, trying to keep up. A yelp escaped her lips as she barely brought her blade up to parry the attack from above. His strength beat her back with ease and she was forced backwards several more steps before she got a firm planting and used her entire body to hold Soth at bay.

“Tougher than I thought,” she mumbled incoherently.

[Lord Soth]

After a furious onslaught of thrusting joust’s and parries, the Death Knight pulled away from Nyssa. Soth slowly lowered the double bladed saber to his side as he extended his left index finger at her.

"Always be on the ready my apprentice...If your opponent is able to throw you off balance, then he has successfully gained the upper hand. It is crucial to your survival and you would be wise to remember this." Soth then held up his sabers, a low hum admitted from them as he drew the young pupil’s attention to them.

"Become one with your weapon Nyssa; let it become part of you, an extension of yourself if you will..." The Death Knight's gaze was firm and steady as he reached out to the Dark-Side.

"...And be mindful of everything that is about you." He finished smoothly as two lethal looking tridents shook momentarily then tore from a holding rack along the wall and headed straight for the understudy!