by S D Huss
He mustered the courage to look at the battle. Amid all the chaos that raged about him, he caught the sight of Veol fighting who he could only assume was the Rexunii leader. His mask had fallen off, and his yellow skin now shone brightly in the light. Veol wielded a large two-handed bone blade but used it in such a way that its cumbersome size did not leave him open for attack.
The Rexunii leader wore a bone helmet as well; only it sported intricate designs of black paint and had long and short horns sprouting out, giving it a fearsome look. He had two smaller swords of bone, each curved outward, almost like a sickle. Veol roared as he skillfully brought his sword down toward the Rexunii warrior. There was a spray of water that shot from one of the sickle-like blades as the Rexunii swung it. The pressure was so high that it acted as an extension of the weapon and almost took Veol’s head. He ducked under the attack, interrupting his own and retaliated with a blast of wind that knocked the Rexunii off his feet and into two other warriors who seemed to be waiting patiently to fight him.
Veol’s face was painted with a grimace, and he found Robert. “Run to the forest!” He yelled, turning to block an overhead swing with his sword.
Robert’s legs were like heavy stone as they began to move. Adrenaline pumped through his body, and the world seemed to have slowed down to a crawl. “Come on!” he managed to shout, hauling Amynta to her feet. They stumbled together toward the treeline that was several hundred feet away, and Robert’s hopes rose as he saw there was no one in his path. “We can make it!” he said, attempting to encourage the Dae scholar.
They came closer, and the sound of battle began to die down. Robert kept moving, despite the inevitable truth of the outcome. They were outnumbered, and though the Lokkadonian warriors were skilled, the Rexunii seemed to match them. -Almost there!- he thought.
They were almost ten feet from the forest edge when the ground before him began to rumble. There was a moment of pause, but Robert knew what it was. “No!” he screamed, feeling his already fleeting hope disappear completely. In a split second decision, he grabbed Amynta, and with all of his strange and unnatural strength, he hurled her the rest of the way toward the treeline. She looked at him with wide and unsure eyes; boiled over in fear and streaming with tears. Then, a massive wall shot out from the ground before him, smashing his extended arms as it shot almost twenty feet in the air.
Robert cried in pain as he felt his arm’s bones rattle with the impact. He flew backward and brought his battered limbs to his chest.
Then, there was silence. Only the rapid beating of his heart remained. Robert whimpered as he lay on the grass, trying to see if his arms were broken. His hands tingled and were a bit numb, but as he opened and closed them, he could tell that they were not severely damaged.
He opened his eyes slowly and looked to see the now silent battlefield. His heart sank at the sight of twenty or so Rexunii warriors all standing before him. Closest was the warrior with the bone mask whom he had seen fight Veol. It was simultaneous, the brief thought of where the Dae noble was, and the gruesome recognition of a severed head the Rexunii leader held, bloodied in his hand. The butchered noble’s face was now slack, but still held in time the moment of his death in a terrified expression. The Rexunii warrior tossed it toward Robert, blue blood still spraying from the wound.
Robert was frozen at the horrible sight, wanting to wretch, but being afraid to.
“How lucky we are.” Said the leader. “It would seem the reports were true. There is a demon here.”
Robert trembled on the ground, unable to look away from the broken and ruined bodies of the Lokkadonian warriors he had come to know over the last month.
“Doesn’t look like much of a demon to me.” Sounded a distinctly female voice in the group. “He’s ready to piss his pants!” Laughter followed the Dae’s remark.
“I want it bound.” The leader said harshly. “Look for the other one!”
The world around him began to move again, and his numb senses did what they could to protect him from what was surely to come.
His eyes focused again on Veol’s head. The man was always so cheerful and protective, now all that remained of his enthusiastic smile was a look of horror. Robert vaguely felt hands grip him. His daze was interrupted, however, as the Rexunii warriors wrenched his arms back and pain shot through his body. Robert let out an involuntary yelp as they lifted him up to his feet.
A Rexunii warrior approached him and removed her bone mask, stained with blue blood. Her face was beautiful. As Robert had by now noticed, most Dae women he had met had this in common. She had light grey skin and her eyes were wild and green, with black face paint that surrounded them, further pronouncing the color. She smiled a feral smile, showing her canine teeth as she did.
“I’ve heard stories of your kind, from all across the land. Demons, huh?” She grabbed his face and turned it to the side. “You just look like a strange, sick creature to me.” She stared into his wide and terrified eyes. “No, definitely not a demon. Whatever you are, you aren't much of a threat.”
“Demessa!” The leader shouted, causing the female Dae to flinch and let go of Robert. “Don’t speak to it. Just get it mounted and ready for travel.”
Demessa saluted with a fist across her chest. “Yes, my Lord,” she said crisply, pulling him to a Cro’kan that had been brought by another warrior.
Robert was tied down across the back of the animal and left for hours as they attempted to find a way into the spirit forest. It seemed that the spirits had fortified the treeline against the Rexunii, and decided to protect Amynta, whom they had come to know over the last several weeks of her study. The raiding party did not wait for long. They had their prize, a demon from another world, so it was time for them to return home.
Robert had time to think as they traveled, but his mind was blank from stress and fear. He thought this was past him, the terrible danger of this new world just a footnote in his mind from several months ago after first waking up. -Kat- he thought to himself. -We ended things on bad terms… will she mourn me?- The thought was painful, so he closed his eyes, but all he could see was the face of his brief friend Veol, butchered before him. -What are they going to do to me? They keep calling me ‘it’. That means they don’t see me as a sentient creature… Are they going to kill me?-
Still, the hours passed, slowly but surely, until they stopped to camp for the night on the top of a hill, with decent concealment from some trees.
They brought him down and tied him to one of the trees for the night. Robert sat with his head hung, looking at his boots, noticing at that moment that Veol’s blood was all over them. -Must have been when they threw his head at me…- he thought numbly.
The Rexunii warriors set up camp and dug in. They were in enemy territory, so they took precautions; they built no fire, and expressed effective sound discipline. Nothing more than periodic hushed voices met Robert’s ears. He said nothing either, only pondered his predicament over and over again. His thoughts were dark, and he did his best to keep tears from pooling in his eyes. He was only marginally successful with this.
“Demon.” called a familiar female voice. Damessa walked over to him and crouched. “What type of food do you eat? I have been told I must offer you some.”
Robert did not respond. He just continued to look down at his boots.
Suddenly he felt a massive blow to the side of his face. His eyes flashed with light and a daze came over him. He did his best not to cry out, but a grunt of pain escaped. She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her.
“I asked you a damn question, demon.” She hissed, throwing his food to the dirt below. “There, eat that off the ground.”
She stood and walked away again into the darkness. Robert slumped and closed his eyes as tight as he could, stifling more tears and cursing his weakness again.
The next two nights were very similar to this. The Rexunii found a defendable position, set up a concealed camp, and Robert was abused and taunted by Deme
ssa. He had tried to speak to her as she approached, to ask her some earnest questions, but before a proper sentence could be formed she punched him in the face, shouting that she hadn’t given him permission to speak. During the day they traveled long and tied him up the same way they had before.
It was on the fourth night when they had entered Rexunii territory that they had a blazing fire going and all sat around it, drinking wine out of skins in celebration of their capture.
Robert saw them now, sitting together and singing strange songs of battle and vengeance. Demessa had removed her cloak and was dancing with several other warriors as they sang, and she took long drinks from her wineskin. Robert’s eyes hardened at his tormentors having such a blissful time. It was then that he noticed the leader of their raiding party sitting still with his horned mask secured to his face. He was the only one who did not celebrate, only watched his warriors with an unreadable posture.
Almost as if he could sense Robert’s gaze, the Rexunii looked to meet his eyes; only the black holes of the bone mask revealed none. He stood swiftly and strode over to where Robert had been tied for the night.
The Dae stood before him, his grey cloak still stained with the blood of the Lokkadonian warriors he had called friends.
“Be careful who you look at with such hate in your eyes.” He said coldly, the fire behind him giving his form a frightening glow. “Are you hungry? You look weak.”
Robert said nothing, just stared at him with as much malice as he could muster. -He’s trying to trick me, as soon as I say something, he’s going to hit me.- He thought to himself.
“Perhaps Demessa was not the right person to look after you, she can be a bit extreme sometimes.” The Rexunii said, cocking his head to the side. “It seems she hasn’t been feeding you either… I’ll see to that. Though your hunger won't matter much when we get to Thule.”
Robert’s eyes focused on the name. He had heard from Amynta that Thule was the capital of the Rexunii territory and that they worshiped dark spirits and were pure evil. He hadn’t cared much to listen about the history and culture of a foreign clan, seeing as how he was trying his best to get home. It seemed so far that she had been accurate in her teachings.
“Why?” Robert said dryly, his voice cracked from dehydration and stress. “Why did you take me? And why are you bringing me to your capital?”
“We have heard much of you. The King of Lokkadonia and the High King have spoken contradicting truths about what you are, their High Espi-Dae has branded you Demons, here to destroy us all. And the Hego of the southern territories in Lokkadonia has taken it upon himself to shelter your kind, despite orders from his masters.”
He knelt down, closer to Robert. “Our King has been most interested in seeing what you might bring us. We thought it would not be possible, but here you are.”
“Then why the mistreatment? Why have your warriors beat me?” Robert said with more defiance than he thought he could muster.
The Rexunii warrior laughed at his little outburst. “Because I don’t know what you are. Demon or not, you are a creature I am not familiar with. So, I am being cautious.” He paused for a moment, as though in thought. “I will tell Demessa to stop beating you. And to feed you more, she seems to have been taking your rations and using them for herself.”
Robert was speechless at the sudden but strange gesture of kindness. -He killed everyone… and Veol.- He thought, tending the fire of hatred in his heart.
Then a thought came to him. The Dae did not know what he was, though the Lokkadonians showed curiosity in the form of scholarly intrigue, aside from the attempt on their lives the day of their arrival in Vul De Rah. The Rexunii may do something similar, but from the looks of things, more extreme.
“I will tell you what I am…” Robert said, fishing for a chance to get to know this leader. If he had enough compassion in his heart to offer food, maybe he could get more.
The Dae said nothing, then cocked his head slightly to one side. “I’m listening.”
Robert took a deep breath and did what he could to steel himself. “I am what you call a human being, from a world called Earth. I was transported here in a flash of light… and awoke in the spirit forest. There were three of us there, and we were picked up by Oros and Boros as we made our way out of the forest.”
“Oros… and Boros? Of house Ignos?” The Dae asked, sitting down before him, against another tree.
“Yes,” Robert replied. “We were brought before the Hego, and were forced to compete in the trial of Doxo.”
The Dae chuckled at the mention of the trial. “Some traditions never die… Do you know who Doxo was? A Rexunii warrior, that is ours from a time when this whole area was a part of our clan. Before the traitors from clan Lokkon rebelled and carved out Lokkadonia through blood and death. They enslaved our people who remained loyal to the true King of Rexunii.”
“The… Doulos…” Robert said slowly.
“Yes, the Doulos. They continue to commit crimes against us, by forcing our lost brothers and sisters to remain slaves. Using the women and children for all manner of foul things, and the men, of course, to fight and toil.” The Dae paused again, he seemed to contemplate often, showing the heart of a very intelligent and determined leader. He removed his pale and terrifying mask. The Dae had pale blue skin and green eyes, he had rugged and handsome features and would have been a very attractive young man, save the massive and gruesome scar that tore its way across his face. Robert was not expecting to see it, and his eyes widened at the sight.
“You are an interesting creature.” He said, setting the mask to the side. “And you seem intelligent enough to know that there are powers at work here that we cannot control. The High King has brought the Espi-Dae to Thule. What they decide to do with you… I don’t know what to tell you.”
Robert’s heart sank at the blunt declaration of his inevitable fate. -The last person who was brought before them… that I know of, they burned at the stake… I’m dead.- He thought.
The Dae must have noticed his obvious discomfort because he handed him a wineskin. “We all have a duty we must uphold, creature.”
Robert looked at the wineskin and shrugged, gesturing that he was bound. The Dae tilted it and let him drink from it. “My name is Robert, by the way…” Robert said weakly.
The Dae stood and turned to his warriors celebrating around the fire.
“Demessa!” He yelled, bringing silence to the festivities.
Robert thought for a moment, on the sudden outburst, how powerful this Dae must be to command the immediate obedience of such fearsome warriors.
Demessa came shuffling out of the crowd, her pearl white hair disheveled and the smell of wine on her breath.
“Yes, my lord?” She said, coming to attention before the Dae leader.
“The rest of you.” He said, pointing to the fire. “You may continue.”
The warriors turned as directed and continued to drink and enjoy themselves. However, there were many more eyes glancing in their direction and the noise level had dropped significantly.
“I noticed here, that our prisoner is not in the same condition as he was on the day of his capture.” He grabbed Robert’s face and turned it from side to side, showing bruises, cuts, and a bad split lip. “He also has not been fed properly for the last several days.”
Demessa glanced a look of hatred to Robert and squinted her eyes at the accusation. She was clearly not entirely sober, but she said nothing.
“I was not clear in my order to refrain from beating him, so I will not bring that up further. However, from now on I would like for you to do your best not to beat him. Unless he is disrespectful to you.”
His eyes turned hard and he grabbed the scruff of her grey tunic. “But, I did give you instructions to keep him fed, and you have ignored it.” He tightened his grip on her and pulled her in close. “I don’t give a damn who your father is in court. I am second only to the king, and thus, you will obey my order as though I were a
great spirit in the flesh. I have no qualms with tying you up and lashing you until your skin hangs from your bones.”
Demessa’s eyes flared with anger, but still, she said nothing. The Rexunii leader let go of her tunic and gave her a push away from him. “Now go enjoy your night. Have some wine, and find a mate for the night.”
Demessa saluted him with an arm across her chest and stumbled back to the fire. She was drunk, but still, she turned to stare daggers at Robert. He knew this would have a terrible outcome.
The trek after that seemed to improve with respect to Robert’s condition, but still, he dreaded every step he took closer to his imminent death. Thule was known for two things by the Lokkadonians he had spoken to about it: The worship of dark spirits that resided beneath them, and a hole in the ground known as the ‘Pit of Mar’ that served as some execution place. The limited knowledge he had of the Rexunii culture maddened him, but he could see how they were different from the Lokkadonians just from observing them. They had rituals and customs that were similar of course; they had once been one nation. However, it was the distinct difference in how they acted and dressed that separated them the most. The Rexunii were passionate people, who lived in the moment more than the Dae he had come to know already.