by Jez Cajiao
It was as if my nose hadn’t been switched on until now. Suddenly, I could smell it all around me, and as I spun, I could see more of it everywhere. Shit. Something, or a veritable horde of somethings, had smeared excrement across the walls, floor and every surface in my hall, probably for years.
I gagged and heard a sound from behind. I twisted around and saw the sound must have come from the entrance to the hall. Where there had once been a stone doorframe leading out to a village or town, I could see a packed dirt tunnel that led deeper into darkness.
I walked forward hesitantly, ducking my head down to peer into the tunnel. It stood maybe four feet high and three feet wide, with a solid packed earthen floor. Roots and rocks were intruding through the sides, and somewhere ahead, there was a faint light. I backed away as I again heard the sound coming from deeper inside the tunnel.
It was intermittent, a clicking as though something hard tapped on stone, followed by a low chittering. It was growing louder, and multiple sounds overlapped each other. I searched through the room frantically, trying to find a weapon. I ran to the racks on the far wall, but found that they were all empty, just like the ones closer to my sarcophagus, and I began hunting in desperation. Every single rack was empty, as were the slots below the fire-pits, and beyond that, there was nothing but the mounds of waste in the room. Waste that, as I continued to look at it, began to have vaguely familiar shapes. I took two quick steps and, trying to contain my disgust, dug my fingers into one of the piles.
I felt a hard, flaky crust give way, my fingers digging in deeper until they felt something solid, and I drew it out. It was a bone, maybe six inches long, curved into a ‘u’ shape and splintered at one end, with regular ridges sunken into it. One of the ridges crumbled and came loose under my questing fingers and I dropped it in disgust as I realized what it was. A jawbone with missing teeth and dozens of cracks and toothmarks in it, pitted by the passage it’d taken through something’s digestive tract before being deposited here.
I lost control when I realized how small many of the teeth were. It was a child’s jaw. I vomited, turning aside as I heaved, my tiny amount of self-control fleeing me. I tried to vomit up everything I’d ever eaten, despite the only thing in my stomach being the amniotic fluid that my mana-wight body always seemed to be born in.
I shook and retched, continuing to dry heave as I gazed blearily around the room. Dozens upon dozens of shapes lay under the piles, and I realized that something had fed on a huge number of bodies. Tiny defenseless children had been devoured, even as this body had slumbered here, unaware.
The sound from the tunnel behind me became louder, arresting my attention as I spun around. I shook, my head spinning even as my stomach tried to rebel again. My mouth grew dry in fear, a fear that was burnt aside by the heat of my swiftly rising rage.
TheySetThemFreeTheyLetThemFeedOnChildrenTheyKilledThemAllNoNoNotTheChildren…
The voice ranted away in the back of my mind, but as the first creature entered the room, it went silent. After a moment’s pause, it exploded in screams so loud they echoed around my brain. I was nearly convinced the creature could hear it as well, by the way its steps faltered.
Its carapace was black and shiny, with bright red streaks running down from the massive head, outlining the sharp mandibles that clicked and clacked on either side of the wide mouth, and disappearing down the body that snaked out of view into the darkness. The creature had dozens of legs, each tipped with a hard, sharp point that clattered onto the occasional clear section of stone.
It reared up, half its body length seeming to lift, until it stood nearly as tall as I was. I found myself facing a centipede, grown to monstrous size, that had developed a taste for human flesh. I met its eyes, its four red eyes that glared at me, and I tried not to imagine the creature that rode this, as I could clearly see the straps and buckles of a saddle tied to its back.
It emitted a sharp, wet hiss as it began to weave sinuously from side to side, slowly moving closer to me.
Congratulations! Drach’s Mesmerize skill has failed!
Your anger and experience in past battles have allowed you to ignore the Drach’s innate Mesmerize skill.
I felt my lips draw back, exposing my teeth as a low growl forced its way up from the depths of my core. Before I could think better of it, or think at all, I lunged forward and grabbed the mandibles on either side of its mouth. It tried to draw back, surprised by the sudden attack, but I was faster, gripping the hard chitinous extensions tightly before forcing them backwards.
I felt resistance, the muscles trying to close the mandibles, even as the rest of the body lunged forward. Sharp claws dug into my legs and abdomen as it attacked me. It was too slow, though, and the mandibles had been open too wide.
I flexed my arms, hunched forward, and ignored the burrowing pains across my body as I imagined the children this fucking thing had eaten. I heaved with all my strength and felt a slight give, followed by ominous cracking. I twisted both wrists, tearing the mandibles free of its face in a gush of blood and fluid. It let loose a high pitched squeal and thrashed about, trying to back away, but I moved in even closer. Discarding the broken chitin from my left hand, I grabbed onto the shell of its head and drove the pointed tip of the mandible in my right hand back into its face. I felt the chitin crack and fracture around the improvised weapon as I dug in deeper.
I screamed with pain and rage, even as it hissed, gurgled, and squealed back at me. Its madly twisting body took us both to the ground as it wrapped itself around me, legs digging into my flesh, tearing the wounds wider as it thrashed and dug in, trying to escape me. I felt something pop and crunch as the final bit of resistance gave way, and the tip of my makeshift weapon sank into its brain. The creature twitched and convulsed, tearing my wounds further, then stopped, its body relaxing into death.
I pulled the mandible back and then shoved it in harder, twisting it and coring the monster’s brain out. I yanked and dug, all reason gone as I unleashed my fury. After a few seconds, it dawned on me that it wasn’t fighting back, and I slumped to the floor. I could feel the corpse slowly curling up as I rolled away from it to lie with my back against the wall.
I laid there, panting, bleeding heavily, and shaking as whatever passed for adrenaline seemed to wear down in this artificial body. I raised one trembling hand, pointing the ichor coated mandible at the creature before muttering under my breath.
“Didn’t…know who he…was fucking with…!”
As the final syllable passed my lips, another noise from the tunnel drew my attention. I watched in silent horror as a second, and then a third creature came creeping in, with a fourth clambered like a spider across the wall. This last one had a small creature strapped to its back that glared at me, with hatred clear in its tiny eyes. It was barely a foot tall, hunched over, with spindly arms and legs gripping the saddle tight as its mount climbed the wall furthest from me and came to rest in the top corner, well out of reach.
It freed one hand and pulled out a small collection of reeds bound together, which it began to play like a flute. With the eerie high-pitched notes filling the hall, the other two creatures separated to come at me from either side. More entered from the tunnel, climbing in along the walls, floor, and ceiling until I lost count of the them. The walls were alive with the clattering black mess of the creatures. Even though they were all smaller than the one I’d already faced, there were so many….
I looked around wearily. Anger still filled my mind, but I was also well aware of my chances, even as I gingerly picked up the second mandible with my left hand. I struggled to my feet, rapidly cooling blood coating my body as I stared right back at the hateful little rider.
“Huuuuman….?” it whispered, barely audible across the sound of claws on stone and dirt.
“Aye..” I muttered, drawing a deep breath and spitting a wad of blood onto the floor between us.
“Diiiiie!” it rasped at me, blowing one last series of notes into the reed collec
tion of pipes.
The creatures closed in, and I went to work, stabbing, kicking, and even biting, as they tore into me and ripped me limb from limb. One of my final sensations was from a small monster, only a foot or so long, digging its way into a wound in my stomach and tearing its way up through the inside of my chest.
You have died…..
Chapter Four
I bolted awake again, screaming and twisting around, my hands grabbing at my chest in an effort to stop the last creature, only to find quickly healing skin. I overbalanced, tipping off the medical gurney I’d been laying on.
Someone had released me at some point, and now two medical staff were trying to restrain me as I panicked…again.
I grabbed the man in front of me, yanking him forward and headbutting him before throwing him backwards. I bolted, hearing screams and shouts for help as doors nearby opened and the sound of running feet came closer.
“Jack, you mad bastard! Stop!” I heard West’s voice, but I was too far gone. Too much had happened. Before I could make sense of my surroundings, I felt something stab into my back, and then pain shot through me as a taser unleashed its charge into my poor abused body.
I thrashed and bucked, my body no longer under my control as I flopped about on the floor. The wounds that had been closing burst back open and blood sprayed around the room.
The next thing I knew, I was strapped down on a gurney, with dozens of people surrounding me. The Baron was there, looming over me and screaming with pure unbridled rage.
“…tell me now! Did HE plan this? Speak, fool, or die!” he spat at me, slapping me hard enough that I thought he must have dislodged a few of my teeth.
I managed a weak; “Wha…” before my abused body gave up, and I passed out again.
When I regained consciousness, the gurney I was strapped to had been placed in a raised position. I was propped up by pillows and chained down, but at least I had pants on, my brain muzzily noted.
I blinked and squinted around as best I could, my nerves screaming from all the abuse they’d suffered. I recognized the room I was in, my own bedroom, with the Baron. He sat in a chair, watching me with a cold light in his eyes.
“You’re a Dreamer,” he stated, watching me for a reaction. I frowned and looked down at my heavily scarred body and back at him before replying.
“Aye, I dream, sometimes. What of it?” I muttered weakly.
“Not dream, boy. You DREAM. You know the difference,” he snapped in a cold fury.
I lay there looking at him, every instinct warring with my desire to know more. I knew, I just knew it was a mistake to tell the prick anything, but I needed answers, and it wasn’t as though I could deny it now.
“I have DREAMS, yeah, I guess. You know about them?” I asked. He met my eyes, and for the first time in our interactions, I saw something beyond scarcely contained anger or contempt. I saw a hint of fear, quickly covered up, but it was there.
“I know of them…I should have realized, with the reports I had of your scars. Your brother, he had the same…affliction?” the Baron asked almost casually, quirking an eyebrow at me.
“Aye, Tommy had them too. Why?”
“In these Dreams, is there a voice?” he asked, fixing me with an intense stare.
“I…” I could feel the other one, the voice or whatever it was‒it was there now‒watching the Baron through my eyes, and it HATED him. My own hatred was like a candle beside an inferno in comparison, and without thinking about it, I lied.
“I don’t hear a voice., There’s sometimes people, and they talk to me, but that’s it. One time…” I started to ramble before I managed to catch myself, and I frowned at the Baron. I didn’t want to tell him anything, but I…I probably needed to tell him, he was important…wasn’t he? I should do what he said. I should tell him about the voice, I decided. I started to open my mouth, and my tongue seemed to freeze.
PoisonHeLearnedOhYesHeLearnedButWeCantHaveThatNoNoNoCantHaveHimLearnWeStillLiveNotYetNot…
When I heard the voice mumbling away to itself, it was like a light switching on as a fog seemed to be banished from my brain. I felt something prodding and pushing at the outside of my mind, fingers trying to dig inside, even as a strange taste in my mouth and a pain in my arm let me know that something was being slowly fed into my bloodstream to keep me compliant.
“No, there’s no voice, just people I need to help…” I repeated.
“People? Describe them.”
I began to talk, and he cut me off quickly.
“No, not peasants. People, nobles, people of power; tell me what they say, and everything you can remember.”
I did, trying to appear drugged still, rambling on about the people I could remember, the fights, the deaths. The Baron interrupted me constantly, asking questions about the locations, the creatures, the wealth of the areas, and always pushing for interactions with nobles or cities.
I told him all I could, keeping back any mention of the voice. Finally, he grunted, seeming satisfied.
“You’ve been luckier than you know, boy. I should have you killed, just in case, but with a Pearl in you now, you’ve risen in value. However, Daphne will be punished for this oversight…severely. I’ll still allow you to fight in the arena, but just in case you haven’t been honest with me, I’ve got a little gift for you.” He hauled himself to his feet and strode over, extending one thick claw-tipped finger.
He began to mutter under his breath before digging his claw into the skin over my heart. Slowly dragging it deeper, he drew copious amounts of blood as he carved a strange rune into my flesh. It took him several minutes. I swore and cried out, thrashing impotently, until he was finished. When he pulled his claw back, the rune began to glow a deep, dark green, pulsing until it settled down into a solid bloody scar across my chest.
Containment rune activated!
Warning: you have been marked with a containment rune. This magical construct will prevent any form of extraplanar communication, and will release a powerful, likely fatal attack on any that attempt to deactivate it.
“What the hell was that, you crazy old bastard?” I gasped out as the Baron examined his handiwork.
“Why, Jack, it’s a gift, from father to son. With this, no creatures of the night will be able to whisper in your ear. See how well I care for you?” he replied sardonically, and I knew I hadn’t been completely successful in hiding the voice’s presence. He at least suspected, anyway.
“I suggest you don’t attempt to remove it or ask anyone you don’t want dead to remove it either. The effects could be…unfortunate!” With that, he turned around and walked out of the room, leaving me to sag back on the gurney in exhaustion and pain.
I felt hands reaching around and releasing my bonds, and my anger flared with the realization that someone had been there all this time.
I leaped to my feet, spinning around to find Xiao backing away to sit on the far side of the room. She slowly clapped her hands as she enjoyed the view, and I clenched my fists in anger.
“Well, boy? Have you forgotten your first lesson in magic so easily? Hmm?” she asked, lifting one hand up and threateningly curling her fingers as though about to grab something.
“Oh, I remember; I remember just fine…” I growled, staring at her in challenge. It was a dumb thing to do, a small part of me screamed, but after all of that I’d just been through, hell no, I wasn’t backing down from this crazy old bag.
“Good! Perhaps you do have some fire in you after all; you survived the bonding better than I expected. Now, before you are returned to your usual time-wasting with pretty swords and so on, we will discuss your new abilities. Concentrate, and you will be able to summon descriptions of your status, screens that show you details, information, and even maps. You will be able to augment your vision, improve your pathetic abilities, and most important of all, you will be able to see how to improve yourself further at any time. You will be using this facility most of all, as you are so weak!”
“What? Seriously, you want to do this now?” I growled incredulously.
“The Baron ordered that I must prepare you as soon as possible, so sit and listen, or do I need to have you tasered and restrained again? Hmmm?”
I started to speak, only for her to snap at me to be quiet as she continued her tirade.
“First, we will discuss your status. Concentrate and think the word ‘Status’ at the Pearl.”
I did so, seeing the golden smoke flowing into existence once again. In under a second, it had shifted from a faint wisp to forming boxes and rectangles, words, and a page that floated before my eyes.
Name: Jack Sanguis
Class: None
Renown: Unknown
Level: 1
Progress: 0/300
Patron:
Points to Distribute: 0
Meridian Points to Invest: 0
Stat
Current points
Description
Effect
Progress to next level
Agility
8
Governs dodge and movement.
Average speed -20%
0/100
Charisma
9
Governs likely success to charm seduce or threaten
Success chance -10%