Exhumation: An Epic of Existentia (Acts of the Sojourner Book 1)

by S. A. Chapman

  Another two Rapax ran towards Tyr and Valerus, who were lying on their sides and struggling to break free of their snares. The beastmen guarding them jumped over the top of the two men and ran towards the oncoming Rapax, one wielding a wire net and the other a long-handled hunting–axe.

  As the two beastmen ran past Pious’s line of sight, two hideous burning red orbs peered from the darkness of the jungle. An ensemble of roars emanated from within the jungle, causing Pious to turn his head and see a haze of light approaching in the distance. He diverted his attention back to the eyes in the jungle, just as a blood-curdling snarl screamed through the trees. The monstrous and shaggy mass of a Bara burst forth, pushing over the smaller, less rooted trees in its stride. As it entered the clearing, it buried its mighty clawed paw deep into the back flesh of the Rapax that was biting into the shoulder of the still–struggling beast–man.

  Pious felt his stomach sink – an indicator of the additional dose of Surge chemicals entering is bloodstream. Pious knew that Bara very rarely ventured this far into Elysia, even during Tenebrae – as they were quite high up the chain of predation in Shaydean realms. A Bara was sure to be challenge – but some primal memory, some feeling called within him – a muscle memory, a feeling of familiarity.

  The Bara ripped the Rapax from the beast–man with ease, a clump of the beast's flesh and fur still caught in the fangs of the Rapax. The Bara crushed the spine of the creature, and the Rapax hissed as its life was extinguished in a gurgle of venom spewing from its mouth. The beast–man appeared to lose his strength – his cries became quieter, and his spear thrusts became weaker and weaker, missing the Rapax that was trying to drag him away from the fray.

  Pious spotted a burning torch some three spans away from his feet, midway between him and the Bara, which had managed to take hold of the beast man with its claw. It was now fighting with the Rapax over the screaming beast–man, who was being torn between two voracious predators.

  Pious sprang to his feet, the full power of the Surge pulsing with each heartbeat. He took two steps and lunged forward into a dive, grabbing the torch with his left hand and rolling forward and regaining his footing. He continued running forward, his heart thumping in his chest and pounding in his head with each footstep. The beast–man lost his grip on his spear, and it fell from his hands, its fall appearing slow and graceful to the Surge–slowed vision of Pious.

  Pious charged forward, torch in hand, directing its light towards the Shadefiends. The torchlight illuminated the torn and twisted figure of the groaning beast–man, his fur matted and clumped with his own blood.

  As the spear fell closer to the ground, Pious reached forward, snatched it, and spun it into a better handling position, pointing the gleaming spear tip towards the Rapax. The Rapax diverted its attention to Pious as the Bara – unaffected by Pious’s presence – continued pulling at the beast man.

  Pious focused his attention on a hairless spot between the two vestigial and deformed eyes of the Rapax. As he began to sidestep towards the Bara, he lifted the spear overhead in both hands and brought it down towards the head of the Rapax in a forceful hooking motion. The Rapax opened its mouth and ejected a shot of venom from its poison gland. Pious dodged the venom effortlessly as the spearhead pushed through the parietal gland’s soft flesh and into the centre of the creature’s brain. The Rapax fell to the ground instantly. Pious withdrew the spear and held it above his head, spearhead pointing towards the Bara, with his left hand holding the torch outstretched, as he took a deep stance.

  The environment around Pious slowly became illuminated by a bluish glow, as many more beastmen arrived on the scene with additional glowing rods in their hands, all with weapons at the ready.

  The pack of Rapax shrieked loudly and sickeningly as they rapidly retreated from the oncoming light and returned to the darkness of the forest, hissing as they fled.

  “Get back, it’s the Ůrsa!” shouted one of the beastmen to the newly arrived party, pointing to the Bara.

  “It has K’Sarat!” shouted one of the members of the party, pointing his axe at the Bara, now fully illuminated in blue light.

  “No!” shouted another of the beastmen from the new group. He began to run towards the Bara, spear in hand. The beast–man in the clutches of the Bara, fell limp.

  “He is finished, K’Reorh!” shouted the apparent leader of the first party to the gallant spear–wielding beast–man, as two other beastmen held him back from entering the fray.

  The Bara kept retreating, staring at Pious as it dragged the motionless beast–man along the ground. Pious charged forward, striking the Bara in the chest with a quick blow from his spear. The Bara screamed at Pious in a baritone growl and let go of the beast–man. The Bara raised itself in the air, its head almost touching the canopy. The monstrous creature towered above Pious, almost double his height, staring down at him. It dropped its two powerful front legs to the ground, sending a shockwave through the damp soil.

  “What is the smoothskin doing? Grab it!” shouted the apparent leader of the beast–folk, pointing towards Pious.

  Pious stepped towards the Bara, front foot first, drawing his back foot forward, maintaining a low stance and centre of gravity. The Bara swiped at Pious with its right claw, missing his front leg as he drew it a few steps closer to his body before placing it back into position. Pious jabbed at the Bara’s arm with his spear as it swiped, striking the creature in the wrist, and it screamed again.

  The Bara took a few steps backwards, limping slightly on its damaged paw. Pious began circling the creature, waving the torch overhead, positioning himself against the trunk of a Dew Leaf. The Bara was breathing heavily; powerful jets of steam erupted from its mouth in the humid jungle air. Pious began twisting and grinding the end of his spear into the base of the tree, embedding it between two roots.

  He turned his head to the beast–folk, stretching his arm out with an open hand. “Spear!” Pious shouted.

  The beast–man who had been restrained by his fellows earlier, pushed through the grips of his comrades, throwing his spear towards Pious with accuracy and power. The tip of the spear slammed into the soft and palpable outer tissue of the Dew Leaf. Pious turned his head slightly, looked at the still–wobbling spear and grabbed hold of it with his hand, working with a back and forward motion to dislodge.

  Pious threw his torch away to his side, sending it skidding across the ground towards the beast–folk. As soon as the torch left his hand, the Bara charged towards him, the steam from its burning red eyes leaving trails in the cool damp air.

  Pious waited, staring at the Bara, as the beast's footsteps shook the ground in unison with Pious’s Surge–induced pounding heartbeat. The Bara’s jaws opened wide, emitting a foul stench from a maw full of jagged and rotten teeth, with pieces of decomposing flesh caught amongst them. As soon as the Bara came within striking range, Pious wheeled to the side and pulled the beast man's thrown spear from the tree–trunk. In the same moment, the Bara slammed into the first, strategically–placed spear, which punctured its chest and protruded slightly through its back.

  The Bara groaned deeply, its face pressed hard up against the trunk of the tree, its arms wrapped around its base. Pious ran up its bristle-covered back and drove the second spear into the back of its neck at the point where the spine and skull met, driving the point through until the spear was pinned to the tree.

  The back legs of the Bara thrashed wildly in the dirt as the creature tried to get enough footing to pull itself free.

  Pious jumped from the back of the Bara and ran to the grievously wounded beast–man on the ground. Pious grabbed him underneath his arms and began to drag him towards the rest of the pack, who were standing in disbelief and shock, staring at the groaning Bara pinned to the tree.

  The dying beastman stared at Pious and slowly raised his hand, placing it on the hand of Pious, distracting him. Pious looked at the beastman and saw that he was awake. Pious stopped dragging the beastman and crouched next to
him, examining his horrendous wounds and visibly hiding his concerns over their severity.

  “You….” the beastman said quietly, moving his hand up Pious’s arm and onto his shoulder.

  “You… I know you – from the Brost,” the beast continued, as his head rolled limply to the side and his eyes stared into the dirt. “Finally, it is as the Hearess foretold…,” the creature whispered to himself.

  Another of the beastfolk moved alongside Pious, crouching next to him and placing his hands on the fur–covered hands of the other creature.

  “From the halls of darkness will return a burning light, to restore the Clan to freedom, to make the wrong things right… and by your brutal death, it will come to be; for, with your Claw in hand, the light will set you free,” mumbled the beastman, staring into the soil. He stretched his hand out towards the kneeling beastman, muttering in an unknown language.

  “Go… my father and I must part ways,” said the crouching beast, who was holding some sort of tool in his hand. Pious nodded and stood upright, extremely exhausted and depleted from the Surge. As he walked towards his comrades, who were still bound and tied, two beastfolk came up alongside him and lassoed him with snares. Pious did not respond or react; only walked with the beasts obligingly while swaying gently from side to side.

  The group stood still for some time, looking on as the beastman worked alongside his father, with his back to them, while the Bara struggled and groaned in the background. An intense period of silence ensued, before the crouching beastman stood over his father and picked him up, carrying him across his shoulders and slowly returning to the group.

  “It is done,” said the beastman, staring at the ground, breathing heavily under the weight of the large beastman on his back. He raised his head and looked towards another of the hunting party. “Y’Gar, you should gather the Heart Seed of the Floran, so we can return it to the Root–Stock,” the beast continued.

  “K’Reorh. We had better get to the safety of our lights and bring these murderous smoothskins before the Voivode,” said another beastman.

  “You’re right. Let's not dally here any longer” the first beastman replied, and he turned and walked away.

  Darkness once again descended upon the party, as all the beastmen extinguished their torches, dumping mounds of soil atop the burning pitch. The orange light of the burning torches was replaced by the blue light of the glowing rods.

  Three Rapax prowled forth from the jungle's edge in the dim light and began to climb atop the dying Bara. The Bara began to groan louder and louder, and the sound of tearing flesh and hissing Rapax filled the air, echoing from the darkness as the light began to wane.

  Suddenly, the beastmen pushed the four men forward into the jungle. They were dragged along by their captors through the thick of the jungle, towards where a dull blue light shone through cracks in the undergrowth. One thing was clear; the party was heading towards the source of the light.

  The Village

  “I will find a use for the Nanofungi. You may think it nothing more than useless biomass from a blackened world, but I see it as so much more.”

  Recorded argument with the Supreme Overseer,

  Galirad Sabinos, Lecture Master on the Decree of Sirius.

  Noted in the 242nd Cycle of Truth.

  The four men and their captors broke through the tree line and entered a large open area, where the light source that had been visible from the forest clearing became obvious. The light emanated from bright blue flames that danced atop crudely fashioned stonework. The light from the beastmen's glowing rods further illuminated the forest canopy above, which formed a thick, dome-like cover above the forest clearing.

  It was only because of the blue, smokeless fires and the presence of a few scattered beastmen that Pious could make out several structures. There were many mounds covered in lush vegetation, which appeared as nothing more than overgrown hillocks. The commotion of a patrol party bringing a group of what appeared to be captives into their village drew the inhabitants out of their mound dwellings, giving away their homes' positions.

  The village was quite a remarkable sight, being in almost perfect symbiosis with the environment surrounding it. If one were to walk through that part of the forest without knowing of the presence of the village, it would be close to impossible to recognise it. There were no streets or clearly paved roads, but there were heavily worn tracks in the forest floor, down one of which they were currently being led.

  Intermittently, their captors would push them forward, attempting to make them lose their balance, clearly as a physical sign of dominance. It appeared that they were being led to the centre of the village, which was well illuminated by the light of many blue flames.

  They continued marching onwards until they approached a courtyard forming the entrance to an elaborately large mound. Upon reaching the courtyard, the captors kicked the back of the captives’ knees, one after the other, causing their legs to give way dropping them to the ground. After this, they released the snares on the men.

  As Sincerus dropped to the ground, he picked up a handful of soil. He rolled forward, throwing the dirt at the face of his captor. He turned and regained his footing, then followed up by running and throwing all his body weight on his captor, forcing the beastman to the ground. The commotion caused all the other captors to turn their heads to investigate. Almost simultaneously, Valerus, Tyr and Pious skilfully regained their upright footing and engaged in melee with their captors.

  Meanwhile, the villagers had started making their way to observe the spectacle. The sheer weight of their numbers started to overpower the captives as more beastfolk joined the scuffle, pulling the men from the fray – as a loud and mighty roar bellowed from inside the mound adjoining the courtyard.

  The beastfolk stopped their brawl and grabbed the captives, holding them in their powerful grips.

  Sincerus threw a reverse head butt into the chest of his captor in frustration. “Settle, Sincerus!” Pious ordered, upon noticing his resistance. “If they'd wanted to kill us they would have done so already!”

  Sincerus begrudgingly stopped his struggle. In response, his captor struck him in the ribs, causing a grimace of pain to appear on Sincerus’s face.

  Pious looked ahead to the mound from which he heard the growl. This mound was different from the others, which were all quite simple in detail. This mound had exotic orchids and pitcher plants hanging from the branches that grew from its surface. At the front of the mound was a semicircular archway with an elaborate burgundy–coloured curtain drawn across it. The curtain had what appeared to be gold bullion wire embroidery and designs all over its surface. If Pious was not mistaken, it looked like it had been crafted by Sanctum artisans, if it was not actual Sanctum property.

  As Pious inspected the curtain, it was abruptly pulled open. One of the beastfolk was standing in the doorway. This beastman was much larger and much heavier set than the others. He stood there, partially in shadow, with the curtain clutched in his left hand, inspecting the courtyard and the captors standing there with their spoils.

  “What exactly is going on, Y’Gar, and why are you and these smoothskins tearing up my courtyard?” he demanded, staring at the beastman holding Sincerus. His eyes glowed in the darkness, reflecting the light from the courtyard’s flames.

  “Voivode, we were on a patrol through the forest when we responded to the cries of the Florae. When we arrived, we found that these men had murdered a Seed Mother in her Nursery, which was protecting its Sprouts from the Burning Fire these men were carrying. We apprehended them and brought them before you to administer justice,” claimed the beast holding on to Valerus.

  The beastman stepped out of his abode. His face, illuminated by the blue smokeless fires that lit the front of the mound, looked infuriated. He was wearing a dark green tunic with embroidery around the sleeves, hem and collar. He had long, thick, smoky ash–coloured fur, stubby yet muscular legs, a wide head with ears set far apart, large eyes, and a short
muzzle. The muzzle had two thick mats of whiskers, parted to the sides much like a human moustache, as well as a beard like mat of hair on its lower muzzle. The fur–covered ears were upright, with tufts of hair protruding from the tips. The beast’s eyes were of a bright orange and amber colour and seemed to glow in the dark.

  Pious looked to Tyr in expectation. Tyr shouted something underneath his gag, with an expression of surprise.

  “Who of you shall speak for your crimes?” asked the beastman, moving an outstretched finger, panning it across the four captives.

  “We have committed no crime known to us,” Pious proclaimed with surety, holding his head upright.

  The beastman strode forward. With a powerful blow, he gripped Pious around the throat, lifted him off the ground and snarled into his face.

  “You are ignorant, smoothskin!” he said in a menacing tone, showing a mouth full of powerful fangs.

  “We defended ourselves from an unknown assailant,” Pious forced through his constricted vocal cords.

  “Interesting… tell me smoothskin, why should I, in all my graciousness, allow you four to live for an offence that is severely punishable under our law?” questioned the beastman.

  Pious proceeded to politely poke a dagger that he had swiftly removed from one of the beastman's tunic belts during the scuffle, into his captor's side where he assumed the creature's heart to be located.

  The creature put his face right into Pious’s and grinned.

  “So, it would appear that the smoothskin has a heart, as do we, since he appears to be aware of its location,” the beastman proclaimed in a terse, yet jovial manner.

  “And yes – you may have me at an advantage, smoothskin; however, you are vastly outnumbered. You are in position to take my life, yet we are in position to swiftly take all of yours. Our tribe’s story will continue, yet your group’s story will not be written beyond this point. You all resist strongly because you have a will and a reason to survive.” The beast released his grip, dropping Pious to the ground and turning his back on him. “Explain yourself, Elysian – explain yourself before we feed you to the Pitcher Worms,”