Eye of the Moonrat (The Bowl of Souls: Book One)

by Cooley, Trevor H.

  As the other raptoids chased down individual prey, Deathclaw, dripping in gore and with the first spawn he killed still impaled on his tail, jumped over to aid the raptoid that had three spawns clinging to it. It didn’t look good for that member of his pack. One of the lizards had managed to slash its throat pretty wickedly and the raptoid’s lifeblood was pumping out quickly as it tried to defend itself.

  As Deathclaw sliced the tail off of one of the spawn with his razor sharp claws, a buzzing noise filled the air above the battling creature’s heads. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Deathclaw could feel his every muscle stiffen. Soon all movement in the area came to a complete stop. Every creature was frozen in place. The only things still moving were their beating hearts and their breathing lungs.

  Above the wide rock, the air began to shimmer. Two large heavily-armored humans stepped out of this shimmering portal onto the top of the rock. A thin oily-haired man dressed in ornate garments followed. The three men raised their arms, shielding their eyes from the glare.

  “My, my is it hot!” Ewzad Vriil said. He held a glowing scepter gingerly in one strange hand whose fingers seemed to move bonelessly of their own volition. “This, men, is the Whitebridge Desert, destroyer of countless lives!”

  He put his arm down and through eyes still squinting, leered at the dunes that surrounded them. “This is carnivore country. There’s not enough moisture for most forms of plant life to live, and the plants that do grow have their own wicked forms of protection. Take care, every living thing is deadly from the smallest insect to the biggest dragon. Yes, you see for killing is a way of life in this place where the easiest way to get moisture is from the blood of another creature.”

  The two large men shivered despite the heat and Ewzad cackled at their discomfort. “Frightening isn’t it? Yes, you know they say that the sand that covers this place is not truly sand at all, but just the crumbled bones of the dead. It is a ridiculous statement, of course. Surely bones only make up a quarter or maybe half-.”

  His eyes caught the frozen forms of the raptoids that surrounded the rock. He brought his strangely moving hands to his mouth and squealed.

  “Oh yes, they are perfect!”

  Ewzad thrust the scepter back at the larger of the two men behind him. The man took it from him with hesitant hands, careful to avoid touching the squirming fingers of his master.

  “Come-come! Hold this, Hamford, and don’t drop it, you fool. I don’t wish to have to fight this bunch of dragons. Do you?” He noted the quizzical expression on the large man’s face. “Yes-yes, Hamford I said dragons! Of course, they are a smaller species. The scholars call them raptoids.”

  Ewzad grinned an evil grin and jumped off the rock. The two men stood stone faced, not daring to move, but the greasy man wasn’t frightened. He walked to the nearest raptoid, a female that had been chasing after two of the spawn. He ran writhing fingers along the raptoid’s muscled side, feeling the hard scales that covered her skin. He closed his eyes and sent magical energy into the dragon’s lithe body for a moment before taking a step back.

  “Raptoids! A silly name, I know, but oh are they fine! Look at them, men! Fast, powerful, and smart! Not too smart, mind you, but just smart enough to work together. To follow orders, yes! Working together, a pack like this one can take down any creature in the desert. And after my modifications . . .” He trailed off, deep in thought and sent his magical energies into the raptoid’s body once more.

  “Yes, these will make fine soldiers, don’t you think? They will need some changes, though. Smart as they are, they have too little brain for my liking. I will need them to do more than run in formation.” He cupped his hands around the raptoid’s fierce head and after a moment, turned to the two men. “My, this is exciting. I had heard that these dragons have a different body make-up than other creatures, but I’d never have guessed that there was so much . . . power available.”

  He lovingly caressed the raptoid’s wicked teeth. Then Ewzad seized its skull and murmured under his breath. His fingers writhed and magical energies flowed into the creature’s head, manipulating its tissues.

  The raptoid didn’t understand why she couldn’t kill this soft skinned creature that had touched her. She only knew the intense pain that focused in her head, and no matter how hard she tried, her frozen body could do nothing about it.

  The raptoid’s skull began to swell oddly, and the wizard’s brow furrowed in concentration. Suddenly, its head exploded, showering the wizard with gore. He staggered back, spitting flesh out of his mouth. An evil chuckle escaped his red stained lips. “My, my. How unpleasant.”

  Ewzad wiped his face with the sleeve of his robe. “I think I’ll stand back next time.” He turned to the next raptoid, this one a male, and studied it for a moment. “Let’s start with the rest of the body first this time, don’t you think?”

  The two men were still staring at the first test subject. It stood frozen in the same position it had taken when they entered through the portal, but most of its head was missing.

  The wizard had his full attention on the next raptoid. He reached out and waved his fingers at it, mumbling oddly. Magical energies entered the unwilling subject and began changing its tissues at their most basic level.

  The raptoid’s arms lengthened and became more muscular, though the skin split in several places from the strain. The dragon’s bones crackled as they grew and split and reformed. Its body straightened and it started to take a more humanoid shape. Then the wizard concentrated even harder, his fingers blurring, and its skull started to bulge until the back of its head blew out with a loud popping noise. The deformed creature stayed frozen in that position, very much dead.

  “Oh, bother! I shall have to study this further.” Ewzad Vriil turned to the two huge men who were now looking a little green in the face. “Dragons must be different in more ways than I thought. I have never had this problem before.” The evil wizard frowned. “At least not in a while.”

  “Dear-dear, I will be very displeased if this whole trip is wasted,” he mumbled to himself. He turned to Hamford, who was holding the glowing scepter uneasily because its light was starting to waver. “Do you know why a dragon would make a far more superior guard than say, a lizard man?”

  Hamford shook his head.

  “For one, they are warm-blooded,” Ewzad lectured. “They can guard a man in any climate, whereas a lizard man would be useless if it got too cold. Not only that, but dragons regenerate. Yes, even if you cut an arm off, given enough time, it will grow back.”

  The two big men looked suspiciously at the bodies of the two dead raptors frozen in the air. “Oh, they can’t regenerate just anything. They can die. For instance, look at that one.” He pointed to the raptoid with the three spawn clinging to it. Its wound was no longer pumping blood. “That one is quite dead. Loss of blood, you see. Don’t worry, you will learn these things eventually.”

  He looked at the two headless dragons and laughed. “Oh, yes. Right! It seems that I am still learning too. Hee-hee! Well, no better time to learn than the present, I always say.”

  Deathclaw was still immobilized like the others, but his mind was working, and at full speed. For a being whose whole life was rooted in freedom of movement, this imprisonment was maddening. He had seen the lives of three of his pack extinguished, and his instincts were crying for retreat.

  He watched the wizard, who constantly made strange noises at the other two humans, point at the only other member of his pack left alive. It was Deathclaw’s sister, the only other egg from his brood that had hatched. She was perhaps the most useful member of the pack. By sticking with him, she had stayed alive all these years.

  The oily man waggled his fingers again in that strange way, and Deathclaw was forced to watch as his sister’s form was mutated and misshapen into the resemblance of a female humanoid. Raptoids aren’t exactly tightly knit families, but like most pack animals, they do care for the other members of their group. Deathclaw did not think of hi
s brood mate as a sister in the traditional sense, but he knew her by scent and she was a very valuable member of his pack. If she died, it would be a very unpleasant experience for him.

  Ewzad Vriil stopped the transformation before he got to her head. “Blast!” the wizard swore. “This is puzzling. Isn’t it Hamford?”

  Hamford didn’t reply. He knew that Ewzad didn’t really expect him to answer.

  “Well, well.” Ewzad snapped his fingers as if just realizing something “Perhaps if I alter the bone structure of the head by itself, first? Then I can grow the brain to fill it without any more eruptions, you think? The brain is always the most delicate organ to change. I will have to alter my spell to adjust for the different make up of those sensitive tissues.” He scratched his head and turned back to Deathclaw’s transformed sibling. “It is up to you, my dear. Let us see.”

  He thrust his arms at her once again. He muttered and waved his fingers in his twisted way and her long muzzle shortened. Then her skull began to swell and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as they moved from the sides of her head around to assume a more human position in the front of her head. The wizard stopped and smiled.

  “So pretty.” Then he waved his fingers once again, and though Deathclaw could not see what was being done, the wizard seemed satisfied. “The results on this one are much better. We will take it back to the keep where I can finish working on it.”

  The man beside Hamford leapt down from the rock and tried to pick up the changed raptoid. He strained, but it was too heavy for him. Ewzad cast a quick spell to help the man lift the raptoid and move it to the portal.

  Ewzad looked at the scepter in Hamford's hand. The glow was pulsing now. “The paralysis spell is starting to waver, but we’ve time for this last one, don't you think?” the greasy man mused. He turned to Deathclaw. Ewzad pointed his wavy fingers and muttered his arcane phrases.

  Deathclaw could feel a strange vibration in his body.

  “Oh, My! How wonderful,” the wizard crooned. “This one is perfect. Synapses so perfectly timed . . . I have seen none like it. Oh yes, he shall be my masterpiece!”

  Deathclaw felt a sudden excruciating pain as his body began to alter. His bones crackled as his spine straightened and his posture changed. His shoulders broadened and his arms elongated. His hands grew. His muscles bulged. As his body was forced into this new shape, his skin split in several places. Hundreds of tiny scales fell to the desert sand.

  Then the maddening pain focused on his head. He could feel his muzzle shorten, and his eyeballs bulged as his sockets moved forward on his head. His skull bulged out to form a humanoid cranium.

  Deathclaw’s altered body was vibrating with magical energy. He hurt all over and his primitive mind was frantic with thoughts of escape. With all of his powerful will and the utter physical control he had of himself, he resisted the spell holding him in place, but his body was being altered so much that he couldn't get a grip on it. The only part of his physique that had not yet been altered in some way was his muscular tail. By sheer force of mind, Deathclaw fought to seize control of it.

  The wizard smiled and clapped his hands excitedly. “There! I am getting the hang of this! The cells are still a bit unstable, but let’s see if we can expand its brain.”

  The wizard pointed a finger at him and the inside of Deathclaw’s head was on fire. He frantically pushed against the spell holding him and something finally gave. His tail was free!

  Deathclaw flung the dragon spawn that was still impaled on his tail spike. The dead creature flew through the air towards the man holding the source of the spell that kept Deathclaw immobilized. Hamford put his hands up in a defensive gesture and the body of the lizard struck him in the arms, knocking the scepter from his hands. It fell to the ground and with a loud pop, the spell ended.

  Deathclaw was free. He lunged and hissed at the startled wizard. The man jerked his arms back and the enchantment broke. Deathclaw’s mind was no longer on fire. He thrashed about. His body had changed too much for him to control it. He couldn’t even control his vision. The only coherent thought left to him was to flee. Deathclaw had no choice but to scamper off into the desert leaving his sister behind.

  At the same time, his sister had also been released from the spell. She had no more control over her altered body than her sibling, but she struck out at the man trying to bring her through the portal. Her claws cut ragged gashes across his face, but before she could do more damage, she was hit by another spell that froze her in place.

  “Blast! That was close!” The wizard's face was beet red, but he recovered his composure quickly. Ewzad scrambled back onto the rock. “It worked! It worked gentlemen!” He looked to the large man clutching his bleeding face. “Oh, don’t cry about that minor wound, Rudfen. We’ll take care of it on the other side. Now stop moping and get that dragon through the portal!”

  Ewzad Vriil turned his gaze onto Hamford, who was numbly trying to wipe the dragon spawn’s blood off of his shirt.

  “Pardon me, you fool! Do you have any idea what you have done?” The wispy man’s visage turned dark and horrible and there was terrible power in his voice. “You let that masterpiece get away! Do you have any idea what the value of each dragon soldier would be? Do you know how much power I had to use, how many favors I had to call in just to get here? It will take years before I can organize another trip such as this! I should burn you to dust for what you have done!”

  The large man groveled and whimpered on the rock. “Please sir! It wasn’t my fault, I -”

  The wizard laughed and suddenly there was a kind tone to his voice. “It’s alright, Hamford. I might not have to punish you.”

  Hamford looked up, not expecting this kind of mercy from his master. “Really, sir?”

  “Why yes, yes of course. I have one positive result from this costly trip.” He pointed to Deathclaw's sister. “Here is my promise. If you can get back to the keep alive, I will not kill you.” He turned to the other man who had somehow ignored his ruined face long enough to push his master’s prize through the shimmering doorway.

  “Come, every moment here drains more of my energy.” Just before they walked back through the portal, he added. “Leave Hamford a sword, will you? He may need it.” The man did as asked and they vanished, taking the portal with them.

  Hamford stared in disbelief at the place where they had been. He didn’t have long to feel sorry for himself, for he heard a chirp behind him. He jumped in surprise.

  The surviving dragon spawn circled the rock, staring at him hungrily.

  Ewzad Vriil collapsed as the shimmering gateway vanished. It took all of his concentration to keep the holding spell on the dragon. These gateways took too much of his energy. He much preferred traveling by mirror. If only he had a working one.

  “Rudfen, you must get that lovely creature down to the dungeon at once. Give her her own cell. We don’t need her killing any of my other wonderful beasties, do we?” The guard nodded, blood still pouring from his torn face, and began to drag the beast down the corridor towards the stairs. “Oh dear! Wait, Rudfen.”

  Ewzad struggled to his feet and stumbled over to the guard. He leaned on the man’s shoulder for balance. “My, what a garish wound. Would you like me to heal that for you?” He reached a squirming index finger towards the guard’s face.

  Rudfen flinched away, his disgust apparent. “No sir. It’s nothing. I’ll sew it up later myself.”

  Ewzad laughed at the man’s discomfort. He shoved the guard toward the stairs and leaned against the wall. “Go then. Don’t you harm her, now. She will be the jewel of my collection.”

  Ewzad made his way down the corridor towards his rooms, using the cool stone walls for support. It took some effort, but his energy was slowly returning. When he reached the gold inlaid door, he threw it open and stumbled into his study.

  The room was a jumbled mess as usual. “Must clean this place sometime, don’t you think?” he mumbled to himself. But he was too bus
y to do it himself. He toyed with the idea of having a maid come in, then looked at the piles of arcane objects scattered around the room and threw the thought away. “Oh no, no, no. What damage might a maid do to this place? It could be disastrous.”

  Ewzad fell into the chair by his enormous desk and sighed. A terrible headache often came when he overused the rings. He placed both hands against the pounding in his temples and found the way his fingers twisted and writhed against his scalp soothing.

  The trip to the desert had come so close to failure. He cursed the fact that he hadn’t been able to bring back all five of the raptoids. The one that they did retrieve however, she was perfect. Her transformation was unfinished, but as soon as he gathered his strength, he would fine tune her. He grew nearly giddy with anticipation.

  After a moment, he leaned forward and tried to grasp the handle on one of the desk’s many drawers. His fingers curled about each other refusing to obey. Ewzad sighed. They sometimes did this when he was in a weakened state. He slammed his fist against the desk top and wrested control of the rebellious fingers.