Tellus Tales, Volume 1 - AXE

by Brian Berg

  Tellus tales

  Volume 1:

  AXE

  Copyright Brian Berg, 2012

  All Rights Reserved

  I dedicate this book to

  My father Dennis

  My mother Mary Lou

  My grandmother Malene

  Thanks for everything guys.

  A Note From the Author

  Greetings, travellers! What you are about to read is a book about a brand new realm of adventures and strange creatures. For the past couple of years, I have been filled with so many ideas for stories and unsure of what to do with them, my girlfriend suggested we could release them in a collection so that you may enjoy them. I acknowledge that the fantasy genre of writing has been around for so long, many people may think that not much else can possibly be done to make a mark on the genre. Some of those very people may even be reading this right now. I know that with so much out there already there's a slim chance I can even make a dent in it at all, but I've been wanting to show this special world, it's people and the adventures they have and I'm happy just to do that.

  Contents

  Intro

  The Beast and the Monster

  Captain Bones

  The Tome of Nomolos

  Turning Point

  The Nightdwellers

  The Ocean Bride

  Lucky Low

  The Temple of Sekhmet

  Epilogue

  Notes of the Sea

  Bibliography

  Intro

  Tell us, oh tales of this world,

  Where the fire breathing creatures horde treasure within their cave, sending any who may wish to steal it, to a very early grave.

  Where the pirates rule over the seas, sailing above the mermaids, singing their precious melodies.

  Where the Gods rule in the heavens above, leaving the demons to walk among the living, disturbing peace and love.

  Where the children of tomorrow shall play, soon to join the thousands who will hunt and slay.

  Where secrets hide in the wild lands, lost for years within their deep desert sands.

  Where fantastic treasures lay, just waiting for those daring enough to find them another day

  Tell us, oh tales of this world. Tell us tales, of Tellus.

  The Beast and the Monster

  If it wasn't for the large tradesman, things would be even worse for the warrior that was laying on the side of the road. As a vulture flew slowly above him, the wanderer lay in the hot soil, his lips cracked and his throat was dry as a bone. An old, leather pack and a large lochaber axe lay on the ground nearby; the pack well used, the lochaber had both a fine layer of long dried blood and many nicks in the blade. Just inches from his head, a black, wide-brimmed hat lay. He had no provisions and had been laying in the blazing sun when the tradesman and his beast of burden rolled down the road.

  “Shoo! Shoo!” the trader shouted, waving his arms as he shouted at the bird above his head. “You will not be feasting today, you feathered nuisance! Get away from him or I'll make you my dinner!” he warned, pulling a wicked looking knife from the sheath at his hip.

  The vulture screeched and flew off to find some other carrion to dine on. The giant man approached the fallen traveler and rolled him over. The sudden presence of sunlight in his eyes made him wince and groan, but it gave his rescuer the signs of life he needed to see.

  “It's okay, boy, it's okay. Everything's fine.”

  “Where...?” the poor man coughed as wind blew dust in his face. “Where am I?”

  “Right now, you look like you're moments from crossing to the next world, my young friend. You were about to become dinner for a very large bird, but I scared it away,” the tradesman pulled him to his feet and began to guide him to the massive cart he drove. “Come, come, come! I have water, you are more than welcome to have it.”

  “Thank you...uh...who are you?”

  “My name is Taroh, I'm a merchant. Who are you?”

  “Axe.”

  “Axe? Oh! You're weapon?” Taroh looked back at the almost forgotten equipment as he began to pour cold liquid from his water-skin into a tin cup “Yes, I will collect your things. Don't worry, but I would like to know your name?”

  “Axe.” he reached out, snatched the cup away and tilted his head back, letting the most welcomed drink into his body. He downed the entire cup in one go, then grabbed the water-skin itself. Before Taroh could stop him, he overturned it and let the contents of the skin fall out onto his head. The large merchant hadn't paid attention before when he first found the young man, but he got a real good look at him now.

  The traveler had dark skin, well tanned from what he assumed was a long time in the open sun, and long hair that was the color of night itself. His eyes were dark and as water flowed and dripped from his head onto the fur vest he wore over his tattered clothing, Taroh could see a somewhat muscular form under the damp clothing as it began to cling to is flesh. After giving himself a shower, he lowered the water-skin, but still held on to it as he turned to his rescuer.

  “My name is Axe. Thank you for helping me.”

  “You're...welcome...” Taroh nodded slowly. “What the hell were you doing out here, anyway?”

  “My friend told me to come out here.”

  “Your friend?”

  He nodded. “His name is Steve.”

  Taroh looked around, but could see no sign of any other person anywhere. He even kept the long strands of his red hair out of his eyes so they wouldn't hinder his sight.

  “Oh, he's around, don't you worry about that.” Axe chuckled, having noticed him looking. “He is always with me! He told me to travel this way and so I have! I just wish he let me buy some food and water, but he said no! That bastard, he almost made me vulture food!”

  Taroh stared at him with an odd look. He had heard tales of people coming to madness after too much time under the sun. Clearly, this poor soul had been touched with a bit of madness as well.

  “Where were you headed?”

  Axe shrugged. “I don't know. Steve told me to come out to the Badlands! He said I had to get some fresh air and some sun, or else I'd turn lazy and sluggish.”

  “I see.” Taroh chewed on his lip for a moment. “There is a settlement, not too far from here. It is an outpost, called Hystao. If you'd like, I can take you there?”

  Axe threw his arms up into the air and smiled. “Sure! Why not? I love going to new places, meeting new people! But, let me tell you something,” he clamped a surprisingly strong hand on Taroh's shoulder and looked into the man's eyes. “If you see a rock, and that rock tells you that scorpions are your friends? It is a bad rock, because it is lying to you!”

  Taroh had no choice but to nod and help the mad traveler into the front of his cart before going to collect his things. He placed them in the back of the cart and was soon on his way, down the road once again.

  ***

  The huge cart lumbered down the road for a short time more, and then it finally reached a downward slope. Taroh expected to see the outpost, but what he and his new passenger actually saw was a disturbing sight. Even from the top of the slope, they could see a number of fires going inside and outside the protective wall, which was also smashed to pieces for the most part. Inside, there were but a few buildings left and a large patch of recently disturbed earth could be seen nearby.

  “What the hell happened here?!” Taroh halted the cart to a complete stop and stared at the scene below.

  “I don't know, but looks like it was something big.”

  Taroh turned to see Axe looking down at the settlement. He was looking better than before, he had to admit that, but there was something strange about him. Out of the two of them, while he was staring at
the outpost in total awe and shock, Axe seemed eerily calm about it.

  Axe nodded towards the outpost. “What do you think happened?”

  The merchant looked away. “The Badlands houses many foul things, child. We should hurry down there, see what happened as fast as we can!”.

  He grabbed the reins to his animal and was about to whip it, but Axe climbed out of the front and soon disappeared behind the cart.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I just need to do something real quick, don't worry about it. Be right back.”

  “Hey!”

  “Just wait, it'll take a second! Just give me some time!”

  While he waited impatiently, Axe squatted on the side of the road and quickly dug a shallow hole. He took a quick look around, then he untied a large sack from his belt and placed it into the hole, quickly shoving all the dirt on top of it.

  “Only for a little while,” he whispered, patting the top of the dirt pile.

  “Come on kid!”

  “Okay, okay!” Axe rose to his feet and trotted back to the cart. “Let's get a move on, big man!”

  ***

  Once inside the ruined walls of Hystao, Axe quickly said farewell to his giant escort and removed all his belongings from the cart. Hefting his lochaber over his shoulder, Axe quickly found his way to the man in charge of the outpost, thanks to the help of an elderly villager. Surely he could shed some light on the condition of this forsaken town.

  The leader of the outpost was an older man called Waldon, who wore ragged clothing, one of his arms resting in a sling. He clearly had seen harsh days in the years before, but there was a look about him that seemed to say whatever happened here, had clearly shaken him despite his experience.

  “It started sometime ago, at least a couple of weeks. One night, while everyone else was asleep, a great beast came out of the blackness of the Badlands and attacked the entire settlement. Our soldiers rushed to the aid of the settlers, but they were beaten easily; it a monster that was bigger than anything we have ever seen in these parts, and that it has a hide so thick, nothing can pierce it.”

  “Maybe you people just didn't try hard enough,” Axe mused, leaning on his weapon.

  “We attacked it with everything we had at our disposal, but nothing could harm it, let alone kill it. It only made it angrier. It demolished damn near the entire outpost, and killed many innocent people. One of the strangest things about this monster, was that it used its breath to kill.”

  “What do you mean, used its breath?”

  “Exactly as it sounds. It breathed on the settlers and they died!”

  “How is that possible?”

  “I don't know, but it's true. After it killed about half or more of the people, it took off and vanished into the darkness from whence it had come.”

  Axe was quiet for a moment. He had seen the destruction outside and knew what it was like to bury the dead as these people did, but he felt as though there was something else. Something not yet revealed to him.

  “What haven't you told me, town master?” he asked quietly.

  Waldon stopped gazing out the window he stood in front of and cast him a side glance. “The next day, while my people were trying to rebuild and bury our dead, a stranger came and declared that he was the master of the beast that had attacked us. He demanded that we pay him a massive tribute by the next full moon, or else he'd order his monster to attack again and this time, killing us all. Then he just...disappeared.”

  “Just like that? Without any attempt on his life?”

  “He just disappeared.” Waldon repeated, shaking his head. “He had to have been a Mystic! How else could he up and disappear like that, as well as command such a beast?”

  “The ways of the Mystic people are strange to me, old one,” Axe shrugged idly. “Are you doing anything about this?”

  There was a sigh.

  “We haven't been able to send word out for much help. Every time we try to send an envoy out, we never see or hear from them again. No doubt, the monster or it's master has done away with everyone. We've stopped, but we haven't given up hope that a miracle will happen.”

  “Screw miracles. What you people need to do is fight back.”

  Waldon gave him a hard glare.

  “You can be pissed at me all you want, old man, but I'm right,” Axe looked straight back at him. “You say you want a miracle to happen, to send someone your way to save your asses from a monster? I say if you want something good to happen to your town after all this, then you do it yourself, don't ask for any miracles.”

  The old man shook his head. “What I want is peace of mind for my people, my young friend. We've come here from our homeland to help civilize this untamed soil, in hopes of making it suitable for others to live here peacefully. We've had our troubles, and our will and our faith have always helped us out, but this...we have lost so many friends and family. We cannot risk to lose anymore. The full moon is tonight and we are scraping together as much money as we can for the tribute.”

  Axe rolled his eyes. “Fine, be that way. If you're not going to do something, then I guess I will.”

  “W-What?”

  “I said I'll take care of this, since none of you seem too eager to do it,” Axe hefted his weapon onto his shoulder.

  “I don't understand. Why would you want to do this for us?”

  “Personally?” Axe gave him a look. “I'm not doing it for you, old man, or your village. You may have had people die, but you're not the only ones in the world with that problem. I've seen more bloodshed and death than any man should in his life, but I at least try to live a life instead of whatever it is you all have going on here. I'll find these two and I'll kill them myself, but I'm doing it for me. I'm very curious about these two beings that's troubling you, I'd like to see just what caused all this damage.”

  “I see.”

  “I also expect to be paid for this.”

  “P-Paid?!”

  “I may be going after them for my own reasons, but I'll also be doing you all a huge favor, now won't I? I think a reward is in order?”

  Waldon's face became stony and his voice turned very calm, but cold. “We have been praying for a savior, but all we have received is a fool who is willing to risk his life for money. Fine, warrior. You may have your payment, but keep in mind that our best warriors died at the hands of that monster. What makes you think that you will fare any better?”

  “What makes you think I won't?” Axe gave him a little smile and turned, heading for the door.

  “Wait.”

  Axe stopped, but didn't look back at the man.

  “When he was here, the master of the beast said that he and the creature would be staying in the abandoned mine-pit a few miles away.”

  “Thank you.”

  “A piece of advice before you go, however.”

  “What is it?”

  “Taking on both creature and it's master is a dangerous thing. That thing alone nearly killed all of us, and the master must be incredibly powerful in order to tame and control such a thing. If you can help it, attack them separately, for I believe that when one of them is dead, the other shouldn't be too much of a problem.”

  “Even though the monster's supposed to have tough skin and deadly breath, right?”

  “It's just a warning.”

  ***

  With some vague directions given to him by the survivors, Axe made his way down another dirt road, towards the pit on the outskirts of town. He had no problem walking there on foot, but they insisted that he take a horse to speed his journey along, in the hopes that the sooner he'd get there, the sooner he'd rid them of their monster problem. As soon as he was sure that he was steady on the saddle, he kicked the horse in the sides and shot off out of the settlement, his lochaber strapped to his back. He had galloped a good distance and was passing a gathering of large, white stones when something hard collided with the side of his head so hard, it actually knocked him off the horse.

 
His head throbbing, Axe landed hard on the Badland's red soil while the spooked horse went off into the distance, leaving him behind. Swearing like mad, Axe staggered to his feet, holding the side of his head and tried to figure out what it was that had knocked him off his ride. As soon as his vision began to straighten out, he looked around at his feet and noticed a long, white object laying on top of a few feet away. Even from that distance, and with his head pain, Axe could easily tell it was a bone of some kind.

  “What the...?”

  “Who the hell are you, and what the hell are you doing out here?”.

  Axe turned around to see a man sitting among the white stones he saw moments before. With the speed of the horse not distracting him, Axe took a second look at the stones; they weren't stones at all, they were much too smooth and many of them looked too similar in size and shape.

  It was the skeleton of a huge beast!

  The man that sat with the large set of bones rose to his feet and slowly approached Axe, gripping a big piece of the skeleton in his hands, like some sort of heavy club. The man was rather odd looking; he had light green hair, and wore an assortment of fur clothing and hard leather armour while a fine looking broadsword hung at his hip. He was caked in both a layer of dirt and other filth, mixed with dried blood.

  Axe shook his head, trying to make the pain in his head go away. “I don't know who the hell you are, pal, but I'm giving you one chance to say you're sorry.”

  “I am Gram,” his hand went to broadsword's hilt. “Who the hell are you?”

  “I'm the guy you just nailed in the head with a piece of carcass!” Axe snapped at him. “The name's Axe and before you take out your blade, I should warn you I can take your head off faster than you can blink.”

  The two of them stared at each other for a long moment.