Tellus Tales, Volume 1 - AXE

by Brian Berg

  “Is that your handiwork?” Axe nodded to the skeleton. “Or someone else's?”

  “It's mine,” Gram said coolly. “Brought it down sometime ago. Wasn't that hard to do, and it didn't take me long to pick it clean.”

  “You a swordsman?”

  “I am, if the sword I carry wasn't a big enough clue for you already. What the hell are you, some kind of beggar?”

  “I'm a wanderer and a warrior, and before your little bone boomerang knocked me off my horse, I was going on a little bit of a hunt.”

  “Is that so? What were you hunting?”

  “I'm not sure. Some kind of monster, but it's nothing like I've heard about before,” Axe turned and looked back down the road. “I heard it was staying at the old mining-pit and-”

  “The mining-pit? Why are you going there?”

  “I told you, I'm on a hunt. Whatever this thing is, it's been making serious trouble at the Hystao Outpost lately and the people there are terrified of it.”

  “The outpost?” Gram cocked his head a little. “That run down place is being bothered by a monster and you've been hired to kill it?”

  “It and it's bastard of a master. Apparently, some asshole is going around, using this thing to get rich. Personally, I'm more interested in finding and killing them than what happens to those people.”

  “You're awfully cold,” Gram cocked an eyebrow.

  Axe seemed to ignore him; he was too busy looking at the skeleton that lay in the background.

  “What?” Gram followed his gaze. “What are you looking at?”

  “Just trying to think of a way to bring my own beast down. You had the advantage, with the wide open spaces around here. That means there was plenty of room to dodge, but if I'm going to a pit, there won't be as much room,” he turned to Gram. “You obviously know your way around here, Gram, do you have any advice?”

  The man with the green hair smirked and shook his head. “Just one piece of advice: don't be stupid, just turn and head back to wherever the hell it is you came from.”

  “Is that a piece of advice, or a warning from someone who would like to kill this thing himself?”

  Gram didn't say anything, but the smirk stayed on his face.

  “Whatever, I've wasted enough time here already,” he turned away and began to walk back down the road towards the pit. “Have a nice life.”

  “You won't be able to kill it,” Gram called out to him. “Whatever it is, this thing you're going after is going to slaughter you!”

  “No, it won't.”

  “Yes it will!”

  Axe turned on his heel to look back, but kept walking just the same. “Feel free to come along, Gram! I'll be more than happy to prove you wrong.”

  The old mining-pit had long been abandoned, according to the people of Hystao, but now whatever it was that attacked those poor folk. It was a large, deep pit with many tunnels hollowed out on the sides, all of them much too small for something like the beast to fit through, according to the stories he had heard. However, the center of the pit was wide and spacious, with only a number of large stones jutting out of the earth. Unlike the last time, however, these were real rocks and not giant bones from a long dead animal. Though the boulders were real, there were large amounts of animal remains scattered about the pit. Bare bones and rotting animal corpses were seen below.

  “So, this is where the beast is supposed to be, huh? Then where the hell is it?”

  “It can't be too far off; beasts are all the same, no matter the species. If they find a place they claim as their own, they won't wander too far from it.”

  Axe leaned over the edge, trying to get a good look below. “Well, with it not being here now, we have the element of surprise on our hands. Some of those rocks and tunnels look like really good spots, we can pick one for ourselves and just wait for that thing to come back.”

  “What of the master, though? Do you see him anywhere?”

  “No, not now. He could be hiding in one of the caves. I heard from the people at the outpost that this was once a really lively mining area and a lot of money could be made from the things that were taken out from the earthen tunnels. If he is in one of those tunnels, he may not just be hiding, he could be trying his luck to see what he can find.”

  “Well, better get started on this, huh?”

  Axe was unsure if it was the tone in Gram's voice that gave him a cause to be alert, or perhaps it was his own natural instinct kicking in to save him, but he found himself spinning around to face the man behind him. Just as he was doing so, he caught sight of Gram's sword coming towards him. Within seconds, Axe managed to grab and halt the blade from piercing his body. The two warriors struggled, Gram trying to run his weapon through Axe's flesh, but Axe held him with a tight grip. The sword did not penetrate, but the struggle between them forced Axe to lose his footing and within moments he found himself slipping into the pit behind. There was no way to stop himself, he toppled over the edge.

  Gram watched as he fell into the huge hole, rolling down the side and bouncing off any rocks that was in his way. He must have bounced at least a dozen times before he finally disappeared into a pile of bones at the bottom of the pit.

  “That's one less fool I have to deal with.”

  ***

  Day turned into night and the full moon hung high in the blackened sky. Waldon looked up at the bright orb as his people hurried themselves to gather the tribute.

  “He's been gone for hours, and we have no word of his success,” he turned to one of his soldiers. “What do you think happened to him?”

  “It's obvious, isn't it? He's dead.”

  The master of the town nodded and looked back up at the moon. It had a bright shade of red; it wasn't just a full moon tonight, it was a blood moon.

  “It's strange, I actually thought that he would have a chance against that thing,” he sighed. “Nothing more than wishful thinking.”

  ***

  A mixture of blood and dirt covered the bottom of the mining-pit as the remains of once living things gave off a pungent aroma. It not only filled the air, but it wafted into the nostrils of the fallen warrior. Laying in the blood pooled beneath him, Axe took a sharp breath, unwillingly taking it all in, and sat up quickly, pushing away what carcasses he could as he gagged on the odor. Sore from his descent, he rose to his feet.

  He had suffered worse injuries than just falling down a huge hole, however. There were all kinds of people who lived their entire lives in the most savage parts of the continent, and it was due to all those years of life experience that they were able to survive all kinds of pain and injuries. Axe was one of those people, but even he had his limits.

  He reached up, but felt nothing on top of his head, and there was no sign of his headgear anywhere around him. “Aw, damn! I lost my hat!”

  Axe slowly moved around the pit and soon came to a stop behind a cluster of abandoned equipment. Laying, it's belly ripped open and a good deal of it's flesh ripped from it's body, was a large, hairy animal. He walked around it a few times and with the help of the bright light from the full moon, he realized that he had seen it before. In fact, he had seen it earlier that day.

  It was the animal that Taroh used to pull his trading cart.

  “Aw, geez,” Axe knelt down and looked closer at the dead animal, “I can take a guess as to what happened to this poor thing, and I can also take a guess as to what happened to Taroh.”

  “So, you're still alive?”

  Axe lifted his head to see Gram stepping out from a darkened area of the pit. Within seconds, he pulled the lochaber off his back, an intent to kill in his eyes. In the moonlight, Axe noticed that Gram was barely wearing anything at all, save a long piece of cloth tied around his waist.

  “I must admit, you people are stubborn. One tries to kill you and you either remain in the Land of the Living or you waste a second chance at living trying to kill others. Take the people of that small settlement for example: I mercifully give them a chance to liv
e many more years, but they throw the offer back into my face by hiring some...some barbarian to come and stop me.”

  “Don't waste my time, Gram. Where's your monster? What's the thing that did this?”

  “It's closer than you might think. Are you upset at the death of a merchant and his beast? Why would you be, when you could care less about the people of the outpost?”

  “Let's just say I owed him one.”

  “I see. Should I tell you of how he died, warrior? It was rather enjoyable for me, really. He thought he could hide in a cluster of stone, but he failed miserably. Taken into the teeth of the beast by his belt, he was devoured! He didn't have time to defend himself with that knife of his, it went down with him into the belly of the beast.”

  “That can't be good for your little pet, now can it?”

  “Although steel is a thing to digest, it doesn't necessarily do any harm, it just...blocks some things from time to time. I should have learned that after what happened back home with those swordsmen.” Gram tilted his head, looking at him. “You shouldn't have survived that fall, it was from a good height, not to mention you crashed into numerous stones on the way down. How is it you're still alive?”

  “I have a strong will to live is all.”

  “Strong will or not, you should have died!” Gram snapped but quickly regained his composure. “I don't know how you recovered so fast, but you're going to die soon. You're only delaying the inevitable.”

  “If it happens, it happens,” Axe shook his head. “But before I take that dirt nap, I'll be taking you and your pet out of this world. Now, where is it?”

  “You really want to see it, don't you? I suppose you, after all that is why you're out here, right? To see it? To kill it?”

  “To kill you both! Summon it!”

  The man with green hair shrugged. “I suppose I could. After all, you are a man about to die and I hear it's custom to carry out a man's last request before he passes on,” Gram untied the cloth at his waist and threw it aside. “Watch closely, barbarian, for this is the last thing you will witness on this earth!”

  Axe made a face. “Any chance you can show me without showing me your junk?”

  Gram said nothing, closed his eyes and tilted his head back, as if he were looking up at the sky. Bathed in the pale moonlight, his body began to undergo some kind of metamorphosis; his flesh began to tear apart from itself as he grew larger in size, and the flesh that fell to the ground in bloody heaps was replaced by a coat of green scales. From the small of his back, a thick tail grew outward and began to sway back and forth, scraping against the earth. His green hair grew longer and thicker, running down his ever growing neck.

  Axe watched in shocked silence as a large pair of leathery wings sprouted from Gram's back and rows of sharp teeth sprouted from the inside of his now lizard-like mouth. A slender, forked tongue shot out between the front fangs, accompanied by pale-yellow vapors whose smell reminded Axe of the carcass of Taroh's cart-hauling monster that lay close by. The change finally came to an end and now, standing at twenty-four feet tall easy, Gram looked down at Axe, a look of smugness present in his now golden-yellow eyes.

  “What jokes do you have to say now, barbarian?” he cackled, looking down at the bloodstained human. “You are now in the presence of Gramzon the Deceiver and Green Lord of the Skies! I have survived the Great Plunge and have now graced these desolate lands with my presence. I am older than most human civilizations and like my brethren, I will last far longer than any of them. What do you have to say to that?”

  Axe stared for awhile longer, then covered the bottom half of his face with the top of his fur vest. “Well, for one thing, you reek! Secondly,” he looked around, as if he were missing something. “Where's the other monster? Where's the one you control?”

  Gram, or rather Gramzon, gave him a dead look. “There is no other, you idiot, the only creature around here is what you see standing in front of you.”

  Axe frowned behind his vest. “Alright, you lost me.”

  “I always believed humans were stupid meals that walked on two legs,” Gramzon lowered his head to be at eye-level with Axe. “There is but one beast in these parts, human. I came from across the seas and declared this land as my own. I have lived so long, I am special among my race, I am able to shift between this form which you are fortunate enough to see tonight, and the disgusting human form you saw before. In this body, I am Gramzon the Deceiver, but in my other body, I am merely Gram the Beast-Master.”

  “I don't understand,” Axe lowered his vest, although he cringed at the stronger gust of foul breath. “Why do you change? If what you say is true, if you are so powerful, so strong, then why do you resort to taking on another form?”

  “As much as I despise humans, I find their inferior form to be beneficial to my needs. My true form, while more powerful does tend to have annoyances such as warriors and Mystics coming after my hide. Do not get me wrong, I do not fear them, but even I get tired of the same old thing, over and over again. In the weaker body, I can move among the human population without any problem, for they only see me as one of them. This way, I get around without worrying someone after my head for money, and if I find a settlement that can amuse me, I can learn about their defenses closely without suspicion. If one suits my needs, I attack in my true form, striking fear in their hearts and then I come back in my human body, playing the part of the master of the monster that terrorized them.”

  “Just like you did with the Outpost,” Axe coughed, starting to feel worse than he had when he woke up. At first, he felt pain and dizziness from his wounds, but now he was starting to feel in worse shape and his eyes were stinging.

  Gramzon nodded. “Yes, just like the Outpost. However, unlike the other victims I've had, these were bold enough to come for my head after my initial strike. It had never happened before, at least as far back as I can remember, so imagine my surprise when I found you coming here earlier today. If you were any other human, I would have had a rare, merciful moment and let you leave with your life, but once I found out that you were here because of the outpost, I knew I couldn't let you go so easily.”

  “If that were true, why didn't you kill me earlier?”

  “To be perfectly honest, I thought I had,” Gramzon said quietly, his slit-shaped pupils staring at Axe. “With the fall, I thought you would have died on the way down, or at least after you came to the bottom. You should have died!”

  Axe smiled. “You'll find that I'm full of surprises.”

  “Not any time soon, I'm afraid. If your wounds haven't killed you by now, they will. Even if you are lucky enough to survive those, the air that you are breathing in right now?” he opened his mouth and a heavy cloud of gas puffed out, hitting Axe square in the face. “My kind can breathe fire, but the specialty I carry is noxious fumes. It is generated from within me, so I am naturally immune, but any living thing exposed to it for too long will die a most painful death.”

  “That explains why they said people died whenever you opened your mouth. Seems like it holds some truth after all, doesn't it? Tell me, is it true that your hide cannot be pierced by weapons?”

  Without waiting for an answer, Axe pulled his lochaber back and swung hard, aiming for the face. Gramzon easily evaded the attack and laughed again at the attempt on his life.

  “Yes, boy! It is true; we, the mighty Dragons of the Sky, cannot be harmed! Our scales are like steel, for we have broken many blades and deflected many primitive missiles aimed for our bodies. With this armor covering every inch of myself, I fear nothing!”

  “Yet, you dodged my attack. If you're so courageous, you wouldn't have moved like you did. If you ask me, I think you're nothing more than a coward.”

  Now, up until this particular time in his life, up until tonight, Axe had never, ever faced a Dragon before. He did not know what they were capable of, nor did he know how vain they were said to be, but the most important thing that he should have known, yet didn't, was this:

&nb
sp; Never, under any circumstances, insult a Dragon.

  “DIE HUMAN!!!” Gramzon screamed as he lunged, his fangs dripping with saliva.

  Despite his injuries and the pain coursing through him, Axe managed to roll out of the way of the oncoming jaws. Swearing every word he ever heard in his lifetime, Axe began to run as hard as he could away from his would-be murderer. He didn't make a lot of progress, however, since the big lizard was locked onto him. Whenever he ducked behind a boulder, the Dragon crushed it into dust with it's razor-sharp claws; whenever the Dragon had a clear line of sight, he came at him again and again. It also didn't help that the pit was quickly filling up with the poisonous fumes that came from the Dragon's lungs.

  Exhausted and in excruciating agony, Axe took refuge behind an overturned mining cart, planting himself on the ground with the long-forgotten tools of the old workers. His eyes burned, his chest felt like it was on fire and his felt sick to his stomach. He tried to keep it together, tried to keep it so he didn't give himself away to the monster that was now hunting him.

  His first assumption of fighting in a pit with a monster had been wrong. He assumed that with an enclosed space, he wouldn't have a lot of room to move around and fight the beast, but in reality, it was this Dragon that had the disadvantage. True, the pit was large and wide, but in it's true form, it was far larger and longer than Axe and it took up much more space. There wasn't as much room for the Dragon as there was for himself. If he could find or think of an opening, Axe believed he could end this quickly, before it became any worse.

  Gramzon, however, was in no hurry to find the wounded human. True, he was angry at being insulted by a lower life-form, but he also enjoyed playing games with his prey. Over and over again, he took a deep breath and exhaled a thick layer of smoke, covering most, if not the entire pit floor with it in a matter of minutes. Satisfied, he reared his scaly head back and scanned the pit, looking for any sign of Axe.

  “Can you feel it, human?” he called out, his deep voice echoing off the pit walls. “Can you feel your lungs burn as you breathe in the toxins? Has your vision gone yet, or do you still have your sight? You are now surrounded by my gas, and it's only a matter of time before you die a most agonizing death!”