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Okay. So I said I was not going to post any more of my story here. I lied.
Here's chapter three. I can't at all promise I'll have new chapters written at regular intervals, what with work, school, roleplaying, and miscelaneous (sp?) menial tasks about the house, but I'm working on them...slowly and surely, they shall be completed...
Chapter 3
The First Noble
Outside the realm of mortals, deep in the bowls of the Abyss, a black citadel created a stark contrast with the blazing red sky. All around, the charred countryside gave a quiet, ghostly serenity to the atmosphere.
Inside the citadel, though, it was a different story. Legions of heavily clad soldiers lined up in rank and file. Each legion moved in perfect formation. Their ebony armor shone surprisingly bright against the black stone of the courtyards.
Inside the keep, a singular raven flew, but cast no shadow. It twisted through dark corridors, around sharp bends, and up carefully masoned stairs effortlessly, soundlessly. It fluttered in front of hulking, ashen double doors, waiting as the heavily clad guards slowly pushed them aside.
The chamber was grand, far greater than any other room in the citadel. Ornate tapestries depicting scenes from the past decorated the blood-red walls. They appeared to be moving, each depicted scene acting out the historic event it was meant to show. Each one whispered out their narratives in the Old Tongue, their words trickling into a barely audible hiss onto the blackened stone of the floor.
He landed gracefully in front of a great silver throne and stretched to his full human form and height. He went down to one knee before the seat's single occupant, his own weapons clattering at his side.
"I bring word, my master."
Two red, malicious eyes darted open among the darkness of the throne. As to the keeper of the eyes, not one single detail could be summed up, for the light refused to shine upon such as him.
Even without physical features, restlessness could be summed from the swaying, hypnotic movement of the two glowing orbs. Its voice spat the deep venom of evil as it boomed, "Then speak, my apprentice. Bring you news of the Guardians?"
The messenger rose, but kept his hollow gaze to the floor as his platinum hair relaxed around him in the light breeze. Only his silver amulet with the inlaid onyx gem didn't stir. Although inanimate, its ancient runes seemed to pulsate with the dark energy of elder power.
"Your suspicions of the Child were correct. However, his power lies beyond what even you predicted. He leveled an entire squad of your guard, and didn't take a single hit. There is no doubt, my lord. He is the P'avace of old, albeit not fully developed. And his powers continue to grow…"
The shadow cut him off with a wave of his supposed hand. He had heard enough. He paused in thought before responding, "This makes things a lot more difficult." He paused again, his red orbs flaring to new life. "The overthrow shall continue as planned, though I want you to keep an eye on this prospective lad. Report to me of his progress. You know…reconnaissance. That is all."
The young man slapped a fist to his chest in salute and bowed before uttering the customary "I live to serve" in his flat, emotionless voice. He turned around, his midnight cloak waving behind him.
"When need be, you may…'help' our little friend toward his goals. Try to keep him alive, will you?"
The lad paused with a smirk. "As you say, my lord"
With that, he exited into the darkness of the hallway.
* * * * * * *
"Ahh! My eyes! I'm blind!"
Junica shot up in bed, clawing at his eyes, rubbing away flakes of dried blood. Once he could see, he examined his surroundings.
He definitely wasn't at the post anymore. It appeared to be some sort of bedroom. The bed on which he rested had white sheets and a plush, white pillow. Right to the side of where his head had been was a small red stain, most likely his own blood. There was a simple writing desk and small lamp, which was turned on, by the bed. His clothes were folded over the edge of the bed, while his armor was hung on the back of the door.
Where's my sword? Where's my bag? How did I get here? Where…am I? When's lunch?
Junica rose from the bed, his head throbbing. He felt his temple and grimaced in pain as he touched the cut underneath the bandages. He stumbled over to the window, only to find it locked and barred, the moon smiling in on him.
What the hell happened yesterday?!
"Nice to know you are awake. Did you sleep well, little boy?"
Junica turned toward the door, reaching behind him for his sword, which wasn't there.
"You might want to throw some clothes on," the soft, female voice said from behind the door.
Junica looked down, and turned beet-red as he suddenly realized he was nude. He quickly ran about the room, putting on his clothes and armor. He faced the door again, prepared to face his captor.
"Who are you? What do you want," he shouted back.
The door opened, and in walked a dashing young woman, clothed from head to foot in a flowing, tan robe, her silky white hair running in waves down to her waist, framing her soft, deeply tanned face. In one hand, she held his sword, dagger, and bag. In the other, she balanced a tray of food, which she sat upon the table. Around her neck, hanging half way down her chest, was a pendant containing a perfectly carved, glowing jade stone.
Junica, however, was paying full attention to the tray of food before him. It was the most beautiful thing he had seen in weeks. In front of him, the food seemed to be begging him to be eaten. The scrambled eggs, fried bacon, plump sausages, fluffy pancakes and waffles, all hot and steamy filled the tiny room with their intoxicatingly filling smell, which stirred together to truly knock him off his feet into a state of near utopia. There were many kinds of biscuits and muffins, along with a large glass of milk. Strawberry milk.
Junica struggled to keep his concentration, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the feast. The woman's voice, though she was only a couple feet away, sounded as if it resonated from the end of a long train tunnel. "My name is Theta. I found you out at that infernal outpost, along with the dead bodies of several troopers, so I figured you were from the Academy. Would you care for a bite to eat?"
Junica didn't need to be asked twice. Before she had even finished her question, he was sitting at the table, gorging happily upon the feast of food.
"So, what's your name?"
"JP," he replied, swallowing the oversized bite of food in his mouth. He greedily reached for the glass of milk. "Have any salt?"
Theta shook her head in dismay, grinning at her visitor's gluttonous attitude. "Sorry to say, I don't keep any. Are you here to investigate the disturbances?"
JP was about to fork another mouthful of sweet, delicious sustenance, when her question hit him. The food dropped from his numb hands, his appetite suddenly waning. He looked up at her in awe, shock written into the very flesh of his face.
"What…? Who…? When…? How did you…?"
Theta smiled mischievously, tapping on the side of her head replying with an unconvincing, "My little secret. Now, would you mind following?"
She left Junica dumbfounded in the doorway. He followed a second later, grabbing his belongings and casting one last forlorn glance back to his food. They walked down a dimly lit hallway to a large foyer area. Theta walked through a cloth doorway, JP following, outside into the chilly desert night. Lights flashed beyond the horizon.
Theta pointed toward them and stated, "Over there. When it's really quiet, you can hear artillery noises. It's as if we're at war."
JP looked out to the horizon. He made a few quick calculations in the dirt, and then stood thinking for a few minutes. Finally, he seemed ready to speak.
"It's about a weeks march there. That would take too long."
"I know. That's why I have this…"
She walked behind the settlement. A few minutes later, she appeared, riding a small dune buggy. She smiled. "Climb on in."
JP jumped in the passenger seat and they left the small hut behind as they raced toward the southern horizon.
* * * * * * *
Friday, July 13, LY 3079
It had taken two days of nonstop driving to reach the site. Dead bodies littered the ground, smashed flat into puddles of flesh and blood. Artillery lay crushed and overturned next to a large fissure along the desert sands. The ravine was many meters across, impassable by any means short of flying
They halted the buggy at the edge of the chasm. They each climbed out. Both made sure not to accidentally stumble into the dark abyss.
It was midday, and even though the sun shone directly above it's rays never reached the bottom of the canyon. JP peered over the edge. He searched for some sort of path down the cliff face. After only a few seconds, he found it.
It was roughly hewn from the stone wall. They could easily walk side-by-side on the path near the top of the canyon, but as it descended, it dwindled down to nothing more than a simple rock ledge. As far as JP could see, it seemed to descend all the way to the bottom of the canyon.
Theta approached with their packs, obviously eager to reach the bottom. She handed him his, and he put it on. "Are you ready?"
JP nodded. He wasn't that fond of his position. He preferred to keep his feet on the nice, hard, safe ground. But, he thought as he made his way down the path, I have a job to do, and nothing is going to keep me from it. Not even…heights.
The climb down was uneventful. Everything had proceeded as planned and in relative peace, except for the occasional rest for JP's poor, shaky legs. Even so, the climb took most of the day. He could tell from the dim blue sliver of light above that the sun was low in the sky. That meant only one thing to him.
Dinnertime.
As soon as they had reached the bottom, Theta started setting up the camp as JP wandered about in search of firewood.
Normally, he would set straight to the eating and save the work for later. Yet he understood the danger of the desert nights, thanks to Theta's extensive description of them during their drive. Fire was their greatest safety measure.
She had told him that bandits often frequented travelers' camps during the night and ransack supplies. Supplies vital for survival. Supplies that a traveler couldn't afford to be without. Or die.
Then, there were the freezing nighttime temperatures, a sharp contrast to the blazing daytime heat. For even though one could easily and literally fry an egg on a stone during the day, the dark night could easily rival any arctic winter. Anyone not protected from its frost would, without a doubt, freeze to the very marrow of his or her bones.
It was with this knowledge that JP set out, with earnest, for any sort of wooden material.
After much deliberate searching, blind stumbling, and profane swearing, he finally found what he was looking for: a large tree trunk, cleanly cut and conveniently placed, laid on its side, blocking passage to the further reaches of the chasm. It seemed to be petrified solid, unable to rot because of the dry air.
It was much too large to simply carry or roll back to camp. He drew his sword. In one swift stroke, he brought the blade down with all his might.
And it bounced back, with equal force.
Instead of slicing it cleanly like he had planned, his blade harmlessly rebounded with a loud clang. JP dropped the sword and howled in pain as the vibration from the blow rippled up the blade and rattled his bones.
A great, ear-splitting scream radiated from the log, comparable to a dying bird of prey. Slowly, the "wood" grew the basics of arms and legs as rocks, their sizes ranging from house crushing boulders to fine pebbles, massed around it. It gradually rose to its feet, its' stony joints grinding to life. It turned to face its aggressor.
JP was lucky he hadn't eaten that day, for if he had, he was sure it all would have flushed through him at that very moment. The beast before him was unlike anything he had ever seen during his life up to that point. It was humanoid in form, yet its great arms and legs, which extended from its bus-like torso, ended in mere stubs. Its head, as it could loosely be called, was perfectly disproportionate to the rest of the body, being only the size of a melon. A single jade stone was set in the middle of its "face".
The rock golem took a single step forward. The ground under its foot cratered with the immense weight as the earth shook, causing JP to lose his footing and stagger backward.
Theta ran to his side, yelling, "What in the Nine Hells did you do!"
"Don't look at me," he retorted as he secured his footing. "I was looking for firewood, like you told me, and this cute little muffin appears out from behind some log…"
Theta gave him a hearty smack on the back of the head that almost sent him sprawling. "You blundering idiot! You've awoken a Noble!"
"A what?" JP asked, looking rather perplexed.
But he didn't have long to think about it as the Noble let out a screech and punched down at them. They both rolled out of the way, just as its fist crashed down into their former position. They barely had enough time to regain their balance when its other arm fell toward them. They split apart, and the fist crashed between them.
JP put a hand against the canyon wall, and a pillar of rock and earth shot out, striking the golem a hefty blow to the chest. It shrugged off the heavy blow with only the slightest of stumbles, appearing unfazed.
"A little help would be nice!" he desperately called out.
He was answered by a muttering of arcane phrases from behind him. He turned his head just enough to catch Theta as she hurled a white bolt of energy at the monster, dislodging a few small stones.
"Attack the shiny thing! The shiny thing is always the weak spot!"
JP didn't have time to answer, for the Noble let fly another fist at him, which he nimbly dodged. It passed by him and stuck fast into the canyon wall.
Here we go…
He jumped onto and dashed up the arm, drawing his dagger. Its blade glowed a brilliant white as he leapt into the air, ready to strike the killing blow.
He didn't see the other fist come around and catch him clean in the side, sending him careening into the canyon wall.
After cratering into the wall, JP drifted down in freefall and crashed into the ground. The Noble screeched in triumph as it stood over the immobile young soldier.
 Prometheus-of-the-Pies · Tue Apr 24, 2007 @ 07:00pm · 0 Comments |
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