Residual (Chapter Fourteen)
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mindcrackloveOkay so this is the longest chapter so far (they seem to get longer every time) at only about 70 words shy of 3000.
We finally get to meet the mystery woman, we get a look into the dangers of the Vicious Wilds, and Blame can't catch a break.
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709
Chapter Fourteen
Vicious Wilds, Minecraftia. September 20, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Aoxdorren called back to her riders. “Mortals, awaken. We have reached the Wilds.” She was angled downwards towards the ground, where dark oak trees were starting to be mixed in with regular trees. Towards the north, the trees quickly thickened with dark oak trees that created a thick canopy that they couldn’t see through. The area seemed so much darker and menacing than the forest they were leaving and Vechs frowned. This was definitely the place…
Aoxdorren did her best to land carefully, only rattling her riders some. Vechs moved to get off the dragon and realized that Aureylian was hugging him quite tightly, not entirely awake yet. He nudged her gently, not really wanting her to let go but knowing that she needed to. Aureylian sighed and released him, leaning back. “Are we there?” she mumbled.
“Yes.” Blame jumped from Aoxdorren’s back to the ground and released the cat. Paul and Zisteau slid down after him. Pause whined and complained until Vechs reached back past Aureylian and pushed him off. He shrieked as he fell, but Paul half-caught him and kept him from injuring himself. Vechs carefully slid to the ground and motioned for Aureylian to follow, helping her land.
Paul and Blame exchanged glances, Paul grinning. Blame crossed his arms. Vechs narrowed his eyes. Had Pause been serious when he had said that Paul and Blame had a bet going?
Aoxdorren interrupted these thoughts by speaking. “If you insist upon entering the Wilds, know this: do not drink the water. Certain pools in the Vicious Wilds are charged with arcane energy that will disintegrate anything living that touches the water. Some are poisonous. Others have other effects, ones I don’t wish to describe. If you must access water, tap it directly from the trees. That will be safe.”
Paul nodded. “Thank you. I would have suggested it anyway, but I’m glad that you warned us. Thank you for taking us this far.”
The dragon bowed her head. “I wish you luck on your search for this woman. I hope she is not as dangerous as I fear.”
A confidence.
Vechs had a certain feeling that while this woman could be dangerous, she wasn’t dangerous to them, and that’s what mattered.
The group said goodbye to Aoxdorren and watched her fly back east. They all looked at each other before turning north. Paul checked the map one more time before putting it away.
“Lead on.” Blame indicated for Vechs to go first.
“Me? Why?”
“The Wilds are uncharted, and we don’t even know where we’re going.” Paul pointed out. “You’re the reason we’re here. You lead.”
“…Oh. Uh. Okay.” Vechs looked around helplessly before starting forward. Aureylian walked by his side with Zisteau following close behind. Paul and Pause discussed something behind him and Blame brought up the rear, sword out and looking tense.
As the forest thickened, Vechs felt more and more hopelessly lost. It was also eerie how, other than the plants and mushrooms, there didn’t seem to be anything living in the gloomy forest. It made him tense, so much so that he intentionally walked closer to the others, closing ranks.
Blame was on guard as well, but his head was also spinning. This forest was seriously throwing him off and he had the horrible feeling that something here was very, very unfriendly and wanted him- specifically him- dead.
It didn’t help that the now-familiar sound of mismatched footsteps was echoing through his head, ringing in his ears.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
He shook his head to try and clear it, but the footsteps didn’t abate. He cursed quietly and kicked at a mushroom.
Ahead of him, Vechs shrieked and flailed some before falling backwards.
Blame leaped forward to find Paul flicking a spider off of Vechs’s goggles.
“Very manly.” Paul helped the highly embarrassed Vechs up.
“It was a big spider!” the mapmaker protested.
“It was completely harmless.”
“You try getting a spider suddenly dropping onto your face and see how you like it!”
Blame sighed. “Let’s just keep moving.”
~~~
It was three hours before their first monster showed up.
Vechs had stopped suddenly by the edge of a pond, the waters of which were shimmering with green colors. He had almost walked right in, mentally preoccupied as he was. He made to go around when a growl stopped him. It couldn’t be the same growl as the one from his dream…could it?
He whipped around to meet the orange eyes of the most bizarre creature he had other seen other than his own Hostiles.
It looked like a dog, but its fur was dark purple and its shoulder reached almost as high as Aureylian's head. Its orange eyes were locked on them and it was tensed to leap at them, crouched between two trees. Its teeth were bared, showing two very long and very dangerous fangs in addition to its other teeth.
Vechs barely had time to shout a warning before it was upon them, knocking Paul to the ground and trying to bite his shoulder. Paul shoved his sword between its jaws and was holding it back as much as he could. He was lucky that this creature’s claws were not meant for attacking and slashing, or he would be in bad shape.
Blame was immediately driving his blade into the dog, but a second one leaped out of nowhere at Vechs as the first retaliated against the Skullblade.
Vechs had pulled out his bow but it was knocked from his hands into the water as the dog knocked him over. It dug its teeth into his calf and he roared in pain, kicking at its head with his other foot and scrambling to try to get his sword, but it was no use, as he had fallen on it. He had the peculiar feeling like his energy was being drained from his body by the creature.
Lokolangs. Traditionally a dragon-hunting species that drain the life energy from their victims.
The creature quickly let him go when an iron sword was driven into its eye. It screamed and tried to pull away, but the sword was pushed in further, damaging its brain and killing it instantly. It collapsed beside Vechs just as the others dispatched the first creature.
Vechs looked up at who had killed it, expecting it to be Zisteau or Blame- no, they didn’t wield iron swords, so who-
Aureylian yanked her sword out of the lokolang’s head before helping him up. “Are you okay?”
“You killed it.” Vechs was stunned. He’d never seen her do that before.
Aureylian glanced at her bloodstained blade. “…Yeah. I did. But are you okay?”
“Yeah. I think so. Just bitten.” Vechs frowned at his leg as it trembled when he put weight on it. “Hurts like hell.” He looked over at the others. “Is everyone okay?”
Paul looked a bit shaken but he nodded. “Yeah, we’re okay. Blame and Zisteau got it while I sat around on the floor playing wrestle the pooch. You got bitten, you said?”
Vechs nodded and indicated his leg. Paul sighed and got the bandages. “Sit down. This’ll be easier if-“
The water behind Vechs hummed and he turned around, remembering his bow.
His bow happened to be floating about a foot above the surface of the water- which had lost its shimmer- and was glowing and shimmering faintly purple. It seemed to want him to take it.
“Don’t.” Blame warned. “It’s got to be-“
-a trap?
Vechs couldn’t resist. He took the bow.
It thrummed in his hands and it honestly felt like it was alive, like it was humming and waiting for use.
Had the waters done this? They must have.
He needed to try this out. He pulled an arrow from his quiver (ignoring the protests of his friends) but felt another arrow immediately take its place. He didn’t pause to reflect on this, though, as he took aim at a tree across the pond. He adjusted his aim slightly at a slight nudge from the bow and released the shot.
The arrow lit on fire the moment it sprung from the bow and hit the tree with unexpected force, driving itself a good half foot into the wood and stopped there, quivering, smoldering.
Vechs stared.
They all did.
Vechs carefully put the bow back on his back.
“I want one of those.” Pause protested.
“Sorry. Looks like the water was one use only.”
Paul poked him. “If you’re done playing around with your bow, I’d like to bandage your leg.”
“Yes, Paul.”
~~~
Once Vechs’s leg had been bandaged, they set off again, at a slower pace this time. They walked for another couple of hours and Vechs was about to call for a break when he stopped to listen.
“What’s wrong?” Pause asked, and he shushed him. He strained his ears to hear. Was it…
…singing?
He headed to the left, carefully, quietly. The others took his cue and followed as stealthily as they could.
It was indeed singing. Vechs’s heart beat faster with excitement. Had they found the mystery woman? The voice sounded like it might belong to her.
Their sneaking plan was ruined when there was the sound of a cat hissing and a second cat yowling.
Their heads all snapped around to identify the sound.
Blame’s cat had encountered a smaller, slimmer black cat that seemed to dislike the other cat on its turf. It swiped at Blame’s cat, which was not a fighter and went running back to Blame.
The singing had stopped and a voice called out, “Shadeclaw? What’s wrong?”
The group tensed, knowing that they were in no way hidden.
The cat, Shadeclaw, hissed at them, and that’s when the woman appeared.
She was tall- perhaps 6’2- and stood with confidence and grace. She had shoulder-length black hair and piercing blue eyes that reminded Vechs of looking in a mirror- they were quite similar to his own. She wore a simple dark green shirt and brown pants, clearly not giving a rat’s ass about what people thought of her appearance- living in the woods does that to you. She had a weapon in her right hand- something that Vechs had never seen before. It was a sort of metal covering that one put their hand into and gripped something within to keep it covering their hand and held securely. On the left and right sides of the cover extended one blade each- long, sharp, and curving slightly backwards. Each blade was over a foot long, but due to how they curved, it was difficult to tell their exact size. In the woman’s left hand was some kind of scissor-like object, perhaps designed for cutting plants.
“You! What are you doing here?” she demanded immediately of Vechs. “How did you know where to find me? You should be in Skullbit, warning the Shadefangs of their imminent demise! I didn’t spend twenty-four hours straight brewing that dreamvisiting potion just for you to disregard my warning! That was the last of my moonpetal, dammit, and I won’t have more until January!”
“We sent people to warn them- we came to find out who you are.” Vechs was immediately defensive. She wasn’t exactly being friendly. “Anyone that can waltz into my head at any time is dangerous and I need to know who they are.”
“At any time? Are you not listening? It’s difficult to brew that potion and I can only interrupt your dreams. I’m on your side!”
“Then why didn’t you tell me who you were? You just showed up, told me that Skullbit would burn, and fucked off to nowhere!”
“It wasn’t important! Get out of here! You shouldn’t be here!” The woman’s cat hissed to punctuate her point.
“How about you tell us who you are and then we can go? I’d like to get out of here as soon as possible.” Blame spoke up. The woman seemed to notice the others for the first time and her eyes widened.
Shock and disbelief.
Vechs realized what an odd group of people they were. One six-and-a-half foot tall man/monster, a small girl looking like she couldn’t fight off a horde of slightly annoyed beetles (she could do more than that, though), a zombie pigman, an Ashenhorn Skullblade, a native of the plains, and some guy who looked like he could survive anything you threw him into.
“How…what…” The woman shook her head. “No. It can’t be. You’re not…”
“An Ashenhorn? Yes I am.” Blame crossed his arms. “Surprised?”
“Well, frankly, yes. There have been no Ashenhorns for a hundred years.”
“Thanks for reminding me.” he said dryly. “I was the only one to survive Kaltaerion’s attack on Ashwatch.” She jerked at the name, but quickly hid the expression that had sprung up on her face.
“How did you survive this long?”
“I have my ways.”
She nodded as if that made perfect sense. Her eyes drifted over the others in the group but she decided not to ask. Instead her eyes locked on Vechs’s bow.
“Did you drop that in the water?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“But you did?”
Vechs nodded.
“Be careful with that, then.” The woman advised. “It’s powerful and has a mind of its own. It may choose to betray you, or it may not.”
“Betray me? What-“
“Are we here to talk about bows or did we actually have a purpose?” Blame demanded.
The woman hesitated. “Oh, fine! Come on. I can see that I won’t be getting rid of you.” She narrowed her eyes at Vechs. “You’re too stubborn.” She led the way through a few trees into a clearing. There was a small wooden cabin on one end and a garden taking up most of the rest- a garden like no other they had seen before. All manner of bizarre and exotic plants were growing, and Vechs had no idea what most of them were.
The woman picked up a basket half-filled with harvested plants before going into her cabin. She placed the basket and the clippers on a windowsill and her weapon on the wall with another one matching it exactly. “You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t invite you inside. I don’t think my home could fit seven people.” She did, however, retrieve some folding chairs (why did she have folding chairs, Vechs wondered) and set them up outside for them to sit in. Once they were all set up, she sat down in one and motioned for the others to do the same. Her cat leapt up into her lap and purred quietly as she pet it. Blame’s cat was glaring suspiciously at the smaller cat, remembering how she had been swatted at.
“So you’re not going to leave until I explain myself, are you? Well, you’ll also have to excuse me if I don’t tell you my life story. There are things in my past that should remain in the past- as I’m sure you all understand.”
Blame nodded, understanding perfectly. He also noted that the moment the woman had been visible, the footsteps had ceased. He liked her for that reason if none other.
“Who are you, and how did you know the Hostiles’s plans? That’s really what I want to know.” Vechs informed her.
“Well, to begin with, my name is Skera.”
Blame felt a jolt go through him. He knew that name.
But he couldn’t place where. He was tense as she continued to speak.
“I’m an alchemist and have lived alone in the Vicious Wilds for many years- the creatures here don’t bother me anymore. I find myself more at home alone than I do with people, and that suits society fine. I’ve been accused of being a witch a few times in my life and I’m honestly sick of it. Now, as to how I overheard your…Hostiles. They were apparently unaware of where exactly I lived, but they wanted me dead. I’ll get back to that in a minute. I was taking a walk when I heard two voices discussing some kind of plan involving ‘making Vechs Davion suffer’ and ‘destroying the Skullblades.’ One of them- I didn’t get to see him, I think he was orange- was insisting that the flames would devour all on Skullbit, while the other one- some kind of winged woman made of plants- told him not to be stupid, some would survive and they would need to go in and kill them all. They argued back and forth until the male told her, ‘Just leave the planning to me. They’ll all burn’ and then vanished in a burst of fire. He left a stick behind.” Skera added, confusion evident in her voice.
“Kormaeix.” Vechs muttered. “And the other one sounds like it was Kyilld.”
“Yes. It was. I went back to my cabin and brewed up that dreamvisiting potion. However, unfortunately, after I used it, Kyilld managed to zero in me. She took your form- don’t look so surprised, her name means Change in Dranonic, it makes sense- and tried to trick me. I’m not an idiot so I didn’t fall for it, so she transformed back into her regular form and tried to kill me.” Skera grinned wolfishly. “As you can see, it didn’t really work. I beat the crap out of her before she fled, hissing and spitting curses.”
She noticed Blame’s face- a look of shock and horror- and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Blame didn’t answer.
He had recognized her.
We finally get to meet the mystery woman, we get a look into the dangers of the Vicious Wilds, and Blame can't catch a break.
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709
Chapter Fourteen
Vicious Wilds, Minecraftia. September 20, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Aoxdorren called back to her riders. “Mortals, awaken. We have reached the Wilds.” She was angled downwards towards the ground, where dark oak trees were starting to be mixed in with regular trees. Towards the north, the trees quickly thickened with dark oak trees that created a thick canopy that they couldn’t see through. The area seemed so much darker and menacing than the forest they were leaving and Vechs frowned. This was definitely the place…
Aoxdorren did her best to land carefully, only rattling her riders some. Vechs moved to get off the dragon and realized that Aureylian was hugging him quite tightly, not entirely awake yet. He nudged her gently, not really wanting her to let go but knowing that she needed to. Aureylian sighed and released him, leaning back. “Are we there?” she mumbled.
“Yes.” Blame jumped from Aoxdorren’s back to the ground and released the cat. Paul and Zisteau slid down after him. Pause whined and complained until Vechs reached back past Aureylian and pushed him off. He shrieked as he fell, but Paul half-caught him and kept him from injuring himself. Vechs carefully slid to the ground and motioned for Aureylian to follow, helping her land.
Paul and Blame exchanged glances, Paul grinning. Blame crossed his arms. Vechs narrowed his eyes. Had Pause been serious when he had said that Paul and Blame had a bet going?
Aoxdorren interrupted these thoughts by speaking. “If you insist upon entering the Wilds, know this: do not drink the water. Certain pools in the Vicious Wilds are charged with arcane energy that will disintegrate anything living that touches the water. Some are poisonous. Others have other effects, ones I don’t wish to describe. If you must access water, tap it directly from the trees. That will be safe.”
Paul nodded. “Thank you. I would have suggested it anyway, but I’m glad that you warned us. Thank you for taking us this far.”
The dragon bowed her head. “I wish you luck on your search for this woman. I hope she is not as dangerous as I fear.”
A confidence.
Vechs had a certain feeling that while this woman could be dangerous, she wasn’t dangerous to them, and that’s what mattered.
The group said goodbye to Aoxdorren and watched her fly back east. They all looked at each other before turning north. Paul checked the map one more time before putting it away.
“Lead on.” Blame indicated for Vechs to go first.
“Me? Why?”
“The Wilds are uncharted, and we don’t even know where we’re going.” Paul pointed out. “You’re the reason we’re here. You lead.”
“…Oh. Uh. Okay.” Vechs looked around helplessly before starting forward. Aureylian walked by his side with Zisteau following close behind. Paul and Pause discussed something behind him and Blame brought up the rear, sword out and looking tense.
As the forest thickened, Vechs felt more and more hopelessly lost. It was also eerie how, other than the plants and mushrooms, there didn’t seem to be anything living in the gloomy forest. It made him tense, so much so that he intentionally walked closer to the others, closing ranks.
Blame was on guard as well, but his head was also spinning. This forest was seriously throwing him off and he had the horrible feeling that something here was very, very unfriendly and wanted him- specifically him- dead.
It didn’t help that the now-familiar sound of mismatched footsteps was echoing through his head, ringing in his ears.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
He shook his head to try and clear it, but the footsteps didn’t abate. He cursed quietly and kicked at a mushroom.
Ahead of him, Vechs shrieked and flailed some before falling backwards.
Blame leaped forward to find Paul flicking a spider off of Vechs’s goggles.
“Very manly.” Paul helped the highly embarrassed Vechs up.
“It was a big spider!” the mapmaker protested.
“It was completely harmless.”
“You try getting a spider suddenly dropping onto your face and see how you like it!”
Blame sighed. “Let’s just keep moving.”
~~~
It was three hours before their first monster showed up.
Vechs had stopped suddenly by the edge of a pond, the waters of which were shimmering with green colors. He had almost walked right in, mentally preoccupied as he was. He made to go around when a growl stopped him. It couldn’t be the same growl as the one from his dream…could it?
He whipped around to meet the orange eyes of the most bizarre creature he had other seen other than his own Hostiles.
It looked like a dog, but its fur was dark purple and its shoulder reached almost as high as Aureylian's head. Its orange eyes were locked on them and it was tensed to leap at them, crouched between two trees. Its teeth were bared, showing two very long and very dangerous fangs in addition to its other teeth.
Vechs barely had time to shout a warning before it was upon them, knocking Paul to the ground and trying to bite his shoulder. Paul shoved his sword between its jaws and was holding it back as much as he could. He was lucky that this creature’s claws were not meant for attacking and slashing, or he would be in bad shape.
Blame was immediately driving his blade into the dog, but a second one leaped out of nowhere at Vechs as the first retaliated against the Skullblade.
Vechs had pulled out his bow but it was knocked from his hands into the water as the dog knocked him over. It dug its teeth into his calf and he roared in pain, kicking at its head with his other foot and scrambling to try to get his sword, but it was no use, as he had fallen on it. He had the peculiar feeling like his energy was being drained from his body by the creature.
Lokolangs. Traditionally a dragon-hunting species that drain the life energy from their victims.
The creature quickly let him go when an iron sword was driven into its eye. It screamed and tried to pull away, but the sword was pushed in further, damaging its brain and killing it instantly. It collapsed beside Vechs just as the others dispatched the first creature.
Vechs looked up at who had killed it, expecting it to be Zisteau or Blame- no, they didn’t wield iron swords, so who-
Aureylian yanked her sword out of the lokolang’s head before helping him up. “Are you okay?”
“You killed it.” Vechs was stunned. He’d never seen her do that before.
Aureylian glanced at her bloodstained blade. “…Yeah. I did. But are you okay?”
“Yeah. I think so. Just bitten.” Vechs frowned at his leg as it trembled when he put weight on it. “Hurts like hell.” He looked over at the others. “Is everyone okay?”
Paul looked a bit shaken but he nodded. “Yeah, we’re okay. Blame and Zisteau got it while I sat around on the floor playing wrestle the pooch. You got bitten, you said?”
Vechs nodded and indicated his leg. Paul sighed and got the bandages. “Sit down. This’ll be easier if-“
The water behind Vechs hummed and he turned around, remembering his bow.
His bow happened to be floating about a foot above the surface of the water- which had lost its shimmer- and was glowing and shimmering faintly purple. It seemed to want him to take it.
“Don’t.” Blame warned. “It’s got to be-“
-a trap?
Vechs couldn’t resist. He took the bow.
It thrummed in his hands and it honestly felt like it was alive, like it was humming and waiting for use.
Had the waters done this? They must have.
He needed to try this out. He pulled an arrow from his quiver (ignoring the protests of his friends) but felt another arrow immediately take its place. He didn’t pause to reflect on this, though, as he took aim at a tree across the pond. He adjusted his aim slightly at a slight nudge from the bow and released the shot.
The arrow lit on fire the moment it sprung from the bow and hit the tree with unexpected force, driving itself a good half foot into the wood and stopped there, quivering, smoldering.
Vechs stared.
They all did.
Vechs carefully put the bow back on his back.
“I want one of those.” Pause protested.
“Sorry. Looks like the water was one use only.”
Paul poked him. “If you’re done playing around with your bow, I’d like to bandage your leg.”
“Yes, Paul.”
~~~
Once Vechs’s leg had been bandaged, they set off again, at a slower pace this time. They walked for another couple of hours and Vechs was about to call for a break when he stopped to listen.
“What’s wrong?” Pause asked, and he shushed him. He strained his ears to hear. Was it…
…singing?
He headed to the left, carefully, quietly. The others took his cue and followed as stealthily as they could.
It was indeed singing. Vechs’s heart beat faster with excitement. Had they found the mystery woman? The voice sounded like it might belong to her.
Their sneaking plan was ruined when there was the sound of a cat hissing and a second cat yowling.
Their heads all snapped around to identify the sound.
Blame’s cat had encountered a smaller, slimmer black cat that seemed to dislike the other cat on its turf. It swiped at Blame’s cat, which was not a fighter and went running back to Blame.
The singing had stopped and a voice called out, “Shadeclaw? What’s wrong?”
The group tensed, knowing that they were in no way hidden.
The cat, Shadeclaw, hissed at them, and that’s when the woman appeared.
She was tall- perhaps 6’2- and stood with confidence and grace. She had shoulder-length black hair and piercing blue eyes that reminded Vechs of looking in a mirror- they were quite similar to his own. She wore a simple dark green shirt and brown pants, clearly not giving a rat’s ass about what people thought of her appearance- living in the woods does that to you. She had a weapon in her right hand- something that Vechs had never seen before. It was a sort of metal covering that one put their hand into and gripped something within to keep it covering their hand and held securely. On the left and right sides of the cover extended one blade each- long, sharp, and curving slightly backwards. Each blade was over a foot long, but due to how they curved, it was difficult to tell their exact size. In the woman’s left hand was some kind of scissor-like object, perhaps designed for cutting plants.
“You! What are you doing here?” she demanded immediately of Vechs. “How did you know where to find me? You should be in Skullbit, warning the Shadefangs of their imminent demise! I didn’t spend twenty-four hours straight brewing that dreamvisiting potion just for you to disregard my warning! That was the last of my moonpetal, dammit, and I won’t have more until January!”
“We sent people to warn them- we came to find out who you are.” Vechs was immediately defensive. She wasn’t exactly being friendly. “Anyone that can waltz into my head at any time is dangerous and I need to know who they are.”
“At any time? Are you not listening? It’s difficult to brew that potion and I can only interrupt your dreams. I’m on your side!”
“Then why didn’t you tell me who you were? You just showed up, told me that Skullbit would burn, and fucked off to nowhere!”
“It wasn’t important! Get out of here! You shouldn’t be here!” The woman’s cat hissed to punctuate her point.
“How about you tell us who you are and then we can go? I’d like to get out of here as soon as possible.” Blame spoke up. The woman seemed to notice the others for the first time and her eyes widened.
Shock and disbelief.
Vechs realized what an odd group of people they were. One six-and-a-half foot tall man/monster, a small girl looking like she couldn’t fight off a horde of slightly annoyed beetles (she could do more than that, though), a zombie pigman, an Ashenhorn Skullblade, a native of the plains, and some guy who looked like he could survive anything you threw him into.
“How…what…” The woman shook her head. “No. It can’t be. You’re not…”
“An Ashenhorn? Yes I am.” Blame crossed his arms. “Surprised?”
“Well, frankly, yes. There have been no Ashenhorns for a hundred years.”
“Thanks for reminding me.” he said dryly. “I was the only one to survive Kaltaerion’s attack on Ashwatch.” She jerked at the name, but quickly hid the expression that had sprung up on her face.
“How did you survive this long?”
“I have my ways.”
She nodded as if that made perfect sense. Her eyes drifted over the others in the group but she decided not to ask. Instead her eyes locked on Vechs’s bow.
“Did you drop that in the water?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“But you did?”
Vechs nodded.
“Be careful with that, then.” The woman advised. “It’s powerful and has a mind of its own. It may choose to betray you, or it may not.”
“Betray me? What-“
“Are we here to talk about bows or did we actually have a purpose?” Blame demanded.
The woman hesitated. “Oh, fine! Come on. I can see that I won’t be getting rid of you.” She narrowed her eyes at Vechs. “You’re too stubborn.” She led the way through a few trees into a clearing. There was a small wooden cabin on one end and a garden taking up most of the rest- a garden like no other they had seen before. All manner of bizarre and exotic plants were growing, and Vechs had no idea what most of them were.
The woman picked up a basket half-filled with harvested plants before going into her cabin. She placed the basket and the clippers on a windowsill and her weapon on the wall with another one matching it exactly. “You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t invite you inside. I don’t think my home could fit seven people.” She did, however, retrieve some folding chairs (why did she have folding chairs, Vechs wondered) and set them up outside for them to sit in. Once they were all set up, she sat down in one and motioned for the others to do the same. Her cat leapt up into her lap and purred quietly as she pet it. Blame’s cat was glaring suspiciously at the smaller cat, remembering how she had been swatted at.
“So you’re not going to leave until I explain myself, are you? Well, you’ll also have to excuse me if I don’t tell you my life story. There are things in my past that should remain in the past- as I’m sure you all understand.”
Blame nodded, understanding perfectly. He also noted that the moment the woman had been visible, the footsteps had ceased. He liked her for that reason if none other.
“Who are you, and how did you know the Hostiles’s plans? That’s really what I want to know.” Vechs informed her.
“Well, to begin with, my name is Skera.”
Blame felt a jolt go through him. He knew that name.
But he couldn’t place where. He was tense as she continued to speak.
“I’m an alchemist and have lived alone in the Vicious Wilds for many years- the creatures here don’t bother me anymore. I find myself more at home alone than I do with people, and that suits society fine. I’ve been accused of being a witch a few times in my life and I’m honestly sick of it. Now, as to how I overheard your…Hostiles. They were apparently unaware of where exactly I lived, but they wanted me dead. I’ll get back to that in a minute. I was taking a walk when I heard two voices discussing some kind of plan involving ‘making Vechs Davion suffer’ and ‘destroying the Skullblades.’ One of them- I didn’t get to see him, I think he was orange- was insisting that the flames would devour all on Skullbit, while the other one- some kind of winged woman made of plants- told him not to be stupid, some would survive and they would need to go in and kill them all. They argued back and forth until the male told her, ‘Just leave the planning to me. They’ll all burn’ and then vanished in a burst of fire. He left a stick behind.” Skera added, confusion evident in her voice.
“Kormaeix.” Vechs muttered. “And the other one sounds like it was Kyilld.”
“Yes. It was. I went back to my cabin and brewed up that dreamvisiting potion. However, unfortunately, after I used it, Kyilld managed to zero in me. She took your form- don’t look so surprised, her name means Change in Dranonic, it makes sense- and tried to trick me. I’m not an idiot so I didn’t fall for it, so she transformed back into her regular form and tried to kill me.” Skera grinned wolfishly. “As you can see, it didn’t really work. I beat the crap out of her before she fled, hissing and spitting curses.”
She noticed Blame’s face- a look of shock and horror- and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Blame didn’t answer.
He had recognized her.
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Date: Sunday, April 26th, 2015 08:07 pm (UTC)(Gotta leave right now; say more laterrrr......)
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Date: Sunday, April 26th, 2015 08:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, April 27th, 2015 12:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, April 27th, 2015 01:02 am (UTC)Also hello I don't believe I've seen you around before!
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Date: Monday, April 27th, 2015 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, April 27th, 2015 01:07 am (UTC)You win...a mountain of cookies. If you've read the comments section on previous chapters, you'll know that I have plenty.
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Date: Monday, April 27th, 2015 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, April 27th, 2015 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, April 27th, 2015 08:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, April 27th, 2015 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 10:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 07:37 pm (UTC)G.C. (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
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Date: Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 12:43 am (UTC)The step clank... That's the sound of a butterchurn... A witch's traveling device... Skera's a witch... Put two and two together...
HALF-LIFE 3 CONFIRMED!!1!!!!11!!!1!!1111!!!!1
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Date: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 12:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 12:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 01:10 am (UTC)Although I do suspect we'll find out about step-clank within the next three chapters or so (rough estimation) so look forward to that.
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Date: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 02:01 am (UTC)