mindcracklove | Residual (Chapter Two)

I will see what I can do about getting chapter three up a day early (tomorrow) as I won't be here Thursday to post it, and won't return until late Monday. I have no idea when a chapter will come out from there- probably Tuesday. I WILL be able to respond to messages, comments, etc., I just can't write or post chapters. Oh well.

Anyway, here's chapter two- remember what I said about picking up where we left off with stuff and action and immediately dealing with shit? Yeah. Here you go.

Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html

Chapter Two

Kingdom of Traz’madar, Mincraftia. September 6, year 373. Time instance 483Z.

Vechs almost tripped as he ran when he saw the sky.

Arcs of flame were falling, like meteors from space, towards the ground .They were scattered, some disappearing over the horizon and he suspected there were more even further away.

Falling from the Vortex.

One was arcing right towards them, though, about to land nearby, perhaps in the lake that was about a ten minutes’ walk from the town.

Vechs could have sworn he glimpsed some kind of shadow shell around the falling form before it hit a ways away, causing a tremendous crashing and splashing sound. Massive amounts of water were thrown up, as was steam from the flame meeting the waves.

Ah, hell. He had no idea what it was, but it gave him a bad feeling.

~~~

Aureylian had glanced out of her window just in time to see the arc of flame coming down towards the lake.
Struck with a sense of déjà vu, she seized her binoculars from a drawer in her desk and looked at the supposed meteor.

She didn’t get a good look at it before it struck, but she could see some kind of humanoid form with a kind of shadow protective shell around it.

She raced downstairs and out of her house, towards whatever it was. She had high hopes that it would be friendly.

Once she reached the lake, she stopped, looking around for any sign that whatever it was had gotten out of the water. Aureylian really hoped she wouldn’t have to swim around looking for it, as it was a big lake.
She stood at the very edge of the water, peering across the surface of the water and around the shore. Maybe they had washed up elsewhere?

She was about to start walking around the edge when a blue-scaled hand shot out of the water and seized her ankle. Aureylian let out a shriek of surprise and jerked back, falling. She was vaguely aware of someone shouting her name as she kicked at the thing holding her with her other foot. It let go, retreating back into the lake. Whatever it was had been blue, scaly, and humanoid, but also had had a lot of light gray on one side…

~~~

Vechs had been running towards the lake when he heard a scream.

“Aureylian!” He put on a burst of speed and it wasn’t long at all before he came over the ridge, at her side in moments. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” He held out a hand to help her up.

Aureylian took his hand, standing carefully. “I saw something fall from the sky and hit the lake, and when I came to investigate, something grabbed me! I kind of panicked. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Vechs frowned and looked into the water. “Do you have any idea what it was?”

“No. It was blue and scaly and kind of humanoid. It had a lot of gray on its…right side. My left.”

“I can’t think of anything like that.” he admitted.

“I can’t either. Vechs, do you think it was the thing that fell from the sky?”

“It’s a possibility, I-“

“Vechs Davion.”

Both Vechs and Aureylian whirled around at the voice.

Before them stood one of the most bizarre things they had ever seen.

The creature was about six feet tall and humanoid, having all of the basic limbs of a human, but the resemblance stopped there. It was covered in blue scales that shimmered slightly in the light. It had four webbed toes with long black claws, with hands to match. It possessed powerful webbed tail, clearly built to propel it through water. The creature had sharp, sharklike teeth and fins on the side of its head. Its face extended slightly forward into the slight suggestion of a muzzle. Upon closer inspection, it had gills on the sides of its neck and bright, angry red eyes. Short, two-inch horns grew from the top of its head.

The right side (its right, Vechs and Aureylian’s left) of its body was completely skeletal, as if the flesh on that side had simply vanished. The line between its left and right sides was by no means straight or consistent, swerving one way and then the other, the dividing line being half-rotted but not quite gone.
The creature looked very, very angry, its eye fixed on Vechs.

Vechs felt a sort of resonance when he looked at the creature, a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before. He never could have, though. He would remember something like this.

“What…who are you?”

“Don’t you remember me, Vechs? Don’t you remember how you created me, then threw me away like I was NOTHING, tried to extinguish me? Don’t you remember Glar’ren?”

“I-“

“No. Of course you don’t. That is my name now. I chose it mere weeks, or perhaps only days, ago.”

“I have never seen you before.”

“That is what you think!” he roared, claws flexing. “You abandoned me! You abandoned us!” Glar’ren threw himself forward, black claws slashing at Vechs. He barely managed to draw his sword in time to catch the creature’s claws, stopping his attack.

“I think you’ve got the wrong guy, here! I’ve never seen you before in my entire life!”

“Lies! I know you, Vechs Davion! We know you! You will die!” Glar’ren pulled away momentarily before lashing out again.

This time, both Vechs and Aureylian retaliated, each blocking a hand. Aureylian suddenly flicked her blade out at the creature, catching it in the skeletal arm and delivering a nasty scratch to one of the major bones.

The creature roared in fury, but not agony, swinging his tail to knock her feet out from under her. “My quarrel is not with you, human, but you will die if necessary!”

Vechs took a stab at Glar’ren, but a slight shift in position sent the blade between the ribs on the aquatic creature’s right side.

“Fool! You- RAAAA!”

This roar had been due to Aureylian’s sword stabbing him in the left hip. He kicked her away and stumbled back, trying to stem the flow of green blood from the wound.

As the two humans watched, scales slowly crept over it until it was healed. Glar'ren barked with harsh laughter, rough voice no more likable when amused.

“I regenerate and heal faster than any mortal could hope to. Surrender! I offer a swift death!”

Vechs laughed. “Yeah, what a great deal there.” He got ready to charge the creature when something else swooped in, making him pause.

Some kind of winged serpent dove between them, flying a few circles around Glar’ren before hovering in front of him. The serpent was covered in fiery orange scales that shifted their colors depending on how light reflected off of them, making them appear to be actual flame when it moved. It was about five feet long and covered in darker, but similarly colored, spikes, with an arrowhead at the end of its tail. Its eyes were the same angry red as Glar’ren’s and it certainly looked fast, dangerous, and like it had some fire-based attacks.

“Specterveil wishes for us to regroup! What is the holdup?”

“Draemae, you fool! Look behind you!”

Draemae circled around Glar’ren in order to turn around.

“Aaaah! Vechs Davion! You have made our job very easy, indeed.”

“Let’s kill him.”

“Specterveil-“

“I don’t give a damn what Specterveil wants! I want Vechs DEAD!” Glar’ren howled. “Dead!”

“I think we should-“

“You’re not as angry because you were one of his favorites! You were the youngest! Inferno this, inferno that! You make me sick! Don’t you remember how he abandoned us? All of us?!”

“Don’t you dare suggest that I am not as angry and hateful as you! I am saying we should not underestimate him!”

“Underestimate?! He is mortal, Draemae! Just kill him!” Glar’ren’s eye suddenly flicked over to Vechs and his mouth opened, shooting a jet of boiling water.

Vechs made a surprised and very unmanly shrieking sound and ducked out of the way.

“Glar’ren! Are you just going to disreg-“

Draemae interrupted himself by suddenly shooting up into the sky, out of the way of the razor-sharp gray blade that had been swung at him.

“You have about six seconds to get out of here before you die.” Blame informed Glar’ren, sword to his neck.

Glar’ren evaluated the situation and calculated the threat.

Glar’ren made the wise decision and backed down.

Surprisingly.

“This is not over!” he hissed before diving back into the lake. Draemae hissed something as well, but it was lost as he flew out over the lake, following Glar’ren’s figure across the water.

Blame watched them go then turned his dark eyes to Vechs and Aureylian, waiting for them to stand.

“Can I get an explanation?”

“Believe me, I would give one if I had one.” Vechs muttered, watching the two of them go. “What was that about?”

“I don’t know.” Aureylian sighed. “But they want you dead, and there are at least three of them. Glar’ren, Draemae, and Specterveil.”

The third name sent a slight shiver through the air, and Blame shifted uncomfortably. “So two crazy monsters showed up and wanted you dead? For no reason?”

“They wanted me dead.” Vechs clarified. “They don’t care about Aureylian unless she gets in the way.” He frowned. “Don’t get in the way.”

“What?! No!”

“I don’t want you dead on my account!”

“I appreciate you trying to protect me, but I’m not just going to sit around twiddling my thumbs and watch two furious monsters dissect you! You’d be pretty dead without Blame and me right now!”

Vechs sighed. Arguing with her was useless- she was right, anyway. “Still…”

“Still, nothing. Listen to her, Vechs. She’s right, as usual.”

“She’s annoying like that.”

Aureylian swatted his shoulder and he laughed.

“I don’t know why I’m friends with you, sometimes!” she informed him, clearly kidding.

“My sparkling personality and dashing good looks?”

“Something like that.”

Blame cleared this throat. “Guys, focus. Thinking first, flirting later.”

Both Aureylian and Vechs turned red and sputtered protests, earning a chuckle and a head shake from the masked man.

“Let’s get back to town. The others need to know about this. And I mean the monsters, not you two. That’s old news.”

They protested some more before following him back, purposefully not looking at each other or the still very amused Blame.

Secretly, Vechs was very troubled by the events at the lakeside- and he didn’t mean the ones with Aureylian.