“What was that? That scream…” Esh asked, looking in the direction it had come from. Whatever had caused it didn’t seem to be in trouble, but the opposite. It sounded excited. And what’s worse, Shten did not answer. He only twisted his head on his neck and looked back at him, and Esh saw worry on his face.
Esh had no trouble with the quickening of pace but he knew it wouldn’t be long before Barish would collapse from the cold. He could hear the struggle in Dashine’s gills but she said nothing, her face strong and eyes set on the goal of reaching the village without help.
“You three go on without me,” said Barish without a stutter. Esh turned to see him bending over, his hands on his knees. His body no longer shook but stood still as a statue; his breath was the only thing that gave the cold away. Esh watched the white smoke come from his friend’s mouth and it was alarmingly slow.
Without asking for permission, Esh walked up to him, put his shoulder into his abdomen and picked him up. Barish said nothing smart, but accepted the ride with his silence.
“How much farther, Shten?” Esh asked, holding his friend over his shoulder. Thinking better of it, he pulled Barish down and carried him like a fresh babe. As embarrassing as it was, this was much warmer for Barish and plus Esh could keep track of his breathing.
“Far enough that I’d fear for your friend’s life if I were you. Keep him as warm as possible,” Shten replied. “Lucky for you three, I have an eco-suit, as you call it, ready and waiting. It may even fit him.”
As they walked, Esh saw that the mass amount of dead trees had started to disperse until there was hardly a single one. What replaced them, however, was no better sight. In fact, the atmosphere was no longer depressing but rather a mixture of horror and uneasiness.
What replaced the trees were these… fat dead females, much fatter than Esh thought was even possible. Their faces were stuck in a permanent painful look, their skin a deathly white, their mouths wide open and their eyes spinning in crazy circles.
Their hands clawed at their decomposing bodies as something wet oozed from between their obese thighs. Something plopped out.
Dashine must have been watching for had flinched and grabbed his hand. He tightened his fingers around hers but felt no warmth from them. The sight was so utterly disgusting it was impossible to feel anything but loathing for such an awful beast.
“Is this how you were born?” Esh asked, trying to hide his obvious repulsion. Just speaking and having his mouth open around these things made him want to vomit.
“No… These are female wailers, one of the few species of this territory that produce sexually,” answered Shten, paying the wailers no attention.
“And where are the fathers?” Dashine asked.
Another scream came from the opposite side of them, as if answering her. Both Shten and the Princess jumped, as whatever had made the scream was much closer than the last time. Too close.
Shten stopped walking and turned towards them. “We are too late,” he said, gazing around him at the ground. “I knew the devouring of my flesh would come some sun-cycle… But this sun-cycle? This seer did not see.”
“Shten, you’re gonna have to tell me what I’m up against,” Esh said, placing Barish softly onto the ground. The Reahlic gladiator had lost consciousness some time during the walk and his body was rigid as if it had frozen. Already his white breath had become so minimal that it took concentration to see.
“Wailers were cursed with mindless brains, biting anything that is idiotic enough to get in its way. Often that idiotic thing is its own kind,” Shten said, putting his hands out in front of him and cracking his knuckles loudly, his eyes busy searching the area. “Unless you can perform sorcery as well as I or you are equally as miraculous with that sword of yours we don’t stand a chance against their numbers.”
Esh unsheathed his weapon and stepped in front of Dashine, placing her between him and Shten. He helped scan the area but came up with nothing. Why had they stopped walking if their enemy was nowhere in sight? Then the hard, cold tug on his ankle answered the question.
42- The Dark Prince
Screaming skinny monsters wiggled from underneath them, a few of them even coming up between him and Dashine. He looked down to kick at its head but the face of the thing made him hesitate. As it crawled out of the ground Esh saw that the humanoid had no eyes, only empty sockets. Its jaw hung loosely from its hinges and small patches of skin clung to its bone head. It arose from the depths and stood almost two times Esh’s height.
“Neither of you move,” commanded Shten, holding himself still. “They cannot see like you and I, but they make up for it with their excellent hearing and smell.”
The wailer looked like a giant skeleton, that had been half cleaned by carnivorous animals, and its movement was stupid and jerky.
More wailers started to surface in the distance and some of them accidentally came from beneath one of their female kind. The fat hideous thing toppled over and the wailers were on her instantly. Some gave it sex while the others ate her alive. The female said nothing while they devoured her but she was able to give birth one more time.
The lanky smaller wailer ripped itself out of a see-through veined sack and stumbled around a bit before it awkwardly turned back to its mother and started to join the rest in the feast.
The closest wailer to Esh, the one with the loose jaw, had turned to the commotion so rapidly that it sent the bottom part of its jaw flying away; its tongue fell and swung limply out of its mouth spilling a line of saliva to the ground. Out of all the wailers that had emerged out of the ground, this one was the tallest. It turned its attention back to Esh and bent its long body towards him. Its limbs were as thin as thread and it tried to place an arm onto Esh’s shoulder.
By reflex or revulsion, Esh took a step back. The wailer flinched at his movement and stepped back itself, all the while letting out an enormous scream, shooting drool all over the Princess who, adhering to what Shten had said, did not move a muscle. She took the saliva straight to the face and Esh could see her throat gagging. The wailer put up two claw-like hands and hunched itself over in a defensive stance.
“Hybrid! Not one more movement! It must… judge you.”
Not knowing what Shten meant, Esh decided to trust him on this matter. As repulsive and terrifying as the wailer was, he forced himself to stand in the same position he had fallen back to and remain that way until it was done with him. For a while, the wailer just stood there, letting out random shrieks. Suddenly, an arm shot out from the underground and wrapped itself around Barish’s body. Ungracefully, the unseen wailer yanked as hard as it could, trying to bring the gladiator down into its crypt.
“Don’t,” Shten snapped at Esh, sensing his will, “If you move we all die. The wailer before you must be some sort of leader to them… Perhaps even slightly more intelligent. We may have a chance.”
The arm kept pulling at Barish’s body and Esh could hear it crying underneath for fresh meat. It grew frustrated and started to slash out at the body, cutting and slapping at it. Panic filled Esh’s head and a familiar adrenaline kicked in. It wouldn’t be long before the monster tore Barish’s unconscious body to pieces and he would rather die than see that happen. He’d lost too many humanoids he cared for.
Esh, keeping himself as still as possible, could see now that they had been completely surrounded. Every which way he looked, he saw only wailers bellowing as loudly as they could. A few of them had exchanged arms and gnawed mindlessly at them, hoping to satiate their endless appetite. The Princess was still, and he could not tell whether it was fear or courage that kept her biding by Shten’s warning. He could see the terror in her eyes as they flicked from wailer to wailer and he wished that she hadn’t drank from Shten’s potion.
The lead wailer, sensing the calmness of its potential meal, gave another scream and kept it at a constant flow. It bent down and put its head close to Esh’s, the scream now pouring directly into his ear making his brain throb. The th
ing was so close now that he couldn’t help but stare into its eye sockets. He could see the muscles working in the depths of them, moving an eye that wasn’t there. It sniffed at him, let its tongue lull over his shoulder pauldron, and jerked itself straight up without warning. Its head started to vibrate turning the scream into a sort of vibrato. Two wailers that had popped up behind Esh took a few steps back and mimicked the shaking cry. Even the arm of the wailer had ceased its clawing and Esh could hear its muffled repeat of the call.
All around them the wailers paused what they were doing and returned the same cry. Each of them, if they had legs, took a step back. The lead wailer halted his ear-splitting cry and the others went mute as well. All there was now was a loud ringing in Esh’s ear.
The lead wailer lowered itself, but not in its usual jerkiness. It moved slowly and smoothly, placing a hand on Esh’s shoulder as it did so. It knelt and stared at him hard before finally bowing its head. The rest of the wailers did the same as their leader and took a knee.
“And so it must be true,” Shten said, relaxing his dead body. “You are… in their eyes… a dark prince.”
“What must be true? A dark prince? What’s going on?” Dashine asked, looking over all of the now bowing and silent wailers, her mouth open in either amazement or jealousy. They did not bow to her, but they bowed to her guardian, her assassin.
Shten ignored the wailers and looked at Esh with curiosity. He probably wondered why Esh had never taken the time to explain to his fellow comrades about his special little gift, the reason why these dark things now bowed to him as if he were their King. But seeing as this wasn’t the right moment to explain anything he said, “Never you mind that, Princess. Let us make good use of this pause and leave here with our lives and our limbs still attached. You see, I have worked very hard to procure these arms of mine and I’d rather not see them taken from me!”
Esh backed slowly away from the wailer, its hand sliding off his shoulder and falling limply by its side. He picked up Barish and felt that his body temperature had decreased even further. “It won’t be long before we lose him,” he said.
“Let me feel,” said Dashine. She walked up to him and placed a hand on Barish’s neck. She gasped.
“Can you heal him like you did my Master?”
She shook her head, “The Blue sorcery does not cure this type of ailment.”
Shten had started to walk off and so Dashine and Esh followed after him, resuming the pace they had set before the wailers had appeared.
“How did you do that?” she asked him.
“I didn’t do anything,” he answered. He tried to leave it at that but her prying gaze was not going to let up. He took a deep breath and started from the beginning. They had nothing better to do anyways.
“When I was young I was basically adopted by Master Rift. He taught me everything about the assassin arts and even wanted to test my abilities as a sorcerer. The missions were tough, but nothing compared to how hard it was to grasp what lives beneath us in the world.”
“You mean the Wisps?” the Princess asked nonchalantly, catching Esh off guard. Every time he had ever heard mention of the dark energy species it had been through his own dire circumstance or through bloody history lessons. He’d never heard it brought up with such ease before.
“Yes… The Wisps… Well, if you are wondering why those things knelt down before me it’s probably because I accidentally swallowed one when I was still a young apprentice.”
The Princess stopped walking but Esh did not, his main worry still on Barish’s life. Once her obvious shock had disappeared she caught up with him and lowered her voice.
“How can you swallow a Wisp? It’s pure evil energy!”
Esh saw Shten’s ears prick up at the words ‘evil energy’ and he could tell that the dead thing was listening intently to their conversation.
“It’s not like I chose to. It just… sort of made its way inside me through… my mouth. I don't know, I can’t really explain it.”
“What? Did it want to control you? I have heard of such things happening but only to those with two bloods.”
“And I am of two bloods,” said Esh. “It did try to control me and was successful for a while. Until-”
“Until what?” she interrupted. She was hanging on his every word, her eyes wide and there was a hop in her step.
Esh looked away, “I’m not sure this is proper conversation for you, Princess.” Upon seeing her face, he instantly knew this was the wrong thing to say.
“Oh is that how it is? Am I too dainty to hear your words? It’s not like I was placed in a cage for sun-cycles on end, oh no, that doesn’t make me near tough enough to hear your scary words.” She put a dramatic hand to her forehead. “Oh dear, I might faint!” She spat on the ground and said, “Please don’t treat me like that.”
Esh felt more panic in this moment than he did when the wailers had surrounded them screaming their nightmarish cries. He was no good at this. Females were scary and the more beautiful they were, the more terrifying.
“I… ugh.. I won’t. I’m sorry, your highness.”
“No… I’m sorry. You are my liberator after all. I apologize for prying into your business. And please, call me by my name. I am no Princess in this territory.” Dashine stared at him hard, her dark eyebrows coming together in frustration. “Are you not going to ask me my name?”
Esh tripped over his feet and about dropped Barish. “Actually, I already know it. It’s Dashine.”
She looked a bit surprised but didn’t ask how he had already known. “Yes, my name is Dashine. And yours is Esh. Nice to meet you.” She did her bow quickly and walked beside him in silence, waiting for him to return the pleasantry.
Esh wanted to reply but his heart was beating too fast and a fresh batch of sweat appeared on the back of his neck. The sound of his name on her lips was exhilarating. He saw her jaw muscles working, clenching out of annoyance. He needed to act! He needed to respond! “Esh, that is my name! It is good to meet you.” Again, he about dropped Barish by trying to repeat her bow.
Dashine rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her. “I can see you haven’t had much practice with speaking to humanoids of the female variety.”
“No… Not really… I was always busy… training and such…”
“We will have to work on that, won’t we? Now, my heroic savior, please continue your tale of how you swallowed a Wisp.”
Shten stopped walking, “I’m sorry, Princess Dashine, but your savior’s epic will have to wait.”
“And why is that?” she asked in a salty manner. Esh could tell she didn’t like being told to do things, especially orders that involved waiting.
“Because,” Shten said, his head spinning backwards to see them, “We are here.”
Act 3
43 - Vexdor
This had to be some sort of joke. Dashine must have agreed, because she gave a huff of a laugh, her arms still crossed over her chest. There was nothing here. No dead trees, no corbs, no wailers, and nothing trying to kill them. Before them was only a vast wasteland with a thick, purple-hued fog. But there was something different, yet it was nothing the eyes could sense. It was the nose.
The rancid smell of the Purple territory was somehow even more nasty here than the first area they had fallen into. Esh wanted nothing more than to drop Barish, take off his helmet, and hold his nostrils closed.
“Welcome, strange travelers, to an even stranger village, the likes I am sure you have never before seen…” Shten inhaled a deep breath through the holes in his chest and let it out with a sigh of pure delight. “Welcome to Vexdor, the capital village of the Purple territory.”
Shten held both arms wide out in front of him and stood on his toes. He took another big whiff of the air and shivered.
“I don’t see anything,” Dashine said unimpressed. “You better not be fooling us, Mr. Shten. We have no time to lose with our dear Barish.”
Shten spun around with seve
rity in his eyes. “Oh Princess Dashine, please do not be upset with your Shten.” He winked. “I shall make you see.” He walked up to her and took her hand. “I had almost forgotten that the living cannot see that which is dead and does not want to be seen.” He then bent down and gripped one of his toes, the toenails having rotted off long ago, and yanked at it.
“No! Don’t do that!” cried Dashine, putting her hands on his shoulder, trying to lift him up.
“Princess, I do not expect you to understand. You must wear a piece of me in order to see,” he said, looking up at her smiling. “I don’t feel pain like the living. Only sorcery can hurt this soul-less non-being.”
She let go of him and he went to work dismantling himself. He did not tear the toe off but instead took his time and dislocated it with a couple of harsh twists before popping it off. Dashine struggled hard to keep her eyes set on his work; she didn’t want to show any weakness. But as the procedure carried on, her resolve shrunk. In the end she turned away.
Esh watched with disgust… and interest as the monster plucked toe by toe, revealing pale white bony knobs. When the work was done, Shten stood up and followed Esh’s gaze down to his toe-less feet and gave the white joints a wiggle for him.
Esh shuddered and said, “I don’t understand how a humanoid species can be so vile.”
“Why thank you,” said Shten, ripping out a few long strands of hair from his scalp. He used a sharp tooth to pierce small holes in each toe. He then threaded his hair through each of them and tied the ends, making a gore necklace. “Place the flesh of my flesh around your necks and feast your eyes on my home village.”
Dashine grabbed one and placed it over her head, perhaps thinking that her quick bravery would overlook her queasiness. Her mouth dropped.
Esh also took one of the necklaces and placed it over his helmet and onto his neck. Immediately things became clear to him. Before him was the source of the smell, a bustling village of rotten non-beings. It was no wonder that the horrendous smell had intensified; they were completely surrounded by a dead civilization!
The Four Territories Page 30
