Warper: Echoes of Etangria

by Riley Tune

  I came crashing out of my warp, onto the beast’s chest. Instantly I began to fall, so I plunged my dagger into a piece of skin while holding onto one of the rock shards that was attached to the beast.

  It felt my dagger penetrate its greenish skin. I felt like a fly on a Clipasie. Another scream came from the beast, as water from where its hair should have been continued to fall on me. I was sure it was screaming, just to show its dominance. There was little chance that my tiny dagger was inflicting pain.

  It moved in the water, causing the debris below to be sent in all directions. From where I was, I couldn’t see Vida or Craydon. I just had to trust they were fine.

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw the beast crushing the chunk of ship that we all were hanging onto, not too long ago. He looked at the crumbled ship in his hand and then threw it down to the water with such force that, once it hit, the water flew up several feet in the air.

  I didn’t know how to hurt this, thing. Most of its skin was covered in stone, and it was so massive that even when I did find its skin, it had little effect. After a few moments, I decided that I needed to warp to its hand and then make my way up to its face. This seemed easier in theory than it actually was.

  Warping to a moving target wasn’t hard if the moving target was simple. For example, a chunk of falling wood could be warped to with ease because it was just falling. I say with ease, but even that feat was achieved only after continuous practicing.

  A target that could change direction instantly made it a lot harder. I had tried this a few times before when I was trying to warp onto a moving Pradeep guard as he rode a Caprong. It hadn’t gone so well and took a few tries to get it right.

  Here, however, I didn’t have a few tries. I had one shot and I needed to do it fast before this giant fog beast hurt Craydon or Vida, who floated helplessly in the water somewhere below us.

  Water from its head continued to fall down on me. It was salty, and not only did it blur my vision, but burned my eyes some. I found the forearm of the beast. It was moving but not as much as the beast’s hand. “Keeper, be with me,” I said as I removed my dagger from its flesh, began to fall, and then warped.

  Somehow, some way, I found my target and came out of the warp by landing on the giant’s forearm. It was still moving, but I was ready.

  As soon as I landed, I touched my power, enhanced my vision for a second and found the face of the beast. Warping, I landed directly where I wanted to. Its eye.

  On a beast, the size of a royal palace, it was almost impossible to kill it alone and with only a single dagger. An entire two kingdoms of guards would be needed to take these things down. All I could hope to do, was slow it down long enough so I could make it back to Craydon and Vida, then warp us away.

  I let my dagger find the creatures eye again and again. I felt like I had just used my dagger and stabbed at something the size of the sky. While my dagger in the skin yielded no reaction from the fog beast, this certainly did.

  Howls of pain came from the monster as two things hit me at once. Water and its hand came crashing down on me, swatting me away as if I were nothing.

  I found myself falling from the beast’s face, as I heard it move in the water and screaming behind me. I still couldn’t see Vida or Craydon as I fell. Looking around, I found the largest chunk of ship still floating and warped to it.

  I clung on to it as tried to pull myself up so I could look around me. I began to realize why I couldn’t see Vida or Craydon. They were on the other side of the beast when they fell. I was so busy trying to figure a way out to hurt it that I hadn’t realized Vida and Craydon had drifted around the other side.

  “Keeper,” I swore as pulled myself to my feet. On legs shaking from the water rocking, I stood up and began to warp from piece to piece as I made my way around the still screaming beast. As he moved back in the water it could clearly see me, because here and there, its hand came crashing down and would grab the area where I just was.

  Each time it was the same hand, so it was safe to say, its other hand was still nursing the eye I had butchered. A few warps later, and I found myself resting on the same chunk of ship as Vida and Craydon.

  I kissed Vida harder than I ever had before. “I thought you were,” I paused as I spoke. I didn’t want to say the words. “I did, too,” she said as she looked at Craydon. “Thank you.”

  Craydon dismissed her thanks with a wave of his hand and shook his head. “No thanks needed, girly. You would have done the same for me.” Vida raised her brow, and Craydon seemed to be thinking. “Well maybe you wouldn’t have, but still no thanks needed. We are in this together.”

  Then, just as he had done to me, he extended his hand out for Vida to shake. It sat there in the air a few seconds longer than needed and then, slowly, Vida allowed her hand to surround his and they shook on it.

  A loud sound came around us as the water began to violently move. We all reached for edges of the ship debris on which we were floating. “I think you made the giant mad.” Craydon said as we looked up.

  From where we were, we couldn’t see much. All around us was the thick fog, and above us we could only see a pair of legs that disappeared into the same fog. One of the legs raised and out of the water came a foot made of stone that was almost the size of the ship we were had been on.

  I grabbed Craydon and Vida, then got ready to warp anywhere but here, when the sound of a horn being blown was heard in the air around us. The foot paused in the air, and then slowly submerged into the water around us again.

  The horn sounded off again, and then there was silence. “What is that?” I asked as I looked around. The fog beast’s knees were in view now as they went into the water. Then so was its midsection. A few moments later the horn sounded again, as the beast’s chest was slowly covered in water.

  “It’s a horn,” Craydon said as he looked around. Vida slapped him in the back of the head. “Clearly, it’s a horn,” she said. “Where is it coming from.” We all looked around in the fog. Searching for the source of this sound.

  The fog beast was completely gone now, and all that was in the water, besides us, were the bodies of dead guards, and scattered chunks of the ship. So many of them gone because of that monster. We all seemed to notice it at once, as a shadow seemed to be moving through the fog.

  The horn sounded again and then, finally we were able to see it. A ship. A ship far larger than ours, with multiple sections of large cloth on top to catch the wind and push it along. On the side of the ship was a symbol carved and painted.

  The same symbol that Craydon had branded on his wrist. “The Bygone,” I said to myself as the ship stopped moving close to us. “They must have come from Rewling,” Craydon said as he looked at the ship, mouth gaped open and wet hair sticking on his face.

  “How did they know we were out here?” Vida asked. Craydon shrugged. “Let’s find out.” I said as I placed my hands on both of them, and warped us onto the Bygone ship.

  15

  As we came out of my warp, we found ourselves surrounded by a crew of very sturdy, tall and muscular men. Each of them wore red trousers, and a single strap of brown leather that ran across their bodies. To add to their similarities, each man was completely bald- headed. Aside from different colors of skin, they all looked identical in every way.

  “Easy boys,” Craydon said as he put his hands up and showed his wrist to them. “I’m one of you. Well, not one of you exactly, seeing as how you are Rewling warriors, but I am a member of The Bygone.”

  These Rewling warriors, as Craydon had called them, were all larger than any man I had seen in all of the Prime Sovereignty, but were still smaller than that of a Clipasie.

  Each man held what appeared to be long spears made entirely out of a clear transparent stone. I had never seen a spear that wasn’t made of wood and metal before, but judging from the large sharp end, I had no doubt these spears couldn’t do the job just the same.

  “Just let m
e do the talking,” Craydon said to Vida and I over his shoulder. I nodded my head while Vida slumped down again to sit on the floor of the ship. “I just want to be taken to land.” she said as she curled into a ball once more.

  “Weapons away men,” a voice said from behind the Rewling warriors. As they put their crystal spears to the side of them, each man separated and allowed another man to walk through. While the other men of the Rewling warriors looked the same, this man did not. He was taller than most of them, easily standing seven feet in height.

  While everybody else had on a single leather strap around their massive chest, this man before us had three. He had on brown boots, and red trousers. Tucked snugly in his trousers was a dagger. Not like mine, though. While my dagger was crafted of black steel, his was made out of the same clear crystal as the spears. It was beautiful, and deep down, I suddenly wanted one of my own for my collection.

  He also had a full head of clearly green hair. To match his green hair was a green mustache and goatee.

  He stood in front of the men he commanded and looked us over, then leaned in a little and eyed Vida. “What’s wrong with her?” he asked, as he jerked his head at her. “Water travel makes her sick,” Craydon said. “I see.” the man grumbled as he stood back up.

  “So, you wear our mark? Just who are you?” the man asked Craydon. To which he did a fancy bow, but apparently moved too quickly, because as he bowed, several spears were raised on him.

  “Jumpy, aren’t they?” Craydon said as he took a step back. The man cleared his throat slightly and repeated himself. “I’ll ask you one more time. Who. Are. You.” “Craydon-” “Craydon Addersfield,” the man said as he interrupted Craydon.

  Craydon turned and looked at me as he nodded some and smiled while whispering “my legend grows.” The man took in a deep breath. “I see you have heard of me,” Craydon said. “Yes. you are famed in our land for your lust of men, women, and all objects not yours, There was a reason you were chased away from the city of stone. Yet here you are, again.”

  “You were chased away? I thought you escaped.” I said, but Craydon seemed to have not heard me.

  The man turned away for a moment and spoke to one of his warriors. “Take us back home.”

  “I am Commander Brill, and this, is my ship. These are my men, and it is my duty to protect Rewling at all cost. I am sorry about unleashing Vagon on you, but we didn’t know who you were and didn’t want another Red Beast on our hands.”

  “Vagon?” I asked. “Yes, yes boy.” Commander Brill snapped at me. “Vagon.” The creature of the fog, that you stabbed in the eye.” My brow furrowed. “Unleashed? You mean you control that thing?”

  “With the Horns of Rewling we do,” Commander Brill replied. “You know how many men that thing killed? Keeper’s name, t almost killed us!” I shouted at him. My words seemed to yield no concern to Commander Brill as he shrugged and turned away.

  I warped, and reappeared in front of him. In an instant, several crystal spears were at my neck. “Careful boy. I don’t know what you are, but it makes my men uneasy. Things tend to die, when Rewling warriors are uneasy.”

  He seemed to pause for a moment as he looked at me. “Keeper, huh?” Commander Brill finally said. “I’d stop saying that if I were you. The Bygone respect all of the Forgotten Gods, but we cherish The Grim God above all others.”

  The Grim God? Is that what they called Grimsby Glen?

  “Here’s a thought, let's all take a breather,” Craydon said as he came and stood between me and the snarling Commander Brill. Slowly, he moved several of the crystal spears away. “Commander, can you uh,” Craydon said as he pointed to some of the spears still at my neck.

  “No need,” I said sternly, and warped all of the spears away from me. The men, Commander Brill included, were taken aback by this. “Interesting.” Commander Brill said. “Atmos, will want to speak with you no doubt.” he said as he walked away from us.

  At the mention of the person Atmos, Craydon stiffened some. I could see his jaw clench as he swallowed down whatever he was feeling, and forced a smile. The Rewling warriors, while weapon- less, still showed no fear of us. They refused to move as we tried to pass by them and some even nudged us to prove a point.

  These men were strong. A simple nudge from them felt like I was being punched. The fog was still surrounding the ship, but seemed to thin out as we approached a large land mass.

  I helped Vida to her feet. “Finally, some land,” she said as we looked at the mass coming closer. Rewling was something the likes of The Prime Sovereignty had never seen before. I see how it had gotten its name because it literally was a city of stone.

  From where I stood on the ship, it seemed that everything was carved out of the stone itself. Homes, statues, and any other structure seemed to be made out of stone that came directly out of the ground itself.

  What was interesting was that there was no soil of any kind that I could see, yet I still saw trees and plant life. It seemed that even the flora in Rewling was unnaturally strong. The ship slowed down and made a jerk slightly as it touched the rocky edge of Rewling.

  “Ramp,” Commander Brill shouted out as several of the warriors lifted large sections of wood over the ship. One end of the wood was on the ship as the other end slammed down on the stone edge of the city. The warrior began walking to the shore. I, with Vida and Craydon, instead chose to warp onto the shore.

  I stood on the stone ground and instantly Vida seemed to return to normal. Her sluggish demeanor vanished in seconds, being replaced with energy and vigor. For the moment, she was her normal self again. “This place is amazing,” she said as she looked up into the sky around us.

  I wouldn’t have used the word amazing. For one thing, Rewling was unusually hot compared to what we were used to. The fog also seemed to surround Rewling. Swirling around the land and making it into what looked like a dome of dense mist.

  The warriors from the ship all were giving each other a handshake of some sort, and then began walking in different directions away from the ship. Some gave me a final glare before they walked away. Likely still upset about their weapons being warped into the water.

  “Welcome to Rewling,” A man said to us. Like almost every other person we had seen in Rewling, he too was tall and very muscular. Apparently, short and frail people didn’t exist here.

  He was dressed from head to toe in white leather. His boots were crafted from some shiny form of metal, and so was the helmet he wore on his head. Over his shoulder draped a long dark green cape, and on his chest, where Jolin would wear his medals, this man had the symbol of the Bygone.

  To the side of him was a young man, who looked almost identical to him in every way. The only difference was that the young man didn’t have on a cape, and instead of a helmet he had exposed curly blond hair.

  “I am, Atmos. Leader of The Bygone.” He walked to us and hugged us all, before giving Commander Brill a bow. “This is my son, and second in command, Halo.” Halo gave a slight nod to us all and then looked at Craydon.

  “Hi Craydon.” “Halo. Oh.” Craydon’s eyes seemed to dart from side to side. “Nice to see you again.” For the first time since I had known him, Craydon seemed to be having a hard time finding the words to say. Atmos gave a pat on the back to Commander Brill.

  “I can take it from here, Commander.” Brill didn’t speak but his eyes grew wide slightly before returning to normal and then he walked off. As he did so, he pulled a container from his trousers and began to drink from it.

  “We meet again, it seems,” Atmos said as he looked at Craydon. In return, Craydon cleared his throat as his hand nervously wiped the back of his neck. “Atmos, this is Lox and that’s Vida. Careful with her, she can be a little aggressive,” Craydon said as Vida winked at Atmos.

  “I see. Well let me start first by wishing my apologies for sending the Vagon to you,” Atmos began.

  “We know. You didn’t want another Red Beast,” I
said. At the words, Atmos seemed to become fearful. “By The Grim God, we certainly don’t.” Halo replied as he casually stood beside Craydon.

  “What exactly is the Red Beast?” I asked Atmos. The question seemed to cause him to twitch some. “The Red Beast is someone out of our greatest nightmares, and the most sought after killer in all of Rewling.” Atmos said as he looked at us all.

  There was silence for a moment as he paused. Only the sounds of the waves near the shore made a sound. “Rewling, doesn’t get many visitors, and usually when we do, we allow safe passage, and Vagon is never summoned. We are peaceful people.” Atmos took in a long breath.

  “The Red Beast changed that. Like you, the Red Beast isn’t of our land. We aren’t sure where he or she came from but we know that its intentions are to cause pain and shed blood wherever it travels.”

  “So, it’s human?” I asked. Atmos nodded. “Why do you call it the Red Beast then?” Vida asked. Halo spoke before his father could. “Because of the cloak it wears. From all accounts of those who claim to have seen it, it wears a cloak that has become a crimson red color with the blood of its victims.”

  Craydon laughed. “It sounds like a story you tell kids to keep them in line.” Halo looked at Craydon, and instantly Craydon stopped laughing. “You are correct. Some of Rewling don’t even believe the Red Beast is real, but too many people have lost loved ones to that monster for it to be untrue. We have over fifty confirmed Rewling warrior disappearances since stories of the beast began,” Halo said.

  “Enough about that,” Atmos voiced as he clapped his hands. “You are a guest here in Rewling. So where of the many lands do you hail from?” His words stunned me, and hit me almost as hard as his warriors had when they nudged me. Many lands.