| They traveled the whole day, long and hard. Although the were not in Lynchuria anymore, they hadn�t reached the realm of Kaisco yet. Right now they were camped in the midst of the great Uninhabited Forest. It was called so for a good reason. Anyone who ever ate any forest plants or drank water unless of the River Rum would soon find themselves six feet under with a wreath of flowers on the mound. Even though everything was poisonous to humans, animals such as horses were unaffected by consumption. In fact, animals usually were much stronger after journeying through the Forest. So it made sense to use the shortcut up the River Rum through to the capital Kaiscond by this treacherous way. The other way looping around the forest was heavily guarded. The way they were going had little defenses because the throne of fire could not see his weak southern neighbors traveling through the harsh forest. The road they were traveling on had not been used since the last crusade to Lynchuria, when long ago their ancestors had left the desolate North and had stumbled along the hard path and were overjoyed when they finally reached the edge of the forest. Along the other, easier, route, there was sent a small group. They were supposed to draw out the few defenders that would fight against their main southern attack. Those from the west were merely a diversion, a futile force on their own. Their hope was in that they would get their after the others had made their camp on the edge of the forest, and when they attacked the others could rush in from behind and they would be surrounding the throne of fire. Delinia sits by the crackling fire. The river is a dull roar in her ears. She is full from the meager rations. She still is thirsty, but does not feel like going all the way down to the river and knows that to drink from the sparkling stream beside her, the Stream Defuntory. Evil fairies long ago had ruined its pristine beauty and now it shines black and deadly. Ol�n comes out of the tent. �Denervick, why aren�t you sleeping? Come on lie down if nothing else. One must be well rested to ride well�� She looks at him, �Who are the N�maton? What are they exactly? I need to know more about those I shall be fighting against. I can�t sleep unless I know more about what I face tomorrow�� A breeze picks up and the lonely hoot of an owl is heard. He moves to sit down next to her. Comradely he puts his arm around her shoulders. He takes a deep breath. The wind is rustling the leaves at their feet, blowing some into the fire. He sighs, at first reluctant to say anything. But shortly he begins to tell all that he knows of the N�maton� �The N�maton used to be normal men, warriors of Kaiso, some the best of the best. However, evil Doctor Quandro created a super-race of killers by the order of the flame of fire. He devised a potion that would do so. These warriors would be nearly indestructible, invincible. They can repair their own wounds within moments. They have super-strength and agility. Few can come to blows with them and survive. �However, now there are no volunteers to become one. The drawback of being a N�maton is that your free will is gone. You can only do what your master, the Doctor, says you can. You cannot even close your eyes as you slay someone, no control at all. And he always does the bidding of the throne, so one can guess at the unspeakable things one has to do. �At first some of the finest warriors volunteered. In spite of this, soon word spread of the mindlessness of those who had already transformed. Their friends disappeared without a trace, and even if they had seen them directly ahead, they were unrecognizable, changed so much by the evil potion. Their king, one day to sit on the throne of fire, ordered them, and most complied. �Some of the Kaiso fighters thought they had gotten off. Their king had said that if they would go and swear to the Doctor their loyalty then they would be allowed to remain mere mortal men. Soon after they pledged their allegiance those who had become N�maton ambushed them and all were slain. It must have been agony to those who brandished blades unwillingly against their old friends, people they envied in that they had at least died free� �All these transformations took place in the Cave of Anguish, for its true name in its true tongue is too despicable for everyday use. That language should never be spoken again and indeed there are very few who can. Many times prisoners are seen going in there, but only the N�maton are seen leaving. The N�maton are forced to return there every ten days, for some treatment that only the Doctor and the N�maton know. There is little hope for those victimized by Doctor Quandro.� He pauses. A squirrel chatters away, screams then is silent. Another owl hoot is heard. �I fear that your love may have been taken there. You say she was taken awhile back. By now she is most likely there, for the pleasure and replenishment of the N�maton. But who knows what happens there. And I can�t be sure if what I�ve told you is true. I�ve only heard it from Tiercal.� �Why does Tiercal know this? I had never even heard of the N�maton until today and I have since slain one and learned so much. In my town of Doria in peaceful Lynchuria I had never even heard of them let alone seen them. Why is that?� �I can answer why Doria was never threatened by the N�maton. Long ago a powerful sorceress was fed up with all the fairies and non-human creatures that came to disturb her for help. So now anything not a human or a domestic animal can come close because of the curse she has placed. I guess you�ll have to ask Tiercal if you want the answer to your first question however, about how he knows so much.� She hugs him, �Thank you Ol�n! Go back to bed, I�ll join you after I talk to Tiercal. Goodnight, sleep well!� She then walks to the green tent, leaves rustling as the wind begins to pick up. Within a candle is burning. She hesitates before approaching further. Delinia stands there at his door, unsure of what exactly to do. She really doesn�t have to talk to him, now or ever. Just as she is about to retreat back to her tent, Tiercal calls out, �Whoever is out there, you�re welcome to come it. Ha, even if you�re planning on killing me, this old man may still put up a fight I�m warning you�� �It is only I, Denervick. I wished to ask you some questions, but I fear that they are not important enough to ask,� Delinia bows. She then pauses before moving back the curtain as she hears, �Enter, whatever you have to ask must be important if you dare come in the middle of the night to solicit an answer of me.� �Well Tiercal, I was talking to one of your men. He told me a great deal about the N�maton and said it was from you that he had heard of it. So now I ask you, why do you know so much about them?� Tiercal is silent for a long time. Delinia is about to apologize and leave when he finally answers. �I was one. One of the original ones enslaved a hundred years ago. Forced to kill my friends who resisted, unable to resist myself. I envied them. Every ten days I would find myself treated to another dose of the poison he keeps in his cave. How I wished I could skip but one of his treatments. I knew that they were what kept me under his control. I wanted death or what would happen when I skipped them more than anything else in the world. �Luckily, it wasn�t long before I was captured, a freak accident for a N�maton. A man had hit me over the head and I passed out long enough for him to tie me up. I thought I was dead, it was such a strange feeling to be unconscious. I woke up, chained to a wall, looking into green eyes. I was startled and my eyes were forced to focus some more. It was the face of Nas�nio, but I didn�t know who he was yet. �He punched me in the stomach, �How do you like it, slimy N�maton? Oh wait, your pain is healed within moments, unlike the rest of us, unlike my father whom I watched you slay! I�ll keep you here for a week, letting you become weak before I decide how to kill you, maybe I should just let you slowly starve�� �The possessed me then cried out, �Long live the N�maton! You won�t get away with this!� He gave me a mad grin. �Oh yes I will! I wonder how long it is until your ten days are up!� Then he took a club and hit me, again and again. I cried out in pain. The real me wanted to cry out and encourage him to keep me there, but I couldn�t even control my own mouth or eyes. �Eventually, he left me alone. Literally, for the next five days the enchanted me struggled but to no avail. Eventually, exhausted I/we passed out into a dark haze, red spots occasionally breaking it up. When I awoke, it was me in my head, I alone controlled what I did, what I looked at, what I said. I clenched and unclenched my fist, amazed that I could. The simplest things I could control were exhilarating. �I�m Free!� I yelled and would have danced if not chained to the wall. I began to sing, Freedom, freedom is great Freedom from the evil Way of life that No more is my fate! �I made several more joyous phrases and sang them. Then I decided to open my eyes. I once again looked into Nas�nio�s eyes. �Thank you so much. I�m indebted to you forever.� Well, after that, it doesn�t really matter what happens after that. Nas�nio got me to join the army of Lynchuria. I was feared by my comrades because of the flame mark on my right cheek. After a time, my fierce and brave fighting won their admiration when they realized I was on their side. And now I have risen all the way to the top.� Silence comes over the tent. Delinia can�t help a few tears that roll down her cheek. Quickly, she wipes them away, returning her face to its stoic state. �Thank you. That�s all I needed to know. Goodnight. I bid thee sleep well.� She bows and leaves. She goes to her tent. She pauses at the door before going in. she finds her bedroll where she had laid it out earlier and collapses exhausted and goes away to a dream-world, yet it isn�t entirely unreal, many things seem to be familiar� Again she finds herself cornered by Scar-face, yet differently. This time she bears her father�s sword, but it fails to glow green like it should. Scar-face evilly laughs, grins, and raises his sword to attack. She raises her sword for defense, but in the first blow hers is shattered, fragmented into a thousand useless pieces. Suddenly, he turns into the N�maton she slay earlier. She draws her brother�s daggar and throws. Just as she lets it fly from her fingers, the attacker changes. He becomes a man of fire. The dagger flies right throughhim and hits the wall. �Venderick!� She calls out as his flames engulf her, seperating her from everything else, �Venderick�Venderick!� She wakes up to Ol�n�s shaking. �Denervick wake up it�s only a nightmare, no one is going to get you now.� He looks at her with worried eyes. �I don�t like it when others have nightmares. Last time Charango had a nightmare, well that was when this four-man tent turned to three before you joined us�� She gets up and takes in some air from outside. She realizes where she is now, only in the dark Uninhabited Forest, not in Doria where Scar-face attacked her. She thinks to herself how stupid she�s being. Someone is going to discover her Farathonian Heart is for a man, not a woman. Ol�n is becoming closer to her, how long until he does something in jest that exposes her? She isn�t given much time to be worrying as Tiercal orders the company to hurry up and get ready to leave. He�s rushing them much more than the previous morning. It seems that they must ride up the River Rum much faster than they had the day before. Delinia becomes involved in the mad rush to fold the tent, after she does so she then grabs her bedroll and fairly flies to Fryon. He seems nervous. �What�s wrong?� She looks at his eyes and does not like the fear she seees in them. She wonders what is causing him to be so spooked. It�s like he senses something that she doesn�t even guess at being there. She tries to think why but her thoughts are stopped short by shouts from where her tent was. She quickly readies Fryon and mounts him, then gallops back to where Ol�n, Charango and Hakabree were moments before. Three are standing there, only Tiercal replaced Ol�n. �Where is he?� No answer comes to her pleading. Frustrated she draws her sword and it glows a fierce green. Glows, her mind turns slowly. �Alright, so he was taken by a N�maton. And I�m a failure for not being able to stand up to him.� She sheaths her sword. �Tiercal, I bid you goodbye. I see my duty in saving him, I fear I�ve spent too much time explaining it. I must be off. I shall meet up at Kaiscond when I am able to, with Ol�n too, I promise�� She kicks Fryon to get him to move. They blaze off into the sunrise. They follow the path the he fears most, along the Stream Defuntory and she can sense where it ends. The cave of Anguish, the birthplace of the N�maton. She urges Fryon, hoping that he doesn�t wear out. She feels the need to catch up to Ol�n as fast as possible and fears the worst. The forest seems to close in on her as she tries to catch up to where Ol�n is, prisoner of the evil death-rider. After riding nearly all day, Fryon grows weary, and she allows him to drink of the stream and rest for a bit. Yet she restrains herself from drinking to soothe her parched throat. She knows better, but there�s a pretty pool with pink little flowers� She decides to go and pick a flower. �That�s all. A flower.� But soon she finds herself trying to quench her unrelenting thirst. She tills her stomach up with cool water. �Ha. Nothing is even wrong. I feel fine.� At first she was healthy. Then suddenly she felt a lurch in her stomach. It then emptied harshly, acid burning in her throat and mouth. She tried to scream but hardly had any voice. She uses her last energy to climb back on Fryon. �Save me.� She chokes out then passes out as he carries her much swifter down the path, toward the Cave of Anguish. She doesn�t notice as the rain pours down, drenching them. They instead travel oblivious to everything. Fryon much stronger, and Delinia, barely alive. |
| CHAPTER 2 |