Aegis:
Chapter Three
[Rating: General
···
Length: Very Long
···
Genre: Mixed up, Serious]
[ Word count: (chapter: 2, 134)
(total:22444 )]
[
Chapter One · Chapter
Two · Chapter
Three · Chapter
Four · Chapter
Five]
[
Chapter Six · Chapter
Seven · Chapter
Eight · Chapter
Nine]
An idea came to her. It felt foreign, as the earlier
visions from the guardian had. Her fingers loosely gripping
the staff, she raised a shuddering arm to begin a new
spell. Her lips formed the sounds silently, her tortured
lungs offering no support. As she continued, she felt
strength returning. The rockhound, seeing its prey was
beginning to recover, began to circle about her, deciding
which would be the best angle to attack again. As she
continued, she felt all of the pain from her body rushing
out her fingers and away down her staff.
The rockhound, reeling backward for the second time,
clumsily shielded its eyes from the green light that emanated
from the crumpled form. Becoming less collapsed by the
second, Aegis’s voice slowly began to come from its previous
whisper. As she chanted, her body raised from the ground
on a bubble of green light, hair flying in a sudden breeze.
Now standing, her voice boomed off the rocks until it
sounded like they had joined in.
Dirchrre petim metirr aknigh medinna osap
Feet now well above the ground, Aegis gripped the staff
with both hands. Sparking now and then with energy, it
took her quite some time to move the staff down to point
at the rockhound. The beast, confused by the noise, thrashed
about, unsure where to turn. Now ready, Aegis continued
her previous spell, now with more energy then she had
thought possible.
Gethre mygratum mehide sokar tsune TVEKSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!
Spitting the word, Aegis concentrated on the thrashing
form before her. All of the glow sped onto the ground
and dispersed. Aegis too landed on the ground, the wind
subsiding. The rockhound, mind cleared, threw caution
to the sky and charged. At the moment it touched Aegis
a swell of green light sparked up from the ground and
swirled up the rockhound’s legs. It promptly disappeared.
Smiling in triumph, Aegis toppled down to the ground.
By the time her head hit the rock, she was already unconscious.
In the morning, a harsh cry awoke Aegis. Looking around
in alarm, she discovered the rockhound was nowhere to
be seen but a large bird was perched on a nearby pinnacle
of rock. Wondering what it would be doing in such a place,
she looked at it. After a glance straight back at her,
it leaped into the air and was gone, gliding quickly into
the sky.
Legs protesting, she dragged herself to her feet. The
landscape was the same as the previous day, only now the
ground emanated heat. With a shock of thought, Aegis realized
her folly. By noon the whole landscape would be as hot
as an oven. With some difficulty, she set out at a fast
stride for the distant green of the forest. Her food bag,
now considerably lighter, contained one more meal.
The craggy rock pass soon gave way to a dense forest
full of umbrella like bushes and towering autumnal trees.
Knowing that once she entered the forest there would be
no more food left, she made a trap from nearby twigs and
the cord she had made earlier, hid some of her food in
a cavity nearby and waited behind a spike of stone. She
sat back and found thoughts of her mother and missed friends
sliding into her mind. She wished they could know that
she was safe, that she could end their tortuous wait for
her return.
The sharp ‘snap’ of the makeshift snare and squeal of
a snarglok ended her thoughts abruptly. Picking up a large
rock, she stunned the animal and loosened the trap’s hold
on its leg. She would not eat this one, but use it to
find food in the forest. The snarglok’s acute sense of
smell would lead her to hidden roots and mushrooms. She
realized what a fine animal she had caught. Although small,
the snarglok boasted a sleek coat of shiny black hair
that did not have any thinning or bear patches and its
eyes were remarkably clear. Hoping that it was not already
owned, she looked around for an angry figure. Nobody came.
Fashioning a rudimentary collar and lead from some nearby
rockweed, she stood back and waited for the animal to
regain conciseness. Looking up at her with its big brown
eyes it slowly got to its feet. Wincing at the memory
of her now lost friends, she held out some of limited
food, hoping to gain the animal’s trust. It timidly poked
its nose up to her hand, not looking away from her face
for a second.
The snarglok, noticing the sudden lack of food in Aegis’s
hand, poked its nose in her now stretched but empty cloak
in the hope of more tasty morsels. Finding none, it looked
up at her with a I-want-more-food-now look. “If you want
more, you will have to find it.” Not understanding her
exact words but comprehending the direction of her command,
it sniffed the air. With a jerk, it led her to the food
she had hidden earlier. Donning her cloak and noticing
its new stretched length, she began towards the forest’s
beginning scrub.
Wondering what was going on, the slightly unstable snarglok
followed. Tired after her many days trekking, Aegis felt
in no shape to make shelter. As the dusky sky boasted
not a wisp of cloud, she decided to sleep under a tree.
Looking around for a source of fresh water, she heard
the sweet bubbling of a forest stream ambling through
the trees to her left. Stumbling toward the sound, until
she was satisfied that she was near enough, she folded
herself onto a pile of soft leaves and began to sleep,
the snarglok replacing the position once held by the draf.
snarglok replacing draf.
The silky fingers of dawn crept through the trees and
played across Aegis’s relaxed face, waking her from her
deep slumber. The shrill call of dawn birds broke the
night’s silence with a sweet chorus of song. Standing
up and stretching, Aegis brushed the leaves off her cloak
and looked around for the stream she had heard last night.
The snarglok stirred too. It walked straight to the water,
pulling Aegis behind it. Cupping her hands, she drank
deeply.
The cool water cascaded down her parched throat, ending
the pain that breathing had begun to cause. Looking up,
she saw the black bird again. It was perched on a branch
a few metres away, scrutinizing her in a most alarming
manner. She stared back, and, after a time, she turned
away. Wondering why it had been following her, she gently
stroked the snarglok. After asking her friend to find
food, she leant on a tree and watched it scamper around,
sniffing for roots. This is where she liked to be: the
sugerplant field had seemed so artificial and the rocky
pass was almost devoid of life, but this, this is what
nature truly meant.
The roots were a little bitter, but taste does not matter
in these circumstances. Due to the lack of visibility,
Aegis could not navigate without climbing a tree every
now and then. She was surprised to note that after the
tree had been climbed, it seemed healthier, the bark thicker
and leaves a more vibrant green. Remembering her position,
she realised it was not so surprising. The moss-covered
ground was kind to her boots; the earlier rocks had almost
worn the soles clean through and walking had been painful.
Whenever her steps slowed, she reminded herself that
she had already used two cycles. When she had reached
Kadavern, she would need at least one cycle to work her
magic. Stopping with horror, realisation slapped her in
the face. She did not know what magic she should use!
Surely the small amount she had learned would be useless.
Fingering the hem of her tunic, her mind cleared. She
would cross that bridge when she came to it, in a manner
of speaking.
Throughout the day she strolled amongst the ancient trees,
enjoying a slight breeze that wafted from the east. It
smelled of the bell-like flowers that grew in dainty clumps
here and there, their yellow adding a nice contrast with
the browns and greens of the forest. She had sighted the
bird many times, sometimes perched on a branch, others
gliding overhead. The snorglok had become more nervous,
scuttling in her shadow at the slightest rustle. The air
was becoming less pleasant and a new, dank and sour scent
pervaded her nostrils. As the trees began to thin, the
snorglok sat down and refused to budge. After spending
quite some time coaxing it to continue, she gave up and
bade it farewell after a short stroke. It looked up at
her then turned and scampered back into the forest.
Walking was becoming difficult. Mud was sucking at her
boots and roots, hidden underneath the greyish muck, tripped
her up. The trees were almost all thin, tough mangrove
dwellers but what sustained them was a mystery to Aegis.
The mud was just dust and water, churned together by centuries
of minute movements. As the sun lowered in the sky, the
stench intensified. Noticing it was almost dark, Aegis
began to wonder where she would sleep. The mud that now
caked her boots and lower staff had definitely abolished
all thoughts of making the ground her bed, so the only
solution seemed to be the trees. When she had been a child,
she had always dreamt of sleeping in a tree, yet now the
novelty seemed gone. Curled up uncomfortably in a fork,
staff jammed in beneath her, she found sleep rather elusive.
The next day was much like its predecessor: smelly and
tiring. Now that her food was gone, Aegis had constant
pains from her belly. Her water, too, was dwindling. Wondering
what food there was to be had, Aegis maintained her squelchy
march. She stumbled quite often due to hidden roots and
stones, always managing to right herself.
Tripping for the umpteenth time, she finally toppled
over. As Aegis tried to wipe her cloak clean, she noticed
the tunic remained mud free. Cursing under her breath,
she tried to step forward. It was then she felt something
tighten around her ankle. Irritably shaking her foot to
dislodge the root, she tried again. The loop tightened.
Reaching down with her hand, she felt the things large
form, with many tentacles stretching in all directions.
One of them, it seemed, had found her. She had foolishly
stumbled into an Andoin parathor, masters of ambush. Their
tentacle like fingers grabbed anything within reach and
held it until the creature had need of food, when it would
slowly scrape away at the prey until only bones remained.
She could feel sweat breaking out on her brow. Gently,
she levered her staff in minute gap between her leg and
the tentacle and began the onerous task of freeing herself.
As she worked, she thought about how her life had changed
so drastically. Though she now felt more confident about
herself, she could feel a small corner of discomfort niggling
about in her mind. It had grown every cycle, and she wondered
if it would eventually banish her hopeful thoughts about
the future.
Finally, she was free. Luckily for her this one had eaten
something recently – she could not think what – and it
did not put up a fight. No longer did she walk straight
ahead, but prodded the path before her with the staff.
At last the mud thinned, then was completely replaced
by a powdery, lifeless soil. The trees stopped abruptly,
as though a fence was keeping them from colonizing any
further. She found herself on a ledge with a view of the
most desolate landscapes she had ever seen.
She had reached Kadavern. The air stank of rotting putrid
matter and the wind was strong. The skeletons of wrecked
buildings still stood, obstinately refusing to be pushed
over by the fetid gusts. Festering, stagnant pools seemed
to radiate an ugly green light that made the landscape
all the more unpleasant. The clouds were thick and unmoving,
brown smog rather then water. The ground was constantly
damp as it rained most of the time. The rain, however,
was not of water but dubious origin and fed the pools.
It was thicker and hit the ground with a splat like congealed
milk. The sun seemed to shy away, letting the land fall
into a dusk, lit mainly by the revolting patches of water.
As she looked upon this dead blemish on the earth’s surface,
she sighed and took a determined breath. Suddenly, she
felt her heart fail. A fog seemed to encompass her brain,
blotting out all her thoughts save one. It grew and took
shape in an inexorable wave and dragged her to the ground…
[
Chapter One · Chapter
Two · Chapter
Three · Chapter
Four · Chapter
Five]
[
Chapter Six · Chapter
Seven · Chapter
Eight · Chapter
Nine]
|
