The True Stones (2) “But what if the future changes, as it is prone to do?” Desti asked. “We know that if we do not get on a ship, that won’t happen. So what good will it do me then?” “Well, maybe,” Regalius said. “But I think that that amulet only works at certain times, right?” Desti nodded her head. “Well then, whatever the amulet shows you must be set in stone! So we will get on a boat! But you still didn’t see us dying, so there is no telling if we live or not.” Desti was apparently consoled by these words, and went off to relate the conversation to Grulmdin so they would all be prepared. Regalius sat there, content with himself. No one saw the falun Corpse standing at the entrance of the cave, nor did anyone see it take flight. Ilyote, the trader’s kingdom. The large port city of Traveler’s Rest was south of the capital of the nation, Weynaught, and the streets bustled with all kinds of people and creatures from all walks of life. There were goblin magus selling charms and trinkets to bring good luck. Dwarvern smiths were sporting all kinds of weapons and armors set with gems enchanted by their mages. There were humans selling all manner of goods from foreign lands, mostly foods. There were elvish mercenaries brandishing their weapons and calling out to any passing aristocrats. Gnomish machinists were selling all sorts of clockwork doohickeys and gadgets. The few mermen that inhabited the port stayed near the shipyards, showing potential buyers around their superior ships. Desti and Regalius were placed on leashes in order to protect them from the Procurers. The Procurers were the king’s royal gatherers, and they took anything that wasn’t owned. Nasty rumors had it that in the night, the Procurers would kidnap anyone walking about and sell them as slaves to the mannicac, the strange beings said to live off of the souls and inspiration of others. Mannicac were forbidden to directly enter the town, but the dreaded ships they sailed could be seen in the harbor. Regalius tugged at his collar, prompting Grulmdin to hurry up. Desti was enjoying the sights and sounds of this foreign land, so she stayed at the same pace as she had been walking the entire day. The group turned off into one of the alleyways, which were just as crowded as the main roads, only with beggars instead of merchants. Grulmdin led the two yeti two a seemingly normal wall, and then Grulmdin pushed one brick farther into the wall. The wall slid open to reveal a passageway light by torchlight, and Desti and Regalius hurried in after Grulmdin. The door shut, and the world was plunged into a twilight-like glow. The torches burned steadily, but they did not burn bright. The group hurried down the corridor until they reached a well-lit room, with lights kept lit by kekoin, odd bat-like creatures that glowed from the day they were born. A woman stepped out from the shadows, wearing a golden cloak with the same image as the amulet emblazoned on it. The woman’s hair was white, and her skin was old and wrinkled, but only slightly. Her gray eyes sparkled in the light cast by the kekoin. “So, Grulmdin, you have brought the final stones?” the woman asked. “Yes, I have,” Grulmdin replied. “And I also brought two lium, who have helped me reach this place.” “So that is where the yeti went,” the old woman sighed. “Either way, I guess that they can have their freedom for aiding us.” “Wait, there’s more!” Grulmdin said excitedly. “One of the yeti, named Desti, has the True Bloodstone in her possession!” “Excellent!” the woman cried. “We will leave tomorrow then!” “We will leave to where?” Desti asked Grulmdin. “Oh, to the icy regions of the Far North Amers. We will land at Motaliel, in the kingdom of Cadanak.” “How are we going to get there?” Desti asked. “By ship, of course.” The necromancer entered Traveler’s Rest under the cover of night. It was a new moon, so not even the faintest light illuminated the darkness. Behind the necromancer, a dozen falun Corpses, all in their bird forms, flew behind him. His hood was up, and his purple robes billowed out behind him, revealing his body. It was shriveled and white like his face, and was decomposing at a far more rapid rate than his head. His fingernails were more like claws, and his feet glided above the ground. The necromancer smiled as he flew over the water to one of the mannicac ships moored in the harbor. The mannicac were strange creatures, with jaws like an ant’s and two long arms with three things that appeared to be elbows. The mannicac’s four legs had knees pointing backwards and huge claws protruding from every possible angle. The entire body of a mannicac was covered with armor plates as hard as steel, only to grow harder and thicker the more the mannicac aged. The mannicac’s eyes were considered by most to be the creepiest trait about the creatures. The five eyes were set in the center of the mannicac’s perfectly spherical head and had wisps of color floating through them, like an orb filled with colored gas. As the old man alighted on the deck and his robe surrounded his body completely once more, the mannicac sentry awoke and pointed its spear-sword at the old man. The creature cried out in its language of whispers and clicks, and the old man called back in the same tongue. The mannicac sentry stood up straight and bowed to the old man, beckoning for the necromancer to follow. The old man and his posse of falun Corpses followed the mannicac sentry to the captain’s room, where the mannicac captain was poring over several maps. The mannicac sentry went over to the captain and whispered something where the captain’s ear would be if mannicac had any ears. The captain looked up and dismissed the sentry. The sentry ran out of the room, seemingly glad to be away from the menacing presence of the mannicac captain. The captain, unlike most other mannicac, wore a jacket not much unlike those that might be seen on a human commodore. The jacket was a dark gray, like the mannicac’s armor plates, and had three blue stripes on each shoulder, and an additional red stripe on each elbow. The necromancer bowed and spoke to the mannicac captain. “Great Ship-Hive Leader, I come to you in great need,” The necromancer began. “If you’ve come about the marrowtree lumber, I have already sold it for six thousand pieces, but I may reconsider for eight thousand pieces…” “I am not here for wood that grew among the remains of dead animals!” the necromancer banged his fists on the table, knocking his hood off his head. The mannicac looked at the necromancer’s face and leaned back in his chair. “Ah, Soulissen, a pleasure to see your face again. Or at least what’s left of it!” the mannicac cackled. “So what brings you here then, friend?” “Well, if it isn’t Mannic-Dwers,” Soulissen muttered. “Who would think we would come together on such terms?” “Ah, yes,” Mannic-Dwers said, his eyes staring off into nothingness as far as Soulissen could tell. “Last time, I was crawling to you for help, and now you have come to me. What is it you need?” “A ship,” Soulissen spat. “Not yours, I wouldn’t consider buying this derelict any day. Tomorrow, a ship leaves port with the True Stones on it.” The mannicac finally looked surprised, putting a smile on Soulissen’s face. “The True Stones? You have found the rest of them?” Mannic-Dwers stuttered. “You have finally found them?” “I did not find them, the Light Keepers found them for me,” Soulissen continued. “I have followed them here for the True Sapphire, Emerald, and Ruby, but they also had gathered the rest of them here, even the True Bloodstone from the armor. It was believed to be lost to time, but a dirty lium found it.” “So you with your measly force of a dozen falun Corpses, want me to attack them. No can do, you know the rules, no mannicac are allowed in Traveler’s Rest, lest we look for a good meal,” Mannic-Dwers said, licking his lips. “In fact, I am feeling a little hungry. Shame we only feed off of the living’s inspiration and dreams. The undead’s are so disgusting. No offense.” “None taken, but I want you to take your ship and follow theirs and take it prisoner. I just want the stones, you can have the crew for your own devices.” Soulissen finished. He tilted his head to look around the cabin, seeing how he had no eyes but still had sight. Mannic-Dwers thought over Soulissen’s offer. “What is the crew composed of?” Mannic-Dwers asked. “Thirty crewmembers in all, fifteen young human boys, five gnomes, two dwarves, two goblins, one elf, one human man, and two yeti.” Soulissen told Mannic-Dwers. “Wait, you said that there was a crew of thirty, but you only listed twenty eight of them.” Mannic-Dwers said angrily, thinking he was about to get scammed. “Oh, there will be thirty,” Soulissen reassured his mannicac friend. “I will be on their ship with one of my falun pets.” “Ah, I see,” Mannic-Dwers commented. “But won’t something, you know, dead and walking bring unwarranted attention?” “Not all of my falun are rotting carcasses imbued with magyckal life,” Soulissen said as the falun hawk alighted on his shoulder, flying in through the door from up high. “My good living friend, Goldbeak, will accompany me. Bring the falun Corpses on your ship with you. You will see Goldbeak fly above the ship we are in. Don’t worry, it is hard to mistake a wyvern for a hungry seagull.” “Won’t a wyvern bring unwanted attention as well?” Mannic-Dwers asked. “Goldbeak will transform when he sees your ship. So, do you agree to aid me?” Soulissen inquired. “Sure, why not?” Mannic-Dwers said. “I have always wanted to fight another ship on the high seas! Oh, the thrill of it all!” “Just keep in mind that your fantasies become those which you devoured from your victim. Try to stay away from the eager young boys, otherwise I fear you will become even more annoying than you already are. And the stones are mine!” Soulissen said as he floated out of the room, Goldbeak on his shoulder. “See you later!” Mannic-Dwers said. He turned around. “I’m not that annoying, am I?” he asked himself as he went back to poring over his maps. The Light Keepers were loading the boat when Desti, Regalius, and Grulmdin reached the harbor. Crate after crate was being packed on. When Desti asked why all of these crates were being loaded, Grulmdin told her that if the necromancer did mange to find them, he would have to look trough all of the crates. Even then, the True Stones were being kept by Grulmdin so the Light Keeper’s mission would not be in vain. Regalius was whittling the time away by helping with the loading of crates filled with junk. A man walked up to the captain of the ship and spoke to him. The captain shrugged and pointed to Grulmdin. The man ran up to Grulmdin and began to jump up and down excitedly. “May I join you on your voyage?” the man said. There was a hawk perched on his shoulder, preening its feathers. “I won’t be any trouble I promise!” “Who exactly are you?” Grulmdin asked the odd man. “Oh, how rude of me! I am Nessiluos, the traveling magyckster!” Nessiluos said with an extravagant bow. “I am wishing to go to the Amers, but alas! I have found that my purse is empty and I must depend on the kindness of strangers! I implore you, good sir, please let me go with you!” Grulmdin looked the man over. His head was shaved bald and his skin painted white. He had extremely long fingernails painted with magyckal symbols and his face was covered in make-up traditional among mimes. He wore dark purple robes and had green eyes that sparkled with emotion. The hawk on his neck screeched in disdain and Nessiluos quieted the bird. “Please, Silverfeather, be respectful to him, otherwise we will never leave this dreary port!” Nessiluos asked the bird rather nicely, considering it was just a bird. The bird quieted down and Nessiluos got down on his knees and began to beg Grulmdin. “Okay, okay, you can come with us!” Grulmdin cried. “Just shut up! Stars above, this reminds me of the story about my great ancestor’s journey with this ghost that wouldn’t shut up either!” Nessiluos got up on his feet, clapping his hands in joy. He ran onto the ship and began talking excitedly to the crewmembers already on deck. “This is going to be a long voyage,” Desti murmured. The ship had been at sea for a week now. Nessiluos put on several magyck shows, where he entertained the crew with tricks of all kinds. Wheels of fire appearing from nowhere, levitating knives, and ropes that tied themselves were all part of Nessiluos’ repertoire. His hawk, Silverfeather, flew above the ship during the day and performed all kinds of daring maneuvers. Grulmdin, Desti, and Regalius stayed close together on the voyage, lest there be a traitor or imposter in their midst. Of course, not a thing went wrong, and Grulmdin and Desti were lulled into a feeling of safety. Regalius was nervous the entire voyage, and kept on asking Desti about her vision. “Did the ship look like this?” Regalius asked Desti one day. “In the vision? There were… similarities.” Desti replied. “It is the same ship, isn’t it?” Regalius inquired. Desti nodded her head. “What about that magyckster, Nessiluos he calls himself. Was he in the vision. “No, he wasn’t. I wonder why? It is not like he could just leave the ship…” Desti said as she shook her head. On the deck above, there was a crash. The crewmembers ran down into the gun deck screaming about some kind of winged monster. Regalius and Desti ran up to the deck to see a sight they hoped they would never see again. There was a wyvern flying above the ship. The hawk Silverfeather was a falun! Regalius got out his knife and threw it. As it flew through the air, it transformed into a scythe on a flail. It missed the falun, but Regalius was able to retrieve it. “What is this?” Regalius asked as he now held a golden flail in his hands. “Golem’s Flesh!” Desti exclaimed. “It is a material that can change its own shape. You can’t control its shape-changing, but it must have a mind of its own. It must have sensed you would lose it if you threw it, so it became this flail with a scythe at the end of its chain!” “I’m not complaining then!” Regalius grunted as he took another swing at the wyvern. The chain extended to increase the weapon’s range, and it clipped the wyvern in the wing. The wyvern couldn’t fly with a broken wing membrane, so it landed on the deck and let out a spurt of fire. The ship’s deck caught on fire, and the crewmembers that weren’t too busy cowering below deck began to take water up from the bilge and dumped it on the flames. Nessiluos ran up to the deck, but he was changed. Parts of his skin were missing, and we was no longer wearing the make-up. His fingernails were no longer painted as well, but all of those changes paled in comparison to one. He had no eyes. There were just empty sockets in his head. “Fools! I, Soulissen, have found you and will take the True Stones for my own!” Soulissen screamed above his falun’s shrieks of pain. “Give them to me now, and I will turn the mannicac ship on the horizon away from here!” The crew looked out over the edge of the boat to see there was truth in Soulissen’s words. There, on the horizon, a mannicac ship, made from wood as black as the bottom of the sea, was approaching, and fast. The crew drew their weapons and struck out at the wyvern, managing to wound the beast even more. Eventually, the wyvern expired on the deck, and Soulissen began his foul chant again. He held the True Sapphire and Opal from the knife above his head. Regalius saw this and lashed out with the flail. Now, if Soulissen had been a normal man, the flail would have killed him instantly when it connected with his head. The flail simply got stuck and Soulissen continued his chant until the falun rose again. By this time, the mannicac ship had come along side the vessel the Light Keepers were on, and the mannicac began to jump over and slashed out at the crew. It was a horrible melee. A human head over the side of the ship here, a mannicac arms still fighting despite being disconnected from its master there, and all over the ship, the mannicac were feeding on the crew. The mannicac dug their jaws into the heads of the defenseless sailors, draining them of everything that made them unique. The sailors faced a fate worse than death or being an empty shell for the rest of their lives. They lost their dreams, their aspirations, their hope. When some of the crew members had finally been dined upon by the mannicac, they threw themselves over the side of the ship, seeing no further reason to live. Through all this, wyverns had been attacking the ship from the air. They were falun Corpses, so they did not die, even when struck fatally. It was a lost battle. Soulissen was winning. Grulmdin had pulled out the bag containing the True Stones and held it over the side of the ship. “Hey, Soulissen! Over here!” Grulmdin screamed above the clash of metal and the screams of helpless victims of the mannicac. “Catch!” Grulmdin dropped the bag containing the True Stones over the edge. They fell into the ocean waves, sinking faster and faster. Soulissen ran over to the edge and looked into the blue-green water. “No! I will not be denied!” Soulissen roared. He called for the mannicac to return to their ship, and the falun Corpses followed without even having to be ordered. Soulissen raised his hands and chanted again. The waves grew, clouds gathered in the sky, thunder struck, and the mannicac ship disappeared in a flash of light. Desti realized in horror that her vision was about to come true. There was Grulmdin on the deck, barking out orders to the remaining sailors as waves splashed on the deck. There was Regalius, holding a rope. Desti was also gripping on a rope, but her grip was slipping. The rope slid right out of her hands, and it flailed about like a fire hose. There was a sickening crack, and the mast cracked at its base and fell over. Desti screamed and ran for the mast. She tried to grab the mast, but it fell too quickly. The mast crashed into the deck and tore a large hole in the ship. The ship was sinking. The remaining crew ran in fear, and Desti grabbed on to Regalius just as a huge wave sent the entire ship to the seafloor. Desti awoke to see was no longer at sea. She looked around and saw the sea, but she was on dry land. Not necessarily dry land, for it was ice, but is was enough. She looked to the south and saw nothing but an open, icy wasteland as far as the eye could see. She looked around and saw Regalius returning with several handfuls of fish with Grulmdin limping behind him. Desti ran up to Regalius and hugged him, causing Regalius to drop the fish and Grulmdin to swear and mutter something about having fish with a side of dirt again. “Where are we?” Desti asked as she let go of Regalius. “And Grulmdin, how did you not sink to the bottom of the sea with all that armor?” “We are back on Aia,” Grulmdin explained. “The storm let up as soon as the ship sank, and we were lucky that within half an hour another ship came by. They took all the surviving crewmembers on board, and they had to get three men to drag you up. We thought you were dead. “Either way, the True Stones now rest at the bottom of the sea, and I would like to see Soulissen get his hands on them now. He probably will get to them at some point, but not in the near future. He doesn’t take defeat easily though, so don’t be surprised if he comes after us.” “What will we do now?” Desti asked after Grulmdin had finished explaining everything. “What will we do?” “The only thing we can do,” Regalius finally said. “Keep on fighting against Soulissen. In whatever way we can. As it is said, we may have won the battle, but we have not won the war. Not yet, at least.” “Aren’t we going to eat dinner now?” Desti asked. “Yes, we are going to do that now as well.” Regalius chuckled as he and Desti gathered up the fish, Grulmdin hobbling behind them. Against the setting sun, the two yeti and the human whose fates were intertwined so tightly that nothing could separate those fates, walked off to find firewood for their dinner. For now, all was well. Soulissen and Mannic-Dwers walked along side by side in the capital of the Mannicac States, Mannic-Crea. “So we will one day retrieve those gems?” Soulissen asked his companion. “Yes, of course,” Mannic-Dwers replied. “We will rule the world side by side! We shall destroy all opposition to our reign! We will be victorious!” Soulissen laughed. “Frankly, I enjoy the new personality you obtained more than the old one. Come, we have much to discuss with the Grand Hive Mother.” The two old friends, whose hands were guided by darkness, walked along the crowded streets of Mannic-Crea, towards the mannicac queen, the Grand Hive Mother. They laughed and joked as they went towards the citadel off in the distance, winding their way through the maze-like city. They hadn’t given up yet. Far from it.
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Copyright © 2008 Matthew James Parsons |