《Burn》


 Prelude – A new world (Inception)

    Dry.  So incredibly dry and cold.  The darkness is all but absolute, till two moons, a large white moon with a smaller red below, rise above a mountain line in the East, illuminating a vast plain below.  The plain as far as the eye can see, is waste of reddish, brown, cracked clay, that under the red and white moonlight, seemed like a series of never-ending wounds. There is no standing water, no streams, the only vegetation are small grasses and shrubs, their limbs so twisted and writhing, that in the light of the moons, moving with the wind, they almost seemed like creatures reaching, begging for any liquid to stave their thirst, to end their suffering.


    The vast outline of mountains where the moons have risen, extends from North to South, almost like a spine of some sleeping monster.  Roughly ten kilometers West of the mountains within a vale, facing West toward the waste, an outcrop of 39 white and grey marbled stones arrayed in a half circle, (roughly 739 meters across), with a large dark monolith at its center can be seen coming into view as the moons continue to rise higher into the sky.  Each of the stones was identical in size to its neighbor, 30 meters high, 20 meters across, 5 meters deep, with 10 meters spacing each stone from the next.   Intricate symbols and carvings adorned the East side of the stones, while the face on the West side, a highly polished concave inner surface facing a dark object at the center of the half circle.  Unworldly, and alien, descriptions that would fit the stones well as to their arrangement and comparison to all within the waste, however if the stones were unworldly, then the object in the center could only be described as ethereal.  Thirty meters high, twenty meters across, and five meters deep, stood the pitch-black monolith.  No dust shown, no other color marked its surface, the light from the moons did not show a shine, sparkle, or reflection, nothing that would show something was there at all, it was only the outline of nothing that gave it its shape.  Through the vale to the waste the stones where the only oasis within the desolation, the only evidence that beings of intelligence and purpose once existed here.


    Wind born sand and silt from the waste washes through the vale, as time passes the shadows of the stones shift with the moon¡¯s movement through the sky.  Within a rocky outcrop of boulders some 30m South ¨C West of the ring, a sound of a deep breathing rumble, almost like a purr was emanating from a large dark crevasse.   A dark murky shape within could be decerned, the outline bespoke of a creature of terrifying size, and as the moonlight began to angle away into the West, the tapetum lucidum of the creature¡¯s eyes suddenly shown like yellow lamplights in the dark.  Turning, moving, fast, then slow, the creature outline seemed to show it almost pacing, then looking at the stones, pacing then looking at the moons, and then pacing again, as if waiting for some event to happen.  Then it just stared at the moons as they moved further West, almost as if it could will them to move faster.


    It was not till the moons peeked high into the sky, their light impinging onto the concaved mirrored sides of the marbled stones, reflecting the light directly onto the monolith, that the dynamic within the vale altered drastically.  The black emptiness of the monolith gave way to a rippling shimmer over its surface, followed by low guttural pitch, emanating from it, the vibrations spreading from its base into the ground.  As if this was what it was waiting for, the creatures breathing seemed to cease with the coming of the sound, its eyes looked away from the stones to the Western edge of the waste, where on the horizon, a dust cloud like a small explosion appeared, expanding rapidly and drifting toward the vale carried by the winds from the West.


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    The further the moons drifted West the light reflected to the monolith from the stones intensified, in response the sound emanating from it increased drastically, with distorted harmonics the sand on the floor around the stone rippled and danced in cymatic patterns extending out towards the mouth of the vale in the direction of the waste.  The ripples on the monolith where now erratic waves, a bluish ¨C purple corona now radiating from its edges, the monoliths feature now seemed to distort as the entire surface was vibrating.


    The dust cloud in West seemed to grow larger and travel more rapidly in response, as if the sound was an acoustical piper drawing it in.  Plumes of dry ground erupted along the edges only to have the wind from the West engulf it into the rapidly growing mass.  Expanding, contracting, then expanding again, yet still gaining ground, it was then when the cloud was within 2400 meters to the vale that the wind started to shift from the West to the East, the edge thinning as it was being blown back.  From within a deep rumbling sound could be perceptibly heard over the wind and the discordant sound of the stones.  Within the thinning clouds of dust large dense tendrils separated from the main dust cloud, as the main mass was being blown back.  Around the tendrils the sound of impact accompanied more earth being thrown in the air keeping whatever was within enshrouded in its own island of dust and debris while moving toward the vale.


    As the wind from the vale to the west increased a shape could now be seen from the lead mass of the tendrils.  Black, serrated, bobbing up and down as well as back and forth in time with the continued kick up of the dust, a 2-meter horn enshrouded within moonlight beams and dust blowing around it emerged, the blanket of dust was blown away revealing the creature as it continued to move forward.  Roughly 8,000kg, and measuring close to 15 meters from snout to rear, 4.6m from feet to top of its back, its skin was thick and plate like, with rough horn like cartilage features covering its body.   The large head of the beast had a massive maw easily able eviscerate its food and swallow it whole.  Towards the ridge of the nose on either side, 2 large slitted and watery red eyes were dulled on each side of the head as the beasts nictating membranes were closed against the dust giving it an almost drawn non seeing form of locomotion.  Four, thickly muscled limbs ending in large foot pads adorned with three claws on each, sent tremors into the ground and caused dust to constantly be sent into the air with every step it took. Combined with the mist coming from its breathing in the cold dry air it was an intimidating juggernaut wreathed in steam.  One creature alone would be enough to destroy an army before it, just, one, following its lead fifteen others just like it broke through the mist heading for the vale.

 Chapter --1-- (Prey – To hunt or be hunted) Part 0

    The bluish-purple corona surrounding the monolith radiated brighter as the sound within increased in volume and ferocity. Within the monolith''s black emptiness, a single pinprick of twinkling white light appeared, like the first star in an evening sky. Around the monolith, the symbols on the back of the stone columns surrounding it began to glow with a pulsing red light as a haze of ozone rose from each stone''s base. A low thrum rose and fell in rhythm with the symbols. Suddenly, tendrils of white and blue arcs shot from the monolith to the stones, followed by a loud clap of thunder with each strike. The base and brass sounds caused the air, stones, and the very vale itself to shake, hit by a calumniated crescendo of power.


    Within the crevasse, arcs of energy from the stones reflected in the narrowed eyes of the shadowed creature that stood sentinel over the ring of stones, chronicling what was happening or watching expectantly for an event to occur. As the creature watched, the arcs of energy intensified in power and frequency. Thunder, preceded by pops and crackles of energy buildup, grew louder with each discharge to the monolith. The process became more frequent, louder, and brighter, until the creature''s narrowed eyes became mere slits, trying to fend off the brightness. The sound was deafening, the atmosphere tense. The energy within the ring of stones made the very air feel palpable, almost as if it would overflow. Arcs of energy began to rebound off the monolith back to alternate stones, with occasional more powerful arcs striking outside the ring.  As if by instinct, the creature in the shadows closed its eyes just as an arc of energy struck near the opening of the crevasse. A blinding flash turned the darkness within into day for but a brief instance, partially revealing the horror: an elongated skull with jagged, long, sharpened teeth in a grimaced, rictus smile, bowed on two enormous hooked front appendages. Its eyes shut tight against the light as it emitted a hiss. Darkness returned to the crevasse, but the lamplit-like eyes never returned.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

 Chapter --1-- (Prey – To hunt or be hunted) Part 1

    Twenty-five hundred meters from the vale, with their eyes no longer covered by nictitating membranes yet tearing profusely with the lingering dust and dry air, the large lumbering behemoths continued their trek to the vale with their heads swaying side to side as if trying to sense something. The head of the pack consisted of four beasts with six bringing up the rear roughly one hundred meters behind and loosely fanned out. Two hundred meters further back from the middle of the pack, five of the beasts were staggered in distance from each other and the pack, following but looking around, watching for threats. They all stopped for a brief moment when they felt a low tremor in the ground that seemed to grow, followed by a low-frequency hum, so low that it was more felt than heard. Like a ripple from the front to the back, each section of the group started for the vale again, the heads no longer swaying. The pack moved as one as if guided by a beacon. The group in the back had no sooner started when the furthermost rearguard of the creatures stopped still. Other than its breath that came out visible in the cold air, the creature made little sound, its head tilted as if hearing something. Hearing nothing and seeing the pack getting further out, the creature turned towards the vale to rejoin the pack, only to again stop suddenly. This time it did hear from behind a rapid movement, soft yet quick pads on the ground. The creature¡¯s instincts screamed that it was being hunted. It was only a heartbeat within the time of sensing the danger that the creature turned suddenly in the direction of the sensed threat; five smaller beasts in the air, their sharp teeth and large claws bearing down onto its head. Before the creature could take a defensive position or even make a sound to the rest of the pack, the beasts collided into its head and its legs, viciously clawing and biting every centimeter they could.


    Pain, while the creature could endure much as it had needed to survive in the desolate, unforgiving harshness of its home world, was still a warning, a flag when something was wrong. The pain in its head and flank as the small but vicious beasts tore into its body caused the behemoth to do the only sensible thing to stop the pain: flail around and dislodge the creatures. Stomping, shaking, and bucking, the ground trembled violently under the weight of the eighteen-hundred-kilogram behemoth until one of the attackers was dislodged from its head. As the front feet hit the ground hard, the attacker was sent spitting and hissing, with chunks of flesh still in its claws and bloodied maw, landing with a thud onto the hard-packed clay ground, kicking up reddish-brown dust. Flailing in the dust cloud on the hard, cracked brown and red clay ground, ribs partially poking from its chest, blood from its mouth mixed with that of the creature, the beast still managed to raise its head, bloody maw wide, hissing in defiance, only to see the foot of its prey filling its vision. Its defiance and life ended with a sickening crunch. One by one, the attackers were dislodged from the huge creature, two landing on their hind feet while the other two, like the first beast, hit the hard clay pack below. The two on the ground suffered the same crushing fate as the first beast dislodged, now no more than unrecognizable blood stains soaking into the clay ground. The two landing on their feet were charged by the creature as their companions were crushed underfoot. One beast was run through by the creature''s horn while the remaining beast rolled and ran away. Swinging its head like a samurai cleaning the blood off their sword, the now limp body of the beast was flung from its horn, landing with a squelching thud onto the ground as the creature squared off with the last attacker.


    Backing up on powerfully muscled hind legs with reverse joints, ending in five, thirty-five-centimeter claws, the beast snarled with ferocity, its mouth open, hissing, revealing twenty-centimeter razor-sharp teeth. With a blunt snout, thick muscled jaw, and wide yellowish phosphorescent sclera with no visible pupils, combined with its hissing and menacing posture, the beast had a mad, unhinged look. While small, it had clearly evolved to be a knife amongst many of its pack. Horns for piercing, teeth within a heavily muscled jaw and neck designed for biting and rending chunks of flesh, and black hardened claws for digging and piercing into its prey. Hissing and spitting as it backed away, the posturing of the beast was all bluff. This was proven when the creature postured to charge the beast; the beast quickly backed away while turning to run into the dust cloud. While the creature¡¯s eyesight was not good at visual tracking through the cloud, it could sense heat. Staring into the dust cloud where the attacker had fled, a tremor went through its body like a warning. Then, as another pack of beasts ten strong emerged from the dust cloud, the creature let out a huge bellow to the pack ahead, then squared off against the approaching threat as the returning bellow from the pack was heard.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    The creature charged the oncoming pack, its ability to move at short sprints anathema to its size. The pack of beasts moved out of the way of the charge, yet two did not move fast enough; one was impaled through the back of the head and out of its mouth by the creature''s two-meter horn, and another was trampled and crushed. The rest of the pack seemed to keep out of the creature¡¯s way by fanning out and distracting it. The creature would charge, and the pack would fan out and back away, not advancing¡ªa trap that the pack was setting as it baited the creature further and further towards the dust cloud. Suddenly, the creature was aware of the pack of beasts from its right and left flank, some already jumping in the air, claws and fangs bared with the promise of a gruesome death.


    The creature did not feel fear, despair, or anxiety over the prospect of its demise. Its instinct within the hierarchy of the pack was to serve the Alpha creature, to defend at all costs for the pack¡¯s preservation. As a juggernaut capable of withstanding hordes of beasts, an apex predator, its power and defense were immense, but not infinite. Instinctively, it knew this. Thus, with mounting numbers and more it could sense coming, a slight tremor ran through the creature. It hesitated for but a fraction of a second at the prospect that it could be taken down, that it could fail the pack. The creature reared up and spun, kicking up dust just as its attackers were about to land, trying to gain purchase into the joints between the thick plates covering its side. The attackers in the air, unable to turn or change their trajectory, hit and scraped along the plates without penetrating the thick armor, falling to the ground amidst the creature¡¯s stomping legs. With a squelching wet crunch and little more than a short screech, they were crushed before they could recover. Hissing and posturing, the remaining beasts surrounded the creature after the initial attack failed. The creature spun and bellowed as it was boxed in by the growing horde. In brutal desperation, the creature rushed into attack, to break the line. While agile, there were too many of the beasts packed together to evade the juggernaut¡¯s wrath. Charging, spinning, bellowing, beasts getting crushed, trampled underfoot with a sickening crunch, gored with the creature''s horn and eventually sliding off when the creature would charge again, snapped in half for the unlucky beasts caught in the juggernaut¡¯s maw, exploding in a rain of crimson blood. Yet they kept coming. Even with the instant and gruesome kills against the beasts, more and more came. The creature bellowed in defiance as more piled on, ripping, gnawing, and biting, leaving rents in its plated armor, gouges and slashes now seeping blood as well as its strength. Again, it shook and stomped to shake off its attackers, killing more and more, yet they were replaced by more numbers. The rents in parts of its armor that were breached, the beasts latched on, locking their jaws and bleeding the behemoth. Again and again, it shook them off, killing and killing. The floor beneath its feet littered with mangled and bloody corpses of the fallen, yet they still came, until finally, overwhelmed and overrun by the magnitude of the blood loss and the tiredness of battle, the creature finally stumbled. Sensing that their prey was about to fall, the frenzy of attacks increased, more and more pouring on until finally, unable to hold on, the creature fell like a huge tree crashing to the ground. The beasts piled on in a frenzy, then abruptly stopped when they heard the bellow, the charge, and the crash of their bodies as the arriving creatures from the rearguard finally arrived to rescue their fallen brethren.

 Chapter --1-- (Prey – To hunt or be hunted) Part 2

    Within the ring of stones, the arcs of energy increased in speed, ferocity, and power. The vale shook with the onslaught of energy. The monolith, wreathed in ozone as the arcs of energy struck it, neither moved nor shook, an implacable object. The pinprick of light in the black emptiness of the monolith''s void was growing, fire radiating from its white-hot center as though it were a sun. It grew larger and larger, filling the inside of the monolith''s void. The earth within the ring of stones rumbled, the arcs of energy more numerous, the energy palpable, unending, unyielding, and seemingly inexhaustible. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the arcs of energy, sound, and vibrations all stopped as if they had never been.


    No sound, other than a light wind. The ozone-wreathed monolith with the mini sun burning within its center, floating in the void, slowly turning. The glyphs on the stones around the half circle pulsed a bluish purple, the period between pulses decreasing as the color began to grow brighter, then shifting from bluish purple to red, then orange. The period between the pulses shrank rapidly until every glyph burned a hot white. The sun within the void of the monolith moved upward rapidly as if the view within the monolith had shifted focus. When the light disappeared within the monolith, a thick beam of white energy shot from the top of the monolith towards the sky. Shortly after, a crackle was heard as tiny energy arcs jumped from the monolith to the surrounding stones, followed by a huge boom, an implosion as all the loose debris and clumps of ground were pulverized by the sudden change in pressure and sucked towards the monolith, swallowed by the glowing singularity now visible at its center. Far above in the heavens, as if a portal had been opened, a bright bluish beam of light streaked down towards the beam from the vale below, both on course to meet each other high in the sky.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    From outside the vale, the beam emanating from the monolith in the sky gave an illumination slightly brighter than the two moons, the effect of the two different sources of light casting weird double shadows near the stones around the monolith. Fifteen hundred meters from the vale, the pack of creatures, inexorably pulled toward the vale, did not even slow their gait when the Alpha creature lifted its head towards the sky briefly to see what amounted to a signal flare for their destination. With no more than a slight alteration to their direction to the vale in line with the beam¡¯s origin, there was a tension to move faster when their focus was interrupted by the bellowing cry of one of their own. There was a tremulation in the pack of creatures, yet they did not slow. The lead creature emitted a sonorous sound followed by successive staccato high-pitched clicks while still traveling uninterrupted to the vale. Four creatures from the rear emitted a grumbling roar, then peeled off from the pack with a speed that belied their size, in the direction of the bellow, while the rest of the pack accelerated towards the vale as if pursued.

 Chapter --1-- (Prey – To hunt or be hunted) Part 3

    The never-ending hunger¡ªthe beasts knew nothing else. In the barren wastes that spawned them, their only drive was to slake their appetite, if only for a little. Any moment not feeding was a moment of misery and slow starvation. They were not intelligent creatures singularly, but collectively they made up a single dangerous entity, able to hunt and eventually wear down any prey, then consume it to replenish their numbers, to grow the horde. While not hunting, they spawned and fought within the pack. This culled the weak and old, which were eaten to maintain their numbers. Only the strong were allowed to hunt, and only the strongest were able to lead the horde, to direct the ravenous pack.


    There was a symbiosis with their prey, a cycle they knew well. Their population was tied to getting the food needed to swell their numbers. No prey meant the extinction of their pack. They did not understand self-preservation when they hunted. The fact that the prey was so much larger and more deadly as a single entity than they were as a horde meant nothing¡ªonly the drive to rend, to kill, to feed. The bodies on the ground near the rampaging creature meant nothing to the beasts. Once dead, they were food, nothing more. To die meant you were food; to live meant pain or to eat¡ªthat was the extent of their existence.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The creature finally fell, and the horde advanced for the kill. Food to slake the pain of hunger made the beasts more frenzied. Even with the creature flailing and still killing as it could while falling, the beasts'' instinct of the finality of their prey on the ground was all but certain.


    The wounded creature was still fighting violently as it fell. The many rents in the plates in its side, even with many dead at its feet, did not matter¡ªthe beasts kept coming. Mangled and bloody as the beasts were, the pile that painted the landscape in red gore was a testament to the creature¡¯s power. But for every beast it defended against, more would come to take their place. As it went down, it was covered in beasts as though it was dropping into the sea. It could no longer see the sky, only the bodies, only knowing pain as the beasts scraped, clawed, and bit through chunks of its flesh and armor. It would fight to the last; only death would stop the creature from fighting back. But the horde on top of it was suffocating it even before the blood loss and wounds incurred could end its life. Then, out of nowhere, the ground trembled, and the horde of beasts paused, sensing something too late as they were ripped and flung from their prey as four more creatures came to the aid of the fallen.

 Chapter --1-- (Prey – To hunt or be hunted) Part 4

    Galloping fast, the four juggernaut creatures heavily muscled limbs pounded the ground, sending up plumes of red-brown dust in their wake. Nostrils flared; viscous fluids leaked down the sides of their face as the air was sucked in then breathed out rapidly with the exertion of their rapid gate. Steam from their exhalation, billowed from their nostrils and streamed from their mouth in the cold air as they went. The stream from their mouth was a small, exhaled portion running across their vomeronasal organs near the back of their throats to find the scent of their lost brethren. A bellow and sonorous hum, followed by a chirp, indicated that the creature on the right of the lead had caught the scent. It took the lead, slightly changing direction, with the other three now following behind. The speed combined with their weight of close to thirty-two thousand kilograms caused the earth to be ripped up as they went, sending tremors through the hard-packed clay ahead of them. The scent trail strengthened as they closed in on the source. When the lead creature bellowed, they saw the faint heat signature of their brethren under the writhing mass of smaller heat signatures in the distance. All four let out a growl as they recognized the smaller signatures. Bellowing as one, they lowered their horns and increased their speed, bloodlust raging through them as they approached the mass.


    The mound of beasts undulated as they fed on the live prey beneath, though it still fought and occasionally shook some of its attackers off, only for them to pile on again, suffocating, biting, and consuming their prey. One of the beasts stopped, blood dripping from its maw as it felt tremors beneath it. As the tremors grew in strength more of the beasts lifted their heads, flesh and blood dripping from their maws, to see the creatures with their horns lowered heading their way. All hissed defiance, unwilling to let their kill go in the face of the coming threat. With less than one hundred meters between the rampaging creatures and the mound of beasts atop the fallen creature, a handful of beasts leapt from the mound to sprint off towards the attackers. Seconds later, they were dead, impaled or crushed. Shortly after, the creatures were at the mound, their deadly horns leveled at the hissing beasts atop.


    From below the writhing mass of beasts, the fallen creature was suffocating, waiting for death. Though it had fought even when being eaten alive and had managed to kill those that got too close to its jaws, the blood loss and lack of oxygen were too great. Its eyes were about to close for the last time until the sounds of hissing from above, followed by loud familiar bellows, then beasts were ripped away. Eyes again focused on the sight of the two moons. With the beast no longer suffocating it, it felt alive with the now full lungs of oxygen. Then, carnage, blood, entrails, followed by large chunks or pieces of the beasts filled its vision. Turning its head slightly in the direction of the loudest sounds of fighting, it could see four of its brethren plowing, ripping, biting, and stomping every beast near them. Behind them, towards the vale, a beam of bright white light was shooting towards the heavens. Getting weakly to its feet after being freed from the gnawing, biting attackers, it could see beasts being torn to shreds or run off to the dust cloud. Its brethren were victorious but not without damage. Blood streamed from the many bite wounds, ragged flesh with chunks of meat hung from many wounds between the joints of their armor. As the four creatures drove the rest of the beasts howling into the dust cloud, the howling became distant. The wind from the vale changed direction towards the vale, the thickening dust cloud and the faint howls of the creatures now drifting closer, threatening to envelop them.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Standing some hundred meters from the encroaching dust cloud, the five creatures scanned the periphery and were about to leave when one hundred twenty meters south of their position, three beasts slowly emerged from the dust cloud. One beast, much larger than the others, locked eyes with the creatures. The two sides stared at each other, assessing. In the background, the beam of light from the vale and from the heavens connected, and there was a sound that seemed to break the atmosphere. The creatures moved to attack just as the Alpha beast raised its head and gave a cry, which was shortly answered by a huge echoing of cries, then silence, except for the sounds of hundreds, thousands of beasts moving from the dust cloud, emerging, radiating mad hunger. The creatures bellowed a battle cry, as much a warning and farewell to the pack ahead as they charged the ranks of the oncoming horde. With the small intelligence they had and mostly actions of instinct, they knew that this was where they would die in hopes of giving the pack ahead time to pass through the portal.