《Gray's Crucible》 A brief note and Prologue A brief word from the author: Greetings folks. This is quite literally my first post here as well as my first shot at literature of any kind at all. As such, feel free to be honest in your opinions and comments, you needn''t temper criticism, though I would ask that it at least be somewhat constructive. Now before we dive into the prologue let me speak a bit about some of my bad habits, as unless you are blind you will notice them pretty quickly anyway. First off, I am no English major. Though I believe myself to have a reasonable command of the language I am certainly no expert. Also, I tend to write how I think. That is to say, I can get a bit wordy sometimes, and tend to over use punctuation. I also enjoy having incredibly long run on sentences. This can lead to some frustrating reading, so if anything comes across poorly or requires brevity or better sentence structure please feel free to call me out on it with a comment. To wrap it up thanks for reading. Prologue - "Brrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnng!" A ringing loud enough to make him wince announced the arrival of the new day. Another step in the endless cycle of monotony that had quickly become this man''s reality. Everyday, at this time Gray would be startled awake by this same tone. Every day he would extricate himself from bed, and with plodding steps trudge through another day until he collapsed back in this same place to rest and repeat the cycle again anew. Not a single days rest had he had in recent memory. There were no weekends; his peers dreaded Monday, and revered Friday - but to Gray everyday was Monday; there was little difference in the name of a day when they all had the same boring content. With a grunt he lifted himself out of bed and began to ready himself. This hour was his only release, and if he wasted it in rest he would regret it later. Drawing on a pair of charcoal grey nylon pants and a lighter grey sweatshirt he began hunting for his phone, grabbing it and silencing the alarm that had continued to ring loudly the whole time he dressed himself. Leaving his bedroom he headed toward the kitchen not bothering to be quiet despite the early hour of the day. After all, no one but Ronnie would notice. As if on queue a pudgy cat with long black hair with a shock of white over its right eye and a collar with the name "Ronnie" stitched into it lifted its head from its perch on the couch and sent him an annoyed look with its half closed eyes. "Mornin'' Cat" he quipped as he stepped into his shoes and stuffed his keys into the pocket in his sweatshirt. The cat had already closed its eyes again intent on returning to its nap. With one hand covering a yawn and the other closing the door he stepped outside into the cold morning air. His breath clouded around his head as he began to silently jog through the neighborhood. For the next hour he could simply run. When he pushed himself harder he felt warm, when he relaxed and ran leisurely he cooled off pleasantly. In his current routine this was his favorite time, and one of the few things that kept him sane. Regrettably though it ends all too quickly. Five miles pass by in a blur and his watch vibrates harshly on his wrist, alerting him that the time to return was now. At least he had the return trip to enjoy. With a sigh he headed back to his home, showering, shaving, brushing his teeth. Doing the things that must be done before heading into the office. The office. He hated this place, though his peers would never know this. To them Gray appeared as a quietly excellent colleague. The type of man others wanted to work with. Capable, but not overbearing and without a desire to monopolize the fruits of the teams labor. To them Gray seemed almost noble. But the truth was different, Gray simply didn''t care about the bonuses, the acclaim, and the favor currying with management. These things had been amusing at first, but now they were stale, boring. Anyone who bothered to work even slightly harder than average could easily attain those things. So he saw little need for them, and instead conceded them to the others who coveted them. His work had earned him more than enough, a good wage, fine working conditions, good subordinates, reasonable clients. But it was simple, tedious, monotonous. But that wasn''t what made him hate this place. There was nothing ahead of this. Work harder and gain more money? A television? A car? A house? He had these things already and they bored him. So what then? A nicer car? A larger house? A bigger TV? What nonsense, these things couldn''t possibly motivate him. And that was why he hated this place, there was no future here. Well no future Gray found interesting anyway. Feeling like a millstone was grinding away at his mind he endured the day. Smiling hollowly at his peers, and nodding politely to his clients he left for his hour long lunch break. Gray always left the office for lunch, though he never actually ate. As luck would have it the office was located near a fairly large community park. It was here that his lunch was usually spent. Wandering along the trails or relaxing under a tree. Sometimes chatting aimlessly with other visitors about whatever struck his fancy. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Today was no different and he decided to wander one of the hiking trails for lunch. It was during this wandering he happened across a old man resting under a large maple just off the trail. This in itself was not unusual, as the park attracted many people and it was Sunday. Probably the most popular day for a walk in the park. As Gray strode by the man he couldn''t help but observe some details on this particular old man. He had been thinking ''old man'' but this guy was not just old, he appeared to be very old at least 90 years of age. Deep lines and leathery tanned skin covered his face, both his hair and eyebrows were long and pure white. He had a thin frame, but something told Gray that the man was not frail despite his advanced age. The mans eyes though nearly cause Gray to trip over his own feet. They were a color that did not naturally occur, dark crimson irises and white pupils returned Gray''s gaze without flinching. "What are you doing? Don''t stop in the middle of the path ya damn fool." Another man jogging the path cursed at Gray from behind as he had come to a complete stop and nearly caused a collision. "Ah, Sorry." Grey muttered in apology, "That guy startled me." he said nodding toward the old man. The jogger looked around with a shrug, not bothering to stop or even look back at Gray. He saw no old man, just some weird guy blocking the trail. An amused grin appeared on the old mans weathered face, revealing yellowed teeth and single gap where one of his lower canines had disappeared. With an exaggerated wave the old man gestured for Gray to join him. Gray opened his mouth to decline, as currently he had no desire to chat, especially with an old man that wore such weird contact lenses. But no sound left his mouth. It was a strange feeling, he was absolutely certain he spoke, but no sound was made not even in his own ears. "Cat got your tongue boy?" Said the old man, his grin widening further. He waves even more exaggerated this time with both skinny arms. "Come, join this old man for a few minutes. You are not permitted to decline." Gray''s mouth snaps shut with an audible clack, causing him to wince. And to his horror his left leg extends and he begins walking stiffly toward the old man. Beads of sweat run down Gray''s face as his complexion reddens from the mad effort to flee from this old man''s presence. But the effort is wasted, his body stiffly walks to the tree and sits in front of and facing the old man. Anger and fear war for supremacy on Gray''s face as he stares at the old man. He tries to scream, to stand, to run. But there is no reaction, its as though his nerves have been completely severed. The old man leans harder against the tree; the grin on his face still present as he observes Gray at war with his own body. But a new emotion spreads across Gray''s face, resignation. If resistance is truly impossible then he will simply do what he could when he could. "You accepted this quite quickly Gray" The old man''s grin and voice now carried a playful tone, but also condescension. "Most I impose upon struggle a great deal more." The old man leans forward this time, close enough for Gray to smell his breath "I am a messenger, of sorts..." The old man pauses, his grin fading into a thoughtful look. "and I have come to make you an offer. This world has long been tamed, its fangs torn out. Its people domesticated." The old man turns his head slightly and spits. "Your world''s people are like cattle with dumb eyes as they fatten themselves for slaughter." The eyes of the old man shine, and a cruel smile flashes back to his lips. "But you, I have watched you toil. I have seen your contempt for this place, this world. You could be so much more. So I come with an offer, no; a trade." "My world is like a blade. Vicious and terrible, there is great cruelty but also great beauty. And there is power for those with the will to seize it. For those that wield it the rewards are infinite. You could even become a messenger yourself someday, with your own world your own creation if you choose." Confusion flashes across Gray''s face as the old man begins to speak again. "Cast away this world, give up this life you have made here. Those are the conditions of the trade." The light in the old man''s eyes reaches a fever pitch, but the grin has returned. So the question was asked of Gray, "Will you throw away your life, your world, your very self and begin again in this, my world of Crucible?" Suddenly his body relaxed completely, giving him the feeling of waking up from a long nap and Gray answered the old man''s question with a grin; the first honest and real smile he had worn in at least a decade, "When do we depart?" Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 1 Chapter 1 [To barter with a Messenger] The old man''s smile faded as his eyes widened and then blinked in a slow, meticulous manner. Gray almost laughed at his stunned look, stopping just short with a low and rough chuckle. The old man quickly recovered himself and with a snort said, "I have brought many travelers to my Crucible, but you are the first to accept so quickly. But it matters not, you''ve made your choice. You''ll not be permitted to change it now." As the old man paused for a breath Gray interjects, "So, old man. Just who; no... what exactly are you?" The condescending but playful smile returns to the old man''s lips as he lazily replies, "By now you''ve an inkling what I am, but you are still as wrong as you are right. But more specifically, no; I am not this world''s God, nor am I this world''s Messenger. Now to answer your first question, we leave now." With those words everything vanished and Gray felt as if he had fallen for a foot or two. There was no sensation of landing, it was more like he simply stopped. Not just stopped falling, stopped everything. He looked around in alarm, but there was nothing but blackness everywhere, even looking down at himself there was nothing but perfect, undisturbed darkness. Fear began to set into his mind and he pulled in a deep breath to yell, only to discover he could not breathe. His heart that should be hammering in terror was also nowhere to be found. It was then a voice came. "Calm yourself, it is disconcerting no doubt to trade your body but it is already done. Once you regain yourself we will begin our negotiations." Upon hearing the voice Gray began to force his mind to relax, breaking out from the spiral panic and fear had forced him into. Within the span of a few moments he had mostly recovered his faculties. It was still strange as hell to not breathe though. "Excellent Gray, you continue to impress. The last traveler took nearly a full day to adjust to being dead, and he knew what he was getting into before hand." Even though Gray could not see the old man he had the distinct impression that he was definitely wearing that grin again. This old bastard is actually getting even with me for laughing at him, not very forgiving for a damn god Gray thought to himself. "Hah!" The old man chortled, obviously able to hear what Gray had just thought. "I may be more than you, but never did I claim to be God. Now quit your whining and let us barter. As you have likely figured, I can hear you just fine in this place even if you cannot speak. Here, you can not hide from me and you can not lie to me. You may think of this place as being an extension of both our wills." Gray began to consider the implications of this, and the first thing that came to his mind was that while he may be unable to hide or lie the old man certainly could. "Indeed." The old man was actually gloating to Gray. "Since of the two of us I am alive and you are not, in this place I have more control. For us to be on more equal terms you need to start the trade. Think for a moment; consider all you had before you came here. Consider honestly their worth and when you can feel their value we will begin in earnest." Gray sighed inwardly, or well would have had he a body. "Focus." Gray prompted himself, consider his possessions the old man had said. Gray began to consider the things he had owned, his car, his home, furniture, clothing, a neat inventory of things began to coalesce in his mind. As he considered each item he felt a value was applied, though the value seemed strange to him. "Old man. This is wrong; the values I feel for my stuff don''t make any sense at all. My TV cost nearly a thousand dollars and its value is far below the piece of junk chair I sat in to watch it." "The cost of a thing in your old world''s coin is irrelevant to me, or to you at this point. What matters is the value you have placed in it, your attachment to it, as it is this that you will trade. What use have I for this moving picture window or for that shiny mule-less cart." The old man said with clear contempt for the technological marvels that were the television and automobile. "Now stop complaining and finish your tally so we may begin." A frown would have appeared on Grays face, had he one. He slowed his mental tally as something seemed wrong to him in what he had just heard. "If what he says is true than the value of all this stuff would vary based on how much he himself valued it? If that were the case he simply had to think very highly of his own things and they would be worth more. Hell if he valued them enough they would be nearly priceless." Quickly the values he had already tallied began to climb, though not to the degree he had expected. "Thinking well of a thing isn''t enough to substantially change an objects real value." The old man grunts, even though he says this his voice suggests he is still annoyed that Gray had noticed this. "Now hurry up and finish your tally so we can begin." Gray refocused on the task at hand, but a thought plagued him. Nagging at his concentration. For now he ignored it and continued cataloging what had once been his possessions, everything from his home down to the two sticks of gum he had had in his work jeans. As he finished he felt as though he was surrounded by something warm and pleasant. It was a feeling comparable to being immersed in lukewarm water, pleasant and comforting. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "It seems you have finished. The value you have brought before me is significant, enough to garner fair potential for yourself in Crucible." The old man began, but Gray ignored him, instead recalling the thought that had bothered him. "If what the old man wants is the value I placed in my stuff, and not the stuff itself perhaps other things had value as well." He began to consider his co-workers, several had been decent acquaintances and were interesting enough to chat with away from the office. After a moment he felt a value applied. A large value, a lot larger than any of the stuff he had cataloged already. He hadn''t even like his co-workers that much. "What was that?" The old man barked, surprise clear in his voice. "Are you done now? Let us begin already!" "Oh I finished all the stuff I had, but I''m not even close to done old man." Gray thought he even managed to inject some bitterness into the words in his own mind. "It was rather petty to try and cheat me. Ill be taking much more than a fair bit of potential from you when I leave." And then he began to tabulate every personal relationship he could recall, from his parents, siblings, friends, lovers, even right down to the value he placed on the old man himself. As he did so, the perception of value he had felt as lukewarm water transformed into a perfect comfort. He felt an indescribable feeling from the space around himself, similar to being clad in pure sunshine. Warm but not hot, encompassing him gently but not oppressive in the least. "Have you finished?" The old man rasped, not even bothering to hide his surprise and irritation. "I have." Thought Gray. "The value you have brought to trade is immense, more than a thousand fold what any other traveler to Crucible has ever produced. More than even I produced during my journey." The old man paused for a moment here, seemingly reluctant to continue. After a few seconds he begins again with weariness creeping into his voice. "As the Messenger of Crucible I have received the value of your life. You shall be awarded a body with potential equaling the value you have brought to this place in accordance with the laws of the higher realms. Now you shall depart for Crucible, but first; I, Jaze, will give you some advice." The old man, Jaze, he had named himself paused a time. Time enough that Gray began to wonder if he was still present, when he suddenly continued in a low and serious tone, "You will undoubtedly have great potential Gray of Earth, but it is still only potential. What could be is not necessarily what will be. If you step foolishly in my world, if you can not live up to the potential you have bartered for, Crucible will crush you mercilessly and tear away your very soul." A thought, cheerful and light was heard from Gray before his presence was sent rocketing away like a shooting star. "I''m looking forward to it." Once Gray''s presence had departed the darkness around Jaze lifted revealing a wiry and tanned old man sitting on an ancient tree stump with a dumbfounded look on his face, Surrounding him was lush woodland in all directions as far as the eye could see. The old man wore a simple pale green robe, with a hood hanging over his back. In the space that Gray''s mind had occupied moments ago was a shining crystal, brimming with a golden light bright enough to cause even Jaze, a Messenger, to avert his eyes as he reached out to take possession of it. A frown played across his face as he looked up into the sky. "That one will be beyond dangerous if he manages to survive long enough to tap into his own potential." A second voice sounded out, deeply masculine and dripping with arrogance, "Then you had best kill him before that can happen then shan''t you Jaze?" Surprise flickered across his face as Jaze quickly bowed his head and responded, "You know the laws of the realms far better than I my Lord, such a thing is beyond me." The second voice replied with a hint of amusement, "Perhaps so, but you are my Messenger and you will do my will, or you will wish that death was still possible for you." All traces of amusement vanished, replaced by venom as the second voice continued. "Speak with the other traveler''s, that is within the purview or your power." The last word was filled with unmistakable disdain. A cruel smile floated to his lips as Jaze, Messenger of Crucible, declared to his Lord, "I had intended to do so from the beginning, Crucible was made to be that kind of place after all." ------------------------------------------------------------ Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 2 ------------------------------------------------------------ And thats it for chapter 1. Most of the over arching setup is done at this point and the next chapter will finally see Gray actually... well, do stuff. Chapter 2 [The Hamlet of Festid and a Demon] It was mid-morning on a day much like any other in the hamlet of Festid, the bright green of spring still clung onto the rolling grassy plains visible as far as could be seen northward, stretching all the way east. If a traveler were to instead look westward they would be confronted by a spectacular white beach and expansive green tinged ocean; reminiscent of a tropical paradise. To the south the land gently rose to soft hills lightly covered with taller grass and bush for roughly a half dozen miles before transforming gradually into sparse woodland near the horizon. Festid itself was hardly more than a half dozen wooden shelters with buildings closer resembling more of a lean-to than a hut; being little more than sticks woven together, covered in sod and supported on one side by logs stood on end. Each building resembled a trapdoor, half open with a stick keeping it from falling closed giving the entire village an odd look as if someone had dumped a bag of wedge shaped doorstops on the ground around a large smoking fire pit. Being mid morning already the residents were out and about, doing the things people must do to survive in such a rural community. Of the roughly twenty residents perhaps half could be seen either spear fishing or scavenging the beach and plains for food. Three more walked the border of the hills and woodland with spears and sling, hunting small game. It was these three that would stumble across a certain scene as they chased a medium sized rodent resembling a red fox. The small party paused at the treeline as the fox darted inside. A middle aged man in his late thirties or early fourties bellowed at a younger woman, "God''s damn yer fool girl, yeh let our meal get into de wood." "Peace Vert; your the fool who took the sling and left us spears to catch the creature. A hunter you may be, but even you won''t pierce a fox easily." A shorter black haired man in his late twenties and with a patchy beard spoke up. "Had you left the girl her sling we''d likely have something asides fish for our sup." The hunter Vert spoke up again still with a sour look at the lone woman in the hunting party, "Kirst, ye thinks it easier to hit a fai fox with a rock than a spear do yeh? I say ye as daft as de elder, makin'' this fool girl a hunter. The only spear she be fit ta touch be the kind as to make her wit baby. " With this he laughed and wagged his hips in a lewd manner. "For Eri it be easier, seen her tag a lark meadow in flight I have. She be born to the hunt, whether yea like it or not ya old bastard." The man with the patchy beard, Kirst replied while moving an arm to mimic the release of a sling stone. The woman Eri''s spear landed at Vert''s feet. With a look of disgust on her lips and anger in her eyes she had tossed the four foot long spear on the ground. She quickly stepped forward and snatched the sling away from the old hunter. "Give it, Ill head into the Myrkwood myself and bring it back. Ill be damned if I have to eat fish and kelp soup again tonight." With that she spun about, her waist length tightly braided red hair nearly smacking Vert in the face as she hastily departed. The two men stared at each other silently for the span of a breath, then both yelled out at the same time, "No! The Myrkwood is not to be violated" They all knew the best to hope for when entering to woods would be only your death, Carelessly entering the Myrk could result in the entire hamlet being wiped out. But Eri was already gone, disappeared into the tree line. "Gods be damned and mercy be shat." Vert swore, as he grabbed Kirst''s tunic and began roughly pulling him back from the woods. "Move ye lice ridden pile of maggot vomit! Wer away to de elder. If de girl wakes de Myrk afore she gets erself kilt den we must make to arms!" Kirst cast a frown toward the wood, but quickly turned back and with a nod they both set out for the village as fast as their feet would carry them. Before they had even covered half a mile of ground a massive bolt of lightning slammed into the woods, loud enough to cause them both to stumble and fall. "Ah me Lord let it be just de fool girl and not de rest of us wit er." ----------- Something was wrong, seriously wrong. But Gray could not seem to be able to pick out exactly what it was. He was standing in a blackened crater roughly waist deep in a small clearing among a sparse forest. The trees appeared to be similar to a weeping willow except where there should be leaves instead there were long thin needles comparable to a blue spruce. He was also totally nude, and while that was definitely strange he felt there was something more fundamentally wrong with him, or perhaps not wrong; but definitely different. As luck would have it though, he was already out of time to consider as he felt danger. A frown formed on his face as it occurred to him that one doesn''t ''feel danger''. This type of thing was for books and movies, but his body responded naturally by wrapping his arms around his head even as he wasted time in idle thought. Seconds later something small slammed into his left hand that had covered his temple; hard. Hard enough that he heard the bone break, judging from the pain that spiked out in his mind his middle finger was smashed. His head also began to swim from the impact, and his body began to tilt as he was robbed of his equilibrium by the impact. A quick look in the direction he had ''felt'' danger from revealed the culprit, a young woman not yet even twenty years of age; her long red hair tightly braided and still swaying back and forth from the force of her throw. Her bright grey eyes left him no doubt that she was afraid, her face which could easily be called cute, but certainly not beautiful was also twisted into a look of fear. She wore dark colored and tight fitting leather pants that terminated just above her calves with a pair of worn leather boots, and a looser fitting hemp-like sleeveless fabric top. In one hand was a sling and the other was already reaching for a pouch at her small waist. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. his mind shrieked, now something behind him was coming. Whatever it was was far worse than the woman before him. As Gray began to collapse into the hole he had been standing in he watched the woman''s eyes go from fear to relief as she realized she had struck him successfully and then to pure terror when she saw whatever was behind him. ------------ After taking her sling back and sprinting into the Myrkwood Eri quickly found traces of the passage of a small animal. Disturbed underbrush and two stalks of bent over tall grass told the story of the fai foxes passage to anyone who could read the signs. She quickly followed it deeper into the wood, but as Eri began to calm down she began to think she had made a mistake. Being angry with the old fool Vert was one thing, but entering the Myrk was beyond foolish. It was suicidal. She had heard the two men shouting something in the distance earlier but now nothing but silence. Just as she was about to enter a small clearing in the wood the entire world was bathed in bright white light and her ears were assaulted with a massive roar as lightning slammed into the ground not 50 paces from where she stood. Instinctively she covered her ears with her hands and pinched her eyes shut against the light. Once it had passed she opened her eyes and slowly lowered her hands. In the clearing where the lightning had struck was a skeleton standing in a smoking crater. Before her eyes muscle sprouted atop the bone, tendon growing out and anchoring it in place. Flesh crept along the muscle, as organs formed out of nothing and in the span of a moment a man was before her. The man was young, probably not yet eighteen. Well built, but not overly muscled, she was reminded of the warriors she had seen spar in the capital. His hair was a black, but his eyes, the irises were gold but the pupils were white! Eri considered a moment. This being, she had seen it born from lightning. Might this be a Messenger? Or perhaps even a God? Just as she was about to step forward the man twitched, his prominent manhood swaying slightly, with a jolt she realized he was totally naked. "Its a demon!" She hissed under her breath. Loading a polished stone into her sling she spun it once and launched it directly at the demon''s head. As soon as the stone left her sling the beings head snapped up, and with impossible speed its arms covered its head. The walnut sized stone that should have landed squarely on the demon''s temple was instead deflected by the hand that he had wrapped around himself. She felt her heart sink, but hope blossomed inside her as the demon began to collapse. Hope was cruel and fleeting though, as behind the demon three Myrk emerged from the wood, probably drawn by the sound of lightning. Eri''s mind whirled in panic, she knew of the Myrk. A single one ten years ago had killed more than three fourths of the people of Festid, her parents included, when it emerged from the wood. Nobody knew why it had come or what it had wanted, it had simply entered the hamlet, slaughtered forty or so villagers and then walked silently back to the woods taking nothing and leaving the bodies to rot. These three were typical of their species, around six feet tall with bulky muscles and thick leather pants covering their charcoal colored skin. They were thought to have intelligence as they often carried simple weapons, of these three two carried large wooden branches roughly as thick as a man''s leg. The remaining one carried a large stone, made from some type of shiny black rock shaped roughly into a blade. The stone blade was fairly large, easily as long as a man''s leg. Their weapons were not what made them dangerous though, it was their endurance. The black skin of a Myrk was like tree bark. Even a massive ax would only just penetrate, making fighting a Myrk like trying to chop down a tree that could move freely and wanted to kill you. It was a feat impossible for all but the greatest of the king''s soldiers. Panic became despair as the three Myrk passed by the naked demon collapsed in the hole, barely giving it a glance in passing. They were focused on her, in her panic she fumbled a stone into the sling, nearly dropping it in the process and twirled it several times to gather force. Her teeth bared with a hiss as the stone was launched at the center Myrk with the stone blade. The stone slammed perfectly into the black forehead of the center creature, knocking its head backward and causing it to stagger briefly and lower its weapon. Though the shock stunned it momentarily the creature''s skin was unbroken, there had been almost no damage. The other two brayed out a low guttural sound slightly reminiscent of laughter as they charged forward. Panic swept into terror and Eri''s knees fell to the dirt. She looked towards her killers in disbelief, no longer even able to struggle against her overwhelming fear. A loud sound drew Eri back to reality and stopped the two advancing Myrks in their tracks, almost as one the woman and the two monsters turned to face the sound. What they saw stunned all three of them. ----------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 3 ----------- Ah.... let me just apologize. I don''t really intend on stopping chapters in the middle of fights like this, but time really flew by as I wrote this and I have to get ready for work. Soooo it was either post it after a quick PR or let it sit till I can finish it. And seeing as its already around 2k words I figured might as well just post it. Next chapter probably Thursday, maybe Wednesday though will depend on work. Chapter 3 [How high is that?] ---------- As Gray''s equilibrium was broken he had begun to collapse, but when his danger sense had began shrieking at him his body tried to react and attempted to face the new threat. The result was instead of collapsing on his face he landed on his ass, he was also fairly certain he had a really foolish look on his face. These two factors when combined with his nakedness probably saved his life, as the Myrk simply walked past him obviously not even viewing him as a threat. The one in the center even snorted at him in amusement as it passed by him. These bastards considered the woman a bigger threat than him, much bigger; as to kill her they would have to turn their backs on him. Irritation flashed through him as he forced himself up, if they were going to present their backs even if it was three on one he had a chance. They were a bit bigger than him but they were still vaguely humanoid. He was certain the gap in strength could not be too great between them. Taking a half step backward he shifted his weight slightly and readied himself to leap out of the hole he was still in. From a standing position he estimated it would take a lot of his force to leap to ground level. He was after all literally half buried; figuring jumping too high would be far preferable to falling again, and if he did it would be on his face this time, so he launched himself from the ground with all his might aiming to land in the vicinity of the center creature. Suddenly the world... shifted, wind ripped through his hair and whistled by his ears, air blasted his eyes causing them to tear up. He squinted, trying to understand what had happened. Then he realized he was sailing through the air. The vault out from the hole had launched him high, comically high. By his own estimate he was at least thirty feet off the ground and only just now slowing down and topping out from his jump. Considering he had been standing still and started below ground level he estimated his current altitude as ''What the fuck'' high. As Gray''s body reached the apex of his jump it somehow turned a revolution bringing the center creature back into his line of sight. "Show off" he muttered under his breath as he lined up on the center enemy again. His ascent had shifted him off target slightly and he estimated that only his left arm or leg would be able to reach his target as he landed. He quickly decided on his arm, if something was going to be injured it should be his arm. He was going to need his legs if he fought the other two, and his right arm was dominant anyway. As soon as the decision was made his body began to act, his left arm drawing back above his head and swinging down with the momentum from his fall. Wind assailed him again as he fell back toward the earth, the dumb look on his face was gone now in its place now a fierce smile. A stone knocks his targets head back and stops it in its tracks. Their eyes meet as Gray falls towards the creature and it looks up completely stunned. Gray''s smile widens further as fear enters the creatures eyes. His lips peel back revealing his teeth as his left fist rams downward combined with the momentum from his fall smashing into the Myrk''s nose. His fist slows as it meets resistance from the creatures face, before the bones give way under the massive pressure. The poor creatures face begins to cave in. All the pressure applied to the face has to go somewhere and with a surprisingly loud the creatures head bursts like an over-ripe watermelon hit by a sledge hammer. Blood and brownish grey matter explode outward from whats left of the creatures crushed head splattering Gray''s body with gore. ---------- The Myrk''s head popped. It made the sound and everything. The sound replayed in her head involuntarily. The demon had done something, Eri had no idea what. But it had just killed a Myrk; it had done so barehanded and in a spectacularly brutal fashion. This thing was far, far more dangerous than the Myrks. With her terror blown away by the scene she had witnessed Eri did the only thing she knew to do when faced with a monster that crushed other monsters with its bare hands. She spun around as quickly as she could and started sprinting. ---------- "Fucking ow!" Gray muttered, his left hand hurt. Nowhere near as much as expected though, agitating the broken finger had caused a great deal of pain. But apart from that there seemed to be no damage from the fall or punching the thing at his feet. It didn''t make sense to him, a small rock broke a finger but the massive force of that last hit hadn''t damaged him at all. What the hell physics? He forced himself to calm down, he still had two more problems to clear. If he lived then he could think about it. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The woman who attacked him earlier spun around to flee and ran headlong and full tilt into a low hanging tree branch, hitting it so hard her legs actually continued forward even after her head and torso were stopped cold. She then crashed to the ground on her back like a puppet with its strings cut. That was really gonna hurt when she woke up. A chuckle left his mouth, karma was apparently in full effect in this world. Even if physics had gone on vacation. His thoughts returned to the remaining two monsters and he realized that they were still standing around 20 paces away from him, and hadn''t moved at all since he had landed. A closer look caused his chuckle to become full blown laughter, they were both standing there feet shoulder width apart, arms totally relaxed with their clubs resting on the ground staring at him with wide eyes and fully open mouths. It was the most perfect definition of slack jawed he had ever encountered. His laughter jogged them back to attention, and they picked up their clubs and begin rushing towards him. Two big logs were going to be swung at him, if a rock that weighed ten or so ounces broke a bone... Well, better to not think about it. He quickly scooped up the stone blade from the fallen Myrk surprised by how light it was, and lifted the blade vertically while placing his weight on his back foot in a defensive stance. He would turn aside the first tree limb with the stone blade and then counter attack after dodging the second one. The Myrk both arrived almost simultaneously, the attacks would be only a few seconds apart. His blade was brought up to the downward swinging branch guiding it away from his body, and back toward the ground. Moving the branch just enough so as to cause a miss. Now stepping into the second monster''s downward swing, and pivoting to avoid the damage he swung his own blade upward from the ground toward the second Myrk. The attack caught the monster below its left armpit and carried through its shoulder, biting into its neck. Unfortunately a loud crack was heard as the stone blade cracked and broke in the center. Rendering it completely useless as a weapon. At least the monster was down, thrashing and spewing blood around like a lawn sprinkler but not getting up. The remaining Myrk had recovered and was swinging wide in a horizontal ark this time, giving Gray the choice of catching it with his chest or diving out of the way. He chose to dive, toward the fallen log the now stone dead second monster had dropped. Snatching it up before standing and facing the last creature. The two stared at each other a moment, and Gray couldn''t help but start to grin again. He had once played a fighting game with a prototype VR headset at an electronics show in Vegas in his old world, back then he was impressed. This was so much better. ---------- The last Myrk stood before the naked man-thing. Then the man-thing made a horrific face, the same face it had worn while its comrades head burst apart. Fear blossomed inside the Myrk, and it reached the same conclusion the more tender man-thing had earlier. This wasn''t a food man-thing this was a bad man-thing, and it was time to flee. But before it could even finish turning away it had already been hit by the man-things meat smasher and sent crashing into a tree. Its vision faded to red and then faded to black. The last thing it saw was the bad man-thing looked down at his now splintered meat smasher in surprise. As it died its last thought was, what a scary naked man-thing. ----------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 4 ----------- Well dear readers, I hope your happy. I''m totally late for work now. Couldn''t help it though. The words just wouldn''t stop. Also this ones a little shorter than I would like, but I didn''t want to leave it hang again. Anyway, please comment or if your shy just rate me. Having so many views with little to no feedback is making me somewhat nervous. Chapter 4 [The Sweet smell of victory and the fellow Traveler] ---------- For some reason the last creature had started to turn around in the middle of their stare down. As soon as it broke eye contact Gray launched himself forward swinging the tree branch parallel to the ground with all his strength. The heavy blow landed on the monster''s burly arm, bone cracked audibly as the monster was launched backward by the impact and the log as thick as a man''s thigh shattered into little more than splinters. A sickening sound was heard as the creature careened backward a dozen paces, its feet never even touching the ground, and slammed hard into a tree. Blood splashed the bark as the force on the impact split apart skin and smashed both bone and organ alike. The broken body of the creature slowly slid down the tree, its eyes locked on Gray as its last breath rattled out through smashed teeth. Gray looked down at the shattered tree limb in surprise. The stone blade and the makeshift club both were destroyed after landing one hit. He was obviously capable of exerting enough force to completely wreck what should be fairly durable weapons. Yet when he had fought bare handed, it had barely even broken the skin on his knuckles. Jaze had mentioned his new body would contain high potential, a seriously tough body and ridiculous strength were to be expected perhaps. Well his body''s strength he was certain of, the broken weapons and absurd jump he''d made earlier were indisputable proof. But that tiny sling stone had broken his finger and knocked him on his ass, his endurance just didn''t seem to make any sense. He felt a major piece of the puzzle was still missing, but for the moment he was satisfied. Something entered his eye, causing a burning sensation. Gingerly wiping at it with his left hand and he quickly realized he was totally covered in blood and some foul smelling gray and brown tissue. Suddenly feeling nasty he cast around for something to at least wipe himself off with, and after a brief search of the area he came to two possibilities. The creatures he had killed had three pairs of thick leather leggings, however two of them were so covered in blood and gore that wiping himself down with them would just make him dirtier. The remaining pair was fairly clean, but he would like to wear them. Naked was dangerous in the woods, things could snag or poke; he could see a vicious looking bramble bush near the wood line as well. Yea; he was going to need pants. That really only left option number two. As Gray finished pulling on the pants and tightening the waist up with a handy cord attached to the inner hem the woman sat up, a low pained moan escaping her. "Ahh... My head... head feels like a festival drum." She said, placing her fingers against her temple and wincing. Followed by, "Gods. What is that stench?" Gray was dumbfounded and spoke up in disbelief. "The hell, you can speak English?" Still sounding groggy the woman replied, "Engrish? I speak the common tongue, everyone in the Empire does." Her eyes refocused slowly, then as she realized she did not recognize the voice of this person jerked quickly to face him. "Back demon!" She cried out trying to get up, but a wave of dizziness assaulted her, causing her to drop back to her knees. "Gray." He replied in a deadpan voice. He was quite happy to have dodged a bullet though; if he had been unable to communicate things would have gotten seriously complicated. "No, it was definitely white..." She began absentmindedly, then suddenly stopped with a panicked look on her face. "I mean, what are you talking about?" Gray snorted, "Gray. Its my name, and I''m not a demon. Probably." The last word was barely audible; after his battle earlier he wasn''t entirely sure he could really be called human anymore. Demon was pushing it though. The woman frowned, "What else but a demon could kill a Myrk bare handed. Let alone three." Her hand returned to her forehead again "And you were; and with the lightning... and, and then something waved at me..." "So those things are called Myrk eh? And you know, you tried to run full speed through the tree behind you, I''m not surprised your memory is hazy." Gray interrupted. "So then you attacked me because you thought I was a demon? You must see a lot of demons around here then?" The woman frowned and redness crept into her face as she replied, "N-no. I''ve never seen, or even heard of a demon around here. But, but I... I was in the Myrkwood and..." A look of panic returned to her face. "Oh. Oh Gods. I''m in the wood." She continued to panic, rising to one knee but stopped and swayed violently. "Relax. I''m not going to hurt you." Grey began. The woman cut him off with a loud yell, "Myrk! Myrk live in the Myrkwood!" "You don''t say?" Gray chimed in as calmly as he could manage while glancing over to the three shatter bodies strewn about the clearing. "Maybe, if you stop yelling they won''t all come here at once and kill us. What do ya think?" "But! Its dangerous." She began again, dropping to a whisper now. "Only a demon or a Myrk could be here." Gray was starting to get annoyed. So he leaned in closer and shot back, "Are you a Myrk?" The woman shook her head. "A demon then?" Again negative. "If those are the only two things in this place then how is it you are here?" "I was hunting and that ass Vert... ah!" Her gaze lifted and met his eyes for the first time. "Sorry, I''ll... I''ll try to calm down. I''m Erivere by the way, everyone calls me Eri." She seemed to be making an effort to control her run away fear now, even her tone of voice was no longer frantic. Gray nodded once and spoke up again, "A pleasure, I''m sure. Now if this place is so dangerous we should probably get moving. Do you know the way out?" Eri looked around briefly and then nodded. "Yes. Maybe ten minutes to the edge of the woods. Then a little less than an hour to Festid." "Can you walk?" Gray asked as he retrieved the remaining intact tree limb from near the Myrk''s corpse. Better safe than sorry. A frown crossed his face as he picked it up. Eri tries to stand again, wobbles fiercely and drops back to kneeling. "I... I don''t think so. Maybe if we rest here a little longer, what? Whats wrong with your hand?" Gray had grabbed the branch with his left hand. It hadn''t hurt at all, a closer look showed the bones of his finger had already healed. The angle was ever so slightly off as it hadn''t been set correctly, but it was totally healed. "Ah, nothing I guess." He said, not really wanting to tell a stranger he had known less than ten minutes that an injury that should take weeks to heal had disappeared in moments. "I''d rather not hang around here, if you cant walk you can have my shoulder." Eri nodded, even though she didn''t look overly enthusiastic about him supporting her at least he was wearing pants now, so it should be fine. Gray switched the branch to his right hand and offered her his left shoulder, which she clung onto as they began to move out of the wood and toward the hills under Eri''s direction. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. As they broke out of the wood line, Eri couldn''t help but smile, and then looking over at Gray she asked, "What in the name of the Gods is that smell?" Gray replied while suppressing a chuckle, "You. Your clothes are covered in Myrk guts." Eri looked down at herself for the first time since waking up and a horrified look came over her face. Her shirt was caked with blood and gore, pieces of skull and other miscellaneous shattered organs. She blinked slowly once and said, "Hu? How... the bodies were at least dozen paces away from where I fell. But." She began, but Gray cut her off by clearing his throat and taking the initiative spoke up himself. "There are people coming, friends of yours?" A dozen men, armed with spears and dressed similar to Eri were trotting towards the two of them from the direction of Festid. Perhaps ten minutes farther out and from the direction of the northern plains a lone man was walking in an unhurried fashion toward them. "The men with the spears are from Festid, likely come to defend the hamlet if the Myrk had been disturbed. The man from the North looks like a peddler, or merchant. Perhaps coming to trade in Festid." Gray nodded slowly and released Eri, letting her slide gently to the ground. "Lets wait for your friends here. Id rather not smell you any more than strictly necessary." He said while moving slightly upwind. An annoyed look passed across Eri''s face but was quickly replaced by a small grin. "Ah, yea. Its really bad isn''t it. I still don''t get how..." Grey coughed, cutting her off again. "Its not that bad." "That''s not very convincing coming from the one standing upwind." As they bantered, the detachment from Festid arrived led by a man in his early fifties. The man was short, standing not a inch over five and a half feet with dark reddish brown hair, he was clean shaven and had light blue eyes currently set in a scowl. When his eyes met with Eri, his face warmed up a bit, but the scowl remained. "Silly girl, what have you done? You have killed us all." The old man began, and as he did another man behind him also spoke up in an heavy rural accent, "Yea. I told her not too chase it, an I told her..." The old man spun around and bellowed at the man who had spoken up, "Vert, I know you well enough to know damn well this is at least half your fault. What a fool I was to make you hunts master. A mistake I intend to correct if we live through this day. Now be silent." Vert''s mouth immediately snapped shut and he stared hard at the ground as the old man turned back to Eri. "Now speak quickly girl," the old man began again, this time with urgency plain in his voice "did you see or hear any creature in the wood?" Eri nodded slowly with a downcast look, "I saw three Myrk in the wood, but." One of the men behind them cried out "Three..." The rest all looked ready to faint at any moment as fear dyed the groups faces pale white. The old man was no exception, fear plain in his voice he muttered, "Gods. One slaughtered forty good men, three... Its. its truly hopeless." Eri slowly looked up and continued. "but wait Grandfather. This man killed them, all three. I thought he was a demon so I, but he, he did kill them. Then he helped me." She gestured toward Gray, who was standing a little ways apart from her in dirty pants, and nothing else. "Killed three? This child?" The old man looked at Gray dubiously. "Child? I''m thirty there old man. And head on in and see for yourself; the bodies are probably still warm." Gray responded, slightly annoyed. The old man looked at him in shock, "If your a day over sixteen summers boy then Im a Mertian whore." "Mertian? Ah whatever." Gray shrugged and Eri cut in informing him "Mertia, you know the capital of the whole Empire." "Right. Mertia." Gray sighed. "Look old man." He lifted the tree branch off the ground and laid it across his shoulders. Gray thought this should help convince them, as the branch easily weighed a hundred and fifty pounds and he had swung it up with one hand like it was nothing. "I''m not really from around here, but I assure you I''m not a child." The old man''s eyes widened slightly as the club came of the ground, and he looked closer at Gray, then nodded as if he understood. "Ah, your eyes. How could I miss it, my apologies Traveler." Murmurs broke out behind the old man again. "A Traveler? I thought they all went crazy and were locked up by the king." A younger man with a really terrible beard said, another spoke from within the crowd, "Nah, they all killed each other crazy is what I heard. Then the king saved em. By locking em up or some such thing is what I heard." After looking over his shoulder to silence the gallery the old man continued, "If you truly killed the creatures my granddaughter disturbed than maybe, just maybe we may live through this day yet. Let us head home. Traveler it would honor us if you would stay at Festid for a time. You have many questions no doubt, and we will do our best to answer what we can." Just as the old man finished speaking the lone man arrived his gaze locked on Gray, ignoring everyone else present. Gray had observed him for the last few moments of his approach and he felt an odd feeling as the man drew closer, like his hair wanted to stand on end, while at the same time a light pressure pushed down on his skin. Since the man had not looked away since arriving Gray addressed him as he strode up. "Greetings traveler." The villagers all started murmuring again at the mention of Travelers and the lone man''s brown eyes widened in shock. "Ah! He was going to have to watch his mouth. That word was used a bit differently here apparently." Gray thought to himself. Then a strange thing happened, the man shimmered like he was surrounded by a great heat for a split second, then he was someone totally different. The man that appeared out of the heat haze wore blackened chain links over dark colored leather armor from head to toe, a long thin dagger was held in his right hand in a reverse grip and the dark glow of power coalesced around his left which was clenched into a fist. The look on his face quickly changed from surprise to annoyance as he spoke, quick and with low baritone voice. "How the hell did you know I was a Traveler!?" He shakes his head and grunts, "It doesn''t matter, time to break you!" ----------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 5 -----------
Work situation is piling up so probably be Monday for the next chapter. Though honestly Ill try like hell to get it out on Sunday, as always comments and ratings are appreciated. Thanks for reading. Chapter 5 [The value of ones life] ---------- Gray was at a loss before the fight had even begun. His posture had been completely relaxed as he had not expected an enemy among the the scrawny village folk before him, even the merchant had been on the frail looking side and had not appeared threatening at all. Then suddenly he was gone; replaced by a man you could find a picture of in any dictionary under "dangerous". He had the stereotypical look of a thug: facial scars, greasy and unkept long black hair, an arrogant looking face and to top it all off a sneer any villain would be proud of. None of that particularly bothered Gray though, what gave him pause were the eyes. Just like him this man had white pupils, but while both Gray and Jaze had golden irises, this mans were black. The combination was eerie, it gave the impression that the eye was inside out. While Gray''s wits were still scattered his opponent lifted his left hand to chest height, pointing his hand at Gray. As he did so the dense black fog that had been coalescing around his fist exploded outward completely enveloping the man in a thick black mist. The mist persisted less than a second, and when it scattered the man was nowhere to be seen. His mind screamed out so loud Gray was sure his ears would bleed. When the man vanished somehow he must have moved to flank him, though he couldn''t see it Gray was certain that dagger was reaching out to end him. He did the only thing could, he launched himself forward and at the ground. Trying to get outside the range of that knife as fast as possible. Cold steel ripped a shallow gash across the back of his neck. Gray shivered, if he had been even a tenth of a second slower that slash would have severed his spine. As he reached the ground Gray tucked his shoulder,rolled across his back and sprung back to his feet facing his opponent, the wound on his back burning. "Really? You evaded my backstab? Your an agility type too eh? What a pain in the ass." The man in black spoke rather nonchalantly, and curiously he had a slight southern accent to his speech. Gray spoke up, addressing the people from Festid. "Get away from here. Now." With that said he disregarded their existence completely, focusing solely on the danger before him. Shifting his weight backward and holding the massive club in front of himself he adopted a defensive posture. If his opponent could vanish at will then he needed to be prepared to counter immediately. The man in black clicked his tongue in annoyance and spoke again, "A tree branch? Seriously?" A sigh escaped him as he continued, "No idea how some noob right off the boat pissed off every Messenger on the continent, but a bounty is a bounty. Sorry, but I''ll be killing ya now." As the man finished speaking he lunged forward. And left. And right. At the same time. Like three separate people occupying the same space were attacking from three different directions simultaneously. It was an act that spit on the laws of physics, and to Gray it served to confirm beyond the last shadow of doubt that this world was operating under different rules than Earth had been. And also that these rules were complete and total bullshit. Gray was saved not by superior skill, strength or speed. But by something else equally important: the fact that he was packing a seriously big piece of wood. The three incoming attacks were simple thrusts, had they been individual attacks they would have been easily parried. Even with the three coming at once they were still straightforward and arranged such that by turning the huge club horizontally all three attacks were parried at once. Three blades struck Gray''s club at precisely the same time as the three men re-converged into one again. As the they recombined, there was a slight popping sound and the man''s knees bent low and shoulders hunched slightly. The whole being in three places at once thing appeared to have significant drawbacks for the user. "No fuckin'' way, that was my best skill!" The man groaned in disbelief. Not missing the opening Gray pivoted on his back leg swinging the club in a huge horizontal arc with all his strength. The branch impacted the man in black squarely in the right arm with such destructive force that the arm, shoulder and an eight inch chunk of his chest cavity was torn off armor and all. Ribs and the remnants of the shattered club spun through the air as his arm rotated once seemingly in slow motion before landing fifteen paces away with a wet spattering sound. The now one arm man coughed wetly and puked up a large amount of blood. As he fell to his knees he managed to speak once more seeming to himself in disbelief, "He one-shotted me with a fucking toothpick? Bullshi..." Even more blood poured from his nose and mouth and his body went limp. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. As the mans final words left his lips the world underwent a peculiar change. Everything suddenly went silent, looking around the entire area seemed to be frozen in time. Then like a switch was flicked Gray''s entire world became pure, perfect black. There had been no sense of falling this time, but he was certain this was the same blackness that had brought him to Crucible, though he felt some discrepancies from the last time. The first thing different was he could clearly perceive another person here with him, previously if Jaze had not spoken to him, Gray would have never known he wasn''t alone. The second difference he detected was heartening, he was aware of his own body. When he saw the blackness his initial thought had been that he had somehow died. Gray focused his thoughts, trying to recall the sensation of speaking telepathically, "Jaze?" Gray abruptly felt a third presence joined them in the darkness, it answered in Jaze''s voice, "Ahhhh.... Gray, didn''t take long for you to kill a fellow Traveler did it? You''ve been in my world less than half a day and your already making your first trade." He sounded significantly less irritated this time, almost friendly; it reminded him of the way one would speak to a dog. While Gray was trying to get his thoughts together the third voice broke into the conversation, it was unmistakably the man in black he had fought moments ago, "Hey. Whoever just spoke, who are you and how the hell are you here? Nobody but us should be able to get in here." "I am the Messenger that brought him to Crucible, that is all you need to know. Now be silent until you are called to trade." Jaze''s voice was no longer friendly, he had sounded outright hostile. His tone softened slightly as he addressed Gray, no longer friendly but not hostile either, "I have pushed the other one out of sync with us temporarily so I can tell you some things, there isn''t a great deal of time for explanation so just listen for now. First off; there is currently a fairly modest bounty for killing you, placed by order of Kamell; the God of this world. Though to be honest If he hadn''t already placed one on you I would have. Its always been my policy to give a present to my new Travelers, makes things exciting you know. Secondly, unless you want to meet a very messy and very permanent end do not speak my name to any other Traveler. Due to certain.... circumstances if it were known that you were brought by me if would needlessly complicate your new life. And lastly killing or being killed by a traveler will cause both of you to enter this place, it is only in these mind-spaces that id can be directly exchanged." There was a brief pause before he continued taking on a lecturing tone, "Id is essentially crystallized emotion, and for Travelers it is a very important resource. Mainly for two reasons; firstly, the more id you acquire the better your physical and mental forms will be. That is to say acquiring id will directly make you stronger. The second reason, is that it is used should you be killed to pay for the right of resurrection. If killed by natural causes... that is to say being killed by anything not a Traveler or Messenger, then the value of your life in id will go directly to whatever God rules the world you die on, and you would return to life in the location you first arrived in Crucible at. If killed by a Traveler though the value of the losers life in id is instead given directly to the victor. If the one killed does not possess id enough to pay his life''s value then any id he had is given to the victor, then the soul is broken... Ah; Well without getting into the details in that case there is no return to life." Gray was stunned, resurrection was possible in this world? One just needed sufficient id and they would be largely immortal. Jaze interrupted his thoughts though, continuing to speak, "One final thing before I depart, the value of a Traveler''s life is equal to the potential bartered for before arriving in Crucible. If I were to estimate the value in id of the man you just killed his life''s value would be roughly seventy id. But your trade with me was enormous, if you are killed it will take at least a hundred thousand id to pay your life''s price." Jaze, the bastard was actually laughing now, "Try not to die Gray. Hah!" As he continued to laugh Jaze''s presence vanished. ----------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 6 ----------- As always feel free to point out anything confusing and comments and ratings are always welcome. Thanks for reading! Chapter 6 [The second Trade and Festid] --------- As the third presence in the mind-space departed the assassin spoke up again. "Ah, hello? If you two are finished jerking each other off can we get on with this already? My life price should be around 35 id, if you will answer one question Ill pay double. 70 id, not a bad deal right?" Gray was slightly amused, apparently Jaze wasn''t lying. This man hadn''t heard the two of them speak or he''d not have bothered with this bluff. "If you pay double, that''s fine. Ill answer a question. But I know your worth is at least 70 id, so that would come to 140 all together. Also there is one other condition if your still interested." There was no hesitation at all in the other mans response. "Whats your condition?" "You can''t ask anything about the Messenger that was just here." Gray replied. "Done." Again no hesitation, Gray thought maybe he should have asked for triple price. "I know all three Messengers from the continent anyway, he must be some foreigner from across the sea or something. Never even heard his voice before, but hes not what I want to know about anyway." "Ask away then." Gray said. The mans voice took on a different tone, like a kid talking about a new toy he wanted. "What was the name of the skill you used? I want to get it, the damage was siiiick." Gray chuckled, he wasn''t in the habit of naming his attacks. Especially not one that consisted of just swinging a log at someone really hard. "Ah.... its called, ah.... Whirlwind of the, um... Wood Demon." Good luck finding someone to teach it since it had just now been made up on the spot Gray thought. "Aw. Dude. It even sounds bad ass! No hard feelings about trying to kill you and all right? Business is business, ya know." "Right." Gray replied, talking to this guy was tiring, it reminded him of dealing with his younger cousins who seemed to have almost no attention span. "Just don''t be surprised when I stick a sword through your face next time I see you." The man seems rather cheerful for someone who was just killed, and he says "It comes with this line of work, I''ll prolly be trying to gut you as well. Peace out man." With that his presence also vanished, and as it receded Gray perceived a weakly glowing man shaped outline that quickly folded in onto itself until it was roughly the size of a walnut. As it became smaller the brightness increased slightly, and upon stopping at its final size the mass glowed with about as much light as one might expect from a fire fly. After a brief second or two hovering the mass flew into Gray and merged with him. Physically he felt no immediate difference, but similar to when he had traded with Jaze he felt the accrual of value. It had indeed been 140 id, it was a drop in the bucket compared to his life price, but even the smallest rock would become a hill if you gathered enough of them together. Yes, Gray thought to himself happily, that had sounded pretty profound. With the trade complete the world came rushing back. A quick glance showed the assassin''s corpse was still present, the arm that had been blown off was a distance away, and still clutched the long bladed dagger . Bone fragments and wood splinters were scattered about the bloody scene haphazardly, and the people from Festid had retreated several hundred paces during the fight. With a sigh Gray squatted down near the corpse and stripped off the mans boots, as he finished Eri arrived behind him. "Um, Gray?" She began, "Why are you taking that mans clothes off, isn''t that disrespectful?" Gray, having just finished wearing the dead man''s boots looked at her and replied, "Mmmmm, first of all ''that man'' is dead, this right here;" Gray nudges the corpse with his boot and continues, "is just a piece of meat. What use does meat have for a pair of boots? If his armor wouldn''t have torn all to hell I''d be taking that as well. Second of all, this guy tried to kill me. So I don''t particularly care if its disrespectful or not." She had a sour look on her face but didn''t press any further, instead she nodded slowly and said, "We are returning to Festid, you can see it from here." She points to a few small earthy looking buildings and a large smoking fire pit in the distance and continues. "Grandfather asks that you come speak with him when you are able, but there is a village matter he needs to attend too at once and this will take most of the afternoon. He asks that you come late in the evening, is this alright?" Gray nods once, "Thats fine, I want to look around the place a bit anyway. I will find him after dark." As she turns to leave with a nod, Gray walks over to he severed arm while gingerly testing the fit of his new boots. They fit pretty nice; and with a grin proceeds to pry the long knife out of the dead mans hand. It was unremarkable and compared to the stone blade he had broken earlier it was basically weightless. Unfortunately the sheath had been worn underneath the right arm and it was mangled beyond use now, but he picked it anyway figuring it was still better than carrying a naked blade around all the time. With that thought he rammed the blade into the sheath and stuffed the weapon into his waistband near the small of his back mangled straps and all. He then returned to the body and checked it over once again, looking for a purse or wallet. There didn''t appear to be anything else though. He thought it slightly odd that the corpse had no money, but perhaps he simply hadn''t brought any along in case he failed his assassination attempt. Satisfied with his looting he headed off in the direction Eri had pointed earlier. ---------- After he had arrived in Festid Gray had asked around for a leather worker or tanner, hoping to barter for the repair of the sheath. During the relatively short trip to the hamlet he had discovered that wearing something in your waistband was decidedly uncomfortable and getting it fixed had quickly become his number one priority. After greeting and chatting with a few of the women in the village he had been directed to a particular wedge shaped building with several long poles lashed together outside. On the poles were stretched a few animal hides ranging in size from a rat up to the size of a small dog. A patchy bearded man who introduced himself as Kirst answered his knock almost immediately. After a brief exchange he agreed to take a look at the straps. Gray removed the mangled mess from his waistband, handing it to Kirst who took it and proceeded to inspect it. After a few moments he spoke up, "I can repair it easily enough, but you''ll need to replace the leather and I''ve precious little here. Hunting has been scarce the last five years or so. We rarely see even fai fox anymore." This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Gray considered a moment and then asked, "What about Myrk leather? They were pretty large and there''s a few corpses not far off..." A look of sheer horror passed across the tanner''s face as he said, "Hells man, Myrk makes excellent leather, but the folk here won''t enter the wood, especially not after today." "Ah, well if you show me how to do it I can go grab the skin and bring it back for you." Gray offered. The man shivers visibly and continues. "Well your a Traveler, I guess you can handle yourself, and there ain''t much too it really you just..." And for the next thirty minutes Gray gets a crash course in skinning both animals and monsters. "Any questions then?" Gray responded, "Not really, seems pretty straight forward. Ill be back with whatever I can carry shortly." As he turned to leave Kirst stopped him, handing him a small leather satchel and saying, "Here you can have it, if it''ll help bring back more leather to tan its a worthwhile trade." Gray accepted, and slung the satchel across his back took the knife from its sheath and headed back to the woods. --------- After a rather uneventful morning in the woods up to his elbows in Myrk guts Gray returned to the tanners home. Something had eaten most of two of the corpses in the time he had been outside the woods, but one of the corpses had still been in decent condition and he had done a pretty decent job skinning it if he did say so himself. "Gods man, this will make excellent leather, look how pliable it is. Its a shame the cut is terrible, it could have been so much nicer." Kirst did not share the same opinion of Gray''s work apparently, but as he went through all of the materials Gray had gathered he relented slightly. "Well the last few pieces are serviceable, looks like you finally got the hang of it right at the end. Lets get this stretched and cured, come. With you helping we can get it done before the light is lost." For the remainder of the afternoon Gray worked to help Kirst tan and cure the leathers. It was pungent work, but it was interesting. He had always enjoyed working with his hands and learning new things. Kirst had also been quite happy with how quickly Gray had picked up the work, and had gifted him a large curved bone needle and showed him how to repair the lightly damaged areas and replace the ones that couldn''t be mended. This type of thing could well become an excellent hobby Gray though while he busied himself and shortly before the sun set he had a freshly repaired sheathe strapped to his waist. The tanner saw him off after he finished with a smile and a thanks for he had left the majority of the leather from the Myrk. After all there was quite a bit and he certainly couldn''t carry it all around with him, he had taken just enough to allow for more repairs if his pants or sheathe were damaged again. With perhaps forty five minutes of light remaining Gray headed back to the center of the hamlet. Right now his biggest weakness was that he lacked even the most basic knowledge of this world and he intended to remedy this as soon as possible. Thinking that, he quickly located the old man eating alone near the fire pit. Upon seeing Gray the old man motioned him over, and quickly after Gray was eating his first meal in his new world. It looked like some kind of fish and a stringy seaweed soup with a side of what appeared to be a rat roasted on a stick. He accepted the soup and passed on the rat, he was hungry, but not that hungry. As they ate Gray started to question the old man, but he was told to wait, and that they would talk in the elder''s house after their meal. After polishing off several stone bowls worth of fish soup Gray stood up and followed the elder into his home. --------- After arriving the elder spoke to Gray about many things, first they spoke the magic the assassin had displayed, the elder suggested that magic was usable by basically everyone but that that particular magic was rare and could be learned only from some shady people. The elder even taught him how to use some very simple magic, a spell called spark. It was basically an extremely weak fire spell really only suited to starting a campfire, and even then it would be useless if the tinder used was not perfectly dry. From there the conversation drifted to Traveler''s and their place in Crucible. The elder suggested that he head to the capital of the empire as the King''s chamberlain was supposedly an expert on Travelers and had helped a great many of them at some point. But the little the elder had known about them was that they used to be very common, but after an huge war a dozen or so years ago most of them disappeared. Once they had helped beat back the wilds of this world but now the few that were still running around seemed to just seek each other out and then fight, usually destroying whatever was around the them in the process. In short most people saw them as a dangerous nuisance. After that the elder provided him with a working knowledge of the areas around Festid, and suggested he head eastward to the village of Harshe. It was a much larger farming and mining community, located on a outlying trade route of the Empire. Once there it should be possible to find work and gather more information. From there he could also follow the road to Ashe, the capital city of the empire. However it was at least a week of travel by foot across the plains, and the last day or so of travel would see the land begin to slope upward to larger foothills. The elder said that once away from Festid there were many beasts and the occasional monster as well, but nothing as threatening as a Myrk. Dangerous for certain to the villagers, but for Gray it should be relatively safe as long as he was careful. After their chat the elder invited Gray to stay the night, and he gratefully accepted. Smiling with anticipation of his upcoming journey Gray quickly fell asleep. ----------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 7 ----------- Kind of a slow chapter, as we needed to get some information down now that things arent life threatening for a moment. As always comments and reviews are appreciated. Also since I proof read myself if you catch some weirdness that I missed I would appreciate if youd bring it to my attention so it can get fixed. And finally, as always: Thanks for the read. Chapter 7 [A gift and an execution] ---------- Morning arrived abruptly, the bustle of the small hamlet creating enough noise to rouse Gray from slumber. A quick glance around the elder''s home confirmed he had already woke and headed out. Gray forced back a yawn, and rose from the pallet of furs he had used as a bed and stretched. After spying a basin of water he walked over and washed his face, then wiped himself down as best he could. It wasn''t as nice as a hot shower, but it was better than nothing. Walking out of the elder''s house he was greeted by a two men carrying long spears, one of them was the tanner he had spent the previous afternoon with and upon seeing Gray he trotted over and handed Gray a large leather pack saying. "This was made from some of the materials you left yesterday, there is another present inside. Before she..." Kirst paused with a frown on his face, obviously thinking something unpleasant then continued. "Well Erivere left it for you, she said it was for thanks." With a nod Gray accepted the pack, it was far larger than the satchel and looked rugged. It reminded him of the large packs he had seen hikers wear for long trips in the mountains, it would surely be useful. "Thanks Kirst, it looks really well made, you must have spent the whole night making it." Kirst had a grin as he replied, "Not the whole night, but most of it. I had company though, so it wasn''t too bad. Don''t forget to check inside, Eri spent most of the night on her gift as well." Kirst gave him a slightly odd look and continued, "And, well to be blunt: its something you need." Gray nodded again and shook Kirst''s hand before he took his trotted off with the other hunter who had watched the exchange with an annoyed face. As they moved to leave Gray called out, "Where is Eri anyway? Haven''t seen her since I got here and wanted to ask her something before leaving for Harshe." Kirst winced, and the other man grinned as Kirst replied darkly, "I''m, sorry friend. She left after she finished that. I''ve not seen her since." Gray frowned slightly but nodded to Kirst again, he got the distinct impression they both knew exactly where she went but wouldn''t or couldn''t say. After they left he opened his new pack and found a Myrk leather tunic and leggings inside. He looked down at his bare chest and the baggy pants he had swiped off one of the monster corpses and sighed inwardly. He had been walking around with nothing covering his chest at all and little more than rags for pants. He couldn''t help but smile at the gift Eri had left him. Both pieces of clothing had the naturally dark coloring of the Myrk and would match nicely with his boots, though he wasn''t crazy about dressing in all black leather. That had been the domain of some of societies oddballs in his old world, but beggars can''t be choosers. He moved around till he found an area where nobody was present and quickly changed into his new clothes. He was rather impressed that Eri had managed to guess his sizes as accurately as she had, the pants were straight cut, but not baggy at all; providing just enough room for him to move freely and the shirt was sleeveless and form fitting. They felt like fitted clothing, something he had rarely worn even back on Earth. He would definitely have to thank her for this gift. Thinking this to himself he began looking around for the village elder, and after a quick trip around the place found him near the fire speaking with several other older men in a hushed voice. When he saw Gray coming a sour look passed across his face and he bid farewell to the men whom he had been speaking with and walked to meet Gray with a tired look on his face saying, "What would you have of us now Traveler?" Gray frowned, the previous evening they had gotten along well but the elder seemed to be annoyed with him for some reason. Gray let it pass though, as he was planning on leaving as soon as he thanked Eri for the gift. So he simply said, "I just wanted to thank your Granddaughter for the clothing. It was a kind gesture and both thoughtful and well made. If you can point me to her Ill do it and be away before you know it." The elder frowned slightly, and spoke mostly to himself and barely audible, "So that was where she went last night..." The old man looked at Gray straight in the eye then and spoke with a gravely voice lacking any emotion. "She''s dead Traveler; she went into the Myrkwood. Broke one of the only laws this place has." He motioned his arms around himself indicating the whole of the small village and continued speaking as a tear formed in his eye. "Endangered every life entrusted to me as elder. I banished her yesterday and she left before sunrise. For us regular folk being out on the plains in the darkness is the same as being dead." Gray''s eyes narrowed, and he felt irritation surge inside himself. He spoke slowly in a soft and low voice, "What? Say that again old bastard." His voice was dripping with anger now. "I could have sworn you just said you sent your own grand child, not even 16 years of age to her death." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The elder''s face turned pale, fear lighting his eyes as he stumbled his reply, "Sh, she attacked you. Sh-sha-Surely you... you would have slaughtered us if she hadn''t been punish..." Grays eyes narrowed even further, barely slits now, the corded muscles in his neck bulged and his veins stood out as he spoke again, barely louder than a whisper he cut the old man off. "You cast her out for fear of me? Old bastard; if you have a god you''d best pray hard and fast that she yet lives. If you''ve put the blood of a decent girl on my hands... I promise you won''t outlive her by long and you will beg for it before you follow her." The last words were a barely audible hiss. The old mans knees buckled as his fear completely overwhelmed him, and he collapsed into a stuttering wreck. But this man had already ceased to exist in Gray''s mind. He quickly went over his earlier conversation: Kirst had said they had been up all night working, and it was still relatively early in the morning. The sun was barely above the horizon, she could not have been gone more than two hours. Gray broke into a trot and vaulted himself into the air, landing lightly on the edge of the elder''s roof. He oriented himself in the direction Kirst had walked in and found him a few hundred paces off. Taking a deep breath he bellow at the top of his lungs, "KIRST!" Everyone nearby winced at the sheer volume of his voice, even the man in the distance jumped slightly, then turned around to face the sound. Sucking in another large breath he bellowed out a single word, "WHERE!?" Kirst looked straight at the ground but slowly his arm lifted, pointing east. Gray understood now, she had probably made towards Harshe, same as he had planned to do. Now that he understood, there was no reason to delay. Gray leaned heavily forward allowing himself to begin to fall before kicking off the supporting wall with all his strength. The wooden roof was pulverized by the force of his departure, but he didn''t cast so much as a glance behind him. When he finally touched the ground at least forty paces from the smashed roof he was already at his top speed and heading straight east. He would move to the highest point he could see eastward; a small gently crested hill forty or so feet above the rest of the plain perhaps seven miles away, and then pause to try and find signs of her passage. He arrived in a little less than 15 minutes breathing heavily with a light sheen of sweat covering his body. Gray began surveying the area further eastward carefully, if she had walked in the dark he estimated covering this distance would have taken her roughly an hour and a half, perhaps a bit more. As his breath returned he found what he was looking for. It was sheltered on one side by a large outcrop of limestone that jutted into the air like a bony finger; nearby was an area several dozen feet in diameter where the grass had been matted down and even kicked up in some areas. This was definitely an area where a fight had likely occurred. The area was another mile and a half or so away, so by Gray''s estimation Eri had been in that area perhaps twenty minutes ago. By the time he arrived he was begining to feel tired, running for eight or nine miles in one go wasn''t particularly challenging for him even in his old body, but he had been going at his top speed, not pacing himself at all and that was not something his body was familiar with. A tired sigh escaped his lips as he began closely inspecting the area. Gray was no expert at tracking, and as he examined the site he quickly understood that there had been a scuffle here. But who or what or how many was beyond him to determine. He saw indication of one, presumably Eri arriving here, but he saw no evidence of anyone or anything leaving the area. Frowning he expanded the search area outside the matted grass and into the immediate surroundings. Finding nothing he leaned up against the limestone outcropping, resting his head against it and trying to think. Suddenly he felt a slight vibration through the rock under his head, like someone had struck the opposite end of it that lay embedded in the ground. Gray frowned as he looked down at the earth below the rock. If Eri had come here, been attacked and not left. Then perhaps she was still here. Gray''s frown transformed into a steely grin, with any luck she might even still be alive. --------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 8 --------- Another short one guys, sorry. Having to put in overtime at the office the last few days and its cutting into my writing time. Hopefully this weekend I will have a chance to get some longer chapters down. No promises, but I''m hoping. As always comments, criticism, and reviews and ratings are always encouraged and welcome. And also thank you for reading. Chapter 8 [The Travelers Mercy] ---------- After she had returned to Festid with her grandfather Erivere knew she was in serious trouble. In the past the old man had always been a little bit distant, but never cold to her. On the trip back not only had her grandfather never even looked at her, he had worn a grim expression. The last time she had seen that expression was when a passing merchant had tried to assault one of the younger village women, Eri had been young back then but she clearly remembered the punishment that man had endured before he had died. The elder had ordered him tied to a log, hamstrung, then burned alive in the hamlets fire pit. It had been winter and the log they had lashed him too had been soaked in sea water, it hadn''t burned well at all; the merchant had lived, screaming in agony for nearly an hour before he finally succumbed to death. Briefly, his expression had changed once on the trip as he had spoken with the Traveler. Instead of the grim frown he had looked nervous, like a man confronting a calm, but potentially dangerous animal. As the small detachment returned the elder ordered several of the older males into his home and had told her to wait outside. She had briefly considered fleeing Festid, but that idea was quickly discarded. To flee would be death for certain, the closest settlement was seven full days of travel away and without an escort or at least a mount she would have absolutely no chance of survival. Even her grandfather would not burn her alive, she expected the worst he would do would be to force her to marry, or perhaps restrict her to the immediate area around the village. They were family after all, and they had lived together for most of her life. After perhaps an hour everyone but the elder exited the house and informed her that she was to enter and speak to her grandfather. She swallowed nervously and did as she was bidden. As she entered her grandfather spoke to her in a cold and emotionless voice, "Fool girl, do you even realize the calamity you have brought to us?" Eri frowned, she had expected her grandfather to be angry. Compared to that this was much worse, he seemed weary and gloomy with little emotion at all being shown. "I know that entering the wood was a poor choice grandfather, I was angry with Vert and let it cloud my mind." The old man slammed his open hand on the table making a loud slap. "Girl that is the least of the problems you have caused today and even that is serious enough to warrant banishment. But far worse you attacked a Traveler!" The old man closed his eyes and rubbed his temple with his index finger before continuing. "If a single Myrk could easily destroy our small hamlet consider a Traveler; a single Traveler can be devastating to the entire damned kingdom! It is an absolute miracle that any of us are still alive, if this is allowed to go unpunished..." The old man visibly shivers, then his face thaws and emotion returns to his features. Sadness, regret, but all overshadowed by a subtle shade of terror. "For what little consolation it offers, I am sorry Erivere." The emotion vanishes again, his face again a mask of apathy. "Your punishment has been decided; you are cast out. Before the sun rises in the sky tomorrow morning, you are to leave Festid and never return. You should prepare with the little time you have remaining." Erivere stumbled numbly away from what had once been her home, walking about Festid in a daze. By the time she regained herself it was already nearly light, even while being totally out of sorts she had faithfully said her goodbyes gathered her things and repaid Gray as best she could for saving her life. If she was careful during the last hour of darkness and avoided danger she could travel hard all day and make the king''s royal road before nightfall. With a bit of luck she could find and travel with a merchant caravan or at least other people moving to Harshe. Thinking this she began to trot Eastward toward the Royal Road. After jogging for nearly an hour she arrived at standing rock and here she paused, Eri thought herself in pretty good shape, but jogging non-stop was tiring. It was nearly day break now, the horizon was beginning to show dark purple and pink so a brief breather should be alright. Looking around and finding no threat she leaned her weight against the large limestone outcrop and caught her breath. The quiet did not last though, as the sound of something heavy dragging through the dirt made her breath catch in her throat. Whatever had made that sound was just on the other side of the rock she was leaning on. She quickly pushed herself off the rock and spun around to see a bulbous pale white creature rise out of a dark hole near the base of the rock. Her heart hammered loudly in her chest as the she quickly identified the threat. The creature was roughly four feet tall, its skin was an unhealthy looking pale white. It was vaguely humanoid, having two legs and two arms. That was where the similarity to a man ended though, as the creature had no neck. Instead an orange chitin sphere with tiny black beady eyes and a pair of mandibles rested directly on its shoulders. Further it was fat, so fat its limbs had the look of an overstuffed sausage. Its skin was stretched so thin it had taken on a hint of transparency, allowing its innards to be seen similar to looking through a frosted glass window. Eri quickly recalled all she could of the creatures, they were call Arsem. They were highly unusual creatures, completely lacking bones and joints. They supposedly moved by directly controlling the fluid that filled their bodies. The creatures had two main weapons; first it could spit a venom so caustic that it would burn through common metal in moments; and second it could secrete a second venom through its skin that acted as a healing agent as well as being a powerful anesthetic, completely numbing the body and making its prey totally unable to resist. For the second venom their bodies were highly valued in human society, but due to the power of their acid they were considered far too dangerous to keep live. Arsem had a huge weakness though, sunlight would quickly weaken them, dry them out and eventually even kill them. Daybreak was not far off, if she could just hang on it would have to return underground. Thinking to avoid it she quickly circled the rock trying to keep the rock between herself and the slower moving Arsem. The creature ponderously lumbered after her, chasing around the rock but failing to gain ground on her. Eri glanced quickly at the horizon again, it was already reddening. Daybreak was just minutes away. Relief flooded into her mind as hope floated up in her. She was faster than the Arsem, as long as she was vigilant she would survive. But hope was fleeting, as she had circled the rock another white bulbous appendage had swept out of the hole near the rock and clipped her foot causing her to stumble. Her heart went cold as she quickly tried to stand and found her foot and most of her calf were already completely numb. She stumbled backward as quick as she could manage as the second Arsem exited the burrow near the rock and advanced towards her joined by the first that had rounded the rock again. She thrashed around the grass in a vain effort to gain distance but the creatures were quickly on her. One of them folding her in its appendages, smearing her with venom. In a moment the fight was over, and as the sun cleared the horizon the Arsem had retreated to their burrow at the base of the stone with the now paralyzed girl. ---------- Gray walked a circle around the large rock checking the ground carefully as he did. As he did he found what he was looking for, a man sized hole at the base of the rock loosely covered by grass and roots. Nature itself had hidden it to such a degree that it would be very simple to overlook. A closer inspection revealed nothing but darkness inside, it was impossible to tell even how deep it was. There were however several protruding rocks that appeared be left intentionally as a very crude ladder. Heaving a quick sigh Gray grabbed a fist sized rock and began to descend. He disliked the idea of entering a totally black area, but he disliked the idea of the girl dying because some fool was scared of him less and he had an idea for light at least. His careful descent was stopped quickly though as the rock in his right hand abruptly came loose causing his boot to slip and ending with him falling unceremoniously into the dark hole. Gray had fallen only seven or eight feet and landed totally flat footed still stupidly holding the rock that had come loose while pain lanced up from his leg muscles as they worked to successfully absorb the impact. As he oriented himself in the blackness a clicking sound was heard followed by a dragging sound. Then a peculiar sound like a bellows sucking air in. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Gray''s mind shouted at him, warning him something was coming. He dove away from the wall and to his right, hoping he wouldn''t slam into a wall. As he threw himself aside a warm wetness was felt on his trailing left arm and a wet splattering sound was heard from the wall behind where he had been standing. As he dodged out of the way he oriented on the sounds he had heard and launched the stone that had caused his fall as hard as he could at whatever had made the sounds. A split second later he heard a thud followed by a loud splash. Whatever had attacked him had definitely been hit. He quickly worked his new spark magic as he had done in the elder''s home. Magic was actually deceptively simple, he just had to envision combining the concept of warmth and the force of expel in his mind into the shape of a disc and focusing it into the palm of his hand while threading a tiny thread of power into it. Though the elder had said power, Gray thought of it more like liquid. Basically he visualized a small hose the size of a thread of yarn and forced this liquid power that existed in his mind into it and through the disc he had envisioned in his hand. It sounded complicated, but in practice it was very simple as it was essentially imagining an effect then imagining his own power flowing into the effect. Magic was pretty useful he thought as sparks expelled from his hand showered the area in from of him. The sparks lit up the room briefly, long enough for Gray to see the first creature was already dead. It had caught the rock right in the torso and basically popped like a water balloon. There was however a second creature, and it was creepy as hell to look at. It was like a lawn grub with arms and legs. Quickly he confirmed Eri was dumped in the corner closest to him, along with what looked like a mostly eaten corpse. As the light faded the smell of burning flesh entered his nostrils and pain ignited in his left arm. Whatever that wetness was was seriously injuring his arm from the elbow down. With a frown he forcibly ignored the pain and concentrated on the imaginary disc in his hand. He needed light that would last longer than two or three seconds. The last time he had forced as much liquid into the thread as would fit and had created far more sparks than he had the first few times he had practiced, but it wasn''t going to be enough. He needed the sparks to either be hot enough to persist awhile or enough of them to light some of the clutter in the room ablaze. Since he couldn''t force more power into the tiny thread he decided to enlarge the thread, in his mind it quickly became the size of his thumb. He oriented his hand towards the last place he had seen the creature and once again he forced power into it. An orange flame had sputtered into life as he began to feed it power, as he forced more into it the flame roared outward blasting out across the twenty feet between him and the creature bathing it in fire before hitting the back wall and spreading wildly. Gray''s concentration was broken by the shock of seeing what appeared to be a long gout of flame right out of a flamethrower spray across the room and splash against the back wall. Several pieces of who knows what had caught fire and were merrily burning now, light wasn''t going to be an issue anymore. An ear piercing high pitched screech drew his attention back to the creature and snapped him out of his stupor. Apparently grubs were highly flammable, as this grub man was flailing wildly as it was rapidly consumed by the flames. In seconds it stop moving and collapsed to the floor still burning and sputtering like a torch. Gray quickly scanned the area for any other threats and finding none looked down at his arm. The wetness he had felt was some kind of acid and it had already consumed most of his skin, the muscle and tendon were clearly visible. Even the pain was somewhat muted now, suggesting that many of his nerves had already been destroyed. "Your pardon master mage." A male voice spoke up, hoarsely and very quietly. Grays eyes snapped up looking for the source, and settled on what he had earlier mistaken as the corpse of a middle aged man. The man was seated against the wall near Erivere. As Gray drew closer to him he sucked in a breath in revulsion. These creatures had obviously been eating this man alive, his legs were gone gnawed off to the hip, one arm was stripped of flesh clear to the shoulder, and the other was clean to the bone just about his elbow. Even his face was in bad shape, missing a large mass of flesh that should have been his left cheek and eye. However fresh skin was grown across the horrific wounds, like he had been healed as he was eaten. It was grotesque. "Jesus man. How are you even alive?" Gray hissed. The man responded simply and without emotion, "Its their venom. It paralyzes and numbs but it also heals, I guess they like to keep their meals alive as long as possible. If your willing to help me out you can probably still save your arm." A frown played across Gray''s face as he replied, "I''m willing friend, but there isn''t much I can do for you. Take you back to Festid perhaps?" The man''s eye flicked about for a moment before he replied. "No, I have family in Harshe." Gray nodded slowly and replied, "I''m headed there myself, as is Eri there I think. We can" The man cut him off before he could finish, saying, "No. Gods no. It would break my wife to see me like this, even worse for our daughter. I...I just want you to take something to them for me and let them know I died quickly. Then...then I would ask for your mercy before you depart." Gray looked the man over slowly, and nodded slowly. "If that is what you want I will see it done." A small smile came to the mans face as he said, "There is a pack next to me with some coin and a letter of remittance. The letter is in our families name and worthless to you. But it is enough that they should be able to live. Her name is on the letter, please just give it to her and you can keep the coin for your trouble. " Gray dug through the small pack and found the letter to one Sher or Marcus Mercats stating that the king''s royal bank would pay the sum of seven hundred and fifty gold coins to the aforementioned in exchange for the letter. It seemed a lot like a check from his old world, which made sense considering how difficult it would be to actually carry seven hundred odd gold coins around. Also in the sack were several loose coins a quick look revealed three gold coins and a dozen silver ones. Gray placed the whole pack into his own and nodded at the man called Marcus. "I will see this delivered then." Marcus nods once and says "Thank you master mage, once you have given me your mercy take my clothing and wrap it around your arm. It is coated in their venom and though it will paralyze the area it will also stop the acid and even help heal the damage. If you are lucky your arm may be saved. Now please. I''m so very tired, let me rest. My entire body is numb for the venom, you needn''t worry about the pain, please just do it." With a nod Gray drew his long dagger and pressed it to the man''s chest saying "Good journey Marcus." as he pierced the heart. Withdrawing his dagger he quickly cut a leg off Marcus''s pants and pulled it over his burning arm, within seconds the pain disappeared along with the smell of burning flesh. Placing his dagger back in its sheathe he stooped down to pickup the immobile Eri and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. With a deep sigh he climbed out of the hole, leaving it to burn. --------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 9 --------- Hey folks, I''m back. Work has settled back into a (relatively) comfortable 50 or so hour workweek. So, as promised here is an update. As always likes and ratings are highly appreciated, also feel free to comment and/or point out errors or grammar mistakes. As this was not really PR''ed at all there are likely more than usual. Chapter 9 [That isnt a dagger] As a general rule I don''t put comments before a chapter since I find it annoying to read an authors nonsense when expecting more of the story. However this chapter will feature a rare exception to this rule. This week already and continuing for the foreseeable future the pace of release is going to be fairly slow, probably a chapter every two weeks. There will be times when it is significantly quicker than this but as it currently stands that is approximately what you, as a reader, should expect. If you are interested in the why feel free to read the rest of this paragraph, if not you can easily skip down to the next and start the chapter. The long and the short of it is simple: Work. As much as I enjoy writing it creates a rather problematic effect on me. Basically once I start it is very very difficult to stop my mind from advancing the story continuously. This probably sounds nice to you, and as a hobbyist writer it is certainly useful for planning ahead for the story, but it becomes a serious issue when I can''t sleep for work the next day because my brain refuses shut up at night. So basically if I start write during a weekday my mind runs continuously when I lay down to sleep and I''m dead tired the following work day. I like writing, but I also like paying my rent and since I''d rather jam a plastic spoon into my own eye socket than put up a donation button this is just how it has to be. For those that troubled themselves to read my little spiel thanks, and enjoy the chapter. ----------- An acrid stench and the reek of smoke had already blanketed the area as Gray clambered out of the hole with the currently immobile Eri on his shoulder. With a sigh he walked roughly a hundred feet from the stone spire and away from the smoke. After laying the girl down on her back in the grass he did a quick inspection of his arm. From his bicep down was completely numb and he was unable to so much as twitch a finger. Further from carrying the girl covered in venom his left shoulder and back was also numbing, he expected it to also be completely numb shortly. A frown creased his face and he quickly leaned over and tucked Eri back into a fireman''s carry before he completely lost control of his left shoulder. "Hey. Are you alive?" Gray muttered to the limp woman as he surveyed the area. Eri made made some noise from his shoulder, she was apparently conscious but her cheeks and jaw must have been paralyzed as her mouth failed to move at all. A dark chuckle escaped his mouth as he said, "Got his juice on your face eh? Hopefully he didn''t get any in your mouth." The noise coming from Eri became lower pitched sounding more like a growl. "Alright alright. At least I''m aware my sense of humor sucks. On a serious note we have a couple of problems and you know this place far better than I. So how about you grunt once if you agree and twice if you don''t. Alright?" After a second or two a single "mmmMMmm" came from the woman on his shoulder. Gray then continued, "First then, carrying you is going to completely paralyze me eventually, if we can''t get somewhere safe to wash this shit off we are going to have issues. I''m fairly certain we can at least get back to Festid before I''m totally locked up. If we head that way do you think that old bastard will help us?" After a good ten second pause two rather pathetic sounding moans. "No... huh. I might have threatened to kill him before I left anyway, probably best not to show back up nearly helpless. Then the ocean. If I can get us there will washing it off be enough to remove the numbness?" Another long pause then a single slightly hesitant "MmmMmm." "I wish that sounded more confident but we really only have one choice then, no use wasting any more time talking about it." Having said this Gray turns away from Festid and begins running at a brisk pace towards the nearest water source he could find. A rocky area of the coast with an inlet from the sea perhaps eight or so miles south-west. As he ran Gray considered things; the paralyzing venom Eri was coated in had roughly the same consistency as syrup and Eri had been smeared liberally. Should he try and wipe her body down to minimize the contamination he would suffer carrying her? This sounded good in theory buy apart from his own leather clothing and her already saturated clothes he had nothing to clean her with and even if he had doing so would be highly likely to lose him motion in his right hand. He had then considered just rolling her in the grass to remove some excess venom. But this idea was quickly discarded as well, since his shoulder and back were totally immobile now he doubted he could pick her back up without using his remaining arm and again losing its use there after. With an inward sigh he simply resigned himself to getting to the ocean as quickly as possible. The first half of the trip to the coast was fairly simple, even without feeling or motion in his upper back and shoulder he was still able balance the girl and run at near his top speed. After the venom seeped to his lower back things began to get dicey. Gray slowed to roughly half speed and kept very close tabs on his lower back, if he relaxed his core she would probably fall as he could no longer detect or move to compensate for Eri''s weight . The last mile was much slower as he had to be far more cautious of his posture. The ground here was also littered with large rocks, if he dropped her here... Well better to just move a bit slower and not drop her. Just slightly after the sun had reached its apex in the sky they arrived at the coast. His entire left side and lower torso were completely paralyzed, and trails of sweat had begun to carry the poison down his legs. If the ocean had been another mile away he likely wouldn''t have made it, but he had. Gray thought since they had made it here there was no reason to stand around, and he reached his remaining hand over the the girl still dangling ponderously off his shoulder. Grabbing her belt he lifted her and placed her gently on the ground well away from the tide line saying, "Ill keep watch of you from the water, once I''ve recovered enough movement in my left side to keep you from drowning Ill be back." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. As he trotted awkwardly on half numb legs to the shore he shed his backpack and decided to check on his burned arm. Even in the dim light of the burrow he hadn''t really been able to see exactly how bad the damage had been, though judging from the pain it was quite severe. Sticking his already numbing right hand into the hem of the pant leg he gingerly lifted the cloth away from his skin. A scowl formed on his face almost immediately. In the burrow he had seen blackened muscle and even some patches of white bone, now all he could see was smooth unbroken skin. His injured arm was completely whole again. "Guess my life price isn''t ridiculously high for nothing." He muttered to himself and stripped the pant leg off and waded into the ocean, loosing the rest of the feeling in his right hand as he did so. Once the water was chest deep he paused and began walking as vigorously as his half numb legs would allow in a small circle; letting his motion against the water wash away the venom. After fifteen minutes there was noticeable improvement in his arms, but little improvement in his back and legs. After considering for a moment he decided that his clothing must be saturated, so using his newly recovered hands he peeled his tunic and pants off and flung them the twenty five feet or so to the beach. As he had expected removing his venom soaked clothing greatly accelerated his recovery, and now also being able to rub his limbs with his hands underwater further hastened the process. After barely ten more minutes had passed he had recovered most of the feeling in all parts of his body. As he strode back to the prone Eri on the beach he couldn''t help himself, and a rare smile floated across his face. As he reached the paralyzed girl and began undressing her he couldn''t help being impressed by her proportions. Gray had never really considered himself a fan of extreme physiques, he had always given precedence to intelligence and personality over a big butt or large breasts. However if he were to describe his concept of the ideal female form Eri was quite close. Long pale legs, wide hips, a slim but still round butt coupled with a very thin waist and topped off with pert C cup breasts. Added to her long red hair and cute face, it was basically impossible for Gray not to be aroused, however he wasn''t an animal and had always placed an emphasis on his own self control. Especially when it came to women as he had found in his previous life that there was few things as dangerous as an angry woman. So though he enjoyed the view of her as she was carried to the ocean he made it a point not to ogle her excessively. Reaching chest depth again he released her legs and slid his arm around her waist, drawing her back firmly against himself. With her height being six inches shorter than his, her feet didn''t quite reach the bottom while up to her collar bones were submerged. With his free hand he began scrubbing her arms and neck, occasionally splashing her cheeks and face. After a few moments she began to squirm slightly against his chest. "Just relax, once you can support yourself I''ll let you free and you can finish cleaning yourself while I take care of our clothing." As he finished speaking Eri stopped squirming, instead her arms slowly moved to to her own face, clumsily splashing water and wiping. After a few more moments she managed a slurred but understandable sentence, "Why did you bring your dagger, the pommel is poking me in the back. Its hard and it kind of hurts." Gray chuckled softly as he replied, "That isn''t a dagger, your going to have to put up with it for the moment. You should be able to move around decently soon." "If its not your dagger..." She started to say something but abruptly went silent. Again a small grin appeared on Gray''s face as he whispered in her ear from behind. "As soon as you can stand let me know and Ill release your waist." Eri only nodded in response and began scrubbing again but Gray could plainly see her ears were burning as red as her hair. After approximately ten minutes had passed she was able to stand by herself. As promised Gray released her and withdrew to the shoreline gathering up their clothing and scrubbing it clean. After another forty five minutes they were both dressed again though their clothing was sopping wet. Gray looked over at the Eri, who was dripping with sea water and said, "Its too damn cold out here to be wet. Lets find some wood and get a fire going. Also, you know this area far better than I. Should we camp early here on the beach or dry off and try to head inland before night fall?" Eri, her face still slightly blushing avoided his gaze and replied quietly, "We should probably camp, the shore is one of the safest places at night. The monsters in the ocean generally don''t leave it, even at night. Also I think there is a small cave in the cliffs not far down the beach from here. We could have a fire there and be warm and dry for the night." Gray nodded back to her, replying. "Sounds like a plan, lets collect driftwood and head that way then. We''ll camp there tonight and tomorrow start toward Harshe." The blushing girl just replied with a simple "Un." --------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 10 --------- This one is a bit shorter than usual, but the next chapter has a sequence I dont want to break up. So we broke a bit early for the chapter intermission. As always comments/ratings/reviews are always greatly appreciated. Also if anyone wants to PR shoot me a message. Thanks for reading. -Alan0n Chapter 10 [A life owed and a way forward] ---------- The trip to the cavern was awkwardly silent as Erivere was obviously still extremely embarrassed, however it was also mercifully short. As luck would have it the area was littered with smooth weathered driftwood, much of it already aged and dried; and by the time the pair arrived at the mouth of the cavern Gray estimated they had easily collected enough firewood for a single night and probably another full day after that if it was needed. The interior of the cavern was a roughly eight foot high by four foot wide rapidly descending tunnel that opened into a relatively spacious sandy area measuring out at around a thousand square feet and nearly the whole area was still dimly lit by the sunlight filtering in through the tunnel. The ceiling was smooth and the natural slope would allow a fires smoke to escape out towards the entrance. There was even a ring of blackened stones near the front that appeared to have been used as a fire pit in the past and three larger boulders positioned at uneven distances around it. As far as camp sites went as long as it didn''t rain hard enough to flood into the cave this would be about as good as it gets. However Eri had a strange look on her face as she saw the campsite, prompting Gray to to ask, "Whats wrong? This place looks like an excellent place to make camp." Eri replied with a small frown, "This is strange, Festid is too close to bother setting up a campsite here. A month ago this place had nothing but sand and a few bats. Those large stones would take several men to move just one, and someone brought three in here." She then pointed toward the rocks and continued, "Also if this place was used as campsite there should be signs of people here. Foot prints in the sand, ashes from a fire, bones, refuse, really anything. But there''s nothing; its like these things just appeared here." Looking closer Gray nodded slowly, there was nothing but smooth sand on the ground the only marks to be seen where the ones behind them. Further the ring of stones had no ashes or wood in it at all, just more undisturbed sand. Now that she had called his attention to it the whole place seemed unusual, with his hand on the hilt of his dagger he cautiously and carefully explored the dim interior thoroughly. However his diligent search turned up nothing. The place was totally empty. Still slightly frowning Gray said, "This place is definitely odd, but having only a single way in would certainly make it easier to keep watch. We''ll just have to sleep in turns tonight. There are still a few hours of daylight left, lets see if we can scavenge some food. Also is there a water source nearby?" "The only fresh water in the area is the well in Festid, but I have my waterskins." Handing him a bulging waterskin she continued. "Even if there are two of us they should last for a few days. Once we reach the King''s road there are wells every other day or so of travel. I didn''t pack any food at all though, I had planned to forage and hopefully get lucky with my sling." Gray looked her in the eye and thanked her for the waterskin, and after little more than a second she turned away from his eye contact and blushing again murmured, "You get the fire going, I... I''ll find us something to eat." Then quickly retreated away from him and towards the mouth of the cavern. "Wait." Gray said as he blocked her from leaving the cave. "First we have got to take care of this." He held up his hand in front of her chest, preventing her from walking out. "If you run out of here now because your embarrassed and get yourself killed by something after all the trouble..." Gray paused then coughed a bit and continued, "Look... I might not have been overly gracious earlier, but I also didn''t take advantage..." However she surprised him by taking his hand in her own and cutting him off saying, "I know. This place is close to Festid, I have foraged here many times in the past. It is safe during the day. I..." She paused a moment, collecting her thoughts. "I''m not embarrassed because you touched me, or saw me." She is blushing again, but this time she meets his gaze and continues, "I''m embarrassed because you saved my life. Twice even. No one would fight a single Myrk to save someone, let alone three. Then two Arsem and in their own burrow." She sighs loudly and steps closer, speaking in a quieter voice. "A life that is saved is a life that is owed; this is something my father taught me when I was very young and mine belongs to you twice over. This is a very heavy thing for me." A dark look crept across Gray''s face as the words "mine belongs to you" sunk in. He found himself suddenly annoyed, seriously annoyed. Both with this girl that had just foisted her life on him, but mostly with himself for being pleased at hearing it. His rational mind; formed and molded over his thirty years of life on Earth reacted with revulsion to the idea, but a raw, more primal part of him wanted to own this girl. Two parts of himself warred briefly, but in the end reason won out and Gray spoke. "Your life is yours alone. I can''t even be certain I''m going to live through the week, taking responsibility for someone else''s life is not even an option. Besides the Myrk would have tried to kill me after you anyway, that was self preservation." A small smile floated across her lips as Eri whispered, "My life is mine alone you say." Her voice comes back stronger than before and she continues, "If that is so than you have no say in it. If it is mine alone, then its my decision alone to make. You have no right to refuse." "Like hell I don''t." Gray began, but was stopped by Eri again speaking over him. "Gray, we are both likely going to die on the way to Harshe and even if we live I''m only saying that I will help you. If I''m killed doing it, that is fine I should be dead already anyway." The girl leans in even closer, her breath tickling Gray''s chin as she looks up with wet eyes into his face and finishes in a tender voice rich with emotion, "Can I not even be allowed to help you?" Gray was at a loss. "You... You." He stammered then sighed, stepping back away from her. "You are pretty goddamn underhanded, I''ll definitely give you that. Its your life to waste I guess." With a slight smile and a nod she quickly wiped her eyes and left the cave. After she had gone Gray shaved a few long thin pieces off a piece of particularly dry wood for tinder and then piled some of the smaller wood into the fire pit around the shavings, and sat down on the closest rock to collect his own thoughts. He absentmindedly cast the sparks he had improved upon in the burrow into the waiting tinder. Wait. He frowned as he watched the tinder catch fire. That should not have worked at all. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. He recalled the brief lecture on magic the old bastard from Festid had given him. Imagine the concept and force he wanted, then visualize them forming into a disc, then a connecting a thread from his mind to it, and finally channel his power through the disc. But he had just used magic without doing any of that. Directing his attention to his hand that had cast the sparks out he clearly perceived the disc and thread he had visualized in the burrow. Gray quickly stood back up and trotted out of the cavern and the the edge of the ocean. Focusing on his extended left hand he willed the flames he had used on the Arsem to be cast out. A few heartbeats passed with no result, so refocusing on his hand again he willed sparks to cast again. Again, nothing. Gray shook his head slowly and allowed his eyes to refocus on the ocean and his thoughts to wander as he considered what he was missing. Earlier he had just wanted the spell to cast and it had. He hadn''t done anything particular, it had simply worked. He tried again, willing the sparks out and in a burst a fan of sparks sprayed onto the ocean before him. A slow grin spread on his face, as a twenty food long tongue of flame burst forth from his palm spreading over the water before sputtering out. He understood now. Developing the ''setup'' for a spell required focus, a degree of understanding both the concepts and forces involved and then condensing them into a visualization. But this was only necessary to initially understand the spell. Once understood, by just letting his subconscious mind do the work the spell was cast again far quicker than his conscious mind was capable of. Well as long as he didn''t muck it up by over analyzing the process, which is why he guessed he failed to cast his magic while overly focused on it. After a few more tries he was certain this was the case, every time he willed the casting it worked instantly, but if he tried to force it consciously, or change anything at all it simply failed to do anything at all. Magic was seriously way to convenient, if everyone could use it why did people of this world even bother with swords or bows? Hell even a child could reduce those lawn grub things to ashes with little less than a thought if they understood how it worked. When he had first arrived here and discovered his new bodies incredible physical strength, agility, and his strange new danger sense he had thought the best way to survive would be to develop his skill with a blade and bow, then get a hold of some protective gear. But this had definitely changed his plans. A blade couldn''t efficiently deal with tens or hundreds. A cascade of flame brought forth with just a thought though... It wouldn''t even be that hard to wipe out hundreds of opponents. A fierce grin appeared on Gray''s face as he lowered his arm and continued to stare at the distant horizon, still deep in thought. He considered his ''flame tongue'' spell, it was the same concept and force as the simple spark spell but with an upgraded thread allowing more power to be forced through it. He focused again until he could clearly perceive the disc and thumb sized hose in his minds eye, reconstructing the spell form scratch. Then again he willed an increase in the size of the thread in reaction it began enlarging. As it neared the size of the disc itself its growth slowed and when it was the same diameter as the disc it stopped growing. Starting slowly he pushed a trickle of his power into the the fist sized hose. A deep sound resonated in the air around him as a fist sized blue flame shimmered into being in front of his hand. Willing more power into the spell the flame exploded outward, an intimidating roaring sound accompanying it. With his current output the tongue of flame reached thirty feet and even the water under it was steaming. One final test, he thought and increased his power output forcing as much power as the newly enlarged hose would allow. With a shrieking sound reminiscent of a jet engine the flame''s color shifted slightly, becoming more violet than blue and then blasted outward another sixty feet, finally sputtering out at over ninety feet from him. The flame didn''t fan out either, it stayed condensed like it was actually being sprayed from a hose. The ocean churned and boiled under the flame and a large cloud of fog formed in seconds due to the rapidly evaporating water, but it was quickly dispersed by the wind rushing into the void created by the super heated air in the area escaping upwards. "Fuck, what could survive this?" Gray thought to himself as he cut off the flow of power into the spell. The heat generated and the range it had covered was bordering on absurd. This spell would be very powerful, however it would incinerate anything before him, friend or foe. It would definitely be useful, but with Eri planning to accompany him for at least the near future he would also need something with a much smaller scale and ideally with a targeted effect, he needed to consider this carefully. Just then he noticed Eri returning at a run with a look of panic on her face. As she arrived Gray nonchalantly asked, "Any luck finding some food?" She eyed him cautiously and replied, "I found some tubers and leafy plants but... then I heard a loud boom and then the shriek of some terrible beast so I dropped everything and ran back. What exactly happened here?" Gray motioned towards the ocean where bunches of fish were beginning to float to the surface, "I was doing some fishing, hopefully your hungry. I got a little carried away." --------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 11 --------- No PR this time as he is out for the weekend, so if you notice anything horrifically bad please do let me know. I have a request for you guys this time as well; if you are enjoying the story and haven''t yet, I''d appreciate if you would try to do a review. Seeing other stories with less than a hundred views and 5 or 10+ advanced reviews and ours here passing chapter 10 and over 15,000 views with just ButcheredSoul''s lone review is depressing (Thanks for that review by the way). Not like its a big deal, but more reviews = more exposure = more views = more comments = more input and feedback on areas I''m lacking in which theoretically will make for a better story in the long run. Ideally anyway, I doubt it will work out that easily but its worth trying. And finally, as always thanks for reading folks. Chapter 11 [The Enjin-Near] --------- After returning to the cave with more fish than they could ever possibly eat Gray soon realized he had made a horrible mistake. The fish were boiled where they had swam, in their own skins. Stewed in their own guts, the enormous heat had caused not only their skin to rupture, but also their stomach and intestines. Basically the meat, while still edible tasted horrible. Actually horrible was understating it, it was bad enough that words couldn''t convey it well. Eri was still eating with gusto though, she paused a moment and said, "I''ve never seen so much meat; this is a rare chance to eat your fill. Why aren''t you eating?" With a frown Gray answered, "I am, its just... Gah, its horrible. A handful of sand would probably be tastier." Eri only snorted and said, "Go a week or so only eating grass and muddy water then tell me again how bad it is." Gray thought a moment then sighed aloud and made a suitable excuse, "Ill take first watch, if I eat too much Ill be tired. Ill eat my fill before I wake you for your watch." She nodded slowly in response completely accepting his excuse and continued on a different track, "You are a Traveler. I was told your kind come from different worlds. Where you a mage in your last world?" Gray snorted. "A mage? Magic didn''t exist in my world at all. I was an engineer." Eri paused again, a curious look on her face. "Enjin-near? What is this?" He frowned in thought a moment, then spoke again, "The easiest way to describe it would be someone who solves problems. Usually complicated and specialized problems. An engineer uses his understanding of the natural laws to..." At this point Eri''s face already showed she was hopelessly confused, so Gray relented his explanation in favor of an example. Standing he picked up a fist sized rock and showed it to her. "This rock, if I strike it with my fist what will happen?" Eri frowns a moment and then says, "Since that rock has no way to defend itself your fist should smash it." Gray frowns and says, "Really? Well lets see shall we." With that he balls his right hand into a fist and strikes the rock held in his left hand." The result is the rock is pulverized to dust and his fist is completely unscathed. "What the fuck physics? " Gray cleared his throat loudly and continued, "Well. In my old world if we repeated this experiment my hand would be hurt and the rock would be undamaged because its mass exceeds that of my fist." That was overly simplified, but mostly true. Eri, laughing cutely in disbelief said, "No way. Anything that has no way of defending itself from an attacking force will just be destroyed." Gray nodded and stooping down picked up two more smaller stones, one sandstone and one a piece of granite. Holding both up to her he said, "Then how about this, if I smash these two stones together what will happen?" Eri''s brow creases in thought a moment before she says confidently, "Neither can defend itself so they should both be destroyed." Gray nods saying, "If everything else is equal In my world the sandstone would be destroyed by the granite. Since its mass exceeds that of the sandstone." Saying that he slams the two stones in his hands together. The result is what Gray had expected. The sandstone was crushed by the granite. Eri pouted a bit at being wrong and said, "It must have have some magic in it or they both would have been broken." Gray smiled at her and said, "Well anyway, understanding things like this and applying that understanding to solve other problems is what an engineer does." From this experiment Gray had surmised that physics did indeed operate here. However something else seems to be interfering in some cases. Magic was the only thing he could think of capable of disrupting something as basic as the natural laws. Understanding and using his understanding to get the results he desired were part of what made Gray himself. He would need to experiment here as well until he thoroughly understood the mechanics of this world. Gray continued with a question, "So lets say a man swings a blade at an armored foe. What happens?" Given a chance to redeem her earlier wrong answer she smiled and replied confidently, "Well, it depends a bit on the type of armor. But basically unless the armor is a type weak to blades unless the blade is stronger than the armor then it will get damaged a bit but protect the man and the blade would take a lot of damage." She pauses a moment to take a breath and then continues, "If the armor''s defense is weaker than the blade then the armor will be damaged a lot and the man wearing it would also be hurt. In this case the weapon would not suffer any damage at all." Gray rubbed his temples as he listened to the nonsensical description. When she finished speaking he said simply, "Is that so?" Eri nodded happily. "Yes. This is why soldiers and adventurers always try to use the best armor and weapons they can afford." "How about this then. A suit of really nice armor is sitting on a chair, and another man with a cheap sword attacks it. What happens in this case?" Eri frowns again, her cute face furrowing. "The armor would be destroyed I think." Gray nods and says, "From what I''ve observed so far I''d say you''re likely correct. It seems that my world''s laws still apply here but there is another system superimposed over them. Magic is the only thing I can think of that could do such a thing." If his hypothesis was correct everything to date could be explained. The sling rock breaking his finger was because he had no defensive equipment. Then the tree branches smashing against the Myrk, if you assumed their bark-like skin was a type of inherent defense then the weapons smashing made sense. Further if they were swung hard enough to damage the defenses to the point of breaking then it made sense that the remaining force would pass into the monster itself. In his case the force was immense, enough to break their defenses and kill them in a single strike. The same had likely occurred with the Traveler he had killed, his offensive force had just been enough to both break his opponents armor as well as kill him. Everything was fitting together now. Another frown crept onto Gray''s face though. "If it were that simple, even a farmer who wore exceptional equipment could be a match for a highly trained but poorly equipped warrior." Eri nodded thoughtfully and said, "Indeed. This has happened, a farmer finds or is gifted powerful armor or arms. Many of the songs of heroes of the common folk have this type of beginning." "I see..." Gray nodded and lapsed into thought, but Eri was unwilling to let the conversation drop. She prodded with another question, "You were an Enjin-near then... What about your family? Won''t your wife and children miss you?" Gray couldn''t help but chuckle at the girls obvious intentions, "I had no children, at the least none I knew of." Eri looked up hopefully, "Then what of your wife?" Gray smiled and took the opportunity to tease her, "My wife? She is also here. We are to meet in Harshe." The hope on the young girls face collapsed and with a downcast look she said in a depressed voice, "Oh, good for you. I''m... sure you miss her." As Gray was about to let her off and expose his own lie she continued, looking back up into his eyes with a mixture of sadness and hope on her face she said, "Even if its just as a mistress, please don''t throw me away. I... I can still serve you." Gray moved over and sat next to her near the stone she was leaning against. "Sorry Eri, I was lying. I have no wife. Apart from you I am also alone in this world." This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Eri twisted to look up at him and sniffed, "Why would you lie..." Gray interrupted her with a loud sigh. "Seriously, are you doing this on purpose? You are just too cute, I had to tease you a bit. In all honesty now, I have no desire to marry. Never have, and likely never will." Eri giggles a bit, leaning into Gray''s side she says, "No man does, its something a woman wants. Common folk often wed but great men rarely do, even those that settle down usually have many mistresses. After all this world is dangerous, the only way to ensure the survival of your line is to have many children." Gray extends an arm around the girls shoulders drawing her closer to share warmth and says, "Enough about that. This is neither the time nor the place to talk about children. Rest. Ill wake you when its time." Eri pushes him away a bit saying, "I stink like fish, let me clean up a bit first." Saying so she gets up and washes herself with water from her waterskin. Then returns and shyly looks down at him. "You don''t mind right? The nights are cold this close to the ocean." Gray can only grin and reply, "Its fine, it''ll be easier to wake you if you''re close." With a nod and a blush she lays herself down, back facing him and head and shoulders on his lap. Gray gently brushes her hair with his left hand and in moments the girl is fast asleep. After Eri falls asleep Gray''s thoughts wander back to his earlier forays into magic. If this frail girl was going to accompany him he was going to need to come up with magic that could be used with her around. Just being near the flame-tongue he had used earlier while fishing would kill this poor girl in a heartbeat, he needed something surgical but no less powerful. Flame was not going to work, just the heat in the area around a powerful flame would harm her. The most mundane element seemed to be the best, with this in mind he began the process of condensing earth and the concept of expel into a disc, after a moment the disc formed in front of him. Moving it to his hand he attached a thin thread of power to it and pressed some power into it. Nothing was happening. With a frown he widened the thread to the size of his thumb and tried again. Again no result. It felt like something was missing, like the disc was waiting for something. Grey frowned a bit and reconsidered. Heat naturally existed in the air as friction between molecules, but there was no earth in the air; the dust kicked up from moving around had long since settled. Perhaps the magic needed something to start from? He gently shifted so as not to wake Eri and placed his palm on the sand to his side. Reducing the the thumb size hose to a thread he tried once again channeling his power into it. A muffled sound was heard from the sand as it bounced slightly. That worked but its not terribly useful he thought. "Hmmm..." Gray reconsidered, perhaps directly manipulating the air itself would be better. Lets at least try it. With that thought he began the work of condensing a new disc, and in moments it formed in front of him in his minds eye. As he thought to move it to his hand a new thought occurred to him, why place it on his hand? Why not just leave it where it was and try it. He quickly connected a thread to it and channeled a bit of power. The air in the cave shifted, slightly stirring Eri''s hair. Success. Then if it could be used without touching him, what was the range of it? He willed the disc outward, obediently it moved out towards the entrance of the cave trailing a thread of power stopping roughly thirty feet from him. Channeling power again he felt the air of the cave shift once more, there had been resistance in the channeling though. Much like how it would take more force to pump water through a pipe as the distance grew. He pushed it further, stopping outside the cave he channeled again. Success, but more resistance this time. A small smile formed on Gray''s face. He began condensing a new disc, this one with earth and expel again. Once it was complete he sent it out into the sand at the far side of the cave and channeled power into it. A burst of sand surged six feet into the air over the disc. Better, but still not what he needed. Seeing the shape of the burst though had given him several new ideas. The small smile changed to a grin, as he began a new disc. This time he chose to change the type of force, instead of expel, he would try extrude. Further he had an interesting thought, the element that was expelled from the disc seemed to try and keep its shape. What if the shape of the thread were changed, this time the thread he created was a square. It took a bit longer to form this as it was not something he had tried before, but after a few moments the disc and thread were ready. Again Gray willed the disc outward to the far corner of the cave and channeled power into it. Where before sand had simply been tossed upwards this time a square column of earth quickly jutted up from the ground. Very good Gray thought, but still not quite perfect. He focused once more and the square thread connecting to the disc returned to a round shape, but this time it had a distinct taper as it entered the disc. Once more his power was channeled. A sharp protrusion of earth ripped from the round in the blink of an eye. Perfect. With this even if Eri was standing right next to it she would be fine and the force and sharpness would be more than sufficient to kill. Even the square version could have uses he thought. All in all he was quite pleased, with these discoveries even his flame would be less predictable. He could cause it to burst from the ground, his hand, or anywhere he liked really. Again he couldn''t help but think how ridiculous magic was. Gray froze. It was not a loud sound, but since it occurred in near silence it was impossible for Gray to miss. Something near had just moved. Whatever it was was already inside the cave, but he was completely certain nothing had entered. Suddenly the rock he and Eri had been leaning on was gone. With his support suddenly removed Gray''s upper body fell backward landing on the sand. There behind him, the rock he had been relaxing against had grown six sharp legs and before his eyes seams formed on its surface and a long barbed tail and a pair a large claws unfurled from it. Quick as a thought the barbed tail launched at Gray who, in his prone position could not react in time. --------- Return To Main Page / Forward To Chapter 12 --------- Howdy folks. Been a minute since the last update, but like I said in the last note this is to be expected. I wanted to get this one out earlier this weekend but couldn''t due to the damn evil people over at CDProjekt Red. In other words I''ve been playing Witcher 3. Heh. Sorry about that, but its good. Ah for those of you unfamiliar with extrude (as a verb) or the concept of extrusion in general: it basically means ''to force out''. Its used a lot in CAD and design/engineering in general. Feel free to google it if you''re interested in learning more. Anyway I''ve nothing else really important to say this time around so I''ll just say thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed. For my fellow Americans have a nice Memorial Day, and everyone else... well have a nice Monday.
Ah forgot to mention there is no PR on this chapter either. My PRs are both on holiday this weekend. Soooo if you notice anything horribly bad please do let me know. Thanks guys. Chapter 12 [Kretz the mad, the second Traveler] The barbed stinger of the rock creature blurred in his sight as it struck straight at Gray''s chest. His bad posture and the woman laying across his lap left him no room for avoidance. Flexing his leg muscles and forcefully extending them he managed to push Eri away from himself. In his panic Gray exerted more strength than intended and the poor sleeping woman was tossed several feet through the air. Before she had even touched the groundthe wicked stinger had already landed on his chest. A feeling of massive pressure encompassed Gray''s chest as the stinger landed, this was quickly followed by a snapping sound. Then the pressureevaporated as the stinger was withdrawn at lighting speed. The creature had struck like a snake, impossibly fast and had withdrawn its barb just as quickly. At this moment Eri landed in the sand throwing up a small cloud of dust, and after rolling twice came to a stop. Without even sparing a look at his wound Gray quickly rolled backward towards the now moaning Eri and away from the strange rock creature, finishing his roll and regaining his feet a few yards away from it. The creature remained completely motionless, watching Gray with its strange stone eyes perched on the ends of two stalks. Gray took the opportunity provided bythis momentary calm to check his condition and was completely surprised to find that the barb had not even punctured his shirt. There was a small mark where it had landed, but the shirt itself was intact. Placing a finger on the lightly damaged area of his shirt Gray silently recalled that Eri had told him earlier, "An attacking force inferior to the defending force results in the attackers weapon being damaged and the defender being unharmed. Interesting. This world is very interesting. This creature was quite fast, but its weapon, that barb was not very powerful." Returning his focus to the creature opposite himself, he noticed the barb that had struck him was actually cracked. Indeed, the barbed stinger, like the rest of the creature appeared to be made of simple stone. His shirt was made from a creature''s skin that was widely known for its toughness. After consideration he felt somewhat foolish for his panic, but this interplay of magic over physics was just to alien to him. In the moment he had simply assumed the stinger would penetrate him effortlessly and over reacted. He quickly observed Eri out of his peripheral vision, she was moving but appeared to be somewhat dazed. An unpleasant thought occurred to him, in the future he might actually be more dangerous to her than some of the creatures they would face. He would need to speak with her about this. If she truly wished to accompany him, something had to be done or she would surely die, perhaps even tragically by an accident at his own hands. Turning his attention back to his still stationary enemy, Gray quickly worked his new magic. A disc quickly formed under the creature and a spear of earth struck upwards from the ground slamming into its stone underbelly and throwing it several yards backwards, but ultimately not piercing through its stone skin. The creature landed heavily on its back, and like a turtle its legs began to fiercely churn the air trying to right itself. However, the creatures body being made of stone was simply too heavy. For all its flailing it was barely even rocking, for it to right itself was extremely unlikely. A frown formed on Gray''s face as he observed the struggling rock beast. "An earth spear cannot penetrate it. Its natural defense is too high. Perhaps... if the force was not allowed to be dispersed. With that thought another another disc formed, this time on the ceiling of the cave. Another earth spear erupted from the ceiling; slamming into the creatures under body again. This time however, the force of the spear was not dissipatedby throwing the creature through the air. Instead it was pinned to the ground. The spear forcefully continued forward as Gray injected more power. Finally with a loud crack the creature was split in half like a log struckby an ax. As it did so the creature immediately ceased struggling and a white fog escaped from the two halves and quickly dissolved into thesurrounding air. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. From outside the mouth of the cave came the sound of slowapplause. After a moment of silence,a lazy sounding male voice sounded out. "I had heard you just arrived. For someone to grasp even the basics of elemental magic in just a few days... You are... somewhat impressive?" The man outside the cavern loudly blew out a mouthful of air before continuing,"The materials that made up thatambush golem you just destroyed were worth a bit more than halfthe bounty on your head. Just 10 id for your death... this... this is not a fair trade at all." A momentsilence followed, then a loud sigh. "This is unprofitable. Damned unprofitable. You, where you called... Gray?" As the man had begun hismonologue, Gray had not been idle. He moved to Eri''s side and quickly confirmed her to be in good condition. She turned to him as he arrived and spoke quickly and quietly to him with a panic stricken look in her eyes, "That lazy voice, the way he pauses constantly, and talks to himself. He... he must be the Mad MagisterKerst! He is a very well known for his extremely strange temperament...and he is also a powerful construct mage!" The lazy voice sounded out again, some what surprised this time "Woman. I can hear you... ''extremely strange temperament''? And saying this is what I am very well known for... Ah." At this point his voice drops a level, becoming quieter, like he was addressing himself. "Though she isn''t really wrong. But still... Am I so strange? At the least I should be better known for escaping that prison. Ah. Ah. Dammit. Dammit. Lets forget it. There is nothing to be made here. What a waste of time. I hate wasting time." Once more the voice is raised, as the man Krentz proclaims loudly, "You. Ah, Gray. It simply costs too much to kill you, this is not a fair exchange at all. Another low golem would cancel out your bounty entirely and anything higher would just create a largerloss. Unless your bounty raises to at least... mmmmm... ahundred id I think. Yes. Yes. A hundred id would be fair, or more would be better. Come back when you are worth at least this much. Then we can make this exchange." Gray shook his head side to side slowly with a confused look on his face, and addressed the man outside the cave in a loud voice, "Sure, I''ll come back later then?" The silhouette of a hunched over thin elderly man with a completely bald head appeared at the entrance of the cave as Kretzreplied, "Yes. Yes. Do not come back until you are worth at least one hundred id." As he spoke he hurriedly entered the cave, and under Gray''s guardedeyes, he collected the remains of the stone creature into a small knapsack that should have in no way be able to hold the man sized creature. "If you could also bring some good materials, that would be for the best as well. I''m lacking a good chitin. Yes. Bring some chitin. Also... No. That would not be a fairtrade. Just chitin, yes. Just that will be sufficient." As he finished speaking the old man waved lazily and left the cave, still mumbling about chitin. After the sounds of footsteps faded into silence Gray silently stood up, and exited the cave to make certain Kretz had truly left. Upon returning he couldn''t help but say, "That old man, Kretz..." Eri, up and recovered just nodded and spoke in a hushed voice, "He is also a Traveler. A very powerful one. Supposedly his golems have wiped entire villagesoff the maps." Gray shook his head and continued, "What was wrong with him? He seemed to be completely insane." With a nod Eri replied, "Him, and others like him are the reason Travelers are so feared. His actions are completely unpredictable. He is as likely to treat you to a meal as he is to murder you. Almost all of the Travelers who leftthe royal palace are like this in some way. This is why many people say the Travelers are a plague upon our world." A frown still on his face, Gray replied, "The royal palace? The village head mentioned something about seeing the King''s chamberlain. He supposedly has ways of helping the Travelers out in this world. But if this Kretz came from there, perhaps its better to stay as far away as possible." Eri also frowned in thought for a moment before saying, "I don''t think that is so, supposedly many Travelers gathered there to do something long ago. But for some reason most stayed behind, only the ones that left after that were like this. The few that are still... normal are often said to visit the palace chamberlain. In thevillage this is all we know." Nodding to Eri Gray continued, "I need to find out more, hopefully someone at Harshe can tell me more about this. For now though, we need to go. If that crazy bastard comes back, Id rather not be here. Even if it means running into something dangerous outside. Lets move, oncewe can make the highway we can rest." After one more look around the place, the pair left the cave. Heading up the coast a ways before turning back inland and heading for the Kings highway.