He continued to plough up and forth the
hills, his ears kept pinched for the meanest whisper of sound
anywhere around him. Half an hour or so passed fruitlessly, leaving
his hopes to dwindle.
Almost giving up, Ion took a seat on a rock
outside the opening of a small cave at the foot of the hills,
wiping the cold sweat from his brow.
Guess I was wrong.
he thought.
He’s probably left this place by now.
He realised now that there was quite a very
slim chance that his target was still roaming somewhere around
here. A spark of anger arose within him: he now realised he had to
start all over again, tracking down this guy from scratch
again.
Great!
Just as he rose and headed down the land
grumpily, he froze, his ears twisting. Going sharp like an
Elfling’s. His gaze slowly travelled across and stalled at the
entrance of the cave before him…
Was he imagining it? … Or did his ears just
sense the faintest of movements from inside of that cave? Letting
his jaw fall slightly, he stood there with a rigid stillness,
blocking everything else out from his mind. As the seconds scrolled
by, he heard it again … movement inside of that cave. And with it
came the undisputable movement of cloth as well.
Ion’s heart halted as a glimmer of hope
found his vision. Was there really someone inside that cave now?
Because if there was, Ion knew it had to be none other than his
target. The vigilante. He stalled his racing hopes or a second,
wondering briefly if he was, in his over enthusiasm, imagining
things.
Well, only one way to find out…
Ion warily moved by the side of the rock,
laying his back against it. Stopping for a quick, steadying breath,
he slowly slid his hand over his sword handle. And he moved in
towards the entrance with his back still plastered to the wall so
that, if there really was someone within, they wouldn’t see him
entering.
__________
Ion had guessed right: there really was
someone inside of that cave. The man stood still at the deep end of
the dark place, gazing at the opposite wall. He never heard the red
haired mystic boy who slowly slipped into the cave from the other
side, slowly creeping towards him from the opening. Completely
unaware of it, the man stood where he was, gazing into the
gloom.
The large cave was split into a few other
corridor like passages, all of which were immersed in darkness. The
place was much larger than it appeared, and at the end of the large
giant spread, the man kicked a stone out of his way, unaware that
the sound was picked up from the bounty hunter drawing in from the
cave’s entrance far behind him, now was slowly making his way
down…
__________
Ion felt his every nerve in his body draw a
sharp tenseness, as he slowly crept on down the large cave. The man
standing at the far end was undoubtedly his target. He could sense
it. He skulkily crossed half the distance, his nerves tingling in
anticipation. He was now less than a few metres from his target,
who stood with his hands behind his back, lazily kicking stones out
his way.
The vigilante’s black robe allowed him to
meld right into the darkness around him. But he did not to go
unnoticed to Ion’s extra sharp vision: he could make out the man’s
outline, as he turned and slowly walked across the cave, his black
silhouette seeming to ripple in the dark as he moved. Ion continued
to soundlessly sneak deeper into the cave. His target kicked a
stone off his way as he turned and strode to the right.
Then, in seconds, Ion was less than ten feet
from him. His sword was gripped tight in his hand, and he felt a
cruel smile curve his lips at the thought that this was going to be
far too easy.
Finally, sensing the unwanted presence which
had crept into his company, the man in the black robe slowly turned
and faced Ion.
Carcasar stared at the red haired boy
standing feet from him, feeling a daze break over him. He tilted
his head slightly. As the daze passed, a heavy sense of intrigue
found him.
Ion felt his head tilt as well, as he
realised that something was wrong: this was not the vigilante he
had come after. If his sharp vision relayed correctly … this wasn’t
a man at all.
You’re one of a kind, aren’t you?
Carcasar thought to himself, as he surveyed the man being in front
of him.
Walking right into us … something this nice hasn’t
happened to us in years.
“Who the hell are you?” Ion asked,
bewildered.
“I,” Carcasar felt his lips part in a smile.
“am your gateway to eternal sleep.”
And then, through the many corridors
splitting the cave, Ion heard it … a group of unworldly, ghastly
howls. And then the distinct thudding of a bunch of footsteps
running reached Ion from the corridors of the cave around him. He
twisted around and saw them burst out of the corridors from all
sides, surging like an oncoming tide right towards him…
Zelgron…
His insides going frigid in horror, he
turned back to the one standing right in front. Whose dreadful
smile stretched longer.
“I don’t know or care who you are,” Carcasar
said softly. “why you came here, or what you wanted to find … but
you have many thanks from all of us: because you’re the reason
dinner’s served.”
As the entire bustle of monsters came
exploding from the inner chambers of the cave, Carcasar made a leap
towards the boy in front, his arms spread forward, his long,
dreadful claws waiting to sink into flesh. But the boy moved faster
than Carcasar had imagined possible: he jumped backwards with a
spring in his motion. Just missing Carcasar’s outstretched arm by
inches. Missing his target, Carcasar hit the ground. As he climbed
back to his feet, he saw the boy holding a sword, its blade portion
lit in a bright orange that left steam to escape around it.
That explains it.
thought Carcasar as
he righted himself.
He’s a mystic … but we’ve butchered stronger
mystics than you, Pal.
As he lunged again, the boy’s sword flashed
wildly before him … He had slashed it across the air.
And the skin on Carcasar’s face blazed with
pain as the tip of the sword scraped across it. The sword had
slashed across one of his eyes. Carcasar stumbled, erupting with a
scream of agony.
My eye!!
Pain and rage stormed him as he stood there
with a hand over his punctured eye, his other hand flailing madly.
Without wasting another second, he threw himself forth at the boy,
aiming to tear his face out.
And this time, he found target…
Ion gasped loudly as the monster’s nails dug
into the side of his face, squeezing … Every other thought wiped
from his mind, he wrapped both arms around the creature, and hurled
across the cave. Towards the tide of Zelgron that came surging at
him. The creature crashed into his brethren, and all of them were
sent stumbling and falling in a wave impact.
Taking the split second advantage, Ion
turned and tore across the entire cave’s distance. Behind him, the
swath of Zelgron had steadied themselves and were raging at him
again in full fury…
The fresh night’s air filled Ion’s lungs as
he pelted right out the exit of the cave. Behind, the Zelgron came
pouring out of the cave, hot on his heels. Their unearthly screams
split the night.
__________
Meanwhile, standing atop of a short hill
closeby was a lone figure robed in a thick brown cloak … watching
the hysteria down below.
Vestra watched the red haired boy being
chased by the horde of Zelgron, and a pang of sympathy found her.
She would have tried helping him. But she knew it was completely
pointless: the monsters raging behind the boy would catch up with
him in seconds and tear him apart … She couldn’t possibly get him
out of this mess.
He was as doomed as he looked…
__________
Ion raced wildly down the land, dodging and
leaping over stray hurdles coming in his path. The unlevelled,
sloping terrain was the one major setback for Ion, but it was an
advantage for those monsters, who had clearly been adapted to
this.
He twisted his head back for a quick
glance:
The Zelgron swept over the sloping lands
like a wave of bodies. Their arms were flailed in rage, and their
maddened howls filled the air. They were less than twenty metres
apart, with the distance closing steadily.
As Ion turned his head back, his vision
caught something in front that made his eyes go wide. But it was
too late: there was a rock on his path, dead ahead of his feet. And
in his senseless speed, he had come too close to it to stop, or
change course on time … The rock enlarged in his vision, slowly,
dramatically, as he flew close to it. And then, before he had
registered, he was airborne: he had tripped over the rock, and was
sailing forward gracefully in the force of his speed. He felt his
body soar over the air in slow motion…
Stars exploded before his eyes as he crashed
over the ground. His body flowed on over the land, rolling forth at
the speed of his landing. As he came to a stop, Ion mustered all
his strength and picked himself up. But even as he did, he knew it
was of no use: the wave of savage creatures had reached him … even
as Ion raised his sword, the wave of creatures together lunged at
him…
__________
The lone figure atop the nearby hill watched
quietly. Vestra wore a helpless look as she gazed down from where
she was.
Down below, the red haired boy had been
caught up by the Zelgron. The tide of monsters had now swallowed
him…
The boy’s sword spun about at Godspeed,
trying in devastated vain to slash through the Zelgron all around
him. The monsters threw themselves over him mercilessly, clawing,
slashing and tearing at every bit of his skin they could find. The
boy fought their onslaught off valiantly. But it was of no use …
she knew he was finished.
__________
Ion swung his sword violently all around
him, slicing down the creatures engulfing the space all around him.
But the monsters’ claws had breached his sword’s spinning defense
and laid faint slashes across his robe, and over the first layer of
his skin. He knew he would not withstand them for long now: soon,
they would have ripped him apart whole.
One of them cast a seething rip on Ion’s arm
with his long claws. A deep gash that seemed to boil within his
flesh, leaving blood to trickle down his sleeves. The pain of the
deep wound stretched like a fiery tongue over his arm, causing Ion
to go off focus…
As he faltered, one of the beasts landed
over him from behind … and sank his jaws into his shoulder. Ion
gave a throat wrenching scream that was drowned in the roars of the
beasts around him. His shoulder spurting blood, with his other arm
gashed, he felt his grip on his sword slacken. As his body landed
on the cold hard ground, a dull blackness cropped into the edges of
his vision…
The Zelgron surrounded him, waiting to sink
their jaws into his flesh … and then a voice bellowed, “HOLD
IT!”
The Zelgron around Ion stopped and raised
their heads. The howling, roaring of the entire horde suddenly died
down. The monsters came to a stall, forming a wide circle around
Ion, who was beginning to feel the world grow fuzzy. A pair of
footsteps thudded towards him, and one of the Zelgron arrived
before Ion, bending down.
Carcasar looked up and down Ion’s weakened,
bloody form, pausing at the parts where he’d been scarred. He then
threw his head back and laughed. It was a horrific, rasping noise,
which made it look like it was scraped off the dead skin of his
throat. Bending down, Carcasar clenched one hand around Ion’s neck,
his voice a bare whisper.
“No, you will not have a quick exit, not for
this,” He pointed to the scar Ion’s sword had cast over his face,
damaging one eyeball. “We’ll take you back to the cave, and we’ll
show you the true meaning of pain, you filthy man being.” He turned
to the Zelgron around, and commanded:
“Carry him back to the cave!”
His thoughts now close to blankness, Ion
could do nothing but lie there, helpless, as the Zelgron stepped
into the circle, lifted his body off, and slowly carried it down
the way…
Stripped of the energy needed to fight the
agony of his wounds, Ion felt the lights of the world around grow
dim, fuzzy … and before the Zelgron even reached the cave to
torture him, he was floating away.
Ion’s last thought was a fleeting glimpse of
home.
Marion. Selia. Eol…
He was going home.
And then, unconsciousness blanketed him.
__________
Vestra felt a sudden flicker of surprise as
she watched what was going on: she had expected the Zelgron to kill
the boy on the spot. But for some reason, they seemed to be
carrying him back to the cave alive. And as she watched it, a
sudden urge arose within her … The urge to help.
For now it seemed the Zelgron were going to
save the boy for later on … and so, there was a chance to save
him.