The scrolls of thanatos
Ch. 1
Hunted
I heard tale, back when I was but a young swamp spawn, of a great evil that dwelled in the darkness within the bowls of our world. These creatures were never given shape or name and these tales and the elders would cringe while the shaman's burnt purifying inscense at the mention of them. They were described as the darkness itself and were said to be a ravenous horrid race.
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The soft grass crunches under my feet, a small worry for me tonight as I vault through the tall grass. The cold night air brushes past my face forcing me to shut the transparent eyelids that were meant for the waters of my swamp. The light of the full moon glints of my scales turning the turquoise patterns grey. I pull my cloak tighter around myself as the thumps of my pursuers grow closer. I've never seen them, never heard their name but I know their evil, know the name of their race is the foulest of all tongues, just as a hatchling knows its name. behind me the great foul giants goad their cyclopse retainers after me, slaves to their masters' blood lust. Suddenly one of the brutes grabs me by my thigh, I kick at him with my hill, I am young and my barbs are yet small but the poisoned quill sends the brute reeling with a howl. I crawl forward on all fours like one of my lower kin. I look behind me once more, the full moon lends no light to the tall grass but my pursuers glow with their own infernal red light just as the glass shows blue to the pits in my cheek. I scurry forward before I feel a thump on my head and my world goes black.
i awake. It is no brighter than before but I can see clearer for there is no grass around me, by head is filled with an unbearable ringing but I am to frightened to move. The sounds around me slowly resolve themselves into foot falls and the steady trickle of a rives. I look around to see that my head rests on a sandy, sparsely vegetated river bank and that a bloody white stone rests near my head, an explanation for the ringing headache. Through the ground and my jaw I can hear the steps of the hunting brutes, at least 6 of the one eyed brutes, and something larger. Around me the cyclopse servants stalk around the grass, most at least 8 feet tall some 12, most clad in leather armor, some studded with bronze pegs, all carrying gnarled battle axes and dented war hammers. Then I froze, I felt the foot steps of some great behemoth. A foot landed scarcely 2 feet away from my face. I looked up to see a 14 ft. giant Emaciated and boney with huge yellow teeth and white soulless eyes that glowed in the moon light. His body was as black as dried pitch and he stank of mort flesh(zombie meat) on a hot day. But more than that, as he stood there I noticed that the grasses suddenly smelt of the warm muggy decay of grass and the cool smell of the river was replaced by the stench of old blood and I myself smelt of rotting flesh and split bones. The beast wore a huge gleaming chest plate and carried a sword that was far too elegant for the horrid creature. I realized later that the beasts skin was thin almost transparent and I could see his muscles flexing and something else. Inside his gut I could see swirling bluish green vapors with humanoid faces twisted into agonizing faces. He spoke something in a snarl, I realized with a chill that he spoke infernal. I know nothing of infernal except that every word of the language is a blasphemy of the highest order and it is outlawed in all but the most depraived hovels. I shivered in fright and only the knowledge that the stench would be my end kept me from soiling myself. Then 8 small bald, grey humanoids with similar eyes walked out of the tall grass to stand beside the giant. One met my eyes and looked straight at me with black pupiless eyes, and said nothing. The giant reached down and grabbed one of the creatures in its long boney hands and, without a flinch from any creature including the one in its hand, bit it down to the waist. I watched in horror as the fiend devoured the poor slave and I swear to you by the warmth of my nest that I saw one more greenish form slither down the abominations throat t dragging a twisted face with it. Then without another thought the creature roared, wilting the plants around me, and the bands charged off
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I don't know how long I stood bent over the river, puking up hard won slaughter fish back into the river. But when I stopped I took stock of my where abouts. I looked around and realized that I'd fallen down a hill to a shallow river, which I found a small comfort after my run in with the necrotic abomination. I also saw that what I'd first taken as a stone was actually a human skull thrown by one of the cyclopse. I walked several feet down the river away from the brown patch of dead grass before sitting down and taking several deep breaths. I looked down at my hands and realized why the creatures hadn't found me, in my terror my skin had changed to match the ground and the sparse grass and in the moon light the one eyed cretins had passed over me. I sat up and tried to catch my breath, it wasn't for several minutes that I recognized the sound of footfalls. I tensed not ready to face more of the cretins, but before I could hide the strangers came upon me. It took me a moment to recognize the people as men, mammals all smell alike and honestly I only differentiate between those I can eat and those I can't, out of preference I usually spare humans. These men wore thick iron plates over their bodies with round metallic shields in one hand and long swords in the other, one bore a blonde horse main running the length of his helm. "how er you" one human drawled. I got to my feet and replied "I am arclet a simple fisher" I replied as best I could. One human approached me and pointed a sword at my throat. "don't give us that hogwash, you were with the bandits weren't ye" he barked at me. Another followed him with "wait I know what you are, your a chazrack" he said as dumbly as I expected "I am" I replied. "you're coming with us" the captain said before slapping shackles onto my wrists. "what why" I said panicked. "don't play dumb" another said "you and those fomorian bandits have been slaughtering towns for weeks, I bet you were helping them scope out towns" he growled. I was about to protest when the captain cut me off. "we're taking you into custody for questioning" he said. At that I was hoisted onto a horse and we road off towards the imperial city.