The Fading Light
The forest was cool and quiet as the sun continued to sink below the distant horizon. Sparse lighting filtered down through the thick overhead canopy to provide patchy illumination on the ground below. A gentle breeze wafted between the towering oak and fir trees, stirring the stagnant air and rustling the various underbrush as it made its way through the woods. The breeze carried with it the faint odor of the grasslands and of campfire. It was the smell of a traveler... the smell of prey.
Ugrek's pig-like nose wrinkled with the detection of the foreign scent. Ugrek was an Ogre, and quite a large one at that, with enormous lanky arms and an even bigger appetite for flesh. His eyes slowly widened with excitement and he ran his thick, black tongue over his protruding tusks. He stared intently up the forest path from behind the trunk of an ancient felled oak that was lying beside causeway.
He grunted over his shoulder in a guttural whisper, "Wake up, you swine! We've got a fresh one. Get up I say!!" His three smaller companions began to stir behind him, rolling off of their backs and brushing the various bones from their last victim from atop their bloated bellies. They each reached for one of the various weapons that lay strewn around them. Most of the weapons and armor that they possessed had been pilfered from the corpses of various passerby that they had ambushed.
Ugrek shifted the grimy mail shirt that he had claimed for himself into a more comfortable position, careful not to make any more noise than was necessary. The shirt was sturdy, if not a bit small, and it tended to chafe the hide on his shoulders. His great broadsword was strapped diagonally across his back, now showing signs of rust. It was many days ago that he had removed it from the dead fingers of the burly human warrior that he had slain on this very path. His eyes glazed with the memory of that great battle, and the large scar on his left arm twinged in remembrance of the wound that the big man had dealt him. Ugrek focused once again on the forest path. No matter, he had won. He always won.
By now, the other three ogres had gathered loosely beside him behind the oak log. The scent of their quarry was growing steadily stronger. Luckily, they were downwind from their prey. They all lifted their blunt noses into the breeze and inhaled deeply.
"Smells like man-flesh..." squealed Oolong, the smallest ogre in the group. He was a shifty little fellow with stunted tusks and only one ear.
"Good..." "We will make short work of this one." wheezed Golgren and Braag after each other. They were brothers from the same litter, both of modest build and intelligence.
"Quiet, all of you! The human is getting close. Get ready to attack." Ugrek whispered his commands fiercely. His smaller cohorts clamped their jaws shut, and gripped their weapons tighter. They peered intently up the shaded path. The breeze suddenly gusted strongly, and Ugrek detected another, much more muted scent. He snorted softly in an effort to get a better idea of what it was, but just as quickly as it had came to him, the scent vanished. He shook his head to clear it of this distraction.
Up the path about 30 yards, they all caught sight of movement. Their backs stiffening with excitement, they watched as a hooded figure made its way around the bend toward them. The twilight shadows obscured their view of the man's face, which was covered by the hood of a rich, blood red cloak that extended all the way to the man's feet and was embroidered in strange curving black symbols. The figure's hands were tucked into the his sleeves, and he seemed calm in the waning light.
Ugrek's lips parted in a malicious sneer. He rose to his feet and stepped out onto the forest path. The other ogres followed his lead and positioned themselves on either side of him. The man in the cloak came to a halt, and removed his hands from their sleeves. A rumbling voice emanated from deep within the cloak's hood. "Flee now. I have no desire to trouble myself with your kind. I will not tell you again."
The words shocked Ugrek. How could this human make such demands? He was alone, unarmed as far as could be seen, and was far smaller than himself. Ugrek threw back his head and roared in laughter. His minions cackled in their own deranged merriment at his sides. Ugrek unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the man. "Oh, I will take much pleasure in killing you, human! Our bellies have grown empty, and that cloak of yours would look much better upon my own back. We will feast upon your flesh this night!" he yelled. The other ogres hooted and bayed as their bloodthirst rose within them. They all broke into a run towards their quarry.
In the face of their braying charge, the man simply raised his right arm and pointed in their direction. Ugrek could make out long, pointed black nails on the man's fingers, almost like claws. As he watched, the hooded figure began to chant in a broken and harsh tongue. Black flames erupted from the man's outstretched hand, enveloping it, and growing steadily larger with every word that he uttered. The flames were as dark as night, and seemed to draw in and swallow the dappled light around them. A deep shadow quickly grew to obscure the man's arm.
Suddenly, the man barked the final word of the chant, and sent the ethereal flames hurling forth from his hand through the air at a very high speed. The fireball flew towards the charging group of ogres and impacted Golgren in his midsection. With an evil hiss, the fire melted right through the hapless ogre's flesh and bone like warm tallow, spraying liquified tissue in huge globs as it burst through his back to continue on its path into the forest. The acrid smell of charred hair and flesh assailed Ugrek's nose just before Golgren's gurgles of agony reached his ears. They all came to a sharp halt and turned to stare at their companion. The fatally injured ogre dropped his ax and began pawing furiously at the gaping hole through his torso. Staring wildly, Golgren's legs buckled, and he collapsed face first in the dirt of the road. His body convulsed a few times, and then lay still.
Ugrek's mind was slow to respond to the scene. It had all happened in the space of an instant, and now they were without a comrade. Braag, Golgran's brother, was quick to take action. His face split into a visceral snarl, and he turned once again to rush at the figure in the cloak, brandishing his sword with both hands. "I'll kill you! I'll tear you apart!!" Braag yelled. The man simply reach up and pulled down the hood of his cloak with his clawed hands. As the fabric fell away, two curving horns became visible in the gloom atop his head. Ugrek's blood ran cold in his veins.
A half-demon! He stared as the creature's yellow slitted eyes fixed upon Braag's wild charge. Ugrek spotted sharp teeth in the demon's mouth. Other than that, the creature appeared human, a deceptive appearance indeed. Through his fury and raging blood lust, Braag either did not notice his target's appearance or was too absorbed in his anger to care. In either case, there was no time to intervene.
The demon raised both hands in front of his body, and barked a grating command. This time, both hands burst into black flames, and the shadows closed in around the figure, leaving only the glow of his yellow eyes to pierce the blackness of the flames. With a shout of anger, Braag swung his sword down from above his head towards those glowing eyes.
"Too slow..." the demon muttered, and deftly sidestepped the blow. Then, with a motion that was too fast to follow with his eyes, Ugrek watched as the demon sliced sideways with both hands clean through Braag's arms. The sword clattered to the ground, dragging with it the severed arms that still clung to its hilt. Braag threw back his head and screamed in pain as his body suddenly registered the injury. The demon simply extinguished one of his hands. The screams continued as Braag fell to his knees before the half-demon.
"Be silent!" the creature sneered, and thrust his emblazoned hand forward to grasp Braag's face. Upon contact, the skin boiled away from the demon's touch, and loose folds of hide fell down around the ogre's shoulders. With a disgusted sneer, the demon clenched its grip, and Braag's skull shattered, simultaneously oozing brain material to the ground and quieting the screams of its owner. The half-demon flicked its wrist to banish the last of the flames and stepped forward, paying no more heed to the ruined corpse left behind.
Ugrek's limbs began shaking. The wind began blowing heavily towards him, rippling the cloak of the monster that was making its way in his direction. His nose filled with that fleeting scent from before... not human, no. Hellspawn! Demon!! Every fiber of his being screamed at him to run, to flee for his life. Oolong, who was still standing behind him apparently had the same instincts clambering within. With a yelp of dismay, Oolong turned away and fled down the path, and away from that thing of nightmares. But Ugrek could not take his eyes off of those of the Hellspawn. Those yellow slits of malevolent evil clouded his thinking and robbed him of any will to run. His body suddenly felt drained, his mail shirt felt very heavy, and the edge of his sword sunk to the ground.
Oolong's frenzied screams tore through the dusk air, and Ugrek felt the heat from a great flame radiate on his back. The sounds of thrashing and crashing issued from behind him as Oolong slowly succumbed to his fate. Ugrek had not even seen the half-demon raise an arm this time, nor even break eye contact with himself. The creature simply continued walking forward, ever forward, towards Ugrek. Those yellow eyes... they burned into his very soul, and he suddenly felt the need to escape their gaze. He wanted to live!
Ugrek dropped his sword and spun around, sprinting down the path as fast as he could run. He winced as he expected a raging inferno to engulf his body at any moment. He passed the charred remains of Oolong on the path, barely recognizable as anything that had once lived, much less someone that he had known. His heart pounded in his chest and ears with every footstep, threatening to burst free. The chain shirt that he wore tore at his shoulders and slapped against his back and sides. But still he ran on.
After a few hundred feet, he stole a frenzied glance back over his shoulder and saw that the Hellspawn was no where in sight. The path was clear. His brain struggled to find hope in that observation. Had he escaped??
With a jarring Whump, something punched him in the gut. He fell backward onto the dirt path, the impact knocking the wind from his lungs. His eyes fought to focus once more in the dimming light. He heard heavy footsteps running away from him down the path and craned his neck in their direction. It was then that he beheld a queer sight. A pair of disembodied legs that ended just above the waistline were running down the road. As he watched, they stumbled and fell to the dirt in a heap. As his mind struggled to understand the scene, his eyes drifted down to his own waistline. Ugrek's scream was long and loud.
His body ended right above where his waist should have been. His chain shirt was shorn cleanly through and through, and his intestines spilled out onto the dirt in front of him. A puddle of black blood and gore quickly flooded out from him, and he began to vomit blood as well. His head collapsed backward onto the ground and he found himself staring over his tusks into the face of his predator, the half-demon who was standing over him. Choking on blood, his eyesight began to dim, slowly filling with shadow. He thought he heard the Hellspawn mutter "Wretched vermin, why don't they ever just run away and save me the time?"
The last sight that Ugrek beheld with his mortal eyes was that of the demon pulling the hood of its cloak back over its head and turning its back on him. The monster continued its way down the road, never glancing behind. The dappled light streaming down through the forest canopy seemed very dim now, and steadily fading. Everything slowly became shrouded in blackness as Ugrek took one final gasp of breath. Ugrek's eyes glazed over as the last of his lifeblood drained away.