Ecrenion

The City of Snakes pt. 2

Rodrigo A. Rojas Ferrer

Chapter 4

Sirsit woke. He was somewhat calm for the exciting events that will unfold in the evening. He dressed himself with the finest red and gray robes that he had at his disposal. After combing his long shiny hair backwards, he proceeded to touch the mask that took up the right half of his jaw and trailed off up to the bottom of his ear. He was a nazur, a renegade soul from the realm of torture, Touras. This nazur could easily remember the pain that he had to endure there, the faces of the other souls that looked at him with despair in their eyes and finally, the day of his escape; when he finally threw himself through the threshold that sent him plummeting down to Ecrenion, when he touched his face and found a mask taking up part of his new identity. Things did not go easy for him after that, he wasn´t accepted into society so easily, he wasn´t raised in Jordsir or East Motto like the lucky nazur. Touras was not friendly to him and neither was his new home in Ecrenion. His only motivation was vengeance he would demonstrate to everyone just how they kept a wolf on a leash pretending he was a dog.

"Urgent news, lord!" Sirsit heard a low hissing voice behind him. The sound of someone calling him lord quickly washed all those bad memories from his mind.

Sirsit turned slowly and eyed the large bulky slizian who addressed him. "How many times have I asked you to knock before entering my domain, Isk?" he said without having to mouth the words. One of the talents that nazur have is the ability of speech without the use of vocal cords, their mouth is their mind.

"Pardon me, lord, but I really think you should hear this." Isk said, attempting not to bring the wrath of his master down on him.

"Clarify." demanded Sirsit.

"One of the sentry groups just returned," started Isk, "with casualties."

This definitely caught the attention of Sirsit.

Inside the jungle temple, Sirsit eyed the body of a dead slizian. The slizian had a rotting hole between his eyes.

"What happened?"

"They ambushed a war band of finderskan warriors, this one belonged to the group down by the ruined village, and he was their mystic." Isk responded.

"Any survivors?" said Sirsit while stepping over the dead body.

Isk pointed out to the four slizian warriors bowing down to Sirsit; their heads staring down to the floor and their arms shaking. After quickly glaring over them, his stare returned to the downed slizian; he examined it for a bit and took a deep breath.

"He was not killed by a sword or any other weapon that a finderskan would usually use." Sirsit leered at the warriors "Speak!"

The warriors flinched as though they were about to be smitten. Then when one of them finally found the courage, he stood.

"My lord Sirsit, there were mecca-spawn within the fray. One of them was a good shooter and shot our mystic from a considerable distance" the warrior threw himself back to his kneeling position.

"The finderskans are no problem, but why did you not kill the mecca-spawn?" irritation growing in Sirsit´s voice.

"They were really skilled, we-" the warrior began to say.

"Do not worry yourself over your stupidity, from now on I will think for you." Sirsit paused, snapped his fingers and pointed towards the warriors. In a flash they were all engulfed in gray fire. The screams of the slizians slowly subsided with the vanishing of the flames.

Sirsit gazed upon the burned carcasses that used to be his followers. He made a mental note to use their bodies as puppets later on during the day.

This was the punishment that awaited any follower of Sirsit who did not follow orders; they would not only be burned, but used as subjects to Sirsit´s manipulative mysticisms.

"You disapprove?" Sirsit turned to face his right hand man, "Isk?"

"They are my people." Isk said with seriousness in his voice.

"Regardless, they did let those mecca-spawn live, after I specifically told them that they were the first to be killed on sight." Sirsit said coolly.

He walked towards his makeshift throne and sat down, hand on his chin. He got lost in his thoughts and then stood again.

"Isk, get your weapon ready, you are going to avenge your fallen comrades." a grin slowly crept up his face.

Shutt slowly climbed the tree to look at his their target, the object and destination of their long trip through the hisian jungles. It stood grandly and with a small hint of danger; as though it were beckoning them in for their deaths. A ruined temple stood right before them, more than a temple it actually looked like a well carved entrance to a cave that led right under a mountain. The columns were covered with vines and the stoning was chipping away.

Another detail that brought Shutt´s attention was a group of four slizians waiting just outside the entrance; strangely their skin seemed burned and their eyes dead, but they were moving. Clearly, they were guarding the entrance.

Shutt let go of the branch he was holding, dropped quickly to the ground and landed with as much grace as a cat.

"Four slizians are guarding the entrance; they don´t seem that tough, but they surely were put there to alert, not to guard." Shutt briefed Tymian and Marah upon touching the ground.

Tymian drew his gun and stared towards Marah. "Well I guess you are free now. You don´t have to follow us now if you don´t want to."

"With all the slizians that might be lurking in there; it would surely raise my score within the hunting games." fire surely burned within her eyes upon the thought of her winning this great competition.

"Well, Marah. Why don´t you take point?" Shutt said gesturing his arms as though inviting her.

"With pleasure" She replied, raising her halberd.

"Before you go; once were inside the temple, we stick together no matter what, and if you see a nazur in there… kill him!" Shutt commanded with certainty in his voice and glared towards his companions that would make them understand no matter what.

Tymian could only think what was to happen to his brother if they did not kill the nazur; would it be a repeat of his dream, the one with the beautiful blue snake?

The first unsuspecting slizian fell to a halberd blade that found its way to his throat. Had the slizian been able to see who was holding the weapon, he would have found a female finderskan warrior.

After the first fell to the ground the rest became a small battlefield. Shutt managed to shoot a slizian in the leg and then jumped out of the bushes to impale his head with Cinder-shot´s blade.

Tymian always preferred a different approach. He watched the first two slizians fall, and he followed by leaping down from the canopy of the large tree where he was hiding. He fell directly on the shoulders of an unsuspecting slizian, or at least unsuspecting of Tymian´s presence. Even though Tymian had fallen from a large distance, the slizian felt as though a normal cat had fallen atop him; a cat that quickly drew a dagger and slit his throat from right on top of him. The slizian slumped backward while Tymian leaped and dismounted.

Marah, awed from Tymian´s display, gave a full swing and took a part of the last slizians head.

"They did not even have a chance to draw their weapons!" Marah announced and cheered. "And if I do say so, I managed to slay more than the likes of you two!"

"Quality not quantity." Tymian assured himself while waving his knife at her "You only swung your weapon wildly while me and Shutt here managed to take our share out with style."

"Hush you two; we still have a ways to go!" Shutt glared at the two squabbling children, as he saw them. He quickly darted towards the entrance, and it took Tymian and Marah some time to react to Shutt´s action.

"Well Isk, it seems that the failure of your inept sentries has been lifted." Sirsit said while rising from his throne.

"Excuse me, lord?" Isk arose from the floor he was sitting drawing a blank face.

"The sentries that I "punished" earlier were not completely useless. After I burned them I refilled their lifeless bodies with my mystic fire and controlled them. Even though I haven´t perfected this technique I am able to give them simple commands like standing in front of the temple like mindless drones. Their ´deaths´ mean that the ones I was beckoning in have caught the bait." Sirsit explained everything as though it had been a clever board game strategy and he enjoyed board games.

Even though Isk was not the brightest among his people; having spent enough time with Sirsit had taught him that intruders had come inside the temple and Sirsit would want them dead especially if it was the mecca-spawn with the enhanced gun and mechanical eyes.

It had been a while since Isk had been allowed to fight, but he was very confident that his skills had not rusted. He raised his custom-made weapon. When he was a budding warrior he was able to brandish a large curved sword, but during a small battle with human invaders his sword had been cloven by a large axe. All that remained of it was a large fragment of the blade; the hilt and lower part had been lost. He had always cherished that sword and thus he had a chain welded onto the blade and linked to a small pole. His once frightening sword had now become a terrifying slashing whip. He called it Scaletail.

"I must admit Isk, I´m looking forward to seeing you use Scaletail again; it always brings me chills when victims fall prey to it." An obvious sneer crept up Sirsit´s face. "Well get up Isk! Let us make an entrance for our guests."

Just as a trio made up of two mecca-spawns and a finderskan warrior entered the large room; Sirsit snapped his fingers and the entrance where the group appeared was now shut with a door made of gray fire.

"Welcome guests!" Sirsit´s voice echoed throughout the chamber.

Chapter 5

"Welcome guests!" was the first thing that Shutt heard. The second was the crack of a small fire, probably the one that was blocking the door right at that moment.

Shutt glared at the well dressed nazur standing at the far end of the chamber just in front of a crude throne, a throne for a false ruler.

"Do you expect a bow from our part, Sirsit?" Shutt started "Or are you going to burn us and make us bow?"

"Ah, I see that my flaming undertaking has grown a reputation. It is always a proud moment for a mystic to learn that one's abilities is renowned through the world" Sirsit waved his arms as though he had been rehearsing his lines.

"Yes Sirsit, it has also taken the notice of Adamar and his chosen few!" Shutt raised his hand which grasped a silver badge with a crossword emblem.

Tymian could not believe the secret that Shutt had kept from him all these years. His brother was one of Adamar´s Chosen; a select few chosen by Adamar, the great spirit of justice, they wander the world making sure that all obey the laws of nations and nature. This would certainly explain why his brother would sometimes disappear from the village for almost months and would return with no explanation.

"Even more exciting to know that I have been pursued by one of Adamar´s Chosen, this is beyond my expectations!" this was all like a great game for the nazur. "Now, if you don´t mind, I have another spell to perfect." Sirsit turned his back and left through the hole in the wall behind the throne that led outside.

A large bulky slizian leapt out from his position down the three steps that led from the throne and started to swing a large crude blade linked to a thick hilt by a chain.

"Tymian, you fight this brute; I will take care of Sirsit!" Shutt quickly darted towards the slizian and slid right under the barbarian´s first attack and raced towards Sirsit´s exit.

"Shutt wa- " , Tymian´s words were cut off as he was forced to leap back and dodge the second swing that came from the massive slizian.

Marah stepped to Tymian´s side and twirled her halberd in a fashion that was meant to strike fear into the most brutish and fearless opponents. However the giant slizian seemed to be unfazed from the performance; instead he seemed to instill fear within his opponents by simply swinging his bizarre weapon.

Without a moment's hesitation Marah was upon him. She swung her halberd to his left side, but the brute was quick and brought the blade up to defend himself. Marah hardly moved the slizians hand when her halberd struck his blade. He instantly swung his right hand up and backhand slapped Marah across her face, making her stumble back; within another moment he started to swing the chain over his head and slowly walked towards the downed finderskan. Marah´s vision was still fuzzy from the hit she had just taken and could hardly get up.

Just when the slizian was about to bring the blade down on her a dagger flew past Marah and dug deep into the slizan´s arm. She was gripped on the arm by Tymian and hauled upward.

"I know you don´t want my help, but I can´t let you die. I have need of your skills." Tymian glared deep into her eyes to show that he was not in the mood for a scolding on Marah´s behalf.

Marah on the other hand saw something else in his eyes: concern.

Their small conversation was interrupted as a huge blade swung right between them and returned to the hand of an enraged slizian.

Tymian drew his pistol and shot quickly. The bullet hit the brute in the left shoulder, but other than the small hole that was left no other apparent damage was left. The slizian took a deep breath and let it out with a deep and bellowing roar. Tymian wanted to run but his legs just wouldn´t react, and for a brief moment Marah wished she had never come to Hisia.

Good thing that Tymian always carried a few tricks with him.

"Hold your breath, Marah, and grab my hand!" he quickly reached for her arm with his right hand and searched in his pouch with his left. After a split second he took out two small metal balls and threw them hard under the slizian´s feet. The balls split open and let out a purple haze that quickly filled the whole chamber; and within a single moment the slizian lost sight of his prey.

Marah and Tymian came bursting out from the same exit that Sirsit and Shutt had used.

"How were you able to breathe the poison from that gas without faltering one bit?" Marah demanded an explanation.

"The mask that I wear has a special filter that cleans the air for my lungs." Tymian explained "It seems that you are amazed by our technology" he grinned.

Then a small explosion of grey fire was seen at the distance. The area that was hidden behind the temple was a vast green plain filled with few trees and some weathered rocks which were obviously part of the ruined temple itself; the whole area was surrounded by a chain of mountains. The source of the explosion was behind a series of larger ruins that lay in the middle of the field.

Marah and Tymian ran as fast as they could towards the explosion. Upon their arrival they saw a series of amazing mystical feats and the supreme skills of gunmanship at work. Shutt was running between the ruins and shooting at the same time; he never missed his target. On the other hand; Sirsit stood on top of a pillar weaving mystical grey flames from his hands to consume the incoming bullets and occasionally firing a fireball or two. Tymian was scared to see such a difficult adversary, but proud to be the brother of an Adamar´s Chosen.

Shutt ran up a series of ruined stairs and shot various bullets, although they were all consumed by Sirsit´s flames; he was now leveled with the nazur.

"Witness the power of Adamar, and repent from the awe." Shutt kneeled quickly and took aim. A large bullet made of flame shot from Cinder-shot´s barrel and flew swiftly towards Sirsit. The nazur mystic was still able to shield himself from the direct attack by creating his trademark gray flame from his hands, but a certain heat took over and an explosion of both grey and red fire took place. Sirsit was launched from his position and came crashing down to the pasture. Tymian saw as the nazur looked at his hands, and screamed in pain as he realized that the skin had been completely seared off. A moment later Tymian was distracted as he heard a grunt coming from behind.

Their big slizian friend had returned, and it was obvious that he had endured the poison that Tymian had so courteously left behind. Rage was the new complexion that took over the slizians face, and he ran toward his prey. Marah was quick to face the brute and brought her halberd down hard on the slizian´s shoulder. Nothing more than a flesh wound was left as Marah lifted her halberd from the berserker´s shoulder and saw that it was nothing more than mosquitoes' bite for her foe. The brute quickly slashed towards Marah´s head with his blade, but missed by a few inches as the finderskan quickly dropped to the ground.

Tymian ran inside the ruins and up the same stairs that his brother had just taken.

"Isk, kill the annoying mecca-spawns! The finderskan bug can wait!" Sirsit´s voice had definitely changed from the charismatic villainous voice that he had first heard.

The large slizian, now known to be named Isk, tackled Marah and easily sent her flying a couple of feet away; he rushed towards Tymian´s location, where Tymian managed to get a few lucky shots at Isk although it had no effect as proven earlier. When Isk reached the bottom of the stairs, he grabbed a large rock that lay close to his feet and launched it towards Tymian as though it were nothing more than a mere pebble. Tymian had the evasiveness to dodge it without much trouble, although the chained blade that Isk managed to swing all the way up the stairs proved to be more challenging to dodge but nevertheless, Tymian was successful. Tymian drew two of his knives and flicked them towards Isk where one just scraped Isk´s blade and the other hit straight in the chest but barely passed through skin.

Almost two or three shots and three knives left, his brother busy fighting an evil nazur, and his finderskan "slave" unconscious; Tymian was running out of tricks and that was very difficult for someone of Tymian´s creativity. Isk swung the blade towards Tymian again and even though the blade did not hit, the chain was able to wrap itself around Tymian´s leg; even Tymian´s cat like agility wasn´t able to avoid being caught or have his leg pulled out under him. Once Tymian hit his head on the floor he saw the slizian raise a his fist as though he were going to smite him; but before the fist could even fall it was completely blown out of the arm, and judging by the power of the shot, Tymian could have guessed that it was Shutt´s trademark "Ember Shot", a mix between gunmanship and fisa mysticism.

Without a moment´s hesitation Tymian leaped from the floor and down the flight of stairs to fall on top of the slizian. The fall wasn´t enough to tumble the brute, but it did hold Tymian as he had intended. He drew his pistol, shoved it into the slizians mouth and shot; the back of the slizian´s head burst open and a spray of blood followed. Isk´s eyes rolled backwards and he fell backwards like a mighty tree that had just been axed down.

Just as Tymian had already begun to relax, he heard the worst sound he could have hoped for. As though an explosion of the Ecrenion´s most powerful explosives had just taken place; and worst of all, the scream of agony coming from his brother's voice. Tymian swung around to see his brother falling, a streak of gray fire entering through his stomach and leaving out the back. Shutt had been killed in front of his eyes.

Glossary:

Sirsit: Nazur mystic that seeks to exact revenge on the world for making him suffer. Talented in his use of mysticism of gray fire and the creation of an ability called Flaming Undertaking.

Touras: The realm where evil or villainous souls go to be tortured when they die.

Nazur: A race of renegade souls that managed to escape from Touras. Naturally skilled in mysticism and known for wearing a white mask that is part of their faces.

East Motto: A country highly known for its psychological and philosophical abilities and advances.

Isk: A large and bulky slizian that works as Sirsit's right hand. Uses both his strength and his weapon, Scaletail.

Scaletail: Isk's weapon. Originally a sword that was broken; Isk welded a chain to the blade to make it much more fearsome.

Flaming Undertaking: Sirsit's ability which he made up and marks him as a master mystic. This ability kills his enemies with fire and then revives their corpse with the same fire that allows him to hold sovereignty over it.

Adamar: Great Spirit of Justice. He seeks order throughout all of Ecrenion.

Adamar's Chosen: An elite group of people chosen by Adamar to uphold justice.

Ember Shot: An ability of Shutt's which is made possible through the use of Cinder-shot's fisa properties.

Fisa: Mozarick for fire. Also used to refer to any mysticism using fire.