Kwai kwai nidobak! We'v finally reached the Volcanic Region and things are already to going downhill. Our heroes are so close to finding Awehsohs, yet their journey will still be very challenging. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!
Chapter 25: To the Castle
The Neanderthuls were being decimated by Xea. No one was spared from the Assassin's blades.
As each Cavemen charged at Xea, striking out with their weapons, Xea would brutally slaughter all of the enemies that came to close. Xea whirled through the air, each time it moved it seemed to kill a Neandethul. In only a matter of five minutes, the entire ground was littered with severed human limbs and body parts. Blood stained the ground.
The remaining Neanderthuls became more hesitant to attack the shadow demon, but did not run away. This would be many of the men's undoing however.
Xea heard Persephone's voice in it's mind.
"Slaughter them all."
Xea nodded it's hooded head and suddenly a gurgling sound could be heard underneath it's robes. Black tar became to expand underneath it's feet, and slowly crawled up the Assassin's body, soon the tar completely engulfed the Assassin in a form of cocoon. The Cocoon began to engulf itself in orange flames, and then exploded into a fiery mess.
The flaming pieces of tar struck several Neanderthuls, burning them to an agonizing death. As the smoke cleared, Xea had changed.
It's form was now much more bulky, tar like armor now made up most of it's body, silver spikes appeared on it's back like a porcupine that looked sharp enough to slice even the strongest of mortals in half like paper with a knife. Long glowing red Ethereal claws extended from it's giant fists, Xea's eyes continued to glow crimson and it's mouth opened to reveal long jagged fangs and glowing red napalm rolled out of it's mouth.
The humans stared at the beast in terror as it lunged forward, clawing swatting and decapitating the remaining humans in the area. As the beast killed the second to last Neanderthul, perhaps the bulkiest, Xea proceeded to slam the corpse into the ground until all of the human's bones were reduced to gravel.
Xea slowly turned to see a retreating Neanderthul. Xea paused, not considering the retreating human to be a threat…until Xea's creator and mistress whispered in it's mind.
"Kill him."
Xea let out an ear piercing roar and lunged at the last Neanderthul, snatched him up into the air and heard the Neanderthul cry out several words…almost as if to plead for it's fragile life. But it's words fell on deaf ears as Xea proceeded to rip the human's left leg off and proceeded to smash the Neanderthul into rock, killing him five seconds later.
When the last Neanderthul was dead, Xea threw the body aside and released another ear piercing roar, and ran forward on all fours after it's targets.
The two mortals had become lucky the first two times…but per Persephone's orders, while remaining in this form, the Son of Stone and the Sleg would not escape Xea…Persephone was sure of it.
Awehsohs was just beginning to wake up from his slumber in his room. His dark brown eyes fluttered open to see the ceiling and he slowly sat up with a yawn. He slowly scratched the back of his head before he got out of bed and began to get dressed. Just when the child had finished getting dressed, the door slid open, revealing none other than Lord Dominus.
"Good morning." the intimidating Sleg greeted with a slight nod and a blank expression.
"Oh um... greetings." the young Skræling replied, sounding a little started from the Sleg's sudden appearance.
"I have been thinking about something for a long while now and... I believe you should see something." Lord Dominus spoke with that deep guttural voice that usually brought fear to both humans and non-humans.
Awehsohs was wondering what the Sleg wanted to show him, but something told him that he would not receive a proper answer if he asked. He just nodded lightly in understanding before he slowly walked over to the tall reptilian standing by the doorway.
Once he was out of the room and at the Sleg leader's side, they commenced to walk down the hallway with two hulkish Sleg escorts trailing behind them. They made a few twists and turns, and even went up a set of stares. The human child easily became lost because of all the turns they made, but he stayed close to his non-human captor. He watched the tall Sleg's crimson red cape flap behind him as they walked in an attempt to pass the time.
After a few minutes of walking, they reached the door that led to Lord Dominus' living quarters. One of the guards opened the door for them upon their approach and nodded in greetings.
Lord Dominus ignored the hulkish Sleg and walked through the door without a word. The young Skræling wordlessly followed him inside and the door closed as soon as he walked through the doorway, leaving him alone with the black scaled Sleg.
The human child took this moment to look at the fancily decorated room. The room they were currently in resembled a living room on account of the sofa and various chairs in the room. There was also a crimson red rug covering the floor and paintings were hanging from the walls. One of these paintings was a portrait of Lord Dominus himself.
Discluding the door they just came through, there were four metal doors in the room. The tall Sleg began to walk towards the one directly across the room from them and he pressed his three fingered hand on the hand scanner attached to the wall. After a few milliseconds of waiting, the door slid open and he stepped aside.
"Go on in." Lord Dominus told the child with an unreadable facial expression.
Awehsohs nodded slowly before he hesitantly walked through the open door frame. He found himself inside a bedroom that, like the last room, had a red rug covering the floor. There was also a large bed to his left and he could see a Sleg sitting on the edge of the bed, staring straight at him with reptilian yellow eyes.
This Sleg was actually very similar to Lord Dominus, but judging by it's slender body and cleavage, Awehsohs identified the Sleg as a female. Like all the other Sleg's he's seen, she had a short, stubby tail. The scales covering her body was dark gray and her head looked similar to a raptor's, just like Lord Dominus'. She was wearing violet colored robes with a high collar to cover the back and sides of her neck. Lastly, she had a swollen, round belly, suggesting that she was pregnant.
"Awehsohs, I would like you to meet my wife, Vitam." Lord Dominus introduced as he stepped into the room and the metal door slid closed behind him.
"Hello, little one. I have been told about you." Vitam greeted politely with a slightly scratchy voice,, but her voice didn't sound irritating in the slightest.
The young human nodded slightly in greetings because he couldn't find it in himself to speak. He had no idea that his captor was married and he was wondering why the male Sleg was introducing him to her.
"I don't normally allow people to see Vitam because I am... well... protective of her. There aren't many of our breed of Slegs left in the Lost Land and I want our child to be safe." the male Sleg explained to the child as he slowly walked over to the bed and sat down next to the female.
"Oh... well, it is nice to meet you." Awehsohs stated, obviously a little shy about meeting the new Sleg.
"It is nice to meet you as well. Would you like to sit down?" she questioned with a kind smile.
"Sure..." he replied a little awkwardly and he walked over to the bed.
Vitam scooted over and Awehsohs sat down between the two Slegs. He rested his hands on his knees and looked up at them, not sure what he should say next. Before he could say anything however, Lord Dominus began to speak.
"I know you must think that this certain situation you're in and this very land is strange, but you are most likely here to stay. I don't even know it there is a way to send you back to your own world. So, me and Vitam made a decision last night." he began with an emotionless tone of voice.
"We've decided that we're going to adopt you. That is, if you don't mind." the female Sleg told him with a warm smile that could brighten anyone's day.
Awehsoh's eyes widened in great surprise when she said that. He wasn't expecting this to be the reason why Lord Dominus brought him here at all. He was honestly flattered that they were making this offer to him, but then his mind went back to Siômo, who he believed was somewhere out in the Lost land.
"But... what about my brother...?" the child couldn't help, but ask them.
The two married Slegs looked at one another when he asked that. They have been thinking about this themselves because they knew this question was going to pop up sooner or later.
"Unless your brother chooses to pay for his crimes against me and my army... he will be terminated." Lord Dominus answered vaguely.
"Oh..." Awehsohs said quietly as he looked down. "May I have some time to think about this, ease?" he requested softly, referring to them adopting him.
"Of course you can, little one. I know this is a rather... strange for you." Vitam answered understandingly as she gently rested a three fingered hand on his shoulder.
The young Skræling actually smiled from her kindness and looked up at her. Lord Dominus still scared him a little, but she seemed to be a polar apposite of him. While the Sleg leader was emotionless and cruel to his soldiers, she was very kind and it didn't look like she could hurt a fly.
The three of them simply sat there on the bed in silence. Slowly, the boy looked down at the female Sleg's swollen belly, which she quickly noticed.
"I'm pregnant with Dominus' child. We're planning on naming it Tyrannus." Vitam informed him as she gently rubbed her round belly.
"I thought of the name." Lord Dominus commented and he actually cracked a small smile.
"That is a nice name." Awehsohs commented quietly, yet honestly.
"We're glad you like it." Vitam replied with a light chuckle before she leaned over and nuzzled her husband's cheek.
After that was said, the couple began to tell the young Skræling the benefits of them adopting him. He actually liked many of the things they said, but he still wanted to be with his brother, Siômo; he just didn't have the heart to tell them. He simply listened to everything they had to say as the morning went on.
Within the Volcanic Region, Siômo and Reptantis were walking down a rocky trail together. The human was currently holding his bow in his left hand while his Sleg ally was carrying his flechette gun. Neither of them have seen any sign of Xea since the Neanderthals attacked earlier, much to their relief. The last thing they wanted to do was face that shadow Assassin again.
The two companions finally took the moment to take in the scenery as they walked. The whole landscape around them was blocked off by reddish brown mountains and a few of them emitted black smoke, revealing that thy were active volcanos. Thankfully, none of them were erupting or spewing lava into the sky.
"How can the Sleg army stay in a place like this? I do not even see any trees here." Siômo spoke up with a frown as some wind caused his hair to shift a little.
"It's more strategic than anything. It's hard to get an entire army to get to the Sleg castle with all of these mountains. Simply getting an army to the Sleg castle could take weeks and that's without any resistance." Reptantis explained as they walked.
"I suppose that makes sense." the bearded native commented and he looked up at the cloudy sky. "Do you have any idea where we are supposed to go? Because I so not." he questioned hopefully.
"We'll reach the castle if we keep going north. From what I've been told, it's hard to miss, even with these mountains." the Sleg replied.
His human ally nodded in understanding and they continued to walk northward in silence. After awhile, Reptantis reached into one of his pouches and took out his radio.
"You going to call Aria?" Siômo questioned knowingly when he noticed his friend take out the communications device.
"Yes." the Sleg answered before he set the radio to the gunsmith's frequency and held it up to his earhole.
There was some static at first and he was worried that they might not have had a signal within the mountain landscape. His theory was proven wrong however when he heard a familiar voice.
"Hello, Reptantis. Is there something you need?" Aria greeted cheerfully on the other line.
"Hey, Aria. No... I need to tell you something. Remember that shadow creature back at the sky bridge yesterday?" the Sleg questioned as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I remember it." the gunsmith answered, sounding much more serious this time.
"Well... that thing attacked the airship me and Siômo were on. The ship crashed and it's just the two of us now. Everyone else either died in the crash or was murdered by that shadow thing." he explained to her and he glanced at his Skræling friend while they walked down the path.
"...You've got to be kidding me." Aria replied with dread in her voice after a few moments of dead silence.
"I wish I was. On a brighter note, we made it to the Volcanic Region and we're walking north as we speak." the Sleg informed her.
"At least there's some good news. Just keep traveling north and you should find the castle. Just he careful; Neanderthals call those mountains their home." the gunsmith warned and she sighed quietly.
"Oh, we've encountered those things already. They saved our lives in fact. You see, when that shadow thing started coming for us, a whole bunch of Neanderthals came out of nowhere and attacked it. We were able to escape in the confusion." Reptantis replied with a small smile.
"Huh, that was pretty convenient. still, be careful for me. I don't want to lose you two..." Aria spoke with a cracked voice in the end.
"Don't worry, we'll be careful. Besides... I want to take you out on a date when we get back." the Sleg commented and Siômo glanced at him with an amused expression.
A gasp could be heard on the other end of the radio before he heard a light giggle.
"You better, lizard man... because I'd really like that." she finally replied and he could imagine her blushing.
"We'll be back soon And in one piece, I promise." Reptantis told her.
"I'm holding you to that promise. Goodbye." Aria replied with newfound cheerfulness and the line was cut.
The Sleg ex-soldier smiled as he put his radio away and looked ahead while they walked. Even though he only heard what the Sleg said, Siômo was smiling as well.
"She is a nice girl. I think you two will be happy together." the Skræling commented, making his companion chuckle.
The two walked in silence after that, mostly so they could focus on their journey and their dangerous surroundings. They were currently traveling uphill along the gravel path. Once they reached the summit of the hill they were on, they both stopped dead in their tracks.
In the distance between two mountains, the two men could see a large castle with a very tall tower in the center. The castle was surrounded by high walls with spikes jutting out from them. There were also plenty of Sleg airships flying around the area and the two companions guessed that there were Sleg patrols all around the mountains close by. Getting into the castle would prove difficult.
"So... how are we going to get inside?" Siômo questioned as they both crouched down so they would hopefully not be seen.
"I'm not quite sure yet. The front door is not an option for obvious reasons. Give me a moment to think..." Reptantis replied as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I've heard that the castle has secret entrances and exits just in case Lord Dominus ever needed to be evacuated. Maybe we could find a hidden tunnel or something." he commented after some thought.
"It could take us a long time to find one of these hidden tunnels." the Skræling commented with a frown as he sat down on a stool sized rock.
The rock the native sat down on began to slowly lower into the ground once he sat down. This caused him to jump to his feet in surprise and both men watched the rock slide into the gravel covered ground. Once the rock was fully in the ground, two tall rocks that were side by side against the mountainside began to slide away from each other. This revealed a dark tunnel that was leading downwards.
"Hey, it's a hidden tunnel." the Sleg commented with a smug grin as he took out his personal flashlight and turned it on.
Siômo simply rolled his eyes and didn't answer as his reptilian friend shined the flashlight's light down the dark tunnel. They then entered the entrance, but stopped when they heard a rumbling sound.
The two companions speedily turned around and their eyes widened when they saw Xea quickly rushing over to their location. The Assassin was still in it's "brawler" form and it was moving on all four of it's limbs. It obviously knew exactly where they were and they even heard it roar as it got closer and closer.
"By the Gods! We need to close the tunnel!" the Skræling shouted with wide eyes as he aimed his plasma cannon at the beast and set his weapon to it's secondary firing mode.
Reptantis nodded with a worried expression and quickly shined his flashlight's light around the tunnel they were in. He soon spotted a lever however and rushed over to it. As the shadow creature go closer and closer to their position, he grasped the lever with his three fingered hand and pulled it down.
At that moment, the two tall rocks that acted as the tunnel's doors began to slide shut. Before it could fully close however, Xea thrusted it's arms forward and gripped the two large stones with it's clawed hands, forcing them to stop.
The shadow creature let out an intimidating gurgling noise as tar-like saliva dripped from it's open mouth. Before t could do anything else however, Siômo stepped forward with his technologically advanced rifle pointed between the creature's glowing red eyes.
"I will not die because of you!" the human man growled before he held down the weapon's trigger, causing a stream of blue plasma bolts to shoot out in rapid succession.
The bright bolts of energy hit their mark each time and Xea snarled as it quickly backed away. As soon as it moved away, the two tall rocks slid together and clicked into place. The Assassin could be heard gurgling on the other end and it smashed against the two rocks in a vain attempt to force it's way in.
"I'm getting really sick of this running game..." Reptantis grumbled before he and Siômo turned around and began to sprint down the dark runnel, aiming to get as far away from Xea as possible while gaining entry to the Sleg castle.
The beginning scene involving Xea was written by Warrior of Spectra.