The Beast Within
Chapter Thirty-Eight – Ujuk The Uthraki.
Half way up into the gorge and past a set of strange looking totem pillars, Kuarra started to hum.
The songs sounded festive and it was filled with certain catchy tune. It wasn't bad to hear, but somehow almost everyone in Leela's group started to frown as soon as they heard it.
"Oh-oh." Gannayev arched his eyebrow and murmured: "This is not good."
"Is that….what I think she was singing?" Safiya wasn't exactly sure.
"What was that?" Leela half-turned her head and asked Okku over her shoulder: "Something in that song was unsettling?"
"It is a nursery rhyme sung in Rashemi." The blue hagspawn moved forward and mumbled next to the druid's ear quietly. The air genasi blushed slightly, but managed to keep her face expressionless: "Not a very pleasant one once you listen to the lyric. Something about picking bones and buried under the marble stones."
"We have something similar on the Sword Coast. Children love that kind of thing." Leela nodded: "What so special about this one?"
"This one is cursed." Okku grunted: "It was created by Durthan, cleverly woveninto the verses with a powerful spell. It summoned the dark spirits and bound them to your body. The Witches actually banned people singing the tunes after several incident involved in the entire household was killed and not a single drop of blood on site."
"You heard of that, too?" The Red Wizard gushed.
"I was awakened and summoned, very briefly, by those Wychlaran, in one of the cases, to rid of the spirits," the telthor spirit explained.
"And she's singing it just now." The air genasi started to feel slightly uneasy.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Gannayev kicked the small rocks on the ground.
"Indeed." Kaelyn the Dove agreed: "I suggest we have our spells and weapons ready, out of their sight."
They nodded toward each other and placedtheir hands on their weapons silently. The girl lead them up another steep hill and rounded another corner. More strange looking totem pillars followed.
"Now those statues certainly do not resemble anything human…." Safiya stared at the totem in alarm.
"No, indeed." Kaelyn's eyebrows were in knots.
More of Kuarra's fellow tribal members started to reveal themselves from the hidden spot. All of them dressed in asimilar fashion and had the same odd wicked expression on their faces when they saw Leela and her party walking past them. Finally, they reached the end of the gorge and stood in a reasonably sized opening. Several makeshift shacks wereerected around a large pile of bones in the middle. Upon closer inspection, they realised those were human bones.
"I am now seriously doubting this is a cozy secret sharing party," Gannayev whispered under his tone.
Kuarra came to a halt at the bone pile and bowed her head. A strong, largely built man slowly moved out of the shadow. His body was slabbed with muscle. His beard obscured most of his face, leaving only a big nose and his glittering beady eyes. Next to him, two odd looking tribal women emerged from the shack. Both of them were extremely erotic. They eyed the blue hagspawn up and down, before theyleaned toward each other and let out a giggle. Leela suddenly had the urge to leap forward and gouge their eyes out.
The large man studied them for a moment before his face broke into a devastating grin, showing his yellow teeth.
"Spirit Eater joins Hill Tribe for a feast. And spirit eater has brought an ursine ally!" Exclaimed the man with his arms opened.
"Who—What?" Leela frowned and asked, puzzled: "Who are you?"
"Forgive my manners!" The man inclined his head: "Name's Ujuk. I am the leader of my Hill Tribe."
"Pleased to meet you, Ujuk. Your little girl there," The air genasi pointed at Kuarra in front of her: "suggested you had the knowledge of spirit eaters?"
"Arh.." Ujuk nodded and smiled at Kuarra satisfactorily: " Indeed. I have lived since another time, centuries past. A time when stories walked the lands in flesh... and blood. I have known spirit-eaters in many different shapes. Some I have befriended, learned from and taught. Others I have eaten, when they betrayed the Gift. It is a service I provide in respect to spirit-eater, so that the Gift may pass to one worthy of it."
"Alright…" The druid chewed the corner of her lips thoughtfully. "And what do you mean by 'ursine ally'?"
"Okku," Ujuk pointed at the telthor spirit god. "The bear king once hunted and tried to eat me. I still bear the scars from Okku's teeth."
"Huh?" Okku said, puzzled: "I have hunted many throughout the years. Very few have escaped my claws, and I remember them all. I do not remember you."
"Tsk-tsk." The Hill Tribe chief smirked: "Okku does not remember me because I conceal myself with the skin of my prey. The spirit eater before me betrays the Gift by defeating one such as Okku and not feeding on it to gain the power that is spirit eater's right."
"Looks like the secret sharing party is officially off, Lee." Safiya drew out her staff.
"Strong words coming from you and your tribe, don't you think?" Leela drew out her katana. "I am afraid Okku is a valuable ally and friend to me. Touching him will result in the most painful death you can ever imagine."
Despite their situation, the telthor bear god was touched beyond words. "I am truly grateful for your defense, little one. Considering the circumstances on how we first crossed-paths."
"Then you do now know me very well, Okku." The corner of Leela's mouth curled up: "I valued those who fought with me side by side, and held no grudge against them about the ground we are standing upon."
"I'm honoured, Leela." The telthor spirit grunted.
"Likewise." The air genasi inclined her head.
Ujuk started to laugh and laugh. Soon the people around them began to laugh, too. The laughter was devilish, blood curling, and dead creepy. It sent everyone on edge and had their eardrums throbbing.
"Like spirit eater, us Hill Tribe wear different shapes." The tribal chief snarled: "We do not feed in human form…"
Their features became blurry. In the blink of an eye, Ujuk's height shot upward and expanded twice the size as he used to. His defined facial features, on the other hand, shrunk inward. His large nose became round and squashy; his teeth grew longer and eventually jarred out of his thick lips, his eyes multiplied in numbers and became eight. Leela and her companions realised they were surrounded by a small horde of strange looking beast that she honestly had never seen in her lifetime.
"Arh…" Okku suddenly grinned: "Now I know who you are, Ujuk."
"What is he?" Asked the druid.
"Uthraki," Gannayev answere.: "The shapeshifting cannibal ape. I should have known."
"There is no way of knowing," Okku snarled toward the Uthraki around them. "They are very, very good at disguising themselves. I remember the taste of this one's blood…this time, I shall have more than just a taste, I think."
"Cha-cha." Ujuk, now in Uthraki form, sniggered wickedly: "Now spirit eater sees the true form of Hill Tribe. What does the spirit eater think, aye? Perhaps, this time the Gift will pass to me when spirit-eater dies. I suspect I killed the other too quickly before. I shall make this death linger!"
His hands, as large as small plates, flew toward Leela as soon as he finished his line. Okku leaped forward and fended off his attack. Kuarra launched herself toward the air genasi as well, only to be pushed aside by Gannayev, waving his quarterstaff in his hand.
"Try touch her again and I swear you will be skewered. " He snarled, eyes fired up: "I don't usually show mercy on children, especially your kind."
Kuarra probably was a young Uthraki. She hissed, seemed totally frighten by the threat, and ran off.
The two Uthraki Matron nearby snarled, and began attacking the blue hagspawn at once. The dreamwalker cast Arc of Lightening, sending both of them shrieking in pain. He then sprang, his quarterstaff stretched out, and it promptly sunk into the one of the female Uthraki's chest. The beast cried out in pain, before she managed to break free. She staggered back slightly, looked at her wound in astonishment, before her eyes once again fumed and launched herself another attack.
Gannayev dug his heels and sprang again. His cerulean tinted long hair flew around his face. He managed to dodge the female creature's second attack. And with a surge of light that whooshed through his body, the Uthraki Matron's body went stiff and fell backward, temporarily paralyzed by his Hold Monster spell.
He straightened his back, and turned his gaze toward the remaining Matron. Smirking, the blue hagspawn reached out one hand and gave her an challenging gesture
The female Uthraki growled and lashed forward, waving her fist aggressively. The dreamwalker darted aside, avoided her physical attacks with ease. Smirking, he waved his hands and shot some Magic Missiles at the creature. Purple arrows erupted from his fingertips and promptly whooshed toward the monster. The Uthraki Matron could not escape in time and was hit. Her body shook violently before collapsing onto the ground.
"Pfftt." Gannayev pattedthe dust off his clothes: "Easy-peasy."
Another Uthraki charged from the other side and aimed his attack at Safiya. The Red Wizard of Thay jerked her head around and her glare at the monster was icy. Spells burst out of the tip of her staff. A fire wall wasinstantly erected in front of her, causing the monster to jump away at the last minute, cursing loudly in gods knew what language. She smirked, and her lips moved. A meteor shower smashed down from the sky above them, sending several young Uthrakis scattering for cover. Kaelyn nearby flapped her wings and soared through to the air, narrowly avoiding two young female beasts' attack. Silvery lights beamed out from her dark eyes. Her hands bolted out massive spells, draining energies from several Uthrakis around her.
Okku wrestled on the ground with the Uthraki chief Ujuk, who kept trying to head toward Leela but was blocked by the telthor spirit. Their entangled bodies thrashed and rolled around the opening, crushing and flattening several shacks along the way. A large cloud of dust was generated around them. The air genasi knocked her Drow bow twice, and twice she gave up because she was having trouble telling them apart. She stared at the blur of whirling colour for a moment, before deciding to cast some mass spell instead. Sparks crackled out of her hands. Soon Blizzards carrying hailstones as big as her fist smashed down from above. A couple of the eight-eyed beasts promptly turned into ice on the spot.
Suddenly, something huge and heavy flew out of nowhere and knocked the druid sideways. Caught off guard, she staggered a few steps and nearly toppled over a pile of collapsing shacks. Sparks flashed inside her eyes, and for a moment she lost all her senses. Blood immediately spilled out of the corner of her mouth. Leela shook her head, trying to see the source of the attack. Through the blurry vision, she saw a female Uthraki stood not very far from her, grinning, nearly from ear to ear. Saliva trickled thought her jarred teeth and dribbled onto her bare feet. She looked absolutely disgusting.
The air genasi cursed and struggled to get back to her feet. Her arm was grabbed abruptly and steadied by someone. She turned her head around and noticed it was Gannayev.
"Y'alright?" His eyes were filled with concern. A small current of warm sensation passing through his fingers and injected into her body indicated that he had applied some healing spells.
"I..I think so." She made another attempt. The spell seemed to work pretty fast. The druid dug her heel in and raised her gaze at the female Uthraki.
"Let me wipe that ugly smile off your face for ya." She sneered, drew out her scimitar, and lashed out.
The beast laughed and threw another round of punches at her. Leela darted aside. Her leg flew, and kicked. The Uthraki stumbled back, lost balance for a few seconds, before her head bucked against the air genasi. Once again she managed to dive away. The druid flipped in mid air and stabbed the monster as she fell. The blade sank into the creature's flesh. The female Uthraki roared, and waved her giant fist, trying to grab the air genasi. She leaped away from the eight-eyed monster's attack again, drew out her Ice Maiden, and charged toward the beast once more. She dived, slid through between the monster's legs, and hacked her sword from the creature's back. The giant monkey-like beast fell face down, right on top of the bone piles, with icicles poking out of her body.
"Bitch." Leela spat as she straightened her back and pat the dust off her leather armour.
"Don't know you could swear." Gannayev chuckled.
"Oh, don't get me started." The air genasi gave him a tooth bearing grin. "Growing up in a swamp made me swear in all kinds of colourful languages you can ever imagine, but that's hardly lady like, is it?"
The blue hagspawn nearly lost a heartbeat as he watched the druid turned her head swiftly back toward Okku and Ujuk. It was the first time she smiled at her since Ashenwood. For a moment, he thought everything was back to normal, back to where it used to be, back to…..
Nevermind.
The telthor bear god and the Uthraki chief were still fighting. By now, most of the Uthraki were already been dealt with, it was pretty much he and the spirit left. Both of them were clearly exhausted and covered with wounds over their bodies. Ujuk still attempted to break free from Okku's blocking to attack Leela.
"Grr, out of my way!" The beast growled.
"The only chance of getting me out of your way is when I sufficiently kill you," the bear god snarled back.
"Wish granted." The Uthraki chief hissed, waving his fist and punched straight at Okku's face: "I shall deal with the spirit eater after dealing with you!"
The telthor spirit tilted his head sideways to avoid the punch. He then inhaled deeply, pushed Ujuk all the way to the rock cliff and smashed the beast against the rock surface. He opened his jaws and bit the creature. The Uthraki roared in pain, punching the side of the spirit leader harder. Okku clenched his jaws, sank his teeth deeper and refused to budged. The monster thrashed and hit him even more violently. For a moment, the air genasi and the others thought his ribcage was going to collapse.
"Should we…should we help him?" Kaelyn frowned, her quarterstaff raised.
"Don't think his pride will allow you to, my sweet." Gannayev replied absent-mindedly: "The old grandpa bear probably prefers to do this himself."
"Old people and their damn pride." Safiya grimaced.
Okku grunted, losing his grasp slightly, and was immediately being pushed back. He limped, shook his head, and was about to charge back before being punched square in the face. The bear god landed on the crumbling pile of collapsing shacks and soon found the Uthraki sitting over him. The beast's huge punch fell onto him fast and hard.
"Fluffy," Leela murmured quietly. The giant spider instantly hoped off her shoulder and crawled stealthily toward the eight-eyed monkey-like beast. It squirted out several jets of webs and pulled him away from the telthor bear. Kaelyn charged over, her wings fluttered, and her staff waved. The monster hissed as the weapon cut through the skin of his bare chest, and struggled to break free from the entangled webs.
The air genasi ran toward him, leaped and promptly landed on the top of him. She drew out her Drow bow, aimed and took the one last look at Ujuk.
"Sorry to gatecrash your party, dear." Her fingers let go the drawstring. Fire burst out around the a hundred meters radius, finally killing off the Uthraki chief.
"It's Fluffy." She turned around and shrugged as the others looking at her with arched eyebrows: "Can't hold that spider when it decides to help out."
"Ahah." Gannayev's dark blue eyes twinkled.
"How are you faring, Okku?" The druid looked at the telthor bear god on the ground. Kaelyn and Safiya manage to turn him over and applied healing spells on his wounds at the same time.
"I will live." Okku smiled, and instantly hissed when one of his injuries was tugged.: "Talk about secret sharing. Well, at least we learn next time when a dodgy kid asks you to follow her, we make sure she's not a shapeshifted monster first."
"Speaking of which," The blue hagspawn jerked his chin toward the small figure hiding behind the totem in the distance. "I think our friend is hiding from us."
Leela turned her head around. Sure enough, Kuarra's smaller frame was trembling behind the stone statue. The air genasi stood up and walked toward the young Uthraki, closely followed by Gannayev. Upon approaching, she realise there were more than just eight beady eyes staring back at her.
"What the—?" She blinked, unsure if her injury during the battle was more serious than she thought.
"Young ones." The blue hagspawn folded his arms as they stood in front of a rather large group of infant Uthraki. "Those will grow up and become another Hill Tribe. They might come hunt us down, or killing our younglings. Should we spare them?"
Contrast to what they saw earlier, Kuarra's eyes were filled with tears and fear. "Please, spirit eater, I beg you, spare the younglings. They had done no evil. Please, show mercy, do not devour us!"
"What do you say, my sweet?" The dreamwalker turned and looked at the druid.
Leela stared at the younglings in front of her, images of those dying children from her past suddenly flashed through her mind: West Harbour, Fort Locke, High Cliff, and Ember. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to block off those memories of blood soaked little bodies from her head.
"I only killed those Uthraki in self defense." She rubbed her temple and sighed: "I am not a murderer. You may go."
The young Uthraki thanked her again and again, before leading the younglings running out ofthe gorge. The air genasi stood by the giant totem, her hands tightened into fists. The hunger had crept back again. If she had missed this feeding, when would the next one be? Could she last that long this time?
Gods, this constant struggle was just…starting to get very tiring.
She tilted her head back, fighting the urge to burst into tears. After a couple of minutes, she turned and walked back to the group, completely unaware of Gannayev nearby, looking at her, his velvet eyes filled with the a mixture of aching dismay and something else that could not be named.