Hey everybody. This is Chapter 12 of Deeping Dream. Got a little over-exuberant on the last chapter, and I am now resuming my normal pattern ( no more Percocets for me!). Here it is, ladies and gentleman (along with assorted unsavories).
"SHOWTIME!"
Chapter 12
Fragments of Sin
Pyron sat, nursing his wounds. His face had healed somewhat, but his horn remained broken. He sat upon his throne, made of darkest obsidian, in the middle of a darkened room. No shaft of moonlight pierced it's darkness. Only a single entrance marred the perfect smoothness of the walls. A small crack of torchlight filtered in under it.
Suddenly, the sounds of screaming and torment echoed in the room. A human woman's form, strangely transparent and being dragged by horned monsters, was pulled up from the floor. Pyron looked up at the figure.
" Ah- my Fragment of greed. So he has killed you."
The figure writhing on the floor tried to say something. It was blurred, and only one word was clear:
" Mercy!"
If Pyron had had eyebrows, he would have raised one of them. As it was, he merely shook his head and chuckled. " Mercy? My dear girl, I have none. You knew that when you agreed to become a Fragment. And you knew what would happen if you failed."
Raising his hand, Pyron opened the dark gateway to the deeping dream inside him- and the woman's screaming, tormented soul was dragged into the gateway, flanked by the slobbering, laughing imps.
************************************************************************
Dimitri, Morrigan, Jon, Felicia, and assorted guards were gathered in Morrigan's tent. They were all discussing the attack of the night before.
" What was that? It wasn't a natural creature," Morrigan noted. " I know every single species of creature that lives in this part of Makai, and I've never seen anything like it."
Jon snorted. " I could've told you that. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that whatever that thing was, it wasn't natural. No natural creature has a soul floating over it after it dies."
Felicia, who had been quiet thus far and thinking with her head down, raised her head. " I'm not for sure- but my people have a legend about something like this. It says that some people can give their souls to demons and become monsters. They turn into monsters representing their own cardinal sin- those consumed by hatred become dark, shadowy creatures, those whose sin is gluttony become obscenely large and digusting beeasts, and so on. I think that they were called Fragments. Maybe she was a woman who gave her soul to Pyron and turned into a Fragment. That's why her soul was dragged off by those horned things."
" You think that's what we saw? Her soul?" Morrigan said.
" Probably," Felicia said.
Dimitri, who had donned his mask once more, smiled in his head. [Wow. Her people's traditions are turning out to be pretty useful.]
" Bet she isn't going to have fun, wherever she's going," Jon noted with a smile.
" Probably not," Morrigan said, waving her hand, " but let's get off that subject. What we need to do now is get the hell out of these plains. Once in the Werewolf Kingdom and it's forests, we should be able to hide ourselves from Pyron's forces. That's what we'll do, but what are you guys going to do?"
" We're going after Pyron's army," Dimitri said, his tone grim. " We have to find him, and then I'm going to shove Ebonrule into his heart."
Morrigan looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. " How do you expect to get close enough to kill him? He's surrounded by an army of humans with those strange weapons."
Jon shrugged. " We'll figure out something."
Felicia nodded. " We have to try- nothing to lose and everything to win."
Morrigan thought for a moment, then stepped back and bowed to the three of them. " Then take our wishes with you. I hope you find a way, for all our sakes."
************************************************************************
Two nights had passed since then. Dimitri, Jon, and Felicia, who had been supplied at the incubi camp, had been traveling across the plains of Aensland House when Felicia stopped dead and lifted her ears up. All around them, the plains seemingly went on forever- rolling grasses with scattered trees and herds throughout it. There were no villages left, however- they had all been burned by Pyron's army, and the smell of burning flesh hung thick in the air.
Dimitri noticed and stopped too. " What is it? Something..."
He was going to say more when Felicia went " Shhh," and went back to listening.
" It sounds like wing beats," she said. " Wing beats on the air... Something's flying at us."
Dimitri nodded, and then began transforming into his half-bat form. " Where's it coming from? Can you tell?"
She listened another moment, then pointed back the way they had came. " Over there. Not flying very high, either."
Jon sniffed at the air, then shrugged. " Can't get a clear smell out here. The smell of burning flesh is still too strong."
Dimitri beat his own wings and soon was soaring towards where Felicia had pointed. A low-lying cloud obscured his vision, and then he almost collided with a very surprised Morrigan. Barely dodging her, he made a crash landing on the ground, rolling to absorb the shock. Behind him, Morrigan landed and ran forward to him.
" Dimitri!" she said. " Are you all right?"
Dimitri stood up and shook his head. [Damn, that hurt,] he thought. Finally clearing his head, he replied in dazed tones.
" Morrigan? What the hell are you doing here?"
She shrugged. " I've come to help. This is something that will affect all Darkstalkers- the Ruler of Makai should be present."
Dimitri's confusion fell away in a sudden wash of anger at her.
" Damn it, Morrigan! You need to stay with your people! This isn't some game were playing out here! We're heading towards what may very well be our tombs!"
Jon and Felicia (who had heard Dimitri crash) had come running towards him. When they reached him, they both spoke at the same time.
" Morrigan?" they both asked, bewildered by her sudden appearance.
" I know that!" Morrigan said, her chin jutting out in what she no doubt thought was a defiant pose; to Dimitri, she resembled a child who has been told no and doesn't like it. " That's why I'm coming to help!"
Jon was about to say something, when Dimitri surprised everyone with his sudden vehemence. His face was twisted in anger.
" You idiot!" he cried, barely keeping a hold on the anger that washed over him. The force of it even surprised him. " You have no idea what we are doing! You've lived your whole life pampered and indulged! Are you really so arrogant that you think you have anything that can help us? Do you think this is just another royal game? All three of us are probably going to die, and I know that and I accept it. But you probably haven't even thought about it! Your father isn't here to protect his little girl anymore, Morrigan, and there's nothing for you to do- nothing you CAN do- except go back to the Incubi."
Morrigan, who throughout his speech had looked taken aback, finally turned away. She muttered something (it sounded like "Fine") and then flew off, without looking back. Jon and Felicia stared amazedly at Dimitri.
Dimitri shook his head. " Come on, guys," he said, sighing and turning away. " Let's get going. We're burning moonlight out here."
Still silent, both followed him. Dimitri wondered himself why he had exploded like that.
[ It wasn't just the danger,] he thought. [Hell, if Morrigan gets killed, it would probably be a good thing- she'll make a shitty ruler. And I wasn't that angry... was I?]
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He didn't know it then, but it wasn't just anger or the pain of hitting the ground that made him blow up at Morrigan. It was a budding love in him that had made him want to protect her. A love he didn't want to recognize in himself.
Morrigan, meanwhile, was having her own thoughts. Tears streaked down her face.
[ What did I do to deserve that?] she thought. [ That bastard!...]
These thoughts, however, were interrupted by another.
[ What if he's right? I really didn't think about getting killed.. Do I think of it as a game?]
Throughout her life, Morrigan had had an interior inferiority streak, mostly caused by her father Berial's negligence. The man had never really been proud of Morrigan (he'd simply had too much on his mind to bother with the little succubus), and this caused Morrigan to develop a subconscious thought pattern that told her, in no plain terms, that she was never quite good enough. It reasserted itself now.
[ He's right, you know... you really can't help them. Not you, Morrigan. Your just another pampered princess, good for nothing. You can't even save your people.]
[ Shut up!] she screamed at it in her mind.
[ Why? I'm telling the truth. And you know it...]
In the air over Makai, Morrigan's tears fell.
"SHOWTIME!"
Chapter 12
Fragments of Sin
Pyron sat, nursing his wounds. His face had healed somewhat, but his horn remained broken. He sat upon his throne, made of darkest obsidian, in the middle of a darkened room. No shaft of moonlight pierced it's darkness. Only a single entrance marred the perfect smoothness of the walls. A small crack of torchlight filtered in under it.
Suddenly, the sounds of screaming and torment echoed in the room. A human woman's form, strangely transparent and being dragged by horned monsters, was pulled up from the floor. Pyron looked up at the figure.
" Ah- my Fragment of greed. So he has killed you."
The figure writhing on the floor tried to say something. It was blurred, and only one word was clear:
" Mercy!"
If Pyron had had eyebrows, he would have raised one of them. As it was, he merely shook his head and chuckled. " Mercy? My dear girl, I have none. You knew that when you agreed to become a Fragment. And you knew what would happen if you failed."
Raising his hand, Pyron opened the dark gateway to the deeping dream inside him- and the woman's screaming, tormented soul was dragged into the gateway, flanked by the slobbering, laughing imps.
************************************************************************
Dimitri, Morrigan, Jon, Felicia, and assorted guards were gathered in Morrigan's tent. They were all discussing the attack of the night before.
" What was that? It wasn't a natural creature," Morrigan noted. " I know every single species of creature that lives in this part of Makai, and I've never seen anything like it."
Jon snorted. " I could've told you that. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that whatever that thing was, it wasn't natural. No natural creature has a soul floating over it after it dies."
Felicia, who had been quiet thus far and thinking with her head down, raised her head. " I'm not for sure- but my people have a legend about something like this. It says that some people can give their souls to demons and become monsters. They turn into monsters representing their own cardinal sin- those consumed by hatred become dark, shadowy creatures, those whose sin is gluttony become obscenely large and digusting beeasts, and so on. I think that they were called Fragments. Maybe she was a woman who gave her soul to Pyron and turned into a Fragment. That's why her soul was dragged off by those horned things."
" You think that's what we saw? Her soul?" Morrigan said.
" Probably," Felicia said.
Dimitri, who had donned his mask once more, smiled in his head. [Wow. Her people's traditions are turning out to be pretty useful.]
" Bet she isn't going to have fun, wherever she's going," Jon noted with a smile.
" Probably not," Morrigan said, waving her hand, " but let's get off that subject. What we need to do now is get the hell out of these plains. Once in the Werewolf Kingdom and it's forests, we should be able to hide ourselves from Pyron's forces. That's what we'll do, but what are you guys going to do?"
" We're going after Pyron's army," Dimitri said, his tone grim. " We have to find him, and then I'm going to shove Ebonrule into his heart."
Morrigan looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. " How do you expect to get close enough to kill him? He's surrounded by an army of humans with those strange weapons."
Jon shrugged. " We'll figure out something."
Felicia nodded. " We have to try- nothing to lose and everything to win."
Morrigan thought for a moment, then stepped back and bowed to the three of them. " Then take our wishes with you. I hope you find a way, for all our sakes."
************************************************************************
Two nights had passed since then. Dimitri, Jon, and Felicia, who had been supplied at the incubi camp, had been traveling across the plains of Aensland House when Felicia stopped dead and lifted her ears up. All around them, the plains seemingly went on forever- rolling grasses with scattered trees and herds throughout it. There were no villages left, however- they had all been burned by Pyron's army, and the smell of burning flesh hung thick in the air.
Dimitri noticed and stopped too. " What is it? Something..."
He was going to say more when Felicia went " Shhh," and went back to listening.
" It sounds like wing beats," she said. " Wing beats on the air... Something's flying at us."
Dimitri nodded, and then began transforming into his half-bat form. " Where's it coming from? Can you tell?"
She listened another moment, then pointed back the way they had came. " Over there. Not flying very high, either."
Jon sniffed at the air, then shrugged. " Can't get a clear smell out here. The smell of burning flesh is still too strong."
Dimitri beat his own wings and soon was soaring towards where Felicia had pointed. A low-lying cloud obscured his vision, and then he almost collided with a very surprised Morrigan. Barely dodging her, he made a crash landing on the ground, rolling to absorb the shock. Behind him, Morrigan landed and ran forward to him.
" Dimitri!" she said. " Are you all right?"
Dimitri stood up and shook his head. [Damn, that hurt,] he thought. Finally clearing his head, he replied in dazed tones.
" Morrigan? What the hell are you doing here?"
She shrugged. " I've come to help. This is something that will affect all Darkstalkers- the Ruler of Makai should be present."
Dimitri's confusion fell away in a sudden wash of anger at her.
" Damn it, Morrigan! You need to stay with your people! This isn't some game were playing out here! We're heading towards what may very well be our tombs!"
Jon and Felicia (who had heard Dimitri crash) had come running towards him. When they reached him, they both spoke at the same time.
" Morrigan?" they both asked, bewildered by her sudden appearance.
" I know that!" Morrigan said, her chin jutting out in what she no doubt thought was a defiant pose; to Dimitri, she resembled a child who has been told no and doesn't like it. " That's why I'm coming to help!"
Jon was about to say something, when Dimitri surprised everyone with his sudden vehemence. His face was twisted in anger.
" You idiot!" he cried, barely keeping a hold on the anger that washed over him. The force of it even surprised him. " You have no idea what we are doing! You've lived your whole life pampered and indulged! Are you really so arrogant that you think you have anything that can help us? Do you think this is just another royal game? All three of us are probably going to die, and I know that and I accept it. But you probably haven't even thought about it! Your father isn't here to protect his little girl anymore, Morrigan, and there's nothing for you to do- nothing you CAN do- except go back to the Incubi."
Morrigan, who throughout his speech had looked taken aback, finally turned away. She muttered something (it sounded like "Fine") and then flew off, without looking back. Jon and Felicia stared amazedly at Dimitri.
Dimitri shook his head. " Come on, guys," he said, sighing and turning away. " Let's get going. We're burning moonlight out here."
Still silent, both followed him. Dimitri wondered himself why he had exploded like that.
[ It wasn't just the danger,] he thought. [Hell, if Morrigan gets killed, it would probably be a good thing- she'll make a shitty ruler. And I wasn't that angry... was I?]
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He didn't know it then, but it wasn't just anger or the pain of hitting the ground that made him blow up at Morrigan. It was a budding love in him that had made him want to protect her. A love he didn't want to recognize in himself.
Morrigan, meanwhile, was having her own thoughts. Tears streaked down her face.
[ What did I do to deserve that?] she thought. [ That bastard!...]
These thoughts, however, were interrupted by another.
[ What if he's right? I really didn't think about getting killed.. Do I think of it as a game?]
Throughout her life, Morrigan had had an interior inferiority streak, mostly caused by her father Berial's negligence. The man had never really been proud of Morrigan (he'd simply had too much on his mind to bother with the little succubus), and this caused Morrigan to develop a subconscious thought pattern that told her, in no plain terms, that she was never quite good enough. It reasserted itself now.
[ He's right, you know... you really can't help them. Not you, Morrigan. Your just another pampered princess, good for nothing. You can't even save your people.]
[ Shut up!] she screamed at it in her mind.
[ Why? I'm telling the truth. And you know it...]
In the air over Makai, Morrigan's tears fell.