LEGALITIES: I DO NOT OWN DARKSTALKERS OR ANY CHARACTERS/TRADEMARKS THEREOF.
[]- Indicates thought.
Hey everybody. Silverlocke980 here, with Chapter 20. And for the reviewers...
To j- Hmm. Interesting notes on myself. I've always viewed my job as an author as that of the recorder- I don't write the story, but rather merely tell it. So I guess that results in being somewhat impersonal... (ponders this for a minute)... I'll try to work on it. Interesting note, though! (and kudos for reading my fanfics!)
To Jays Arravan- hey, thanks for the kudos.
To Galandria- if you felt bad for Morrigan *last* chapter, wait till you read this one...
To a reviewer- thanks.
To Johnathan- Yes, you did kill Dimitri (through Pyron, but it was you nonetheless, but I ain't mad. Thanks for the kudos, vampire hunter. :)
Chapter 20
Gnashing Jaws
Pyron's Encampment, Eastern coast of Makai. Noon.
Pyron smiled, in the perfect darkness of his obsidian room. It was all starting to fall into place. Morrigan was being slowly driven insane by his voice, and Dimitri had been led to a place Pyron could strike him from. He'd watched the werewolf sniff the air, testing for his army's scent, and the demon had shifted the breeze, making it come to Jon from the small pond. He'd led them there, and they'd walked right into his trap. They were posting a guard, one awake and three asleep. All he had to do now was wait.
Wait until it was Morrigan's turn to watch.
************************************************************************
Pond in Aensland territory. Same time.
Felicia looked over the camp. In the light of Makai's short day, it was a pleasant little scene. She wished she could enjoy it more. She had too much on her mind for small pleasures.
She scanned the pond and surrounding area, seeing nothing. She wished the sun were not so bright. Her race had far better night vision than day vision, and she was constantly squinting, trying to block out the bright light. Jon, human now without the influence of the night (contrary to the legends, it was not moonlight but rather night itself that caused the transformation), was asleep to the right of the small pond. He was even shorter as a human than he was as a werewolf, only five four. His white hair blew about his young face as he slept on his back, mouth slightly open, with a black cloth over his eyes to block out the sun. Next to him, the buckler he'd taken from Moongrace lay on the ground, it's handle pointing towards the sky, in easy reach in case of trouble. Morrigan, who would stand watch next, was curled up in the fetal position a small distance from him. Felicia worried about her. She'd started sleeping on her back, but then moaned in her sleep, mumbled something, and curled up into that ball, as if trying to protect herself. Morrigan was such a sad woman. God only knew what she was dreaming about, what she was protecting herself from.
Felicia shook her head. Poor girl. But, in the face of the monsters that live in a dream, there was nothing she could do to help the succubus. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on listening, and heard nothing more than the rustle of the grass in the wind, the daybirds chirping, and the occasional animal. She opened her eyes and sighed. She felt so tired, worn down to the bone.
Last night, as Dimitri told his tale, she'd been thinking. The Felinos had many legends about their beginnings, but one in particular now stood out in her mind. In this legend, it was said that the Felinos sprang from a race of green-skinned humans, humans who had discovered the power of magic (psi, she mentally reminded herself). If what she'd heard from Dimitri was true, than her race was the descendants of these "orcs". She wondered what they had been like, how they had lived, how they had died, what stories they had to tell...
She shook her head, her blue hair swinging about. Enough time for that later. She looked up. Noon. Her watch had ended. Dimitri, before crawling back into the small crack in the rocks (he'd hung his cloak over the entrance to further prevent sunlight from reaching in and burning him), had said that he felt something in the area, something that made his hackles rise. He'd asked them to mount a watch, and they'd worked it out in shifts. Jon had been first, then Felicia. Now Morrigan was to stand watch.
She went over to wake her.
************************************************************************
Morrigan lay on the bed, the beautiful satin cloth that he liked so much, the satin she had prepared just for him. The satin cloth that was starting to drown her. She fell through it, the satin covering her, swallowing her body whole, groping her and choking her and killing her as he laughed and laughed....
She awoke with a jolt when Felicia shook her. She lay where she was, breathing hard, not hearing Felicia say that it was her turn at the watch. Oh God. She thought it was over. She'd had that dream for weeks, months, after he had left her. It had finally stopped a year after he'd left, a year after her hopes and dreams were shattered. She still couldn't stand satin. Not after that. Not after what he'd done to her.
Sometimes, When someone has suffered greatly, the mind will attempt to block the memory out by suppressing it, driving it under a cloud of amnesia. The subconscious, however, never forgets anything, and is most awake in dreams. Even now, as Morrigan rose up, mere seconds after waking, her conscious mind clouded the memories it had of him, and the nightmare with it.
She got up and looked at Felicia. The Felinos was looking at her oddly. Morrigan composed herself and said, " I'm okay. Just a nightmare."
Felicia nodded. " All right. Remember, your watch is until," she looked up, " the sun gets to there. Okay?"
Morrigan nodded her head, looking up and memorizing the position. As she did, she tried to remember what the dream was about. Strange. She couldn't remember it at all, just that it had something to do with satin. And she hated satin. She didn't know why she hated satin (or, at least, her conscious mind had forgotten why); she just did.
Felicia went to the sleeping bag she shared with Jon and snuck into it. Jon stirred slightly as Felicia laid her head against his shoulder.
Morrigan watched, and the voice came as she did.
[ Well, well! It's my good friend Morrigan! Watching them again? Such sweet sorrow for you, to be so near two lovers such as this! To always be able to see what you want, and never have it!] It laughed, as if this was such a funny joke, the greatest joke of them all...
Morrigan shook her head and walked over to the rock pile. Unfurling her wings, she flap-hopped to the top and sat down. Here, she had a good view of everything in the area. She couldn't think about her problems now; she had to stand watch.
[ Why bother?] the voice asked, as she tried in vain to drive it out. [ If they all die, so what? You mean nothing to Dimitri. Why, if you were to die on this journey, he wouldn't care! You're nothing to him. Nothing at all...] Laughter. [ Oh, child. That you should stand for one who doesn't love you... just like you did before. Just like when he came into your life...]
[ Shut up!] she screamed at it. The voice, taken aback by the sudden ferocity of her mental command, hushed. Conflicting thoughts arose in her mind, a babble that showed, if nothing else, the strength of the memories it had invoked. [ Don't you even talk about him! That's in the past! He had no choice! I had no choice! It never happened! GET OUT OF MY MIND, DAMN YOU!]
Pyron was thrown out of Morrigan's mind, the same insanity that he'd hoped to use working against him. The pain in those buried issues, the split in her mind caused by her great betrayal, were far too strong for him to resist. He'd pushed her too far and too hard, mentioned subjects that part of her mind didn't even realize existed. He'd been thrown out too soon, his mission unfulfilled.
So, when the first Corpse Hunger leapt out of the water, she saw it and screamed out for the others.
************************************************************************
Demons have always twisted and perverted life. They cannot create new life; they can only corrupt the old. Corpse Hungers were among their most vile- and effective- corruptions.
Corpse Hungers were created in the Sundering War, and pockets of them lived past their masters. They had brown skin, and stood about two foot tall. Shaped like a tadpole, with a stubby tail and bullet-shaped head, they had two short legs that they could hop with, much like a frog. On the head, two small, beady eyes glared out from the sides, and a large pair of jaws extended under them. And that was it. They were not designed for intelligence, but rather for hunger. They lived in constant pain, always having a ravenous hunger that was impossible to sate for any period of time. They would eat anything, including each other, and with enough prey a single colony could have up to a hundred of the leaping horrors.
This colony had grown to include six full grown adults. They'd almost attacked last night, but Pyron had restrained them with his mind. At night, the party held the advantage; the werewolf had his jaws and teeth, and the vampire had Ebonrule. But during the day, the werewolf was human, and the vampire couldn't even leave his little cave.
Pyron had hoped to distract Morrigan long enough for his Hungers to bite out the throats of the Felinos and werewolf, but her mental divide was too great even for him. But the attack was launched. All he could hope was that he still had the advantage.
************************************************************************
Morrigan's scream woke Jon up instantly. He was on his feet and moving before his mind even registered what was happening. He opened his mouth to snarl in warning to anything around him, then remembered he was in human form. His eyes catching a glimpse of a small, leaping thing coming at him, he rolled to the side. He saw a flash of brown, and heard a click as the Corpse Hunger's teeth snapped together. He grabbed the buckler on the ground and lifted it just as it attacked again.
The Hunger hit the shield face first. It fell back, snarling and drooling at him, dazed from the impact. He looked over his shield, and was amazed at what he saw. He'd heard of Corpse Hungers, but they were rare creatures that were thought to have finally been stamped out ages ago.
[ Why is an extinct creature trying to kill me?] he thought, then wondered at the weird thoughts one had during times of crisis.
It leapt again, it's enormous mouth open wide, and tried to bite off his face. He lifted the shield, and it slammed into it again. It hopped off, trying to regain it's balance. Jon took the opportunity to smash it with the shield. The impact knocked it down, and several of it's teeth went flying. It lay on the ground, dazed in a pool of blood from it's shattered jaw. Jon heard Felicia cry out, and turned towards her.
Three Hungers surrounded her, leaping about her in an attempt to find an opening. She whirled and snarled, claws flashing in the sunlight as she clawed and slashed at them. One Hunger slipped through her guard and bit the end of her tail, blood spraying out as the wicked edge of it's teeth sheared her flesh. She yelled and slashed it, raking her claws over it's eye. It let go and shrieked, a hellish and grating sound like gravels crunched underfoot. The blood pouring from it's wounded eye caused the remaining Hungers to go berserk, leaping on top of their brother and biting into it's flesh in a feeding frenzy.
Felicia retreated back, watching the monsters eat their comrade. She stepped back warily, glancing at her tail. It was hurt, but would be okay. The monster's fangs had opened big punctures in her sensitive tail, but hadn't cut through all the flesh. She looked back at the monsters and saw Jon past them.
Jon looked at her and glanced at her tail. His eyes opened wide with shock and concern, and he glanced back at the monsters. They had almost finished devouring their companion in the few seconds after they had started. They would soon turn around and go after Felicia again.
Jon took up his buckler and leaped at them. He took the sharp, almost blade-like edge of the shield and pushed down as hard as he could. The edge caught one Hunger and sheared off half it's jaw and face, causing blood to spray everywhere. He'd missed the last one, and it leaped at him, jaws snapping. He punched it in the gut, barely avoiding the loss of his hand to it's gnashing teeth. Felicia, rushing forward to help, buried her claws in the back of it's stubby head. It's brain pierced, it died, jaws still reflex-snapping in death.
Jon and Felicia paused, standing over the corpses of the Hungers, and heard Morrigan scream from atop the rock pile. Inside the small cave below her, Dimitri echoed her, yelling out in pain as a Hunger ripped the fabric of his makeshift doorway apart, letting the sun stream in. Jon and Felicia looked towards them, and both gaped at what they saw. Atop the small pile, Morrigan was fighting for her life against three of the monsters. One of her wings had a bleeding wound in it's bottom, and her face was a study of insane concentration, teeth bared and gritted. Her tentacles whipped about, one headless, the others darting spears. Two Corpse Hungers leaped into the small crawl-space where Dimitri was hiding against the blazing daylight. An azure glow filled the small space as Dimitri grasped the Ebonrule and began his attempt to fight in a hopelessly small space.
Jon and Felicia rushed to help.
- CLIFFHANGER! (chuckles) Sorry, just had to write that. See you soon!
[]- Indicates thought.
Hey everybody. Silverlocke980 here, with Chapter 20. And for the reviewers...
To j- Hmm. Interesting notes on myself. I've always viewed my job as an author as that of the recorder- I don't write the story, but rather merely tell it. So I guess that results in being somewhat impersonal... (ponders this for a minute)... I'll try to work on it. Interesting note, though! (and kudos for reading my fanfics!)
To Jays Arravan- hey, thanks for the kudos.
To Galandria- if you felt bad for Morrigan *last* chapter, wait till you read this one...
To a reviewer- thanks.
To Johnathan- Yes, you did kill Dimitri (through Pyron, but it was you nonetheless, but I ain't mad. Thanks for the kudos, vampire hunter. :)
Chapter 20
Gnashing Jaws
Pyron's Encampment, Eastern coast of Makai. Noon.
Pyron smiled, in the perfect darkness of his obsidian room. It was all starting to fall into place. Morrigan was being slowly driven insane by his voice, and Dimitri had been led to a place Pyron could strike him from. He'd watched the werewolf sniff the air, testing for his army's scent, and the demon had shifted the breeze, making it come to Jon from the small pond. He'd led them there, and they'd walked right into his trap. They were posting a guard, one awake and three asleep. All he had to do now was wait.
Wait until it was Morrigan's turn to watch.
************************************************************************
Pond in Aensland territory. Same time.
Felicia looked over the camp. In the light of Makai's short day, it was a pleasant little scene. She wished she could enjoy it more. She had too much on her mind for small pleasures.
She scanned the pond and surrounding area, seeing nothing. She wished the sun were not so bright. Her race had far better night vision than day vision, and she was constantly squinting, trying to block out the bright light. Jon, human now without the influence of the night (contrary to the legends, it was not moonlight but rather night itself that caused the transformation), was asleep to the right of the small pond. He was even shorter as a human than he was as a werewolf, only five four. His white hair blew about his young face as he slept on his back, mouth slightly open, with a black cloth over his eyes to block out the sun. Next to him, the buckler he'd taken from Moongrace lay on the ground, it's handle pointing towards the sky, in easy reach in case of trouble. Morrigan, who would stand watch next, was curled up in the fetal position a small distance from him. Felicia worried about her. She'd started sleeping on her back, but then moaned in her sleep, mumbled something, and curled up into that ball, as if trying to protect herself. Morrigan was such a sad woman. God only knew what she was dreaming about, what she was protecting herself from.
Felicia shook her head. Poor girl. But, in the face of the monsters that live in a dream, there was nothing she could do to help the succubus. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on listening, and heard nothing more than the rustle of the grass in the wind, the daybirds chirping, and the occasional animal. She opened her eyes and sighed. She felt so tired, worn down to the bone.
Last night, as Dimitri told his tale, she'd been thinking. The Felinos had many legends about their beginnings, but one in particular now stood out in her mind. In this legend, it was said that the Felinos sprang from a race of green-skinned humans, humans who had discovered the power of magic (psi, she mentally reminded herself). If what she'd heard from Dimitri was true, than her race was the descendants of these "orcs". She wondered what they had been like, how they had lived, how they had died, what stories they had to tell...
She shook her head, her blue hair swinging about. Enough time for that later. She looked up. Noon. Her watch had ended. Dimitri, before crawling back into the small crack in the rocks (he'd hung his cloak over the entrance to further prevent sunlight from reaching in and burning him), had said that he felt something in the area, something that made his hackles rise. He'd asked them to mount a watch, and they'd worked it out in shifts. Jon had been first, then Felicia. Now Morrigan was to stand watch.
She went over to wake her.
************************************************************************
Morrigan lay on the bed, the beautiful satin cloth that he liked so much, the satin she had prepared just for him. The satin cloth that was starting to drown her. She fell through it, the satin covering her, swallowing her body whole, groping her and choking her and killing her as he laughed and laughed....
She awoke with a jolt when Felicia shook her. She lay where she was, breathing hard, not hearing Felicia say that it was her turn at the watch. Oh God. She thought it was over. She'd had that dream for weeks, months, after he had left her. It had finally stopped a year after he'd left, a year after her hopes and dreams were shattered. She still couldn't stand satin. Not after that. Not after what he'd done to her.
Sometimes, When someone has suffered greatly, the mind will attempt to block the memory out by suppressing it, driving it under a cloud of amnesia. The subconscious, however, never forgets anything, and is most awake in dreams. Even now, as Morrigan rose up, mere seconds after waking, her conscious mind clouded the memories it had of him, and the nightmare with it.
She got up and looked at Felicia. The Felinos was looking at her oddly. Morrigan composed herself and said, " I'm okay. Just a nightmare."
Felicia nodded. " All right. Remember, your watch is until," she looked up, " the sun gets to there. Okay?"
Morrigan nodded her head, looking up and memorizing the position. As she did, she tried to remember what the dream was about. Strange. She couldn't remember it at all, just that it had something to do with satin. And she hated satin. She didn't know why she hated satin (or, at least, her conscious mind had forgotten why); she just did.
Felicia went to the sleeping bag she shared with Jon and snuck into it. Jon stirred slightly as Felicia laid her head against his shoulder.
Morrigan watched, and the voice came as she did.
[ Well, well! It's my good friend Morrigan! Watching them again? Such sweet sorrow for you, to be so near two lovers such as this! To always be able to see what you want, and never have it!] It laughed, as if this was such a funny joke, the greatest joke of them all...
Morrigan shook her head and walked over to the rock pile. Unfurling her wings, she flap-hopped to the top and sat down. Here, she had a good view of everything in the area. She couldn't think about her problems now; she had to stand watch.
[ Why bother?] the voice asked, as she tried in vain to drive it out. [ If they all die, so what? You mean nothing to Dimitri. Why, if you were to die on this journey, he wouldn't care! You're nothing to him. Nothing at all...] Laughter. [ Oh, child. That you should stand for one who doesn't love you... just like you did before. Just like when he came into your life...]
[ Shut up!] she screamed at it. The voice, taken aback by the sudden ferocity of her mental command, hushed. Conflicting thoughts arose in her mind, a babble that showed, if nothing else, the strength of the memories it had invoked. [ Don't you even talk about him! That's in the past! He had no choice! I had no choice! It never happened! GET OUT OF MY MIND, DAMN YOU!]
Pyron was thrown out of Morrigan's mind, the same insanity that he'd hoped to use working against him. The pain in those buried issues, the split in her mind caused by her great betrayal, were far too strong for him to resist. He'd pushed her too far and too hard, mentioned subjects that part of her mind didn't even realize existed. He'd been thrown out too soon, his mission unfulfilled.
So, when the first Corpse Hunger leapt out of the water, she saw it and screamed out for the others.
************************************************************************
Demons have always twisted and perverted life. They cannot create new life; they can only corrupt the old. Corpse Hungers were among their most vile- and effective- corruptions.
Corpse Hungers were created in the Sundering War, and pockets of them lived past their masters. They had brown skin, and stood about two foot tall. Shaped like a tadpole, with a stubby tail and bullet-shaped head, they had two short legs that they could hop with, much like a frog. On the head, two small, beady eyes glared out from the sides, and a large pair of jaws extended under them. And that was it. They were not designed for intelligence, but rather for hunger. They lived in constant pain, always having a ravenous hunger that was impossible to sate for any period of time. They would eat anything, including each other, and with enough prey a single colony could have up to a hundred of the leaping horrors.
This colony had grown to include six full grown adults. They'd almost attacked last night, but Pyron had restrained them with his mind. At night, the party held the advantage; the werewolf had his jaws and teeth, and the vampire had Ebonrule. But during the day, the werewolf was human, and the vampire couldn't even leave his little cave.
Pyron had hoped to distract Morrigan long enough for his Hungers to bite out the throats of the Felinos and werewolf, but her mental divide was too great even for him. But the attack was launched. All he could hope was that he still had the advantage.
************************************************************************
Morrigan's scream woke Jon up instantly. He was on his feet and moving before his mind even registered what was happening. He opened his mouth to snarl in warning to anything around him, then remembered he was in human form. His eyes catching a glimpse of a small, leaping thing coming at him, he rolled to the side. He saw a flash of brown, and heard a click as the Corpse Hunger's teeth snapped together. He grabbed the buckler on the ground and lifted it just as it attacked again.
The Hunger hit the shield face first. It fell back, snarling and drooling at him, dazed from the impact. He looked over his shield, and was amazed at what he saw. He'd heard of Corpse Hungers, but they were rare creatures that were thought to have finally been stamped out ages ago.
[ Why is an extinct creature trying to kill me?] he thought, then wondered at the weird thoughts one had during times of crisis.
It leapt again, it's enormous mouth open wide, and tried to bite off his face. He lifted the shield, and it slammed into it again. It hopped off, trying to regain it's balance. Jon took the opportunity to smash it with the shield. The impact knocked it down, and several of it's teeth went flying. It lay on the ground, dazed in a pool of blood from it's shattered jaw. Jon heard Felicia cry out, and turned towards her.
Three Hungers surrounded her, leaping about her in an attempt to find an opening. She whirled and snarled, claws flashing in the sunlight as she clawed and slashed at them. One Hunger slipped through her guard and bit the end of her tail, blood spraying out as the wicked edge of it's teeth sheared her flesh. She yelled and slashed it, raking her claws over it's eye. It let go and shrieked, a hellish and grating sound like gravels crunched underfoot. The blood pouring from it's wounded eye caused the remaining Hungers to go berserk, leaping on top of their brother and biting into it's flesh in a feeding frenzy.
Felicia retreated back, watching the monsters eat their comrade. She stepped back warily, glancing at her tail. It was hurt, but would be okay. The monster's fangs had opened big punctures in her sensitive tail, but hadn't cut through all the flesh. She looked back at the monsters and saw Jon past them.
Jon looked at her and glanced at her tail. His eyes opened wide with shock and concern, and he glanced back at the monsters. They had almost finished devouring their companion in the few seconds after they had started. They would soon turn around and go after Felicia again.
Jon took up his buckler and leaped at them. He took the sharp, almost blade-like edge of the shield and pushed down as hard as he could. The edge caught one Hunger and sheared off half it's jaw and face, causing blood to spray everywhere. He'd missed the last one, and it leaped at him, jaws snapping. He punched it in the gut, barely avoiding the loss of his hand to it's gnashing teeth. Felicia, rushing forward to help, buried her claws in the back of it's stubby head. It's brain pierced, it died, jaws still reflex-snapping in death.
Jon and Felicia paused, standing over the corpses of the Hungers, and heard Morrigan scream from atop the rock pile. Inside the small cave below her, Dimitri echoed her, yelling out in pain as a Hunger ripped the fabric of his makeshift doorway apart, letting the sun stream in. Jon and Felicia looked towards them, and both gaped at what they saw. Atop the small pile, Morrigan was fighting for her life against three of the monsters. One of her wings had a bleeding wound in it's bottom, and her face was a study of insane concentration, teeth bared and gritted. Her tentacles whipped about, one headless, the others darting spears. Two Corpse Hungers leaped into the small crawl-space where Dimitri was hiding against the blazing daylight. An azure glow filled the small space as Dimitri grasped the Ebonrule and began his attempt to fight in a hopelessly small space.
Jon and Felicia rushed to help.
- CLIFFHANGER! (chuckles) Sorry, just had to write that. See you soon!